Veterans Day Celebration

We will be celebrating our veterans this Sunday, November 13, during Fellowship Hour after worship services. If you have service memorabilia that you would like to display, call Tina Porter at 623.910.4231.

The Bells are Back!

Our director is back, so The Great Bells of Fire will be practicing on Thursdays at 2:00 pm in the Sanctuary! Contact Mary Lou Klatte at 623.398.8132 or fancypancy@cox.net for details.

Agua Fria Thanksgiving Donations

Hart Pantry Quilt Raffle

This Sunday, November 6, a representative from the Hart Pantry will bring an antique quilt to Swain Hall during Fellowship Hour and sell raffle tickets for it for $5. The quilt was donated, so all funds will go to support the Hart Pantry, which provides food, toiletries, and Christmas gifts to homeless and at-risk teens from 7 schools in the Peoria school district. If you would prefer to donate a Christmas gift, they are accepting hoodies (medium, large, and extra large); throws; $25 gift cards to Payless Shoe Store; and cash. Donation boxes may be found in Swain Hall, the church office, and the courtyard entrance to the Sanctuary.

November 2 Reformation worship service

“Write the Vision—Reclaim the Call” is the theme of a church-wide Reformation worship service being led by the Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, on November 2 at the Presbyterian Center and live-streamed to the public.

“This is an opportunity in this Reformation season to call for a reform within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A),” said Nelson, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly. “It is my hope that we, as a denomination, can embrace a spiritual reformation that breaks down the walls that separate us within the national church and those that divide us from the communities where God has placed us.”

Worship will begin at 10:45 a.m. (Eastern Time) and can be viewed live at oga.pcusa.org. A video of the service also will be posted for later viewing.

The service coincides with Reformation Sunday, which is October 30. Also significant is the fact that 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, which is being celebrated in various ways and across denominations.

Nelson will draw from scriptures in Habakkuk and Luke as he calls the church to proclaim a new vision through prayer, reconciliation, and recommitment to Jesus Christ. The Sacrament of Holy Communion will be served during the worship service. Congregations are encouraged to consider meeting in a common space to view the worship service and discuss possibilities for the future of their ministries. The worship service will be held in the chapel of the PC(USA) national headquarters (100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky).

The liturgy will be available at oga.pcusa.org for viewing or download.

Looking to the Election

This UCC Daily Devotion was recently forwarded to us by a friend:

Life Stories
John A. Nelson

October 28, 2016

"I am the way, the truth, and the life." - John 14:6

In the United States, we are nearing the end of election season. It's less a contest between persons, more a battle of narratives. In one poet's words, "… Faces, orations, battles bait our will / As questionable forms and noises will."

"Questionable forms and noises" seems an apt description, as ideologies ride roughshod over ideas. The competition for attention and allegiance is fierce, raucous, ugly. What's a faithful person to do?

John's gospel may be especially helpful. It begins by reminding us that our hope is cosmic — "The logos [the essential meaning at the heart of all things] was with God, and the logos was God." John's gospel reminds us that our hope is also particular: in an unplanned provision for a wedding party, an unexpected bounty of food; an unanticipated healing, in signs too numerous to name that declare: God has shown up. In other words, our hope is in the One who bridges earth and heaven, meeting the needs of body and soul.

Which ideology wins an election will influence our lives: granted. But the work of the faithful remains the same, regardless: to answer meaninglessness with purposeful compassion; to respond to exceptionalism with universal forgiveness; to reply to fearful bigotry by taking on the perspective of those who have suffered persistent indignities; to mend the world.

"I am the way, the truth, and the life," said Jesus. Which means for us who follow not simply evoking the name above all names, but electing a narrative that is not on any ballot. We elect the way of love for God's creatures and creation. We elect the truth of God's love for the lost, the lonely, the last, the least, the let down, the left out. We elect the life that would rather give itself up than compromise love.

Prayer 
God of earth and heaven, preserve us from despair or triumphalism in the thin narratives of our own making. Grant us grace to once more find ourselves in your hope-giving story of love unbounded. Give us courage today to choose the way, the truth, and the life that will gladden your heart. In Jesus' name; Amen.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
 John A. Nelson is Pastor and Teacher of Church on the Hill, UCC, in Lenox, Massachusetts.

How Hobbies Make You Happier

Are you a workaholic? It might be time to take up golf, or start volunteering for a good cause. To find out why, go to http://my.happify.com/hd/how-our-hobbies-make-us-happier/