CUCC Weekly eNews

Please join us on Monday, April 30th at 5:30 pm on Halifax Mall in Raleigh to celebrate the Fifth Anniversary of the NAACP's Moral Monday Movement! See the attachment for the flyer from the NAACP website . Meet Community United Church of Christ members at 5:30 pm on Halifax Mall under the mural on the education building. "Five years ago, on April 29, 2013, we made national history when 17 North Carolinians united to fight the regressive polices of the North Carolina General Assembly that eroded our beloved state and her most vulnerable people. Their courage ignited a movement. Week after week people continued their protest. By the end of the summer, the Forward Together Moral Movement had 1000 North Carolinians arrested for nonviolent direct action to preserve the democracy of our state. On Monday, April 30, 2018, we will commemorate the Moral Monday Movement as we hold a special Moral Monday Get Out the Vote Observance at 5:30 at the Halifax Mall, (behind the NC General Assem...

Make a Joyful Noise 6 th Annual Church-Wide Outdoor Event Join us for the evening, the overnight, the morning, or all three! Saturday April 28 at 3PM — Sunday April 29 at 11:30AM Camp CRABTREE in Umstead Park SIGN UP in the narthex this Sunday or next or by emailing Santi at education.cucc@gmail.com Directions: Camp Crabtree at William B. Umstead State Park is located 10 miles northwest of Raleigh off US 70. Take US 70 to the Umstead Park entrance. You will follow paved roads for 1 mile and then a dirt road for 2 miles (it feels longer than that). Take Umstead Parkway past the Visitor’s Center. Take a Left onto Maintenance Road and a Right onto Group Camp Road, follow Group Camp Road until you see signs for Camp Crabtree (not Lapihio). You can drive all the way up to the mess hall to unload and then park in the designated parking lot. The park gates close at 8PM, and no one is permitted in or out after that time. Please join us until 7:30PM, and then make your way out, or count on spe...

Dear Friends and Family, Ruth Rickers Klemmer died on April 6, 2018, at the age of 91, at her residence in Glenaire retirement community, Cary, NC. Ruth Anna Emile Rickers was born August 29, 1926 in Rochester, NY to Johanna and Paul Rickers. Ruth graduated with honors from The University of Rochester earning a Bachelors of Science and went on to get her training as a certified Occupational Therapist from the University of Pennsylvania. She served in the U.S. Army as an occupational therapist, retiring at the rank of Captain in 1955. Ruth met her husband, Edmund T. Klemmer, at Luther Place Memorial Church in Washington, DC while she was working at Walter Reed Army Hospital. Ruth and Edmund were married at Luther Place in June 1955. She enjoyed tennis, skiing and travelling as a family. I While she retired from her professional career to care for her family, s he kept abreast ofadvances in Occupational Therapy through volunteer work at Children's Hospital in Mountainside, NJ, Early ...

Dear CUCC Friends and Family, It is with deep concern and care for you, and for our Nicaraguan neighbors and family that I write: Many of you are aware of the situation in Nicaragua where social and political unrest brought peaceful demonstrators to the streets this week, and as we know all too well in our own country— the scene quickly turned violent and the casualties began to grow. Loss of life, a growing sense of instability and rage among citizens, and the increased sense of division between a government and it’s people bring a tumultuous, and unpredictable experience to every day life. Though, these unfortunate events have lead our CUCC International Mission Trip Leadership Team to alter their travel plans, it is “such a time as this” that we give thanks to God for calling us into a deeper relationship with our Nicaraguan brothers and sisters. We give thanks for our sister and beloved friend, Maria Mayorga and her family who have helped us to deepen our understanding and broaden ...

