FALL WORSHIP SCHEDULE -

BEGINNING SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 10

9 AM: 

• Live Religious Education Service on Zoom

9:30 AM:

• Livestreamed and in-person service
• Nursery and Toddler Childcare
• Pre-K and Elementary Religious Education



11:15 AM:

• Livestreamed and in-person service
• Nursery and Toddler Childcare
• Pre-K, Elementary and Middle School Religious Education

Contact Marion Hirsch for Sunday evening High School Youth programming

GOING, GOING, ALMOST GONE!!

Bidding is open for the church auction, but ends Sat. Oct. 14 at noon!

With more than 200 items on the auction site as of mid-Sept., and more added since then, spirited bidding is underway. Find great choices in 20-plus categories, from Art for Walls to ZOOM Musical Events. Offerings include themed gatherings, such as Linguine for Lovers, Feast for a Pharoah, Cowboy Singalong Dinner, French Dinner, and Bluegrass and Barbecue. Donated items include UNC basketball tickets, art, crafts, books, jewelry, games, and services. You can learn to play mahjong or the game of Catan, weave a basket or make a gingerbread castle. These are just a few choices.

Bidding ends at noon Oct. 14. Be part of the fun and help raise needed funds! See the Auction webpage for links to the auction login page and instructions.

Need additional help/information? Email, to reach co-chairs Joan O'Brien and Kathleen Farinola

BOARD OF TRUSTEES - STRATEGIC PLANNING

Consonant with our Bylaws, the Board of Trustees has completed preliminary planning for the development of a new strategic plan. In a retreat in May 2023, the Board created a template and process for our next plan, which will, in part, consist of many focus groups led by Strategic Planning Committee; Barb Chapman, Glenn Davis, Mary Beth Powell, Ellie Speh, Becky Wilkes, Bianca Rodriquez, Steve Marshall, Jenny Nelson and Salem Macknee.

Each focus group will meet with 2 members of the Planning Committee over this fall and winter. Congregants will be provided with a calendar of dates and times of meetings and sign up for participation. Everyone interested in contributing to this strategic discernment is encouraged to participate in one of the 90-minute focus groups. Zoom focus groups for congregants who remain at home and do not feel comfortable attending in person will be scheduled as well.

XTREME HIKE FOR CFF 2023 SHARE THE PLATE

Xtreme Hike is a fund raising activity that supports the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. It is an annual event that aims to harness a love of the outdoors and a shared commitment to end cystic fibrosis.

On October 1st, the Share the Plate will be for the benefit of my Xtreme Hike team and ultimately be passed on to the CCF. We are at a pivotal moment and your support matters.

There are approximately 30,000 Americans living with cystic fibrosis. They are moms, dads, sisters, brothers, daughters, sons, and friends who struggle to breathe because of this rare, genetic, life-shortening disease.

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation continues to lead the way in the fight against CF, fueling extraordinary medical and scientific progress. Still many people with CF do not benefit from existing therapies because their form of the disease will not respond.

Please help us get closer to a cure for cystic fibrosis. We hike till CF means “Cure Found!”Contact Jerel Bonner if you'd like to participate in this event.

CAROLINA ABORTION FUND SHARE THE PLATE: THANK YOU!

Deepest thanks to this exceptional congregation for an incredible $2777 to the Carolina Abortion Fund through Share the Plate in June, as the NC legislature enacted new and extreme restrictions on abortion access here in our state. Dollar for dollar, these funds will help people obtain abortions, which become more and more inaccessible every day across our region.

SHARE THE PLATE - THANK YOU FROM HARBOR CAMPS! 

Thanks to the generosity of our congregation, $1,826.39 was raised for the scholarship fund for this life-changing, life-saving summer camp for trans- and gender-nonconforming youth -- the first of its kind. The funds we raised will help children whose families cannot afford to give their children the experience of safe, wholesome summer camp. Thank you - this opportunity is a treasured one for these families. See the thank you note from Harbor Camps.

WE DONATED $2109.56 TO SECU FAMILY HOUSE!

Thanks so much for your generosity in the August 13 Share the Plate donation. Our donation will cover one month’s lodging in a suite at SECU Family House for a lung transplant recipient. The contribution helps make this life enhancing procedure accessible to someone who could not otherwise afford the out-of-pocket costs associated with recuperation from transplant surgery.

SHARE THE PLATE NOMINATIONS

Share the Plate nominations for the first half of 2024 are due November 5!

On designated Sunday mornings the collections, called Share the Plate, support non-profit organizations and causes that are related to the mission of our church. Members of The Community Church of Chapel Hill may nominate an organization for our church to support. The Share the Plate Steering Committee reviews, selects/accepts, and assists the nominator/coordinator in carrying out the collection.

Through the Share the Plate collections, The Community Church of Chapel Hill carries out our mission of serving our community.

New committee members are needed! Please contact Brenda or Jerel to assist in selecting Share the Plate collections and guiding the applicants through the process. The committee meets twice a year plus an orientation, and each member assists two coordinators in carrying out the steps for the Sunday collection.

Learn more and apply below - contact Brenda Rogers or Jerel Bonner for more information.

ECO FIRST SUNDAY WILL BE OCTOBER 8 AT 1:15PM VIA ZOOM

We had a productive Retreat. At our FIRST SUNDAY meeting we will discuss the results of the Retreat. At the Retreat we agreed to work on environmental issues through a variety of activities, tabling events, and advocacy efforts. So stay tuned for future announcements. All are welcome at our ECO meetings. We need your ideas and helping hands. For details and to get a zoom link, please contact ECO.

