Sunday, July 13 ~ Camp Season ~"Praying On the Mountain"
It's camp season! Right now, Kathy McCool is up at camp as the camp nurse. She'll be joining us on Sunday morning, but then heading back to camp with some of our kids, including Nathan and Ellie (their first overnight camp experience!). This Sunday is going to celebrate outdoor ministries in general and Pilgrim Pines in particular. David and I are going to accompany our music on guitar, the sermon is going focus on how Jesus took retreats to the wilderness between miracles, we are going to bless Kathy and the youth heading to camp, and we are even going to have s'mores during fellowship hour! Beth Welsh will be providing some special music on piano as Sophia continues to be on break for the summer.
First reading: Psalm 19:1
Second reading: Matthew 14:19-25
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Susi Jacobsen is Retiring
Hi Church Family,
We continue in a season of change and transition at RUCC. After 13 years of faithful service as our Christian Education Director, Susi Jacobsen is retiring. Susi has been extra special to me, because not only is she part of the wonderful staff I get to work with and supervise, she’s also been a teacher and leader for my children, Nathan and Ellie. I’m certainly not alone in this respect—Susi has loved and served the children and youth of this church so well!
The good news is that Susi will continue to be a covenanting member of RUCC and we will still be her spiritual home. On August 10, we will have a special recognition of Susi in worship and fellowship time, that will help us transition into this new relationship. After the service, there will be periodic updates on the search for a new CE director.
I hope you will be able to attend to wish Susi a blessed and happy retirement, and that you will reach out to her and let her know how valuable her ministry has been with us. It’s not easy to say goodbye to a pastor and a CE director in the same summer, but we know there are exciting things on the horizon for RUCC.
Peace,
Rev. Joe
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Rev. Jake Pomeroy returns September 1
Rev. Jake Pomeroy will return to Redlands UCC as our Transitional Pastor, starting September 1. Here's a short introductory video. Pastoral care and Sunday worship coverage is being arranged for the time between Rev. Joe and Pastor Jake.
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Search in process
The Search Committee will meet with Conference Minister Rachael Pryor later this month for an orientation of their work ahead. Our listing is live on the website where pastors considering a new call can find those opportunities. Please share the link with anyone you feel would be a qualified candidate for our next settled minister. Our conference staff is "talking it up" at Synod this week.
Thanks to Sophia Beardemphl, Lisa Dewey, Pam Dunn, Kathy Economen, John Hoeger, Nick Mineo-Wells, Keith Osajima, Julie Phillip and Jules Rattray for serving on the committee.
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In our thoughts and prayers
- Prayers for the faithful attendees of the UCC General Synod, as they discern resolutions of witness, church structure, and function, July 11-15 in Kansas City, Missouri.
- Prayers for Carol Chaney who fell and hurt her knee. In addition to the pain, she’s been unable to drive.
- Prayers for our church community and the Zarro family during this time of transition. Rev. Joe’s last service will be July 27, when there will be an official liturgy of release.
- Ongoing prayers for Mary Lou Haney, and her daughter and caregiver Jennie, and Jennie’s fiancé Patrick. Mary Lou is at Loma Linda University Hospital – prayers for healing and the ability to come home soon.
- Prayers for Susi Jacobsen and many blessings upon her upcoming retirement on August 10.
- As we celebrate camp and outdoor ministries, we say a prayer for Camp Mystic, a Christian girls' summer camp in Texas which was hit by a flash flood on July 4. As of July 10, there are 27 girls and staff members dead, and five campers and one counselor missing.
- Every week we pray for the victims of violence and oppression around the world. This week we pray for the residents of Taybeh, a Palestinian Christian town in West Bank Palestine which has been the target of settlement outposts, arson of its holiest site, and destruction of olive groves, leading all three priests in the town (Greek Orthodox, Greek Melkite, and Latin Catholic churches) to call for investigation and relief. We pray for a future of freedom and independence for the Palestinian people.
Ongoing concerns:
- Those affected by wildfires, including the UCC in Altadena
- Dick Ault
- Jerry Andrews
- Ron Bickford
- Tim and Ida Blakely
- Bill Buchanan
- Judith Gregory
- Beki Hill
- Harriet Holt, Beki Hill's mother
- Floyd Orr
- Paisley Parcell
- Amber McGuigan
- Cynthia McGuigan
- Dondon and Scott Mong
- Carl Parish
- Dee Dee Seek’s great grandson Jaxson
- Robert Silver
- Tom Miller
- Janet Wilson’s great niece Amelia
- Michael White
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Caring for Kin
In the month of July, we are collecting school supplies for Women of Faith, a local organization that supports refugees in the Inland Empire. Items of special need include college-ruled notebooks and paper, colored pencils, markers, scissors, and backpacks for all ages. A few items that are NOT as needed are glue sticks, pens, and pencils.
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Hospitality needs you!
Fellowship is looking for friendly folks to help out with one of the most amazing hours of our church time together..After the Service Fellowship Time!
- We need people to help with set-up at 9:30 to make sure the tables and chairs are ready, make coffee and lemonade, and put out napkins and cutlery.
- We also need at least 5 people to bring delicious goodies to share.
- Last, but not least, we need folks to help clean up after all our talking and connecting has finished.
If you are excited to help out in this way, make delicious cookies and snacks, or are willing to put in some elbow grease before or after, please follow this link or email Kim@redlandsucc.org.
