Some holiday fun from Church of the Palms
Q. How do Christmas angels greet each other?
A. “Halo!”
Q. What’s a sheep’s favorite Christmas song?
A. “Fleece Navidad!”
Q: What do reindeer say before they tell a joke?
A: This will sleigh you!
On Christmas Eve, Taos UCC will be singing Christmas carols for their neighbors at the Taos Living Center and the wonderful staff who take care of them. Singing well is not a requirement, so everyone should be there!
After the 6pm Christmas Eve service at Black Mountain UCC, everyone is invited to share in a whole church potluck, sharing good food, good friends and celebration!
The Good Shepherd UCC in Sahuarita has had a long relationship with Probigua Language School in Antigua. But Probigua is much more than a language school; they have created rural libraries all over Guatemala as well as a number of schools for young Guatemalans, and they administer a scholarship program for more than 30 young Guatemalans each year. Pastor Randy Mayer will be leading a group to Guatemala to study for two weeks, leaving Saturday, March 21 and returning Saturday, April 4. We will be staying with families during the week, and going on a weekend adventure on March 27-29. Airfare costs are usually around $650 to $800, four hours of one-on-one Spanish instruction for 2 weeks is $160 x 2 =$320. And the 7-day homestay including 3 meals a day (except Sunday) is $120 x 2 = $240. It should be a great experience. If you are interested, please contact Rev. Mayer via e-mail: bienshphrd@aol.com.
"Carry your calories to COGS" (Church of the Good Shepherd in Albuquerque). This highly caloric annual event is returning! January 5, 2020. Nope, we are not talking 2020 perfect eyesight but we do SEE the advantage of getting those leftover treats out of the house. We know that wherever we hide that candy, fruitcake, and never-go-stale cookies they WILL BE FOUND! Best get them out of the house by simply carrying them to COGS. What could be easier.....just pack em'up, drive em' over, plunk' em' on the table in the hospitality room! We'll see that they are arranged in a most attractive manner with a bit of fruit garnish and cheerful curly ribbon!
Last weekend, Church of the Red Rocks found out about a mother and her twin daughters who were facing eviction from their apartment because they did not have the money to cover previously owed late fees and penalties which continued to accrue. The situation was brought to their attention by the assistant Sedona city manager. In her words, "given your heart for homeless kids and families, I thought I'd reach out to you because of CRR's work in this area." CRR took up a second offering last Sunday, hoping to raise $980 to cover the family's costs and keep them in their apartment. They collected $1,565!
This month, United Church of Santa Fe collected over 266 pairs of winter socks to keep the feet of Santa Fe’s homeless warm; 138 calendars and 513 greeting cards were donated to local prisoners.
You can never have too many Marys, Josephs, baby Jesuses, or wise people. Join Scottsdale UCC for a “potluck pageant” where you get to come to worship dressed as your favorite character and play a role in the Christmas drama. It doesn’t matter if someone else chose Mary; you can both be Mary! Don’t worry, if you don’t have costumes, they do, and you can borrow them!
Please join the United Church of Christ Webinar on Asylum Accompaniment Training. January 13, 2020 at 4 pm EST / 1 pm PST. Sign up here for this collaboration between Justice and Local Church and Wider Church Ministries. While many UCC congregations have already been engaged in accompaniment with asylum seekers, the need is great and many more UCC congregations want to learn more about how they can get involved. On this webinar, we will hear from UCC congregations who are doing this work to learn more about best practices and how to confront challenges. The call-in information will be set out once you register on this form.
Jottings is taking a week off next week! See you again in January!