CCC NewsNotes April 6, 2004
Volume No 60  Issue No 7

CCC Anti-Racism Workshop  7-8 May 2004, Worship Service Forum, Consecration Sunday, New Small Groups, Upcoming Mini-Retreat, Blood Drive Results,  Bethany Beach Weekend, Parent Night Out, Social Witness Concerns, Lenten Art Lectures, Church School Registration, Art Displays Needed, Is Your News Notes Article Missing?  NewsNotes Deadline,  CCC Staff

CCC Anti-Racism Workshop  7-8 May 2004

The Executive Council has approved a church-wide initiative to embark on an experiential/spiritual journey to examine racism at CCC. Christ Church has a long history of engagement with racism. We talk about living in a diverse community and wanting to reflect that diversity. We want to become a truly anti-racist/multi-racial/multicultural congregation. One step in that journey is the Anti-Racism Workshop 7-8 May at CCC.

In the workshop our hoped for outcome is to develop a common understanding of racism, develop a common language, and deepen our cultural sensitivities. We will look at the historic and current contexts of racism, at how forces of racism have been at work, and at how we may be participating in its perpetuation. We will also look at the building of anti-racist, multicultural diversity and the shaping of an anti-racist cultural identity.

To join the committee guiding this anti-racism initiative or for more information, contact Jim Henkelman-Bahn at (301) 445-1752 or by e-mail at hjames34@comcast.net, or Delilah Marrow at (301) 641-8845 or by e-mail at Delilahy72@aol.com.

Registration Form for
Anti-Racism Workshop
Printable registration form

Friday, 7 May, 6-9 PM & Saturday, 8 May, 8:30 AM till 4 PM

I/We plan to attend all sessions of the Anti-Racism Workshop.

Name(s): ____________________________________________

____________________________________________________

 I will need child care for (list ages): _____________________

Contact information:

Telephone: ___________________________________________

Email: _______________________________________________

Return this registration to the Church Office with $25 per person attending the workshop. Checks should be made out to CCC and designated for the Anti-Racism Workshop.

 

Worship Service Forum

The Board of Deacons will be offering two Worship Service Forums following the services on Sunday April 18th in the Meeting Room at 9:50 am and 11:30 am. While we are not planning any changes to the current schedule at this time we would like to get a feel for what is working for members and where improvements could be made. If you are unable to attend at these times but would like your views to be expressed at the meetings, please let us have these in writing beforehand so that we can bring them to the meeting as discussion items. We have received a number of helpful comments during this church school year and we want to make changes where we are sure they will satisfy the majority of members needs. Glenda Neal has kindly agreed to provide childcare for both meetings in room 6.

The Worship Committee

Consecration Sunday

Please make plans for April 25, Consecration Sunday, to culminate this year’s stewardship program. Dr. Reiss Potterveld, President of Lancaster Theological Seminary, will preach as Guest Steward at a special Taize-based service. Breakfast will be served before both services at 8:00 A.M. and 10:00 A.M. Children in first grade and above are invited to participate in this special worship service. Child care will be provided for younger children. Call the church office, 301-585-8010, to RSVP or sign up on the church bulletin board.

The Board for Church Life will again be hosting a "small group organizing day" on Sunday May 2, following both morning services. We will have information and sign-up sheets for some new groups as well groups previously started. Each new group will need a "convener" to arrange the first meeting. We will provide guidelines to help you get started; after that, groups will be self-managed. Below are the new groups that have been suggested. Please indicate if you are interested in joining and whether you would be willing to be the convener.

New Small Groups
Printable form

Participate	Convene	Name:_______________ Email: __________    Phone #: ____________
_____	_____	Game Night for Adults - bridge, gin rummy, Monopoly, Scrabble, Other, your choice!
_____	_____	Cultural Events - scheduling plays, concerts, etc. for people who would like to go in a group.
_____	_____	Simplicity Circle (Convener, Winifred Roberts) - for people who want to pare down possessions/commitments
_____	_____	Women’s Mid-Life Support Group (a new one!)
_____	_____	Quilters
_____	_____	Artists
_____	_____	Photographers
_____	_____	Writers (Convener, Alice Wahl) - an opportunity to read your own writings and have them critiqued by others in the group.
_____	_____	Play-Reading Group (Convener, Alice Wahl)
_____	_____	Other (describe another group you would like to start)

 

 ___________________________________

Return to church office (Board for Church Life) or call Priscilla Peterson at 301-942-1720 by April 30.

