Westminster Presbyterian Church 2155 University Ave. Dubuque, IA 52001 563-583-1729 www.wpcdbq.org loren@wpcdbq.org

Meet and Greet 3

Session News 2

Help in Garden 3

Church News

Mission News

4

Book Club 3

Hunger Outreach 5

Worship Info 6

Inside this issue:

July/August 2021 Volume XXI, Issue 7/8

FROM YOUR

WESTMINSTER

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH FOUNDATION:

Be a WILLing Christian… Remember Westminster Presbyterian Church in your WILL.

Pastor’s Place

This month, I’ve been thinking a lot about change.

Life changes all the time, but many of us have never experienced more significant, dramatic change than we’ve experienced in the last 18 months. And we’ve not only experienced it as individuals, we’ve experienced change and up-heaval as a community, as a country, and as the church.

The speed of innovation and technological development means that we see the world around us changing at record speeds, even when there’s not a global pandemic. The church has been facing change for decades, but has had to respond to surprising changes in 2020.

Some changes feel great. (Advances in medicine that foster greater health are often something to celebrate.)

Some changes feel terrible. (Being unable to worship in the sanctuary wasn’t any fun. The loss of a loved one can be devastating.)

Some changes excite us. (A new job can be something that we’re enthusias-tic about.)

Some changes make us feel anxious. (That same new job can also make us nervous.)

Because we are people of faith, who celebrate God’s enduring faithfulness to God’s people - AND because we worship the God who created the world, including the cycle of the seasons - not only can we trust that God is always present with us during the seasons of change in our lives, but we can also trust that God is at work in those seasons of change.

In other words, we can be assured that God does not leave us alone in the seasons of change. Instead, we can trust that no matter how anxiety-inducing, difficult, or painful change is … God is always with us to support us, nurture us, grow us, and bring us through change into the new life that is on the other side of change.

The Biblical image for those seasons of change is the “wilderness.” Scripture teaches that not only is God present to God’s people who travel the wilderness, we often see that God is present in new and powerful ways when the people of God find themselves in a wilderness season.

As a church, as individuals, as a city, as a nation … we are not quite out of the wilderness yet. While we can’t be certain of what the journey ahead will be, we can absolutely be certain of God’s presence, guidance, and sustenance in the wilderness, and in every season of our lives.

Peace, Rev. MargaretAnne Overstreet

Volume XXI, Issue 7/8 Page 2

Session News

The Session of Westminster Presbyterian Church of Dubuque met in the Board Room on Tuesday, July 27, 2021, at 6:00 p.m. The Reverend MargaretAnne Overstreet moderated the meeting.

The bulk of the meeting was spent on discussion about the vision for the future of the congregation. The Session affirmed their desire for the congregation to be creative and innovative in reaching out to the larger community and inviting them to be a part of the Westminster family of faith. The Session also affirmed the priority of the 2020 Mission and Vision Statement as a guiding document, while recognizing the need to revisit that document to insure it remains timely.

As part of the ongoing pandemic response efforts, the Session discussed the changes in recommendations that had been released by the CDC just hours before the Session meeting. Due to the fact that the Session had not had adequate time to review the changed recommendations, or to receive guidance from county public health officials, the Session called a special Session meeting for 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 11 to discuss the congregation’s pandemic response policy in light of these new changes. Session will seek input and recom-mendations from the county COVID task force prior to the meeting, to aid in their discernment of how to move forward.

The Session also dealt with several other items of business, discussed the repairs needed to the organ, and heard updates from the committees and ministry teams of the congregation, including a full financial review for the first six months of 2021.

Beginning in August of 2021, the Session will meet on the third Tuesday of each month.

Members and friends,

My heart is full and overwhelmed by all the love, support, cards & prayers from this community of God’s loving people during my recent losses and the joy of the birth of my first granddaughter, Emma James. I feel God’s love, peace and embrace…through you all! You give meaning to the scripture “of being Christ to each other”. I view my job here as a ministry, not a job ~ and I have grown to love and admire you all with your love and concern for each other and how you live out your faith.

I am humbled………. ~ Mary Kay Pancratz

To our Westminster family:

Thank you for all of your cards, messages and gifts. It has been an honor and privilege to serve this congregation over the past months. We are grateful for your partnership in the Gospel, and look forward with you to MargaretAnne's ministry among us.

