The Union Church in Waban                
Friday, January 12, 2018
This Sunday -  Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Weekend
    8:00 a.m.:   
Bible Study in Stacy's study.  All are welcome. 

  9:00 a.m.:   Choir Rehearsal
 
10:00 a.m.:  
W orship Service

11:15 a.m.:  Bell Choir  
 
 3:00 p.m.:   Evaluation Meeting (Capital Campaign)
 
 5:00 p.m.:  CEC Meeting ( Campaign Executive Committee)
Children, Youth & Families
Youth Bake Sale for Nicaragua 
Sunday, January 21, (during worship)

During worship on Sunday, January 21, we will hold our Bake Sale to raise funds to support our partners in Nicaragua!   Money raised will go to purchase school supplies and to support the Mobile Library of San Juan del Sur.   Youth are invited to meet shortly before worship (9:45 a.m.) at the church, and then we will walk together to our table outside the Starbucks in Waban.  We'll return following worship, and have some yummy treats to sell during our UCW reception!  Youth group families should have received an Evite to this event with details, including a permission form.  With questions, please contact Cate Brown, Joanie Kelly or Pastor Amy (amy@ucw.org).
Calling all Bakers!  Can you contribute to the Bake Sale?  

We are grateful for any and all contributions of baked goods for us to sell at the Bake Sale!  We'll collect baked goods on Saturday, January 20 th (stay tuned for exact times) at the church, and then package them for sale.   If you are able to contribute, we ask that you please include a list of ingredients with your baked good so that we can be responsive to concerns about allergies or food sensitivities.  If possible, please avoid recipes with nuts (for allergies), and frosting (which tends to get messy!).   Creativity is encouraged though -- for example, if the Patriots are playing, football themed goodies will be great sellers!   Many thanks for your contributions.  With questions, please contact Pastor Amy (amy@ucw.org) or Joanie Kelly (joan.kelly@aya.yale.edu).
Mission Matters
Care of God's Earth/Climate Change :  
Last Sunday we gathered after church to learn about environmental impacts of carbon emissions on our health and wellbeing, and discuss ways we might be partners in positive impacts to better care for our planet. If you would like to join this Union Church Climate team, and our partner Interfaith Power and Light, to urgently help move positive legislation forward; or to engage in other environment issues, please see Kevin Johnson ( kjohnson@liberty-global.com ) or Nancy Zollers ( Dr.Nancy.Zollers@gmail.com .)

Our Christmas Collection will help so many in desperate need
We have asked Church World Service to designate half of the Christmas offering to their ongoing relief work in Puerto Rico, where so many people are still without power and water. The second half will be used by CWS to support their efforts in international refugee support, climate change, peace, disaster relief and eradicate hunger. This generous Congregation achieved a donation total of $2,393 for the  amazing work of Church World Service .( CWSglobal.org .)Thank you!
Share a Meal with our Mitten Tree neighbors in Boston
On Sunday, January 21 st , car pool with Union Church folks to enjoy a warm lunch with formerly homeless elder folks who have been our mitten tree gift recipients for many years. Meet at church at 1:00 p.m. for a ride to Boston or travel on your own. See Beth Sears ( bsears112@yahoo.com )
Union Church 1K Micro-Loan Economic Justice Mission 
You are invited! Fellowship time with entrepreneur Sandra Okiror,  Feb. 4th
after worship.
What does God's Economy look like?
That was the question posed at the Union Church 1K Bible Study series in 2015, in response to the  1K Churches Campaign  launched at the Clinton Global Initiative in 2012.  Here at UCW, we have taken our first steps toward "building just, faithful, and transformative economic relationships between churches and their communities that reflect what we believe God's economy to beby making loans to two small businesses in the Greater Lowell area.

Our first loan was made to Sandra Okiror, owner of Wham's Café in Lowell.  
Sandra grew up in Kenya, and emigrated to Canada to attend university where she studied entrepreneurship.  Sandra has revived Wham's Café on a corner (with parking!) in Lowell, just across the river from UMass.  This iteration of the Café grew out of a catering business that Sandra began by circulating leaflets at church receptions in her Lowell neighborhood.  She operates the Café with her older daughter, and serves inexpensive Kenyan foods while also building community with her customers.  It was one of her customers who introduced Sandra to our 1K initiative.

Sandra will be sharing worship and fellowship with us on Sunday, February 4th.  Anyone interested in learning more about Sandra, her approach to community-based business, or her charitable work on behalf of schools for disabled children in Kenya is welcome to join her after church on the stage for informal conversation.

In the weeks leading up to Sandra's visit, signup sheets will be available for any who would like to take a trip to dine together at Sandra's restaurant , Wham's Café in Lowell.  We promise it will be a memorable experience.
NICA Service Trip
During the February public school vacation, over fifty UCWers will be traveling to San Juan del Sur to engage in service and learning with our Nicaraguan friends.  Go here to read the latest about the project and to share in the preparation as this trip draws near.  We will be commissioning the Travelers during worship on February 11, but in the meantime all of us can share in the preparations by praying for the travelers.  The relationships they will engage and the work they will do is not theirs alone.  It is all of ours!  
Faith Formation and Education 
Wellspring/Women's Group :  
We will meet on Wednesday, Jan 17 th at 6:30 p.m. in the reception room for dinner and conversation.  We will be continuing our Friendship theme, looking at friendship as a form of ministry.  Who have been there for us in our time of need?  Who among our friends are knocking at our door for support and compassion?  What did Jesus Christ mean when he said "You are my friends."

