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January
2004
January
4 - Congregational Meeting Called
We will meet as a
congregation after church on Sunday, January 4 to act on our Session’s
recommendation to ask the presbytery to dissolve the pastoral relation
between Sam Alexander and Old First.
The
congregation will be asked to approve Session’s recommendation that Sam
leave as minister of Old First, with January 11 as his last day, and that
we offer him a compensation package.
After
a year of study and task force work and meetings with consultants, Sam and
the Session have jointly come to believe that our congregation will be
best served by Sam's departure to pursue a new ministry. We will similarly
need to work with Presbytery and among ourselves to define our own
ministry and pastoral needs.
January
7 - Evening
Prayers
Wednesday, 7:00 p.m.-7:40
p.m.
January
11 - Jazz
Vespers
Sunday, 5:00
p.m. - Gerry Grosz and the January Jam
January
17- Potluck
After
Thanksgiving comes Christmas, after Christmas comes New Year’s, and
after New Year’s comes ...... the post-holiday blahs.
Our
Congregational Care Committee will sponsor a potluck dinner on Saturday,
January 17 guaranteed not only to beat the blahs, but to help you with
your holiday leftovers. Put
aside that unwanted fruitcake or one-box-too-many of gift cookies. Freeze
unused party foods or the turkey bones.
We’ll
have soup and salad, plus whatever oddments of appetizers and desserts
turn up. 6:30 pm; discounted
parking. Sign up at Coffee Hour.
February 1 - Groundhog
Day Family Workshop
Join in a family-friendly
workshop exploring faith through the lens of Groundhog Day and searching
for signs of springtime. Did you know that Groundhog Day has
Christian roots? Do you know what Candlemas is? Learn new
facts and have fun with your family and children. The workshop will
be held from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Soup and salad will be served and then
all participants will be led on a progressive journey as we look forward
to the promise of Easter.
February
8 - Annual Meeting
Save
the date of Sunday, February 8, for our Annual Meeting, which will be held
in the sanctuary right after worship, and Congregational Lunch, which will
be held in the Fellowship Hall after the Annual Meeting.
A
major item of business at the Annual Meeting will be a review of Old
First’s 2004 budget.
The
luncheon will be a semi-potluck affair, like last year. Congregational
Care will provide main dishes, for which members are asked to chip in $5,
and to bring side dishes and desserts. Signups at Coffee Hour.
New
Officers Elected
At the November 30 congregational
meeting, the following officers were elected:
Elders, class of 2006 - Charles Olson, Phil Pollock, Glen Potter,
Steve Taber
Deacons, class of 2006 - Pam Free, Craig Kehne, Alfred Martin, Linda Reyder, Mary
Russell, Oliver Spencer
eScrip
- A Powerful Fundraising Opportunity
Old
First has recently joined thousands of schools and churches by enrolling
in a long-standing program called eScrip.
What
is eScrip? It's a program
established over 15 years ago to contribute funds to schools and groups
that support youth. Over 150
merchants in the Bay Area are eScrip merchant partners. As an eScrip
member, when you shop in these stores, you will be contributing a
percentage of each purchase total to Old First. All you have to do is go about your regular shopping for
groceries, clothes, office supplies, etc.
The merchants and eScrip take care of all the calculations and
paperwork. What a deal!
To
enroll in the program all you have to do is register your Safeway club
card and/or other credit card(s) that you use for shopping with eScrip.
The security of your credit card number is guaranteed.
eScrip is a tried and true organization with a long track record of
trust with its participants. It has a written pledge not to divulge any
information to a third party. If
you have a mileage card, don't
worry, it won't be affected in any way by participation in eScrip.
And, if you’re interested, eScrip recently come out with their
own credit card. Using
this card results in a 2% donation to Old First--no matter where you shop.
This
sounds like an advertisement for eScrip, which it is, but it’s really a
fundraising opportunity for Old First.
If we can get a significant number of members and friends of OFC to
enroll and consistently patronize participating eScrip merchants, Old
First could receive more than $10,000 a year in donations. Some OFC
members are already eScrip
members in support of their
children’s schools. Just to
let you know, Old First is not alone in joining this program. Lincoln Park, Ocean Avenue, and Seventh Avenue Presbyterian
churches as well as a host of other churches belong to this program.
To
learn more about eScrip log on to www.escrip.com.
After exploring the site, click on “sign up” to enroll. Designate Old
First Presbyterian Church to receive your contributions. You will then be
prompted to list your Safeway club card and/or other credit card numbers
that you would use for shopping. Check
out the extensive list of merchants who participate in eScrip.