~ Dan Emmert and Marsha Wilfong

To the Westminster family:

Barb French from Bethany Home invited me to attend with the Bethany WPC members your live stream services during COVID, since we didn’t have any Catholic services. I enjoyed the sermons, music and companionship so much but especially the sermons. Enclosed is $50 which I hope shows my appreciation. God is Good!! Thanks! ~ Marge Herrig, Resident at Bethany

Page 3 HOTLINE

Meet and Greet this Sunday, August 1st

Mission Garden...we need help!!!

To Celebrate our new pastor, MargaretAnne Overstreet’s arrival come and meet MargaretAnne and her daughter, Mollie after worship.

The Reception will be held in the Courtyard or Fellowship Hall, weather permitting. Serving Root Beer Floats and Cookies.

Our garden is overwhelming us. We have grown, harvested, & cleaned over 535 pounds. Most of the produce was harvested & cleaned over the last 4 weeks with 2 harvests over 100 pounds each.

This is wonderful as we deliver it all to the Dubuque Food Pantry, but it's starting to wear our garden volunteers down. We are not looking for a large amount of time from volunteers.

What we would like is to get at least 10 people on Mondays to help by giving us an half hour or a little more to harvest, clean & yes replant more crops. We will have stools available to those that want to help but find it difficult to stand for a period of time. If you don’t want to be in the garden, you can be in the kitchen, washing and bagging the produce. Help us to continue to grow in helping those that need fresh produce.

Please contact Rich Henderson at 563-580-6289 or Marsha Wilfong at 563-583-6571 if you can help!

What: Nomadland by Jessica Bruder (available at River Lights Book Store , get WPC’s discount)

When: Wednesday. August 25 at 3:30 pm

Where: Westminster Presbyterian Church (bring a chair) outside if weather permits,

otherwise in Fellowship Hall

From the beet fields of North Dakota to the National Forest campgrounds of California to Amazon’s CamperForce program in Texas, employers have discovered a new, low-cost la-bor pool, made up largely of transient older Americans. Finding that social security comes up short, often underwater on mortgages, these invisible casualties of the Great Recession have taken to the road by the tens of thousands in late-model RVs, travel trailers, and vans,

forming a growing community of nomads.

In a secondhand vehicle she christens “Van Halen,” Bruder hits the road to meet and understand these people from all walks of life who work these seasonal jobs. Accompanying Linda May, a onetime cocktail waitress, Home Depot clerk, and general contractor, who now works from campground toilet cleaning to warehouse product scanning to desert reunions, then moving on to the dangerous work of beet harvesting, Bruder tells a compelling, eye-opening tale of the dark underbelly of the American economy—one that foreshadows the precarious future that may await many more of us. She also celebrates the exceptional resilience and creativi-ty of these quintessential Americans who have given up ordinary rootedness to survive.

Come Join us at the Next Westminster Book Read

Maxine Griep’s “Celebration of Life”

2:00 p.m. Thursday, August 12

There will be a visitation/reception time in Fellowship Hall following the service.

Page 4

Financial Stewardship through July 28, 2021

(numbers rounded to the nearest 1,000)

Year-to-Date Operating Budget $195,000 2021 Income 248,000 2021 Expenses 151,000 Income over Expenses 97,000

This includes the PPP loan and Pre-paid Pledges.

Church News

Here are the Worship stats for June:

Live stream households In Person June 6 41 81

June 13 21 75

June 20 29 70

June 27 25 78

July 4 17 61

July 11 26 95

July 18 72 109

July 25 30 94

Incl. Tech/Musicians

The Sympathy of the Congregation is extended to

the family and friends of: Inez Pancratz, Mother-in-law of Mary Kay Pancratz,

Church Administrator

Diane Brown, Sister of Mary Kay Pancratz, Church Administrator

Norma Smith, member

WE NOW HAVE A BIKE RACK

Your WPC Green Team has recently installed a bike rack at church for the convenience of those who might like to bike to church. It can hold 6 bikes. Our first users were Chris, Ginny and Luke James when they biked to worship on June 13th. Enjoy!