Java Gents:
Java Gents is an informal monthly breakfast hour for the men of the UCW congregation. It provides friendly fellowship and mutual support to the men. Buz Bedford and Jay O'Beirne host lively discussion of timely topics, and personal goings on among the men. Java Gents meet on the third Friday of each month in the church reception room at 7:00 a.m. Our next meeting is this Friday, January 19th.  Please join us! 

Congregational Conversation regarding Faith and the World:
Sunday, January 21st, 11:30 a.m.
Please join us after church for a congregational conversation as we consider "How are we as people of faith to respond to the challenges of our time? How are we as followers of Jesus, to engage with the world and how can the church help us to do so?"  These questions touch on all aspects of our life together - adult education and spiritual formation, education and spiritual formation for kids/youth, worship, fellowship and of course mission/outreach.  These conversations will be broad and long but we hope also will be specific about what we as church are doing well in supporting you and giving you opportunities to put your faith into action, as well as surfacing what else we may need to think about.  Like last year's congregational conversations regarding worship, these conversations are not in response to anything that is wrong or problematic but instead are a sign of our health and vitality as we continually lean into trying ever more faithfully to assure that we as a church are responding to the needs of our people and what the times are calling forth from us.
Book group:
The book for January is  Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio by  Amara  Lakhous  (Algerian)  -  a satirical, playful novel exposing the power of fear, racial  prejudice and cultural misconceptions  that rob a neighborhood of its humanity. We will meet on Tuesday,  January 30 th at 7:00 p.m. in the reception room.
Lunch Bunch is for everyone!  
Are you home during the day?  Do you have some flexibility in your schedule?  Why not join us for lunch and conversation?  Lunch bunch will meet on January 31 from 12:00 - 1:30 p.m.  A hot lunch is provided so simply come and get to know some of your UCW friends a bit better.  RSVP to Pastor Stacy ( stacy@ucw.org ) so we can plan the food.  
The Week Ahead at UCW
    
 
 
 
Sun., Jan.14
8:00 a.m.
Bible Study
 
9:00 a.m.
Choir Rehearsal
 
10:00 a.m.
Worship
 
11:15 a.m.
Bell Choir Rehearsal
 
3:30 p.m.
Evaluation Meeting (capital campaign)
 
5:00 p.m.
CEC meeting
Mon., Jan. 15
7:30 a.m.
Living waters prayer in Memorial Chapel
 
7:00 p.m.
Choir Rehearsal
Wed., Jan. 17
6:30 p.m.
Wellspring/Women's group
Thurs., Jan. 18
10:30 a.m.
Waban Health Worship
Fri., Jan. 19
7:00 a.m.
Java Gents/Men's group
Sun., Jan .21
8:00 a.m.
Bible Study
 
9:00 a.m.
Choir Rehearsal

10:00 a.m
Y outh Bake Sale for Nicaragua
 
10:00 a.m.
Worship
 
11:15 a.m.
Bell Choir Rehearsal
 
11:30 a.m.
Congregational Conversation
 
1:00 p.m.
Project Care and Concern (Offsite)
 
5:00 p.m.
CEC meeting (Reception)
 
6:00 p.m.
Nica Travelers
 
 
 

For a complete listing, and details of all upcoming events,  please 
visit our website,  www.ucw.org 
 
Note : Material for inclusion in the Friday e-Blast newsletter or our Sunday Announcements insert should be e-mailed to the office at ucw@ucw.org , by 9:00 a.m. on the previous Wednesday morning.  Please specify whether for e-Blast, Sunday Announcements, or both. Thank you!  
From the Wider Community

50 th  ANNIVERSARY OF THE POOR PEOPLE'S MARCH


Date :
Saturday, January 13, 2018
Time :
9:30am - 3:00pm
Location :
United Parish in Brookline
210 Harvard Street
Brookline, MA 02446


In his last Sunday Sermon, The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated:

"We are coming to Washington in a poor peop le's campaign. Yes, we are going to bring the tired, the poor, the huddled masses...We are coming to demand that the government address itself to the problem of poverty...We are coming to ask America to be true to the huge promissory note that is signed years ago. And we are coming to engage in dramatic nonviolent action, to call attention to the gulf between promise and fulfillment; to make the invisible visible."

Fifty years ago, Dr. King announced the Poor People's Campaign. Although launched in 1968, this movement continues to be relevant today. Join City Mission for our annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Learning, where we will continue this important work. The US Census reflects the huge disparities in Boston, where the poverty rate for white residents is just under 7%, and for Black residents is 21.5%.

The event will include guest speakers and facilitated small group discussion to help us learn from, and build community, with each other.

For more information, contact Katie Omberg at 617-742-6830 ext. 200, or by email, Komberg@citymissionboston.org

 
An Evening with Bill McKibben
When
Thursday, January 18, 2018 at 7:30 PM
Where
First Parish in Concord (UU)
20 Lexington Road
Concord, MA 01742
Email
Contact
Polly Mann
Climate Solutions Speaker Series is excited to present: An Evening with Bill McKibben                      
 
Mark your calendars for a thought-provoking evening with environmentalist, author, and journalist, Bill McKibben. Author of the first book about global warming written for a general audience, McKibben is the recipient of the Gandhi Prize, and the Thomas Merton Award.  He holds 18 honorary degrees and has been listed as one of the 100 most influential global thinkers by Foreign Policy Journal. 
This event is organized by the Climate Solutions Speaker Series. The event is free and open to all, but donations will be gratefully accepted.

Co-sponsored by West Concord Union Church and Trinitarian Congregational Church, among others, and endorsed by MACUCC Environmental Ministry.


 

Traces of the Trade, Sunday, 

Jan. 21st, 1-4pm


Wellesley Village Church