The Union Church in Waban               
Friday, November 15, 2019 

This Sunday
        8:00 a.m.  - No Bible Study - Bible study resumes next week
  9:00 a.m. - Choir Rehearsal  
10:00 a.m. -  Worship 
11:15 a.m. - 2020 Nicaraguan Traveller's Meeting  
There will be a brief - but important - meeting this Sunday following the service for all those planning to go on the church trip to Nicaragua in February 2020.  ( more details here )
11:15 a.m. -  Montgomery Travelers Meeting 
11:30 a.m. -  Helping Hands Clean-up
Following worship this Sunday, the Middle and High School Youth Groups, including the Exploring Our Faith group  (AND ANYONE ELSE WHO WOULD LIKE TO HELP! ) , will gather in teams to lend a hand to any members of the congregation who could use help with yard or house work, or other projects.  ( more details  here )
  7:30 p.m. -  Parents' Gathering ( more details here )
Community Thanksgiving Dinner 

We need your help!
Community Thanksgiving  Dinner
Saturday, November 23 rd, at 2:00 p.m.  

The UCW Community Thanksgiving Dinner is a week away, and no one has volunteered to help yet! Please let us know how you would like to contribute. The volunteer sign-up link can be found here by going to the Union Church homepage at ucw.org . This event brings together local seniors and families who sit down together for a relaxing meal and a time of fellowship. This year's dinner will take place on Saturday, November 23 rd at 2:00 p.m., and even if you cannot attend the actual dinner, there are tasks you can do to help. We would also love it if UCW members invite folks who would enjoy our dinner. Reach out to Alicia Collins ( aliciamaureencollins@gmail.com ) or look in the side chapel for invitations that you can distribute. Thanks for supporting this wonderful event!

Please also plan on sharing in a time of reflection after the service on    December 1 st . 
We will gather on the stage with mission leadership to reflect on how the experience of serving and sharing with others through our Thanksgiving Dinner may have affected us.  What did we notice?  What did we learn?  What are we struggling with or rejoicing in? 

NIca
Nica Meeting 
Calling All 2020 Nicaraguan Travellers!!!
This Sunday,  November 17 th , after worship

THERE WILL BE A BRIEF- BUT IMPORTANT---MEETING TODAY IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE SERVICE FOR
ALL THOSE PLANNING TO GO ON THE CHURCH TRIP TO NICARAGUA IN FEBRUARY 2020.
  
The Nica team needs to get a final count in order to plan our service project.  The group will be leaving on Saturday, February 15 th and returning on the following Saturday, February 22 nd, and to date we have 21 confirmed travelers.  We have some important information to share with you all about the trip.  Please come, even if you are still "on the fence" about going.  If you are planning to travel and cannot attend, please contact Karen Weisgerber ( karen@weisbrown.net) in the next week so that we can make sure you are included in the trip planning!
Upcoming 
The Union Church in Waban 
Christmas Tree  &  Greens Sale

On December 1st, 2019, we will welcome the Advent season by decorating the sanctuary with greens, wreaths and poinsettias.    
The greens sale is an annual fundraiser that this year supports our work in Nicaragua. Wreathes, poinsettias, sprigs and other festive decorations are available to purchase to prepare our homes and our sanctuary for Advent and the celebration of Christmas.
Please help us continue our good works by purchasing poinsettias for the sanctuary or to decorate your home!  Do not forget to offer an order form to family, friends, coworkers and neighbors to help 2019 be our most successful sale yet!  

Download the Order Form  HERE
Advent Devotional Booklet - Contributions Welcome!

You are invited to contribute to the 2019 UCW Advent devotional booklet.  Our theme for Advent carries forward the idea of what it is to shine, something that we explored at the All Church Retreat and that Pastor Stacy will be entering into during the sermon this Sunday as well.  In Advent, as we draw closer to the manger, we reflect on how God's love shines forth through Hope, Peace, Joy and Love.  We also recognize that to shine as our true and authentic selves can also be scary.  It can make us vulnerable and it takes courage, compassion, community and care.  Do you have a piece of writing, a poem, a photo that you could offer to the booklet as we make our way through Advent?   If so please be in touch with Pastor  Stacy .  

Submissions are due November 24th.  
Special Collection on Thanksgiving Sunday

harvest-banner.jpg
This year our Special Collection on Thanksgiving Sunday , November 24th will be in support of the  Family Team of Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program  (www.bhchp.org).  Our collection will allow Family Team staff to provide gift cards to parents in need. 


