2012 Annual Conference Recommendations & Resolutions [Part 2]

CCUMC’s Lay Delegate, Becky Wong
 

This is Part 2 of a series to help inform you about issues that will be coming before the members of the Cal/Nevada Annual Conference, June 20-23.  Please hold these items in your prayer.

Item 11 concerns a church property at 1525 Waller Street in San Francisco. This was formerly Hamilton UMC, and is currently being used by Bethany UMC as well as the Committee on Archives and History. The current proposal would put the property under the Conference Board of Camp and Retreat Ministries. Realizing the value of such a large campus, which includes a gym, the Board intends to create an urban retreat center with possibilities for many uses by groups wanting to explore and experience ministry opportunities in San Francisco.

Item 12 is called Foreclosure Protection. It pledges support of the Church for homeowners facing foreclosure and eviction and calls for a response of UM people to study the issue and join with community groups to work for fair processes to be in place. It also pledges support for the “Homeowners Bill of Rights” (authored by CA Attorney General Kamala Harris).

Item 13 is a Resolution on Bullying. It encourages churches to: (1) become informed about and to support community organizations working against bullying; (2) support local school anti-bullying programs and support gay-straight alliances; (3) call on parents to model behaviors of empathy and mutual respect; (4) preach the need to welcome and give respect to all persons; (5) be available to provide support or referrals to appropriate resource persons to all those who are affected  by bullying; (6) help parents become knowledgeable on how to talk to kids and to schools using a resource book such as “The Bullying Action Guide” by Edward F. Dragan.

English Ministry News and Notes for 6-10-12

*Annual Conference Special Offering Today! - The UMC has an ambitious goal: to end unnecessary suffering and death from malaria in  Africa by 2015. The Cal-Nev Annual Conf is committed to this goal and therefore has designed the 2012 Annual Conference Offering to go to Imagine No Malaria.

*Homework Club Summer Program Family Orientation...Today! All are invited to meet and greet, to welcome and connect with this summer's students and their families. The orientation will begin at 2:30 p.m. You can also pitch in by helping to set up and clean up!

*Small Groups Completes Another Season - This upcoming week is the final week of small group ministries for the 2011-2012 season. We celebrate each person who participated - once or weekly! We pray that God was made real to you in ever more transformative ways and that your discipleship was strengthened and deepened. Small Groups will "rest" during the summer and kick-off again in September. Let us affirm and celebrate our faithful and committed lead facilitators: Burt & Jane, Becky, Charlie & Steve.

*More Celebrations - We want to recognize and celebrate the graduates amongst our community:
 

-From 5th grade: Emma Yin

-From 8th grade: Cyrus Ng and Jeffrey Lu
-From 12th grade: Crystal Lee 

-From university: Jenny Chio and Elaine Yu
 

We will recognize these special accomplishments in worship next Sunday.  Let us lift our young people in prayer!

*Save the Date...for Fun & Fellowship! Our young folks are organizing an evening of fellowship to kick off the summer involving nachos and Bunko on Friday, June 29th, at 6:30 p.m. More information to follow.

*Sharing Hospitality - Each Sunday, people provide simple refreshments that invite the community to linger and fellowship.  This is one way we extend hospitality.  You are invited to sign up to provide refreshments during the 2nd half of the year: July—December.  Consider inviting a new friend or an old buddy to partner up and work together.  Thank you!

Called to Be Witnesses – A Pentecost Practice

On Pentecost, Rev. Renae Extrum-Fernandez, reminded us of our call to be witnesses.  “You will be my witnesses,” said Jesus to his disciples before ascending into the heavens.  Being a witness is a key practice that supports our mission: to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.  Over the next 6 weeks, we will practice “witnessing” by simply sharing where we have recently seen or experienced God in our lives and how that has made a difference for us.  This week, we give thanks for the sharing of Derek Lang.

“It is normal for several students to have to be held back until the class is taught again.”  “They should get what they deserve.”  “You have to be fair to all the other students.”

