Community UCC eNews
July 30, 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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Communion Sunday
Worship — Zoom and Facebook Live
On
Sunday, August 2
, Pastor Julia Penner-Zook will deliver a sermon titled “They are Tired, Too” based on Matthew 14:13-21
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Julia writes: "
These months are hard for those who are helpers! All we have to do is pay attention to what is happening to medical professionals, teachers, and support services personnel (to say nothing of parents) as our life continues to be disrupted by COVID-19. Exhaustion and burnout pose a real threat.
"I’m amazed at how Jesus responds to unrelenting demands. One story describes how he’s lost one of his dearest friends to a very brutal execution, and he wants nothing more than to take some time alone to grieve. But, people continue to reach out to him.
"What happens when crises keep coming, and we have hardly enough strength for our own next step? Observing Jesus’ intentions and actions can give us some guidance."
The first Sunday of each month is communion Sunday, so please have some bread and a small glass of wine or juice prepared, so we may celebrate Holy Communion together virtually. 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. 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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Reclaiming Jesus
the Christ
By Pastor Julia Penner-Zook
Continuing in the vein of EJ Hinojosa’s sermon on Sunday when he stated: “Our church feels like a revolution.”
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Jesus unleashed a revolution
though he led no uprising.
his strength flowed
unbidden from a hidden
authority sufficient to destabilize
impotent defenders of empire.
his visibility posed a threat to the regime
without offering an official position.
he owned no property,
preferring movement in time and space.
his life of openhearted love
emasculated those clinging to
amassed power which proved
useless in subduing holy insurrection,
re-harnessing the masses.
their only recourse was
to sell his brown body
for thirty silver coins,
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and crusades, wars, crimes
against humanity
— oppression of the very ones
singled out as blessed —
raged in the name of
a pseudo-christ.
one recast,
re-created, reinterpreted
in their pale, polite image.
we reclaim him!
we reclaim Jesus the Christ.
we align with his vision of equity,
dismantling our caste system.
we commit to tearing down walls,
releasing those imprisoned.
we pursue hope with reckless abandon,
despite encroaching bitterness.
we take up the mantle of nonviolence,
living it as a subversive force.
We reclaim Jesus the Christ!
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Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness
like an ever-flowing stream.” Amos 5:24
©Julia Penner-Zook, 2020
Photo credit: Echo Wang (open source) via unsplash.com
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And the winners are . . .
Congratulations to Donna Wright and Debbie Schroer.
Each won one of the baskets filled with homemade bread, homemade jam and Starbucks coffee in the July CUCC raffle.
The drawing was held during Sunday’s service on July 26.
Thanks to:
• Nancy Pressley for baking the delicious ciabatta bread or bagles (winners get to choose!).
• Amy and Carol Kilburn for providing their homemade boysenberry jam.
• Sharon Powers-Smith for providing Ghiradelli hot chocolate, Starbucks instant coffee, and two beautiful mugs.
Thanks to everyone who bought tickets for the raffle. Your support is appreciated!
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Thanks from Marilyn and David
Thank you Community UCC for the wonderful lemon tree and gift card to Gazebo Gardens in memory of mom!
It was so perfect because dad had planted a lemon tree and we were saddened that we couldn’t take it when we moved.
Dave and I are much appreciative of your love and kindness. I wish I could hug each and everyone of you. 🥰
Marilyn and David Wall
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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 you might journal those thoughts or just sit with them for a while.
“If you consider as kind the mother
Who carried you in her womb,
How can you dislike any being?
For in countless past lifetimes
All have been your mother.”
~ The Seventh Dalai Lama
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LAST CHANCE:
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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Our music director
EJ Hinojosa
delivered a guest sermon on July 26 titled “Blessed Assurance” based on Romans 8:26-39.
From EJ: "It's hard times for spiritual people right now, especially empathetic ones. Those of us who most desperately yearn for human unity and kindness may find themselves in a constant state of heartache or anxiety. It doesn't help that the world tends to punish those who are most able to feel pain — whether physical or emotional."
"Jesus empowers us to lean into the pain, knowing that the yearning we feel is enough to sustain us. Hardship is natural for those who are sensitive to the ebbing and flowing of the world. Only the oblivious are immune — "ignorance is bliss", as they say. God calls us to double-down, dig deep and place our trust in him."
Click here to watch his sermon.
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Adult Education
We are doing an Adult Education study at
10 a.m. Mondays
via Zoom.
August
3: Richard Rohr's "The Wisdom Pattern," Chapter 4
Contact
Ann Scott
if you need a link to the Zoom meeting.
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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 her at
j.penner.zook@gmail.com
to schedule a time. She would love to hear from you.
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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
j.penner.zook@gmail.com
(Robin is on vacation the next few weeks).
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Helping all CUCC members attend online services
Some members of CUCC cannot access our Thursday and Sunday online services because they don’t have a necessary device.
At the same time, some of us may have phones, tablets or computers we are no longer using. If you have one that someone could borrow, please email Marilyn Wall at
office@communityucc.com
or leave a message on the church phone, 559.435.2690.
We’ll compile a list of available devices, and details will follow on distribution.
Help will be available to erase personal information from a borrowed device.
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In each week's eNews, we include a news article from our larger denomination, the
United Church of Christ
,
to show the faithful work being done in other places.
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Collaborating against racism, Northern California churches ‘Pray Their Names’
The United Church of Christ community in the San Francisco BayArea is sharing a compelling, tangible reminder of the Black lives lost to violence at the hands of police. “Pray Their Names,” an outdoor art exhibit with 160 hearts emerging from the ground, serves as a large visual memorial showing solidarity with Black Lives Matter.
The field of hearts, each painted with a single name, was created and installed at
First Congregational Church UCC, Sonoma,
on Saturday, July 18, where it will remain for almost a month. From there, the outdoor sculpture will become a traveling exhibit, to be displayed at Northern California churches in Santa Rosa, Mill Valley and Foster City.
Continue reading at UCC.com.
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Happy Birthday to all who are celebrating this month!
August Birthdays
9
–
Helmut Kloos and John Moseley
11
–
Landry Reynolds
12
–
Devon Wright
16
–
Ron Perry
17
–
Samantha Earl
20
–
Tess Hayden
22
– Sally Hoagland
24
–
DayJu Ramirez
25
–
Arville Earl
29
–
Sally Garcia
August Anniversaries
14
–
Sue and Spence Hipp
26
–
Eileen and Sib White
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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 virtually.
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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 Bell (
lisamboyles12@gmail.com
, 559.244.9502) is the volunteer communications liaison for our church. Lisa and Doug Hoagland (
doughoagland@att.net
) alternate working on
eNews.
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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