News for June 19th, 2024
Dear Beloved Community,
I am so grateful for the church picnic that we had this past Sunday. I had such a wonderful time breaking bread together out on the front lawn of the church. I know for me, one of the gifts I experienced was to hear stories about your lives. This would only have happened because we shared a meal. Also, as I kept the fire going on the grill and looked out at everyone sitting together and sharing laughs, I thought about gratitude, which I believe is the centrality of Jesus, the unifying power of eating together, the joy and festivity of being and eating together and the importance of sharing our food with one another. So, thank you all for being such a blessing with your presence at the church picnic. At the end of the newsletter are some pictures, thanks to Pepe, of the picnic.
Also, this upcoming Sunday Sabrina will be our preacher! Below is a quote from her on what she will be talking about:
“I'm planning to share some of the things I've learned about navigating spirituality since joining College Heights as I've also been going through a period of self-discovery in other realms simultaneously - especially the process of finding balance between approaching things academically/intellectually vs with emotion/physical senses.”
Finally, at the end of the newsletter there is also a picture of the church's new banner out in the front that celebrates Pride Month. Thanks to Kevin Doyle who made that happen, and put it up for us. It looks so great. When I first saw it, I was filled with joy, and I hope all of you feel proud too!
I do hope all of you are having a great start to the week, and remember that all of you are a blessing to this world.
Peace and blessings!
Jorge
June's Giving Sunday offering is for "Strengthen the Church" (UCC) Below is a video explaining more about the offering.
Recent sermons
Check out our YouTube page to see recent sermons. Go to our archive of slides to see bulletins and slides used during recent services.
Recordings of our Taize services are also on the YouTube page.
Upcoming services and events
Borg Discussion Group: Thursday, June 13th, 7pm, on Zoom. We will be discussing Ch. 3 of Marcus Borg’s Jesus, Compassion, and Politics. Jorge will lead the discussion during Polly’s sabbatical.
Taize: Saturday, June 14th, 7:30pm. Our next monthly Taize service will be on Friday, June 14th. We will hear a reading from Mary Oliver about angels.
Church Picnic: Sunday, June 16. We will be having our church picnic on the front lawn at College Heights.
Book Group: Sunday, June 23rd, 7pm, on Zoom. Our next book will be Catastrophe Ethics by Travis Rieder
UCC Family Camp: July 19-21st, Monte Toyon Retreat Center, Aptos, CA. Save the date to join Belmont UCC like last year! Additional details will be shared closer to the event.
Links and resources
Masterworks Chorale’s spring concerts are coming up — Sat, June 8 at 7pm and Sun, June 9 at 3 pm, at CCSM. The program is titled “Journeys” and features about a dozen very lovely short pieces. Here’s another sample from the playlist: Eric Whitacre's “Child of Wonder". (You might want to bring kleenex…) More info and tickets available here. Come share this moving program with Caje, Polly and David Hooper.
More info and tickets are available here. Come share this moving program with Caje, Polly and David Hooper.
Quote of the week
People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically... No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in. - Rosa Parks
Weekly events
• Meditation group: Wednesdays at 7:30 am
In person at the church building.
• Sunday worship: 10 am
In person at the church building.
Image: LGBTQIA+ Pride Month
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