Union United Church of Christ Prayer Post
June 20th
Prayers for our nation and our world
June 20th
Pray With Japan
Mission Moment by Martha Mensendiek
"This spring, the Bazaar Café garden has had some renovations as well as signs of new life! We rebuilt our outdoor deck, the entryway, and also the old shed – all of which were badly in need of repair. The entryway is now much easier for wheelchairs and safer in the rain. These renovations were funded by our three-way partnership with Global Ministries, the Kyoto Conference of the UCC in Japan, and the Bazaar Café. We give thanks for this cooperative relationship through which, jointly, we are able to continue this coffee house ministry in Kyoto. We also planted a maple tree in memory of Teruko Enomoto, pastor and founder of the Café, who passed away 3 years ago. The maple symbolizes the ties Teruko had with Canada, where she studied pastoral counseling and was inspired to start her ministry with HIV-positive persons in Japan. For many people, coming to the Café brings back memories of Teruko, the fun of conversations with her, the helpful advice and encouragement she offered. Her memory still inspires all of us to continue the ministry she started. The maple tree will be one more physical “place” to remember and to be inspired. We hope that as this maple seedling grows, the Bazaar Café will continue to grow in providing a safe place for people to meet and being a nurturing community for one another."
Read more here: https://www.globalministries.org/resource/pray-with-japan-june-27-2021/
GRADUATION SUNDAY
June 20, 2021
Today was Graduation Sunday--the celebration of all those who are graduates. Congratulations to all our Union Church family graduates and graduates who are relatives/friends of our Union Church family.
Graduates consist of:
Avery & Addisyn Schuster - graduating from Elk River High School both going to the University of MN in the fall
Emily & Bailey Rosdal - graduating from Anoka Ramsey Community College. Both going to the University of MN in the fall as well.
Rylie Anderson - graduating from the University of Wisconsin River Falls this August with a degree in Business Management
Other grads consist of:
Janelle Johnson's granddaughter Rebecca Eckberg graduated from Montana State University with a degree in Animal Science
Jenny Slicker shared that Amanda Hooper graduated last year from Rasmussen and will be graduating again with her masters this upcoming year
Shelley Petters' son Noah Petters graduated from NDSU with a degree in communications
Jackie Schulein's grandson Luke graduated from high school in California and will be attending college in Malibu. Her great-grandson Matt also graduated from high school in Florida and will be attending college in Tallahassee.
Holding in Prayer
(Cards and Calls Appreciated)
Ella Rivers, Donna Church, Musz Bailey, Jim Babcock, Shelley Sherper, Bobbie Berg, Susan Olsen, Jackie Schuelein, Carol Lloyd, Joanne Burdick, Ruby Cawthra, Jane Houlton, Marion Marcott, Cheryl Wold, Judy Halgren, Amy Britt, Bailey Rosdahl, Jimmy Stevens, Dee & Jim Stevens (Jimmy’s parents), Dave Foley, John Olson, Nicole [Kilber] Teske, Linda Fenton, Dave Halgren, Diane Narr, Joan Axen and Nancy Andersen.
Prayers for the wider community
June 20th
We pray for all those celebrating Pride this June
February 26, 2020
"In 2016, members of the Northfield Promise, a community movement to help young people thrive, discovered that area youth who identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) reported significantly lower “positive identity and outlook” scores compared to other youth in the Minnesota Student Survey (MSS). (Note: the MSS lists LGB as its categories.)
Several members of First UCC Northfield who were deeply involved with Northfield Promise put their heads together with Rev. Abby Henderson, now Director of Leadership Development at the Minnesota Conference UCC, who was then associate pastor at First UCC. They quickly identified a lack of supportive resources and activities for youth who identified as LGBTQ and launched CYAN, a group whose dual meaning is “Community Youth Activity Night” and the color halfway between green and blue. Over the past three years, more than 60 young people have been part of CYAN.
Henderson engaged young, openly queer and transgender adults to participate in the program, which combines structured discussions and guest speakers with time for youth and adults to simply hang out, she says. “We wanted to build pride, joy and affirmation. We of course acknowledged the challenges we have had as openly queer people, but we also wanted youth to have the experience of belonging to a community and to imagine a positive future.” And, Henderson says, they wanted to change the trajectory of the poor MSS scores."
To read the whole post click below:
https://www.uccmn.org/2020/02/26/the-power-of-relationships/
Prayers of concern for our church community
Sunday, June 20th
* Please offer prayers for Susan Olsen who now lives in Ocala, Florida. She has been in and out of the hospital. She has had a stroke affecting her right side, but is doing somewhat better. Cards appreciated.
* Hesther Bowman asked for prayers for her friend, Jason, whose sister died last week.
* Please continue prayers for Russ Sr, father of Mary Wilson’s son-in-law, who has cancer and is not doing well.
* Pastor Robin asked us to pray for rain.
Prayers of Joy
Sunday, June 20th
* Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers!
* The flowers on the altar this morning were from the funeral of Barbara Peterson.
* The flower arrangement in the bell tower were from Centennial, celebrating all the graduates.
* We offered prayers of joy and celebration for Madeline Rohs on her first horse show where she did exceptionally well and won several ribbons.
*Jackie Schuelein expressed the joy of seeing and hearing so many friends in church today.
If you know of anyone who should be included in our prayers, please contact Rev. Robin Raudabaugh at Revrobin@elkriverucc.org . If you would like them included in this post, please request their permission. If you have community or national or global prayers, please also contact pastor Robin. This PrayerPost will be published at the beginning of each week. Prayers to be included for the current week must be received by Sunday night.
Previous Prayers of Joys and Concerns: 06/13/21