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Welcome to
Kobe Union Church
We are an exciting international, english-speaking Christian
church serving the families of Kobe. We love our rich
history, but are committed to relevant Bible teaching
for today's generation and looking forward to raising
up leaders for the future. We welcome people from all
Christian traditions or denominations as well as those
seeking to understand God for the first time. We encourage
everyone to join us as we seek to know and love God more
every week! ...more |
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A Special Word to Visitors and those new to KUC
Welcome to KUC! We are so pleased to have you with us! If you have just moved to Kobe, that you might consider making KUC your church home! If you have not yet filled out a KUC Communication Card (in the seat in front of you), it would be helpful for us to have your contact details! Please fill it out and drop in offering plate or hand in to the office. Make sure you pick up a brochure which outlines who we are, and what happens here at KUC. Available in the foyer.
YOU’RE INVITED TO JOIN US FOR LUNCH!
On Sunday May 20, we are hosting a lunch for all of those who would like to consider becoming a member of KUC. Perhaps you have arrived at KUC recently. Or you've been here a while but haven’t yet become a member! We want to invite you to join us for a light lunch following Sunday School in the Lounge. This will be an informal lunch, followed by an opportunity to hear about what KUC is about, what we believe, and how we organize ourselves. You will then be able to decide whether you would like to commit to joining KUC as a member. Even if you are only in Kobe for short-term, we still encourage you to join us! By the way, you can retain membership of your home church, and still become a member of KUC for the time you are here! Please contact Shirley, or the church office to register (so we know numbers for the lunch!)
NEXT
SUNDAY – KUC ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
DID YOU GET A COPY OF THE ANNUAL REPORT? Make sure
you pick one up today – there’s enough for one per
family. The General Meeting will take place immediately
after fellowship time, during our normal Sunday School
time. There will be a program for the children. There
will be important decisions to make regarding the appointment
of the new council, a new budget, and the council plan
to bring news regarding future pastoral staff. This
is open to our whole KUC family (however, only members
will be entitled to vote on any decisions that need
to be made). ALSO … as a special incentive to come
to our AGM, we will have a “coffee taste-test” for
all lovers of coffee! We need you to help us decide
which coffee we provide at KUC!
LOVE
OFFERING FOR SCOTT AND ALISA ON JUNE 10TH
As you may already know, our Youth Pastor Scott Kuppe,
his wife Alisa and their children Jaylen and Daina
will be leaving in August to go back to the United
States. For the past four years, they've been actively
ministering to the Youth in Kansai and have touched
many lives with their love. On June 10th "Sayonara
Sunday," we'll be having a special offering specifically for them to help with their
transition back to the US and to show our love as a
congregation. Please prayerfully consider if you'd
like to help them as they prepare their move home.
Get Connected To Sunday School 11.10am - 12.00pm
All Sunday School Classes this morning. Just a reminder that Sunday School for ALL AGES runs from 11.10am until 12.00 every Sunday. It begins after morning coffee / tea and fellowship. There are classes and studies for all. The Nursery is also open during this time. There are groups for children & youth, and there are a number of adult classes to choose from including a Japanese Bible Study, a Christianity 101 Class (a beginners guide to Christianity in Japanese & English),
a Korean Bible Study class, and two English Bible Study class options. Please join us!
Class Details & Locations
・Christianity 101 (English and Nihongo) led by Mark Bartsch - in the Lounge (next to the church offices)
・Nihongo no Bible Study led by Tim Boyle - meeting in Annex 1
・“Questions and Answers from Romans” led by Derek Voss & Paul
Zwart – meeting in Gamblin Hall
・Korean Bible Study led by Jae Yu - meeting in Classroom #5 upstairs (next to KUC Library)
・Colossians Study led by Moses Paul – meeting in EKK Room upstairs
SITUATIONS
VACANT!
Help!
We need help in a number of areas on Church Life. 1.TREASURER
– Our treasurer Steve Young is finishing this month,
and we do not yet have a replacement for him. If you
would be interested, or know of someone we could consider,
please see Mark Bartsch, or Pastor Bruce. 2.SUMMER SUNDAY
SCHOOL HELP – We want to run Summer Sunday School for
our children for 5 Sundays (from June 3rd), but we need
some people to volunteer to help. NOT teach – just help
supervise children – we will be using DVDs. Please see
Megumi. Even if you can just do ONE Sunday! 3.NURSERY
VOLUNTEERS - We need people to help volunteer to staff
our nursery during the church service. Currently we only
have a few volunteers who are doing it very regularly,
so they are missing out on our services – if we had many
people willing to help, it would make it fairer for everyone!
Please consider helping – even if it is just once every
two months. See Noriko Kambe
SUMMER
SUNDAY SCHOOL
The
last day for our regular Sunday School program will be
May 20th. Then on May 27th we have the AGM. Then for
the next 5 weeks (excluding June 10th which is our Sayonara
Sunday), we will be running a Summer Sunday School program
for all those who remain in Kobe over the summer. We
will have all the usual Sunday School programs – for
children, youth and adult Bible Studies.
ARE
YOU NEW TO KUC?
We would love to know about those who are new to KUC
– perhaps you have just recently come to Kobe, or you
live here and you are attending regularly. If we don’t
have your details (especially your name and email)
it would be very helpful for us, so we can include
you in any email news we send out! Please fill out
a “Communication Card” (visitors card) or email your
details to Kikuko in the office.
