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Neighbors to Neighbors
The business meeting portion of the Annual Meeting, scheduled to begin at 9:30AM, will be live streamed on our EOA/WRA YouTube page. Please note, and this is very important, if you wish to vote on items brought before the membership, you must be physically present at the business meeting.
Register Now for the Annual Meeting
Time's running out to register for the Annual Meeting to be held on Saturday, November 4, 8:30AM-2PM at First UCC (201 Fair Ave NW, New Philadelphia). Pastors...make sure you're registered. Churches...make sure your lay delegates are registered. There's only about a week left to do so. A few of the highlights at the meeting:
  • Worship together
  • Say farewell to Rev. Dr. Rita Rita
  • Vote on proposed revisions to the constitution
  • Elect members to Council and Committee on Ministry
  • Learn about the proposed vision for a new Ohio Conference structure

Fall Celebration
The Bath Church Fall Festival will celebrate Fall on Friday, October 13, 10AM-8PM and Saturday, October 14, 10AM-3PM at The Bath United Church of Christ (3980 W Bath Rd, Akron). Thousands of holiday gifts, garden shop, pet shop, silent auction, baked goods, books and artisans. Blood pressure taken Friday, 10AM-noon. Flu shots given 10AM-noon on Saturday. Kids' activities on Saturday, 10AM-2PM: pumpkin decorating. Lunch available Friday and Saturday 11:30AM-1PM. Ham dinner, pumpkin cobbler, etc. will be available on Friday by reservation at 5PM, 6PM, and 7PM seating. $10. Call the church office at 330-666-3520.
Apple Butter Festival
The Chatham Community Church in Chatham, Medina County will hold its annual Apple Butter Festival at the the Chatham Memorial Hall (6299 Lake Rd, Medina) on Saturday, October 14 and Sunday, October 15. From 11AM-5PM homemade apple butter, chili, bean soup, donuts, apples, baked goods, farm produce and craft items will be offered for sale. Please come to enjoy the event and help raise funds for mission outreach programs.
UCH Symposium
Please join United Church Homes' Ruth Frost Parker Center for Abundant Aging at the second annual Symposium for a discussion about what it means to transform the way people think and talk about aging and older adults. The 2017 Symposium is set for 9:30AM to 3PM Friday, October 20 at Marriott Columbus University Area (3100 Olentangy River Rd, Columbus). The registration fee of $25 per person includes lunch and four CEUs for professionals. Online registration for the conference is available. For more information, visit the website or email Rev. Beth Long-Higgins or call her at 740-382-4885.
Trip to Reformation Europe
Places are still available for pilgrims wishing to visit the heart of Reformation Europe in the summer of 2018. This revised version of the tour (slightly shorter and less expensive) will fulfill a year's continuing education credit for authorized ministers and the post-Reformation Church History course in the Northeast Ohio School of Ministry. Deadline to sign up is Monday, October 20.

Powerhouse 5
Powerhouse 5  is an ensemble of six musicians from Northeast Ohio which recently performed at ORMACO's "Jazz Under the Stars". This group performs the "Quintette" music of Raymond Scott (1908-1994) who, in the words of the Scott archivist, was a “composer, inventor, pianist, engineer, electronic music pioneer, and control freak (sometimes mistaken for a guy who wrote scores for Bugs Bunny cartoons)”.  Powerhouse 5  performs as part of the Music at the Meetinghouse concert series on October 22 at First Church in Oberlin (106 N Main St, Oberlin) and is free and open to the public.

Youth Leader Roadmap
The EOA/WRA Xtreme Youth Ministry Team is excited that Dr. Jane Biehl, PhD will be the guest speaker on Tuesday, October 24, 10AM, at Congregational UCC (1530 Easton St NE, Canton). Jane has earned three advanced degrees and has had fulfilling careers as a librarian, rehabilitation counselor and college teacher. She presently is free-lancing articles on hearing loss and deafness, service dogs and struggling with myelodysplastic syndrome, a rare cancer. Jane has been a cancer survivor since 2010. All are invited to come and hear Jane’s inspirational story. Lunch will follow at a nearby restaurant.
Wreath Sale
The Church in Silver Lake (2951 Kent Rd, Silver Lake) is selling decorated and undecorated Christmas wreaths. Support their ministries by buying either wreath! Decorated wreaths are just $39 and undecorated are $32. Sales are the whole month of October with pick-up of wreaths in mid to late November. All wreaths are made locally by Wes Brown Christmas Tree Farm in Michigan. Sales can be done online or in person. Any questions, you may call Brent Lauer at 330-203-6248.

