BCUCC News for Sunday, March 18, 2018

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This Weekend

  •    Fri. 3/16, Sat. 3/17, Sun. 3/18 : Trojan Women: A Love Story at the Long Beach Playhouse. Friday 3/16 and Saturday 3/17 at 8pm, Sunday 3/18 at 2 pm. Our own Rose London is acting. Support and enjoy community theater. Tickets at: http://www.lbplayhouse.org/show/trojan-women-love-story/
  •        Sun. March 18: worship theme is “Widening the Circle.” Mark 7:24-28.
  • Sun. March 18: Connecting Voices:  Elizabeth Hansburg is an urban planner by training. In January of 2017, she started People For Housing Orange County, a volunteer-driven nonprofit organization that advocates for new housing construction in existing communities. P4H is part of a “YIMBY” (Yes in my backyard) movement. While we may not agree with every program P4H is advocating, they challenge us to consider what it means to truly love our neighbor. Elizabeth lives in Fullerton with her husband, a public school teacher, and her daughter.
  • Sun. March 18, 3pm: Transition Team Meeting in Manzanita Room.

Upcoming

  • Tues. March 20, 7pm: Church Council meeting in Manzanita Room
  • Thurs. March 22, 6:30: Worship Meeting in Church Office
  • Sun. March 25: Palm Sunday. Theme: “Unheard Gospel” Bible Reading: Mark 14:1-10.
  • Fri. March 30, 7:30 pm: Service of Remembrance on Good Friday.
  • Sun. April 1:  Easter Sunday!  We invite you to bring family, friends, and flowers for our Flower Cross.  Trumpet will accompany our festive music.  This will also be First Food Sunday!
  • Sun. April 8:  Heritage Sunday. Potluck, exploring a timeline of our church’s 105-year history, and conversation about what we treasure and what we want to bring into our future.

Community Events

  • Saturday March 24, 2 pm: March for our Lives OC (For safety from gun violence) Centennial Regional Park, 3000 W. Edinger, Santa Ana.
  • The musical Godspell by Craig Tyrl’s company The Wayward Artist is playing in Santa Ana April 13-29. Tickets are $25 at Vendini: https://tinyurl.com/way-april.

Ongoing

  • The BCUCC Theological Book Club is beginning a new book.  For a change of pace, we will be reading a book of fiction that shows theology through creative transformation and the persuasive power of God.  The book is Augustown by Kei Miller.  Augustown, set in the backlands of Jamaica, is a magical and haunting novel of one woman’s struggle to rise above the brutal vicissitudes of history, race, class, collective memory, violence, and myth.  We will read the first 116 pages and have a discussion on Wednesday, March 14, and then the rest of the novel for the next meeting on March 28.  We meet at 7:00p.m. at the home of Karen and Jim Hill.  Light refreshments are provided.  Please phone or email for directions at 714-693-0261 or jandkhill@mac.com.  Looking forward to a lively discussion together.  See you there.
  • Next Tai Chi is March 29 at 6:30.
  • Choir practice on Thursdays at 7:30pm in the music room. We love newcomers! Give us a try.

UCC Youth planning to join March for Our Lives
(Excerpt from http://www.ucc.org/recent_headlines)

“PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE AFRAID TO GO TO SCHOOL,” said 15-year old Madison. “The only way this can be fixed is if people acknowledge this fear, and stand up to fix this problem. I want to stand up, I want to stop this, and I can only do this with the support of others. The support of my friends, the support of my family, and the support of my church and my faith. Strength comes in numbers. I am here, with my faith and my church by my side, to stop this awful, terrible, and revolting wrong.”

“We as a faith community need to make sure that we’re not just praying, not just keeping those who are in pain in our thoughts,” said 16-year old Melina. ‘We need to make sure that we’re turning our compassion and kindness for others into action to make the world a better place.”…

The Minnesota Conference UCC is sponsoring the travel and participation of these young people through its Ashley Endowment, established over a decade ago by a generous couple who dedicated the endowment to ministry with children and youth, 19 & younger.

“We’ve asked Sandy Sorenson (Director of the UCC Washington Office) to convene all the UCC folks who are there in D.C. to be able to gather in one place. So students have the sense of a greater whole, and understand they are part of a church movement bigger than their own conference,” Minnesota UCC Conference Minster Prestemon said. “We also hope to find a way to keep that group connected after the march. Keep the momentum, connections going after the March for Our Lives.”

“In the witness of students we are seeing policy advocacy at its most powerful,” Sorensen said. “When the people and communities most impacted by an issue claim their voices and demand change, the policy dialogue shifts.”