Ongoing Response to COVID-19

Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2021-05-27

Thursday, May 27th, 2021
A weekday e-mailer from
Matt Matthews
 
To Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
 
Friends,
 
One of my daily emails caused Marilyn Shimkus to write about her husband and memories they shared on a long-ago trip to France. This is a wonderful essay for Memorial Day. Marilyn wasn’t eager for me to share this essay with you, but I talked her into it. Her memories may trigger yours. Remembering those who have made sacrifices is part of what this weekend is about. I’d love to hear from you. And, thank you, Marilyn, for sharing this with your church family. 
 
* * *
 
A Memorial Day Essay
by Marilyn Hunter Shimkus             
 
My husband, Morris Hunter, and I were driving in northeastern France on our way to Germany.  We came across an American WWI cemetery.  It was much like your author’s description of the WWII cemetery.  This cemetery also had a tall pointed building with interior maps of the fighting in that area.  I remembered my Mother talking about my Uncle fighting in Belleau Wood, which narrative was a part of the displayed maps on the interior walls. As the village of Belleau was 5 miles in distance, we next drove there.  Sure enough, there was about a block square of a woods left beside a beautiful American WWII cemetery.  My Mother had asked my Uncle (her brother) if he had ever really killed anyone.

My Uncle told her a German sniper was up in a tree, and had killed 2 buddies ahead of him as the Americans went into the woods. My Uncle said he shot the sniper out of the tree and for my Mother never to ask him such a question again. My Uncle also said that 200 some Marines had gone into the woods, and 75 came out alive.

My husband, Morris Hunter, was a WWII Navy pilot, but during his 3 ½ active-duty years he never actually saw combat.  When he got his wings in May of 1942, HALF of his class were made instructors to train more
pilots as the losses in the Pacific were so severe.  He was one of the ones selected as an instructor. He and I were married on that leave. By the end of that year, 1943 and part of 1944, the Pacific tide of the war had changed and there wasn’t the need to train so many more torpedo single engine pilots. He was assigned to learn 4-engine transport planes.  
 
He was then based in Hawaii and flew supplies from the US as far as the Philippines for the invasion of Japan and brought the Pacific wounded back to the states.  At the end of another year, the US dropped the bomb. Every couple of months Morris had a flight to the US, so I had stayed on the coast and worked on the Berkeley, CA, campus. I was the private secretary to the Personnel Director of the Manhattan Project. I realized that the Personnel Director could get any man deferred from service to work on the Manhattan Project; I learned a lot of the details, but not exactly the extent of what the Project was doing until the first atomic bomb was dropped. Morris was discharged in December 1945.
 
 The war was over.
 
* * *
 
Happy Memorial Day to you all.
 
* * *
 
PEACE to you all,
 
Matt Matthews
864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church
 
* * *
 
P.S.
 
Some of you missed this in last Friday’s mailing. Here it is again:

  • The Covid-19 Response Team of the Session of First Presbyterian Church encourages everyone who can get vaccinated to do so. 
  • Based upon the CDC guidelines, vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks. There is roughly a five-percent likelihood that a vaccinated person can get or spread Covid-19. Therefore, the Covid-19 Response Team recommends that out of abundant concern for others, particularly the unvaccinated, such as children and the medically compromised, that we continue to wear masks in indoor worship at this time.
  • Increased capacity of sanctuary to 240 people (60-percent of capacity). No physical distancing required. No reservations required. No congregational singing at this time. No coffee, tea, or snacks after worship at this time.      
  • Physical distancing is no longer required indoors.       
  • Masks not required for outdoor events.      
  • Vaccinated members of our choir may sing together, spaced and masked, for one hour. Currently, we recommend that the choir not sing in worship.      
  • We recommend that DREAAM needs to follow all Champaign Unit-4 rules.

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Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2021-05-26

Wednesday, May 25th, 2021
A weekday e-mailer from
Matt Matthews
 
To Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
 
Friends,
 
This from the Washington Post:      Nine fully vaccinated members of the New York Yankees — including one player and eight other staff—tested positive for the virus that causes covid-19 last week. To many, this may suggest the vaccines, which are extremely effective, don’t work as well as advertised. In fact, the Yankees outbreak is a case study showing how well the vaccines are working.
 
Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/17/yankees-covid-outbreak-vaccines-work/
 
* * *
 
This from Frederick Buechner:        IF THE WORLD IS sane, then Jesus is mad as a hatter and the Last Supper is the Mad Tea Party. The world says, Mind your own business, and Jesus says, There is no such thing as your own business. The world says, Follow the wisest course and be a success, and Jesus says, Follow me and be crucified. The world says, Drive carefully—the life you save may be your own—and Jesus says, Whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. The world says, Law and order, and Jesus says, Love. The world says, Get and Jesus says Give. In terms of the world’s sanity, Jesus is crazy as a coot, and anybody who thinks he can follow him without being a little crazy too is laboring less under a cross than under a delusion.
  
