Resources for the holiday break - South Bend City Church

We’re looking forward to our time together on Christmas Eve and hope you can join us! Candlelight gatherings will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 24, at 5 p.m. (with childcare for ages 0-3) and 11 p.m. (no childcare).

While we’re taking some time off over Christmas & New Year’s, we wanted to provide some opportunities for you to connect with other faith communities locally as well as to learn from some voices we have found to be helpful as we’ve shaped the community here at SBCC.

Local faith communities:

River Park Grace – Sunday 10 a.m. (riverparkgrace.com)
The Cathedral of St. James – Sunday 8 a.m. & 10:15 a.m. (stjamessouthbend.org)
Keller Park Church – Sunday 10:30 a.m. (kellerparkchurch.org)

Listening opportunities:

The Language of God Podcast episode with Science Mike McHargue. (Language of God is hosted by our very own SBCC member Jim Stump, and in this conversation he and Mike discuss the trends of faith transitions in the United States and how science can be both fallible and trustworthy at the same time. Near the end of the episode Mike shares a powerful personal story of how he has found a personal God in a world of scientific explanations.) Link: https://biologos.org/podcast-episodes/science-mike-intimate-mysticality
The Eternal Current podcast episode with Stephanie Spellers. For a church like us where we sometimes describe ourselves as liturgically promiscuous, Dr. Spellers’ vision for a faith that’s inclusive of many traditions is inspiring, and her thoughts on the unique dynamics that our racial identities play in Christian community are insightful. Link: https://theeternalcurrentpodcast.libsyn.com/8-we-need-everybody-with-rev-stephanie-spellers

We’ll be back together in January 2020 for our regular gathering schedule:

Thursday, Jan. 2 – 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 5 – 9 & 11 a.m.

Updates: Christmas 2019

In gatherings the past few weeks, we’ve been talking about our 2019 Christmas giving objectives and how you can contribute to the ongoing work in our community, our city, and the world through giving toward the Christmas 2019 fund this Advent season.

So far, we’ve raised about $46,500 toward our $95,000 goal! Here’s how we hope to use Christmas 2019 funds specifically toward our objectives for our world:

Fund a partnership with the Telos Group, an organization that helps form and equip communities of peacemakers to heal intractable conflict. It’s our goal for peacemaking pilgrimages to Israel/Palestine, Northern Ireland, the American South, and even here in South Bend to become part of our global strategy. You can learn more about the vision of the Telos Group here: http://www.telosgroup.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Peacemaking-as-Discipleship.pdf
Continue our support for World Vision’s efforts in caring for refugees in crisis.
https://www.worldvision.org/our-work/refugees-fragile-states

Any funds designated to “Christmas 2019” in gatherings or online will be focused on the objectives above, as well as efforts toward expanding restorative justice circles in the South Bend Community Schools, installing a lift and providing more furnishings for our space in Studebaker 112, as well as supplementing our general fund (detailed in prior e-newsletters)! We’ll also commit anything given during our Christmas Eve gatherings toward these goals.

Please consider giving toward our Christmas 2019 fund in addition to any giving toward our general fund. If you currently give regularly to our general fund, please continue to do so. Our Christmas offering is designed for giving that goes beyond our regular support. In order to give, head to southbendcitychurch.com/give and select Christmas 2019.