More than 3,500 homeless families with children and pregnant women are currently housed through the Massachusetts shelter system, representing approximately 13,000 individuals, an estimated 60% of whom are children. Homeless parents struggle to raise their children while facing innumerable questions each day- Where will our next meal come from? Are we safe? How will my children get to school or to a doctor? When will we find a home of our own?
 
BHCHP's multidisciplinary Family Team-comprised of physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, behavioral health clinicians, and case managers-travels to 20 locations across greater Boston to deliver health care, supportive services, and basic resources to 1,000 homeless individuals, approximately 600 of which children . The Family Team works quickly to bring its services to where it is needed most, add necessary resources to support families in need, and advocate for a population that often feels voiceless.  The Family Team helps families navigate systems to access a safe source of shelter, food, and other basic survival needs, even arranging them to stay in a hotel in times of crisis to avoid sleeping on the street or in unsafe settings. The Family Team brings as many resources to bear as possible to help families untangle complex problems by connecting them with legal services, assisting them with documentation and identification needs, and ensuring that they have much-needed medical and behavioral health care.

Adult Education, Spiritual Formation and Fellowship
sTAR GAZING - THE WISE ONES GAZED INTO THE HEAVENS 
NOW YOU CAN TOO!

We are invited on Wednesday, November 20 th to join our own Phil Rounseville at the astronomy observatory at Westford MIT Lincoln Lab. The observatory is located at 2 Millstone Road, Westford, MA. Please plan to arrive at 6:30 pm and please wear warm clothing. We will have an opportunity to look into the deep and to marvel that the God of the cosmos is also is present to us here on this little blue orb we call earth. If you are interested in joining this offering, please be in touch with Pastor Stacy ( Stacy@ucw.org ).
NEW DAY - THURSDAY MORNINGS   
PRAYER GROUP: 7:30 - 8:15 a.m.
  
 
We live in a noisy world.  There is much that clamors for our attention.  Even when we shut our eyes at night it may take a while for the din to die down enough for us to sleep.  You are invited into a practice of cultivating spaciousness and silence.  You are invited into the beauty of the morning light streaming in through the windows of Memorial Chapel.  You are invited to rest a while in the peace of stillness.  If you have questions, please be in touch with  Sandra DaDalt or  Pastor Stacy .
YOGA WITH ANDREW
CONTINUES THROUGH DECEMBER   
THURSDAYS from 9:00 - 10:00 a.m.
(Note new time.)
Join body and spirit in an accessible yoga class. In this hour-long class, we will join breath and body both in energetic flow and restorative stretching. No matter where you are on your yoga journey, you will build strength and find a quiet restful center. This class is accessible to all body types and abilities.  Please bring a yoga mat and any favorite props. Andrew has some props and mats available to borrow.  
Last call on Advent women's retreat

DECEMBER Book group  
Tuesday, December 10th , 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.

Our next book is "Between the World and Me"
by Ta-Nehisi Coates. 

"In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation's history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of "race," a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men-bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?" 
Mission Outreach 

inequity and inequality
in public education


This year your    Mission Outreach Leadership Team  is organizing its work (and coordinating with the other areas of UCW life) around seasonal themes. These will provide an organizing context for the many mission activities and we will coordinate educational opportunities, worship, and children's education around these themes when possible. We also hope to coordinate our seasonal offerings around these themes.


Themes are as follows:
    
Winter -  Homelessness and Housing
Spring -  Climate Change (and disaster relief)

For more information about these offerings please feel free to reach out to
Carol Bascom-Slack,Jaap van Reijendam or Julie Heffernan.
Catie's Closet is Open at the Russell School!
 
   Late summer, members of the church painted a room at the Russell School in Dorchester (a longstanding partner of ours) a color called "Joy."  This fall we held a clothing drive for Catie's Closet the organization what would make of this joyful room a place where children could come "shopping" for needed essentials.  We also were blessed in having  Kodia Baye-Cigna  of Catie's Closet with us in worship to speak to us about the mission of the organization. 



And now... The pants are folded. The sweaters are hanging. The uniforms are pressed and the message is clear as the poster in the room declares "You Belong Here.  I Believe in you." 

Thank you Church, for making this happen.  We are blessed to be a part of such a blessing that Catie's Closet in the Russell School most surely is! 

For more information about Catie's Closet at the Russell School, please be in touch with our liaison,  Julie Heffernan.
  
CYFChildren, Youth and Families
Growing in Faith and Community 
CleanUPYouth Group: Helping Hands Clean-up and Donuts
This Sunday,  November 17 th , after worship
Following worship this Sunday, the Middle and High School Youth Groups, including the Exploring Our Faith group (AND ANYONE ELSE WHO WOULD LIKE TO HELP!), will gather in teams to lend a hand to any members of the congregation who could use help with yard or house work, or other projects.  Please grab some food at reception, and then gather in the Vestry as we get organized, and distribute tools, cider and donuts!    

