Pakistan Flood Assistance From the UCC:

Dear Friends,  We know you are very concerned with the flooding disaster in Pakistan, and will be looking for ways to help. For information and updates on the disaster and the United Church of Christ response, please visit: http://www.ucc.org/disaster/pakistan/  Gifts collected by churches to help the victims may be sent to the Massachusetts Conference, UCC, 1 Badger Road, Framingham, MA 01702. Please clearly note “Pakistan Flood Relief 2010” on the check and the transmittal form. Individuals may make a secure online donation to the International Disaster Relief Fund, indicating "Pakistan Flooding" in the Comment Section.

Please keep the people of Pakistan in your prayers.

Keeping Current  Good News!  The September issue of our monthly newsletter Keeping Current will be coming out both in paper AND electronic form.  You will receive your copy of the September issue in the mail after Labor Day and you will also receive a PDF of the issue via email.  In an effort to be thoughtful stewards of our resources both financially and environmentally, future editions of Keeping Current will be sent to you ONLY via email UNLESS you tell us that you would rather receive your issue in hard copy through the mail.   We welcome your feedback!  Please see Stacy or Luisa with any comments or concerns you may have. [Of course those without email, will continue to receive a hard copy in the mail and we will have hard copies here at the church for visitors or any one else who would like to see what we are up to here at the Union Church.]

Summer Homework  Don't forget to jot down your reflection on when you experienced the presence of God in your life this summer and either send it to Stacy (stacy@ucw.org) or bring it with you on Gathering Sunday.  Parents, please encourage your children to write down their experience of God as well or if writing is a challenge, encourage them to draw the experience.  These reflections will be published as an Advent devotional booklet to nurture our Spirits and to prepare our hearts to receive the God's gift of love incarnate in the person of Jesus. 

Staff News. 

• Stacy will be away on vacation the week of August 23rd and on retreat the week of August 30th.  For pastoral care needs please call deacon Jim MacDonald.  He can be reached by cell phone at 508-359-0431; or home phone at 508-651-7753. 
• Luisa O’Toole is on vacation the week of August 23^rd.  During this time the office will be closed.
• Stacy has a new email address.  It is Stacy@ucw.org. 
• Kathy Malone, our new Director of Youth and Children's Ministries can be reached at Kathy@ucw.org.

Wednesday, September 15th, 12:00 -1:30pm.  *** NOTE THE CHANGE OF DATE***Lunch Bunch — Please bring your lunch and join us for dessert, sharing and conversation.  On September 8th we will be discussing an account entitled “Stay on Stranger” that tells the amazing story of Alice Lloyd and her work in establishing schools in Caney Creek, of eastern  Kentucky.  Please see Stacy or call the church office for a copy.

 Thursday, September 9th at 6:00pm, Welcome Dinner and Christian Education Orientation Dinner for Families: Come meet Kathy Malone, our new Director of Youth and Children's Ministries on Thursday, September 9th, at 6:00pm.  We will have some pizza together, learn about the exciting plans for our children and youth this coming year, and hear from all of you about what you would like to see unfold in the months ahead. 

Clean Up Day.  Saturday, September 11, 9:00-noon.  Help us get ready for the church year by polishing the sanctuary, cleaning the classrooms and weeding the gardens.

 Gathering Sunday, September 12th marks the start of our church year!  Worship begins at 10:00 and will include prayers for the presence of God in our lives.  Please bring with you on that day, or send to Stacy ahead of time, a brief, 2 or 3 paragraph write up about an instance this summer when you felt the presence of God in your life.  Was it during an afternoon sail when the golden glows of the sun seemed to bless all touched?  Or did you encounter the presence of God in the joy of family and friends?  Or perhaps, there was a time this summer when you really needed to encounter the presence of God but didn't.  A time when God felt absent.  Please share this with us as well.  These sharings can be signed or left blank.  A few of these sharings will be lifted up in worship on the 12th, and all will be published in an meditation book for Advent.  Also on the 12th we will bless Kathy Malone, our new director of children's and youth ministries as she begins her work with us.  Sunday school will begin on the 12th as well as children's choir which will be meeting for practice immediately after Sunday school in the Little Hale room.  A snack will be provided for our young singers up in the Little Hale room so they can transition right into choir.  What a day it will be. Rumor has it there may even be balloons! 

