ADVENT CHORAL EVENT REHEARSAL (Saturday, November 2, 3:30-5:30 PM)

Central's choir will be sharing Conrad Susa's "Carols and Lullabies" with the congregation on Sunday, Dec. 8 at the 11:00 service. This is a setting of Spanish carols from many different countries, with accompaniments provided by marimba, harp, and guitar. We invite members of the congregation who would like to sing this wonderful music to join us for this event. We will begin with a special rehearsal on Saturday, November 2, 3:30-5:30 PM. Leona@central-ucc.org

Central will again mark its annual remembrance and celebration of those who have joined the Company of the Saints of Light with our "bell banners." Any and all are welcome and encouraged to place a bell on the banners that will be in the narthex for the next few weeks. Bells may be placed for those who have recently crossed from this life to life eternal or for a saint from long ago. The banners will be part of a procession on All Saints Sunday, November 3.

Marriage Blessing Invitation

Saturday, 26 Oct 2013, 5:00 PM

Gitanjali Baroi and Noel Adhikari

Married on 27 April 2012

All are invited to a celebration and blessing of the marriage of Noel and Gitanjali this Saturday, October 26 at 5:00 PM. Rev. Ginnie Ferrell will officiate. They want to have their marriage blessed in this country with Gitanjali's family here (parents, Isaac and Monica, and brother, Mon), their friends, and their church family. Following the marriage blessing, there will be a reception in the Fellowship Hall featuring the wonderful food of Bangladesh. RSVP is requested by Friday evening (click here).

The Barois have been members of Central Congregational UCC since 2002. Central welcomed them and adopted them as a refugee family. Gitanjali and Noel went to the Christian school in Barisal when they were children. They were childhood sweethearts. After fifteen years, they got reacquainted when Gitanjali was visiting Bangladesh. They were married in Bangladesh a year and one half ago. Noel came to the United States this June.

Childcare on Sunday Mornings

Infant and Toddler Care is available every Sunday from 8:30 AM to 12:15 PM. Childcare is available (Room 201, 202) for infants to 1st Graders during both worship services.

Pumpkin Carving and Conversation for Adults 

(Sunday, October 27, 9:30-10:45 AM - Fellowship Hall). Pumpkins will be provided for a small donation. You may want to bring your favorite pumpkin carving knife. Please email Rev. Ginnie by Friday if you need a pumpkin. (click here). 

Soup Kitchen Prep and Conversation 

(Sunday, November 3, 9:30-10:45 AM Kitchen)

Alternative Gift Market Preparations and Conversation 

(Sunday, November 10, 9:30-10:45 AM Fellowship Hall)

Alternative Gift Market (Sunday, November 17) 

Each week this group explores how spirit guides our personal journeys, and we gain new insights by listening to each other.  It is a sacred hour +, from 9:30 to about 10:50, where the discussion might be inspired one week by a poem, another by an excerpt from a book, a film clip, or an audio tape.  You do not need to read or prepare in advance, and you can join this class from time to time, whenever you wish.  Sacred Journeys is wide open.  We close the door to create a quiet space but you are welcome to open it and come on in. Get to know new people at Central or revisit old friends and explore how the spiritual intertwines with the personal for you.  

What nurtures your soul? How do you live your spiritual orientation? Where is the inner light of your being leading you? While Sunday worship provides opportunities for us to celebrate the presence of God in the midst of our community, tending to the inner path enables us to live in ways that are transformed by grace. To support the growth of the spiritual dimension of life, Central hosts weekly opportunities to support soul-full living. You, your family members, and friends are invited to join in Tuesday evening opportunities to support the spiritual dimension of life. You are also encouraged to share this invitation with those who may not feel at home with us on Sunday mornings but who look for ways to spark that inner light.

Every Tuesday

5:45 to 6:30 PM -- Compassion Meditation and Conversation led by the Rev. Lou Kavar, This simple sitting and shared conversation are a still point that nurtures the spirit as well as support mental and physical health. (suggested donation: $5.00)

6:30 to 7:30 PM -- Energy Flow Yoga led by Molly Grubbs, a certified teacher. In addition to the health benefits, yoga helps to center us in the present moment while also restoring energy and mental focus. (suggested donation: $10.00)

Special Tuesday Offerings

November 5, 6:30 to 7:30 - Spiritual Ecology: Cry of the Earth edited by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee. Explore connecting to creation as central to the spiritual life. In November, the group will be discussing chapters 4, 5, and 6. (suggested donation: $5.00)

Each Tuesday in November From 6:30 to 7:45, DrumRise will teach a West African drumming class. Drums are provided. (suggested donation: $15.00)

For more information on the Fall schedule, go to  Meetup.com  

Questions, contact Rev. Lou Kavar .

