Announcements for Sunday, June 7
INSIDE: Second Service at 10am @ Riverside Park • Summer Book Read • LuMin Giving Challenge
Synod-wide Worship @ Riverside Park
THIS Sunday, June 7, worship at 8am will be at First. Worship at 10am will be at Riverside Park with the entire synod, followed by a picnic after worship. Inclement weather location: Good Shepherd Lutheran, Church 4141 Mormon Coulee Rd, La Crosse.
Join us for Worship!
Sunday Worship, June 7:
8am: live stream at 1stlu.org/live, and in-person. Nursery available.
10am: worship at Riverside Park with the synod. Forecast for Sunday: 78º and partly cloudy, with a 16% chance of rain. Inclement weather location: Good Shepherd Lutheran, Church 4141 Mormon Coulee Rd, La Crosse.
LuMin Giving Challenge
LuMin is excited to unveil our Synod Assembly 2026 LuMin Giving Challenge during Synod Assembly on June 6, and we wanted to give you a preview of what’s to come! While many people have heard about LuMin, we are eager to continue sharing the incredible impact campus ministry has on students and the broader community. Campus ministry truly is chaplaincy — offering connection, support, faith formation, and care during some of life’s most formative years. LuMin is blessed to be supported through congregational giving, gifts from alumni and friends, synod partnerships, grants, and endowments. This meaningful work would not be possible without the generosity of individuals and organizations who believe in our mission. On June 6, two incredible donors are helping LuMin reach exciting and attainable goals through our live Giving Challenge. Each donor has pledged a special gift that will be unlocked when specific participation goals are met!
Here’s a snapshot of the challenge:
30 new or returning givers (those who have not given in the past two years) will unlock a $3,000 gift
20 recurring gifts (new or increased) will unlock a $5,000 gift
50 total givers will unlock an additional $2,000 gift
Thank you for your continued support of LuMin and the students we serve. We can’t wait to celebrate this exciting opportunity together on June 6th!
Worship Changes for the Summer
Sunday, June 7: Worship at 8am will be at First, and worship at 10am will be at Riverside Park with the synod (or at Good Shepherd Lutheran if there is inclement weather).
Starting June 14 thru the summer: Sunday worship will be at 8am and 10am.
Three outdoor worship services this summer (weather permitting), followed by potluck: June 21, July 26, and August 16, all at 10am.
Wednesday worship will take a summer break Memorial Day through Labor Day and resumes Sept. 9.
🎵 Lift Your Voice: Join the Synod Choir!
Want to be a part of the worship leadership? The synod is forming a Synod Choir to sing during the June 7 outdoor service (mentioned below)! If you love to sing and want to raise your voice for justice and praise, we would love to have you join us! Want to sing? Click HERE to learn more.
Synod-wide Worship @ Riverside Park
On Sunday, June 7: Worship at 8am will be at First. Worship at 10am will be at Riverside Park with the entire synod. Stay for the picnic and fellowship after worship!
Coffee with Pastor Karyn
Coffee with Pastor Karyn is open to all and meets at 7am each Wednesday in the narthex. See you there! Questions? Contact karyn@firstlu.org.
Sugar Creek Summer Reg Now Open
Sugar Creek offers 17 unique and powerful summer camp programs, plus retreat ministries for youth in elementary school, middle school, and high school – and adults and families! Located on 660 acres in the bluffs and valleys of southwestern Wisconsin. Come learn, relax, encounter Christ, and have fun at Sugar Creek! Explore sugarcreekbiblecamp.org for more information about next summer.
Summer Book Read
Join Pastor Karyn and Pastor Libby (and thousands of others across the country) in a Summer Book Read this June! The book? Communion by Bell Hooks. In this third book of her trilogy on love in American culture, Bell Hooks reveals how women of all ages can achieve emotional growth and bring love into every aspect of their lives, for all the years of their lives. This is not another self-help, find your man, book. This book explores how vital love, in all its forms, is to our lives as women.
Each person is responsible for purchasing their own book. Support our local bookstores by purchasing it from them, or check it out from the library! How it will work: We will read the book during the month of June and gather on June 24 in the evening to discuss the book together. The time and place will be determined once we know how many people will be joining us. Sign up at 1stlu.org/next.
