CUCC Weekly eNews

From the intentional interim pastor May 1, 2015             I’ve had quite a week.  On Tuesday I gave the prayer at the service remembering those who have been injured or lost their lives on the job in North Carolina.  We had gathered near the site where the three construction workers were killed in March.  Then we walked to the Department of Labor to register our protests about the way the DOL is dealing with these injuries and fatalities.  http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article19812672.html             On Wednesday, along with ten other CUCC members, I attended Moral Monday on Wednesday.  It was a first for me and as the Terminator said, “I will be back.”    It was an experience to gather with others to make our voices heard.  http://www.naacpnc.org/             This coming Saturday I will go to OutRaleigh, where we will have a booth.  This is another first for me .  http://www.outraleigh.org/             We are one busy church.  Perhaps a better way of s

This Sunday, May 3, Joy Alford will be sharing reflections of her trip to Cuba over coffee and donuts.  Join her in the fellowship hall at 9:15AM. - submitted by Joy Alford

This morning I was honored and humbled to bring a prayer to the service remembering those workers who were injured or killed in North Carolina in the past year.  Sue Cottle and Joan McAllister joined me as we gathered, then walked to the Department of Labor to take letters to Commissioner Cherie Berry asking for more diligence in creating a safer work environment in our state.  Please join me in prayer. Creator God.  Loving Spirit. We are here to today for a very specific reason:  to lift up the names of those who have died or suffered illness or injury on the job in North Carolina. We have gathered at this particular site because on March 23, 2015 Jose Hernandez, Jose Luis Lopez-Ramirez, and Anderson Almeida lost their lives here.   Elmer Guevara was injured. Gracious God, we turn to you remembering what these men contributed to our world, and lifting up their families, friends, and co-workers whose lives have been forever changed by this tragedy.  Even those of us who never knew them

The Stewardship Ministry has supplied a spreadsheet which shows items for sale, buyer, and seller. You can search this document to find all sales that you were involved in as buyer or seller. If you want to search the document, your best bet is to download it and search it with whatever PDF viewer you use on your computer. Auction Sales

We are especially dedicated to being sure that every youth who wants to attend BYC summer church camp will be able to do so! We have done significant fundraising and have plenty remaining in our youth budget (we have been frugal in our purchases and events this year).  Please do not let finances get in your way of attending! BYC 2015 will run from June 28-July3 and registration has begun!  I have extended the due date for registration. It is now Sunday, May 10 (Mother's Day). Payments are due by June 1.       BYC is a phenomenal church camp experience in the NC mountains with like minded churches from all over the country.  I have participated in BYC curriculum planning and leadership at this camp for 11 years. Twelve of our youth have attended.                    Camp requires that these three forms be completed in their entirety. 2015 Youth registration form 2015 Medical release form 2015 Covenant form          The camp is open to our current 6th graders (this summer's risin

On May 2nd, 2015, Fayetteville Street in Downtown Raleigh transforms into the biggest Out!Raleigh festival ever! The 5th annual Out!Raleigh - "A Better Tomorrow, Today!" -will include entertainment, vendors, food trucks, and the biggest KidsZone to date. Out! Raleigh is a fun, family-friendly event and for the fifth year in a row, the Open and Affirming Task Force (ONA) will have a booth there.  Out!Raleigh has become an integral part of Raleigh’s culture, promoting diversity awareness as well as a sense of inclusiveness for the LGBT community and its allies. Each year has been more successful than the last, and this year will be no exception. Last year, more than 25,000 people poured into City Plaza to celebrate the LGBT community, their friends and their families. Come and join the festivities from 11:00am to 6:00pm. And make sure you stop by the ONA Task Force’s table and say hello.  If you are interested in helping us out at the festival, contact Joan McAllister. Hope t

Carpool is leaving promptly at 6PM from the Dixie Trail parking lot.  Remember to wear red! Flowers are blooming! The birds are returning and the weather has gotten warmer!  That means it’s time for CUCC to take in a Durham Bulls baseball game. This year’s game will take place on Friday, May 29th at 7:05pm.  The Bulls, a AAA minor league team of the Tampa Bay Rays, will be playing the Syracuse Sky Chiefs.   Wear red!   When the jumbotron shows the CUCC section, we'll stand out! This is always great fun and a wonderful way to fellowship with church members in a different environment and enjoy a great ball game at the same time.  Carpooling from the church will be available if you don’t want to drive to Durham.  Tickets will be booked from section 211 on the third base side.  Come and let us have a ball with the Bulls!  For questions or additional information, contact Robert Parrish. - submitted by Robert Parrish

