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HOPE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST 35127 Garfield Road, Clinton Township, MI 48035 Church Office (586) 296-8760 Website: Hopeuccmi.com Email: [email protected] Facebook Public Page: HopeUCCMacomb The Hope Church Beacon JUNE 2020 HEAVY HEARTS YET FULL OF HOPE Opinions, facts, science, guidelines and faith. There is so much to consider regarding when and how to reopen the church. It is extremely easy to be overwhelmed by all of the information and, frankly, misinformation that we are bombarded with through the media and through conversation. You can be quite sure if we gathered together, there would be strong opinions with passionate arguments to support each and every opinion. We can debate, and there may be a time when that is appropriate. We can also unite and come together to find the best way through this hardship. The reality is, we have never experienced anything like this pandemic until now. There are no books written on how to be the church during a pandemic. We are all working to make the best decisions about the health and safety of our congregation. The thought of losing a member to the virus because we were desperate to have worship inside the building is abhorrent to all of us. Although we have a variety of opinions, we are a community built on grace. That means we trust that everyone is doing their absolute best, even if opinions differ. The Board of Trustees was elected to make decisions for the congregation. The members of the Board pray and discuss and work to make thoughtful decisions for the good of the church. Here is What We Know from Church History: The church has faced devastating hardships throughout history, and the church has prevailed. Christians have been through far worse things than not being able to meet for a few months. Christians have been persecuted and even killed for pursuing the faith. The church has always been more than the building and even today, gathering to worship in a sanctuary is a luxury in many places in the world. Hope Church has gone through difficult seasons, and we will get through this season too. Here is What We Know from Scripture: Lets keep it simple. We can dig through the Bible to find a variety of meaningful passages. We can go with this tried and true scripture. Mark 21:31 The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than this.

Transcript of The Hope Church Beaconhopeuccmi.com/mt-content/uploads/2020/06/newsletterjune... · 2020. 6. 2. ·...

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HOPE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST 35127 Garfield Road, Clinton Township, MI 48035

Church Office (586) 296-8760 Website: Hopeuccmi.com

Email: [email protected] Facebook Public Page: HopeUCCMacomb

The Hope Church Beacon

JUNE 2020

HEAVY HEARTS YET FULL OF HOPE

Opinions, facts, science, guidelines and faith. There is so much to consider regarding when and how to reopen the church. It is extremely easy to be overwhelmed by all of the information and, frankly, misinformation that we are bombarded with through the media and through conversation. You can be quite sure if we gathered together, there would be strong opinions with passionate arguments to support each and every opinion. We can debate, and there may be a time when that is appropriate. We can also unite and come together to find the best way through this hardship. The reality is, we have never experienced anything like this pandemic until now. There are no books written on how to be the church during a pandemic. We are all working to make the best decisions about the health and safety of our congregation. The thought of losing a member to the virus because we were desperate to have worship inside the building is abhorrent to all of us. Although we have a variety of opinions, we are a community built on grace. That means we trust that everyone is doing their absolute best, even if opinions differ. The Board of Trustees was elected to make decisions for the congregation. The members of the Board pray and discuss and work to make thoughtful decisions for the good of the church. Here is What We Know from Church History: The church has faced devastating hardships throughout history, and the church has prevailed. Christians have been through far worse things than not being able to meet for a few months. Christians have been persecuted and even killed for pursuing the faith. The church has always been more than the building and even today, gathering to worship in a sanctuary is a luxury in many places in the world. Hope Church has gone through difficult seasons, and we will get through this season too. Here is What We Know from Scripture: Let’s keep it simple. We can dig through the Bible to find a variety of meaningful passages. We can go with this tried and true scripture. Mark 21:31 The second is this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than this.”

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Because loving our neighbor as ourselves is the crux of the matter. When we keep the church closed, we are saying that we love and care for ourselves, and that we love and care for our neighbor. If our neighbor is sick, then avoiding potential contact will protect us. When we stay away because we may be an unknowing carrier of the virus, we are helping to protect our neighbor. This is a tangible and very real manifestation and practice of living out God’s love. Is it comfortable? Not at all. Is there a price to pay by not having in-person worship? Probably.

