Raymond Community Church UCC E-Newsletter

Special events for Raymond Community Church, UCC:

May 16, 2013

Sunday, May 19th Dear Members and Friends of Raymond Community Church UCC: 9:45 Special us for our 10:45 a.m. worship Our Old Testament reading is Psalm Council Meeting. Join service for Pentecost Sunday. Where 104:24-34, 35b, and our New
We are inviting people to wear the color red (shirt, tie, hair ribbon, etc.) this Sunday for worship. Pentecost celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit in flames of fire to the apostles. During worship we welcome guest musician Sara Jacobs with her autoharp, we will receive new members, and bid farewell to Pastor Manda as she departs for three months of Sabbatical leave. See you in church at 10:45 am amid the fire of the Holy Spirit!

Pastor Manda will be sharing her message The Breath of God. The Ushers for the week are Cole & Christian Ryan

Testament reading is Acts 2:1-21 read by Jeanne Hahn and Cheryl Roepk. .

In Our Prayers
Prayer is a powerful and important part of our faith lives. Psalm 66:1-9 tells us, Truly God has listened; he has given heed to the words of my prayers. We hold the following people and situations in our prayers: Howard Scott is recovering from an infection. Jean Hulbert is recovering from a fall. Bobbi Halstead-Knudtson is recovering from knee surgery. Mike Prochaska is being treated for pancreatic cancer.

Individual Highlights:
Activities Worship Attendance Calendar of Prayer Office Hours Page 2 Page 2 Page 3 Page 3

To add a name to the list, submit a prayer request form in the prayer box or submit your prayer request to the church office or Pastor Manda by e-mail or phone. We will keep the name of each person or situation on our prayer list for one month, unless otherwise notified. To respect privacy, please ensure that you have permission to share this prayer request.

Worship time change is coming: As we do each June, we will switch worship times for the coming year with our Yoke Partner church, Union Grove Congregational, UCC. Beginning on Sunday, June 2. Our new worship time will be 9:00 am.

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Raymond Community Church UCC E-Newsletter

Sunday, May 19 Sunday May 19
We will be receiving new members during worship
Relay for Life May 31st-June 1st 6:00 pm At Racine County Fairgrounds

We will receive our annual Strengthen the Church offering.

As our Wisconsin Conference UCC minister, Rev. Dr. David Moyer plans for his retirement this summer, there are some opportunities to share our thanks, including a worship and reception in Madison on Sunday June 23 in the evening, and donations to an endowment fund in his name to support our Wisconsin Church camps. Checks can be sent to the Wisconsin Conference UCC, PO Box 435, DeForest, WI 53532 (Memo: Moyer Endowment"). More information about the programs and endowment can be found at www.wcucc.org.

A sign-up sheet is posted on the bulletin board to join Sunday May 19 Raymond Community Church Pentecost Sunday, Strengthen the Church offering will be in the fight against cancer. taken. This will be Pastor Mandas last Sunday before she Donations can also be made goes on Sabbatical Renewal Leave. Everyone is invited to wear for this event. If you have any the color red to celebrate the Holy Spirit on this special Sunday questions please contact Carmen Kozelek at: . 414-702-1944 or

Sunday May 19

the annual Strengthen the Church offering will be taken. Half of this offering stays right in our Wisconsin Conference United Church of Christ. Strengthen the Church offerings work together for: Funding new church starts and invigorating existing congregations . Nurturing lay and pastoral leadership. Building youth and young adult ministries . Supporting the God is Stillspeaking Ministry and its extravagant welcome for all within the United Church of Christ. Lets give generously!

Carmen.kozelek@ncogroup.com

Monday May 20, 6:00 pm

Faith Development Committee

Sunday May 26

We welcome Rev. Jim Burd as our Sabbatical Supply Pastor. Pastor Jim is a retired United Church of Christ minister living in Elkhorn, and has preached here on a few occasions in the past while Pastor Manda was off. He and his wife Elaine enjoy time with their grandchildren and in their garden. Jim is the author of Behind the Stole: Rebirths of a Pastor. He will be serving in a part-time capacity with services on Sundays, and will be available to church members by phone, e-mail and in person for any needs that arise. We welcome Pastor Jim.

