by Rick Greene

The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body.

So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12-14

A 2015 Gallup poll put Columbus in the top 15 of the nation’s 50 largest metro areas with 4.3% of its population identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. The first Columbus Pride march in 1981 was just around 200 people; today, the Pride March and Festival welcomes over 700,000 visitors to Columbus and the Central Ohio region. This event has been sponsored by the Stonewall Columbus Pride to celebrate LGBTQIA+ rights, culture, and progress.

At First Community Church, we are an Open and Affirming congregation, inclusive of persons of any nation, race, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, political or philosophical outlook, or socio-economic status. We strive to follow the way of Jesus as our guide and model toward becoming more fully human; meanwhile, we recognize other pathways to the Divine, and are open to truth from any source, religious, scientific, or otherwise.

As such, members and friends of First Community Church have actively participated in and support this annual celebration of diversity in Columbus for many years, beginning in 2013. For that year, the Church, along with five other churches in the Central Southeast Ohio Association, gathered for an unprecedented presence at the Pride Parade and Festival. From these churches, approximately 75 people marched together in Christian unity sharing the message of love and acceptance of their congregations.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 and 2021 events were ultimately canceled, with many participating organizations moving to later-scheduled events, including some virtual, during these years. In June 2021, First Community had a standalone event, in the parking lot at First Community North featuring singers from the Chancel and Cambridge Choirs presenting a Musical Theatre concert, consisting of music from Rent, Dear Evan Hanson, Wicked, and others. Other events included food trucks, bounce house, and other activities for adults and children.

We hope to see you again this year!

Friday, June 17

5:30 pm to 8 pm

First Community North

Join First Community for our 2022 Family Pride Festival. This event promises to hold a lot of fun as we prepare our float for the Stonewall Pride Parade. You can look forward to:

• Jet's Pizza
• Kona Ice Truck
• Erica Carlson Children's Entertainment magic show & airbrush tattoos
• Bounce House
• Swag Table and T-shirt Sales
• Float Decoration and crafts

No registration or fee is required to attend. We hope to see you there!

If you would like more information about First Community Church and its involvement with Pride activities or are interested in joining the Mission Council for 2022, please email mission@fcchurch.com.

Monday Night Meals

for Friends of the Homeless

by Amy Caskie

Carol Baker organized the meals served to Friends of the Homeless every Monday for about 30 years. In the April issue of On A Mission! we shared our appreciation for all her work with this ministry and throughout First Community church. Carol is a dedicated servant, but in recent months has faced health challenges that prevent her from being the point-person for this outreach, so she has reluctantly handed over the reigns to her dear friend, and ours, Pat Porterfield. Pat and the Mission team have worked over the past several weeks to gather all pertinent information and evaluate the needs of this program.

Over the tears, regular groups have taken ownership of certain weeks each month. There is a group that provides meals on the first Monday of each month, led by Lisa Reynolds. The "Second Monday" group is led by Cat Oehl. The Crouthamel family has volunteered for the fourth Monday of almost every month, and the Barger family owns the odd fifth Monday, should there be one. There are many groups, like Women's Guild 7, that regularly commit to volunteer for the job once or twice a year.

However, that leaves a few times a year when small groups are needed, and it's always the third Monday of the month. This year, we are still looking for volunteer groups on July 17, August 15, and December 19. It has been challenging to solicit new help for this program over the past few years, especially since the onset of the pandemic. Fresh eyes and new ideas have resulted in some procedural updates, some of which should remove possible obstacles from volunteering. We hope these small changes will encourage more groups to volunteer for this ministry.

These updates include:

• Sign-ups will now be managed online, to help us work as a team.
• The church kitchen at First Community South is available for meal preparation only by special request.
• Groups providing the meal are not required to stay at the shelter to serve. They may choose simply to deliver the meal.
• We no longer request or require that meals be homemade.

Groups can choose to provide meals in the following ways:

1. Plan, purchase and prepare homemade meals on their own.
2. Plan, and purchase premade meals as a group.
3. Pick-up meals provided with the support of a long-term Friends of the Homeless volunteer.

