The Union Church in Waban   
Friday, March 24, 2017
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This Sunday - 
Bible Discussion at 8:00 a.m.    
We are walking through the Gospel of Luke and are engaging in discussion with all we find there.  All are welcome

Choir Rehearsal at 9:00 a.m.  
Singing the Psalms  at 9:35 a.m.   
Join us to sing Psalms together before worship on Sunday mornings. We gather at 9:35 a.m. in Memorial Chapel (the side chapel off the sanctuary),where we  sing and pray t ogether for ten minutes each week. Feel free to arrive a few minutes early for quiet centering prayer. 
(Detai
ls here.)
Worship at 10:00 a.m.
This Sunday our Associate Pastor for Youth & Families, Amy Clark Feldman will be our preacher.  It will   be  a special service  as our Rainbows and Stars classes (k-5 th  grade) share their  Mini-Missions   projects with the congregation during worship!

Bell Choir Practice: 11:15 a.m.  

Featured
 

      TONIGHT!


Join us TONIGHT for a screening of the 
Oscar-nominated film
"13th" 
Time: 
7:00 p.m.

Location: 
The Zollers/Laski home 
(154 Oliver Road, Waban)

As part of our commitment to GBIO and its campaign for criminal justice reform (CJR), Union Church will host a screening of Ava DuVernay's Oscar-nominated film "13th."   All are welcome.   



This film looks at the history of the 13th amendment to the Constitution which, in addition to abolishing slavery, has been used as a tool to disenfranchise people of color.   DuVernay's film connects the dots from this troubled language to Jim Crow to the disproportionate incarceration of Black Americans.   

NOTE:  Please note the location for the screening is the Zollers/Laski                     home at 154 Oliver Road NOT at the church. 

Worship and Music
HOLY WEEK OFFERINGS AT UCW
 


Palm Sunday, April 9.
Palm Sunday marks the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem as the crowd gathered waving palms and singing Hosanna, and the beginning of Holy Week. As we remember the story from long ago, we take time to consider our own walk of faith and how we too are challenged to bring God's love into the death-dealing places of our day.
 
Maundy Thursday Service, April 13, 6:15 p.m .
Our worship begins with a light meal as we join with Jesus' Last Supper with his disciples on the eve of his betrayal and death and remember his commandment to love each other as he has loved us. ("Maundy" is the Latin word for "commandment").   As the light fades, we move into our Tenebrae portion of the service where we move through scripture and song with Jesus and the disciples as the events of Holy Week unfold.  "Tenebrae" is the Latin word for "darkness" and it is therefore during this time that we contemplate our own brokenness and weakness in the light of God's powerful message of redemptive love. Child care will be available.  There will be a suggested donation of $5/individual or $20 cap for families to help cover the cost of our simple supper. 
 
Holy Saturday Vigil, April 15, 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
We begin our worship in the darkness that closed our Maundy Thursday service, but move steadily through song and prayer, communion and the reaffirmation of our baptisms into the dawning of the Good News of Easter that we know is coming! Child care will be provided.
 
Easter Sunday Worship, April 16, 10:00 a.m.  
With joy and thanksgiving we celebrate the gift of Easter. Children are invited to share in worship, though we will have nursery care available.   After the service, there will be a Easter Egg hunt.  

Church Matters

Time to update the directory!

Karen Weisgerber will have a draft copy of the 
directory this Sunday.  Please check with her to 
verify and/or update your contact information.  

Also, please send in a photo of you/your family .  
If you do not have a photo, Jim MacDonald will be 
available after church to take one.  

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Does UCW feel like home? 
 Do you want to join the church?

        We will be receiving new members into our life
        together this Spring.  If you are interested in
        learning more about UCW and/or becoming
        a member, please be in touch with 
        Pastor Stacy .

            
Lent at the Union Church in Waban
"Creating the Beloved Community - A Lenten Journey of Communion"

What is Lent?
Lent is a season in the liturgical, church year that begins on Ash Wednesday, March 1st and ends at sunset on Maundy Thursday, April 13th.   Lent is a season of renewal, a time of growing through repentance, fellowship, prayer, and the embrace of our covenant with each other and with God.  Lent is not so much about giving up something but rather about trying to be intentional about opening up to the renewing work of God's grace.  Just as the bulbs planted deep in the ground begin to stir to new life as the days grow longer in the coming of spring, so too does this season encourage a kind of germination of God's spirit in us, calling us to new life and new beginnings, of which we will celebrate in the mystery of the empty tomb on Easter morning.  

In the very early church, this season was one of intentional formation where those who wished to join in following the Way of Jesus would undergo a concentrated period of study and preparation which would culminate with their baptism and welcome into the church during the Easter Vigil, Saturday service.  The liturgical color for Lent is purple which you will remember is also the color for Advent, which is si milarly a season of preparation.  


Food for the Journey
Wednesday Evening Worship at
 
                                       7:00 p.m. Throughout Lent
Come be nourished each week as we journey towards Easter! Each Wednesday night, we will share bread and cup as we are nourished for our pilgrimage. Each worship service will be unique, and there will also be some ongoing practices that we include each week. Come walk the labyrinth, pray with paint, hear a story, sing a song. There will be many opportunities to be renewed with each other!
Memorial Chapel (the side chapel off the sanctuary). Wednesday nights at 7:00 p.m., starting March 8thChildcare will be provided.   
March 29:
Feeding the Soul with Quietness
April 5:
Babbette's Feast
 
  
 C hildren,Youth, and
Family
Ministries

UCW Kids and Mini-Missions

REMINDER:

Mini-Missions presentations are 
this  Sunday, March 26th!   

Please plan to have your Mini-Mission kids arrive at 
9:30 a.m. on Sunday morning, so that we can get ready.  Thank you!
 
