* We Celebrate YOU! Today, we especially recognize and appreciate all you who make up the church. As laity, you are the essential, vital part of the body of Christ. Please know that what you do to serve God and God's church - big and small, recognized and not - are appreciated. Thank you!
* Adventure in Faith Monthly Chapel, Jan. 29th - Please hold our monthly chapel and connection with the Homework Club children in your prayers. Please pray for those who serve in this ministry and for God's love to be experienced all around.
* Volunteers In Mission (VIM) Trip Training #2 - Please mark you calendars for the upcoming training, Feb. 8th, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. All trip participants required to attend!
* LMUMC Food Pantry Ministry Day - Feb. 8th
* Lunar New Year Parallel Worship & Potluck Fellowship Luncheon, Feb. 2nd - We will welcome the year of the horse together next Sunday and hear from Pastor Moon Louie. Worship will be held in the Annex at 9:30 a.m. followed by a shared potluck meal. For those with last names of A - M, please bring a main or meat dish. For those with last names of N - Z, please bring a side or veggie dish to share. (Homemade or purchased are all welcome!) Dessert will be provided by church.
Sunday, January 26, 2014
English Ministry Council (EMC) Updates
As 2013 began, the English Ministry Council (EMC) sensed that it was time once again to listen. We had spent the previous 3 years focused on three important priorities: 1. To enable vibrant, strong spiritual formation, 2. To grow 3. To live out healthy, generous stewardship.
As we reviewed steps taken to live out these priorities, we gave thanks for so, so many ways in which God has been faithful as we attempted to be faithful. We celebrated growth in every one of these areas: a renewed interest and excitement in our adult Sunday School, to the presence and contributions of young people, to the launch and growth of our Small Group Ministries, to the new ways we are reaching out in missions: on the sidewalk, in new partnerships (ACMHS), through LMUMC, and in extravagant giving. These are but a few of the many signs of growth and fruit-bearing that we witnessed together. But how was God leading us now? Where would God have us go? What would God have us do as a body of faithful, loving disciples? And so we began to listen.
First, we listened as a ministry council over a period of 4 months. We prayed together, studied God’s Word together, committed to praying on our own and to fasting. We attended to the voice and movement of God as we held gently the question: Where are you leading, O God? In the summer, we brought what we heard to a congregational forum and then in the early fall to the adult Sunday School. We wanted to listen together as a congregation. As we did so, these four areas of ministry priorities were affirmed:
And so we begin the next 3-5 years holding these ministry priorities constantly before us. Please join together in prayer for God’s guidance and movement in these areas, and for our intentional listening and obedient response.
As we reviewed steps taken to live out these priorities, we gave thanks for so, so many ways in which God has been faithful as we attempted to be faithful. We celebrated growth in every one of these areas: a renewed interest and excitement in our adult Sunday School, to the presence and contributions of young people, to the launch and growth of our Small Group Ministries, to the new ways we are reaching out in missions: on the sidewalk, in new partnerships (ACMHS), through LMUMC, and in extravagant giving. These are but a few of the many signs of growth and fruit-bearing that we witnessed together. But how was God leading us now? Where would God have us go? What would God have us do as a body of faithful, loving disciples? And so we began to listen.
First, we listened as a ministry council over a period of 4 months. We prayed together, studied God’s Word together, committed to praying on our own and to fasting. We attended to the voice and movement of God as we held gently the question: Where are you leading, O God? In the summer, we brought what we heard to a congregational forum and then in the early fall to the adult Sunday School. We wanted to listen together as a congregation. As we did so, these four areas of ministry priorities were affirmed:
- Ministering to and with youth and young adultsWe are thrilled and excited by the presence of youth and young adults in our midst. We sense that there is much they can and are teaching us even as we seek to be a spiritual home for them. We want to get to know the youth and young adults in our midst and to strengthen our ministry to and with them. We recognize that this will require us to change, to listen, to take risks, and to try on new ways of being and doing.
