FINAL CALL for the

Peace High and Dry

Campaign!!!

We've received $83,941 so far!

If you haven't had a chance to contribute, continue reading.

Sometimes “high and dry” is a bad thing. In this case, “High and Dry” is what we all want for our church! So we’re asking you to invest in our High and Dry Campaign, addressing both structural and aesthetic issues caused by roof leaks in the sanctuary building. Approved by the congregational meeting in June, we’re pushing to complete this fundraising effort in just one month, August 14 to September 11, so that work on our fascia, gutters, and downspouts can be finished before the rainy season.

The project will take 90 days to complete, with a projected cost of $110k. Since these needs have gone long unattended and we can’t be absolutely sure of everything we’ll find until the work is underway; it is prudent to allow for additional unexpected costs up to $50k. We need to raise most of the money before the work can start and finish it before the deterioration gets any worse. So we’re asking you now…please donate to our High and Dry Campaign!

How can you contribute?...

• With a one-time - OR - recurring payment via PayPal using this LINK

NOTE: If you choose to break up your donation into smaller, recurring payments, please inform the office of the full commitment by email so that we can account for it in the budget! [email protected]

• With a check made out to PUCC (memo "High & Dry") in the offering basket on Sunday or by mail to the church office.

For more info about the campaign click here to READ MORE

To see pictures of the damage to the gutters and fascia, CLICK HERE



Moderator Notes:

Grand Bubbles, Good Food and Cheer

Homecoming Sunday… fun, informative, and an opportunity to strengthen connections. Thank you to all of the leaders of ministries, groups, and events who were on hand to illustrate and inspire. Did you have any idea of all of the goings-ons at Peace? So many volunteers come together and share their gifts. I hope that you picked up some brochures and “invitation cards” (if not, there are more in the narthex) to be further informed of Fall events, and to spread the word of our welcoming community…



Growing hope   Grounding faith    Advancing justice

Heart for Ukraine

Art Show in Support of the Ziniak Family from Ukraine

In Ukraine civilians have been targeted and 4 million have left their homes seeking safety. We can make a difference in the life of one of these families.

The Ziniak family is taking refuge here in Santa Cruz. The oldest daughter, Natalia, studied art in both Ukraine and Italy, and is a highly skilled artist whose paintings reflect a love of music, dance, and nature.

Peace Church is hosting an art show of Natalia’s work in the Fellowship Hall on September 25 from noon to 2:00 pm. You’re invited to view as well as purchase her paintings or greeting cards in support of both her art and her family.

Dostoevsky wrote, “Beauty will save the world.” Natalia’s art touches the heart and is a testimony to a creative spirit able to reach inside of what oppresses and help us see a world that continues to hold us in a space larger than what would crush us.

As of October 1, the family will need of a place to stay as their current housing situation is temporary. If you know of any possible opportunity for housing, please contact Anna or Michael Citrino at [email protected]. Your support of Natalia’s art will have a direct effect on the family’s well-being. Refreshments will be available, and purchases can be made with cash, check, via Venmo, Paypal, or Zelle.

You can view Natalia’s art here at Natalia Aandewiel Fine Art.

Senior Perennials Returns THIS SUN. 9/18!

Please join us in the lounge after you have your coffee for a presentation by Cory Ybarra on “Building Generations"

Senior Perennials is our over 55 fellowship and we will be meeting on the third Sunday of the month from September through May. 

The meeting goes until 1pm and we hope to see you there!

Lote and Lynn

HIP COMMITTEE UPDATE

PEACE VILLAGE PROJECT - SEPTEMBER 12, 2022

We’re getting close!

We expect to see detailed architectural designs including floor plans and building elevations showing the twin buildings redesign very soon. Preliminary civil engineering work has been done for foundations, grading, and site drainage.

We’ve scheduled a “roll-out” presentation for the congregation on Sunday, October 2, after the worship service, in the Sanctuary. Our developer partners will be on hand to present completed designs, and to answer questions.

The Peace Village Project application for approval to the Santa Cruz City Planning Department will be summitted not long afterward - probably in mid-October. After that, the Peace Village project plans will have “gone public.”

Before then, we hope to schedule a Sunday afternoon project review conference with our UCSC neighbors living in the UCSC Hagar Court townhouses to our north - in part to show them how we’ve tried to accommodate their concerns as expressed in our community feedback

presentation three years ago.

We hope to conduct some congregational house meetings to practice with our presentation materials and our pitch in advance of our neighbor meetings. On each of the coming Sundays we will set up a display of our latest site plans for viewing and conversation after the worship service.

Men's Gathering

Calling all Men! A new men’s gathering is in the works! Stew Jenkins, Doug Owen and Philip Spradling will be hosting a potluck supper for guys on Saturday, September 17th from 6 to 8 PM at the home of Stew Jenkins. We have provisionally named the group, Men Eating and Talking(!)

Our intention is to forge and deepen relationships with one another and provide mutual support as we travel life’s journey. Future gatherings may include a hike or bike ride, a work project, a game night, and of course, more eating and talking. We have chosen a time which we hope will be conducive for those working conventional weekday hours. The group is not limited to Peace United men, and we hope it will be ecumenical and interfaith in composition.  

Please RSVP to Philip Spradling at [email protected]. Plan on bringing a contribution for the potluck meal. This could be an appetizer, salad, fruit, bread, a dessert, and, if you have a favorite brew or beverage, bring that along as well. Stew will coordinate the meal and provide a main dish. We look forward to seeing you there!

