AUGUST COMPASSION OFFERING

United Church of Christ Outdoor Ministry

Many at Orchard Ridge have experienced community and spiritual renewal at Moon Beach over the years. So many of us have warm memories from across the seasons:

• From the summertime: With multigenerational family camps, autism family camps, memory family camps, and rainbow family camps. 
• From the fall: With retreats offering educational enrichment and an opportunity to create our art in community with others. 
• And from the winter: With a getaway to the peace and beauty of a north woods epiphany retreat. 

Along with Moon Beach, Daycholah Center on the shores of Green Lake, and Cedar Valley located on over 100 beautiful acres near West Bend, comprise our United Church of Christ outdoor ministry here in Wisconsin. And here at Orchard Ridge, we have a strong tradition of supporting our ministry, by participating in and volunteering to support our ministry programming. 

Now, we are asking those of us who know and love our outdoor ministry to give financially, too. With our support, we can ensure a sustainable future for Moon Beach, Daycholah Center, and Cedar Valley. And preserve our special places as sources of spiritual renewal for generations to come.

Thank you for giving generously and giving what you can. This video shares more info.

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/

Dear friends of Flicker Wild Church 

We hope this finds you well, and drawing deeply from the energies of the summer season. As a family, we just returned to Madison for a bit after being ‘up north’ as Julia remains on maternity leave through Labor Day, as we soak up as many snuggles with new baby Kindred, adventures with Reverie, multigenerational, and multispecies community as we can.

Around this time of year, when the days are still warm and the nights start to cool, many of our favorite mushrooms like chanterelles, black trumpet, and porcini start popping up. This can be a strong season of Puhpowee, an Anishinaabe word which translates or incants as “the force which causes mushrooms to push up from the earth overnight.” I’ve been meditating on Puhpowee, on the generative energies of the earth, particularly in light of dreaming of this year’s Flicker offerings and opportunities to evolve and grow this emergent experiment in outdoor, landscape attuned, and seasonally inflected spiritual community. 

Fall Equinox 2024 marks our one-year journey through the wheel of the year! We will celebrate by gathering on the lands which have been so gracious and inspiring to us this first year—back at Pop’s Knoll in Donald County Park in the unglaciated driftless hills west of Madison. We have rented Delma’s Shelter, and so we will celebrate our one-year mark with a potluck fellowship meal after our Sacred Circle, Friday September 22, 5pm. Bring something you love to share!  

Save the Date—looking ahead, we are excited to “spread our wings” in our second year. To this end, following Fall Equinox, our next two gatherings will be held at and in collaboration with the Farley Center for Peace, Justice & Sustainability. We will gather under the mother oak at the entrance to their Natural Path Sanctuary, as our “Wild Wander” moment will involve the trails that wind through their innovative, inspiring, and deeply earth-honoring green/natural burial grounds. Our vision of “Wild Church” is one in which the sacred moments of life are held by the embrace of nature, and so we are looking forward to learning more as a community about the green burial movement and being influenced by these natural burial grounds. We will meet there on Samhain, November 1, and on the Winter Solstice, December 21. 

New Growth—we’ve been working on a new website this summer! We are also excited to share that we have received fiscal sponsorship/ 501(c)3 status through Mission.Earth—tax deductible donations are live now, but stay tuned for emerging plans for a fun fundraising event. We are also in conversation and discernment with the Wisconsin Conference United Church of Christ as a new church start! Our dream is one in which Wild Churches like Flicker are as completely legitimate, self-organizing/self-sustaining, and ultimately impactful in holding space for transformative encounter as any “indoor church” or traditional spiritual community. I remain more convinced than ever that the Earth (ecosystems, climate, biodiversity) is calling out for more nature-honoring human spiritualities to pop up like mushrooms and flourish, and so we’d love to invite you all to continue with us in this journey of dreaming big for a vibrant year and years ahead for Flicker Wild Church!

Yours wildly,

Daniel, Julia, Reverie & Kindred 

Registration is now open for the Black History for a New Day (BHFAND) group course

Registration is now open for ORUCC’S group course for Black History For A New Day (BHFAND) Mondays 7-9PM Sept. 16-Nov. 18 either on Zoom or at church.  

Please join us! Those who have taken BHFAND and those who haven’t – all are welcome. As one participant states ‘We should never underestimate the impact of processing this history together in community.’ 

CLICK HERE to register by Sept. 6, 2024

Choose MONDAY EVENING Option  

Use Code ORUCC

Course fee is $300 for first time participants and $150 for those of us repeating the course, funds which support Nehemiah’s important work. Send/bring a check payable to ORUCC (with Black History in memo line) to the office by September 30. 

Check out BHFAND for a course overview. 

Contact Ann Haase Kehl at [email protected] or 608.658-2336 with any questions. Note: Ann will be away and unavailable Aug 23-31.

“Kids in the Garden”

Last call for the summer: this Sunday, August 25th

”Kids in the Garden” is our yearly summer enrichment program. During worship, children ages 6 and older (ages 5 and younger must be accompanied by a caregiver) will be invited to hear a nature-themed story, visit our Children’s Garden plot to collect herbs, and make a snack to serve after worship. This program will be offered one more time this summer, this Sunday, August 25. While there is no staffed nursery care during the summer, children of all ages are always welcome to remain in service or to visit the “Crossroads” with a caregiver as well.   

There is no regularly scheduled 9:00 a.m. Sunday School for Children and Youth during the summer. Sunday School will resume on September 8th!

SAVE THE DATE!

Welcome Back Picnic (Rain or Shine)

Sunday, September 8th, immediately after worship

Come celebrate the launch of our program year with a delicious picnic lunch prepared and served by our Hospitality Mission Team! Donations will go toward the 2025 Youth Service Trip.

Can you help with setting up and/or tearing down the outdoor picnic?

Click here to sign up

Spiritual

Nourishment

for you!

For the Month of August

For the summer months our Daily Reflections will take on a new format, and a new name: Summer Seeds for a Growing Spirituality. There will be one set of Readings for each of the summer months.



Summer Seeds for a Growing Spirituality: August

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 the church office.

Sign Up to Volunteer on Sunday Mornings Now Through the End of

September 2024!

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, an Usher, a Lay Liturgist or

to assist with Holy Communion?

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 an Usher

Click here to sign up as a Lay Liturgist

Click here to assist with Holy Communion

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