Yes, you read that right! A volunteer has offered to plan, order and purchase the meals on the Mondays remaining this year. All that would be required of the volunteer group would be pickup and delivery. Pat and the Mission team will work with the volunteer group to make arrangements so this is as easy as possible. Pat is willing to join any first-time group in riding along and delivering the meal or just chat on the phone to answer any questions or ease any worries.

More information on the process and a link to sign up can be found at: FCchurch.com/monday-night-meals

by Beth Hanson

A couple of weeks ago, a young woman came into the Trading Post (TP) and very soon was finding all kinds of books, décor and clothing to buy. I heard her exclaim, “I just LOVE this place! You have the cutest clothes!”  (Hearing this sentiment always warms the cockles of our hard-working hearts.) I asked her if she had been here before and she said, “No, this is my first time. I just Googled Thrift Shops Near Me.” In the last couple of years, we have found this to be a common way that new customers discover us (at least customers under 50).  The internet has served us better than paying to advertise. 

This happy shopper probably had no idea that she had happened upon an historic community establishment that is imbedded in the memory banks of generations of local citizens as far back as the opening of the Trading Post in 1953. On so many occasions, middle-aged shoppers will tell us they remember coming to the TP as children with their mothers to get all of their clothing. They become wistful as they ponder this childhood memory. Other shoppers who are even more senior will tell us that they have been coming here for years to shop for inexpensive clothing for their families to help make ends meet. One regular customer in his 60’s says that when his mother brought him and his sister to the Trading Post as children, they were impressed with the metal grates that can be seen on top of the window wells. They thought it looked like the bars of a jail and so they renamed the Trading Post “The Pokey.” 

My own mother, Portia Hanson, began volunteering at the Trading Post in 1964. When I asked her how she ever discovered the place to begin with, she said that she needed to find a Girl Scout uniform for me, and another mother suggested she look for one there. The enterprise captured her imagination and she began volunteering that year and is still volunteering for the TP to this day. (After Covid, she switched to remote volunteering from home and puts price tags on jewelry, ties, CD’s, DVD’s, etc. that her daughters bring to her every week.) When my sisters and I were kids, we could come along with her to the Trading Post in the summer and would help straighten and size merchandise. We all just loved doing this and I am certain this experience planted a seed that lead eventually to my interest in running the church Gigantic Garage Sale many moons later!

Last week one of our shoppers told volunteer Cathy Klamar that he remembered the very first time he came to the Trading Post. “It was July 27, 1966.” Cathy asked him how in the world he could remember the exact date. He explained that it was the day his daughter was born. He had found the shop while looking to kill time while his wife was in labor. And he has been coming to the Trading Post ever since! 

I hope this gives you some feeling for the importance of this church establishment and how long it has been helping and delighting our fellow citizens. It is truly a little gem in our community and is an important living example of the heart of our church community. All proceeds go to support the many worthwhile missions of First Community, and we hope you will be amazed to know that in the first five months of 2022 we have already raised $36,474!  If we do say so ourselves, we find it astounding to see how well we are thriving well into the Trading Post’s 69th year! 

Come in and check us out! You’re going to love it! "The Pokey" is located in the basement of the Annex Building at South Campus. Our hours are: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and the first Saturday of the month from 10 am to 4 pm.   

Tandana Foundation Updates

Tuesday, May 3

Dear Amy and Kate,

I think you will enjoy this blog post about the grain bank that Mission Council made possible in Nounou! Thank you so much for supporting this important effort to work toward food security. 

All the best,

Anna

Monday, May 23

Dear Tandana Friends and Supporters,

In a recent blog post, four participants of the leadership and governance training workshops organized in Mali share their personal stories about becoming powerful community leaders and successful businesswomen. They discuss the skills they've learned and how their confidence, independence, success in economic activities, and recognition as agents of local-decision-making have grown with their participation. Read all about it on our blog. 

Thanks for supporting these programs!

Emily Della Fera

Project Update Volunteer

Did you miss the last issue of On a Mission! blog? There's a great story from the Trading Post. View it, and all past issues, by clicking the link below.

Did you know Heart to Heart is on social media? Click the buttons below to follow us. We also have a blog! Read the weekly blog posts at h2h.FCchurch.com/blog

Did you know Trading Post is on Facebook? Click the button below to follow us. You can also sign up for the email list for occasional announcements, sales, and events.