ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS


Regular Meeting of Congregation & Adult Education Session on the Budget

 

The regular meeting of the First Church congregation will be held immediately following worship on Sunday, January, 25, 2026. At this meeting the 2026 budget recommended by the Executive Council will be presented for a congregational vote.

 

A quorum is required, so please plan to attend.

 

An Adult Education session presenting the budget, and offering an opportunity for questions will be held following worship on Sunday, January 18, 2026. Copies of the annual report will be available prior to this education session.


Meet and make friends at the Baked Potato Bar on Wednesday, January 21!

 

Heap spuds with a variety of satisfying toppings of your choice while you add the warmth of conversation to a cold and unpredictable winter! Sign up on-line by using this link or on the paper sheet in the hallway to Fellowship Hall. If five or six people can bring a dessert, and a couple can help set up or stay to clean up, please sign up for that as well. THIS IS THE LAST SUNDAY TO SIGN UP!


MLK Jr. Day

 

The office will be closed Monday, January 19th in recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We will be back in the office on Tuesday, January 20th. 




Coffee Hour

 

The Fellowship Committee is asking for volunteers to host coffee hour after church. Don’t worry if you are not sure how to make the coffee. Training can be provided. There is a sign up sheet in Fellowship Hall hallway. If you have any questions please talk with Sandy Matthews.


Furniture Moving Group

 

Our Furniture Moving Group is such a hit among our renters that we are EXPANDING the group and adding some people so no one gets burnt out! Some questions you may have before joining the group:

 

  • What is the Furniture Moving Group? Folks who rearrange furniture on the stage in the Meeting House for various community events for the church.
  • How often do you move furniture? As often as you'd like! The amount of times Miranda asks for help from the group varies in the year, but the busiest times of year are usually the late fall, early winter, and general spring time. We do ask for help in the other times, though!
  • What do we ask to move? Anything that is on the stage EXCEPT THE PIANO could be moved off of the stage, and the piano can be moved around the stage.
  • How will you know how to move these delicate items on this delicate stage? We will train you! There are casters on everything that you may be moving, as well! 

 

Please consider joining this crew because it takes a village to provide space for our community! Thank you for your consideration.


Liturgist Coordinator

 

Are you looking for a way to support worship at First Church without taking on a monthly committee meeting? The First Church worship committee is looking for a new Liturgist Coordinator. This important volunteer is responsible for lining up a liturgist each Sunday. Don't worry, there is no shortage of potential liturgists! Becky Thompson has built a strong cadre of liturgist volunteers over the years she has served so successfully in this role. She will turn a well-tuned process over to her successor. If you are interested, please contact Peter Thomas (pjthomasmathbio@gmail.com).


First Church building rental opportunities

 

The First Church buildings offer numerous opportunities for meetings, rehearsals, concerts, weddings, and family events. After long study, a reasonable rental fee schedule has been worked out to offer fair use of the facility to our members and our neighbors. Large rooms (the Meeting House, Fellowship Hall, or JFO Room) and small rooms (upstairs classrooms, Room 4, Reading Room) can be reserved by the hour or by the half day. Discounted rates for church members and community partners may be available. The city of Oberlin has limited spaces available for events, and we are happy to offer our facility to help fill that need for our neighbors.


There Are Requirements for Making Submissions to our First Things First eNews!

 

In an effort to make our eNews more readable and shorten the length, we have created new guidelines for submitting posts! The guidelines are as follows.

 

  1. As usual, the deadline for submissions for the upcoming First Things First is Wednesday prior to 10 AM.
  2. We will not be putting in any non-First Church job postings.
  3. We will not be putting in any full flyers as the submission (however, we will put in a button that links to a PDF of the flyer).
  4. There is a word limit of 100 words for the text of a submission.
  5. You may insert links into the text post for more information, either by button or hyperlink in the text.
  6. You may insert PDFs (accessible by buttons) for more information, a flyer, or anything else that would be helpful for the post, but the document must be in PDF format. Any other document format will not be included in your submission.
  7. You may send one picture that you have the rights to use (i.e. a picture that is not subject to copyright, we suggest using the site pexels.com).
  8. The submission will run for a maximum of 2 weeks in the eNews. These 2 weeks do not have to be consecutive.

 

When sending in your submission, you must have

 

  • The title of the post
  • The text of the post (maximum of 100 words)
  • Which 2 weeks you'd like for your submission to run

 

 

When sending in your submission, you could have

 

  • If you'd like, one picture
  • If you'd like, PDFs (and what you'd want the title of the button that links to it to be)
  • If you'd like, the links for spots in the text post (and which word(s) you'd like to be the hyperlink or what you'd want the title of the button to be)

 

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we try to make our eNews experience more manageable for our readers!


RECURRING EVENTS:

  • Worship - Live Streamed and in the Meeting House on Sundays @ 10am
  • Children's Church (grades K - 5) 10:15 AM each Sunday during the school year
  • Summer Storytime - 10:15 AM during the summer
  • Finance Committee - 2nd Monday each month
  • Facility Committee - 1st Tuesday each month
  • Stewardship - 2nd Tuesday each month
  • Office Staff Meetings - Mondays at 2:00 PM
  • Book Group  - Tuesdays at 4pm via Zoom
  • Witness and Membership - 2nd Wednesday each month
  • Christian Education Committee - As necessary
  • Outreach and Service Committee - 1st Monday each month
  • Executive Council - 4th Tuesday each month
  • Green Team - 3rd Wednesday of each month

Faith Formation News!

 

  • Children's Church: 10:15 AM during the School year
  • Summer Storytime in the Summer! Children are invited to join us on Sundays at 10:15 AM for a story

 

As always, call Jen or the office to get a link for any and all of these events!

CALENDAR OF EVENTS