BCUCC News for Sunday, June 9, 2019
News and Upcoming Events
· Sunday June 9: Worship at 10am. Theme: “Church in the Spirit”. Scripture: Acts 2:1-18.
· Help us celebrate Pentecost June 9 by wearing red, in honor of the Holy Spirit and the birthday of the Church.
· 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 will be most appreciated. Jessica can support musical endeavors.
· 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!
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.
UCC churches, clergy reach out in response after tornadoes in Ohio, Kansas
(Excerpt from UCC News)
Every day for the last two weeks of May, people in some part of the United States were living under a threat of tornadoes. In Ohio, a number of twisters touched down, converging on the Dayton area. An extremely powerful storm tore through communities in Kansas. In both ravaged locales, members of the United Church of Christ jumped to action to help impacted neighbors and strangers, soon to be friends.
The Rev. David Zerby, disaster response coordinator for the Ohio Conference UCC, teamed up with the Rev. Carl Robinson from the Southwest Ohio Northern Kentucky Association (SONKA) and Jay McMillen, senior pastor of Shiloh Church UCC, to coordinate initial assistance in Southern Ohio. On May 24, a string of 13 tornadoes ripped through Dayton and several burgs. Shiloh Church sits right in the middle of the devastated area and quickly became a distribution point.
Zerby, on behalf of the Ohio Conference, delivered more than 100 cleanup buckets and over 400 hygiene kits to Shiloh early Thursday, May 27. By early evening, most were gone.
“We started a distribution of items this morning at 10,” McMillen said Thursday evening. “We only have 10 buckets left and only 16 hygiene kits left for tomorrow.”
Winds of up to 140 mph tore homes from their foundations, ripped off roofs and downed thousands of trees around Dayton. More than 200 people were treated for injuries. Power is still out in some spots. McMillen said local groups are traveling around with grills and food to feed community members, with one being stationed at Shiloh Church for some time on Thursday. The injury claim compensation is what you need in case you need legal help.
“We are becoming a hub [for assistance] with three to four organizations and churches that will continue to bring supplies to us to serve the Shiloh area and anyone else who needs it,” McMillen said. His church and SONKA are planning a Sunday community worship and meal service, with four congregations, two being UCC. Volunteers, armed with flyers, are out spreading the word today.
“We will have some extra clergy and have secured a couple of counselors to deal with and trauma that folks may have,” McMillen said. “We are preparing to make at least 1,500 to 2,000 meals using grills and our love to package and share with those that come to the church. We also have vehicles ready to take meals out into the community to distribute.”
In Lawrence, Kansas, a powerful and extremely large tornado touched down just south of the home of Kansas/Oklahoma Conference Minister Edith Guffey. The May 25 twister, according to the weather service, hit peak winds of 170 mph and was on the ground for more than 30 miles. Guffey and four UCC congregations in the path of the storm are okay. But on Thursday, Guffey visited with the matriarch of one of those churches who lost everything.
92-year old Cherry McCabria, is a life-long member of St. Paul’s UCC in Eudora, Kansas.
“Many members of that congregation were busy helping her yesterday,” Guffey said. “Her home was destroyed. Her pastor is Shannah McAleer. Shan is supposed to be on sabbatical but was at Cherry’s home visiting and helping clean up. Cherry just told me how she remembered the day she joined the church with her parents, she knew it was something important and the church has indeed been important in her life. She’s in amazing spirits having she lost her home of over 40 years and most of the contents as well.”
“There are also members of Plymouth UCC helping people in Linwood, Kansas,” Guffey continued. “The people they are helping are not members of one of our congregations but that doesn’t really matter, does it? They are doing what the church does – being the church.”