We wish a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the following members and friends who are celebrating their July birthdays:
07 - Joselyn Manska
10 - Tom Hebel
14 - Shelley Champion
19 - Tim Franklin
22 - Shelly Handrow
23 - Sharlene Haws
23 - Sandy Knoell
26 - Erin Dunsmore
30 - Justine Achatz
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the children of our church who celebrate a birthday this month:
05 - Robert Plucinshi
We also wish a HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to the following members and friends whose wedding anniversary is in July:
11 - Tim & Hope Fair
23 - Darrel & Sharlene Haws
24 - Dean & Shelly Handrow
B E S T
W I S H E S
T O Y O U !
Member in Discernment
Traci Bartell continues the journey of discernment that may lead her to ordination as a pastor in the United Church of Christ. The evaluation for three days is a process Traci will use to determine her strengths and weaknesses, become more self aware, and develop a plan for self improvement in relationship to skills necessary to be a pastor. This tool is one step of many that UCC members in discernment all over the country walk through. The greatest gift that First UCC can give Traci right now is love and support offered through prayer. Traci has taken quite a journey to get to this point. Your prayers are certain to assist her on all the steps that lay ahead.
Even If You’re Asymptomatic, the Coronavirus Can Do Damage
Since the early days of the novel coronavirus outbreak, infectious disease experts have recognized that some people who contract the virus do not develop a fever, cough, or any of the infection’s other hallmark symptoms. These apparently “asymptomatic” cases may make up a large portion of all Covid-19 infections. Estimates vary widely, but many — including a recent mathematical model from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — suggest that somewhere between 20% and 50% of infectees never experience noticeable symptoms.
This is a problem for public health officials because asymptomatic carriers can likely still spread the virus to others. Their lack of apparent symptoms makes the virus tricky to monitor and corral. On the other hand, it would be comforting if a large percentage of people with Covid-19 are skating through without any apparent ill effects.
But some recent findings have turned up “subclinical” effects in people with Covid-19 who never develop noticeable virus symptoms. These could indicate underlying risks for asymptomatic patients. Just be smart, be adult; practice safety precautions, and when out in public maintain a six-foot distance from others and wear a mask.
Shop at Kroger?
How about letting us be your non-profit for the Kroger Rewards Program. If you do not have a Kroger Plus card, you can get one at the Kroger desk. Then, register on-line for a Kroger Community Rewards account. By registering us as your NPO (non-profit organization), we get credit.
Visit Kroger's website to register if you haven't yet or go to http://www.kroger.com for more information.
Register online at krogercommunityrewards.com
On the Kroger Community Rewards site:
- Click on Community Rewards and enter your Kroger Plus Card number.
- Enter NPO— First United Church of Christ—Richmond TY 543—non-profit #97155
If you don’t worship in person with us, but do Facebook live, you can still contribute to us via the Community Rewards Program.
Please let your friends and neighbors know so they, too, can make us the recipient of their Kroger shopping. It does not matter if the Kroger you shop at is in Ohio or anywhere else—we can be credited. Thank you, thank you, thank you for considering this, and us.
If you do not have an email account, ask at the Kroger desk how you can be entered in the Community Rewards Program or call 1-800-krogers. Thanks in advance for listing First United Church of Christ—Richmond. Blessings to you and yours.
Pastor KatieD
- Be sure to have your Kroger Plus card handy and register your card with your organization after you sign up.
- Don’t have a Kroger Plus card? The cards are available at the customer service desk at any Kroger.
- Click on “Sign In/Register.”
- If you are a new online customer, click on “SIGN UP TODAY” in the “New Customer?” box.
- Sign up for a Kroger Rewards Account: enter zip code, click on favorite store, enter your email address, create a password and agree to the terms and conditions.
- You will then get a message to check your email inbox and click on the link within the body of the email.
- Click on “My Account” and use your email address and password to proceed to the next step.
- Click on “Edit Kroger Community Rewards information” and input your Kroger Plus card number.
- Update or confirm your information.
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Enter the MVSO NPO number (AF771) or name of organization, select organization from list and click on confirm. (First United Church of Christ-Richmond TY 543. Non-profit #97155.).
- To verify you are enrolled correctly, you will see your organization’s name on the right side of your information page.
- REMEMBER, purchases will not count for your group until after you register your card.
- Do you use your phone number at the register? Call 877-576-7587 to get your Kroger Plus card number.
- You must swipe your registered Kroger Plus card or use the phone number that is related to your registered Kroger Plus card when shopping for each purchase to count.
