Our church is unique because we cherish all persons, including those who feel unwelcome, overlooked, or excluded by other churches. If you are looking for a church home or a place for your wedding or other event, we invite you to come visit us soon. Whether you worship with us for just one visit or become a member of the church, we believe that you will have a fulfilling and positive spiritual experience here.

See News & Events for all the current happenings.

December Scripture Readings

• February 7: Isaiah 6:1-8; Psalm 138; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11
• February 14: Exodus 34:29-35; Psalm 99; 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2; Luke 9:28-36
• February 17: Joel 2:1; Psalm 51:1, 6-8, 10-12; Isaiah 58:3-12; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
• February 21
• February 28

Dear RUCC Family – With a heavy heart, I write to inform you that our dear Dorothy Landeros passed peacefully from this life on Monday, just before midnight.  Her family members--Dianne, Rob, and Toni--were with her.  Over the past several weeks, many of you visited, sent cards, and made phone calls to assure her of your love...please know that this brought much joy to her as well as comfort to the family.  

Dorothy was a founding member of Redlands UCC, sang in the choir, helped provide flowers for Sunday services, and could always be counted upon to bring joy and beauty in her wake.  She was also a "killer" Scrabble player!  Her face was one of the first--and most gracious and friendly--that new people would notice.  Her ability to remember names and stories and connect the two with amazing accuracy meant that she became a fast friend.  As one of our newer members recently remarked, "Dorothy reflects the heart and soul of Redlands UCC..."  That she does, and will continue to do as she lives on in our memories and in the heart of God.

Dorothy's long and vibrant life will be honored in a service of worship and remembrance on Saturday, March 6, 3:00 pm in the RUCC Sanctuary.  And, of course, there will be food.  All are welcome.  If you would like to help with the reception, please contact Beki Hill (Area Leader for Church Life) at 909.798.5899.

If you would like to join an email list for news and updates regarding memorial services and the like, please go to www.albertlanderos.com .

Dorothy’s obituary at the Daily Facts can be read here.

Veggie Soup for the RUCCr's Soul – If you did not get the opportunity to join us yet in regards to the RUCC book project, it's not too late.  For those interested in contributing, please join us on Sunday February 28 at 12:30 pm in the church office. We will be sharing our "free writes" for feed-back as well as taking part in writing exercises. Hope to see you there! Questions? email Rev. Sharon pastor@uccredlands.org or Stacie Belmonte at stacie@heavenlysanctuary.com.
Additional Weekly Prayer Group Begins on Tuesday, March 2 @ 5:00 pm  All are welcome to participate!  The group will be like the Monday morning group: self-led, including a weekly sharing of the joys and concerns of our congregation, learning about prayer, and concluding with time for silent prayer.  We will end promptly at 6:00 pm.  This year's covenants expressed a desire to include more prayer in our spiritual journeys, hence the addition of this group to meet each week after the work day ends.  Please meet in the choir room.  Questions?  Contact Rev. Graff.

Church Women United – Celebrating World Day of Prayer – Theme: “Let Everything that has breath praise God” on March 5, at 10:00 a.m. First Lutheran Church, 1207 W. Cypress, Redlands. Salad luncheon, bring a salad or a donation of $3.00. Bring a friend. For more information call Ruth Moses at (951) 769-9638.

RUCC Rummage Sale Rescheduled to Saturday, March 13th – Please note that the annual rummage sale has been postponed one week, so that we can host the memorial service for Dorothy Landeros.  If you have items you wish to donate to the sale, you may bring them to the church during the previously announced dates of Tuesday-Friday, March 2-5, and also during the week prior to the sale--Monday-Thursday, March 8-11.  If possible, please bring items during regular business hours of 9:00 am-5:00 pm.
Questions?  Please contact either Opal Inman or Paul Hodson.  Thank you!  

One Great Hour of Sharing – One Great Hour of Sharing, as part of Our Church's Wider Mission (OCWM), is the special mission offering of the United Church of Christ that carries God's message of love and hope to people in more than eighty countries.  The UCC works with international partners to provide sources of clean water and food, education and health care, small business micro-credit, emergency relief, and advocacy and resettlement for refugees and displaced persons. OGHS also supports domestic and international ministries for disaster preparedness and response. We will receive this offering on Sunday, March 14.  

Jason and deMarco in concert...as seen in People Magazine and in “We’re All Angels” on the Showtime Network…Jason and deMarco in person with their live band at First Congregational UCC.  3041 N. Sierra Way, San Bernardino, March 14, 4 - 5:30.  A VIP reception follows from 6 - 7.  Tickets before March 1: Age 12 & under are free (but must reserve tickets),  ages 13-25 $10, adults $15, VIP tickets $30 including reception at 6 p.m. (with gift of 2 singles and DVD from J/DM, and personal autographs).  After March 1: all tickets for concert are $20, no VIP tickets available after March 1.  For more information on Jason and deMarco visit their website at www.jasonanddemarco.com.  Sunday will be the last day to purchase your tickets at the reduced price. For tickets, contact Beth Kolpien 909-335-9505 or by email at bbkolpien@aol.com).

