CUCC Weekly eNews

Children's Sunday School Parent Information Meeting An informational meeting for parents and Sunday School volunteers for the Children's Sunday School and nursery will be held at 9:30 AM on August 27, in the elementary classroom. Parents and volunteers please plan to attend to learn about our Sunday School rotation and how the preschool and elementary classes will interact. Use the link here to print Sunday School registration forms or pick them up in the elementary classroom.  A registration form is needed for each child. http://tinyurl.com/SundaySchool2017

A total of $859 was collected for Loaves and Fishes at the special offering during the installation ceremony at the church on August 20. A check for that amount is in the mail to LAF today. Lavon Page CUCC Treasurer

Rev. Jenny Shultz-Thomas Genesis 45:1-15 Aug. 20, 2017/Ordinary 20A Josephine 1 To our horror, and amazement events such that occurred in Charlottesville last week will continue to erupt as the veil of our humanity and scandalous, brutal, violent affair with racism is lifted. As Traci Blackmon said, the “dying breaths of white supremacy will be long and arduous and violent. I know that there will be casualties on all sides.” 2 Church, Now is the time for us to look hard, rather than shut our eyes or add another veil on top of this one which is being ripped to shreds as the tug-of-war continues. We need to pay attention, to open our eyes, to look through a new lens.  Black Liberation Theologian, James Cone says that, “Black Theology knows no authority more binding than the experience of oppression itself”. 3 Which he uses as the ultimate authority in interpreting religious matters.  In order to understand black, or liberation, theology we have to have a fuller understanding o...

We've all heard the opinion expressed in our church that the Confederate statue issue is a simple one and that the moral imperative is clear. Edwin M. Yoder in today's N&O elaborates on a viewpoint that is quite at odds from that easy simplistic view. Since Yoder is one of the true giants of North Carolina journalism (Rhodes Scholar, Pulitzer Prize, long time editorialist for Washington Post), his views merit serious consideration. His closing sentences are particularly worthy of contemplation ... “Nothing,” remarked the historian Macaulay, “is so disgusting as the English in one of their periodic fits of morality,” and such sanctimony is all too familiar on these shores. We are in the throes of such a fit today, and the one certainty is that history, properly understood, will be the loser. Edwin M. Yoder: Tributes to the Fallen or to Jim Crow?

This post has nothing whatsoever to do with the church, except that it's something that will be of interest to just about everybody. The practice of carefully arranging the audience behind a political speaker is common to just about every political group. One of the things I always look for is just what sort of people have been hand-picked to provide the diversity image that the organization wishes to foster. Last night when Pres. Trump spoke in Phoenix, the diversity question practically leaped off the screen. Who is this guy holding the "Blacks for Trump" sign and wearing the "Trump and Republicans Are Not Racist" t-shirt with the God2.com website reference? Presumably part of the standard operating procedure is to do a background check on just what sort of characters are being used for the backdrop to the speaker. In this case, they didn't check. I invite you to check out Gods2.com . If that website is taken down and you want to see what the live site loo...

Dear Community UCC Family,       Seven months ago I began dreaming with you about where Spirit was calling us: calling us to listen, to move and breathe, to shift and make new, to curate and procure spaces--both physical and metaphorical-- so that  we could extend God's extravagant, inclusive, abundant welcome to the least of these, and those least likely to enter our doors.       This weekend marks two very important moments for us in our life together as friends, family and people of a shared and particular story committed to that extravagant welcome. Tomorrow, I will participate in a retreat with a few of you who serve our congregation in leadership, telling our stories and in making room that others might enter in. I am beyond hopeful, giddy really, at the opportunities that await us as we listen deeper, move closer and work to widen the door through which all might come to know and feel God's love.      Las...

On August 20, 2017 Community United Church of Christ will celebrate the Installation of its newest Pastor, Rev. Jenny Shultz-Thomas, who began her ministry at CUCC on January 1, 2017. In the United Church of Christ the “Installation is the liturgical celebration of the covenantal relationship among an ordained minister; the local church; and the Association.” At a time such as this when even the ground beneath our feet seems to shift and burn with the tides, we as a nation are more hungry than ever for a word of HOPE. It has been said that religion in the West is failing...dying, and that the political landscape of our time will siphon off what is left of organized religion. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, jr., who said, “Those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war,” we remember that it is not for religion that we must organize, but peace. As we continue in the stead of the many who have gone before us, including Dr. Martin Luther King, jr.,...