Will there ever be an exact right time to come back? Perhaps not, but certainly the risk is still not over. Could we be overreacting? Science does not suggest it. The majority would agree that we should operate on the side of caution. Shouldn’t we let people decide for themselves? We could. We also need to protect our most vulnerable members, the members that will come no matter what, because that is their tradition. The ones that will come and have a hard time with the protective measures. We are only as strong as our most vulnerable member. The very best way forward, is to wait until the risk is mitigated through effective protective procedures and proven treatments or vaccines. Time and science will tell. Other churches are back together; why aren’t we? Other churches make their own decisions. Most denominations are following very strict guidelines (encouraging people over 65 to stay home, limiting capacity etc.) One denomination is waiting until May 2021. Most local UCC congregations are waiting until at least September. We are a spiritually strong enough congregation to make this sacrifice to help ensure we are all safe. Gathering Information from a Variety of Sources: We have guidelines for reopening that are based on facts. We have read articles and looked at guidelines from the CDC, other denominations, state guidelines and the UCC Guidelines. We follow the most current and prevalent information we can gather. The Michigan Conference will not open until late October at the earliest. The UCC Annual Meeting will be held online. The National UCC is urging churches to stay closed until it is safe for everyone, not just safe for some. Hope Information: We have approximately 30 families with household members under 65 years of age. Out of those 30 families, 16 of those families attend regularly (regularly being at least once a month). Out of those 16 families, we have no information regarding what underlying health issues they may have. The public schools have remained closed due to the risk of how easily viruses spread with children. We will not have Sunday School until the fall, so any children attending before then would need to be in the sanctuary. Some of our regular Sunday School staff are compromised with health concerns. Camp Talahi made the difficult decision to skip this summer. We are creating plans for virtual family worship, virtual Sunday School and summer activities as well.

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Other Options: Outside Worship sounds great but its not very practical. The sound system would not work well because of some practical technology issues and the space needed to social distance. We cannot have outside worship and live stream at the same time, so only the people present would be able to worship. We have already planned a Zoom Coffee Hour and other church events online. We are planning drive-by visits to our most vulnerable members. If the trend of cases of the virus go down dramatically for a period of several weeks, the Board can consider changing the reopen date. If we hear of other workable options from other congregations, we can explore them. We are looking for ways to minister to families going through grief and trying to find ways to have memorial services to celebrate loved ones. Summary: It hurts our hearts not to be together for worship. We know that when we return it will not be the same experience that it was back in February. We mourn those who have died, and we also mourn the loss of our normal life. Some of us know people who have died from the virus or have spent weeks in the hospital on a ventilator. We give thanks for those who have recovered. We are full of gratitude for those who have worked on the frontlines taking care of the ill and other essential jobs. We know the stress put on families when a family member risks their life and often the lives of their immediate family to provide medical care for those struck with the illness. This is an incredibly challenging time, and people need their faith more than ever before. We can trust that we will get through this difficult time because we have faith. We know that good and faithful people have died from Covid 19, and we can be assured they did not get sick because God failed to protect them. We do trust that God provides us with medical teams who are working to bring healing to the sick. We do trust in God to walk with us when we are discouraged and anxious. We do trust in God to help us imagine ways to be the church when being together is not a wise decision. The Holy Spirit will spark in us the creativity and wisdom we need to find ways to reach out to all who are suffering through this time of isolation. Yes, the church will survive. Yes, the church will look different. Yes, this is a season, but it is not forever. We will look back on this time and know that we put the needs of the most vulnerable ahead of our own. We will know we acted in love.

With Hope,

Pastor Meg

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THE LEADERSHIP OF HOPE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST Rev. Meg Wilson, Pastor & Editor ~ Sue Robinson, Publisher & Editor

Church Office (586) 296-8760

BOARD OF TRUSTEES President - Nancy Burnham Ida Eckert Rev. Meg Wilson (248) 890-3264 Vice-President - Rick Col e Donna Lasecki Administrative Assistant: Sue Robinson Secretary - Donna Canu Linda Reshm Organist: Patrick Baker Treasurer - Norm Nenninger Linda Parsons Accompanist: Denise Kildea Lori Sarnowski Music Director: Deborah Frontczak Jim Wilson

WOULD YOU LIKE TO ORDER ALTAR FLOWERS?

Contact the church office for

the availability. One

arrangement per Sunday.

Cost is $20 per arrangement.

Thank You We wanted to say Thank You to Pastor Meg and Jim for our worship services. Pastor Meg without your pastoral care, leadership and creativity our worship ex-perience would not be what it is. Jim your creativity and knowledge of technology it truly remarkable. The Sun-day services have been exciting and to see all of the changes each week. Impres-sive!! Patrick and Deborah, Thank You for your dedication to keep us singing and lis-tening each week. You both bring such amazing qualities to our church family. Sue, you are the glue to keep us informed. You also bring many talents to our church family. The creativity you have has enhanced our printed materials and phone messages immensely. Without all of you making this happen, Hope Church would not be where we are today during this pandemic. We love you, Nancy Burnham

KROGER COMMUNITY REWARDS PROGRAM

We now have an opportunity to partici-

pate in the Kroger Community Rewards

Program. It's easy...all you need to partic-

ipate is an email address and a Kroger rewards card.

