Worship

Join us for worship!

Sunday, July 17:

• 8am: live stream at 1stlu.org/live, and in-person. Nursery available.

• 9am: Summer Fun! For kids: Snacks and supervised play outdoors (gather at the Welcome Center). For adults: fellowship hour and Parent Share in the Upper Room.

• 10am: live stream at 1stlu.org/live, and in-person. Nursery available.

Current Precautions

Pastors and our COVID Advisory Panel get together as needed to evaluate when and how precautions should change. These are our current recommendations:

Please check 1stlu.org/precaution for the current, up-to-date level.

• If HIGH: we ask everyone to mask for large gatherings (such as worship)

• If MEDIUM or LOW: masks are optional and welcome

• You can also check the following sites for the current COVID-19 Community Level:

  • CDC COVID-19 Community Level (takes a bit to load)

  • Wisconsin DHS

  • La Crosse County Health Dept. Facebook Page (they do a fairly decent job of posting a photo when levels change… an orange/red mask indicates a move to HIGH, and a green mask indicates a move to MEDIUM)

• Small groups: online & in-person; precautions determined by the entire group

For a full description of current precautions, visit 1stlu.org/precaution.

The Privilege Institute Freedom to Learn Summer

Coming July 21–23, noon–3pm sessions with caucus sessions from 6–7:30pm. Mark your calendar and watch for full agenda soon! Registration will be required for these virtual sessions. Fee: $40. Freedom to Learn Summer sessions will provide “an education experience with the goal of ensuring that students, parents, teachers, and others in these states are equipped for the most global workforce of any preceding generation by having an understanding of the role of race in our lives, our histories, and our future and by supporting the development of cultural and racial competencies.”

Outdoor Worship This Summer

First will continue to do outdoor worship services once a month during the summer…

• July 24, 10am

• August 28, 10am

• September 25, 10:30am

Bring your own lawn chairs, and perhaps a hat to shade your eyes. If the weather's bad that day, we'll move inside. PLEASE NOTE: There will be no live stream of the 10am outdoor service.

Lead Sunday School & VBS

There are opportunities to serve as a Sunday School teacher and a leader in VBS. A Sunday School teacher is a commitment of 1 or 2 weekends a month in which you connect with our congregation's children! It is super easy with the curriculum! VBS is another way to connect, this is so fun and is high energy! If you like to play games or would like to help organize or help in any way, please consider! Contact Pastor Stanton: jason@firstlu.org.

Vacation Bible School

Plan ahead to be here for Vacation Bible School this summer, Sunday, July 31—Thursday, Aug. 4. Invite your neighbors! For 4K through Grade 5 in the fall (3 year olds are welcome to attend in the nursery). Register online at 1stlu.org/VBS.

Sunday, July 31–Thursday, August 4

• 5pm dinner in Fellowship Hall

• 6–8pm VBS program

Thursday, August 4 Only…

• 5pm all-church picnic at Van Riper Park

• ~6pm swimming at Onalaska Aquatic Center!

Also: 1) Help in the kitchen! Many hands will make light work. Claim ONE night between Sunday, July 31, through Thursday, Aug. 4, to prep, serve and clean up the meal all VBS families will enjoy together. Food will already be purchased. Menus are decided. We just need a couple hours of your time. 2) Bake/Make bars/cookies, too! That's how dessert gets done. Email karyn@firstlu.org if you can take a kitchen shift or bake.

All-Church Picnic And Waterslide!

All are welcome to the closing celebration of VBS, starting at 5pm on Thursday, Aug. 4, at Van Riper Park. We’ll eat together outdoors (First will provide the main course; bring desserts/treats to share) and then close with water fun at the Onalaska Aquatic Center!

Shoe Drive

Every year First Teen Clothes Closet participates in a back-to-school event in conjunction with the Children's Clothes Closet and Trinity Lutheran Church. New athletic shoes are given out to all the youth, so they have nice shoes as they start back to school. You can support the clothes closet by taking a tag from our summer Shoe Giving Tree, located in the narthex. The tags include the specific size and brands of shoes desired. There are also tags with a suggested cash donation if you want to leave the buying to our clothes closet shopping team. At the last shoe handout, over 150 pairs of shoes were given. The deadline for shoe and cash donations is July 31. Donations can be made online at 1stlu.org/shoedrive.