 Sunday, September 19th:  Christian Education Committee will meet after reception in Kathy Malone's office;  NICA Task force will meet after reception in the meeting room.

 Sunday, September 19th at 3:00 pm. Service of Installation of Stacy Swain as the settled pastor of the Union Church followed by reception in the vestry. 

 Sunday September 26, 11:30 Confirmation Class Orientation for the youth and their parents.

 Sunday Worship, October 3rd, 10:00am  On this special day of World Communion Sunday we will have the delight of receiving four families into membership.

When the gardening catalogues arrive in the frozen monochrome of February, I begin to dream.  Mark, my husband and I pour over the glossy pages and begin planning for our garden.  Should we plant eggplant this year?  You never can have too much fresh greens.  How about a row of raspberries by the back fence?  With great expectation we dream of what the garden will be.

And then it is May.  Mark turns the compost again and again until it is ready to fertilize the soil, deep and rich.  We lovingly choose our starts from the local farm and I delight in neatly planted rows.  I have even been known to turn broken clay pots over making homes for toads hoping they’d be my helpers in bug control in the weeks to come.  There is nothing more perfect than a newly planted garden.   

It is time to wait and watch. 

Time goes by.  We get busy on other things and suddenly it is mid August and my beautiful garden is now a tangle of wild weeds.  Choke weed from the back slope has made it over the fence and into the garden.  The greens have gone to seed.  I cannot find the eggplant.  The raspberries have become a tangle of thorns.  And Mark and I?  I love my husband more than life itself but to be honest I have caught myself blaming him for the whole mess.  Why didn’t he get out there earlier?  How could he have let it go like this?  Now we are going to have to just tear up the entire thing and start again next year.  What a waste!

Great expectations that have not come to fruition, not yet a least.  That is what we hear in Scripture this morning.  In the passage from Isaiah we hear the lament of the prophet and the Lord as they look out over what was once a beloved vineyard.  God prepared the soil, removed the rocks, build a watch tower and even a vat to hold what the harvest of grapes that God knew would come.  God delivered the people from bondage in Egypt, took the vine and planted in this beloved garden.  Planted it and waited with great expectation.  But instead of the sweet fruit of justice, there is bloodshed.  Instead of righteousness there is a cry.

And for the people whose voice we hear in the Psalm it is no better.  They had great expectations for what life would be like in the promised land, the land flowing with milk and honey.  They dreamed of dwelling in God’s vineyard, of returning to the garden.  But instead, the Assyrians have captured the northern kingdom of Israel and are threatening the walls of Jerusalem.  The wild boar of Babylon ravages the land and people feel abandoned. 

Let these laments be ours as well.  We who have been delivered by the love of God and invited into a renewal of creation, look out over a world and see bloodshed.  We hear the cries of our brothers and sisters who remain enslaved by poverty, disease, hunger, — We hear the cry of creation calling for deliverance.  And the wild boar of Babylon nips at our heels.  

God and the people look upon the vineyard in sadness and lament.  Each had great expectations that were not fulfilled and both blame the other for things not turning out the way they had intended.  At this crossroad of disappointment, there is a choice to be made.  Turn and walk away —  The people could look for a new God and God would find a new people. 

Or listen again to the opening words of Isaiah passage “let me sing for my beloved, a love song concerning his vineyard.”  “Let me sing for my beloved, love song.”  Isaiah sings of a great love affair – a love affair between God and God’s people, that is the fertile ground that Isaiah can claim, that he stands in the midst of confusion, and failed expectations and disappointments and bewilderment.  Isaiah sings of the love affair that will endure and from which new life, new beginnings will emerge.

