 | Friends and Beloved Community, On Sunday, eight more friends choose to join the covenant of faith in this church community. This makes 16 in the past three weeks--an extraordinary gathering of spirits from a range of backgrounds, traditions and generations. And we rejoice in the generosity of God! Moving forward, I trust you'll invite one or two of these new friends to coffee or lunch! Maybe more! Ask them to share a bit about their lives, their journeys; and continue the wonderful process of building ties that bind us in love and free us for service. In this way, I think, the church is a vital gift to a world fractured by hyper-consumerism and fear. We choose a covenant of kindness and respect--a day, a week at a time. We choose to know one another and extend ourselves in mission. And we choose a gospel of peace, uniting seekers from an amazing array of places and stories. I hope you'll join me in giving thanks for Becky, Bill and Debbie; for Angela, Eunice and Liang; for Melissa, Brian, Brennan and Morgan; for Judy, Heidi and Scott; and for Tom, Dave and Catherine. Sixteen siblings--each and every one a gifted spirit, sent our way by a gift-giving God. Join me this week, and in the weeks to come, in welcoming them and receiving the commitments they make to us in faith! Yours on that Way,
Dave Grishaw-Jones, Pastor
DavidGJ@CCDurham.org | Sunday, February 5 WORSHIP in the SANCTUARY at 10 Join us for worship Sunday at 10, as we gather in celebration and spirit on our Epiphany journey. In his message on Mark 1:14-20 this week, Dave Grishaw-Jones reflects on the early days of Jesus' ministry, where he might have come from, the challenges he may have faced, and how vulnerability becomes wisdom in the beloved community. All that, and a wonderful celebration of covenant and joy--as we welcome 8 more new members in the circle of faith at the Community Church. As always, all are welcome--from all walks of life, wherever you are on life's journey! And we hope you'll invite friends to join you. | FRIENDSHIP HOUR at 11 Join us for our weekly "Friendship Hour" between services in the Fellowship Hall. In conversation and curiosity, we experience the joys of community and the wonderful blessings of spiritual life. Be part of it! And please know that your help is needed! "Friendship Hour" is back on a regular weekly basis; and we are in need of volunteers (or groups) to host during this special time of conversation and community in 2023. If you and a friend or your family would like to host on March 12, please contact Jamie Willett at jtwillett@comcast.net. You can also sign up for a specific date from April - December at THIS LINK. | KOINONIA AT THE TABLE at 12 Our gathering at noon includes the music of Stu Dias and his electric band, communion around the table, and an interactive spirit of grace and encouragement. This week, Dave muses on curiosity and discipleship, and we read one of Langston Hughes' poems in celebration of Black History Month. Looking for a different beat, a give-and-take in worship, and a place to try on new ways of seeing and believing? This is your place! Dave Grishaw-Jones leads us in worhsip at 12 noon in the Chapel downstairs. CAPTURING THE MOMENT at 2 Please join us in the mezzanine at 2:00 p.m. for readings on the theme of “Capturing the Moment,” our current gallery show. Sometimes a single moment can frame our memories more than a long chain of events. Those moments can be as monumental as a marriage or a baptism, but far more often they are fleeting surprises that catch us unaware. In this reading we will explore the moments we most wish or need to remember—joyous moments, beautiful moments, surprising moments, religious or meditative moments, or even moments when we witnessed something provocative or concerning. Sharing these thoughts in poetry, prose, music, or theater, as written by you or by others, should make our moment together a special one. | The office staff will be “resurrecting” our once-a-month News Magazine, “Chronicle,” as a printed newsletter, mailed to you every four weeks. We’re aiming at a March 1 edition! We trust this new/old vehicle will improve communications across our dynamic church community--and we hope you'll help us make it the best it can be! Our hope is the the monthly "Chronicle" will make it possible for us to "slim down" this weekly e-newsletter, so that the weekly online version is just a look ahead to Sunday activities and the next week's events. Submit articles for the March edition HERE. Volunteers Needed: If you'd like to help assemble and label The Chronicle for mailing - on the last Thursday of a month for about two hours - please email Heather or call 603-868-1230. | Prepared to Serve: A Special Day of Workshops SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25 IN PEMBROKE With friends from 100+ New Hampshire UCC congregations, we gather at Pembroke Academy from 8 am to 4 pm—for workshops, small group discussions, and opportunities to grow as church leaders, activists and caregivers. Workshops range from social justice to children’s ministry, from worship and hymnody to governance. It’s