The Union Church in Waban |
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Worship (In-person and Online)
Sunday, Nov 14th, 10:00 a.m.
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Pastor Wendy will preach.
As we continue to dig into words from the letter to Romans we will examine the power of holding fast to what is good through shared purpose. In this time of transition, the purpose question is the most important work we can do in order to discern the right leader to help fulfill that purpose. Coming to God-given consensus on a common purpose is invigorating work. We will see what inspiration we find in these ancient words to move us on that path.
As we gather, we will also hear a mission moment about food insecurity and efforts to address it, as well as receive a thanksgiving special offering to bolster that work. See you in worship!
To join Sunday Worship at 10 a.m. on Zoom:
Meeting ID: 832 2059 8969
Passcode: 458322
Dial in only: 1 646 558 8656
The bulletin is available HERE
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YOU ARE INVITED - Following Worship every Sunday!
Gather after worship on Zoom or at our outdoor reception together.
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To connect to Sunday Worship or to any of our online offerings,
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Saturday - Community Thanksgiving Dinner and Church Clean- up
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Tomorrow! Saturday, November 13th at 9:00am
Clean-up & Service Day
Help with the Community Thanksgiving Dinner!
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Join in as we serve our beloved church and community together!
Bring your rakes and garden tools.
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We'll have fun and re-connect while we:
- Clean-up and work on projects inside and outside our church building
- Lend a Helping Hand to members of our church community who could use help with fall clean-up or other projects
- Prepare and Pack Meals and gifts to share for our Community Thanksgiving Dinner!
For more information, please contact:
Thank you for being part of this meaningful and important day!
All ages (including kids and youth) are welcome and needed!
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Union Church in Waban
2021 Community Thanksgiving Dinner
In light of the ongoing pandemic, the Union Church in Waban will once again hand out "Thanksgiving Dinners To Go," instead of hosting an in-person event. Dinners may be picked up tomorrow, Saturday, November 13th between 12:00 and 1:00 p.m. at 14 Collins Road, Waban, MA 02468. If you know of anyone who would appreciate a meal, please have them contact Alicia Collins at 617.784.4825 or aliciamaureencollins@gmail.com.
We need volunteers to help package the meals between 10am and noon in the church kitchen, and then others to hand out the meals between 12:00 and 1:00pm. We may also need a couple of drivers to deliver meals. If you would like a job that you can do at home on your own, that can be arranged too! Thanks so much.
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Adult Formation and Gatherings |
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Lunch Bunch Returns- Virtually!
Wednesday Nov 17th at 12:00 p.m.
Please come and join us for a time of sharing on Wednesday Nov 17th at noon! Our special guest will be our new Interim Senior Pastor Wendy Vander Hart. Come and reconnect with old friends while getting to know Wendy and hearing her thoughts and plans for UCW. Enjoy your soup and sandwich while chatting over zoom. Everyone is welcome!
Meeting ID: 885 9588 1632
Passcode: 494349
Dial in only: 1 646 558 8656
Questions? Contact Judy Nagle (judy.nagle@rcn.com), Anne Hadley (annehadley@comcast.net) or Molly Owen Kiritsy (mollymok4@gmail.com).
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Java Gents (Online!)
Thursday, November 18th at 6:00 p.m.
A very special surprise guest will join us. Don’t miss it !!
At or next online gatherings a very special surprise guest will join us.
Check your e-mail for the Zoom connection/link from Buz (buzbed@gmail.com) as the date approaches.
JAVA Gents is the informal get-together of the men of the UCW congregation (and community). The group aims to provide friendly fellowship and mutual support to the men. We will enjoy a lively and supportive discussion of timely topics as well as personal goings on in our lives. Newcomers are always welcome. Please contact either Jay (jayobeirne@gmail.com), or Buz (buzbed@gmail.com) if any questions or to be added the Java Gents mailing list.
Hope you all can attend.
Jay and Buz!
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UCW Book Group
Tuesday, November 30th at 7:00 p.m.
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson.
Please join us on Tuesday, November 30th at 7:00 p.m. for our next book group meeting. This month we will be reading Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. You will find a zoom link and sign-in information below. If you have any questions, please reach out to Alan Cody (almorrow@aol.com)
Meeting ID: 832 4667 4155
Passcode: 431699
Dial in: 1 646 558 8656
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Tea Time
Tuesdays at 3:00 p.m.
