August 2, 2020 Sunday Morning Worship
10:00 a.m. ~ Meeting for Worship Live Streaming via the church Facebook page or our website at: www.wichitaquakers.org
- Message – Crossroads in Life” (Randy Mullikin)
- Welcome and Call to Worship reading Psalm 113 verses 1-3
- Scripture – Deuteronomy 31:7-8 and Acts 9:17-18
- Music – Rosemary Nettrouer – God Will Take Care of You, #358 in our hymnal
- Flowers – Art & Helen Binford
August 9
- Recognition of Graduates
- Message bringer: Andrea Suttle
- Prelude: Rosemary Nettrouer
- Flowers: Jacque Robinson
Please feel free to share Worship Time on your Facebook page for others to enjoy also!
Still live-streaming
In keeping with Ministry and Counsel’s previous recommendation not to reopen worship until the number of cases and deaths from COVID-19 start trending down in our area, University Friends will continue live streaming beyond the end of July. When the numbers start trending in the right direction, Ministry and Counsel will reevaluate.
As has been our practice for a while, the live-streaming is available on Facebook and the church website (wichitaquakers.org) simultaneously, so you can watch at either location, and the written transcript is added to the post on Monday. Also, during the live streaming, we have room for a few people to come and serve as a kind of facing bench. If you would like to be among a handful of people who worship with us in person, please be sure and let the office know.
The pandemic is getting worse, not better. That’s reality. This week the Sedgwick County Health Officer issued an emergency order that limits public gatherings to no more than 15 people (https://www.sedgwickcounty.org/covid-19/local-orders/emergency-public-health-order-july-21-2020/), and that order will be in effect through September 9. Increasingly, churches are deciding not to open until at least 2021 (https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2020/july/andy-stanley-north-point-church-reopening-2021.html?fbclid=IwAR2nK-mJtiVFZugeSx4KtLOho5kKR9KQfNgI9RbUy-zHJP58fNNOOvdE2Ng).
The end of the pandemic is nowhere in sight. Frustrating, isn’t it? It’s pushing our patience to (and sometimes beyond) its limits.
Nevertheless, as long as we need to, we’ll do what we can to stay safe: wear masks, practice sanitizing, and limit our gatherings as an expression of love for one another. Know that God loves you. Light and Life, Catherine
July calendar updates:
Catherine will be on vacation from July 30th through August 10th.
If you have pastoral care or other concerns contact Pam Chambers at 620-786-4287 or pchambers@wichitafriendsschool.org.
205 Sunday Class to meet via Zoon 3:00 pm in August as usual.
Representative Gathering from Mid-America Yearly Meeting’s Ministry Conference: Representative Session (Saturday afternoon, July 25).
Zoom meeting. It includes the reading of University Friends’ letter and Diana Hoover’s prayer at our parting from MAYM.
To open the link right click on it and choose hyperlink.
Listening Groups: Preparing for an All-Church Retreat
As you know, University Friends Meeting is in a time of transition. As part of that effort, we have been thinking about having a retreat with Colin Saxton, which we have scheduled and rescheduled. Colin met with the Transition Team via Zoom on June 29, and we have a clearer idea of the content of the retreat, along with some thoughts about how to prepare for it.
In the meantime, COVID-19 numbers are rising in our area; Everence has grounded its employees through the end of the year; and our preparations are proceeding slowly. While we had been aiming to have the retreat the last weekend in August, that has now been cancelled and will be rescheduled when our preparations have made significant progress.
Part of those preparations involves broadening the discussion of transition issues to include more of the congregation. We envision having conversations within Listening Groups, 15-20 people each, which would meet in person with safe distancing, via Zoom, or some combination of those.
We hope that each Listening Group would meet at least three times, beginning as soon as possible, with realistic expectations for coping with heat, a pandemic, Zoom fatigue, etc. Those three meetings would involve reflecting on the survey results as well as the questions of who we are and what God is calling us to do in our context. These conversations are crucial as we consider questions related to the future of University Friends Meeting and the appetite for change, and we want to include everyone in the discussion.
Folks at University Friends Meeting have been willing to engage the idea of transition because, as some have said, “We don’t want to die.” Now we’re beginning to talk about what it would look like for this church to live. What would it mean for us to join God’s work in our community, in our time? How can we be better stewards of our assets, in terms of people, facilities, and money? What is God calling us to be and do?
If you haven’t done so already, please complete this survey: https://forms.gle/8PPUoChE78HKtKBS
Everence to hold Social Security and retirement income planning webinar
Everence will host a Social Security and retirement income planning webinar, on Tuesday, August 11 at 6:30 p.m. Attendees will learn about Social Security strategies, risks that can impact retirement savings and strategies to help income last throughout retirement. The workshop is free. Register soon by contacting our office at 316-283-3800, 877-467-7294 or central.kansas@everence.com.
Celebrations:
Here is a link to the website for Pearl Cole’s celebration that was on July 28. You can visit the website at https://profcole.com/pearl
For a Worship, Memories, Photos and Pearl’s art, poetry and song. You can make your way through the celebration at your own direction and pace. Visit at any time and return on any day. The website will be open 24/7 until July 28, 2021 (a whole year)!
