The Union Church in Waban |
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On this third Sunday in Lent, Jay O'Beirne will share a moment of illumination that brings hope. Pastor Stacy will be our preacher and Rev. Arlyne Grant will be reading from Psalm 51 and the Parable of the Prodigal Son from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 15, verses 11-32. |
To join worship on Zoom:
Meeting ID: 832 2059 8969
Passcode: 458322
Dial in only: 1 646 558 8656
Find a Copy of the Bulletin HERE
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This Sunday is
Communion Sunday
Please bring a cup and bread to our service so that we may partake together.
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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.
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Lenten Bible Study
Sunday Mornings at 8:00 a.m. (zoom)
Please join us for a walk through the Gospel of Mark. All are welcome to explore this text with us and to encounter the Risen Christ within it. No biblical study or experience is needed. If you have any questions, please reach out to Pastor Stacy.
Meeting ID: 885 0724 0203
Passcode: 584285
Dial in: 1 646 558 8656
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Children, Youth and Families |
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Lenten Family Devotionals and Prayer Flags |
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The Children's Ministry Team has created Lenten prayer bags for all families through Lent that contain family devotionals, and materials to make beautiful weekly prayer flags. If your family wasn't able to join us for Ash Wednesday to pick up a bag, but would like one, please contact Pastor Amy (amy@ucw.org). May we all find illumination and hope as we walk together through weeks of Lent towards the promise of Easter.
You can also download a copy of our Lenten Family Devotional created by the Salt Project by CLICKING HERE.
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Lenten Youth & Family Gatherings
Join Us Throughout March!
March 7th - THIS SUNDAY at 4:00 p.m.
Lenten Prayer & Art for all ages.
Youth, kids, and families gather at the picnic table in front of the church as we create, and share prayer, song, and find illumination through art and service.
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March 14th - Sunday at 4:00 p.m.
Marking One Year of the Pandemic - An All-Ages Community Event of Lament and Hope .
We invite everyone of all ages to a special outdoor intergenerational service to mark the one-year anniversary of the closing of schools, and the last time we gathered in person for worship. We'll look back over the year, find peace in our present moment together, and hope for the months ahead, creating a beautiful work of community art that we will invite the wider community to join in creating. Please gather with us.
Pick-up your Palms, costumes and parts for the Palm Sunday youth-led Walk-Through Holy Week service on March 28th (see below). Contact Pastor Amy (amy@ucw.org) if you can't be there on the 14th and we'll arrange to bring things to you!
Week of March 21st
Preparing for Palm Sunday
Families work this week to read the story, video their parts, or create art for the service, and send them to Pastor Amy
Palm Sunday, Mar. 28th - 10:00 a.m. Worship
Youth-Led Service and Walk Through Holy Week.
We are excited for our kids to lead us in sharing the story of Holy Week and Easter. If you or your children or youth would like to read, share art or music, or participate in some other way, live or pre-recorded, please reach out to Pastor Amy (amy@ucw.org).
EASTER! - April 7th
Plans are in the works for both a morning online service; and an in-person outdoor family gathering. Stay tuned!
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Parents Group
March 25th, 8:00-9:00 p.m. on Thursday, following Gathering Space
Parents Group will meet on the 3rd Thursday of the month. We'll meet following our monthly half-hour contemplative service of prayer, Gathering Space, which meets at 7:30-8:00 p.m. For the Zoom links, please contact Pastor Amy (amy@ucw.org)
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High School Youth Group
Seeking Illumination, Sharing Stories - Interviews with our Elders. Throughout Lent, teams of our high schoolers will gather with our elders to hear their stories of illumination. If you would like to participate as a high-schooler or elder, please reach out to Pastor Amy.
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Marking the Covid-Anniversary
Weekend of March 13th.
We hope the high schoolers will attend and help lead the Covid Anniversary Community event (above) and then gather as a smaller group for a time of reflection, connection and prayer as we mark this difficult anniversary. We're looking for the perfect place and time to gather and will be in touch soon with details.
Middle School Youth Group
Middle School Youth Group
March 14th and Palm Sunday!
We hope all Middle Schoolers and their families will attend the Covid-Anniversary Community Event (above) at 4:00 p.m., and are also counting on our middle schoolers to help lead our Palm Sunday service with their awesome reading, art, and musical abilities. Please let Pastor Amy know if you can help!
Middle School Youth Group
March 28th
Middle Schoolers will gather at 4:00 p.m. on Palm Sunday for fun and a special start to this Holy Week. We may even stuff some Easter Eggs :) Location TBD
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Prayers of the People
Every Sunday during worship we pray together. We open our hearts to each other and to God as we speak our joys and our concerns. Prayer weaves us together as one body in Christ. In an effort to expand and fortify these bonds of connection, we plan on also offering this space for our prayers as well. If you would like to post a prayer here for the community to hold, please reach out to Pastor Stacy by Wednesday. Please send in your prayer exactly as you would like it printed. May we continue to nourish the connections and care that make us who we are as church.
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Adult Education and Formation |
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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
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Book Group
Tuesday, March 23rd at 7:00 p.m. (zoom)
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Please join us for our next book group on March 30th at 7:00 p.m. We will be reading "Sycamore Row" by John Grisham. You will find a zoom link and sign in information below. If you have any questions, please reach out to Alan Cody.
Please mark your calendar with our upcoming selections and dates:
-April 27th "A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope,
Justice and Freedom" by Brittany K. Barnett; and
-May 25th "Americanah" by Chimananda Ngozi Adichie.
Meeting ID: 832 4667 4155
Passcode: 431699
Dial in: 1 646 558 8656
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Advocates for Racial Justice
ARJ Shares Some African American History
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In 1962, construction of the Mass Pike extension from Weston through Newton into Boston began. About 350 homes and businesses in Newton were destroyed in the process, including 32 homes in “the Village,” the historically Black neighborhood around the Myrtle Baptist Church in West Newton. Most of the Village’s displaced residents were under-compensated for their losses. For this reason and because of discrimination in the local housing market, half of those displaced were unable to find new homes in Newton and had to move to the farther suburbs. Those who were able to find homes—including the families of Howard and Katy Haywood—had to rely on the help of white allies. Despite the forced dispersal of the Myrtle Baptist congregation, the church continues to be central in the lives of those families who were able to stay, and of those who now live farther away.
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Recommended reading/watching:
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Book Buddy Program
Last March Josephine Bolling McCall visited our church and told us about the book she had written about her father who was lynched in Lowndes County, Alabama because he had become such a prosperous businessman.
Our church responded to her visit by 32 members volunteering to participate in a Book Buddy program that would pair volunteers with children in the Lowndes County elementary schools to encourage them to read.
To learn more or sign up to help with this ministry, please go HERE.
Thanks to all our Union volunteers who are already providing such a wonderful resource to the kids of Lowndes County, and to those who are patiently waiting to start mailing books to their yet to be assigned Book Buddy. Please let me know if you are a Book Buddy and have not heard whether your Book Buddy is receiving their books. My new email address is: jenweisz@icloud.com.
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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!
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End of Year e-mail Statements Recently Sent Out
Year-end giving statements have been recently e-mailed to all those who have a valid e-mail address in our Breeze church database. Please check that you have received your copy. If you would prefer a paper copy mailed to you, or if you have a specific e-mail address that you would like us to use please be in contact with our office manager Aidan Cunningham (ucw@ucw.org).
Thank You
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Please look at the Sign Up Genius HERE, and sign up to read Scripture. Youth are greatly encouraged to sign up, too! (The link is also always available on the ucw.org homepage)
Thanks you, UCW Deacons
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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.
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