WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE DEEPLY SCRIPTURAL? | |
"I do not think this means that we all quote the Bible all the time... Renowned Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann once said that the most radical and faitfhul thing that the church can do is stay close to the text.
"Being deeply scriptural means that when we study the Bible, we do so more than just a superficial reading of it. It means we take seriously the genre of the part of the Bible we are reading. A psalm is different from a gospel. One of Paul's letters to a church is different from the Revelation of John...
"And like genre, we take seriously the contexts of scripture. We seek to ask when it was written, and what questions it was seeking to answer in its own day.. To do so, we also need to ask how it fits into the whole of the Bible. And we need to examine our own contexts, thinking about our own lenses and assumptions to better understand how it speaks to us today.
"In a time when the Ten Commandments are mandated to be placed in schools in some states, and when scripture gets misused by politicians to support programs that would make Jesus weep, join us ask we ask what it means to be deeply scriptural as a way of being faitful to God."
Rev. Philip Hobson, pastor of Salem UCC, Verona
Published with his permission
| | ADULT EDUCATION IN OUR CONGREGATIONS | |
Many of our congregations offer adult education as a part of their ministry. One impressive example is Orchard Ridge UCC, Madison. Members will hear of their church's support for nonprofit agencies which address housing, health, immigration and employment disparities.
First UCC, Belleville, and Windsor UCC help their congregants learn more about what the Bible is and isn't. First Congregational UCC, Madison, had a panel discussion on Christian Nationalism. Other examples are Zwingli UCC, Paoli, and First Congregational UCC, Hartland.
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Our congregations will celebrate All Saints Day in a variety of ways. First UCC, Reeseville, will observe the Evangelical tradition of Totenfest. First Congregational UCC, Madison, invited members to write on a banner to be hung in their sanctuary the names of loved ones who have touched their lives. St. John's UCC, MertonMCCCommunityof Hope UCC, Madison;, also MCCCoMCCCommunityof Hope UCC, Madison;mmunityof Hope UCC, Madison;has invited members to include names of loved ones on a banner to be hung in their Fellowship Hall. Others, such as First Congregational UCC, Hartland, invite members to provide framed photos of loved ones. Windsor UCC; Zwingli UCC, Monticello; MCC/Community of Hope UCC, Madison; Zwingli UCC, Paoli and Trinity UCC, Brookfield. will also observe the occasion. McFarland UCC observed the occasion by celebrating Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) as an alternative.
| Trinity UCC, Brookfield; First UCC, Reeseville and Zwingli UCC, Monticello will observe Veterans Day in their worship services on Sunday, November 16. | A community Thanksgiving Eve service will be held at Washington Reformation UCC, Monticello with Zwingli UCC, Monticello, participating. | Edgerton Congregational UCC provided a Parents' Night Out. | First Congregational UCC, Oconomowoc, also celebrated the beginning of the school year by blessing backpacks. | |
Memorial UCC, Fitchburg, and First Congregational UCC, Madison, had costume parties that benefitted UNICEF.
| Many of our congregations, such as Zwingli UCC, Monticello, recognize the need to care for their members in an intentional way by having caring ministries. Salem UCC, Veriona, is the latest. | |
To celebrate World Communion Sunday, First Congregational UCC, Madison, had stations around the sanctuary that explained the work of agencies that the church supports as members partook of communion.
Rev. Karla Schmidt, of Zwinfli UCC, Paoli, explains that World Communion Sunday began in 1940 in response to the divisions that were present at that time--a timely reminder in our current time ot division.
First Congregational UCC, Hartland, offers pop-up communion on the last Wednesday of each month.
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The Union Grove Congregational UCC, became the 1,939th Open and Affirming congregation of the United Church of Christ.
First Congregational UCC, Madison, celebrated 33 years of being an O&A congregation on October 12.
Swiss UCC, New Glarus, celebrated the 125th anniversary of the laying of their cornerstone
| First UCC, Reeseville, is helping a young girl in their town who has been diagnosed with osteosarcoma by donating to the family's grovery expenses. | |
.Recognizing that winter is coming, St. John's, Merton;,Salem UCC., Verona,MCC/Community of Hope UCC, Madison and First Congregational UCC, Evansville, are collecting waterproof mittens and other items.
| .First Congregational UCC, Madison, will again provide a Thanksgiving meal to those who call for pickup or delivery. | Immanuel UCC, Darlington, will have their Chili and Bake Sale Redeemer UCC, Sussex, will have a potluck featuring their Swiss steak. Frst UCC, Belleville, will have a buffet dinner. | |
Sixteen members of First Congregational UCC. Fort Atkinson, recently participated in a retreat at Daycholah Center on Green Lake.
