Jill’s Celebration of Life on Saturday, August 19 at 10:00 a.m.

We are planning for a big crowd on Saturday, as we know Jill touched many, many lives. There will be extra pews and chairs in the sanctuary, and more chairs will be set up in Covenant Hall, the Founder’s Room, and Mosaic Hall for watching the service on screen.

The Westside Christian Church School diagonally across the Olive/Bellevue intersection has offered their parking lot to help with the overflow. Our parking lot will fill quickly, and we want to save spaces for those who need to be near the Church. If you can handle a bit of a walk, please come early and park at Westside or on the street. Members of the congregation are strongly encouraged to carpool with other members in order to conserve parking spaces. If you can’t be there in person, you are invited to watch it on YouTube. You can find our YouTube feed on our website, www.UCCRedlands.org.

The service will be followed by a reception on the back patio, kind of like the Friday night at the Art Show. Thank you to all who have participated in planning this important event in the life of our church; it will be meaningful for all of us.

Congregational Meeting September 10 to approve nominees for the Pastoral Search Committee

Our Bylaws require that the Board nominate a slate of nine members to serve on a Pastoral Search Committee and to submit those nominations to a vote at a Congregational Meeting. There will be a brief Congregational Meeting on Sunday September 10 for this purpose. Watch The View for more details.

A message from our Pastor and Teacher

Sunday, August 20 ~ “It's OK Not to Be OK”

Sometimes life is just rough. When life is painful, we may feel like help and healing are still a long way off. And when we experience grief - we often feel completely alone. We feel isolated even when we are with our beloved community. Sometimes, we feel like no one could ever know the depth of our pain. Some days, even God seems far away. 

But God is never far. God is all around us. And we are here, together, in God’s actual presence. And, when we are together, we can hold space for one another in love. We can wrap ourselves in a soft blanket of God’s love.

Sunday's Scripture

Isaiah 40: 27-31, 41:10-13

August 20 - Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

CLICK HERE FOR BULLETIN FOR AUGUST 20

Reflection of the week from the Racial Justice Team

Celebrating the life of Biddy Mason: August 15, 1818—January 15, 1891

Biddy Mason, a true American hero, began life as an enslaved African American, walked across the continent, eventually arriving in San Bernardino. Although California was technically a “free state” myriad laws guaranteed that Biddy, her family, and many others remained enslaved. This part of Southern California was a hotbed of pro-slavery sentiment, which even included the desire to create a separate slave state in the Southern half of the state.



In 1856, Biddy, her family and several friends gained their freedom in a landmark court case. She went on to become a force in the development of the City of Los Angeles. She had an extensive career as a healer, midwife, entrepreneur and real estate investor and became one of the wealthiest women in the city. Her charitable activities included co-founding First AME Church, outreach to all people of color who were in need or hungry, but her special concern was for children and youth.

For additional information and sources about the life of Biddy Mason, Click Here.

From the Environmental Justice Team

Mission statement of California Interfaith Power & Light: “California Interfaith Power & Light inspires and mobilizes individuals and communities of faith and conscience to take bold and just action on climate change.” ( https://www.interfaithpower.org/history-mission/ ) As part of this mission, CIPL supports the bills below, which are making their way through the California Legislature (https://www.interfaithpower.org/2023/06/lobby-day-june-21-2023/ )

•  AB 579, establishing 100% of school buses be electric by 2035. 
• AB 631, giving the California Department of Geologic Energy Management more legal mechanisms to enforce oil and gas drilling violations.
• SB 49, calling for renewable energy to be widely expanded in business carports and highways.
• SB 233, instituting a study of and goal of 2030 for EVs to have bidirectional charging.
• SB 674, extending monitoring of, and real-time public notification of emissions from refineries.

Find out more about CIPL at the organization’s Website:   

https://www.interfaithpower.org/about-us/

Survey deadline extended one week to August 22

The Church Profile Committee has compiled a survey to gather information to write a well-informed church profile. We want to make sure to represent the voices of everyone at RUCC, so we would love a response from each and every one of you! This survey will take 10-20 minutes of your time. Please access the survey at this link.

If you haven't had time to complete the survey for the church profile, you're in luck! We've extended the deadline by one week to August 22. We'd love to include your voice in writing the church profile! 

The Pastor ponders: Jill's celebration of life

What a difficult time this is for this congregation.  

Lots of folks here at RUCC are struggling under a weight of grief that has us all a bit, as my mom who grew up in a German-speaking neighborhood would say, verschimmelt, which means, in my family, being out-of-kilter or off-balance. 

Have you felt off balance lately? It wouldn’t surprise me a bit.   