an annual event in our conference, and a great way to experience the breadth of activity across the state! For more information and registration: CLICK HERE Durham friends are urged to find friends, travel together and carpool! Leadership Retreat SATURDAY, MARCH 4 IN THE CHAPEL Russell Mason (Council Chair) and Dave Grishaw-Jones (Pastor) encourage lay leaders from Church Council and our four Ministries to attend a 2023 kick-off retreat on Saturday, March 4, from 9 to 1 pm in the Chapel. We’ll get oriented to the opportunities, challenges and exciting days ahead of us—and how we can best and faithful collaborate in the ministries that make such a difference in our lives and our community! | Register for our Koinonia Program ON YOUR MARK: GOSPEL AND COMMUNITY Use the button below to register for the next semester's Koinonia program--which takes us through Lent and Easter and focuses on the call to discipleship in the Gospel of Mark. | Our Building, Our Vision, Our Commitment! A NOTE FROM RUSSELL MASON As the Church considers a Capital Campaign to allow us to expand our Ministry work, the Building Improvement Steering Committee has set up a series of short discussions on how the church finances itself to empower our people and our mission. Understanding how the financial aspects are managed and how this relates to the Campaign will be important as we make a decision about going forward with that Campaign, perhaps as early as this Spring. These “Churchonomics” discussions will be facilitated by Rachel Burlock and Chuck Hotchkiss. The Committee has also set up discussion sessions about the proposed Projects. From a list of over 70 needed projects, they have prioritized and identified those that are most critical. These sessions, led by Doug Bencks, will give you the opportunity to ask questions and get more detail about the projects and their costs. I encourage you to attend one of each of these discussions. As members, it’s important that you are informed and ready to help our congregation in making a discerned decision about the future of our church. Finally, please join this church community in the Sanctuary on March 5 for a congregational meeting, to vote on whether to proceed with a Capital Campaign. If you have any questions, please contact me directly. Sincerely,
Russell Mason, Chair of Council
russellm@ccdurham.org CHURCH-O-NOMICS / SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS ▪ Sunday, February 12 at 1:15 pm / Library / With Rachel Burlock
▪ Monday, February 13 at 7 pm / ZOOM / With Chuck Hotchkiss LINK for 2/13
▪ Tuesday, February 21 at 7 pm / ZOOM / With Chuck Hotchkiss
LINK for 2/21
▪ Sunday, February 26 at 11:30 am / Library / With Rachel Burlock
| ▪ | Sunday, February 12 at 1:15 pm / Library / With Rachel Burlock | | ▪ | Monday, February 13 at 7 pm / ZOOM / With Chuck Hotchkiss LINK for 2/13 | | ▪ | Tuesday, February 21 at 7 pm / ZOOM / With Chuck Hotchkiss
LINK for 2/21 | | ▪ | Sunday, February 26 at 11:30 am / Library / With Rachel Burlock | BUILDING PROJECTS / WHY THEY MATTER ▪ Sunday, February 19 at 11:30 am / Library / With Doug Bencks
▪ Sunday, February 26 at 1:15 pm / Library / With Doug Bencks
▪ Wednesday, March 1 at 7 pm / ZOOM / With Doug Bencks LINK for 3/1
| ▪ | Sunday, February 19 at 11:30 am / Library / With Doug Bencks | | ▪ | Sunday, February 26 at 1:15 pm / Library / With Doug Bencks | | ▪ | Wednesday, March 1 at 7 pm / ZOOM / With Doug Bencks LINK for 3/1 | | ISO PRIDE Event Organizer We want to shine our light bright! So we are seeking someone who would be the lead coordinator for our participation in the June PRIDE and September UNH UDay events this year? Are you someone who likes to organize and enjoys fun community gatherings? Contact Kristin or Heather. | Our Prayer List As a beloved community, it's our joy and calling to hold our friends in loving prayer. Feel free to reach out to these dear friends with a phone call or card. If you need an address or number, give us a call in the church office. This week, we pray: For all affected and challenged by this week's winter storms, especially our neighbors without shelter or homes. May the circle of support be broad and strong. For all who grieve, especially the family and friends of Helmut Fickenwirth, Doug Wheeler and Greg Vrettos. May they know the encircling mercies of God. For all who are recovering from hospital stays or receiving treatments of one kind or another. We lift up our friends and neighbors and we give thanks, as well, for their many loving caregivers. For all those living with mental illness and finding a path to wholeness and hope, that they may know peace. For the Dai Family, as they settle into safe, new space in the home of Chuck and Ann Hotchkiss...and for the deep commitments and generous spirit of our immigration ministry. For the children of our church, that they may know delight and hope every day. For all those living in nursing homes and retirement communities, that they may be safe and well. For our many elders, some living at home, and others in communities of different kinds, that they may find connection, engagement and inspiration