Our Worship Attendance

April 14 April 21 April 28 May 5

61 51 65 59

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Raymond Community Church United Church of Christ 8217 W. Hwy G Franksville, WI 53126 Phone: (262) 835-2157 E-Mail: rcchurch@wi.net Were on the Web! Visit us at: raymondchurchucc.org Were on Facebook! Visit us at: facebook.com/RaymondCom munityChurchUCC

May 19, 2013 Day of Pentecost Strengthen the Church Special Mission Offering
The Massachusetts Conference sponsored the Walk, Sister, Walk conference in Today
many congregations receive an offering to Strengthen the Church funding leadership for new and renewing congregations, leadership development for youth and young adults, furthering our commitment to be spreading good news of the still speaking God. One: I will sing to God as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. For the gift of your Spirit, poured out on all All: We give you thanks. One: For the passionate faith of our youth and young adults, their spirited voices speaking about your deeds of power. For exciting new programs to nurture them made possible by these gifts All: We give you thanks. One: For the renewal of churches that just need a little help from us to thrive again, For the rivers of living water flowing out of their hearts once more All: We give you thanks. One: For the opportunity to plant new churches offering varieties of gifts, and varieties of services, activated by the same Spirit All: We give you thanks. One: For a multiracial, multicultural church all drinking of the same Spirit, all offering an extravagant welcome, all spreading good news of our still speaking God All: We give you thanks and praise. Holy God, you spoke the world into being. Pour your Spirit to the ends of the earth, that your children may return from exile as citizens of your commonwealth, and our divisions may be healed by your word of love and righteousness. Amen.
Acts 2:1-21 or Genesis 11:1-9 Psalm 104:24-34, 35b Romans 8:14-17 or Acts 2:1-21 John 14:8-17 [25-27]

Our Mission: We seek to bear witness to the good news of Gods love for the Church and for the World as revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Rev. Jim Burds Office Hours: Mondays- Union Grove 9-12 Wednesdays- Raymond 9-12

Pastor Manda
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 8:30 - 12:00 9:30 - 11:30 1:00 - 3:00 Day Off 12:00 3:30 9:00 12:00 9:00 2:00 Raymond Raymond Union Grove Union Grove Raymond Union Grove

Administrative Assistant
Monday/Wednesday/Friday Tuesday/Thursday

Dear New Friends & Old Friends: It will be my honor and pleasure to be your Pastor & Teacher during the time when Pastor Manda is away. My goal for the summer is simply to be your Pastor. That means I will see you on Sundays and I will be there for you at other times if you need Pastoral Care. I am excited about the Summer Sermon Series I will be sharing. It is entitled, Old Testament Stories and Characters. I think most of us have a rather childish view of the stories because most of our knowledge is from the same ten-year-old view we acquired when we were in Sunday School. If you don't have a church background, you still have some knowledge of Bible stories. The Bible was not written to present us with historic or scientific facts, but to help us to learn more about who we are as spiritual children of God. We are all God's children, you know, because God's Spirit is inside us and has been in us since we drew our first breath when we were born. Our purpose this summer will be to get drawn into the stories through the people in the scriptures. Our goal will be to enhance spiritual growth in each one of us. Come, join me in our summer Bible adventure! Rev. Jim Burd

The Siena Center of Racine offers a variety of excellent retreats for people of faith. Below is a list of summer retreats (weekend and week-long) at Siena Retreat Center, 5635 Erie St., Racine, WI on beautiful Lake Michigan. Retreats are a valuable means to step away from our usual routines for deep reflection, prayer, and rejuvenation. For more information contact www.SienaRetreatCenter.org. Costs include non-refundable deposit, accommodations and meals. Surrendering to Grief Choosing to Fully Live Again , May 18-19, 9:30am Sat 1pm Sun, Melissa Minkley, MSW, and Pete Reinl, $120. Healing doesnt wait on time; healing waits on our welcome our intention. Join us as we contemplate some critical choices we are faced with upon the death of a loved one. Singing in the Hildegarden, Jun 13-16, beginning 7pm on Thurs, presenter: Susan Lincoln, founder of the Hilde Girls, $410. Join a circle of women for a retreat to uplift your spirit and sing excerpts from Hildegard of Bingens songs along with other inspiring, easy-to-learn songs. Even women who thought they couldnt sing have found their voices in this nurturing environment. Directed Retreat, Jun 16-22, beginning 3:30pm on Sun, directors: Byron Haaland, SCJ and Mary Anne Albert, SSSF; $465. An opportunity to meet daily with a spiritual director to share whats going on inside of you. The rest of the day is yours for your own private time- to pray, walk the beach, do art, whatever you need to grow in peace and wholeness. There is optional shared Eucharistic liturgy and common prayer. Opening to Peace: Opening to Compassion, Jun 16-22, Sunday-Saturday, presenters: Steve Rys and Pat Shutts, $465.
Spend the week allowing yourself to breathe, to create, to restore your spirit. Each day you can choose from these options: morning meditation (using various Eastern and Western methods), gentle Tai Chi, presentation on Chinese brush painting, opportunity for one-on-one spiritual conversation, presentations on how to write simple poetry, and opportunity for reiki and massage.