MEHRBACH’S MUSICAL MAGIC Come celebrate Glenn Mehrbach’s twenty years of making music with The Community Church on October 15 after the second service. When he joined us, we were a much smaller community of musicians, and he has helped us to grow, learn and uncover new skills together. He has worked with all of us, creating plays and musicals, involving scores of members in building and painting sets, and in finding props and costumes. Many bakers have contributed to intermission delights. Dozens of small groups of musicians have formed and dissolved and reformed in new shapes. He has taught us to enjoy fearlessly what we can accomplish.

We will create music, raise a couple of cheers and have something to munch before leaving for the day. Everyone, especially first-service attendees, will have a chance to write a note to Glenn, perhaps remembering a special musical moment.

WOMENCIRCLE LUNCH AND RIVERWALK IN HILLSBOROUGH

Join Linda Thompson and Ivy Brezina on Thursday, October 12 at noon for lunch, and walk the 2-mile Eno River Riverwalk Trail in Hillsborough. We will rendezvous at Weaver Street Market, 228 S. Churton Street in Hillsborough. Bring your own lunch or do take out at Weaver Street Market. We will carpool from church and Timberline Shopping Center. To carpool and for information, contact Linda Thompson.

CUP O' JOE LAUNCHES COMMUNITY CHURCH CONCERT 2023-24 SEASON!Join Community Church Concerts Friday, Oct. 13, 8 PM in the Sanctuary to listen to the toe-tapping tunes of Cup O' Joe, a close family trio who have been playing together from their early teens, blending the intricate tones of bluegrass, folk and jazz to create their own progressive acoustic sound. Their mix of original and re-imagined traditional songs sets the ingredients for an energetic and enthusiastic performance, giving them a growing presence in the surrounding acoustic music scene in Ireland, the UK and Mainland Europe. Strong sibling harmonies can be heard throughout their music, harmonies that blend together like only sibling harmonies can. Learn about future concerts and purchase Season Pass/Single tickets below. To volunteer, contact Terry Baker. Questions? Email Jane Provan.

On Saturday, October 21 from 10:30 AM to 12 PM, the Nonfiction Readers will discuss Goldberger’s War: The Life and Work of a Public Health Crusader, by Alan M. Kraut. Barbara Dennis will lead our discussion, which will be held in the Living Room of the Jones Building. This is a fascinating story of early public health research and treatment in the face of resistance. Joseph Goldberger entered Ellis Island as “another poor Jew,” graduated from Belleview Hospital College of Medicine after being rejected by Harvard, served in the Coast Guard after being rejected by the Navy, and was sent to Mississippi to quell a pellagra epidemic. He and his wife Mary became partners in trying to convince a defiant medical establishment that pellagra is not an infection. New members and drop-ins are welcome. Contact Ed Steffes to ask questions or to be placed on the group’s email list.

QUUILTERS

We meet on Saturday, October 7, 9 to 11:30 AM in the Gathering Room. Our community service projects of quilted totebags and picnic placemat sets for HomeStart Women's Shelter, and lap quilts for the Refugee Support Center and Hospice Chatham County are our priorities this month. We are also making single placemats for Meals on Wheels participants. Fabric, instructions, kits are available. Bring your personal projects to share during check-in time. If you bring your machine, please also bring your own extension cord.

(Pictured: qUUilters deliver their beautiful handiwork to Habitat for Humanity homeowners)

ART IN THE SANCTUARY Through October 29, Joan and Chris Meade’s paintings will be hanging in the Sanctuary for their show, “ 20th Anniversary Exhibition,” consisting of one piece each from their show 20 years ago as well as recent works. Chris is a painter who explores the beauty of abstract color combinations, composition and painterly brushstrokes or scraper strokes. Currently, his work is inspired by his own experiences in personal relationships. His intent is for his work to inspire appreciation of color combinations and emotions. Joan’s passion is for the natural world, and she is especially drawn to water, rocks, and trees in their spectacular variety. She works in sculptural acrylics, with texture, color and shapes giving a three-dimensional effect. Her landscapes and seascapes are inspired by her travels and enhanced by her imagination.

RARE WOMEN We are women (mostly retired) who ARE OLDER, WISER, AND RARE.

We meet on Zoom in three groups:

Bonnie Gilliom’s group (2nd and 4th Thursdays, 10-11:30 AM)

Joann Haggerty’s group (1st and 3rd Mondays, 2-4 PM)

Rae Dawson’s group (1st and 3rd Thursdays, 1:30-3:30 PM)

NEW MEMBERS are welcome to join any of our three groups. We will use a variety of resources throughout the year to prompt sharing of thoughts, feelings, values, courageous examples, friendships, and life experiences. What is said in Rare Women, stays in Rare Women. See the topic schedule and resources for 2023-2024. Additional information is posted on the Rare Women webpage. To join our email list or ask questions, please contact us below.

OUTDOOR CONNECTIONS NOVEMBER 11 OUTING On November 11, Outdoor Connections will visit Cedarock Park (4242 R Dean Coleman Rd, Burlington, NC), established in 1975 on a pre-Civil War farm with a mill. This “little-known gem in the Piedmont” (Carolina Bird Club) is one of the sites on the NC Birding Trail.

At 10:00am, we will meet at the gravel parking area closest to Shelter 3 (see the park map). We will follow the access trail to the Creekside Picnic Area, cross a bridge, and hike the Rock Creek Loop Trail. This wooded trail is easy to moderate, with ups and downs, and some roots and rocks. Total mileage is 2.2 miles. Approximately one week prior to the hike, we will decide whether to have lunch together: a picnic in a park shelter or a restaurant in Saxapahaw.

Please RSVP to Marya Ilgen-Lieth for additional details and to receive updates. If you are interested in carpooling (as a driver or a rider), let Marya know in your RSVP; she will try to coordinate.