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The Union Church in Waban
Friday, September 7, 2018
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This Sunday - Gathering Sunday - Welcome Back!
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9:00 -
Choir Rehearsal
10:00 - Gathering Sunday Worship with Communion
Welcome back! Welcome home! This Sunday we will rejoice in being called as a community that is committed to the One who showed us what a life of love looks like. We will commission our ministerial intern Brian Donovan for a second year of ministry among us and awaken in us all the call of discipleship. We will hear scripture from
Genesis 6: 11- 22 and Matthew 8: 18-27 where people faced a tough decision about what a relationship with God and following Jesus would look like in their lives. We will re-member, gather in, the body of Christ in our celebration of communion. It will be good to be together.
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Introducing: "From the Pews"
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We want to hear from you!
I
ntroducing a new column where we invite you to share reflections, insights, and offerings with the wider community.
Did something you experienced this week give you new insights into the Gospel or what it is to lead a life of faith?
Did you come across a moment of beauty that you'd love to share?
Were you moved by the needs of the world?
If these or other questions stir something in you that you would like to share, please consider contributing to our new "From the Pews" column.
Please send submissions to
Pastor Stac
y.
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A week ago Wednesday, I had the good fortune of being invited by a congregant to spend a good part of the day with her on her boat exploring the ocean north of and around Cape Ann. I realize that I have lived in Boston for more years than I had lived in Duluth, MN (my childhood home), but despite that reality, the ocean remains an unnerving and rather strange realm to me. I will always be a lake, not an ocean, kind of person. "The Land of 10,000 Lakes" feels just right to me. Oceans make me nervous.
But I love this congregant (as I do you all) and love spending time with her and so I was very glad to have the opportunity to spend the day with her doing what she loves most.
I arrived mid-morning and made my way down the dock. It was low tide so the incline to where the boat was tied up was steep. I stepped onto the floating dock and felt the first swell and then the sink of the motion of the ocean and tried to steady myself.
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Kids, Youth and Families
Growing in Faith and Community
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Children, Youth and Families Fall Calendar Now Available!
The Youth Ministry and Christian Education Teams have been busy planning exciting things for our kids, youth groups and families this fall! This week, families were sent the fall calendar of events, information about our new Parents' Group, registration forms, updates about Sunday School and new Children's Chapel and more!
To link to the Fall Children, Youth and Families Calendar: CLICK HERE.
To link to the Youth Group and Sunday School Registration Form:
CLICK HERE
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All materials are also available in the Crocker Chapel, or by contacting
Amy at
amy@ucw.org
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New Group for Parents
First Meeting: Next Tuesday, Sept. 11, 7:30-9 00 p.m., in the Reception Room
It can seem like parenting is harder than ever before. What can we do to help our kids thrive through their youth, teen years and into adult adulthood? As fellow parents in a faith community, let us come together to support and learn from each other, and share the joys and challenges of parenting. This group will meet on the second Tuesday of each month throughout the year, and all are invited. We hope to see you there!
NEXT SUNDAY! Sunday, Sept. 16
Blessing of the Backpacks; Kids and Families Fair and Cupcakes!
Please plan to join us on September 16 ready to celebrate our new year together. We'll bless our backpacks and kids as they head back to school, and following worship, we'll welcome families to our newly updated Littlehale room and Children's Chapel, and create a special community art project for the space. We'll share updates and registrations for our fall offerings, and celebrate with our popular cupcake decorating too! If you can help provide cupcakes, frosting or decorations, please be in touch with Amy at amy@ucw.org. We look forward to seeing you!
High School Youth Service Trip this weekend!
This weekend our new High School Youth Group is in New York City serving with the Rauschenbusch Metropolitan Ministries Urban Immersion program. We'll learn about issues of homelessness and food insecurity in the city; help with an urban garden; serve Sunday lunch to around 1000 of the city's hungry; visit the 9-11 Memorial; and make sure to have some fun and eat some New York pizza along the way! Please hold this group in your prayers as they travel and participate in this meaningful weekend.
Next Friday: Middle School Youth Group Kick-Off Party!
7-9:00 p.m. at the Union Church
Our Middle Schoolers will kick off the year with a fun night of pizza, games, glow-sticks, music and more! Families of middle schoolers should have received an Evite to the event. If you can help chaperone, or with any questions, please be in touch with Amy at amy@ucw.org. Thanks!!
