Swimmers, hikers, sailors, canoe paddlers and sports enthusiasts will find activities designed just for them. Seekers will learn about Jesus Christ while they experience the outdoors. Nature lovers will explore God’s creation. The outdoors will blend with computers and video cameras for young people who are interested in technology. Musicians, mimes, actors and puppeteers will have chances to be creative. Families will camp together at grandparent/grandchild camps and at Labor Day weekend camps. Everyone will enjoy campfires, friendships, fresh air and learning who "Jesus Is." Most campers have already signed up and many camps are full, but if someone you know wants to come to camp and hasn’t registered, there still may be space for them. Contact Helen Schultz, camp registrar, at 800-282-0740 or campregistrar@ocucc.org. She will be glad to work with you to find a spot for your camper.

Campers (except those who choose tents, Conestoga wagons or sleeping bags at off-site locations) sleep in bunks in wooden cabins with concrete floors, protected from rain, with indoor bathrooms. Hot meals, chosen with young people in mind, are served to the campers in large dining halls.

A very special new space has just been completed at Pilgrim Hills. The Prettyman Adult Spiritual Renewal Center welcomed its first visitors in May. The Center can best be described as a five-bedroom, two-bath home. It has central air conditioning, wall-to-wall carpeting in the living room and bedrooms, and a kitchen with refrigerator, stove and microwave. There is a large wood deck in front with a gas grill. The interior walls are finished with knotty pine paneling, and many large windows let in light and beautiful views of the surrounding woods. A cupola at the peak of the roof has glass on all sides. The Center is completely accessible, with entrance ramps and accessible fixtures in the kitchen and one bathroom. The open living room/program area is furnished with comfortable sofas, chairs, and a dining table.

The kitchen is equipped with the basic utensils and dishes needed to prepare and serve meals. Groups can bring food and prepare their own meals, or they can eat in the camp’s dining hall. Advance notice to the camp manager is required to use the dining hall, and there will be an additional charge for meals.

The Center has beds for ten people; each of the five bedrooms has a single bed with a trundle bed underneath. At this time, bed and bath linens are not provided. Each bed is covered with a quilt handmade by women in the Ohio Conference.

The Prettyman Center is set aside for adults and families who want a quiet, secluded space for fellowship, study, retreat or renewal. It can be reserved for a minimum of $125 per weekend night (Friday and Saturday) for up to five people. Each person above five is an additional $25. Week night (Sunday through Thursday) rental is $25 per night per person, with no minimum charge. Check in time is 3:00 p.m.; check out is at 12:30 p.m. To reserve the Center, contact the camp registrar at 800-282-0740 or campregistrar@ocucc.org.

The Prettyman Adult Spiritual Renewal Center was named for Irvin and Isabelle Prettyman, long-time members of First Congregational Church, Akron, who donated many hours of volunteer labor at Pilgrim Hills.

   United Church News On Line  

Top

Prettyman quilts complete--'Home in the Woods' wall hanging is next

Article from United Church News, page 1, June 2001

A new project for Prettyman is in the works. Site manager Jeff Thompson suggested a wall hanging for the large wall opposite the picture window, and Susan Towner-Larsen researched the idea. McKenna Ryan’s art quilt entitled "At Home in the Woods" has been selected. The quilt's 11 blocks feature woodland flowers, animals, and scenery. The blocks vary in size and use the process of fusible web applique (a lot of intricate tracing, cutting, and ironing, but no actual needle applique.)

Quilters interested in helping with this project will be invited to Pilgrim Hills for a work day on October 30, from 10 am until 3 pm. Patterns, fabric and lunch will be supplied. The tracing for each block will need to be completed before that day. If you are interested in helping to make this wall hanging (1-3 people per block will probably work best), please contact Susan Towner-Larsen at 800-282-0740, ext. 206.

United Church News On Line       

Clippings. . .from Ohio Conference church newsletters

Article from United Church News, page 2, June 2001

St. John’s UCC, Dayton will hold Celebration of Life, Music Fest 2001 on Sunday, June 24, 4:30-7:30 p.m. The event will feature Senior Six Country Band (blue grass/country), College Hill Community Church Gospel Chorale, Expedition (contemporary pop/rock), and Trinity (contemporary vocal band). There is no admission charge. The community is invited. Bring lawn chairs; refreshments available.

The Ohio Council of Churches has selected The Federated Church, Chagrin Falls as their "Ohio Church of the Month" website for May 2001. The address: www.fedchurch.org.