For the people of Israel this would be long in coming.  The land of Israel would first be overrun by the Assyrians and then all of Judea would fall to the Babylonians.  The people would we taken from the vineyard of Jerusalem and sent into exile in a foreign land.  But the love affair will not die.  The love affair endures.  The people come home from Babylon.  They return to tend vineyard.

For Mark and I, it means putting on our gloves and heading out into the tangle of what is while holding onto the dream of what can be.   It means working side by side pulling up weeds, reclaiming paths, and tying back raspberry bushes.  And it means, discovering the slender purple eggplant growing amidst the choke weed.  It means tasting the warm juice sun ripened raspberry that is undaunted by the tangle of thorns.   

God has delivered us to good soil but even so hard times will come.  Difficult and painful things will happen, things we do not understand.  But do not fear.  Do not despair.  The love affair remains.  The love affair between God and God’s people will endure and through that love so will we.  

So let us take up our places as workers in the vineyard, keepers of the garden, tending, and weeding so that the expectation of what can be becomes the reality of what is.

I do not know about you but I always feel a wave of remorse as I turn the calendar from July to August.  It seems like summer passes just too quickly.  In my house, we have even resorted to muting the TV commercials for “back to school” sales. 

Nonetheless, I have begun speaking the “have you thought about your summer homework” reminders knowing that September will be upon us before we know it.  And so it is with eyes on September 12^th, our Gathering Sunday, that I ask you “have you thought about your summer homework?” 

If you remember, when we were last all together in worship on June 20^th, I spoke to you of Brother Lawrence and how he spent his life practicing the presence of God.  I spoke to you of how Brother Lawrence trained himself to step into God’s presence in every moment of every day.  Whether it be washing pots or cutting carrots, Brother Lawrence would strike up a conversation with God and ask God to makes God’s presence known to him.  Brother Lawrence believed that unlike the lily of the field or the sparrow who instinctively dwell fully in the now of God’s presence, we have to practice how to do so.  We need to remember and relearn what it is to unwrap ourselves from the shroud of self absorption and to emerge once again to the presence of God with us.

And then I asked you how will you call upon God in the weeks to come?  Will you practice going into the wilderness like Elijah or going to the back of the boat to wake up Jesus when you need him like the disciples when the storm at sea threatened to drown them?  Some of you, I said, may be moved by the early morning peace to sit for a moment in silence, to center down in prayer and to wait in that stillness for what a colleague of mine calls “the whisper of wisdom.”  Some of you may practice the presence of God in a late afternoon run when the beat of your own pounding heart merges with the pulse of the universe, when you find yourself at one with all that is.  There are many ways to practice the presence of God, I said.  But, whatever it is, I asked you consider this as your summer assignment, your homework for the season, take some time to practice the presence of God. 

So now, as we turn our eyes and heart to our upcoming Gathering Sunday, I invite you to take a moment if you would, to write down in two or three paragraphs an experience you had this summer when you felt yourself draw close to the Holy.  Or if you had an experience of really needing to feel the presence of the Holy but instead you only encountered what felt like an absence, let us hear of that as well.  Parents, please encourage your children to share their experiences as well.  If writing is challenging, ask them if they’d be willing to draw a picture.  Jot it all down and either email or mail it to me.  You can sign your name or leave it blank.

On September 12, we will lift up some of these experiences in our time of prayer.  We also will publish all of them in a devotional booklet to nourish us in Advent as we prepare for Jesus’ birth. 

May the days of summer spent and those still to come fill us with the desire to know God more deeply and the courage to practice bringing ourselves into God’s presence in all that we do.  Amen.

There is a refrain that we hear in this passage from the prophet Hosea whose echo reverberates through much of Scripture. It is a warning not to lose sight of God. Not to let the distractions and concerns of this world so cloud our perception that we no longer see God and in not seeing, slowly lose interest in nurturing our relationship with the Holy One. In Hosea's lovely and lyrical passage, God laments that God's people "are bent on turning". God's beloved children, who God has raised with the tenderness of a new parent are now distracted by other things of their own making and lose sight of the one who brought them into being and "led them with the cords of human kindness."

