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September 2003 Wednesday
Evening Worship — 7:00 - 7:40 pm
Sept. 3 -
Evening Prayers
Sept. 10 - Service of Healing and Wholeness
Sept. 17 - Guided Meditation
Sept. 24 - Taizé Service
At
noon on Saturday, Sept. 6, there will be a catered luncheon and party to
celebrate the 40th anniversary of our Senior Center and to re-name it in
honor of long-time director Doris Krauss. The Center’s new name will
honor Doris for over 30 years of leadership and caring. Center
director Judith Dancer promises a fun occasion with entertainment and
exhibits from years gone by. If you haven’t already got your ticket,
don’t wait! If you can’t
attend but would like to honor Doris, gifts to the Krauss Center Center
are most welcome.
after the Worship Service
-- to fill a vacancy on the Session of Elders Sermon
Series — What is Christianity? Sept.
7 - Nov. 2 The
Rev. Sam Alexander preaches on the basics of our faith at the 11 am
worship service, then leads an after-service discussion in the Chapel. Sam
says, “This series is intended to stimulate dialogue about our faith,
not establish dogma. I hope everyone will feel comfortable coming to the
discussion time with questions, doubts, new perspectives and challenges.
It is in the conversation that our common faith will grow.” Sept. 7 - The Mystery
of our Faith What
is the relationship of our “Truth” to other religious “Truths?”
Texts: Texts: 1 Tim 3:14-16 and Job 38:1- 41:6 (excerpted), (Proper 24,
B). Confessions: 9.41-.42 Sept 14 - Grace Comes
First God
expresses God’s love in Creation. Texts: Genesis 1:1 - 2:3, 1 John
4:7-8, Confessions: 7.111
(Westminster Larger Catechism). Sept 21 - Hamartia:
The Human Problem The
corporate and individual ramifications of that little theological word,
“sin”. Texts: Texts: John 19:31-37, Isaiah 53:1-5. Confessions: 4.001-.002 (Heidelberg
Catechism). Sept 28 -
Reconciliation Our
hamartia does not keep God from being God. Texts: John 19:31-37; Isaiah
53:1-5; Confessions: 4.001-.002 (Heidelberg Catechism) New
Church School Year The
new Church School year starts September 7th.
We will return to our normal academic year format.
When the children go downstairs after passing of the Peace, they
will have a gathering time, followed by lessons and activities as in years
past. If
you haven't signed up to be a teacher, helper, storyteller, please
consider doing so. Contact Jonathan Lee at jonathan.lee10@gte.net. Our
new intern, Leslie Veen, will be helping, along with Steve Johnson and Jeanne Tate
Choy, at our mandatory Teacher Training for 2003-2004, which takes place
at the church on Saturday, Sept. 6th, 9:00-11:30 a.m. The
Children’s Music Program starts on Sept 7 at 9:30 in the Sanctuary with
Britt LaGatta as the director. Between Music and the worship service,
there's a low-key arts and crafts time for the kids. Adult
Education Classes on Elements of Worship A class caught with an
eye toward training worship
leaders Sundays, Sept. 7 - Oct.
12 - 9:30-10:30 am, Munro Room Taught by the Rev. Sam
Alexander; guest appearance
by Dr. Jana Childers, Pastor’s
Study Hour (and 1/4) —
The Parables of Jesus For
two thousand years women and men have plumbed the depths of their meaning.
While each person’s interpretation reflects
her own vision of the world, in the process
of interpreting, each has found his own
vision challenged. Come and be part of a centuries-old
conversation! Wednesdays,
Sept. 10 - Oct. 15 after Vespers , 7:45 to 9:00 pm Farewell
Tea for Elizabeth Pride Sept. 14 Our
own Elizabeth Pride, who has been an active member of Old First longer
than almost anybody else (and more active than most), will be moving to
Orange, Texas in October. We'll
have a Farewell Tea Party for her on Sunday, September 14, at 3:00 pm.
