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Hen House Weekly E-News
September 19, 2025
Why Hen House? The friendly chatter before Worship on Sundays reminds us of a Hen House! Since Jesus identified himself as a Mother Hen and, as an historical farm church, we enjoy being God's ‘Hen House’ and welcome everyone (town, urban, and rural) to our Worship and other programs - and invite you to even make Zwingli your Church home. The United Church of Christ values all people!
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On beautiful September days like the ones we are enjoying this week, I always remember the poem my friend, Pat Hitchcock, gave me many years ago. Pat lived on the land that is now known as Donald Park (she donated her farm to the County to be part of this park - scroll down this page to see a picture of her and her green truck with more information about how she contributed to the park).
Years ago I would bring university students to her farm to help her with seed collecting and other jobs that needed to be done (I have a fun picture of a group of us, mostly international students, with Pat by her green truck). Like me (and some of you who knew her), students loved Pat and she always blessed us with her cheerful hospitality.
On one of my visits to Pat's farm, she gave me this poem which I return to every September (it was written by another southern Wisconsin woman who was a friend of Pat's). It was hard to find a good image for such a long poem but I found a way to do it -- with a photo I took of Pat collecting seeds in 2005!
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On Sunday we will continue the sermon series I began last week to explore the Seven Stories which Brian McLaren and Gareth Higgins invite us to learn about - and on this week we will look at Domination Stories. This Sunday the UCC invites us to join a nationwide celebration of the innovative power of clean energy, known as "Sun Day", a movement led by Bill McKibben and others to celebrate the renewable energy resources of nature -- and to advocate for these energy sources (scroll down for article on this) To discover Madison area activities for Sun Day, go here.
It's not lost on me that the Sunday we are talking about Domination stories is also "Sun Day". Tragically the Christian faith has misinterpreted scripture to believe that the earth is there for humanity to dominate, instead of nurture, care for, and respect. "Sun Day" is an opportunity to remember that there is a better and more faithful way to live in which we can care for our earth, its creatures, its people, and the future generations. This is a new story we need to live in to -- one of creation care rather than creation domination. The UCC Action Center is also inviting us to contact our legislators to say "No to War, Yes to Creation". On this page, they make it very easy to write your legislators.
On the Donald Park website, Pat Hitchcock is quoted as saying, "We can do this!" With this attitude she was one of the first women to become a state park ranger. With this attitude, she joined others to create the beautiful Donald Park (if you haven't gone there, I highly recommend it). With this attitude, we can move our nation forward when it comes to renewable and clean energy sources that are less expensive for consumers and impact our planet and future generations in a positive way.
Join us this Sunday as we celebrate Creation, reflect on the teachings of Jesus about the Story of Domination in Jesus' day, and (for those who can stay for a bit after Worship) package the Snack Kits to donate to the Friends of State Street Family! Meanwhile, I invite you to 'Store September'.
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Prayer List
Today, we invite you to keep in prayer:
Those suffering from drought, famine, accidents, fires, storms, flooding, tornados, excessive heat, violence, homelessness, illness, war in their communities.
Nations in crisis: Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Israel-Qatar, India, Pakistan, Haiti, Sudan, The Congo, Ukraine, Israel-Palestine, Syria, Lebanon and Poland. Prayers for all those suffering from the broken ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and for another ceasefire soon. Prayers for the peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. Prayers for those countries, companies and consumers who are affected by the escalating trade war.
For wise, compassionate leadership in our Executive, legislative and judicial branches of govt, and citizen action. For Civil Servants, immigrants, international students, and others facing uncertainty under the policies of the new administration.
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Write a Climate Hope Advocacy Card!
This Sunday, faith communities across the country will be joining a day of grassroots climate action to celebrate SUN DAY! For more information on this day and solar power, go to https://www.sunday.earth/. This will be a day to celebrate and advocate for the gift and power of clean energy.
The National UCC invites those who wish to participate in this advocacy to write a note to Representative Mark Pocan on the back of a card you will find in your bulletin. Share why you personally support solar energy as a person of faith. Many people are motivated by love: love of neighbor, love of children, and love of God's creation. To counter current proposals for severe funding cuts, you can end your comments by advocating for full funding of the Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in Fiscal Year 2026. Zwingli will send these on to the UCC Offices and they will be delivered to Representative Pocan’s office. At the end of worship this Sunday you can place your card in the round basket next to the 'recycle bulletins basket' on your way out. Fill it out at Church or take it home and write your message there and bring it back on Sunday, Sept. 28 (so we can send them in that week).
| | Zwingli will participate in this special missions offering on October 5. Look for offering envelopes in your bulletin starting next week. | |
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Fall is here and thus begins cold, flu & covid season. If you have symptoms, please wear a face mask so we all can stay healthy.
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Repair Cafe to Launch Publicly on Oct. 11!
We had a wonderful in-house trial Cafe this summer and have scheduled our first public Repair Cafe for October 11 from 10 am - Noon. We are excited to have our Team of Repairers returning, as well as our Hospitality Team. We can offer to repair lamps, furniture, sewing, mending, electrical, technology, and sharpen knives. Check out our Repair Cafe page on our Zwingli website to meet our Team and learn more!