Members of First Congregational UCC, Janesville, will participate in a Winter Soulstice Retreat at Daycholah Center.
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Plymouth Congregational UCC, Madison, assembled Halloween goody bags for Goodman Center families.
| First Congregational UCC, Fort Atkinson, highlighted their German heritage by having a polka worship. Windsor UCC had a Bluegrass Sunday in an October worship. | First Congregational UCC, Platteville, will again we a host for Family Promise. | Redeemer UCC, Sussex, will offer chair yoga on Wednesdays in November. | |
Zwingli UCC, Paoli, and Memorial UCC, Fitchburg, will celebrate All Saints Day by honorng ancestors with a Wild Church Circle on November 1.
| Middleton Community UCC has invited members to learn more about their live-streamed worship services toward joining their audio visual team. | MCC/Community of Hope UCC, Madison, invites members to receive a free Focus on Energy kit to add comfort and savings to their home. | |
First Congregational UCC, Madison, in conjunction with MCC/Community of Hope UCC,. Madison, had an opportunity to view a replica of a solitary confinement cell as a part of their Journey to Justice Bus Tour.
| First UCC, Belleville, will join their community in its annual UFO Day by having a float in their parade. | | |
We are invited to the Installation of
Rev. Brad Brookins
Sunday, November 23, 2025, 3:00
at the United Church of Christ, Mazomanie
109 West Hudson Street
Clergy are invited to wear
their favorite colorful stole
An offering will be received for
Wisconsin Conference
Member in Discernment Scholarship Fund
An Ecclesiastical Council was held for Mike Whiteley at First Congregational UCC, East Troy, on Sunday October 26. It is expected that he will be ordained there on Sunday, November 9, at 2:00.
| CONFERENCE KNOCK KNOCK RETREAT | The annual Wisconsin Conference Knock Knock Retreat for middle school youth (6th-8th grades) will be held November 21-23 at Daycholah Center. | .BRING THE PRO-DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT TO YOUR CHURCH | |
Providing a long-term strategy beyond protests, marches and rallies, the United Church of Christ is offering a Zoom presentation, Reclaiming our Democracy.
This is a part of an effort to defend government institutions like the Environmental Protection Agency.
| From Plymouth Congregational UCC, Madison: "The Church must become a holy disruption, not a chaplain to the status quo" (Rev. Otis Moss III) | |
UCC WEBINAR ON A
NEW BOOK ON CLIMATE JUSTICE
| The UCC Webinar on November 12, 1:00, will feature Rev. Michael Malcom, Executive Director of the People's Justice Council and Alabama Interfaith Power & Light, who will talk about his new book, Climate Justice, Climate Hope.. | |
First Congregational UCC, Platteville, has partnered with a local business to address issues, such as loneliness, experienced in particuar by youth and young adults. Included are a Poetry Slam and a Memory Cafe
Middleton Community UCC is again sending care packages to their young adults, whether in college, in the military or otherwise.
Windsor UCC celebrated 20 years of fighting hunger by packing Food for Kids meals
Back in September, the children of Plymouth Congregational UCC, Madison, had a discussion following a video on International Day of Peace..
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The book group of Memorial UCC, Fitchburg, will be reading The Great Believers, by Rebecca Makkai.
The Seekers Book Club of First Congregational UCC, Janesville, will discuss Everything Is Tuberculosis, by John Green.
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The study group of First Congregational UCC, Lake Geneva, will discuss Bodacious Broads and Daring Dames: Women of the Bible.
Everyone's Book Club of Trinity UCC, Brookfield, and the Women's Book Group of Orchard Ridge UCC, Madison are currently reading The Women, by Kristin Hannah. It is about women who put themselves in harm's way, such as the women who have gone to war.
The Women's Book Group of Orchard Ridge UCC, Madison, will discuss Britt-Marie Was Here, by Fredrik Backman.
The October theme of the Book Nook of First Congregational UCC, Madison, is Icky Sticky, Hairy Scary Bible Stories.
Memorial UCC, Fitchburg, had a conversation about Frank Cunningham's book, Vesper Time: The Spiritual Practice of Growing Older.
The book study of Orchard Riodge UCC, Madison, will have a discussion of The People, the Bible, by Dr. Mitri Raheb
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CONTACTS
Associate Conference Minister:
Rev. Rachel Bauman
608-630-2992
Shalom Editor:
Rev. Roger Brooks
608-395-2390
swacommunications@gmail.com
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Southern Region of the Wisconsin. Conference; swacommunications@gmail.com
W1000 Spring Grove Rd., Ripon, WI 54971; 608-846-7880
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