Then all you need do is shop at any Kroger store, swipe

your rewards card, and a percentage of your purchase

will be donated to the Hope Church Operating Ac-

count. If you have access to a computer, you may enroll

in the program by entering http://www.kroger.com into

your browser and follow this path....Savings & Re-

wards....Kroger Community Rewards....I am a Custom-

er....Account Summary....Community Rewards....our Krog-

er number (HS995). If you have questions or concerns

about this program, please call Susan Winters.

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GUIDELINES FOR OPENING CHURCH FOR WORSHIP

This is a plan for opening for worship and only worship. This plan comes from looking at the CDC guidelines for houses of faith and the guidelines of the Archdiocese of Detroit. We also need input from the Governor’s office and the Conference of the United Church of Christ. 1. We need to know when the cleaning company CEO will return. We need to make

changes to their cleaning routine. We need less cleaning in the classrooms, and we need disinfecting of common surfaces. We need to observe that the cleaners have a basic un-derstanding of how to disinfect.

2. We limit the capacity to 6 people per pew. We have 9 pews on each side Seating every other rows. This would roughly be 23 people per side of the sanctuary. Social distanc-ing will be required. People living in the same household can sit together otherwise so-cial distancing is required. The number in each pew would be determined by the num-ber of households represented and approximately 6 feet between worshippers. We could also put 4 chairs along the back wall of sanctuary. We could put 6 worshippers on each side of the chancel. So a rough number would be 50 worshippers maximum. We could have sign ups to attend prior to each Sunday (either by phone or email).

3. Anyone entering the church must always wear a mask. Masks must cover both mouth and nose. Masks are available for people who do not bring one. There will be no pass-ing the peace and no physical contact.

4. We encourage members over 65 years of age to worship from home. We encourage people with underlying medical concerns to stay at home.

5. The doors will either be propped open or an usher will open doors to keep the contact with surfaces to a minimum.

6. The bulletins will be placed on the pews prior to the service. 7. Offering plates will be on tables on either side of the sanctuary by the last pew. 8. The hymnals and friendship pads will be removed from the pews prior to opening the

church. 9. There will be music but no singing in the sanctuary. There is evidence that singing

spreads germs as much as coughing. The choir and bells will not consider meeting until September.

10. The ushers will attempt to take attendance with a preprinted list of members and regu-lar visitors. However, this is not a priority.

11. Communion can be with elements brought from home or prefilled disposable commun-ion elements will be passed out by ushers wearing gloves. It should be noted these cups are difficult for many people to open.

12. The pastor will not greet worshippers inside the building. When the weather is suitable, she will greet people outside after worship. She will maintain social distancing.

13. The bathrooms will be opened. 14. Hand sanitizers will be located in restrooms and in the Narthex and sanctuary. 15. There will be no coffee hour until it has been determined that we can safely reinstate it.

The Fellowship Hall will be closed along with the parlor.

CONTINUED……………..

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16. Following worship, worshippers are to social distance, preferably outside the build-ing.

17. The church office will be closed on Sundays. 18. The Wiggle Room will be opened. Sunday School will not meet until September. 19. As we figure out safe options for additional ways to reopen ministries, we will pro-

ceed with caution and with the approval of the BOTS. Examples might be outside Sunday School Class or outside coffee hour.

20. The counters will be coordinated by Jan Nenninger, and she will use social distancing and disinfect items. Jan will inform the Board of what safety measures she currently prefers.

21. The building will remain closed for all church meetings, all community groups and all rentals until we can establish disinfecting procedures.

22. We will attempt to offer some additional ministry options via Zoom Meetings. 23. Memorial Services will follow the same guidelines as Sunday worship. Initially,

there will be no visitation or funeral receptions at the church. Memorial Services need to be scheduled on Tuesday- Friday.

24. Weddings will follow the same guidelines as Sunday worship. No weddings will be scheduled without explaining the necessary guidelines.

25. Baptisms could be private events following the worship guidelines. If a baptism is scheduled during Sunday worship, the number of guests would be limited to 6-8. The family and guests would follow all guidelines and if needed, be seated in the choir chairs.

These are the current guidelines we are working with as we look forward to reopening

the church building. We recognize that the guidelines may be updated as new infor-

mation becomes available. We want the congregation to be confident that we are mak-

ing safety our number one priority.