Peace Home Church

Peace Home Church, which has been on hiatus this summer, resumed on Wednesday, September 7, at 6 p.m. This is a midweek Zoom Meeting to reflect on our spiritual journey. Each week a Spiritual Prompt is sent out with a provocative question.  Our spiritual practice is to listen to one another, not debate or correct or challenge. We speak our own truth. We listen. We hold our sharing in confidence. And then we pray with and for one another, ending with a simple communion you prepare for yourself at home. 

This Fall we will be using quotes from Frederick Buechner (Listening to Your Life) who died this past month at age 96. His writing has been the food for many sermons for ministers of my generation. I am attaching an article by David Brooks in honor of Frederick Buechner that will give you the background on his amazing contribution to our spiritual culture. You can read it HERE

If this is something you would like to experience, please contact Matt Broadbent - [email protected]. We are always open to new people joining us.

Vera Taylor Scholars

As the school year gets underway, we are pleased to introduce this year's four recipients of the Vera Taylor Scholarship. This week we start with Eli Gilbert:

I am a junior in Yale College studying Computer Science and Mathematics, with a strong undercurrent of music. Academically, I'm interested in how to use computer and mathematical models to understand different aspects of the world. I'm also interested in thinking about how best to teach math on an intuitive level, and this year I'll be working as a peer tutor this year for calculus and linear algebra. 

Musically, I'm a clarinetist, conductor, and composer. I play in the Yale Symphony Orchestra and routinely play in pit ensembles for musical theater. I first studied conducting with John Anderson, and now study with William Boughton and conduct the Davenport Pops Orchestra. 

Apart from academics and music, I love running, playing disc golf, working with kids (I spent the summer coaching baseball), and exploring cities. Ultimately, I hope to use my remaining years of college to meet interesting people, experience new things, and explore my interests as much as I possibly can.

Busy Hands

Please join us for a convivial and productive making time.

We meet at Peace, on Wednesday’s from

3-5pm in the Fireside Lounge.

Bring any project you want to work on, or join in the creation of beautiful, meaningful ornaments for our Sanctuary Christmas tree.

For more info, contact Lisa

[email protected]

Poetry at Peace

Hello friends,

Some of the Poems at Peace group gathered last week end as a farewell to Anna and Michael Citrino who have been beautiful souls in our Peace community for the last five years. They have landed a new home in Sonoma County and will be leaving Santa Cruz near the end of the month. Lisa Johnson shared this poem, written by our member, Pam Roby. It’s very fitting for those of us who have uprooted from one ‘home’ and found home in other locations. Enjoy and thank you, Pam. Blessings to the Citrino’s during this next phase of creating ‘home’ for them. 

OUR WORLD, MY HOME

I grew up proud of my village,

  of Lake Michigan which lay beside it,

  of my state and country.

I thought they were each, in their particular way, the best. 

I thought of my family, school and church as the best too.

I’ve moved many times now

And have come to appreciate the special offerings

  of each state, city and town. 

I’ve traveled and have friends living far and wide 

I was surprised to find that I was me wherever I went.

Only a little less surprising was the beauty of our planet 

  on the other side,

And loving families, hard working peoples, conflict

And cooperation, despair, hope, resignation, struggle…

All so like at home. 

I’m proud of my village, state, and nation.

Now I know more of the universe:

Our solar system with its different planets,

Our galaxy with perhaps 200 billion stars,

And the wonder of more than 10 billion known galaxies…

   how many others? 

I suspect that other planets and solar systems,

   like other towns and states, have their special offerings.

But I swell with appreciation and pride

For those of our planet earth—

Her granite mountains studded with grassy slopes and pine,

Her downy woodpeckers, her dogs and fish and sheep,

And, yes, her people—human beings who think and 

  love and create. 

Other planets may have blue skies and starry nights 

  and something resembling rocks.

But I’d miss grasses blowing in the wind,

  the whinnying of horses, the smiles of babies,

  the intelligence of people.

I’m grateful for this world, my home.  

Pam Roby

Santa Cruz, CA, 1984

Many Blessings,

Bonnie Lange

[email protected] | 360.921.7629

 "Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day,

if you listen carefully, you can hear her breathing." 

~ Arundhati Roy

Prayers for Peace

Timeless one, 

your eternal love wraps courage around us as we enter into your invitation to further our spiritual transformation. 

Your ageless presence draws us to you as we step forward, ready to embrace where you lead us. 

This week, we open our hearts and offer prayers for:

• Elizabeth Smith, 38-year-old daughter of Charles and Julia Smith, who is in her last hours. Death is imminent. Please pray for the whole family, and especially for Elizabeth's 13-year-old son, Miles.
• Joanna Hildebrandt who is recovering from surgery in a facility near Monterey 
• The soul of James, Susie Land’s son-in-law, who died unexpectedly this week. We pray for his wife, Jennifer, their three children, Susie and Bob and those who loved James. 
• Darrell Johnson, continuing to be hospitalized following a fall on Labor Day. 
• Gratitude for healing for Rolfe, father of Raneta Pomeroy’s children. 
• All struggling with depression and loneliness. 
• West coast communities suffering through another fire season
• The Pakistani victims of the deadly flood which has displaced 33 million people. 

Your sustaining peace rests within our every heartbeat and accompanies us into the unknown future. 

We bow to you with gratitude and confidence. Amen 

~~Joyce Rupp

Bonnie Lange

[email protected] | 360.921.7629