- Extending radical hospitalityThe English Ministry (EM) has welcomed many newcomers and guests over the last few years. Praise God! In some instances, those who have made their spiritual home at CCUMC bring with them issues and needs that have exposed areas of growth for us. We hear God’s call to be welcoming and to extend much more than just a friendly hand-shake and a smile. We hear God calling us to stretch, to become more aware of mental health issues as well as issues of homelessness and poverty, and to practice hospitality that is risky, uncomfortable, even scary…but is also ultimately biblical and faithful.
- Going beyond parallel ministries: building meaningful bridges with Chinese MinistryCCUMC adopted a “parallel ministry” structure years ago. This enabled the Chinese Ministry and the English Ministry to develop and grow in their own unique ways. It recognized the differences between the two language ministries and sought to support both in the directions they were being called. This was incredibly important. Now, we are sensing God’s calling to seek and nurture meaningful, missional relationships between the EM and CM. We recognize that there are language challenges and cultural differences. We know that we are different in many ways. We also know that there is a vital relationship between us and we want to invest in its possibility.
- Mission and service
We recognize that as disciples of Jesus, we are a sent people – sent to make new disciples and to transform the world. This has been an area of continued and exciting growth. We have solid local and global partnerships. How do we continue to grow in this area? How might we support and enable every single person at CCUMC to get involved in mission and service?
And so we begin the next 3-5 years holding these ministry priorities constantly before us. Please join together in prayer for God’s guidance and movement in these areas, and for our intentional listening and obedient response.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
English Ministry News and Notes 1-19-14
*Celebrating Human Relations Sunday, Jan. 19th - We eagerly welcome Jo Ann Lawson as our preacher today. Jo Ann currently serves as President of California-Nevada Conference of United Methodist Women (UMW). She also serves on the Western Jurisdiction, Pacific Regional School Team, and the Annual Conference Session Planning Committee. Jo Ann is an active member of Easter Hill UMC in Richmond and is partner to Rev. Phil Lawson.
*Signing Up For Hospitality - Great thanks for all those who signed up last week. Let's keep it going! Please consider grabbing a friend or someone you’d like to get to know and signing up to host hospitality time during the first half of the year. It makes a difference when we ALL participate!
*Bringing Beauty to the Sanctuary - You are invited to contribute altar flowers by signing up in the Annex hallway bulletin board. Flowers are $10 and can be donated in honor or memory of someone.
*Laity Celebration Sunday, Jan. 26th - “I am the church. You are the church. We are the church together!” We will celebrate our call to be the church together as we hear from our Co-Lay Leaders, Becky and Steve, and recognize all those who serve and minister.
*Lunar New Year Parallel Worship & Potluck Fellowship Luncheon, Feb. 2nd - We will welcome the year of the horse together on Sunday, Feb. 2nd and hear from Pastor Moon Louie. Worship will be held in the Annex at 9:30 a.m. and be followed by a shared potluck meal. For those with last names of A - M, please bring a main or meat dish. For those with last names of N - Z, please bring a side or veggie dish to share. (Homemade or purchased are all welcome!) Dessert will be provided by church
*Signing Up For Hospitality - Great thanks for all those who signed up last week. Let's keep it going! Please consider grabbing a friend or someone you’d like to get to know and signing up to host hospitality time during the first half of the year. It makes a difference when we ALL participate!
*Bringing Beauty to the Sanctuary - You are invited to contribute altar flowers by signing up in the Annex hallway bulletin board. Flowers are $10 and can be donated in honor or memory of someone.
*Laity Celebration Sunday, Jan. 26th - “I am the church. You are the church. We are the church together!” We will celebrate our call to be the church together as we hear from our Co-Lay Leaders, Becky and Steve, and recognize all those who serve and minister.
*Lunar New Year Parallel Worship & Potluck Fellowship Luncheon, Feb. 2nd - We will welcome the year of the horse together on Sunday, Feb. 2nd and hear from Pastor Moon Louie. Worship will be held in the Annex at 9:30 a.m. and be followed by a shared potluck meal. For those with last names of A - M, please bring a main or meat dish. For those with last names of N - Z, please bring a side or veggie dish to share. (Homemade or purchased are all welcome!) Dessert will be provided by church
Human Relations Day
Your Gift Today . . . Helps To Overcome Injustice and Empowers Those Struggling To Survive.
