Update and Resources

January 9, 2026

"Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him."

~ Matthew 3:13

Sunday Worship at 10:00 AM

Join us for worship this Sunday. You can always worship online via our live stream or anytime on our Kent UCC Video page. Click here to print the bulletin for an order of worship for those worshiping online.

Looking Ahead to the Annual Meeting, January 25, 2026

A big part of our Annual Meeting will be the election of leaders for our new governance model. Your participation in this vote is very important, so we hope you can attend. 

There may be questions on your mind, and I’d like to help answer them.

1. When will the new model begin? After the Annual Meeting at the end of January. It will begin in earnest in February.
2. How do I know if I am, in fact, on a ministry or committee? If you signed up on a large post-it on Dedication Sunday or after, and nothing has changed for you since then, you may consider yourself ‘in’. I will have a hard copy of all of the rosters with me between now and then and definitely there that day. After the vote, those who will be leading these groups (stewards/conveners/coordinators) will reach out to you (some may have already started doing that, but not all will have done so yet). 
3. I did not get a chance to volunteer for a ministry or committee; how can I do that? You can let any of the Nominating Team know of your interest or speak directly to the leader of a group. With the new model, there is flexibility in how much or how long you participate in one of the ministries or committees, but leaders will surely want to be able to check back with you in the future.

Feel free to ask any further questions of the Nominating Team. The members are: Barb Hanniford, Becky Moyseenko, Jill Khol, Laurie Riddle, and me, Megan Snyder. 

Roundabout Information

Please click here for a current update on the roundabout being built near our church.

With Gratitude for your Generosity

It is with deep gratitude for the generosity of this congregation that Outreach is able to send $1339 to our final Five for Five offering, Veterans of the Cross, and $1170 to the UCC Hurricane Melissa Relief Fund and $1170.31 to Kent Social Services from our Christmas Eve offering. We continue to change lives and share God’s love.

January Community Meal

The Community Meal is coming up on Sunday January 18th at 5:00 PM. We appreciate volunteers signing up for the following jobs: Dessert baking, cooking Sunday before church at 8:30 AM, Set Up 4:00 PM, dishes at 5:00. Click HERE if you are willing to help in any way! If you have any questions about the community meal please email or call Gayle Wall. Our guests attending the meal truly appreciate our food, our time, and your donations. Come and help in 2026 and see what this hands on church mission is all about.  

Kent UCC Hiking Group Meets This Sunday

The Kent UCC hiking group will meet this Sunday at 1:30pm in the parking lot. From there we will hike the Kent State campus. Weather permitting. Please join us if you can!

Host Coffee Hour

in the New Year

It's time to think about your New Year's Resolutions and Fellowship and Fun has the perfect idea: sign-up to host coffee hour! We need one or two volunteers each week to simply brew a pot of coffee or two, prepare some pitchers of cold water and perhaps bring a few snacks. Members of Fellowship are happy to coach you through it. The 2026 sign-up sheet is now posted on the bulletin board in VanMeter Hall.  

Kent Social Services

Volunteers Needed!

Over the summer, members of our congregation volunteered to help Kent Social Services. And the need for our help was quite obvious! During the summer, they lost their cook, and they have not yet replaced her. Marquice has been doing much of the work herself, counting on volunteers to fill in the gaps. So your Outreach ministry is hoping to extend our volunteering for the next several months. There is always something we can do there to help. We will continue with the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month working from 10-1 so that we can help to serve lunch. Sign up here to indicate when you can help. Thank you so much for your willingness to work in our community, share God’s love, and help those in need. Kent UCC shares its abundance. Please note the current needs for the food pantry below.

Social Justice Update

The Law and Our Neighbor: Our LGBTQ+ Neighbors

Our Social Justice series returns with a timely program on Wednesday, January 14, 7 pm, Chapel, focusing on current issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community. Amanda Cole will be our speaker. She’s the executive director of Plexus, the LGBT and Allied Chamber of Commerce.

Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast

Kent UCC will again host the annual MLK Jr. Breakfast. This year it’s on Saturday, January 18 from 10 am to noon, with registration starting at 9:30. Tickets are $20 and available online or by leaving a check payable to Portage County NAACP in the NAACP mailbox at church. Frank Hairston has more information. This breakfast is always an inspiring time!

Urge Congress to say No to War in Venezuela!

In a joint statement with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and Global Ministries, the United Church of Christ condemned this illegal military operation in Venezuela and affirmed “the right of countries and communities to shape their own futures without coercion or military intervention.” As a Just Peace denomination, we stand for “diplomacy over domination, cooperation over coercion, and peace over war.”  

We urge Congress to take a stand against this dangerous executive overreach. Reports indicate that Congress will soon vote on a War Powers resolution directing the administration to remove U.S. forces from hostilities against Venezuela without a declaration of war or authorization of use of military force by Congress. 

Tell your members of Congress to uphold our checks and balances and block unauthorized military activity in Venezuela. Take action here.

ACME Cash Back Program

It's that time of year again to submit your receipts for the ACME Community Cash Back program. Every year, participate in this special program that gives money to local non-profits. At the end of the program, we tally up the receipts we have collected, and we receive a portion of it back. Please submit your ACME receipts from August 1, 2025 through February 15, 2026. You can drop them in the baskets that are labeled around the church and in the church office. Thank you for participating!

Sign Up to Greet

Please sign up to be a Kent UCC Greeter. This is an easy but IMPORTANT job! Just come to church before the service at 9:35am, stand by the lower doors and welcome and greet people as they come in! It is so imperative to have a friendly face to welcome everyone as they come in to church. You are coming to church anyway so just come a little early and spread our Kent UCC extravagant hospitality to all who enter our doors. Click HERE to access the greeter sign up sheet! If you have any questions please contact Gayle Wall. 

Looking Ahead

• Wednesday, January 14 - Our Social Justice series returns with a timely program: The Law and Our Neighbor: Our LGBTQ+ Neighbors

• Saturday, January 17 - MLK Breakfast with the NAACP, VanMeter Hall

• Wednesday, January 21 – Evening Prayer Service, 7pm in the Chapel

• Sunday, January 25 – Annual Congregational Meeting after worship

• Tuesday, January 27 – New Administrative Board Meeting, 7pm

• Friday, February 6 – Cleveland Chamber Choir Concert, 7pm in the Sanctuary

• Sunday, February 8 – Scout Sunday

• Wednesday, February 11 – “The Law and Our Neighbor: Community Action Council” Social Justice lecture series with John Kennedy, 7pm in the Chapel

• Thursday, February 12 – Dwelling in the Word Bible Study, 2pm in the Chapel

• Sunday, February 15 – Transfiguration and Have a Heart Sunday

• Wednesday, February 18 – Ash Wednesday service, 7pm in the Sanctuary 

This Week’s Sacred Text

Matthew 3:13-17

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw God’s Spirit descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from the heavens said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”