THIS WEEK

If you are unable to join us on Sundays in person, please go to our website or mobile app and watch the live stream of our services. at 8:45AM. 9:45AM or 11:15AM.  Don't forget that you can also give your offering online via the giving page of our website, or by using the QR code:

ONE 2020: Churches in Hong Kong are running a Bible listening campaign from February 26th to April 12th, 2020. Please download the mobile application (“One Hearing the Word”) and listen to, or read, a passage of Scripture, followed by a Devotion, a short Prayer and, finally, one portion of the Gospel Film, daily in 6 languages (English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Tagalog, Indonesian and Korean). http://www.onehtw.com/ , download the App or scan the QR code: 

Join us for Online Prayer on Wednesday nights from 8-9pm. Together we join in adoration, thanksgiving, confession and intercession. There is much to pray for in this time, and it is refreshing to do it together! Use this link to join: https://zoom.us/j/620034161. If you have questions about using zoom, reach out to any staff member for help! 

Latest News

The following events are postponed until further notice. Please check our website (www.unionchurchhk.org) for latest details. 

There will be NO U-Cafe until further notice. 

Midweek Bible Study, Tuesday lunch time, from 12:30-2:00, led by Yan Yu. 

Lunchtime Alpha is postponed until further notice. Contact Monte Peterson if you are interested, and we will let you know once it will begin. 

Children’s Sunday School Arrangements: Kingdom Kids' regular Sunday School program is suspended until further notice. For the meantime, we will provide Veggie Tales movies for children who attend church with strict hygiene procedures in place. We truly appreciate your kind understanding and cooperation as we do our part in helping protect the health and safety of everyone attending our Sunday School program and church services. 

Men's Fellowship Dinner planned for Saturday, 29 February will be postponed to a later date. 

Please note that the management of Sunlight Tower will be checking everyone's temperature upon entering the building. Anyone with a fever will be asked not to enter and advised to seek medical help. Everyone will also be requested to immediately wash their hands thoroughly once inside the church on the 18th floor. Please do come worship with us and try to arrive well in advance of the service start time to accommodate this check. 

If you have travelled to mainland China in the last 14 days, please do not come to the Church. Following Government advice, we recommend that you remain at home during the two-week period. Join our worship by streaming via our website or our mobile app.

Thank you for your understanding. There are multiple ways to remain connected with the Union community while many of us are staying and working at home more. Want to know more? Need urgent prayer during these challenging times? Contact the office:

Opportunities

This year during Lent, we invite you to join into several church-wide disciplines as we together prepare our hearts for Holy Week and Easter. We will be reading and preaching through the book of Ephesians as a church.

+If you like to read, pick up a bookmark with a reading schedule (see above), as well as prayer and action suggestions. 

+Watch introductory videos to the book of Matthew and Ephesians (from the Bible Project). This series (on Right Now Media) about Ephesians is great for families (from the co-creator of Veggie Tales!)  QR code to join Right Now Media:

The Union Book Group will meet next Tuesday, March 3, at 7:30 pm, to discuss The Wife's Tale, by Aida Edemariam. This biography is the true story of her grandmother's remarkable and ordinary life in Ethiopia. Let Monte Peterson know if you'd like to join by zoom. 

HK Church Network for the Poor is coordinating with their partners to source face masks and distribute them to underprivileged families and groups in Taiwai, Central, Kwun Tong, Yau Ma Tei, Tai Kok Tsui, Fanling, Tsim Sha Tsui, Tsuen Wan, Hung Hom. So far, they have received requests for 23,000+ face masks from most deprived districts in HK, and have started to distribute collections to partners. They still need many more. Thanks to support from churches and individual donors, they are sharing more than supplies but also love and hope in Christ. To donate please bring your masks to Union Church. Thank you.

Seniors Fellowship Group. We would like to start a fellowship group for the older members of our congregation for a time of caring and sharing. We will have a kick off morning on Thursday, 12 March. 10:30AM till noon. If you would like more information contact Isabel Morrison at thank you.

Hospitality volunteers needed! We are looking for volunteers to befriend our LTS students during their time in Hong Kong. If you are willing to host a student for lunch after church, or invite a student for a hike, sightseeing, etc., please contact Yan Yu ( ) or speak to someone at the Welcome Table.

If you are in need of some Pastoral Care Support, we encourage you to contact admin at:   or call 2523 7247 and they will be more than happy to help you get the support that you need.

Join the Union Team:
We are looking for an Assistant Youth Director, and a Crèche Coordinator. Please contact stating which role you are interested in. We will contact you with more information about the role.

Meeting as a small group in this time is challenging, but the support from each other is more important than ever. There ARE online options - please reach out if you need help figuring this out! If you aren't currently in a group, we encourage you to try it out. There are groups for women, men, couples, day-time, night-time, etc. Interested? Contact Monte Peterson. 

Prayer at Union

All are welcome to join us for weekly prayer. Tuesday Morning Prayer - 7:30 AM

Youth

We will have Youth Group this Friday, Juniors and Seniors are invited to join us at the Weathington’s house for fellowship and small group discussions! Please see below for more details.

What: Games/Activities and Small Groups
Where: Weathington’s House, 9S Shetland Tower, 7 Wai Tsui Crescent, Braemar Hill, North Point
When: Meet at 5PM, dismissal at 8PM

Details: Contact Ian Weathington if you need more information on how to get to the location (9660 5686). Dinner will be provided

NO Sunday Youth Group – Sunday March 1. We will not be having Sunday Youth until further notice.

