Children/Youth Special Musical Offerings

We have many children and youth who love to share their musical talents during the holiday season! This Sunday, 12/17, we will have an opportunity to hear our children play holiday pieces they have prepared before worship as a prelude (beginning at 9:50), and after service for about 20 minutes. We celebrate the hard work and gifts of our youth!

DECEMBER COMPASSION OFFERING

THE CHRISTMAS FUND

The Christmas Fund is an annual special offering of the United Church of Christ. Each year at Christmas, UCC members are invited to give to this fund, created for the benefit of clergy and lay workers in our denomination. Orchard Ridge UCC has participated in generous ways for many years. 

Funds are disbursed in a timely and sensitive manner to benefit retired clergy with inadequate pensions, surviving clergy spouses whose needs may be great following the death of their spouse, retired church workers who often lack adequate pension plans, and currently serving pastors confronted with emergency financial needs. 

This year’s theme comes from John 1:16: “From Christ’s fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” The presence of God in our lives equips us to respond generously. 

Throughout December we will hear specific accounts of ways The Christmas Fund has proved essential for those who lead us in worship and mission across the United Church of Christ. Funds are collected by The Pension Boards of the UCC and are distributed carefully and thoughtfully for maximum benefit. 

Thank you for giving generously

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/

Sermon Talk Backs

Sundays at 11:15 am in the Alfred Swan Room

Come share in an opportunity to discuss how the sermon of the day touched you spiritually. This is hosted and facilitated by members of the Ministry of Adult Faith Formation.

Holiday greeting cards available in the Crossroads!

Shop local (really local!) and support housing stability by purchasing your holiday greeting cards at ORUCC! There is a HUGE selection of Christmas and winter-themed cards on display in the Crossroads. In the past year we have raised over $1500 thanks to YOU! -Peg Knueve & LuAnn Greiner

Christmas Eve Morning:

Christmas Carol Sing-along service

Christmas Eve is a Sunday this year, so we will still have our regular 10 a.m. worship service. This will be a more informal, cozy service, with a Christmas Carol sing-along,

and an invitation to wear your Christmas Jammies!

Holiday Gift Tree to Support our Neighbors:

Return This Sunday!

If you took a tag to support the Early Childhood Initiative (ECI) in our neighborhood, please purchase, wrap, and return gifts (along with the gift tag from the tree) by December 17th! Talk to Pastor Kate for details.

All Church Retreat January 12-14, 2024

Spiritually Alive:

Rooted and Grounded in Love

Hello friends, it is that time again:

our January All Church Retreat is booked for us at Daycholah Retreat Center on Green Lake for Friday January 12 – Sunday January 14. Registration is open from TODAY December 14- January 4. We encourage you to register as soon as possible. Register here and please pay registration fees on the website.

Pastor Kate & Pastor Julia are collaborating by organizing a special time of restoration and renewal for our whole church. Our worship theme in the New Year at ORUCC is “Faith in Action.” We believe living our faith out in the world requires deep spiritual nurture, so our All Church Retreat theme will be aimed at deepening our spiritual reserves through spiritual practice, titled “Spiritually Alive: Rooted and Grounded in Love.”

We know our families and children look forward to this time, and we love that those who value intergenerational fellowship and are able to make an effort to join, if only for the day on Saturday. Let us know if this is you!

If you’d like to join for the whole weekend the cost is $200 for adults and $140 for children (children under 5 are free). This includes lodging for two nights and meals Friday night (they do not allow potluck anymore for health code reasons), three meals Saturday and one meal Sunday. The church is able to supplement part of the weekend financially from our budget, which is already reflected in the cost.

We have partial and full scholarships available, so please reach out to us if financial help would make this more accessible for your family, or if you’d like to pay extra to sponsor someone anonymously.

Here are the registration links again:

REGISTRATION FORM

PAYMENT SITE

We cannot wait to share time with you in the New Year!

Julia & Kate

Youth Service Trip Fundraisers:

ORUCC Post Office

and Culver’s Night!

This is the last Sunday (December 17) to bring your holiday cards if you would like to “send” them through the ORUCC post office. 50 cent suggested donation per card. Make sure you also stop by to see if you have received any cards!

Culver’s Night December 19th: Join our youth for dinner at Culver’s on Mineral Point Road! This year, as an additional bonus, we will have youth at tables for conversation if you’d like to come have dinner with our teens. We get a portion of all sales that evening, so please invite your family and friends.

Name Tags

The second batch of name tags is here! Please check to see if yours has arrived. The name tag board will be on the Gilbert Street side of the Crossroads. Magnetic name tags will be on the white board. Lanyard and pins will be in the tray below. If you need a “lanyard for your name tag” we have a few hanging on the side of the board. (We will order more name tags in January.)

Sign Up Now Through the End of June 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, 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 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.

Mark Your Calendars for the upcoming all-church 

Faith in Action Brunch 

Sunday, February 11, 2023, 11:15am

The Ministry of Christian Witness & Service is hosting this intergenerational event to: 

– Gather as a community & enjoy a meal together

– Inspire new connections

– Learn about and raise up our individual and collective outreach and justice work within and beyond ORUCC

– Have fun!



You won’t want to miss it. More details to come in January 2024!

