Community UCC eNews
September 19, 2019
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Community UCC is an inclusive and progressive Christian Church doing social justice, environmental faithfulness, interfaith collaboration and and spiritual formation to help ourselves and others grow in faith, hope and love.
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Sunday Sermon
On Sunday, Sept. 22, Pastor Ara will deliver a sermon titled "
Death Metal, and Peace and Quiet
."
Worship Service Each Sunday at 10:30 a.m.
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NOTE:
We broadcast our Sunday Worship service on
Facebook Live
beginning at 10:30 a.m. We want to make service accessible to members or friends who can't be with us on Sunday mornings. The camera captures the front of the Sanctuary and the first couple of rows of seats.
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We've hit the
refresh button
on eNews
Editor's Note: We are making some design changes to eNews, streamlining it and going with a more unified color palette to give it a more cohesive look. Changes will be coming to
our website in the weeks ahead as well. Take a look and let me or the church office know what you think of the changes. ~ Lisa Boyles
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WORSHIP THEME: Coercion vs. Freedom
Our general worship focus for the fall will be Coercion vs. Freedom. We will be inspired by the minor prophets and the Pastoral epistles, as we struggle with the short term efficacy of coercion and threat, and the long view guided by a love ethic.
How do we mature as persons of faith and disciples of Christ? It is for freedom Christ set us free. How may we live this as fully and faithfully as possible? It captures and hopefully addresses our challenge of being an Open and Affirming congregation of welcoming each of us as we are. How to be our best self, individually and as a Body!
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Sunday school teachers needed for once a month
From the Faith Education Team: Do you enjoy working with children? If so, we have the perfect position for you. If you can volunteer one Sunday a month to teach our children in Sunday School, it would free up our teachers to be able to attend the church worship service. Please contact Eileen at 559.251.3357 if you would like to volunteer. Thank you.
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Blessing of the Animals
Community United Church of Christ will hold a special outdoor worship service at
10:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 29, at Robinson Park. All house pets are welcome for blessing.
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Join us for the CUCC Oktoberfest Fall Fundraiser!
Beer, brats, live music and more beer!
Saturday, Oct. 12
5-8:30 p.m.; Community United Church of Christ
5550 N. Fresno Street, Fresno, CA
Call 435-2690 for tickets or buy at the door
Fun for the entire family!
Carnival games for kids: bounce house, Corn Hole, Ladder Toss and more! Unlimited access to games!
Raffle tables filled with lots of great prizes for sale!
SPECIAL:
16 oz. glass beer stein etched with CUCC logo
:
$20
Dinner at 6 p.m. with dancing after to the terrific CUCC Band!
Dinner tickets:
Presale price by Oct. 6: $20 Adults; $7 Kids 12 & younger
After Oct. 6: $25 Adults; $10 Kids 12 & younger
A portion of the proceeds go to the Syrian Refugee Project
Coming Soon -- The Oktoberfest Raffle
In addition to the wonderful food, beer, music and fellowship, there will be a raffle at the Oktoberfest set for Saturday, Oct. 12. The raffle will be available in Hayden Hall Sunday, Oct. 6, as well as at the Oktoberfest. This will give everyone an expanded opportunity to purchase tickets, with the possibility of winning amazing items,
whether or not you are able to attend the actual event! The drawings will take place on Oct. 12.
We are asking for donations of raffle items - we plan to offer items for $1, $5 or $10 tickets, depending on the items. We have a few things that were donated prior to our last event and need lots more.
Many of you are very talented crafters, artists, woodworkers, cooks, etc. We would love to have homemade raffle items which can include food items to be prepared on request at a later date, preserved foods, wine, crocheted or knitted items, artwork, household items that are in new or good condition, gift cards, and more....you get the idea!
Your talents and generosity are sincerely welcomed and appreciated! We need the items no later than Wednesday, Oct. 2. You can deliver them to the church office any time up until that time. Please contact Nancy Pressley at 559.312.8621 with any questions.
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Men's Book Study Group
Beginning on Tuesday evenings
starting Oct. 1
, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in Room 1, facilitators Rod Zook & Chad Hayden will lead a men's book study group on the book "Naked Spirituality" by Brian McLaren. The Church Office has five copies of the book available for purchase at a cost of $11 each. Please read prior to class: Preface and Intro for discussion.
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Saturday Morning Breakfast Group
Saturday, Oct. 5
, Conference Room
Breakfast at 8:45 a.m., talk begins at 9 a.m.
Helmut Kloos
will discuss his
work in Ethiopia from 1972 to 2019, trying to make a difference. He was an associate professor in geography, with specialization in medical geography, at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia from 1983-1991. Since 1972 Helmut has been a research associate in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics with UC San Francisco Medical Center. Between the 1970s and 1990s, he served as a consultant to the ministries of health in Ethiopia, Kenya, Egypt and Brazil. Helmut will bring breakfast for his talk.
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Missions & Social Justice
Neighbors in Need (NIN) Special Offering
Sunday, Oct. 6
This years theme: Love of Children
Neighbors in Need is the UCC's annual offering to support ministries of justice and compassion throughout the United States, including the Council for American Indian Ministries (CAIM), justice and advocacy efforts, and direct service projects funded by the UCC's Justice and Witness Ministries.
