First Presbyterian Church of Cottage Grove

06/05/2026

The 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Communion Sunday

FOR STUDY
Psalm 33:1-12, HB, pg.624
Mark 6:30-32, CB, pg.50

ANNOUNCEMENTS
For the week of June 7th-June 14th, 2026

OFFICE HOURS
The Church Office will be open on Wednesday and Thursday from 9:30 AM—12:30 PM. Jen Heritage will be out of the office on Fridays, Rev. Karen Hill will be available by phone.

COMMUNION SUNDAY COLLECTIONS
Every first Sunday of the month, on Communion Sundays, we collect a special offering for the Deacons Fund, which is used to help people in need. We also collect non-perishable food for Community Sharing in green bags to fill the red wagon in the Narthex. If you have a prayer request, please fill out a Prayer Request Form and place it in an offering plate at the back of the Sanctuary. We greatly appreciate your gifts, thank you!

KITCHEN COORDINATOR
In June, the kitchen coordinator is Wendy Kelsh. Thanks so much!

COFFEE HOUR
This Sunday, June 7th, Coffee Hour will be hosted by Anne Montgomery, Suzanne Keaveny, and Pam Ciullo. Thank you, Anne, Suzanne, and Pam!

JUNE BIRTHDAYS
On Sunday, June 14th, we will be celebrating all June birthdays during the coffee hour with a cake provided by the Christian Education Committee, honoring both our graduates and June birthdays. Come and join the celebration.

FLOWERS FOR WORSHIP
Spring is here, and many gardens are in full bloom. If you would like to share your flowers with the congregation, please sign up to provide flowers for worship. Consider signing up for a specific date to celebrate a special occasion or to remember or honor a loved one. Arrangements don't have to be home grown, they can also be purchased locally for sharing. The sign-up sheet is in the Friendship Hall.

GRADUATION SUNDAY
is June 14th. We’ll celebrate our 5th grade, middle school, high school, college, & degree graduates during coffee hour. If you, your child or grandchild are graduating, please inform Cindy Vogel or the church office by June 7th.

CONGREGATIONAL MEETING
Church members, please plan to stay after worship on Sunday, June 14th, for a congregational meeting in which we will elect new church officers (Deacons and one Elder,) and two at-large members of next year's Nominating Committee. We need your vote!

SAVE THE DATE!
We will have an all-church picnic on Saturday, July 25 at Dorena Grange. Please reserve the date on your calendars and we’ll have more details soon!!

WORLD REFUGEE DAY
Enjoy music, food, and programming that honors the diversity and strength of our refugee and immigrant community – and the people and organizations who walk alongside them every day. Saturday, June 20th, 12:00-4:00 PM, First United Methodist Church, 1376 Olive Street, Eugene, Oregon, https://www.ccslc.org/wrd-2026. ESJ is one of the sponsors of this event.

05/29/2026

Trinity Sunday
FOR STUDY

II Corinthians 13:11-13, CB, pg.227
Matthew 28:16-20, CB, pg.41

ANNOUNCEMENTS
For the week of May 31st-June 7th, 2026

OFFICE HOURS
The Church Office will be open on Wednesday and Thursday from 9:30 AM—12:30 PM. Jen Heritage will be out of the office on Fridays, Rev. Karen Hill will be available by phone.

SAVE THE DATE!
We will have an all-church picnic on Saturday, July 25 at Dorena Grange. Please reserve the date on your calendars and we'll have more details soon!!

GRADUATION SUNDAY
is June 14th. We’ll celebrate our 5th grade, middle school, high school, college, & degree graduates during coffee hour. If you, your child or grandchild are graduating, please inform Cindy Vogel or the church office by June 7th.

CONGREGATIONAL MEETING
Church members, please plan to stay after worship on Sunday, June 14th, for a congregational meeting in which we will elect new church officers (Deacons and one Elder,) and two at-large members of next year's Nominating Committee. We need your vote!

05/24/2026

The Gift of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost, May 24th, 2026, painted by Amber Rose during service. Acts 2:1-21.