This Tuesday, we'll take a break from Bible Study, but gather for conversation and prayer, and a look at the weeks ahead. We hope you'll join us!
Meeting ID: 847 2838 1864
Passcode: 837512
Dial in: 1 646 558 8656
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Meet and Greet with Pastor Wendy- new dates added! |
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In an effort to join this community more fully and get to know your stories, Pastor Wendy is offering times for 1 - 2 people to meet gathering on Zoom or in person.
The Sign-up Link can be found HERE
Setting this up as small groups dedicates time outside of the usual gathering spaces as well as foster connections between friends and members of Union Church. We hope these times work for you. Please email Pastor Wendy if you cannot find a time that is suitable and we'll make another plan.
Please review the available slots and click on the button to sign up.
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Your Pictures and Stories Needed! |
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Church Photographer will be Available
Sundays, November 7th and 14th after Service
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As we come back together in-person and as a way to help Pastor Wendy get to know UCW, Jim MacDonald will be available on Sundays after worship on November 7 + 14 to take pictures of people. These photos will be uploaded into the church database and ultimately will become a church directory accessible through an app. For now, you can take advantage of Jim's skill or send your own pics to Aidan to upload at ucw@ucw.org
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What is Your Story; What is Your Song?
Please be part of this all-church initiative!
This morning, you should have received an invitation to contribute a paragraph about yourself (individual or family) along with a photograph, and your favorite hymn, to be compiled into a new church booklet or directory. We hope that these brief biographies will help us to get to know each other better and to connect more deeply during this time of transition, and we also hope that they will help Pastor Wendy and our future Senior Pastor to get to know us. We look forward to hearing your story! We'd love to receive all submissions by Dec. 3rd, and will reach out to folks
and share your story and song. Thank you for participating!
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Upcoming Sundays & Gatherings |
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10:00 a.m. Worship - Coming Up!
We hope you will join us online or in-person following Covid safety guidelines!
Come, and find reconnection, renewal, hope, and joy as we gather together
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Pastor Amy Preaching - Thanksgiving Sunday
Sunday, November 21th
Amidst all the loss, uncertainty, and challenges we have experienced this year, we have so much for which to be grateful. Come; let us be together in a spirit of Thanksgiving this morning.
Hanging of the Greens - First Sunday in Advent
Pastor Amy and members of UCW lead worship
Sunday, November 28th
Join us as we deck the halls, and enter into this season of light, hope, peace, joy and love. As we enter the Advent season, we'll ask how we and our church can be houses where the Holy will be born anew–offering respite, sustenance and care, opening the doors ever wider to those seeking shelter from the onslaught of life. We hope you'll join us!
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Unity Farm Visit
UCW Middle School Youth Group and Families having fun at Unity Farm Sanctuary in October!
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Click on the image to see a photo album of some of our great intergenerational events this fall.
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Pastor Amy leads Sunday School this Sunday!
Sunday, November 14th
This Sunday, Pastor Amy will again lead the kids and youth during worship with a special all-ages Sunday School. We'll have a special time for reconnection, fun, and joy in being together. On the 21st, Thanksgiving Sunday, the kids will be invited to make Mittens for our Mitten Tree!
All (Youth, Kids & Families) Hands On Deck!
TOMORROW - Saturday, Nov. 13th
We Need You and Yours for the Helping Hands and Thanksgiving Dinner Day (See above)
Come when you can, for as long as you can, but please plan to come! There will be all sorts of jobs for all ages, talents, and abilities. Pastor Amy will send a sign-up out to the youth groups and families soon, so please keep an eye out! It's going to be an awesome day!
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Fall Youth & Families Calendar Now Available! |
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Fort Deposit Elementary School in Lowndes County, Alabama |
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Book Buddies
New Book Buddies were matched this week to 15 third graders at Fort Deposit Elementary School in Lowndes County, Alabama. Each Book Buddy is sending a new book to a third grader every month this school year. Many of our Book Buddies have a Book Buddy for the first time. Some have continued with the same Book Buddy at Fort Deposit Elementary or at another school in Lowndes County. A few already had a Book Buddy and volunteered to have another one! Thanks to all of you who are participating in this meaningful way of enriching the lives of children in one of the poorest counties in the nation.
