Announcements for Sunday, June 29, 2014
HELPFUL CHURCH INFORMATION
A NURSERY AND TODDLER ROOM are available downstairs for babies and toddlers during the church service. Grace Kneil will be there to greet you and your children. A multiage SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS meets in the lower level following “A Time for all Children”. Anna Duxler and Megan Lovely teach the class.
BABY MONITORS are available for those of you who leave your children in the nursery or toddler room during the church service. To check one out, please see Grace in the nursery.
BE SURE TO CHECK OUR WEB SITE ww.ucchurch.org each week for updates and new pictures! A preview of the Order of Service, Sunday announcements and Sermons are posted each week! An archive of sermons (select the speaker), newsletters, and up-to-date calendar are all readily available on the website too. Also check out our Facebook page by clicking on “Facebook” on any page of our church website, www.ucchurch.org
HEARING ASSISTED RECEIVERS are available for your use during the church service. Please see an usher if you need one.
WANT A CD of a worship service? Please sign up on the CD Form on the information board in Fellowship Hall. You may pick-up your CD in the library. $2 per CD may be put in “Deposit Box” in the office.
WOMENS’ GUILD BOOK EXCHANGE New books come in every week for this Women’s Guild outreach project. Please bring books you have read and think others would enjoy to add to our bookshelves. We like to keep our inventory interesting and inviting!
CHECK OUT THE BULLETIN BOARDS IN FELLOWSHIP HALL. The minutes of all the UCC Boards are posted on the bulletin boards as are the roster for the Church Council and all other boards.
Good Morning! Welcome to University
Congregational Church!
WE INVITE OUR VISITORS TODAY to join us in Fellowship Hall after the service for coffee, refreshments and conversation. Just follow the crowd down the hallway (west).
PLEASE SIGN THE FELLOWSHIP PAD when it comes down the pew. Members please sign and update any changes in your contact information. If you are a guest, please sign the pad so that we may thank you for worshipping with us.
THIS SUNDAY
THE FLOWERS ON THE COMMUNION TABLE TODAY are given by Patsy and Bob Scott in memory of their son, Todd.
UCC POLO SHIRTS AND DILLON’S REWARD PROGRAM GIFT CARDS will be on sale in Fellowship Hall after the church service. See next page.
THIS WEEK
THE CHURCH COUNCIL will meet Monday, June 30 at 5:00 in the conference room.
THE FINAL CLASS ON “ ZEALOT” will meet this Monday, June 30, at 6:30 in the conference room.
YOGA CLASSES meet on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. ($5.00).in Fellowship Hall.
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE ADVISORY COMMITTEE will meet on Wednesday, July 2, at 7:00 in the conference room
THE CHURCH OFFICE will be closed on Thursday and Friday, July 3rd and 4th for the Independence Day Holiday.
UCC POLO SHIRTS will be on sale in Fellowship Hall after the church service. Shirts for men and women are available in white and hibiscus (coral) for $25 each. XXL sizes are a few dollars more. This Sunday is the last chance to purchase a shirt and be ready for the August “Good News, We Get To Wear Our UCC Volunteer Shirt to Church Sunday”. These shirts are perfect to wear when you are volunteering at the Head to Toe Hygiene Pantry and other volunteer programs in our church and community.
LAST DAY TO ORDER DILLON’S REWARD PROGRAM GIFT CARDS! These handy gift cards can be ordered in Fellowship Hall for an initial purchase of $5.00. Before your first purchase at Dillon’s, you load the card (cash, check, or credit card) at the service desk with any amount you wish up to $500. You then can use the Dillon’s card as a credit card when buying groceries or gas. UCC will receive 5% of the total amount you spend which will go to the Head-to Toe Hygiene Pantry.
CHRISTMAS IN JULY The Christian Education Board will be taking orders for personalized Christmas ornaments for three Sundays in July starting July 13. These are the same glass ball ornaments sold several years ago so if your family is not represented on the family Christmas tree that is in Fellowship Hall here is your chance to order your ornament.
SAVE THE DATE to celebrate the June 7 wedding of Ian and Mary- Rachel McGonigle at a reception in Fellowship Hall on Saturday,
July 12, at 2:00 p.m. Hors devours, wine, and Shocker cake
will be served. The couple will be wearing
their wedding attire.
WORDS TO THE 1ST ANTHEM—-Let the River Run–Carly Simon
We’re coming to the edge, running on the water, coming through the fog, your sons and daughters
Let the river run, let all the dreamers wake the nation, come the new Jerusalem
Silver cities rise, the morning lights the streets that lead them, and sirens call them with a song.
It’s asking for the taking, trembling, shaking, Oh my heart is aching ,
We’re coming to the edge, running on the water, coming through the fog, your sons and daughters,
We, the great and small, stand on a star and blaze a trail of desire through the darkening dawn.
Come run with me now. The sky is the color of blue you’ve never seen in the eyes of love,
My heart is aching. We’re coming to the edge, running in the water, coming through the fog, your sons and daughters.
Let the river run, let all the dreamers wake the nation,— come the new Jerusalem
WORDS TO THE 2nd ANTHEM—-River in Judea Jack Feldman, arranged by John Leavitt
Often times I dream of music, of the river that freely flows,
and it sings a song sweeter than honey, one everybody knows.
Late at night I hear it singing then again when I wake at dawn,
and it fills me up with hope and good will, the will to go on.
I believe it keeps on trav’lin’ but it rests on the Sabbath day,
And the time when it pauses in stillness, I almost hear it pray,
When I’m weary and down hearted, how I long for the song it sings,
for the calm, within its gentle blue, the peace that it brings —
there is a river in Judea that I heard of long ago,
and it’s a ringing , singing river , that my soul cries out to know.
May the time not be too distant when we meet by the river shore
Till then dream of that wonderful day as we sing once more, once more,
There is a river in Judea that I heard of long ago,
Its a singing ringing river, that my soul cries out to know. Hallelujah
TRADITIONAL WORD: Proverbs 29:18 KJV
“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but the one who respects the Spirit of God is happy.”
CONTEMPORARY WORD-The good news and vision:
1. Get out of our building and into the community.
2. Begin a new worship service in 2015.
3. Organize and plan worship experiences that touch the heart and the mind.
4. Adding more small group / mentoring options.
5. Wednesday night programming.
The bad news:
- Every year more than 4,000 churches in the US close their doors. One recent researcher put the number much higher – between 8,000 and 10,000 churches closing a year.
2. Every year, 2.7 million church members in the US fall into inactivity.
3. While church membership declined by 5 million, the US population increased by 24 million.
4. The US now ranks 3rd following China and India in the number of people who are not professing Christians.
5. 80% of Americans find more fulfilling things to do on weekends than attend church.
6. The median church in the US has 75 regular participants in worship on Sunday morning.
7. Only 6% of the churches in the US are growing. That means that 94% of congregations are decreasing.
The United States Census Bureau www.churchleadership.org “Statistics and Reasons for Church Decline”.
Hartford Institute for Religion Research “Fast Facts about American Religion”
www.huffingtonpost.com “Why Nobody Wants to Go to Church Anymore”
