CONGREGATION + COMMUNITY NEWS
PEOPLES PRESS
Joyfully Defiant for the Sake of a Just World
a congregation of the United Church of Christ, the Alliance of Baptists & the American Baptist Churches
INTERIM’S INSIGHTS
“So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all… ” (Gal. 6:9-10 The Message Bible)
The apostle Paul wrote these words to the church in Galatia to assure them of the power of God’s Spirit to strengthen them to persist in the work of being generous in caring for others. Because you didn’t give up or quit, the United Church of Christ and the American Baptist Church have been able to provide support that offered hope when situations seemed hopeless. We’ve offered food, water, medicines, education, and opportunities for sustainable development. The gifts you give to One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) are leveraged with those of others across denominational lines, bringing a greater impact to the work being done with local and global partners. Your support enables responses to a variety of global and local concerns by addressing advocacy, sustainable development, refugee and asylum issues, migration, disasters, and assisting those most in need and vulnerable among us. Wildfires, earthquakes, hurricanes, and flooding have ravaged communities in the United States and worldwide, leaving families and communities in desperate need of assistance. Some of these disasters have occurred in your neighborhood, or in nearby communities or to friends and neighbors in countries thousands of miles away, across the globe. Strengthened by the power of God’s Spirit and your collective generosity, the United Church of Christ and the American Baptist Church continue to work with partners to care for others, and not give up… as together we build a just world for all. Amen.
(Peoples Church of Flint will receive the OGHS Special Mission Giving offering on Sunday, March 19, but contributions can be made before and after that date. Please note on the memo line of your check, or attach a message to your online gift that it is for One Great Hour of Sharing or OGHS.)
Pastor Davis Sickelka, Interim Pastor
Pastor Dave’s Schedule for March
Due to various meetings and family obligations, Pastor Dave will be in Flint on the following days:
Week of March 12: Wednesday and Thursday
Week of March 19: Thursday and Friday
Week of March 26: Tuesday and Wednesday
Week of April 2: Thursday and Friday
Week of April 9: Tuesday and Wednesday
If you would like to make an appointment to speak to Pastor Dave in person, please call the church office at (810)767-4911 between 10:00 and 2:00 M-F, or email him at, david.sickelka@peopleschurchofflint.org. If you have an urgent need for pastoral care outside of office hours, text or phone (515)720-6389.
PVC Plastic Needs to be Phased Out
Depictions of the Norfolk Southern, Ohio train derailment.
“The vinyl-chloride train derailment in Ohio is a modern environmental disaster playing out in real time. Sadly, this is yet another painful reminder of the dangers of making, transporting, using, and disposing of chemicals in plastics, especially polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic. PVC is widely considered to be the most toxic-plastic from production to use to disposal. It’s most commonly used in building materials like PVC plastic piping and vinyl siding.
“This is not the first time an accident involving hazardous vinyl chloride has occurred. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should be applying the lessons learned, particularly with comprehensive testing and monitoring of air, water, soil, farms and livestock, and homes.
“After this last week, the EPA has repeatedly suggested that the disaster area is safe for residents to return home, but to date, the EPA has not publicly released any data on dioxins, persistent chemicals that build up in the food chain and can cause cancer and other serious health problems. It appears that EPA has not yet conducted any sampling for dioxins.
“Dioxins are a family of chemicals that are formed from the manufacture and burning of chlorinated chemicals, like those used to make PVC plastic. They are extremely persistent, bio-accumulative, and toxic. As they are endocrine disruptors, they can be hazardous at incredibly low levels of exposure. And because they are persistent and bio-accumulative, they don’t go away for a very long time. The half-life of dioxins is estimated to be 7-11 years which means, if someone has one part of dioxin in their body, it will take 7-11 years for half of it to degrade.”
The above paragraphs are from toxicfreefuture.org where you can find much more information. And always a good place to upgrade your mental resources in the area of environmental stewardship is
https://www.beyondplastics.org/.
Kendall Brown, for the Creation Justice Team
Good Things Happening in and around us
A Work in Progress… Your Search Committee continues to meet regularly although with a shifting focus. We have laid out who we are and what we are looking at Peoples Church and have gone through a period of waiting for applications from those who share our vision. We have, and continue to, review applications and listen to many sermons from all around the country. It's an exciting, informative, humbling, and anticipatory process. We have a ways to go, but doubt not that we are making progress. Thank you for your continued patience and prayers.
Carla Pierik, Search Committee Chair
OSA is asking for your assistance… This coming spring, hopefully as soon as the month of April. OSA will be opening the café area for Coffee & Tea Time. On Tuesday’s and Thursday’s from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the café area will be open in the effort to promote community hospitality. We plan to offer light refreshments and conversation. To actively take part in our role as members of the community around us. But we need you Peoples People. Located on the Greeter’s Desk you’ll find a sign-up sheet and calendar. Please consider on which day and at what time you’ll be available to engage with our neighbors. For more details please see Jay Cummings or Kendall Brown.
Make Sure that You Are in the Loop… If you are missing some of the alerts and notifications that go out from the Peoples Church office, it may be that they are being diverted into your spam file. One thing you can do to ensure that this doesn’t happen is to add peopleschurchofflint.org to your list of approved senders. That way, anything that comes to you from our “domain” will be more likely to get through.
Thursday night book group
Every Thursday from 7 – 8:30pm.
the Thursday Night Book Group is currently reading Native American Myths & Legends. If you need to purchase the book please click HERE to be taken to the Amazon site.
Join us by clicking the adjacent link: Book Group Zoom Link:
Upcoming Affiliate & Community Activities
Regional Executive Minister, David Gregg
The ABHMS 2023-2024 school year Scholarship Application Request form is available here. Applications must be submitted by April 25, 2023, at 5 p.m. EST to be considered.
Scholarship amounts vary and are paid directly to the school for credit toward the recipient’s tuition.
As an inaugural year, ABHMS will award scholarships in the range of $500-$1,000 for part-time students and students attending community college, as resources are available for the 2023-2024 academic year.
More information at ABHMS Scholarships for Students
IN THE CONGREGATION
Links are on the church calendar. Need more info? Just ask!
Links are on the church calendar: t.ly/ALHB. Need more info? Just ask!
Adult Forum, meets at 9:30 am on Sunday’s. Starting Sunday, March 19th we will be reading The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones. Join us either in person at church or via Zoom .
Vigil for Racial Justice is still gathering 1-2 pm Thursdays on the Genesee Courthouse lawn.
New Text Alert System. We have shifted to a new text messaging service. If you're in our church directory, you're all set. If you're not, go here to sign up!