There will be fellowship of welcome reception for our new Senior Pastor and his wife on Sunday, July 14^th from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. in Fellowship Hall. Please come and meet Marvin & Joyce Koelling and bid them welcome and also welcome back Ron Harris and his wife, Rev. Karla Sheffy, to First Church. We hope you will attend, and please plan to spend some time visiting with Marvin, Joyce, Ron & Karla.

Marvin’s first Sunday to preach will be July 7^th. Communion will be served at all services and there will be a potluck dinner at Noon in the Family Life Center (please note location change). Please join us!

First Church members are going to camp to "Rekindle the Flame"! On August 9, 10, and 11, members and friends are invited to Camp Comeca for fun, fellowship and worship. All ages are welcome! Check inside this issue of the SPIRE for the brochure with detailed information and registration form.

Congratulations to:

Christie Nelson & Tom Heacock, who were married by Rev. Dr. Dick Turner at First Church on June 22^nd.

Debra Kvanvig & James Suhr, who were married by Rev. Bill Hunter at First Church on June 22, 2002.

Susan Barleen & Joe Wheeler, who were married June 22, 2002 at Prince of Peace Catholic Church. Susan is the daughter of Gayle Rawlings.

Jennifer Paul & Brad Sughroue, who were married by Rev. Ron Harris at First Church on June 29, 2002.

Stephanie Schrack & Brian Potter, who were married by Rev. Ron Harris at Cottonmill Park on June 29, 2002.

Crystal Nielsen & Justin Staley, who were married June 29^th in Gordon.

Congratulations to:

Les & Lori Leonard on the birth of a boy, Brandon Matthew Leonard, born on June 12th. He joins brother, Shane and sister, Kalie at home. Grandparents include Rudy & Suzy Lewis.

Kully & Amy Harrison on the birth of a girl, Kaitlyn Rose Harrison, born on June 16, 2002.

John & Twyla Andrus on the birth of a boy, Bryson John Andrus, born on June 18, 2002. Bryson joins sisters Ciara and Riley at home.

Michael & Jennifer Owens on the birth of a son, Sebastian Michael Owens, born on June 21, 2002 (on big sister Jacey’s 2^nd birthday!). Grandparents include Wally & Sue Boden.

Rob & Lindsey Nickel on the birth of a daughter, Kiana Jane Nickel, born on June 5, 2002. Grandparents include Tom & Jane Davolt. Kiana joins brother, Walker, at home.

First Church extends its sympathy to:

Aub & Phyllis Kendle, Steen Kendle, and Shannon & Erika Godfrey & family on the death of Phyllis’ father, Clarence Storm, who died June 18^th. Services were held on June 21^st in Yutan.

Brent & Gay Warner on the death of Gay’s father, Donald Hughes, who passed away on June 19th. Services were held in Ravenna.

Angie Murrish on the death of her friend, Steve Harbert of Scottsbluff.

LaMoyne & Jan Fern on the death of Jan’s mother, Ethel Robinson, who died June 20, 2002 in Lebanon, Connecticut. Services were held in Gibbon, Nebraska on June 28^th.

Virgene Lundstrom on the death of her sister, Mabel "Betty" Pitts of Minden, who died June 22^nd in Kearney. Services were held June 26^th in Minden.

This corner is being designated the AMEN corner for

"an audible alert that something special was (is) being done."

Ministry Group #23, chaired by Verna Gifford, served 126 persons following the funeral of Bonnie Meyer on June 20, 2002. Those who helped set up, donate food or serve were: Peggy Miller, Tanya Robson, Vernice Smith, Verna Gifford, Sue Boden, Stacy Cabela, Patricia Elliott, Cynthia Hardekopf, Doris Muller, Teresa O’Connor, Ann Patterson, Jere Sue Schroer, Robin Wempen, Shelly Whittaker.

