News – Peace United Church of Christ

News from July 26

Vacation Bible School is scheduled for August 3-5th. Our theme will be Compassion Camp. We would welcome volunteers to come be part of this abbreviated VBS program. Please let us know if your child(ren) will be able to attend. 9am-11am on the 3rd and 4th, 9-12:30pm on the 5th. We are also in touch with the County about holding this event during COVID times – currently they feel it would be fine to hold the event. We do plan to have socially distant games and activities. If you have concerns or questions, please let Michael know.

Ordination is one of the most important moments in the life of a minister, and our Pastor is being ordained on August 2nd at 3pm! All are invited to join online. You can find more information on our website and the link will be shared in the bulletin next week. You are invited to bring a candle to church next week as a gift for Michael to light during the ordination service, shining light on his first steps in ordained ministry. Please pray for Michael as he takes this final step to become a “Reverend!”

News from July 7

PRAYER PARTNERS
2020-2021

The lots have been drawn! If you volunteered to be a prayer partner, you’ll find your name and one or two other names listed below. Whether your prayer partners are people you know well or people unfamiliar to you, please remember them in your daily prayers from now until we draw names again after next Easter. If you have no idea, except for the name, of who a prayer partner is, please ask us here in the office.

• Nolene McHugh
• Susan Schrader

• Andrew, Emily, Leah, Anton & Savanna Schrader
• Matt Arterburn

• Ralph & Deb Ritchie
• Michael Vollbrecht

• Roberta Berroth
• Brock, Presha & Cecelia Emmert

News from July 5

Pastor Michael will be on vacation July 12th-20th, returning to the office on July 21st. The next two Sundays, worship will be online! You are invited to watch the service from home OR join members of the Consistory who will open the Annex and “turn on the lights (and the tv!)” for you to watch as a group. If you want to join in person, worship will start at 9:30 am, like usual. During vacation, Michael will be out of reach by e-mail, text, and social media. If there is an emergency, please call the church office and Donna will contact the on-call pastor for help.

News from May 19

I would like you to know about the food distribution next week. We have been given the (DHD) Disaster Boxes once again for the Families affected by the Covid-19.

We will be distributing the boxes to Eskridge area families on Wednesday, May 20^th from 2-4 at the Community Church in Eskridge. Come at 2 if possible as we distributed 30 boxes last month and ran out by 2:30. We will have more boxes but not sure how many more.

We will be distributing the boxes in Alma at Community Care Ministries for anyone else in the county on Thursday, May 21^st fro 10-4. We do close from 12:15-12:45 for lunch.

If we still have boxes left we will distribute the following week until they are gone on Monday 1-4, Tuesday and Thursday 10-4. If you have any questions please call either office, 785-456-7872 x107 or 785-321-9600 and ask for Carla.

I believe that Alta Vista will have these boxes as well, but not sure when they will be distributing them.

We also have funds available to help with rent or utilities, so if you know of anyone who might need that help, please send them our way. They can call the above numbers. There are other things we can help with as well, just have them give me a call as I can usually find a resource to help.

Thanks.

Carla Malone

A recap of the food program to the library:

Bags with 5 meals will be handed out to kids on Tuesdays starting June 2 through July 21, at 11:00am to 12:00 noon. These meals will be handed outside on the sidewalk along the parking area of the library.

This is for all kids up to 18 yrs of age, and up to 21 for special needs persons that participate in school programs.

There will not be any adult meals provided this year.

Meals are prepackaged shelf stable meals with shelf stable milk. At this point we do not know if we will be providing fresh fruit. The food is provided by catholic charities.

If there is inclement weather, our site will be closed. This includes storms, rain or severe heat. I will have to find out if that means we schedule it for another day.

Please let me know if you have any questions about this and if I can provide any additional information.

Best, Lorelei

News from April 24

Wanted to share that Crosswinds, the counseling service, has a COVID-19 hotline established at (620) 343-2211, Opt #4.

COMMUNITY CARE MINISTERIES IS OPEN AND READY TO SERVE THOSE IN NEED!
WAMEGO: MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (closed 12:15-12:45 for lunch); 407 Ash, 785-456-7872

ALMA: MONDAY, TUESDAY AND THURSDAY 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (closed 12:15-12:45 for lunch), 246 E 9th, 785-321-9600

News from April 17

Community Care Ministries in Alma will be distributing food from Disaster Household Distribution (DHD) for any family in Wabaunsee County that has been affected by the Covid-19 situation, such as Loss of Job, Cut in Hours, or illness related to the virus.

