This Sunday, January 7, is Super Shepherd Sunday

Sunday, January 7 has been designated Super Shepherd Sunday. Many Shepherd Groups will meet to share a meal and celebrate the new year. If you don't know which Shepherd Group is yours, or if you are new, and need to be assigned, contact Maegan Hill. Please note that not every group is meeting on January 7.

• Group #1 (Fiske-Phillips) - meet on February 11 in Founders Room for a potluck following the 10:30 service.
• Group #2 (Mong) - meet in Mosaic Hall for a potluck following the 10:30 service.
• Group #3 (Breyer/Root) - meet in Founders Room for a potluck following the 10:30 service.
• Group #4 (Ballard/Hill) potluck after the 10:30 Service, on Patio weather permitting or in Covenant Hall.
• Group #5 (Abushanab/Turian) - meet for potluck after church at the Abushanab home, 167 Bellevue.
• Group #6 (Landeros)  January 14, around 12:30 at Dianne's house, 1368 Prospect Dr. Potluck for those who wish. Also, OK to bring your own lunch. Please RSVP to Dianne Landeros.

A message from our Pastor and Teacher

Sunday, January 7~ First Sunday after Epiphany ~ "Follow the Star"

It's Epiphany Sunday, a special day in many cultures. A day of gift-giving and carol-singing. The day we remember the Gift of the Star that guided the Wise Ones and the gifts they gave that allowed the holy family to make their escape to Egypt, and a chance at life.

Sunday's Scripture:

Matthew 2: 1-12

Racial Justice reflection of the week

Americans are likely to think of New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day as a time to celebrate the fresh start that a new year represents, but there is also a troubling side to the holiday’s history. In the years before the Civil War, the first day of the new year was often a heartbreaking one for enslaved people in the United States.

In the African-American community, New Year’s Day used to be widely known as “Hiring Day” — or “Heartbreak Day,” as the African-American abolitionist journalist William Cooper Nell described it — because enslaved people spent New Year’s Eve waiting, wondering if their owners were going to rent them out to someone else, thus potentially splitting up their families. The renting out of slave labor was a relatively common practice in the antebellum South, and a profitable practice for white slave owners and hirers.

Source: https://time.com/5750833/new-years-day-slavery-history/

From the Environmental Justice Team

Human activity is responsible for an awful lot of wildfires, which is why Smokey Bear has been telling us for decades that “only you can prevent wildfires.” But it has become clear that not all fires in nature need to be, or should be, prevented. In fact, fire is an important contributor to ecosystem health – so important that California has a Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force that has published “California’s Strategic Plan for Expanding the Use of Beneficial Fire” (https://wildfiretaskforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/californias-strategic-plan-for-expanding-the-use-of-beneficial-fire.pdf). So Smokey Bear needs an updated message, or instead, maybe a buddy who promotes the beneficial use of fire, argues Emily Schlickman, a professor of landscape architecture and environmental design at UC Davis. Professor Schlickman and her colleague Brett Milligan have developed a museum exhibit, “Pyro Futures” (https://www.pyrofutures.com/), which looks at how California might handle and experience fire in the future. Included on the website for “Pyro Futures” are candidates for a mascot to promote the beneficial use of fire along with an opportunity to vote for your favorite: https://www.pyrofutures.com/mascot. Vote now!

Source: “Stand down, Smokey Bear. Burnie the Bobcat wants to start good fires,” Roth, S., Los Angeles Times, 12/19/23: https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2023-12-19/column-stand-down-smokey-bear-burnie-the-bobcat-wants-to-start-good-fires-boiling-point

Martin Luther King, Jr. commemoration activities at U of R, January 8 - 19

There are a number of activities scheduled at University of Redlands in celebration of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Please note some of the events are accessible online; in particular, the interfaith service, Sunday, January 14, at 8:30 a.m. Remembering Dr. King, featuring Rev. Dr. Laurie Garrett-Cobbina, Dean of the U of R San Francisco Theological Seminary.

Click here for the complete schedule.

CARING FOR KIN IN JANUARY 

Brrrrr! We are collecting jackets, hats, gloves, and other cold-weather protection to share with our kin during these cold-weather months. Used items are most welcome, as long as they are clean and in good repair. Consider shopping Costco on-line and other stores that have currently marked-down winter-clothing items. Packages of new socks and new underwear are also in great need. Thanks again for your amazing generosity!

These vacancies at RUCC need to be filled

Redlands United Church of Christ is seeking candidates for the positions of Youth Director and Nursery Care Worker. The job postings are on the RUCC website. If you know someone who would be a good match for either of these positions, please ask them to apply. Thanks for helping us with these two important searches.

.......................~~ The RUCC Personnel Committee

The Rummage Sale is Back!!!! And We Need Volunteers!!!!

We will need volunteers before, during, and after the sale. The actual sale date is February 10, 2024. There are jobs you can do from home, there are jobs where you will mingle with the public, there are jobs that you won’t have to talk to anyone, and there are jobs that will make you tired and/or get you dirty! So, there is something for everyone! Here are some ways you can help:

Before the sale:

• Being on the Rummage Sale Committee
• Advertising—Putting up signs, getting articles on Facebook, etc.
• Contacting organizations that will take our “leftovers”
• Organizing the treasures that come in
• Hanging clothes 
• Providing boxes, bags, and hangers
• Collecting your donations (no furniture, please)

During the sale:

• Walking the floor
• Re-organizing

After the sale:

• Packing up
• Providing a vehicle to take leftover treasures to designated places

If any of these jobs appeals to you, please let us know ASAP. We will start having organizational meetings in January. Thanks so much! Pam Dunn (909) 963-8305 Claudia Tolar (909) 725-1794 Kathie Blakley (909) 213-9469

UPCOMING DATES TO REMEMBER

• January 6 - Sacred Saturday
• January 7 - Super Shepherd Sunday
• January 9 - Stewards Meeting
• January 14 - Book Group
• January 15 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
• January 16 - Board Meeting
• January 21 - Wider Ministries Area organizational meeting
• January 28 - Annual Congregational Meeting
• February 10 - RUCC Rummage Sale & Electronics Recycling

The church calendar is found at redlandsucc.org

Click on "calendar" in the red banner near the top of the page