The Union Church in Waban |
|
|
|
May 9th at 10:00 a.m. Worship
Sixth Sunday in Easter
This Sunday we continue with John's Gospel and Jesus' words telling his disciples they are to abide in his love and to love one another. He tells them this "so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made complete", he says (John 15: 9-17).
In this past year of loss, uncertainty and fear, joy may be the farthest thing from our hearts. How are we to understand what Jesus is saying? How do disciples come to understand the joy of which Jesus speaks?.
To join worship on Zoom:
Meeting ID: 832 2059 8969
Passcode: 458322
Dial in only: 1 646 558 8656
The bulletin is available HERE
|
|
|
|
|
Bible Study
Sunday Mornings at 8:00
All are welcome
Meeting ID: 885 0724 0203
Passcode: 584285
|
|
|
To connect to Sunday Worship or to any of our online offerings, you may go to our website at www.ucw.org. There you will find a click through to Sunday morning worship and to other online opportunities. You may also use the link below.
|
|
|
|
Tomorrow, Saturday
May 8th at 9:00 a.m.
|
Bring your rakes and garden tools.
All welcome!
|
|
Celebrating our Graduates
Are You or Yours Graduating this Spring?
Sunday, June 6th
We'll be celebrating our graduates this year during worship on Sunday, June 6th. If you or someone you love is graduating, or celebrating an ending or new beginning this Spring, please contact Pastor Amy (amy@ucw.org), so that we can include them in our celebrations. Thank you!
|
|
Continuing the "Space-Making" Conversation
Sunday, May 23rd, Following Worship
See the "Space-Making and Living into our Covenant" section below for more details.
|
|
Save The Date!
A Party for Pastor Stacy
Sunday June 13th at 1:00
A celebration for Stacy will be held on June 13th at 1:00 at the church. Invitation and details to follow but most importantly for now, mark your calendar!!
|
|
Adult Education and Formation |
|
|
|
|
Listening in is a conversation between Tom Vawter and Pastor Stacy as they take some time to explore the depths of some gorgeous poems. They offer this conversation as a way to enter in and listen in to where the beauty of the poem may be speaking and ministering to us in this profoundly challenging time we are in. May it be a blessing to you. Go HERE to access the video or click on the image of Tom.
|
|
|
|
Tea Time Bible Study
Tuesdays at 3:00 p.m.
Please join us for a walk through the Book of Acts with Rev. Arlyne Grant and other friends. No biblical study or experience is needed. This will be a fun filled time of conversation and learning.
Meeting ID: 847 2838 1864
Passcode: 837512
Dial in: 1 646 558 8656
|
|
Children, Youth and Families |
|
|
|
|
Coming Up - Intergenerational Gathering
Sunday, May 16th at 12:30 p.m.
Preparing for Pentecost and Time with Pastor Stacy
We'll remember the story of Pentecost (May 23rd this year), and how God sent the Holy Spirit to help the disciples share the news about Jesus and God's love with all people,. On this day Pastor Stacy will join us and share the story of how the Holy Spirit is moving in her life. We hope members of all ages will join us for this intergenerational, in-person gathering.
|
|
Youth Ministry
Youth Group Gatherings
|
|
|
High School Youth Group: 10th-12th graders
Sunday, May 16th, from 5:00-7:00 p.m. at the home of the Pond Family
Exploring Our Faith Mentors are invited to join for the first hour. Weather permitting, we'll gather outdoors in the Pond's backyard. We'll catch up, have fun, and reflect on this year. Please RSVP to Pastor Amy (amy@ucw.org) for the Pond's address.
Middle School Youth Group
Saturday, May 22nd, from 3:00-5:00 p.m. at the home of the Purser Family
Join us for an awesome outdoor afternoon of games, and a celebration of Pentecost (the birthday of the church - yes, there will be cupcakes!) We'll also spend some time looking back over the year, and ahead to the summer and beyond. Let Pastor Amy know if you can come! Parents are invited to stay for their own time to connect, or drop-off. Middle school families should also receive an email with details and the Pursers' address.
