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The second annual Western Colorado Women's March will be held in Grand Junction this Saturday, January 20th in Lincoln Park, beginning at 10:00 a.m. Some folks plan to stay for the after-party in Grand Junction, while others are heading home after the march. If you want to share a ride with other CSC members and friends, plan to meet at AutoZone in the center of Montrose at 8:00 a.m.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME... men, women, children. This event is non-partisan and follows the message of the first march: that women and girls are valued on the Western Slope. We are honoring the women and girls who make important contributions to our lives and have played important roles in our history. And continue to demand that women's rights are human rights.
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When it comes to faith, what ideas do you hold onto that really don’t fit very well any more?
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Show your support for Community Spirit UCC at the Women's March this weekend!
These 100% cotton twill caps have an adjustable back strap to fit everyone.
Suggested donation is $20. All proceeds will benefit the CSC Inreach/Outreach Ministry. Let Kim Floyde know if you want to get one for yourself.
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SHARE THE WARMTH CLOTHING DRIVE
The Inreach/Outreach Ministry is collecting coats, jackets, sweaters, blankets, sleeping bags, socks and other warm clothing for the homeless folks in our community.
Please bring your freshly-laundered new and gently-used items to church on Sundays through February.
Your generosity will help our less-fortunate neighbors make it through the cold months ahead.
To schedule a pickup, please contact Mary Loncar or Kim Floyde.
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Journey into Lent: A Half-Day Retreat for Ardent Pilgrims and the Not-So-Sure
The sacred season of Lent prepares us for Holy Week and Easter and begins on Ash Wednesday, a day of acknowledging our humanness. This year Lent begins on — wait for it — Valentine’s Day! This wonderful coincidence of timing invites us to reflect in new ways on the love alive in Jesus that would inspire him to make his way from the safety of the countryside to the holy city of Jerusalem, a journey Jesus knew would be hard and which would probably end horribly.
Instead of marking Lent’s beginning with an ashen cross on the forehead, Community Spirit is holding a half-day retreat on Saturday, February 10th from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Loncar home. (Come a half-hour early to socialize and nosh beforehand and/or stay after for a bit of lunch if you don’t need to hurry away.)
To ground our learning and reflecting together, we’ll view the 90-minute documentary I’ll Push You. This beautifully photographed and edited film tells the story of Justin and Patrick who are life-long friends — one is able-bodied and the other is a paraplegic confined to a wheelchair — who together make a 500-mile pilgrimage along the historic El Camino de Santiago in northern Spain. As the title suggests, one man pushes the other other — and feeds, bathes, and clothes his friend every step of the many-miled way.
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I'll Push You: Official Trailer (2016)
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By itself, the film is deeply moving. Viewed through the lens of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, it invites new, life-giving perspectives on his willing suffering, the cross, and then the victory of love the church calls resurrection.
No matter where you are on your journey to make meaning of Lent and Holy Week, you are welcome here at this retreat! To reserve your place, call Karen at 970-275-1725 or look for the signup sheet when you’re in worship. Although there is no charge, come ready to pitch a few pesos into the basket to cover the cost of refreshments.
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A Lenten Study for Folks Like Us!
American Christianity is undergoing a Spirit-guided shift — and even without our knowing it, Community Spirit is part of that holy unfolding! This March come take part in a rich four-week series of one-hour sessions to explore what can only be described as a life-giving season in the progressive sector of the American church and in your own life, as well.
We'll be meeting at Pat Riddell's from 4-5 PM on Sunday afternoons in March to consider some of the stimulating observations in Brian McLaren's new book, The Great Spiritual Migration: How the World's Largest Religion is Seeking a Better Way to Be Christian. We won't be discussing the book itself but rather its themes as we work our way through an accessible companion study and, when we're together, short dvd segments. While not explicitly related to Lent, this study will surely enrich our faith, affirm our unique journey as a church, and empower us as we move into God's future. (Brian McLaren is a pastor, a prolific writer, a popular speaker, and a most engaging teacher — just ask Mary Loncar who heard him speak in Atlanta several years back. )
To order a participant's guide, look for the signup sheet at worship or give Pastor Karen a call. The cost is $5.00.
