The Adventure begins ...
... as we begin the process of moving our church family from our current church home. From the present and past to the future. A future that is still unknown. That can be a little unsettling, a little scary and a little anxiety-making. But then we are called to remember God's promise to be with us always, especially in the
frightening times. Every time God is about to do something new and different, something that God knows is going to push the people out of their comfort zones, God sends an angel who says, "Do not be afraid." So, look for the angel.
For the past five years we have known that our current sanctuary, as beautiful as it is, is just too small. There is little room for visitors and not much room for us either. And we know our parking lot is too small. There are some Sundays where we see people drive through, unable to find a place to park and just drive away. And we know our library, our fellowship hall and even our office space is just too small. There's no place to count money privately, there is sometimes not enough room for the Adult Education Sunday class and if you have attended any of our wedding receptions in the Fellowship Hall, you know there is not much room to even move a chair. Our church administrative assistant must share her desk with Sunday workers and do on ...
If we want to grow -- and for the long term viability of our congregation, we need to grow, then we need bigger space. IF we want to be able to spread God's message of extravagant love, radical hospitality and amazing justice to more people in Tampa, then we need bigger space. So we have to move from this place of peace and solace to a new place that we can make into our own sacred space anew.
The spirit of our Congregational meeting was touching and inspiring. There were real questions asked and answers, to the extent we know the answers, given. There were suggestions made. There was at once sadness and excitement. But there was a sense of unity, a sense of moving forward into the future together. As our moderator said, "We are the church, this building is not the church."
There is much work to do in the next weeks. We will need volunteers to help with many of the tasks. Put on your own calendars Sunday, May 10 -- Mother's Day -- which will be our closing worship on Fowler Avenue. Continue to keep the Church Council and our whole church family in your prayers -- as we enter into Jerusalem with Jesus during Holy Week, as we await the risen Christ on Easter Sunday morning and yes, as we begin our own journey together.
In Peace,
Pastor Bernice
revbpjackson@ucctampabay.org
Sunday, March 29 - Palm Sunday
The texts for Sunday are:
Is 50:7-10
John 12:12-16
Readers:
Quench - Laurence Ford
11:00 AM - English - Daphne Thomas
Spanish - Cheryl Rodriguez
Pulpit Assistant - Rev. Martin Montonye
Rev. Bernice Powell Jackson will be preaching on "Beyond the Moment"
SUNDAY SERVICES:
9:00 AM - Quench, 
Quench your spirit’s longing for God and community in an intimate service of message, music, and media. Communion every Sunday.
11:00 AM - Worship Service
a larger service with prayer, choir, sermon and children's church
Prayer requests
Pat Allen; Doris Rampolla, Joyce Bresee; Alice Wilber; Karen Mattheis' daughter, Shandy; Rev. Bernice’s brother, Nick; Lois Whitehurst; Diana Legg, Leroy Herschberger, Bob Mitchell, Kenn Antonelli and Kenn and Steve Antonelli's mother, Antoinette; Caleb DeNote, CL Townsend, Paul D'Agostino, Ly Sanchez' mother, Alba, Jean McCann, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Gail Gray's father, Bill Ott, Robin Hill, Willy Emerson, Carl St Meyer, Fonda Harris' sister, Jim Christison, Maureen Baez and her family, Paul Werner and family, Janet Stephenson's father
Meetings and important events
This Saturday, March 28 - Tampa Pride march
Meet at the church at 9:45 to carpool. March starts at 1:00
Those who cannot walk can ride!
Calling All Pancake Chefs
We need pancake chefs to bring and cook their favorite recipes for our Easter Morning Breakfast following the 8AM Sunrise Service. We also need individuals to bring fruit, orange juice, bacon or sausage.
Tina Pierson has agreed to coordinate this activity. Please email her at:
tinathemama@gmail.com if you are willing to help out. Thank you and we look forward to delicious pancakes.
Holy Week Schedule
Thursday, April 2 Maundy Thursday Healing Service
6:00 Soup and Salad
7:00 Service
Friday, April 3 Justice Stations of the Cross
12 noon - 3; 6-7 pm
A time of meditation and prayer while viewing paintings by Garry Scheuer and other art work
Sunday, April 5 - Easter Sunday
8 am - Sunrise outdoor service
9:30 Pancake breakfast
10:00 Easter Egg hunt for children
11:00 Worship
SOCIAL ACTION COMMITTEE UPDATE
The Voting Restoration Amendment
This amendment updates Florida’s criminal justice system to match the standards in other states, so that after a person convicted of a felony completes all terms of their sentence — including parole or probation — they earn their voting rights back. It would not apply to those convicted of murder or sexual offenses, who would continue to be permanently barred from voting unless the governor and Cabinet vote to restore their rights on a case-by-case basis. (The amendment also does not address other civil rights a person may have lost, eg. right to bear firearms, right to serve on a jury. These have to be addressed by the individual in separate procedures.)