Our church doors may be closed, but the grass still grows...
Thanks to those volunteers who keep our lawn looking good through the growing season. We appreciate your help. If anyone else is interested in lending a hand to keep our church grounds beautiful, you can sign up in two different ways:
The schedule for each month is on the back table in the narthex. Pick a week and sign your name, or you can call the church office (586-727-3155) and I will tell you which weeks are available. Rich Weinert has also posted a Sign-up Schedule on line with Sign Up Genius.com. You can email Rich at richweinert@comcast.net to get the link and check it out.
Thank you.
The Gift of Time
Too many of our older and disabled neighbors are lonelyand isolated. They long for
just a brief visit now and then from someone who will take the time to sit and chat. And other families in our community are struggling to take care of a loved one at home. For these full-time caregivers, a break to run errands, go to their own doctor appointments, or just relax for an hour is often impossible because their parent or spouse cannot be left alone.
If you have a few hours, once or twice a month, to visit or just sit with an older or disabled adult, your gift of time will make a huge difference for our lonely and struggling neighbors. No hands-on-care or nursing experience is needed.
For more information, call the Interfaith Volunter Caregivers at 586-757-5551. [Learn more about our work at www.ivcinfo.org]
Please Support the Horseback Riding Therapy for Keith
First UCC has committed to paying for two horseback-riding therapy sessions per month for our friend, Keith Murphy. Keith has cerebral palsy as well as injuries sustained by abuse when he was a baby. Riding therapy helps him with his sense of balance and coordination. And he loves it!
You can contribute to Keith’s joy and overall well-being by contributing to his horseback-riding therapy fund. The cost of each session is $70. Some of our members have made contributions to this fund in honor of birthdays andanniversaries. Some have organized family gifts to the fund. Put your contributions in the box on the oval table in the narthex. Or include them along with your offering, clearly marked: Keith’s Riding Therapy.
Lost and Found Box
If you’ve left anything behind after worship, look in our Lost & Found Box which is in the furnace room next to the refrigerator.
Call to Care Team:
Shelley Champion...586-255-0387
Due to a parishioner allergy:
First United Church of Christ is now a pineapple free zone.
Please refrain from lotions, gums, fruit snacks, fruit juices, perfumes, air fresheners and any other scent or flavoring with pineapple in it.
Please do not bring anything for coffee hour that contains pineapple. This is really serious. Let's all do our best to take care of each other!
Our church now offers to “Text” or “Call” UCC members and friends who may not have email to receive important news from our church.
We are working on a new way to keep all our members and friends informed about important news such as the death of someone in our church family. We can continue to communicate such news by email, or we can call or send a text message to your phone.
If you would like to receive text messages regarding church news, please fill out the form below, cut it out and place it on the offering plate or mail it to the church office. Be sure to include the name of your cell phone service provider (ATT, Verizon, Sprint, etc.). If you would rather get an old fashioned phone call, fill in your home phone number and we will relay church announcements with a phone call.
If we do not have your email address, and you would like to receive our church announcements, please fill out the form below, cut and place it on the offering plate or mail it to the church office.
Equal Exchange:
Justice in every cup. Compassion in every bite.
Small Farmers! Big Change!
New products are in!!
Try some honey from Guatemala. Try the new K-cups for your Keurig coffee maker! Try the chocolate chips in your favorite recipe! Try the new chocolate raspberry bar! It is amazing. All products are in the basement of the church. Make your choices and put your money in the silver tin. If you have questions about prices, contact Shelley Champion (248-804-6915).
Equal Exchange's mission is to build long-term trade partnerships that are economically just and environmentally sound, to foster mutually beneficial relationships between farmers and consumers and to demonstrate, through our success, the contribution of worker co-operatives and Fair Trade to a more equitable, democratic and sustainable world.
At Equal Exchange, our longstanding relationships with coffee co-ops allow us to source the best beans from each harvest. Then we carefully bring out the finest characteristics in these amazing coffee beans with each batch we roast.
Equal Exchange chocolates and cocoas are crafted using only the purest ingredients, grown with care by small farmer co-ops. We source from these small farmer organizations because we believe they are the heart and soul of the Fair Trade movement.
Our Fair Trade and organic teas come from our small farmer partners in India, Sri Lanka and South Africa. Most teas on the shelf - even Fair Trade teas - come from plantations where tea workers have little say. Join us in supporting a tea model in which farmers control their futures.