First Church Congregational

Women’s Fellowship of First Church, Congregational is sponsoring a one-year scholarship award of $1,500 to be given to an adult member (male or female) of the congregation to use for higher education. The scholarship will be awarded to the winner of a personal narrative contest.

Qualifications / Requirements:
1. The applicant must be a current member of First Church, Congregational.
2. The applicant will use the award to continue his/her education at an accredited educational institution. A check will be made out to that institution.
3. Narrative specifications: a.) The applicant will write a personal narrative on the theme: “How My Faith Has Supported Me.” Examples of how the personal narrative may relate to using one’s faith are:using faith through good and bad times, using faith in giving direction to life stages and using faith to give back to others. b.) The narrative should be 2-3 pages long, typed and double-spaced.
4. The narrative must be delivered to the Church Office by Monday, May 14, 2012.
5. Narratives will be judged by the Women’s Fellowship Scholarship Committee.
6. The Award winner will be announced on an appropriate Sunday in May during the morning worship.

Click here for application

Cinco de Mayo Fiesta Set for Dos de Mayo at

First Church Congregational!!!

First Church, Congregational, in Painesville will host its second community fund-raiser dinner event of 2012 with a” Cinco de Mayo Fiesta” on Wednesday, May 2. This event is to assist “LEAD” — or Learn, Experience, Achieve, Develop. LEAD is a high school program through the Lake County Educational Service Center. The mission of LEAD is to provide therapeutic, prevocational, and educational opportunities in a non-traditional setting.

The Lake County Educational Service Center operates many programs for the students of Lake County and surrounding counties, including Early Childhood classrooms in a variety of districts, vocational skills training for students with multiple disabilities, Crossroads PHP, The Lake Academy and a classroom for students with Autism.

Community Support

This Cinco de Mayo Fiesta continues the First Church Congregational series of community supportive dinners. Over the past several months, the church hosted dinner events to raise funds for Painesville Little League “Challenger Division” and for St. James Episcopal Church, Painesville, for renovating its kitchen, which is the hub of the St. James Lunch Program. The St. James program provides weekend meals for people who frequently receive meals from the Salvation Army during the week.

Technically, the May 2 fiesta may be a “Dos de Mayo Fiesta” because of the actual event date, but the theme and flavor will be 100% Cinco De Mayo. Lunch will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for $6, and dinner will be available from 5 to 7 p.m. for $7, both at the First Church Social Room. The church is located at the west end of the square in downtown Painesville.

In addition to the taco bar meals, the First Church fiesta will feature music, items to purchase and designer scarves upon which to bid. And takeout meals will be available.

Spearheading Cinco de Mayo program are First Church members Mary Hada and Jan Kiewit, with assistance from dozens of church members.

LEAD Role with Students

Begun in 2010, LEAD is an educational unit within the Lake County Educational Service Center. LEAD serves students in grades nine through eleven, coming from any of the nine school districts in Lake County as well as districts from surrounding counties. Currently, LEAD has 11 students enrolled. When the students participate in their prevocational skills training, they are in small groups from one to four students with one staff member.

School districts determine if a student is to attend one of LEAD’s programs. If so, the participating districts share the cost of the program. The schools have concluded that this consortium approach is a cost effective method to provide specific programming to students with a variety of needs.

LEAD is located in the Garfield Center on the Lake Erie College Campus on Gillett Street and employs two full time Intervention Specialists (Special Education Teachers), one full time Job Coach and a part time administrator.

First Church Congregational is at 22 Liberty Street, on the Square in downtown Painesville. For more details, call 440.357.7518 or visit www.firstchurchcongregational.org.