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GREEN TEAM INITIATIVES

GREEN TEAM INITIATIVES

 

Green Team News

SEPTEMBER 4
Creation Justice Sunday: 9:30 – 10:15 a.m. in the Community Room
Book discussion, climate change knitted tapestry, and cello music by David Howard!


SEPTEMBER 10 – Saturday – In The Streets – 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Visit members of the Green Team as we pair up with the Multifaith Alliance of Climate Stewards (MACS) and Interfaith Power and Light (IPL) at the In the Streets festival. We will be between 4th and 5th Streets in the Go Green Block.


SEPTEMBER 14 – Wednesday – 8-11:00 a.m. – Native Plant Planting Day
Come help us turn the plot of grass at the back of the parking lot into a native plant garden. Native plants help bring back biodiversity by providing flowers for pollinators, host plants for insects, and seeds and berries for birds. Bring work gloves and water. We can really use some help!


SEPTEMBER 18 – Sunday – 2-3:30 p.m. – Spiritual Walk – Catoctin Furnace
Enjoy the beauty of the Catoctin Mountains and reflect on the lives of the people who lived and worked at Catoctin Furnace. We will visit the furnace and follow the trail to the slave cemetery. Meet in the Cunningham Falls Manor parking to walk across the iron bridge to the Catoctin Furnaces area. If you prefer not to do the steps on the bridge, you can park at the Catoctin Furnace parking and meet up with us around 2:30. Take 15 North from Frederick towards Thurmont.


SEPTEMBER 28 – Wednesday 7-8:30 p.m. – Electrify Everything Presentation
The Multifaith Alliance of Climate Stewards of Frederick County (MACS) urges a rapid transition to clean, renewable energy to curb greenhouse gas emissions and restore health and economic stability The MACS Wire Up and Ready to Go presentation includes:
• Why electrifying everything matters
• How to power your life with clean, renewable energy
• Which incentives and rebates apply to you
• Resources to get you started

 

GREEN TEAM NEWS SOLAR

ENERGY FOR A CREATION JUSTICE CHURCH By now, you have certainly seen solar panels on homes and businesses. But what about churches? There are some, but have you ever considered whether solar energy could be generated by ERUCC? As we discern our plans for replacing the roof of the main sanctuary in 2023, we should consider this opportunity to include solar panels in our planning.

A leading reason to consider solar panels is our mission and call to be stewards of God’s creation. When we voted to become a Creation Justice Church we adopted a covenant which reads in part:

As a church, and as individuals, we pledge to care for our planet and to seek justice for those whose lives have been adversely affected by the neglect of our environment. This also means that we will recycle responsibly, use the earth’s resources with as little waste as possible, support efforts at reducing the effects of climate change, help protect endangered species, reduce our carbon footprint and stop air and water pollution.

Solar panels would be a significant action our congregation could take to demonstrate our dedication to creation. We currently purchase some of our energy through a community solar model, but direct solar would expand our impact.

Another reason to install solar panels on our main building is to save money! Our building would be able to generate some of its own electricity rather than receiving it from the grid. Money saved could be reinvested elsewhere.

 

Composting 101

Why is ERUCC composting?

  • Composting keeps food waste out of the landfill. This reduces the carbon emissions from the trucks that haul our waste to Chambersburg PA and it reduces the tipping fee that the county pays.
  • Food waste in landfills produce gases that are comprised primarily of methane and carbon dioxide, both of which cause global warming.
  • Composting is a sustainable way to turn food waste into a healthy life-giving soil.

What can we compost at ERUCC?

  • ERUCC has contracted with Key City Compost which is a commercial composting company so we are able to compost much more than you can in a home compost pile.
  • ALL food waste including dairy, meat and cooked food can go in the compost bin.
  • ALL paper napkins, paper towels, paper plates, food soiled paper and pizza boxes can go in the compost bin.
  • BPI compostable cups, bowls and plates. If we use a compostable product during fellowship hour, it will be of compostable quality.

How can you help?

  • Follow the signs on the bins for disposing of waste at the end of fellowship.
  • Dump liquids into the liquid bucket.
  • Food waste and napkins go in the compost bin.
  • Items such as clean paper and plastic or glass bottles, jars or tub go in the recycling bin. Check the list for items that can’t be recycled.  HINT- Clamshells, plastic trays and plastic wrap are not recyclable.
  • Snack bag wrappers go in a separate bin. They can be recycled at Common Market but not in the blue bin.
  • Dishes go in the tub to be washed.
  • Anything that is left goes in the trash bin. This includes Starbucks cups!