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MOTHER’S DAY HONOR ROLL

IN HONOR OF IN HONOR OF ~ Susan Leonard, Catherine Canu, Erin Canu and Mary Jane Masinick, placed by Donna Canu IN HONOR OF ~ Nancy DeGryse, Stephanie DeGryse & Ashlie Cisco, placed by Bob & Nancy DeGryse IN HONOR OF ~ Lorrie Crago and Amber Cross, placed by Joe Holland IN HONOR OF ~ Nancy Hornfisher, Debi Mastalski, Sue Robinson & Judy Scensy, placed by Shirley Kirby IN HONOR OF ~ Kristin Miyamoto, Rachel Parsons, AnnMarie Mistalski, Jane Fortune, Alli-son Long, Denise Blehm, placed by Linda Parsons IN HONOR OF ~ Janet Jones, Danette Springer, Janelle Harrison, Ruth Ann Pahr and Don-na Sawer, placed by Jane White IN HONOR OF ~ Meg Wilson, placed by her daughters

IN MEMORY OF

IN MEMORY OF ~ Stella Brzoska, placed by Carol Brzoska IN MEMORY OF ~ Marilyn Canu, Mildred Morris and Jennie Canu, placed by Donna Canu IN MEMORY OF ~ Edna Nenninger & Shirley DeGryse, placed by Bob & Nancy DeGryse IN MEMORY OF ~ Lydia Senn, Hilde Lyss & Sylvia Creekbaum, placed by Eleanor Gurich IN MEMORY OF ~ Blondelle Holland, Lisa McCormack and Ruth Anderson, placed by Joe Holland IN MEMORY OF ~ Mrs. Bertha Kansier, Geri Zemens & Marilyn Richards, placed by Shirley Kirby IN MEMORY OF ~ Lori Walton & Bernice McCornack, placed by Mariann McCornack IN MEMORY OF ~ Frances Kalinow, Carol Knebel, Nellie Parsons, Augusta Schmidt, placed by Linda Parsons IN MEMORY OF ~ Thelma Pfromm, placed by Wilbur Pfromm IN MEMORY OF ~ Lucille Patton, Mertie Sawer, Ruth Sawer, Azubah Jeremina Sawer and Edna Patton, placed by Jane White.

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WE ARE THE CHURCH, YOU ARE THE CHURCH!!

This certainly has been an unusual time going through this pandemic. Who would have thought this would change how we do things and, perhaps, the changes have enlightened all of us to, perhaps, do things differ-ently? Since the beginning of the pandemic, Pastor Meg, The Executive Board and The Board of Trustees have been busy keeping up with the information and updates from the National Conference, the State Confer-ence, as well as local and state updates and mandates. We have also looked at what other denominations are doing and how the pandemic has affected their churches. With all of that information, sometimes contradictory, we have managed to keep our heads above water and work through it. We have discussed many areas that helped us to determine what is needed to re-open our doors and when that could possibly happen. We have developed some guidelines that will assist us in a re-opening when that time is right. What has changed for us ? On-line Worship – Pastor Meg and Jim jumped in immediately to provide us with on-line worship services. Facebook Live to the rescue! The services started small. Then the word spread, and we are reaching peo-ple from far and near. We have seen many people worship with us from out of state and families connect-ing on Sunday morning. This was a glimmer of hope to try it out before the pandemic. Now it is a new reality and way of doing worship. We had “some bumps in the road”, but Jim has tweaked many different things, and we have improved each week. We have found that on-line worship is here to stay, even after the doors re-open. Thanks to Pastor Meg and Jim for their love for the church and all of our members to do this for us. Reaching out to our church family – We have Robo calls through Simple Church, our database system, which will continue to be used for important and urgent messages. Email Blasts – We had a great response to the request for all of our members to give us an email address and updated information to make sure our database reaches as many of our members as possible. Pastor Meg is using that information weekly to send everyone the Order of Worship, the music to sing, the gospel, and other items that are needed for Sunday morning worship. We are mailing this information to those that do not have computer access. ZOOM meetings – What a great way to hold a meeting and still see our church family from a distance. These meetings are easy to use and allows the church to continue to take care of needed business. Going forward, we are excited to try ZOOM to have some new programs and events that we have missed over the last several weeks. We are looking at programs for our families with children and how we become even more engaged with them. ZOOM can help to enhance Sunday morning worship and potentially bring us all together at times other than Sunday morning. We are also trying to find ways to assist our church family without computer access so everyone can be a part of what is happening at our church. Would you like to volunteer to be a part of a new program or event? We need people to help us with host-ing the meeting or event. We can do this! We have many talented people! Bring us your knowledge and volunteer. You could become famous! Contact Pastor Meg or any Board member by text message, email or by phone with suggestions you may have for a program or an event to further enhance our church. Where are we now? After much discussion, the Board of Trustees was unanimous in their decision that we could not re-open our doors at this time. However, we are continuing to work through this process and will look at a possible re-opening in late summer. While Pastor Meg, the Executive Board and the Board of Trustees are keeping the best interest of our mem-bers, as well as the church, in mind as we make these decisions, we can’t wait until we can all be together again. Blessings for your health and safety, Nancy Burnham, President Board of Trustees