All Church Work Day – Saturday, March 20, 8:30 – 12:00 p.m., there will be an all church clean up day. Bring your favorite gardening tools to spruce up the grounds before Easter. All are welcome!

Ordination of Emily Joye McGaughy ~ Saturday, March 27 ~ First Congregational Church of Riverside – As part of the Eastern Association of the UCC, we are enthusiastically invited to attend a service worshipping God and ordaining Emily McGaughy into ministry.  Saturday, March 27, 2010 ~ Time: 2:25pm - 4:00pm ~ Location: 3504 Mission Inn Avenue at Lemon Street, Riverside CA 92501.  Reception following.  All are welcome.  Childcare available.  Please RSVP to RUCC office and we will phone in your reservation for you.  Fun!

MIC: Missing In Cyberspace – If you sent an important email message to me during the period of December 25-January 9, and haven't yet received a response, it is most likely because your message was lost when my computer hard-drive crashed.  So sorry!  Please resend to: pastor@uccredlands.org.  Thanks!--Rev. Dr. Sharon R. Graff

Chapman University Founders Day – Registration is now open for Chapman University Founders Day! The featured speaker is Dr. Marcus Borg, author of a number of best-selling books, including Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time and The Heart of Christianity. This year will be a two-day event with four lectures on Friday, March 19 and an alumni reception. On Saturday, March 20 there will be a Speakers Forum with Dr. Borg, lunch, choir concert and afternoon worship service with Dr. Borg preaching. Continuing Education Units are available. The full schedule, online registration and other information is available by clicking on this link: http://www.chapman.edu/churchrelations/founders.asp

Tree Planting In San Bernardino National Forest – Come celebrate Earth Day by joining Tree People in their reforestation work. Our chosen date is Saturday, April 17th, however, registration is on a first come, first save basis. Woo hoo – youth and your parents, come show your stuff! Young people 16 and 17 only need signed permission to participate; children younger than 16 can volunteer under the supervision of an adult.  To reserve your spot, contact Rosemary at Alaska1471@verizon.net or 909-799-0393.  We need your first and last names, street address, city, zip, email, cell, and home numbers.  For anyone under 18, we need the month and year of birth.

Spring Fling Cabaret at Bloom in the Desert UCC, Palm Springs

Let's support our friends at Bloom in the Desert UCC with our fun-loving attendance!
Date: Friday, March 5, 2010
Time: 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: Michael H. Lord Gallery, 1090 North Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, CA
Spring Fling Cabaret and Silent Auction. An evening of outstanding entertainment and hors d'oeuvres. Limited seating available. 
For tickets and information go to www.bloominthedesert.org.  
Extraordinary entertainment will feature the musical stylings of Elisabeth Dreyfuss, Dela Zimmer, Richard Bentley, Charles Herrera, Tim Bruneau, Keisha D, Eric Frankson, Troy Skinner, Elaine Wang Meyerhoffer, Joel Baker, and Joel Robeson at the Steinway Piano.

Get On the Bus – Step by Step and RUCC are once again sponsoring a bus to take children to see their mothers at the CIW facility.  This year’s trip will be on May 7th.  As in previous years, this effort is only possible thanks to the generous support of our community.  If you’d like to be involved, please contact Heather King (heather_king@redlands.edu) or Tricia Thrasher (tricia.thrasher@ucr.edu).  In addition to financial support to reach our fundraising goal of $4,000, we have volunteer opportunities in the following areas:

Visiting families to complete paperwork
Collecting items for activity bags for the children on the bus ride
Collecting material for the correspondence kits given to the children (postage stamps, disposable cameras, stationery, pens, stickers, etc)
Donating snacks for the bus ride, especially water and juice boxes
Donating materials for making mother’s day cards the day of the event
Hospitality for the breakfast send-off the day of the event

Tricia will have sign up sheets in Covenant Hall after worship.  Please let one of us know if you feel called to help, and please spread the word to other communities that might be interested in helping too! 

Greeting Cards Needed –Hello RUCC friends!  We are gearing up to send birthday cards to our church members this year and we are hoping to acquire some cards to replenish our stock.  Birthday cards would be great, but even blank greeting cards would serve our purpose.  Starting this year we also plan to include our kids in the mailing of cards so that our little ones receive something in the mail to let them know that the church is thinking of them on their special day.  With that in mind, if you happen to have extra birthday cards for kids that you could share with us, we would be most grateful.  Greeting cards will be graciously accepted by Barbara Hauser and Charissa Wiedlin.  Thanks so much!