Connections: October 24, 2022
There is great energy in the air; outside a crisp chill hovering over pumpkins but also inside CCSM.  

This coming Sunday we are kicking off our Stewardship Campaign and would love to have the pews filled with your energy and support for the church. We are all integral to the success of CCSM sharing our time, talents, and treasure. 

Your committee, chaired by Martha Bronitsky, includes Julie Lenden, Dave Goulden, and Jim Lindsay. The Finance Committee has been hard at work to make our needs transparent and understandable. 

Emily Beach will be sharing her talents this Sunday as an example of the energy we are looking at CCSM. 

Kiddos and the young at heart are welcome to preview their Halloween costumes on Sunday! Don’t be shy! 

Looking forward, November 6th is our special Memorial service naming and honoring those we have lost this year. If you would like anyone lifted in name at this service please contact me. 

I continue to have conversations with many of you and I am more and more impressed with all that CCSM has done through the years. After a hiatus of two years beyond our control, it is time to reconnect and recommit to this community that has served each other and the needs of others so well. It is a privilege to serve with you. 

Peace and grace, 
Rev. Melissa
Click on the video above for the most recent entire worship service, or click HERE to listen to Rev. Sheryl Johnson's sermon, The Blessings of Boredom: Spirituality of Ordinary Life
To Give is To Receive:
Share Your Love Auction

The Share Your Love Auction goes "LIVE" for online bidding starting at 1:00pm PDT on Sunday, October 30!  
At that time, you can view the auction site to see what's been donated (there are many amazing items), and you can start bidding. Simply go to 32auctions.com/SYL2022.   You can create an account to bid by clicking on the "Log in" button, then "create an account now," then fill in the information, and then click "create account." You're ready to bid!  

Remember, the Auction runs from 
October 30 through November 6
so get ready to bid!

Questions? CLICK HERE or contact Sandy McNabb, sandra.j.mcnabb@gmail.com 650.678.5650 or Michele Merfeld Hale, kaymerf@yahoo.com 206.612.6182
Youth and Family Events
As usual, during the service on Sundays, Lily and some youth volunteers engage our pre-K crowd in some fun playtime in the nursery, and Shannon and Elaine share a Bible story (through Godly Play) and then invite our K-5th grade crowd to reflect, create, build, share, and serve the community in response to the story (in the Memorial Garden). We're experimenting with a multi-age group this year as we've found that sometimes older kids prefer to be with their younger siblings/friends (and vice versa!) and this way we have maximum flexibility so that kids can choose what they would like to do to respond to the Bible story based on their interests, not merely their age! 
Please contact me, Rev. Sheryl, at sjohnson@ccsm-ucc.org if you have any questions.

Saturday, October 29 at 7pm: Free family movie night at Memorial Park! Come out to watch Jurassic World Dominion under the stars. Let me know if you plan to go so I can connect you to other CCSM families.
Sunday, October 30 at 10:30am: Wear your Halloween Costume to church day! Lots of special fun and treats as well. Come out to see costumes and have some special fun!
Saturday, November 5 - Youth sleepover with other UCC youth in Danville! 
Sunday, November 6: 11:45am - CCSM Pizza Play Date! Families with kids of any age are invited to join us in the small playground outside Kloss Hall for pizza and games! Older kids especially are invited to bring a board or card game to play as well. Pizza and drinks will be provided, please bring a dessert to share if you'd like.
Friday, February 24 - Sunday Feb 26 - Mid-winter youth camp in Cambria for those in grades 7-12. 
FIRST SUNDAYS OF THE MONTH ARE COMMUNION SUNDAYS
If there’s a way you can be in person on the first Sundays of the month, communion is a meaningful time to be together.
If you’re not able to be with us in person, you’re invited to share in communion while online with us from wherever you are; just have some bread and juice ready and you can participate with us that way.
Pray for Ukraine Every Tuesday at 7:30pm

CCSM held a powerful live Prayer Ritual for Ukraine on March 6th. We have decided to premier this ritual ONLINE every Tuesday until the war ends. We hope you will join us online weekly to continue our prayers and heal our hearts. These are challenging times and this offering is a way to bring our community together and magnify our prayers.

Please share this link with your friends and family so we can extend this offering to as many people as possible.

Link for Prayer Ritual on YouTube: tinyurl.com/CCSM-Ukraine-Prayer
225 Tilton Avenue • San Mateo, CA 94401
(650) 343-3694