Life Events

Life Events2023-06-05T13:15:50-05:00

*We are scheduling baptisms for the summer, please reach out to Katie Lancaster if you are interested in bringing your child/ren forward for the sacrament of baptism.

Please consider praying with us on Sunday and at our Tuesday Mid-Day Prayer worship.

All are welcome to celebrate or commemorate the most significant moments in our lives through special services at Kenilworth Union Church. Whether you are planning a wedding, and baptism, or a memorial service, you will find information to begin your journey below.

Weddings

Those wishing to marry at Kenilworth Union Church should register as far in advance as possible. Contact Karen Gaynor to notify her of your intent and to begin scheduling. Karen can be reached by email or by calling (847) 853-2636.

photo by Sophie Cazottes

Memorials

The ministers at Kenilworth Union want to provide pastoral care and support to families who have lost a loved one. Please contact a minister to inform them of the death, and/or contact Karen Gaynor or call (847) 853-2636 to make arrangements for a memorial and/or interment.

Baptisms

Baptisms for those of all ages are celebrated in the context of Sunday worship, and begin with a meeting with a minister.

Please contact Karen Gaynor to schedule preparation sessions and baptism or call (847) 853-2636.

#weddings #memorials #baptisms

Joy Anyway, I: Praying with Joy

July 30, 2023

And so we get this letter from Paul to his friends that begins with this tender, effusive salutation I thank my God for every remembrance of you, always in every one of my prayers for all of you, praying with joy for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. I sense that you feel this way about one another from time to time. I thank my God for every remembrance of you. For one, these words “I thank my God for every remembrance” are written across the front of this Church’s 100th anniversary book published in 1996 by our friend Sally Campbell.

Two Minority Reports from the Hebrew Bible, IX: The Inescapable Love of God

July 23, 2023

“I knew it,” he says. “I just knew this was going to happen. That’s just the way you are, God—you old softy with the bleeding heart.” Jonah describes God as “gracious, merciful, and abounding in steadfast love.” Over the generations it had become the terse précis of Israel’s understanding of God: “gracious, merciful, and abounding in steadfast love.” And Jonah doesn’t like it. Jonah would rather die than live in a world where such people as the Ninevites get a second chance.

Two Minority Reports in the Hebrew Bible, VIII: Inescapable Tasks of God

July 16, 2023

Haven’t we all been in a situation where speaking up could make us look foolish, or worse? Colleagues hesitate to question a doctor’s prescription error. Engineers are pushed to meet deadlines even when there’s a faulty part. Students do social calculus before deciding to stand up for someone being bullied at the next lunch table. In The "Out-Laws" movie that’s popular on Netflix, Owen, played by Adam DeVine, weighs the risk of losing his fiancée if he tells her “Your parents are bank robbers.” Harvard Business School Professor Amy Edmondson names this the voice-silence calculation. It turns out that remaining silent is often easier, because the almost certain and immediate benefit provides safety from retaliation and being wrong. On the other hand, speaking up benefits the group, often at some unknown and less likely point in the future. Can you blame Jonah for choosing to run away rather than speak up? The Ninevites get the benefit of God’s mercy, while Jonah’s doomsday prediction makes him look less reliable than a soapbox preacher yelling on the corner.