Zwingli UCC - Paoli

09/05/2026

Happy Labor Day Weekend! Please join us tomorrow at 9:30 AM for Worship and Communion. After Worship join the community for refreshments at Friendship Time! In Worship we will be exploring the story of Moses at the Burning Bush. In preparation, check out Jan Richardson's reflection below the image. For Communion we serve grapejuice and delicious gluten/dairy free bread. Hope you will join us!

The invitations that come to us are not always as plain as a burning bush. Or sometimes—in the midst of a pandemic, say, or a hurricane, or literal wildfires, or the pain and shock of events happening nationally and internationally or right in our own homes—the burning bushes can be difficult to perceive. In the midst of it all, may we be given vision to see what is ours to see, and courage to do what is ours to do. May we hear the voice that says to us, "I will be with you."

BLESSING AT THE BURNING BUSH

You will have to decide
if you want this—
want the blessing
that comes to you
on an ordinary day
when you are minding
your own path,
bent on the task before you
that you have done
a hundred times,
a thousand.

You will have to choose
for yourself
whether you will attend
to the signs,
whether you will open your eyes
to the searing light, the heat,
whether you will open
your ears, your heart
to the voice
that knows your name,
that tells you this place
where you stand—
this ground so familiar
and therefore unregarded—
is, in fact,
holy.

You will have to discern
whether you have
defenses enough
to rebuff the call,
excuses sufficient
to withstand the pull
of what blazes before you;
whether you will
hide your face,
will turn away
back toward—
what, exactly?

No path from here
could ever be
ordinary again,
could ever become
unstrange to you
whose seeing
has been scorched
beyond all salving.

You will know your path
not by how it shines
before you
but by how it burns
within you,
leaving you whole
as you go from here
blazing with
your inarticulate,
your inescapable
yes.

—Jan Richardson

Image: "The Burning Bush"
© janrichardsonimages.com

[Inspired by the story of Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3:1-15.]

09/04/2026

Today's edition of the Hen House News is now available. Click on the following link to read the latest news. https://conta.cc/4xBIcyN

09/03/2026

Zwingli is getting a 'face lift' on it's fascia! We thank Troy Hefty Siding company -- and his cousin Faith for making it happen!

09/02/2026

Words from the author of the book our Book Group is reading together this Fall, words to give us strength through the challenges we face individually and collectively.

Thank you, Kaazz Montana...

08/31/2026

We always enjoy meaningful conversations and hope you will consider joining us this Fall! Please sign up by Sunday Sept. 6 so we have a book for you -- which will be available for purchase at our Sept. 13 gathering (or another time if you can't make Sept. 13). Contact Pastor Karla with any questions. (image of author is from https://wordandlife.us/archived-courses/winter-2024-program-the-four-vision-quests-of-jesus/)

08/29/2026

For more info on how the UCC is responding and you can be supportive, check out their link.

🇳🇵 Pray for Nepal
Devastating floods in Nepal have claimed hundreds of lives, left many missing, and displaced families across affected communities. Global Ministries is in communication with our partner in Nepal and preparing to respond to urgent needs as aid can safely reach those affected.

Our partner shared, “At this critical moment, we would greatly appreciate your prayers for Nepal.”

Please join us in praying for those who have lost loved ones, those still missing, displaced families, rescue workers, and our partners working to bring help and hope.

Learn more at: https://ow.ly/y3OH50ZGCZq

08/29/2026

Join us tomorrow at 9:30 am for Worship and Community! We will explore Matthew's telling of the story of Jesus asking his disciples who they think he is. As often happens, Peter has a lot to say and through Peter's wisdom and his misunderstandings, we get to learn! Hope you can join us! (this image comes from https://ursulinesisterslouisville.org/but-who-do-you-say-that-i-am/)

08/28/2026

Today's edition of the Hen House News is now available. Click on the following link to read the latest! https://conta.cc/4gotFAw

08/27/2026

Let us join the Dalai Llama in prayer for those impacted by the disastrous flash floods and mudslides on the Nepal-Tibet border.

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐢 𝐋𝐚𝐦𝐚 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐭–𝐍𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬

I am saddened to learn of the devastating floods in the Rasuwa region of Nepal and Kyirong in Tibet, resulting in loss of life and heavy structural damage. I pray for all those who have lost their lives, and offer my sympathy and heartfelt condolences to the bereaved and to all those affected by this tragedy.

Since this region has seen calamities in the past as well, these are certainly symptoms of a deeper underlying cause — whether climate change or other factors. I hope that appropriate follow-up measures will be taken, wherever possible, to help ensure that such disasters do not recur.

With my prayers,

Dalai Lama

27 August 2026

08/26/2026

On this sad day, Rev. Cameron Trimble shares a beautiful reflection about Dolly "farming songs and happiness", and this prayer:

A Prayer For a Life Generously Given

Spirit of Love,

Today we give thanks for Dolly.

For the music and the laughter,
the rhinestones and the stories,
the books placed into children's hands,
the families helped when disaster came,
and the countless acts of generosity
we will probably never know about.

Thank you for the particular gift of her life.

We grieve because something beautiful has left the world,
and we are grateful because something beautiful was here.

Hold those who loved her most closely:
her family, her friends, her colleagues,
and all those for whom this loss is not the death of an icon,
but the absence of someone they knew and loved.

And hold the rest of us too.

Teach us not to be embarrassed by our grief
simply because we never knew her personally.
Some lives reach us from a distance.
Some voices become companions.

Some songs find their way into places in us
that words alone cannot reach.

May Dolly's memory be a blessing.

And may her life remind us that generosity is never wasted.

Help us notice what we have been given
and become less afraid to give it away.

May we plant joy where there is weariness,
possibility where there is discouragement,
welcome where there is loneliness,
and kindness wherever the world has grown hard.

When our own lives are finished,
may something good still be growing because we were here.

Amen.

A Meditation by Rev. Cameron Trimble