Update and Resources

January 2, 2026

"When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy."

~ Matthew 2:10

Epiphany Worship at 10:00 AM

Join us for worship this Epiphany 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.

Pop-Up New Year’s Class!

Next Sunday morning, January 4, Pastor Amy is leading a “Pop-Up New Year’s Class” in the Lounge. We will begin promptly at 9am. Join her to reflect on the past year and look ahead to 2026. Bring your own coffee or tea or make a cup there!

Annual Congregational Meeting Reminder

The 2026 Annual Congregational Meeting will be held after worship on Sunday, January 25, 2026. Please plan to attend.

A Heartfelt Thank You from Project Noelle

To our friends at Kent United Church of Christ 

On behalf of everyone at Project Noelle, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your generosity and support this Christmas season. Your kindness truly made a difference, and we are so grateful that you chose to stand with us during such a meaningful time of year.

Because of your support, we were able to help bring Christmas to nearly 250 children in our community—many of whom may not have otherwise received gifts. Your contribution helped create moments of joy, excitement, and hope for children and families, and those memories will last far beyond the holiday season.

What you gave was more than gifts—it was reassurance to families that they are seen, cared for, and supported by their community. It truly takes a village to make something like this possible, and we are incredibly thankful to count you as part of ours. Your generosity and willingness to give back did not go unnoticed, and the impact of your support was felt by every child we served.

Thank you for helping us make Christmas a little brighter and a little warmer for so many families. We are deeply grateful for your partnership and look forward to the possibility of working together again in the future.

With heartfelt appreciation,

Kristina & Linda

Project Noelle

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!

Keeping Our Eyes on Palestine

The following is excerpted from the UCC Movement for Palestine’s December e-newsletter:

“The reality in Gaza is that targeted strikes continue, despite the so-called ceasefire. Israel has killed nearly 400 Palestinians in Gaza since the so-called ceasefire began, bringing the total death toll to over 70,000. In addition, much needed humanitarian aid has not flooded the strip, rather, it enters in a trickle. In many places in the besieged territory, food is still hard to find, and fuel to cook it with is even more difficult to come by. … As the cold and rainy winter season approaches, most Palestinians in Gaza don’t have proper shelter, and are living in make-shift tents which offer little protection from the elements. …

Now is not the time to take our eyes off Gaza. As Christians around the world prepare to celebrate Christmas, we cannot ignore the intense human suffering happening in the very place where Jesus was born. …



This requires prayerful action. We need to let our government officials know that we demand a real ceasefire, where parties will be held accountable for violations. We need to let our government officials know that we are paying attention... We must demand that any peace plan for the region include Palestinians in the negotiating process (Trump’s 20-point plan did not). We must demand not just a ceasefire, but an end to the nearly 20-year siege on Gaza that was in effect long before October 7, 2023, and an end to apartheid and occupation in the West Bank.”

Roundabout Information

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

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

• THIS Sunday, January 4 - Pop-Up New Year’s Class, 9am in the Lounge; Epiphany “You Light Up My Life” Sunday and distribution of Star Words; Unhanging of the Greens, after worship; Resilient Hearts Support Group, 11:15am in room 124.

• 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

• Sunday, January 24 - Annual Congregational Meeting after worship

This Week’s Sacred Text

Matthew 2:1-12

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for out of you will come a ruler

    who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” 

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.