August 28, 2011
August 28 to September 4, 2011
Worship Highlights: 8:15 am & 10:30 am
Malachi 2:17 to 3:7 – “Wearisome Words”
Rev. Neal Sadler
9 am – “A Celebration of Psalms”
Pastor Mariah
Flowers: The flowers on the altar are given by Beth & Craig Hari in memory of Ralph & Nell Bientz and Mary Hari.
WEEK AT A GLANCE
Sun 8:15 am Chapel Worship
9:00 am Gathering Worship
9:00 am Choir Rehearsal
10:30am Worship
2:00 pm JMM @ Medina Meadows
Sing-a-Long
3:30 pm Confirmand/Parent Meeting
4:00 pm Council/Staff Meeting
at Pastor Neal’s Home
5:30 pm Council/Staff & Spouse Picnic
7:00 pm JMM @ WRMC
Mon
Tues 7:00 pm Gathering Band
Wed 7:15 am Chapel Prayer Time
10:30am Quilters
2:00 pm Bible Study@ Tollefields
Thurs 9:15 am Women’s Bible Study
Fri
Sat 7:00 am Men’s Bible Study
8:00 am Men’s Fellowship
9:00 am Gathering Band
Sun 8:15 am Chapel Worship
9:00 am Gathering Worship
9:00 am Choir Rehearsal
10:30am Worship
2:00 pm JMM @ MR Village
THE CHURCH OFFICE WILL BE CLOSED
ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5TH
IN OBSERVANCE OF
LABOR DAY
CONFIRMATION PARENTS MEETING AUGUST 28
Will you be in eighth grade this fall? Will you be the parent of an eighth grader?
If so, please plan to attend an Introduction to Confirmation meeting on Sunday, August 28, from 3:30 pm until 5:00 pm.
At this meeting we will discuss the purpose and goals of confirmation, and we’ll explore what this process is all about. We will also review the schedule for our upcoming confirmation year and get to know each other.
If you cannot attend the meeting but you plan to participate in confirmation this year, please contact Pastor Mariah. If you have any questions, please see Pastor Mariah or Miss Stacie.
GOOD NEIGHBORS
If you are able to provide a meal to our church members in need, please contact Amanda Hover at 330-635-3714 or email to thehovers@hotmail.com
Come and “Make a Joyful Noise unto the Lord.”
Choir rehearsals will be starting soon. On Sunday, August 28, the Chancel Choir will meet in the Chapel and begin rehearsals at 9:00 am and will sing on September 4th for Communion.
We have an exciting fall schedule lined up with both new and familiar anthems culminating in the Puccini “Magnificat” for our Christmas Program.
On Wednesday, September 7, the Bell Choir will begin rehearsals at 6:30 PM in the Sanctuary. We will start off with a new twist to a familiar anthem. I encourage anyone who is interested in participating in either or both groups to join us for rehearsal.
If you have any questions, please contact me. Jim Kiser
SCRAPBOOKING
Soon all of the kids will be back in school and you may need something to do to fill your time! Why not join Kelly and Stacie on Friday, September 23, starting around 6:30 pm or whenever you can arrive to work on preserving your family memories. We will gather in Rooms 9 and 10 here at the church, so please join us if you can. Contact Kelly at financial@uccmedina.org if you have any questions.
“LOST & FOUND” – In Concert
Please plan to attend the “Lost & Found” concert at Medina High School on Saturday, September 10, at 7:00 pm. This concert is being held in the Performing Arts Center, Middle stage. Admission is FREE with a canned good for the Free Farmers Market, which is a ministry of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Your free tickets must be reserved by contacting Pastor Tom Schwartz at ptom@zoominternet.net or by calling St. Matthew Lutheran Church at 330-725-8885.
Around the EOA
AUDITIONS
Singers and actors are invited to open auditions for an original musical retelling of the Prodigal Son story by Sharon Alberson. Proceeds will benefit EOA’s Akron Urban churches including East Market Street, Miller Avenue, Trinity, and Williard.
Auditions will take place on Sunday, September 11, from 2-4 pm at Trinity UCC, 915 North Main Street in Akron. For further details, email Sharon at sharonalberson@sbcglobal.net
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
WRA Church in the World presents the third in a series of justice events — Environmental Justice. On September 29, 2011 we will meet at Old South Church (9802 Chillicothe Road, Kirtland, OH 44094) to share ideas and hear information on Environmental Justice.
