First UCC Richmond

We wish a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the following members and friends who are celebrating their July birthdays:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the children of our church who celebrate a birthday this month:

We also wish a HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to the following members whose wedding anniversary is in July:

Welcome to the World!

Blake Ann Schrote, born June 12, 6 lbs 13 oz, 19 inches long.

Blake and her mom and dad, Niki & Ryan Schrote, are all well! We give thanks and share your joy!

Eastern Association Spring Meeting Notes,

June 3, 2017

On June 3rd, Joe Burkhart and myself went to this awesome meeting which talked about "small churches" and how to gain and interpret "Vitality." The presentation was done by Rev. Dr. Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi from the national level of the United Church of Christ. Her main interest is in gathering statistics of churches.

It was very interesting to hear her say that we should no longer worry excessively about bringing in more youth to our congregations. Instead, she encouraged us to focus on the 40-year-old-and-up group. Our churches cannot compete with the kind of churches youth are attracted to such as the "Rock Church." Only 6% of members in UCC churches is under the age of 40. End of Life needs and the needs of our present congregation mix is what we need to concentrate on.

Gifts of the small church: Nimbleness/agility (can do things more quickly), adaptability, specialization (individuals can feel more special), creativity/experimentation (can try new things and failing is okay!), connectivity/community (make sure we don't keep new people outside our circle).

Cultivation vitality includes focusing on missions. Let go of working harder or trying harder on things you are already doing that have yielded little fruitfulness.

Here are three examples of small churches and how they addressed vitality:

• A church in Colorado with 25 - 26 active members decided to embrace the calling to help the mentally challenged. They voted to be a WISE congregation to help the mentally challenged and have weekly support group meetings and offer help to the community.
• A church in Pennsylvania with 40 active members decided to concentrate on opioid abuse. They created a memorial next to the church asking members in the community to offer names of loved ones who have died due to this addiction. Once collected, they held a community-wide service for all who passed from this terrible addiction.
• A church in Massachusetts with 100 active members had a history of being a neighborhood church. They decided to add a service for the developmentally disabled. They also did a lot with music in their neighborhood as they were blessed with some very good singers.

Vitality is not about size, growth or numbers. Bigger is not always better! Vitality is our strength of connection with God, one another and the world. Vitality is the potential of the congregation for accomplishing the real outcome of ministry which is making disciples and changing the world.

There are five "musts" that a church needs to remain vital:

1. Excitement about the future in your church.
2. A congregation who is always ready to try something new. (Don't get discouraged with failure!)
3. The church seeks out and uses the gifts of members of all ages.
4. The church is a positive force in the community... works for social justice/advocacy and charity work.
5. The church helps members live out their faith in daily life.

A great tool we have here in our church to help figure out what missions we need to accomplish is our "Be The Church" banner. It has been suggested that we need to focus on one of the many things listed on that banner to move us toward being a more vital church.

For any questions or ideas, please feel free to contact me at 586-291-0615 or email me at: eltringhamkaren@gmail.com. It was a great meeting!

Sincerely,

Karen Eltringham

Open and Affirming News

Put this date on your calendar and come to church!

August 20th!

Rev. Henry Brinker, pastor of 1st UCC of New Baltimore, and I will exchange pulpits for the morning. Rev. Brinker has faithfully served the New Baltimore church for about ten years. He’s an openly gay minister with a faith-journey to share along with real-life struggles and joys. After worship he will have an open dialogue with our members. Rev. Brinker will talk about why it matters for a congregation to go through this process and then be open and clear about their intension to welcome everyone.

Perhaps in the Fall or during our annual meeting in January, we will be ready as a congregation to vote on whether or not we believe we are called to covenant together to officially become an Open and Affirming congregation.

Here is the working Open and Affirming covenant that our 1st UCC welcoming/ONA committee has written after much study, discussion, prayer and conversation with many of you. This is the statement that we will study, discuss, pray over and finally vote on as a congregation.
Rooted in the belief that we are all God’s children, we honor and affirm all people no matter race, gender, age, sexual orientation and expression, gender identity, nationality, immigration status, ethnicity, marital status, physical ability, mental ability, political affiliation or theological perspective. We believe in the message of the new commandment given by Jesus to love one another. Acting with this as model and compass,  no matter your past, present or future journey we welcome all to God’s table, to join in fellowship, and to be challenged together in our call to love, worship and serve God.

—adopted by the 1st UCC

welcoming/ONA committee

The Gift of Time

The Kroger Community Rewards Program has earned our church $95.89 during the months of November, December & January. Thanks to all who have participated. Through this program Kroger donates to animal shelters, community center and educational groups throughout Michigan. Lets keep this program working for us and help Kroger assist in the needs of our local communities!

If you have not already, enroll now to help benefit our church.

Kroger is committed to helping communities grow and prosper. Each year, they assist hundreds of local nonprofit organizations, schools and churches working to make the communities they share better places to live and work.

First United Church of Christ is now registered as a non-profit organization that can benefit from the Kroger Community Rewards Program.

You will still earn points toward your fuel savings as always, only now our church can benefit as well from you shopping at Kroger. First UCC will get money from Kroger based on the percentage of spending as it relates to the total spending of all participating Kroger Community Rewards organizations.

All you have to do is enroll with your Kroger Plus Card and use the church’s new NPO number: 97155

See the following notes to help you enroll and get a Kroger Plus Card if you don’t have one.

TO USE THE KROGER

COMMUNITY REWARDS PROGRAM:

* Simply register online at krogercommunityrewards.com

* Be sure to have your Kroger Plus card handy and register your card with your organization after you sign up.

* If you do not yet have a Kroger Plus card, they are available at the customer service desk at any Kroger.

* Click on Sign In/Register

Most participants are new online customers, so you must click on SIGN UP

TODAY in the ‘New Customer?’ box.

Sign up for a Kroger Rewards Account by entering zip code, clicking on your favorite store, enter your email

address and create a password, 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.

Enter NPO number (97155) or name of organization,

select organization from list and click on confirm.

* 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 our group until you register your card(s).

* Do you use your phone number at the register? Call 877-576-7587 to get your Kroger Plus card number.

* Members must swipe their registered Kroger Plus card or use the phone number that is related to their registered Kroger Plus card when shopping for each purchase to count.

* You must re-enroll annually for your points to count for First UCC.

Also we will schedule a special sign up day at church for those of you who need assistance with online registration.

Thank you for your support!
The Finance Committee

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.

Coffee

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.

Chocolate & Cocoa

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.

Tea

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.