Local Announcements: 

Sabbath Services for August 3rd, 2023: This week's Sabbath will be held at the Freedom Hall  (349 W Birchwood St, Morton, IL 61550) @ 1:30pm. The services 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. Jack Radebaugh
          Sermonette: Mr. Patrick Kurtas
          Sermon: Mr. Nathan Ekama

Upcoming Events:
          Aug 25th: Starved Rock Hike & Picnic, 10:00am @ Starved Rock State Park
          Oct 3rd: Day of Trumpets, 10:30am & 2:30pm @ Comfort Inn
          Oct 12th: Day of Atonement, 1:30pm @ Freedom Hall
          Oct 17th-24th: Feast of Tabernacles & 8th Day, no local services

Springfield Bible Study: The next monthly Bible Study in the Springfield area will be on the Sabbath of August 3rd at the Curran Township building (6220 Moffet Street, Curran, IL 62670) at 10:00am.

Sabbath School: Our next Sabbath School is scheduled for the Sabbath of August 10th. It will take place about 10 minutes after services in the back room.

Choir Practice: For those participating in the choir, there will be a practice before services at 12:30pm on August 24th.

Central Illinois Bible Study: Our next monthly Bible Study will be on the Sabbath of August 24th. We will begin our study of the Book of Obadiah 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

Starved Rock Hike & Picnic: All are invited to grab their boots and water bottles and enjoy a hike at Starved Rock State Park on Sunday, August 25th. We'll meet at the visitor's center at 10:00am. The hike will be followed by lunch at the Keisel’s. (No need to bring anything except your hiking shoes.) If you are able to come, please let the Keisels know so that they can plan accordingly.

Recognition of Gary & Liz Smith: This December, the Houston congregation will be recognizing Mr. Gary Smith and his wife Liz for 40 years of service to God's people. Mr. Smith served here in Central Illinois (Peoria) as a local elder and Associate Pastor from September 1977 through July 1985. If you have any memories of the time that Mr. Smith served here, any pictures of the Smiths, or any pictures of the congregation from that time that you would like to share, you can either get in touch with Nathan Ekama to digitize and send what you have, or you can send what you have directly to Mrs. Corinne Morrison via email (Corinne1@comcast.net) or post. Please make sure that all items you want to share are sent to Mrs. Morrison by September 15th.

Congregational Directory: If you have not yet signed onto the online congregational directory, created your account, or would like some help with getting your contact information and/or picture uploaded, please feel free to reach out and ask Nathan Ekama, Dan Apartian, or Patrick & Sandy Kurtas for a hand.

Festival Funds Donations: As we are making our various plans for keeping the Feast of Tabernacles this Fall, please do consider those who may not be able to travel for the Feast or who may benefit from some financial assistance. If you would like to set aside a portion of your Festival Tithe to assist in making the Autumn Feast days special for others, please consider the following areas for which we have collected funds in the past: East Africa, West Africa, incarcerated members (Jang Han Bae, Michael Hobson, and Jose Camacho), as well as our members who are homebound.
If you would like to share your tithe in any of these ways, please send your funds to either Mrs. Kim Olar or Mr. Bill Conway along with how you’d like those funds dispersed. If you send a check, please make sure that it is made out to “UCG - Central Illinois”. 

Health & Safety Protocols: We ask that any who exhibit symptoms of illness practice the biblical principle of quarantine.

Home Office Announcements:

Feast of Tabernacles Registration: Registration for the Feast of Tabernacles is open. You are welcome to register for your preferred site, unless it is already closed/full. Housing reservations can be made for all sites.

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.