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Why we love our church . . .
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 Julie Receives Antoinette Brown Award!
At every United Church of Christ General Synod since 1975, the Antoinette Brown Award has been given to two clergywomen who "exemplify the contributions that women can make through ordained ministry, have provided outstanding ministry in a parish or other church related institutions, including women in specialized ministry, and have a sensitivity concerning the challenges and possibilities of women in ministry and advocacy on behalf of all women in the church." This year our Senior Pastor, Julie Peeples, has received this award!
» Read more about the award and Julie here...
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This I Believe
We have begun a new, multi-faceted program this winter, based on the NPR series, This I Believe. All in the congregation is invited to write their own brief essay - see the latest newsletter for details. During Lent, we will invite a willing participant each week to share their essay in worship. Four-week small groups with this focus are meeting on Thursdays at 7:00 pm (through Feb. 26 - led by Julie), and Tuesdays at 1:00 pm (through March 4th - led by Paul). These groups are designed especially for those who are wrestling with their beliefs, who want to clarify their core values, rather than those who have it all figured out!
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Julie in Israel
Julie Peeples (along with Terry Moore-Painter and the others) visited Israel between December 1 and 11. At the web site linked below, you will find some of Julie's thoughts, trip news, and a collection of excellent photos.
» Click here for info from Julie's trip to Israel
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Sermon: "Living Messages"
Last week, in the first part of this series on community, I spoke about the early church: how
they experienced great joy which stemmed from the shared conviction that they'd been freed
from fear, from shame, and from self-centeredness. As I prepared this second installment in
the series, a variety of situations surfaced as possible illustrations about community. I thought
about the Red Sox and their ability to work as a team and to overcome great obstacles, but
decided, why cause added pain for all you Rays and Yankees and Dodgers fans? Of course,
there is the political realm as well, but given the bombardment of ads and mailings and so on, I
figured we could all use a little break from such illustrations.
» Click here to read Rev. Julie Peeples' entire sermon (pdf)
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Stewardship
Come And Share The Vision: Building on our great heritage, continuing to find new and exciting ways to express our love for God and all God has created. This is what gratitude and stewardship are all about! Below you'll find links to two resources from All Saints Sunday: The Stewardship Brochure in Adobe Acrobat pdf format and the Microsoft PowerPoint slideshow in ppt format.
» Click here to view the Stewardship Brochure 2009 (pdf)
» Click here to view the Share the Vision 2009 PowerPoint presentation (ppt)
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Visitors - You Are Welcome Here!
Congregational United Church of Christ is a warm, welcoming congregation that is always happy to receive visitors. To help you feel as comfortable and at-home as possible when you visit us, we've put together some information on what the Congregational experience is like, including what to wear, nursery and Sunday school hours, the worship service, communion, and more. Please note that Congregational is wheelchair accessible.
» Click here for Visitor Information
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Heritage Sunday
Sunday, May 18, we had a special luncheon to honor our (many!) members who have been a part of this fellowship for 40 years. The luncheon featured two slide presentations compiled by Ken Sell and a brief presentation on how we all can actively support this church for the next 40 years.
» Click here to see photos from Heritage Sunday
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Sunday Schedule
Join us this Sunday for worship, Sunday school, or both! And if you want to share fellowship and refreshment after the service, join us for coffee hour in our Fellowship Hall (just follow the crowd to get there!). All are welcome.
Sunday School: 9:45 a.m.,
Worship: 11:00 a.m.,
Youth Meeting: 4:00 p.m.
» Sunday school classes
» Directions to the church
» Contact us with any questions
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Extravagant Welcome, Justice, Peace, and Faith
The United Church of Christ is a blend of four principal traditions - Congregational, Christian, Evangelical, and Reformed. Each of these traditions has left a mark on U.S. religious and political history, and together we have a history of more than three hundred years of extravagant welcome, justice, peace, and faith. To get a birds-eye-view of the UCC, look at UCC Firsts on the United Church of Christ website. For more in-depth information about our denomination, start exploring from the UCC home page.
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StillspeakingMoney Electronic Contributions
Many of you have asked if it could be possible to give to the church electronically. Now it is! Not only is it possible, electronic transfer of your contributions for the general operating budget is simple and easy! StillspeakingMoney is the automated giving program of the United Church Of Christ which allows you to authorize automatic deductions from your checking or savings account and funds will be transferred electronically to our church account.
» Click here to learn more about electronic giving
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Important Southern Conference Documents
An Economic Justice Covenant, Community Investing, and Community Investing Options are two resolutions plus a supporting document passed by the Southern Conference Annual Meeting in June 2008. New Occasions Teach New Duties is a document written by Conference Minister Steve Camp and presented for study in the Southern Conference churches for the next six months. For this last document, local churches are invited to offer feedback to Steve and the Conference Board of Directors. Please note that these documents are in portable document format (pdf), which requires Adobe's free Acrobat Reader. If you don't have the Acrobat reader installed on your computer, you can download it from Adobe's site: Click here to download free Adobe Acrobat Reader.
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Sermon: "Making Space"
Not too long ago, there was yet another powerful installment on the series I love on National Public Radio, This I Believe; I hope some of you listen to that. This time the person sharing was a parent from Michigan named Ann Karasinski. She spoke simply yet powerfully of the hopes and dreams she'd had for her child, her daughter Katie, and how those hopes and dreams had not included the heroin addiction that became their family's nightmare. » Click here to read Rev. Julie Peeples' entire sermon (pdf)
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Remembering Isa Dollyhigh and Jorge Guerra
 On Saturday, March 22, 2008, Isa Dollyhigh, our beloved Music Director, her husband, Jorge Guerra, and her mother, Coleen Dollyhigh were tragically killed in a car accident. We have created a web page memorial to Isa and Jorge that includes a slideshow of pictures, a short biography of Isa, a remembrance by Julie Peeples, and musical recordings from Isa's time with us.
» Click here for Isa and Jorge Memorial
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Rowland Memorial Library
 The Rowland Memorial Library is located in the church's lower level, but the place to find the newest books is the book cart in the Fellowship Hall. The checkout and return procedures for the book cart are simple. To check a book out, fill in your name and the date on the card in the back of the book and place the card in the black check-out box on the book cart. To return a book, just retrieve the card from the black check-out box, put it back in the book and put the book back on the cart for someone else to enjoy. Our featured book is currently Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth: Prayers of Walter Brueggemann.
» Click here for a review and a list of the library's newest books
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