I have to admit that I can find this refrain a bit irritating for at first reading it sounds like God is asking that we make an either/or choice between the cares and concerns of this world and right relationship with God, and I for one have far too many responsibilities and commitments that I care about to simply set it all down and walk away.

This dichotomous thinking, however, I believe is erroneous and a misreading of biblical teaching. I believe that God is not asking us to abandon that which fills our days. Instead, we are being warned not to abandon God in the midst of that which fills our days. After all, as the equally lovely "Consider the lilies" passage (Luke 12:22-34) reminds us, Our Father knows what it is we need. God is not out to take this from us only to insist that we do not let the things we need in order to survive and to thrive become the purpose of our living. The purpose of our living is to grow in love of God and of our neighbor.

To do that, we are instructed to go to God even when the clerk in the grocery check-out line is taking much too long; even when worry grips us because it is past our child's curfew and she is not yet home; even when the suffering of the innocent threatens to overwhelm us and despair crouches at our door. If this refrain warns of a choice we must be careful in making, it is not to choose God over the world. Instead, we are to see God in the world and to choose to walk with God through all that fills our days, whatever that may be.

May I walk with God in the midst of the demands of this day. May I ask for help in my pain and may I offer thanksgiving in my gladness. AMEN

“Lord, teach us to pray,”  A reflection on Luke 11:1-15

He had been following Jesus for several months now.  He had seen the amazing things that were happening.  People who were broken were being made whole.  Fear was giving way to hope.  The stupor of disappointment and depravity was giving way to promise and a taste of the first fruits of the kingdom.  There really was something powerfully wonderful about this man, Jesus and the disciple wants to be a part of it.  So it is no wonder then that when the disciple in this passage from Luke sees Jesus returning to them after having spent some time in prayer, the disciple cannot help but blurt out “Lord, teach us to pray.”  As if to say, “I no longer want to simply witness what it is you are doing.  I want to be a part of it.  I want what you have!  I want to know God like you know God.  Show me how.” 

And so Jesus does.  Without skipping a beat, Jesus replies “When you pray, say..” and then goes on to speak what we have come to know as the Lord’s prayer.   Jesus gives the hungry disciple words to put in his mouth but Jesus does not stop there for he knows that the hunger runs deep.    Words in the mouth alone will not satiate the hunger of the soul. 

I encourage you to read the passage fully for yourselves for there is much there to chew on, but in the end, Jesus says “So, I say to you,  Ask, and it will be given you; search and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.  For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Prayer, as Jesus models, is indeed one of the ways that we can experience the intimacy and power of God.  But prayer is more that speaking the correct words as if reciting an incantation will summon God to us.  The starting place of any prayer is a deep desire to know God more fully.  It is the soul’s hunger to partake in the force of life and goodness that was flowing through Jesus and spilling across the Judean countryside changing lives forever.  The starting place of prayer is the persistent hunger in our souls that lifts our hand to knock at the door.

And so in a very real way, the prayer that the disciple desired was already on his lips when he called out to Jesus that day.   The words that we speak are merely vessels that hold the passions and needs of our souls.  Without the engagement of our deepest selves, words will only fill our mouths without satiating the hunger within.  

May the starting place of all our prayers be the soul’s hunger to know God.  Amen.

A Reflection on Luke 10: 25-28

I would guess that most of us read these verses from the Gospel of Luke as simply the introductory framework to the Good Samaritan story that follows.  Similar to the “once upon a time” that leads us into stories of our childhood, we tend to skim over this exchange between Jesus and the lawyer in our eagerness to get to the really important and interesting stuff that we know is coming.  To do so, however, dilutes the teaching of the parable and risks unmooring its’ challenging message from relevance in our lives.  Let me explain.

Lawyers in biblical days were scholars of Torah, the sacred text of the Hebrew people.  They were revered and respected as educated and erudite.  They were accustomed to deference particularly in religious teaching and in prescribing ethical applications of that teaching.  So, I imagine that the lawyer who approached Jesus that day was more interested in demonstrating his academic acumen before the gathering crowd than in really learning anything new – looking forward to a kind of a first century, “Meet The Press” display of opinion.  Perhaps he was even feeling a touch competitive, wanting to see for himself if the word on the street was true — if Jesus really did know his stuff.

