

ZION UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
ZION UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
315 North 3rd St.
Decatur, Indiana – 260-724-3502

We recognize many of our church family will be severely impacted financially during this time of crisis. We encourage you to utilize the many resources available as far as food and financial help and know that our members will continue to support and look out for our neighbors, families, and community.
It is also critical that we continue to contribute financially to Zion during these stressful times.
Anyone would like to receive the Sacrament of Home Communion who is not a regular recipient, or anyone who would like to have a home visit is asked to contact the church office (724-3502), and the necessary arrangements will be made.
We continue to support the efforts of the Operation Help Food Bank with monthly donations of canned goods and nonperishable food items and paper products, collected the first Sunday of each month. A collection bin is provided in the dining room. Please continue to help those in our community who experience need.
This year's Annual Gathering will be held on June 1-3, 2023! This year, we'll be gathering at Zion Evangelical United Church of Christ at 603 N New Jersey St., Indianapolis, IN 46202Our theme is "The Hope That We Have," based on 1 Peter 3:15 (NIV). Bruce and Jeanne Reidenbach will be our delegates, but anyone may attend.
We will receive our Strengthen the Church Offering on Sunday, May 28th. The theme this year is "On Holy Ground." This special offering supports the work of our conference and the national United Church of Christ to become a multi-racial/ multi-cultural church, accessible to all. The offering funds leadership development, youth and young adult ministries, and new and renewing congregations.
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Creator God, maker of all that is good.
Comforter God, restorer of peace between all peoples.
Redeemer God, healer of wounds that inflict trauma and chaos:
We turn to you this day crying out for an end to a war that rages across the land of Ukraine,
threatens the lives of its inhabitants, and displaces millions of children no longer able to sleep in their beds,
attend their schools, or play with their friends.
May your Spirit of peace soften the hearts of the politicians who rattle their sabers
and threaten nuclear annihilation.
May your vision of a just world thwart the ambitions of dictators who are thirsty for conquer
and lusting for lands over which to rule.
May your hope of shalom engender within our own hearts the call to let there be peace on Earth,
and let it begin with us.
Help us find the pathway to peace, a Just Peace, built on human rights and equity not just in Ukraine
but in every land where bombs and guns are the sounds to which children fall asleep and from which families flee.
You are the source of our peace.
You are the horizon of our hope.
You are the author of our love.
May the promise of your enduring peace, your abiding hope, and your everlasting love sustain us all
and bring the promise of a new and better day to the people of Ukraine.
Amen