​Arlene Gloria Kloubec Reyman, 92 of Cedar Rapids, died Monday, November 14, 2016 in her home.  Celebration of life services will be 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, November 22, 2016 at Brosh Chapel & The Avacentre in Cedar Rapids, located at 2121 Bowling Street SW.  Burial will follow in Anderson Cemetery in Swisher.  Luncheon hosted at church following burial.
Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday, November 21, 2016 at Brosh Chapel and The Avacentre.

Hot off the presses! The Cedar Rapids Gazette has posted a story about Sharon Furler's 50 years as organist at First Presbyterian Church near Ely. Congratulations Sharon!
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http://www.thegazette.com/subject/life/people-places/organist-has-shared-her-gift-of-god-for-more-than-50-years-at-rural-ely-church-20160808

Leo Tolstoy wrote in War and Peace:

Love is life. All, all that I understand, I understand only because I love. All is, all exists only because I love. All is bound up in love along. Love is God, and dying means for me a particle of love, to go back to the universal and eternal sour of live.
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May you find your source of love in God and be reassured that you are a child of God.

In Christ,
Pastor Julie

​Joyce Dianne Williams, 68, of Cedar Rapids, died Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015, at the Dennis and Donna Oldorf Hospice House of Mercy. Services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, at First Presbyterian Church near Ely, with the Rev. Dr. Julie Schuett presiding. Burial will be Oak Hill Cemetery in Williamsburg. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. until service time at the church. Brosh Chapel in Cedar Rapids is assisting the family.

Carolyn K. (Fencl) Beard, 49, of Gays Mills, Wis., formerly of Solon, died Monday, July 7, 2014, at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center in La Crosse, Wis. Memorial services will be 10:30 a.m. Friday, July 11, followed by a lunch at First Presbyterian Church near Ely, with visitation from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the church. Brosh Chapel, Solon, is handling the arrangements. 

We are blessed to take our turn to host the "Peacemaking Quilt" from the Presbytery of East Iowa.

It was created by Rev. Susan Barnes, recent pastor at Lonetree Presbyterian, to celebrate 35 years of the Presbytery's Peacemaking Committee. Some squares of the quilt are from cloth 70 years old, some are from new fabrics.

You will notice the theme words around the edging: "Peacemakers create, peacemakers, keep up, and peacemakers cross bridges for the sake of peace" around the landscape of an Iowan country covered bridge.

May you see the quilt from the back of the sanctuary to see its overall picture, and then venture closer to see all the squares of things showing ways that God brings peace to this world.

Jesus, the Prince of Peace said: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God."

See you on Sunday.

In Christ,

Pastor Julie

If WINTER WEATHER threatens, please check KCRG  TV9 by 8:30 am to see if church services or activities have cancelled.  We will also try to send out an email.  If in doubt, call someone before driving in risky conditions!

Click for the January 2014 Newsletter