Community Church of Chesterland celebrated their 40^th anniversary on May 19 with the All-American Community Church Potluck Picnic. Participants enjoyed games, church trivia, music, and fellowship. After dinner, there was an authentic Contra Dance with music by "One String Short." Worship on May 20 featured the talents of the Community Church family of yesterday and today.

In this season of mother-daughter celebrations at our churches, St. John’s UCC, Coshocton has an unusual variation. For the past three years, they have hosted a mother-daughter tea for the residents of the Extended Care Facility of the local hospital and their daughters. The hospital and the church cooperate in providing refreshments, and St. John’s women pour tea and present a program—while properly attired for the occasion in hats.

Another "tea party" of a very different kind was held by Bethany UCC, Cuyahoga Falls. The congregation held a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party this year to support the YMCA Bethany Day Care. No cookies to bake, no tickets to sell, no volunteers to locate. Participants were encouraged just to stay home, settle in a comfortable old chair and enjoy a cup of tea, then write a generous check to help the day care program. Giving levels were suggested: "I’m glad to be able to stay home" - $25, "I’m delighted to stay home" - $50, "You can’t believe how excited I am to stay home" - $100, "Wild horses couldn’t make me leave home" - $250.

Trinity UCC, McCutchenville will be worshipping outdoors on July 15. The service at the park in Upper Sandusky will be followed by a covered dish dinner and activities.

First UCC, Troy hosted the "Undy 100" in May to collect 100 pairs of boys’ and girls’ underwear to be given to the Family Abuse Shelter. The clothing is really needed at the shelter, where most families seeking help arrive with only the clothes they are wearing. Donations were collected in a "race car box" in the church lobby through Memorial Day weekend.

First UCC in Galion started a routine Reality Check last month. A group of members, ages 20 – 40, is meeting on Sunday mornings to discuss issues that affect people in their age group—college through young adult. The Reality Check group hopes to find support, encouragement and inspiration from each other and from God.

Pilgrim Congregational UCC, Cleveland and South Haven UCC, Bedford have formed construction teams to help build some of the thirty 12-foot dancing puppets that will be used in the World Beat Festival at this year’s General Synod in Kansas City. Members worked on the puppets at the Cleveland Museum of Art on weekends between April and June. Some of the members learned how to manipulate the puppets and participated in the Museum’s "Parade the Circle" event on June 9.

St. Paul UCC, Cincinnati sewers, knitters and crocheters are creating clothes for dolls for the Salvation Army. Creative efforts will go on during the summer to dress 16" toddler dolls, 13" baby dolls and Barbie dolls.

Faith UCC, Dayton provides volunteers to help at the Five Oaks Health Fair, which provides various health screening tests for area residents. Church volunteers help with promotion, setup, tear-down, record keeping, charting and simple screening activities. This year they will also provide a simple meal for the screening workers. The Fair is on June 21, 4 – 7 pm, at the Shelter of Five Oaks Community Park.

Salem UCC, Marion hosts a monthly Community Fellowship Dinner provided for residents of the neighborhood and friends. Adults and children enjoy homemade food, music and fellowship.

St. John’s UCC, Archbold member Alyssa Beck spent spring semester in Mali, Africa as part of a Study-Service Team from Goshen College. The 13-week experience was intended to develop awareness and appreciation for diverse culture. Alyssa is taking language and cultural classes for the first half of the term; the second half will include field trips and a mission project.

The 8^th Annual Steeple Vigil Food Drive and Street Sale was held by Archwood UCC, Cleveland on June 1-2. Congregation members served as food collectors, street sale workers, participants in the prayer vigil that continues in the sanctuary during the event, cooks/bakers of food, and steeple sitters. The congregation’s goal this year was 5,000 pounds of food and $1,500 - $2,000 in cash donations.

United Church News On Line

The art of spiritual direction

Susan Towner-Larsen, Ohio Conference Minister for Church and Education

Article from United Church News, page 3, June 2001

Life, of course, was hectic. Time for personal prayer and meditation was too often usurped by the daily demands of family, ministry, and life in general. I found myself in the midst of a spiritual dryness, a desert time perhaps, and knew I needed help to get out of it. I believe strongly in the wisdom of consulting with a counselor when life gets emotionally rocky, but this was a spiritual need, demanding a spiritual response. Fortunately, I knew whom to call. Jean Preslan, a long time member of the Conference’s Spiritual Renewal Committee, is a trained spiritual director. As I spoke with her, the possibility of group spiritual direction emerged and I was captivated! What could be better, I thought, than exploring this new avenue of my spiritual journey with two or three women friends? I called together several sisters in faith and, along with Jean, we began an experience of small group spiritual direction.

