the Good News - Issue 14.indd

July 15, 2007 Volume 39, Issue 14A Publication of The Union Church of Hinsdale, U.C.C.

“Be still and know that I am God.” - Psalm 46

One of the great pleasures of summer is the slowing of life rhythms. It matters little if a warm day finds you reading a novel in a deck chair out back or playing a round of golf. The point of summer is to practice, if only for a brief time, the unhurried life.

Of all the spiritual practices, I suspect such mindfulness is one of the most difficult and challenging. At least it is for me. Mindfulness requires drawing attention to that which is always present but previously unnoticed. Mindfulness is a form a prayer that draws us deeply into the present situation, with gratitude. Sometimes the situation is playful, as in a young child’s discovery of lightning bugs on a hot night. Other times we are drawn to deep transitional events that can be more tender, such as staying with someone through a time of struggle, illness or even through

this life into death. All this is part of our human experience, all these we face as people of God even in the lazy days of summer.

I spent much of today practicing mindfulness with my two-month-old granddaughter. Claire visited us from Colorado, with parents in tow of course. Though the child is perfectly capable of sleeping in her borrowed crib, I found myself carrying her around, awake or asleep as if setting her down might make her disappear. Watching her delight in color or sound, the splash of evening bath, in the warmth and snuggle of a towel fresh from the dryer was a lesson in divine joy. Every moment for a baby child is the only moment. Every experience comes as gift, unwrapped as if for the first-time.

The utter trust she affords me is humbling. Claire flings arms wide open and throws back her head with utter abandon, fully expecting that I will catch her if she falls. Actually, she has no concept of catch and fall, because she has never been dropped or broken. Spending a few minutes with Claire gives me a glimpse of the world God intended, a new heaven and a new earth still promised to come.

As I look into the expectant face of baby Claire, enjoying the moment’s pleasures without fear, so God desires for us to enjoy the fruits of the earth without fear. God intends a world where no one gets dropped and nothing gets broken, a world where there are no car bombs or

school shootings or violence in family homes. Would that we could live with the open-armed trust of a newborn that has not yet learned to be afraid.

One antidote for fear and anxiety is the practice of mindfulness that we can practice in this season of Sabbath keeping. To receive it, we have to stop what we’re doing. This is hard. We have to notice what’s happening now. This is difficult. We have to look for the gifts of God in both the sorrowful and the joyful of life events.

The practice of mindfulness allows our spirits to wake up, as if after a long sleep. We become more attune to the particular and the present. We share a tendency to fret over the past we cannot change, and project into a future that is not reality. Mindfulness invites us to savor this day, hour, moment, and to thank God for the life, breath and strength to face whatever this moment may bring.

Thank you for sharing this present moment with me. Thank God for the peace we feel, if only for a moment, in letting God be God, and letting life be. “Be still and know that I am God. I am exalted in all the earth. I am exalted among all the nations.” Be still and know that I am. Be still and know. Be still. Be.

God’s Grace and Peace

Verlee A. Copeland

Messagefrom theMinistry

Team

THE UNION CHURCH OF HINSDALE137 South Garfield AvenueHinsdale, IL 60521-4298

www.uchinsdale.org630.323.4303 (Telephone)

630.323.4407 (Fax)

OUR STAFF

Senior Minister:Rev. Verlee A. Copeland

Minister for ChristianFormation and Mission:

Rev. Dr. Thom Parrott-Sheffer

Minister for Membership andDiscipleship:

Rev. Dr. Julie Ruth Harley

Director of Youth Ministries:David Knecht

Director of Music Ministries:Michael Surratt

Director of Choirs:Gary Wilhelm

Director of EarlyChildhood Programs:

Jennifer Keldahl

Director of Children’sChristian Education:

Penny Johnson

Executive Manager:Merrilee Hall

Financial Manager:Chris Biank

Project Manager:Joel Gratcyk

Systems Manager:Mary Bock

WORSHIP SERVICES

Journey WorshipSaturdays at 5:00 p.m.

