Community UCC eNews
June 25, 2020
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Community UCC is an inclusive and progressive Christian Church doing social justice, environmental faithfulness, interfaith collaboration and spiritual formation to help ourselves and others grow in faith, hope and love.
The Church and Office will remain closed for now.
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Sunday Sermon — Zoom and Facebook Live
On
Sunday, June 28
,
Pastor Julia Penner-Zook
will deliver her sermon titled “
It's the Small Things
” based on
Matthew 10: 40-42
. See below for details of how we will "do church" for now.
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Instructions for Zoom worship
For upcoming worship services, we are doing
Zoom
videoconferencing meetings, so we can see each other's faces even as we are apart.
Links to the Zoom worships go out each Wednesday in a separate email just to church members, to ensure security. Look for "Zoom links" in that email subject line.
Lisa will continue to provide Facebook Live on Sundays at 10:30 a.m., by capturing her computer screen during the Zoom worship.
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Community UCC will NOT reopen church, office for now
The past few months in this pandemic have shown us that the Church is neither a building nor defined by in-person meetings; it is people! We miss being and worshiping together; we miss welcoming new people into our worship; we miss joining together in fellowship, sharing life’s joys and sorrows. But despite our sense of loss and longing,
we will keep our church building doors closed at this time
out of an abundance of caution and concern for the health and safety of all members of our congregation and our staff.
Read more about this decision on our website.
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battle for holy ground
By Pastor Julia Penner-Zook
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“Know your battleground, but do not ignore your holy grounds.”
~
Cleo Wade
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Photo Credit: Stacey L. Rhoades
holy ground — where
pain and laughter,
grief and longing,
despair and dreams,
weariness and vigor
rest together —
uneasy rivals dwelling
in caverns within the
landscapes of the soul,
nursing wounds inflicted
by the war for
meaning.
sacred space — where
vision crumbles dimmed,
and air as thin
as silhouettes of
gauze floats to
where horizon’s
ribbon flaunts silent
reminders of memories
faded without
hope of return.
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divine desert — where
fire sears flesh,
scorches all
that lives and breathes
and holds out hope
for relief, praying
torrential floods
will nourish
and not annihilate
with indiscriminate
finality.
holy. sacred. divine.
inexplicable beauty
wrapped in invisible
otherness that both
comforts and disquiets.
be still. rest.
the
holy
will
carry you on
wings of healing wind,
breath of fire
to enliven what
once lay dormant.
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"A Space for Reflection" will contain quotes and poetry to contemplate and reflect upon as you move through your week. Take a moment to read the quote or poem, allow the words to wash over you. Then, see what word(s) spoke to you, what thought(s) came up for you and then y
ou might journal those thoughts or just sit with them for a while.
"I Am the Black Child"
By Mychal Wynn
I Am the Black Child.
I am special, ridicule cannot sway me.
I am strong, obstacles cannot stop me.
I hold my head high, proudly proclaiming my uniqueness.
I hold my pace, continuing forward through adversity.
I am proud of my heritage.
I am confident that I can achieve my every goal.
I am becoming all that I can be.
I am the Black Child, I am a Child of God.
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'White Fragility'
–
Join the discussion
“White Fragility” was recently No. 1 on The New York Times nonfiction best sellers list. The newspaper describes the book this way: “Historical and cultural analyses on what causes defensive moves by white people and how this inhibits cross-racial dialogue.”
Anyone interested in joining the discussion group should contact Elizabeth Davis-Russell at
edavisrussell@comcast.net
or (559) 862-6914 by July 5. Details will follow of when the group will begin.
Please invite your friends to join us.
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Pitman and Tidyman scholarships available
CUCC annually offers two scholarships: the Martha and Paul Pitman Scholarship and the Phyllis A. Tidyman Scholarship.
The Pitman Scholarship Fund – established in 1998 – supports the theological education of students preparing for ordained ministry and “in care” of the church.
