The Union Church in Waban               
Friday, November 8, 2019 
This Sunday
        8:00 a.m.  - Bible Study in Stacy's study
  9:00 a.m. - Choir Rehearsal  
10:00 a.m. -  Worship 
11:30 a.m. -  Climate Action/Brainstorming Conversation (stage)
This will be an action and brainstorming meeting, where we will learn about opportunities to engage in climate action now and  where we will begin planning for education, reflection and action opportunities for our spring mission/outreach theme of Climate Change. For more information, please be in touch with mission leadership at  mission@ucw.org
.
Upcoming 

Community Thanksgiving 
Dinner 2019
Saturday, November 23 rd , at 2:00 p.m.  
seamless_fall_header.jpg
Believe it or not, our UCW Community Thanksgiving Dinner is right around the corner! This event brings together local seniors and families who sit down together for a relaxing meal and a time of fellowship. This year's dinner will take place on Saturday, November 23rd at 2:00 p.m., and we need lots of volunteers! Even if you cannot attend the actual dinner, there are tasks you can do to help. 

We would also love it if UCW members invite folks who would enjoy our dinner. Reach out to Alicia Collins (aliciamaureencollins@gmail.com) or look in the side chapel for invitations that you can distribute. Thanks for supporting this wonderful event!

 
If you would like to volunteer to help, please sign-up HERE.  The link can also be found on our website homepage at www.ucw.org  . Thanks so much for your help and support!

Please also plan on sharing in a time of reflection after the service on December 1st
We will gather on the stage with mission leadership to reflect on how the experience of serving and sharing with others through our Thanksgiving Dinner may have affected us.  What did we notice?  What did we learn?  What are we struggling with or rejoicing in? 

 
Special Collection on Thanksgiving Sunday

harvest-banner.jpg
This year our Special Collection on Thanksgiving Sunday , November 24th will be in support of the  Family Team of Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program  (www.bhchp.org).  Our collection will allow Family Team staff to provide gift cards to parents in need. 


More than 3,500 homeless families with children and pregnant women are currently housed through the Massachusetts shelter system, representing approximately 13,000 individuals, an estimated 60% of whom are children. Homeless parents struggle to raise their children while facing innumerable questions each day- Where will our next meal come from? Are we safe? How will my children get to school or to a doctor? When will we find a home of our own?
 
BHCHP's multidisciplinary Family Team-comprised of physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, behavioral health clinicians, and case managers-travels to 20 locations across greater Boston to deliver health care, supportive services, and basic resources to 1,000 homeless individuals, approximately 600 of which children . The Family Team works quickly to bring its services to where it is needed most, add necessary resources to support families in need, and advocate for a population that often feels voiceless.  The Family Team helps families navigate systems to access a safe source of shelter, food, and other basic survival needs, even arranging them to stay in a hotel in times of crisis to avoid sleeping on the street or in unsafe settings. The Family Team brings as many resources to bear as possible to help families untangle complex problems by connecting them with legal services, assisting them with documentation and identification needs, and ensuring that they have much-needed medical and behavioral health care.

The Union Church in Waban 
Christmas Tree  Greens Sale

On December 1st, 2019, we will welcome the Advent season by decorating the sanctuary with greens, wreaths and poinsettias.    
The greens sale is an annual fundraiser that this year supports our work in Nicaragua. Wreathes, poinsettias, sprigs and other festive decorations are available to purchase to prepare our homes and our sanctuary for Advent and the celebration of Christmas.
Please help us continue our good works by purchasing poinsettias for the sanctuary or to decorate your home!  Do not forget to offer an order form to family, friends, coworkers and neighbors to help 2019 be our most successful sale yet!  

Download the Order Form  HERE


Advent Devotional Booklet - Contributions Welcome!

