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FEBRUARY 2017 - In This Issue:
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TWO-SERVICE SCHEDULE 9:15 & 11:00
(NOTE EXCEPTION BELOW)
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January 29 Single service at 10:30 only
Resilience: A Service with Bryan Sexton
Join us this morning for a special service with Community Church member Bryan Sexton. Bryan is a Duke professor of Psychiatry and world-class expert in the field of resilience. He'll share with us some strategies for building the mental muscles to deal with the challenges we face. The single service will be followed by the next congregational meeting in our building process.
February 5 9:15 & 11:00
"To Abet Creation, To Bring Forth Blooming"
Rev. Thom, preaching
This Sunday will focus on some of the most powerful and transformational work that our church does: our ministry to and with children & youth. Come learn about the difference our religious education program makes for our children, and the difference it makes in the world.
February 12 9:15 & 11:00
"Loving Our Enemies"
Rev. Thom, leading worship
There may be no more difficult religious teaching than Jesus' instruction to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. This morning we will gather for a multigenerational worship service to consider this lesson. The service will be addressed to and appropriate for all ages.
February 19 9:15 & 11:00
Campus Ministry Sunday
The annual Campus Fellowship Servi
ce focuses on the importance and role of spiritual practice in the lives of students. This is a great opportunity to hear what is going on the spiritual lives of the college students who are members of the UU group at UNC sponsored by The Community Church.
February 26 9:15 & 11:00
"Cheap Grace & Costly Grace"
Rev. Thom, preaching
During December Rev. Thom tackled the 950 page biography of pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Come hear a sermon about the life and thought of one of the most astonishing religious figures of the past century.
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This Sunday - January 29, 2017 - 11:30 a.m.
On Sunday we have an opportunity to vote about the future of our church. The Board is considering whether to undertake a Capital Campaign
to fund the additions and renovations to our existing building to meet our space needs.
We had a Financial Feasibility Study done, and the summary is available on the church website here. Please read it. The next step is a vote between the two options recommended in the report. Members who are unable to attend the meeting on Sunday can have a proxy member vote on their behalf. Proxy forms are available here. Only one proxy is allowed per member attending. Associate members may attend the meeting, but may not vote.
We all have a major stake in the success of such a campaign. Please stay for the Congregational Meeting this Sunday to receive more information and vote. Coffee at 10:00. Service at 10:30. Meeting immediately after the service, to end by 1:00. Child care provided, of course.
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Sunday, January 29 in the Sanctuary following the single service at 10:30.
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Sign up for an evening of fun and snacks hosted by the Youth Ministry Team on Friday, February 17, 2016, featuring the hilarious party game Fishbowl.
Learn or revel anew in the delights of Fishbowl, the favorite word game of Shelter Neck retreats and Youth Group requiring players to generate and telegraph words to partners through verbal acuity, gesture, and memory.
We will meet in the Manse for a cozy evening of fun and delectable snacks. Qualified players are readers who can distinguish nouns from other parts of speech and can write legibly for the duration of at least one word. Cost: a $10 donation to the church. Contact Selden Holt at
[email protected] to sign up.
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Saturday, February 18, 5:30 PM. In the winter a young woodcock's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love. We'll carpool from church to Mason Farm to see their spiraling, whistling courtship flight. Even if you don't like lekking, feel welcome to join us at
8:00 for some first rate BBQ at the Crossroads. RSVP:
[email protected]
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Con fUUoco: Playing with Fire
February 25 at 7:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary
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"The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation
until the bright day of justice emerges."
- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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COMMUNITY CHURCH MUSIC GALA
FEBRUARY 25, 7:00 PM
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Seeking Participants
The Music Team would like to announce the 2016 Community Church Music Gala, entitled "
Con fUUoco: Playing with Fire."
This year's gala will focus on the theme of "fire" (as in the flaming chalice) and all it's aspects: flames, smoke, ashes, heat, candles, etc. All congregation members and friends are welcome to participate.
We're doing this years gala in the same format as last, meaning NO SOLOS! So everyone should not only choose a piece of music, but choose one or more partners as well. And you are strongly encouraged to go out of your comfort zone, and perform with people you might not have collaborated with previously.
We're keeping the performance to one 90 minutes act, starting at
7pm in the sanctuary, and followed by a reception and more music in the Jones Building.
Please
contact music director Glenn Mehrbach if you'd like to perform. Glenn will be happy to help you find others to collaborate with, suggest songs, help with arrangements and transpositions, and whatever else you might need to make your performance
light up the stage!
Deadline to be included in the gala will be
February 11.
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Family Dinners--1st Saturdays 5-6 PM
Come for fun and fellowship in the Community Room. $3/person covers the main dish and dessert. Please also bring a side dish (salad, vegetable, bread, fruit, etc.). All are welcome!
RSVP here. Community
Dinners:
March 3,
April 1,
May 6,
June 3
Summer Triangle Our Whole Lives Sexuality Education for Rising 8th and 9th Grades
Chalice Camp Registration Open Now
Shelter Neck Youth Summer Camp Registration is Open
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ECO'S ENVIRONMENTAL CORNER
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First Sunday Recyclables
February 5: Cell phones, including chargers, greeting cards.
For cards, we can't take Hallmark, American Greeting, or Disney cards. No writing on inside front, no photo cards. As every month, ECO is also collecting batteries (AAA - D, button, rechargeable), corks (natural and synthetic), plastic pencils, pens, and markers.
