"Blessings Always"

Rev. Daniel L. Busch

Association Minister

January 17, 2024

CHANGE. Jesus says, “CHANGE your hearts and lives, and trust this good news!” (Mark 1:15, CEB). Faith communities as well as social communities, deal with leadership CHANGES often. Elections in the church or public, are times of CHANGE. Leadership—pastorally or societal—is vital to any organization and leaders are given many responsibilities to the office to which they serve. Leaders are expected to act ethically, be truthful, and be respectful of differing opinions. It seems that our nation’s election process has become so contentious and mean, locally as well as nationally, as leaders are trying to mold the electorate into a certain persuasion of doing things. Relationships with others suffer when there is no affirmation of the diverse expressions of the many different gifts and graces received as blessings from God.

     The Gospel writer Mark informs us that Jesus’ ministry began after John the Baptist’s arrest and does not mention John passing the leadership mantel to Jesus. Other gospel readings describe John declaring Jesus as the one who would be greater than him, the Baptizer. John the Baptist had many disciples who were devastated by John’s arrest and death. Jesus begins seeking followers to be His disciples even in places where John had done his ministry. Jesus proclaims CHANGE not only in the religious community, but in the personal lives of people He met. Jesus’ call is, “Come, follow me, and I‘ll show you how to fish for people.” (vs. 17, CEB). Here is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry of CHANGE of minds, bodies, and spirits of His followers. Jesus will lead them for three years with the expectation that His followers will continue His ministry when He leaves them.

     Jesus’ ministry and message clearly advocates for love of God, neighbor, and affirming in us that we are God’s “Beloved.” We, too, are being called to a ministry of CHANGE: CHANGING our lives, our faith communities, society, and the world to become God’s dwelling place. Jesus’ ministry was not just carrying on John’s mission of repentance: Jesus focused on CHANGE of heart, mind, and spirit to live transformed lives as servants proclaiming peace, justice, goodwill, and love. We are called to be CHANGE-makers, to follow Jesus and “trust the good news!” BLESSINGS ALWAYS.

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Feb. 4 Preaching at St. Jacob's UCC 9:00 am & Republic UCC 10:00 am morning worship and attending 2:00 pm installation.

Feb. 11 Preaching at St. John's UCC Holgate 10:15 am morning worship and attending 2:00 pm installation

Feb. 18 & 25 Preaching at Zion UCC - Fireside, Bellevue 10:00 am

2023 OCWM Giving Goal - $285,000

(Goal approved at the 59th Annual Meeting)

OCWM Offerings through December 31st - $256,237

Supporting OCWM...

Creating A Just World for All!

Thank You!

CHURCH TREASURER

Church Remittance Form - please use this form when sending donations to/through the Association office.

UCC Yearbook 2024

The UCC Center for Analytics, Research & Development, and Data is collecting data for the annual yearbook! You can log in to DataHub to enter statistics through Wednesday, March 6. Your church can download instructions here, and also use the Yearbook reference webpage. An email with further details has been sent. If you have any questions, need a hard copy of instructions or data forms mailed to your church, or would like a PDF version of the data forms to complete on your computer and return to our office, please contact Joan Davidson at joan@nwoa.org.

IRS Standard Mileage Rates for 2024

• 67 cents per mile for business use, up 1.5 cents from 2023
• 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations

Church News, pictures, events, etc.....

Summit to office@nwoa.org by Tuesday 9:00 am.

“AWARD GIVEN TO WILMA FARMER”

Report from The Advertiser-Tribune”

On Monday, January 15, 2024, at the annual MLK Day Celebration, The Advertiser-Tribune (local daily paper) reported the following about Wilma Farmer, active UCC member and peace activist:

Wilma Farmer received the “Peacemaker Award” from the Tiffin-Seneca MLK Day event committee. The audience was inspired by her 96 years of service to the community. Farmer remarked on her life’s passions, which include bringing meals to the residents of St. Francis and serving on the Mission Committee at the (Trinity) UCC Church.

 “I was just flabbergasted and dumbfounded when I heard,” Farmer said in her receiving remarks. She advised the students in the room that, “Things don’t always work out the way you plan them but keep your eyes on what you want to do.”

Farmer can be found standing at the corner by the Seneca County Joint Justice Center raising her sign pointing out current social issues each Friday at 4 p.m. The award was present by Sr. Judy Liebengood, who said of Farmer, “Her kind generosity and hospitality are surely obvious.

