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Friday Email - 3 OCT 2014

World Communion Sunday
Forum – October 5, 9:15am
UNC Infectious Diseases Clinic Coat Drive
Emergency food bags
Bike for Birds
Sisters in Spirit (SIS)
Neighbors In Need Offering - October 5
Tuesday Evening Taizé Worship
Walk For Hope! Sunday, October 12!
Raleigh CROP Hunger Walk
Come Help PLM Families Together Grow!
Pray at the Legislature

World Communion Sunday
This Sunday, October 5, we celebrate World Communion Sunday. World Communion Sunday is a celebration observed by several Christian denominations, taking place on the first Sunday of every October, to promote Christian unity and ecumenical cooperation. The tradition originated in the Shadyside Presbyterian Church in 1933, was adopted throughout the US Presbyterian Church in 1936, and subsequently spread to other denominations. In 1940, the Federal Council of Churches (now the National Council of Churches), led by Jesse Moren Bader, endorsed World Communion Sunday and began to promote it to Christian churches worldwide. Come join us as we share communion with the world and each other.  All are welcome to partake.

Forum – Sunday, October 5, 9:15am
Children at the Border - More than 66,000 unaccompanied children have crossed the border.  In the last year more than 47,000 children have crossed.  More than 1,400 of those children have recently been relocated to North Carolina.  We have 170 of the children in Wake County.  There are many legal and moral issues involved.  Ann Robertson and Hans Linnartz will join us at Forum to discuss this child immigrant crisis.    Ann is an immigration lawyer with the Robertson Immigration Law Firm in Raleigh.  The firm represents individuals and companies in all aspects of immigration law, including employment-based and family-based immigration, naturalization, citizenship, asylum and non-immigrant visas.  Hans is a Raleigh immigration lawyer whose practice emphasizes deportation defense, immigration consequences of criminal cases and appeals of denied immigration benefits.  He teaches Immigration and Nationality Law at Duke Law School and also directs the Summer Institute on Law, Language and Culture.

UNC Infectious Diseases Clinic Coat Drive
The Infectious Diseases Clinic at UNC is having a coat drive for their patients.  Many of their patients come to the clinic with no coat or maybe a light windbreaker because they can’t afford a warm winter coat.  If you have a child’s or adult coat that you would like to donate, please drop it off at the church office or in the box provided in the Vaughan Fellowship Hall by Sunday, October 12th.  If you have any questions, please contact Cathy Marshall at cathyann8504@gmail.com or the church office at 919-787-6422 or office.cucc@gmail.com.

Emergency food bags
The Food Pantry at Urban Ministries will provide one week’s worth of groceries for more than 8,000 families in need, including 9,000 children. Our contributions may seem small, but they are vital and greatly appreciated.  Please double-bag your items, and if you sort your bag into two bags, please tie them together or label them so that we know they go together.  A food bag costs about $20 to fill.  If that’s a little steep for your budget, get together with a buddy and split the cost.  Our goal is 30 bags per month – we can do it!  Thank you for your faithfulness.  Food bags are collected the first Sunday of every month.  Bring them to the church and drop them off in the shopping cart in the Vaughan Fellowship Hall.  The items to include in a food bag are:

  • 1 lb. grits                        
  • 1 lb. rice                         
  • 1 lb. dried beans             
  • 2 cans tomatoes             
  • 2 cans applesauce          
  • 2 cans navy, pinto or pork ‘n beans
  • 1 jar peanut butter          
  • 2 macaroni & cheese      
  • 2 1-qt pkgs dry milk
  • 1 can carrots                            

Bike for Birds
This week, Skip Stoddard, Gary Smith and Lena Gallitano have been participating in Bike for Birds, a fundraiser for Audubon NC that Lena began in 2011. Bike for Birds takes advantage of Cycle NC's Mountains to the Coast organized ride that began in Sparta and will end in Hatteras this year.  Skip and Gary each rode one day and had great ground support from Nancy and Jane!  Lena will ride the last three days.   Check in with the CUCC team for more details.  Donations to Audubon NC may be made on-line at https://give.audubon.org/Giving/Page/222/1/222 or by sending a check to:  Audubon NC, 400 Silver Cedar Court, Suite 240, Chapel Hill, NC 27514 with a note that it is for Bike for Birds.

Sisters in Spirit (SIS)
Join women of church for two events in October:
Beer and Hymns – Sunday, October 5th, 7:00pm – 8:00pm, Tir Na Nog at Moore Square in downtown Raleigh.
SIS Potluck – 6:00pm, Thursday, October 18, Marty Lamb’s home, featuring black and orange foods, followed by an 8:00pm Raleigh Little Theatre production of Desire Under the Elms. Please call Raleigh Little Theatre (919-821-3111) to make your reservations on row B or C for that evening's performance. Contact Marty at 919-819-4084 to RSVP and for additional information.

Neighbors In Need Offering - October 5
Every fall, CUCC has traditionally supported Neighbors in Need (NIN). We will collect for NIN on Sunday, October 5.  Neighbors in Need is a UCC mission offering that targets needs near to home by supporting ministries of justice and compassion in the United States. One-third of NIN funds support the Council for American Indian Ministry (CAIM). Two-thirds of the offering is used by the UCC's Justice and Witness Ministries (JWM) to support a variety of justice initiatives, advocacy efforts, and direct service projects through grants.  NIN helps make another world possible. It needs YOUR support. Please give generously.  You can find more at the UCC website: http://www.ucc.org/nin/stories.html.

Tuesday Evening Taizé Worship, October 7, 7:00pm, VFH
Taizé Worship is held on the first Tuesday evening of the month at 7:00pm in the Vaughan Fellowship Hall and every Sunday morning at 9:00am in the Sanctuary. Taizé worship is marked by a spirit of contemplation, prayer and periods of silence which enable us to let go of the clutter of our minds and to listen and pray to God with our hearts. All are welcome. October 7, 7:00pm, Vaughan Fellowship Hall.

Walk For Hope! Sunday, October 12!
(The favorite service project of many CUCC Youth and Families!)
Walk to benefit quality care and research for those with mental illness. This walk takes place during worship and is the way our youth will worship and share God's love on this special day every year. If you can't come to the walk, remember that there will be no Church School on Sunday, October 12! All are welcome to join us. To join us, please register ASAP. Register at www.walkforhope.com or by calling 919-781-9255. Contact Śānti Matthews at forsanti@aol.com or 919-961-8814 for additional information.

Raleigh CROP Hunger Walk
Sunday, October 26, 3:00pm, 201 E. Hargett.  Join or support our team and help stop hunger, one step at a time! Go to http://hunger.cwsglobal.org/goto/cucc_cropwalk2014 for more information.  For questions or additional information, please contact Maria Mayorga, mmayorga238@gmail.com.

Come Help PLM Families Together Grow!
PLM Families Together has received a free playground for the families they support!  Now, all they need are people to help them install it!  The group is asking for volunteers on any of the following three dates - October 27, 28, 29 - for various tasks from building, to signing people in, to helping with children's activities, medical volunteers, and food.  Builders must be 14 years or older, but there will be activities available for younger children to participate in on October 29.  PLM FT would love to have a strong CUCC presence helping out.  If you are interested in learning more about this fun opportunity, please contact Laurel Powell at laurel.powell@gmail.com.

Pray at the Legislature
Every Tuesday, from 12:30pm to 1:00pm, Duane Beck from the Mennonite Church meets with some of us. Go 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.