Just a few of them are: Safeway, Andronico’s Von’s Spiegel,
Payless Shoes, Eddie Bauer, and Office Max. By the way, any credit card
information you submit to eScrip is encrypted and is secure over the
internet.
Cindy
Burt, Stewardship Moderator (and recent eScrip member) is coordinating the
eScrip program for Old First. Cindy will be happy to show you the eScrip
website at church and can even walk you through the sign-up process. She
will be regularly manning an eScrip information table to answer your
questions.
eScrip
is a simple and easy way for Old First to fill in some of our financial
gaps. The eScrip program is smart, powerful, and something we can all be a
part of. Check it out!
Welcome
to Branch Elias Bender
born Nov. 15, 2003,
son of Art Bender and Jan Hammock, brother of Eva
A
Letter from Polly Day:
Dear Friends,
Words cannot adequately
express the appreciation for the outpouring of love you have showered on
me and my son during my recent illness. Prayers, words of encouragement,
beautiful cards with notes, food and other acts of kindness have blessed
us as we adjust to this new challenge. God is always good and provides at
just the right moment. Thank you so much.
Polly
Day
Lectionary
Jan. 4 - 2nd Sunday after Christmas
Jer. 31:7-14; Ps. 147:12-20;
Eph. 1:3-14; John 1:(1-9) 10-18
Jan. 6 - Epiphany of the Lord
Isa. 60:1-6; Ps. 72:1-7, 10-14;
Eph. 3:1-12; Matt. 2:1-12
Jan. 1 - Baptism of the Lord
Isa. 43:1-7; Ps. 29:
Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
Jan. 18 - 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isa. 62:1-5; Ps. 36:5-10;
1 Cor. 12:1-11; John 2:1-11
Jan. 25 - 3rd
Sunday in Ordinary Time
Neh. 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10; Ps. 19;
1 Cor. 12:12-31a; Luke 4:14-21
Feb. 1- 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jer. 1:4-10; Ps. 71:1-6;
1 Cor. 13:1-13; Luke 4:21-30
A
Christmas message from John Youngbird-Holt
My
friends, this is the most difficult Christmas letter I’ve had to write.
As many of our good friends know already, Carol died on August 11,
2003 from complications of dehydration and a toxic reaction to her
diabetes medication. I am
left a far lesser person for the loss.
But her Spirit lives on, and she has done much for me since August.
This
year began with some great happenings.
Carol accepted, a 1/4-time pastoring position at the Native
American UMC in Round Valley, in Northern California in the coastal
mountains....... A position came open at Potter Valley UMC to which I was
appointed as a Licensed Local Pastor.
Carol
finished her studies for the year at the GTU in May, and we moved to the
parsonage at Potter Valley in July and began our ministry.
Carol served Round Valley a mere five weeks before the tragedy hit
us.
Carol
left so many of us grieving her loss, as I do daily.
But life goes on for us. I
fled town for a month to find out where I belonged after Carol; I find
that I belong at Potter Valley AND Round Valley.
I was appointed to Round Valley to help complete Carol’s ministry
there. Since November first,
I have been serving both churches, and the communities have been amazingly
supportive.
Our
children also suffered a tremendous blow with Carol’s death, but they
too are moving on with their lives. We’re all spending Christmas this
year in various ways and places, but will be together at times during the
holiday season as we can. I
look forward to Carol coming on Christmas morning as an angel with the
risen Christ, a place she can now hold with honor.
I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday season and an outrageous
new year in 2004.
Love in Christ,
John
(& Carol)
PO
Box 398, Potter Valley, CA 95469
The
Church We are Called to Be and and to Become
from
an address by the Rev. Susan Andrews, Moderator of the 215th General
Assembly, to the Covenant Network conference in Washington, D.C. in
November, 2003
The church that God is calling us to be and become is first of all
a church that is joyfully evangelical. One of my fondest dreams as a
pastor, as a Moderator, as a Christian would be for all of us to recapture
the language of evangelical faith. Evangel
- we all know - simply means Good News. And the Good News of Jesus Christ
is for all people - not as a talisman of holiness that separates us from
those not quite worthy, but as the extravagant gift of grace that pours
out abundant life for all. Because it is good news, because it is great
news, the Good News of can only be shared effectively if we are
enthusiastic and joyful and generous and transparent in sharing and
showing the world what it means to be God’s person.
