Celebrating FPC Grads
This Sunday, May 17, we will be recognizing FPC’s 2020 High School and College graduates. It is especially important during this time of quarantine to celebrate the milestones of our church family! You can download this PDF with a summary of each graduate in the link below.
Special Music for Syttende Mai: Norway’s Constitution Day
In the late 1800s, Stoughton, Wisconsin enjoyed an influx of Norwegians, and at one time, as many as 75 percent of its residents spoke Norwegian. These immigrants celebrated Syttende Mai unofficially, but it became an annual, city-wide tradition in the 1950s. 2020 would’ve marked the 67th consecutive year of the Syttende Mai festival.
Like most public events, the festival is cancelled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the community will miss the camaraderie that came with celebrating the city’s Norwegian heritage.
In light of this, FPC would like to highlight some of the music from this Norwegian community in this weekend’s worship service. Carlyce Skjervem, who will be performing, is a member of a group of musicians that play the Hardanger fiddle, Norway’s national instrument. This richly decorated instrument has a haunting, resonant quality. Film goers might recognize its sound from the movie Fargo’s main theme or from the Lord of the Rings movies’ soundtracks.
We hope that sharing some music that would have been enjoyed at the this festival will bring happiness to the musicians that worked so hard to prepare for the performance as well as bring joy and hope to our FPC family during online worship.
Introducing our new Director of Children’s Ministry
From Melissa Schall, Children’s Ministry Elder
At the end of this month, Lori Phelps will be stepping down from her role as Director of Children’s Ministry. It has been an honor to work with her and I am so grateful for her service to the children and families of FPC. As Lori transitions out of her current role, I am thrilled to introduce our new Director of Children’s Ministry, Patricia Coley. She is a member of FPC and has been involved in Children’s Ministry. Her experience as an educator, as well as her deep faith in God will be a wonderful fit as she starts her new role in June.Thank you all for your continued support of Children’s Ministry. Please help me in welcoming Patricia!
My name is Patricia Coley. I am so excited to begin as the Children’s Ministry Director! I am originally from Kenosha, WI where I grew up attending First Presbyterian Church of Kenosha. I graduated from Carroll College with a major in Elementary Education and minors in Early Childhood and Religious Studies. I have been a teacher for the last 14 years. I have been a 4K, Kindergarten, and 3rd grade teacher as well as a reading specialist. I am married to Russell James Coley. We have 2 sweet boys – Russell Robert (6 1/2) and Langston James (9 months). We are huge Disney fans! We love going to the Disney parks, listening to Disney music, and watching Disney movies! We have lived in Waunakee for 4 years and have been attending FPC since shortly after we moved here. I have helped with VBS and kindergarten Sunday School. I am looking forward to transitioning into this role and getting to know the amazing children and their families at FPC!
Last weekend of Sunday school
This Sunday is the last day of FPC’s official Sunday school. A special thank-you to the our Sunday school volunteers as well as the families and students who joined in our virtual Sunday school classroom for last couple months. The curriculum will continue to be available through the summer.
Drive-through Food Drive for the Waunakee Food Pantry
This weekend FPC is hosting a drive-through food drive to benefit the Waunakee Food Pantry. Come to the FPC parking lot anytime from 1-3 pm. It’s easy to donate and you won’t even have to leave your car! Just follow these easy steps:
- Place non-perishable food and paper good donations in your
vehicle’s trunk before driving to FPC. - Wait patiently in the car line to enter unloading area.
- Upon reaching the unloading area open your trunk and an attendant will remove the items.
Thank you so much for supporting the Waunakee Food Pantry. Visit www.waunakeefoodpantry.org for updated needs lists and information on other ways to help.
A new take on Faces of our Family
We miss your face!
Sundays just aren’t the same without seeing the faces of our family bustling around the church building – grabbing coffee, greeting visitors, chatting with friends, ushering, filling the pews and nodding off during the sermons. 
We miss seeing the bright, beautiful faces of the children during Children’s Moments and Sunday school classes, and we miss all the faces in our various Sunday morning activities, from adult Sunday school to new membership classes to serving coffee and attending Bible studies. So let’s get together – virtually!
We are embarking on a new project called “Faces of our Family,” and we need your help! We’d like to collect pictures of as many church members as possible, and post them in our pews. You can get an idea of what this will look like from the photo above. What a great way to once again fill FPC with the faces of our family! We’re hoping that this project will remind us all of the beautiful and loving community that is FPC – and will give the pastors and musicians something to look at while they are filming weekly services!
If you are willing to take a “headshot” of each of your family members and send it to communications@myfpc.org. Janna Leslie, our Communications Specialist, will print it out and our Fellowship team will start placing them in the pews. Janna is able print photos from the online church directory, so if you’d prefer to use that method, please e-mail Janna and let her know.
We realize that many members do not have directory photos and also that many of the photos are outdated, which is why we are asking for you to take a quick picture with your phone and send it off to us. Please try to take pictures from the shoulders up – that photo of you standing in front of a camel on your last vacation might be a beauty, but it would be hard for us to actually see your face!
Questions? Please contact Kate Dietry, Fellowship Elder.
Congratulations! A New Grandbaby for the Dotys
Steve and Vicki Doty are pleased to announce the arrival of their seventh grandchil, Abigail Jane Doty, who was born on May 8 in Akron Ohio. David and Gloria Doty and 3 older siblings are excited to welcome little Abigail to the world! Both mom and baby are doing great. Praise the Lord!
Steve and Vicki are in Ohio helping to care for the other three grandchildren and practicing their hand at schooling at home.
Do you have a birth to celebrate?
Or do you have another announcement to make? We want to know what’s going on at your house! Please send us pictures or video links so our church family can feel connected when we can’t physically be together. Send your photos, links of your 1-2 minute video, or stories to communications@myfpc.org so we can share it in an upcoming Connector. Let’s be intentional about Living Faith Together!
Video Devotional: “Behold, I Am Doing a New Thing!”
Bethel Series Executive Director and FPC member, Rev. Jeff Quinto, provides a new weekly devotion, “Behold, I Am Doing a New Thing!” based on Isaiah 43:18-19.
Want to receive an email notification when the weekly Connector is updated? Sign up here!
