Worship Videos 2015-6-28

Chinese Choir

Chinese Sermon

English Sermon

English Minstry News and Notes 2015-6-28

• Summer Adventures in Faith (AIF)~ Training begins this week for our AIF Summer Program. There is a list of items we need for crafts and science projects, and we are also in need of snacks for the children. We provide snacks for approximately 70 children and tutors twice a week for 6 weeks. If you would like to bring snacks (cereal, rice krispie treats, fruit, fruit roll ups, granola bars, etc., please bring to the kitchen and label “Snacks for AIF”. Please remember NO NUTS! The list of craft needs include 20 oz clear plastic soda bottles, large paper cups, potting soil, food coloring sets, and much more. The list will be posted in the social hall.
• Summer Intergenerational class will center on the topic of Non-Violent Communication. It begins in July for 8 weeks.
• Huge thanks for everyone’s efforts: contribution of money, labor, and care, to make Family Day a wonderfully fun and memorable event for our families of Homework Club. Praise the Lord for his great work at the hearts of the people who came!
• Witnessing for Jesus ANEW! Get on board with what's astir in discipleship and leadership in the Cal-Nevada Conference by attending DiscipleShift. This is an innovative lab-oriented conference to help us navigate ministry in the 21st century. It will be held at UOP in Stockton on Saturday, Aug.8th, from 8:30-4:00. If 5 or more people attend, the group rate will be $99 per person. CCUMC will reimburse $50 which makes the cost an affordable $49 including light breakfast and lunch. See Becky to sign up by July 26th. Carpools to be arranged. This is an opportunity to learn from and collaborate with our conference to get our church becoming a more vital congregation. Details at www.discipleshift.com Registration is through Eventbrite at Http://discipleshiftconference.com.
• Pastor Emily Lin returns in July! Please pray for her and twins Milo and Imani, as she transitions back to CCUMC at 3/4 time.

2015 General Conference News

 

Pastor Derek Lang with CA/NV Conference Co-Lay Leader Gayle Shearman and Burt Yin at last week's General Conference.

 

As per Conference Lay Minister requirements, Derek has successfully completed two years of service as a Conference Lay Minister, Sacramento, Chinese UMC and Almaden Hills UMC, San Jose, and is hereby recognized as a Conference Certified Lay Minister. Congratulations to Pastor Derek. We pray for God's continual blessings upon his ministry with the California/Nevada Conference of the United Methodist Church

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Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Kuan was elected as a delegate by the California-Nevada Conference to the 2016 General Conference of The United Methodist Church in Portland, OR. As the first clergy elected, he will be leading the delegation with the first lay elected, Emily Allen. They look forward to working together with an outstanding and diverse group of general conference and jurisdictional conference delegates (Burt Yin among them) and preparing the business of the 2016 General Conference.

 

Rev. Dr. Kuan stated, “This is who we are as a delegation. We are gay and straight; women and men; youth, young adult, adult, and older adult; we are Pacific Islanders, African Americans, European Americans, Filipino Americans, Japanese Americans, Korean Americans, Chinese Americans. This is who we are as the California-Nevada Conference and the Western Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church.

  

Derek Lang now a Conference Certified Lay Minister

Derek Lang has successfully completed two years of service as a Conference Lay Minister, and is now recognized as a Conference Certified Lay Minister. Congratulations to Pastor Derek!

Worship Videos 2015-6-21

Chinese Choir

Chinese Sermon

English Sermon

English Ministry News and Notes 2015-6-21

• Summer Intergenerational class will center on the topic of Non-Violent Communication. It begins in July for 8 weeks.
• AIF Family- Day Celebration~ TODAY~ Please plan to attend our Father’s day/Graduation/Family Day Celebration with our Homework Club Family! Many volunteers from both the CM and EM are encouraged to sign-up to help with food and to commit to being a part of this outreach ministry! The sign-up sheets will be in the social hall today! Connect with Michelle Lu or Pastor Meina if you have questions!
• 9:30 –10:30am - Parallel Worship
• 10:30 - 11:15am - Preparation/Set Up (food and game stations)
• 11:30 - 1:00pm - Light Lunch and Games
• 01:00- 1:30pm - Mini Promotion Ceremony
• Summer Adventures in Faith (AIF)~ If you are available on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30 pm til 4:30pm, please connect with Becky or Donna to let them know you’d like to help! It’s fun and rewarding for all involved! This year’s theme is "G-Force"!
• Congratulations to Katty Guardado who graduated from High School! Congratulations to Jenny Wong who graduated from UC San Diego, and to Wendy Lee who graduated from UC Santa Cruz!

Family Day and Happy Father's Day

Today we celebrate Family Day with our Homework Club! Today will also be Pastor Brenda’s last day to worship and fellowship with us. We were blessed with her presence among us, and we all wish her well. Thank you Pastor Brenda! You and your Family will be in our prayers!

