CUCC Weekly eNews

Sunday    01/28                                   9:00am Nursery for newborns - 3-year-olds   9: 00am  Taizé Worship – Sanctuary    9:30am Adult Bible Study - Bradow Room 1 0:30am Worship Service - Sanctuary 10:45am Children’s Sunday School - Sunday School Rooms 10:45am Youth Sunday School - Youth Room 11:45am Fellowship - Vaughan Fellowship Hall 12:00pm CONGREGATIONAL MEETING - Vaughan Fellowship Hall    3:00pm Covenant Community - Bradow Room    3:30pm Ordination for Joy Alford-Allridge       Monday 01/29  12:15pm Monday Lunch Group - Hoffmann Room                Tuesday 01/30  10:30am Office Staff Meeting - Pilgrim House       Wednesday 01/31    9:30am Tai Chi ...

Lectionary for the Week of January 28, 2018  Fourth Sunday after Epiphany Deuteronomy 18:15-20; Psalm 111 ; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 ; Mark 1:21-28

Sensory Supper:  A Spiritual Journey through the Senses  Provided by Arts in Worship Saturday, January 27, 5:30-6:30PM Vaughan Fellowship Hall All are Welcome! We can become so preoccupied with our thoughts that we think we ARE our thoughts, but we are not. Let’s turn down the volume on our thoughts, and open up awareness of our senses. As you bring an open heart and creative imagination, to our spiritual journey through the senses, you may discover there is more abundance in your life, and more possibilities for peace! A dinner of chili and sandwiches will be provided. (Veggie and meat options available for both.) -AND- Poetry Slam: Sharing our Favorite Poems Provided by CUCC Youth and the Stewardship Committee Saturday, January 27, 6:30-8:00PM Vaughan Fellowship Hall All are Welcome! Are you a poet and know it? Do you love the written word—meaningful or absurd? Can you read or recite a line, roughly or refined? Poetry Slams are high fashion, if you’ve a theatrical passion. F...

Let us join in celebration as we witness the ordination into pastoral ministry of our own Joy Alford Allridge. Sunday, January 28, 3:30PM CUCC’s sanctuary 814 Dixie Trail, Raleigh Reception to follow. In November, CUCC called Joy into covenantal ministry as pastor to Prism, our emerging congregation in Wake Forest.  The people of Prism accepted our offer of Joy’s services as their pastor.  Together we will celebrate Joy’s ordination by the Eastern NC Association of the United Church of Christ. If you would be willing to bring light refreshments to the reception or help with set up or clean up, please contact Jane Smith smithjeg@mindspring.com OR sign up using SignUpGenius .

From the Pastor And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you." - Psalm 39:7 There are times in my life when discerning my next faithful step: to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with my God, means pursuing a season of  intentional silence , where the still small voice can be heard amid the deafening sirens of life passing by. Then, other times, when I am walking half-awake, disoriented by the volume of competing sounds, and dueling needs upon my person,  it seizes me . In the night as my eyes flash rapidly behind my lids, and my dreams are filled with the colors of desperate prayers from the day, it seizes me by the seed of my soul; the place where all living things commune underneath the shells of our existence. And there, I am awakened and alive to an  irrational HOPE  that alone was birthed before time began and before life as we know it began to unravel... In this season where we are challenged to live into an "Epiphany of Abundance", and ca...

Read reports before the meeting Mark your calendar for noon, January 28 (Sunday) for our "first congregational meeting" of 2018.  We have some important items to discuss together, and some reading for you to do prior to coming to the meeting.  If you have questions for clarification, I hope you will contact the recommended person before the meeting so that our time together can be efficient. Council will be firming up the agenda and the documents for you to read at our meeting next Monday.  I will post the agenda as well as additional documents for the congregation's consideration in next week's newsletter. Meanwhile, here are some documents to get you started on your reading. Topic:  Yearly reports Every January the ministries and officers of CUCC submit reports on what they did in the previous year.  If you have been feeling disconnected from some of CUCC's work or if you are considering becoming involved in a new area of our ministry together, be sure to r...

Please plan to read, think about, and ask questions about these documents BEFORE coming to the congregational meeting January 28. Mark your calendar for noon, January 28 (Sunday) for our "first congregational meeting" of 2018.  We have some important and complex items to discuss together, and some reading for you to do prior to coming to the meeting .  If you have questions for clarification, I hope you will contact the recommended person before the meeting so that our time together can be efficient. REVIEW:   Agenda for the meeting TOPIC 1:  You will be deciding whether to approve the terms of call for Pastor Joy. At our November meeting, you approved our calling Joy to serve as pastor to Prism.  You also charged Council will approving and bringing to the congregation the terms of call for Joy - basically, what she agrees to do this year, and what we agree to do this year.  The CUCC/Prism Liaison Team also worked with Pastor Joy and Pastor Jenny...

This is our last Stewardship Ministry message before Sunday's (Jan. 28) congregational meeting. With the amount of pledges we have in hand today we hope to present a total budget for 2018 of $292,593, $26,300 less than the proposed budget presented in November.  This reduced budget will cover staff expenses, provide needed recurring operational expenses and only support marginal increases in program expenses. I say hope because we are still somewhat short of the pledge total  needed to  support the revision. Please prayerfully consider your 2018 pledge and do what you can to make our budget possible. You can submit or revise your pledge online here .

Nicaragua Youth Community Mission Trip Update Countdown to departure: 143 days until June 14 departure. Today, we are highlighting team member Ella Ella says this about going to Nicaragua: “I want to learn about the culture in countries that are not as rich as America but probably have a fairly strong cultural identity.” And in truly Ella fashion, she continues: “ I want to become a better person or at least feel like one.” If you’d like to help her travel (along with the rest of the team), you can donate to the trip by placing a check in the offering plate (please be sure to put Nicaragua Trip in the memo line!) Or, you can donate online by visiting https://goo.gl/b3weh9   (be sure to indicate “Nicaragua” in the special instructions). We’ve raised $6,945 of the needed $38,000 - so we’re over 18% of the way there!

Calendar for February, and a Thank You February 4 - cooking with Ms. Susan, make Valentines for our college students and to pass out 2/11 February 11 - cooking with Ms. Susan, serve fellowship snacks (need parents to help) February 28 - children sing during worship Many thanks to Grady McCallie and Jane Smith who helped wash our angel costumes from the Christmas pageant.

Upcoming Events Sunday, January 28      9:30AM Confirmation Class led by Pastor Jenny Shultz-Thomas      10:30AM Worship        11:00AM Youth Sunday School Sunday, February 4     10:30AM Worship (No Sunday School, Confirmation Class or Youth Activities)       Sunday, February 11       9:30AM Confirmation Class      10:30AM Worship      11:00AM Youth Sunday School      5:30PM Youth Group 

Thanks to Merrilee and Ken Jakobson for providing chili, Nancy Stoddard for a vegetable tray and cornbread, Susan Maleszweski for brownies and Laura Upchurch for ice tea. Thanks also to Laura Upchurch and Sam Johnson for serving the homeless women of the Helen Wright Center. Here are the dates available to help with the Wright Center. If you would like to serve or prepare food, please contact Laura Upchurch at  919-616-8285  or email at  laura.lewis3@twc.com Feb 18 Need food August 19 Youth April 15 need food September 16 need servers and food June 17 need servers and food November 18 need servers and food July 15 need servers and food December 16 Youth