Reverend Cindi Knox

So today, for Holy Humor Sunday, I did an improvised sermon on the suggestion "The Lilies of the Field" including the styles "Fire & Brimstone," "Televangelist," "Country Western," "Sportscaster," and "Silent Monk."

Video later.

MAUNDY THURSDAY @ GISL.

Holy Humor Sunday

Many churches celebrate "Bright Sunday" or "Holy Humor Sunday" seven days after the resurrection. We're going to try a joy-centered worship this Sunday. Feel free to wear joyful - yet church-friendly - clothes, hats, shoes, etc.

Worship at 10:30 AM Pacific Daylight Time
In person:
900 Hodgson St.
Eureka CA 95501
Masks optional

The Week Ahead:
Monday, April 17:
10:30 AM: Interfaith Zen Meditation (Narthex)

Tuesday, April 18:
6:30 PM: Council Meeting, Zoom Meeting

Wednesday, April 19:
2:00 PM Social Justice and Outreach Meeting

Sunday, April 23:
10:30 AM: Worship with Communion
11:45 AM: Fellowship

Looking further ahead:

Monday, April 24:
10:30 AM: Interfaith Zen Meditation (Narthex)

Tuesday, April 25:
Newsletter Deadline

Friday, April 28 - Saturday April 29:
Christian Church of Northern California/Nevada Annual Gathering, First Christian Church, Concord https://ccncn.org/Regional_Calendar.php?action=display&event=399

Sunday, April 30:
10:30 AM: Worship with Communion
11:45 AM: Fellowship

Other important Dates:

Thursday, June 15 - Saturday, June 17:
Northern California/Nevada Conference of the United Church of Christ Annual Gathering, First Congregational Church of Palo Alto https://ncncucc.org/annual-gathering/

Friday, June 30 - Tuesday, July 4:
United Church of Christ 34th General Synod, Indianapolis IN https://www.ucc.org/general-synod-2023-online-registration-opens-jan-23/

Saturday, July 29 - Tuesday, August 1:
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Annual Gathering, Louisville, KY https://disciples.org/event/2023-general-assembly-memphis/

Remember that you can find the latest church news at https://www.unitedeureka.org/blog/

You can see upcoming events at https://www.unitedeureka.org/calendar/ or as a list of events at https://www.unitedeureka.org/schedule/.

10:30 AM Worship Resurrection Sunday Serving us today¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯DeaconJanet FoosLiturgist:Michele Fell-CasaleReaderMissy BoyntonMusic DirectorLarry Pitts, Jr.Choir DirectorKatri PittsCho...

This is Holy Week, the week when pastors work three hours instead of one.

Why America Can't Fix its Mass Shooting Problem

I'm going to say something that will mystify and anger my liberal friends: the problem is not the fi****ms.

I know you're going to show me statistics about how number of fi****ms per 100,000 people correlates strongly with firearm deaths per 100,000 people and with mass shootings per 100,000 people. I get that. But remember that correlation does not prove causation.

Guns don't fire themselves. Guns don't purchase themselves. Guns don't reproduce themselves. People do. Americans do.

And now I'm going to say something that will anger conservatives: our gun culture is the problem.

Because when there was a mass shooting in Scotland, the UK put in serious gun control. When there was a mass shooting in Australia, Australia put in serious gun control. But in the USA, we repeatedly have mass shootings in churches, concert venues, clubs, workplaces, and schools, and we just throw up our hands and say "nothing can be done."

When lawn darts were killing and seriously injuring just a few kids, we banned them. If Beanie Babies or Hummel figurines were killing kids, our landfills would be packed with them. These things are far less important to us than lives, especially the lives of our children.

But not guns. And that tells me one thing: guns are more important to us than life. We have more fi****ms than people in the USA. If we have to make a choice between unrestricted ownership of fi****ms and having our children alive, the kids are going to have to go.

And that obsession with deadly weapons is the problem. It's why we can't regulate fi****ms. It's why some people become so obsessed that they decide to use them against strangers.

We need a culture change, and that's difficult, but we have done it before. We have made drunk driving socially unacceptable. We are making sexual assault more shameful for the perpetrators instead of the victims. We can do this.

We can make it so that owning a firearm is acceptable, but fetishizing fi****ms and stockpiling ammunition is problematic. We can make it so that a hunting rifle is normal, but carrying multiple weapons into a store is seen as aberrant behavior.

The body count and the number of weapons are correlated because they have the same cause: America's obsession with fi****ms. If we treat the underlying condition, both symptoms will be decreased.

We received this today from United Church of Christ Justice and Witness ministries, through the Northern California/Nevada Conference, through the Golden Gate Association.

Blessings to each of you,

I am writing with an urgent request.

I know it comes as no surprise to you that we are living in a perilous time for LGBTQ persons across the nation. Some churches and synagogues are being attacked and vandalized for their efforts to hold safe space for LGTBQ adults and youth.

And since the current legislative session began less than three months ago, the Human Rights Campaign is already tracking 340 anti-LGBTQ+ bills that have been introduced in statehouses across the country. 150 of those would specifically restrict the rights of transgender people, the highest number of bills targeting transgender people in a single year to date.

Strategizing responses, that go beyond reaction and counter-action, will take time, but it will be one of the many issues we will continue to give attention to in coming days.

It also occurs to us as disheartening as this is for us, it is disheartening and frightening for LGBTQ families in ways that cannot be compared, and our trans youth, are under an aggressive attack that is rapidly gaining steam.

The request:
March 31st is National Trans-visibility Day and we would like to take the day to shower trans-youth with messages of love, reminding them:

They are not alone.
We won’t stop fighting for their rights until they have them.
We will not let hate win.
There are more of us supporting them than those who stand against them.
God loves them and so do we.

I am inviting you to write a love note to trans youth (200 words or less) expressing your support, and invite your churches to do the same. Although notes can continue to come in after March 31st, we need a minimum of 48 love notes to ensure we can post at least one love note every 30 minutes for the entire day. The notes will have prominent placement on our landing page and our social media accounts will direct people there. If your conferences would like to do the same, the more the merrier.

Notes should be emailed to: [email protected]. While the deadline was yesterday, additional letters will continue to be added after 3/31.


Rev. Traci D. Blackmon
Associate General Minister
Justice & Local Church Ministries
United Church of Christ
(*typing on the go)

“…our faith can move mountains.” Matthew 17:20