Posts by Mary
Creation Care Corner July 2025
The Union of Concerned Scientists has published a report on disinformation campaigns designed to obstruct scientific progress on the issue threatening all of us and our children – CLIMATE CHANGE. As they explain, “When disinformation spreads and takes hold, it has the power to shape the public dialogue and set the context in which vitally…
Read MoreLetter from the Pastors
Summer is here! I wonder for you what that means – a time for renewal or a time for sacrifice? Life runs on a cycle of sacrifice and renewal. We work hard, give our all, expend our energy to create, produce, and achieve. Then we need to rest, recover, and recuperate. God set up this…
Read Morefrom the Pastors
Hello Friends, Change is underway. Like tossing a stone into still water, ripples have been set in motion. Movement has begun—and it hasn’t yet reached its final destination. As I’m writing this, we’re packing boxes in Colorado, and hopefully by the time you’re reading it, those same boxes have arrived in Rhinelander. And let’s be…
Read MoreCreation Care Corner
We don’t like to find more bad news about our stewardship of the natural world, but it just keeps coming; Global sea levels rose 35 percent more than expected last year, climbing by 0.23 inches according to NASA satellite data. Melting ice sheets and glaciers, and methane releases from melting permafrost partially account for this,…
Read MoreCreation Care Corner May 2025
Day after day we hear announcements of federal programs being cancelled and people being fired who do research and administer benefits to people and places in need. It is no different with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The new EPA director, Lee Zeldin, announced in March that he will cancel 31 environmental regulations. More…
Read MoreModerator Musings May 2025
Hello Everyone, Finally, April is going out like a lamb. (But I think that’s supposed to be March!) Well, I have to eat my words from last month’s letter because of the snow and ice storms we’ve had since then. We even had to cancel worship on Sunday, March 30, because traveling was too dangerous. …
Read MoreCreation Care Corner
This month we are reviewing ways to fight climate change. There’s really nothing new here, just reminders of what we can do. Join a group willing to help, like Environmental Defense Fund’s Action Network (edf.org/signup} Use your power as a consumer to put pressure on companies to lower their carbon footprints. Buy local and seasonable…
Read MoreModerator Musings
Spring has come to Rhinelander! Larry and I were snowbirds for nearly three weeks in March, and now that we’re back we see that most of the snow is gone, and the March 19 big snowfall missed us, too. Personally, I am looking forward to seeing spring bulbs coming up through the ground. This year…
Read MoreIn The Event of Bad Weather
Hello members and friends of First Congregational UCC, Rhinelander, If there are icy or dangerous roads on Sunday morning and the National Weather Service has said not to travel in our area, we will cancel our Sunday service. If the service is cancelled, we will have announcements broadcast on both WJFW and WXPR. So listen…
Read MoreYOUNG GIRL MAKES A DIFFERENCE
This month I would like to spotlight a young girl in Colorado who has been advocating for earth issues since she was 6 years old. I read about Madhvi Chittoor in a Time Magazine article in August. After she heard that Colorado state senator Lisa Cutter proposed banning single-use plastic bags in 2021, she spoke…
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