Local Announcements: 

Sabbath Services for July 29th, 2023: Tomorrow's Sabbath service will be held at the Freedom Hall (349 W Birchwood St, Morton, IL 61550) @ 1:30pm. The service will also be webcast on our local congregational website​ (link for local webcast) as well as offered via audio only for those who would like to call in (701.791.9819). These connections typically go live about 15-minutes prior to the start of services.
          Song Leader: Mr. Glenn Radebaugh
          Sermonette: Keith Oberlander
          Sermon: Mr. Nathan Ekama

Upcoming Holy Days/Events:
          August 5th Sabbath service: Service will be at 10:30am @ Freedom Hall
          August 12th: Picnic in the Park after services @ Idlewood Park
          August 26th Sabbath service: Service will be at 1:30pm @ Comfort Inn
          September 16th: Feast of Trumpets services at 10:30am & 2:30pm @Comfort Inn
          September 25th: Day of Atonement service at 1:00pm @ Freedom Hall 

Excused Absence Forms: If you need an Excused Absence form for the upcoming Fall Holy Days for work or school, please let me know how many and whether you would like a digital or physical copy.

Ekama Out of Town: I will be out of town for Camp Buckeye from July 30th - August 5th. If you have need of anything, feel free to text or email me and I'll do my best to get back to you. If you have a more immediate need, please reach out to Mr. Knochel, Mr. Keisel, or Mr. Apartian.

Sabbath School: Our next Sabbath School is scheduled for August 12th. It will take place about ten minutes after services in the side room.

Springfield Bible Study: The next Bible Study in the Springfield area will be on the Sabbath of August 19th at the Curran Township building (6220 Moffet Street, Curran, IL 62670) at 10:00am. Services in Morton will remain as is currently scheduled.

Central Illinois Bible Study: Our next monthly Bible Study will be on the Sabbath of August 26th. We will continue in the book of Joel about 15-minutes after services. If you are not able to join us in person, here are a few ways that you can join our Bible Study:
          - Here is the link to access our Bible Study via our local webcast.
          - Here is the phone number to call for an audio-only connection: 701.791.9819

Festival Tithe Sharing: If you would like to share some of God’s tithe that you are setting aside, there are a number of causes that we collect for locally: East African brethren, West African brethren, our incarcerated brothers, and gift baskets for those who will be unable to travel for the Feast of Tabernacles. If you would like to donate to any of these local collections, please send funds to either Kim Olar or Bill Conway along with a note about how you would like those funds to be dispersed.

Health & Safety Protocols: We ask that any who exhibit symptoms of illness practice the biblical concept of quarantine. Face coverings are not required during our services; however, if you are more comfortable wearing a face covering when congregating, please do not hesitate to do so.

Home Office Announcements:

[HO] Discounted Housing Rates for the Feast of Tabernacles: Many of the hotels and motels listed in the Festival Planning Brochure and online offer their discounted pricing until July 31. After that, they may or may not honor the rates listed in the brochure. If you have not made a hotel reservation yet, please keep this in mind before next Monday.

[HO] Feast Registration Waitlist: We have around 75 people on a waitlist at the following three sites: Galveston, Jekyll Island and Lake Geneva. If you are a part of that group, you will receive an email next week to determine your needs and intentions. We try to accommodate everyone, but sometimes more people want to attend than capacity allows.
Also, if anyone registered for those sites is not attending, please update your registration by finding your original email confirmation and from there you can make changes. Or contact USFestival@ucg.org or your local congregational feast advisor if you need assistance.

[HO] Festival Children’s Choir Music 2023 is Now Available!: The Festival Children’s Choir selections are now available for download on the UCG Feast website at: https://www.ucg.org/members/feast/childrens-choir-music.
Guidelines for the Children’s Choir are posted there, as well as vocal and instrumental versions of the two songs and lyric sheets.
Parents, please follow the posted guidelines and be sure your children know the songs before arriving at the Feast.
—Scott Delamater, National Music Coordinator

Teen Instagram Account: Due to popular demand, the home office media team is working on creating Instagram content specifically for our teens. We will be using the existing Compass Check account to share encouraging and fun spiritually uplifting content, including Q&A’s, updates on local events and special sneak peeks of ongoing projects. We would also encourage feedback of content you would like to see. This project is specifically for our youth, and we want to hear from you! Make sure to follow us at compasscheck on Instagram (instagram.com/compasscheck) and DM us for any more info, suggestions and questions.

Light of Hope Helpline: The United Church of God is providing a new service available to its ministry and members. Light of Hope is a helpline supported by Church members who are licensed social workers, counselors and other clinical professionals.
They will provide mental health and addiction resources to those in need including individual, couple, family and teen consultation. These specialists will also assist in connecting people in need with appropriate resources in their communities while keeping all information confidential.
The Light of Hope helpline is available at any time. When you call, it will initially record your message so that one of our professionals can respond within 24 hours. This service is also provided in several different languages including Spanish, French and German.
Light of Hope also plans to develop online materials on a variety of topics such as depression, anxiety, stress management, suicidal thoughts, communication skills, problem solving strategies, teen issues, parenting issues, etc.
The helpline number is (888) 241-6211.

Prayer Updates: The home office has created a web page where church members may access recent church-wide prayer requests at any time. The address is register.ucg.org/intranet/PrayerRequests and the password for the page may be obtained from your pastor.

Job Opportunities: The United Church of God is accepting job applications for a number of positions. Details about all of the current job postings for the Church may be reviewed at ucg.org/members/news/current-job-openings.

Beyond Today: Beyond Today airs locally in Illinois (Springfield/Decatur/Champaign) on WICD 15 ABC, Sundays at 10:00 a.m..
          **BT content is also available via our YouTube channel and via Roku and other smart devices.**

Online UCG Radio from Australia for the whole world: The online radio station for United Church of God is now streaming 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. You can listen to booklet and magazine readings, Bible readings, Bible Q&As, sermons, Bible class lectures, podcasts, the BT Daily series, music and more! A radio schedule in PDF can be downloaded which will show you upcoming programs. You can reach it easily on your computer at https://www.ucg.org.au/radio or from the UCG Streaming Radio app that allows you to listen on your mobile device. Simply search your app store for "UCG Radio" to install the free app.