...of the very first book of the bible we learn that God’s spirit brooded over the chaos of the waters that God had created and separated the waters from the sky and the earth. In the second chapter God creates human beings and God gives them – and through them, us – the responsibility to care for God’s creation. So the water that we need for life is at one and the same time a gift from God and a responsibility from God.
Water. We need it to hydrate our bodies. We need it to bathe our bodies and cleanse our belongings. We need it to cook in and to use in so many things that we make. Without water none of us could exist.
A decade or so ago I remember attending a meeting of the World Council of Churches in Geneva where I heard the story of what was happening to the people in one town in Bolivia and their water supply. The city of Cochabamba was being required by the World Bank to privatize its municipal water supply and sell it to a consortium headed by the American firm Bechtel. The result would be a dramatic increase in the price of water. Bolivia had already privatized its railways, telephone system, national airlines, and hydrocarbon industry. But this move to privatize the water was just too much. It resulted in a grassroots alliance of groups of farmers, poor people, factory workers, students and middle class professionals who were fighting against this plan who were able to stop the plan. That was the first time I learned about the water wars that were beginning around the world.
It was not too much later that I learned that underlying the conflict between Israel and Palestine was access to water. The same is true of what was going on in parts of Africa. So around the world more than a decade there have been struggles about water and access to water – the most elemental need we human beings have.
Well, now that struggle has come to the US and is happening in Detroit.
We all know that Detroit has been going through a long and painful bankruptcy – the nation’s largest. Detroit has lost more than a million residents over the past 50 years, but its infrastructure has not shrunk accordingly. The residents, who have one of the nation’s highest poverty rates, pay the nation’s highest rates for their water. And with large numbers of abandoned buildings, many water pipes have burst, sometimes leaving water running for weeks or months.
Earlier this year the Detroit Water Department posted a $5 million deficit and the City Council responded by raising water rates by 8%. It also began shutting off the water of thousands of residents with overdue bills. Some of those had water bills reaching the thousands of dollars, sometimes in those abandoned houses in which they no longer lived. Businesses, more than half of which were also in arrears in their bills, were exempted from the shut-offs.
These mass shut-offs resulted in large protests and civil disobedience, with some being arrested, including three clergy members and one disabled man in a wheelchair. Moreover, the United Nations responded that such a mass shut off of access to clean water was a human rights violation.
As a result the Governor and the Emergency Manager of the city announced a moratorium on the shut-offs and turned the administration of the city Water Department back over to the city to work out a plan for residents to pay their bills. Also underneath the protests was the fear that the bankruptcy court would attempt to privatize the water system.
This week the Detroit bankruptcy goes back to courts. Will water be considered to be a gift from God – freely given so that we might live – or will it be considered a commodity to be bought and sold? That’s a question not just for Detroit but for all of us all over the earth
In Love and Peace,
Pastor Bernice
revbpjackson@ucctampabay.org
Sunday, August 31 - Labor Day Sunday
The texts for Sunday are:
Exodus 3:1-15
Jeremiah 15:15-21
Readers:
10:00 AM - English - Daphne Thomas
Spanish - Marco Barros
Pulpit Assistant - Rev. Bernice Powell Jackson
Rev. Dr. Davida Crabtree will be preaching on "Holy Ground"
SUNDAY SERVICES:
10:00 AM - Worship Service
PLEASE NOTE: THIS SUNDAY WILL BE THE LAST SUMMER SUNDAY WORSHIP AT 10:00. TWO SERVICES - 9:00 AND 11:00 - WILL BEGIN AGAIN ON SUNDAY, SEPT 7.
Prayer requests
Pat Allen; Gail Benton, Doris Rampolla; Lynette Sanchez’s mother, Alba; Julian Cunningham; Alice Wilber; Diana Legg; Karen Mattheis' daughter, Shandy and her sister Debbie; Rev. Bernice’s brother, Nick; Lois Whitehurst; Gail Barber and family; Leroy Herschberger, Jim Christison, Bob Mitchell, Kenn and Steve Antonelli's mother, Antoinette; Barbara Nichols and family, Barbara McFarland's sister, Diane; Georgette Allard, the family of Michael Brown, Alan Denote, the families of James Foley and Michael Brown
Meetings and important events
Summer Movies and a Meal series
Focusing on our core values
Third Thursdays June - September
Next Viewing:
Thursday, September 18
6:00 - potluck
Film shows at 6:45
Next Movie: TBA
Sunday, August 31 - Our Interim Conference Minister, Rev. Davida Crabtree, will be with us. Please plan to attend the one service, at 10 am.
Coming Up in September:
New Members Classes:
September 14 and 21 at 10:10 in pastor's office
Joining on September 28
Supper Groups September Gathering
Our church Supper Group will begin the year by gathering on
Sat. Sept. 13 (the 2nd Sat.)
at 6:30 pm in the Fellowship Hall at the Church. We look forward to seeing everyone!
Please bring a dish to share and please e-mail Kit and Bonnie (at
bmegathlin@gmail.com) if you will be attending - s we will have a count for tables and chairs.
If you are not in the Supper Group and would like to join us, please e-mail Kit and Bonnie at the above e-mail address so we can add you to the list. We meet on the 2nd Saturday of most months and each person/couple brings a dish to share. We often have a specific theme and bring food associated with that. In September there is no theme - just a gathering to kick off our new year!