"Caring for Our Water"
is the current focus of ECO's theme "CARING FOR THE EARTH STARTS WITH US." Come to the ECO table on February 5 or click here for suggestions on saving water and protecting it from pollution. There will also be new information about local/national water issues and how you can help.
Thank you to those who took part in the Multi-Faith Climate Vigil during inauguration weekend. Stay tuned for information about a large mobilization in April!
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SUNDAY AND EVENT PARKING CHANGES NOW IN PLACE
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Imagine all the handicapped parking spaces at a drugstore or other place you frequent. Now imagine everyone who uses those spaces across a week (24/7) coming at 9:15 or 11 one specific day and remaining an hour. That's the situation discovered at church and why all spaces in the front circle drive and the paved back lot are now for handicapped and limited mobility parking (mobility defined as a condition, chronic or temporary, seen or unseen, that keeps someone from walking a longer distance into church buildings.) These changes will be monitored over time and adjusted as needed.
The other parking issue is having enough spaces. We have enough -- if some use alternative parking (including requesting special reserved spaces) most of the time, if all avoid parking two vehicles in church lots and if some carpool or walk or bicycle. Find out more
here or
email ECO.
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STILL ACCEPTING DONATIONS FOR JANUARY 22 STP
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Due to low attendance on January 22, we are extending the opportunity to donate to the Share The Plate for "All We Are".
Checks can be made out to the church with "STP/All We Are" in the memo line.
Your monies will go directly to soccer gear and a tournament for impoverished children in rural schools in Kampala, Uganda
and many sustainable development projects of All We Are.
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STP - FEBRUARY 19:
CENTER FOR ETHICAL LIVING & SOCIAL JUSTICE RENEWAL
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 The
Center for Ethical Living and Social Justice Renewal (CELSJR) is a catalyst in the Greater New Orleans area and beyond for promoting social, economic, environmental and racial justice through activism, community engagement and transformational learning. CELSJR was founded with assistance from the UU Service Committee and the Greater New Orleans Unitarian Universalist cluster of congregations, and is a partner of the UU College of Social Justice.
The Center is housed in the First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans. The center organizes The Community Church's churches service projects for our high school youth in New Orleans. It was originally founded to organize disaster response for Hurricane Katrina. It continues to provide relief and rebuilding in New Orleans. Today it combines service with a powerful teaching program about race and poverty. The Center organizes and builds relationships in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast between community organization.
For more information, visit
www.celsjr.org
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Good news! TABLE has finally found a new home and as of February 1 they will be located at 209 E. Main St. in Carrboro! The larger facility provides extra storage space, which is desperately needed, but it also presents the opportunity for TABLE to expand services to more area kids. This school year TABLE volunteers have filled an average of 400 bags weekly with healthy food which are then delivered to preschool, elementary and middle school children so that they will have food for weekends and school holidays when they do not have access to their free school meals. But there are still over 2,000 kids in Chapel Hill/Carrboro who are food insecure. TABLE now has the space it needs to reach out to them but to do this it also needs additional funds. Your STP donation will help make this happen.
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SPIRITUAL EXPLORATION FOR ADULTS
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 Join us at
SEA in February for more adult religious education courses!
On
February 9, 16, and 23 from
7 until 8:30pm, Rev. Thom will offer a reading and discussion on New York University professor Frank Roberts on his Syllabus for Black Lives.
We will offer an End of Life Series (
Feb. 16, 23,
March 2,
7 until 9pm) led by Carolyn Holt, Ivy Brezina, and Rev. Thom which will discuss legacy letters, end of life stages, green burial options, and our church's role in helping members through this process.
Finally, we will host guest author Phil Torres ("The End: What Science and Religion Tell us About the Apocalypse") on
Feb. 16 and 23 as he explores existential risk study and religions where the apocalypse is anticipated. Please register for these classes at the SEA table following service.
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On Saturday, February 18, at 10:30 in the Kirby Room, Jeanne Zang will be leading our discussion of Unbowed: A Memoir, by Wangari Maathai. Maathai is the first African Woman, and the first environmentalist to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Set in Kenya, her story will inspire you. UU Readers welcomes folks on a drop-in basis. If you are interested in environmental matters, get a copy of this awesome story and join us.
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Join us from 2-4 PM on February 1 and/or from 7-9 PM on February 20 in the Commons area to click, chat, and piece together shawls. It takes 18 blocks (7" x 9" made from washable acrylic, #4 worsted weight yarn) to make each shawl that we will donate to UNC Hospice in Pittsboro. The shawls will be used by patients for warmth and comfort and will remain with their families. We are patterning our group after Clicking for a Cause at Eno River UU Fellowship where ideas for patterns can be found.
Can't knit or crochet? We will teach you! Have leftover yarn or needles and hooks you no longer use? We will take them! Meeting attendance is not required! Donate finished blocks at our table on the third Sunday of each month (2/19)! Email Susan Blanchard or call
919-237-2401 for more information.
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COMMITTEES AND MINISTRIES
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RESILIENT RESISTANCE GROUP
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 Resilient Resistance Group Forming --The road ahead will be hard. We need to build resilience to stay strong. That means strengthening the bonds of community, grounding our activism in strong spiritual practice, and rigorous intellectual and moral engagement. Marion Hirsch is forming a small group ministry for activists in the church of all ages who would like to meet monthly -- for meditation, deep sharing and listening, and focused discussion about as we work for justice in this difficult times. If you are interested, please
contact Marion Hirsch.
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STAY CONNECTED
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