Since the tragic death of beloved pastor Jill Kirchner-Rose, a child of this congregation, ordained here, and who served here with great love, the grief has been palpable. I hope you know you are absolutely on point. This state of being is completely natural, my friends. I also know that we experience these situations in different ways. Some are numb, some angry, some find themselves in tears over little things. All our responses are natural, certainly, but in no way easy.  

Wherever you are in your response to Jill’s death, please know that I would like to offer support. If you would like spiritual or pastoral support, or just someone to listen, to sit or walk in silence, or to pray with, please call on me. You can email me at [email protected] or call or text 562-396-8039. 

There are many other helpful resources, from the Heart-to-Heart group, to people trained in spiritual direction, to gathering with your Shepherd group. I’m amazed by how much love and support there is in this congregation, too many to list here. I’m happy to connect you with one that works.  

This week, we do what RUCC does best, get food ready, put out chairs for the overflow crowd, practice music, work to make Covenant Hall a warm and welcoming space. It’s good for us to be able to show our love to Jill’s family in these ways, and to have these tangible ways to honor Jill’s memory. 

Whether you can come on Saturday or not, I hope you’ll join us on Sunday for worship and friendship at 10:30. We will be so glad to have you with us. 

With prayers of comfort and love, 

Pastor E.

My Work To Do begins new offerings

Please join us for one or more sessions listed below this fall and invite your friends and family to register as well by forwarding this email and sharing our social media posts. BUT FIRST: Are you a part of or affiliated with an organization, faith community, or diocese interested in learning more about bringing My Work To Do to YOU? MWTD sessions can be scheduled, marketed, and available to and for your group, either online or possibly even in person. Email us to start the conversation!

Sessions include the basic Foundational Series, Going Deeper, Reparations, Community Circles, and more. Click on the link below to see complete details.

View Fall 2023 Sessions & Register Here

RAISE RIGHT/SCRIP CARDS

If you shop (and we know you do!) Raise Right can help you help RUCC! This is the perfect time to take advantage of Back-to-School Bonuses at Old Navy/Gap, Bath and Body Works, L.L. Bean, DSW, Staples, Instacart+ and Door Dash to name just a few. Gift cards are available for almost any place you shop!

 

Stop by the Raise Right table in Covenant Hall with your check, cash, or cell phone and Jennifer or Pam will get you started!

Help us Promote Art, for Heaven’s Sake! Fine Arts Festival

Art, for Heaven’s Sake! is switching to electronic postcards and we need your help. Please help us reach more people by getting your friends and colleagues to sign up for our electronic mailing list. We plan to send out electronic postcards a couple of weeks before the show. If you make it your goal to get 10 or more to sign up it would be a great help. You can use the QR code here or pick up a QR sticker in the gathering area at church. People can also email [email protected] and ask to be put on the list. All we need is a name and an email address.

Caring for Kin focuses on Family Services

For the month of August, we will be collecting again for Redlands Family Services, who are in great need of food collections. As before, their high-priority items include peanut butter, jelly, cereal, oatmeal, and granola bars. Let's keep up the excellent work!

Help for Maui fire victims

Many of you have asked how congregations can support our siblings on Maui during this time of unimaginable devastation and suffering. We have been in contact with the Hawaii Conference Minister, Rev. David Popham, who has requested we send donations directly to the Conference office.

Funds are being collected and released to the congregation in Lahaina each day and will be available to those who evacuated as they are able to return. 

Meeting immediate needs is a priority. Judy Kinser, treasurer and office administrator of the historic Waiola church shared two painful statements: "We are destroyed. Devastated."

The pastor of the Waiola church, which recently celebrated its 200th year anniversary offered, "The church will gather under a burnt tree if that is all we can find. Our strength lies in our people."

Please mail donations to:

Hawaii Conference UCC

700 Bishop St, Suite 825, Honolulu HI, 96813

or donate online (hcucc.org/donate)

Music Director search

Earlier this week our Director of Music Jim Tong resigned. We are grateful to Jim for his five years with RUCC and wish him the best in his future endeavors.

The fall music season is fast approaching so we will be moving quickly to find a new Director. Personnel chair Carole Beswick and Worship Area leader Patty Little will jointly lead the search and will be looking for a few people to assist in the effort.

The job posting is on the RUCC website. We will be advertising the position on appropriate search sites. If you know of someone who might be interested in the position, please refer them to the website posting.

UPCOMING DATES TO REMEMBER

• August 19 - Celebration of Life for Rev. Dr. Jill Kirchner-Rose - 10 a.m.
• August 20 - Church Growth meeting 12:00 p.m.
• August 26 - Heartspace workshop on coping with and honoring grief- for ages 8 and up. 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. - Covenant Hall
• September 2 - Sacred Saturday - 9 a.m.
• September 10 - Brief congregational meeting to approve the slate of nominees for the Search Committee



The church calendars for August and September are found at uccredlands.org

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