These were some of the voices I heard as I was winding down the first class I ever taught at a university.  I still recall being a teenager when my swimming teacher called me “professor,” and the teaching path was on my mind when I went on for further graduate studies.  Teaching and interacting with students was fun, but grading… ughhh.  Having to judge a student and possibly set him or her back a whole year before the class would be taught again felt like playing God with their lives, and I was very uncomfortable with that responsibility.
 

And sure enough, there were a few students who were failing by the end of the semester.  I really struggled about what to do with them.  What would failing mean to their academic career?  What did it say about me as a teacher?  What would other students or professors think if I was lenient on them?
 

I thought a lot about the saying “you reap what you sow.”  Was it fair to the other students that I give them another chance to pass the course?  The parable came to mind of the vineyard workers who worked all day and complained about the Master who gave equal share to those who worked only part of the day.  The thought kept coming back to me that my job was not to mete out justice.  And while many schools emphasize competition, this really was not about one gaining at the expense of another.  Rather, my job and my service was to give the students the tools to succeed as engineers.
 

Of course, they still had to demonstrate they understood the fundamentals of the course.  I owed that to the teacher of the next class they would take, and to safety of the public who would fly the airplanes or rockets they would eventually design.  I would not be doing them any favors by passing them if they were not ready. But if it took extra time and effort that I could afford to give, then so be it.  I met with those special students to assess their comprehension of the course and eventually gave them a final assignment to demonstrate what they knew.                    

I pray that this was the right decision.  As I told a friend, there are life and death situations, but then there is everything else.  And sometimes it is good to be generous with a little grace.

Videos for 6-3-12

Chinese Choir

Chinese Sermon

English Sermon - "Hot Coal to Our Lips", Isaiah 6:1-8, Pastor Emily

2012 Cal-Nev Annual Conference Recommendations and Resolutions (R & Rs)

Becky Wong

As your current Lay Member to Annual Conference, I attended a session to learn about the workings of the Conference and get a preview of what the proposals will be. This year there are 19 R&Rs in total that will be discerned at Annual Conference held June 20 - 23rd in Sacramento. I will highlight several in the upcoming issues of the Messenger.  Today, I highlight six that all have to do with finances and giving.  You can read further about each one at the website: cnumc.org < Annual Conference Session.

Item 2 proposes a new formula for calculating Apportionments, which is the money each local church is assessed to fund the ministries and work of the worldwide UM Church. If this recommendation is adopted, each church will be assessed a tithe, 10% of their yearly operating income, as defined on line 67 of the year-end Table III report. Income that is designated for special use (e.g. missions) is not part of this operating income. The Annual Conference budget will then be based on the apportionment tithing, not to exceed 10% above the base. Anything above the base will be evenly distributed amongst all the churches. The budget will use data from the year-end report two years prior. This is a major shift from the present method of calculating apportionments based on church expenditures.

Item 1 requests “Second Mile Giving” from each church, not to exceed 1% of the tithing base. This money will be used for District Council on Ministries, District Unions, Ethnic Minority Congregations, and New Church Development.

Items 5,6,7, and 8 insure that the Church has a plan in place to fund clergy pensions and healthcare for clergy retirees.

Let us hold this year’s Annual Conference session in our prayers!

CCUMC News and Notes for 6-3-12

*Great Thanks - What a wonderful welcome to the Holy Spirit and kick-off to our 125th year in ministry we had last week! Tremendous thanks goes to the Anniversary Task Force (Yvonne, Helena, Elsie, Leo, Gloria G., Richard, Adrienne, Becky, Steve) as well as the many, many whose hands and efforts made everything come together. Together, let's look ahead to Street Fest!

*Sending Donnie & Holly Off - We give thanks for the last 3 years of community shared with Donnie and Holly and bless them with God's continued care and direction as they return to Indiana on June 15th. Please share a time of fellowship with them following worship.

*Learning Together! - As we begin the Season after Pentecost, the Adult Sunday School will return to  the book An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor.   We studied parts of this book during Lent.   We’ll discuss 4 more chapters in June with the help of these leaders :
June  3rd,  Ch.  3 -  The Practice of Wearing Skin  - Becky & Al 
June 10th, Ch. 8 -  The Practice of  Saying No  - Laura & Adrienne
June 17th, Ch. 5 -  The Practice of Getting  Lost  - Aeri & Ben
June 24th, Ch. 7 - The Practice of Living with Purpose  - Ed & Arlene
There are still copies of the book available. If you’d like a copy, please see Charlie.

