Join us this Advent as we work through our Columbine created devotional. Thank you to the amazing individuals that helped us create a special devotional for our congregation! If you would like to receive the daily devotional by email follow the signup link below. Our devotionals will also be posted on our Facebook Page! If you are in need of a physical copy please contact Hali at hali@columbineunitedchurch.org
As the weather gets cooler and COVID cases continue to rise we want to provide an opportunity to connect virtually. 10:30 a.m. every Sunday there will be time for discussion and check-in. Hosts will alternate between Rev. Steve Poos-Benson and Rev. Jill VanderWal each weekend! Passcode:112233
Advent bags for families with 5th Graders and under-- Over this week Jeannie and Samantha will be delivering Advent prep bags to families with kids in the 5th grade and under. These can help your family be part of the Advent celebrations with the church! If you do not receive one by the 28th, please let Samantha know and we will fix that!
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.
For the second option we have rented the Deer Creek Stables at Chatfield Gardens to host 4 services on the afternoon of the 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.
Columbine United Church has an amazing and dedicated Missions Committee. To continue past traditions, Greg S. created a virtual way for people to find their Angels this year. Thank you for your continued support of our amazing mission partners! Have a great week CUC!
The Animals are coming! The Animals are coming! Yes, this year we are going to have an Alternative Christmas program. With the COVID-19, we will need to change the process some. We will have order sheets and catalogs available if you are interested. Just send me an email and I will get you the order form or catalog. We are trying to track the Columbine sales, but it is more important to help others in need. Other programs for the Alternative Christmas program will be announced soon.
821 million people go to bed hungry every night. We are working to change that. Isn’t that a better gift than another tie for Uncle Gary? If you need more information please call me at (303) 704-6582 or email using the link below.
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY TO REACH OUT WITH HEART AND HANDS
Needed: Additional Furniture Team for Renewed Treasures Store
1 x month; 2-3 men with truck or other vehicle with hitch for use with Love INC trailer; Pick up vetted furniture donations/deliver furniture to those starting with housing or having a specific furniture need. Service highly organized and COVID precautions in place
Kris at Love INC 303 798 0037
Marni Wetzel 303 927 7863
Adult Education Information
Sunday Morning Adult Education: 11/29 - No Ad Ed program
Faith Forum Information
Please join us for Faith Forum via Zoom every Tuesday from 9:30-11:30 a.m. Please see the Zoom link below, which will be the same for every meeting. You may also call the telephone number provided if you don't have access to the Zoom app.
On December 1, Audrey Clendenning will be giving a presentation on Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor and her book "My Stroke of Insight." Dr. Taylor was a neuroscientist who had a stroke at the age of 37 and it totally changed her life and way of thinking, especially with regard to life's priorities. You do not need to purchase the book for this class.
Join Zoom Meeting on December 1, 9:30-11:30 a.m. Mountain
In my family growing up Advent was a huge part of our Christmas preparation. It started with a “Hanging of the Greens” festival at church where there was a huge all church potluck, decorations and crafts for the kids. I remember one year we made a family advent wreath. It was a circle of pine boughs with four candles embedded in it. Every Sunday night my family gathered around the Advent wreath where we read the scripture passage for the evening and lit a candle and said a prayer. It was probably a hassle to get all six of us kids around the table, but it was a memory that has stayed with me my whole life.
I want to reach out through the screen, give you a hug, and wish you and yours a warm Thanksgiving. This year we all feel the acute loss in our own ways as we are alone or may feel lonely. This past week we have heard from several Columbine families who have Covid and who have family members who are sick. In our neighborhood it feels like every other family is under quarantine from either school or sports exposures. I imagine this is a difficult season for us all, in different ways. For teachers, we hold you in our thoughts and prayers as you navigate a minefield of adaptations, challenges and student needs. We pray for hope and perseverance for you. For all you serving others in the healthcare field, we see your tenacity, creativity and dedication to care for others. We pray for your health and for safe spaces to rest and be restored.
This year, more than any year in recent memory, I am so grateful that the mirth and meaning of Advent and Christmas will conclude 2020. Since the pandemic shutdown in March, I’ve been especially looking forward to this time of year, a time which is literally etched into my Haitian Creole-derived surname – “Noëlliste” – which translates as “lover of Christmas.”
I believe there are two types of people in this world… the ones who set up Christmas decorations and listen to carols beginning November 1st and those who wait until after Thanksgiving to begin celebrating Christmas. I must confess that I am the type who waits until the day after Thanksgiving to begin Christmas decorating and celebrating. But, I am very curious why others start the celebration early. I think it comes down to what Christmas represents for people: hope, cheer, love, giving, and family. We all are constantly looking for these things and Christmas seems to epitomize these very ideals.
Truly we live in interesting times. It’s been an interesting month in just about every sense, including financially at the church.
First, the basic financials. The timing of this United article is interesting in that I won’t have November numbers for a couple weeks more, and they won’t hold the deadline for me. But I have October numbers:
Wow, we are coming on the end of 2020 and it has been a year. There have been a lot of things that have been happening in the background at Columbine, and I am excited to share those exciting things with you all. One thing that I was hired to do at Columbine was handle communications, social media, and the website. Before I arrived, a lot of amazing work had been done to design and create a new website and logo for Columbine.
Have you ever been to the meeting after the meeting - where all that happens is talk without the change that's talked about? Are you looking for ways to really do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God in the face of racial injustice?
In this workshop, 4REALS will present 3 of our REALS, Real Strategies in Real Time for Real Change. If Anti-Racism requires racism to be interrupted and dismantled - we need concrete ways to do so. Before you hit "leave meeting," every participant will have available at least 2 ways to DO the work that Anti-Racism requires.
Join us, Tuesday, December 8, 2020 @ 1PM via Zoom. Click on button below to register and receive a link to join the conversation.
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. Included you will find the link to our online estimate of giving cards, you can also sign up for recurring payments on the website!
Due to the recent updates with Zoom, we have had to release new meeting links. If a meeting you attempt to enter requires a passcode, we have established a universal CUC passcode for meetings which is 112233.