We particularly need support on these dates in all areas:
Kim asks to have these spots filled this week as she will be away on the last two Sundays of the month. Come on everyone, you know you want to!
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Game and Conversation Night
Saturday, July 12, 5:30 p.m., Covenant Hall
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Young and Middle Adult group, Trivia Night, July 18
Join in the fun Friday, July 18, at the San Bernardino County Museum in Redlands! "Through the Decades" trivia night runs 5-9 p.m. with trivia beginning at 6:30 p.m. Museum admission fee is $5 (a 50% discount!).
Feel free to dress for your favorite decade! The quiz will focus on the 1960's-2000's. Click this link to sign up, or let Jules Rattray or Diana Steele-Jones know you will be there, so we know to look out for you! Hope to see you there!
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Have you had your Dinner for Eightish?
We're now into the second round of Dinners for Eightish but some folks didn't get together for round one. It's not too late! If you were listed as host and life got in the way, please reach out to your group now and find a date to get together. Also, if your host hasn't contacted you, feel free to give them a nudge (or even offer to help). RUCC folk consistently report that these small gatherings of friends, old and new, are a great way to connect with our church family. Questions? Contact Kim Lara-Kane or Loring Fiske-Phillips or email d48ish@redlandsucc.org.
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RUCC Book Group selections
These are the book selections for the RUCC Book Group for the remaining months of 2025:
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Singing in the Pines
Do you love singing? Solos? Choirs? Small ensembles? Do you love being in the great outdoors and singing out for all you're worth? Register for the Unitarian Universalists' Singing in the Pines, August 7-11, to join Malcolm Hawkes, a collegiate vocal instructor, pedagogue, and choral director.
Lots more information and registration is available at this link. (This event is connected to "Hope Renewed" below.)
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Racial Justice Message
On July 8, 1860, more than 50 years after Congress banned the trafficking of enslaved Africans into the U.S., the ship Clotilda arrived in Mobile, Alabama, carrying more than 100 enslaved people from West Africa. In 1865, the Clotilda survivors once enslaved by Mr. Meaher were free—but still trapped in a foreign land far from their home. They settled along the outskirts of Mr. Meaher’s property, at a site that came to be known as “Africatown,” and developed a community modeled after the traditions and government they had been forced to leave behind. Well into the 1950s, descendants of the Clotilda passengers living in Africatown maintained a distinct language and unique community of survival.
- Source: https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/jul/08
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Environmental Justice Message
We are finally coming to understand that love for neighbor and love for self naturally lead to love for the earth … If you love your neighbors as yourself, you will want all your children and your future descendants to be able to enjoy the beauty of creation too, so you will care about conservation and you will see ecology as a beautiful and holy science.
Source: Brian D. McLaren, The Great Spiritual Migration, Convergent Books, New York, 2016, p. 60.
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John Walsh is keynote speaker at "Hope Renewed" camp
Member Pat Gordon is on the board of directors for the Unitarian Universalists' Camp de Benneville Pines, located in Barton Flats, on Jenks Lake West. She invites the RUCC community to the 2025 Summer Break Camp for Adults & Singing in the Pines featuring member Rev. John Walsh as keynote speaker.
John will address the impacts of climate change on our planet and our government’s reluctance to respond. John asks, “What can we do to find a path to environmental awareness? How can we live mindfully green?” The voices of John Muir, Rachel Carson, Annie Dillard, and other mindful writers ask us to respond to their environmental warnings.
Much more information and registration at:
https://www.uucamp.org/camps-retreats/adult-camps/2025-summer-break-camp-for-adults-singing-in-the-pines/
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Wrapping Synod in prayer and care
The UCC General Synod is meeting in Kansas City, Missouri, July 11-15, and Redlands UCC, along with volunteers across the denomination, created a handmade prayer shawl to offer comfort and spiritual support to participants.
We pray for the delegates attending from our Southern California Nevada Conference: Cheryl Farrell, Faren Eng, Jude Johnson, Amiah Adamiak, Heather Branton, Valerie Hubbard, Tameka Love, Craig Tyrl, Anaya Turner, Berniece Kelemete, Juan Sanchez, Madison Shockley, Jim Burklo, Rachael Pryor, Tim Seery, and Aquarius Love.
This national gathering of the United Church of Christ will address these resolutions.
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This week
Saturday, July 12
- 5:30 p.m. - Game and Conversation Night, Covenant Hall
Sunday, July 13
- 9:15 a.m. - Kid's Zone
- 9:30 a.m. - Seekers (social time at 9:15 a.m.)
- 10:30 a.m. - Summertime Sunday School
- 10:30 a.m. - Worship in the Sanctuary
Monday, July 14
Tuesday, July 15
- 7:00 p.m. - Board meeting
Wednesday, July 16
- 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. - Mah Jongg, Mosaic Hall
Thursday, July 17
Friday, July 18
- 5:00 p.m. - Young and Middle Adult group, Trivia Night (see article)
- 7:00 p.m. - Women's closed AA meeting
Saturday, July 19
Sunday, July 20
- 9:15 a.m. - Kid's Zone
- 9:30 a.m. - Seekers (social time at 9:15 a.m.)
- 10:30 a.m. - Worship and Sunday School
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Upcoming Dates to Remember
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July 11-15 - UCC General Synod in Kansas City, Missouri
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July 27 - Rev. Joe's last Sunday at RUCC
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August 3 - Quarterly Gathering, Christmas in July
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August 10 - Retirement celebration for Susi Jacobsen
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