05/22/2026

Pentecost Sunday

FOR STUDY
Acts 2:1-21

ANNOUNCEMENTS
For the week of May 24th-May 31st, 2026

OFFICE HOURS
The Church Office will be open on Wednesday and Thursday from 9:30 AM—12:30 PM. Jen Heritage will be out of the office on Fridays, Rev. Karen Hill will be available by phone.

WEAR RED FOR WORSHIP!
This Sunday we celebrate Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came to the disciples with a rush of wind, appearing like tongues of flame. In joyful celebration, please wear red.

COFFEE HOUR
This Sunday, May 24th, we will be celebrating Pentecost during coffee hour. The CE committee will serve cake and a variety of flame-colored foods. There will also be some fun Pentecost related activities. Please join us!

05/17/2026

Some food for thought as we approach Ascension Sunday.

On this Ascension Day, I am struck all over again by how, in Luke’s account of the Ascension, he tells us that as Jesus is leaving the disciples—and the earthly life (and death, and life) he has known with them—he blesses them. With this last gesture, this final word, Jesus acknowledges that blessing and leaving are deeply bound together, and that love somehow endures within every aching distance that happens in this life.

This is a wondrous and difficult grace.

Jesus is not trying to sugarcoat his leaving. He is not giving his beloved disciples a blessing as a consolation prize for having come through these wild years with him, only to see him go. Instead, with this blessing, Jesus shows that the substance of grief is also the substance of love. They are made of the same stuff. If we can stay with both the grief and the love, the love will become more clear, and more clarifying. In time, it will show us the way to go.

BLESSING THE DISTANCE

It is a mystery to me
how as the distance
between us grows,
the larger this blessing
becomes,

as if the shape of it
depends on absence,
as if it finds its form
not by what
it can cling to
but by the space
that arcs
between us.

As this blessing
makes its way,
first it will cease
to measure itself
by time.

Then it will release
how attached it has become
to this place
where we have lived,
where we have learned
to know one another
in proximity and
presence.

Next this blessing
will abandon
the patterns
in which it moved,
the habits that helped it
recognize itself,
the familiar pathways
it traced.

Finally this blessing
will touch its fingers
to your brow,
your eyes,
your mouth;
it will hold
your beloved face
in both its hands,

and then
it will let you go;
it will loose you
into your life;
it will leave
each hindering thing

until all that breathes
between us
is blessing
and all that beats
between us
is grace.

—Jan Richardson
from Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons
janrichardson.com/books

Image: "Ascension II"
© Jan Richardson
janrichardsonimages.com

(Blessing & image inspired by Luke 24:44-53.)

05/16/2026

ANNOUNCEMENTS
For the week of May 17th-May 24th, 2026

OFFICE HOURS
The Church Office will be open on Wednesday and Thursday from 9:30 AM—12:30 PM. Jen Heritage will be out of the office on Fridays, Rev. Karen Hill will be available by phone.

RESPONDING TO THE WORD
People of faith respond to God’s call in several ways. By giving of their time, their talent, or their tithe (finances). If you would like to support the mission and ministry of this church the offering plates are located in the back of the Sanctuary. Thank you for your generosity.

KITCHEN COORDINATOR
In May, the kitchen coordinator is Sheila Hudson. Thanks so much, Sheila!

COFFEE HOUR
This Sunday, May 17th, Coffee Hour will be hosted by Wendy Kelsh. Thank you, Wendy!

EARTH SUMMIT ON MAY 17
Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon will have its Earth Summit this Sunday 1-3pm. There was not enough interest for FPC to be a hub, so you can register online and attend virtually: https://emoregon.org/event/2026-earth-summit/. Or one can attend in person at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 1685 W. 13th Avenue, Eugene.