The Sisters in Spirit (SIS) beach retreat will be held Friday, May 15th, through Sunday, May 17th, in Surf City with the theme this year being "Stretch and Restore." Women of CUCC are invited to contact Marty Lamb for more information and to confirm attendance. - submitted by Marty Lamb

Boooook Saaaale! Don’t forget to come to this fabulous book sale which will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship on Wade Avenue ( directions ).  Because CUCC is donating books and volunteers, we will receive proceeds from the sale of the books we donate. Dates and times for the sale are: Friday, May 1: 10:00am – 6:00pm Saturday, May 2: 10:00am – 6:00pm Sunday, May 3: 9:00am – 3:00pm - submitted by Peg Hulslander

Press Conference 10:30 AM Tuesday, April 28 in Raleigh Raleigh workers, advocates, community members, and faith leaders will gather at 7 W. Lenoir Street, near the site of a deadly construction accident last month in downtown Raleigh, to memorialize workers who have died or suffered illness or injury on the job.   Reverend Peg Williams will provide the opening prayer. Who: AFL-CIO, Student Action with Farmworkers, NC Council of Churches, Farm Labor Organizing Committee, and NC Justice Center What: International Workers’ Memorial Day press conference, followed by march and letter delivery to Commissioner of Labor Cherie Berry When: 10:30 AM Tuesday, April 28, 2015 Where: 7 W. Lenoir St., Raleigh, NC -- near the site of the crane collapse that killed three workers and injured another in downtown Raleigh last month. Why: Workers’ Memorial Day is an international day of remembrance for workers who have lost their lives on the job, as 109 North Carolina workers did in 2013. Please join us f

MORAL MONDAY Anniversary and Activities Wednesday, April 29 , is the second anniversary of the Moral Monday demonstrations.   In honor of the anniversary, and in order to remind the legislature that we are still exceedingly unhappy with their actions, there will be a rally at 5:00 on Bicentennial Mall between the Museums of History and Science downtown. It is very important that we have a good number of participants in order to clearly make the point that we are here for the long haul. Arrestees are asked to wear their arm bands if they still have them.   Some will be provided if yours was cut off or taken.     If you can, PLEASE COME!!  Here is the schedule of events: 10:00 Clergy will meet at Davie Street Presbyterian and they will do some action at noon, assume at the old Capitol or State House.   At present we do not have any clergy going from CUCC.   Rick and Jill Edens and probably Doug Long will be among the participants, so UCC is represented. 3:00 pm there will be an informati

The spring congregational meeting this year will be held on Sunday, May 3 , following the 10:30am worship service. This annual "spring" meeting is required by our bylaws. It is a regular congregational meeting. 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 (Geri Bowen) know in advance. Already on the agenda: Sharing of information from the Community Church Low Income Housing Corporation Board Report from Ad Hoc Religious Education  Committee on Youth and Education Staffing Annual report on the number of CUCC’s members Update on the status of the solar panel project – Submitted for the Church Council

Each day I get an email from "inward, outward."  This was today's. Inward/Outward is a project of the Church of the Saviour in Washington DC. Visit us on the web at  http://inwardoutward.org - April 26, 2015 - What We Need For Sunday, April 26, 2015  – John 10:11-18 Usually my attention goes immediately to the relationship between the sheep and the shepherd. How good and kind the shepherd is, willing to give his life for the sheep. How comforting to see myself as one of many, just an ordinary sheep, yet extraordinarily loved and known. I want to grow in my capacity to hear and follow that singular voice. That is usually how I ponder this passage. This week, however, I have found my thoughts going again and again not to the shepherd but to the hired hand and the wolf. Who is this hired hand, this substitute shepherd I’ve given charge of my life? Is it a self-identity that helps me feel reasonably stable and competent despite the wolves lying in wait nearby? Is it a group i