in their many ways. | Our Life Together Church Calendar and Links: We want you to know that the church's calendar is available online (through our Breeze app). And you can find almost all of the links to our Zoom gatherings and meeting there, as you hover over various events. Got questions about this, call us in the office (868-1230). See the link here! | Women's Book Study Group The Wednesday morning Women's Book Study group has chosen Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life by Richard Rohr to be our book for study and reflection this year. Here is a description of the book from the book jacket: "In Falling Upward, Father Richard Rohr - the founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation - offers a new paradigm for understanding one of the most profound of life's mysteries: how our failings can be the foundation for our ongoing spiritual growth. Drawing on the wisdom from time-honored myths, heroic poems, great thinkers, and sacred religious texts, the author explores the two halves of life to show that those who have fallen, failed, or 'gone down' are the only ones who understand 'up'. We grow spiritually more by doing it wrong than by doing it right." The book costs $15 and we have once again found a study guide which will serve as a starting point for our monthly discussions. You can get your copy of the book and the study guide from Heather in the church office. Our meetings take place on the second Wednesday of the month at 10 am in the church parlor so our next meeting will be Wednesday February 8th. For that meeting we'll read Chapters 8: Amnesia and the Big Picture and 9: A Second Simplicity. We have welcomed many new participants this year. We hope you can join us. Bring a friend! Men's Group The Men's Group of Community Church of Durham meets the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month. Join them for their next meeting February 16 at 9 am in the Library. | Gallery News for February 2023 Transformations: The Four Seasons and Rebirth- going up February 25th As winter turns to spring and summer, this show celebrates all four seasons—and the power of nature and earth to rejuvenate by breaking through one world into another. Winter brings new perspectives in nature. Life is seen anew. Scenes of nature in transformation, or metaphorical expressions of decay and rebirth in a social and human context are all a part of this show—in sometimes explicit, and sometimes more hidden ways. This show can also highlight how seeing the changing beauty around us can transform our experience, not only aesthetically, but intellectually and emotionally as well. We welcome all forms of art, including carvings, sculptures, paintings, drawings, weavings, assemblages, and even poetry. All artwork that’s not freestanding should be ready to go up on the gallery walls, framed or otherwise. Label information should be sent to Heather Curran: HeatherC@CCDurham.org and cc me, Dennis Drogseth: drogseth@dennisnils.com. | Children's Choir We have two choirs again this year! The Rejoice Choir (elementary school children) meets on Thursdays 4:15 - 5:00. The Alleluia Choir (middle school children) meets on Thursdays after school until approximately 4:00 (so choir members can join the youth group right afterwards). If you have a child interested in either of these choirs, please contact Lorna Ellis (LornaEllisNH@gmail.com, 292-6031) orKristin Forselius. | Thinking About a Friend? Maybe you've got a friend, a colleague; and you think the Community Church might really fit your friend's passion for spirit, justice and peace. Feel free to forward this email on...don't hesitate to share the good news of vitality and compassion that we experience together every week! You might be doing your friend a wonderfully good turn! Curious About CCD & UCC? To find out more about Community Church, visit our church website. Or, find us on Facebook. Did you know that the Community Church of Durham also has a Facebook Group where ideas, comments and announcements can be posted? Check it out and get connected! To learn more about the United Church of Christ, and our bold witness nationally, visit the UCC's inspiring website. The New Hampshire Conference is another resource for great inspiration and connection in mission. You'll find the Conference online as well! Dave's Blog is "VALLEY RISE UP": And you're welcome to visit anytime, or better yet "follow" the blog to receive his latest posts. Dave regularly posts prayers, poetry, reflections and all of our weekly worship opportunities. | Newsletters Here are some recent communications and letters from other parts of the church, as we keep connected around activities and commitments far and wide. | Church Office Hours Office hours are Monday - Thursday from 9:00 - 3:00. The church office will be closed Monday, February 20, in observance of Presidents' Day. | If you're not presently on the regular email list, please contact Heather Curran at office@ccdurham.org--so that she can add you as a regular recipient. God's blessings and peace to all, Dave Grishaw-Jones
DavidGJ@CCDurham.org
831-706-6819 | | |