Lectionary for the Week of April 22, 2018 - Fourth Sunday of Easter - White Acts 4:5-12; Psalm 23; 1 John 3:16-24; John 10:11-18

Sunday   04/22          9:00am   Nursery provided     9:00am   Taizé Worship – Sanctuary    9 :30am   Adult Monday Morning Bible Study - Bradow Room  1 0:30am  Worship Service -  Youth Led Worship Service - Sanctuary   10:45am No Children’s Sunday School - Children stay in service  10:45am No Youth Sunday School - Youth Led Worship  11:45am Fellowship - Vaughan Fellowship Hall  12:00pm Youth International Mission Trip Team Meeting - Hoffmann Rm  12:00pm Social Justice Ministry Meeting - Bradow Room  12:00pm Stewardship Ministry Meeting - Library     4:00pm Covenant Community - Bradow Room   Monday 04/23  12:15pm Monday Lunch Group - Hoffmann Room   Tuesday 04/24      9:30am Office Staff Meeting - Pilgrim House     6:30pm Sisters in Spirit - Hoffmann Room   Wednesday 04/25    ...

Dear CUCC friends, This week injustice has reared its ugly head. As if competing with the rising of Spring’s blooming flowers violence threatens to choke-out resurrection life at every turn. ICE has proven itself an  immoral arm of our nations decaying systems of capital greed layered atop white privilege and Christian nationalism once again. My family’s neighborhood restaurant soon to open at the end of our street is now in jeopardy because ICE has raided the homes of immigrant families across the triangle arresting the co-owner of Roots as well as his brothers. Meanwhile, the nation is pre-occupied with 1 white, wealthy male whose home was raided, with a warrant, for an FBI investigation pending criminal suspicions. And another white, wealthy male whose book released this week added exactly nothing new to the already corrupt narrative of  toxic leadership coming from Capitol Hill; an alchemy of unintelligible, violent and narcissistic  pre-occupations—yet consumes every...

The Case for  Earth   Day  as a Celebration of the Church - by Brooks Berndt -  reprinted from ucc.org Some years ago a sermon title caught my eye. Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon had announced the winner of its  Earth  Words contest for outstanding sermons on environmental stewardship. The grand prize went to the Rev. Dr. Steven Koski whose sermon was entitled  “ Earth   Day : As Big as Christmas and Easter.”  My immediate reaction to the title was, “Wow! That’s provocative!” In the sermon, Koski argues that  Earth   Day  should become an official church celebration like Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. He bases his contention in how foundational love of creation is to our faith. He declares: God created an amazing creation and left us as stewards, caretakers...asked us to treat the  earth  as a sacred Thou...to care for and value and love the Holy  Earth . Have you ever considered in the Divine design of ...

April 21 from 6:30-9:30pm Hors d'oeuvres hosted by Stewardship committee Beer and wine bar available Auction fun, games and surprises Auction proxy 2018 Live Auction catalog 2018 Silent Auction catalog Childcare program so kids will have fun, too! Parents should rsvp to Susan Atkinson so we have a kid count. Other adults, just come on out to the auction! Proxy:  Look for an email this week with “auction offerings booklet" attached and proxy form should you need to authorize a friend to bid for you. Final Countdown to Saturday at 6:30 in the Fellowship Hall at CUCC begins today! Have you: 1) RSVP’d for your children (only children need to RSVP since programming is being planned for them!) 2) Donated that item you intended to submit (see forms attached, previous emails, church website, Sunday announcements, etc) 3) Made plans to drop off your items (Cathy in the Pilgrim House office can receive items Monday - Thurs Email Susan Atkinson booatkinson@mac.com with any last minute su...

The ever popular, awesomely amazing, marvelously moving Youth Led Worship Service will be on April 22, (NOT on April 15). PLEASE Mark your calendars! 

Sisters in Spirit - SIS Hoffmann Room - CUCC 6:30pm, Tuesday, April 24 Sisters in Spirit will get together on the fourth Tuesday of the month, April 24th, 6:30pm, for potluck and discussion of our favorite reads for the summer. Come explore.  Feel free to bring toiletries to donate to the women's shelter if you have them.

