A Message from Our Bridge Pastor

Fifth Sunday of Lent ~ "Can These Bones Live?"

What does our faith ask us to do in the face of despair and the threat of deep struggle and death? Sometimes we ourselves feel on the edge somehow, and we have family and friends who may live each day with a certain degree of despair. We need to take care not to take a prophetic tone with those around us – if we are well, if we are safe we need to ask how to offer our gifts, resources and faith to support those who need a margin of safety and a path toward healing!

Sunday's Scripture

Ezekiel 37: 1 - 14

March 26 - Fifth Sunday in Lent

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR SUNDAY'S BULLETIN

This is a PDF file which is easy to download and print for use during the service whether you are watching on line, or attending in person on Sunday It also includes the Prayer List, and the image for

Sunday's Visio Divina

Seder Dinner Thursday, April 6

Our faith is rooted in Judaism and what we know as the Last Supper was a Passover meal. Part of our celebration of Lent and Holy Week is a Seder meal, offered in the context of reflection on our relationship with one another and with God! Diane Landeros has volunteered to coordinate our meal again this year and below are the details - please join us for a time of remembrance, reflection and kinship!

.........................Thursday April 6, 2023 

................................ 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Covenant Hall

Limit of 60 persons

Suggested donation $15 per adult, children free

Register by phone or email to the church office - send payment by check made out to RUCC. (Please don’t let payment be a barrier to attending - let Veronica know if you need financial support) Please be sure to specify if you want lamb or vegetarian lamb.

Redlands United Church of Christ

168 Bellevue Ave

Redlands, CA 92373

(909) 793-3520 (from 9-2, Monday - Thursday)

Childcare provided. Deadline for registration and payment is Monday April 3 before 2 p.m.

Social Justice Meeting this Sunday

The Social Justice Shepherd Group will meet on Sunday, March 26, following church service at around noon at the home of Dianne Landeros. Bring your own lunch. Our regular shepherd meeting will be held between noon and 1 p.m. At 1 p.m. we will have a guest speaker, Lizbeth Abelin, from the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice (ICIJ). Those interested in the presentation should contact Dianne - 909-792-4839. Space is limited.

Order your Easter Tulips Now

This Easter, our sanctuary will be decorated with beautiful tulips! Here's your chance to order some to dedicate as a Memorial or in Honor of someone. Please use the form linked below to purchase tulips for the sanctuary

Tulip order form

On Easter Sunday, we will also follow the RUCC tradition of bringing flowers from our own gardens to decorate the altar Easter morning. After the recent rains, our gardens should flourish! Vases will be set up on the altar--don't forget to bring some of the floral bounty from your garden.

Reflection of the Week from the Racial Justice Team

More than 60 years ago, Martin Luther King described 11 o’clock on Sunday morning as “one of the most segregated hours… in Christian America”.

Because of the discrimination Black Christians have historically faced in white churches, they sought refuge by building their own spiritual communities. This history means that Black and white Christians might hail from the same religious traditions – such as the Baptist or Pentecostal movements – but belong to different denominations.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/15/be-the-bridge-dialogue-black-white-christians

From the Environmental Justice Team

LA Times editorial calls trains "huge polluters" and calls for new regulations to clean them up.  https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-03-20/train-air-pollution-california-regulations), 

“Locomotives are so dirty that state regulators identified reducing their pollution as the biggest single strategy in their plan to reduce smog to federal health standards by 2037 — responsible for more than 30% of the emissions cuts needed, more than any other sector, including all cars and trucks on the road.” The editorial supports proposed regulations that will require railroads to replace their most-polluting locomotives with cleaner models, and eventually zero-emission engines, which the editors believe should go a long way to reduce the health impacts on communities (including San Bernardino) most affected by the pollution from diesel-powered locomotives.

RUCC Eggstravaganza ~ Saturday, April 8, 10 a.m.-noon.

Don’t miss this year’s Eggstravaganza—a long standing RUCC tradition filled with plenty of fun.There will be games, Easter cookie decorating, and some special Easter story activities with Pastor Jake.

This activity is for kids of all ages and their parents. Lots of Eastertime fun!