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CHOIR SKILL BUILDING SESSION
Join us on
Monday, September 17
, from 7:00-9:00 p.m. in the main sanctuary for an evening of developing group-singing and music-reading skills. We will have a time for pizza and socializing after our skill building session. Anyone interested in growing these skills is welcome, including youth and families! If you plan to attend, please email Kayla Gautereaux at
kgautereaux@gmail.com
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Here at the Union Church, we understand that our life together cannot be contained by the walls of the building, but that being church means loving kindness, doing justice and walking humbly with our God out in the world, especially in its broken places.
The Mission Leadership Team (headed by Carol Bascom-Slack, with Jaap van Reijendam, Rick Chrisman, Brian Donovan and Pastor Stacy) will be helping to support and organize a variety of opportunities to serve, learn, advocate and reflect throughout the year.
To learn about the mission outreach activities in the year ahead, please stop by the tables on the stage after worship next Sunday, September 16.
If you have some ideas for service and learning opportunities, or would like to speak with the Mission Leadership Team please feel free to send us an email at
mission@ucw.org or simply speak with us in person.
With gratitude and excitement for the upcoming year.
Your Mission Leadership Team
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Adult Education, Spiritual Formation and Fellowship
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Walking in the Way of Love is hard. Especially when there is so much fear, anxiety, hate and violence spinning all around us these days. Here at UCW, we are companions on a journey, fellow seekers, teaching, learning, supporting, challenging and guiding each other in non judgmental community of care and compassion. We seek to grow in love of God, self and neighbor and strengthen our call to discipleship so that we may be beacons of hope, sources of comfort, fonts of inspiration, and ambassadors of love, in this beautiful but wounded world. As such, in addition to weekly worship, there are many small groups that provide an opportunity to strengthen relationship and to deepen and explore faith. Please consider exploring the possibility of participating in one or more of these offerings. Pastor Stacy always welcomes new ideas and suggestions, so if there is something you would like to engage or explore that you do not see below, do not hesitate to reach out to her. |
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Wellspring - Our Women's Group
Wellspring will gather again on Tuesday, Sept. 18, (We will meet on this Tuesday just for the month of September and then will return to meeting on the third Wednesday in October).
We're suggesting a couple of changes this season:
1. That we meet in September, October and November then skip December, January, and February (due to inclement weather and travel schedules in the winter months) and gather again in March, April, and May.
2. That we use a book-- Still Point: A Literary Guide to Prayer in Ordinary Time by Sarah Arthur. Our sharing time will continue to be the main precious component of our Wellspring gatherings. The book can be a supplement to our reflections on our individual and collective faith journey.
Please note the following meeting dates: SEPTEMBER 18, OCTOBER 17, NOVEMBER 28 (
after Thanksgiving)(No meetings in December, January and February) MARCH 20, APRIL 10 (before Holy Week), and MAY 15.
Our spring women's retreat will be MAY 17-19 at Toah Nipi.
God's blessings for each of us and for Wellspring as a gift of sisterhood!
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All Church Retreat
The all church retreat gives us the opportunity to affirm the
belonging and blessedness of all of our gathered community, to deepen t
he connections that create a
community of cooperation and care and helps us to remember our purpose as a faith community and as individuals.
For more details and to register online go
HERE
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T
here is still time to submit your family photo and details for inclusion in our next Church Directory update
So snap that picture on the beach or in the mountains, in the garden or arboretum, on your bike or in your favorite rocking chair and send it to the Aidan in the church office.
Also if your contact information has changed within the last year, please send that along as well.
"While the directory is helpful when you need to reach someone in the church, it can also be a wonderful prayer practice. Open the directory and then set about praying each day for each subsequent person/household. In this way we re-member each other and stay connected even when summer vacations and travels keep us from being physically together." -- Pastor Stacy
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For a complete listing, and details of all upcoming events, please
Note
: Material for inclusion in the Friday e-Blast newsletter should be e-mailed to the office at
ucw@ucw.org
, by 9:00 a.m. on the previous Wednesday morning.
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Benefit for Puerto Rico
Sept. 22, from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m
Lasell College, Newton
A Benefit for Puerto Rico will be held at Lasell College here in Newton on Sept. 22, from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. (the anniversary of Hurricane Maria). Come support our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico while learning about Electricity Aggregation, an exciting new climate solution coming to Newton soon with Newton PowerChoice. There will be music and children's activities as well. They are in need of volunteers to participate, especially with children's art activities.
If interested in helping out, please contact
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