If you could use a helping hand, or can lend a helping hand, please contact
Pastor Amy (amy@ucw.org).   

Thank you!
PG
PARENTS GROUP 
This Sunday, November 17th, from 7:30 -9:00 p.m. 
All who are parenting kids of any age are invited to this warm, supportive group.  We'll share the joys and challenges of parenting, learn from one another, and find the spiritual nourishment and support we need for our busy weeks.  Come as you are, when you can!  We hope to see you.   (3rd Sundays, Stacy's Office)
KIDS AND YOUTH SERVICE OPPORTUNITY:  THANKSGIVING COMMUNITY DINNER 
Friday, Nov. 22nd and Saturday, Nov. 23rd 
Our beloved Thanksgiving Community Dinner is coming up soon (see details above), and is a great opportunity for all-ages to serve! Come on Friday night to help set up, or on Saturday to help serve and welcome our guests.   You can sign up here or through the link on the ucw.org homepage.  
FOURTH GRADE BIBLES and THANKSGIVING SUNDA
Sunday, November 24th
On Nov. 24 th, we'll give thanks for and celebrate our fourth graders as they grow in their faith, and as the church gifts them their own Bibles.  We hope you will plan to join us.  If you have a fourth grader in your home or family who would like to be part of this special day, please be in touch with Pastor Amy ( amy@ucw.org).  
SAVE THE DATE: 
CHRISTMAS PAGEANT -  KIDS LEAD US IN ADVENT WORSHIP
Sunday, December 15th, (with rehearsal on Dec.  14th)
We're excited to begin thinking about our child-and-youth-led Advent worship service. If you or your kids would like to share music for this special service, lead our storytelling or liturgy, or help behind the scenes, greeting, or in any other way, please let Pastor Amy ( amy@ucw.org ) know. There are ways for everyone to participate!  
                                                
                                      Our Covenant
 
We, the members of The Union Church in Waban, true to our founding principle of being an inclusive church, covenant together to nourish and to sustain in our common life and practice a fully welcoming and affirming church for all persons. Welcoming all persons who seek to join with us in a commitment to love God and our neighbors, affirming the inclusive love of Jesus, we are open to all, without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, ability or economic circumstance. We invite all to full participation in our worship, membership, leadership and life of this church.


For a complete listing, and details of all upcoming events,  please 
visit our website, www.ucw.org 
 
Note : Material for inclusion in the Friday e-Blast newsletter should be e-mailed to the office at ucw@ucw.org , by 9:00 a.m. on the previous Wednesday morning.  
From the Wider Community

Revisiting Civil Rights Sites in  Montgomery, Selma, and Birmingham Alabama,  and Boston MA
 
Purpose             
We propose a project of Civil Rights era remembrance for two audiences, for youth and for civic and academic leaders. This venture is intergenerational. Youth will be involved with film and social media; civic and academic leaders in an academic conference drawing from the New Democracy Coalition's program on Civic Literacy, CMM's Values over Violence and Interfaith Youth Initiatives, the Ella J Baker House and Seymour Institute, and additional partners, churches and synagogues. We seek to acknowledge the 55 th anniversary of the crossing of Pettus Bridge in Selma (2020) and related events.
Selma - 2020     Phase One:
Focus on Youth: travel seminar by bus and one night's hotel lodging

February 28         Friday: 20-hour bus trip as traveling seminar with civil rights video
February 29         Saturday: Montgomery, AL; visit National Memorial for Peace & Justice                                       (Saturday Night - in hotel/motel)
March 1                Sunday: Jubilee Sunday: Church Service and Pettus Bridge Crossing
March 2                Monday: Birmingham Civil Rights Museum and 16 th Baptist Church      
March 3                Tuesday: Back in Boston in the early morning/mid afternoon
April                      Gathering of Sojourners: "What Did It All Mean?" Date & Place: TBA
Boston - 2021   Phase Two:
Five nights of Boston hospitality, receptions and academic conference

April 16                Friday: Welcome reception by a supporting Institute
April 17                Saturday: Freedom Trail and civic welcome, Faneuil/Crispus Attucks Hall
April 18                Sunday: Church Services and Thurman Center, Boston University
April 19                Monday: Black Freedom Trail, Tubman, Baker Houses welcome
April 20                Tuesday: Seymour Institute Academic Round Table, Harvard University
April 21                Wednesday: Depart

Contact CMM for interest and further information at  info@coopmet.org
or by phone at 617-244-3650.