During the final hymn “We shall overcome,” Farmer held hands with her fellow presenters.

Congratulations to Wilma Farmer for her faith witness and her generous support for peace and justice.

INSTALLATION:

Rev. Darla Metz will be installed as the United Church Homes Chaplain of Community Engagement at Republic UCC, Republic on Sunday February 4, 2024 at 2:00 pm.

Rev. Jeff McCarn, Pastor at St. John's UCC, Holgate will be installed on Sunday, February 11, 2024 at 2:00 pm at the church.

Prayer Concerns/Request

Continuing prayer for: Dee Schroer, Rev. Marty Stiffler, Rev. Daniel Johnson, Rev. Jim Garner, Rev. Hafidha Saadiqah, Rev. Don Corbin, Rev. Adrian Sunday, Carolyn George, Rev. Randall Forester, Don Clark, Rev. Gale Gebhart, Rev. Don Giesmann, Wilma Farmer, Marcy Miller, Rev. Jeanette Tangeman, Rev. David Culp, Rev. Jeff King, Peggy George, Tim Davidson, Family of the late Maggie Maher, John Mummert

News was received from First UCC, Galion about the passing of Eldon "Bucky" Walter. Bucky was a faithful servant of the Northwest Association. He served many years on the Church and Ministry Team along with other committees of the Association. We extend our Christian Love and Sympathy to the Walter Family. The full obituary is available at www.SnyderFuneralHomes.com.

"Because of you our church changes lives"

When we think of stewardship most of us first think of money, and then we may let out a silent groan remembering that it is once again stewardship season. But stewardship is so much more, Stewardship is the act of taking care of something. In the church it is so broadened to mean taking care of all the God has entrusted us with. Stewardship is a lifestyle.

Our church changes lives when we deliver food to a foodbank, visit the sick or those in prison, or pray for all our neighbors, even those who look different than us. Our church changes lives when we fill disaster or personal care buckets for those hit by natural disasters. Our church changes lives when we make changes in our daily habits that help instead of damage our earth.

God call us all to be stewards of this earth and all the gifts we have been given. Help us to be mindful to live our lives so that together we can help our church change lives.

Donna Dorsch, NWOA Stewardship & Generosity Team

WHAT IS OCWM AND WHY DOES IT MATTER

“What is OCWM?” “What do those letters mean?” That’s a question I get asked often. We would not expect a visitor or newcomer to know what OCWM means. What surprises me, however, is that active church members sometimes don’t know what OCWM means. For pastors and lay leaders, I see two challenges:

• Explaining OCWM

and

• Sharing Stories About Why It Matters

For those of us familiar with it, what OCWM is about is clear: OCWM funds the broader mission of the wider church. As denomination literature states, “OCWM funds the work we do in conferences as well as in the national and global church.” But many people don’t realize that there are five components to OCWM. One of our UCC resources uses the analogy of a hand with five fingers. I find this analogy to be helpful in explaining the different components. “Basic Support is like our thumb, crucial to the flexibility and dexterity of our hand. The four special offerings are like our fingers, helping us reach out. Together, OCWM Basic Support and the Four Mission Offerings allow us to reach out and impact the lives of our neighbors near and far.” The hand analogy, along with other available resources, helps explain OCWM and its five components. That’s one step. Another step is to help people understand WHY it’s important; why OCWM matters. READ ON

Rev. Vern Swett, NWOA Stewardship & Generosity Team

Pastor at Sylvania UCC

Do This: Communion for Just and Courageous Living

Recently, my congregation and I have been reflecting on how to make more connections between our Sunday services and God’s work of justice and peacemaking. We’ve added “mission moments” to our services during which representatives of the missions we support update us on their work. We’ve incorporated the disaster relief kits into our offering. We’ve also included special prayers and blessings for the planting season, school year, music ministry and others. We ask God’s Spirit to be at work within them, so they can contribute to God’s work in the world.

I’m sure these ideas are nothing new for you, and that you have tried these and more with your congregation. This month, on behalf of the Witness and Proclamation Committee of the Northwest Ohio Association, I wanted to highlight another resource you may or may not have heard of that also makes connections between our worship services and God’s work in the world.

