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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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Simple Living and the Parable of the Rich Fool
Money was one of the topics Jesus talked about often. Thomas Troeger, in his book "Sermon Sparks" says, "I would not in the name of Christ attack anyone's search for a deeper sense of spiritual integration. But in this search we must not neglect the passages in the Gospels that suggest any authentic spirituality will attend to how we spend our money". Money, along with politics and religion, is a topic we tend to avoid in conversation. But, a conversation with God in prayer about our money may make for a deeper faith, for simple happiness. The Parable of the Rich Fool is a straightforward message about money and possessions. It will guide our exploration on Sunday.
We know that life is a gift from God and affluence cannot secure the future, but how does that affect our everyday life and planning? This is not an easy question, but Jesus calls us to grapple with it. As he said, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also". (Matthew 6: 21)
I hope to see you on Sunday. We will also celebrate Holy Communion.
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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: Israel-Iran, India, Pakistan, Haiti, Sudan, The Congo, Ukraine, Israel-Palestine, Syria, Lebanon. 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.
| | | | While Pastor Karla is on vacation please call or text Petra with pastoral emergencies and/or anything to add to the prayer list or announcements. | |
Calendar
Pastor Petra will be serving as worship leader Aug. 3 and Aug. 17.
On August 10 we will welcome Rev. Mark Yurs as our guest worship leader.
August 24 -- Council Meeting
Sept. 7 -- Fall Welcome Sunday with Potluck!
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If you have a song you would like us to sing for the service, please share it with Becky by Sunday August 17.
- If it is in the hymnal, please tell her what page it is on.
- If it is not in the hymnal, and you have the music, please bring a copy to church to help her gain easy access to the song. Otherwise, give her as much info as you can and hopefully she can find it.
- Please attach your name to what you share with her so we can contact you if we have questions.
- Depending on how many people give us songs, we may only be able to use one of your songs so please give us your #1 choice if you are sharing several songs.
- Based on the time limitations, we may only be able to sing 1-2 verses of songs.
- If you have a special story about why a song is meaningful to you that you would like to share with Pastor Karla, please email it to her or put it in her mailbox.
We hope this Hymn Sing is a meaningful and fun Worship to end summer! Many thanks to Becky for all she is doing for this Hymn Sing Sunday!
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Friendship Time Schedule ready for Sign Ups!
The schedule for Fall to Spring Friendship Time is posted on the bulletin board. Please sign up to host when you know what dates you are free! It will begin on October 5.
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September 7 Fall Welcome Sunday – with Potluck!
Join your Zwingli family on September 7 for our Fall Welcome Sunday -- when our Fall programming begins. We will follow Worship with a favorite Zwingli activity -- a Potluck! Hope you can make it. Please bring a dish to share – and invite friends and family!
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Donations for Pine Ridge Reservation
Jeanette Bossingham is so grateful to Zwingli for making so many donations for Pine Ridge Reservation over the years. Her trip there this year is planned for September and she is inviting us to bring our donations to the Church by Sunday, Sept. 7.
She gives these suggestions for donations (all sizes are okay): sweats (tops and bottoms), jeans, shoes, boots, socks, winter jackets and hats and mittens/glove, sweaters, bedding for twin size beds, school supplies. Jeanette says, “Mitakuye Oyasin” (we are all related). Please bring items in plastic bags and put Jeanette's name on the outside of the bag (and place them on the chairs near the mailboxes).
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Pastor Karla's Wisconsin Conference Annual Mtg Report
It was a joy to attend this year's Conference for many reasons:
- To reconnect with people I haven't seen for awhile - one being a former student who was there representing his home congregation.
- To learn from others through workshops, presentations, and conversations
- To enjoy the beauty of Green Lake in the summer
- And the wonderful Worship Services Conference provides!
In previous summer Hen House News issues, Petra and Louise have shared how some of the speakers and workshops moved them. Today, I'd like to focus on the two workshops I attended as well as the Worship music that inspired me.
1. First I attended the Wisconsin Conference Just/Peace Between Palestine and Israel Resolution Workshop. I am on the Working Group for this Just/Peace effort. I am pleased that Zwingli was one of the congregations that did study this issue in the past year through several adult ed opportunities. Since not enough congregations studied it, we were unable to vote on the Resolution, but at the Workshop we discovered how passionate many congregations are about speaking up for a Just-Peace between Israel and Palestine. So our Working Group is discerning next steps for us to enable the Wisconsin Conference UCC to continue to learn and work for a just peace in this part of the world. Member of our Working Group, Rev. RaeAnn Beebe, led the Workshop and began with sharing an Albert Einstein quote: "Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding". The work of our Working Group is to build understanding in Wisconsin churches, and opportunities to make a difference in support of the innocent people caught in the violence of this troubled land.