This will be on Thursday, April 23rd in Alma at 246 E 9th St. from 10-4:30. We will also be distributing in Eskridge at the Eskridge Community Church on Monday, April 27th from 2-4. IF you cannot come that day, we will still have it available on the following Monday 1-4:30, Tues.and Thurs. 10-4:30.

The distribution will be packaged and ready to go, you only need to call in at Alma to 785-321-9600 when you arrive and we will bring it outside and ask that you stay in your car until we go back inside. In Eskridge, we will have the boxes in a pickup and will set on a table for you when you pull up so you can load it yourself. We will need to take down your name and the number people in your home for reporting purposes.

We do have some other resources available for these families as well. You may call the same number if you need more information.

Community Care Ministries – Alma Outreach 785-321-9600 or Wamego 785-456-7872 x 107

News from April 5

Edna Palenske will be celebrating her 100th birthday on April 17 and the family is requesting cards to be sent to Edna Palenske at Bonner Springs Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, 520 E. Morse, Bonner Springs, KS 66012.

News from March 1

Lent Has Begun
During our Lenten Study this year, we will be focusing on our identity. We will ask questions like, “Who, and What, Am I?” We’ll ask these questions while watching and discussing the movie, “The Way” with Martin Sheen. We’ll discover, perhaps, that the best way to discover who we are is to see ourselves in relationship to one another. In other words, we are most ourselves when we are caring for and paying attention to those around us. Our dinners in Lent will begin on March 4th at 6:30pm. We’ll order pizza for dinner that night, and plan to watch the entire movie. It’s exactly two hours long, so prepare to stay slightly longer that evening. The other weeks we’ll meet from 6:30 to 8pm. See you on Wednesday!

Thank you to everyone who joined us last Tuesday for our pancake supper. Your donations went to support our youth activities. Your support is always appreciated! Having you there and seeing your smiles, hearing your laughter, and eating all those pancakes was a real treat. We’ll do it again next year!

News from February 23

Lent Begins Wednesday
The Lenten season begins this coming Wednesday with our Ash Wednesday service at 7pm here in the sanctuary. All are invited to our Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper the day before on Tuesday the 25th at 6:30pm. During our Lenten Study this year, we will be focusing on our identity. We will ask questions like, “Who, and What, Am I?” We’ll ask these questions through watching and discussing the movie, “The Way” with Martin Sheen. We’ll discover, perhaps, that the best way to discover who we are is to see ourselves in relationship to one another. In other words, we are most ourselves when we are caring for and paying attention to those around us.
Our dinners in Lent will begin on March 4th at 6:30pm. We’ll order pizza for dinner that night, and plan to watch the entire movie. It’s exactly two hours long, so prepare to stay slightly longer that evening. The other weeks we’ll meet from 6:30 to 8pm. Looking forward to seeing you there!

News from February 16

Please sign up this Sunday to help with our PANCAKE SUPPER on Tuesday February 25th. Our acolytes and youth are invited to stay after our meeting on that day to help with dinner. The meal starts at 6:30 pm and we look forward to seeing you there!

This is a “think ahead” message to all those planning to attend a White Memorial Camp session. If you sign up THIS MONTH, you’ll get $25 off the cost of your registration. Already know you’ll attend? Let Pastor Michael know and we’ll get you signed up!

Adult Sunday School is in full swing. In today’s lesson, we’ll talk about what it means to have a relationship with God. All are welcome.

Mark your calendar to help at Harvester’s on Friday, February 28th. Thank you!

News from February 2

Many churches plan a Pancake Supper the day before Lent begins. This is often called “Shrove Tuesday,” or Mardi Gras! We would like to open this event to the community, and will need pancake flippers and other cooks & volunteers to help with the meal. Please let Michael know ASAP if you can help so we can begin planning (and buy the syrup!)

Adult Education will resume on February 2nd. For the last month you’ve seen papers out asking you to let us know what you’d like to discuss. Please do take a moment to fill out this form. If you don’t see anything that interests you, let us know what does. Plan to join us next Sunday after the service where we’ll talk more about where we’d like to go as a group!

