minister's letter - Ashland First Congregational United Church of Christ

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MINISTER’S LETTER CONT...from page 1 my hope last night was in that room. In the midst of so many intelligent, thoughtful, faithful people willing to look at all that is broken, in spite of how incredibly scary that is, I felt the Presence of God With Us, the God who loves this world so much, and who has promised we will not be parted. As we look closely at our world problems, let us look also, in all places, for the healing Presence of God. We don’t have to save the world ourselves; we need only see where God is already active, and then join in the world-healing there. Next steps for our new group, which I have named: The Group to Save the World, include the following. (Please note that the naming of the group was unilateral on my part. The name of the group will probably change.) • A small group is forming to study the economic situation in our country and discuss what responses might be helpful. Contact Co-convener, Sandy Theis, or the church office, if you would like to participate. • A Social Justice & Faith group, convened by Lacey Hunter and Sarah Schendel will meet 3 Wednesday nights from 6:30—7:30, beginning on November 2nd. • The entire TGSW group will meet again next Wednesday night, following the Social Justice and Faith group, at 7:30pm. Paula Sohl will be the convener. • A film exploring the economic situation and how we got here will be shown one night soon, convened by Karen Wennlund. • Bob Carter has agreed to contact other faith communities to discover if they are also having these kinds of conversations, and if we might join together. And finally, we all agreed that whatever actions we take, our actions will be nonviolent, respectful of all people, and for the benefit of everyone, even those with whom we disagree. I remember Rev. Dr. Alfred Smith saying, “I have no enemies in this church. But some of my friends are a little confused.” As followers of Jesus, we have no enemies on this earth. May we move forward in Love, Hope, Joy, and Peace together, for we are entering the Season of Advent, and the Sacred we are longing for is always always with us. Yours on the Path, Pam PSR’S ADULT ED ...by Sarah Schendel Interested in learning more about the *free* upcoming 3-week test run of an adult ed pilot program from Pacific School of Religion? Check out: LIFE ABUNDANT: A Theological and Spiritual Framework for Christian Education This foundation for much of the course can be found at: http://www.clgs.org/files_clgs/Life%20Abundant.pdf Each class will be about an hour long, & will take place at the UCC Ashland on Wednesdays at 6:30 pm from Nov 2-16. Looking forward to seeing you there! Ashland First Congregational United Church of Christ Page 2 November 2011 2011
FROM THE MODERATOR ...by Sandy Theis Many of you attended the picnic in Lithia Park that served as the revitalization of the neighborhood care circles. We had a great time eating and chatting and are thankful to Bill Kolacek for reserving the tables for us. I am in the care circle that is called “above the church.” My husband, Larry, has taken it upon himself to get us together, and we have had three events since this summer. We enjoyed pizza made on the grill at Sherri Morgan’s, a game night at the Theis’, and an Octoberfest at the King-Rosine’s. Of course all of these times included food, but we also had good conversation and fun. Larry has taken pictures at each event, and shared them with the entire neighborhood, in an attempt to entice others to join us. We have a cadre of people who have attended, but we have had difficulty getting others to attend. Part of this is that we have busy lives and the times may not be convenient. The idea of the care circles is that we will get to know people in our neighborhood so that if there is a problem, or a joy to share, we will know each other well enough to participate meaningfully. As our church has grown, and we have gone to two services, it is more difficult for us to share meaningful conversations. They just don’t happen in the hospitality time. I encourage each of you to attend these functions as you are able. If your neighborhood does not have a functioning care circle I encourage you to take the initiative to plan the first event and invite others to join you. Sandy Theis ANNUAL THANKSGIVING POTLUCK ...by Kathleen Marrs & Bill Kolacek It’s time for the Annual Thanksgiving Potluck!! Thursday, November 24th 3 p.m. in the Social Hall If you just can’t make it out of town to be with friends and family, or if your family is unable to come to you, or if you just can’t get enough of our wild and crazy UCC family, come and join us for the Annual UCC Thanksgiving Potluck! There are sign-up sheets in the back of the social hall so sign up to bring a dish to share. We need all the fixins from turkey to pie—so invite a friend and come enjoy a meal and give thanks with your UCC family. Also, we need volunteers to help with set-up and clean up. If you can help vol- unteer in any of these areas, please let us know on the sign up sheet. For more information, contact: Katleen Marrs 541-488-2107 kathleen@ashlandoregon.org -or- Bill Kolacek 541-613-3692 bill.kolacek@yahoo.com Ashland First Congregational United Church of Christ Page 3 November 2011
Page 1: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ Ashland
Page 5 and 6: NOVEMBER EVENTS PROGRESSIVE CHRISTI
Page 7 and 8: UCC HAPPENINGS! OPPORTUNITIES FOR S
Page 9 and 10: PHOTOS ...by Clark Custodio Garden

minister's letter - Ashland First Congregational United Church of Christ

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