Your Generous Gifts assists:
"I feel more empowered. I feel like I will be more capable now of going home and initiating a meaningful movement."
—LINDSAY UHLINGER, Seminar Participant, Wofford College, Spartanburg, S.C.
YOUR GIFT MAKES CHANGE POSSIBLE
Because of a Human Relations Day grant, United Methodists of all ages travel to Washington, D.C., where about 30 seminars on national and international affairs per year take place at the United Methodist building across from the U.S. Capitol.
The high-impact seminars date back more than half a century with luminaries such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Hubert Humphrey. The sessions empower and equip participants to put their faith together with action steps to change their world.
VIGILANT VOICES SPEAK OUT.
After each group chooses a topic — poverty and homelessness, human trafficking, immigration, environmental justice — seminar designer Susan Burton tailors a unique learning experience.
"The program," she said," offers us the opportunity to increase our knowledge of ourselves and our faith, increase our knowledge of injustices impacting our brothers and sisters in our own communities and throughout the world, and identify new ways to use our voices — staying awake and keeping watch."
Prayer of Thanksgiving for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Gracious God, you create us and love us; you make us to live together in a community.
We thank you for Martin Luther King, Jr. and all your children who have been filled with your vision for our lives and who have worked to make bring your vision into reality.
Fill us with your vision.
Guide us to live by your vision, working to build the beloved community where everyone is welcomed, all are valued, power is shared, privilege is no more, and all your children know wholeness and well-being.
Through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Your Generous Gifts assists:
- Community Developers Program, related to the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM);
- United Methodist Voluntary Services Program, GBGM; and
- Youth Offender Rehabilitation Program, General Board of Church and Society.
—LINDSAY UHLINGER, Seminar Participant, Wofford College, Spartanburg, S.C.
YOUR GIFT MAKES CHANGE POSSIBLE
Because of a Human Relations Day grant, United Methodists of all ages travel to Washington, D.C., where about 30 seminars on national and international affairs per year take place at the United Methodist building across from the U.S. Capitol.
The high-impact seminars date back more than half a century with luminaries such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Hubert Humphrey. The sessions empower and equip participants to put their faith together with action steps to change their world.
VIGILANT VOICES SPEAK OUT.
After each group chooses a topic — poverty and homelessness, human trafficking, immigration, environmental justice — seminar designer Susan Burton tailors a unique learning experience.
"The program," she said," offers us the opportunity to increase our knowledge of ourselves and our faith, increase our knowledge of injustices impacting our brothers and sisters in our own communities and throughout the world, and identify new ways to use our voices — staying awake and keeping watch."
Prayer of Thanksgiving for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Gracious God, you create us and love us; you make us to live together in a community.
We thank you for Martin Luther King, Jr. and all your children who have been filled with your vision for our lives and who have worked to make bring your vision into reality.
Fill us with your vision.
Guide us to live by your vision, working to build the beloved community where everyone is welcomed, all are valued, power is shared, privilege is no more, and all your children know wholeness and well-being.
Through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
English Ministry News and Notes 1-12-14
*Celebrating Human Relations Sunday, Jan. 19th - is one of 6 special Sundays in the UMC. We set this day aside, the closest Sunday to the Rev. Dr. Martin Lu-ther King, Jr's birthday, as a call to the Church "to recognize the right of all God's children in realizing their potential as human beings in relationship with each oth-er." (Book of Discipline) Your giving benefits a commitment to heal social ills and work towards justice on a national level through the Community Developers Pro-gram, UM Voluntary Service, and the Youth Offender Rehabilitation Program. Thank you for your generosity!
We eagerly welcome Jo Ann Lawson as our preacher. Jo Ann currently serves as President of California-Nevada Conference of United Methodist Women (UMW). She also serves on the Western Jurisdiction, Pacific Regional School Team, and the Annual Conference Session Planning Committee. Jo Ann is an ac-tive member of Easter Hill UMC in Richmond.