If you'd like to help with the event, please contact Heather Losee. Ultimate
Potluck Supper Planned for Sept. 20 What’s
an Ultimate Potluck Supper? Turn up at the church at 6 pm on Saturday,
Sept. 20, and see. Bring something yummy to share, and you could win a
prize for it. Look
for the signup table at Coffee Hour. Details about competitions for such
things as Best Jello Creation and Highest-Calorie Dessert. are available
there and in the Sunday bulletins. Winners will earn semi-valuable prizes;
losers will be eaten. If
you can’t cook, bring something from your favorite deli or bakery. If
you don't want to compete, just enjoy the proceedings. There
will be an added bonus in the form of young peacemaking volunteers
relating their recent experiences in several countries. Sarah
Taber is Congregational Care’s Designated Potluck Chairperson for the
evening. Discounted parking will be available: $6 for four hours. October
25 Concert Will Honor Rev.
John Bodo Join
our family of Old First Concerts patrons at a gala concert featuring
special guest artists. Help us honor John Bodo, visionary music-lover and
the man who founded the organization over 33 years ago. Concert is 8 pm,
and reception follows. Tickets are $25; proceeds benefit Old First
Concerts. Dear Friends, Steve
Taber recently wrote to me with a strong point worthy of our utmost
attention, particularly as we focus our energy on Evangelism.
"We tend to project a liberal view of the world that doesn't really
offer an alternative, other than yet another version of social activism.
There are many secular versions of this available (some of which are
probably more effective). . . . Until we can demonstrate . . . the
transforming power of Christ through the church, we won't reach them. We
don't reach them simply by telling them what the church is not.
We also won't reach them by simply conforming the church to liberal
individualist lives, for the church then becomes superfluous. The liberal
church needs to get its house in order." I
believe that Steve is absolutely, positively correct. "Liberal"
churches and "Liberal" theologians, have long been good at
deconstructing conservative theology, but fall short of providing a
constructive alternative, a vision of hope which can carry souls towards
the heart of a God whose very nature is to bring life out of death, hope
from despair. When someone says, "Are you saved?" how do you
answer? When someone says, "I just can't believe in a God who lets
all this suffering continue," what do you say? When someone says,
"I just don't believe that there is one religion that lets us into
heaven and that all others lead to hell," what do you say? These are
the questions that all of us need to explore. These are the kinds of
questions we will need to address if the church - or at least the Liberal
church - is to be relevant instead of superfluous. The
sermons I will preach from September 7 to November 2nd are intended to
start a discussion that enables all of us to articulate a vision of hope
that is relevant and faithful to Christ. Join us. Join us in church, or
join us on line.
Grace and peace,
Sam Alexander Greetings to one and all. I
would like to thank everyone for being so welcoming to me as I have begun
my time of internship at Old First Church. I have had the opportunity to
meet many of you already and look forward to meeting many more. As
the new school year begins, the Christian Education committee and I are
getting ready to begin anew the Sunday School program at Old First Church.
This, along with the Wednesday evening Tutorial Program, will be my main
areas of concentration during my time with the congregation. In addition,
I will be working with many programs throughout the life of the church. I
know that my own faith experience will be deeply enriched by the
interactions that I will have with all of you. As
a child in Michigan, I was taught that the church community is an extended
family. Many people who are important in my life are people I met through
the church. I look forward to joining in a whole new family. I pray that
through our interactions we will encourage each other to grow in God's
love.
Blessings, Leslie Veen (leslie@oldfirst.org) Married Neale
Asher Miller and Laura West, August 2, in Berkeley. John
Wilber and Carol Jean Chastang, July 24 in New Orleans, LA.
Baptized August
24, 2003 -- Eva Gray Bender, daughter of Art Bender and Jan Hammock Jazz
Vespers resumes the second
Sunday in October with The
Oakland Jazz Choir Flowers
and Coffee Hour We
have a full roster of sponsors for sanctuary flowers through the end of
the year, but there are still a lot of unclaimed Coffee Hours. Take a look
at the calendar outside the Munro Room and see if there’s a Sunday
you’d like to sponsor. In Memory Rev.
Carol Youngbird-Holt October 3, 1949 - August
11, 2003 We
at Old First are shocked to learn of Carol’s death. We are thankful for
the time she spent with us as Director of the Senior Activities Center
(November 2001 - April 2002). At
the Senior Center she nurtured each person’s importance and worth,
helping them handle the challenges of life.
Her caring heart brought tranquillity to many — seniors and
volunteers alike. Her
patience left everyone feeling free and easy. The
peace that she brought to Old First and the hope she inspired here were
not unusual. Time after time,
speakers at her Home-going Service on August 17 in Santa Rosa spoke of her
intelligence, patience, compassion and kindness.