We Know This: The Church Is Not a Building
The Spirit drew us to The Cabin and has blessed us in countless ways. And yet, the Spirit doesn't let us rest. Recognizing that we limit ourselves with such limited square footage and Sunday morning-only access, Bob Murphy will soon be in conversation with John Renfrow, a local commercial realtor, to begin the quest to find a place where more is possible for our growing church. Leadership has given Bob some basic direction and now we wait to see what the Spirit stirs up. We may find what we need (and can afford) fairly quickly or we may need to be in prayer mode while the Spirit does its thing. In any case, as you make your way around town you may notice a property that would be ideal for us. When that happens, be sure to mention it to Bob Murphy or anyone on Leadership.
Which Comes First — The Chicken or the Egg?
Every thriving church needs a budget. The question is — do we build a budget and ask the congregation to support it, or do we ask the congregation to give and then craft the budget?
The answer Community Spirit has settled on is the latter, and so we invite you to watch your mailbox in the coming weeks. Your church will be asking you to prayerfully consider your giving for 2018 in light of Jesus' encouragement to set our light to shining, rather than hiding it. In your letter will be a commitment card which you'll be asked to bring with you to worship on Sunday, February 11. That morning we'll ask God's blessing upon these promises as we celebrate the Transfiguration, that mountaintop moment in Jesus' life when the light in him shines out in full.
The Leadership Team will then take your consecrated promises and craft a budget, which they will share after worship on Sunday, February 25th. At that Congregational Conversation, you'll be asked to consider, comment on, and then affirm our budget for the coming year. You'll also have a chance to get updated on what's next for our modest-sized but mighty congregation.
Are You on Facebook?
Promote Your Church in No Time at All!
You can help promote Community Spirit in two easy ways. First, you can "like" or "love" each of our posts; this way, they show up in your news feed for local friends to see. Second, you can leave a review of the church and (of course) give us five stars — those who don't yet know us care about these, believe it or not!
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The Half-Life of Christmas
His name is Ken Woodley and he is author of the morning meditations for January of a devotional magazine called "Forward Day by Day". This morning he wrote:
"Have you seen the child wrapped in swaddling clothes? The infant Jesus was here a few days ago. How quickly he disappears after the new year begins. Just when you need him most, Jesus has been packed up as if he were tinsel and twinkling lights, just another decoration to store in an attic box or stack carefully in a basement corner."
I bow my head in shame, Mr. Woodley. I've now celebrated 84 birthdays of that infant, and it never occurred to me to wonder what happened to Jesus once the star disappeared over the horizon. I've taken him for granted is the kindest explanation, put him in a safe place for next year — as if the Son of God needs safety. He didn't even flinch when they pounded those nails into his hands and feet. I have been known to reserve a worshiping angel from the nativity scene and place it in different places in the sanctuary each Sunday, inviting people to find it much like children finding Waldo in a picture book. But that was only an angel, not the baby Jesus.
Mr. Woodley suggests a different story — that Jesus hasn't disappeared, he's marched out of the sanctuary and into the real world, our world.
What a thought! Jesus, who had to be born in a stable because there was no room for him in the inn, still lives in an alien world, a world hungry, cold, naked, frightened, a world we call home but with bars on the windows and locks on the doors and peopled with strangers everywhere. Yet he seems more at home here than we who never knew any other. He's walked at our side and had the audacity to invite us to walk at his side on the waters of Galilee. He's eaten our bread and in turn offered us his flesh and blood. He's heard our boasting and invited us to hear his admonition to seek to serve rather than be served.
He's a walking Christmas that invites the awe of Wise Men, adoration of Shepherds and the songs of angels every day of the year. He stands guard duty on the battlefield, steadies the grip of the surgeon in the ER, prompts the student to wonder by the patient example of the teacher, encourages the fearful by watching, listening, noticing, caring, constantly reminding us "We Matter". The half-life of Christmas does not end when we take down the tree, not for Jesus.
But how about us? How long is our Christmas? Think we can stretch it further than Valentine's Day?
~ George Miller
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