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​FRIDAY UPDATE:  Lenten Continual Prayer Vigil | Holy Week Preview | Adult Ed Updates | Sunday Helper Teams | OGHS
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Lenten Continual Prayer Day


During this Lenten season the Deacons would like to offer our congregation a chance to center ourselves with prayer. We will be holding a prayer vigil in our sanctuary. We will have 30 minute increments in which you can sign up for silent prayer beginning on Friday, March 31st at 6pm to continue until April 1st at 12:30 p.m. You're welcome to sign up for one or more slots. Many people have told us that a half-hour flies by very quickly!

Enjoy the quiet peace of our sanctuary and help us create a period of prayer and reflection. A basket with materials to guide your time will be provided. You may want to read devotionals or scripture, draw or color, create music, or simply rest in God’s presence. Invite a friend to join you if you’d rather have company during your shift!

Sign up at uccmanhattan.org/sign-ups or contact the church office to reserve your space.

Holy Week Info


Holy Week is almost here. Please save these dates and plan to join us in-person or online. You'll find more details about all events at uccmanhattan.org/holy-week

🙏 Lenten Continual Prayer Vigil - Friday, March 31 at 6pm through Saturday, April 1 at 12:30pm (Sign Up here.)
🌳 Palm Sunday, April 2 - ecumenical parade from City Park at 9:30 a.m., worship at 10:45 a.m., kids' Walking through Holy Week immediately after worship
🍽 Maundy Thursday, April 6 - packing lunches for Second Helping and sharing communion at the church at 7pm OR- download an at-home liturgy on our website
🎶 Good Friday, April 7 - come-and-go prayer vigil in the sanctuary with music and scripture from noon-1pm -OR- login to the regular worship Zoom to drop in
🔥 Holy Saturday, April 8 - Lighting of the Paschal Fire (7:57pm) at Tuttle Creek Overlook
🌸 Easter Sunday, April 9 - potluck breakfast at 9:30 a.m. followed by festival worship with brass, flowering of the cross at 10:45 a.m. (in-person or via Zoom) with kids' Easter Egg Hunt to follow

***If you have any questions or concerns about accessibility at (especially at our off-site events), please reach out to Pastor Caela or Sue so we can answer your questions and do our best to provide accommodations.***

Adult Ed Updates


Adult Sunday School: We will not meet on Palm Sunday, Apr. 2,  and Easter, Apr. 9. On Apr 16 & 23, we will finish the book Witness at the Cross by Amy- Jill Levine. We will be discussing Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, and end with God and Nature. On Apr 30, at 9:30 am, please attend the intergenerational event for ages 3 through adulthood. It will be a wonderful experience.

Tuesday Book Study: We are reading Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic and Beyond by Matthew Fox. Julian is a mystic who lived during the bubonic plague during the 1300-1400s. She is an anchoress and shares a "feminist understanding of God as mother at the heart of nature's goodness." This book is generating probing discussions. If you would like to join the class or get a book, please contact Pastor Sue. The class is from 11:30am-1pm and is held through Zoom.
Click here to Volunteer for Second Helping or Worship

Sunday Helper Teams


First of all, thank you to the over 20 volunteers who have already joined our new Sunday Helper Teams! With your generosity, we have covered Sunday morning volunteer needs for most of 2023!

But wait, are you someone who would also like to be involved?

Wonderful! Help us "bear each other's burdens and share each other's joy" by joining a Sunday Helper team. Choose your preferred Sunday and duties - serving as greeter, hosting fellowship and/or reading scripture. Then you will be assigned a monthly Sunday (e.g. first Sunday of month) and your preferred duty. You and other volunteers on your team will cover duties for that Sunday each month. You can switch out dates with your team when you are traveling, ill, etc. We also have a floater team to help cover last minute openings.

Get involved by completing this brief Sunday Helpers form.

Support and training is provided as needed. If you have children or youth in your family, they are especially welcome to be involved!

The Deacons: Julie, Kerri, Mechelle and Donna

One Great Hour of Sharing: March 26


Your Board of Mission urges you to join in Our Church’s Wider Mission and give generously to One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) during the special offering this Sunday, March 26.

OGHS is a special mission offering of the United Church of Christ that involves you in disaster, refugee/immigration, and development ministries throughout the world. When a disaster strikes or people are displaced or made refugees by violence or extreme poverty, you are part of the immediate response and of the long-term recovery.

Give online or in person. If giving online, please include "OGHS" on the "add a message" line.

This week we give thanks for...
our Board of Facilities and their supporters. We know that the church isn't a building or a steeple (it's the people!) but people also need a place to gather and serve and learn and grow and worship and laugh together. Our beautiful historic building provides all of this and more. We are so grateful for those who change lightbulbs, interface with local service and repair professionals, and carefully pay attention to every nook and cranny of our building and property.

Thank you for Being the Church!
HOW TO WORSHIP WITH US ON SUNDAY:

Worship in the sanctuary at 10:45 a.m.  
Masks are welcome but not required. 
Learn more about our health protocols at uccmanhattan.org/covid.
- OR - 
Join us via Zoom at 10:45 a.m. Central time. 
You'll find the Zoom link  at 
uccmanhattan.org/online

You are encouraged to access the bulletin and sign in using the Connect Card online. You'll find both of those each week at 
uccmanhattan.org/online

If you are having any problems accessing worship or our other online gatherings, please let us know so we can assist you.
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