Worship Videos 2015-6-14

Chinese Choir

Chinese Sermon

English Sermon

English Ministry News and Notes 2015-6-14

• June 14th Party for Pastor Brenda: Today we honor Pastor Brenda for her year of ministry here at CCUMC! Please stay for lunch to connect with her to wish her well. She will be here to worship with us next Sunday, June 21st.
• Your Help is Needed! At this year's Annual Conference, UM congregations have been invited to prepare UMCOR Relief Kits, which will be taken to the depot in Utah for distribution in emergency crisis situations. Our Missions Ministries Teams has purchased supplies to prepare 12 Cleaning Buckets, which are especially needed in areas affected by floods and hurricanes. Everyone is invited to help assemble the buckets after the luncheon today at church. We welcome cash/check donations to help cover the cost of materials. You CAN make a difference!
• AIF Family- Day Celebration~ June 21st: Please plan to attend our Father’s day/Graduation/Family Day Celebration with our Homework Club Family! Many volunteers from both the CM and EM are encouraged to sign-up to help with food and to commit to being a part of this outreach ministry! The sign-up sheets will be in the social hall today! Connect with Michelle Lu or Pastor Meina if you have questions!
• 9:30 –10:30am - Parallel Worship
• 10:30 - 11:15am - Preparation/Set Up (food and game stations)
• 11:30 - 1:00pm - Light Lunch and Games
• 01:00- 1:30pm - Mini Promotion Ceremony
• Summer Adventures in Faith (AIF)~ If you are available on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30 pm til 4:30pm, please connect with Becky or Donna to let them know you’d like to help! It’s fun and rewarding for all involved! This year’s theme is "G-Force"!

Pastor Brenda's Letter

Dear Beloved Church,

My season with you has gone by way too quickly. As I write this, I am humbled because I recognize that I have gained so much more from this experience than I was able to give. Thank you for your patience and guidance and for taking me to a new level of understanding in my journey of faith. Many of you have attended CCUMC since you were children or young adults and I have been inspired by your love and continuing commitment to this church. I have also been encouraged by your enthusiasm for new ideas, by your unfailing compassion, and by your high level of participation in the ministries of the church. Below are just a few of my favorite memories:

Playing games in our courtyard at the Chinatown Street Festival
Representing at the Gum Moon Fundraiser
Singing with the CM Choir
Sharing stories at the I-Relate Workshop
Celebrating and snagging some auction items at the Kumi Fundraiser
Christmas Caroling
The Christmas Pageant
AIF Monthly Gatherings
Family Night with the Homework Club
Easter Worship and eating pancakes
Trying to speak Cantonese (I still only speak two words and recognize about six)
Eating new food especially with new friends
Visiting with you in your homes
Meaningful music and prayers in EM worship

I’m so grateful to the leadership of the Cal/Nevada UM Conference and to all of you at CCUMC for allowing me the opportunity to serve this year. You are very dear to me and because we share a common faith in the risen Christ I say with hope - God be with you ‘til we meet again.

Love,
Pastor Brenda

Worship Videos 2015-6-7

Chinese Choir

Chinese Sermon

English Sermon - Hymn Stories

English Ministry News and Notes 2015-6-7

• Charge Conference~ June 7th, Today after service: Please stay after service to give your support and input for the adoption of the approved SPRB and BOAT compensation package for Pastor Emily’s return.
• June 14th Party for Pastor Brenda: We will be having parallel worship beginning at 10:30AM which will be followed with a luncheon in honor of Pastor Brenda who will be returning to Philadelphia at the end of the month. Please connect with Peggy if you would like to contribute a salad or side dish!
• AIF Family- Day Celebration~ June 21st: Please plan to attend our Father’s day/Graduation/Family Day Celebration with our Homework Club Family! Many volunteers from both the CM and EM are encouraged to sign-up to help with food and to commit to being a part of this outreach ministry! The sign-up sheets will be in the social hall today! Connect with Michelle Lu or Pastor Meina if you have questions!
• 9:30 –10:30am - Parallel Worship
• 10:30 - 11:15am - Preparation/Set Up (food and game stations)
• 11:30 - 1:00pm - Light Lunch and Games
• 01:00- 1:30pm - Mini Promotion Ceremony
• Summer Adventures in Faith (AIF)~ Pastor Brenda has been busy preparing the lessons for our Summer AIF. If you are available on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30 pm til 4:30pm, please connect with Becky or Donna to let them know you’d like to help! It’s fun and rewarding for all involved! This year’s theme is "G-Force"!

Sing Lustily and with a Good Courage

It's hard to imagine hymns as something new, daring, even mildly subversive, but in the eighteenth century they were not only a novelty, their use in parish churches was strictly speaking illegal. Until about 1700 both Anglican and nonconformist congregations sang almost nothing but metrical psalms in to a limited number of tunes.

The new forms (hymns) were seized on with enthusiasm by John Wesley and his brother Charles who made hymn-singing an important feature of their ministry. The Wesleys' appeal was largely to the working classes and their hymns were often used in large open-air meetings.

The Methodists soon began to write new tunes for their hymns in an una-hamedly secular style which would not have been out of place in the theatre, the pleasure gardens, or even the tavern. It was this which so shocked the Establishment and delayed the introduction of hymns into parish churches. Such was the popularity of hymn-singing however, that by the end of the century it was widespread in nearly all denominations.

John Wesley’s Instructions for Singing
"Learn these Tunes before you learn any others ....

Sing them exactly as they are printed here without altering or mending them at all ...

Sing ALL. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can ...

Sing lustily and with a good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength ...

Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony ...

Sing in Time. Whatever time is sung, be sure to keep with it. Do not run before nor stay behind it ... and take care not to sing too slow...

Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing Him more than yourself or any other creature."

Pastor Brenda’s

note: During my year at CCUMC it has been a great joy to serve with our talented worship director, Aeri Lee. Every week our gathering is transformed into a sacred space with her creativity and sensitivity to the Spirit. I have learned many new hymns this year and new ways to worship with the classic hymns. My heartfelt thanks to Aeri, to Ben who played drums and guitar, and to those worship leaders who helped with congregational singing, who shook tambourines, and who strummed ukuleles. I will carry with me a longing for the meaningful expressions of faith that I have experienced here and I will truly miss sharing in worship with you.

Worship Videos 2015-5-31

Chinese Choir

 

Chinese Sermon

 

English Sermon