Weekly eBlast December 16, 2020 |
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Join us this Sunday online as Pastor Jill preaches on Chapter 17: Surprising People.
Join us online for our pre-recorded service on our Youtube or Facebook page. We look forward to connecting with you!
See below for information about Christmas Eve Services.
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This Fall we are tracking with the book We Make the Road by Walking by Brian McLaren.
Listen to the book... we are going chapter by chapter reading it aloud. Each Podcast is 10-15 minutes long so it’s an easy listen.
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Join us this Sunday 10:30 AM for Columbine Virtual Coffee Hour and Conversation.
As the weather gets cooler and COVID cases continue to rise, we want to provide an opportunity to connect virtually. There will be time to check and see how each other is doing, and time for discussion.
password- 112233
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Sunday Morning Adult Education….
This Sunday, December 20, Pastor Steve will talk about "Christmas and COVID". How do we cope with feelings of sadness, loss, and even anger at this time when we would normally expect to be filled with joy and happiness surrounded by family? What can we learn from this holiday season?
Please join us from 9:30-10:30 AM via the Zoom link provided.
Meeting ID: 846 4172 8319
Passcode: 112233
There will be no Sunday Ad Ed programs on December 27 and January 3. The Ad. Ed committee wishes everyone a Christmas and New Year's filled with love and hope.
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Mom's United Evening will meet on Zoom this Thursday, December 17, at 7:00 PM.
Interested in joining in with other moms? Please contact jill@columbineunitedchurch.org.
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The CUC Men’s Poker group plays every Thursday evening online at 7:00 PM, excluding Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. It is free and we only play for bragging rights. If interested please contact Tom Rehling (tomrehling@me.com) for more information.
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Tuesday Mornings Faith Forum: There will be no Faith Forum classes on December 22 and December 29, for the holiday break. We will resume classes on January 5.
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Small Groups will be starting back up in January-
Join in the discussion. Jill is looking for Small Group discussion leaders to start new groups and for participants. We have had over 40 people participating in groups this fall. We plan to take a break over the holidays and start back again the week of January 11th. There are groups that meet outdoors (when weather permits) and groups on zoom, morning, afternoon and evening- almost every day of the week. Interested? Email jill@columbineunitedchurch.org
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Would you like to receive our Advent Devotional?
Our Advent season has started, and we have completed our CUC created Devotional. If you didn’t sign up for the daily emails, please contact Hali at hali@columbineunitedchurch.org for a PDF copy.
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Christmas Eve Services
We have two options planned for our CUC family this Christmas Eve.
First, we will have a wonderful recorded service available to be viewed online. In this COVID season, we are committed to making worship accessible online to as many people as possible.
Second, we have rented the Deer Creek Stables at Chatfield Gardens to host 4 in-person services on the afternoon of December 24th. We are able to offer 90 ticket reservations for each service. Participants will be seated by family groups with spacing. The venue has heaters and depending on the weather we can open the sides of the space. The parking lot is a short walk to the venue, there are handicapped spots (please let us know if you need one), and there are restrooms. The music will be traditional and contemporary with a quartet.
1st Service: 12-12:45
2nd service: 1:15 -2:00
3rd service: 2:30-3:15
4th service: 3:45 to 4:30 The 3:45 service is full. Will have wristbands for admission to 3:45 service. Must purchase tickets for the Garden’s Trail of Lights at $10 per person.
Please be safe! We discourage people who have traveled from out of state from attending due to greater chances of COVID exposure. If you or guests have traveled or you have a guest from out of town, please sign up for the 2:30 service to limit our circles of exposure. If you have any signs of not feeling well or have had a recent COVID exposure, please do not attend. If you are not able to attend, please let us know so we can share your spots with others.
Could this be cancelled for weather? Yes…if there is a blizzard and it’s 12 degrees. (It is 2020 after all….but we could still sled) Could it be cancelled for COVID? We will continue to analyze the numbers and determine what is best for the Columbine community. Chatfield Farms tells us they have had a gathering variance from the county throughout the different phases of COVID restrictions which would allow us to gather. That said, we plan to comply with all local and state COVID guidelines. Wear your Christmas mask!
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Each year a portion of our Christmas Eve offerings go to support local mission partners. You can give online at https://columbineunited.church/give/ and choose “Christmas Eve Offering” or send a check to the church with the memo Christmas Eve.
