INSIDE: Deadline for Shoe Drive THIS Sunday • Vacation Bible School starts • All-Church Picnic on Thursday

Worship

Join us for worship!

Sunday, July 31:

• 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:

On Friday at 8am, the CDC’s COVID-19 Community Level for La Crosse county was high. HOWEVER, 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.

Shoe Drive

THIS SUNDAY IS THE LAST DAY! 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. At the last shoe handout, more than 150 pairs of shoes were given. There is still time to make a monetary donation! The deadline for shoe and cash donations is July 31. Donations can be made online at 1stlu.org/shoedrive. Questions? Contact bridget@firstlu.org.

Vacation Bible School

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. NOTE: we are aware of donation issues with the registration process; please simply register without donating, which should work fine.

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!

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.

Sunshine Team

The Sunshine Team meets on the first Thursday of every month. Next meeting: Aug. 4, 9:30am. Various jobs: cleaning, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, washing windows and cleaning carpets. Help make First look nice! Refreshments are supplied to replenish your reserves! Dues are free! Questions? Contact Dan at dan@firstlu.org.

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

Sat., Aug. 6, UW-L Student Union ballroom. Doors open at 5:30pm, begins at 6pm. This ball was celebrated in La Crosse on Aug. 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: Aug. 7-10 and Aug. 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 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: Join Pastor Stanton on Monday, Aug 22, at Viroqua Hills Golf Course, to raise money for Sugar Creek. 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.

Outdoor Worship This Summer

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

• 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

There are opportunities to serve as a Sunday School teacher and volunteers. 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! 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.

410 Prayers

Join Kathryn for a time of prayer, every Monday–Friday, at 4:10pm. Kathryn is posting prayers on both Facebook and Twitter.

Happy Birthday!! 

If you have received a birthday postcard from First in the last several months and still have it, bring it into church Mon–Fri, 8am–4pm and pick up a small gift.

Help Those in Need

If you are looking for ways to help locally, go to the Ugetconnected site to find a variety of needs, from writing letters or drawing pictures to seniors, to delivering pre-packaged meals or sewing. It's hard to keep track of all the various organizations, so this is a great spot to find out how you can help. Go to 1stlu.org/needs.

Situation Report: Ukraine and Eastern Europe

More than four months after Russian troops invaded Ukraine, fighting continues to intensify, and humanitarian conditions continue to deteriorate. The United Nations estimates that at least 24 million people — more than half of Ukraine’s population — will need humanitarian assistance in the coming months. In addition to continuing to meet the immediate needs of arriving refugees, our partners in the region support those fleeing the violence in Ukraine and provide assistance in psychosocial care, pastoral care, housing, job searches, language study, school admission, legal services, cash assistance and other key integration support for individuals and families. Read the full situation report from Lutheran Disaster Response at blogs.elca.org/disasterresponse.

ELCA Question of the Week

Over the past few weeks, we’ve asked our social media audiences an #ELCAQuestionOfTheWeek — and we received nearly 1,000 responses to help us learn more about ELCA members’ experiences in their congregations! Read some of our favorite answers here, and follow the ELCA on Facebook for more initiatives like this one.