CUCC Weekly eNews

Notes on Encountering the Wisdom Jesus--June 24 Session Three: The Kingdom of Heaven is Within You What did Jesus actually teach? How often do you consider the teachings as a whole? Over familiarity with Jesus in our culture may get in the way of appreciating Jesus’ teaching. One Texas theologian remembers Sunday School teaching: Jesus is nice and he wants us to be nice too. Bourgeault recommends the book: Putting on the Mind of Christ: The Inner Work of Christian Spirituality , Jim Marion (Charlottesville, Va.: Hampton Roads, 2000). Title is direct quote from St. Paul. The tendency to relate to Jesus through belief is characteristic of Western Christianity. But it was not necessarily the emphasis of the early church. Moreover, relating to Jesus through beliefs is not necessarily the only way for us today. The central challenge that Jesus offered was finding a new way of seeing the world and in “right practice.” How do we put on the mind of Christ...

Over the next two weeks (by July 15!), please call, email or send to Jane sketches of your ideas for painting the Youth Room. Here is what you have to decide. 1) Bathroom color 2) Main room color & trim 3) Decorations for the half wall 4) Small room color Favored colors so far - red, lime green, light blue, a color from the half wall (NOT TOO MUCH WHITE) Debate: Do you keep the crosses and add to them OR does each youth group decorate the half wall in a new way? June 24 workday The ceiling is almost done and we made a good start on drywalling the new doorway.

Mary Pruneau has turned up a bundle of old newspaper clippings that paint a dramatic picture of an era that is growing faint in the memories of even our most senior members. I'm just starting to work through this, but in particular I want to share some photos from a full page spread in the Raleigh Times (afternoon companion paper for N&O) from February 17, 1951. The text on the page states that the Institute of Religion is in its "twelfth year", which would put the startup as having been in 1939. Take a look at our past ... communityucc.org/archive/institute/

Notes on Encountering the Wisdom Jesus Audio Course by Cynthia Bourgeault Session One: Jesus as a recognition event (June 10) Our task is meeting Jesus through insight , not hindsight. This series presents a new take on Jesus, as Wisdom master. What do we believe about Jesus? In Western Christianity, we tend to focus on who he was, what he did. For example, from the Nicene Creed: We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the...

The CUCC website will soon have a feature and photo gallery on the Celebration at Lake Wheeler today. In the meantime let's make do with the proverbial "a good time was had by all" and a small sample of pictures of CUCC folks from later in the afternoon. More to come. http://picasaweb.google.com/CUCC.Photos/LakeWheelerCelebration

(posted for Marcy Halsted) We are fine and have seen lots of sights (churches galore, catacombs, ancient Roman ruins) but a real big event was that we were in the right place at the right time and saw the Pope, about 20 feet away from us in a processional. Also saw cardinals, religious orders, nuns, etc in the processional and then heard him deliver a prayer to the crowd. This was at a basilica in the neighborhood where we have been staying, not at St. Peters where we spent today. Sistine Chapel is amazing! We are on to Umbria tomorrow and looking forward to a more relaxed atmosphere. Rome is a bundle of energy! Our Love to All, Marcy

Gary Smith and I decided to begin a special blog dedicated to the CUCC Global Climate initiative which was approved by the Congregational Meeting on May 20. The Climate Initiative also will include a special feature of the CUCC web site .

I have recently gotten a DSL account with new email address, 7sawsam@bellsouth.net . I still have the old dial up and old email address but please use my new email address for correspondence to me. Sam

Steve & I appreciated all the good will and love sent our way at the service today. We'll keep in touch via this blog. Love, Marcy

Peach died last night in his 19th year. He appeared to suffer a stroke, and over a period of many hours his system just slowly shut down. We held him and talked to him (and to ourselves) about his passing. The photo of Jo and Peach is from spring 1993. Peach and his sister Mazie suffered massive kidney failure in 1996. Mazie died, but the vets said Peach might have enough kidney function left to live another six months. At that time Peach was already the only cat ever to be the topic of a sermon at CUCC. (Dave Barber will remember.) And his passing brings to mind a piece I posted on the CUCC web site in February 1996, a theological reflection of sorts on God, cats, and people. It's a reflection on his death which I was anticipating 11+ years ago, so it seems appropriate to resurrect the piece to commemorate his passing. ================== Peach and I know each other well. We both like a lot of affection, and we both have a wild streak. Even since he's been sick, I enjoy watchin...

