Meditation Group News

Meditation group in person at the church and via zoom

Tomorrow, Friday, August 25th the meditation group will have a hybrid session which you can choose to join us in person in the Swan Room or via Zoom.

Meditation Group Forest Bathing invitation – open to all

September 8, from 9-10:30am at Holy Wisdom Monastery

Join the meditation group for “forest bathing”, a slow walking, often sitting, contemplative experience in the woods. In forest bathing attention is paid to the sights, smells, sounds, and energy in nature. A reciprocal relationship is invited with nature – what its presence has to say to us and what we can offer to it.

The event will be facilitated by Becky Baumbach and held at Holy Wisdom Monastery in the woodland trail area. Please RSVP to Becky, [email protected], for parking info, what to bring, and weather related contingencies. Questions are welcome.

AUGUST COMPASSION OFFERING

The Great Turning Catholic Worker House of Hospitality

The Great Turning Catholic Worker Farm is a community on the west side of Madison offering hospitality and community to people experiencing homelessness. We prioritize mothers with their children, refugees, asylees, and immigrants. Guests have been referred to us by St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Parish, folks in the Meadowood and Prairie Hills neighborhoods, and soon the Catholic Multicultural Center.

A ‘house of hospitality’ within the Catholic Worker movement provides shelter, and often food and clothing, to those in need. The Catholic Worker was founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in New York in 1933 amidst the Great Depression as a way to live out Catholic Social Teaching and the Gospel values– responding to the needs of those immediately around them.

At the Great Turning, we usually expect to have from one to four adult guests and one live-in volunteer. We come together for one community meal each week (we’d like to do more, with more support), a monthly roundtable discussion, and other time together with guests depending on support needed that we can provide.

We’d like to thank all of you at Orchard Ridge UCC for your support. This is a community endeavor, and not something our organization is trying to do in isolation. In addition, we are looking for other kinds of support including meal preparation, childcare, transportation for guests, gardening, house maintenance, and financial support. Click here to see the household items to donate. Thank you!

Thank you in advance for your contribution.

VIDEO

You can make a donation by check, on the memo line, please write “compassion” and mail to ORUCC, 1501 Gilbert Road, Madison, WI 53711,

or donate online from our website. The link is https://orucc.org/contribute/support/

Spiritual

Nourishment

for you!

For the week of Aug 24 – Aug 30

Read this week’s reflections as a way to dive deeper into your spiritual practice or to get some nourishment and inspiration

for your day.

Click Here for Reflections

We are grateful for the ministry of Jeanne Moberly who is a member of Adult Faith Formation, as she puts together a set of fresh readings every week for our devotional practice at Orchard Ridge UCC. You will see these posted daily if you are part of the “Members & Friends” Facebook group. If you know someone who needs encouragement and would like the devotional mailed to them, please contact Julie Wombacher in the church office.

Thanksgiving Year-Round

For several years, ORUCC supported our Southwest neighbors with Thanksgiving food baskets or gift cards. Since 2020, ORUCC has transitioned this avenue of support to an online Thanksgiving Year-Round Fund to support neighbors needing supplemental funds for food and gasoline through Woodman’s gift cards. The gift card distribution process has been overwhelmingly positive. Our ongoing partnership with the Early Childhood Initiative (ECI); Joining Forces for Families (JFF); and Common Wealth Development (CWD) ensures that your contribution is providing direct support to our neighbors in need.

We kindly ask for your ongoing support to the Thanksgiving Year-Round Fund. Making a contribution is easy, just go to: https://orucc.org/contribute/support/ Click on the link-box “Contribute to the Thanksgiving Year-Round Fund”.

MOSES Rummage Sale

August 25 & 26

MOSES is having a rummage sale. MOSES, of which ORUCC is a congregational member, is an organization that advocates for criminal justice reform and ending systemic racism thus allowing all people to thrive. The rummage sale will be at St. Dunstan’s 6205 University Avenue (Near Allen Blvd) Saturday, August 25, 8 am to 5 pm and Sunday, August 26, 8 am to 3 pm. Items are sold for the amount the person is willing and able to pay. This policy has worked in the past both to raise funds for MOSES and to allow community people to acquire things they need.

Items needed:

tools

small appliances

household items

clothing

books

Moses is not able to accept computers, TVs, exercise equipment, sofas, futons, or baby furniture this year. If you’d like to contribute items for the sale, there is a small window of opportunity. Please bring items in good working condition to St. Dunstan’s today, August 24 (8 am to 5 pm). Please don’t bring items at any other time.