Sunday Worship8:00, 9:00 and 10:00 a.m.

Jesus And Me (JAM)2nd Sundays at 11:15 a.m.

Prayer and Healing Service3rd Sundays at 7:00 p.m.

CHURCH OFFICE HOURS

Monday through Friday8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Sundays8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Invitation to Faith: Transformative Worship

Hartford ReportThe 50th Anniversary General Synod of the United Church of Christ, held the last week of June in Hartford, of-fered a hope and joy-fi lled glimpse of the future of our wider church. Del-egates and visitors from Union Church included Joyce Skoog, Michael Surratt, Brandon Parrott-Sheffer and Rebec-ca Woodle. Please see future issues of the summer Good News for more ar-ticles about the General Synod and initiatives of the United Church of Christ.

Summer Projects for Holly Market and

Rudolph's BoutiqueWomen’s Association is looking for volun-teers to sew some book shawls and dresses for American Girl dolls for this year’s Holly Market on November 17. Materials and pat-terns will be provided.

Ministries within the church are invited to have a booth at the Holly Market to high-light their ministry and to also earn some money for their cause. Last year Christian Social Justice had a booth featuring Fair Trade coffee, tea and candy and Mission Board had materials so people could buy Spirit Gifts.

If you are interested in having a booth or can help by sewing one or more of the dresses or shawls, please contact Susan Young at (630) 323.3403 or via email at:[email protected].

Stewardship DevotionalThis year’s Stewardship Committee will produce a devo-tional using submissions contributed by members of the congregation. Your writing can take its inspiration from your feelings about being a member of the Union Church community; your thoughts on personal giving – what in-spires you to give and/or pledge; a personal experience which may have inspired you to a stronger faith. This booklet will be distributed to the congregation for their use as they prayerfully consider what amount of their blessings they will return to God to support the ministries of Union Church.

Ideally, pieces should be about 100 words long and include a scripture passage and a short prayer. Please submit your devotion even if you don’t have a scripture or a prayer to accompany it. These can be added by our ministry team or members of the committee. We would like all devotions submitted by July 20. Each can be placed in the box designated for the devotional book located on the shelf in the offi ce wing or, you can submit your page electronically to Susan Young ([email protected]) if it is in Rich Text or Microsoft Word.

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Invitation to Faith: Christian Formation for Children

Thanks Moooo-Cho! Our mission project for VBS ‘007 was enthusiastically received by all the children. The goal was to raise money to buy a cow for a family in India. We chose to support CREATE, the Center for Research, Education, Action, Training and Evaluation, a partner of Global Ministries in India. CREATE is working to transform the economy of six small villages in India which are inhabited by poor farmers and landless laborers. By helping both the land-owning farmers and landless laborers CREATE is inviting all villagers to work together to im-prove the circumstances of all. A cow helps the poor families improve their nutrition and increase their income so that they will be able to keep their chil-dren healthy and in school.

We raised enough money to buy 2 COWS!Congratulations Kids and Mister Cow Noah!

Letter from Hadley Pihl

This year, the energetic and accomplished Kim No-taro invited me to help out with the arts and crafts at the Union Church VBS, for the fi rst time, which was in session 6/18-6/22. And… I just wanted to tell you, I was utterly astonished by the scope and size of this

important program: over 140 children in grades pre-school to 5th grade were enrolled!

The whole place was literally “jumping!” The degree of enthusiasm, the energy, the excitement and the joyous par-ticipation from all of the children was something I really had not quite expected! I was literally astonished! But, I want to report that I was so greatly impressed by all of the careful planning that had gone into this enterprise by Pen-ny Johnson and her people. Everything went very smooth-ly and the children went from one interesting activity to another with calm and happy anticipation!

The eventful openings each day brought out the fantastic showmanship of Jill Barker as she led all of the children through the magical “Sonforce” program. Laura LaPlaca, who taught and led the children in their many new and sometimes diffi cult… songs, was sensational! Both Rev. Thom and Julie Ruth added greatly to these beginning and ending programs.