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Meal Train for the Baird Family
From Erin Hinojosa, originally posted on Facebook: The Baird family is reunited, after their accident nearly two months ago. After listening to suggestions, I have put together a
Meal Train to coordinate meals
for Grandma, Mom, and Dad, which would
be the greatest source of support for them at the moment.
Your meal will help feed Neil and Linda Baird, their primary care giver Alice Farmer, and whichever one of us family members happens to be with them on a given evening. THANK YOU!
Linda is gluten-intolerant, so gluten free options are best (though she DOES do well with sourdough bread!) Lower sugar options would also be helpful. If you have questions or need guidance, please text Erin at (559) 451-6066.
- Favorite meals: Gluten-free pastas, casseroles, soups, etc. that keep well would be wonderful, but variety is great, too!
- Least Favorite meals: Anything too spicy! Otherwise, they aren’t picky.
- Allergies or dietary restrictions: Gluten-free, lower amounts of sugar preferred. No shellfish either due to Mom’s allergy.
Gift cards for SaveMart, Trader Joe’s, and services like Grub Hub, Uber Eats, and Door Dash would also be a tremendous blessing. Please private message me if you’d like e-mail or phone information to send th
ose too.
We are unbelievably grateful for your continued love and support, and have been humbled by how much you all have held up our family during this great trial. Much love to you all, and thanks for sharing in our joy as Dad is returned to his family this week!
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From Phil Fullerton: CUCC member Nancy Bailey passed away on Sept. 16, 2019, after a long illness. Nancy was active in the church for many years as well as community activities including hospital guilds. She and her late husband, Dean, had a home on Van Ness and proudly decorated it for the Christmas holidays for Christmas Tree Lane. Nancy was also active in Lawyers’ Wives, an anachronistic group of wives when 99% of the attorneys were men.
Dean Bailey, Nancy’s husband, was in the Stanford Law Class of 1952, which included Chief Justice Rehnquist and Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Conner of the U.S. Supreme Court. Their class reunion was held one year at the court in Washington, D.C. Nancy coordinated it with Justice O’Conner and the two became friends.
Nancy is survived by her four daughters. She was preceded in death by her husband, Dean. Services will be announced.
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In each week's eNews, we include a news article from our larger denomination,
United Church of Christ
,
to show the faithful work being done in other places.
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'Just Peace' declarations help churches do something locally, globally
In a time of gun violence, immigration conflicts, a growing wealth gap and seemingly endless racism and war, some United Church of Christ congregations are finding that being a
Just Peace Church
is a good way to get organized and do something.
- For two small churches in rural Indiana, it means living out an alternative to "just war" theory by talking to their lawmakers, going overseas and making peace.
- For a tall-steeple church in Nebraska's state capital, it means seeking a balance between feeding the poor and challenging systems that keep people poor.
- In a city church in Florida, it means hands-on poverty work, talking about gun control and giving a big welcome to newcomers.
- And in Fremont, Calif., a congregation is about to become the latest to take a Just Peace Church vote.
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Happy Birthday and Anniversary to all who are celebrating this month!
September Birthdays
7 -- Gretchen Choate
10 -- Jaidyn Ramirez, Serenity Shea
11 -- Mike R Smith
12 -- Ann Scott
14 -- Elizabeth Davis-Russell, Gary Walker, Keithie Earl
16 -- Rachel Van Patten
17 -- Sommer Earl
21 -- Janet Capella
25 -- Philip Dutton
26 -- Phil Fullerton
27 -- Spencer Parks, Selena Wall
September Anniversaries
1 -- Jacque & Bob Garcia
4 -- Tim & Laurie Tidyman-Jones, Seth & Michelle Tilley
9 -- Bryan Clark & Brian Isbell
Work Anniversary
7 -- Marilyn Wall 26 years!
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Upcoming Church Events
- Sundays at 9 a.m. - Adult Education in the Conference Room
- Tuesdays - Women's Book Club Discussion began "The Universal Christ" by Richard Rohr
- Sept. 29 - Blessing of the Animals, 10:30 a.m.
- Oct. 1- Men's Book Study, Room 1, 6 p.m.
- Oct. 5 - Saturday Morning Breakfast Group, Helmut Kloos will speak and bring breakfast
- Oct. 12 - Oktoberfest fall fundraiser, fun for the entire family! (See article above)
- Oct. 20 - Fresno/Clovis CROP Hunger Walk, details at crophungerwalk.org/fresnoca/
- Oct. 26 - Memorial Service for Margaret Fullerton, 11 a.m. at the Church. In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to this church in her name.
- Nov. 22-24 - Journey into Advent, with Julia Penner-Zook, theme is "While it Was Yet Dark"
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CROP Walk
Sunday, Oct. 20
First Congregational Church (Big Red), 2131 N. Van Ness Blvd.
1:30 pm Walker Registration, 2:30 Walk begins.
CROP Walk is a community walk event in support of local and global hunger and disaster relief. We need volunteer walkers! Sign-ups will be Sundays in the Breezeway of the church.
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eNews deadline is 10 a.m. Wednesdays
CUCC eNews is a weekly publication distributed every Thursday. Deadline for submitting announcements is 10 a.m. Wednesdays (and earlier is appreciated).
Please send your announcements to Marilyn at
office@communityucc.com
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Phone: 559.435.2690
Email: office@communityucc.com
Website: communityucc-fresno.org
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