Friday Breakfast Group

 September 1

The next Friday Breakfast is set for September 1 at 8:30 am at Denny’s, 433 S. Gammon Road. All are welcome! The group meets on the first Friday of the month and includes both men and women. Join us for this informal chance to connect and converse on many topics. Contact Louise Jeanne, Link for more information.

Family Game Night

Friday, September 8

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Family Game Night returns on Friday, Sept 8, 6-8 pm! We’ll meet in Friendship Hall. Please bring a game, your family, and/or a dish to share. We are informal, so feel free to drop in when you can after work/school. We’ll return to the first Friday of the month schedule starting in October. Questions? Please contact Rachael Lancor ([email protected]

Moderator’s August Update from

Hal Evensen, ORUCC Moderator

Hello! Here’s an update on what the Leadership Team (lay leadership) has been up to the past couple of months. Some highlights:

•  On Saturday, August 19, the Leadership Team, the lay leaders of our five Ministries, and our pastors met for a morning “visioning” retreat at the Blanchards’ home. Like Pastor Julia’s recent sermon, we asked what “guiding lights” might help guide our decision-making: rather than a long-term plan, what core ideas can help us take the “next best step?” Many themes emerged, with “building community” and “helping people find God’s vision” coming to the fore. Notably, other themes emerged from the congregation during Sunday’s sermon! These are all good for lay leadership to keep in mind as we discern our way forward. I welcome you to share your own input! Please feel free to email the Moderators (below) or the pastors, or to grab one of us on Sunday.

• Since January, several people including Julie Mazer, the Ministry of Youth Faith Formation, and I updated our Safe Sanctuary Policy, with further input from Pastor Kate this summer. This policy seeks to ensure that our congregation is a haven, free of sexual misconduct or harassment, and includes guidelines for the nursery, Sunday school, and any activities involving our youth. It had been 10 years since the last update, and several clarifications, updates, and gender-inclusive terminology were incorporated. While the policy will need to be formally approved by the congregation at our annual meeting in February, Leadership Team has reviewed and approved this overdue update for use this fall, for the new programming year. Want to see it? A copy is being posted on the bulletin board outside of the kitchen, and at this link: http://bit.ly/ORUCC-SS . We will also have an informational session this fall for volunteers and any with interest!

• ORUCC Clerk Jim McNamara has been leading a team to guide a renewed Stewardship program. What is Stewardship? It’s definitely a “church word,” although you may also have used it in the context of “environmental stewardship.” In essence, we are all working to do God’s work in the world. To do this, we individually make use of the many resources God has made available to us: our talents; our time; our relationships; our wisdom; and, yes, our financial resources. Members and friends of our congregation are already doing many amazing things that impact our community. A large part of Stewardship is “raising up the good” we do in the world, expressing gratitude both for our blessings and for others, and envisioning what may lie ahead. I thank Jim and his team for their efforts to modernize our Stewardship program!



We are working to help ORUCC live into its vision statement to be Spiritually Alive, Joyfully Inclusive, and Committed to Justice and invite everyone to please feel free to reach out to any of the moderators ([email protected]) or leadership team member (see the color poster on the bulletin board) with any questions, comments, suggestions, or offerings of support! 

Purchase Cards on the table

in the Crossroads each Sunday Morning!

Updated Masking Policy

In response to recent declines in COVID infection numbers and a steady low level of local community spread, the ORUCC COVID Response Team has updated the masking policy:

• Masking is optional throughout the building
• Those with symptoms of illness should refrain from entering the building
• Individual decisions to mask or not mask are to be respected
• This policy may be revised with changes in infection number or levels of community spread 

AT ORUCC, the Members

are the Ministers!

We are seeking volunteers to serve on Sunday mornings for in-person worship. You need not be a member, simply a person who loves ORUCC and is eager to find

a place to serve!

Young people are welcome to sign up too!

Would you consider serving one or more times as

a Coffee Maker, a Welcomer, a Lay Liturgist or

to assist with Holy Communion?

It has been fairly easy finding Lay Liturgists and Communion Assistants, but much more challenging finding

Coffee-Makers and Welcomers!

Feel free to sign up as an individual, a couple, or a family!

Click here to sign up as a Coffee Maker

Click here to sign up as a Welcomer

Click here to sign up as a Lay Liturgist

Click here to assist with Holy Communion

Click here to set-up and/or tear-down for Outdoor Worship

After selecting one or more dates, you will need to click “Submit and Sign Up” at the bottom of the page, then enter your name & email address, then click “Sign Up Now.”

Questions or problems signing up?

Contact Ken Pennings at [email protected] or 608-556-2371.

Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ

1501 Gilbert Road

Madison, WI 53711

608-271-7212

Office Hours: M-Th 8:30-12:30