With everything going on in our world, our congregation roots my life in many ways: worship, friendship, service, justice, prayer, support, love. Our church is that stream of water which nourishes the soul and keeps us connected to something deeper within ourselves.
What keeps you rooted right now? Is it family? Is it prayer? Yoga? Sunday worship? Please take a minute to help us with a church project by completing the statement “I am rooted in _______” or “We are rooted in _______”. Be as creative, serious, or silly as you wish. Take a photo of you with your statement and submit photos online at http://www.uccmanhattan.org/upload-portal. Photos will be compiled into a church montage to be shared during our stewardship campaign. You can print the pdf sheets, or you can create your own. Fill out the blank either individually, as a family, or both! We will also be taking photos after worship on Sunday, September 19 and Sunday, September 26. Look for Kendra Kuhlman on the front lawn and take a moment to write down your response and let her snap a photo! Thank you! The Board of Mission has concentrated its activities on food insecurity and encouraging COVID vaccinations during the summer months. Our Second Helping numbers are higher than they were a year ago, and we are continuing to serve meals on a take-out basis. We seem to be seeing more families with children. Our participation in Common Table continues, and Board member Martha Mather represented our church as part of the Common Table display at the Every Body Counts event at the Douglass Center on August 8.
At the encouragement of our own Kendra Kuhlman and the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation, we applied for and received a $2000 grant from the Kansas Beats the Virus initiative to incentivize COVID vaccinations at our Second Helping meal. We advertised that folks receiving the Johnson and Johnson shot would receive gift cards from Walmart at two separate events. The Riley County Health department administered 6 vaccinations on August 8, and 11 vaccinations on August 22, for a total of 17 vaccinations to previously unvaccinated folks. We would have liked more, of course, but that is 17 people who are now protected against the virus who were not previously protected, and that is a good thing! Thanks to the Riley County Health Department for sending nurses out on a Sunday evening. Thanks also to Second Helping Meal Coordinator Linda Thurston, who provided ice cream bars and lemonade as a further incentive. I would also like to add a heartfelt thank-you to the Mission Board itself. Shari Tedford, Jean Steiner, Mary Ellen Titus, and Carolyn Hodgson represented us in person at the vaccination events, and Martha Mather would have been there had we needed her. Everyone worked hard to publicize the event, as we needed to guarantee at least ten vaccinations for the second event. Thank you! Gretchen Lewis, PO, Board of Mission This fall we will have our campaign for you to make a financial pledge to First Congregational for 2022. Our thoughts will turn to questions like: Why is First Congregational important to me? Why do I give to the Church? How do I feel about pledging and giving? Can I do more? Let me take this opportunity to add another question to your thoughts: Why Care About OCWM? The following is an article prepared by Mayflower United Church of Christ in the Minnesota Conference.