Mongolia Mission Trip – April 7-12

In partnership with Flourishing Futures, Union Youth will be travelling to Ulaan Bataar in Mongolia, where we will be assisting in their numerous ministries to vulnerable families and children in the city’s Ger district, as well as learning how to more effective disciples of Jesus Christ. Open to all members of the Union Church Congregation. Unaccompanied Youth must be ages 16+

 Sign ups are now open and we need to put our team together as soon as possible! Please sign up HERE

 Confirmation 2020

Confirmation is a chance for youth to confirm their faith in Jesus Christ with the support of the Congregation. This year’s course will be postponed but will hopefully begin in March.

 All youth age 12+ are invited, and if interested please contact us at

Kingdom Kids

Influenza Season Precautionary Measure

As we are entering the influenza season, we are enforcing strict hygiene procedures such as temperature checks and the application of hand disinfectant spray before entering the classrooms. Children, and Sunday School teachers/staff on duty, will be required to wear face masks and face masks will be made available in each classrooms Our Creche centre and all Sunday School rooms are equipped with disinfectant spray machines which are safe and approved for use for babies and toddlers. If your child is running a temperature above 37.2 or is showing symptoms of cold and flu, we would appreciate it if you could keep your child at home until he or she is well. Thank you very much for your kind understanding and cooperation in keeping all of our children safe and healthy.

In addition, to keep the Crèche Center clean and safe for babies to use, we would appreciate if parents could leave baby strollers at the designated stroller parking area which can be found at the church main entrance door.

Sunday School 2019/2020 Registration
All children enrolling in our Sunday School and Creche Center MUST BE REGISTERED by filling in and signing the Registration Form HERE. For more information, please visit Union Church's website or contact us at CHILDREN or 21010414.

Missions

In keeping with the history of our church and the Great Commission, Mt. 28:18-20, we are excited about missions.

We are excited about the many ministries we support annually, both locally and internationally, and we hope you take advantage of opportunities to get involved. Each week, there will be a missions committee member at the welcome table; please ask them how you can participate or if you have questions. Additionally, please tune in to the video in the foyer to learn more.

We hope you welcome the many Lutheran Theological Students from Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand who are attending Union.

Sons & Daughters
Sons & Daughters share God's love with men and women in the red-light districts of Hong Kong. They have asked for our assistance with providing practical items, such as food, toiletries, and household items, for use in their drop-in centre and family home. If you are willing to donate items, please see the list of items needed at the Welcome Table.

To get involved with these and other ministries, please talk to any member of the missions committee: Nick Appel (Chairman), Kathy Foley (Secretary), Dennis Hopton, John Jamison, Melody Landes, Jeff Cheung, KK Ip, Yan Yu (Deacon), Michael Birley (COM). Additionally, David Ashton-Howorth and Pastor Michele attend meetings.

Filipino Ministry

1:00PM - 1:50PM   Congregational Prayer
2:00PM - 2:50PM   Bible Study Groups
3:00PM - 4:00PM   Worship Service
Every 1st Sunday of the Month from 9:00AM to 12:00PM Outreach & Evangelism.

Stephen's Ministry

A Stephen Minister can help. Stephen Ministers are members of our congregation who listen, care, encourage, and provide emotional and spiritual support to people going through a crisis or a difficult time. Please contact Pastor Michele if we can help ( ) 

Ladies

Fertility & Pregnancy/Infant Loss Support Group - Struggling and could use some fellowship, friendship and support? Contact Sonia Lee.

Baptism and Membership

If you have been attending Union Church for a while and have never gone through the official process to become a member, now is your chance! Please collect a green form and make it official!
If you have never been baptised and are interested, please see Pastor Michele.

Family in Need (FIN)

If you would like to help support our family in need ministry, which helps people monthly with basic needs, please mark your envelope "FIN".

Last Week's Sermon

In the light of the protests and their impact on Hong Kong, we need to ensure the safety of our congregation and staff. We will always try to hold our services as normal, but we will implement the following procedures for our Sunday services when needed:

•  All services will proceed as normal as long as there is no protest planned for the area directly around Sunlight Tower.

•  In case of spontaneous events that might impact our congregation coming to Church, then our staff will make a decision on whether to suspend services. An email will be sent to all of our members to inform them of which services will be suspended.

We will try wherever possible to give as much notice as possible should we feel the need to suspend any service. Please make sure that you check your email before setting off for Church. You can help us by ensuring that we have your most up to date contact information. If you think your information may be incorrect, please contact

At this time, we would also like to remind you of our Typhoon/Severe Weather policy:

All Church activities remain unchanged when tropical cyclone warning signal number 1 or 3 is hoisted. They will also be unaffected by the amber or red rainstorm warning signals.

When the Hong Kong Observatory issues a ‘Pre No.8 Typhoon Warning Signal’ on a Sunday, we will complete any service taking place and ask people to leave the Church and make their way home. Services planned for after this will be suspended. When the black rainstorm warning signal or tropical cyclone warning signal number 8 or above is hoisted on a Sunday before 07:30AM, all Church activities (Worship services, Classes, Youth and Children’s programs etc.) scheduled at 9:45AM or before will be cancelled. If the signal is subsequently lowered 2 hours before the 11:15AM service, the 11:15AM service will be held as scheduled. If the signal is lowered after 1PM, the Church will remain closed for the rest of the day.