This was part of the Christmas giving of the LUCC congregation. In addition to gifts to Maximo Elementary School, gifts were provided for the class taught by LUCC member Claudia Rodriguez at the preschool at McCabe United Methodist Church.
Book Study for Antagonists, Advocates & Allies Saturdays at 8:30 beginning January 9 – March 13
International best-selling author Catrice M. Jackson describes this book as “The WAKE UP Call Guide for White Women Who Want to Become Allies With Black Women.” Each chapter in the book ends with exercises and questions designed to stretch and transform our understanding of who we are and who we can be.
The book study will be facilitated by Rev. Mardie Chapman (member, Lakewood UCC/St. Petersburg) and is open to everyone. However, space may be limited. If you’d like to participate send an e-mail to mardiejean@verizon.net to reserve your place and receive the Zoom link.
In Person Outdoor Services Resume Jan. 10
After the time of experimentation in Advent, weekly services will resume on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. The services will be held outside on the lawn. Masks are to be worn and physical distancing will be observed. Please bring your own chair if you can.
Childcare provided.
If the weather is bad, the service will be held on the patio adjacent to the playground.
The theme for the service this week will be around Epiphany – and the coming of the light of Christ into the world.
With in person worship resuming, the weekly Corona Sabbath posts will be suspended. The text of the Sunday sermon will be posted at the website early in the week and there will be regular posts of music and music videos from Hilton Jones.
Thank you for your understanding in this continuing season of adaptation and experimentation!
In Memoriam
Sympathy and condolences are expressed to Claire Stiles and Ruth Pettis and family over the death of Ruth’s mother, Dollie, on December 31. Dollie was a resident of Westminster Suncoast.
Sympathy and condolences are expressed to the family and friends of LUCC member Irma Smith. Irma died on Sunday Jan. 3. She was living with her daughter, Linda, in Louisiana. Irma is remembered with love at LUCC.
Sympathy and condolences are expressed to JoAnne Reid and the family and friends of Wilbur Reid who died on Dec. 22 at home in Illinois. JoAnne has come to Florida to recover.
We hold all of these dear ones in our prayers in this time of remembering, grieving, and healing.
Church to Be a Possible Covid Vaccination Site
The church is in conversation with Pinellas County Emergency Management about serving as a covid vaccination site for the community. There is no timeline yet but it may be soon. If the church can serve in this way, volunteers will be needed to be on site during vaccination hours. Please look for more updates about this important way the church may be able to serve the community!
Winter Solstice Celebration
The Winter Solstice Celebration involved readings and conversation around the fire about darkness and light. And, yes, there were marshmallows. There were also some unexpected visitations. Here’s a link to a reflection on the evening from Jeff Wells. https://lakewooducc.org/2021/01/05/a-reflection-on-the-winter-solstice-celebration-at-church/
Operation Attack Message
Dear Friends,
Thank you for the donations of socks, clothes, food/water, soap, beans, canned meat, peanut butter, pasta and canned fruit! Wow! These donations went a long way in helping the families of our community. We are so grateful that you continue to partner with OA.
with love, Samantha
New Year’s Eve at LUCC
For New Year’s Eve, we gathered around the fire again, this time near the labyrinth. After some discussion about 2020 and our experiences and reflections, we walked the labyrinth. After the walk each person was given a pine cone. We were reminded of the pine cones from an evergreen in California that only open and sow their seeds when there has been a forest fire. It takes drastic conditions to draw forth new life. We talked about the new life that we want to see coming out of the challenging circumstances we have faced in 2020. Having expressed our hopes and dreams for 2021, we tossed our pinecones into the fire and watched them burst and crackle.
Then it was time to roast marshmallows!
Christmas Eve Service
All was calm, all was bright as the Christmas Eve service began on the patio at church. And then about midway through, a storm instantly blew in. Bulletins and papers went flying. The little Christmas tree on the altar blew to the ground. People moved out of the way of the rain that was blowing in. At the end of the service, no candles would stay lit, so worshippers got out their phones to shine their light! Even in the rain and the wind, the light of Love was still shining! Here’s the link to some pictures.
https://lakewooducc.org/2021/01/05/christmas-eve-service/
Anti-Racism Demonstrations Resume January 10
Note that the Anti Racism Demonstrations Resume this Sunday at 4:30 p.m.