April 30 - May 1

CCC Retreat House, Yellow Springs, WV

Bruce Strand 301-942-8883

Thanks to all the donors and volunteers who helped make our most recent blood drive on March 27th successful. We collected 29 units of blood. Our goal for each drive is 40 units, and we will keep striving to reach that goal. The next drive is on Saturday, June 12th, so please mark that date on your calendars and look for the sign-up board over the next few months.

Sam Brush, Coordinator

Grab your bucket and your beach chair! CCC is off to the beach! From Friday evening to Sunday noon, July 23rd through the 25th, the church has 40 spaces reserved at the Disciples of Christ retreat center in Bethany. The cost is $100 per adult, $50 for children ages 6 - 15. Children under 5 are free. This includes meals on Saturday and Sunday breakfast. Please contact me by May 20th if you would like to go. The rooms each have 4 bunk beds. Like Camp Soles, you bring your own linens. Check your calendars and if you are interested, contact Terry Strand at 301-942-8883 or terrys@greenacres.org . There will also be a sign up sheet on the Church Life bulletin board.

 

Remember to sign up for the Parent Night Out Program, which is to meet on April 16th from 6:30 - 10:00 PM. The sign up sheet is located on the Church Life bulletin board near the kitchenette on the first floor. This is a co-op child care program which meets on the third Friday of every month. Children of all ages come together to play in a family-like atmosphere. Questions? Contact Glenda Neal at (301) 622-3948 or gbneal1958@eartthlink.net.

UCC Spending Cuts. National UCC leaders are facing the necessity of cutting $2 million from the 2005 budgets of the four covenanted UCC ministries: Justice and Witness Ministries, Local Church Ministries, Wider church Ministries, and the Office of General Ministries. The cuts will come on top of the $3.2 million already cut over the past three years and are the result of a $1.5 million one-year decline in giving to Our Church’s Wider Mission (OCWM), as well as drops in investment income. The series of test UCC television ads airing at present in six markets represents an attempt to stem this negative tide by raising the profile of the denomination; a national roll-out of the ads will begin in November. For more on the UCC’s financial situation, see the April issue of United Church News.

Anne Weissenborn, Board for Social Witness

Lenten Art Lectures

The congregation has been wonderfully enriched by the Lenten Art Lectures on Art and Spirituality presented by Jean Caswell in March. The Adult Education Committee and the Committee for the Arts send Jean our heartfelt appreciation and thanks.

In an effort to ensure the safety of our children and youth, the C.E. Board has developed a new updated Church School Registration form. Over the next several weeks, the forms will be available during social hour, in your child’s church school class, or can be downloaded from the CCC web site, www.christ-ucc.org . We ask that parents or guardians complete a form for each child in church school, from infants and toddlers through high school seniors. The information will be used to assemble the CCC Church School Roster, to provide emergency contacts for each child and to ensure that activities during church are safe for your child. Classes often take part in baking, cooking or preparing simple meals. Does your child have food allergies or other allergies that his or her teacher should be aware of? Photographs are frequently taken during church school activities, the worship services and other CCC events. Some of these pictures appear on the CCC web site. There is a place on the form for you to give your permission for such photos to be used. There is also a place on the form for you to indicate your interest in helping with our church school as a volunteer teacher or substitute. Giving one Sunday a month of your time to teach a church school class is a rewarding way to participate in the life of our CCC community. We will be completing an initial re-registration of our children and youth this spring and will follow up annually in September of each year. We thank you for your cooperation. --

Susan Gray

Is Your News Notes Article Missing?   It's possible it went up in smoke with my computer last week -- my apologies! I should be fully restored by the next edition. Meanwhile, if you don’t receive acknowledgment for an article you email to me, please give me a call as I may not have received it. Thanks, Joan Boyer