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HOPE CHURCH CURRENT NEWS

SHARE SOME JOY We all know the class of 2020 had a difficult senior year. Hope Church has one graduating senior, Jordan Miyamoto. We want to surprise Jordan with a drive-by celebration. Please come to church on June 6th from 1-2pm. Jordan will be here to wave to all of you. Please stay in your car. We will have a box for you to drop off cards.

SPREADING THE GOOD NEWS - THE UCC THREE GREAT LOVES The UCC is asking us to share how we are showing love to children, to God’s creation and to our neighbor. For the July Beacon we are looking for your comments on how you are surviving and thriving during this pandemic. Email the church office and let us know how you have reached out to someone and of-fered support. Are you knitting, baking, planting seeds, calling and checking on some-one? Let us know how others have been helping you and sharing love and encouragement with you.

A NOTE OF POSITIVITY During our on-line worship services, please make sure your comments are positive. We know it can get frustrating when the service freezes or gets interrupted! When this hap-pens, please wait 30 seconds and then press F5 which is on the top row of your keyboard. Since technology is fickle, there may even be some services that you need to come back and view the uninterrupted service after 11:30am. The comments section should be used for prayer concerns and saying hello to everyone as you join in on Sunday morning. Those messages need to be placed before worship starts at 10:00. If you have suggestions or concerns, please feel free to share them via email or text to Pastor Meg. We want to make sure that any visitors are not reading messages of frustra-tion. We are a friendly church, and we want our comments to convey who we truly are.

ZOOM THURSDAYS Each Thursday in June starting at 7 pm., the music Ministry, both choir and hand bells, are invited to a Zoom social and game-playing event. Each week will have a different theme, game and topic of conversation, which you will receive in an email, along with the login information, a few days ahead of time. It will be fun ~ please join us! Deborah

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HOPE CHURCH CURRENT NEWS (cont.)

Janet Frank has moved. Her new address is: Call the church for info.

Pastor Meg and Jim are moving on July 1st. Her new address is: Call the church for info.

Russell Hornfisher is turning 100 years young on June 1st. Please flood his mailbox with birthday greetings, even though they will be slightly late: Call the church for info.

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CHRISTIAN MISSION AND WITNESS

MEIJER GIFT CARD

HOPE Food Pantry has

been blessed with the re-

ceipt of a $500 gift card

from The Meijer store on

Groesbeck. The Covid-19 crisis has made it neces-

sary for us to postpone the Pasta Dinner, our primary

fundraiser to sustain the pantry. Yet, God is looking

out for us. God knows we are spreading Christ’s love

to the best of our ability. We don’t think it was just

a coincidence that this generous gift from Meijer

came to us at this time. We are very grateful for this

generous donation, and we encourage our congrega-

tion to support the businesses that support our efforts

to feed those in need.

FOOD PANTRY Since March 16th, Pastor Meg and I have assisted 120 individuals and families with emer-gency food. We have also given them fliers with information on Gleaner’s drive-up pantries, so that they could get even more assistance. CMWC was ordering food from Gleaners, talking to Macomb Food for more supplies, shop-ping for deals at other stores and coming in on off hours to make up boxes to distribute. We did all of this in a very safe and secure way. We feel blessed to feed Hope’s neighbors during this difficult time. Pastor Meg and Sue

MERIDIAN Late one Friday afternoon, Courtney called, she is a Community Health Worker for Me-ridian, a WellCare Company. She had a cli-ent than needed food for the weekend. I told her I would stay and put together a shopping cart of food for her client. A few times after that initial contact, Courtney reached out to Hope Food Pantry. Most pantries are refer-ring clients to the big drive-up food distribu-tion offered by large food banks. Hope is one a few pantries that provides emergency food during the week in Macomb County. Courtney reached out to us on behalf of her company with a donation of fifty, $35.00 gift cards to Walmart. They wrote,” It is vi-tally important that citizens in need have ac-cess to crucial supplies for their safety and well-being at this time, and these $35 cards can be used to purchase essential healthcare and educational items including diapers, over the counter medicines, cleaning sup-plies, and books at any Walmart. Meridian shares your commitment to ensuring our most vulnerable communities are cared for. Thank you for your dedication to our com-munity today, and always. We applaud your work and hope that our assistance enables your organization and mission to continue caring for those in need.” We are delighted that Hope Church is viewed as providing a valuable mission in our community. This donation is already helping families.