One of the really impressive events was getting all of the children to bring in their loose change so they could buy a cow for poor village in India. This was so enthusiasti-cally received that more than enough was raised… but the really important concept was getting all of the youngsters to appreciate how they, too, could help others in a faraway land!

I must confess, I was so pleased and proud to be part of this church’s efforts to do so much to bring such a vibrant pro-gram with its enthusiastic approach to learning about our wonderful Christian values! Next year, if you really want to have your faith renewed in the upcoming generations, I would urge all to sit in on the opening and closing sessions of VBS!

Hadley Pihl, 6.25.07

Invitation to Faith: Christian Formation for Youth

Invitation to Faith: Christian Formation for Adults

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11:15 a.m. each Sunday

in Rowell Hall

July 15 – “Our Stained Glass Windows: A Guided Tour,” led by Rev. Verlee A. Copeland. We will tour the windows in the Sanctuary and Chapel.

July 22 – “Finding Gold in the Golden Years,” Creating a satisfying, fulfilling life in later years. Speaker from Samaritan Interfaith Counseling Center.

July 29 – “Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith,” by Barbara Brown Taylor – book review, led by Julie Ruth Harley

Aug. 5 – “Speaking of Faith,” by Krista Tippett of National Public Radio – book review, led by Julie Ruth Harley

Child care is provided each week for chil-dren from birth through age 4 in the

nursery. If you would like child care for children ages 5 through 5th grade, please contact Rev. Julie Ruth Harley one week in

advance at (630) 323.4303 ext. 14.

Do you have other ideas for The Union Forum? The schedule through the summer is

posted online on the church website at: http://www.uchinsdale.org. We are now scheduling Forums for the fall. If you have a suggestion, please contact Rev.

Harley at (630) 323.4303 ext. 14 or [email protected].

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Invitation to Faith: Expanding Mission For All People

Inter-City Mission EventSaturday to Sunday, August 11-12, 2007!

You are invited to join your friends from Union Church as we journey to St. John U.C.C. in Chicago; where we will assist the church in their annual sale, do yard work and perform some long overdue repairs. We will hear from their pastor, Dr. Charlotte Nold, about their on-going ministries. We will eat at a local Mexican restaurant (it is yummy). And we will worship with them on Sunday morning.

This is a perfect opportunity for anyone interested in doing some local mission, individuals, families, couples, whoever!!! Contact Pastor Thom for informa-tion.

Register with Pastor Thom or Joel Gratcyk: By phone – 323-4303 ext 18 or 21 By e-mail – [email protected] In person – Just tell us when you see us!

Please register by July 31, 2007.

A Mission Opportunity from the Interfaith Council for the HomelessThe Interfaith Council for the Homeless presently houses six women and their children – all of whom are working and receiving some rental assistance. Their homelessness is a result of medical bills, domestic violence or the oppression of low-paying jobs.

One way that you can help is donating needed items, thereby freeing up money for rent and essentials. Items needed are: Summer camp registrations - $180 @ month or $ 250 @ 2 months. Furniture: dresser, couch, set of pots and pans, plastic glasses, television, twin mattresses Boys clothes: shoes (1½ and 2), shirts (sizes 8 and 9-12), pants (size 7) Girls clothes: shirts (5T – 6T), shoes (8-8½) Women’s clothes: pants (13-14), shirt XL, shoes (9) Baby: pampers (size 4), pull-up (5T – 6T), walker.

Donations will need to be delivered, as Interfaith Council for the Homeless has no infra-structure for picking-up or stor-ing. If you can help, please contact the Interfaith Council at www.fi rstgiving.com/ich.

Thank YouSt. John U.C.C., Chicago: Friends at Union Church, know that your continued support is vital to our mission work here at St. John Church. It is a blessing to us to feel the encouragement of this support as our mission work here is challenging, but also a blessing. Many thanks.