2. The other workshop I attended was "Just Tell Me What to Say! The Language of Justice and Love" led by Rev. Dr. Julie Mavity Maddalena. She is Assistant professor of Philosophy and Religion, an Ethicist, and a University Chaplain at Lakeland University. I was excited to see how another University Chaplain is "fostering communities of belonging rooted in God's kin-dom of equity, inclusion, justice and love."
Language is always changing through generations and through geographical regions. Thankfully, we no longer speak Old English!! Language evolves and while it is a challenge to us, it is part of our faith to keep learning because, as Jewish theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel said, "Words create worlds."
Dr. Maddalena taught us that the reality is that Language choices, regardless of intention, can empower and uplift even as they can also exclude and wound. Most of us *want* to use the most sensitive, respectful language possible in our conversations and church life even as many of us find it intimidating to keep up with the most updated language, whether related to gender, sexuality, race, ability, class, body size, age, or the Divine. One of the most important parts of my ministry as a Campus Minister, was using the language students used to identify themselves because in doing so, I was valuing them and their identity. Thankfully, most of them were gracious when I would use the wrong pronoun (he, she, or they) for them -- and grateful that I was trying to honor and respect (and so love) them in this way. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to learn more about valuing identity through these students who were willing to trust me. If you want to learn more about why pronouns matter to many, here's a short video.
Dr. Maddalena's invitation to us is to recognize the opportunity to see the Spirit of Justice and Love in our language and to welcome the opportunity to transform our language to reflect that Spirit with curiosity and openness. Someday in the future, I'd love to bring her to Zwingli -- she has a very open-hearted and non-judgmental way of inviting learners into this journey of how language is so important in how we 'love one another'.
3. Finally, I want to share links to three songs of two of the four wonderful musicians who led the music. I hope they inspire you as they did me:
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God is Holding Your Life by Richard Bruxvoor Colligan (whose music has always moved me) had me in tears as I felt I was singing it to my Palestinian and Israeli friends who have endured so much pain, including two of them losing their young daughters to the violence.
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Another Richard Bruxvoor Colligan song that was deeply moving was Quicken Me. The image with this article is of the caterpillar/butterfly backdrop at the Conference which the song is speaking to -- that we invite God to quicken us into our transformation from caterpillar to butterflies in our spiritual growth.
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Madison based musician, Bryan Sirchio (who many of you know), was also one of the Musicians at Conference. One of his songs gives a powerful message as we live through the uncertainty of these days: All Shall Be Well. You can see the lyrics and listen to the refrain and one verse here. If you have Spotify, you can listen to the complete song here.
This year's Conference was a rich experience for me! I am so grateful for the wonderful staff and volunteers who lead our Conference. Zwingli is blessed with Rev. Rachael Bauman as our Associate Conference Minister. Let's keep the Conference in prayer as it seeks to be a resource to Wisconsin congregations.
The richest experience was listening to one of my former campus ministry students and now dear friend and colleague, Jen Petricca Bloesch, give the sermon for the closing Worship. I'll share more about that in a future Hen House News! For now, many thanks to Petra and Louise for representing Zwingli at Conference -- and for sharing their experiences with us in previous editions of the Hen House News.
| | The National United Church of Christ invites you to help support the relief and long-term recovery of those affected by these severe storms, and other communities that have experienced similar events across the US here: https://ow.ly/eciJ50Wm0HR (select “Severe Storms” as the designation.) | | |
Madison Area Faith Based Groups are invited to
join this public action on August 9:
Public action of hunger surrounded by plenty
Saturday, August 9th, 10-11 am
Dane County Farmers Market
Corner of King Street
We invite you to join us at "an empty table surrounded by plenty”. Bring your signs, bring your empty pots, bring your grief and anger, bring your hunger for justice. Bring your group’s banner!
Truckfuls of aid are being left to rot while people are left to starve. We call for a release of the aid and an end to the violence that causes the need for aid. End the blockade, end the genocide.
Kind regards,
Ruth Ann Berkholtz, Mennonite Action Madison
For questions, contact mennoniteactionmadison@gmail.com
Sponsored by Jewish Voice for Peace, Madison for a World BEYOND War, and Mennonite Action Madison
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Ideas for Signs
- Food blockade / Feeds genocide
- Genocide in Gaza: Starving children / Killing doctors / Bombing hospitals / Targeting food sites
- Feel like a snack? People in Gaza subsist on 250 calories per day.
- Feeling hungry for peace? Kids in Gaza are dying of starvation.
- Starvation as a weapon of war = Genocide in Gaza. OUR SHAME.
- Food sites as targets: that’s how US weapons kill people in Gaza. OUR SHAME.
- They said, “I was hungry …” Did our money give bread or did we finance starvation?
- They said, “I was thirsty …” and our bombs destroyed water stations in Gaza.
- Send Food, Not Bombs
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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: Protect Trans, Nonbinary, and Intersex People's Civil Rights. 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 | | | | |