If you have a Tuesday (5:30 to 7:30 PM) a month and could welcome our guests who come to Central for Spiritual Practices, please contact Rev. Lou Kavar (lou@central-ucc.org).

WIFI SUPPERS

Wednesdays at Central

Supper and fun - no cooking! WIFI (Wednesday Intergenerational Families and Individuals), every Wednesday in October. No cooking, really! Just make a reservation and come to Fellowship Hall, by yourself or with all or part of your household.

• 5:30-6:30 Supper. Casual food, home cooked or catered. Donation invited: $5 adults, $2 children. Arrival time can be later than sooner. 
• 6:30-7:30 An intergenerational activity, different each week. Oct. 30 we'll celebrate Halloween. Children and Adults, too, wear a costume! We'll have some fun games.

Reservations are strongly encouraged so we have enough food. Send an email by midnight Tuesday to WIFI.

Judy Padgett, a member of Central UCC, has offered to teach a third two-evening certified First Aid / CPR class on a mid-week evenings 6:00 to 9:00 pm in the Autumn. Please be in touch if you are interested in a First Aid Class.

Women's Daytime Book Group Meets on 4th Thursdays

An informal gathering begun this summer has taken root.  "Ladies Who Read" will continue to gather in the Fireplace Room every fourth Thursday at 1:30 p.m. September's book is And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini (author of The Kite Runner). The circle isn't a study group, but there's plenty of discussion about the book and also conversation inspired by it.  The next get-together will be October 24. If you would like to receive email reminders, send an email to Geneva Benoit.

You, Mission & Action and Montclair Elementary School

Between Central and Buford Highway there is an elementary school of about 1200 students with 90% of those students receiving a free or reduced price lunch as well as breakfast at school. It's time to move from studying hunger and poverty to some actions in our own little corner of the world where hunger is evident. Montclair Elementary School is where we would like to begin. We are in the planning stages. Check out the sign up lists out in the Commons!

Could you be a tutor and work with a child ? On October 27, you may take the Safe Church course and view the power point presentation that the school requires to be a tutor.

Hungry children still have to eat over vacations, so we want to help with Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets. The Winter Coat Project will be looking for coats of various sizes from 6 to 14 for boys and girls, hats, gloves or mittens and scarves for as many children as we can.

The students need basic school supplies and the teachers do too.

We all have something we can do. The African saying is correct. "It takes a village to raise a child." Let's help these children. Let's be a village for them.  

Alternative Gift Market: November 17, 9:30AM - 1:00PM Commons

Give gifts that give back! Your Christmas shopping can begin at the Alternative Gift Market on November 17, 9:30-1pm, in the commons area at Central UCC. Choose gifts that give back within our church, locally, as well as globally! Gifts for sale will include blankets, decorative houses, jewelry, and holiday bells. In addition, through Church World Service, you can sponsor gifts such as: clean water, an animal, educational toys, and more. There will be multiple organizations benefitting. Come enjoy refreshments & buy gifts for good!

Cindy Hoover has volunteered to organize the market again this year. Please contact her know if you can volunteer to help or donate a baked item, agm@centralucc.org. Many hands make light work.

Change Your Life Go on a Mission Trip: Sept. 21-27 2014

We have an opportunity September 21-27, 2014 to participate in a work-camp at Back Bay Mission in Biloxi, Mississippi. We have made a reservation for 15 people. Will you be one of them?

"The ministry of Back Bay Mission was born in 1922 when the First Evangelical Church of Biloxi (later United Church of Christ) responded with compassion to the basic needs of poor shrimpers and their families who were living in deplorable conditions along Biloxi's Back Bay.

Through the years, Back Bay Mission continued to expand its services and ministries, always keeping the impoverished and marginalized at the center of its concern. Although no United Church of Christ churches remain in Mississippi, Back Bay Mission continues to serve as it has for eight decades, always being responsive

to the emerging and critical needs of God's people, ever seeking a day of greater justice and peace.

BACK BAY MISSION STATEMENT

Back Bay Mission, a community ministry of the United Church of Christ, serves the Mississippi Gulf Coast and the wider church community by faithful witness for social justice and compassionate service to the poor and marginalized.

BACK BAY VISION STATEMENT

Back Bay Mission shall embody with integrity and truth the prophetic mandate of Micah "to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God."

If you are interested in going to Back Bay Mission for this trip, please let Jean Haller or Bill O'Steen know. You may be able to support this mission with a financial donation, so someone else may go. We will have to pay for food and a minimal charge for housing at the Mission, as well as transportation costs to and from Mississippi.