The Union Church in Waban               
Friday, November 29, 2019 

This Sunday
          8:00 a.m. - No Bible this Sunday
  9:00 a.m. - Choir Rehearsal  
10:00 a.m. -  Worship - Hanging of the Greens
1 0:00 a.m. -   Intergenerational  Advent Wreath Making 
This Sunday, (and also on Sunday, Dec. 8) following Worship on the Stage.
 
Bring the light of peace, love, hope and joy into your home during this Advent season! We'll have all the supplies you need to create an Advent wreath for your home, just bring your creativity and a desire to create sacred space in the busyness of the season. If you have a wire frame from years past, please feel free to bring it to add new greens and candles. Donations towards materials are welcome. 
 11:30 a.m. - Reflecting on Misssion/Outreach Experiences
Mission Outreach Leadership is offering a time to reflect on the experience of being of service this Sunday . Whether you participated in the Thanksgiving Community Dinner, the raking and yard clean up activity on the 17 th , attended one of the reflection sessions offered by the Montgomery Travelers, or had another opportunity to serve and learn, you are invited to this time of reflection as we think about the role of service in the life of faith. Also in light of our Hanging of the Greens service where we prepare our church home for the Advent season, we will reflect on our winter mission outreach theme of homelessness and housing and how we may being called into deeper service with those who are experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. 
 5:00 p.m. - Exploring our Faith  (Monthly Meeting)  
 6:30 p.m. - High School Youth Group

  T he Union Church Mitten Tree 2019
Once again, our wonderful and generous congregation is supporting our friends at Project Care and Concern and Norwood Healthcare during this holiday season. For the residents of both of these organizations the Christmas gifts they receive from UCW are the only ones they receive at all. This is an opportunity for us to remind the residents that we are all a part of their family in Christ. 

The red mittens are designated for elderly residents living at Norwood Health Care. The green mittens are for formerly homeless adults living in group homes in the Boston area. 
Wrapped gifts with their mitten tags need to be returned to church by Sunday Dec 15, so that we may make deliveries before Christmas. 

If you have any questions please contact Erika Pond or Molly Owen-Kiritsy. Thank you for your generosity this holiday season.

CYFChildren, Youth and Families
Growing in Faith and Community 
MIDDLE SCHOOL CHRISTMAS PARTY!  
Friday, December 13th, from 6:30 - at 8:30 p.m.
Middle School Youth and members of the Youth Ministry Team are invited to gather at the Hunt-Stevens home with friends for food, Christmas-themed games, and a white-elephant gift exchange (bring something wacky, weird or wonderful under $10). We'll have a jolly good time! Please RSVP on WeSpire, or contact Amy ([email protected]) or Susan ([email protected]). 
CHRISTMAS PAGEANT - KIDS LEAD US IN ADVENT WORSHIP
 Sunday, December 15th, (with rehearsal on Dec.  14th)
Calling all UCW Musicians!
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 ( [email protected] ) know. There are ways for everyone to participate!  
CAROLING AT NORWOOD HEALTH  
Sunday, December 15th, at 1:00 p.m.
All ages are invited to join this joyous tradition, as we bring holiday cheer to our friends at the Norwood Health Center.  Please plan to gather at the church at 12:45 p.m.  We'll go over a few songs, and then carpool together.  
SAVE THE DATE:  CITYREACH OVERNIGHT SERVICE TRIP 
Friday - Saturday, January 10th - 11th
High-Schoolers and adults are invited to join this powerful overnight service trip with our partner, Ecclesia Ministries in downtown Boston. We'll learn from and serve with Ecclesia members who currently experiencing homelessness. Please let Pastor Amy ([email protected]) know this week if you can join us.
Adult Education, Spiritual Formation and Fellowship
norwood health  
Pen Pal ministry
   
Once a month, a group from UCW worships with the residents of Norwood Health.  Many of these residents were formerly our neighbors, living at Waban Health before that facility closed.  

In addition to our monthly worship service, many of the residents enjoy writing and receiving cards.  We know that loneliness adversely affects health and well being and many of the residents are quite socially isolated.  Writing cards is one way we can help foster connection and share the love of UCW.  If you are interested in being a pen pal with a resident of Norwood Health.  Please be in touch with Stacy .
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.  
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 
Reflecting on Mission/Outreach Experiences
This Sunday, December 1st, 11:30 a.m.

Mission Outreach Leadership is offering a time to reflect on the experience of being of service on Sunday, December 1st. Whether you participated in the Thanksgiving Community Dinner, the raking and yard clean up activity on the 17th, attended one of the reflection sessions offered by the Montgomery Travelers, or had another opportunity to serve and learn, you are invited to this time of reflection as we think about the role of service in the life of faith. Also in light of our Hanging of the Greens service where we prepare our church home for the Advent season, we will reflect on our winter mission outreach theme of homelessness and housing and how we may being called into deeper service with those who are experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity.

homelessness and housing


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.
                                                
                                      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 [email protected] , 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  [email protected]
or by phone at 617-244-3650.