Peace United Church of Christ
April 17 -19, 2015
We believe in wonder and gratitude.  We practice extravagant welcome and curiosity and
celebrate our many, many ways of being human.  We strive for compassionate living and peacemaking in service with others.  When you visit, we hope you'll find a delightfully diverse, deliberately Christian, and decidedly progressive church!  Join us this Easter Season as we follow the Risen One into new pathways of service and creativity...
This Sunday
Sunday, April 19 (EASTER 3)
10:30 am in the Sanctuary 
  
Not just a day, our Easter!  It's a whole season of adventure, discovery, courage!

Join us this Sunday as we dive in, all over again, exploring the shape of our hope and the new life of God's resurrected people.  Leading us this Sunday are Yael Lachman, Dave Grishaw-Jones, and the Jazz Band of Peace United!  In his meditation, Dave explores the ways we participate in the resurrection as we live out our faith together at Peace.

The Beloved Community grows, expands and deepens in faith--as we gather on Sunday to renew of covenant in love and explore our shared faith!  Join us.
This Sunday Afternoon: 
A Peace United Earth Day Celebration 
at Moran Lake Beach!

Join us as we celebrate our very own "Earth Sunday" with an all-ages beach cleanup and 
picnic, right after worship! 

We'll meet in the parking lot near the lounge to organize carpools to Moran Lake Beach (East Cliff Drive and 26th Ave.) Bring a bag lunch and any snacks you'd like to share, and join us for an afternoon of earth care and celebration with new and old friends!

Continuing the Conversation!
RACE, RACISM AND WHO WE ARE
  
Following up on our 3/29 conversation on race, Peace United offers a number of April events designed to keep the discussion moving.  Feel free to attend...and invite a friend to join you as this important project unfolds.

"THE NEW JIM CROW: MASS INCARCERATION IN AN AGE OF COLORBLINDNESS"
SATURDAY, APRIL 18 @ 8:30 am to 11:30 am (@ church)
 Co-sponsored with Santa Cruz Public Libraries
 
  
The New Jim Crow by legal scholar Michelle Alexander is a book to change the way we see the world and fuel a nationwide social movement.  The book challenges communities like ours to think differently about crime, punishment, policing and the War on Drugs.  This 4/18 event will include a short film featuring Michelle Alexander, three presenters relating personal experience in the prison system, and a discussion of Alexander's important work.

"THE FIERCE URGENCY OF NOW"
A CONVERSATION ON PEACEMAKING STRATEGIES
IN THE MIDDLE EAST
SATURDAY, APRIL 25 @ 3 - 5 pm (Church Library) 
  
We've invited UCC friends from across the Bay Area to visit with us around our concerns for peacemaking in Palestine and Israel.  In particular, we'll take a look at a resolution before the UCC's General Synod this summer, calling on the denomination to support targeted divestment from companies profiting from illegal occupation of the West Bank.  All UCC friends are welcome!

 
Family Ministries @ Peace United
Hopes, Dreams, and Prayers: a Conversation about Children, Youth and Families at Peace United

hands
Please mark your calendar and plan to join us on 
Sunday, May 17th, right after worship, as we begin our ministry together by sharing all kinds of hopes, dreams and prayers. Everyone is invited, and parents are especially encouraged to attend! What are you most longing for our children to find here at Peace United Church of Christ? What kinds of programs and conversations would support you on your parenting journey? We'll take some time to pray about these and other questions, and to share all kinds of ideas. Childcare will be provided! 
 
If you can't make this meeting (or even if you can, but would like to get together!) please call Yael Lachman at 426-2010 and we'll find a time to visit. 
 
Peacemakers' Camp: July 13-17
 
Children and youth ages 6-13 are invited to join us for a whole week of music, crafts, stories, and prayers, all in the name of...Peace! This year, we'll have a special Counselor-in-Training program for youth ages 10-13, so mark your calendars, invite your friends, and plan to join us for a whole week of friends and fun! Adults: If you'd like to join us, please contact Yael. We're looking for guest artists, musicians, and adult helpers, and we'd love to have you to join us for as many days as you'd like. Registration forms will be available soon: stay tuned...!
This Month in the Wider Community
APRIL   
5:30 to 7:30 pm, a benefit for the Homeless Services Center in Santa Cruz, at the Cocoanut Grove down by the Boardwalk.  For more: http://souplinesupper.org/

MAY    
4 pm: Will Tanner will be ordained to Christian ministry in the United Church of Christ in a service right here at Peace United!  All are welcome! 


Discerning Leadership at Peace

OUR SEASON FOR NOMINATING LEADERS

Natalie BlackburnNatalie Blackburn is convening this spring's Nominating Team and she invites you to think about your passion for leadership at Peace United.  Can you imagine yourself serving this coming year?  How might that be?  Are you interested in the vision and program side of things?  Or the administrating functions of the church?  Let Natalie know if you'd like to talk these things over, and explore you place among the leaders at Peace United!  She's at natveg@sbcglobal.net.
FUNdraising Parties 
THIS SPRING/SUMMER

Saturday 5/30 - Tea in the Garden 12-4pm at the Suzanne McLean's home in Scotts Valley - Enjoy a leisurely afternoon tea in my garden. Think hats, gloves, flowers, genteel music, tea sandwiches, scones and sweets. Come prepared to relax and be pampered!
Saturday, 6/13 & 6/20 - Bocce Afternoon #1 & #2 4-7pm at the Robinson's home in Santa Cruz - Play bocce with your friends while enjoying wine and cheeses.

For information on buying tickets, call the church office at 426-2010.
NCNC Annual Gathering
OUR LIFE TOGETHER IN THE UCC
  
The Northern California Nevada Conference of the UCC gathers annually for learning, connection, worship and witness.  All Peace United members and friends are welcome to register and attend.  This year's event is the weekend of June 12 to 14 at Sonoma State University in Sonoma County.  Click here to find out more and register!
Have You Visited Us?
If you have, your visit matters to us.  It's often strange to visit a church for the first time: to see new faces, hear old words spoken in new ways.  We appreciate your trust, and we eagerly await the chance to see you again.

When you return, there will likely be a name-tag with your name on it, a chance for us to greet you more personally.  Always, your questions and your curiosity thrill us.  Return with these, return with your whole selves...

And know that you are God's blessing.

Every day.

potter's hand

Who We Are...
We're an
congregation of the United Church of Christ--which means we take diversity seriously and we welcome all God's children as full and beloved members of our community.

We're part of
COPA
(which stands for Communities Organized for Relational Power in Action)--and in that way we work in solidarity with peoples of many traditions, bringing justice and decency to public life on the Central Coast.

We're decidedly
CHRISTIAN, and in the most inclusive, generous way possible.  We believe that--at its core--the gospel is a call to compassion.  And that's what we try to be about every day, every week.
dove2


Like us on Facebook
Contact Us
Peace United Church of Christ
900 High Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
831 426-2010
This Month's
Still Speaking
Click here to see our monthly newsletter, "The Still Speaking Journal" of events and ideas!

Taize 
This is a quiet, contemplative hour of peace, with repetitive chanting in the tradition of the Taize community in France. We meet the 3rd  Friday of the month at 8 pm in the Sanctuary. 
All are welcome!
Pray for One Another
We invite one another to hold our friends and many others in prayer, inviting God's light to shine upon those in need...

Terry Kelly
Lou Hildebrandt
The Page Family
The Rogoff Family
Candy, Will & Kelly Tanner



Making Connections



This Week's Reading

    

Every tree and plant in the meadow

Seemed to be dancing,

Those which average eyes

Would see as fixed and still

  

Rumi