ANNOUNCEMENTS

Communion — will be celebrated at the end of our virtual worship services. Thank you for sharing with us!

Holy Week — Maundy Thursday live service, Good Friday at-home prayer vigil, and Easter Sunday live

service. Times and more information will be communicated next week.

SD Prayer group — please contact Melody Sledgister to receive Zoom information to join the April 5 meeting

from 5 pm to 6 pm.

See the Facebook page and the website — for posts from Pastor Gary during the week. These places will

have the most up-to-date information. Please pass along this information to anyone without access to the

internet.

Church Calendar — is on the website. Virtual meetings will be included on the Church Calendar

Virtual Meetings — with Zoom. The church has subscribed to an audio/video virtual meeting application

called Zoom. We have a “how-to” document ready to communicate to anyone that would facilitate/participate in a virtual meeting. Please contact Jenny to schedule a virtual meeting or to receive the “how-to”.

Praises, Prayer Concerns, or Needs — can be communicated to the church office. Information received by

Wednesday will be included in the CUC Weekly update. The church staff is here for you and we would love

to connect with each of you!

Winter Mission Project — gifts will go to Christ for India. We gathered $433. Thank you for your support!

Spring Mission Project — gifts received thru June will go to support Hungry World Farm. Stephen Rauh

and Cal Zehr, who were supposed to be the guest speakers on 3/15, are very instrumental with this cause.

The farm is located near Tiskilwa, IL. More information can be found at https://hungryworldfarm.com/ . Please write “Spring Project” on the memo area of your check, utilize the Spring envelope from your giving packet, or write “Spring Project” on your giving envelope.

4/3/2020 Update

All services and weekly activities have been cancelled through April 30, 2020.

If you have Facebook, please watch the live stream via Facebook Live from our Facebook Page, Christian

Union Church. The live stream via the website has limited viewers and we would appreciate anyone that can use Facebook to use it. This enables people that do not have Facebook to watch via the website.

The Sunday Message will be on Facebook Live

and the website at 9:00 am.

Please join us for music and a message!

April 5, 2020 ‘The Courage of the Christ’ John 11 : 7 - 16 Pastor Gary Salm

We are bringing you an At-Home-Hunt. Bags of filled eggs will be distributed at the front of the church between 1pm and 3pm on Sunday, April 5th. Cars will “drive-thru” to receive the filled eggs and small prizes. We are requesting vehicles to use the east entrance of the parking lot to assist with traffic flow.

If you have UN-filled eggs, please hold on to them

and we will collect them when we are able to gather again.

Prayer Concerns:

Please pray for God’s protection and strength for Chelsie Heathcoat and Levi Heathcoat. We continually lift

up all the faithful men and women in uniform serving throughout the world. Also, please pray for our local, state, and federal leaders.

Please continue to pray for: Ramona Smock, Shirley Lindsay and family, The family of Gene Swartz, Levon

Diehl, The Family of Dave Burgemeister, Janet Barker, Sharlette Metts, Peggy Nieschlag, Lance Barke,

Geneva Troyer, Joe Hauter, Greg Nevitt, Cullen Nevitt, Teresa, Abby Kough, Delmar Kolb, Joan Robison, Wynema Parks, Jill Frost, Ken Maurer, Sue Johnson, Rachel Cook, Mike Cotty, Erin Miller, Elaine Lauffenburger, Bob Mason, Tara Ott, Linda Jones, John Clark, Naomi Anderson, Emily O’Connor, Richard

Parks, Becky Jones, Grahm, Julie Parks, Dona Parks, Hazel Dyar, Sue Zobrist, Tia Dye, Ian Wallace, Kyle Wood, Mona Smock, Larry & Marty Mullins, Mary Dexter, Shirley Lindsay, Mitch Williams, Donna

Schifeling, and Faye Hines as they deal with on-going health issues.

