Web Admin – The Church of the Palms UCC

Spring Rummage & Bake Sale

Thursday, March 28 through Saturday, March 30

at Church of the Palms. 14808 N Boswell Boulevard, Sun City, Arizona 85351

The hours are:

Thursday 7:30 AM to 2:00 PM
Friday 7:30 AM to 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Saturday 7:30 AM to 12:00 Noon

You can use a credit card for purchases of $100 or more.

We have:

We look forward to seeing you! Bring your family and friends!

Learn About Church of the Palms

Wednesday, March 20th at 3:30 in King Hall

If you would like to learn more about The Church of the Palms and/or are considering joining as a member or associate member, please plan on attending an information session on Wednesday, March 20th 3:30 in King Hall.

The session will provide an opportunity to meet church leaders, obtain information about the United Church of Christ and discover the many opportunities to be involved in our church life.

A light supper, provided by the Board of Evangelism, and an opportunity for fellowship will follow the information session. Folks wishing to join our church will be introduced to our members at the Sunday March 24th service.

Please sign the Covenant Book in the narthex and indicate if you are considering joining the church or are just seeking more information about our church.

Celebrate Your Roots and Embrace Your Personal History

Presented by the Social Justice Action Team

Sunday, March 17th, in King Hall at noon, following worship

Come to an all-church potluck and program event for members and friends where we will share, explore, and celebrate our various personal heritage stories.

Please bring a dish to share that reflects your ancestry, or a salad, side dish or dessert. Don’t know your history/ancestry? Just bring a favorite dish. You may wish to wear clothing which reflects your ancestry/heritage. Think about sharing stories, perhaps about how family traditions have been maintained, or how holidays and birthdays have been celebrated.

Featured Speaker: Attorney Brendan Mahoney, a member of First Congregational Church UCC in Phoenix, will be our presenter. Brendan will share his extensive knowledge of immigration patterns to the United States over the centuries. Where have our immigrants come from and what were the motivating factors that brought them here? How has the richness of our past histories enhanced our country? A Social Justice Action Team member has heard Brendan’s presentation and rates it A+ so you won’t want to miss this event.

There will be a signup in the narthex beginning late February. If you ride the church bus, that’s no problem, because transportation will be arranged so that you can attend this event.

English Afternoon Tea

Saturday, April 13, 2:00 p.m.

A fun, delicious way to relax and enjoy friends and church family.

Tea sandwiches, scones, and desserts are on the menu along with entertainment and door prizes.

It’s an opportunity to show your creativity as well. This is an invitation to decorate and wear a hat—-there will be prizes for your unique, imaginative handiwork.

All are welcome to attend this 50th Anniversary fundraising event for a $15.00 donation.

Tickets will be available soon.

Offering Hospitality to Asylum Seekers, or Love Thy Neighbor – No Exceptions

Members of your social justice team have been exploring ways of offering support to immigrants who are seeking asylum and have been admitted to the country legally. These families have applied for asylum on entry (completing all necessary paperwork to do so) and are being allowed to travel to family members in the US who are here legally, and who will sponsor them.

They come with little or nothing, and are bussed by ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to the Phoenix area and dropped at local churches who have the ability to provide a shower, clean clothes, food and a place to sleep, for usually 1 to 3 days at most. They will have tickets for the onward journey provided by their family/sponsor. The church also provides transportation to the bus depot.

There are a number of churches and nonprofits in the Valley actively welcoming and providing support. We recently visited a church in the West Valley that has been welcoming groups brought to them by ICE since Thanksgiving.They take as many as 200 people over the course of three days. They have very limited space which is used for sleeping at night, and gathering during the day. Meals are prepared and eaten outside.

We were inspired and humbled by the witness of this congregation and are committed to finding ways that Church of the Palms will support the work they are doing. We hope many of you will join us.

As of this writing, a group of us will be go to the host church on Monday mornings for about three hours (carpooling at 9:00 am from Church of the Palms). Please email Beth Moore ebmoore1@live.com if you wish to join us on any Monday. We encourage anyone to go with us just to meet the people, and witness the work being done. Please feel free to speak with John Durbin or Beth Moore to learn more of the details of this effort.

As we learn more and organize our efforts, we will begin asking you for specific things that are needed. The following are needs that have been expressed at this point. If you wish, you may bring donations and place them in the designated box in the narthex labeled “Asylum Seekers.”

- Clothing in sizes small and medium for men and women
- Shoes, sweaters, jackets
- New underwear and socks for men, women and children
- Staples: toilet paper, paper plates, utensils, Styrofoam cups
- Hygiene items: toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shampoo
- Food items: Coffee; creamer, sugar; bottled water

People are also needed:

- Drivers to take groups to the bus depot.
- Volunteers on Monday or Tuesday to help with things such as meal preparation; sorting clothes; doing laundry; sitting and visiting with children/parents.

Memory and Faith Project Dementia Care and Education

Wednesday, March 13, 3 to 4:30 p.m.

