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The Union Church in Waban
Friday, June 26 , 2020
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Online Worship - This Sunday
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We will gather on Sunday at 10:00 for online worship
A separate e-blast will be send out tomorrow, Saturday. In it you will find all the information you need to partake in worship and learning together on Sunday.
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Sunday Worship
Continues all Summer!
Throughout July and August we will continue to worship online at 10:00 am on Sundays. This is a change for us. Previously it was UCW custom to offer worship in July but then to suspend worship during the month of August.
While worship will continue on Sunday mornings as we are accustomed to, we
do hope that the summer will provide new and creative expressions of worship, as well as opportunities for greater lay involvement in leading prayers, preaching or offering musical or other creative and artistic expressions. If you are interested in contributing to the worship experience in July please be in touch with
Pastor Stacy. If August is better for you, please be in touch with
Pastor Amy.
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Do you have an offering you'd like to share?
Do you have an offering of creativity including music, dance, visual art, poetry, etc. you are interested in contributing during our program year and summer services? We would love to include your offering in our worship. Please reach out to Daon Drisdom at
[email protected] to discuss plans.
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From Our Minister of Music
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To the Union Church in Waban,
I want to take a moment to give thanks. What a wonderful year this has been with you! I am grateful to have had to opportunity to become the Minister of Music in this congregation. From the time I walked into the church I felt love and support. So many times, it's hard for musicians and directors to feel valued and supported in their churches. I can say that you all have been supportive and compassionate!
Thank you to the choir and handbell ringers for the rehearsals we have had and the times we have been able to minster through song. It is really great when a team of people are ready to learn, grow and experience music together.
I'm looking forward to our time together moving forward. Growing in communion with one another and the strength and power of Christ!
All my love,
Daon Drisdom
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Ways to Connect this Week
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Tea Time
Our Final Tea Time Gathering
This Tuesday, June 30
th
.
We'd love to see you!
Grab a cup of tea and share in some conversation.
To join via Zoom go
HERE;
Meeting ID: 746 243 368
Password:
016341
or call +1 646 558 8656.
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Wednesday Morning Prayer
Every Wednesday at 7:30 a.m.
In these times of uncertainly, we can feel adrift without a sense of security or a firm foundation. Morning prayer on Wednesdays can help ground us in the power and presence of God that is our foundation in these times. Please consider taking up a prayer practice and joining us in this time of silence, candle lighting and blessing.
We begin with 20 minutes of meditative silence after which we speak aloud our prayers and light candles (if we have them) to help spread the light and warm of God's presence into the lives of those for whom we pray. We close with two prayers of blessing. The prayer of St. Francis and the Serenity Prayer. Please consider joining us. If you have any questions, please reach out to
Pastor Stacy.
Join us on Zoom
HERE ,
Meeting ID: 825 631 369;
Password: 022055.
Or call in at
+1 646 558 8656
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Pastor Amy Away in July-
Pastor Amy will be taking some time for rest, renewal, and family in July - mostly communing with the trees in the White Mountains without reliable internet or cell service :) She'll be back for a few days in the middle of the month, and for all of August, but for any pastoral needs or other questions related to the church, please be in touch with Pastor Stacy in July. Her email is [email protected] and her cell is 617-759-9016.
Parents Group - Every Tuesday at 7:30 pm
Gather to connect, laugh and share mutual support as we do the good work of parenting in these challenging times.
CLICK HERE
to log-in; password (if needed) is 499897. This coming Tuesday, we'll decide whether to pause for the summer or continue meeting.
Final Sunday School for Pre-K through Elementary School, 9:15am to 9:40am We're taking a break for July
Please watch for our "How to Connect" email on Saturday for details. Our final morning Sunday School for this church year will be this Sunday June 28th, but stay tuned! We'll have some ideas for ways to say learning and growing at home in July, and hope to gather families at some point this summer, as well.
Story-time with Pastor Amy - Taking a Break for the Summer
You can see past story-times with Pastor Amy reading by clicking HERE
. We'll take a break from these over July and August, and plan to offer other ways for our young kids and families to connect - Stay tuned!
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Youth Groups & Exploring Our Faith
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High School Youth Group
Gathering In-Person Outdoors
This
Sunday, 5-6:00 p.m.
The Middle School Youth Group was rained out last Sunday, but we'll hope for clearer skies this Sunday for our High School Youth Group!
For those who are comfortable, we would like to invite the kids gather in the
Church Parking Lot at 5pm. We will check in and play a few games that we can play with physical distance between us as we celebrate the start of summer!
- PLEASE RSVP if you can by emailing Pastor Amy at [email protected]. We'd like to get a sense of our numbers ahead of time. If we approach 10, we'll divide into multiple smaller groups with more distance.
- RAIN PLAN - ZOOM: Learning from our experience with the middle schoolers, we'll send an email early Sunday afternoon if it looks like we'll be rained out. Since we don't have a safe way to gather in person indoors, our rain plan will be to gather on Zoom if we can't gather outside.
- HS YOUTH GROUP PALS: Remember to check in with your pals, and plan to bring some sort of treat or fun something for your pals on Sunday!