Volunteers Needed for Meal Delivery

The Aging & Disability Resource Center is looking for volunteers to help deliver noon meals to their elderly participants in Holmen, Onalaska, Brice Prairie and La Crosse locations. Shifts are usually 1 hour and start between 10:30am-11am. By becoming a volunteer, you deliver more than just a hot meal. You help the elderly stay healthy, safe and independent in their own homes. We also have openings at the meal sites to help package the meals. For more info call the ADRC at 608-785-5700.

Baptismal Preparation

The next baptism preparation session will be Saturday, Aug. 6, at 10am in the narthex for anyone who is considering or has scheduled a baptism. To register or ask questions call the church office at 608.783.3326 by Monday, Aug. 1. Min. attendance required: 2 families. 

August Ball

Saturday, Aug. 6, UW-L Student Union ballroom. Doors open at 5:30pm, begins at 6pm. This ball was celebrated in La Crosse on August 1, 1887. It was first called the Emancipation Ball, an annual celebration of the liberation of enslaved people in Haiti, then the U.S. This has since evolved into Juneteenth. Various groups in the La Crosse area are recognizing the history of this occasion by bringing back the August Ball which will be a formal affair, so dress up in your best formal attire! See ticket info and flyer at 1stlu.org/augball.

Sugar Creek Family Camp

Sugar Creek is offering three sections of Family Camp this summer: August 7-10 and August 11-14. Housing options include: Koinonia Lodge, Modern Log Cabins, Retreat Center, Manna Center, Wagons, Seeker or Frontier Town Villages. Or you can bring your own camper or tent. Take part in campfire worship, horse riding, Bible study, creek stomping and so much more. More info and reg at sgrcreek.org.

Golf Fundraisers

• Luther Park Bible Camp Golf Outing: Thursday, Aug. 11, with 9am start. Sioux Creek Golf Course, Chetek WI. $50 for 9 holes, includes cart. Scramble format ~ Raffles, Prizes & Games. See more. Sign up here.   

• Bethel Home & Services 24th Annual Golf Outing: Monday, Aug. 15. $85 includes 18 holes of golf, cart, dinner and prizes. For more info or to register contact Thalia at 608.637.6323 or tlaforce@bethelhome.org.

• Sugar Creek Golf Tournament: Monday, Aug. 22 at Viroqua Hills Golf Course. Reg and check-in at 11am. Shotgun at 12:30pm. 18 holes: $75/person, 4-person best ball, 2 flights with prizes! More info: 1stlu.org/scbcgolf.

Upcoming Sugar Creek Bus Trips

• Aug 26-Sept 1: Ark Encounter and Nashville: There are many stops along the way. The Ark Encounter in Williamstown, KY, will awe you with a full-size ark. Tour the Lexington, KY, area with its many horse farms. Opryland Hotel will be your home base in Nashville. You will see the Country Music Hall of Fame, Legends, Lunch & Lyrics, a guided tour that will take you down Music Row, the Capitol and Parthenon. A backstage tour of the Grand Ole Opry and the General Jackson Showboat Luncheon Cruise will cap off your stay. On the bus ride home, you will stop in Springfield, IL, to visit the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum as well as Lincoln's Home. Register soon!

• November 16: Fireside Dinner Theater, "White Christmas"

Sign up early! Spots fill quickly. Call for info: 608.734.3113.

Scrip Cards

Your weekly groceries, gas and shopping money can help raise funds for youth ministry! Scrip cards are available from the church office. We have Kwik Trip, Woodman's, Target and Festival cards. To find out what's currently available and when you can buy them, call the church office at 608.783.2236 or send email to office@firstlu.org.

Donations For Ukraine

Lutheran World Relief has committed $7 million to respond to the crisis in Ukraine, and expects to increase this amount as they receive additional support. With millions of individuals displaced in Ukraine and tens of thousands continuing to flee Ukraine each day, the needs grow daily. Donate at 1stlu.org/LWR.

Lutheran Disaster Response is accompanying companion churches and ecumenical partners in Ukraine, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia to respond to the crisis in Ukraine and Eastern Europe. Gifts to “Eastern Europe Crisis Response” will be used in full (100%) to assist those affected by the crisis in Ukraine and neighboring countries. Donate at 1stlu.org/LDR.

From Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service: The U.S. will now welcome up to 100,000 refugees from Ukraine. We need to act fast to prepare for these refugees, currently 90% of whom are women and children. There is an urgent need for resources, including emergency medical care, temporary housing, financial support for basic necessities, and much more. Donate at 1stlu.org/LIRS.

You can also designate gifts to Lutheran World Relief, Lutheran Disaster Response and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service at 1stlu.org/give.