Thanks to Porter Bell and Lisa Spalding for serving the WC meal Sunday, April 15. Thanks also to Sally Roberson, Ellen Beidler and Ann Moorman Smith for preparing a delicious meal which the women enjoyed. This is what makes my job easy...having caring members at CUCC volunteering to help when I call on them. If you'd like to volunteer to serve or prepare food for the Women's homeless shelter, please contact  Laura  at 919-616-8285 or email at  laura .lewis3@twc.com

CUCC's Social Justice Ministry commends these justice activities to you.  If you would like more information, contact Adrienne Little  (919) 781-0829. 1 -   Nonviolent Moral Fusion Direct Action Training Raleigh   from John Parker < johndempseyparker@gmail.com > Join the NC Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival for 40 days of moral action this spring to challenge systemic racism, poverty, the war economy and militarism, ecological devastation, and our nation's distorted moral narrative. In the spirit and tradition of ordinary people of conscience engaging in nonviolent direct action to expose and engage in moral witness against injustice, we will conduct two training at   1- 5 pm on April 14    located in Charlotte or Raleigh for people interested in participating in nonviolent moral fusion direct action this spring. Please register here     to reserve a spot in the training and   more detailed information will ...

CUCC's Community Outreach Ministry has developed a new tag on Breeze to let our church community know about upcoming volunteer oportunties in the community.  This will be a great opportunity to learn about events and decide if you have time or interest in helping out with them.  Examples of these events are volunteering for meals at the Wright Center, volunteering for parties at Loaves and Fishes or Neighbor 2 Neighbor, organizing groups for CROP Walk, etc. We invite everyone to join our tag to receive emails about events we are taking part in in our wider community.  If you would like to be a part of this tag, feel free to join the Community Volunteer Opportunities tag in Breeze OR email Laurel Powell at Laurel.powell@gmail.com and ask to join the tag!

Out! Raleigh is being held in downtown Raleigh on May 5, 2018.  Out! Raleigh is a celebration of the LGBTQ community.  This year, CUCC will be sharing a table with Church of the Good Shepherd.  We are looking for volunteers to help at the table.  This includes welcoming others to the table, sharing information about our open and affirming faith group, and helping with crafts.  All materials are provided for you. If you are able to help with the event, please contact Dawn Koonce at 336-266-9732 or Dawnkoonce@hotmail.com

Several of our church members have volunteered as tutors at Neighbor 2 Neighbor this school year and have had a great experience.  Community Outreach will be helping to lead games at their upcoming End of Year party.  The party will be held at the N2N Center on May 3 from 5:30-7:00.  We need 8-10 volunteers to help lead the games.  Game materials will be provided, all you need to do is come ready to have fun! If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Richard Nicholl at 919-423-2268 or at Nichollri@gmail.com.

Please join CUCC for a fabulous evening watching the Defending Champion Durham Bulls play baseball at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham on Friday June 1st at 7:05pm. The opponent will be the Pawtucket Red Sox. The tickets will cost $11 per person. We will sit together in a reserved section along the first base line. Please RSVP to Mike Soboeiro with the number of tickets you would like by May 13th. You may RSVP by email (msoboeiro@yahoo.com) or phone 910-315-9497.

Please Join Us Remembering and Celebrating the Life of Ruth Klemmer August 29, 1926 - April 6, 2018 We will gather on Saturday, April 28, at 11:00am, in the  CUCC Sanctuary, to remember and mourn, to celebrate,  and to give thanks for the life of our dear friend and family member Ruth Rickers Klemmer. All are welcome to attend. 

THIS WEEK’S OPPORTUNITIES Sunday    0 4/15            9:00am   Nursery provided     9:00am    Taizé Worship – Sanctuary   9:30am    Adult Sunday Morning Bible Study - Bradow Room 1 0:30am    Worship Service   -   Sanctuary                            Rev. Dr. Donna Battle, Guest Preacher 10:45am Children’s Sunday School - Sunday School Rooms 10:45am Youth Sunday School - Youth Room 11:45am Fellowship - Vaughan Fellowship Hall 12:00pm Stewardship Ministry Meeting - Library   4:00pm Covenant Community - Bradow Room   4:00pm Youth Led Worship Service Rehearsal - Sanctuary                  Wright Center Meal   Monday 04/16   12:15pm Monday Lunch Group - Hoffmann Room   5:00pm Youth Led Worship Service Rehearsal...