Questions? Call or e-mail Kit and Bonnie Megathlin at 813-428-5200.
Human Rights Conference
Social Action Committee Meeting
Sunday, September 14, after the second service in the Library
An Opportunity to Develop Priorities for the next six months or longer. Everyone is
welcomed and needed!
Saturday Concert Series
Saturday, September 27, 4:00 pm - Kozmik String Quarter
Saturday, October 25, 4:00 pm - Brandon Martin in Concert
Sunday adults' discussion group
The adults' discussion group will resume on Sunday, September 7 at 10 am. More information on the fall book to read will follow.
Calling for volunteers!
Laurence and Cindy First United Love Team
Laurence and Cindy recently moved into a condo. Laurence's dad has been trying to do the work single-handedly to make it accessible and work for them. They still have some tasks to do, including a bit of dry-walling, painting and some carpentry to build a small ramp for their deck. In addition, there are some small tasks they need help with such as measure and pick up blinds for their windows.
If you would like to help join a work crew to help Laurence's dad, please see Pastor Bernice.
The work date has tentatively been scheduled for
Friday, September 5. More information to follow. So far we have five persons signed up.
.
Help Wanted:
Exciting Volunteer Opportunities
at First United
Sunday Morning Worship Power Point Tech
We need one more person who can rotate the responsibility of changing the power point slides during the service. See or talk with Pastor Bernice or Brandon Martin for more information.
Building
Once every month or so the air conditioning vents need to be changed and the administration building needs to be sprayed for bugs. Can you help? See or talk with Mike Gray (
ggray0050@tampabay.rr.com) or Ross Ayer (
rayer@sprintmail.com) if you can help.
c
hildren's church teachers and teacher's assistants
Right now we have only 4 teachers committed to working with our children. We need to begin to have two different classes to accommodate the age differences and so need at least 3-4 more teachers, plus a few persons who are willing to be teacher's assistants, helping when the classes are larger or when there is some special need. If we have a large enough pool, you should only need to work one Sunday a month. Please see or call Debra Warner (813) 909-0591
if you are interested.
Hospitality Coordinator(s)
We still need one more person to help coordinate Sunday morning hospitality. That means sending out sign up sheets quarterly to make sure we have coverage and picking up coffee, plates and supplies quarterly. We have one volunteer and need one more. Please see or talk with Pastor Bernice if you would be willing to volunteer.
Thanks!
Once a year we take a special UCC Luv offering. We ask that everyone make a $20 special contribution to cover the FL Conference $14.50 per capita and the balance goes to Our Church's Wider Mission. We ask those who can make a larger contribution to do so to help out someone else who cannot make the full $20 contribution. This year we will take this offering on Sunday, September 14. Please give generously.
HOPE latest news
Put the Fall Annual HOPE Convention on your calendar - Monday, October 27. More details to follow. We will be holding several house meetings as we kick off the listening process to discern what problems our county is facing this year. You should be hearing from your HOPE Team member in the next two weeks with more information!
Meanwhile, we are continuing to work on the Affordable Housing and Fair Chance Hiring policy problems. You will hear reports on this important work also at the fall house meetings.
How many people have been killed by guns since Newtown?
Click here to see an updated tally.
Listen to sermons online
Now you can listen to recordings of Sunday sermons on our website, www.ucctampabay.org. Tell your friends!
Please help us on Sundays
If you are the last one to leave the church property on Sunday, PLEASE be mindful to check that all doors are locked. Thank you!
Sunday School news
Sunday School classes are as follows:
Primary (ages 4-10) - The children will be in church for the pastor's time. Then they will leave for class with the teacher at approximately 11:10 AM.
Nursery (ages 3 and under) - The children can be with parents and participate in the pastor's time until all children go to the classrooms.
You can visit www.sermons4kids.com and www.kids2kidsmissions.org to see the kinds of activities that are in store for your children. If you have any questions, please call Debra Warner at 813-909-0591.
Needed! 3-4 more teachers and 1-2 teacher's assistants. Would you consider being a teacher or assistant at least once a month? Our children need you.
2 x 3 = 6
Six hours spread over three months – the amount of time Hospitality Hosts contribute to making our Sunday Fellowship Time the best. Each host “team” member agrees to serve once a month for three months – providing food, enjoying rich fellowship and – yes – cleaning up.
You are invited to become part of this continuing ministry. As a regular member of a team – pick your Sunday – or as a substitute available as needed. One further note – Paul D’Agostino and Jim Roney come early every Sunday to make coffee in addition to serving as fifth Sunday hosts.
First United name badges
We are ordering name badges for members, friends, and visitors. The cost is $10.00. Please contact the church office at 813-988-4321 or churchoffice@ucctampabay.org.
Submitting items to Courage in the Struggle
We hope you enjoy receiving Courage in the Struggle, the weekly e-news of First United Church of Tampa. If you would like to submit an item that would be of interest to the members and friends of First United, please email it to webservant@ucctampabay.org. Attach your submission as a Word document. Submissions may be edited for length or clarity. For events, be sure to include the date, time, location, and cost (if any). Thank you!
