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Friday Email - 18 JUL 2014

Party at Glenaire Retirement Community
Youth:  Church School, Lunch, and Beyond
Youth Group - “Human Beans Together” - Sunday, July 27
Earth Sabbath Celebration – Tuesday, July 22, 7:00pm
Gardening Therapy at CUCC
Pray at the Legislature – Tuesdays, 12:30pm-1:00pm
Four-Week Summer Series Based on NOOMA Films
Inequality for All – Film and Discussion
Godspell, Jr
Oak City Outreach Center Seeking Volunteers
Divestment by World Council of Churches from Fossil Fuels
NEWSLETTER DEADLINE – Wednesday, July 23

Party at Glenaire Retirement Community
All CUCC people are invited to a party at the Glenaire Retirement Community, 4000 Glenaire Circle, Cary, NC, 27511, on Saturday, July 26, 2014, at 3:00pm, to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Ed Klemmer’s birth.  No birthday presents will be accepted.  If you need directions or additional information, call 919-481-3541 or email Ed and Ruth Klemmer at erklemmer@gmail.com.  Carpooling from CUCC would simplify travel and parking.

Youth:  Church School, Lunch, and Beyond
Youth! Come out this Sunday for **Church School, lunch, and beyond (parents pick up at 2). We will work on repairing and improving the little house next to Pilgrim house. This house is part of the property that we recently purchased and will soon provide low income housing for someone. Bring work gloves (if you have them), clothes that can get dirty and/or splashed with bleach, and as always, your enthusiasm. You are also invited to bring a box of wholesome snack bars, granola bars, nabs, Vienna sausages, or boxed raisins, for making snack kits to give to those who gather for the downtown meal the next week.  
**This summer we Seek the Welfare of the City: finding meaningful ways to be helpful to our city, "for in its welfare, we will find our own welfare." (Jeremiah 29:7)

Youth Group - “Human Beans Together” - Sunday, July 27
The Youth need drivers to take them downtown (Oak City Outreach Center, 215 1/2 S. Person St.) to help "Human Beans Together" serve a meal and provide snack bags to those who come to Moore Square on Sunday mornings. We leave promptly at 10:30am and will serve from 11:00am -11:45am. We will return to the CUCC parking lot at Noon. The Youth will also accept donations of a box of wholesome snack bars, granola bars, nabs, Vienna sausages, or boxed raisins for making snack kits to give to those who gather for the downtown meal the next week.

Earth Sabbath Celebration – Tuesday, July 22, 7:00pm
This interfaith evening combines fellowship and worship drawn from many faith traditions.  Tuesday’s theme will be “Arboreal Cathedrals” inspired by two books: Cathedrals of the Spirit by T.C. McLuhan, and Remarkable Trees of the World by Thomas Pakenham. Vaughan Fellowship Hall.  All are welcome!

Gardening Therapy at CUCC
We hope you can join us for a little gardening therapy!  Bring your favorite gardening gloves and tools.  Our therapy includes weeding, as well as picking up pine cones and sticks.  The best part is we make the church grounds lovely while sharing time with our CUCC friends. Please join us on the 2nd & 4th Tuesday of each summer month.  Our next therapy session is July 22nd from 9:00am – Noon.

Pray at the Legislature
On Tuesdays from 12:30pm to 1:00pm, Duane Beck from the Mennonite Church meets with a group to pray and read scriptures.  Meet in the front door off of Jones Street. Turn left and meet at a table in the garden area.  Scriptures will be provided if requested.

Four-Week Summer Series Based on NOOMA Films
Joy Alford will be facilitating a short, 4-week, summer series on  four consecutive Thursday evenings: July 17,  July 24, July 31, and August 7, 6:00pm, in the Hoffmann Room at CUCC. You may attend as many or as few as you wish.  The discussions will be based on NOOMA films, a series of short films, each 10-15 minutes long.  NOOMA films are like parables - they use the experiences of our lives to teach about the fullness of life through Jesus. We will cover discipleship, which includes acts of justice, periods of silence and unconditional love. These meaningful discussions will spark relevant questions and biblical references for our exploration.  Rob Bell, a leading pastor and breakthrough communicator in the Christian community, is featured in our first series of NOOMAs. We will watch 1-3 of these short films per session. No preparation needed except to bring a brown bag meal or snacks to share if you choose to do so. For more information contact the church office at 919-787-6422 or Joy Alford at 919-605-4336 or w.joy.alford43@gmail.com.

Youth Group - “Human Beans Together” - Sunday, July 27
The Youth need drivers to take them downtown (Oak City Outreach Center, 215 1/2 S. Person St.) to help "Human Beans Together" serve a meal and provide snack bags to those who come to Moore Square on Sunday mornings. We leave promptly at 10:30am and will serve from 11:00am -11:45am. We will return to the CUCC parking lot at Noon. The Youth will also accept donations of a box of wholesome snack bars, granola bars, nabs, Vienna sausages, or boxed raisins for making snack kits to give to those who gather for the downtown meal the next week.

Inequality for All – Film and Discussion
On Tuesday, July 30, 7:30 pm, in the CUCC Sanctuary, SJM will sponsor a showing of the documentary Inequality for All.  In the film, former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich makes a compelling case about the serious crisis the U.S. faces due to the widening economic gap.  Reich states, “Until we can take a step back and understand the big picture, we can’t do anything to get ourselves out of this mess. Our democracy as we know it depends on it.”  For questions or additional information, contact Joan McAllister at 919-851-9674.

Godspell, Jr
Erin Moorman Wenger and North Raleigh School of Music are putting on Stephen Schwartz’s beloved musical Godspell, Jr. in the CUCC sanctuary on August 8th and 9th at 7:00pm.  It is free and open to everyone.  There will be singing, dancing, and a lot of clowning around.  Come and support the arts!

Oak City Outreach Center Seeking Volunteers
The Oak City Outreach Center (near Moore Square) is looking for volunteer hosts to welcome groups who come to the Center to provide food and then to greet guests coming to the center to receive food or information and referrals. The Oak City Outreach Center is a collaboration of the City of Raleigh and the Raleigh Wake Partnership to End and Prevent Homelessness. The Center will be open on Saturdays and Sundays and needs volunteers willing to work four-hour shifts monthly or even quarterly. There will be a minimum of two adult volunteers at each time slot. Children accompanied by parents are also welcome to volunteer. For additional information, call 919-812-5546 or email oakcity.outreach@raldioc.org.

Divestment by World Council of Churches from Fossil Fuels
The World Council of Churches has decided to no longer fund oil, gas or coal, and it recommends that its members do the same. “The committee discussed the ethical investment criteria, and considered that the list of sectors in which the WCC does not invest should be extended to include fossil fuels.”  With WCC congregation members numbering in the hundred millions, this is an important move against climate change.  As you know, the major cause of climate change is carbon dioxide produced from burning fossil fuels.  Advocacy on the part of the World Council of Churches to stop investing in fossil fuels may lead people of faith worldwide to move their investments away from fossil fuels and to sustainable, renewable energies that do not produce CO2.  For more information, go to:
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/07/11/3459111/wcc-christians-divests/
Submitted by Gary Smith

NEWSLETTER DEADLINE – Wednesday, July 23
The deadline for the August 2014 Newsletter is Wednesday, July 23, 2014.  Please submit your articles by the end of the day on Wednesday.  Thank you!