A message from our pastor and teacher

Sunday, September 8, 2024 - 16th Sunday after Pentecost and Super Shepherd Sunday

"Positive Peacemakers"

This week we kick off a 5-part worship series "Blessed Are the Peacemakers." We will explore the differences between positive and negative peace, global peace vs. inner peace, and how we can make peace locally and globally. This first week we are going to read the blessed Beatitudes, which put peacemakers in the same company as the pure in heart and the poor in spirit. We'll also speak about the importance of a positive peace as taught by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., meaning "peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice" and what it means to be a positive peacemaker.

Sunday's Scriptures

Youth Scripture: Amos 5: 24

Scripture: Matthew 5: 1 - 13

Caring for Kin - Yucaipa Animal Placement Society

In the month of September, we will be collecting for Yucaipa Animal Placement Society (YAPS). Their most needed items include towels and blankets (used but clean OK), bleach, dish soap, canned/dry food for dogs or cats, and toys.

Could Octavia E. Butler see the future?

Thanks to funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, students and faculty from the University of Redlands are delving into Butler's 1993 novel predicting the world of 2024, and the whole community is invited to take part in the discussion. 

In 1993, Octavia E. Butler published Parable of the Sower, a dystopian coming-of-age novel set in Southern California in 2024. As we live through the future Butler imagined, her vision of environmental collapse, political disintegration, and - ultimately - hope in community still has a lot to teach us. Students at the Universities of Redlands and Woodbury, and those at Crafton Hills and Riverside Community Colleges are diving into the novel as Campus Reads, and the larger Redlands community is invited to join the conversation!  

Click here for some of the ways you are invited to be part of this discussion.

Wider Ministries meets to make donations Sunday, September 15 - Be part of the action!

Wider Ministries' next meeting to consider donations to community groups will be Sunday, September 15 at noon in the Founders' Room. All RUCC members are encouraged to nominate a worthwhile organization to be considered.

Please use the donation form HERE to share information about the organization you are nominating for funding from RUCC. Then, plan to attend the meeting on the 15th to partticipate in the discussion and voting.

Racial Justice reflection of the week

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is revealing how its student body has changed after the Supreme Court eliminated affirmative action from admission decisions. Black and Hispanic students saw the largest drops in admissions, with Black students making up just 5% of this year’s incoming class, compared to 13% the previous four years.

Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/first-look-at-how-college-enrollment-has-changed-since-supreme-court-ruling-on-affirmative-action-218419781525

From the Environmental Justice Team

“The earth is our only home. … One of the most powerful visions I have experienced was the first photograph of the earth from outer space. The image of a blue planet floating in deep space, glowing like the full moon on a clear night, brought home powerfully to me the recognition that we are indeed all members of a single family sharing one little house. … From this perspective one feels the fragility, the vulnerability of our planet … If we do not look after this home, what else are we charged to do on this earth?”

Source: Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, The Universe in a Single Atom, pg. 201, Morgan Road Books, New York, 2005

Equal Exchange has new teas and other wonderful fair trade and organic products

In addition to a wide variety of delicious coffees, the Equal Exchange corner in the hallway between the sanctuary and Covenant Hall has added two new teas -- Tumeric Ginger and Green Tea Ginger.You know it will eventually get cooler, and a nice cuppa will be just what you are craving.

Equal Exchange also has some wonderful chocolate bars in unique flavors. You won't want to miss out on these very special treats. All Equal Exchange products are fairly traded and organic.

UPCOMING DATES TO REMEMBER

• Sept 7 - 9:00 a.m. to 12 p.m. - Sacred Saturday Come join us and rest with the Divine. Meet in the Micah Room in Mosaic Hall starting at 9:00 a.m.
• Sept 8 - Super Shepherd Sunday. See meeting times and locations in article above as groups meet at varying times and dates.
• Sept 9 - 4 p.m. - Church Growth area meeting;

..........................7 p.m. - Bible Study

• Sept 10 - 7 p.m. - Steward's meeting
• Sept 15 - 12 p.m. - Wider Ministries meeting to consider donations
• Sept. 17 - 7 p.m. - Board meeting
• Sept 20 - 21 - Enneagram Workshop. See article above for details.
• Sept. 21-22 -5:00 p.m.Youth - Grades 7 +, overnight trip
• Sept. 28 - 8 a.m. - RUCC Kids and Family hike.

The church calendar is found at redlandsucc.org

Click on "calendar" in the red banner near the top of the page