Special Birthday Wishes!
August 1: John McMillin turns 90
August 30: Jewell Henrichs turns 94
Happy August Birthdays!
Aug. 1: James Perkins, John McMillin, Marianne Carter; Aug. 3: Shelby Smith, Kalika Jaeckel; Aug. 4: Parker Jackson-Loesch, Larry Burmeister, David Newman; Aug. 5: Liz Wine; Aug. 6: Jo Gearheart, Wes Miller; Aug. 7: Catherine Griffith, Jefferson Martin, Karen James; Aug. 8: Jennifer Wine; Aug. 10: Blessing Bengi; Aug. 11: Ardith Beardsley, Andrew Kylar; Aug. 14: Brenda Johnson, Florence Gloshen; Aug. 15: Daniel Dyck; Aug. 17: Abhilash Jacob; Aug. 19: Judy Bennett, Lezlee Herd-Fowler; Aug. 20: Lance Barrett; Aug. 21: Cole Whitcomb, Christina Bennett; Aug. 22: David Harries, Alfred Lugalia; Aug. 25: Robert Johnson; Aug. 28: Donna Cline, Reinhard Lugalia; Aug. 30: Kaylee Perkins, Jewell Henrichs; Aug. 31: Amy Grace, Layne Floray, Grant Whitcomb.
(40 + Years) Congratulations to you all!
Stan & Eloise Brown 8/3/1956 = 64 yrs, Art & Helen Binford 8/29/1957 = 63 yrs, Don & Rozelia Hardin 8/11/1963 = 57 yrs,
Randall & Nita Hinshaw 8/17/1968 = 52 yrs, Steve & Pam Grether 8/5/1972 = 48 yrs, K.C. & Susan Jacob 8/16/1976 = 44 yrs,
James & Lindy Wine 8/12/1977 = 43 yrs, Danny & Vinene Logan 8/19/1978 = 42 yrs, John & Mary Fowler 8/4/1979 = 41 yrs,
Doug & Pam Chambers 8/16/1980 = 40 yrs
Children’s News
Calling all parents/family!! Please send us the names of your 4th, 9th, 12th, and college graduates and the name of their schools.
We want to make sure everyone is accounted for on our lists. Thank you for your help. You can email Sandy at universityfriends@sbcglobal.net
Hello Friends,
We are looking for some Friends to read some stories for us. Interested? Video yourself reading a children’s book. No chapter books unless you would like to do a weekly installment. We just need you to read a story on video and show the pictures. That’s it! Sign up via google sheets or email Andrea directly. Once you sign up, video the story, then email the video to asuttle121@gmail.com We will post videos every Wednesday, so you need to send your video by Tuesday!
Thank you and we look forward to seeing your videos! Andrea Suttle, Children’s Ministry Director
The Book Club will meet at 6:30 p.m., the 2nd and 4th Tuesday’s of each month. Join us in the church library or on Zoom. This month, Tuesday, August 11th, the discussion will be over O.S. Hawkins’ The Nehemiah Code: It’s Never Too Late for a New Beginning (2018), Parts 1 & 2 (Chapters 1-9) for August 11. If you would like to attend via Zoom, please email Catherine at orcagriffith@yahoo.com, and she will send you an email invitation.
Great Plains Yearly Meeting, Sept 12, 2020
~ A Spiritual Gathering for Fellowship and Nurture. ~
We will meet via Zoom. Please register (details soon) so we can send you the online information to join our time together.
Our morning gathering will be a time of reconnection through sharing in Worship & study, State of Society reports, and a kind of Roll Call check in with all our Monthly Meetings.
Our afternoon gathering will be a word of teaching and encouragement from our friend Noah Merrill. This time is designed for nurture in these days of struggle.
Details will be updated here on Facebook and on our GPYM website as soon as possible. greatplainsyearlymeeting.org
Friends, it has been a hard exercise of faithfulness to stay connected with each other. All the feelings of isolation and loneliness are heightened by our fears and worries over health, economics, & messed up routine and plans. Let’s gather, even though it’s not our favorite way. It is still helpful… better than not at all. It will be good to actually see each beautiful face and be reminded how much we love each other.
GPYM is trying to do our best to create a safe and enriching experience through online details… we will pray that the Spirit will enhance these plans beyond our abilities and we will be glad to meet.
~ LaVonna Loesch, presiding clerk
PRAYER REQUESTS AND CONCERNS:
- Gordon Smith and Joan Smith. Gordon has an ear infection, loss of appetite, and a recurrence of cancer. He will have a PET scan on July 31 to determine the extent of the cancer. Joan is tired.
- Our church during this time of transition – may we find clarity and energy for the tasks at hand and the decisions we will need to make as we find our way forward. May we find ways to use our assets wisely and well. May we discover ways we are to be a beacon of love in our world. Thanks! Catherine
- Those who are struggling during this time of pandemic.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! —
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
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