Fall Cleanup
Where:  Church grounds - meet in the Taylor lot
Time: Saturday, October 15 at 8-11:00 a.m. 
(any time you can volunteer is great)
What to bring: rakes, pruning shears, hedge trimmers, loppers, extension cords and kneeling pads
 
Your help is so appreciated. “Many hands make light work.”
Hope to see you Saturday, October 15!

Chili Cook-off
Chili Cook-Off to support Work Camp 2023 is scheduled for 5:30-
7:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 16th! Admission is $7 and a winner will be chosen by voting with dollars! (It is our first fundraiser after all!) If you want to bring a chili, reach out to Rob Monroe (rmonroe@kirkwoodpres) to sign up. We will also be revealing the 2023 Work Camp destination at the event – we hope you will join us!

Women's Bible Study
Join us once a month on the third Wednesday of the month for Bible study. We meet at church at 7:15 p.m.
This year we will be using the Presbyterian Women Bible study, Celebrating the Sabbath-Accepting God’s Gift of Rest and Delight.

Our next meeting will be Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022, at 7:15 p.m. at church. We will meet in the Gathering Space. For more information please contact Kristy Mitchell at kjam727@yahoo.com.

Eagle Scout Project: Pet Supply Drive
Bennett Lasater is our "youth" on the PNC, is a delightful young man, and is currently working on his Eagle Scout Project. He is organizing a pet supply drive for the Humane Society. He will be setting up a collection box at church in the front lobby. The box will be available for donations until October 23^rd. Bennett will be delivering the donations on October 24^th. 

Make Your Appointment Now for Upcoming Blood Drive
The Deacons are sponsoring a Red Cross Blood Drive on Friday, October 28, 2022, from 1-6:00 p.m. It will be conducted in the 
Fellowship Hall at church.  
 
COVID PROTOCOLS: Masks are no longer required. Red Cross staff will likely be wearing masks. Participants must come individually.
 
Appointments can be made online by visiting RedCrossBlood.org and entering FirstPresKirkwood or calling 1-800-Red Cross (1-800-733-2767). Walk-ins are accepted, but those with appointments will be taken first. There continues to be a critical need for blood. Please consider giving this gift of life. For questions, please contact Lindsay Marting.

First Presbyterian Church of Kirkwood
Book Clubs

We have several active book clubs! Check out the info below!
 

Tuesday Book Club – Meets every Tuesday in the Fireplace Room from 10-11:00 a.m. Currently reading The President’s Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity. Their next books will be As a Driven Leaf, by Rabbi Milton Steinberg, followed by The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century, by Scott Miller. 
Contact kochkarenp@gmail.com for more info.
 
Wednesday Book Club - The next meeting of the Wednesday Book Club is October 26, 2022, at 1:30 p.m. over Zoom. We will be reading The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare. For more info, please contact Julia Abreu at julia@abreu.net.
 
History Book Group –Meets on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. every other month at church.  At our meeting on November 17, we will talk about Stephen R. Oates’ With Malice Toward None, which provides a succinct, easy-to-read overview of President Lincoln’s life.   For more information, contact Carlin Scanlan (ccscanlan@swbell.net) or Don Lewis(donlewis610@gmail.com).

Mission Trip to Help Rebuild in Kentucky
Mission Committee members are busy arranging a mission trip to western Kentucky from October 30-November 5 to help rebuild after a catastrophic storm in 2021. You might not recall the specifics of the storm, as there have been too many disasters of all kinds. To refresh your memory, in December 2021, a violent, long-track tornado moved through Western Kentucky, causing catastrophic damage, and taking 57 lives. Residents are now in the rebuilding phase. This area is a 3-hour drive from St. Louis, which means it's convenient even if you can only come for part of the week. We will be working with Hopkins County Emergency Management and with Habitat for Humanity. They promise there will be plenty of work for all skill levels. If you're interested, just pencil in that week, and watch for more details this summer. If you have questions, email Lucy Tidwell lucytidwellco@gmail.com or Georgina Sikorski (gwsikorski@gmail.com).

New Matthew 25 Education Series
October 30-November 20, 2022

WHAT IS A MATTHEW 25 CHURCH?
Matthew 25:31–46 calls all of us to actively engage in the world around us, so our faith comes alive and we wake up to new possibilities. As a Matthew 25 Church we are called to act boldly and compassionately to see our neighbors through Jesus’ eyes and serve those who are marginalized or in need — people who are hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, imprisoned, strangers, poor or oppressed in other ways and in need of welcoming.

WHERE TO BEGIN?
The themes of the Matthew 25 invitation are grounded in the gospel. Jesus calls us to serve with and for “the least of these” — not as a group to be pitied, but as people who are deeply loved by Jesus. 
 
Matthew 25 churches embrace one or more of these three focuses:

• Building congregational vitality by challenging congregations and their members to deepen and energize their faith and grow as joyful leaders and disciples actively engaged with their community, seeing new disciples engaged in ministry and longstanding believers develop in faith as the gospel of Jesus Christ is shared in word and deed.
• Dismantling structural racism by fearlessly applying our faith to advocate and break down the systems, practices and thinking that underlie discrimination, bias, prejudice and oppression of people of color.
• Eradicating systemic poverty by acting on our beliefs and working to change laws, policies, plans and structures in our society that perpetuate economic exploitation of people who are poor.

Want to Learn More?
Join Us October 30 and meet Bill McConnell is the mission engagement advisor for the Central PCUSA region, which includes the synods of Living Waters, Mid-America and Lakes and Prairies. Join us at the Chapel at 10:00 AM to hear Bill McConnell speak about Matthew 25, and what it means to be a Matthew 25 church. 

Update Your Info for Our New Directory
We are in the process of updating the online member directory which will include addresses, phone numbers, emails, and a photo (if provided).  If your contact information has recently changed or you would like to add a photo, please let the office know at office@kirkwoodpres.org or 314-965-0326.  We plan to have the updated version available on our website by December 1.

Hands-On Kirkwood Event
Thank you to everyone who helped to distribute or pick up the Hands-On Kirkwood donation bags. Because of you, we were able to distribute and pick up bags from all of Kirkwood. As a result, we collected over 12,500 donated items for Kirk Care and Nurses for Newborns! This was a great accomplishment and something that couldn’t have been done without each of your contributions. Thank you again for your help!

Give Online
Have you tried giving online? You can do a onetime gift or set up reoccurring payments and pay with ACH direct from your checking account, via credit card or using GooglePay.
 
Go to https://www.shelbygiving.com/app/giving/kirkwoodpres and follow the prompts, text GIVE to 314-293-4922, or scan the QR code to go directly to our giving portal. If you have any questions, please reach out to accounting@kirkwoodpres.org.