Erin Beardhemphl is in the pulpit this Sunday

Third Sunday in Lent, March 3

Matthew 16 asks a lot of questions about identity. Who do people think Jesus is? Who do the disciples think Jesus is? Who is Simon? It begs the question: How much do we know about someone based on their name? How much do we assume? Explore these questions with me this Sunday!

Sunday's Scripture:

Matthew 16: 13-20  

Run for Jill - Run though Redlands, March 3, and L.A. Marathon, March 17

 Please join us in celebrating Jill Kirchner-Rose with our Run for Jill event! We have several church members set to run the LA Marathon on March 17th and many more participating in the Run Through Redlands on March 3rd. If you would like to register for the Run through Redlands, please go to Redlandsrun.com for online registration and choose Team Jill. If you would like to walk the 5K with a group from RUCC please contact Janet Wilson for details of the time and place to meet on Sunday March 3rd.

There will also be a special donation open from now until March 24th with all donations to be split between The American Cancer Society and Heifer International, both charities that connect with Jill and our mission at RUCC. Please use the link below to make your donation in Realm or make your checks out to Redlands United Church of Christ and put Run for Jill in the memo line. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to Celebrate Jill, join in an activity as a Church Family, cheer each other on, and promote positive change.

https://onrealm.org/RUCC/give/runforjill

RSVP NOW for the March 3 Kids and Youth Pizza and Movie Party

At noon, following Fellowship Time, children and youth will gather in the youth room to watch a brand-new Peanuts mini movie called “Welcome Home, Franklin.” (Click on the LA Times link below for more information about this film.)

We’ll have pizza and enjoy spending time together while watching the untold story of the time Franklin first moved to the Peanuts neighborhood!

Date: Sunday, March 3

Time: 12:00-1:30

Location: Youth Room

RSVP: admorics@mac.com, so that we know how much pizza to get!

Invite your non-RUCC friends too!

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2024-02-15/snoopy-presents-welcome-home-franklin-robb-armstrong

Caring for Kin

Women of Faith, Interfaith Service Community

During March we are collecting items needed to help refugee families get settled in their new communities. Jean Arnott does an amazing job of coordinating local services needed to enable these new families to find a place to live, stock their homes with necessary supplies, find jobs, enroll in school, access transportation, connect with the community, and so much more.

If you’d like to contribute something, you can bring it to church with you on Sunday, drop it off at the warehouse in Mentone, order and have it shipped directly to Women of Faith ISC, or donate cash and WoF will do the shopping for you.  Recent cash donations have also gone towards paying for driver education classes for women learning to drive for the first time and to pay for the evaluation of a woman’s university transcripts in her homeland so she can continue her studies here. 

If you have an order shipped directly to Women of Faith and put your name next to Women of Faith in the address, you’ll be notified with a text and picture when your donation arrives.  Happy to provide a receipt.  Just let Jean know where to send it.  jeanarnott@gmail.com

The address to ship or send a check to is:

Women of Faith Interfaith Service Community

31838 Florida Avenue

Mentone, CA 92359

Venmo (for now) is @JEAN-ARNOTT-1

CLICK HERE for a list of needed items

Updates from your Settled Pastor Search Committee

Our search for a settled pastor is intensifying in good ways.  In the past month, we have done video conference interviews with four candidates.  From this we invited two people to come for an in-person interview.  These will be happening the week of March 3. 

We are excited to have two strong candidates who are experienced and capable enough to lead us into the future.  But we know that there is a lot of work ahead.  So, we ask for your prayers as we continue to do this important work.  Pray that the candidates have safe travels and show their full selves so we can see what they would bring to RUCC. Pray that we on the search committee will keep our hearts and minds open so we can find the best pathway for our church. 

Sophia Beardemphl, Loring Fiske-Phillips, Keith Osajima (Chair), Samantha Sanchez-French, Dee Dee Seek, Diana Steele-Jones, Minori Tsukimoto,John Walsh, and Janet Wilson.

We're still looking for a Youth Director!

This may be only a part-time position, but it is important to our church's mission. The Youth Director plays a key role in helping our young people understand why RUCC's values and theology are important to them as they prepare to go out in the world.

......................~~ The RUCC Personnel Committee

From the Environmental Justice Team

The UCC Council for Climate Justice (https://www.ucc.org/what-we-do/justice-local-church-ministries/justice/faithful-action ministries/environmental-)justice/the_ucc_council_for_climate_justice/ ) was established to raise awareness in the UCC about climate justice and to bring people together for action.

It will be hosting a Climate Action Assembly on March 6^th, 2024 at 10 a.m. PT. Updates will be presented on the three endeavors launched for this year: the Freedom from Plastics Campaign, the Electrification Checklist Initiative, and the Vote for Climate Hope Campaign. UCC members may register for the assembly here: Register to join us!

Racial Justice reflection of the week

In a test of California’s Racial Justice Act, a state appellate court is giving a Black man a second chance to prove his allegations that his 2022 traffic stop and subsequent arrest by San Diego police was prompted by unconscious racial bias. The 4th District Court of Appeal found that the San Diego Superior Court judge who initially heard concerns the driver raised under the three-year-old law “fail(ed) to address the abundant evidence suggesting that the traffic stop may have been the product of unintended racial bias.”

The unanimous three-judge panel found that by relying on the conclusion that the officer didn’t know the driver’s race, the judge “ignored the possibility that the officer’s actions were a product of an implicit bias that associated things the officer did know — the location of the stop and the clothing (the driver) was wearing — with race.”

The court ordered that the lower court rehear the case, this time with the idea of implicit bias in mind.

Source: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/story/2024-02-22/racial-justice-act-traffic-stop-appeal-ruling

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Chapman University’s 40th Annual Founders Day - Saturday, March 9

Come hear prolific writer and acclaimed speaker Diana Butler Bass. Register at www.chapman.edu/founders-day.

UPCOMING DATES TO REMEMBER

• March 2 - Sacred Saturday 8 a.m. to 12 noon
• March 3 - Book group - Noon - Founders' Room - with Inlandia author Ellen Estilai
• March 4 - Lenten Series will not meet today - See announcement above
• March 5 - Election Day - Covenant Hall will be a polling place
• March 9 - Chapman University Founders Day featuring Diana Butler Bass. See article above
• March 10 - Super Shepherd Sunday - Watch The View for details
• March 11, 18, and 25 - Lenten Series continues
• March 12 - Stewards meeting
• March 17 - Wider Ministries "Caring Fair"
• March 20 - Board Meeting
• March 28 - Seder and Tenebrae
• March 31 - Easter Sunday

The church calendar is found at redlandsucc.org

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