HELLO!

For those who have not already circled the date of Sunday, January 26^th at 10 am, please do so. It is the Sunday we say thank you and goodbye to our friend Maggie Healy. Maggie has moved on to work on her history degree, she left us formally the end of December. We asked her to use the church kneeler, and as she did, we presented her with a prayer shawl. I know she was touched. But we wanted to do something more formal, and this Sunday is the date. I thought briefly of doing this in the Hall after church, but the sound is not as good as the sanctuary, and we will have fewer people. So during the children’s time we will share our affection and thanksgiving for her ministry. We hope you can join us.

In the meantime, Bethe is coordinating the Sunday School and Youth group. You may not be aware, for decades Bethe was a Children’s and Youth minister in the UCC, in fact if you Google her name, you will find she has authored most of the children and youth ministry resources online. How blessed we are to have Bethe do this. She has ordered a curriculum, found volunteer teachers, while attendance continues to grow. The children and youth will present Maggie with a gift.

The Woodlawn Scout and Guiding group has reached out to me to offer Religion In Life sessions (badge) and a worship service on February 23^rd, Thinking Day. Please note, Woodlawn United has not held one of these services since 2014. And I have not been involved in this process for 15 years. I am a little rusty. I looked up the RIL materials on the UCC site, and guess who wrote them? Bethe. It is good to learn new things.

And finally, I have written, spoken, about my offer to engage persons who wish to be Confirmed, to join Woodlawn United Church. For those who wish to transfer from your previous church, it is a simple process. Ask your former church to send us your transfer of membership. For those who have never belonged to a church, I offer these sessions, usually in the spring. My hope is to welcome transfers and the newly confirmed on Christian Family Sunday. To date, though many have transferred their membership to Woodlawn, no one has asked me to be included with Confirmation classes, youth or adult. If you would like me to include you, please let me know as soon as possible. These are open, informal, sessions, driven in part by your questions. I await your response.

Peace, Kevin

PS I called five people this week who filled out Welcome brochures.