This Sunday will be  a special day, as our Rainbows and Stars classes (k-5th grade) share their Mini-Missions projects with the congregation during worship!  Developed by the Christian Education and Teacher Teams, Mini-Missions is an initiative to involve our children in simple, tangible service projects that encourage them to see service as an integral part of their faith and lives, and realize they can make a difference in their communities. The kids are leaders of these service projects from start to finish, and today they will share information about the organizations they have chosen to support and ask for the congregation's help.  You will find an insert with lists of needed items in this bulletin, and we are grateful for your donations.  Following their presentations, the kids are invited down to the Vestry where they will celebrate their hard work, and decorate their donation boxes. For more information, you can also visit the hallway outside the church offices to see some of the kids' work, or visit the Children's and Youth Ministry tab of our website: www.ucw.org.  With questions or to volunteer, please contact Amy at amy@ucw.org.  Thank you!  

Youth Lenten Series
Reminder:  Next Sunday, April 2nd our Youth will help lead Communion

Parents of youth should have received an Evite to this special morning.  If your youth is able to join us for this service (arriving at 9:30 a.m., if possible), please let Amy know by responding to the Evite, contacting her after worship, or at amy@ucw.org.   Many Thanks! 
 
The youth are engaged in a creative new series, which began on Sunday, March 5th and will run through the five Sundays in Lent, and into Holy Week.  This hands-on series explores the mystery of Communion and what it means to live together as beloved community. Over the past few weeks, the youth have baked bread and created items for our Communion table.  Today, Rev. Stacy Swain will join the group as they prepare to lead our time of Communion in worship next week.  An overview of the Lenten series, as well as a calendar of Youth Ministry events this year, was sent to parents, and can be found in the Crocker Chapel or online under the Youth Ministry tab of www.ucw.org.   

CALLING FOR EASTER EGGS!  
bright_easter_eggs.jpg
Easter is just around the corner, and our annual Easter Egg Hunt following worship on Easter morning is always a highlight!   We are very grateful for donations of plastic eggs filled with goodies - e.g. stickers, trinkets or wrapped candies (no NUTS please!).  We also have helper-bunnies who can stuff eggs, if you prefer to drop off bags of goodies or unfilled eggs.  Please find a box outside the CE office for donations, or contact Amy at amy@ucw.org.  Thank you for helping to make this such a fun celebration for our kids!  

MissionMatters
RUSSELL SCHOOL  PARTNERSHIP  UPDATE
 


Union Church Participates in Student Academic Night

The Union Church supported Academic 
Night with our partner, The Russell School  in Dorchester. Families learned along side their children, in the classroom, and went home with books and ideas for supporting students at home.   



Save Those Cleats and Children's Books!  
 
Please save your outgrown cleats and any children's books you are clearing out for  the Russell students
and parents.
 
Please put aside student sports equipment, such as cleats and other athletic shoes as Russell School students need our sports equipment that our kids have outgrown.
Any shoes that can be used for sports are appreciated. 
 
A box will be in chapel for your drop- off convenience. 

Any questions see  Kevin Johnson or Wat Matsuyasu.

 

Russell School Music Concert

You are invited to see and hear the children at
The Russell School at their choral concert on
March 29th, 9:30 a.m.


Adult Education, Fellowship, and Spiritual Formation 
Book Group, Tuesday, March 28th, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
We are reading "The Warmth of Other Suns" by Isabel Wilkerson. A Pulitzer Prize winner, this epic of the great migration from the American South to the North and West tells the story of several characters who embody the drama of different time periods in this historic movement of people in American history.
 


 
"Coming to our Senses"        
 A dult, Small Group Retreat
 
 Toah Nipi  Retreat Center                          Rindge NH

     April 28
th - 30th



Spring is the season when our natural world begins to wake up from its winter sleep and make ready for a new season and summer. It is when the frozen earth thaws; bears and their cousins emerge; tree sap flows. It is when many of our birds return home from their far away travels; and when our lakes and streams rebound with oodles of life. With all this stirring - "mixing memory with desire", the woods and fields become filled and pungent with ancient and new smells and sights and sounds and sensations that trigger and feed our own world and imagination.  Let us take up spring's invitation and "Come to our Senses". 
                                                                                                                         continue reading   
TheWeekAhead
The Week Ahead
 
 
 
Sun., Mar. 26
9:35 a.m.
Singing the Psalms
 
10:00 a.m.
Worship
 
11:15 a.m.
Bell Choir Rehearsal
 
1:00 p.m.
NICA Trip Planning Team
Mon.,  Mar. 27
10:30 a.m.
Wednesday Morning Bible Study
 
7:00 p.m.
Choir Rehearsal
Tue.,  Mar. 28
7:00 p.m.
Book Group
   Wed., Mar.29
7:30 a.m.
Prayer Group
 
9:00 a.m.
Coffee w/Stacy at Starbucks
 
7:00 p.m.
Wednesday Evening Service
Sun., Apr. 2
8:00 a.m.
Bible Study
 
9:00 a.m.
Choir Rehearsal
 
9:35 a.m.
Singing the Psalms
 
10:00 a.m.
Worship
 
11:15 a.m.
Bell Choir Rehearsal
 
 
 
For a complete listing, and details of all upcoming events, 
please visit our website calendar HERE

Help lay the table during fellowship hour
One of the many ministries of UCW is hosting a fellowship hour after worship on Sunday morning.  This table, laid with love and a simple spread is (as Adam Hearlson said in his mission moment a few weeks ago) very much a communion table.  It not only nourishes our bodies, but it also nourishes the relationships that make us one Body, one with each other and with God. If you would like to share in this ministry and host this time of communion, please go here.