YOUTH: Would you be interested in a dinner & movie at the church on February 21st OR a church lock-in on March 20th? Please let the Pastor know so we can plan one of these events.

Also, YOUTH! Are you in grades 7-12 and would like to attend the National Youth Event at Perdue University? This four day event brings together UCC youth from across the country. Dates are July 22-25 and financial support is available through the Conference. If youth would like to go, we will coordinate a bus with other local churches, and Pastor Michael will also plan to be there. We need to know by February 10th of anyone’s interest.

News from January 26

Thank you for a successful annual meeting and an enjoyable potluck! We have re-printed copies of the annual report which can be found in the annex. Apologies for the snafu that kept a few pages our last week. Donna says ditto!

Many churches plan a Pancake Supper the day before Lent begins. This is often called “Shrove Tuesday,” or Mardi Gras! We would like to open this event to the community, and will need pancake flippers and other cooks & volunteers to help with the meal. Please let Michael know ASAP if you can help so we can begin planning (and buy the syrup!)

Adult Education will resume on February 2nd. For the last month you’ve seen papers out asking you to let us know what you’d like to discuss. Please do take a moment to fill out this form. If you don’t see anything that interests you, let us know what does. Plan to join us next Sunday after the service where we’ll talk more about where we’d like to go as a group!

YOUTH: Would you be interested in a dinner & movie at the church on February 21st OR a church lock-in on March 20th? Please let the Pastor know so we can plan one of these events.

Also, YOUTH! Are you in grades 7-12 and would like to attend the National Youth Event at Perdue University? This four day event brings together UCC youth from across the country. Dates are July 22-25 and financial support is available through the Conference. If youth would like to go, we will coordinate a bus with other local churches, and Pastor Michael will also plan to be there. We need to know by February 10th of anyone’s interest.

News from January 12

Next week is our annual meeting. The church will provide a meat option as the main course. Please bring sides and desserts to share.

News from January 5

Pastor Michael will be on vacation from December 25th through January 3rd, and will be at a church conference from the 3rd to the 9th, returning on January 10th. If pastoral support is needed during this time, please contact the church office.

All voting members are asked to be present for the 2019 annual meeting, which will be held after an abbreviated worship service January 19th. Any friend of the church is, of course, welcome to attend the meeting and the lunch that will follow.

Any one who has a report to be printed in the annual meeting booklet is asked to have that report into the office by Tuesday, January 7th.

News from December 29

News from December 22

News from December 15

There’s still time to sing with us. Join us each Sunday between now and Christmas Eve for choir practice.

Advent is a time of expectation as we wait for the birth of Jesus. Likewise, many mothers find themselves in need of support as they care for an infant child. Between now and Christmas Eve, bring the following items for donation to Community Care Ministries: baby blankets, baby formula, diapers/pull-ups, and baby wipes. As you do your holiday shopping, add an item to your cart and help an expectant mother this season!

News from December 8

Join us after the service today to decorate for the holidays! Many hands make light work and thank you for helping to make Peace a festive place to be!

We will continue to meet at 9am each Sunday between now and Christmas Eve to prepare for our special music presentation starring YOU, the choir members of Peace. All are welcome!

God’s Children of Peace will be caroling after school this Tuesday. You’re welcome to join us at Alma Manor as we walk through the halls spreading joy and singing songs.

News from November 24

Meet us in the Annex following the service next week, December 1st, for coffee & pastries and a short conversation on the vision of Peace Church. We will celebrate what we see here already, and talk about what we hope to see in the future. Please join us!

News from November 1

In the weeks ahead, we will begin talking about the vision of Peace Church: where we have been and where we are headed. I invite you to start answering these questions: “What do I see when I look at Peace Church?” “What do I want to see?” More to come!
Also, we will have a Christmas Choir! Start warming up those voices now!

News from October 13

Next week is Mission Fest! Invite your friends! Please bring a dish to share: a casserole, a salad, or a dessert. Do you have a mission or non-profit that is important to you? Would you like to talk about it during Mission Fest? Let Michael know!