Held in Gods Abundant Love: for women survivors of sexual abuse, June 20-23, 7:30pm Thurs noon meal on Sunday, Sharon Thyne and Patrick Griffin, $255. Financial assistance available. Participants will have an opportunity to move deeper into their own healing within a circle of kindred spirits on a similar healing journey. This retreat is designed to complement the psychotherapy process. Silent Directed Retreat, Jun 23-29, beginning 3:30pm on Sun, directors: Claudia Greco, and Maureen McDonnell, OP, and Clare Wagner, OP; $465. This retreat focuses on silence as a way to inner stillness, to listening to the still, small voice of the Holy One. Spiritual guidance and centering prayer will be a part of each day. Come to the Water, Jun 28-30, Friday Sunday, presenter: Kathleen Bohn, OP, $195. Come, drink deeply of the life-giving waters and refresh your soul in this serene and sacred environment on the shore of Lake Michigan. There will be communal prayer, labyrinth walking, centering prayer and opportunity to experience the contemplative/active balance needed in our spiritual journey.

Above All Else: Be Prepared for the Gifts of God, Jul 7-12, Sunday Friday, presenter: Miriam Brown, OP, $425. Be drawn into the wonder and promise of our God whose love we prize Above All Else. Let the words of mystic Meister Eckhart illumine your lifes path, to see more clearly the Gifts of God around you a nd glowing deep within your true self. This is a silent retreat with opportunities for labyrinth meditation, guided journaling, art, and rituals around the theme, Let God be God in You. Icon Retreat, Jul 7-13, Sunday Saturday, presenter: Maryam Gossling, FSPA, $465. Through the process of writing or painting an icon, one can enter into the mysteries represented by the image. Sr. Maryam will guide participants, step-by-step, in writing their own representation of either Hildegard of Bingen or Christ the Teacher. Contemplative Retreat for Women, Jul 14-20, Sunday Saturday, directors: Judy Chiodo, OSF; Paula Hirschboeck; Gail Ross; Pat Shutts; Linda Wieser, OSF; and Claudia Greco, $465. We turn inward for a week of silence and spiritual direction. We turn outward into the Great Turning of an evolving, sacred Universe. This retreat honors the active hope necessary for our creative response to Mysterys call to us from the future. A resource that will guide this retreat is Joanna Macys book, Active Hope. Optional holistic prayer (Tai Chi and yoga). Nurturing Lifes Blessings, Jul 21-27, Sunday Saturday, directors: Miriam Brown, OP; Mary Therese Johnson, OP; Diane Poplawski, OP; and Lorrita Verhey, SSND, and Linda Wieser, OSF; $465. Embrace and nurture lifes blessings in a retreat tailored to your individual encounter with the Holy. This retreat includes a daily meeting with a director, time for solitude, and the opportunity to gather with others for prayer. This years theme, Sacred Attention, will be the focus of morning and evening prayers. The Aramaic Words of Jesus, Jul 28- Aug 2, Sunday Friday, presenter: Joe Kilikevice, OP, $465. In probing the ancient Aramaic texts of Scripture previously accessible only to the scholars of the language Jesus spoke, the familiar and treasured words can be examined more closely. Translations bring to light the profound wisdom in the teachings of Jesus. Silence, contemplation, and sharing will contribute to experiencing the deep, and fertile wisdom found in the treasured words of Jesus. Brother Kilikevice is the founding director of the Shem Center for Interfaith Spirituality, Oak Park, IL. Nurture Your Mystical Nature, Jul 28-Aug 3, Sunday Saturday, $465. presenters: Jacquie Titus and Jennifer Grant. Chakras are energy connectors between our physical and spiritual natures. Experience spiritual practices and meditations to open yourself to the flow of Divine Love Energy which, over time, may heal and transform your life. This retreat will guide you in using chakras as developmental, spiritual stepping-stones to integrate thoughts, emotions, body, and spirit into the Source of Being.