Hen House Weekly E-News

Why Hen House? The friendly chatter before Worship on Sundays reminds us of a Hen House! Since Jesus identified himself as a Mother Hen and, as an historical farm church, we enjoy being God's ‘Hen House’ and welcome everyone (town, urban, and rural) to our Worship and other programs - and invite you to even make Zwingli your Church home. The United Church of Christ values all people!

From the Pastor

The month of June has arrived! It's a month of celebrations: Dairy Month, Father's Day, Graduations, Weddings, . . . ! In the Church calendar we celebrate the birthday of the Church at Pentecost! But it's more than a birthday celebration, it's a reminder to us that the Holy Spirit is with us, within us, and among us! The Holy Spirit blesses, empowers, challenges, and grows us as God's people, as God's Church. I hope you will join us this Sunday for Worship as we celebrate Pentecost. Becky is preparing a special medley for us to sing, and the Worship will be rich with opportunities to experience the power of the story of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-18). Join us (and invite your friends)!

Since red is the color of Pentecost, we invite you to wear red (if you like). You're still welcome even if you don't wear red!

I've shared some reflections on FB this week to help us all prepare for Pentecost (if you aren't on FB and would like these reflections, email me and I'll send you the links). For today I share this Pentecost Blessing by Steve Garnaas-Holmes (unfoldinglight.net):

May the mystery of the Holy Spirit dwell in you,

that you may hear the voice of grace

even in strange places and foreign tongues.

May the wind of the Holy Spirit move you

to cross boundaries and defy divisions

to love those who are different from you.

May the breath of the Holy Spirit breathe in you

to forgo all comfort and familiarity

to meet others where they are.

May the fountain of the Holy Spirit flow in you

with courage and humility to learn anew,

to be awkward and foolish for the sake of love.

May the fire of the Holy Spirit burn brightly in you,

that in all you do others may see in you

the warm light of the steady love of God.

Blessings,

Karla

Prayer List

Today, we invite you to keep in prayer:

Those suffering from drought, famine, accidents, fires, storms, flooding, tornados, excessive heat, violence, homelessness, illness, war in their communities.

Nations in crisis: India, Pakistan, Haiti, Sudan, The Congo, Ukraine, Israel-Palestine, Syria, Lebanon. Prayers for all those suffering from the broken ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and for another ceasefire soon. Prayers for the peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. Prayers for those countries, companies and consumers who are affected by the escalating trade war.

For wise, compassionate leadership in our Executive, legislative and judicial branches of govt, and citizen action. For Civil Servants, immigrants, international students, and others facing uncertainty under the policies of the new administration.

We will receive the Strengthen the Church offering this Sunday, June 8.

Flicker Wild Church Invites You!

One of the new ministries our Strengthen The Church Offering supports is Flicker Wild Church -- which happens right here in the Madison area! Consider attending their Summer Solstice Worship at Holy Wisdom Monastery!

Summer Solstice – June 20 – Holy Wisdom Monastery. Holy Wisdom is an innovative, ecumenical, net-zero community of Benedictine sisters who have been tending their beautiful restored prairie lands overlooking Lake Mendota for decades

The Solstice Circle will be held at the fire-pit-perch atop the hill not far from the upper parking area. Circle to begin at 6pm. Bring chairs or blankets.

If you would like to see a video of past Wild Church events, check out this 3 1/2 minute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekM7tK4z3go&t=1s

Verna Lange Bergmann

Memorial Service and Celebration of Life

There will be a memorial service for Verna Lange Bergmann at 2pm on Saturday, June 21, at the Zwingli Church in Paoli with a celebration of life to follow immediately at the old Lange family farm, 6610 Sun Valley Parkway. Food will be provided.

Please RSVP by text or call to Jeannie Eichelkraut at 608-279-8462. Verna’s obituary can be viewed here.

Zwingli's Trial Repair Cafe' - No to Landfill and Yes to Repair!

Our Church Council and the Repair Cafe Planning Team (Sue Bovre, Debbie Versnik, and Pastor Karla) are excited to welcome you (and your family and friends) to our Trial Repair Cafe' on Saturday, June 28 between 10 am - Noon! We thank all the volunteer repairers and hospitality team!

This is a trial run so only open to our members and friends (and your family and friends) with the hope of publicizing it in the future so that we can offer it as a free program for the community! Bring your broken items (see image to know what our volunteers can repair) and enjoy refreshments and social time with others!

We invite you to read more about the Repair Cafe' Movement at the international Repair Cafe website (and watch the videos) and this UCC article about a Repair Cafe in Colorado! You can also ask the Planning Team any questions you might have! If you or someone you know would like to volunteer to be a repairer or hospitality volunteer at this or future Repair Cafe's please let us know (they do not have to be a member of Zwingli to volunteer)!

Outdoor Worship / Ice Cream Social

July 13

The Council thought it would be fun to have an outdoor worship service—not because we have to (Covid), but because we want to celebrate being in God’s good creation while we sing and pray. We will combine this with a collection for local food pantries (Belleville, Oregon, and Verona).

Bring your lawn chairs and nonperishable food items that morning. Also, plan to stay after worship for an ice-cream social. This would be a great worship service to invite friends and family to join us!

If you’d like to help with the refreshments, please let Petra know by July 1.

Opportunities for citizen Advocacy through letters to Congress

The United Church of Christ offers us the opportunity to learn more about bills before Congress and voice our opinions to our legislators. They make it very easy to send an email. Check out the many topics on their page: https://www.ucc.org/action-center/. The most recent ones are:

1. the Bill going before the Senate that will affect Medicaid, SNAP, and a host of other programs (on UCC site it's called Love the Least of These)

2. Discrimination in the Military (on the UCC site it's called All People Are Created in God's Loving Image)

Zwingli United Church of Christ

www.paoliucc.com

https://www.facebook.com/zwingliuccpaoli/

zwingliuccpaoli@gmail.com

PO Box 530, Belleville, WI 53508

"A small church with a big

and open heart!"

Pastor

Rev. Karla Schmidt

pastor.zwingliuccpaoli@gmail.com

608-572-4557

Kathie Wagner, Administrative Assistant

zwingliuccpaoli@gmail.com

Phone: 608-845-5641