As
Presbyterians, as those steeped in the Reformed tradition, we are called
to be Good News tellers - evangelists in some very particular ways. First
of all, our Good News is Trinitarian. It is complex, and it is personal.
We can show and tell the world that submitting body and soul to the
sovereign love of God is the most liberating way to find meaning in this
world. We can show and tell the world that submitting body and soul to the
Lordship of Jesus Christ means to give up all pretense of privilege or
power, and that walking with Jesus means to walk with the poor, the
oppressed, the outcast, the lonely, the anxious, the grieving, the sick,
and the young, that walking with Jesus means to find an intimacy with love
and hope that makes all things new. And then we can show and tell the
world that submitting body and soul to the always fresh power of the Holy
Spirit means to be reformed and always reforming - never able to imprison
God within doctrine or category.
And
because our Good News is Trinitarian, it is also incarnational. It is best
told in the flesh and blood of the world - at the intersection of faith
and life - in the systems and the programs, the marches and the rituals
that underline the words of the gospel with the breath and the sweat and
the labor of everyday life. Seventh Avenue Presbyterian Church in San
Francisco is an 82 member congregation with the heart and the energy of an
army of angels. Located near the Castro neighborhood in San Francisco, its
membership is one-third gay and lesbian. But its identity as a community
of healing is as wide as God’s mercy. The life of the community flows
from rich worship steeped in prayer and light and eucharist - yes it flows
and then overflows into dozens of 12-step programs, a day care center, a
senior housing complex, and a special focus on spiritual direction and
wholeness.
God
is calling our Presbyterian part of the Body of Christ to be and become
joyfully evangelical - visibly Trinitarian, and passionately incarnational.
But
God is also calling the church to be and become intentionally
multi-cultural. One of the best General Assembly decisions made in recent
years was the decision to increase our racial-ethnic and immigrant
membership from its current 7% to 20% by the year 2010. And even then, we
will be far short of the current 35% non-Caucasion population of this
country. I can attest to the vitality of cultural diversity already
stirring up many of our urban presbyteries with new church developments
and immigrant fellowships - 8 here in National Capital, 11 in Atlanta
Presbytery, 14 in New York City Presbytery - new Presbyterian communities
embracing Burmese, Arab, Sudanese, Taiwanese, Filipino, Hispanic, and
African communities.
But,
as Jin S. Kim, the new Moderator of Presbyterians for Renewal has made
clear, multi - cultural is not the same as multi-racial. Just putting a
variety of different people together - and then continuing to do things
the way they have always been done - this is not multi-cultural.
Multi-cultural means honoring the traditions, the language, the music, the
process, the timing, the rhythms, the rituals of all the cultures involved
- and such re -creation takes time and patience and understanding and
compromise. In January Jin will be come the pastor of a new church
development in Minneapolis that will include English speaking Taiwanese,
Japanese, Korean, Chinese, African, African-American, and Caucasian
families, many with adopted international children. The new Church of All
Nations, as this congregation is being called, will be intentionally
multi-cultural.
But,
brothers and sisters, multi-cultural doesn’t just mean racial or ethnic
identity. Multi-cultural also means theological perspective and community
dynamics. Multi-cultural also means contextual. For the Seventh Avenue and
Old First and Calvary congregations in San Francisco, to be multi-cultural
means - among other things - to serve, honor, and welcome the gay,
lesbian, bisexual and trans-gendered residents of their neighborhoods. For
the Madison Avenue and Brick and Fifth Avenue and First congregations in
upper Manhattan and Wall Street, being multi-cultural means - among other
things - to serve and welcome and challenge the culture of money and power
that runs America. To be multi-cultural in the community of Bethesda where
Scott Winnette and I serve means to honor and welcome a NIH scientific
curiosity and a population that is 35% Jewish and a multi-faith
pluralistic world view that demands a theological perspective that is
open-minded and complex. I want a church big enough and multi-cultural
enough and diverse enough to include all of us
I
want to say to you what I said to the Coalition Gathering last month in
Portland. I want a church big enough and multi-cultural enough and diverse
enough to include all of us - conservative, liberal, and every point in
between - agnostic, evangelical and members of peace and sanctuary
churches -Asians and Latinos and Native Americans and African- Americans
and Euro-Americans - gays and straights, single and partnered, young and
old, certain believers and confused seekers, literal biblicists and
metaphorical biblicists - all the varied children of God who can help us
change and grow and become more together than we can ever be apart.
Text of complete address at
www.covenantnetwork.org
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