The resource is a recent publication of The Pilgrim Press called Do This: Communion for Just and Courageous Living. It is a collection of communion liturgies, prayers, hymns, and activities written by members of the Still Speaking Writers Group and edited by Mary Luti. 

Look at the following themes that organize this resource to get a sense of how Communion can connect to the work of justice.

1.      What If No One Remembers? - Communion and Memory

2.      It’s Not the Same Without You - Communion and Belonging 

3.      Bearing Fruit – Communion, Creation, and Labor

4.      One Skin, One Kin – Communion and Bodies

5.      No One Unsatisfied – Communion and Hunger

6.      You Give Them Something to Eat – Communion and Just Mercy

7.      Eating Your Way to Love – Communion and Reconciliation

8.      Please, Come In – Communion, Hospitality and Healing

9.      For as Long as It Takes – Communion and Perseverance

The following permission is given for use:

Local Churches, Conferences, Associations, and other settings of the United Church of Christ may use these reflections for any not-for-profit use by any medium (including by not limited to print and online), so long as credit is given to the reflection’s author and to this resource. The reflections must be used in their entirety and the content may not be altered in any way. For other uses and permissions questions, contact the United Church of Christ National Setting through the permissions team of the Pilgrim Press.  

May God bless our worship that it may bear the fruit of justice and peacemaking in our world.

Rev. Karsten Snitker, Trinity UCC - Tiffin PDF Form HERE

El Salvador Mission Trip

Interested in the El Salvador Mission contact Mr John Gilberg

El Salvador Mission Coordinator jjgilberg@nktelco.net

(corrected email)

SUMMER CAMP REGISTRATION OPENS

FEBRUARY 1, 2024!

We are offering two Zoom meetings in January to demo the new system and answer any registration system questions. We highly recommend your attendance especially if you will be registering for a Grands and Family or Family camp session. January 17 at 10 am or January 25 at 7 pm.

This retreat led by singer songwriter, Carrie Newcomer, will use music, poetry, reflective writing, small and large group conversation to explore the practice of presence, the experience of daily awe and wonder, balancing our inner lives with our outer work, and exploring what might be calling at our growing edges (personal, vocational & spiritual).

ATTENTION: Pastors/Faith Formation Leaders and Confirmands/Youth!

2024 Faith Formation Conference - Worship As Faith Formation

Satellite Locations in Each Association!!

The world needs people formed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ in ways that transform the world with love and justice for all. Worship is a foundational space where this formation can happen. 

We encourage you to join us on March 2nd 2024 to:

·   Expand your understanding of worship as faith formation

·   Experience the wisdom and creativity of Rev. Dr. Claudio Carvalhaes

·   Engage confirmands/youth as partners in worship that matters

Explore creative new ways for faith-forming worship planning (hands-on lab)

Please Note:

• All participants must register themselves. 

• Parents will need to register Youth/Confirmands.

• Contact our Executive Administrator, Becca Hoskins (becca@heartlanducc.org) if your church wants to pay for your folks to attend the conference. We can help you set up a coupon code to give to them before they register. 

If you have any questions or concerns reach out to Becca Hoskins by email at becca@heartlanducc.org.

MTSO’s Seminary Hill Farm seeks paid interns

Seminary Hill Farm on the campus of Methodist Theological School in Ohio is seeking full-time, paid farm interns. The intern experience is open to applicants 17 and older who have a calling to steward the land and engage in justice-oriented personal and community development. People from diverse life paths and of non-traditional ages are welcome to apply.

Compensation includes pay of $13 per hour, campus housing, lunch in the MTSO dining hall and a free weekly share of produce grown on the farm. Start and end dates are flexible. The season for internships spans March through mid-November annually.

More information and instructions for applying are at //seminaryhillfarm.org/employment.

Founded in December 2013, Seminary Hill Farm has grown to become the most visible component of MTSO’s broad commitment to sustainability and social justice. Covering 10 acres of MTSO’s campus in greater Columbus, the farm provides fresh produce for campus meals, people in need and members of its Community Supported Agriculture program.

Methodist Theological School in Ohio provides theological education and leadership in pursuit of a just, sustainable and generative world. In addition to the Master of Divinity degree, the school offers master’s degrees in social justice, public theology and theological studies, along with a Doctor of Ministry degree.



Engage with MTSO through Facebook and Instagram (@MTSOedu).