Morgan Park – Duluth, MN
The Halloween Carnival is rapidly approaching! It will be Saturday, October 26th from 4pm – 7 pm. Find more information on our Facebook page.
All volunteers should plan to arrive no later than 3:30. We are still taking volunteers – contact us for more info.
Weekly Reminders from United Protestant Church
Hi Folks! We’ve been updating our mailing list in an effort to reach as many church members and friends as possible. If you’d like to be taken off this list, please send an email to office@unitedprotestantchurch.org. Thanks!
Sunday: Worship at 10:30, with Communion. Fellowship time to follow.
Monday: Bible Study, 6pm
Each week we lift up a passage from this week’s lectionary and let our hearts, minds, and faith take a journey from those words. We’d love to have you join us!
Tuesday: AA meets in the Fellowship Hall, 7pm
Wednesday:
-History Work Day, 10am: All are welcome to help sort and organize and discover pieces of UPC history.
-Grill’s On! Community Picnic. 5-ish to 7-ish
The kindness and welcome continues! Each week we are greeted with an amazing banquet of diverse yummy goodness created and donated by the collective. We get things going around 5 pm, and usually wrap up around 7 pm. Games are set up and more games are welcome. As always: bring what you have to share (or something to put on the grill) or just bring yourself! There is always enough!
-Choir Practice, 6 pm
You don’t have to sing like an angel, you just have to love to sing! Practice is 2nd & 4th Wednesdays and then we share our songs the following Sunday. We’d love for you to join us! No experience? Think you can’t carry a tune? We’ll teach you! Questions: Contact Karen Robnik, 218-565-0943.
Thursday: AA meets in the Fellowship Hall, 7pm
Volunteer Opportunities:
Sunday School: We are in need of a couple volunteers to help lead Sunday School during worship. Story and craft will be provided. If this is of interest to you, contact Pastor Paul!
Christmas: Cookies, Crafts, and Carols
There’s talk within the church of having a Christmas party, including making crafts and cookies, and sharing in Christmas carols. If this is of interest to you, contact Pastor Paul!
Looking Ahead:
UPC Halloween Carnival is planned for Saturday, October 26, 4-7 pm. Help will be needed for set-up, clean-up, games, tickets, kitchen, etc. Watch for sign-up sheet to help, and posters will be available to put up at businesses. There was a large turn-out for this carnival in 2018.
Bill Bastian and the Highland Quartet will be performing on December 14th at 1:30. Amazing music. Free of charge. Bake sale to support the church.
From Pastor Paul: “Toward Sunday”
…do not fret—it only leads to evil. –Psalm 37:8
A simple little line, that one. Just a snippet in a Psalm with the header “Exhortation to Patience and Trust”… but last Monday during Bible Study, that little line leaped off the page and gave me a great big ol’ dope slap right upside my head.
I love it when God does that, because it’s usually connected with a part of my life and my faith that is in need of a little fine-tuning. See…I fret. I fret well and I fret often. I worry and contemplate and cogitate and perseverate and walk the floor and lay in bed with my eyes wide open. I have won blue ribbon in the fretter’s contest. Bronze statues have been cast presenting me with a knitted brow.
I’d like to say that I could change this—that with some “cold-turkey” enthusiasm I could end this behavior and get on with the happy peaceful contentment that I’ve always longed for. But I’ve accepted it as the shadow side of creative energy and curiosity, which often lead to wonderful inspiration and discovery. I figure it this way: if fretting is the by-product of a creative spirit, I can live with that.
…But I don’t have to let it lead me. Choices and decisions based on scarcities like fear, doubt, self-criticism, apprehension and limitation are only going to place barriers on the new gifts of each new day, and the new life God is creating for me. The more I act out of scarcity, the more limits and boundaries I place upon myself, and the more I isolate myself from those new things…from the new way God is reaching out to me today. “Go away, o’ new opportunity! I am busy fretting about my past and future!”
That, and choices based on scarcity often lead to fear and anger-based actions. The kind of things that truly make our world a more broken place. I think that’s the “evil” part.