Weekly demonstrations to end racism will resume Sunday January 10 at 4:30 p.m.. Many thanks to all who are participating. While there was a break in the demonstrations, we know that there is no break in the systemic racism that is harmful to everyone. As the New Year begins, add your presence to this weekly demonstration making a witness to your commitment to anti racism.
Weekly Labyrinth Walks Continue
Each Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. a small group gathers at the outdoor labyrinth for a time of devotion, discussion, and meditative walking of the labyrinth. The theme for the week is taken from the Sunday before, so it is an opportunity to go deeper in the spiritual exploration of that theme for your life. This devotional gathering is outside and physical distancing is maintained. All are welcome!
If there is rain on Wednesday morning, the gathering will be held on Thursday morning at 9:00.
Spiritual Direction Offered by LUCC Clergy Member.
In these troubled times, it is important to find ways to tend to our spiritual lives. In the Christian tradition, Spiritual Direction is one of the ways of paying attention to the spirit in our lives. A Spiritual Director is someone to talk with about what is going on in our spiritual life and in our relationship with God however we may conceive of God.
Rev. Sally Purvis, Ph.D., a member of LUCC, is a retired clergy person with training and experience in Spiritual Direction. She is offering her services as a Spiritual Director to the community. The sessions would be held on Zoom and there is no fee to be paid. Church leaders are pleased to have the ministry of the church expand in this way.
Spiritual Direction with Sally is open to anyone, not just the congregation. And it is offered to everyone whatever their spiritual or religious background or affiliation or lack thereof. Sessions are generally held once every three weeks. Spiritual Direction is not a mode of therapy. It is a process for understanding and deepening your relationship with God/Spirit in ways that are authentic and life-giving.
Sally was trained by Henri Nouwen, a noted spiritual guide of the 20th century, and did Spiritual Direction as part of her professional ministry before retiring in 2015.
If you would like to explore Spiritual Direction with Sally, please contact her at
sallybpurvis@icloud.com or contact the church (867-7961 or lakewooducc@gmail.com ).
The church is very grateful to Sally for offering this avenue of support to the congregation and the community.
USEFUL LAKEWOOD LINKS DURING THE CORONA CRISIS:
For the above church website links, please note the “Older Posts” button near the bottom of each page.
January Birthdays: Martha Lamar 1/2, Chip Cosper 1/7, Jackson Cosper 1/9, Hilton Kean Jones 1/23, Bob Bell 1/28. Someone missing? Contact the church office with birthday information.
Circle of Concern: Edward Jones, To the family and loved ones of Wilbur Reid, Dollie Pettis, and Irma Smith. Victoria Long, William Owen, Jen Degroot, Carolyn Moore, Ann Quinn, Maggie Brizendine, Dave Radens, Joyce Lee, Wally LeBlanc, teachers, students, and school personnel, and all healthcare workers and essential workers. All those suffering from COVID-19.
Please keep LUCC member, Olivia Gibson, in your prayers. She is a nurse in a COVID-19 unit in a local hospital. We are grateful for her ministry!
Church Office Hours: Tuesday-Friday 9:30-noon.
Recent Posts:
Weekly Update: If you are involved with an activity or event that you would like to share with the LUCC family, please send the information to the Church Office by Tuesday since the Update usually is sent out on Wednesday.
by Jeff Wells
So I pulled into the church parking lot at 6:50 delighted to see a fire burning bright in Claire’s fire pit, but a little disappointed to see the grounds ablaze with light and buzzing with a bunch of Twelve-steppers waiting for an AA meeting to start. I put it out of my mind and started looking for the convergence of Jupiter and Saturn which was supposed to be quite a sight in the southwestern sky. (Alas, I was too late. I’ll look tonight.)
Bundled up we got down to business shortly after seven o’clock. Nothing tightly choreographed, rather loosely began talking about the shortest day of the year and the longer days to come. The prospect of newness (and saying good riddance to the old) led into comments of gratitude for Biden’s inauguration in thirty days and what a trying time it’s been with Trump.
