A message from our Pastor and teacher

April 7, 2024 ~ 2nd Sunday of Easter and Communion ~ "Dead Men Don’t Eat Fish"

Do you ever think about what it was like for the disciples of Jesus on that day in the upper room? Jesus had been crucified.They had seen it. They were still in shock. Drowning in grief and tangled in a web of confusion drawn tighter by the women claiming Jesus' body was gone, and now Cleopas claiming he spent the afternoon talking with Jesus on the way home to Emmaus. What was going on here? 

Sunday's Scripture:

Luke 24: 36 - 49

Take a mini-retreat this Sacred Saturday

Sacred Saturday will be held this week from 9:00 a.m. - noon at the church. We will open our time in community and move into individual silence and contemplation. Our closing will bring us back together. A time of rest and renewal awaits! All are welcome - if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Barbie Fiske-Phillips.

Getting comfortable with the tech at church - starting Monday, April 15

This four-session class is for everyone who would like help with all the technology here at RUCC. Led by Dan Abushanab, this course will help us all become more familiar with Teams, Forms, QR Codes, Screen sharing and more!

• Week 1 (April 15): Basics with Teams. Bring your gear! Installing the apps and logging in with your phone or computer. General communication. Teams, Channels, chats, video calls, @ mentioning. (Pre-work - watch the overview video)
• Week 2 (April 22): Document collaboration. Co-editing documents in channels, sharing links. OneNote vs. Word, benefits of each.
• Week 3 (May 6): Scheduling and hosting meetings in Teams and using the room systems available at the church.
• Week 4 (May 13): More advanced tools. Gathering content in Forms, making a QR code, adding new tabs to channels

This course will run on Mondays from April 15 through May 13 at 7:00 p.m. in Founders Room. (No class on April 29)

Caring for Kin

For the month of April, Caring for Kin is collecting items to help care for homeless dogs and cats.

The Yucaipa Animal Placement Society (YAPS), the Benevolent Animal Rescue Committee (BARC), and the Redlands Animal Shelter have asked for the following donations:....

Children and youth activities

Sunday School April 7 Communion Sunday

We will be having Sunday School this Sunday, April 7. The children are invited to follow Ms. Susi out for Sunday School after the first hymn. (No Children’s Circle this week.) The teachers will lead their students back to the sanctuary to rejoin their families in time to take part in Communion.

Kids and Youth: Art during Fellowship time April 7

On April 7, during Fellowship time, our kids and Youth are invited to create artwork for a nationwide UCC Art Contest. Wouldn’t it be great if the winner came from RUCC?!

You’ll find the entry forms and supplies in Fellowship Hall after worship—see Wendy Birchard or Ms. Susi for more information.

YOUTH GROUP ACTIVITIES

The RUCC Youth Group is open to kids in 6th through 12th Grade.

The Youth had a busy and productive Easter weekend!

• On Saturday morning, they helped with our annual Eggstravaganza Easter celebration for kids and families. It was rainy but we had lots of fun indoors!
• On Sunday,we had our first (at least in recent memory) indoor egg hunt! It is the RUCC tradition that the Youth Group hides the eggs for the younger kids—so this year we had to make that work in Mosaic Hall! They did an excellent job, finding some fiendishly clever places to hide the eggs, and the younger kids had a wonderful time!
• Afterwards they had their own Scavenger Hunt, another longtime tradition at RUCC.

Thanks to the RUCC Youth Group for all your good work this past weekend!

Please help us find a Youth Director!

This may be only a part-time position, but it is important to our church's mission. The Youth Director plays a key role in helping our young people understand why RUCC's values and theology are important to them as they prepare to go out in the world.

......................~~ The RUCC Personnel Committee

Creation Celebration 2024: The RUCC Family Nature Fair - April 27

It’s time to get ready for the 3rd Annual RUCC Family Nature Fair! Fun and games on the patio as we celebrate our natural world.

Date: Saturday April 27 Time: 10 a.m. to noon

Please follow this link to RSVP and to learn all the fun details:

eventbrite.com

From the Environmental Justice Team

The second annual United Church of Christ Earth Summit, hosted by the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College, will take place beginning at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time, Saturday, April 20, 2024:

“The UCC's second annual Earth Summit will feature celebrated author and activist Bill McKibben delivering the Jim Antal Keynote Lecture with the title, "Energy from Heaven or Energy from Hell?" Additionally, [a] panel of award-winning activists will speak about the multi-national struggle against the pollution of Formosa Plastics, one of the world's largest plastics producers.

This event will be both in-person and live streamed via Zoom. … Even if one cannot make the event at its scheduled time, all those who register will receive a link to a recording of the event.”

For more information and registration, go to: https://ucc.zoom.us/webinar/register/9317026581054/WN_rYyzeGCVSIiQ_kNEH5DPQg#/registration

Racial Justice reflection of the week

From the United Nations: Racism, xenophobia and intolerance are problems prevalent in all societies. However, there are many ways you can act!

Avoid being silent.

If you see something, say something! Call out and/or report racism and hate speech, in real life or online.

Start conversations.

Engage in open and constructive discussions with your social circle that allow for concrete solutions to be explored. Join the conversation on social media with #FightRacism.

Change the narrative.

Look out for our stories of people who decided to fight racism and spread the message that racism can be eradicated from our world.

Raise awareness.

Show your support and share the facts using your social media channels and wherever you can.

Source: https://www.un.org/en/fight-racism/get-involved/engage

The work of the Pastoral Relations Committee

The Pastoral Relations Committee meets regularly with the purpose of providing support to our pastor. Members of the committee are Judith Turian, Gretchen Andrews, Ben Bohren, Barbie Fiske-Phillips, Nick Mineo-Wells and Sarah Sanchez-French. We might provide feedback to the pastor, but our main purpose is to provide a safe space for the pastor to share about plans, hopes and dreams for their ministry and also to express where help or support is needed. It is a confidential meeting, and we are honored to be able to participate in a way that helps our pastor remember to take care of themselves so that they can be in the best possible shape to take care of us.

UPCOMING DATES TO REMEMBER

• April 6 - Sacred Saturday, 9 a.m. - noon
• April 7 - Book Club Founders Room at noon. The group will discuss Crossing the Line. Deborah Rada will be the discussion Leader.
• April 15, 22, May 6, 13 - Getting comfortable with technology series of 4 classes
• April 21 - Candidate service with Rev. Joe Zarro followed by congregational meeting to vote on calling him as RUCC's next settled pastor
• April 27 - 3rd Annual RUCC Family Nature Fair
• May 2 - Blood Drive
• May 7 - Y-Circus (see article above)

The church calendar is found at redlandsucc.org

Click on "calendar" in the red banner near the top of the page