You are invited to contribute to the 2019 UCW Advent devotional booklet.  Our theme for Advent carries forward the idea of what it is to shine, something that we explored at the All Church Retreat and that Pastor Stacy will be entering into during the sermon this Sunday as well.  In Advent, as we draw closer to the manger, we reflect on how God's love shines forth through Hope, Peace, Joy and Love.  We also recognize that to shine as our true and authentic selves can also be scary.  It can make us vulnerable and it takes courage, compassion, community and care.  Do you have a piece of writing, a poem, a photo that you could offer to the booklet as we make our way through Advent?   If so please be in touch with Pastor  Stacy .  

Submissions are due November 24th.  

Mission Outreach 
UCW Attends GBIO's Health Care Assembly

Eleven Union Church folks joined over 800 people of faith from member churches, mosques and synagogues and allied groups of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization at their "Rise Up for Healthcare" assembly on November 4
th. The legislative objectives include ending high costs of prescription drugs, achieving mental health parity and eliminating surprise out-of-network medical charges. We are  proud to join our voices and our advocacy with our allies through GBIO to achieve an affordable and equitable health care system for all.  


If you have any questions, or for more information please see Mark Smith (mark@dogwoodlanefarm.org), our GBIO liaison.


inequity and inequality
in public education

For our fall exploration of Inequality and Inequity in Public Education, we invite you to partake
of the following opportunity for service, education and reflection.

 
Rev. Willie Bodrick II
THIS S unday, November 10 th
The 2019 Theodore Parker Lecture,  "The Urgency of Equal Education For All" , featuring Rev. Willie Bodrick II, Associate Minister, Twelfth Baptist Church of Roxbury at 3:00 p.m. at the 
Theodore Parker UU Church, 
1859 Centre St., West Roxbury, MA 02131  

For more information please feel free to reach out to Carol Bascom-Slack, Julie Heffernan or  Jaap van Reijendam.

This year your    Mission Outreach Leadership Team  is organizing its work (and coordinating with the other areas of UCW life) around seasonal themes. These will provide an organizing context for the many mission activities and we will coordinate educational opportunities, worship, and children's education around these themes when possible. We also hope to coordinate our seasonal offerings around these themes.

Themes are as follows:
     Fall - Inequality and Inequity in Public Education
Winter - Homelessness and Housing
Spring - Climate Change (and disaster relief)

VISIT TO WHAMS CAFE
Saturday Nov. 16th 

You are invited to join us at Wham's Cafe in Lowell on Nov 16th. The restaurant and the owner have been the recipient of a Union Church 1K loan to expand their food service.  Fabulous food and a chance to lunch together in celebration of a successful partnership.  

Please let Brita or Nancy know if you you can go and if you would like to carpool. 

Catie's Closet is Open at the Russell School!
 
   Late summer, members of the church painted a room at the Russell School in Dorchester (a longstanding partner of ours) a color called "Joy."  This fall we held a clothing drive for Catie's Closet the organization what would make of this joyful room a place where children could come "shopping" for needed essentials.  We also were blessed in having  Kodia Baye-Cigna  of Catie's Closet with us in worship to speak to us about the mission of the organization. 



And now... The pants are folded. The sweaters are hanging. The uniforms are pressed and the message is clear as the poster in the room declares "You Belong Here.  I Believe in you." 

Thank you Church, for making this happen.  We are blessed to be a part of such a blessing that Catie's Closet in the Russell School most surely is! 

For more information about Catie's Closet at the Russell School, please be in touch with our liaison,  Julie Heffernan.
  