I can empathize with the lawyer as I am sure many of you can as well.  We are lovers of words and thought.  We value study.  We delight in the academic achievements of our children and draw joy from the well spoken word.  All of this is well and good.  In fact, Jesus commends the lawyer when the lawyer demonstrates his knowledge of the law (v. 26). 

But in his maddening way, Jesus does not let us rest where we are.  Jesus continually nudges us forward into continual growth as Gospel people, followers of Christ.  For the lawyer that means, not just knowing the word but putting the word into practice.  Jesus challenges the lawyer to take the words he knows by heart “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself (v.27) and to put them into action.  Jesus challenges the lawyer to not just believe and know, but also to act!  That is why Jesus tells the Good Samaritan story in that particular moment.  He tells of the man who ministered to those who others ignored because that is the story the lawyer needed to hear. 

I wonder what story Jesus would have told if it was an activist that approached him on the dusty road that day instead of a lawyer.  What if an activist who was working 24/7 traveling down every road in Judea looking for and caring for everyone that she could find came up to him?  What if she approached Jesus, confident in her kingdom building work, ready to receive the praise that Jesus would so surely give her?   I wonder what story Jesus would have told her? 

You see, for me, the power of this passage and the Good Samaritan story that follows is in understanding that Jesus challenges us to fullness of life in all dimensions.   Discipleship is a life-long process of growth.  It is a dynamic interplay between the trinity of self, other and God that calls us to continued reflection, action and inspiration.  As long as we are still breathing we can be sure that we have not yet arrived and that in the words of John Robinson, the Pastor of the Mayflower Pilgrims,  “the Lord hath more light and truth yet to break forth from His holy word.”[1]

So, I invite you to step into this Gospel passage – these words of Good news.  I invite you center down in prayer and in that quiet place to imagine yourself approaching Jesus and asking him the lawyers question “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  And then I invite you to listen with a still and open heart to the words of love and challenge that Jesus has for you.

 – Praise be to the one who is always there to receive and instruct us.  Amen.

And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" — 1Kings 19:13

Worship June 20, Father's Day. The last regular service of the year will be held on June 20th. Musical offerings will include "Andante for Flute, K.315" featuring Michelle Nover as a guest flutist and an anthem entitled "We Sing the Mighty Power of God" by Hal Hopson featuring the Union Church Bell Choir in addition to Michelle Nover on the flute. The sermon entitled "Practicing the Presence of God" will explore the passage quoted above where the prophet Elijah encounters God as a gentle whisper and the "Stilling of the Storm" passage from the Gospel of Luke, Luke 8:22-25. As we head out into summer, we will be invited to consider how we will practice the presence of God over the weeks to come. How will we learn to listen for the gentle whisper in our lives? How will we learn to understand our purpose, how to answer God's question to us "What are you doing here?" Finally, the women of the church will be hosting the reception this Sunday, so it promises to be quite a spread and not to be missed.

A memorial service for Gabriele Vawter has been scheduled for Monday, July 5, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. in the Annisquam Village Church, 820 Washington Avenue, Gloucester. Her family is looking forward to celebrating her life with all who knew and loved her.

Mission Update. Looking for some thoughtful summer reading? Please see Molly Owen-Kiritsy for a copy of The Call of Service by Robert Coles. We hope folks will take the time and read this book over the summer in preparation for the Mission Capital Campaign Discussions that will begin on Sunday Oct 17. The book is 11.00. There will be copies of it available after church on June 13 and June 20.

Summer Services, July 18 and August 15. We hope you will join us for our summer worship which will begin with a simple breakfast at 8:15 am in the reception room followed by an intergenerational worship of prayer and song at 9:00. Casual dress is welcomed.

