The doors are in! Many thanks to Dale Gross, and Scott Nickila & his son and Bruce Nickila who lent a hand. The doors are gorgeous!
Sunday, October 18: Worship at 10:30 am, with communion. We will be returning to a more traditional model of worship, with a few changes to minimize contact. Masks are required and social distancing and hygiene protocols are observed. Weekly sermons are posted on YouTube. Sermons are also available by email and posted on our Facebook page, or, if you would like a copy mailed to you, contact the church office at 218-626-2570 or office@unitedprotestantchurch.org.
Monday, October 19: Bible Study/Faith Conversation: 5:30 pm in Fellowship Hall. Join us as we explore this week's Gospel and share the stories and questions of our faith. Masks required, along with hygiene observance.
Wednesday, October 21: Wednesday Evening Time of Prayer and Sharing, 6:00 pm in the Sanctuary. You are welcome to gather for a mid-week calming time of prayer, music, and conversation led by Pastor Paul. Music by Maria Gross on piano and/or Jim Larson on the Appalachian Dulcimer.
Thursday, October 22: AA meets in Fellowship Hall, 7 pm. Masks and hygiene protocols required.
Free Sack Lunch, Weekdays, 12-2, in front of church: Volunteers and donations appreciated!
VOLUNTEERS: Every weekday – please consider a weekly commitment to one of the following time slots: Set up: 10:30-12:00 Serving: 12:00-2:00 Clean up: 2:00 -3:00. Contact Pastor Paul or the office if interested.
DONATIONS: Juice boxes, small bags of chips (any variety), small bags of snacks (cookies, crackers, etc.), sliced turkey lunchmeat, beef hot dogs, Sara Lee Classic white bread, lunch bags, plastic sandwich bags. (Financial donations always appreciated! )
ON-LINE GIVING: We now have the option through Tithe.ly to make weekly or monthly donations on-line. This is a wonderful way for folks who aren't able to donate in person or would rather use on-line giving. This option may be accessed on the home page of our website: unitedprotestantchurch.org. Tithe.ly is used by other churches in our area and is a very secure site.
SWEATSHIRTS: Screen printed with the church logo. There are a few light pink & light gray hoodies, various sizes, in the office. Price is $35 for Med to XL, $40 for XXL and XXXL. Crew neck sweatshirts and other colors available for ordering. Contact Linda Rominger or Kathy Lee with questions or to place an order. (The sweatshirts would make great Christmas gifts!)
From Pastor Paul: Toward Sunday
When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away. ~ Matthew 22:22
Well, it's been since before Easter that I last put together a Sunday bulletin, and I have to say (and maybe confess that I'm kind of a geek about such things) that it was mighty fun. It was fun to piece together a call to worship and a prayer of the people, fun to think about creative ways to pass the peace, or share our offering. But for some reason that isn't quite clear (I hope to figure it out as I write these next few paragraphs), it was the small moments of choral unison that I find myself looking most forward to. The Gloria Patri, the Doxology, the Choral Benediction – something about the places where we sing together words that are mostly ascribed to memory, via repetition.
It is ritual, I suppose, and there's a part of me that must be longing for some sort of ritual in my life, something that I've seemed to lose track of, here in this time when our world seems all shaken up like a snowglobe. I like to think I keep rituals…my morning prayer and my afternoon moment of centering and my evening release of the day and hope for tomorrow…but (ok, I think I'm figuring this out now) the rituals I have in my life are personal. What do I share with others? What rituals do we do together? And more importantly, where do I share common moments in the presence of God with others?
On Sundays, when all is well, we enter – and sustain – a time of prayer, contemplation, praise, and love. And we do this together. Sure, God stirs in each of our hearts uniquely, and our prayers and understanding of worship are shaped and colored from each of our individual pasts, but then there are these moments of communal centering, when we sing from memory the same words, recite the same prayers, sit or stand together in ways as automatic and habitual as we might tie our shoes.
I mean, where, in this time rife with division and divergent opinion, do we gather as a group and express: “We, as a community, share this common ground and this common moment. We are together.” The above quote from Matthew (the one that started these few rambling paragraphs) described the feelings of the Pharisees, and the followers of Herod, when they walked away from Jesus. In fact, the same verse, as translated by Eugene Peterson's The Message reads: “They went off shaking their heads.” – but really, couldn't we use the same quote for we that walk out those doors on Sunday? We're both “amazed” and “shaking our heads” in our amazement. Jesus has that effect on people. What we do with it when we walk out those doors is a different story altogether.
For now, I find myself asking: where else in our lives do we share this common ground of head-shaking amazement? I bet if we considered carefully, and looked closely, we'd find that God is present in those moments, too. I hope so.
Keep in touch,
Pastor Paul