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The Book Buddy program was created after Josephine Bolling McCall made a powerful presentation at Union Church about her father, Elmore Bolling, who was lynched in Alabama for being a successful businessman and philanthropist in Lowndes County. If you would like to join in this effort to continue the philanthropic efforts of Elmore Bolling by being a Book Buddy, please contact me at jenweisz@icloud.com. We will need 30 more Book Buddies for the other two elementary schools in Lowndes County who have children in the third grade needing a Book Buddy. If you, your friends or family members would like to be a Book Buddy, please let me know! Jenny Weisz
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Newton Freedge: Volunteers Needed!
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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. We are in need of more volunteers to help on Saturdays.
Union Church Freedge Sign-up: HERE
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Common Cathedral Sandwich-Makers! |
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Common Cathedral
Sandwich-Making for November/December!
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Sandwich-Making for BostonWarm!
We continue to make sandwiches for our friends at Boston Warm every week. This month, we will bring sandwiches to the center on Monday mornings.
If you can help make 25 sandwiches, donate granola bars,
or drive in on Mondays, please sign up HERE.
With questions, please contact Pastor Amy (amy@ucw.org).
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Advocates for Racial Justice- Did You Know... |
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Newton is a part of this history as lived through Myrtle Baptist Church, the Village, and the construction of the Mass Pike. Myrtle Baptist Church was established in 1874, when Black members of the First Baptist Church (now Lincoln Park Baptist) decided they needed a place of their own. They had been well-treated—if relegated to the balcony—and went their separate way “not with feelings of unkindness toward our white brethren but simply for the best good of all concerned.” The Black community that sprang up around Myrtle Baptist came to be called “the Village.” In 1962, construction of the Mass Pike extension from Weston through Newton into Boston began. About 350 homes and businesses in Newton were destroyed in the process, including 32 homes in the Village. Most of the Village’s displaced residents were under-compensated for their losses. For this reason and because of discrimination in the local housing market, half of those displaced were unable to find new homes in Newton and had to move farther away. Those Village families who did find homes here— including the families of Rev. Howard Haywood and Katy Evans Haywood—had held out for better compensation and relied on white allies. Despite the forced dispersal of the Myrtle Baptist congregation, the church continues to be central in the lives of its families, wherever they live.
Look: The Village, West Newton, 1855–1960 (Planning Department presentation, 2006)
Read: • Our History (Myrtle Baptist Church website) • The character of the neighborhood in Newtonville (Rev. Howard Haywood, Newton TAB, 1/21/15) • The Civil Rights Movement in Newton, 1950-1970 (pamphlet, Katherine Jones, Lillie Jefferson, Nina King, 2002) Watch: • Myrtle Baptist Church: Pillar of the Community (2011 documentary) • Newton Talks: Katy and Howard Haywood (4/12/18 interview—video + link to transcript) • Newton Talks: Kathy and Hubie Jones • (4/4/19 interview—video + link to transcript)
Join us at ARJ as we explore the impacts of zoning,
and all the ways we can support paths to more housing justice.
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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 Revs. Wendy Vander Hart or Amy Clark Feldman for prayer or pastoral support:
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Pastor Wendy's email is seniorpastor@ucw.org and her office phone is 617-965-3893
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Pastor Amy's email is amy@ucw.org, and her cell phone for calls or texts is 617-938-8112.
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Please note: Both of our pastors take Mondays off as a day of rest and Sabbath. If you are in need of urgent pastoral support on this coming Monday,, you can reach out to Pastor Wendy, who will be available for emergencies.
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Scripture Reader Sign-Up
If you are joining our Sunday worship in person, please consider signing up as a Scripture Reader for any of our upcoming services
Scripture Reader Sign-up: HERE
Note: Previously we had hoped to include scripture readers who could join us from their home via zoom but unfortunately this is currently not possible.
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Host Reception - Sign-Up
Hosting Reception after Worship is so meaningful. This year guidelines are a little different e.g. individually wrapped snacks keep it simple and in lieu of coffee, lemonade or something that can be served easily is preferred. Please follow the link below to sign up or for more information.
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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.
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