The weekly e-news of First United Church of Tampa!


 

June 18, 2015



 


FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST


 

 


 From Pastor Bernice


 There really are no words to convey...

... the sadness we all feel at hearing of the the shootings at the Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston.  I had planned to write a different piece, but the news of the murder of nine innocent people in a church commands a different kind of word.  When I opened up my e-mails this morning there was one from a UCC national staff member whose cousin was killed in the shooting.  They grew up next door to each other in Charleston, close enough, she said, that they could each sit on their front porches and talk. Her cousin is the mother of five and a woman who was active in the leadership of Emmanuel.  So it wasn't surprising that she was at church for Wednesday evening bible study when the shooting occurred.  In the next days, we will learn the stories of all the people killed, including the pastor, Rev. Clementa Pickney, who was also a SC State Senator. Lives of people of faith who understood the connection between faith and community snuffed out by hate.

I suspect that it has never been easy to be African American and live in Charleston, the place where the opening shots of the Civil War were fired and where a slave market flourished for generations. But Emmanuel AME Church, the oldest black church in the South, was a place where African American people came for solace and safety.  One of the church's founders was Denmark Vesey, a slave preacher who instigated a slave revolt and was killed as a result. No, Charleston was never easy for African Americans to live in.  But this last year has been horrendous for them, first with the killing of Walter Scott by a police officer and now this.  

Of course, these assassinations, done in a sacred and safe place, call to mind such killings in the past.  The four little girls killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham only weeks after the March on Washington.  The shooting of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s mother, Alberta, as she played the organ in Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.  The murders of Sikhs in worship in WI in 2012 and the shootings outside a Jewish community center and nursing home outside Kansas City in 2014. Each abhorrent in its own way.  How long, O Lord, how long?

And now this.  I wish I could say "never again." I wish I could say that our nation would come together and find a way to pass common sense gun control legislation, at the very least requiring background checks for every gun sold everywhere.  But we know what happened after the shootings at the Sandy Hook school in CT.  Nothing. Last Sunday we prayed for the 88,028 American families who have lost loved ones since the Newtown massacre. This Sunday there will be 700 more, including 9 of the faithful in Charleston.  My sadness is not just for the families in Charleston or for the AME Church.  My sadness is for our nation.

So, let us hold those families and that church family in our hearts. We will continue on Sunday to pray for those who have lost a loved one in gun violence. We will continue to post the numbers on the sign on Fowler.  We will continue to work for justice and peace. 

In Sadness and Peace,

Pastor Bernice                                                                  
 
revbpjackson@ucctampabay.org


 


Sunday, June 21

The texts for Sunday are:

1 Samuel 17:1a, 4-11
Mark 4:35-41
 

Readers:    
Quench-   Laurie Hope          

11:00 AM -      English  - Joyce Christison
                       Spanish - Graciela Flores
                       
Rev. Graciela Flores will serve as Pulpit Assistant
                       
Rev. Bernice Powell Jackson will preach on "Get in the Boat".




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 and his father, Paul, Sr.; Ly Sanchez' mother, Alba, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Robin Hill, Willy Emerson, Carl St Meyer,  Fonda Harris' sister, Jeanine; Joyce Christison and family, Janet Stephenson and family, Laurie Hope and Tena Nock, Joyce Cleary's son, Mike; Barbara McFarland's sister, Diane; Maria Morales' mother, Emerita, Hector Rojas' niece, Viviana; Thelma Ashley's uncle, Willie, the people of Emmanuel AME Church.
 


 
Meetings and important events

20's/30's Group - Thursday, June 25, 6:30 pm, dinner

Next New Members' classes
July 12 and July 19 10 am
Will join on July 26
 

 

Sunday adults' discussion group

The Adult Seminar is taking a short break before it starts its next book discussion.  Stay tuned for more information




Words of Compassion
      It is crucial to educate the young in compassionate ethos.  Are the children of your nation encouraged to relate with respect to their peers, their teachers, and foreigners?  What do their textbooks teach them about other races and peoples?  Are students taught enough about the history  of the nation so that they understand its flaws as well as its triumphs?  Are the problems of drinking , drugs, violence and bullying in your schools?  Once you have considered these questions, if you are an educator, why not develop a curriculum to educate children in the importance of empathy and respect?  if you work in technology, perhaps you could create a computer game that would accustom children to putting themselves into the shoes of a victim of bullying, a homeless person, a refugee, a new immigrant, an impoverished family, a person with physical or mental challenges, or a radically ostracized individual.                     

                                                                ~~~Karen Armstrong~~~


 

HOPE latest news 

We had 13 Justice Ministry Network members attend the Celebration at Our Lady of Perpetual Help (what a beautiful church!). We heard good music, had a bite to eat and heard the reports on our work this past year.  We had some successes  -- a bill passed in Tallahassee to expand civil citations for second and third offenses and some movement on getting misdemeanor marijuana offenses included in civil citations program in Hillsborough, if there is appropriate counseling or treatment provided. 

We at First United have already passed our HOPE investment goal!  Thank you!.  If you still would like to invest, it's not too late

We tried on May 26 once again to see Mayor Buckhorn and were told that we did not have an appointment and they would get back to us. When I asked his assistant what should we tell our members about why the Mayor would not see us, her response was,  "I don't care what you tell them." 

On Friday, May 15 HOPE gave a 10 minute presentation to the Public Safety Coordinating Council, which includes the stake-holders who sign off on Civil Citations in Hillsborough County.  We spoke to the need to expand civil citations in our county, which is the only county in FL among the 59 which use Civil Citations that does not include first time misdemeanor marijuana possession. Immediately following that meeting was a meeting of the Juvenile Justice Board and we also briefly spoke there.  It seems that there is movement afoot to begin a pilot program in the Tampa schools beginning next school year in which first time marijuana misdemeanor possession will receive civil citation and appropriate counseling or treatment.

On May 6  25 members of HOPE  went  to the Hillsborough County Commission to urge them to find funds for an Affordable Housing Trust Fund.  Several Housing Task Force committee members were allowed to speak, but then were cut off until the end of the meeting.  One school teacher, who had taken the day off to speak on the need for affordable housing for her students, did not get to speak until the end of the day. Some of the Commissioners spoke to the subject but then there was much conversation about how they don't like the Nehemiah Action way of asking direct questions.  (We call that deflection.) There was little discussion about how to fund this critical Fund in a county where 64,000 low income families are spending half of their income for housing, which means they do not have adequate funds for food, transportation, clothing and health care.

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
 
 



 
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