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Printable version of this NewsNotes CCC NewsNotes October
18, 2005 A Just Peace and Open and Affirming Church Our
Support of a Katrina Displaced Family ############################################################### Our Support of a Katrina Displaced Family For now, there are three avenues CCC is pursuing to assist the victims of Katrina. First is our financial and spiritual support of the UCC’s Hope Shall Bloom covenant and fund. You may sign on to that covenant by going to our United Church of Christ national website: http://www.ucc.org. Second is our partnership with Silver Spring Interfaith Housing Coalition to assist a Katrina-displaced family in relocating to Montgomery County. By the time this issue of News Notes is published, we hope that we have the Duroncelay family moved into their Rockville apartment. Providing them a place to live and furnishing their apartment is just the first step in our commitment. Phase two is providing them the friendship and assistance they need to become members of our community. Greg Duroncelay, his fiancé Kian Gilbert, and Greg’s younger brother, Mike Veal, will need our ongoing support as they rebuild their lives in brand new surroundings. We will provide more information on how you can help in the coming weeks. Our third effort is a commitment to assist UCC’s Back Bay Mission in Biloxi, Mississippi so they can continue their work in helping the Gulf Coast residents who are most in need. The Central Atlantic Conference has agreed to work with the Connecticut Conference to assist BBM. In addition, CCC has talked directly with BBM’s Director of Development to identify ways we can help. In the coming months, we plan to organize work groups to help BBM mission rebuild and do housing rehabilitation for Biloxi’s neediest residents. The Board for Social Witness and the CCC Katrina Response group are also looking at other ways we may be able to help. These efforts will be ongoing because the need will be there long after the television cameras go home. We are committed to making sure both the Duroncelay family and Back Bay Mission receive as much help as we can give them so that they can achieve full recovery. Holly Brooks and Ted Foster, on behalf of the BSW, the CCC Katrina Response group and the Katrina Family Support group Covenant Class Reminder Those interested in participating in summer 2006 Youth Global Experiential Learning Initiative experiences are required to attend at least 3 of the 4 training workshops we have throughout the year. This year our focus is on racism. Junior high youth will be traveling to Memphis, TN to experience the civil rights movement up close. Senior high youth will be going somewhere related to the Gulf and UCC relief efforts. Y-GELI is a program designed to foster the spiritual development of youth for leadership in the church and in the world. The dates for these events will be available soon. The dates for the training retreats are as follows: Saturday, November 5, Little River UCC; Saturday February 25, Heritage UCC; Saturday May 6, CCC; and June 3. All workshops are 10 AM - 3PM. Sunday morning at 9:00—Bible study in
Room 207 Spirituality Retreat at the Church Mark your calendars for a very
special day of retreat! Saturday, November 19 from 9:30 a.m. to
4:30 p.m., Christ Congregational will host Anh-Huong and Thu Nguyen
who have been practicing mindfulness in the tradition of the
world-renowned master Thich Nhat Hanh for 26 years. They have
led mindfulness retreats in the U.S. since 1988 and in 1992 were
among the first students to be ordained as meditation teachers by
Thich Nhat Hanh. Anh-Huong is Thich Nhat Hanh's niece. I
have been studying and practicing with Anh-Huong and Thu for over
4 years and received much wisdom and nurturing from them. Group Spiritual Direction. Beginning this fall and continuing next year, the Spirituality Committee will begin organizing groups for group spiritual direction. Those who attended the CCC Spirituality Day this past March may have participated in a session on the practice. Group spiritual direction is a process in which people gather together on a regular basis to assist one another in an ongoing awareness of God in all of life. We aim to form groups of three to five people who will meet for two-and-a-half hours on a monthly basis. If you are interested, please contact David Novello at (301) 585-5212. The Spirituality Committee would like to remind everyone that the meditation room is almost always open for contemplation. (It is in use many Thursdays for massage/Reiki work.) Please feel free to stop in. In our "go-go" world it is important to slow down and be open to God’s presence. Sitting quietly is a good way to let go of our busyness and intellectual analyses and simply be. We can move from experiencing God’s presence in our head to experiencing God’s presence in our heart. It is a good thing to sit attentively in God’s presence! In addition, someone from the Spirituality Committee is in the room every Sunday morning from 9:45 – 10:15. You may enter or leave (quietly) at any time during that period. Do join us! The Spirituality Committee <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> The Board for Church Life is collecting empty paper towel and toilet paper rolls for one of the Halloween Party crafts. If you are able, please save your rolls and bring them to the church on or before Sunday, October 23rd. There will be a box in the Entrance Hall near the Church office ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ UCC Response to Earthquake. The national UCC has responded to the earthquake in Pakistan/Kashmir by forwarding $20,000 in One Great Hour of Sharing offering funds to Church World Service to be used to send basic health units and assessment teams to the area and to provide emergency food and shelter. The UCC has also sent $5,000 to the National Council of Churches in Pakistan. Contribution checks, made out to Wider Church Ministries and marked for International Emergency Fund-Pakistan Earthquake, can be sent to WCM, 700 Prospect Ave., Cleveland, OH 44115. