Friday, January 28 at 10am on Zoom
What if…? - A Pocket Portion of Post-Pandemic Ponderments
Written by our UCC’s Stillspeaking Writers’ Group, these brief thought-provoking statements will be great springboards for conversation.
Join the conversation with video:
Join on your phone: (312) 626-6799
Meeting ID: 835 2365 3496; Passcode: 585586
 
Saturday, January 29 anytime that works for you
PUCC Annual Budget Meeting Weekend
Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). Faith and finance are inextricably bound together. Faith entails values, and those values call for embodiment in all areas of life. How we mobilize financial resources in the spending and making of money is one reflection of how our values are expressed and put into action. 
This perspective is the basis for the Pension Boards-United Church of Christ’s first venture into publishing: Generations: A Journal of Faith and Finance, an online magazine that explores the places in our economic lives where our faith values meet our financial obligations and opportunities. 
Check it out here:
Worship with us this Sunday
We realize that some of you are feeling more comfortable with virtual church right now – as Covid is unfortunately surging in St Louis and elsewhere.

Please take care of yourself – especially if you have pre-existing conditions and/or other risk factors. Let us help you get vaccinated and boosted if you have not done that yet – the very best defense against Covid.
 
Our Covid Team continues to meet and just decided to move the Sunday morning Speaker Series from the Heritage Room into the Sanctuary for the time being. Worshipers will be asked to stay in their pews if they want to participate. It will still be offered on Zoom as well.
 
Another critical defense is a mask. When wearing a mask – regardless of the type though surgical masks are the best – it is important that it is properly worn over the mouth and nose and closely fit to the face. We recently purchased some N95 masks. If you would like to wear one at church this Sunday (or for a medical appointment or other necessary outing this week), , please find one on the sign in table. 

Blessings to you here and there...no matter who you are or where you are! 
January 23 | 10:00AM

Worship In-Person in the Sanctuary or on Facebook Live… or later on YouTube

Our scriptures are Jeremiah 1:4-10 and 1Corinthians 13:1-13. Our words can be very powerful – for good and/or for ill. God’s word starts Creation. Jesus is the Living Word. God is Still Speaking. What is in our vocabulary?

Our songs include: Thou I May Speak, God the Sculptor of the Mountains and As A Fire is Meant for Burning.
 
We will be doing something with paper snowflakes today – stay tuned!                                                                                                                           
This link lists bulletin posts, with the top one as the most recent.
Livestream worship on Sundays. Look under videos for previous livestreamed services.
All our worship service videos in one place!
All Mid~Week Meditations that have been recorded on YouTube.
Sunday School Live and via Zoom
Sunday School for children through 5th grade:

Meeting ID: 383 733 977
Password: 819680
Sunday School for Youth/Teens each week:

Meeting ID: 815 6130 3581
Password: 702228
Annual Budget Meeting (in-person in the Sanctuary and on Zoom using the usual Speaker Series link) after worship on January 30. If you don’t have a copy of the draft budget, please request a copy from the office ([email protected]). Thank you to our Stewardship Commission and Church Council for crafting this budget. 
1st & 3rd Tuesdays
1:45 Fellowship
2:00pm book discussion
via ZOOM

Join TAD Feb 1 as we conclude The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times, by Jane Goodall, Douglas Abrams, and Gail Hudson. 
If God is Love, Don’t Be a Jerk
It’s not too late to participate! If God is Love Online! with John Pavlovitz.
 
This experience is designed to be flexible, so whether you’re participating on your own or with others you can move at a pace you’re comfortable with. See the two-minute intro from John here:
(login… username: [email protected]; password: JPav2022!)
 
On Demand Chapter Videos
Three pre-recorded videos are added to the If God is Love website each Sunday morning to the member area and each video will cover a chapter from the book. Bookmark the page and come back to view the new videos. Don’t feel compelled to watch three videos per week. You’ll have these videos on-demand and can watch them whenever you’d like after the six weeks. (Use same web address and login as above.)
 
Live Zoom Gatherings from our Heritage Room or your home
Beginning on Wednesday, January 19th, at 7pm CT, we met with John and others live on Zoom! For these sessions, fter John speaks, we’ll have an open Zoom conversation about anything that’s on your mind. You can ask questions about the book, expand an idea, share a story, and encourage one another. If you can’t make the live gatherings, don’t worry. They will also be recorded so you’ll be able to watch at your convenience.
We will debrief each Zoom as PUCCers after each session. If you’re not here in the Heritage Room, join us on our PUCC Zoom (unique from the JPav Zoom):
 
Here is the link for the weekly Zoom gatherings with John on Wednesday eves: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81362160670
 
Zoom Gathering Schedule with John and others (all are at 7pm CT):
January 19; January 26; February 2; February 9; February 16;
February 23… and a final wrap up at 8pm CT on Saturday, February 26.
Join us in the Heritage Room (please enter back doors) or from your home.
 