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Invitation to Faith: Community Life

BirthDanielle and Rich are thrilled to announce the arrival of Haley Gray Tuck on Saturday, June 30th, 2007 at 2:21PM CDT. The beautiful new little girl weighs in at 6 lbs. 13 oz and measures 19.5 inches in length. Both Mom and baby are doing very well.

The Community Renewal Society (CRS) is a progressive, faith-based organization that works to eliminate race and class barriers. It was founded in 1882 to inform, organize and train both communities and individuals to advocate for social and economic justice. CRS works by bringing faith communities, social action commit-tees and individuals together to effect change.

CRS believes every resident in our re-gion has the right to: affordable hous-ing, a high-quality education, jobs that pay a living wage, a fair criminal justice system, safe, vibrant neighbor-hoods and the opportunity to redeem themselves in the public eye once they’ve paid their debt to society.

To achieve their goals to eliminate race and class barriers, CRS: works pur-

posefully on multiple issues, principally housing, jobs, education and criminal jus-tice, because they are often intertwined; works with a wide cross section of com-munities and leaders, engaging them in these critical issues; examines and sug-gests improvements in current public practices; exposes the direct relationship between reducing social inequities and the long-term economic health of our re-gion; works to hold government account-able for its role in breaking down race and class barriers and making the region work for all of its residents.

CRS publishes two monthly periodicals, that further educate and ad-vocates their work – Catalyst Chicago, which examines the needs and remedies of the Public School System; and The Chicago Reporter, which engages the critical issues that face our society.

You can explore the work of the Com-munity Renewal Society online at: CommunityRenewalSociety.org

Thank YouThe church relies on the coopera-tion of many Lay Visitors. They normally call, visit, provide food and transportation to many in our congregation who are ill. The fol-lowing loyal Lay Visitors deserve kudos for their time, energy and dedicated efforts on behalf on the church:

Chuck Armstrong, Jane Ballan-tine, Sis Erdmann, Ken Froelich, Dan Humphrey, Adele Mayer, Jane Moeller, Ginny Monroe, Beth Saphir, Bill Schafer, Cathy Schul-tz, Marge Stannard, Eleanor Stick-ler, Gwen Stoldt, Barbara Voorhees and Aud Woeltje.

Our minister who leads the group is Julie Ruth Harley, we meet once a month throughout the year. No one is obligated to attend every meeting.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE...2 3 4 5 6 7

TRANSFORMATIVE WORSHIP

CHRISTIAN FORMATION FOR CHILDREN

CHRISTIAN FORMATION FOR YOUTH

CHRISTIAN FORMATION FOR ADULTS

EXPANDING MISSION FOR ALL PEOPLE

COMMUNITY LIFE

C A L E N D E R O F E V E N T SSunday, July 158:00 & 10:00 a.m. Worship Services11:15 a.m. Union Forum7:00 p.m. Prayer & Healing Service

Monday, July 167:30 p.m. Tai Chi Ch'uan

Tuesday, July 1712:00 p.m. WA Resale Sorting

Wednesday, July 18GOOD NEWS Submission Deadline for July 29 Issue7:00 a.m. Prayer Group4:00 p.m. High School Night Ministry7:00 p.m. WA Summer Blast (Movie & Sleepover)

Thursday, July 195:30 p.m. TNT Mini-Golf7:30 p.m. CODA

Friday, July 206:00 a.m. Men's Ministry Group #16:30 a.m. Men's Ministry Group #2

Saturday, July 215:00 p.m. Journey Worship

Sunday, July 228:00 a.m. Worship Service10:00 a.m. Intergenerational Service 11:15 a.m. Union Forum

Monday, July 237:30 p.m. Tai Chi Ch'uan

Tuesday, July 2412:00 p.m. WA Resale Sorting

Wednesday, July 257:00 a.m. Prayer Group10:00 a.m. High School @ Six Flags Great America

Thursday, July 268:30 a.m. WA Resale Sorting7:30 p.m. CODA

Friday, July 27No Events Scheduled

Saturday, July 285:00 p.m. Journey Worship