Updates from the Ministry of Christian Witness & Service (CWS)

Compassion Offerings:  Our CWS team is responsible for designating a recipient organization for the monthly compassion offerings. We invite you to be a part of this process! Consider a non-profit that aligns with our church mission and that you are willing to help us promote. Then, follow the instructions on this form: Compassion Offering Request Form (google.com) . The Ministry of Christian Witness & Service will review and consider your proposal at one of our monthly meetings. 

Outreach Support Initiatives:  Each year, CWS is charged with allocating monies from a designated outreach support fund that in turn helps organizations locally and globally to carry out good works in the world. Here are some highlights of fund allocation in 2023:

Youth mission trip chaperone subsidy: $1500

The Village Diaper Bank: $600

UCC Global Ministries (middle east support): $2000

Mary House of Hospitality (families of prisoners): $1000

Catholic Multicultural Center (immigration support): $1000

Greater Turning Catholic Worker House of Hospitality: $940

Prison ministry support through JustDane: $900

Annual dues to MOSES and Dane Sanctuary Coalition: $500 each

Please know that advocates and representatives for these organizations/endeavors extend their deep appreciation for the generosity of this congregation. THANK YOU!

An informative booklet entitled What is Palestine-Israel? — Answers to Common Questions has been provided by the Palestine Justice Mission Team for use by our members and friends. Two copies are available in the Crossroads area for ORUCC folks to check out and peruse.

This resource is published by the Mennonite Central Committee, and authored by Sonia K. Weaver. Weaver served for eleven years through the Mennonite Central Committee in the West Bank, Gaza, Jerusalem and Jordan. In this resource she shares questions she has been asked over the years, and provides succinct, illuminating answers.

We hope this resource will prove useful in answering basic questions about Palestine-Israel. 

Tonight: Movie Group

Thursday, December 14–7 pm

      December Movie–“Joyeux Noel

Hello Movie Fans,

Thanks to Gerry Wetterson, we will be showing the 2005 film “Joyeux Noel” at Oakwood Village Performance Center at 7:00 on Thursday, December 14 with discussion to follow in the Nakoma Room.

This “Christmas movie” fictionalizes a real event, the spontaneous, miraculous cease fire and celebration that took place on December 24-25 between the German, Scottish and French troops in the early months of World War I. While the lead characters in the film are fictional, the essential outlines of the story are accurate. The Crown Prince of Germany did sent the lead tenor of the Berlin Opera to the front to boost German morale, Scottish and French troops cheered his performance, which was accompanied by Scottish bagpipes and the soldiers did emerge from the trenches. The evening cease fire was extended to the next day, when a Latin Mass, drinking, football, burying the dead and fraternizing was the order of the day. Almost unbelievable given that these same men had been successfully killing one another for months. And they were also aware that in wartime, “fraternizing with the enemy” was punishable by death. 

The depiction of trench warfare (shortly after the film begins), the images of which we all carry, is comparatively restrained and will not, we hope, prevent you from seeing this powerful film.

For us, living with the tragedies of Ukraine, Israel and Palestine, the movie has singular meaning. What, if anything, makes possible the cessation-temporary or permanent- of extreme violence?



Hope to see you on the 14th

COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

Members of ORUCC are invited to apply for 2024-2025 college scholarships of $500 to $2,000 from the Frank E. Page Scholarship Fund. Applicants should be planning to begin or continue education at any accredited 2- or 4-year college or university and should have a record of academic achievement, service to church and community, and demonstrated financial need. The application deadline is February 15, 2024.

Contact [email protected] for an electronic application. Questions? Contact Ann Evensen at [email protected]

Virtual Wayfinding will gather on the 3rd Wednesday in person and virtually over ZOOM the 3rd Thursday from 4pm-5:15pm.

By Zoom on Thursdays: 04:00 PM Central Time

    Dec 21, 2023 04:00 PM

    Jan 18, 2024 04:00 PM

    Feb 15, 2024 04:00 PM

    Mar 21, 2024 04:00 PM

    Apr 18, 2024 04:00 PM

    May 16, 2024 04:00 PM

Click here to join Zoom meeting



us02web.zoom.us/j/87998025473?pwd=dEEzcFkvSnBNdzNUaE5BK2RxUDZqZz09

Meeting ID: 879 9802 5473

Passcode: 573548

Dial in

1 312 626 6799 US 

ORUCC Member Manuel Ramminger, Co-Founder of Ethical Trading Company invites you to volunteer…

We would like to extend the opportunity for people at ORUCC to volunteer with Ethical Trading Company specifically in running our store at the Eastmorland Community Center at Madison’s east side. Ethical Trade Co empowers through trade artisans and farmers that are vulnerable to exploitation and modern slavery. This trade relationship provides a livable wage in artisans’ respective communities and empower them to break out of extreme poverty –

the root cause of exploitation and modern slavery. 

Currently the store is open Wednesdays through Saturdays from 11am-5pm at 3565 Tulane Ave. Volunteers would sign up for a whole day or half day shift and tasks would range from welcoming customers, answering basic questions about our nonprofit and product, and checking customers out. Occasionally help with pricing or restocking may be needed. 

As the holidays pick up our store gets much more busy but at times it can be slow especially before thanksgiving so volunteers are advised to bring a book or something else to work on. 

Questions? Email Manuel at [email protected]

Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ

1501 Gilbert Road

Madison, WI 53711

608-271-7212

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