News
 
Last week, your Session agreed that those who produce our Wednesday Night Zoom Celebration needed a break for the summer. So, this evening’s program will be our last until the fall. If you enjoyed the Wednesday Zoom and have suggestions, thoughts, or ideas, please share them as they will help us plan.

 
* * *
 
Humor (Hard times really need godly laughter): 
 
 “To write with a broken pencil is pointless.”
 
* * *
 
A Jewish rabbi and a Catholic priest were good friends. At a picnic one day, the priest was eating a ham sandwich. “You know,” he said to his friend, “this ham sandwich is delicious. I know you’re not supposed to eat ham, but I don’t understand why such a good thing would be forbidden. When will you break down and try it?” 
 
To which the rabbi replied, “At your wedding.”
 
 * * *
 
Good Word 
 
Philippians 2:5-11
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 
   who, though he was in the form of God, 
          did not regard equality with God 
          as something to be exploited, 
   but emptied himself, 
          taking the form of a slave, 
          being born in human likeness. 
     And being found in human form, 
        he humbled himself 
          and became obedient to the point of death — 
          even death on a cross.
   Therefore God also highly exalted him 
          and gave him the name 
          that is above every name, 
   so that at the name of Jesus 
          every knee should bend, 
          in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 
   and every tongue should confess 
          that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
          to the glory of God the Father.
 
LET US PRAY
 
Lord, I read that from everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required . . . Compared to a billionaire, I don’t have a lot, and I’m glad less might be required of me. But compared to the rest of the world, I’m wealthy; so, more will be required of me?
 
More?
 
Less?
 
 Forgive me for thinking my way out of discipleship.
 
My cup runneth over. Let everything I do be another way of saying thank you, thank you, thank you. 
 
(Help me.)
 
AMEN.
 
* * *
 
Much, much love to you all.
 
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church


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Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2021-05-25

   
                                                       

 
 

 
Planting the Peace Garden on Pentecost!
 
The Heart of Mission
May 25 2021
 
After Pentecost is over I want to breathe a sigh of relief and soak up the sun. Yet, the biblical witness which follows Pentecost is anything but quiet. It contains the rich stories of God, who Trinity Sunday extols as Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer, and a beloved people working together to create a strong and vibrant community. The work of growing is at hand. Working the garden is not just basking. The daily tasks are as important as the harvest. A metaphor for sports fans is that the practice runs and sprints are going to win this race. For the gardener the metaphor is that the daily chores of tilling, planting, tending, gently weeding and watering are going to bring about the harvest. The Marthas and Marys come together to be God’s hands, heart and feet. Take a deep breath and feel Life enter into the heart of mission as we move into the Summer months.
 
Peace,
 
Rev. Dr. Rachel Matthews, Mission Coordinator
 
Here are some important announcements from our mission partners:
 
The Refugee Center – Invitation to participate in fundraiser in lieu of their annual banquet.
 

 
 



 
CU at Home – Thank you First Presbyterian!
 

 
Life Line Pilots – A fundraiser for those of you who like to eat out!
 
Dine at ANY Illinois, Indiana, or Michigan Logan’s Roadhouse location on Wednesday, May 26, 2021 from 5-9pm, to help raise money for LifeLine Pilots. This fundraiser will provide the money to organize flights to life-saving care!
 
Present THIS flyer or order to-go using the code GIVEBACK and 15% of your total check will be donated to LifeLine Pilots.

 
Canteen Run – An inspiring email from Canteen Run and a call to mission for those of you who want to participate in hands on ministry!
 
Hebrews 12:14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy, without holiness no one will see the Lord.
 
My son and daughter-n-law have a couple of shirts that much the same meaning, they both say to “Love your neighbor” whether color they are or what ethnicity they are.  A sign says the hope and peace are contagious, Catch One!  Another one is: we accept brotherly love, we accept courage, we accept hope, we accept all lives.
There are plenty of more shirts and signs out there they point to positive things out there.  There’s a lot of love in the world.
 
Our current needs are:
We need a drivers and coordinators
We need men’s underwear
We need men’s short sleeved shirts
Our email is cucanteenrun.org.  We have a Facebook page, and a Twitter account, Canteen Run@canteenrun
 

We want to keep our mission partners in our prayers, those who are waiting to go back to their place of ministry and those who are able to work where they are. Listen for God’s call to you in their ministry.
 
