In This Edition:

• The Apple Harvest Recap Meeting

• Silent Auction

• Sunday School Volunteers

• Bible Study Returns

• Sermon Snippet

• Holding in Prayer

The Apple Harvest Recap Meeting

Thank you all for your help and support of this year's Fair! It was a great day and we couldn't do it without all of you. We will have a recap meeting after service this week. Please bring your feedback and ideas as we start to plan next year's Fair. 

Silent Auction

Dear Friends,

We are excited to invite you to take part in Union Congregational Church’s Apple Harvest Fair Virtual Silent Auction! This is your chance to bid on a wide variety of items and experiences generously donated by our community—all from the comfort of your home.

Click here to browse and start bidding: Apple Harvest Fair Virtual Silent Auction

Bidding closes on Friday, Sept 26 at 8:00 PM ET. Get your bids in early and check back often as we have at least 11 more items to add to the auction including "Our Favorite Things" basket!

Your participation helps support our church including the Outreach committee which allows us to support the Walpole Food Pantry and our Good Neighbor Fund, both of which provide essential assistance to families in need. Every bid brings us closer to making a difference in the lives of our neighbors.

If you are uncomfortable with online bidding, no problem! Simply email the Silent Auction Committee at [email protected], and we will be happy to place bids on your behalf.  We'll let you know if you've won and settle up with you directly.

Please share this link with your family and friends so they can join the fun, too!

Winners will be able to pick up their items on Saturday Sept 27th from 10AM-1PM or make other arrangements. 

Thank you to all who have donated to the silent auction and for your continued generosity and support—we couldn’t do this without you.

With gratitude,

Christine Bemko & Shirley Booth

Apple Harvest Fair Silent Auction Co-Chairs

Sunday School Volunteers

Thanks to those who have already volunteered for this important ministry of our church. This year, we are using a new one-room-schoolhouse style curriculum called Whirl, which introduces kids to biblical stories and themes through videos, songs, and fun activities. Our CE Committee (Joanne Grant and Deidre Donaldson) is ready and willing to help train teachers and familiarize folks with this new curriculum. We will also be able to provide materials in advance through our new online digital subscription (hard copies can also be made available from the church office), which will make preparation even simpler.

You can see the schedule of lessons for the Fall/Winter of 2025 and sign up to be a leader or helper by clicking here.

Bible Study Returns

Weekly Bible Study with Pastor Shepherd will be held on Zoom on Fridays from 9:30-10:30 am, beginning tomorrow, Friday, September 26. This Fall, to accompany the sermon series on the Fruit of the Spirit, we will be reading an accompanying text, Tending the Wild Garden, by Rev. Eugenia Gamble. If you’d like to participate and would like a copy of the book, please see Pastor Shepherd. For our first meeting, we will discuss the the beginning of the book, up through “Tending the Shoots of Love.”

Here is the Zoom Meeting link:

Sermon Snippet

It is often said that we live in ‘sad’ times: anxious times, chaotic times, depressing times. Anxiety and Depression have their own clinical psychological definitions; these are extreme conditions that threaten a person’s psyche to the point of breaking. But there is another condition that I think may more accurately describe our times: disthymia. Disthymia is a kind of persistent malaise, a passionless moodiness—it is, in short, a lack of joy. In this Sunday’s sermon, we will hear how the Spirit infuses life with the “Joy of the Lord,” which is distinct from the kind of happiness we often seek, provides strength in times of trial, and ultimately offers us a new and eternal foundation for living well, even in sad times.

Holding in Prayer

This week, as a community of faith we pray:

• With thanks for all the volunteers at the AHF

• For the employee of Enchanted Animals who experienced a medical incident at the fair.

• for Ray (Jordan and Travis’s grandfather) who has been hospitalized for over a week.

• for Ross Doty, recovering from ulcers while traveling in Europe.

• with joy, for Lew’s family’s celebration of Richard Ephaul’s life.

• with joy, for Lauren’s friend’s daughter Liddy having a son, Jonah, and for Jonah as he is being treated at Children’s

• for Lauren, as she is having medical tests done.

• for the Sandahl family, as they grieve the loss of Carol’s older sister

• for Shirley’s niece Karen, who passed away after a long battle with cancer, and for all who mourn.

• for Pam’s cousin Julie, who successfully underwent surgery and is recovering.

• for Ben’s friend from veterinary school, who is staying with the Kerns’ during a 2-week rotation

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

• for Charlie Kirk, and for his wife and children as they mourn his death, and for his killer, and peace in the nation.

• for Barbara Carroll, for healing after a couple of falls

• for Barbara’s grandson Shayne, for healing after a serious head injury

• for Jordan, Amelia, Marcus, Madison, Charlie, and Lainey, as they study at college

• for Nelson’s son Greg, who is healing from a concussion

• for Kerry’s friend Diane, who is undergoing a difficult course of treatment for cancer

• for Noah, for healing after crashing his new E-Bike and for continued safety

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

• for Lew’s friend Dan, as he faces kidney disease