Saturday night service 16

Sunday 8:30 service 150

Sunday 9:45 service 151

Sunday 11:00 service 136

Nursery 04

Children (2-yrs-old-5^thgrade) 33

6^th grade-High School 03

(Ten) Adult Classes 115

Teachers 10

TOTAL 165

Saturday night service 64

Sunday 8:30 service 138

Sunday 9:45 service 141

Sunday 11:00 service 141

Nursery NA

Children (2-yrs-old-5^thgrade) NA

6^th grade-High School NA

(Ten) Adult Classes 71

Teachers NA

TOTAL NA

August—Republican City Follies Musical—sign up by August 1st

August 31^st—Callaway Kite Flight, Sign up by August 15^th, cost is $2

For information about Sociable Senior events, please call Merv Roeder at 237-5486.

Douglas K. Keyser graduated May 18^th from Nebraska Wesleyan University with a Bachelor of Arts degree/Political Science major. He is currently working on his masters and will be a law student at Creighton University this fall. Doug is the son of Shelley Bliss-Krumback and grandson of Genny Bliss and the late Rodney E. Bliss.

Kearney Clinic will again offer free Athletic Physicals for 8-12 grade students. Boys’ physicals are set for Tuesday, July 23^rd at 7:00 pm at Kearney Clinic and Girls’ physicals are set for Thursday, August 1^st at 7:00 p.m.

Brought to you by the

Health & Wellness Committee

Mark your calendars! We will worship in Harmon Park on Sunday, September 8^th at 10:30 a.m. Lunch will be served following the service. The Family Life Council will have activities for the children also.

There will be an 8:30 service at the Church that day only. The 9:45 and 11:00 services will be combined at the park.

Did you know that you can send e-mail messages to hospital patients at Good Samaritan Hospital. Just go to the website, www.gshs.org and hit the "patient message service" tab on the home page. It will take you to a form that you can complete. Messages are delivered to patients daily (Monday through Friday). This is a great way to send someone a greeting if you are unable to go see them in the hospital, or they are unable to have visitors.

July 14—Gordon & Bev Muller, Marv & Marilyn Heckman, Wayne & Wilma Webb

July 21—Jerry & Genny Brandorff, Dave & Patty Lenz, Fred & Nancy George

July 28—Bob & Doris Stickney, Kent & Lori Jorgenson, Lori Vogt & Steve O’Brien

July 14—Lean & Ardy Brandt, Bill & RoxAnn Olson, Al & Kay Liibbe, Jeff & Betty Warren, Dennis Nelson, Steve & Suzanne Barker, Jo Hollertz, Ken & Bonnie Mumm, Paul & Barb Harms, Willie & MaryAnn Weber

July 21—Les & Juanita Livingston, Gordon & Bev Muller, Al & Verlene Zikmund, Gary & Jana Kegley, Jerome & Nancy Maxson, Dan & Beth Bahensky, Norv & Donna Pearce, Elda Heckenlively, Alice Krewson-DeClute, Gary & Nancy Day

July 28—Jerry & Genny Brandorff, Don & Ardith Butler, Jim& Barb Werkmeister, Dick & Barb Beechner, Robert & Betsy Beck, Richard & Helen Burkey, Dick & Jeanne McClemens, Brian & Kristi Baer, Don & Marcia Pierson

Musicians—we need you! Special music is needed for the 8:30 and 11:00 worship services (or Saturday night if you prefer!) If you are interested, please call Lori Vogt at the Church office, 237-3158 to schedule your choice of dates. We have the following dates available: July 7^th at the 11:00 service, July 28^th (8:30 and 11:00), and September 8^th (8:30 service).

Thank you!

Thank you to our volunteers for summer special music! Upcoming musicians include: Nicole Freburg-Hoffmeister on July 7^th at 8:30 a.m., Peg Sinnard on July 14^th, Danielle Freburg-Hoffmeister on July 21^st and September 1^st, Mary George, Julie Stiles & JenaLu Keller on August 4^th, Jami Schaffnitt on August 11^th, Ron & Mary Nelson on August 18^th, and Natalie Radcliffe on August 25^th.

Thank you to Kim & Marcie May for providing music on June 30^th.

