VOLUNTEER AT CHURCH

Be a part of the team that makes First Congo such a warm and welcoming place!

Ushers

Sundays, 8:45 & 10:30AM services

If you have a heart for welcoming people to worship and a desire to be a part of a team, consider becoming an usher. This is open to men, women and young people! Flexible scheduling allows you to be in communication with your usher captain and serve when you are available.

Contact: Don Spangler, dspangler519@aol.com

Hospitality Team

Committee – Meets monthly during the program year to explore ways to welcome our guests and engage members. Includes Welcomers, Coffee Hour Hosts, New Member Welcome Party, Church Picnic.

Welcomers – Look for visitors on Sunday mornings, welcome guests and answer questions

Coffee Hour Hosts – chat with both visitors and members during coffee hour, available as a resource but also just a friendly face

Greeters – available at entrances for worship and special events to greet everyone.

Contact: Jeannette Lloyd, jeannette@wscongo.org

First Congo members having a good time at a fellowship

Called to Care

Called to Care is comprised of volunteers who offer compassion, time, support and prayer to other members who may no longer be able to attend church or are experiencing an illness. These visiting lay care companions do not replace visits from First Congregational Church clergy or our Faith Community Nurse, but complement the visits made by the pastoral care team. Volunteers hold these relationships and conversations in confidence. Faith Community Nurse Jean Larson and Rev. Meredith Onion are the staff liaisons. Barry and Nancy Orr-Depner are the lay leaders. Please contact any of these liaisons if you would like to learn more, volunteer or be matched with a companion.

Contact: Faith Community Nurse Jean Larson at jean@wscongo.org; contact Meredith Onion at meredith@wscongo.org; or contact Barry and Nancy Orr-Depner at borrdepner@hotmail.com or norrdepner@sbcglobal.net.

Woman’s Society Rummage Sale

October and April (resuming in October 2021 or April 2022): Various times for set-up, sorting, sale, & clean-up, Education Building & grounds.

Our semi-annual all-church Rummage Sales are Woman’s Society’s largest undertakings. Sales of the proportion to which these have grown wouldn’t be possible without the generous support and involvement of all of our church members. Over 250 people come together each October and April to help Woman’s Society. Sale profits are then shared with non-profit agencies close to home and around the world as well as the First Congregational Church of Western Springs.

Contact: Jeannette Lloyd, jeannette@wscongo.org to volunteer

Learn More About Our Rummage Sale

First Congo volunteers smiling at the Rummage Sale

First Congo Sunday School children sitting in a circle

Sunday School Teacher or Assistant

Sundays, 10AM services

We would love for you to be part of our Sunday school teaching team! We are hoping to create an inter-generational team of teachers, so we invite all who are 15 – 99 years old to be part of this important ministry at First Congo.

Sunday School is offered year-round during our Sunday morning worship service for children ages 3 years through 8th grade. Regardless of age, our hope is to convey to all children that they are beloved children of God. As a church family, we respond to that love in the way we care for ourselves, each other, our neighbors locally and globally, and God’s world. In our classes, we practice together all those things that loving Christians do: pray, give thanks, comfort, defend, forgive and repent, in a safe and supportive atmosphere. And of course, we learn from (not just about) the Biblical stories of people who have experienced God’s power and love in their messy lives.

The Sunday school classes use lessons from the Dwell curriculum. The lessons cover important themes and characters of the Bible. Each lesson provides an opportunity for the children to reflect and relate the story to their own lives. For more specific information, contact Hope Sabbagha at hope@wscongo.org.

Non-Constitutional Committees

Children’s Ministry
Preschool Committee
Technology Team
Welcome Team
Youth Ministry Committee

Explore Our Non-Constitutional Committees

First Congo members giving big hugs at a fellowship

Church Committees

These groups meet to consider, plan, and carry out the work of the church.

Church Council
Christian Education
Christian Ventures
Endowment Fund Trustees
Executive Committee
Finance Committee
Diaconate
Music Committee
Nominating Committee
Mission & Outreach
Properties Committee

Explore Our Church Committees

Prayer Shawl Ministry

A group of volunteers who knit prayer shawls while praying for the ones who will receive them.

For information on how to be a part of this group, please contact Faith Community Nurse Jean Larson at jean@wscongo.org.

Congo Cooks Meal Ministry

The Congo Cooks Meal Ministry helps us to care for one another by providing meals to members in need of help due to a hospitalization, injury, new baby, or other life challenge. Volunteers sign up on an as-needed basis to make and deliver a meal. To be added to this meal team of volunteers, please contact our Faith Community Nurse Jean Larson at jean@wscongo.org.

An extension of the Meal Ministry is the Congo Cooks Soup Ministry which allows for us to have packaged homemade soup and bread frozen and available for our pastors and nurse to deliver when making pastoral visits.