(posted by request from Peggy Rafferty) THE IRON WALL a documentary film that explores the human impact of the continued growth of the Israeli settlement program and the military occupation of the Palestinian territory. This documentary film includes prominent Israeli and Palestinian voices and is produced by: the THE PALESTINIAN AGRICULTURAL RELIEF COMMITTEES an NGO that provides technical support and extension services to Palestinian farmers including empowerment programs for rural women of occupied Palestine. PALESTINIANS FOR PEACE AND DEMOCRACY , a grassroots movement working for a just and lasting peace based on democratic principles of the rule of Law and respect for human rights. Sunday, June 3rd 12:30 pm Community United Church of Christ 12:30 for gathering, light refreshments followed by the film ( 52 minutes ) and discussion Sponsored by the CUCC Bible Study group along with The Triangle Coalition for Peace with Justice (monthly meeting to follow the discussion) Find out ...

Get out your family calendar and mark the dates when Journey and Friends get together this summer! For more information about what to bring and whether FOOD is involved, check the schedule coming in the mail this week. Pilgrim House Workdays (after we worship together at the Taize' service) June 2 (Sat.) - possible if enough people can come (RSVP to Jane today) June 24 (Sun.) RSVP to Jane two weeks ahead July 15 (Sun.) RSVP to Jane two weeks ahead Aug. 5 (Sun.) RSVP to Jane two weeks ahead Visiting Other Congregations (call Suzette or Judy so they know to look for you) June 17 Prince of Peace Episcopal Church (our ASP hosts) July 8 Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh July 29 our Congolese friends Aug. 12 Christ Church (Miss Anne Bailey's church) Stay in Worship June 10 July 1 July 22 Party after worship!!! June 3 (Hot Dog End of School celebration) July 1 (Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest) August 19 (End of Summer celebration)

DRAFT MINUTES (recorded by Edith Sylla) Community United Church of Christ. Congregational Meeting, May 20, 2007 (second annual congregational meeting for 2007) John Little, Moderator, called the meeting to order at 12:15 p.m. Steve Halsted opened the meeting with a prayer. The minutes of the January meeting were read and approved (motion by Vandy Bradow, seconded by Sam Johnson, passed without dissent). Gary Smith, Tom Young, and Gradie McCallie made a presentation (with PowerPoint slides) for the Social Justice and Community Outreach ministries on “Justice in a Changing Climate: A proposal for discernment and action.” They first addressed the question: Is God calling CUCC into leadership? Gary Smith reviewed the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that have been issued this year, indicating that climate change caused by human activities is occurring. The ill effects of climate change, moreover, will disproportionately affect the p...

Stop Hunger Now packaging - be there a little before 12 N. Directions at bottom of this post. Auction - Saturday night at 6:30. IF YOU'RE BRINGING AN ITEM TO AUCTION, BE THERE EARLY SO IT CAN BE LABELED AND PUT ON DISPLAY PRIOR TO THE SILENT AUCTION (6:30). Catalog is attached. The final auction catalog is attached. Please note, the catalog is divided in 2 sections - first the items that will be in the silent auction and second, what will be in the live auction. Check in at the door for your bidding numbers as well as turning in your item to be put in the auction. We hope you can come! Congregational meeting Sunday after worship. Directions to Sharehouse Go north on Capital Blvd. (U.S. 1 N). Where the road splits, stay left toward Wake Forest and Henderson. You will eventually pass Old Wake Forest Rd. on the left and soon go under 540. At the second traffic light after going under 540 turn left onto Gresham Lake Rd. Watch for Burwell St. on your right an...

The children and youth of CUCC will make this Sunday's 11 a.m. worship service special. They'll be providing music, serving as readers and worship leaders, presenting a banner they've made, leading the congregation is song and thanking their wonderful church school teachers. Hope to see you there!