Christmas Day - Saturday, December 25
Make a concrete plan to do this in your own way … thanks to Howard Thurman
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among others,
To make music in the heart.
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Worship with us this Sunday |
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December 26| 10:00AM
Worship In-Person in the Sanctuary or on Facebook Live… or later on YouTube
Join us for the first day of Christmas. What do we do now – in addition to cleaning up?
Our scriptures will be Psalm 96 -- a celebration song; and Luke 2:41-52 -- Jesus grows up so fast. What does it mean to ‘increase in wisdom, years and favor’? (We hope you’re not done singing Christmas carols!)
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We would like to send a daily email next Advent with our own quotes, poetry, prayers, stories, art and more.
Please help us kick of the 2022 collection by sending us something by Epiphany - January 6.
We look forward to hearing from you!
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This link lists bulletin posts, with the top one as the most recent. |
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Livestream worship on Sundays. Look under videos for previous livestreamed services. |
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All our worship service videos in one place! |
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All Mid~Week Meditations that have been recorded on YouTube. |
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Sunday School Live and via Zoom
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Sunday School for children through 5th grade:
Meeting ID: 383 733 977
Password: 819680
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Sunday School for Youth/Teens each week:
Meeting ID: 815 6130 3581
Password: 702228
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2nd Mile Advent Giving
Read about the important ministries we support through your generosity...
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First and third Tuesdays at 2:00pm via Zoom. We start the new year with a new book: The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times. All are welcome! |
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TLilly Dwyer and parents Lea and Jeff - at her Baptism this Sunday!
Avery - due 1/6 born 10/17 – HOME from the NICU (Borgmann)!
Natalie Dixon Crewell - endured round 1 of leukemia chemo; now home in Gainesville MO; back-and-forth to StL for tx over next months.
Brad Lyons (Zoe, Summer, Blake) and Courtney Richards celebrating her move to St. Louis this week.
All the acts of kindness, justice and equity near and far.
Advent gifts of hope, peace, joy and love!
Conrad Damsgaard - doing well in the hospital; was about to be discharged to rehab but tested positive for Covid - now on Covid floor.
Marv Herpel - just returned to Brookdale after hospitalization & rehab.
Steve and Andrea Barnes - preparing for surgery on his elbows and wrists due to nerve damage from sarcoidosis and as his mother undergoes treatment for cancer and has a toe amputated on December 23
Grieving families at the Holidays - including Albers, Larson, Nolte, Nourse, Peek, Smith, Sperry, Stappenbeck, Wandless, Wessel.
All impacted by Covid-19 - individuals, families, healthcare workers; If anyone needs help getting vax/booster or if anyone vaccinated would like to be on the Care Team, please reach out to kevin@parkwayucc.org
Family/Friends of Carl Hudson - asst principal at Marquette High and Manchester Councilman who died from Covid complications last wk.
St Louis Association UCC Covenant Partner
Week ending December 19 - Mount Tabor UCC, St. Louis; mounttaborucc.org
Week ending December 26 - Calvary UCC, St. Louis; calvaryucc.org
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Something amazing – in the snow – you might consider experiencing over the holidays on Netflix … 14 Peaks! There are 14 mountain peeks higher than 8000 meters in the world. This gentleman, of the Sherpa* people sets out to climb them all. He says, “Nothing is impossible.
The biggest strength I have is that I have no fear.” I wonder if he heard Angel Gabriel telling him not to be afraid. Check out the preview here:
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[*Sherpa, also called Sharwa, group of some 150,000 mountain-dwelling people of Nepal.]
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What happens if you eat Christmas decorations? You get tinsel-it is.
What do grapes sing at Christmas? 'Tis the season to be jelly.
What's the difference between the Christmas alphabet and the ordinary alphabet? The Christmas alphabet has noel.
What did the gingerbread man put on his bed? A cookie sheet!
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Ponder
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, come forth from deep within me with Christmas luminous beauty.
~Edward M. Hays
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If God is Love, Don’t Be a Jerk
Join us this winter as we invite ALL PUCCers to engage with our friend John Pavlovitz and others who find him to be challenging and inspiring.
Secure a copy of his newest book, If God is Love, through your fave book distributor or pick one up from church for $15 (checks to PUCC with JPav Book in the memo) starting on December 19.
We will give you access to 6 pre-recorded videos from John, one each week, beginning the week of January 9. You can watch it whenever you can.
We will come together in-person at church for Live Zooms with John and others for six Wednesdays at 7pm CT beginning on January 19 and ending on February 23. (Links and recordings will be available if needed.)
We will come together again for a special live closing message on Saturday, February 26 at 8pm CT in the Heritage Room - or you can do it from home.
** More about the book….
Imagine for a moment what the world might look like if we as people of faith, morality, and conscience actually aspired to this mantra.
What if we worked to create a world that was more loving and equitable than when we arrived?
What if we invited one another to share in wide-open, fearless, spiritual communities truly marked by compassion and interdependence?
What if we daily challenged ourselves to live a faith that simply made us better humans?
John Pavlovitz explores how we can embody this kinder kind of spirituality where we humbly examine our belief system to understand how it might compel us to act in less-than-loving ways toward others.
This simple phrase, "Thou Shalt Not Be Horrible," could help us practice what we preach by creating a world where:
* spiritual community provides a sense of belonging where all people are received as we are;
* the most important question we ask of a religious belief is not Is it true? but rather, is it helpful?
* it is morally impossible to pledge complete allegiance to both Jesus and America simultaneously;
* the way we treat others is the most tangible and meaningful expression of our belief system.
In If God Is Love, Don't Be a Jerk, John Pavlovitz examines the bedrock ideas of our religion: the existence of hell, the utility of prayer, the way we treat LGBTQ people, the value of anger, and other doctrines to help all of us take a good, honest look at how the beliefs we hold can shape our relationships with God and our fellow humans―and to make sure that love has the last, loudest word.
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Donations for Video Project
Because of the need during the pandemic for video streaming of our church services, and because of the desire of members and friends to continue streaming even after the pandemic, we will be installing a new video system in the sanctuary. This will remove videography duties from our busy pastor’s responsibilities, and will allow for more automatic and seamless video streaming of services. Council recently approved a contract for the purchase and installation of video equipment, and Kent Tallyn and others are assisting with the installation. The project will cost about $30,000.
The Ruth Murray Memorial Fund, funded in part by insurance proceeds that she left to the church, will pay for a portion of this project. We welcome further donations for this project.
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We appreciate your submissions of jokes, quotes, photos, videos, weekly opportunities, Mid~Week Meditation ideas, scriptures that are important to you, hymn/song suggestions, poetry, etc. We would love to hear from you kevin@parkwayucc.org |
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Visit our social media for a mix of pix and to see what other PUCCers would like you to attend/experience/ponder/pray about with them.
Please post a picture of you/yours on our social media:
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WORSHIP SUNDAYS at 10:00am
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2841 N Ballas Road,
St. Louis, MO 63131
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PUCC eNews is published weekly in order to broadcast Parkway UCC events and happenings - and items of interest to the Parkway UCC community of faith - for the upcoming week. Please submit all communications requests, via the button below, by noon Monday.
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