HUNGER OUTREACH is coming up fast and your help is still needed. The event is August 28th. Help spread the word. Contact: Tom Stovall if you can help or have questions at 563-581-7220 or tomstov@aol.com RED BASKET EVENT - Mark you calendars for September 25th in the morning. We are going to help the women/girls in our community with this event. We will be opening it to others in our community to join us. Masks will be required for those not vaccinated and we will maintain social distance. Products will be needed, but remember no "super" size items. Items can be put in the Red Basket box under the Mission Board in the hallway. Contact Linda Stovall or Lisa Fast if you have questions or concerns. KNITTING PROJECT for the Hunger Outreach on December 18th. As of now we have 24 scarves and 28 hats to handout. This event went over really well last December with those that came for food. So if you can crochet or knit your help is needed. We have some yarn next to baskets in the hallway. I will try to match the items so people can have a hat and scarf if possible. If you need help with yarn let me know. I have extra at my house that I am willing to share. If you prefer smaller projects we also have the Pocket Prayer Shawls. Directions and sample on the Mission Board. TABLE TENNIS will begin again soon. The Mission Team provided a Mission Grant to help this event to get started again this year. FOOD COLLECTION. Now that church is back in session you may have noticed the empty grocery cart in the back of the sanctuary. We need to start filling that again on a regular basis for the DUBUQUE FOOD PANTRY. Let's all bring non-perishable food items on the first Sunday of each month (which is also Communion Sunday), but food can be brought anytime during the month. Egg cartons are also welcome. The need is great in Dubuque and whatever we can do will help put food on the table for food insecure families. Linda Stovall, Mission Team Chair, 563-581-7582, linstov@aol.com

Mission Team News

Volume XXI, Issue 7/8 Page 5

SATURDAY, AUGUST 28th

“For I was hungry and you gave me food.”

WHAT IS WESTMINSTER HUNGER OUTREACH?

Westminster Hunger Outreach is a hands-on local mission project of our church to help fight hunger and food insecurity in our community. It provides a means for us to put our faith in action and demonstrate God’s love by caring for our neighbors and serving their needs.

The project is a program of the WPC Mission Team and endorsed by the Session of our church. The initiative is funded by the Mission Team budget and donations from our church members. It is conducted in partnership with the St. Stephen’s Branch of River Bend Foodbank.

On Saturday, August 28th we will hold our 6th Hunger Outreach food distribution day. Families facing food insecurity are invited to come to our church and we will provide them with a supply of food free of charge. We hope to serve over 150 families and distribute over 15,000 lbs. of food.

FORMAT CHANGES TO CONTINUE

We will continue to conduct the food distribution in the parking lot on a drive-thru basis. Face masks will be optional except for those who have not been vaccinated. The honor system will be in effect. Another change in format is that recipients will need to complete a registration form indicating eligibility for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) of the State of Iowa.

HUNGER OUTREACH ON AUGUST 28th

8:00 AM Volunteers arrive. Food trucks arrive from St. Stephen’s. Food is unloaded and organized for distribution. Traffic control and recipient registration begins.

9:00 AM Food distribution begins on drive-thru basis. Recipients remain in vehicle while food is loaded in the trunk of their car, and continues until food supplies are exhausted.

VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED – JOIN THE HUNGER OUTREACH TEAM!

We need volunteers! Volunteers will be needed from 8:00-11:00 a.m. in the parking lot to provide traffic control, unload the food truck, greet and register participants, and load food into their cars. To sign up just give a call or email with your name, phone, and email address to Tom Stovall at

563-581-7220 or at tomstov@aol.com. Also, contact Tom if you have questions. Blessings!

August 1

Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper

Rev. MargaretAnne Overstreet preaching

August 8

Rev. MargaretAnne Overstreet preaching

August 15

Rev. MargaretAnne Overstreet preaching

August 22

Rev. MargaretAnne Overstreet preaching

August 29

Rev. MargaretAnne Overstreet preaching

Join Us for Worship at Westminster

9:30 a.m. Sundays

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Westminster Presbyterian Church

2155 University Ave

Dubuque, IA 52001

Meet and Greet,

SUNDAY, AUG. 1

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2155 University Ave. Dubuque, IA 52001 563-583-1729

Join Us for Worship at Westminster

9:30 a.m. Sundays

Join us for

Communion at

Bethany Home

August 15 at 1:30 p.m. SCRIP is still available for

purchase in the church office