BUY BUY BABY

Denise Geml called the church recently. Her daughter, Stephanie, works for Buy Buy Ba-by. They donated 7 plus cases of baby and toddler products. This will be an ongoing thing, but may not be as much once the store opens to the public. Pastor Meg and CMWC are so grateful!

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Regular Pantry client paying it forward by making masks for Hope Church.

A note left by an emergency food client.

I would love to thank you for this information, I called today, Sue was wonderful and they gave me sooo much that I didn’t expect, which will help my family a ton

Thank You ♥️

Good Changes You may not be aware of this but but good changes are happening in the animal world. The capture, captivity, and breeding of Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises is now Banned in Canada, following legislation passed by the country's parlia-ment. The Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act protects animals from being used for profit or in performances, while allowing sanctuaries to continue working in animals best interest. Canada fol-lows Mexico, France, and Bolivia enacting similar laws. More Good Changes United Airlines has cut ties with SeaWorld, ending the sale of tickets to the marine park and removing all mentions of it from its vacations website. There are other airlines breaking ties with SeaWorld like Alaska, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest and Virgin Holidays. United Airlines has stop selling tickets because of ani-mal cruelty concerns. The park confines orcas and dolphins in concrete tanks. In nature orcas can swim up to 140 miles a day and bottlenose dolphins 60 miles in a day, diving to depths of 1500 feet. At SeaWorld 140 of them are squeezed into seven small tanks. At SeaWorld thirty eight orcas and 58 belugas have died along with a hundred dolphins. Hurray for changes.

Email sent re: emergency food.

CHRISTIAN MISSION AND WITNESS (cont.)

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Summer Activity Sites for Kindergarten to Middle School

1. Create new animals, build a habitat for them and so much more with Switch Zoo Animal Games. 2. A whole website of Dr. Seuss games? Adorable. 3. Find DIY experiments, craft projects, stories and more here. They even have videos that explain the coronavirus pandemic to your kids. 4. Create your own spelling tests or choose from dozens at Spelling Training. 5. Help your kids plant their first garden! This site has everything you need.

CHILDREN & YOUTH

Creative Kids and Adults of HOPE

We need you to spread a message of hope. Please paint a rock with a colorful design. Write on the back of the rock: hopeuccmi.com. That is the church website

and the place where people can get more information about our church. It is a great way to share God’s love. Leave the rock someplace where someone can pick it up. You might want to set up a stand to give away rocks with messages of hope. Take photos of your rocks and send them to the church. We can also spread a message of hope.

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CHILDREN & YOUTH (cont.)

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE: TALAHI IS GOING VIRTUAL!

Posted on May 22, 2020 by Ross Burkholder

Hanging out together under the oaks at Camp Talahi is more than just our favorite activity,

it’s our passion, our drive, and our purpose. However, we take seriously our responsibility

to provide an experience where you can laugh, jump, swim, hug, sweat, and tumble in safe

and empowering environment. With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, we are unable to

guarantee the level of safety that our community deserves. Therefore, it is with great sad-

ness that Camp Talahi has come to the conclusion that we cannot safely hold in-person sum-

mer camp for the 2020 summer season.

BUT we can’t bear to not see your smiling faces for an entire summer! With this in mind we

are excited to announce that Camp Talahi will be offering virtual programming this sum-

mer! Now, you may still be feeling bummed about the news, and truth be told we are

bummed too, but in the grand old camping tradition, we refuse to let external circumstances

spoil our fun, and we are determined to bring you the best Talahi experience we can, just

from a safe distance! We don’t have all the answers or details figured out quite yet,

but more information will be posted on their website: camptalahi.org

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SEPTEMBER 29 & 30TH, BUT THIS IS TO BE DETERMINED. PLEASE STAY TUNED!

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HOPE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST ON-LINE GIVING

More and more, the way we pay our bills is changing. Electronic payments are every-

where, from our monthly utility bills to on-line purchases. As a society, we are writing

fewer and fewer checks. We are introducing two new convenient ways to allow members

and friends make donations to Hope UCC.

On-Line – Visit the Hope UCC web site –www.hopeuccmi.com

Select the “Give a Gift” tab .

