BCUCC News for Sunday, June 16, 2019

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News and Upcoming Events

·         Sunday June 16: Worship at 10am.  Music Appreciation Sunday!  Theme: “What We Value”. Scripture: Isaiah 55:1-3, Mark 12:13-17.  And there’s more.  Happy Father’s Day!  New members will be joining our church today.

·         Tuesday June 18:  Church Council meets at 7pm in Joshua Tree Room.

·         Saturday June 22: OC Pride Parade and celebration.  A number of UCC churches will be marching together.  Join the Parade and celebrate inclusive welcome with us!  Do you have an idea for a unifying theme for our group in the parade?  Let’s make it happen!

·         Have you pledged to support our church?  You have probably received a pledge letter; extra letters will be in your bulletin this Sunday.  Your support makes church happen.  Large commitments and small help us plan a faithful and responsible budget, so we can fulfill our mission. Your presence and participation matters.  

·         Electronic Giving makes your giving and church accounting easy.  You can sign up for the tested and trustworthy UCC electronic giving service to transfer money from your credit card, debit card, checking or savings account, weekly, monthly or one time.  It only takes a couple minutes to set up.  Go to breaucc.org, and click the “donate” link in the upper right corner. 

·         Sunday June 30: At a short congregational meeting, we will vote to approve the budget for June 2019 to July 2020.

·         The UCC offers an online daily devotional that sometimes has a refreshing take on traditional scripture passages.  You can subscribe by email here: https://www.ucc.org/daily_devotional, or scroll down the page to view entries in your browser.

·         Sharing Musical (and artistic) Gifts in Worship: Would you like to share a meaningful song, or instrumental music, or poem, or photos, or dance, or…?  Our suggested theme is: “Our Rainbow of Creativity”.  Starting June 23 through the summer, the choir is on break and your gifts for worship will be most appreciated.  Jessica can support musical endeavors.

·         The Lord’s Prayer in Worship. – a note from Pastor Terry, on behalf of the Worship Team (Karen Hill, Shannon Clay, Ann Marshall, Jessica Cosley)
      The order of our worship– which parts of the service happen when– has changed significantly over the past year or so.  Most of those changes seem to be working well.  Several months ago, BCC’s Worship Team decided to move the Lord’s Prayer in worship from its spot after the pastoral prayer to a slot early in the service.  This was done so that children (who usually exit for Sunday School) could participate in a meaningful part of our worship that would be accessible to them.  It’s working!  We hear children reciting the Lord’s Prayer with us.  At the same time, a number of adults miss that prayerful feeling they got from the Lord’s Prayer when they said it after the Pastoral Prayer, later in the service.   To aid in the transition from announcements to reverent worship, I have recently started offering short reflections leading into the Gathering Song. We can’t please all the people all the time.  Try the Lord’s Prayer as it is for a little while longer, then if you still really long for its old role as the close of the pastoral prayer, let someone on the worship team know.  

Ongoing

·         Tai Chi is now on hiatus through the summer.

·         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! 

·         The BCUCC Theological Book Club will be reading Finally Comes the Poet—Daring Speech for Proclamation by Walter Brueggemann.  Brueggemann tells us that the Christian gospel can be too often preached with excessive certitude which can reduce it to coercive, debilitating pietism that can mask the text’s meaning.  He proposes an alternative voice that is artistic, poetic, and dramatic.  Come join the discussion.  We’ll meet on June 26th to discuss Chapters 3 & 4.  We’ll meet at the Hill household.  Please call or email at 714-693-0261 or jandkhill@mac.com for directions.