A message from our Bridge Pastor and Teacher

Sunday, May 28 ~~ Who’s Speaking and Who’s Listening?

Often those of us in the faith community think that we have limited privilege – that we stand over against culture and so many of our neighbors have so much more – and seem to care about others so much less. The chaos and challenge of the presence of God’s Spirit invites us to look at our own privilege, the ways in which our worship or work may not be accessible to as many as we would like in Redlands – and perhaps the multiple languages suggest to us a way of listening that could help direct our ministry and outreach?

Sunday's Scripture

Acts 2:1-21

MAY 28 - PENTECOST SUNDAY

CLICK HERE FOR THE BULLETIN

FOR MAY 28



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.

What's happening this weekend

• Friday, May 26 - 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. RUCC Blood Drive - see details in article below.
• 10:30 a.m. Worship Service - It's Pentecost Sunday - Let's wear red, orange, or yellow -- the colors of fire! Also, the Strengthen the Church special offering will be received today. (see article below.)
• 11:30 a.m. - Fellowship Time in Covenant Hall.
• Noon - Kick off the Summer with RWO! Backyard Concert, pool party and potluck. See article below for details and to RSVP.

Blood drive this Friday, May 26

Have you ever thought about donating blood, but it just wasn't very convenient? We can't come to your home; however, we are coming to your church! The Blood Drive begins at 10 a.m. and ends at 3 p.m. Appointments are not required but suggested to save you time. Call 1-800.879.4484 or log on to https://www.lstream.org/

And please pass this information on to family and friends! If you have any questions that are not covered in this flyer, please ask Kerry Dunn who is coordinating the event. He can be reached at (909)963-8304.

...........................................................................................SSee you on Friday, May 26th!

Farewell, and hello! - a message from our Board President Dan Abushanab

 This Sunday May 28 will mark the end of Pastor Jake’s time with RUCC. In the seven months since he joined us last November, Jake has wormed his way into our hearts, providing his unique mix of grace, comfort, humor, and provocative thinking in a way that’s been just right. He returns home to Pasadena now, leaving a little bit of himself behind with us in Redlands and taking a little bit of us with him. We are grateful for the time together, and wish you the best, Jake! Come back and see us again anytime (especially when you’ll be our guest preacherin July!) The a cappella singing mega stars Rhymes with Orange will host a potluck to kick off the summer right after church on Sunday, which will also be an informal send off for Jake - I hope everyone will join us!

In June and the first couple weeks of July, the worship team has lined up a great slate of guest preachers for us. Then, on July 16, we welcome Pastor Elaine Schoepf. Elaine is returning to her native Southern California from Missouri and is thrilled to be coming home, as you’ll sense when you read her letter to the church elsewhere in this newsletter. She was ordained in 1987 in the Disciples of Christ tradition and has had many roles in ministry and church leadership since then. Welcome, Elaine, we are looking forward to your arrival!

Thank You RUCC!

Pentecost is my last Sunday and Tuesday the 30^th is my last day in the office. My seven months have gone by quickly, and we have done a lot of work together! What a wonderful gift this time at RUCC has been for me – and of course, Finn (the dog that may have tried to steal your food or bite your clothing/shoes).

While I have been present, RUCC has offered meaningful care, love and support to Jill, Karen, and Daniella. At the same time, you all have worked tirelessly to continue as a church in the wider community! We have new covenanting members, we have had several visitors each Sunday, many of the church events and programs have resumed in person after Covid and new outreach has begun with Youth Hope, Family Services, and we continue to look at projects to support our immigrant siblings and unsheltered neighbors. During transition especially, it can be helpful to recall how much there is to celebrate about RUCC! 

Please accept my heartfelt thanks for your support, caring comments, sense of humor, hard work, and patience with Finn as we have worked alongside one another these past seven months. A special thank you to Craig Wesson who has opened his home and property so that I would have a place to stay while here in Redlands, and to all who worked hard to put that place in workable condition before I arrived.

I look forward to seeing you all again on in July when I will guest preach – Rev. Elaine comes to begin her work as a Designated Interim Pastor Sunday July 16^th. 

Rev. John H Pomeroy (Jake)

Get your new name tag

First, find your tag before or after church on a table in Covenant Hall. Next, personalize your tag. You are encouraged to include a pronoun sticker. There are other stickers available. Insert the tag into a clear plastic name badge holder. There are empty holders with clips, holders with magnets, and holders that are used with a lanyard. Finally, put your new tag in the racks in the narthex.

Reflection of the week from the Racial Justice Team

There’s never been a time, not a single year, where the U.S. population of African descent hasn’t been sicker or died younger than whites.

Source: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/racism-public-health-crisis-bassett/

From the Environmental Justice Team

The Santa Ynez groundstar is a small plant, about the size of a penny, first observed in 1929 and again in 1995. Now thousands of the plants have been discovered at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County. Because the groundstar doesn’t have a means of widely dispersing its seeds, this is likely the only place where it exists, meaning that it is extremely vulnerable to catastrophe. Thus this tiny plant is a prime example of a huge concern: the fact that about one third of the plant species in the United States are under at risk of extinction.

Source: “A plant smaller than a penny is rediscovered on a Lompoc military base. Here’s why we should care,” Nathan Solis, Los Angeles Times, 5/22/23: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-22/conservationists-want-you-to-care-about-this-tiny-california-plant-they-re-discovered

A whole lot happened at RUCC last Sunday!

• Board President Dan Abushanab announced that Rev. ElaineSchoepf has accepted our call to begin as our Interim Minister on July 16. Rev. Elaine is currently serving a church in Missouri, and looks forward to returning home to Southern California.

Click here to read her letter to RUCC.