Claire read an internet posting about the ancient practices of honoring the Winter Solstice by many cultures by a Nick Polizzi, founder of The Sacred Science, a website and blog dedicated to explorations of alternative healing modalities and indigenous healing traditions. The reading stressed the importance of staying in touch with the seasons of the natural world and of our deepest selves. Kim passed out snippets about “the light” which we read in turn and mulled over. Patti read Wendell Berry’s “The Peace of Wild Things.” I was particularly touched by the phrase “the Grace of the Earth” which led me on a brief but wonderful brain revel.
By now the AA meeting was breaking up. (We broke everybody’s anonymity.) A woman stopped by the fire and asked if we’d seen the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction. (She and Claire had spoken of it earlier.) I said I hadn’t but I’d try tomorrow. She went on and on, then began expounding how it was supposed to look like a cross “…with the other planets forming the cross piece…” I smiled politely and dismissed her as wacked out: trying to shoehorn an astronomical phenomenon into her Christmas story mythology. She said ‘Merry Christmas’ and we made our goodbyes.
Shortly a small pick-up pulled into the parking lot. A hirsute guy approached the fire and said, “Something’s been hit in the road. I’m going to see if I can identify it and [put it on social media] to see if anyone can identify it.” We thanked him for his public service and respect for animals.
The star-gazing woman returned in ‘bomber jacket’ and volunteered that the 8 inch patch on the left lapel honored the ‘lost squadron’ of P-38 airplanes that ran out of gas and had to ditch on an ice floe in WW II. The seven pilots were rescued, thankfully. She went on, “they found the airplanes perfectly preserved in 250 feet of water and used [some kind of crazy tool] to bore a three foot hole in the ice and pulled the airplanes up piece by piece.” After considerable details, she said, The planes were taken to [someplace in] Kentucky where the real Colonel’s Kentucky Fried Chicken was founded. Colonel Sanders is an imposter from some other town.” That led to some stories about fried chicken (a meal enjoyed by Japanese on Christmas Day). We heard more about the P-38’s, then she continued, “…my father got this bomber jacket, but it’s mine now. I have the receipt…”
We broke out the marshmallows and offered her one, but she said she had to get going.
John, animal lover in the pickup, returned with a corpse he laid on the grass blessedly removed from the fire pit. “Maybe you guys can identify this, sorta looks like a cat.” Kim and I went over and immediately saw it was an otter. (We knew of Pinellas otters from Sterling’s numerous encounters with otters while painting in Bear Creek near Yoko’s old house.) John came over to the fire pit with a “what am I supposed to do” air about him. I offered him a mushroom (Freudian slip that was testimony to an evening that was getting curiouser and curiouser). Kim offered to get him a shovel so he could bury the creature (three feet deep so no dog or other animal will be tempted to dig it up). They went off to plant the otter near – but not in – the Memorial Garden.
He came back a few minutes later and announced he was going to bury the beast at his home. He left the shovel by the garage door.
Ruth had come by this point and was enjoying the drama.
I was into some serious marshmallow roasting. We took the ringed screen off the fire pit to more easily access the primo coals for marshmallow roasting. I was putting them away two at a time. We agreed: Who needs chocolate and graham crackers?! I knew I was deep into my sugar addiction and would continue to cook that tasty confection until they were gone. I asked Kim’s opinion. She subtly said, “You’ve probably had enough.” Ya think!!!
We sat and marveled at the evening’s chain of events. It all seemed unreal. We couldn’t believe it. We glowed, reflecting about it, as the embers glowed less and less. We agreed that was quite enough for one evening. Claire doused the fire and we packed up. It was only 8:50 but it seemed much later.
All was calm, all was bright as the Christmas Eve service began on the patio at church. And then about midway through, a storm instantly blew in. Bulletins and papers went flying. The little Christmas tree on the altar blew to the ground. People moved out of the way of the rain that was blowing in. At the end of the service, no candles would stay lit, so worshippers got out their phones to shine their light! Even in the rain and the wind, the light of Love was still shining! Here’s the link to some pictures.
Lakewood United Church of Christ 