Graduate students or re-entry students returning to school after a two-year absence are eligible if a seminary student doesn’t apply.
The Tidyman Scholarship Fund – established in 1999 by the Tidyman family –provides scholarships for church members.
The Pitmans and Mrs. Tidyman were longtime church members.
Completed applications are due in the church office by July 31.
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Pledges are still welcomed!
It's not too late to submit your pledges for this year's Stewardship Campaign
– Four Great Loves. In our
annual stewardship drive each spring, we ask church members and supporters what they will bring to the mission of the church for the following fiscal year, from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021. Pledges received from our members helps our Finance Team develop a realistic budget for the coming year.
You can submit your answers online via these links to Google Forms:
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New Adult Education begins
We are doing an Adult Education study at
10 a.m. Mondays
via Zoom.
- June 29: Begin Richard Rohr's "The Wisdom Pattern." Read Chapter 1
Contact Robin if you need a link to the Zoom meeting (or check the email to church members that went out on Wednesday with Zoom links for this week).
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Office hours for Pastor Julia
Office hours for our Pastor, Julia Penner-Zook, are
Tuesday afternoons
. If you’d like to chat with Julia by phone, please email or call Marilyn to have her set up a time for a call. Marilyn will organize this flow. If you have any questions, please contact Marilyn.
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If you have a prayer (of joy, for healing, gratitude, love) for someone or someplace that you would like lifted up during worship on Sunday mornings please send them to
faithgrowth@communityucc.com.
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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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United Church of Christ members and friends from around North America gathered online to mark Juneteenth by lamenting violence against black bodies, honoring ancestors and freedom fighters, connecting with Mother Africa and hearing how to take action for justice.
More than 1,800 devices were tuned in to Zoom for the live June 19 churchwide event,
“
And Still We Rise
.”
Produced by African American members of the UCC’s national staff and featuring guests from many walks of life and even from Africa itself, the two-hour webinar offered a mix of live and prerecorded segments. It was recorded and will be available soon via UCC social media channels.
Continue reading at UCC.com.
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As many of you know, Break the Barriers had to close its doors for several months due to the recent events of COVID-19. Although they have been able to reopen, they need the community to help continue to keep the doors open!
This year Break the Barriers will not host an annual dinner, but instead will have a tri-tip dinner fundraiser. Help show your support by purchasing a tri-tip dinner or becoming a sponsor!
Date & Time:
5 or 6 p.m. Sept. 11
Location:
Break the Barriers, 8555 N Cedar Ave. Fresno, CA 93720
Price:
$120 for a dinner for 4 (includes: tri-tip, chili, salad, dinner roll, and peach cobbler from Wawona)
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Happy Birthday to all who are celebrating this month!
June Birthdays
3
–
Penny Carroll
8
–
Clay Pressley
9
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Virginia Virag
12
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Sam Mahtab
13
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Laurie Tidyman-Jones
16
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Jacque Garcia
17
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Sean Carlson
18
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Annie Van Patten
22
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Steve Reynolds, Ron Vivian
24
–
Jazmyn Wall
June Anniversaries
13
–
Helmut and Diana Kloos
18
–
Sharon Powers and Mike Smith
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Upcoming Church Events
- We will resume listing in-person events after things get back to normal. For now, events have either been cancelled, will be rescheduled or will be held remotely.
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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
. Lisa Boyles (lisamboyles12@gmail.com, 559.244.9502) is the eNews editor and communications liaison for our church.
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To help keep us all connected over the summer, since we still won't be seeing each other in person for now, we have decided NOT to go to our usual every-other-week summer eNews schedule.
Instead, Doug and Lisa will alternate the eNews production. So just send your announcements to both of them for newsletters from June to August.
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We've updated our Joyful Giving page to reflect the many ways members can help support our Church's missions and operations, especially needed in these critical and uncertain times.
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The Church and Office will remain closed for the time being, due to COVID-19.
Phone: 559.435.2690
Email: office@communityucc.com
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