• The congregation approved the building and installation of a new organ, using the existing monies in the Organ Fund.
• Wider Ministries welcomed a guest speaker, City of Redlands Homeless Coordinator. Also, 2nd quarter donations to various organizations were approved. (see article below for details.)
• Shepherd leaders and Profile Committee met together to discuss working with the shepherd groups to help develop the Church Profile to call a settled pastor.
• Church Growth conducted a workshop for Ushers and Greeters.

Strengthen the Church special offering on Pentecost, May 28

Strengthen the Church is an opportunity to sustain not just our growing, renewing, and birthing churches, but also to ensure that the holy ground they create remains the sacred space in which the extravagant welcome of our beloved Jesus is embodied.

Thank you for your prayerful consideration of a gift to sustain this work in our churches. Thank you for helping us create the kind of sacred spaces where holy ground transforms despair into hope, fear into self-confidence, anger into compassion, judgment into hospitality, and disdain into love.

............................Rev. John Dorhauer,

....................................................................... General Minister and President, National Ministries of the UCC

City of Redlands Homeless Solutions Coordinator Speaks to Wider Ministries

On Sunday, May 21, RUCC Wider Ministries hosted David Rabindranath, the City of Redlands first Homeless Solutions Coordinator, to speak with WM and any interested church members on the state of our unsheltered brothers and sisters in Redlands. David is responsible for connecting local nonprofits and government entities to help the unsheltered with resources, such as shelter, transitional housing, food assistance, and other outreach services, including mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment, and more. He is responsible for a great deal more, too, including procuring grants for more permanent housing. David covered a great deal of territory in the hour he was with us: 

David said the primary focus in the city is “housing first.” He explained the “Project Home Key” grant from the state in 2022, which resulted in the developer Shangri-La Industries and the nonprofit Step Up on Second, Inc. joining together to convert the Good Nite Inn into a 98 Studio Unit facility for long term permanent housing. Shangri-La owns and operates the property, while Step Up on Second, Inc. provides case management services to all residents who live there. The unit is now full and has a waiting list. David’s division also contracts with our local nonprofits, including Steps4Life, Youth Hope, and Family Services, to do outreach in the field (parks, streets, river bottom), helping connect our unsheltered to appropriate resources.

SECOND QUARTER WIDER MINISTRIES DONATIONS APPROVED:

Five organizations were awarded donations from the Wider Ministries Area budget at the May 21 meeting. The recipients include: UCC Disabilities Ministries ($1000), Family Service Association Emergency Housing Fund ($1000), Women of Faith ($1000), UCC General Synod "Period Pack Kits Project" ($1000), and Rainbow Youth Alliance ($500).

Wider Ministries continues to study and evaluate other organizations for future donations.

Caring for kin - last week to donate to Family Service Association

Thank you all for your generous donations so far to Redlands Family Service Association! This will be our last week collecting for Family Service Association, and next month we'll be collecting for Youth Hope. Stay tuned for next week's View, which will contain details about our next month's collection!

Hygiene Kits for Unsheltered Neighbors - Gathering on June 4

Wider Ministries is engaging in two initiatives to distribute hygiene kits to our unsheltered neighbors.

First, the church purchased a handful of backpacks containing hygiene items that will remain at the church and that can be distributed to unsheltered members of the community as they visit the church.

Second, Wider Ministries will be hosting an event on June 4 during which we'll create hygiene kits to keep in our cars to give to unsheltered individuals as we encounter them in the community. These hygiene kits will include basic (unopened/unused) hygiene items that can fit in a gallon-size Ziploc bag, such as travel-size shampoo and soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, washcloth, fingernail clippers, Band-Aids, menstrual supplies, and socks. They can also include small-denomination gift cards for groceries or fast food.

If you'd like to participate in assembling these kits, please begin purchasing the supplies. The Dollar Tree, CVS, or Target may be great places to find these items. Then, on June 4, we'll come together in the Founder's Room after church to compile all our supplies and assemble the kits together! For more information, please contact Sue Hammond or Diana Steele.

Raise Right - Gift Cards make shopping and fundraising easy

Bulk eGifting – Available exclusively on RaiseRight.com (desktop

only), now you can earn by eGifting in bulk. Select “Send as a gift” on any eGift card product page, then choose the “Bulk Order” gift type to get started. Simply follow the prompts to schedule delivery, add a custom message, upload recipient information, then add to cart and check out. eGift cards are the most convenient way to earn on all your gifting—whether for a birthday, holiday, or even gifting in bulk for teachers, graduates, or your team at the office. With the “Send as a gift by email” feature, learn how you can send eGift cards to as

many as 125 recipients all at once. https://www.raiseright.com/m/how-to-send-egift-cards

About RaiseRight: When you purchase gift cards through the RaiseRight program to pay for your day-to-day expenses or provide as gifts, RUCC receives a rebate that helps fund our missions. It’s an easy way to raise some money for RUCC. Hundreds of retailers participate, including grocery stores, gas stations, home improvement stores, department stores, online retailers, and much more. Please contact Jennifer and Pam at giftcards@redlandsucc.org if you need an enrollment link, need help setting up/accessing your online account or placing an order, have any questions, or want to learn more about the program.  This video will give you an overview of how to get started: https://youtu.be/c-v65F0xr2c

UPCOMING DATES TO REMEMBER

• May 26 - Blood drive in Covenant Hall
• May 28 - Pentecost and Strengthen the Church special offering
• May 28 - Beginning of summer kick-off and potluck with Rhymes with Orange at Heather and Dan's right across the street following the service.
• May 29 - The RUCC office will be closed for Memorial Day Holiday
• June 4 - Hygiene Kit assembly in Founders' Room - 12 p.m.
• June 10 - Celebration of Life for Nancy Doss 11:00 a.m.
• June 11- Super Shepherd Sunday



The church calendar for May is found at uccredlands.org

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