So muchas gracias to the Psalmist for reminding me: do not fret—it only leads to evil.
And can you do me a favor? Can you remind me? Can we remind each other that there are better and (frankly) more “Holy” ways to use our mental energy? Our God, I believe, is a God of opportunity and grace, not scarcity and fear. We can’t necessarily shake all of our worries, but we don’t have to let our faith be led by them, because if we let our frets be our guide, we really wont be getting anywhere.
Let’s Talk!
Pastor Paul
P.S. I keep writing “Let’s Talk!” and I mean it. I would love to hear from you! Send me a note or sit down for a talk or let’s go take a walk!
Rev. Paul VanAntwerp:
218-349-0143
Sunday, September 28: The U.P. Choir will be singing, and we’ll be looking at an oft-overlooked passage from Luke.
Monday, September 29, 6 pm: Lectionary Study Each week we lift up a passage from this week’s lectionary and let our hearts and mind and faith take a journey from those words. We’d love to have you join us!
Tuesday: AA meets in the Fellowship Hall, 7pm
Wednesday, September 25:~ Grill’s On, 5-ish to 7-ish: The kindness and welcome continues! Each week we are greeted with an amazing banquet of diverse yummy goodness created and donated by the collective. We get things going around 5 pm, and usually wrap up around 7 pm. Games are set up and more games are welcome. As always: bring what you have, or just bring yourself! There is always enough!
Thursday: AA meets in the Fellowship Hall, 7pm
Looking Ahead: UPC Halloween carnival is planned for Saturday, October 26, 4-7 pm. Help will be needed for set-up, clean-up, games, tickets, kitchen, etc. Watch for sign-up sheet to help, and posters will be available to put up at businesses. There was a large turn-out for this carnival in 2018.
Volunteer Opportunities:
Sunday School: We are in need of a couple volunteers to help lead Sunday School during worship. Story and craft will be provided. If this is of interest to you, contact Pastor Paul!
Intentional Conversation: Evangelism/Outreach: If any church is to thrive, new participants must be welcomed and older participants must be supported. There are a myriad of ways we can approach these tasks, and Pastor Paul would like to meet with you to explore a variety of ideas and resources. If you are interested in sharing in this ministry, please contact Pastor Paul (218-349-0143). We’ll find a time to talk, discern our mission and steps to accomplish it, and get to work for the good of the church!
From Pastor Paul, Toward Sunday:
Sometimes, in the whirling and twirling hustle of the days, I find myself a little empty and fatigued. This used to bother me, and I’d turn inward with self-criticism and be, well, rather demanding on myself. Now I’ve learned that challenges and busyness and negativity are just par for the course in life, and when I feel overwhelmed by those things–when I feel myself a little lacking in spirit and hope–I’m reminded that spiritual health is not unlike physical health. I think of the days when I don’t eat as well as I should and find myself dragging through the day. The same goes for the times when I don’t nurture my spirit as I should. When my faith tank is empty, it is time to get some spiritual sustenance.
I’ve learned what works for me: I read scripture and other beautiful words and soak in the thoughts and the images others have taken the time to craft. I walk in the woods or around town to fill my lungs with fresh air and my eyes with color. I surround myself with life-giving, positive people and I do what I can to keep healthy space from the all-too-prevalent judgment and anger that a life attached to screens can shove in our faces. And I pray. …My God how I pray! I pray while reading and pray while walking and pray while laughing and gathering goodness. I remind myself that prayer is not a singular event, rather, it is a way of life. Thankfulness for God’s presence. A place to direct my fear and anxiety. A song and a dance. Creation…rest…comfort…–even nudges to get up and get going! God is in all of these things. “You can catch grace,” Annie Dillard wrote, “as a person dips a cup in a waterfall.”
Where do you find spiritual sustenance when you’re running on empty? Any tips or tricks you can share with others? Can our community’s ministry support you?
Good conversations to have as we step forward into the YES of our lives.
Let’s talk!
Pastor Paul
—
Paul VanAntwerp
3845 Birchwood Road
Duluth, MN 55803
218-349-0143