We have had mail returned for the following persons and are in need of addresses for them. Please call the Church office at 237-3158 if you have a new address for:

Patricia Buehler

Christopher Frink

Barbara Hansen

Greg Johnson

Rochelle Peterson

Teena Seybold

Food Pantry items for the Jubilee Center may be brought at any time and placed in the shopping cart in Fellowship Hall. Please bring non-perishable food items or paper items, such as tissues, toilet paper, or women’s sanitary items, as these items cannot be purchased with food stamps. THANK YOU!!

Several First Church members have moved recently. In case you would like to send these persons a card, here are their addresses:

Ann Wiles is now at Mother Hull Home—

125 E. 23^rd Street #20

Velma Holt has moved to Homestead—

4205 6th Avenue #12

Margaret Sizer has moved to Colorado—

1822 15th Avenue, Greeley, Colorado 80631-5312

Ron & Berdeen Roemmich are now in Omaha—

7208 S. 141^st Street, Omaha, NE 68138

Thank you to our radio sponsors for their generosity this year! We are down to only one date left in 2002 for sponsoring a radio broadcast. Please call Sharron Altmaier at 234-2163, or the Church office, 237-3158 if you would like to sponsor the November 3^rd broadcast. Cost for the broadcast will be $161.00, payable to the Church within a short time after your broadcast date.

We do not know what the price for next year’s broadcast will be, but we already have several dates that have been spoken for. Look ahead on your 2003 calendar. Is there a special event, such as an anniversary or birthday that you would like to recognize? If so, please call Sharron to save your spot on 2003 list.

We have no way of knowing how many people we reach each Sunday, but we have heard from many people who listen to the radio each Sunday because they are unable to attend worship services. This is a wonderful ministry, especially to those people who are homebound for one reason or another.

If you listen to the radio regularly and would like a bulletin mailed to you, please call the Church office.

Come watch the church softball team play and cheer them on! The team plays at Harvey Park on the green field. The schedule is as follows:

July 8, 9 & 12-Tournament games

Tuesday, July 16 @ 9:45 p.m.

Monday, July 22 @ 9:45 p.m.

Friday, July 26 @ 9:45 p.m.

Tuesday, July 30 @ 6:45 p.m.

Friday, August 2 @ 6:45 p.m.

Tuesday, August 6 @ 6:45 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. (red field)

Would you like to be included in our e-mail prayer chain? It’s very simple—when we get a prayer request, we e-mail it to you and when you read it, you take a few minutes to pray for the person. We have about 60 persons currently on the prayer chain. If you would like to be included, please e-mail Lori Vogt at loriv@kearneyfirstumc.org

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church is doing a fund-raiser for the Buffalo County and City of Kearney Animal Shelter. They are creating a book entitled, "Pets of the Century". For $1 per pet name, families can have the names of their pets included in the book. Each family listed in the book will receive a free copy of the book. with additional copies available for $4.00 each. All profits generated from the publication will be given to the animal shelter for expenses such as food and supplies.

July 15^th is the deadline for submitting names of your pets. Checks or money orders should be mailed to St. Luke’s, P.O. Box 2285, Kearney, NE 68848-2285, Attention: Nancy Westerfield.

The annual blessing of the animals will be at St. Luke’s on St. Francis of Assisi Day, Friday, October 4^th, followed by a pet picnic. The public is invited to attend. The time of the event will be announced at a later date.

Movie night at the Church at 6:30 p.m. in the Heritage Room. Bring a movie you would like to watch and a topping for homemade ice cream to share.

We will attend the Chautauqua in St. Paul. We will leave the church at 2:00 p.m. and see a couple of museums and listen to barbershop music in the evening. We will return around 11:00 p.m.

Mini-golf and Let’s Eat Out at 5:00 p.m. Meet at the Big Apple at 5:00 p.m. and we will decide to golf or eat first depending on the heat.

We will have game night at the church at 6:30 p.m. in the Heritage Room. Bring a game and a snack to share.

Connie Francis, a retired  teacher in the Keraney Public Schools, began a project a few years ago to gather memorabilia from the Kearney Public Schools to start an archive of items of historical interest.