Gathering Sunday, September 12. We will re-gather from our summer wandering on September 12th for worship and a service of communion. The liturgy that day will include a sharing of how we practiced the presence of God over the summer. Where and how did we hear the gentle whisper speaking to us? How have we learned to answer God's question, "what are you doing here?" What a great day it will be when we are together again!

Gathering Sunday, September 12.  We will regather from our summer wandering at 10:00am on Sunday, September 12 for worship and a service of communion.  The liturgy that day will include a sharing of how we practiced the presence of God over the summer.  Where and how did we hear the gentle whisper of God speaking to us?  How have we learned to answer God's question to Elijah "What are you doing here?" (1Kings 19:13) for ourselves?  What a great day it will be when we are together again.

Reverend Stacy Swain's Installation, Sunday, September 19 at 3:00 at the Union Church in Waban.  Mark your calendars and save the date for this important event in the life of the Union Church in Waban as we come together to install our new Pastor, reaffirm the church as the body of Christ in the world, and recommit ourselves to works of love, justice and peace for all of God's children.

After church on Sunday, October 17, we will be holding the first of several Mission Capital Campaign Discussions.  These Mission Capital Campaign Discussions will provide us with a process of discernment through which we will hear God's call of how to best use the money that was tithed to mission support from the recent capital campaign.    Please take time this summer to read Rober Coles' The Call of Service in preparation for what promises to be a thoughtful and spirit filled discussion.

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14

Worship June 13, Children's Sunday . The children of the congregation under the loving leadership of Cindy Spertner will lead us in worship on Sunday! We will be collecting a special offering that will be used to support child care for church wide meetings and events. The Prelude is "Bright and Beautiful" (A Children's Suite) arranged by Mark Hayes and we will be treated to a piano solo by Mina Hadley for our offertory music.

All Church Picnic . Immediately after worship we will head over to Claxton Field, Central Avenue in Needham for our annual All Church Picnic. Claxton is a lovely park with climbing structures, a big sandbox with lots of toys, ball fields and plenty of space to eat and share in each other's company. (Direction will be in the bulletin this Sunday and are also included below). Please reply to the email earlier today to sign up for the picnic. We will also have a chance to celebrate Tracy Jaques, our office manager who served the church for many years and who recently resigned in order to pursue a full time employment. Contributions for a gift for Tracy can be given to Karen Weisgerber.

Directions to Claxton Field, Needham The park is on Central Avenue in Needham, across from the town recycling and transfer station (“the dump”). From church, head out on Chestnut Street. Take Chestnut to Central Avenue. Turn right on Central Avenue. Stay on Central past North Hill, past Great Plains Ave until you arrive at the park on your left. There is plenty of parking.

Worship June 20, Father's Day. The last regular service of the year will be held on June 20th. The women of the church will be hosting the reception so it promises to be quite a spread and not to be missed.

Mission Update. Looking for some thoughtful summer reading? Please see Molly Owen-Kiritsy for a copy of The Call of Service by Robert Coles. We hope folks will take the time and read this book over the summer in preparation for the Mission Capital Campaign Discussions that will begin on Sunday Oct 17. The book is 11.00. There will be copies of it available after church on June 13 and June 20.
A memorial service for Gabriele Vawter has been scheduled for Monday, July 5, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. in the Annisquam Village Church, 820 Washington Avenue, Gloucester. Her family is looking forward to celebrating her life with all who knew and loved her.

Summer Services, July 18 and August 15. We hope you will join us for our summer worship which will begin with a simple breakfast at 8:15 am in the reception room followed by an intergenerational worship of prayer and song at 9:00. Casual dress is welcomes.

Gathering Sunday, September 12. We will re-gather from our summer wandering on September 12th for a worship and a service of communion. The liturgy that day will include an opportunity to weave our individual summer experiences of God and neighbor into the fabric of our life together. What a great day it will be so be back together again!

Stacy's Away. Stacy will be away from June 26 through July 3rd. Deacon Wanda Getchell will be the point person for any pastoral care needs that arise during Stacy's time away. Ned Parker has agreed to be back up to the Deacons should the need arise.