Baptismal Preparation
The next baptism preparation session will be Sunday, Jun. 14, at 11:15am in the narthex for anyone who is considering or has scheduled a baptism. To register or ask questions call the church office at 608.783.2236 by Sunday, Jun. 7. Min. attendance required: 2 families.
OWLs
The OWLs (our Older Wiser Lutherans at First, for anyone 55+) June potluck is Wednesday, June 17 at noon in the Fellowship Hall. Since its summer everyone should bring their favorite picnic food. The program will be summer fun and games.
For our June outing, the OWLs will be attending a La Crosse Concert band performance at Riverside Park. on Wednesday June 24. The theme for the La Crosse Concert Band performance will be “No Strings Attached.” Expect a mix of patriotic, classical and contemporary American compositions that highlight our rich musical heritage. We will meet at the church at 4:30pm. and have a fine dinner at The Big Lady (used to be David Reay's) before heading to the park. Bring a folding lawn chair if you don’t like to sit on the park benches. The concert is free and dinner is on your own. If you would like to attend, connect with volunteer coordinator Brian Narveson at 630-816-5917 or owls@firstlu.org. The outing will go rain or shine as it is transferred to a local high school in event of rain.
Upcoming Office Closures
The office will be closed at the following times…
Friday, June 19, Juneteenth
Friday, July 3, Independence Day observed
Juneteenth Celebration
La Crosse’s annual Juneteenth celebration! Uniting all members of the community in celebration of Black Americans!! Fun, food, entertainment, history, education and connection. At Riverside Park on Saturday, June 20, noon–8pm.
Sending Sunday
On Sunday, June 21, at the 10am service, we invite everyone, especially those participating in Faith Webs, to help send off and bless our middle school, high school and all-ages service trips as they head out to their various destinations in July!
Outdoor Worship and Potluck
First will worship outdoors on Fifth Ave for the second service once a month during the summer, on the following Sundays, weather permitting…
June 21, 10am
July 26, 10am
August 16, 10am
Bring your own lawn chairs, perhaps a hat to shade your eyes, and a side dish to share at the potluck (though everyone is welcome at the potluck even if you don’t bring anything!). If the weather's bad that day, we'll move inside. NOTE: There is no live stream of the 10am outdoor service.
Monday Night Community Meals
For many years, Trinity Lutheran Church on the north side of La Crosse has hosted a meal on Monday nights. First Lutheran helps with this important community ministry, by preparing a meal, serving the food, and cleaning up. We need people to plan and prepare the meal to feed 150-200 people, and folks to serve the meal (5-6pm) and help with cleanup. Meal prep can be done at your convenience. Many times people prepare the main course a week ahead, freeze it, and reheat it. Food for the meal can be gotten at no charge from the Hunger Task Force in La Crosse. New for 2026: Cookie bakers! Help bake a batch of 4 dozen cookies! NEXT: June 22. Sign up at 1stlu.org/next.
Summer Music Outings & Picnics
This summer, join others from First Lutheran at area music events. We will meet for a potluck picnic before the event, and then enjoy some good local music. Most of the events will feature musicians from First Lutheran or friends of First Lutheran. Looking forward to seeing you there!
July 9: Matt Mahlum Band at Moon Tunes (5:30pm at Riverside Park). First Lutheran potluck picnic at 5pm.
July 19: La Crosse Jazz Orchestra at Jazz in the Park (7pm at Riverside Park, feat. Cori and Sara on vocals). First Lutheran potluck picnic at 6:30pm.
August 13: Fayme Rochelle and the Waxwings at Moon Tunes (5:30 at Riverside Park, feat. Todd Saner on vocals). First Lutheran potluck picnic at 5pm.
August 18: Fly Casual at Great River Sound (6:30 at Dash Park) First Lutheran potluck picnic at church at 5:30pm.
August 20: Saner and Gibbs at Moon Tunes (5:30 at Riverside Park) First Lutheran potluck picnic at 5pm.
Synod Night at the Loggers
Join your friends, neighbors, and fellow synod members at the "Lumberyard" on July 12 for a fun-filled Synod Night Out of food, fellowship, and La Crosse Loggers baseball! Learn more & register.