“What is OCWM?” could well be a question in a United Church of Christ trivia contest, a question many of us at First Congregational might not be able to answer correctly. Acronyms aside, OCWM (Our Church’s Wider Mission) is an important part of the covenant which binds individual members, congregations, Conferences, and the National setting together to form the United Church of Christ. OCWM is the annual contribution congregations make to the UCC to fund all the ways we strive together to make a more just world for all. OCWM dollars fund the wide range of resources and services that undergird the ministry we do together at First Congregational from providing the foundation for the search and call process that brings us our clergy leaders to nourishing and eventually authorizing our members preparing for ordained ministry, from developing and making available a wide variety of resources for justice work and faith formation to providing training and support for those using the resources, from raising up prophetic voices on the state and national level to facilitating structures and alliances that amplify the justice work of First Congregation’s members. As a congregation rich in resources, both financial and human, First Congregational could find it easy to minimize its relation to the wider church and be a beacon on our own little hill, but by maintaining a strong commitment to the UCC, both by strong support of OCWM and by the efforts of individual members actively engaged in wider church ministries, First Congregational honors its covenant. With the assistance of OCWM, members of the UCC gave scholarships to 32 theological and medical students in China and Africa, offered 87 mission trips within the USA (attended by 3,354 volunteers), developed the White Privilege: Let's Talk curriculum that was downloaded 3,475 times from the UCC website, endorsed and credentialed 55 military chaplains, provided micro-loans in Africa that assisted 350 families and so much more. OCWM reflects the wisdom that “In isolation, no single UCC congregation can be the church the world needs today. To be that world-changing church, we work together through Our Church’s Wider Mission to support and inspire each other.” Other special offerings (Neighbors in Need, One Great Hour of Sharing, Strengthen the Church, The Christmas Fund) provide opportunities for individual members to contribute to the work of the wider UCC and its ecumenical partners, OCWM is the vehicle for First Congregational as a congregation to live out its covenantal promise of support. So when you see OCWM as a line item in First Congregation’s budget, rejoice both because you know what OCWM is and, more importantly, because you belong, through First Congregational, to a much larger and world-changing church, the United Church of Christ. Dale Stearns, member of our Stewardship committee Choir safety updateWe had sincerely hoped to bring the choir back to our Sunday morning worship, beginning in September, but the resurgence of the COVID pandemic, and the particular virulence of the Delta strain, has put a hold on that activity. While we seem to be doing okay with quiet congregational singing in the pews (one hymn a Sunday, alas!), the prospect of rehearsing and performing as a choral ensemble in an inside space is not yet a safe one. Our church’s COVID Task Force will re-evaluate the situation in October, and we’ll see if we can reassemble later this fall. Bells, anyone?If we can’t sing, we can play handbells! We have a beautiful 3-octave set of Malmark Handbells that have been under-utilized for the past fifteen years or so, and now seems to be a great time to try to start a handbell choir. If you are middle-school aged or older, can read music reasonably well, and know your right hand from your left, this could be the musical opportunity you have been waiting for!! Please let Gretchen Lewis know if you’re interested, or if you think you could be interested, in learning to ring handbells. It’s lots of fun, and it’s a great opportunity for fellowship and music making. See Gretchen at church or email. Tentatively, I’m planning an organizational meeting and introductory rehearsal on September 12, after church at 12:15 up in the Conference Room. How about percussion?In early July, I attended the biennial Conference of UCC Musicians, which was held virtually from Hartford, Connecticut. The event began with a music reading session on Thursday evening July 8, and ended with a concert on Saturday afternoon. The first workshop I attended featured the amazing 80-something year-old Miriam Therese Winter, poet, song-writer, and member of the Medical Mission Sisters, who shared some of her songs with us. Other workshops I found stimulating included some huge puppets by Sue Aziz, an exploration of global hymnody in North American worship led by Patrick Evans, and my personal favorite, a presentation on the use of percussion ensembles in worship, led by Michelle Horsley. She offered very practical advice on starting a basic inter-generation percussion ensemble in the local church, and I’m mulling over the possibilities of beginning one here at First Congregational later in the fall. If you’re interested, talk to me, either at church or by email.
Gretchen Lewis, music coordinator Bill Penzy, the awesome CEO of Penzy’s Spices, that he intended to “loot” his own store in Kenosha and give away spices and seasonings to food pantries. “Property can be replaced”, he said, “life can’t.” In our church kitchen, you may see bumper stickers, magnets and dish towels that say “Heal the world, cook dinner tonight” or “Love people. Cook them tasty food.” Those are from Penzy’s.
