Gifts of Edgewood is happening every Wednesday night from 7 to 8 p.m. through Dec. 21.

We’ll be talking about Edgewood’s gifts, strengths, assets, and how we might just be a blessing in this community and in East Lansing. Join us for discussion, a chance to learn more about Edgewood, and a chance to be involved and get to know our church family.

If you’re worried about the weather (if there happens to be a LOT of snow), just call the church office and we’ll let you know if Gifts of Edgewood is still happening. If you get the voicemail, just leave us a message and we’ll get back to you.

Hope to see you there!

The Interfaith Thanksgiving Service article was published in the Towne Courier this weekend. Read it here. The article has also been copied & pasted below.
Each year the East Lansing Interfaith Clergy Group organizes an interfaith Thanksgiving service, where members of different faiths gather to sing, to see the world through the eyes of others and to share in gratitude.

The Interfaith Thanksgiving Service will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 21 at Edgewood United Church, 469 N. Hagadorn.

Following worship, there will be light refreshments and a chance to meet with others.

The worship service involves prayer, scripture readings, a meditation/homily and a performance by a joint choir.

The faith communities represented include Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Unitarian Universalist, Church of Christ Scientist, Mormon, Bahai, Unity, Hindu, Buddhist and Quaker.

The event creates a number of unique issues for the organizers. There are practical difficulties of coordinating schedules, but also the challenge of creating an inclusive worship service which is respectful to the beliefs and practices of many different religious traditions.

"The worship is unifying," said Rev. Kari Nicewander, a pastor at Edgewood United Church, which hosts this year's service. "We include aspects of different traditions, and the songs and prayers are not explicitly Christian."

Rabbi Amy Bigman, of Congregation Shaarey Zedek, said her congregation participates "because by doing so we help to strengthen our community and make the world a better place.

"A very important part of our religion is practicing tikkun olam, which can be translated as repair or perfection of the world."

Rev. Kathryn Bert from the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lansing said, "Our different faith communities hold Love in common, which some name as God, but by whatever name, connects us one to another in compassion and community...."

On Halloween night, children all across the United States will hand candy back to the adults who answer the door of approximately 100,000 households.

Why?

Reverse trick-or-treating is where children (and occasionally the adults who accompany them) hand out Fair Trade chocolate when they are given candy from households. The Fair Trade chocolate has a small informational card attached to it, which creates awareness of child labor, forced labor, trafficking, poverty, and more that is widespread on cocoa farms (especially on the Ivory Coast, where 80% of cocoa comes from).

What’s better is that the chocolate and cards are FREE. There are a number of Fair Trade chocolate companies who are passionate about Fair Trade and who are against chocolate labor. Recipients are charged packing and shipping, which is only $5.50!

It might be too late for this Halloween, but next year spread the awareness! If your child is too shy to hand out the chocolates, there’s no reason adults can’t do it once their kid has collected their candy.

Some participating Fair Trade chocolate companies are:

·      Equal Exchange
·      Alter Eco
·      Sweet Earth
·      La Siembra
·      Coco-Zen

Click here for more information.

Truman A. Morrison, raised in Birmingham, Ala., once picketed his father’s store because he would not hire African-Americans. Morrison went on to continue his passionate quest for social justice with lively theological thought and action. Edgewood United Church of Christ in East Lansing, Mich., continues this trend today.

The Truman A. Morrison lectures, put on every year by Edgewood United Church, examine the theological implications of life in the modern era. This year, there is a focus on Martin Luther. The lecture is on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011, at 7 p.m. The theme is Unveiling Luther in Drama and Music. It opens with music, followed by two monologues from John Osborne’s Luther: “Ninety-Five Thesis at Wittenburg” and “Here I Stand,” both read by Dick Hill. Following the monologues will be a reading from a play, Justification By Faith by Joy Baumgartner, featuring Baumgartner and Ken Beachler. In the reading, Baumgartner will debrief a dead Martin Luther. It is an existential examination of why Luther did what he did in breaking away from the church, and how he feels about it now that he has passed.

Closing this year’s lecture will be a panel discussion led by Robert Muhlbach. Dick Hill, Ken Beachler and Joy Baumgartner. They will discuss Martin Luther and his works and motivations.  The writer and actors will explore the difficulties of bringing such an historic figure to life.

Truman Morrison was the senior minister at Edgewood for 28 years and an activist for open housing in segregated East Lansing. Some of his other commitments to justice were women’s rights, California migrate farm works and gay and lesbian rights. After his death, the lecture series at Edgewood began in 2006. Created by several members of the church who wished to continue honoring Morrison’s quest for social justice, the Truman A. Morrison lectures bring in well-known speakers from around the United States once a year.

The Truman A. Morrison lectures at Edgewood United Church, 469 E. Hagadorn Rd, East Lansing, Mich., are always informative and provocative. Religious or not, Martin Luther was and remains an important figure in world history. Come to Edgewood on Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. to rediscover Martin Luther.