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One More Tithe!
In offering his Annual Report, Conference
Minister Rich Pleva reminded each of us of the opportunity we have to make a
will and to use our will to designate gifts to the Iowa Conference and our
local congregation. Some of us neglect
to do this because we expect that there will be little of anything to
distribute at our passing. We think of
wills as tools for gifts larger than ours.
What if we showered our local
congregations and the Iowa Conference and the national work of the UCC with
thousands of all-sized bequests? What if
we each took the opportunity, at the end of a lifetime of faithful giving, for
one more tithe*?
We are 33,500 members strong in the Iowa
Conference. If each of us manages to accumulate
an estate of only $1,000.00 by the end of our earthly lives, and if we each say
thank you and good-bye with one more tithe, then thousands of bequests totaling
$3,350,000.00 would carry on the work of our dear United Church of Christ. It might be that some of us will leave even
larger estates. If half of us prosper to
accumulate estates of $10,000.00, then our shower of all-sized last tithes
would grow to $18,425,000.00. That's
quite a bequest to tell the story of Jesus and do the work of Jesus in new
generations!
If you enjoy math problems, take some time
to calculate how large you think our shower of final gifts might be. Let's make
and update our wills, dear brothers and sisters, and share the delight of a
generous encore: one last tithe!
Jonna
Jensen, Associate Conference Minister for Eastern Iowa (with gracious help
lining up the zeroes from Assistant Treasurer and Bookkeeper Randy Adams)
*A tithe is 10% of your estate.
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Acoustic Concert June 27 in Sioux City 7 PM
Open Door United Church of Christ welcomes The River's
Voice, the acoustic duo of Trish and Richard Bruxvoort Colligan from Strawberry
Point, Iowa. Trish and Richard are singer-songwriters with a passion for the
spiritual life and compassionate living. Come for a concert including great
music, stories and laughter for all ages. All are welcome to this celebration
of our new space and a renewal of the ministry of Open Door.
Trish is a spiritual director and founder of Spirations
Interspiritual Formation, a post-modern spiritual formation program for women.
Richard has published several songs with the UCC as well as other
denominations. Their newest of their dozen CDs is called "Pilgrims to a
New World."
All are welcome to this family
night show. Admission is free and a free-will offering will be received. Refreshments will be served. Open Door United Church of Christ is located
at 511 S. Lewis Blvd, Sioux City, Iowa.
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Regional Youth Event
Three weeks and
counting. RYE is almost here. Our Iowa youth and adult advisers are
making last minute preparations for the Regional Youth Event in MO. July
1 is the registration deadline so there is still time to apply. Check out
the Iowa UCC website youth page for registration materials. The Iowa
group has prepared daily one-hour sessions to be used in the
"family" groups for discussion and reflection. They are also
constructing a cross to be used in the worship sessions. Keep this group in
your prayers as they journey a new road in their faith quest.
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Film "Papers" to be shown in Des Moines July 14
"Papers" is the story of
undocumented youth and the challenges they face as they turn 18 without
legal status. There are approximately 2 million undocumented children
who were born outside the U.S. and raised in this country. These are
young people who were educated in American schools, hold American
values, know only the U.S. as home and who, simply by turning 18, become
"illegal" immigrants. 65,000 undocumented students graduate every year
from high school without "papers" and the door to their future slams
shut. It is against the law to work or drive. It is difficult, if not
impossible in some states, to attend college. Currently, there is no
path to citizenship for these young people.
Film viewing and
discussion. Doors open 6:15pm at Grace United Methodist Church, Des Moines.
Contact Maria Downs for more information.
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Ordination of Damen Heitmann July 24
The ordination service
for Damen Heitmann is scheduled for
Saturday, July 24, at 3 PM at Trinity UCC, 1895 200th Street in Marengo. All authorized ministers are invited to process. The liturgical color for the day is red. Please stay after the service for a community meal.
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"Widening the Welcome" Sept. 23-25 in St. Louis
The time is right to join the
conversation at the first national gathering hosted by the UCC Mental Illness Network and UCC
Disabilities Ministries.
At
least one in four families in all faith communities is affected by a mental
illness/brain disorder or a disability.
"Widening the Welcome" seeks to develop the life of congregations to include persons with disabilities
and persons with mental illnesses and/or brain disorders and their families.
Download more information from our Continuing Education web page.
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UCC webpage on Gulf oil spill
The Justice and Witness Ministries Gulf Coast
Team (created after Hurricane Katrina) and Wider Church Ministries National Disaster Ministries are
working together to provide updated information and resources to our local
churches.
The
information will change as we all move through this disaster that is impacting
health; the economic situation of any involved in the fishing industry and the
processing and the restaurant industry; the emotional and spiritual health of
people living on the Gulf Coast; and the needs of children, all of which is
within an already fragile environment.Along with representatives from Church World Service and the Mennonite Central Committee, our UCC Disaster Relief folks have visited southern Louisiana and heard from people on the ground about how the disaster is affecting them. You can find the information here. |
You can still get the Parish Paper
Since we no longer distribute a paper Communique, you should know that we do post each month's current Parish Paper on our website. Just go to the publications page and click on Parish Paper for the current issue. |
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June 24, 2010