Have you ever wondered if someone you love is facing Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia? Have you wondered how you might help the individual or family as they faced this?

Are you a caregiver for someone with Alzheimer’s and facing its many challenges, feeling alone, stressed, or experiencing burnout?

The Church of the Palms’ Faith Health Ministry is pleased to be one of the churches participating in the Dementia Care and Education Memory and Faith Project, an educational project designed to provide education and resources to churches across Arizona. The program is being offered in churches with the goal being to mobilize and educate faith communities, increasing awareness and understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and supporting those living with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers.

The Church of the Palms’ Faith Health Ministry will be participating in this project by hosting a series of five educational sessions. The programs are aimed at identifying signs of dementia, providing a support system incorporating family, friends and the faith community, and to assist caregivers in their difficult task. Topics being addressed in the series of programs include:

- The ABC’s of Alzheimer’s and Dementia
- Is it Alzheimer’s or Natural Aging
- Brain Tune-up
- Nutrition and Prevention of Alzheimer’s
- Memory Screening

The first session will be held at the Church of the Palms on Wednesday, March 13, at 3:00 p.m. A second session is scheduled for Wednesday, April 10. The remaining sessions will be held in the fall after the summer travelers have returned. United Church of Sun City will be hosting sessions during the same time frame, allowing interested individuals to “make-up” a missed session.

2019 Spring Rummage & Bake Sale: first call for donations and volunteers

Important dates to mark on your calendar:

Wednesday, February 14, 9 a.m.: Organizational meeting

Sunday, March 10: Bake sale sign up begins (sheet in narthex)

Monday, March 25–Wednesday, March 27: Bring donations to the church

Thursday, March 28–Saturday, March 30: Rummage Sale and Pop Up Bakery!

The hours of the Rummage Sale have changed this year. Sale hours will be as follows:

- Thursday 7:30 AM to 2:00 PM
- Friday 7:30 AM to 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM
- Saturday 7:30 AM to 12:00 Noon

You’ll also be able to use a credit card for all purchases of $100 or more.

The organizational meeting is for volunteers and all those interested in finding out more about the sale.

If you can help or have questions, please contact one of the members of the 2019 Rummage Sale coordinating team:

- John Durbin ~ Board of Mission and Outreach
- Pat Durbin ~ Board of Evangelism
- Judy Jondahl ~ Board of Stewards

Or sign up on one of the volunteer sheets in the narthex or office. We need lots of help and we would love to have you be involved.

If you’ll be baking something for our wonderful bake sale, please plan on filling out the bake sale sign up sheet which will be available in the narthex.

Now’s the time to go through your closets and storage areas and donate those items that have served you well but now need a new life with new owners who’ve been looking for just such items. Your donation items will be sorted, priced, and staged for the Rummage Sale!

If you need to have an item picked up prior to Sunday, March 24th, please contact John Durbin.

We’ll be accepting all donations during the dates above, but the items for the March sale include:

More details will follow. Thank you very much!

We’ll do it all again in October . . .!

“Giving Tree” for Dysart Community Center

In the process of developing our relationship with the Dysart Community Center, we discovered that some of the 200+ children in their After-School Kids Club are going without necessities — underwear and socks.

A “Giving Tree” will be out in the narthex filled with suggestions of sizes on pink and blue hearts. Take as few or as many hearts that you can help with. Dysart Community Center will be thankful for new or “gently used” clothing. The “Giving Tree” hearts will be replenished each week.

“From Jack’s Private Stock”

Jack Evans’ film series returns as “From Jack’s Private Stock”

We’ll watch the film on fourth Fridays at 9 a.m. in the boardroom. Bring a friend! It’s free.

This series begins with Atonement on February 22.

This sweeping English drama, based on the book by Ian McEwan, follows the lives of young lovers Cecilia Tallis (Keira Knightley) and Robert Turner (James McAvoy.) When the couple are torn apart by a lie constructed by Cecilia’s jealous younger sister, Briony (Saoirse Ronan), all three of them must deal with the consequences. Robbie is the hardest hit, since Briony’s deception results in his imprisonment, but hope for Cecilia and her beau increases when their paths cross during World War II..

Community labyrinths

Come walk, pray, reflect, and return to the world, different.

We have created two labyrinths, recognizing the diversity that is embedded in our church and community. One is long, and one is short; please make use of both. The longer one will follow the traditional meandering path that has been used for centuries. Recognizing that that path is simply too far for some, a second labyrinth was designed to meet the needs of those who require the assistance of walkers.

We hope this tool for meditation and reflection can help all of us find meaning right here, right now, in our lives. We invite and welcome all in the community beyond our doors to experience this spiritual practice.

Thank you to Max Klinkenborg for coordinating this project and to the many volunteers who came to build it.

image credits: Rev. Paul A. Whitlock, Senior Pastor, Church of the Palms UCC, and Nancy Tsuchiya