Sunday's "mystery dad" is Loring Fiske-Phillips

Sunday, June 18 ~ Third Sunday after Pentecost and Fathers' Day and celebration of Juneteenth ~ "Beyond our Imagination: The Infinite Mystery of God"

Like Moses standing before the burning bush, we also yearn to understand the nature of the God who calls us. Moses asks for God's name and gets something quite different than James Earl Jones rumbling “I am your father.” Instead, he gets an enigmatic response, "I AM WHO I AM." How’s that for an invitation into deeper contemplation?! This Divine name points to both the “bigger than we can possibly imagine” nature of God and reminds us that God cannot be easily defined. It invites us into a lifelong journey of discovery and relationship.

Sunday's Scripture

Exodus 3:11-14

June 18 - Third Sunday after Pentecost, Fathers' Day and celebration of Juneteenth

CLICK HERE FOR THE BULLETIN

FOR JUNE 18

Reflection of the week from the Racial Justice Team

When Richard and Mildred Loving awoke in the middle of the night a few weeks after their June 1958 wedding, it wasn’t normal newlywed ardor. There were police with flashlights in their bedroom. They’d come to arrest the couple.

"They asked Richard who was that woman he was sleeping with? I say, I'm his wife, and the sheriff said, not here you're not. And they said, come on, let's go,” Mildred Loving recalled that night in the HBO documentary The Loving Story.

The Lovings had committed what Virginia called unlawful cohabitation. Their marriage was deemed illegal because Mildred was Black and Native American; and Richard was white. Their case went all the way to the Supreme Court. And on June 12, 1967, the couple won.

Now, each year on June 12, "Loving Day" celebrates the historic ruling in Loving v. Virginia, which declared unconstitutional a Virginia law prohibiting mixed-race marriage — and legalized interracial marriage in every state.

Source: https://www.opb.org/article/2022/06/12/june-12-loving-day-when-interracial-marriage-finally-became-legal-in-us/

From the Environmental Justice Team

There’s a huge problem looming as California moves beyond fossil fuels: How to get its declining oil industry to plug and remediate tens of thousands of oil and gas wells that already sit idle or won’t be producing for much longer.

And unfortunately, it’s looking like the companies responsible for the wells, tanks and pipelines won’t end up paying anything close to what it will take to clean up the mess they leave behind.

Addressing this problem should be an urgent environmental priority because oil and gas wells release methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and health-damaging air pollution that puts front-line communities, from Wilmington to Kern County, at increased risk of asthma, preterm births, reductions in lung function and other health problems.

Source: “Editorial: Cleaning up California’s oilfields may cost $21.5 billion. Taxpayers shouldn’t get the bill.” Los Angeles Times, 6/5/23:    https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-06-05/la-ed-oil-cleanup-costs-california-billions

Book Group news - next meeting is Sunday, June 18

The next RUCC Book Group meeting will be on June 18, 2023, at noon, in the Founders’ Room (off of Covenant Hall). The group will discuss the month’s selection, The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult, and the facilitator will be Janet Chandler. After this meeting, there will not be a meeting in July, but the group will resume meeting on August 6. Everyone is welcome!

• June 18, 2023- Selection: The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult; Presenter: Janet Chandler
• July 2023- no meeting in July
• August 6, 2023- Selection: All That She Carried by Tiya Miles; Presenter: Susan Matthews. The group will also choose books to read for the rest of the year at this meeting.

Summer Series begins Saturday, July 8

The Education Area will host this year’s Summer Series at RUCC starting Saturday 8th of July from 5-7pm! The Series title this year is: Widening Our Welcome.

We will hold each session on the grounds of RUCC and begin at 5pm with Games Night for all, then enjoy a potluck dinner together before moving into our Intergenerational activity focused around these four subjects

• Welcoming All Persons with Disabilities - Saturday, July 8th, 
• Welcoming All Genders - Saturday, July 15th, 
• Welcoming All Races and Cultures - Saturday, July 22nd
• Welcoming All Worshipers - Saturday, July 29th 

...................... Save the dates for summertime fun and learning, we look forward to seeing you there!

Caring for Kin continues with Youth Hope

For the month of June, we will be collecting food for Youth Hope, which supports at-risk youth. Youth Hope would like us to focus our efforts on collecting peanut butter, jelly, cereal, granola bars, and pasta and pasta sauce. Let's keep up the good work!

Raise Right - Gift Cards make shopping and fundraising easy

New Brands – If you think you know all the brands offered through the RaiseRight program, think again. They are constantly adding new brands or types (electronic or physical). Just in the last 2 months, the following brands are now available: Jimmy John’s (8%), Meta Quest (6.5%), Instacart subscription (4%), Great Harvest Bread (6%), plus physical cards are now available for Google Play (3%) and Stitch Fix (6%). Browse all of the offerings on the RaiseRight shop:  https://www.raiseright.com/shop

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

June is Pride Month!

• June 20 - Board Meeting - Virtual - 7:00 p.m.
• June 21-27 - Church office closed. Veronica will return from her vacation and be back in the office June 28
• July 1 - Sacred Saturday
• July 4 - Independence Day Holiday
• July 10 - Church Growth Area Meeting - 7 p.m.
• July 11 - Stewards Meeting - 7 p.m.
• July 18 - Board Meeting - Virtual - 7:00 p.m.



The church calendars for June and July are found at uccredlands.org

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