Select the “Give Here” button

Or from your cell phone

Text “HUCCF” to 45777. The site will respond with a link which you can use to route your donation to a specific fund. If you would like to donate to the “General Fund” you can simply text: “Gift Amount” followed by “HUCCF” to 45777. For instance to give $5 text “5 HUCCF” to 45777.

In both cases you will be directed to our secure payment processing center where you will be able to easily walk

through the steps to register and/or direct your donation (eg to the general fund or a specific mission).

Also:. (Hint – if using the text method, save this phone number in your “Contacts” list to make it easier to access)

You will be able to make donations from your bank account or debit/credit card. The donation can be a one time or

recurring (weekly, every 2 weeks, 1st & 15th, monthly) to make it more convenient. You will have the ability to desig-

nate where your donation is going (Regular offering, Hope for the Future, etc.). Once you have set up a giving profile,

you will be able to edit and change it at any time. You will receive email and text confirmation of your donation each

time it is made. Your on-line donations will be recorded on your Annual Giving Statement from Hope UCC for tax report-

ing.

There is no charge for the on-line giving service. However, there are processing fees associated with each transaction

that are deducted from the amount Hope receives. The fees are as follows:

Bank Account = $.40 + .5% of donation

Credit/Debit Card = $.30 + 2.9% of dona-

tion.

Example = $10 gift by bank account – fee is ($.40 + $ .05) = $.45 – Hope receives $9.55

= $10 gift by credit/debit card – fee is ($.30 + $.29) = $.59 – Hope receives $9.41

Your Giving Statement will reflect the total donation. You may consider increasing that donation to help offset the fees

being charged.

Any questions can be directed to Jan Nenninger.

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18

MEMORIALS

SHIRLEY BRINKMAN By: Nancy Fay

BONNIE BUMLER

By: Carol Brzoska Richard & Diane Blake Gayle & Rolland Bumler Jan Dolland Lila Humphries Randall & Fae Lord Opal Lulek Richard & Rebecca Mark Linda Parsons Linda Sandula Carol Troutman

JIM CLIFFORD

By: Nancy Fay Opal Lulek Linda Parsons Jon Zalewski

LEAH FRAKES By: Nancy Fay Eleanor & Donald Reid Linda Parsons Ton & Carol Shaner Carol Troutman Jon Zalewski

PHILIP MEILI By: Nancy Fay

DARLENE MESKE By: Nancy Fay

ROSELLA RANKINE By: Jan Dolland Nancy & Russ Hornfisher Cliff & Booty Rupnow Jon Zalewski

DAVID PARSONS By: Linda Parsons

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MEMORIALS ~ (CONT).

MARILYN RICHARDS By: Nancy Fay Linda Parsons Jon Zalewski

BETTY SHOWLER By: Ernest & Paula Breitschuh Rick & Judy Cole Debbie & Jim Dennis Jan Dolland Nancy Fay Kirk & Tony Fortunato Renee Jackson Daniel & Sylvia Morawski Steve Ryner Linda Parsons Carol Troutman Sheryl Wahl Jon Zalewski

BILL STEWART By: Nancy Fay Hope Seniors Carol Troutman Jon Zalewski

THANK YOU Pastor Meg, Thank you for coming to see mom, for coming to the cemetery, the flower seeds and the potato chips. That was the best. She loved her church family, Family of Betty Showler

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20

PLEASE REMEMBER IN YOUR PRAYERS ...

Al Badertscher

The Family of Bonnie Bumler

Nicolas Carrow

The Family of Jim Clifford

Nancy Cole

Dolores Cowper

B.J. Essen

Sandy Felton

The Flaherty Family

The Family of Leah Frakes

Mickey Johnston

Sandy Johnston

Linda Kaufman

Marge Lentz

Audrey Moore

The Family of Marilyn Richards

Huxley Rogers

The Family of Betty Showler

The Family of Bill Stewart

Shirley Winship

HOPE CHURCH PRAYER LIST

Our congregation knows that prayer is

our tool for connecting to God. Together,

we pray in worship and we pray at home.

Please check the prayer list in both the

newsletter and the bulletin to help us

keep our prayer requests current. You

may contact the church office to re-

move or add a name. We also have a

prayer sculpture in the church lobby and

you are welcome to write a prayer re-

quest on a heart and hang in on the sculp-

ture. When we lift our concerns in pray-

er, we will surely know the presence of

the Lord.

Please remember those on our Prayer List

… with a phone call, card, note and keep

them in your Thoughts & Prayers.

For those who are silent with your

concerns and needs, a special

prayer for ALL of you to have the

strength, courage and patience to

deal with your individual situation.