The program, which is open to everyone, will be from 7:30 pm to 9 pm. Part of the discussion will be on the practice of fracturing rock in an attempt by the gas companies to extract gas from underground deposits. Unfortunately, all the information points to the damage the practice (known as fracking) does to the underground water tables.
Come and hear information on this practice and share ideas for action steps as is happening in New York and Pennsylvania.
For more information, contact Margaret Mills at mmills@wraucc.org.
MANAGING CONFLICT:
Managing Conflict: a four-part course to equip people with the understandings, tools and skills to manage conflict when it occurs. Led by Gene Kraus and hosted by the Medina UCC, the bi-weekly sessions will run from October 6 through November 18 from 7-8:30 pm. Go to www.eoaucc.org for more details.
‘EXTREME’ COUPON COLLECTOR SHOPS TO MAKE BIG DROP FOR
UCC ‘MISSION: 1′
Sue Field is a conscientious coupon collector with super-saving shopping acumen.
Commandeering her cart up and down every supermarket and drugstore aisle, Field is on a mission.
Specifically, the UCC’s Mission: 1.
“I call it extreme couponing,” says Field, a member of Holmdel (N.J.) Community UCC. “I am very detail-oriented, somewhat obsessive and rather competitive, so it has become rather like playing a computer game. But instead of winning points, I win food.”
Field’s market magic is now focused on the UCC’s Mission: 1 campaign, which plays on the UCC’s motto, “That they may all be 1,” Nov. 1-11, 2011 (11-1-11—11-11-11). During those 11 days, the UCC aims to collect more than 1 million food and household items for local food banks and collect $111,111 in online donations for hunger-related causes, while marshaling its 5,300 congregations to advocate for hunger-related causes worldwide via 11,111 letters to Congress.
“I could see that this could go viral with only a little effort,” Field added. “I can’t be the only skilled couponer in the UCC who could get a congregation fired up to do this.”. . . .
For more information check the UCC web page (www.ucc.org/news/extreme-coupon-collector.html and www.livingrichwithcoupons.com
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR F.I.S.H.
Fall Sunday School is just around the corner and once again, we will be doing the workshop rotation format. Teachers and leaders are needed. Are you able and willing to give one month out of the year to help lead our youth in their faith formation? It truly is a rewarding experience working with the children and youth of our church.
If you are interested in teaching or leading, please see Stacie Yates or sign up outside of Fellowship Hall. Last year was a great success! Hope you will be a part of another great year!
MEET OUR
EXECUTIVE MINISTER
Rev. M. Linda Jaramillo is the Executive Minister of Justice and Witness Ministries, responsible for the church’s work on human rights and social, racial and economic justice. She began serving in this position in 2005, and in June was re-elected by the General Synod of the United Church of Christ to a second four year term. She also serves on the UCC’s five member Collegium of Officers, the first Hispanic to serve in such a position.
Rev. Jaramillo has a long history of involvement in justice issues, both in the church and in community movements. She was a long time Latina leader in the Portland (Oregon) metropolitan area. She co-facilitated an historic dialog process between African American and Latino communities in that area. She served on many local boards and committees and was elected to three terms on the Forest Grove Board of Education.
Jaramillo was an active volunteer in various UCC settings including the Commission for Racial Justice, the Coordinating Center for Women, Executive Council, and as assistant moderator of General Synod. She is a former president and vice-president of the Council for Hispanic Ministries, co-convener of the Council of Racial and Ethnic Ministries, and a UCC delegate to the World Council of Churches Assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Jaramillo’s professional experience is closely tied to her commitment to justice and peace. As a manager in programs such as violence prevention, HIV/AIDS community investment, Migrant Head Start, and civil rights in child welfare, she was always guided by the core values of equity and self-determination. She earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Portland (Ore.) State University and a Master of Divinity degree from UCC-related Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California.
NEW CHURCH DIRECTORIES
We will be printing new church directories the first week of October. Please notify the office with any telephone, address or email changes no later than SEPTEMBER 26.
Women’s
Fall Lantern Fellowship
Pilgrim HIlls
September 16 – 18, 2011
Biblical Storytelling
Leader – Rev. Bert C. Ambrose Jr.
Rev. Bert Ambrose currently serves at Emmanuel UCC in Valley City, Ohio, and is an active member of the Network of Biblical Storytellers, Int. (www.nbsint.org).
Bert has been involved in Ohio Conference Outdoor Ministries programs for many years. He provides biblical storytelling performances for churches and community groups, and introduction to biblical storytelling workshops for groups and individuals. Bert has also provided educational programs in biblical storytelling, story centering, and storytelling electives for judicatory lay ministry and licensing programs, as well as lay reader training for lively reading of the text.