05/15/2026

The Rev. Dr. Mihee Kim-Kort, a PC(USA) pastor who wrote “Seeing and Being Jesus in the World: How to Live God’s Radical Welcome as a Family,” published last month by Westminster John Knox Press, was a recent guest on “A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast.” Hosts Simon Doong and the Rev. Lee Catoe posed this question: Amidst the busyness, how can parents find the time to engage their children about justice issues in ways that are age appropriate but also empowering? Read more about their conversation here: https://hubs.ly/Q04gQ10l0

05/08/2026

ANNOUNCEMENTS
For the week of May 10th-May 17th, 2026

OFFICE HOURS
The Church Office will be open on Wednesday and Thursday from 9:30 AM—12:30 PM. Jen Heritage will be out of the office on Fridays, Rev. Karen Hill will be available by phone.

RESPONDING TO THE WORD
People of faith respond to God’s call in several ways. By giving of their time, their talent, or their tithe (finances). If you would like to support the mission and ministry of this church the offering plates are located in the back of the Sanctuary. Thank you for your generosity.

KITCHEN COORDINATOR
In May, the kitchen coordinator is Sheila Hudson. Thanks so much, Sheila!

COFFEE HOUR
This Sunday, May 10th, Coffee Hour will be a celebration of all May birthdays with a cake provided by Jim Downing. Come and join the celebration.

COMMUNITY SHARING
FPC donated 60 pounds of food to Community Sharing on 5/4/2026. Thank you for your generosity! Community Sharing has requested donations of toiletry goods, toothbrushes, deodorant, toothpaste, shampoo, soap, etc. Thanks so much for your continued efforts to feed hungry people in Cottage Grove.

ESJ GRANT
The Earth and Social Justice Committee is pleased to announce it is receiving a substantial grant from the Upper Willamette Soil and Water Conservation District to fund the Community Sharing garden project and our garden manager/coordinator for the next two years.

05/01/2026

ANNOUNCEMENTS
For the week of May 3rd-May 10th, 2026

OFFICE HOURS
The Church Office will be open on Wednesday and Thursday from 9:30 AM—12:30 PM. Jen Heritage will be out of the office on Fridays, Rev. Karen Hill will be available by phone.

COMMUNION SUNDAY COLLECTIONS
Every first Sunday of the month, on Communion Sundays, we collect a special offering for the Deacons Fund, which is used to help people in need. We also collect non-perishable food for Community Sharing in green bags to fill the red wagon in the Narthex (Community Sharing has requested canned fruit!). If you have a prayer request, please fill out a Prayer Request Form and place it in an offering plate at the back of the Sanctuary. We greatly appreciate your gifts, thank you!

04/27/2026

ANNOUNCEMENTS
For the week of April 26-May 3rd, 2026

OFFICE HOURS
The Church Office will be open on Wednesday and Thursday from 9:30 AM—12:30 PM. Jen Heritage will be out of the office on Fridays, Rev. Karen Hill will be available by phone.

RESPONDING TO THE WORD
People of faith respond to God’s call in several ways. By giving of their time, their talent, or their tithe (finances). If you would like to support the mission and ministry of this church the offering plates are located in the back of the Sanctuary. Thank you for your generosity.

KITCHEN COORDINATOR
In April, the kitchen coordinator is Amy Merryday. In May, the kitchen coordinator is Sheila Hudson. Thanks so much, Amy and Sheila!

GOOD NEWS FROM ESJ
The Earth and Social Justice Committee has received a grant of $5,000.00 to support the Community Sharing garden project. Thank you, Peace Health!

NEW MEMBERS CLASS TO BEGIN SOON
If you have questions about the church and have wondered about church membership, then this is the class for you. A new members class will begin on Sunday, May 10th from 11.30 am - 12.30 pm. The first session we'll discuss Presbyterian church history and beliefs, and share our faith journeys. We'll meet again on Sunday, May 17th with the Session (the church's leadership team,) to discuss what it means to join this part of the body of Christ and how to get involved. Finally, on Sunday, May 24th (Pentecost Sunday,) we'll invite you to join the church during worship. Please, join us for the class, and we hope you'll want to join the church at the end, but if you want to remain a friend of the church, you are welcome to do that. Consider this your test drive with no obligation to buy! Please, sign up with Karen Hill to join the class.