  Would you please help us by:

  1. checking what you have that you would like to either a. donate or b. have listed in a database for those times when we mount special displays (the all class reunion in September, 2003 will probably be our first effort at this)

  2. forwarding this information onto others who could help

  3. sending addresses of former classmates or teachers with whom you are in contact so that we can mail them a letter to Nancy McCammon-Hansen, P.O. Box 1053, Kearney, NE 68848-1053, or nancyha@nebi.com

Nancy is also looking for band memorabilia. Her son's band uniform was retired into the archives this year and it would be great if we could get enough band uniforms, t-shirts, photos and programs to do a display of the history of the Kearney High Band.

  Thank you! Nancy McCammon-Hansen

238-3246

"Read books – the other channel" is a poster on the church library window. If you’re wishing your kids would read more and watch less television, especially during these summer months, the church library has a great collection of children’s book, (over 1,000 titles) for preschool through high school. Through memorials and gifts several new titles have been added, bring your children in or have them come in and browse. There are great stories for Sunday School too.

Brown, Susan. Can I Pray With My Eyes Open?

Carlson, Melody. The Other Brother.

(Prodigal son story)

Carlson and Wilkinson. The Prayer of Jabez for

Little Ones (Board book)

Higgs, Liz. The Sunflower Parable

Ketteman, Helen. Armadillo Tattletale

Lester, Helen. Tacky the Penguin

Littlewood, Karin. I Say a Little Prayer For You

Lucado, Max. Small Gifts in God’s Hand

(Feeding the 5000)

MacArthur, John. I Believe in Jesus

Martin, Bill. Adam, Adam, What Do You See?

Shannon, David. No David

Sundgaard, Arnold. Meet Jack Appleknocker

Bee, Clair. Strike Three!

Bee, Clair. Championship Ball

Bee, Clair. Touchdown Pass

Jenkins, Jerry. Left Behind : the Kids

(v.1-6 of this very popular series)

Lester, Julius. Pharaoh’s Daughter:

Nolan, Han. Send Me Down a Miracle

Taylor, Mildred. Mississippi Bridge

Tolkien, R.R. The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings

(4 vols.)

Cheney, Lynne. America, A Patriotic Primer

(great for July 4^th)

Child’s First Library of Learning (10 vols)

Childcraft. (Encyclopedia of 15 vols.)

Common Threads of Teenage Grief

(written by teen-agers)

Holmes, Andy. Growing With Jesus:

Maxwell, John C. Leading From The Lockers

Path To Victory: An NIV sports New Testament

Wilkinson, Bruce. The Prayer of Jabez For Kids

Wilkinson, Bruce. The Prayer of Jabez For Teens

We know it’s summer when Vacation Bible School is humming around the church, and when children walk around, singing songs you have not heard before, songs about Jesus’ love.

We have successfully completed our daytime session of VBS, with a larger attendance than during the last couple of years, and we had five members of our Youth helping, in addition to parent volunteers, and plenty of Fifth Grade Crew Leaders. We would like to thank so many of you for being involved with our children, whether by donating items, using your talents of music, cooking/baking, imagination, creativity, organizational skills, and/or energy to provide the children with games and PE and so much more. Thank you!!! The Daily Offering amounted to $66.25 and will be combined with July’s Offering and sent to UMCOR to benefit needy children.

Now we are ready for our July evening program. If you have a few spare evenings between 21^st and 25^th July, we would love to hear from you. Think about helping, and seeing the enthusiasm of your children as they go from one activity to another.

I hope you are enjoying your children during the summer. I am! The Serious Fun Puppeteers continue to expand their repertoire and membership, and have been invited to several outside functions, as well as performing to groups within the church.

During the summer, I will be doing a Children’s Story Time in the Mall at C&R Toys, from 10:30 to 11:00 am. Our Day Care children will still be having their Story Time at 2:00 pm in the Choir Room.

If anyone is interested in joining/helping the Puppets, or helping at VBS, just give me a call. (308) 237-3158. Thank you. Valerie

******************************************************************************************