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Friday Email - 11 APR 2014

All Church Workday Tomorrow Morning, Saturday, April 12th
April 11-12 Youth Spring Lock-in!
Joy Alford to lead 10:30am Worship Service with Palm Processional this Sunday
Annual Easter Egg Hunt and Egg Dying this Sunday, April 13
Forum for Sunday, April 13
A Theological Conference, Saturday, April 12, 2014
Property Purchase Funds
Caring Committee
Retirees’ Group
PFLAG Potluck and Special Guest Speaker 
Maundy Thursday Service
Good Friday Devotion
Easter Sunrise Service
Flowers for the Resurrection Cross
CUCC Family Fun Auction Party
 “Climate Change and the Old Testament”
Say it with Flamingos!
Spring Congregational Meeting - May 4

All Church Workday Tomorrow Morning, Saturday, April 12th
TOMORROW MORNING from 9:00am -12:00pm!!
 It's going to be a beautiful day for work day TOMORROW so we can get work done outside as well as inside the church.  Feel free to work on any areas that you've noticed, or work with committee members on projects we have identified.  Many hands make light work, and it is a great way to get to know other folks in the church!  You do NOT need to be a church member to participate!!!  *:) happy  Bring your tools, gloves, snacks to share, music to work by, and ideas.
THANK YOU!!

April 11-12 Youth Spring Lock-in!
The Youth Spring Lock-In will be tonight, April 11 at 7:00pm (eat dinner before you arrive) until Saturday, April 12 at 10:00am.  We will play video games, die Easter eggs, and/or create henna tattoos. Please email Śānti Matthews today to let her know if you can make it!

Joy Alford to lead Worship Service with Palm Processional this Sunday
We welcome Joy Alford as our worship leader during the 10:30am worship service this Palm Sunday.  Please join Joy and the congregation in our traditional Palm Processional to welcome in Holy Week at CUCC.

Annual Easter Egg Hunt and Egg Dying this Sunday, April 13
The Sunday School Annual Easter Egg hunt and egg dying will be on Palm Sunday, April 13th.  Please bring an Easter basket for the hunt and 6 hard-boiled eggs to dye for each child. (The nursery will not participate in egg dying.)   The children will also participate in the palm processional on Palm Sunday (the children love to participate in the palm processional).  Also, remember to bring flowers for the floral cross on Easter Sunday.

Forum for Sunday, April 13
Forum for Sunday, April 13: Dream People of the Amazon:  (Note: The Forum topic has been changed.) The documentary, "Dream People of the Amazon", tells the story of an indigenous people in the Amazon who are faced with the dilemma of protecting their environment and their way of life from the encroachment of multinational oil companies.   Their dreams collide with the dreams of outside companies.  The Amazon community is seeking solidarity with the outside world and this story is part of our global conversation about the health of our planet.

A Theological Conference
“Forward Together – God’s Work, Our Hands, Faith in Action, A Theological Conference Exploring the Public Policy Issues raised by the Moral Monday Movement.”
Saturday, April 12, 2014, 9:30am - 4:00pm, at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 7000 Creedmoor Rd., Raleigh, NC.
Registration is $12.00 and includes Lunch.
Keynote Speaker: The Right Rev. Michael Bruce Curry XI, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina.
Break-Out Discussions on Issues include:
Voting Rights: Jennifer Frye, Associate Director, Democracy NC
Education: Rodney Ellis, President, North Carolina Association of Educators
Poverty: Dr. Gene Nichol, Director, The Center on Poverty, Work & Opportunity UNC School of Law
Class and Racial Justice: Judith Roberts, Program Director, Racial Justice Ministries, E.L.C.A.
For More Information and Registration Please Visit: www.transformationresourcesnetwork.com
Submitted by Adrienne Little

Property Purchase Funds
If any of you are considering contributing to our Capital Campaign to help fund the property purchase with either a gift or a loan, PLEASE let Carol Clark (cdebclark@msn.com) know your answer as soon as possible.  Once the Council approves the purchase, the closing date is scheduled for May 18.  We need your checks, made out to CUCC, with ‘loan or gift’ in the memo line, sent to the church or placed in the collection plate for deposit in our special account.  A formal statement will be sent to you acknowledging your contribution in this purchase. We have not yet reached our goal so we would appreciate any additional loans or donations.

Caring Committee
The Caring Committee will meet Sunday at Noon in the Bradow Room.

Retirees’ Group
The Retirees’ will meet Monday, April 14th, 10:30am, in the Vaughan Fellowship Hall. Lena Gallitano will talk about and show pictures of her and Lynn Barber’s recent bird-watching trip to Trinidad.   Everyone is invited to this special program.  Bring a box lunch.  Drinks and dessert are provided.