Our PC(USA) Mission CoWorkers:
Mark Adams and Miriam Maidonado Escobar (Mexico)
Farsijanna Adeney-Risakotta (Indonesia)
Jeff and Christi Boyd (Central Africa)
Bob and Kristi Rice (South Sudan)
 
Our regional and global mission partners:
Kemmerer Village (and Camp Carew)
Lifeline Pilots
Marion Medical Mission
Mission Aviation Fellowship
Opportunity International
Friends of Presbyterian Education Board in Pakistan Presbyterian Cuba Partnership
Special Offerings of the PC(USA)
Theological Education Fund
Young Adult Volunteers
 
Here in Champaign – Urbana:
CU at Home
CANAAN S.A.F.E. HOUSE
CANTEEN RUN
COURAGE CONNECTION
DREAAM
eMPTY TOMB, INC
FAITH IN ACTION
JESUS IS THE WAY PRISON MINISTRY
THE REFUGEE CENTER
RESTORATION URBAN MINISTRY
SALT & LIGHT
 
Here at First Presbyterian Church
FPCC Amateur Preachers
FPCC Environmental Committee working with Faith in Place
FPCC Presbyterian Women
FPCC ESL
FPCC Children, Youth and Families
FPCC Mission Possible/Go and Serve
FPCC Mission Team, World Mission and Community Mission Deacons

302 W. Church Street
  Champaign, IL 61820
  217-356-7238
  info@firstpres.church
 
 
 
 
A picture containing drawing Description automatically generated
 

  302 W. Church Street
  Champaign, IL 61820
  217-356-7238
  info@firstpres.church
 
 

 
   
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Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2021-05-24

Monday, May 24th 2021
To Members and Friends of
First Presbyterian Church, Champaign
 
Dear Friends,
 
As I write this note to you during Sunday twilight, at least two emergency vehicles are carving their way through west Champaign. The two sirens blare urgency. They elicit prayer. 
 
It is muggy on my back porch. The air is heavy with the fragrance of trees and flowers, a fragrance often spelling allergies for me, sneezes, watering eyes. My eyes water for other reasons on this beautiful night.
 
Birds whistle and tweet in the gathering dark. They are busy tonight, hosting gathering, calling in their kids to baths and bedtime. Our dove is nested in the outdoor light fixture under the eaves on the wall of our porch. She’s sitting on two white eggs. She used to fly away when we opened the back door, but now she remains nested. She watched us warily, at first, ready to burst into flight to the safety of the higher limbs of our maple. Now, she’s settled. 
 
After weeks of her getting used to us, I think of her as a companion. Her chicks will be our grandbirds. I talk to her about my day. I sweep the porch as quietly as I can. I talk and talk. I talk to her like I image some people talking to a bartender. She doesn’t answer. But she watches me. She watches over me. And I feel I’m being heard.
 
God is watching over the emergency that pierces this evening with sirens. Nothing escapes God’s vigilant, compassionate gaze. I hope our EMTs, fire, or police servants are heading to the slightest of fender benders and that all will be immediately well.
 
Wednesday’s deadly shooting in Champaign has shaken many of you. What do we do about rising violence? I think we do what we have been doing, and doing faithfully. We support our local (and worldwide) mission partners like DREAAM House and CU at Home and Courage Connection and SAFE House. We celebrate and support our Sunday school (they had a full house today!) and our ESL program. We gather together to remind the world that the church is alive and well, and God draws us and welcomes us together, and that together we all are Christ’s body on this earth, and we aren’t complete without each other. Our church is a safe place. We welcome all-comers. We proclaim in word and deed that God’s name is love, that God uses even us as healers, that God’s got the whole world in God’s hand. 
 
What do we do?
 
We listen more than we speak. 
 
We think big picture. 
 
We remain curious and compassionate.
 
We ask, “What can I learn about my community that I don’t already know?”
 
We pay attention to the ways our heart callouses over and hardens. We resist this.
 
We don’t let our anxiety get the best of us.  
 
And, of course, we settle, breathe, listen, and pray. 
 
Here are two prayers.
 
* * *
 
In every age your saints remind us that you, O God,
walk with us.
 
Walk with us now as we strive to build your kin-dom
here on earth as it is in heaven. 
 
We lift up the family of police officer Chris Oberheim,
and the Champaign Police Community. 
 
We pray for officer Jeffrey Creel, shot three times, who is 
recovering at home.
 
And we pray for Darion Lafayette who also died at the scene.
 
Holy God, you know and we do not know the gifts
our community will need to heal. Help us to be your
hands and feet to share your love here. 
 
We don’t know the way, so our eyes are glued on Jesus.
 
Guide our steps.
 
Amen.
 