Annual Easter Morning Kids' Easter Egg Hunt

The annual Easter Egg Hunt will take place right after church for kids in 5th grade and under. Bring your basket! No basket? No worries, we'll have one to loan you. The youngsters will hunt for their eggs in age groups, and all will get the same size bag of candy in exchange for the plastic eggs they collect. If parents of younger children prefer, there will be special bags for the youngest who don't need as much candy.

Raise Right - Gift Cards Make Shopping and Fundraising Easy

Order Physical Gift Cards – We submit physical gift card order once a month. The schedule for the next few months is:

• Order by Apr 17 – available for pick up April 23
• Order by May 15 – available for pick up May 21

Everyday Ways to Raise Funds for RUCC with Gift Cards: #8-Streaming services and gaming: As temperatures start dropping, get cozy on the couch with your favorite flicks or play your favorite games. Watch some new releases or enjoy your go-to TV shows. (Amazon, Apple, Hulu, Vudu, Paramount+, Starz, Twitch, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, GameStop, Roblox, GooglePlay and more.) www.raiseright.com/shop

In Stock: We have a limited number of $100 and $25 Stater Bros gift cards in stock! Come visit us at the table in Covenant Hall on Sundays.

eCards – Use Immediately or Send as a Gift by Email: You can buy eGift cards anytime, available to you immediately, to use for online or in-person shopping, or to send as a gift. Now available on both the mobile app and RaiseRight.com, check the “Send as a gift by email” box when purchasing an eGift card to have it sent by email to a recipient. Every time you buy, RUCC gets a small rebate. Place orders through the RaiseRight app on your mobile device or at https://www.raiseright.com/shop. 

Spotlight on the Shepherd Area

Hello everyone. My name is Maegan Hill, and I am the Area Leader for Shepherds. I started attending RUCC virtually in June of 2020 during the pandemic. RUCC came recommended to me by my step mother-in-law who is actually one of the founding members of this church. I quickly fell in love with Jill, the choir and just how beautiful the church’s message was overall. Mother’s Day of 2021 was the first date that worship was held in person, and it was even better than all of the virtual services. I couldn’t believe my good luck in finding this treasure of a church!

Fast forward to 2023, and I am definitely ‘ALL IN’! I accepted the nomination of Area Leader for Shepherds because I deeply care for this congregation and all of the beautiful people that are a part of it. So what better position to accept than the Area Leader of Shepherds? There are 6 Shepherd groups, each with a Shepherd Leader/Co-Leader. The Shepherds look after the members of their flock and make sure that their needs are taken care of, should a need arise. Everyone can be in a Shepherd group. If you are not in a group, or if you aren’t sure if you’re in a group, then just reach out to me, and I will let you know. I will be looking for some new Shepherd Leaders for next year, so think about how you can also be ‘ALL IN’ and come join Shepherds!

Quick Bio: I’ve been married to the love of my life, Russell since 2006 (together since 2004). We have 2 boys, Jacob 15 and Evan 14. We live here in Redlands when we’re not vacationing in Cayucos, CA, which is also where we’d eventually love to retire to.

RUCC Youth Group

The RUCC Youth Group is open to kids in 6th through 12th Grade. We meet every Sunday from noon-1 p.m. in the Youth Room.

Last Sunday, March 19th, the Youth Group enjoyed a “Progressive Luncheon,” beginning in the Youth Room and continuing on to various members’ houses for each delicious course. 

Next week we will have a meeting as usual in the Youth Room following Fellowship time.

Come join us if you are in 6th through 12th Grade!

Community Sunrise Service Easter Morning

First Presbyterian Church of Redlands will host this year’s Community Sunrise Service at its park located on the corner of Vine Street and 4^th Street. Those attending are asked to bring their own lawn chairs, as there is not much seating in the park except a couple of benches and a few tables. The service starts at 7:00 A.M. and usually lasts about 40 minutes. 

UPCOMING DATES TO REMEMBER

• April 1 - Sacred Saturday
• April 2 - Palm Sunday
• April 2 - 12:00 p.m. - RUCC Book group - Remarkably Bright Creatures. Discussion leader will be Kathie Blakley.
• April 6 - 6:30 p.m. Seder Dinner
• April 7 - Good Friday
• April 9 - Community Sunrise Service (See article above)
• April 9 - Easter Sunday



The church calendars for March and April are found at uccredlands.org

Click on "calendar" in the red banner near the top of the page