PFLAG Potluck and Special Guest Speaker 
Wednesday, April 16th, at 7:00pm, come and hear Stan Kimer, consultant and former IBM executive involved with corporate diversity, discuss “How to Survive and Thrive.” We look forward to a program that reminds us all that “it gets better.”  (ONA)

Maundy Thursday Service
Join us on Thursday, April 17, for an ecumenical Maundy Thursday service with St. Paul’s Christian Church.  We will share a dinner of soups and breads beginning at 6:30pm, followed by Tenebrae worship at 7:15pm.

Good Friday Devotion
The Church Sanctuary will be open from 9:00am – 1:00pm on Good Friday for contemplation and devotional time.  The door to the VFH will be open for you to enter.

Easter Sunrise Service
The Annual Easter Ecumenical Sunrise Service will be held Easter Sunday, April 20, 6:30am, on the lawn at Fairmont UMC, 2501 Clark Avenue, Raleigh, NC.

Flowers for the Resurrection Cross
At our 10:30am Easter Service, Sunday, April 20, we invite you to bring fresh flowers for decorating our Resurrection Cross in the Courtyard.

CUCC Family Fun Auction Party
The CUCC Family Fun Auction Party is coming up on Saturday, April 26, and we need your help to make it a success! The auction is an annual fundraiser for CUCC.  Would you consider donating an item to the auction?  Examples of past auction items include:

  • Garden plants                                                          
  • Weekends at the beach, lake or mountains
  • Hand-made pottery, quilts, jewelry and original artwork
  • A morning of bird-watching & lunch                      
  • Therapeutic massage
  • Day trips to fun destinations.  A geology field trip or a hike at a state park
  • Pet-sitting, Babysitting, Yard work, Handyman, and Computer services
  • Brunches, lunches, dinners
  • Delicious homemade cakes, pies, jams, etc.

Please contribute your time, talents or treasure to this wonderful annual event.  It’s easy to make a pledge: 1) call the office and let us know the item, minimum bid, conditions (date, maximum/minimum number of people, etc.); 2) email/mail the auction pledge form to the church office; 3) fill out and submit form online at http://cuccinfo.org/auction  4) fill out the form and drop it into the collection plate during Sunday morning worship.  Blank forms are available on the table at the back of the Sanctuary, in the April newsletter, or at the church office. Please submit your info by Tuesday, April 22.
Social and silent auction begin at 6:30 pm; the bidding starts at 7:00 pm.  Drinks, snacks and child care will be provided. A great time is guaranteed!!  Thanks for your support, and see you at the auction!

Climate Change and the Old Testament
Sunday, April 27, 2014 from 2 pm to 4 pm
RSVP by April 21st to: cucc@nc.rr.com
Biblical teachings can serve, for some, as powerful motivators for action. Slowing climate change requires us to act forcefully; for greed, denial, and unawareness impede action. This session will cover both biblical teachings about care of the land, animals, and air - Creation Care - and practical responses to climate change. Please join us!

Sponsored by NC Interfaith Power and Light and Community United Church of Christ.

Presented by Steve Jurovics:  Steve has been researching biblical environmental teachings for over 20 years and has spoken on this topic at numerous churches and synagogues in the southeast. He is completing a book about climate change as a religious, as well as a secular, issue and what meaningful actions individuals can take to mitigate this crisis.  He has been working on energy and environmental issues for the past 25 years, primarily focusing on aspects of climate change. For the past 16 years, his work has dealt mainly with improving the energy performance of buildings and assessing the impacts on electric utilities of stricter building and appliance standards.  Stephen served six years on the North Carolina Energy Policy Council and chaired its Conservation Committee during that time. He currently serves on the steering committee of North Carolina Interfaith Power & Light. He holds a Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Southern California and a B.S. and M.S. from Columbia University.

Say it with Flamingos!
A flock of bright pink flamingos could land in the garden of someone special to you all for a donation to the CUCC Appalachia Service Project Team.  Contact Julie Robertson.  Let her know when you'd like the flock to land, the name & address of the person to receive the surprise, and anything special you'd like to say.  After confirming with our flamingo wrangler that the flock is available that day, we'll take care of the rest. We'll herd a flock of 25+ flamingos to grace your friend's lawn for two days.  Then we'll retrieve the flock.  The perfect gift to say you care!  If you know of someone with a special occasion that deserves flocking, please call Julie Robertson at 919-522-2421 and leave a message with your name and contact information and we’ll get in touch!  The average donation for a flocking is about $45. Thank you from your 2014 ASP team - Paul Judy and Erin Kiel, Ashley Joyner, Teresa Worley, Michael Bowen, John Robertson, JaCarrie Spurlock, Katherine Manus, Skip Stoddard, Lena Gallitano, Patrick Lee.

Spring Congregational Meeting - May 4
Our annual Spring Congregational Meeting will be Sunday, May 4, following the 10:30am worship service. This annual "spring" meeting is required by our bylaws. At regular meetings, the agenda is unrestricted. This means that any proposal on any topic can be presented to the congregation for consideration. However, if you plan to present a topic for discussion, it is helpful if you let the moderator (Lavon Page) know in advance.