- GUIDELINES: As we try this out for the first time:
- Masks required: All kids will need to have masks and wear them properly throughout our time together
- Distance required: We need all the kids to commit to following our 6-10 feetapart rule
- No bathrooms or trips indoors: Unfortunately, we aren't able to open the church for bathroom breaks this time, so please plan ahead :)
- Please bring Water and Sunscreen: It may be pretty hot and sunny!
- CAN YOU BE AN ADULT HELPER? As with the middle schoolers, it would be really wonderful to have a few parents or other adults stay to help with smaller groups and monitor spacing and safety. Thanks for letting Pastor Amy know!
- Please also be in touch with Pastor Amy if in-person meetings, even with precautions, don't feel right for your child or family right now. We so appreciate and empathize with this perspective, and are grateful to you for letting us know so we can reach out in other ways, and consider your thoughts in our planning
Middle School Youth Group - Finding a time to reschedule
The thunderstorms meant we had to postpone our outdoor gathering last Sunday. Middle School families should receive a note this week as we try to find a time to reschedule.
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Advocates for Racial Justice
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Advocates for Racial Justice:
Recommended Reading
"Fifty years since the bloody and brutally repressed protests and freedom struggles of black Americans brought about the end of legal discrimination in this country," writes Nikole Hannah-Jones in "What is Owed" (New York Times Magazine, 6/24/20), "so much of what makes black lives hard, what takes black lives earlier, what causes black Americans to be vulnerable to the type of surveillance and policing that killed Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, what steals opportunities, is the lack of wealth that has been a defining feature of black life since the end of slavery." Has our "collective witness" of the "modern-day lynching" of George Floyd at the hands of the police, and the ensuing weeks of sustained protest affirming Black Lives Matter-in the midst of a pandemic that is hitting Black communities hardest-finally brought a majority of Americans to the point of seriously considering the case for reparations? Hannah-Jones ponders the question and makes the case.
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Thanks You Nica Supporters!
A BIG thank you to everyone who so generously donated to the Nicaragua offering for the June 7
th Sunday Service!
We raised $2125!
It has been donated it to Libraries For All in San Juan Del Sur (the organization founded by Jane Mirandette who spoke after the service) for their COVID relief efforts and is already being put to good use in a time of great strife.
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Can You Be Part of our On-going
Common Cathedral Team?
Summer Plans to Continue this Ministry
"If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come here because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together."
- Lilla Watson
We are bound in powerful ways to our beloved unhoused brothers and sisters in Boston. Our team of UCW members continues to bring sandwiches, granola bars, fruit, socks and other
needed items - like cards and notes of love and support - to
Common Cathedral's Boston Warm Day Center each week.
We very much hope to continue to walk with our friends at Boston Warm over the summer. As Pastor Amy takes some vacation in July, we're looking for extra hands to help coordinate and drive donations to Boston.
- JOIN THE FOOD PREP & SUMMER COORDINATING TEAM: Most weeks, we sign up to bring 50-100 sandwiches. Can you make 25? Or perhaps you could help coordinate or drop-off donations? We're working on a Sign-up Doc to help us get organized. Please Contact Pastor Amy ([email protected]) so we can add you to the list.
- DONATE GRANOLA BARS, TUBE SOCKS, UNDERWEAR OR CLEANING SUPPLIES: Contact Pastor Amy if you have items to donate, or bring them to the big green bin outside the elevator lobby at the church.
- CREATE CARDS, SIGNS : Help our friends at Boston Warm know they are not alone, and share your love and prayers with them. Cards from all-ages are so appreciated and cherished, hung on the walls of the center for all to see.
- PRAY & PRAY WITH AN ARTIST: Prayer makes a difference! The Artists in the community also left a number of works of art in our church building after this winter's Common Art Show. Rev. Mary has asked that we invite UCW members to take a piece of art home and hold the artist in prayer. Contact Amy if you can pray and host a piece of art in your home. There are still pieces that you can take home for the summer!
Thank you so much!
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2020_21 Stewardship Campaign
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Thank you to all who have returned their pledge forms for the 2020-2021 church year.
If you have not yet returned your pledge card, you can do so
here
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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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In the aftermath of Mr. George Floyd's death at the hands of police in Minnesota, and the ensuing protest that erupted across the world in June 2020, City Mission invites you to sit in prayer for nine weeks to honor the life of Mr. Floyd and a call for God's justice.
The anguishing words spoken by Mr. Floyd are the inspiration for our Call for Prayer.
"It's my face... please I can't breathe"
"I did not do nothing serious"
"Mama, mama, mama"
"I'm through, I'm through"
"My stomach hurts, my neck hurts.... Some water or something"
"Please, please, please"
"Do not kill me"
"They gonna kill me"
"I can't breathe"
The Call for Prayer and Justice will launch on Juneteenth (June 19), also known as Freedom Day, and continue for nine weeks representing each of Mr. Floyd's last minutes of life. Each week we will post a new prayer on our website and provide a link on social media.
It is our sincere hope that you will join us and lift up these words with our strong voices so that Mr. Floyd's words will resound in our hearts and communities. We must pray without ceasing for courage, strength, and love to dismantle the malignancy of systemic racism, violence, and injustice.
To read more about the next nine weeks and the weekly prayers please visit our website.
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