July 1, 2025

"I do not blame your ardor in preparing for the resolute defense of your temporal rights. But consider I beseech you, the truly infinite importance of the salvation of your souls." - Rev. John Witherspoon (May 17, 1776)

In This Edition:

Office Closed for 4th of July Holiday

The church office will not be staffed between July 2 and 7th for the 4th of July holiday. If you are in need of pastoral care, please contact your deacon. If you aren’t sure who that is, you can contact Judy Rummell, chair of Diaconate ([email protected]).

Outdoor Worship July 6th

The forecast looks good for another week of Worship in the Park this Sunday! Remember to BYOC (bring your own chair); in the event of rain or excessive heat, we will move worship inside to the Chapel. Check the Sandwich Board at the entrance to the parking lot Sunday morning to verify our worship location.

During the summer, members of the congregation are invited to sign up to serve as “hosts” for fellowship after worship (usually just a light snack and lemonade). You can sign up in-person or by filling out the online signup:

Open and Affirming Task Force Survey

Dear congregants, 

We are looking to collect some information on what you all know to guide us in our next steps in the process via a survey. This is not a test! There are no “correct” answers; the point of the survey is to know both what folks know and don’t know about topics relevant to ONA.

Hard copies are now available at the church, or use this link to fill out the survey online. You can fill out the survey anonymously, or you can include your name. There are 7 questions in total. We estimate that completing this survey will take approximately 8-10 minutes. Thank you very much!

-The ONA Task Force

Pan Mass Challenge

The Pan-Mass Challenge will be returning again this year to the Norfolk
Agricultural HS on August 3, 2025. The Aggie is looking for volunteers to hand out water & cheering riders on.
 
Pan-Mass will be using the area in front Kemp Gymnasium as a water stop. The riders enter from Fisher street, stop at Kemp and ride out back to 1A.  The event will be from 6am - 11am. 
 
If you are interested in volunteering 1-2 hours ( or more) to help out with the event, please reach out to [email protected]

Sermon Snippet

This Sunday, we welcome guest preacher and celebrant Rev. Ginny Coakley back to Union. Come and hear the Word!

Holding in Prayer

This week, as a community of faith we pray:

  • with joy, for the birth of Deidre’s great-niece

  • with joy, for Silpa’s success at the Boston Public Market pitch competition

  • for Lynn’s coworker Adrian, who is recovering from spinal fusion surgery

  • for Shirley’s niece Karen, who is receiving palliative care, and for the comforting times with family.

  • for Mike, Nancy’s classmate, who is having a lengthy recovery from surgery

  • with joy, for Nancy’s trip with friends, and for healing for her friend Donna, who fell and broke her hip.

  • with joy, for celebrating Pride in worship, and for LGBTQ friends who are having a hard time.

  • with joy, for Mary Moser’s gifts of music and invitations to worship

  • for the Shepherd family, as they take some time away to go camping.

  • for Kathy, Shirley’s friend, recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s

  • for Jim, as he works at the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, and then travels with Justin on to Japan and Korea

  • for Pam’s friend Cookie, as she battles cancer

  • for peace in the nation, and for an end to political violence

  • for healing for Lew’s brother Richard, and his wife Paula.