The process of small group spiritual direction is easy to describe, but the wonder and mystery of it are harder to capture. We began each session with silence, prayer, and scripture. One by one, each person then had ten minutes or so to share what was in her heart and a part of her spiritual journey. After each sharing, the group asked questions of clarification, then sat in silence to discern how God might be leading us to respond. All responses were loving, non-judgmental, and had the effect of inviting the sharer to go deeper, to tap into her own God-given wisdom. After everyone had shared and received responses, we closed with prayer.

Intentionally being present to God and to another was intimate and power-filled beyond words. There was no doubt in any of our minds that we walked each time on holy ground. We were able to be present with each other, to see, over time, new life emerge and pains heal. The sacred stories of our lives unfolded, and each of us was surely born anew in transformative ways. Could I have articulated all that at the time? Not completely. Yet what I did know with certainty was the movement of the Spirit in that circle of friends and in my own life. What a Gift.

Individual, one-on-one spiritual direction is filled with the same sense of walking on holy ground. A spiritual director or companion is one who assists another in tending to or noticing the presence of God in his or her life. Following the small group experience, which lasted over a year, I also began meeting with a director. The "stuff" of spiritual direction (which I continue in to this day) is the stuff of my life, the sacred stories of my faith journey that few get to hear, the musings of my heart and the longings of my soul that are often birthed in my presence by the midwife before me, my spiritual director.

Sometimes people seek a spiritual director for help in deepening what is already a mature and healthy faith. Or sometimes there evolves a sense of dis-connection from God, a sense of having wandered far away from one’s self, others, and God. Or perhaps questions of faith arise, or crises and challenges occur that alter our self-perceptions or our understandings of God and the world. At any of these times, folks might seek—as I did—the assistance of another person to help us "see" where God is at work and might be leading. Spiritual directors are not counselors or therapists. Rather, they are those among us who are called and trained to focus on the intention of discerning God’s presence and movement in another’s life. Each spiritual director is also in spiritual direction as a directee, and is a part of a supervision group for continued growth and support.

I became so convinced of the need for spiritual direction ministry among us that I enrolled in a training program and studied for several years to become a spiritual director myself. And so, out of my own experience and training, I invite you to consider the possibility for either group or individual spiritual direction in your own life. In my office, we maintain a list of Ohio Conference UCC folks who are trained spiritual directors. Please call me to find out who in your area is a spiritual director or to talk further about spiritual direction (800-282-0740). Spiritual direction, also known as "holy listening," is a gift you will surely cherish.

 OC Home Page  

Make a Difference funds the "Ice Cream Mosh-een"

Article from United Church News, Page 3, March 2001

First United Church of Christ, Congregational, Marblehead, received a $2,508 Make a Difference grant from the Ohio Conference and used it to purchase an ice cream machine.

"Right from the get-go, the men rallied behind the ice cream machine idea and purchased … a John Deere engine, ice cream maker and a trailer. I wish you could have seen the men crowded around the machine when it first arrived," wrote Ellen Tretjin, the congregation’s clerk, in a recent letter to Elaine Mikesell, chair of the Make a Difference committee. "A few strong fellows carried it up the steps into the side room off the sanctuary, so everyone could see it right away. A trial run of ice cream making provided treats for our March after-church coffee fellowship hour, and the children got involved in a name-the-machine contest. The winning entry was The Ice Cream Mosh-een."

The 126-member congregation, led by Pastor Kay Cox, held their first fund raiser on April 28 at the "Taste of the Peninsula" event organized by the Marblehead Peninsula Chamber of Commerce. The men operated the machine and sold ice cream and root beer floats, while the women sold baked goods. They estimate that the event earned more than $500 for the congregation.

The congregation has gained more than a way to earn funds. After they purchased the machine, they wanted to keep the momentum going and organize into a formal group. "The Men’s Fellowship was born, and besides the ice cream activity, they put on a breakfast between services on Easter Sunday," wrote Ms. Tretjin.

Make a Difference grants are awarded to Ohio Conference members each year from the Make a Difference Endowment Fund, created by gifts from congregation members to a national UCC endowment campaign. The fund was created to assist with special needs of church lay and professional leaders, to provide funds to help churches cope with a broad range of problems, and to fund a wide range of community-oriented needs.

The amount available for grants this year is $16,800. The amount is determined by taking 5% of the rolling average of the fund total over a three-year period. The application deadline is September 1; applicants will be notified of the committee’s decisions by the end of October. To request an application, contact the Ohio Conference office, 800-282-0740, 614-885-0722, or ohioucc@ocucc.org.

OC Home Page

UC News On Line