*Signing Up For Hospitality - Please consider grabbing a friend or someone you’d like to get to know and signing up to host hospitality time during the first half of the year. It makes a difference when we ALL participate!
*We celebrate the safe arrival of Jax Laurence Woon, Peggy & Larry’s Woon’s newest grandchild on Jan. 8th.
*Don’t Miss the Opportunity to Grow & Fellowship! Small Groups have start-ed back up and meet 2-3 each month. Every member of CCUMC is urged and encouraged to participate. To learn more, connect with SG Facilitators: Jane, Burt, Brenda, Becky, Charlie, Steve.
*Laity Celebration Sunday, Jan. 26th - "I am the church. You are the church. We are the church together!" We will celebrate our call to be the church together as we hear from our Co-Lay Leaders, Becky and Steve, and recognize all those who serve and minister.
*Prayer Invitations:-For YCVM and the opening of Kumi Christian Visionary School (KCVS). The new school term begins in early February. We pray for God's Spirit to be with YCVM every step of the way.
*Curious About Baptism or Membership? Please connect with Pastor Emily to if the Spirit is moving you to connect intentionally with God and the community.
We eagerly welcome Jo Ann Lawson as our preacher. Jo Ann currently serves as President of California-Nevada Conference of United Methodist Women (UMW). She also serves on the Western Jurisdiction, Pacific Regional School Team, and the Annual Conference Session Planning Committee. Jo Ann is an ac-tive member of Easter Hill UMC in Richmond.
*Signing Up For Hospitality - Please consider grabbing a friend or someone you’d like to get to know and signing up to host hospitality time during the first half of the year. It makes a difference when we ALL participate!
*We celebrate the safe arrival of Jax Laurence Woon, Peggy & Larry’s Woon’s newest grandchild on Jan. 8th.
*Don’t Miss the Opportunity to Grow & Fellowship! Small Groups have start-ed back up and meet 2-3 each month. Every member of CCUMC is urged and encouraged to participate. To learn more, connect with SG Facilitators: Jane, Burt, Brenda, Becky, Charlie, Steve.
*Laity Celebration Sunday, Jan. 26th - "I am the church. You are the church. We are the church together!" We will celebrate our call to be the church together as we hear from our Co-Lay Leaders, Becky and Steve, and recognize all those who serve and minister.
*Prayer Invitations:-For YCVM and the opening of Kumi Christian Visionary School (KCVS). The new school term begins in early February. We pray for God's Spirit to be with YCVM every step of the way.
*Curious About Baptism or Membership? Please connect with Pastor Emily to if the Spirit is moving you to connect intentionally with God and the community.
Baptismal Promise - Rev. Steve Garnaas-Holmes
"You are my Own, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." This is as unalterable as the heavens: you are God’s Beloved, God’s own. Nothing you do or fail can change that.
I will tell of the decree of the Lord, who said to me, "You are my offspring; today I have begotten you." You are anointed with the promise of the Messiah, the task of bearing God’s will into the world.
"Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights." You are upheld in your work. Unseen though it may be, and seemingly unimportant, it is God’s desire; it is God’s delight.
"So gently so as not to break a bruised reed or quench a dimly burning candle, you will faithfully bring forth justice."Nonviolently as Christ, without force or coercion, with only love for all, you will act for the fullness of life for all those to whom it is denied.
"One who endures suffering and is acquainted with weakness."The promise is not happy trails or the comfort of triumph but the mystery of the cross, dying and rising as you enter the suffering of the world.
"You are my Own, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." It is not your power or success but your belovedness, and that of all whom you meet, that you bear gloriously into the world, that transforms it. Go in peace, and serve the Lord with joy.
I will tell of the decree of the Lord, who said to me, "You are my offspring; today I have begotten you." You are anointed with the promise of the Messiah, the task of bearing God’s will into the world.
"Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights." You are upheld in your work. Unseen though it may be, and seemingly unimportant, it is God’s desire; it is God’s delight.
