Coming Up
Today!!! August 10 – 12:00 pm, Kids Life at Union Interest Meeting
August 11 – 11:30 am Matilda Fee Luncheon, Community Room
August 13 – 5:30 pm, Open Table starts again after the summer break
August 14-17 – Celtic Festival events at Union on Aug. 16! berea-celtic.org
August 19 – 11:00 – 5:00 Blood Drive, Community Room
Aug. 21 – 5:30 pm, Orchestra; 6:30 pm, Choir – room tbd
Community Meetings
Presence is prayer, too. Being visible and informed is an important way to put prayers into action. We’ve been asked to share what we can about important community/municipal meetings. Here’s our first try at gleaning times/dates/locations online. If anyone has better info (or additions) about these events, please do let us know! Thank you!
· Berea City Council, 1st & 3rd Tuesdays
Aug 19, 6 pm, City Annex Bldg, 304 Chestnut St.
· Madison County Fiscal Court, 2nd & 4th Tuesdays
Aug 12, 9:30 am, Fiscal Ct Room, 1235 W. Irvine St., Richmond
· Richmond Board of Commissioners, 2nd & 4th Tuesdays at 6; 3rd Thursdays at noon
Aug. 12, 6 pm, City Hall, 239 Main St., Richmond
· Madison County Board of Education, 2nd & 4th Mondays
Aug 14, 6 pm, 301 Highland Park Dr., Richmond
· Berea Community School Board, 3rd Mondays
Aug. 21, 7 pm, Kennedy Theater at Berea Community School
Announcements
Welcome and many thanks to Larry Brandenburg! We’re so grateful to you for sharing your musical gifts this morning!
Leaving a Legacy … Join us Monday, August 11, at 11:30 am in the Community Room to learn about Legacy Planning . Matilda Fee’s tireless work behind the scenes kept Union Church alive in “troublous” times. The Matilda Fee Society is for anyone who already has or is interested in including Union Church in your estate planning (will, insurance, etc). The lunch is free and open to all interesting in learning more and will especially be a thank you to those who have already made plans so the ministry of the church can thrive! There will be a short presentation on best practices and estate planning resources, as well as information on the ever-changing state of giving options. For more info contact Union Church Engagement director, Jessi Montgomery (jmontgomery @cdlex.org). Please let us know in the office if you plan to attend so we can plan for food—use the QR code.
Open Table starts up after Summer Break! Community Meals Every Wednesday 5:30pm-6:30pm: “Open Table” is a “pay what you can” ($0-$$) catered meal open to anyone. Chef Deb Beishline and a wonderful crew of volunteers prepare the menu each week always with GF and Vegetarian-friendly options (other needs can be accommodated on request!). Our hope is to remember the gifts of connection with great food the chance to “rub elbows” with neighbors. The food is great, the company is better, the hungry are fed, and we pray the love Jesus will be shown!
Aug. 13 Menu
· Caprese chicken
· Caprese mushrooms
· Roasted Vegetables
· Rice
· Fruit Salad
· Lemon Cream Cake
New Members Welcomed Next Week (3rd Sunday of a month)! As a family of faith committed to boldly & creatively embodying the life and ministry of Jesus, we would like to join with YOU. We’d like to be a context and inspiration for your own spiritual path, and work with you to make your heart, your world, your life more peace-filled and joy-full.
Next Sunday there will be an opportunity to covenant together — whether you are a member of the community who worships online, in-person, or both! No prior action on your part is required, but if you have any questions at all, we’d like to help. Working together, we want to make God’s love visible & real to all!
Union Church’s Choir & Orchestra will begin on August 21 — Orchestra at 5:30 and Choir at 6:30. You’re welcome to join them and add to the joyful noise!
Sign up to Help Lead Worship! Worship is the joy and work of the people and everyone’s voice is important. You can sign up to help lead readings and prayers on the sheets near the serving window downstairs at coffee hour OR contact Worship Board chair person, Diane Bailey (diane51bailey@gmail.com). No previous experience is needed! Rev. Kent and the Worship Board members are here to help. Find a date that works for you and lend your voice to our worship and praise!
Statement by The World Council of Churches
“The World Council of Churches is deeply saddened and gravely concerned by the continued escalation of the military operations in Gaza, human devastation on every side, and the disproportionately high number of Palestinian civilian casualties, including women and children.
As well as the Israeli strikes against civilians and civilian infrastructure in Gaza, the Council condemns the indiscriminate firing of rockets against Israeli civilian targets by Hamas and the positioning of rocket launchers in close proximity to civilian populations. The Council appeals to all parties to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law. The indiscriminate and disproportionate killing of civilians in the context of an armed conflict is strictly prohibited by international humanitarian law.
Hostilities must cease. Israel, Palestine and the surrounding region must be offered the hope of peace: a peace based in justice, a lasting peace that may lead toward reconciliation.
The World Council of Churches calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Gaza, and for restrictions on the movement of persons and goods into and out of the Gaza Strip to be lifted so that urgent humanitarian needs can be dealt with. This latest resort to armed conflict – and the consequent intolerable suffering inflicted on families and communities – can do nothing to promote a just and sustainable peace for Israelis and Palestinians. On the contrary, it serves only to perpetuate the deadly cycle of violence, stoking the fires of mutual demonization and division, and further diminishing the vision of two peoples living side-by-side in peaceful co-existence.
Peace in Israel and Palestine will come only through the restoration of compassion between human beings, through seeking together common paths towards justice and peace, and through a genuine commitment to creating the basis for future generations of Israelis and Palestinians to live side-by-side in peace.
Hence the WCC calls for the resumption of direct peace talks to achieve a comprehensive and sustainable peace based upon a two-state solution along internationally recognized borders.
But today, as war continues to rage in Gaza, we pray that Israelis and Palestinians will re-discover the things that make for peace. The peoples of Palestine and Israel deserve to live in peace and dignity.”
Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC General
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