You will be AMAZED at how much we can reduce our landfill footprint!  Thanks for helping!

 

 

 

 

Sunday, February 14 Bulletin

Sunday, February 14 Bulletin

CLICK HERE for the Sunday, February 14 Worship Bulletin

The 10:30 service can be viewed online.  CLICK HERE to tune in.

11:30 a.m. Virtual Fellowship: https://zoom.us/j/153605864?pwd=M2VSRjZsRDdFd1Q4bms0RExzam5SUT09&status=success PW:  007681

February 14                           Transfiguration Sunday

The Season after the Epiphany ends with the story of Jesus’ transfiguration in Mark 9: 2-9. This revealing of Jesus’ glory is a turning point, marking the end of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee and the beginning of the journey towards Jerusalem and the fate that awaits Jesus there. Just before today’s reading, Peter declares that Jesus is the Messiah. But Peter does not understand Jesus’ teaching about the kind of Messiah Jesus has come to be.      I John 4: 7-19 reminds us of the gift of love.

Norman Ross will be preaching this morning and Kim Sexton leading the liturgy.  The ERUCC singers will be reading scripture.

Thursday Thoughts, February 11, 2021

Thursday Thoughts, February 11, 2021

CLICK HERE for the Thursday, February 11 Thursday Thoughts

The 10:30 service can be viewed online at:https://boxcast.tv/channel/bzioh0xyyacgq5fmjnoi

11:30 a.m. Virtual Fellowshiphttps://zoom.us/j/153605864?pwd=M2VSRjZsRDdFd1Q4bms0RExzam5SUT09&status=success PW:  007681

February 11, 2021

Dear Congregation:

On Super Bowl Sunday, our youth gathered to receive food donations and monetary donations for the Frederick food bank. The kids hadn’t seen each other in months. It was a beautiful day to be outside. There was snow from the morning providing the perfect opportunity for making a snowman and making snowballs and tossing them at each other.  The joy of seeing them together, wearing masks and staying physically apart, was a gift in an otherwise weary time.

I see that same joy whenever we have seen one another over these months.  When we gather for worship, when we meet for a Spiritual Walk, when people are delivering worship packets or stopping by the church office, I see the joy in being together.

In our hearts and minds, we know there’s always a risk when people gather. Even before the pandemic, we recognized the need to have clean bathrooms. When serving food, we pulled our hair back, washed our hands, and made sure we had gloves on.  When we did not feel well, we did not attend worship or a church gathering.

There is no magic day when we all of us will feel comfortable gathering together at one time.  Integrating ourselves back into the wider culture of gathering will take some time. For some of us, it will take longer than for others.

Our church and its leaders are committed to creating a safe space for gathering.  We will continue to honor your decision to come to activities in person — and to remain at home until you feel comfortable doing so.  I ask you to remember these values as part of our love of neighbor and to respect one another’s decisions to connect in a socially aware manner in person or online, understanding that, while different in approach, are both valid.

P.S.  Using our young people as an example, we all need to play and to laugh.  I am looking for someone/some people to plan some silly or playful activities for the coming months where we would be outside and able to social distance.  Use your imagination.  We have a beautiful patio area, high top tables, noisy musical things.

Worship Notes                

The Season after the Epiphany ends with the story of Jesus’ transfiguration in Mark 9: 2-9. This revealing of Jesus’ glory is a turning point, marking the end of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee and the beginning of the journey towards Jerusalem and the fate that awaits Jesus there. Just before today’s reading, Peter declares that Jesus is the Messiah. But Peter does not understand Jesus’ teaching about the kind of Messiah Jesus has come to be.                                                                                                     I John 4: 7-19 reminds us of the gift of love.

Norman Ross will be preaching this morning and Kim Sexton leading the liturgy.  The ERUCC singers will be reading scripture.

Food for Thought:   

            “Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.”   (Maya Angelou)

 

 

Rev. Dr. Barbara Kershner Daniel, Senior Pastor

Evangelical Reformed Church, United Church of Christ

15 West Church Street, Frederick, MD 21701

301-662-2762

E-mail: bkdaniel@erucc.org

 

Bulletin, Sunday, February 7

Bulletin, Sunday, February 7

CLICK HERE for the Sunday, February 7 Bulletin

The 10:30 service can be viewed online.  CLICK HERE to tune in.

