View as Webpage option

The Union Church in Waban

Friday Updates, August 26, 2022 Calendar | Website I Facebook

Sunday. August 28th at 10.00 a.m. Gathering in Memorial Chapel and on Zoom We will continue our theme of "Calling", examining our own calls as people of faith. We are gathering upstairs in Memorial Chapel. Worship will be more informal, followed by time for fellowship. Julie Heffernan will take the lead in worship on this Sunday assisted by Rev. Matt Carriker. She will examine the call story of Lois and Eunice in II Timothy 1: 3-7. To join Sunday Worship at 10:00 a.m. on Zoom:    Zoom Link: HERE Meeting ID: 832 2059 8969 Passcode: 458322 Dial in only: 1 646 558 8656   The bulletin is available HERE

Upcoming Sundays & Summer Gatherings

Sunday, September 4th (In Memorial Chapel and on Zoom) Alan Cody will take the lead in worship on this Sunday assisted by Rev. Matt Carriker. He will examine the call story of Paul in Acts 9: 1-22. Communion will be served as well.

Sunday September 11th - Gathering Sunday (Returning to our Sanctuary and on Zoom) We hope you will bring water from the places you've traveled this summer to our September 11th service.

Water from Many Places Project Did you collect water from a place you visited this summer as part of our Water from Many Places project? It may have been somewhere as close as the shores of Crystal Lake, or as far as a stream or ocean around the globe! We hope you will bring water from the place you've traveled with you on September 11th. We will collect the water from many places in worship, naming where it is from, and then filter and boil it so it can be used for baptisms. We will keep a running list of the places from which our water has been collected, so please keep it in mind, even if you travel somewhere after September 11th.

Church Matters

All Church Retreat Sunday, November 12th - 13th, Edward's House, Framingham

Our Planning Team is hard at work plotting meaningful time for all ages. We will focus around the story of the disciple Peter's encounter with Jesus walking on water. Themes of trust and faith will be examined in deep and playful ways. The retreat for all ages will be on Saturday, November 12. Youth will remain for an overnight into Sunday, November 13. We will meet at Edwards House at the UCC Conference Center in Framingham.   We look forward to creating intergenerational meaningful space and conversation. More details and a sign-up to follow!

Transition Team Work Nears Completion

The Transition Team is excited to share that we are nearing our goal of finishing the Local Church profile by early September. With a diligent process engaged and excellent writing skills contributed by team member Cindy Spertner, the Team will make a final review at its meeting on September 1. Transition Team Members (left to right) Jaap van Reijendam, Jane Purser, Anya Bassett, Cindy Spertner, Pastor Wendy (missing Alan Cody)

Advocates for Racial Justice (ARJ)

We are invited! Our partner in our UCW pilgrimage to Alabama will be honored in October Celebrating Jo McCall October 21st -23rd

Our founder, Josephine Bolling McCall, turns 80 this year and we are inviting YOU to join our weekend of events celebrating in Montgomery, Alabama.  Buy your tickets here.   As the child of a Jim Crow South lynching victim speaking in America today, Jo is a national treasure who dedicates her life to addressing America’s history of lynching and the racial caste system that made it possible. Our weekend of tours and events is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet Jo and spend time with her and other history makers on the ground in Montgomery and Lowndes County, Alabama.   The weekend begins on Friday, October 21 with an opportunity to tour historic sites in Montgomery, including the EJI Memorial and Museum, the Mothers of Gynecology Memorial, during the day and a Gala celebration in the evening featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and MSNBC correspondent, Trymaine Lee, who wrote the chapter about the Bolling Family in The 1619 Project. Saturday and Sunday will include a special event honoring the Women of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee or SNCC, who played a central role in expanding the Civil Rights movement throughout the South in the 1960s, and a tour of Lowndes County, offered exclusively by The Elmore Bolling Initiative, to make a pilgrimage to the county where Elmore and Bertha Mae Bolling raised their family and built a network of farming and transport businesses that lifted up Black people with jobs and services, and where Ku Klux Klan members lynched Elmore in 1947. We will also visit important sites in the fight for voting rights in ‘Bloody Lowndes.” Elmore Bolling’s daughter and Lowndes County native, Jo McCall will lead along with renowned local tour leader, Michelle Browder, one of USA Today’s Women of the Year.   We are celebrating Jo for her dedication to truth-telling in the place where her father, Elmore Bolling, was lynched in 1947, and also for being a community leader (like her father) who empowers citizens in Lowndes County. Reserve your place at the gala and our other special events here. Whether you will be attending our celebration or not, please support The Elmore Bolling Initiative with a donation or sponsorship.

Children, Youth & Families

Sunday School - July and August Summer Break Sunday School will resume on Sept. 11th! We will take a break from regular Sunday School over the summer, but kids are always invited in worship, and our Prayground will be up and ready for kiddos all summer! Please also plan to join us for the last of our Sundaes on Wednesdays of the Summer for ice cream, community connection, and fun. Please note that Pastor Amy will be on sabbatical from August 8th to October 11th. We look forward to welcoming our wonderful Sabbatical Pastor, Rev. Matt Carriker on September 1st!

Mission & Service

Newton Freedge: Continued Need!

The Union Church in Waban is a Freedge partner responsible for helping connect with local businesses, stock, and monitor this needed local resource two Saturdays a month. We are in need of volunteers in the coming weeks. The work is easy and rewarding, with multiple slots throughout the day. Despite Newton’s image as an affluent suburb, too many of our neighbors struggle to put food on their tables. The Newton Freedge is one way we can help. A free, 24/7 outdoor refrigerator and pantry, the Freedge provides free food and personal supplies to anyone who needs them.  To learn more, contact Vinita at vinita.leslie@gmail.com, or sign up below.

Union Church Freedge Sign-up: HERE

Sunday Sign-Ups

Sunday Reception Sign-Up Every Sunday after worship we gather on the stage for a time of fellowship. This reception is hosted each Sunday by different members of the congregation.  Reception Sign-up: HERE Thank you!

Scripture Reader Sign-Up If you are joining our Sunday worship, please consider signing up as a Scripture Reader for any of our upcoming services. Scripture Reader Sign-up: HERE Thank you!

Pastoral Care

Pastoral Care Connections During this time of transition, please know that your church is here for you. Please don't hesitate to reach out to Rev. Wendy Vander Hart for prayer or pastoral support while Pastor Amy is on sabbatical: Pastor Wendy's email is seniorpastor@ucw.org and her office phone is 617-965-3893 Mondays are days off for both pastors. If you have a pastoral need, please reach out to Pastor Wendy this week.

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, gender identity and expression, nationality, ability or economic circumstance. We invite all to full participation in our worship, membership, leadership and life of this church.