Our Partners in Mission:

St. Mary’s of Lourdes, Metamora Amanda King, SIM USA Justin Rauh, Youth For Christ Metamora

Opportunities to Volunteer:

Snyder Village — Snyder Village has been put on strict restrictions to prevent the spread of the COVID-19

virus to the most at risk population. They are in dire need of young, healthy volunteers to screen

employees. If you know of anyone that could help out please have them call Ashley Thompson at 309 366

4135.

Spring is coming — and the church’s lawn will need to be mowed. If you are willing to help with the lawn

care this summer, please contact Doug Long at 309 337 4304. We are looking for 4 to 5 people to volunteer.

RightNow Media — is a wonderful online resource that we make available to you for free! It’s like the Netflix of Christian media, with thousands of videos, studies and inspirational messages ready for you to access on your own device (s).

As part of the Christian Union family we want you to be blessed and challenged. Here you will find Bible studies, small group lessons, children’s entertainment, teen studies, parenting helps, financial guidance, and much, much more.

If you need help establishing your account, please call or email the office.

Go to this website to set up your personal account with RightNow. https://www.rightnowmedia.org/Account/Invite/CUCMetamora

4-03 Marilyn Deatherage Adalyn Maurer 4-04 Mary Armstrong 4-06 Rachel Gregait Doug Long Sue Shoff 4-07 Kristi Viggers 4-08 Jim Houch John Lauffenburger 4-09 Gladys LaConte 4-10 Cooper Allen

4-10 Lance Barke Geneva Troyer 4-11 Reed Spangler 4-12 Zachary Barker 4-13 Grant Phillips 4-15 Kirsten Maurer 4-17 Carter Durst Linda Veatch 4-19 Brandon Bogue 4-23 Kevin Douglas 4-24 Ron Donaldson

4-24 Dan Smock Ayshton Wood 4-28 Michelle Minger 4-30 Helen Cheek

925 West Walnut Street Metamora, IL 61548

Pastor, Gary Salm

Church phone: 367-4603 Church Office email: mcuc@mtco.com

Office hours: Mon. – Thurs. 8:30 am to 3:00 pm Fri. 8:30 to Noon

www.christianunionchurch.com Facebook: Christian Union Church

4 – 8 Lance and Jill Fandel 4 – 17 Heidi and Kent Malone 4 – 18 John and Mary Armstrong 4 – 21 Joe and Jamie Atha 4 – 22 Margaret and Dick Matson

To the congregation of the Christian Union Church:

Dear Church,

I’ve been trying to figure out exactly what I wanted to say to you for the past several weeks.

In that time, I have tried to figure out how to elegantly, yet succinctly, summarize my feelings

as I look back on the past six years we have had together. And I have determined that there is

simply no way that I can put our time together in just a few sentences and do it any form of

justice. So, instead, I am left with only two words: thank you.

I don’t think I can really fully express what this church has come to mean to me and my family.

One of the things that they don’t really warn you about in Bible College or Seminary is just

how much of a risk it is to take on a ministry. The reality of the situation is that you pack up

everything you own, and move your family somewhere you oftentimes don’t know anyone

and you just kind of hope it works out. If you do well, you will make some friends. But if you

are really fortunate, you will make a new family. I can say, wholeheartedly, that this church

has become my family. And you will never really know how much that means to me.

I love this church. I love this area. The past six years have seen more than their fair share of

ups and downs in both my life and the church as a whole. But I believe that I am a better

pastor, and a better person, because of my time here. I have considered myself the most

fortunate man on God’s green earth because I have been able to minister to the students of

Elevate. I am so incredibly proud of the growth that I have seen in all of them, just as I am

sure that you are proud of them. I ask that you, as a church, continue to encourage them as

they keep growing in their faith and figure out what it means to follow Jesus. They have so

much potential and I am excited about the things that God will do in their lives.

Thank you so much for everything. Thank you for the role that you have played in my life.

Thank you for the role you will continue to play in the lives of the students of Christian Union.

While it hurts to leave (especially the unfortunate timing I seem to have here), I believe that

someday our paths will cross again; either in this life or the next. Thank you for your support

of my family and me. I truly love Christain Union Church, and I believe that God has even

better things in store for all of us.

In Christ,

Brandon Bogue