"So gently so as not to break a bruised reed or quench a dimly burning candle, you will faithfully bring forth justice."Nonviolently as Christ, without force or coercion, with only love for all, you will act for the fullness of life for all those to whom it is denied.
"One who endures suffering and is acquainted with weakness."The promise is not happy trails or the comfort of triumph but the mystery of the cross, dying and rising as you enter the suffering of the world.
"You are my Own, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." It is not your power or success but your belovedness, and that of all whom you meet, that you bear gloriously into the world, that transforms it. Go in peace, and serve the Lord with joy.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
English Ministry News and Notes 1-5-13
*Happy, Happy New Year! Let us enter this new year with thanksgiving in our hearts, holding one another and CCUMC in prayer as we seek God's guidance, wisdom, and joy.
*Prayer Invitations:
-For Our Youth: Nine youth headed to the snow with Ben and Christine Li on Friday. Please pray for a time that bonds friendships, strengthens faith, and is fun and safe! They return this afternoon.
-For YCVM and the opening of Kumi Christian Visionary School (KCVS). The new school term begins in early February. We pray for God's Spirit to be with YCVM every step of the way.
*LMUMC Food Pantry Ministry Day: You're invited and encouraged to pitch in to serve our neighbors through the Food Pantry at Lake Merritt each second Saturday. The upcoming ministry day is Jan. 11th. Please connect with Jane for more info.
*Hospitality in the New Year! Do you love sharing a tasty treat with a brother/sister after worship? Do you enjoy sipping a cup of hot tea and catching up on Sunday? We do too! Please consider pitching in to provide hospitality after worship in the new year. The new sign up sheet is posted! Thank you!
*Curious About Baptism or Membership? Please connect with Pastor Emily to if the Spirit is moving you to connect intentionally with God and the community.
*Prayer Invitations:
-For Our Youth: Nine youth headed to the snow with Ben and Christine Li on Friday. Please pray for a time that bonds friendships, strengthens faith, and is fun and safe! They return this afternoon.
-For YCVM and the opening of Kumi Christian Visionary School (KCVS). The new school term begins in early February. We pray for God's Spirit to be with YCVM every step of the way.
*LMUMC Food Pantry Ministry Day: You're invited and encouraged to pitch in to serve our neighbors through the Food Pantry at Lake Merritt each second Saturday. The upcoming ministry day is Jan. 11th. Please connect with Jane for more info.
*Hospitality in the New Year! Do you love sharing a tasty treat with a brother/sister after worship? Do you enjoy sipping a cup of hot tea and catching up on Sunday? We do too! Please consider pitching in to provide hospitality after worship in the new year. The new sign up sheet is posted! Thank you!
*Curious About Baptism or Membership? Please connect with Pastor Emily to if the Spirit is moving you to connect intentionally with God and the community.
New Year, New Beginnings
I am fascinated by the human desire for renewal and new beginnings. St. Benedict in his Rule for monasteries writes "always we begin again." This impulse is the heart of what makes anticipation of the New Year kindle all of our longings for a richer way of being in the world. There is something so very hopeful to me in this fundamental impulse. January 1st brings out our fervent desires for the future and our commitments to change, whatever that change entails. Our inclination is usually a set of "resolutions" aimed at working harder for whatever it is we want or fixing our self-perceived flaws. There is nothing wrong with making resolutions. However they often aim so high without first cultivating the change of heart necessary to prepare space for these new possibilities to take root.
More and more often now people are taking the celebration of New Year's as a time for reflection on what has gone before and for listening to their longing for what lies ahead. We are recognizing the opportunity of a threshold.
Doors and thresholds offer us potent symbols of new and unexplored possibilities. They can evoke a sense of powerful potential and both internal and external worlds we have yet to explore.