* * *
 
A Father’s Prayer Upon the Murder of His Son
 
O God we remember not only Baharam but also his murderers. Not because they killed him in the prime of his youth and made our hearts bleed and our tears flow, not because that with this savage act they have brought further disgrace on the name of our country among the civilized nations of the world, but because of their crime we now follow in thy footsteps more closely in the way of sacrifice.
 
The terrible fire of this calamity burns up all selfishness and possessiveness in us. Its flame reveals the depth of depravity and meanness and suspicion…the dimension of hatred and the measure of sinfulness in human nature. It makes obvious as never before our need to trust in God’s love as shown in the cross of Jesus and his resurrection.
 
Love which makes us free from hate towards our persecutors, love which brings patience, forbearance, courage, loyalty, humility, generosity, greatness of heart. Love which more than ever deepens our trust in God’s final victory and his eternal designs for the church and for the world. Love which teaches us how to prepare ourselves to face our own day of death.
 
O God, Baharam’s blood has multiplied the fruits of the spirit in the soil of our souls, so when the murderers stand before thee on the day of judgment, remember the fruit of the spirit by which they have enriched our lives and FORGIVE.
 
— Shared by Rev. Dr. Kenneth Bailey; written by Hassan Dehqani-Tafti
 the former Episcopal Bishop of Tehran, Iran, upon the murder of his son.
 
* * *
 
PEACE to you ALL.
 
Matt Matthews
Matt@FirstPres.Church
864.386.9138


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Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2021-05-21

Friday May 21, 2021
To Members and Friends of
First Presbyterian Church, Champaign
 
Dear Friends,
 
We still grieve the shooting Wednesday morning leaving two dead, including Champaign Police Officer Christopher Oberheim and Darion Marquise Lafayette, one police officer wounded, and our whole community scared, scarred, and aching. We pray for all involved, all grieving families, and the Champaign Police family. Lord, have mercy.
 
In my sermon on Sunday, I address the letter that appears in your May newsletter from our local United Way charting violence, poverty, and education deficits in our community. One elder in last night’s Session meeting who grew up in Champaign said there has never been this much shoot ever in our community. 
 
First Pres remains a place for all to gather, to pray, to laugh and learn, and to build and rebuild a community of love. How is God using you and your church to be Christ’s hands and feet in our community?
 
* * *
 
The Session’s Covid-19 Response Team has met and the Session has approved the following steps as we move out of pandemic. The Team will meet again (on June 8th) prior to the end of the governor’s bridge program. The goal of the Covid-19 Team has always been to keep our flock safe in the midst of a deadly pandemic for which we now have a vaccine, but no cure.   

  • The Covid-19 Response Team of the Session of First Presbyterian Church encourages everyone who can get vaccinated to do so. 
  • Based upon the CDC guidelines, vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks. There is roughly a five-percent likelihood that a vaccinated person can get or spread Covid-19. Therefore, the Covid-19 Response Team recommends that out of abundant concern for others, particularly the unvaccinated, such as children and the medically compromised, that we continue to wear masks in indoor worship at this time. 
  • Increased capacity of sanctuary to 240 people (60-percent of capacity). No physical distancing required. No congregational singing at this time. No coffee, tea, or snacks after worship at this time.
  •  Physical distancing is no longer required indoors.   
  • Masks not required for outdoor events.
  • Vaccinated members of our choir may sing together, spaced and masked, for one hour. Currently, we recommend that the choir not sing in worship. 
  • We recommend that DREAAM needs to follow all Champaign Unit-4 rules. 

* * *
 
Note that Sunday worship in the sanctuary is open to 60-percent capacity, which we count as 240 people. Reservations are no longer required. The wearing of masks in support of the unvaccinated (children, etc) is still required. The Covid Team will meet in 17-days to reassess. 
 
This is been a long road. If you think our Covid Team is moving slowly, we are. Intentionally. We’d rather be abundantly safe than sorry. 
 
Thank you for your patience.
 
Let everything that breathes, praise the Lord.
 
* * *
 
See you Sunday in Worship at 9:00 on-line, or at 10:15 in-person. Sunday looks to be a great day to join us for a Sunday in the Park at West Side Park at 11 am following the 10:15 am in-person worship.  
 
PEACE,
 
Matt Matthews
Matt@firstpres.church

* * *

We need God’s vision.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9dLsd3-4QU

* * *

From your Nurture Team — Naomi Rempe was the first correct guesser again this week!  She correctly identified last week’s photo of Mary Gritten.  

Here’s this week’s photo.   

Visit http://fb.com/groups/firstpreschampaign to make your guesses, or email them to photos@firstpres.church.  
 
Please join in the fun!  We are running VERY LOW on photos, so we would like you to select a photo from your younger years (grade school, high school or early adulthood). Photos need not be professional. Candid shots are welcome. Please send your photos to 
photos@firstpres.church.


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