Ralph, Presha, and Michael will be in Tulsa this week for the Kansas-Oklahoma Conference Annual Meeting. Please pray for safe travels as they participate in this important event in the life of the church.

Our weekly grief group will not meet again until November 3rd.

News from September 15

Our church runs thanks to volunteers like you! At the end of this year, both Ralph and Janeen will have completed their service to the Consistory. Would you like to be part of the future of Peace and play a role in what we’ll do next? Please consider joining the governing body of this church. We need you! Speak to Pastor Michael or Ralph if you are interested.
We are looking to schedule an event or two for middle/high school youth this fall. Could you host a group at your house for dinner? Have an idea on a place to take the group for an outing? Instead of staying inside the church, we want to get out and explore! Talk to Pastor Michael about any ideas you have. We will also be planning an end-of-year all-ages church event & lock-in, so stay tuned!
As we plan for MissionFest, is there a group you’d like to invite to speak to us about the work they are doing? Let us know!

News from September 8

We are looking to schedule an event or two for middle/high school youth this fall. Could you host a group at your house for dinner? Have an idea on a place to take the group for an outing? Instead of staying inside the church, we want to get out and explore! Talk to Pastor Michael about any ideas you have. We will also be planning an end-of-year all-ages church event & lock-in, so stay tuned!

As we plan for MissionFest, is there a group you’d like to invite to speak to us about the work they are doing? Let us know!

And finally, “Harvesting Hope” is the 2019 event theme for the American Cancer Society Relay For Life of Wabaunsee County on September 14 at the Alma City Park. Activities begin with a free-will donation breakfast served from 7:00-9:30am at Peace. At 8:00am, the 2-mile fun run starts at the park. You can walk, run or stroll, all while you wear your best “farming” costume. $5 suggested donation to participate. Families and pets are welcome.

Family-friendly activities continue in the park from 9:00am-1:00pm. Kids activities including exploring farm implements, “farmer” costume contest, yard games and much more. Silent auction and a luminaria ceremony in honor and memory of cancer survivors, as well as lunch are planned. A free meal will be provided for cancer survivors and their caregiver at 11:00am.

The entire Wabaunsee County community is invited to participate in this family-friendly event.

News from September 1

Our Tuesday after-school programs – God’s Children of Peace and Acolytes – are now in full swing! It’s not too late to join in, so if you know of a child that might benefit from these programs, please let them know about it!

Today we hold worship at Alma Manor. If you would like to join us, please do!

Now that the school year has started, here’s a reminder about when Pastor Michael is in the office. He is here all day on Tuesdays, and from 9-12pm (or later) on Thursdays. He works from home on Fridays. Pastoral visits are made by appointment.

Are you interested in having Mission Fest in October? Want to help Michael organize it? Let him know!

Thank you to everyone who has kept the cemetery mowed over the past month. We will have a phone list of mowers to provide soon, and ask that you call the next mower on the list after your turn so they can keep an eye on the cemetery and mow when needed.

News from August 18

Recently, the air conditioner in the Annex stopped working. We determined that the entire unit needed to be replaced. The Consistory approved the $3,350 purchase of a new unit, which is now working.

Our Grief Share group will begin on September 1st following the service. If you are interested in participating or know someone who might benefit from this type of group, please let us know.

We are in need of an adult to join us during the upcoming year to continue our Acolyte program from 5 to 5:45 pm. If you are available, please let us know. Our after school programs begin on Tuesday, August 27th.

Remember: We will not meet here next Sunday but will gather at Camp White beginning at 10:30am. The church is providing pulled pork to all guests, but feel free to bring a side dish, beverage, etc. Plenty of games inside and out. You might also bring a lawn chair!

News from August 4

We look forward to our youth trip to Kansas City on Friday and Saturday! We plan to have pizza for dinner and continental breakfast at Kansas City UCC before heading out. Please let Pastor Michael know if you could bring breakfast foods for the group to share, or would like to donate for the pizza order. Want to tag along? Chaperones are welcome! Details on drop-off/pick-up will be made during announcements and posted to Facebook.

We will begin a 12-week grief & loss recovery group starting in late August/early September. A notice has been put in the Signal, and we are inviting anyone in the community to join us. The date & time has not yet been set. If you or someone you know would like to attend, please let us know in the church office and tell us your preferred day(s) to meet.