11:30 a.m. Virtual Fellowship: https://zoom.us/j/153605864?pwd=M2VSRjZsRDdFd1Q4bms0RExzam5SUT09&status=success PW:  007681

Worship Notes                Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

The readings today affirm the importance of prayer in keeping our focus for ministry. Restored by God’s transforming love, we are reshaped as messengers of good news.   In our Gospel lesson, Mark 1:29-39, as Jesus is seeking rest at the home of Simon and Andrew, he is called upon to heal Simon’s mother-in-law. Crowds begin to press in around the house, demanding more words and deeds of power from Jesus.  Isaiah 40: 21-31 calls God’s people to remember that God – who created the universe and rules everything within it – is their source of strength.

We will share in communion this morning.

 

Thursday Thoughts, February 4 2021

Thursday Thoughts, February 4 2021

CLICK HERE to read the Thursday Thoughts for February 4, 2021

 

February 4, 2021

The 10:30 service can be viewed online at:https://boxcast.tv/channel/bzioh0xyyacgq5fmjnoi

11:30 a.m. Virtual Fellowshiphttps://zoom.us/j/153605864?pwd=M2VSRjZsRDdFd1Q4bms0RExzam5SUT09&status=success PW:  007681

Dear Congregation:

The Tuesday morning Bible study group has been having a lively discussion on the parables of Jesus. This week we explored the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. In the story, a landowner hires various workers throughout the day. Some work all day. Some work half a day. Some work for an hour. At the end of the day they all get paid the same amount.
For many of us, the immediate reaction to this parable is, “Not fair!” We identify with those laborers who worked all day and then somebody else comes in and gets all the same credit. Brings back bad memories of group projects in school.

The parable is disturbing because it forces us to think outside the box of what is fair or not fair. Professor Amy Joe Levine, whose book we are using as a resource for this study, asks us to approach the parable with a different point of view. Can we think beyond what is fair or not fair? Can we consider the generosity of the landowner? Can we consider that everyone ought to have a daily wage sufficient for living? Can we look at this parable through the lens of justice?

She also raises a question about living in community. What may have prevented those first hired from saying to the landowner, “Hey, my friends over there need work, too.”
We spent a lot of time trying to wrap our heads around those perspectives. And especially about the perspective of a landowner who chooses to be generous and how we react when someone gets more than we do.

Whatever made us think that life is fair? I once heard a speaker say that we have to get over that concept because the more we try and make life fair the more frustrated we get. Life, as we know it, is not fair.

Levine asks us to focus on generosity. Sometimes we are the recipients of generosity that to others may not seem fair. At other times, we may be the ones who share and consider the others in our community who may need more in order to live.

What might our lives look like if we gazed through a lens of generosity and justice rather than fairness?

Worship Notes Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
The readings today affirm the importance of prayer in keeping our focus for ministry. Restored by God’s transforming love, we are reshaped as messengers of good news. In our Gospel lesson, Mark 1:29-39, as Jesus is seeking rest at the home of Simon and Andrew, he is called upon to heal Simon’s mother-in-law. Crowds begin to press in around the house, demanding more words and deeds of power from Jesus. Isaiah 40: 21-31 calls God’s people to remember that God – who created the universe and rules everything within it – is their source of strength. We will share in communion this morning.

Food for Thought:
“Fair doesn’t mean giving every child the same thing, but giving every child what he or she needs.” (Rick Lavoie)

Rev. Dr. Barbara Kershner Daniel, Senior Pastor
Evangelical Reformed Church, United Church of Christ
15 West Church Street, Frederick, MD 21701
301-662-2762
E-mail: bkdaniel@erucc.org

 

January 31 Bulletin

January 31 Bulletin

CLICK HERE for the Sunday, January 31 Bulletin

he 10:30 service can be viewed online at:https://boxcast.tv/view/sunday-january-31-2021-989406

11:30 a.m. Virtual Fellowshiphttps://zoom.us/j/153605864?pwd=M2VSRjZsRDdFd1Q4bms0RExzam5SUT09&status=success PW:  007681

Worship

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
In the gospel lesson, Mark 1: 21-28, Jesus is revealed as one who speaks and acts with God’s authority. In the focus passage, Jesus teaches and casts out an unclean spirit.  God will provide wisdom, courage, and power to those whom God calls to lead. In Deuteronomy 18:15–20, an account from near the end of Moses’ life, Moses assures the people that God will raise up new prophets who will speak with God’s authority just as Moses has.