Continuing the summer camp theme, “Got Spirit? Finding God in the Everyday,” Bert will share and help us learn to tell at least two of the sacred stories from this past summer’s program. We will go “marveling” into the stories and find ourselves in them and they in us.
• Cost: $135
Registration fee includes all meals,
lodging and program costs.
Need Scholarship assistance?
Indicate on the registration form.
Registration deadline: Tuesday, September 5, 2011
• Registration begins at 3:00 pm on Friday, followed by dinner at 5:30 pm.
• We leave for home after lunch on Sunday.
Questions? Contact: Conference office at 800-282-0740, Ext. 200, and they will be in touch with the planning committee.
SERVING MEALS AT
ZION UCC, CLEVELAND
Signup Now Available for Fall
For a year now, folks from Medina UCC have been serving meals for the poor and homeless on the second and fifth Saturdays of the month.
The response from our folks has been enthusiastic. It is a great way to serve.
The meals are prepared by Zion UCC, and we show up to serve and clean up. It is a simple, but meaningful way to be involved in caring for persons in need.
We continue our commitment to serving meals. We leave Medina UCC at 3:15 pm and arrive back around 6:30 pm. Interested in helping? Please sign up in the East Room.
COFFEE HOUR
A big Thank You for all of our coffee hour hosts & hostesses! Isn’t it great, that after any worship service on Sunday, you can stick around and have wonderful fellowship along with something to drink and a light snack? It is a faithful person who volunteers to give of their selves and their time on Sunday mornings to be a host for such fellowship.
Thank you again to all of our 10:30 coffee hour hosts that were mentioned last week. Thank you to the coffee hour hosts for the 8:15 service who are: Joe & Lori Donnelly, Bonnie Shuman, Betty McMillan, Ruth Dunn, Jane Schmidt and Joan & Gene Gibson. Your efforts are much appreciated.
The 9:00 Gathering Service has been blessed to have many volunteers for hospitality. We are there to serve before our church service starts, during our service, and clean up afterward. If we have inadvertently left anyone’s name off this list, please let the church office know. Thank you to our dedicated volunteers:
Anne Reed, Leader, Renae Armstrong,Linda Fenn, Sandy Holloway, Vicki Marty, Beth Petri,
Val Perkins, Ruth Sinclair, Wendy Swantek, Diane Stoll, Kim Strickland, Juanita Weinhardt
We would also like to recognize Julie Magier who does a beautiful job decorating our tables each week to coordinate with an appropriate theme. Thank you to all our volunteers.
MEDITATION Carol Wilcox
Man’s Animal Helpers of
Bible Times and Today
In Bible times, animals such as the camel, elephant, ass and horse were all used for transportation and farm work. Sheep, cattle, swine, and goats supplied food, clothing, and were used in religious rituals. Today, these same creatures are used in much the same way.
But today, some animals are used for the benefit of man in unique ways, using their talents and abilities.
The cat, long loved as a companion, has been found to have unusual traits that help people in amazing ways. They have a sixth sense in that they can sense when a person has early signs of cancer, aiding the medical community in detection. They have shown that they know when a patient is dying. A friend of mine with a terminal illness lay on her bed, surrounded by her three cats, comforting her, day after day, and after she died, they showed anger at her husband because “he took her away.”
The dog, a very popular pet, has been found valuable in using its sense of smell to detect the presence of bombs, drugs, and humans who lie buried. They are brought into nursing homes to comfort people. And, of course, they alert man to danger. We know about the Seeing Eye Dogs and, of course the sheepherders. Once, at a farm show in New Zealand, I watched two different sheep dogs herd a balking group of sheep, each in its own way. The one raced over to the flock, yapping loudly, corralling most of the flock. Then the shepherd whistled to the second dog, who raced down to stand in front of the few stubborn ones, fixing them with his mesmerizing stare. They quickly filed into the shoot.
“From the oyster to the eagle, from the swine to the tiger, all animals are to be found in some man, sometimes several at the same time. Animals are nothing but the portrayal of our virtues and vices, made manifest to our eyes, the visible reflections of our souls. God displays them to us to give us food for thought.” (Victor Hugo)
Read: Genesis: ch. 1, v. 24–31
Job: ch. 12, v. 6-8 & Prov: ch. 12 v.10, 11
The deadline for submission of articles for NEXT Sunday’s Messenger is this Sunday at 11:30am
Submit articles to: athena42@mac.com Or: messenger@uccmedina.org