*LMUMC Food Pantry Workday - Saturday, June 9th, 9:45 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. You can be a part of witnessing to God's love through your actions to share food and hospitality.

*Annual Conference Special Offering - The UMC has an ambitious goal: to end unnecessary suffering and death from malaria in Africa by 2015. The Cal-Nev Annual Conference is committed to this goal and therefore has designed the 2012 Annual Conference Offering to go to Imagine No Malaria. We’ll take this special offering next Sunday, June 10th.

*Adventures in Faith (AiF) & More - Last Wednesday, we held our 6th and final AiF chapel for the school year. Deep thanks for the dedicated and faithful work of Donna, Peggy, Becky, Richard, Adrienne, Jonathan, Theresa S., and others who made this possible. Next Sunday, June 10th, we'll hold a Family Orientation and Reception for Homework Club's summer program families at 2:30 p.m.. This is a time to extend hospitality by sharing your presence, bringing a snack (fruit and cookies only), and learning more about what will be happening in the
summer. Additionally, Summer AiF will kick off on Tuesday, July 2nd, and continue every Tuesday and Thursday following. Would you be willing to pitch in to this unique opportunity to plant God's seeds? To learn more, connect with Emily or Donna.

*A Prayer for Silver & Grace - We received word on Wednesday morning that Silver and Grace had been denied visas a 2nd time. This is a great disappointment to us as well as to them. Let us continue to hold our common ministry before God and pray the Holy Spirit direct us in next steps. We share appreciations for the work of the Mission Exchange Task Force: Vince, Burt, Becky, Aeri, and Pastor Emily.

Called to Be Witnesses – A Pentecost Practice

 On Pentecost Sunday, our DS, Rev. Renae Extrum-Fernandez, reminded us that:

• Our God never calls us without sending us on a mission (think of Moses and the burning bush), 
• Our God never sends us on a mission without empowering us to fulfill it (remember Jesus’ words to his disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes to you.”) 
• So what is our mission?   To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
• And how do we fulfill that mission? By becoming witnesses, Jesus’ witnesses. (Acts 1:8 – You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.)

Rev. Renae challenged us to become the burning bush, to live lives aflame with God’s Spirit that draws those around to turn and wonder, “Wow!  How do I get a life like that?”

Many of us – if not all – might feel a little intimidated by the thought of becoming witnesses.  Our minds might drift to people who hand out pamphlets containing the “steps to salvation” or street preachers who accost those passing by. We might think that being a witness requires us to say certain things and make certain invitations.  We might even have had a few negative experiences around witnessing.  But the reality is that being a witness is something we all know how to do.  Really!  How do I know this?  Because we bear witness – or tell someone about – the things that matter to us all the time.  And it’s not really all that different when it comes to faith.

The Lutheran pastor, theologian, and writer, David Lose, says this: “Witnessing does not mean shoving our faith down someone's throat or threatening them with eternal hellfire if they don't believe like we do. It's simply telling others where we sensed God at work -- at home or work, at church or school, through a stranger or a friend, a doctor or teacher or neighbor, even through ourselves. Bearing witness is nothing more than saying where you think God is at work in your life and the world.” You see, it’s something we all know how to do though we might be a little out of practice.

And so….during Pentecost, we’re going to commit to “getting in shape” by a simple practice.  We’re going to share with each other where we think God is at work by reflecting on and answering these two questions:

• How have you experienced God recently in your life?
• And how has that made a difference to you?

We’ll do this through the Messenger – this very space, as well as in worship.  I’m certain that within weeks, we’ll start to see a change in that somewhat flabby witnessing muscle of ours.  It’ll start feeling easier and easier each time we do it.  It’ll get stronger and more defined.  And before we know it, sharing the way God is at work in our lives and the world will become just as easy – and comfortable - as sharing about a really wonderful book we’re reading, a great recipe we’ve found, or the wonders of our recent travels.

Happy Pentecost, dear witnesses of Christ!  Come, Holy Spirit, come!