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WALK FOR THE HOMELESS NOVEMBER 6 sponsored by Silver Spring Interfaith Housing Coalition Where: Sligo Creek Hiker/Biker Trail (Sligo
Pkwy. and Dennis Ave.) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Family
movie night continues! Upcoming Events sponsored by the Board for Church Life:
The First Sunday Pot Luck is an informal gathering of church members to reconnect with old friends and to make new friends over a Pot Luck-style lunch. This group will meets on the first Sunday of each month in the Social Hall after the second church service. Please plan to attend one or all of them, and remember to bring your favorite food dish along with you. Your food can be stored in the Social Hall kitchen until the luncheon begins. If you have any questions, please contact Glenda Neal at (301) 622-3948 or gbneal1958@eartthlink.net. We hope you plan to attend! Friday, October 21st, is the next Parent’s Night Out. This is a co-op childcare program which meets on the third Friday of each month from 6:30 - 10:00 PM. Children of all ages come together to play in a friendly, family-like atmosphere. If you plan to participate, please sign up on the Church Life bulletin board, located near the kitchenette on the first floor. If you have any questions, please contact Glenda Neal (301) 622-3948 or gbneal1958@eartthlink.net. Attention all ghouls and goblins! The annual Halloween Party, sponsored by the Board for Church Life, will be held on Saturday October 29th in the Social Hall from 6:30 – 8:00 PM. Come and join us for a night of games, crafts, tricks, and treats. This event is for ALL ages. If you have any questions or would like to help, please contact Marian Dirda at (301) 589-6412 or m_dirda@yahoo.com, or Lauren Jones at (301) 587-3007. We hope to see you there! ******************************************************************************* God is like…ALKA-SELTZER. Try Him, you’ll like him. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVE AND BE SERVED An Invitation to Serve on the Retreat House Committee One of CCC’s treasures is its Retreat House in Yellow Spring, West Virginia. The pre-civil war house is booked solidly through the spring and fall with retreats for our youth, men and women of the church, and is home to our summer camp program each year. Like any home, the Retreat House requires regular maintenance and upkeep. The members of the Retreat House committee work together to maintain the house and grounds with two work retreats each year – a spring opening retreat and a fall closing retreat. The committee is looking for new members. All that is required is a love of the house and a willingness to work. Join us for our next committee meeting on Wednesday, October 26 at 7:30 in Room 107. We will be reorganizing the committee and looking at the direction we want to take the retreat house in the years ahead. The house is in need of major structural repair to the brick, mortar and foundations. We will also be assessing how those repairs will be made. The closing work retreat is scheduled for November 11 – 13. Join us on October 26 and become a part of the committee. ******************************************************************************* ADDITIONAL OFFICE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED The day-to-day work of CCC is carried out with the supportive help of volunteers. We currently have three volunteers who come in one morning or afternoon each week to assist with answering the phone, helping with the printing of the bulletin and doing projects that come up during the week. One volunteer comes in each Friday to help assemble the bulletins and another team of volunteers prepares News Notes for mailing. We are currently looking for two additional volunteers – one more person to help one afternoon each week in the office, and someone to assist with the printing and folding of News Notes every two to three weeks. (News Notes is run off on our high-speed duplicator and we have a folding machine.) If you would like to give a few hours of your time to CCC each week or every couple of weeks, please call the church office at 301-585-8010. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Scrapbook Club will meet on the first Monday evening of the month from 7:30 to 9:30 PM in Room 208. A Creative Memories consultant will be our guest on November 7th. Bring your photos. Contact Priscilla Peterson at 301-942-1720 or priscillap@starpower.net. Advocates for Children and Youth
Jim Wallis, author of God's Politics and founder of Sojourners to speak at
benefit luncheon: Advocates for Children and Youth invites you to attend
its Third Annual Distinguished Speaker Luncheon on November 1st, 2005.