Earth Charter/ Environment concerns;
Solar Petition
The petition drive to expand the use of solar energy in Florida needs all of our attention also. The link to the downloadable petition and volunteer signup is: http://www.flsolarchoice.org/
Inter-Faith Climate Conference
A statewide inter-faith conference is being held on April 10 & 11 in Longwood, FL. The purpose is prepare the faith communities to engage the legislative process with respect to various climate issues at this critical time. The link to conference website is: www.interfaithflorida.com. Please let Pastor Bernice, Cheryl Rodriquez or C.L.Townsend know if you are interested in attending.
Farm Workers Delivery:
Volunteers are needed for a delivery of food. Contact CL Townsend to see when the next delivery is scheduled.
Sunday adults' discussion group
The adults' discussion group has resumed! They will be reading The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible by Charles Eisenstein. Join them at 10:10 in the library.
Words of Compassion
Can you think of a twenty-first century equivalent to the li (rational principle or law) that would make each member of the family feel supremely valued? How can you make your family a school for compassion, where children learn the value of treating all others with respect? What would life be like if all family members made a serious attempt to treat one another “all day and every day” as they would wish to be treated themselves? How would life be improved, for example, if every one made a consistent effort to avoid speaking too hastily? We know that people brought up in dysfunctional families find it difficult to make good relationships in later life; they can have psychological problems that cause them to increase the sum of pain in the world. Creating a compassionate family life is one of the ways in which we can all make a constructive contribution to a more empathic society in the future.
~~~Karen Armstrong~~~
HOPE latest news
At the HOPE rally nearly 150 of us agreed to continue our work to ensure Fair Chance Hiring for those with criminal records in Tampa. We also agreed to continue to press to reduce the number of children arrested in Florida and in Hillsborough County and for a Hillsborough County Affordable Trust Housing Fund. We had 14 attend the Rally, but we actually needed to have 25. We know some were dealing with illnesses, visitors and other commitments, but we need
you to bring three people to the Nehemiah Action on April 20 in order to reach our goal of 100. In order for our public officials to see that we are serious about these issues, we need to reach our goal of 1300 people at the Action. So, we've got work to do!
Meanwhile, the Tampa City Council will take up the Fair Chance Hiring amendment on April 2. We are attempting to meet with Mayor Buckhorn about this because he could just take executive action and make this happen.
The arguments that this will make Tampa less competitive have been disproven by the fact that New York City and other large cities have already enacted such ordinances and are still highly competitive. The argument that Tampa might lose Federal monies does not hold water -- sixteen states have enacted Fair Chance Hiring ordinances and 20 cities have similar ordinances. The argument that we might be ineligible for state contracts is purely conjectural and is a smokescreen for the City Attorney to hide behind.
Last Sunday's New York Times Business Section printed a front page article on Fair Chance hiring and NPR's national show "On Point" devoted a whole show to it last week. There is no reason that Tampa's City Council and our Mayor together cannot take this action that will help thousands of our families.
We still need you send an e-mail to the City Council members and ask others to do this as well, especially if you live in the Seminole Heights area, which Council Member Suarez represents He voted against this amendment, even though he voted for the original ordinance. It will come back before the new City Council in April. What does the Lord require of us? To do justice ....
Frank Reddick, District 5:
frank.reddick@tampagov.net
Charlie Miranda, District 6:
charlie.miranda@tampagov.net
Harry Cohen, District 4:
harry.cohen@tampagov.net
Lisa Montelione, District 7:
lisa.montelione@tampagov.net
Mary Mulhern, District 2 at large:
mary.mulhern@tampagov.net
Mike Suarez, District 1 at large:
mike.suarez@tampagov.net
Yolanda Yoli Capin, District 3 at large:
Yvonne.capin@tampagov.net
Meanwhile, we continue to work on the use of Civil Citations in Hillsborough County and in the state. We are holding a number of meetings with state legislators and with local stakeholders, those in the criminal justice and judicial systems. Senator Garcia of south Florida has introduced our bill into the Senate, S 378.We are working on getting it introduced in the House. Our goal is to get more offenses included in Civil Citations in Hillsborough county and to get the state legislation amended so that Civil Citations become the default for youth involved in first-time non-serious misdemeanors.
We are also still working on establishing an Affordable Housing Trust Fund in Hillsborough County and have had several promising meetings with some of the County Commissioners and others involved in affordable housing. There is a critical and on-going need for affordable housing in our county. If you are interested in being on the research committee, please let the pastor know.
All Justice Ministry Network Members should be planning to attend the HOPE Rally on Monday, March 23 at 6:30 at Allen Temple AME Church, 2101 Lowe St.
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!
First United Church of Tampa
7308 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33617 - 813-988-4321
Founded in 1885
www.ucctampabay.org
OUR FOUR CORE VALUES:
EARTH CHARTER
MULTIRACIAL AND MULTICULTURAL
OPEN AND AFFIRMING
PEACE WITH JUSTICE