From the Intentional Interim Pastor Church-Wide Outdoor Event and Camp Out! Wright Center A Message from the Caring Committee Do You Enjoy Fellowship after Church? Social Justice Ministry Survey Boooooook Saaaaaale!!!! Taizé Worship at Duke, April 24 Church Women United Sisters in Spirit Wake Federation of the Blind Yard Sale Durham Bulls Baseball! Mac Hulslander is Delegate to General Synod Out!Raleigh From the Intentional Interim Pastor           Last Saturday I had the honor and privilege of officiating at the wedding of two young women who were members of my church back in Lafayette, Indiana.  After 22 years together, they are finally married.  I choked back tears more than once.           On Tuesday, April 28, at 10:30am, I will experience another honor. I have been invited to bring the opening prayer as we remember the construction workers who were killed in downtown Raleigh on March 23.  This service will remember these workers and other workers who have lost their lives in the

April 23, 2015 From the intentional interim pastor             Last Saturday I had the honor and privilege of officiating at the wedding of two young women who were members of my church back in Lafayette, Indiana.  After 22 years together, they are finally married.  I choked back tears more than once.             On Tuesday, April 28, at 10:30 a.m. I will experience another honor. I have been invited to bring the opening prayer as we remember the construction workers who were killed in downtown Raleigh on March 23.  This service will remember these workers, and other workers who have lost their lives in the past year.  It is part of the Workers Memorial Week.    We will gather at the site where the March accident occurred.  I will share more information with you as I have it.             Perhaps you will join me as we honor and remember the lives lost.  Let us stand in solidarity with those who build our buildings and keep them maintained.  Let us stand beside the families who have los

Several new photo albums have been added to our photo gallery during the month of April. Check them out if you haven't already. The new photos are from the Solar Celebration on April 19, the Family Fun Auction on April 18, the Cy and Carolyn King Awards reception on April 12, and Easter Sunday (April 5). You can always find a link to the photo gallery in the right sidebar when you're looking at any page in the CUCC website. Photo Gallery

The obituary for Amy Jensen's father, Dale Sitler , has now appeared online. Mr. Sitler passed away Saturday, April 18. You will note that the obituary indicates that Dale Sitler was "a lifelong member of Grace Church in Columbiana."  The Grace Church website shows the trajectory of Grace Church:  Grace Church is a Congregational Christian Church, member of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches, based in Oak Creek, WI.  We are a volunteer member of an association of like-minded churches (NACCC) who recognize the right of the individual local church to be autonomous under the headship of Christ.  We are also members of the Ohio Assn. of Congregational Christian Churches.  In the past, Grace has belonged to the Reformed Church, the Evangelical and Reformed Church, and the United Church of Christ. This is the same trajectory followed by many rural churches in the American heartland that began as E&R, came into the UCC in the 1950s via merger, and

From the Interim Pastor We Welcome Rev. Dr. Kenneth Williams to our Pulpit this Sunday A Message from the Caring Committee Do You Enjoy Fellowship after Church? A Note from the Youth Church-Wide Outdoor Event & Camping: April 25-26! Save the date!  Solar Celebration at Anderson Point Park - April 19 Earth Sabbath Celebration, Wednesday, April 22 Book Fundraiser – Book Sale May 1 - 3 Taizé Worship at Duke, April 24 Congregations for Social Justice – Faith & Practice Series May Newsletter Deadline Come One! Come All! CUCC Auction Party! – Saturday, April 18 From the Interim Pastor Can we talk about church? Can we talk? Last year my husband Ken and I moved to Durham from Rochester, NY.  We "retired" from full-time ministry and relocated to the land of Ken's birth. For the first time in a really long time we needed to look for a church.  This was not something either of us had done for a long times as we usually moved to town to serve a church.  We discovered that it

from your interim pastor Can we talk? Last year my husband Ken and I moved to Durham from Rochester, NY.  We "retired" from full-time ministry and relocated to the land of Ken's birth.   For the first time in a really long time we needed to look for a church.  This was not something either of us had done for a long times as we usually moved to town to serve a church.  We discovered that it isn't easy finding a new church.  We actually found our grocery store to be more welcoming. (You can read about our experience on my Huffington Post blog:   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-peg-nowling-williams/what-the-church-can-learn_1_b_6055106.html) I think that Community UCC does a great job, but I'd like to hear your experiences, as well.   What were you looking for when you came to Community UCC? If you are new to our church or reading this as a seeker, would you mind sharing what you are seeking? We can't be all things to all people, but we can learn from each othe

