|
Hen House Weekly E-News
October 3, 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!
| | This Sunday in Worship we will continue with our Seven Stories series to explore Purification Stories -- with a special focus on how Jesus countered this religious ideology and invited all those who had been judged to be outside the Grace of God, into the Grace of God -- dining with them and feeding them with his love and teachings. On Sunday we will join together at the Lord's Table ourselves, and remember that we belong to the love and way of Christ. Then following worship we will enjoy more table fellowship at our monthly 1st Sunday Friendship Time! | | This Sunday the United Church of Christ celebrates both World Communion Sunday and the dedication of our offerings to Neighbors in Need! We invite you to join us and bring your special offerings (or send them in to the Church -- marked for Neighbors in Need). | | In preparation, I share with you voices and history from the national UCC offices to help us all learn more about World Communion Sunday historically and the significance of this day for our world today: | | |
“'World Communion Sunday powerfully reminds us of what is always true when we participate in the sacrament of Holy Communion: at Christ’s table we are all one. In a nation and world afflicted with so much conflict, hatred and division, we need this blessed reminder,' said Rev. Shari Prestemon, Associate General Minister for the United Church of Christ and Co-Executive of Global Ministries, a shared witness between the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the UCC....
World Communion Sunday, held the first Sunday in October, was the idea of Rev. Dr. Hugh Thompson Kerr. In 1933, the Presbyterian minister wanted to lift the biblical reality that through baptism, congregations worldwide were connected to one another. Kerr often cited Ephesians’ 'one Lord, one faith, one baptism.'
In 1940, against the backdrop of World War II, when division and discourse were ripping apart the seam of unity, the Department of Evangelism of the Federal Council of Churches — the predecessor of today’s National Council of Churches — embraced World Communion Sunday. It was soon adopted by many denominations, including the UCC. Today, though, unity is once again being pulled at the seams as political dissension grows, and U.S. government funding cuts threaten global aid programs.
'In a time when more boundaries are set up — physical and psychological — World Communion Sunday is a time to celebrate the ways the Church is enabling the breaking down of the dividing walls,' said Dr. Peter E. Makari, Global Relations Minister, Middle East and Europe for Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ." (all quotes from https://www.ucc.org/from-music-to-bread-recipes-ucc-global-partners-bring-the-world-to-world-communion-sunday-resources/)
From the National UCC resources I share with you the Philippines Silliman University video of Indigenous music (Great Is Thy Faithfulness). For any bread bakers, I also share a few recipes from around the world. In future years if you would like to bake one of these recipes (or another) for this special communion Sunday, please let me know. This Sunday we will enjoy our regular delicious gluten and dairy free bread.
| | |
On Sunday (and after Sunday if that works better for you) we will also receive our Neighbors in Need Offerings and invite you to bring your gifts (in the NIN envelopes or mark the subject line of your text for NIN). This is one of Zwingli's most important special offerings and we appreciate your generosity -- as do those who will be recipients of the support they will be given. Gifts to Neighbors in Need (NIN) support the United Church of Christ’s ministries of justice and compassion throughout the United States. One-third of NIN funds support the Council for American Indian Ministry (CAIM). The other two-thirds of the offering support a variety of justice initiatives, advocacy efforts, direct service projects, and grants. Neighbors in Need grants are annually awarded to UCC churches and organizations doing justice work in their communities.
I hope you will join us this Sunday -- and thank you for your generosity to the Neighbors in Need offering and to the regular ministry of Zwingli!
Blessings,
Karla
| |
|
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: Afghanistan, Venezuela, Haiti, Sudan, The Congo, Ukraine-Russia, Israel-Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon. 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 and now under this government shutdown.
| | | | |
Calling all ushers! If you enjoy ushering and are able to fill a Sunday or two (or three), please sign up on the bulletin board. The Council member assigned for that month will still be present if you have any questions, but we all appreciate having a Sunday off. Thank you!
| | |
Many thanks to Joe Aldstadt for contributing a laptop to use for worship and adult education classes. It worked great on Sunday for the video we watched and discussed.
| | |
Crop Walk: Sunday, October 19
We will be partnering once again with First United Church of Christ in Belleville. Registration begins at First Church at 12:30 pm at 130 East Church Street. The walk begins at 1:00.
We will have one team - UCC Paoli. 25% of the proceeds from the walk will be given to the Belleville Food Pantry.
All check donations must be made out to: CWS/CROP. If you want to enter it under a charge card, look for Team UCC Paoli on the website: https://events.crophungerwalk.org/crophungerwalks
Kriss Ace will register our walkers so contact her if you wish to walk. She needs all donations by October 26. If giving cash please put it in an envelope marked "CROP donation." All cash envelopes and checks can be placed in the collection place each Sunday.
| |
|
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.
| | | | |
Repair Cafe to Launch Publicly on Oct. 11!
Our first public Repair Cafe is scheduled for Oct. 11 from 10 am - Noon! We are grateful for our Repairers and our Hospitality Team! This is a great way to invite our others to Zwingli! Here's how you can help us!
-
Pass the word to your friends and family! They can learn more on our Zwingli website! We can offer to try to repair their lamps, furniture, sewing, mending, electrical, technology, and sharpen knives! We know the Post Messenger Recorder will be publishing an article (this Thursday we hope) that you can share with them. We are hoping the O'ROURKE Media Group will publish it as well. If you have a place to hang flyers, let us know and we will supply you with flyers!
- Come and be part of the hospitality team (Faith, Petra, and Sue) to help make our neighbors feel welcome and enjoy themselves and Zwingli! Bring your own items that need repair.
- If you would like to contribute goodies for the day, contact one of the members of the hospitality team
- If you (or someone you know) has repair skills you (or they) would like to share, contact Debbie or 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 International, check it out here.
| | |
On Sunday, Oct. 12, we will meet again after Worship for our Adult Education Program entitled "Loving Across Divisions". We will listen to an interview with Valarie Kaur, founder of the Revolutionary Love Project. To introduce you to Valarie, here's a 4 minute interview with her. On Oct. 12, 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).
Blessings,
Karla
| | |
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.
| | |
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 CR (continuing resolution) without healthcare access. 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 | | | | |