Ninth Grade Youth Group
Ninth grade families should have received a Doodle poll from Pastor Amy as we try to find a good time to get together! We hope all 9th graders can come to this meeting as we celebrate this amazing year together, and look ahead to Exploring Our Faith next year. It will be so good to be together! Please email Pastor Amy if you didn't receive the email and Doodle poll.
Youth Group Service Opportunities!
Church Clean-up
Saturday, May 8th at 9:00 a.m.
See the note above for details, and plan to come to help out!
Common Cathedral
Sunday, May 30th - with prep beforehand
We hope everyone will join us as we share worship and lunch with our partner congregation Common Cathedral on Boston Common. The Common Cathedral is a church without walls, and many of its members are unhoused. We will join them to share 150 lunches with any who are hungry and will then join them for their 1pm worship service. We're grateful for donations of food and sandwich prep ahead of time, help bagging the lunches on Sunday morning, and help serving downtown on Sunday afternoon. All are invited. Pastor Amy will include details and a sign-up in emails to the youth groups, and all others who would like to join in can email her at amy@ucw.org. Thank you for being part of this wonderful ministry and partnership!
|
|
Thank You!
Lowndes County Book Buddies
Special thanks to all who are volunteering to be a Book Buddy and mail a new book to a child in Lowndes County, Alabama each month. Several of you have developed strong relationships with the child as you discuss the books each month. Others never heard from the child. At our Zoom meeting of Book Buddies in April we decided to contact each parent whose child has a Book Buddy to see whether the child is receiving books each month and would like to continue having a Book Buddy through the summer. I have started contacting the parents who will let their child's Book Buddy know whether they want to continue through the summer. Please let me know if you are not able to continue. We are happy to match the Lowndes County child with a new Book Buddy who is waiting to serve. Happy reading!
Jenny Weisz
|
|
Common Cathedral
Weekly Sandwich Deliveries to BostonWarm Continue
We continue to deliver sandwiches, soft fruit, granola bars and more to our unhoused siblings in downtown Boston every Thursday. To learn more or sign up to help with this ministry, please CLICK HERE. Thank you!
|
|
Advocates for Racial Justice |
|
|
April was Fair Housing Month and we were reminded of the forgotten history of how we became a segregated America. |
|
Richard Rothstein (The Color of Law ) confirms that decades-old housing policies have had a lasting effect on American society. "The segregation of our metropolitan areas today leads ... to stagnant inequality, because families are much less able to be upwardly mobile when they're living in segregated neighborhoods where opportunity is absent," and adds an important truth during this current time of police shootings of unarmed black Americans, “If we want greater equality in this society, if we want a lowering of the hostility between police and young African-American men, we need to take steps to desegregate."
Today African-American incomes on average are about 60 percent of average white incomes. But African-American wealth is about 5 percent of white wealth. Most middle-class families in this country gain their wealth from the equity they have in their homes. So this enormous difference between a 60 percent income ratio and a 5 percent wealth ratio is almost entirely attributable to federal housing policy implemented through the 20th century.
African-American families that were prohibited from buying homes in the suburbs in the 1940s and '50s and even into the '60s, by the Federal Housing Administration, gained none of the equity appreciation that whites gained. So ... the Daly City development south of San Francisco or Levittown or any of the others in between across the country, those homes in the late 1940s and 1950s sold for about twice national median income. They were affordable to working-class families with an FHA or VA mortgage. African-Americans were equally able to afford those homes as whites but were prohibited from buying them.
The white families sent their children to college with their home equities; they were able to take care of their parents in old age and not depend on their children. They're able to bequeath wealth to their children. None of those advantages accrued to African-Americans, who for the most part were prohibited from buying homes
|
|
"Space-Making" and Living into our Covenant |
|
|
Save the Date!
Continuing the
"Space-Making" Conversation
Sunday, May 23rd, Following Worship
|
A group of 15 members of the UCW community met after worship on April 11th for a discussion of Yale Divinity School's seminar on space making by Rev. Phiwa Langeni. The seminar offered practical tips on language, pronouns and other queer-related issues and how we can create space for LGBTQ youth. A recording of the original seminar is available below.