ARE YOU LEAVING KOBE THIS SUMMER?
It would be helpful for us in the church office to know about those who are leaving. Please email details to Kikuko (office@kobeunionchurch.org) or to Pastor Bruce. For those who are leaving this summer – we are holding a Sayonara Sunday on June 10, during which we want to pray for you, and say “farewell”. Please let us know if you are leaving, and whether you will be at our service on Sunday June 10.
DID YOU ENJOY THE SPECIAL ITEMS IN OUR SERVICES?
Each Sunday, we try to include a special item (an instrumental, or a solo or a group item) as part of our worship. We have had solo singers, choirs, piano, violin, flute, harp, koto, guitar items – and it is wonderful to have so many who are willing to share their gift with the congregation. It really does add something special to our worship. We are always looking for more people willing to share their gift. If you would like to sing / or share an instrumental, please don't be shy about it - let us know! If you know of someone we should ask, let us know too! Ping organizes this roster – and she would love to hear your suggestions.
Let her or Pastor Bruce know.
AN INVITATION FROM PASTOR BRUCE & JO
If you would ever like prayer, a visit, or would just like to talk with us at any time (either both of us, or just one of us), please don't hesitate to call or email. We are always available for a chat, a coffee, a meal, or just to talk and pray with. We can meet anywhere convenient to you. Contact Bruce or Jo.
KUC LIBRARY
Did you know there's a KUC library? We have hundreds of amazing books available to check out upstairs on the top floor! Simply find your book, fill out the library card to leave at the front desk, and make sure to bring it back in 4 weeks to give someone else the chance to read it!
HAVE PRAYER NEEDS?
If you would like prayer after the service, please ask one of our prayer team (led by Tomoyo) who can help, or Pastor Bruce. A group also meets for prayer every Sunday morning 8.15am – 8.45am prior to the service in the ANNEX room (downstairs at KUC, next to nursery). Come and pray! If you have any requests for prayer, please let Tomoyo know so that it can go into our weekly prayer sheet. Contact Tomoyo.
WOW (Women on Wednesday)
Meets weekly on Wednesdays, 9.30am at KUC. Women meeting for Coffee, friendship & study. Pick up a brochure from the foyer
POW (People on Wednesday)
Meets every Wednesday, for light dinner and Bible Study from around 7pm. Contact Jenny Frederick for info.
OASIS (Women's Study Group)
This Women's Bible study group meets on Mondays on Rokko Island. Check with Jo Bradburn for details of next meeting.
PARKING
If you are driving to KUC, you need to register your car to use the KUC car park. The signup sheet is in the foyer. We will provide a parking card which you use each time you park. When you park, please leave the parking card on the dashboard.
FLOWERS
Would you like to donate flowers for a specific Sunday (\3,000)? A sign-up sheet is available in the church foyer. Please write your name and indicate the occasion.
NURSERY VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Don’t you just love babies and little children! Isn’t it great that we have so many of them here at KUC! We have a nursery so that parents can have opportunity to worship while their children are in the nursery. BUT we need volunteers to help in the nursery! The nursery is open during the Church service, and during Sunday School, and we need volunteers who can help during one or the other of these times. If you would like to help, please see Noriko Kambe, our Nursery Coordinator. She would LOVE to hear from you!
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| TOHOKU EARTHQUAKE RELIEF |
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KUC has been involved with providing aid relief to the Sendai region following the earthquake/tsunami. Many trips have been made, providing food supplies and relief to those affected. More than 20 of our congregation have been part of these trips, helping distribute food and supplies, cleaning homes, visiting evacuation centers, cleaning up parks, and providing BBQ's for communities. KUC will continue to provide relief efforts. We are partnering with BeOneTohoku, a Christian group from Osaka, who have established a base in Ishinomaki. For their website, click here (http://www.onfirejapan.com/tohoku/en/)
For photos of the relief effort in Sendai, click here
We are continuing to plan further trips to
Sendai. If you available to go on future aid
trips to Sendai, or able to help out in any
way, please contact Alexis Jacobs.
We invite you to donate to our Emergency Earthquake/Tsunami Relief Fund.
All funds donated will be used exclusively for the work of relief in the earthquake/tsunami areas.
We have two accounts that can be used for directing money into our Earthquake relief fund ...
We have two funds, one for Yen, and one for US$.
Bank: Citibank Japan
Branch: Kobe Number: 735
Account Name: Kobe Union Church
JPY Account : 0500712 for YEN funds
USD Account : 90109821 for US$ funds
SWIFT Code: CITIJPJT Branch 0JK
If you would like to offer assistance in any way, or would like to contact us, please contact the church office:kobechch@gol.com
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Sun 20th May
08:15 Intercessory Prayer @ Annex 2
09:30 Worship Service & Nursery
10:00 Children’s Worship
10:40 Fellowship Time
11:10 Sunday School & Nursery
12:10 New Members’ Luncheon @ Lounge
12:15 Voice Training @ Sanctuary
Wed 23rd May
09:30 WOW (Women on Wednesday)
19:00 POW (People on Wednesday)
Contact Jenney Frederick
19:30 WEBS (Women’s Evening Bible Study) @ Manse
Sun 27th May
08:15 Intercessory Prayer @ Annex 2
09:30 Worship Service & Nursery
10:00 Children’s Worship
10:40 Fellowship Time
11:00 Special Children’s Program (NO Sunday School
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11:00
KUC Annual General Meeting @Gamblin Hall
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