OUR DEEPEST SYPATHY TO THE FAMILIES OF: Betty Showler who passed away 4/26/20; send cards and letters to Debbie Ryner.* Bill Stewart who passed away 4/28/20; send cards and letter to Daniel Stewart.* Bonnie Bumler who passed away 5/3/20; send cards and letters to Carol Thompson.* We will keep you informed of the upcoming memo-rials. *Call church for addresses.

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21

If you are not listed in the birthdays/anniversaries,

please call the office and let me know or email me

at [email protected]. IN ORDER TO

ADD YOU TO THE CHURCH’S DATABASE,

I NEED THE MONTH, DAY AND YEAR.

Thanks ~ Sue

ALSO, DUE TO THE CHANGE IN CHURCH DA-

TABASE, WE’LL NO LONGER BE PUBLISHING

THE NUMBER OF YEARS MARRIED. IF YOU

HAVE A SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY OR BIRTH-

DAY COMING UP, PLEASE CALL THE CHURCH

OFFICE, SO THAT IT’S ACKNOWLEDGED.

THANK YOU.

Birthdays for the Month of June

1 Russell Hornfisher 3 Belinda Nielson 4 Bonnie Cacchione 5 Lucia McCuen 8 Sean Kildea 9 Ashley Welch Erin McCuen Judy Scensny 12 Ann Marson 13 Andy Anderson Todd Eckert 15 Robert Allen George Betts 17 Brady Magee Jerry Zinger 18 Steven Clifford Debi Mastalski 20 Reagan Cross 23 Donna Lasecki 24 Charlie Foss 26 Sue Zinger 27 Janet Horan 29 Marguerite Marr

June Anniuersaries

3 Tom & Carol Shaner 7 Tony & Penny Butler Sebastian & Bobbi Rizzo Keith & Casey Watson 8 Denise & Michael Barc Don & Vickie Kornoski 14 Kevin & Patti Dib 20 Elizabeth & Bill Rogers 18 Bill & Donna Reeser 21 Kevin & Denise Kildea Larry & Karen McCuen 24 Kristen & Barb Lasecki-Webb 25 Joe & Shirley Polzin 26 Bob & Nancy DeGryse 28 Harry & Sue Drummond Alan & Lori Sarnowski

Birthdays for the Month of July

1 Susan Baronet 3 Eleanor Gurich 5 Sharon Betts Barry Burnham 6 De Ann Burkitt 7 Harry Drummond Sean Watmore Lisa Mackey 9 Dylan Reeser 11 Josh Alger Alexandria Cole 12 Kevin Kildea 14 Elaine Ainsworth 17 Betty Essen (BJ) 19 Mike Kloska Pastor Meg Wilson 20 Nancy Cole 22 Todd Barnard Shirley Kirby 23 Judy Cole Jonathan Gartin Kaylin Nielson Madison Young 24 Breelyn Reinhardt Jane White 25 Kelly Woodham 26 Kylie Green 27 Judi Fogel Frank Foss Ariah Wegmeyer 28 Earlene Meacham 29 Brooklyn Green Kelly Rizzo Jennifer Rivera 31 Justin Nielson Grace Winters Delilah Hazelton

July Anniversaries

2 Jerry & Marilou Hill 5 Nicole & Melissa Reinhardt 7 Chris & Valerie Rosnik 15 Ralph & Audrey Moore 19 Kevin & Tracy Magee 21 Craig & Gail Reinhardt 24 Herrick & Tracey Steeves

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22

June 2020 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4

ZOOM EVENT FOR CHOIR AND

FRIENDS 7 p.m.

5 6 JORDAN MIYA-

MOTO DRIVE BY GRAD PAR-TY, 1-2, HOPE

CHURCH (rain delay 6/7, 1-2)

7 HOLY COMMUNION Livestream Service at 10; Hopeuccmi.com—CLICK

HERE Or Facebook, videos

8 9

BOTS ZOOM MEETING

10 11

ZOOM EVENT FOR CHOIR AND

FRIENDS 7 p.m.

12 13

14 Livestream Service at 10; Hopeuccmi.com—CLICK

HERE Or Facebook, videos

15 16 17 18

ZOOM EVENT FOR CHOIR AND

FRIENDS 7 p.m.

19

20

21 HAPPY FATHER’S

DAY Livestream Service at 10; Hopeuccmi.com—CLICK

HERE Or Facebook, videos

22 23 24 25

ZOOM EVENT FOR CHOIR AND

FRIENDS 7 p.m.

26 27

28 Livestream Service at 10; Hopeuccmi.com—CLICK

HERE Or Facebook, videos

29 30