Second Helping welcomes newly trained cooks: Rachel Whestone, Mechelle Martinez, Lucas Shivers, and Les Kuhlman. They join a truly committed cadre of volunteers who cook, serve, and make lunches and desserts for our Sunday Supper guests. So far this quarter, Second Helping has provided 1,591 meals to the community. This includes the 623 Sunday supper guests who pick up to go meals and lunches. The number also counts 638 sack lunches, 105 second helpings, and 225 meals to other community groups. HELP NEEDED: Sunday supper volunteers and desserts, homemade cookies for lunches, prayers for this mission, cash, pantry items such as breakfast bars, oatmeal packets, pasta, canned goods, and FRESH produce (let Linda know about the produce so we can plan it in the meals!) We have new stoves! Look for more about donations, volunteers, and kitchen updates in the next newsletter! “Part of cooking encompasses the science of taking care of others and hand washing is where that begins.” Bill Penzy Linda Thurston, 2H Meal Coordinator
More about the book from the publisher:Valarie Kaur — renowned Sikh activist, filmmaker, and civil rights lawyer — has ignited the hearts of millions around the globe, making “Breathe and Push!” a mantra in movements for social change. Now in her stunning debut, Kaur declares revolutionary love is the call of our times, a radical, joyful practice that extends in three directions: to others, to our opponents, and to ourselves. It enjoins us to see no stranger but instead look at others and say: You are a part of me I do not yet know.
Drawing from the wisdom of sages, scientists, and activists—and her own riveting journey as a brown girl growing up in California farmland; as a young adult galvanized by the murders of Sikhs after 9/11; as a law student fighting injustices in American prisons and on Guantánamo Bay; as an activist working with communities recovering from xenophobic attacks; and as a woman trying to heal from her own experiences with sexual assault and police violence – Kaur discovers practices of revolutionary love to bring us longevity, resilience, and joy. See No Stranger is a practical guide to changing the world, a synthesis of wisdom, a chronicle of personal and communal history—all joined together by a story of awakening. Revolutionary love is medicine for our times. It just might be our best chance for our collective future. (Source) Second Helping volunteers have had a busy year so far in 2021, assuring that our guests have hearty and healthy To Go hot Sunday suppers and sack lunches. We are serving around 60 hot meals and 50 lunches every Sunday. In the first 6 months of this year, we have served 1,799 hot meals to guests, including 11 or more weekly meals to the Pawnee Crisis Unit. We also provided 1,368 sack lunches. That’s a total of 3,167 meals! A HUGE THANK YOU to the cooks, Sunday helpers, lunch makers, dessert makers, grocery picker-ups, meal deliverer and all who have donated cash and food items to this mission.
If you are interested in being part of this important mission of our church, these are our needs:
Update prepared by Linda Thurston (thank you, Linda!) On July 11th we will be confirming 8 youth. We can't wait! The youth will be leading worship that day and the Deacons will host a special fellowship hour on the lawn after worship. We hope you'll be able to join us.
We will be presenting each confirmand with a student Bible and WE NEED YOUR HELP! You are invited to write down a note about a favorite Bible story or passage on a Post It note for each Bible. You can make 8 copies of the same note or pick a different passage for each confirmand. At fellowship hour that day we'll have you stick your note in each confirmand's Bible. This will give them a jumping-off point for exploring their new Bible as they are surrounded by our love and care at this stage of their faith journey. You can bring your Post It notes with you on July 11th OR the Deacons will have some available at fellowship that day if you'd like to write them there. The photo below shows a sample of what we're inviting you to do, but if you have any questions, please reach out to Brittani or Pastor Caela. If you cannot be at worship on July 11th, you can mail your Post It notes to the office ahead of time and we can place them in the confirmands' Bibles for you! Join us on Sunday, June 6th after worship for our annual blessing of the animals. We will gather at 12:15 p.m. at Long’s Park (17th and Yuma). Please bring along your mask and a lawn chair. Pets of all kinds are welcome and kids can also bring stuffed animals for a blessing. We will bless the animals together, share a brief communion prayer, and then you can stay to play and visit as long as you’d like. You are also encouraged to “fill the breadbasket” for the Second Helping. Please remember to show your care for our wider community by reviewing (and following!) our current COVID policies for church events at uccmanhattan.org/covid. |
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