Interest in the topic was such that we have decided to reconvene and continue the conversation after worship on Sunday, May 23rd. Any and all who are interested in joining are welcome as we continue developing our understanding of gender identity, gender expression, and the aspirations of our church covenant.
|
|
Much of our time on April 11th was spent in general conversation about why each of us is interested in this topic: there was a lot to share, including stories of family members who are gay or non-binary. We also shared our appreciation for all the work this congregation has done over the years to be the caring and welcoming church that we are. The theme of developing a better understanding of what it means to welcome all to take a seat at the table emerged as an affirmation of the intent of our church covenant.
|
|
Annual Stewardship Campaign 2021-2022
Thank you to those who have already returned their 2021-22 pledge! Receiving your pledge information early greatly assists us as we craft a budget for review at our Annual Meeting on June 6th and plan for the upcoming church year. To submit your pledge please use the quick online link below.
|
|
Thank You!
The UCW Stewardship Team
|
|
You can check your current year's pledge amount by logging into your church account HERE.
More information about this year's campaign can be found on our website homepage at ucw.org.
|
|
Call For Nominations
Feeling called to be more active at UCW?
Get involved next year!
The Union Church Nominating Committee (Co-Moderators, Senior Deacon and a member-at-large) is charged with seeking nominations for church leadership positions that are voted on at our Annual Meeting. Please help by nominating yourself or someone you think would find committee work to be a blessing. A list of opportunities is below. Email your nominations to the Nominating Committee in care of Alison McCarty, alimcmom@gmail.com.
Nominations will be taken from the floor at our Annual Meeting, but we encourage submitting names by May 10th so that we will have an opportunity to contact the nominees.
Thank you!
Lisa Crockett, Frank Laski, Jim MacDonald and Alison McCarty
Leadership needed:
- One Co-Moderator to serve a three year term - two as Co-Moderator and one as Immediate Past Co-Moderator.
- Two or more Deacons to serve a three year term (none have stepped down, but there is interest in expanding the number)
- Three Co-chairs for Mission: the overall Committee, Advocates for Racial Justice plus members for all mission committees
- Co-Leaders for Youth Ministry
- Members for Childrens' Ministry
- Members for the Building Committee (care of our physical plant)
- Members for our Stewardship Committee
- A member for our Human Relations Committee
- Young family members for our Worship Team
In addition to these elected roles, we are always in search of membership for our various activities, including this year our Worship Tech Team. and our Communication Committee (overseeing the web site and public relations).
More information about these various roles and current membership is available on the church web site on the Governance tab, https://www.ucw.org/committees/
We will take nominations from the floor at the Annual Meeting in early June, but nominations are appreciated by May 10th. Please email to alimcmom@gmail.com.
|
|
Our Covenant
We, the members of The Union Church in Waban, true to our founding principle of being an inclusive church, covenant together to nourish and to sustain in our common life and practice a fully welcoming and affirming church for all persons. Welcoming all persons who seek to join with us in a commitment to love God and our neighbors, affirming the inclusive love of Jesus, we are open to all, without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, nationality, ability or economic circumstance. We invite all to full participation in our worship, membership, leadership and life of this church.
|
|
City Mission's Social Justice Internship is for rising high school juniors and seniors, as well as 2021 graduates, who are committed to social justice and are interested in learning more about how a small nonprofit works on social justice issues. Interns will begin to explore some of the root causes and consequences of poverty, inequality and racism, and intersectional justice work, as well as technical skills such as public policy research, service-learning, communications, and nonprofit organizational structure. Interns will also have an opportunity to explore issues of social justice about which they are passionate. The program includes learning activities to foster a deeper understanding of social justice and City Mission’s commitment to educate, empower and engage our community.
This paid internship program is six weeks long beginning Tuesday, July 6, 2021 and concluding Friday, August 13, 2021. The internship is for high school students in the greater Boston area who will be going into grade 11, 12, or 2021 graduates. Each intern will work 15 hours each week, and will be paid a stipend of $225 per week.
Applications for the internship will be accepted until May 21st, 2021.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
