Sunday ~ August 30, 2020
10:00 a.m. ~ Meeting for Worship Live Streaming via the church Facebook page or our website at: www.wichitaquakers.org
- · Flowers: Leigh Ann Dawley
- · Technology: Michael Barrett & Michelle Barrett
- · Prelude: Molly Loesch – Hymn is “Show Me How to Stand for Justice” which is sung to the tune of Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, # 31
- Announcements
- Pastoral Prayer
- Message – Resistance Is … Inevitable
- Scripture – Acts 6:1-7
- Open Worship
- Benediction
Please feel free to share worship time on your Facebook page for others to enjoy also!
3:00 pm ~ 205 Sunday Class via Zoom.
5:00 pm ~ Listen Group Leaders via Zoom and/or at the church.
Dawn Blue reports that she may have come up with a way to socially distance and have bell choir this autumn. Please let her know if you are interested at dawnblue72@yahoo.com so she can work out logistics. She could start it as soon as the Wednesday after Labor Day if she gets responses quickly.
University Friends will continue live streaming worship until the number of cases and deaths from COVID-19 start trending down in our area.
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.
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.
Sedgwick County’s current order, effective August 22 through September 8, prohibits gatherings of more than 15 people.
(https://www.sedgwickcounty.org/covid-19/local-orders/emergency-public-health-order-august-18-2020/).
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 seek to answer these questions: Who are we? Who are our neighbors? To what is God calling us?
We need to broaden the discussion 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. 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.
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?
The Transition Team is working on information for group leaders, and you should be hearing from your leader in early September.
The Book Club meets at 6:30 p.m., the 2nd and 4th Tuesday’s of each month. Join us in the church library or on Zoom. Tuesday, September 8th, the discussion will be O.S. Hawkins’ The Nehemiah Code: It’s Never Too Late for a New Beginning, Parts 5 & 6. If you would like to attend via Zoom, please email Catherine at orcagriffith@yahoo.com, and she will send you an email invitation.
The reading for September 22 will be chapter 1, “The Light Within,” of Thomas Kelly’s A Testament of Devotion.
Great Plains Yearly Meeting, Sept 11 & 12, 2020.
A Spiritual Gathering for Fellowship and Nurture – Sept. 11th & 12th 2020
Friends, it has been a hard exercise of faithfulness to stay connected with each other during this time of great pause. Let’s gather online, even though it’s not our favorite way, this coming September 11th & 12th . We will treat this time as our 2020 Yearly Meeting gathering. There is a registration form on our GPYM website (greatplainsyearlymeeting.org) that will inform us of your desired participation. In response to your registration, you will receive a ZOOM invitation and instructions on how to join the meeting online. You are encouraged to join individually, as a family or in a small Covid-19 safe group (please indicate who I should send the invite info to).
The schedule will look somewhat like this with breaks worked in:
Friday, Sept 11th
6:30pm – checking in, roll call, State of Society reports
Saturday, Sept 12th
10:00am – We will gather to listen and respond to a ministering message from Noah Merrill
Lunch Break
1:30pm – Gather for more time with Noah Merrill
Special Interest Groups
We pray that the Spirit will enhance these efforts beyond our abilities and we will find joy in seeing each other via ZOOM and hearing the voices of Friends.
~ LaVonna Loesch, presiding clerk ~
Some folks from University Friends are planning to Zoom together for the virtual sessions of Great Plains Yearly Meeting, at 6:30 p.m. Friday as well as 10:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Saturday. We can gather in the library and host at least one group of 15 or less, distanced and masked. Interested? Please let Sandy know in the next couple of weeks, by September 4, so we can make suitable seating arrangements.
Hi Friends! Family Promise host week is Sept 6th through the 13th.
Family Promise of Greater Wichita has reopened the rotation program to one family and one church each week with new safety protocols.
We will be joining West Heights UMC at their church location to host the family this rotation. We take the health and safety of our guest family and our volunteers seriously. As such, we will strictly follow the guidelines of both the church and Family Promise. Under “Related files:” on the volunteer sign-up, you will find an attachment listing the changes we believe you need to know to help you make an informed decision. Additional precautions will be taken; those will be reviewed with all volunteers. We respect whatever decision you make. Please click here to view the volunteer opportunities and sign-up to help! Thank you!
– Erin & Dan DeGroot
Volunteer Coordinators, University Friends
PRAYER REQUESTS AND CONCERNS:
· Steve Grether was taken to the VA hospital by Pam whereas they found he had a heart attack. The doctors put a stent in and will do another in 4 weeks. They also found a cyst that they are treating with antibiotics. Please keep Steve, Pam and family in your prayers.
· Gordon Smith is home under hospice care with Joan and Gil helping him. Please keep them all in your daily prayers as they take one day at a time.
· 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. May we be looking for the doors God is opening, and may we have the courage to walk through them.
· Students, teachers, administrators and staff, as well as their families as school starts, in person or virtually.
Celebrating September Birthdays!
Sept. 2: Randall Hinshaw, Jamison Hankins; Sept. 4: Delores Fisher, Noah Sedlacek; Sept. 5: Becky Sharpe; Sept. 6: Caryn Wilks, Hudson Donaghue; Sept. 7: Gwen McDonald; Sept. 9: Janet Donaghue, Jackson Fouts; Sept. 12: Donna Bales, Drew Davis; Sept. 13: Jessica (Newman) Coho; Sept. 14: Jared Coho; Sept. 16: Reid Charles; Sept. 18: Katelynn Buesch; Sept. 19: Vicki Hain-Poorman; Sept. 20: Sue Wine; Sept. 21: Karl Bornhauser; Sept. 22: Pat Bentley, Gayle Davis; Sept. 23: Caroline Keehn; Sept. 24: Heather Bradshaw, Delyla Howland, Britnie Binford; Sept. 25: Cameron Chambers; Sept. 26: Arden Bradshaw, Kendra Miller, Manuel Casado, Randy Mullikin; Sept. 27: Murray Cox, Bryan Willett; Sept. 30: Diana Bowles
(40 + years)
William and Donna Cline on 9/15 for 64 years
Herbert and Fern VanGieson on 9/12 for 56 years
Dwight and Evelyn Boyd on 9/10 for 54 years
Randy and Carol Mullikin on 9/30 for 46 years
Marc and Roxann Dicker on 9/3 for 43 years
The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” — Galatians 5:14 (NIV)
A friend of mine wrote the following and I truly believe this and wanted to share it. Prayers to everyone.
– Sandy, UFC Secretary
There are no easy answers to hard questions, whether they’re on the news, coming from the doctor, a teacher, a co-worker, or a friend. There is the hope of a Savior, Jesus, who isn’t afraid, who can calm the storm inside of oneself, and who builds boats that don’t sink. That no matter how loudly the storm gets or how high the waves get – Jesus is only one word away from calming our worst fears and speaking peace into our shaking hearts.
Blessings!
