News of the Family, Birthdays & Anniversaries

Welcome to new members Ruth McLain Smith and Carla and Lothar Baumann!

From Carla Gilbert … Thank you for the many cards, wishes and care in celebration of my 80th birthday and for your presence and presents at the 80th Birthday Open house! I am so honored to have such wonderful friends who sustain and strengthen me. Special love goes to Diana and Kent for hosting – exquisite food, flowers, decorations and photo display. A good time was had by all!

A beautiful celebration of Gloria VanWinkle’s life was held at the church March 17. Thanks to the many who made it so meaningful.

Congrats to Sustainable Berea! With help from Union Church’s Mission and Service Fund and many contributions from members they have secured a 10-to-1 matching grant to provide plantings of trees around Berea. The $5000 raised was matched with $50,000 more dollars to make Berea more sustainable!

Condolences to Critley King at the death of her grandmother on March 23. Our prayers surround the family.

Prayers are surrounding Susan Doring-Zook, whose father died unexpectedly, also on March 23. We are surrounding the family with love, light, and God’s peace.

Rev. Ben Groth has been helping St. Thomas Lutheran church, preaching several times a month in addition to his full time job as a Berea College Chaplain.

More than $1600.00 was raised in our annual One Great Hour of Sharing Palm Sunday offering. This over and above gift will help provide immediate and critical disaster relief and long-term sustainable development through Church World Service. Thanks Union family!! Click to read about One Great Hour of Sharing’s work.

Moms Demand Action will hold its first Berea meeting here at Union Church on April 10, 6:30 pm. Please join Kentucky’s State Chapter Leader Connie Coartney and State Membership Team Leader Betsy Roup to learn about Moms Demand Action and how you can get involved. We will discuss the history of MDA, what actions we are currently working on, local group leadership roles, and how you can be a part of MDA whether you have 5 minutes a week or 5 hours. Click here to view Facebook event.

Habitat Story telling April 4, 6:00 pm at the Loyal Jones Appalachian Center. Come and hear how Berea helped shape a family’s story and how they helped shape Berea. Four years ago the Reynolds family started their journey to home ownership. When they gathered to break the ground on their Habitat home they were joined by community members from 11 local faith groups and Berea College. Many many Habitat hands worked alongside the Reynolds family to build their home, feed volunteer crews, and raise the funds to purchase the materials. Union Church was one of the faith communities involved in this build. Click here to view Facebook event.

The Berea Leadership Experience summer camp will be July 16-20, at the Quaker Meeting House. Registration opens April 15. We’ll share the link when it’s available.