Tickets must be purchased prior to the event and are $125 or $1250 for a
table of 10. Call Jason Langberg at (410) 547-9200 ext. 3006 or go to
www.acy.org/event for more information and to purchase tickets. Advocates
for Children and Youth is a 501 (c) 3 organization that represents the
needs of Maryland's children in an effort to reduce child poverty, improve
child health, fund education, protect youth in custody * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * OPPORTUNITIES FOR SERVICE Meeting of the Church Women United—Eastern Montgomery Unit Church Women United—Eastern Montgomery Unit will hold their World Community Day at Christ Congregational Church on Friday, November 4, 2005. Come join us for coffee at 9:30 AM, followed by an interesting program. Church Women United—Eastern Montgomery Unit is an organization of women from fifty (50) churches located in Montgomery County. They will hold five general meetings this year. In addition to these meetings, members of the group make and fill toiletry kits for the "Kids at Camp" program and Crossways Community, a residential program for single, homeless mothers with young children that is located in Wheaton. Church Women United also gives an Eastern Montgomery County Student Award to a student at Montgomery College. And, in an on-going project, members dress 13-inch dolls and collect stuffed animals and toys for missions and the Johenning/Greentree Shelter in Gaithersburg, Maryland. For more information, contact Louise Petzold at (301) 946-4945 or Peggy Zaren (301) 585-9785. "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price," United Church News, Oct/Nov. According to the feature article in the most recent United Church News, the UCC is playing a key role in a new dialogue about the labor practices of Wal-Mart, the nation‘s largest employer. According to Edith Rasell, the UCC’s minister for labor relations and community economic development, the national church has been urged by local communities to actively support Wal-Mart’s workforce. In response, the UCC is backing the "Wal-Mart Week of Action," an interfaith undertaking beginning on Sunday, Nov. 13. The week will begin with the premier of "The Wal-Mart Movie," a documentary by Robert Greenwald, with at least 1,000 churches planning to show the film in community settings. UCC members and leaders have helped with production of the film and UCC churches are taking the lead in organizing showings. The Rev. Ron Stief, head of the UCC Justice and Witness Ministries office in Washington, has stated: "The point of our sponsorship of this film is that it’s time for this country to have a dialogue about [whether] the Wal-Mart model is the best we can do in our local economic development." The Rev. John H. Thomas, UCC president and general minister, has added: "Wal-Mart does provide jobs, offer goods at reasonable prices, and pay taxes. But Wal-Mart also needs to be challenged to answer these harder questions. Does Wal-Mart really support strong, healthy families with its employment practices? Does it seek to contribute to the long-term economic health and stability of the regions where it does business? Thus far, Wal-Mart has not been able to demonstrate that it really says ‘yes’ to these critical questions." For example, the average full-time Wal-Mart hourly wage is $9.68; the average full-time hourly wage at Costco is $17. Less that half of the Wal-Mart workers have health insurance, compared to 80% at Costco. According to Edith Rasell, "They (Wal-Mart) are the biggest. They are the economic model. They set the standard. . . . That’s why we need the religious community to say that we’re concerned about this model of community economic development."The Senior Connection. CCC and its members have supported The Senior Connection (formerly ASSISST) since its birth in 1989 with both financial contributions and volunteer services. The organization’s mission is to provide support for older adults in lower Montgomery County who wish to live in their own homes and communities as long as possible. This support takes the forms of transportation to medical appointments, assistance with paperwork, friendly visits, grocery shopping, computer mentoring, and telephone reassurance, among other services. Volunteers recruited, trained and organized by Senior Connection staff provide all such assistance, given completely without charge. The executive director of the organization is a member of CCC, and several CCC members have served on its board of directors. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please help the financial secretaries track your contributions to the church by using your personal offering envelopes. Come to room 105 after the 10:30 AM service to pick them up. Call the church office at 301 585-8010 if you cannot get to the church to pick them up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WANTED: We need two hundred families with computer access to sign up for News Notes by email. This will save the church about $600 per year in postage costs. Of course, the church will also save on paper, and time. You can sign up for the electronic version of News Notes by going to http://www.christ-ucc.org/NEWSNOTESBYEMAIL.htm . <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< CPR for Church School Teachers and Youth Advisors Sunday, November 13, from 12:30 – 4:00 in the Meeting Room. There is a limit to 15 participants. Sign up early on the bulletin board outside the office.
RETREATS Men’s Fall Retreat takes place Friday, October 28, through Sunday, October 30, 2005 at the CCC Retreat House in WV. The retreat is open to all men in the church. Sigh up on the bulletin board in the lobby. The theme: How Was Your Week? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Senior High Retreat October
21-23, Retreat House. Open to all 9th-12th graders. Contact Mike Weber or
Kathy Stedman. Looking Ahead: Potomac Association senior high youth
Lock-In November 18-19, 2005, at Little River UCC. Theme: http://www.whywalk?
Along with food and fun, we will explore dynamics that lead to hunger and
homelessness. The lock-in culminates in our joining the DC Walkathon,
Saturday morning. Contact Sandy Dodson for details. Looking further ahead:
A Potomac Association Middle School lock-in is scheduled for March
31-April 1, 2005. Fundraising Luncheon for Advocates for Children and Youth (ACY) On Nov. 1, Jim Wallis, author of
the best-selling, God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the
Left Doesn't Get It will speak at a fundraising luncheon in Baltimore,
for Advocates for Children and Youth. ACY is Maryland's only statewide
organization that advocates in Annapolis for support for a wide variety of
children's programs. For example, it was one of the main organizations
responsible for winning significant increases in state education funding
under the Thornton plan, and its main objective this year is to get the
state to fix the juvenile justice and child abuse and neglect system.
Ticket information is on the bulletin board, or you can contact me for
more information (I'm on the board of ACY). ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Saturday, October 1 being beautiful and sunny, we decided to work outside, and schedule inside work as special projects for late fall and winter days. We weeded nearly all the garden plots around the church, mulched them for the winter, and pruned some bushes. We installed a barrier near the pump room steps to keep mulch in the courtyard (playground) and away from an important drain. Those participating were Kristina Able, Jean and Randy Caswell, Bud Dennie, Dave Frey, Dick Meyer, Neville Platt, and Christian Weber. Audrey and Neville Platt generously provided lunch. ############################### God is like…the US Post Office. Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor ice will keep Him from His appointed rounds. ########################################################################### Please note the following corrections to the new CCC Directory: The phone number for Betsy Thomas, our News Notes editor, is 301-384-8104 and the correct phone number for Oscar Reed is 301-593-2778. ########################################################################## PLEASE NOTE: Deadline for
the next
issue is THURSDAY
November 10, 5:00 p.m. Betsy Thomas, Editor The Rev. Jim Todhunter, Senior Minister; The Rev. Sandra Kay Dodson, Associate Minister; The Rev. Julia Jarvis, Director of Programming for Older Adults; Markus C. Williams, Interim Music Director |
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