Behind the Scenes Changes
As Pastor Stanton mentioned in his message in church on Sunday, May 31, we currently ask members to use several different platforms in order to participate in the ministries at First Lutheran. In an effort to make signing up and registering for events and opportunities easier for everyone, and to bring giving history, signups and more all under one roof, we will be making some big changes to how we manage our membership data and our giving platform this summer. A few of the areas this will affect will be:
Membership: we’ll be migrating our membership roles from our current platform to our new platform sometime in June.
Website: as of right now we have no plans to change our website provider, but the look will change a bit as we integrate it with our new platform.
Church app: the new platform offers a church app, which we will be working on throughout the summer and hope to launch at First Fest this fall.
Giving: the platform we use for giving will be changing, and we’ll be asking members to switch their giving to this new platform later in 2026.
Signing up/registering: we will be ending our use of Signup Genius and will be transferring our sign ups to our new platform later in 2026.
We intend to make our migration over the summer, and to start a staggered rollout of features starting in the fall.
Cancer Support
Navigating a cancer diagnosis, treatment, and after effects is tough and worthy of peer support. A non-medical First Lutheran member, Al Hutson, has been on this path and would like to make himself available to anyone interested in having a friendly ear to listen and provide mutual support. Contact him via email: awh051230@gmail.com, or phone/text: 563-343-8391.
HELP ministry
The Health Equipment Lending Program (HELP) is a ministry offered by Holmen Lutheran Church. People can borrow health-care equipment, ranging from crutches, walkers and wheelchairs to commodes and shower chairs. Also available are items to keep, such as transfer belts, braces and disposable briefs. For more information, contact Mary Nicolai at 608-498-0439 (text or leave a voicemail).
Salvation Army: Serving Hope, One Meal at a Time
The Salvation Army shelter in La Crosse provides 64 residents stability and an opportunity to get their feet back underneath of them and planted on solid ground. One of the ways this is done is by providing 3 meals a day. Each and every day, volunteers are needed at The Salvation Army La Crosse to help serve these warm, nourishing meals to those who need them most. These volunteers share their love and kindness with those they are serving. In addition to this, we welcome members of the community facing food insecurity to get a lunch each day of the week. In June, we served an average of 130 community meals each day. These meals are made possible by the compassion and service of volunteers—offering not only nourishment, but hope. If you are interested in learning more about how volunteers help us serve the community, please go online at centralusa.salvationarmy.org/lacrosse or call Rick at 608-782-6126 ext. 226 for more info.
Subscribe to Living Lutheran
Living Lutheran has brought back its print magazine publication. The storytelling you know and love will appear in mailboxes with four issues each year (spring, summer, winter and fall). Subscribe for the latest news, reflections and stories from the ELCA. Visit livinglutheran.org/subscribe to set up an individual subscription. If you have already subscribed – thank you!
Advocacy and Public Policy
Wondering how you can make your voice heard? Not sure how to call your elected leader or what you should say once you have them on the phone? There are two organizations that align with our values that can help!
The Lutheran Office of Public Policy Wisconsin Action Center has all the tools you need to take action on the state level. Find them at loppw.org/action.
ELCA Advocacy has all the tools you need to take action on the national level. Find them at: elca.org/how-we-serve/elca-in-society. For our June outing, the OWLs (our Older Wiser Lutherans at First, for anyone 55+) will be attending a La Crosse Concert band performance in Riverside Park. on Wednesday June 24. The theme for the La Crosse Concert Band performance will be “No Strings Attached.” The concert will feature works by Johann Strauss, John Pillip Sousa, Mozart and more, with Michelle Jensen as the guest conductor. Expect a mix of patriotic, classical and contemporary American compositions that highlight our rich musical heritage. It will be a fantastic evening by the river. We will meet at the church at 4:30pm. and have a fine dinner at The Big Lady (used to be David Reay's) before heading to the park. Bring a folding lawn chair if you don’t like to sit on the park benches. The concert is free and dinner is on your own. Don’t miss this wonderful summer evening of great music by the river. If you would like to attend, connect with volunteer coordinator Brian Narveson at 630-816-5917 or owls@firstlu.org. The outing will go rain or shine as it is transferred to a local high school in event of rain.
Sunday School
Sunday School resumes on Sept. 13. Have a blessed summer!
More info and registration: 1stlu.org/sunschool
Confirmation
Grade 8–10 confirmation orientation will be Sunday, Aug. 16.
More info and registration: 1stlu.org/confirm.
