News and Upcoming Events

·         Sunday, June 30: Worship at 10am. Theme: “Learning to be Neighborly”.  Scripture: Luke 10:25-37. Bryan Wake will be presenting a slideshow this week!

·         Monday, July 15, 7:30pm:  Candlelight Taizé Meditation of Resistance. Scripture, prayer, song and meditation.  Led by our musicians and Karen Hill.  This reflective service is a different style of worship.  Please join us, and invite family and friends who might enjoy such an experience, including meditators and “SBNR’s” (spiritual but not religious…)

·         Tuesday July 16, 7pm: Church Council meets in the Hall.

Ongoing

·         Our Rainbow of Creativity: Through the summer, members and friends of the church will share their creativity with us through the arts and music.  Thanks to all who have shared in this very personal way!

·         Bible Study is on Thursdays at 2-3pm.  Join us in the pastor’s office; you are always welcome.  Ring the bell at the gate on Flower Street.  We are studying the Book of Jeremiah.  Lively discussion about what scripture means to us today. No homework! *During the summer, we may cancel Bible Study on weeks when regulars are traveling.  Call, email or text Pastor Terry if you’re not sure.

·         For our summer read, the BCUCC Theological Book Club chose a novel, The Overstory, by Richard Powers.  Inspired by the Redwood trees, Powers writes an impassioned work of activism and resistance that is, also, a stunning paean to the natural world.  There is a world alongside ours—vast, slow, interconnected, resourceful, magnificently inventive, and almost invisible to us.  Come join the discussion.  We will meet Wednesday at 7pm on July 24 for chapters 7-9, August 7 for chapter 10, and August 21 for chapters 11-12.  For directions please contact the church.

Delegates to General Synod 2019 voted to approve another timely resolution of witness:
“Addressing the State of Global Forced Migration.”  The complete resolution is at https://tinyurl.com/migr-ucc2019  and copies are available in the church entry.  Here is a crucial excerpt:

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED, that the Thirty-Second General Synod of the United Church of Christ:

Affirms a vision of God’s family that is all-inclusive, accepting, and welcoming, recognizing the dignity of every human being; and rejects the divisive discourse of fear, xenophobia, bigotry, and racism that pervades the discourse on global forced migration, including as it relates to policy debates on immigration; and

Calls upon the members of the United Church of Christ in all settings to take seriously the matter of global forced migration: to pray, learn, and actively engage in education about the current state of global forced migration using resources made available through the church, specifically Global Ministries, the UCC’s Humanitarian and Development Ministries, and the UCC National Collaborative on Immigration; and

Urges members of the UCC to participate in practicable ways to address the state of global forced migration through

·         support of denominational partners around the world who are responding to the needs of displaced people, whether they are refugees, migrants, internally displaced, asylum- seekers, or others, through Global Ministries and One Great Hour of Sharing;

·         engagement in refugee resettlement programs in the US through the UCC’s Humanitarian and Development Ministries;

·         advocacy for the rights of refugees everywhere based on the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951); and for Palestinian refugees specifically as stipulated in UN General Assembly Resolution 194 (1948), and for continued US funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency;

·         advocacy and action on issues of economic justice, climate justice, and immigration justice; and

·         efforts to dismantle racism, to learn about different cultures and religions, including Islam, and to counter any form of discrimination, bigotry, and xenophobia when encountered