Remember to TURN RIGHT when exiting the Wade Avenue parking lot!   Stay safe. CUCC family, please park in the Wade Avenue lot or on the street. We anticipate many visitors and would like them to be able to use the Dixie Trail parking lot. CUCC drivers needing a handicap parking spot or have trouble walking are welcome to use either parking lot. There will be a drop off zone along the curb by Pilgrim House in case you prefer to drop off your car-full and then park on the street.

Sunday 8/20    9:00am      Taizé Worship – Sanctuary   9:30am       Newcomer’s Coffee - Library 1 0:30am      Worship Service - Sanctuary 10:45am      Children’s Church - Sunday School Room 10:45am      Youth Church School - Youth Room 11:45am      Fellowship - Vaughan Fellowship Hall      4:00pm      Covenant Community - Bradow Room       4:00pm      Service of Installation & Reception for Rev. Shultz-Thomas                                                            ...

Lectionary for the Week of August 20, 2017 - Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Green Genesis 45:1-15; Psalm 133 or Isaiah 56:1, 6-8; Psalm 67; Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32; Matthew 15:(10-20), 21-28

Invite your friends from the community who have expressed an interest in how they might be involved in a group effort to provide sanctuary.   Register here Sanctuary Matters: Testimony and Best Practices Sunday, September 17, 2-5 p.m. Community United Church of Christ 814 Dixie Trail, Raleigh In light of recent events involving the deportation and fears of our immigrant brothers and sisters throughout the state, the NC Council of Churches' annual Faith and Immigration Summit will focus on the topic of sanctuary this year. Rev. Noel Andersen The Sunday afternoon training session at Community UCC is for congregations and clergy leaders interested in providing support and sanctuary for vulnerable individuals in North Carolina. We will discuss the many ways that your congregation can stand up against hate and dehumanization at this moment. Topics will include  Rev. Noel Andersen , Grassroots Organizer for Church World Service out of the Washington, D.C. office. testimony from peop...

Amidst the violence in Charlottesville and the rage in Durham, David Brooks suggests in today's NY Times that a little dose of modesty would do us all some good. "But throughout history the wiser minds have understood that anger and moral posturing are not a good antidote to rage and fanaticism. Competing vitriols only build on each other ... ... the most powerful answer to fanaticism is modesty. Modesty is an epistemology directly opposed to the conspiracy mongering mind-set ... Progress is not made by crushing some swarm of malevolent foes; it’s made by finding balance between competing truths ... Modesty means having the courage to rest in anxiety and not try to quickly escape it. Modesty means being tough enough to endure the pain of uncertainty and coming to appreciate that pain. Uncertainty and anxiety throw you off the smug island of certainty and force you into the free waters of creativity and learning. Over the next few months I’m hoping to write several columns on w...

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   Sunday - 8 /13          9:00am T aizé Worship – Sanctuary   9:30am Choir Practice - Sanctuary 1 0:30am  Worship Service - Sanctuary 10:45am Children’s Church - Sunday School Room 10:45am Youth Church School - Youth Room     11:45am Fellowship - Vaughan Fellowship Hall 12:00pm Caring Committee - Bradow Room 12:00pm Community Outreach Ministry Meeting - Hoffmann Room 12:00pm Economic Justice Task Force - Library 12:00pm Religious Education Ministry Meeting - Pilgrim House   4:00pm Covenant Community - Bradow Room   Monday - 8/14 12:15pm Monday Lunch Group - Hoffmann Room            Tuesday - 8/15 1 10:30am Office Staff Meeting - Pilgrim House 10:30am Triangle Interfaith Alliance - Hoffmann Room         Wednesday - 8/16     9:30am Tai Chi – Vaughan Fellowship Hall ...

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Green Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28; Psalm 105:1-6, 16-22, 45b or 1 Kings 19:9-18;  Psalm 85:8-13;  Romans 10:5-15; Matthew 14:22-33