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Youth Christmas Party on Zoom this Sunday! We will be exchanging virtual gifts and celebrating our semester together. Middle School at 4:00 and High School at 5:30.
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Youth and Young Adult Bible Study. Join us Sunday mornings on Zoom after the New Year for a closer look at the Bible. Have you ever wondered how to understand the Bible? Have you wanted to go more in depth into our faith stories? Are you looking for a group of like-minded people? If you answered “yes” to any of these, this is the group for you! Email Samantha to join or get more information!
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Each year a portion of our Christmas Eve offerings go to support local mission partners. You can give online at https://columbineunited.church/give/ and choose “Christmas Eve Offering” or send a check to the church with the memo Christmas Eve.
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The CUC Alternative Christmas program is in full swing.
Help us help others. How can you help?
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IFCS Integrated Family Community Services is an agency that CUC supports and we celebrate their efforts to alleviate hunger in our community. If you would like to support them…..
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Heifer International
Heifer International has been supplying animals to third world countries for over 75 years. Gifts range from as little as $10 to thousands of dollars. Every gift is multiplied 9 times, as Heifer requires each family that receives a gift pass on a future animal offspring or share their gift with others. If you want to help, you can go to www.heifer.org or https://fundraise.heifer.org/team/329460.
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I personally would like to thank you for your support of the Columbine United Church Angel Tree Project. With your help, we made Christmas much brighter for almost 100 girls, boys, senior women, and senior men. In this crazy year of 2020, we helped bring some joy and happiness to this group that probably wouldn’t have had much, if anything, under the Christmas tree this year.
It was a very uplifting experience yesterday when Ken Sweet and I transported the gifts down to the Salvation Army building on West Alameda. You quickly realize how lucky we are and how much we can help others. Again, thanks for your kind gifts. Stay Healthy and Merry Christmas.
Greg Schriefer
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Christmas will soon be here. If you have any questions, desire any more information, or have any ideas to make these programs a success in spite of COVID-19, please let us know. Help us help others.
Greg Schriefer greg.schriefer@gmail.com (303) 704-6582
Ken Sweet KenSweet@kencominerals.com (303) 973-8253
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Thank you to the many that have turned in their Estimate of Giving information for 2021. There is still time to complete your Estimate of Giving Card for 2021!
It is through your generous giving that we are able to connect with our community through missions, hold inspirational worship services, and continue walking the path together.
Shown below is the link to our online "estimate of giving" card. You can also sign up for recurring payments on this website!
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Staff Update
Last week Hali Wimbush, our Business and Office Manager, regretfully submitted her resignation. These are difficult times, so we certainly understand her decision, but we will miss her help and her delightful personality. She will continue to work for the next week. Below is a personal note from Hali. If you would like to send her a note of appreciation, you can send it to the church and we will make sure that she receives it.
"I have felt very honored to work with CUC this past few months. Not only have I gotten to work with an amazing, hardworking staff. I have also met many caring, compassionate, and dedicated members of this unique congregation. Thank you all for welcoming my family with such open arms. It is with a heavy heart that life is calling our family in a different direction. I am sorry that I couldn't have done more for Columbine but I will always be thankful for our time together. The love, enthusiasm, and drive that the staff have for CUC is a beautiful thing to experience, this is one of the best staffs I've ever had the honor to work with and I am excited to see the amazing things they continue to curate for CUC. Thank you Columbine for our amazing time together.”
The church Staff Parish Relations Committee is meeting to look at the position and decide how to best meet our current and future staffing needs.
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Communications and Connections
All Mail can be mailed to the regular church address -- 6375 S. Platte Canyon Rd. Littleton, CO 80123. We have forwarded our mail to our PO Box so your mail will still be received, thank you for your continued support! For questions or concerns please contact the office at cuc@columbineunitedchurch.org.
Phone calls- Feel free to leave a message on the church phone line (we check messages daily). (303) 798-1845
For pastoral emergencies, you can call or text (720) 696-0394 or send an email to Steve or Jill @columbineunitedchurch.org
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Need Pastoral Care Help? In the area of pastoral care, the Congregational Care Committee will continue to work with both Pastors Steve and Jill in our care efforts. It takes a whole community of care to support one another. Thank you for passing along care needs and for reaching out to one another.
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(This email is sent to the group of people committed to praying for others and the request is held in confidence.)
Whoever lives in love, lives in God and God lives in them. 1 John 4:16-18.
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Join us for our pre-recorded service at 8:00 a.m. Sunday or later! |
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