April 10, 2015 From the interim pastor Dear Friends,             I’m excited to share the good news with you that we have a Transition Team!  They are: Shaleka Covington-Jones, Frank Gailor, Tim Jensen, Joan McAllister and Suzette Roach.             Several months ago Geri Bowen and I asked the council members to suggest the names of those who were persons of wisdom, spiritual depth, and love for God’s people.  We also asked them to think in terms of the transition team being a microcosm of the congregation.  I think you will agree that these five individuals meet this criteria.             Soon the team will gather for their first meeting and retreat to begin our time together.  I know you are interested in what the plan is for this intentional interim process.             Here is a bit from the letter I sent to them:  “Let me share my vision for the Transition Team and what you might expect in commitments of time and energy.  Churches that take advantage of the interim period for int

From the interim pastor             Writing for this particular newsletter is harder than most months.  I’m writing this on Monday.  Yesterday was Palm Sunday and in a few hours we will gather for a Healing Service.  On Thursday we will celebrate Maundy Thursday at St. Paul’s and our sanctuary will be open on Friday from 12 pm – 3 pm for reflection.             Then on Sunday we will gather together to celebrate Easter, the resurrection of Jesus.              If the newsletter was coming out on next Monday, I’d have no trouble at all.  Easter would have already been here and we would have already sung “Christ the Lord is Risen Today.”             HOWEVER, we are caught in the middle on this month’s newsletter.  In order for you to have it before the first of the month, we are BEFORE Easter, not AFTER.  We are caught in the middle.             I think the disciples understood being caught in the middle. They lived as good Jewish men and women.  They followed the laws of Moses and the To

The King Awards worship service of April 12 has now been archived ... The video of the entire program (31-minutes) is now embedded on the Social Justice Ministry webpage . The Awards Ceremony alone  (21-minutes) is located in the CUCC archive. Tim Jensen's song tribute is found in the music portion of the CUCC Archive John Robertson's violin tribute is also found in the music portion of the archive.

Sam Woodrum has proposed our topic for conversation this Tuesday at Life & Faith in Downtown Raleigh:  selfishness vs. selflessness.  He asked us to watch an Invisibilia video before we come.  Watch the " mirror touch story " which starts at about 6:00 minutes. Sam wrote:   I'd be interested to talk about selfishness vs. selflessness.  In the past I've tended to think that the more selfless and empathetic you can be the better (the more Christ-like, so the speak) but this story seems to be an example of extreme empathy, to the point that it is crippling... seems to enforce the idea that a balance between the two is best rather than just always pushing towards on side of that spectrum. If you don't have time to watch the story, come anyway! Life & Faith in Downtown Raleigh  – 2nd Tuesday of every Month Tuesday, 7:00pm, April 14, Tyler’s Tap Room . This is a Dutch treat discussion group. New people are welcomed enthusiastically - those who come set the topic

From the Interim Pastor Parents’ Night Out (Childcare for CUCC Children) and Lock-In For Youth – April 10th April 12 Worship Service – Cy & Carolyn King Award Presentation Church-Wide Outdoor Event & Camping: April 25-26! Life& Faith in Downtown Raleigh Sisters in Spirit (SIS) – Thursday, April 16, 6:00pm Save the date!  Solar Celebration at Anderson Point Park - April 19 A Decluttering Opportunity – Book Sale May 1 - 3 ART, FUN, FOOD, PICNICS, HIKES, ETC. Congregations for Social Justice – Faith & Practice Series From the Interim Pastor Dear Friends,     I’m excited to share the good news with you that we have a Transition Team!  They are: Shaleka Covington-Jones, Frank Gailor, Tim Jensen, Joan McAllister and Suzette Roach.     Several months ago Geri Bowen and I asked the council members to suggest the names of those who were persons of wisdom, spiritual depth, and love for God’s people.  We also asked them to think in terms of the transition team being a microcosm of