If you have repair skills you want to share, contact Debbie or Pastor Karla. We could definitely use more repairers for sewing/mending and technology. If you want to help with hospitality, contact Sue or Pastor Karla. Finally, if you want to help us put flyers up in your town (library, grocery store . . . ), contact Pastor Karla. The Repair Cafe is an international movement to help the world move to a more sustainable way of caring for our planet -- repairing instead of trashing items that still have use left in them (and helping individuals/families save money too). Zwingli is pleased to share the gifts of our members with our local community - and make a difference! If you want to learn more about Repair Cafe's, check out Repair Cafe International here.
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Last Sunday I was thrilled to have a wonderful group of 11 of us ready to begin our 5 part Adult Education Program entitled "Loving Across Divisions" (and I know of 5 others who couldn't make it that day)! Thank you all for taking the time to learn more about how to live into Jesus' teachings to love across divisions. Unfortunately, I had left the cord to connect the computer to the projector at home (there's a good explanation for this that I won't bore you with). Sigh. The group was very gracious towards me and so, instead of watching the first video, we spent time sharing with each other why this topic is important to us. In some ways I'm grateful for my mistake because our time was so well spent listening to each other. My sense is that when our relationships with others are broken due to the political hostility that has been created in our country, it is painful and confusing -- and we want to find a way to restore our ability to engage across differences in ways that truly respect each other -- and help us to build beloved community.
On Sept. 28 I will have the projector cord and we will learn more about Tim Shriver's teaching of The Dignity Index. We will meet in the basement to watch a video and have a discussion. I hope you will join us (it does help if you sign up on the bulletin board so we know how many refreshments to provide, but it isn't necessary). For more information about The Dignity Index, check out this 1.5 minute video (one we haven't shared in HHN yet).
Blessings,
Karla
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Snack Kit Project
for
Friends of State Street Family
https://fssf.org/
Our church will be assembling bags after worship this Sunday, September 21.
Snacks to bring include (individually packaged): Granola bars, candy bars, small cracker packages, cookie packages, nuts, raisins, fruit snacks, Rice Krispies bars and similar items.
If you have questions, ask Judy Batker or Pastor Karla. Thanks!!
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Marques Bovre Tribute Band at Dot's Tavern Sept. 28!!
We all have one more opportunity this summer to enjoy the iconic music of Marques Bovre (Sue Bovre's son) as sung by Sue's grandson Quintin and The Marques Bovre Tribute Band! The Band will perform at Dot's Tavern on Sept. 28 from 2-5 pm (bring your own chairs).
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Fall Equinox Flicker Wild Church Sept. 22
Lead Pastors Daniel and Julia write:
While in our culture this weekend marks a changing of the seasons, at Flicker we follow the calendars of nature, like the phenological and lunar and the astronomical calendar which reminds us that summer continues for another few weeks. I can’t wait for our next chance to gather together in Sacred Circle with this year’s Fall Equinox Circle: Monday, September 22 @ Holy Wisdom Monastery.
5pm—Dinner option at Holy Wisdom
The Monastery has a wonderful chef team that will offer a meal for purchase. If you are interested, please RSVP to me (Daniel dcooperrider@gmail.com) by September 8 with # of meals & dietary preferences (final RSVP # for our group is open until Sept 12, so if you’re still deciding by the 8th, let me know by the 12th). The cost is $22/adult and $14/child, and can be paid for via donation to Flicker Wild Church here. We would recommend arriving a bit early as we will begin the circle at 5:45.
5:30—Gather for Circle—5:45pm Circle Starts. We will meet at the fire pit on the knoll above the hill from the parking lot (the parking lot that is furthest up the hill and to the right when you enter the monastery). Please bring your own chair/blanket (we will have some extras as well). Tell a friend & join us as we sync our spirits to the season and land through song, poems/readings, reflections, & ritual.
For more information on Flicker Wild Church watch this video and/or ask Pastor Karla or Sue Bovre. We will put up a sign up sheet on the bulletin board for those who want to attend as a group from Zwingli so we can look for each other once we arrive.
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Online Daily Devotional through the UCC
The Daily Devotional is a spiritually deep well, to which thousands of readers are drawn each day. The overall voice of the Daily Devotional is tended by the Stillspeaking Writers’ Group and supported by the staff of The Pilgrim Press. It is available on the UCC National website. If you would like to read it there or subscribe to receive it in your inbox, go here to access this inspiring and relevant free resource provided by the UCC.
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Friendship Time Begins October 5
Please join us!
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Opportunities for Citizen Advocacy through letters to Congress
The United Church of Christ offers us the opportunity to learn more about bills before Congress and voice our opinions to our legislators. They make it very easy to send an email. Check out the many topics on their page: https://www.ucc.org/action-center/. The most recent one is: No to War, Yes to God's Creation. Scroll down the page to find others that you might want to express your opinion about.
| | If you would like to learn more about the work of the United Church of Christ Southwest Wisconsin Association, send a message to this email address to be added to their monthly newsletter: swacommunications@gmail.com | | | | |
