Zwingli United Church of Christ

Never place a period
where God has placed
a comma.

– Gracie Allen, 20th century
American comedian

...you're welcome here!

Worship with us on Sunday mornings

350 Wile Avenue, Souderton

Coronavirus Information

The extremely difficult decision was made to close the church buildings to public worship, meetings, and other gatherings.

We will not gather for worship in person during April.

Congregational Letter, March 20, 2020, from our pastors and elders

Please read this letter with some updates on our closure status. Especially note that no one should be entering the building, even if you have a key, in order to maintain the deep-cleaned status.

Worship services will be live-streamed at this link: Zwingli Youtube Link

Let us worship together.

To join us on YouTube, please do the following:
1. Double-click on this link Sunday morning: jwidgins
2. Subscribe to Jwidgins channel
3. The 4/5/20 worship service should be at the top of the playlist. Click on it.
4. Please bookmark this link so that you can access it for future broadcasts as well.

To join us on Facebook Live, please do the following:
Hold down the Control button on your keyboard and click on the following link: www.facebook.com/Zwingli.ucc

To view at a later date:
1. Go to www.zwingli.org (smile, you're here already!) or
2. Go to Facebook.com/Zwingliucc or
3. Go to Twitter #Zwingliucc or
4. Check your weekly Z-News on Monday.

Click here for some Adult Church School lessons during the COVID-19 closure

(see COVID message above)
Worship at 9 am.
Fellowship after worship
Church School from 10:30 am until 11:30 am

We welcome children of all ages in our services. "Busy Bags" are available from the ushers. And for families who desire it, nursery care is available for preschool children during worship services.

We are wheel-chair accessible and air-conditioned.

Regular office hours are 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, Monday through Thursday, and 8:30 am to 3:30 pm Friday. Closed 12-1 daily.

Easter Prayer Vigil 2020

You're Invited to Join Our Easter Prayer Vigil, Good Friday - Easter Sunday

This year we're taking our vigil virtual in order to adapt to our current circumstances. We're also opening it up to our friends at Trinity UCC and Emmanuel Lutheran churches. For more details about this year's vigil and to sign up, please visit this Sign Up Genius page.

For those unfamiliar with Zwingli's Easter Prayer Vigil, the vigil was begun a few years ago by our youth group and their leader. It was a time from the end of our Good Friday service until the start of our Easter Sunrise service when members of Zwingli would visit our chapel and spend time in continuous prayer using the prayer tools provided. No chapel visits this year, but the prayer tradition will go on!

Lenten Program 2020

Our Lent theme, based on the Howard Thurman poem, The Work of Christmas:

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among people,
To make music in the heart.

Lenten Mission Project: Anything Is PAULssible!

The on-campus 6th annual Anything Is Paulssible 5K Run/Walk at Gettysburg College is canceled, but the virtual walk on April 19, 2020 will continue. Those who would like to participate in the virtual walk/run may register at: https://www.active.com/gettysburg- pa/running/distance-running-races/anything-is-paussible-5k- 2020.

Please let Lisa or one of the missioners (Jim See, Nancy Hafler, Joan Yeager, or Sally Kuykendall) know if you intend to participate in the virtual walk/run. Better yet, send us a picture of you on your walk. Modeling appropriate physical distancing, of course. Additionally, all donations received in the office through the Zwingli website or mailed in by Easter, will be forwarded to Gettysburg College and applied to the Paul Detweiler Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Please contribute in honor of this very special young man whose life touched many others, and whose memory continues to influence and inspire the Gettysburg College community.

Prayer Bench on Wile Avenue

EAGLE SCOUT PROJECT: We are thankful for Konnor S. Pierce and Boy Scout Troop #401 for their work on our prayer and meditation bench. And thanks to all who donated toward expenses. We met our goal!

Stained Glass

Our stained glass window panels were installed in early April, 2019! As we experience this beauty in our sanctuary, may we be reminded in new ways of God's presence with us and the beauty of God's creation all around us. Thanks to all those who made this possible, especially creative craftsman Mark Beard.

Stephen Ministry

Stephen Ministry congregations equip and empower lay caregivers—called Stephen Ministers—to provide high-quality, confidential, Christ-centered care to people who are hurting. Thanks to Jonathan Widgins and Pastor Butch, our Stephen Leaders, we have a trained group of Stephen Ministers. Now it is important for all of us to understand how this ministry will best benefit our congregation and community.

To learn more about Stephen Ministries, check their website.

AmazonSmile

AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com) is a website operated by Amazon that lets customers enjoy the same wide selection of products, low prices, and convenient shopping features as on Amazon.com. When you shop on AmazonSmile, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to Zwingli.

On your first visit to AmazonSmile, you are prompted to select a charitable organization from a list of eligible organizations. Type "Zwingli United Church of Christ" in the search box!

This link will take you directly to Zwingli's Amazon page.

Vision Statement 2020

Zwingli United Church of Christ, as a community blessed with a spirit of abundance and generosity, is called to:
Create a safe place to explore faith and worship, full of life, energy and enthusiasm.
Connect to the world through our local and global commitments, becoming stronger in our faith.
Celebrate all people as God's children, affirming each other's unique gifts.
With God's help, we are united in the Spirit, listening and preparing for God's work — embracing all possibilities.

Three Great Loves

Love of children, love of neighbor, love of creation...
"For the UCC, fused with our Three Great Loves campaign, the love of everything begins with this creation. Its protection is a moral duty calling us to action. This is action born in an awareness of our responsibility to keep this beloved blue ball we call 'earth' healthy enough to sustain and nurture everyone."

– UCC bulletin cover, November 11, 2018

Paper Recycling!

There's a bin at the back of the parking lot!

Recycle all of your newspaper, magazines, shopping catalogs, office and school papers and mail 24 hours/ 7 days a week right here in our green and yellow bin. You save water and energy by recycling .

What is that picture?

These pictures were taken by the Zwingli Youth Photography class as a way to understand that we may not always see things as they are...each picture is just a part of an item in Zwingli. Can you tell what the entire picture would be? We may only see a part of a person, item or activity around us. Stepping back and looking at a bigger picture could change our view of situations, people and experiences. At the same time, isn't it nice to see some of the detail in each item and person if you look closely?

Z, closure on door to sanctuary (look up!)
W, music folder in choir room
I, window frame
N, books on a shelf
G, leaves on a plant
L, space between bricks
I, space between chairs in sanctuary

...store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

-Matthew 6:20-21

We believe...

God loves us unconditionally.
We are one family in Christ.
We are called to follow Jesus.
We are called not to judge, but to accept and forgive others, as we have been accepted and forgiven.
We are called to care for, to develop, and to share cheerfully the gifts and talents God has given us.