AUCE Open House
The Association of United Church Educators Board (AUCE) will meet in Cleveland at the beginning of November. They are inviting educators and pastors to a gathering at Archwood United Church of Christ (2800 Archwood Ave, Cleveland) on Thursday, November 2 from 6-8PM. This open house will be your chance to meet board members and share your ideas and questions about Faith Formation in the UCC. Refreshments will be provided by the Board. Come are you are able and stay as long as you'd like. The Board looks forward to meeting you!
Fall Youth Event
The Fall Youth Event will be November 18-19 at Pilgrim Hills. This event is for high school youth and chaperones and is a retreat designed by youth, for youth. The creative team has been working together for over a year to learn creative leadership skills to lead this and other events.

Open Position
Trinity UCC in Wadsworth, an open and affirming congregation, seeks experienced educator, preferably seminary trained, to lead a faith formation program for parents and children. Duties include, but are not limited to, preschool through 4th grade, youth development programs middle through high school, and assisting pastor with confirmation. Ideal for current seminary student or teacher seeking secondary income. Minimum 20 hours per week with potential to expand. Please email resume with three references to the church . No phone calls.

Kent United Church of Christ in Kent is seeking a part-time Financial Administrator with payroll, purchasing, and accounting and church software experience. See the complete job description. Send resume and references to Kent UCC, Attn: Nancy Bubenzer, 1400 East Main St. Kent, Ohio 44240.

Kent UCC in Kent is seeking an Administrative Assistant. Excellent verbal and written communication skills and the ability to switch from task to task amid interruptions are required. Competence in use of standard office equipment and software including MS Office Suite and familiarity of all social media platforms essential. Duties include managing the church office, worship bulletins, monthly newsletter and maintaining the church database (Church Windows, Google, Constant Contact). 30 hrs/wk. No additional benefits. Previous office experience required. See the complete job description . Send resume and references to Kent UCC, Attn: Nancy Bubenzer, 1400 East Main St., Kent, Ohio 44240.

First Congregational Church of Akron is seeking a nurturing and compassionate part-time childcare worker who has experience caring for babies up to age three. This position would include providing care on Sunday mornings (4-6 hours), during holiday services and at other times when childcare is needed. If you are a nurturing, patient, organized professional with a background in childcare, we hope you will apply for this position. Please read the full job description and email Deborah Anderson , phone 330-253-5109 x112, or mail your resume to 292 E Market St, Akron, OH 44308.
Short-Term Mission Trips that Yield Long-Term Success
The Parish Paper is a wonderful resource to which the Ohio Conference has subscribed on behalf of all Ohio UCC churches. Each issue stands alone as a topic of interest and importance to being a living and growing congregation. With the Conference subscription, we in local churches and the associations have permission from the copyright holder to use the material per copyright restrictions. Please distribute only in its unaltered entirety.

Association Ministers' Schedules
Here's where your Association Ministers will be the next few Sundays.
October 15
Vacation

October 22
10AM
106 N Main St ♦ Oberlin

October 29
10AM
379 S Main St ♦ Amherst

1:30PM
120th Anniversary
9900 Denison Ave ♦ Cleveland
October 22
1:30PM
200th Anniversary
German's Villa
3330 Liberty Ave ♦ Vermilion

October 29
1:30PM
120th Anniversary
9900 Denison Ave ♦ Cleveland

November 5
9:00AM
7853 Main St ♦ Olmsted Falls
Your Associations' Staff
Rita Root
Associations General Minister

Gary Halstead
Associations Associate Minister

Machelle Miller
Office Manager & Bookkeeper

Cheryl McGraw
Communications & Administration

Committee on Ministry Registrar


Margaret Borrelli
Faith Formation Coordinator
Mark Frey
Pastoral Excellence/Communities of Practice

Don Hill
Financial Development Consultant

Gene McAfee
Dean of Northeast Ohio School of Ministry

Bob Richardson
Coach Coordinator

Maureen Webber
Spiritual Formation Coordinator

Lori Wick
Youth Ministries Coordinator
Submission Guidelines
If you'd like to share information about an upcoming event or past event sponsored or co-sponsored by a church in our Associations, please send your article of 100 words or less in paragraph format to support.center@eoawraucc.org by Tuesday noon of each week. Be extravagantly welcoming by including in the article the name, location, address, date, time and contact information of the event. Items will run for two consecutive weeks. Fliers may be sent in addition to the 100 word article and a link will be provided in the article to the flier. Fliers should be less than 5MB and in Word or PDF format. Photos (which display next to your article) may be sent in addition to the article. Photos should be less than 5MB and in JPG or PNG format.