Suggestions for Ways to Celebrate the New Year in Meaningful Ways:
Practice: Preparing One of the reasons our secular celebration of the New Year is often so disappointing is that we do not take time to prepare ourselves for this time. We begin the year full of resolutions and promises to ourselves to perhaps eat better, exercise more, work less, find more time for friends or for ourselves. But these resolutions often rise up out of our sense of scarcity and the busyness and immediate desires we feel at the surface of our lives. Consider taking some time to prepare -- even if only for an hour or two -- to really listen for the deeper longings pulsing within you. What emerges from that place of stillness and grounding in your holiness and goodness, rather than from a list of your shortcomings?
What new doors are waiting within you to be opened?
Practice: Reconciliation In Jewish tradition, the New Year begins with the 10 Days of Awe between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in autumn. During this time, Jews reflect on those relationships during the past year that need reconciliation, recognizing that the way to move forward in more fullness is by acknowledging those places where we have failed another person in the past and then making amends. Is there someone you have hurt this past year through your words or actions? Is it possible to ask for their forgiveness? Is there someone who has hurt you this past year through words or actions? Can you offer them forgiveness?
Practice: Walking into the New Year Take a contemplative walk at a labyrinth if you have one near you, or in a peaceful, wooded place. As you take each step, ask yourself how you want to walk in the year ahead. Pay attention to what responses rise up in you and embody this in the pace and movement of your body. As you continue to walk imagine yourself stepping across the threshold of something new and notice how your body feels.
Practice: Doing What You Love Consider spending new year's day or a day soon after doing all of the things with which you want your year ahead to be filled. Make a list of the five most important and soul-nourishing activities of your life and spend a day savoring these experiences.
May you make friends with newness and know deep within that the God who keeps revealing new things to us, also fills us with hope for a future of peace.
Christine Valters Paintner, Ph.D. is a Benedictine Oblate and the founder and director of Abbey of the Arts, a non-profit ministry integrating contemplative practice with the expressive arts.
More and more often now people are taking the celebration of New Year's as a time for reflection on what has gone before and for listening to their longing for what lies ahead. We are recognizing the opportunity of a threshold.
Doors and thresholds offer us potent symbols of new and unexplored possibilities. They can evoke a sense of powerful potential and both internal and external worlds we have yet to explore.
Suggestions for Ways to Celebrate the New Year in Meaningful Ways:
Practice: Preparing One of the reasons our secular celebration of the New Year is often so disappointing is that we do not take time to prepare ourselves for this time. We begin the year full of resolutions and promises to ourselves to perhaps eat better, exercise more, work less, find more time for friends or for ourselves. But these resolutions often rise up out of our sense of scarcity and the busyness and immediate desires we feel at the surface of our lives. Consider taking some time to prepare -- even if only for an hour or two -- to really listen for the deeper longings pulsing within you. What emerges from that place of stillness and grounding in your holiness and goodness, rather than from a list of your shortcomings?
What new doors are waiting within you to be opened?
Practice: Reconciliation In Jewish tradition, the New Year begins with the 10 Days of Awe between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in autumn. During this time, Jews reflect on those relationships during the past year that need reconciliation, recognizing that the way to move forward in more fullness is by acknowledging those places where we have failed another person in the past and then making amends. Is there someone you have hurt this past year through your words or actions? Is it possible to ask for their forgiveness? Is there someone who has hurt you this past year through words or actions? Can you offer them forgiveness?
Practice: Walking into the New Year Take a contemplative walk at a labyrinth if you have one near you, or in a peaceful, wooded place. As you take each step, ask yourself how you want to walk in the year ahead. Pay attention to what responses rise up in you and embody this in the pace and movement of your body. As you continue to walk imagine yourself stepping across the threshold of something new and notice how your body feels.
Practice: Doing What You Love Consider spending new year's day or a day soon after doing all of the things with which you want your year ahead to be filled. Make a list of the five most important and soul-nourishing activities of your life and spend a day savoring these experiences.
May you make friends with newness and know deep within that the God who keeps revealing new things to us, also fills us with hope for a future of peace.
Christine Valters Paintner, Ph.D. is a Benedictine Oblate and the founder and director of Abbey of the Arts, a non-profit ministry integrating contemplative practice with the expressive arts.
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