CYFChildren, Youth and Families
Growing in Faith and Community 
Youth Group: Helping Hands Clean-up and Donuts
Sunday,  November 17 th , after worship
Following worship on Nov. 17th, the Middle and High School Youth Groups, including the Exploring Our Faith group, will gather in teams to lend a hand to any members of the congregation who could use help with yard or house work, or other projects.  If you could use a helping hand, or can lend a helping hand, please contact Pastor Amy (amy@ucw.org).  Youth Group fa milies will receive an email invite and can RSVP at ucw.wespire.com.  
Thank you!
Youth Group: Helping Hands Clean-up and Donuts
Sunday,  November 17 th , after worship
Our beloved Thanksgiving Community Dinner is coming up soon (see details above), and is a great opportunity for all-ages to serve! Come on Friday night to help set up, or on Saturday to help serve and welcome our guests.   You can sign up here or through the link on the ucw.org homepage.  
SAVE THE DATE: 
CHRISTMAS PAGEANT -  KIDS LEAD US IN ADVENT WORSHIP
Sunday, December 15th(with rehearsal on Dec.  14th)
We're excited to begin thinking about our child-and-youth-led Advent worship service. If you or your kids would like to share music for this special service, lead our storytelling or liturgy, or help behind the scenes, greeting, or in any other way, please let Pastor Amy ( amy@ucw.org ) know. There are ways for everyone to participate!  
Update on our Search for a Nursery Caregiver/Teacher!  
We were so sorry to say goodbye to our beloved nursery caregiver Lisa Barry earlier this fall as she moved to Worcester, and have been actively searching for a new, experienced, compassionate caregiver for our little ones.   We're pleased to share that we have multiple candidates and will be starting interviews soon.  In the meantime, we are so grateful for the adults and teens who have stepped up to serve in the nursery, and spend time playing with our babies and toddlers. 
If you can help out until we find our new staff person please let Pastor Amy know. Thanks!
Adult Education, Spiritual Formation and Fellowship
Last call on Advent women's retreat


DECEMBER Book group  
Tuesday, December 10th , 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.

Our next book is "Between the World and Me"
by Ta-Nehisi Coates. 

"
In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation's history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of "race," a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men-bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?
                                                
                                      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, nationality, ability or economic circumstance. We invite all to full participation in our worship, membership, leadership and life of this church.


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 should be e-mailed to the office at ucw@ucw.org , by 9:00 a.m. on the previous Wednesday morning.  
From the Wider Community

Revisiting Civil Rights Sites in  Montgomery, Selma, and Birmingham Alabama,  and Boston MA
 
Purpose             
We propose a project of Civil Rights era remembrance for two audiences, for youth and for civic and academic leaders. This venture is intergenerational. Youth will be involved with film and social media; civic and academic leaders in an academic conference drawing from the New Democracy Coalition's program on Civic Literacy, CMM's Values over Violence and Interfaith Youth Initiatives, the Ella J Baker House and Seymour Institute, and additional partners, churches and synagogues. We seek to acknowledge the 55 th anniversary of the crossing of Pettus Bridge in Selma (2020) and related events.
Selma - 2020     Phase One:
Focus on Youth: travel seminar by bus and one night's hotel lodging

February 28         Friday: 20-hour bus trip as traveling seminar with civil rights video
February 29         Saturday: Montgomery, AL; visit National Memorial for Peace & Justice                                       (Saturday Night - in hotel/motel)
March 1                Sunday: Jubilee Sunday: Church Service and Pettus Bridge Crossing
March 2                Monday: Birmingham Civil Rights Museum and 16 th Baptist Church      
March 3                Tuesday: Back in Boston in the early morning/mid afternoon
April                      Gathering of Sojourners: "What Did It All Mean?" Date & Place: TBA
Boston - 2021   Phase Two:
Five nights of Boston hospitality, receptions and academic conference

April 16                Friday: Welcome reception by a supporting Institute
April 17                Saturday: Freedom Trail and civic welcome, Faneuil/Crispus Attucks Hall
April 18                Sunday: Church Services and Thurman Center, Boston University
April 19                Monday: Black Freedom Trail, Tubman, Baker Houses welcome
April 20                Tuesday: Seymour Institute Academic Round Table, Harvard University
April 21                Wednesday: Depart

Contact CMM for interest and further information at  info@coopmet.org
or by phone at 617-244-3650.