Questions? Contact [email protected]; 314-872-9330
 
More about the book…
Imagine for a moment what the world might look like if we as people of faith,
morality, and conscience actually aspired to this mantra. What if we worked to create a world that was more loving and equitable than when we arrived?
 
What if we invited one another to share in wide-open, fearless, spiritual
communities truly marked by compassion and interdependence?
What if we daily challenged ourselves to live a faith that simply made us better
humans?
 
John Pavlovitz explores how we can embody this kinder kind of spirituality
where we humbly examine our belief system to understand how it might
compel us to act in less-than-loving ways toward others.
 
In If God Is Love, Don’t Be a Jerk, Pavlovitz examines the bedrock ideas of our religion: the existence of hell, the utility of prayer, the way we treat LGBTQ people, the value of anger, and other doctrines to help all of us take an honest look at how the beliefs we hold shape our relationships with God and our fellow humans―and to make sure that love has the last, loudest word.
Prayer List Updates
All the acts of kindness, justice and equity near and far.
Pat & Bill Owens - moving to Mason Pointe yesterday…
13198 S. Outer 40 Rd; Apt 212; Town & Country, MO 63017.
Joan Brannigan and family - grieving & giving thanks for Larry.
Cindy & Ralf and Andrew Wessel - Tyler’s 20th Bday was Sunday.
Tom McKenzie - continuing to deal with Covid symptoms.
Sally Boughman - continued issues with back pain.
Conrad Damsgaard - up and down at Mason Pointe – now in Care Ctr.
Anne Doelger - very ill with cancer; hospice (sister of Doug Dischinger)
Steve and Andrea Barnes - preparing for his surgery later this month on elbows and wrists due to nerve damage from sarcoidosis.
All impacted by Covid-19 - individuals, families, healthcare workers; If anyone needs help getting vax/booster or if anyone vaccinated would like to be on the Care Team, please reach out to [email protected]
US Navy medical team coming to North St. Louis County hospital for COVID-19 surge assistance.
The political pressure in the Ukraine.
People of Tonga - recovering from volcano eruption and tsunami.
 
St Louis Association UCC Covenant Partner
Week ending Jan 30 - Church of the Master UCC, Florissant;
cotm-ucc.org
Week of Feb 6 - Christ the King UCC, Florissant; ctk-ucc.org

‌
View
Andrea Buchdahl’s sermon last Shabbat. She is the rabbi at Central Synagogue in NYC who received the phone calls from Malik Faisal Akram while he held those in Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas hostage a couple of weeks ago.  
Ponder

We are often more frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality. ~Seneca
Humor
Who is Frosty’s favorite Aunt?
Aunt Artica!

What do you call a penguin in the Sahara desert?
Lost.

What vegetable was forbidden on the ships of Arctic explorers?
Leeks.
Good day!

While we wait to be assigned an Afghan Family, we know that some of you want to help now.
[We are gathering items for our family -- https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0844a9ab2ba31-afghanistan]
 
The International Institute [https://www.iistl.org/] is in desperate need of help setting up apartments for Afghan refugees as apartments become available. The time commitment is approximately 3 hours in the morning or afternoon. While there is generally some heavy lifting and stairs to climb getting things like mattresses and a futon into the apartment, there are plenty of other tasks once in the apartment that include setting up the bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom. Some clean up may also be needed. 
 
To volunteer, go to the International Institute website and click on the volunteer link.
 
If you have not volunteered before, you'll have to agree to a background check which can be done online through the International Institute.
 
Volunteer help is sorely needed.
 
PUCCer Joe Biondo is very familiar with this as he has been helping set up apartments. Please contact him if you’d like more information -- [email protected]; call or text 314-712-1479.
 
Thank you for your interest in helping refugee families start a new life with us in St Louis.
Book Seminar
February 1 @ 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

Join us for a three-session seminar exploring Pulitzer Prize-winning, bestselling author Isabel Wilkerson’s book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (2020). Dr. David Greenhaw, president emeritus of Eden Theological Seminary, will lead the seminar on February 1, 8, 15 from 6:30pm-8pm. Participants can join virtually via Zoom or in-person at First Congregational Church of St. Louis (6501 Wydown Blvd, St Louis, MO 63105) (subject to change).
We appreciate your submissions of jokes, quotes, photos, videos, weekly opportunities, Mid~Week Meditation ideas, scriptures that are important to you, hymn/song suggestions, poetry, etc. We would love to hear from you [email protected]
Important Notice: No staff member of Parkway United Church of Christ will ever reach out via email or social media to ask for financial help. If you receive an email or text request appearing to be from PUCC staff requesting financial help or information—or any suspicious message—please don’t click on any links or engage with the sender. You may want to report to your email service provider or the appropriate social media service. Also, keep your antivirus/anti-malware software up to date for protection.
Visit our social media for a mix of pix and to see what other PUCCers would like you to attend/experience/ponder/pray about with them.
Please post a picture of you/yours on our social media:
WORSHIP SUNDAYS at 10:00am
(314) 872 9330 [email protected]
2841 N Ballas Road,
St. Louis, MO 63131

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