 

 

 

Thursday Thoughts January 28, 2021

Thursday Thoughts January 28, 2021

CLICK HERE to read the Thursday THoughts for January 28, 2021

 

January 28, 2021

The 10:30 service can be viewed online at:https://boxcast.tv/channel/bzioh0xyyacgq5fmjnoi

11:30 a.m. Virtual Fellowshiphttps://zoom.us/j/153605864?pwd=M2VSRjZsRDdFd1Q4bms0RExzam5SUT09&status=success PW:  007681

Dear Congregation:
I have been reflecting, a lot, on the theme of connections.  Walking on trails around Frederick, I see how the tree limbs intertwined and their roots tangle together underground and on top of the ground.  The Green Committee has been helping me see the connection between  my behavior, consumption, use and disposal of items affects the environment, including God’s people.  The COVID pandemic has caused all of us to consider how we are connected in pain and sorrow as we see so many fellow citizens suffering from the virus but also how we need to pay attention to our behaviors that affect the health and wellbeing of neighbors around us.I’ve also been reflecting how we are connected in community, in the church, in Frederick, in the USA, and the world as we heal and rebuild relationships.  As St. Paul instructs in the letter to Corinthians, we cannot say to one another, I have no need of you.  We are bound together.I’m currently reading a book titled, Braiding Sweetgrass.   Author, Robin Wall Kimmerer is a botanist and has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science.  She is also a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and embraces that plants and animals are among our oldest teachers.  Her book is filled with wonderful reflections of her learnings that help the reader to make connections between science and our human experience of nature.In the preface to the book, I was struck by her words about the process of braiding a basket out of sweetgrass.   As she described the process of the connection between the braiders and the braiding and the tension involved,  I found myself connecting her thoughts with the experience of what we will need to do as a country in these days.  We are connected and share a common bond with other citizens, no matter who they are and where they are on the political spectrum.  As citizens, we are connected and called to find ways to braid together our experiences, even in the midst of the tension.  That the tension helps to make the braid stronger but requires us working together.I invite you to reflect on her words and how they might speak to you today:

A sheaf of sweetgrass, bound at the end and divided into thirds, is ready to braid. In braiding sweetgrass so that it is smooth, glossy, and worthy of the gift-a certain amount of tension is needed. As any little girl with tight braids will tell you, you have to pull a bit. Of course you can do it yourself by tying one end to a chair, or by holding it in your teeth and braiding backward away from yourself-but the sweetest way is to have someone else hold the end so that you pull gently against each other, all the while leaning in, head to head, chatting and laughing, watching each other’s hands, one holding steady while the other shifts the slim bundles over one another, each in its turn. Linked by sweetgrass, there is reciprocity between you, linked by sweetgrass, the holder as vital as the braider… Will you hold the end of the bundle while I braid? And then I’ll hold it for you, while you braid, too.

Rev. Dr. Barbara Kershner Daniel, Senior Pastor
Evangelical Reformed Church, United Church of Christ
15 West Church Street, Frederick, MD 21701
301-662-2762
e-mail: bkdaniel@erucc.org
January 24, 2021 Weekly Bulletin

January 24, 2021 Weekly Bulletin

CLICK HERE for the weekly bulletin for January 24, 2021.

The 10:30 service can be viewed online at:https://boxcast.tv/channel/bzioh0xyyacgq5fmjnoi

11:30 a.m. Virtual Fellowshiphttps://zoom.us/j/153605864?pwd=M2VSRjZsRDdFd1Q4bms0RExzam5SUT09&status=success PW:  007681

 

Worship Notes                Third Sunday after Epiphany

            God calls many different people in many different ways.  In the Gospel lesson from Mark 1: 14-20, Jesus sees four fishers, and they immediately leave their nets in response to the call to “Follow me.”   Jonah 3:1–5, 10 is also a story of call. The prophet Jonah has already failed once to respond to God’s call. Now God calls Jonah a second time to go to Nineveh to preach a message of repentance. Because of this reluctant prophet, the people repent and acknowledge God. God’s mind is changed and Nineveh is saved.