They spoke of her influence helping them to know themselves more
fully and her ability to help someone be a better Native American, or a
better Christian, or just a better person.
They spoke of her eagerness for the people of the world to know
justice and her ceaseless work toward racial equality. Carol
was 53 years old when she died of kidney failure on August 11.
She was a diabetic, and had a toxic reaction to one of her
medications. Born of an
Eastern Cherokee mother and a Wasco father, Carol was adopted by a Swiss
German family near Bend, Oregon. At
Wesley Seminary in Washington, D.C., she didn’t know where to sit when a
professor asked people of color to sit at one table and people of
non-color to sit at another. Carol
and a fellow student sat on the floor. This is where she met our John Youngbird-Holt.
What a team! Carol
had recently begun the process of transferring her Conference membership
from Oregon-Idaho to California-Nevada.
She received a Master of Social Work degree from Portland State
University and a Master of Divinity degree from Wesley.
She was working toward a doctorate at Pacific School of Religion at
G.T.U. in Berkeley. She was a
General Conference (Methodist) delegate from Oregon-Idaho in 1984 and
1992. She had served the
ecumenical church on the World Council of Churches in its program to
combat racism, and the National Council of Churches as a general board
member. Just
five weeks before her death, Carol was appointed Pastor of Round Valley
United Methodist Church in Covelo, California.
She had preached there only a few Sundays, yet left an impact not
soon to be forgotten. The
congregation at Round Valley is to a large degree Native American, so
Carol felt in a sense she had returned home. And she was enthusiastically welcomed. She was the first fully-credentialed Native American Pastor
of Round Valley in its 131-year history.
John
was returning to his position as Pastor at Potter Valley United Methodist
Church. The two of them had
finally stopped being itinerant students and were doing what they prepared
for so long to do — be pastors of their own churches. They were putting
together their first full-time home in seven years at the manse at Potter
Valley. In
addition to John, Carol is survived by her 3 children, Sky, Brook, and
Jade; and many dear and devoted friends.
Please surround them with your prayers and loving thoughts.
Before returning to Potter Valley UMC, John is taking a month or so
off. His mailing address is P.O Box 398, Potter Valley, CA
95469. I’m sure he
would be grateful to hear from you. The
students and staff at G.T.U. are planning a service to take place after
school begins. Memorial gifts
may be sent to the Native American Ministries Sunday, c/o Native American
Communications Office, P.O. Box 320, Nashville, TN 37202, or to another
Native American organization of one’s choice.
• Tom Kearney Lectionary Sept 7
- Prov. 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23; Ps.
125; James 2:1-10 (11-13)
14-17; Mark 7:24-37 Sept 14
- Prov. 1:20-33; Ps. 19; James 3:1-12; Mark
8:27-38 Sept 21 - Prov. 31:10-31;
Ps. 1; James 3:13—4:3, 7-8a;
Mark 9:30-37; Mark 7:24-37 Sept 28
- Est. 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22; Ps.
124; James 5:13-20;
Mark 9:38-50 Oct 5 - Job
1:1, 2:1-10; Ps. 26; Heb. 1:1-4, 2:5-12;
Mark 10:2-16 First
Annual Golf Outing by Jonathan Lee On
Saturday, July 12th, eight sporting souls met at Tilden Park Golf Course
in the Berkeley hills for the first annual Old First golf event.
All were rewarded with great company and fellowship, beautiful
vistas, and bright, sunny weather. Sam
Alexander, Barry Clagett, Bill Feister, Dana Nojima, Greg Free, Fern
Neuhaus, Don Pender and Jonathan Lee met at the first tee for the
presentation of the very un-traditional "goody bag" containing
symbolic objects for each player. All
received a genuine, imitation gold plastic medal just like the Olympic
athletes get; a paddleball game in case by the end of the day golf no
longer was part of their personal equation; a plastic farm animal to
symbolize the elusive birdies on the course; and bubble gum and taffy for
energy or anger management. Then,
the golf began...
Don
Pender led the way, displaying the game of a professional by making two
real birdies on the day and shooting an 82.
Fern Neuhaus went from never having touched a golf club (first tee)
to a golfer (18th green), hitting great shots and enjoying herself
immensely. Greg Free's swing
was effortless and his banter well-timed. Jonathan Lee hit a few good shots but seriously considered
switching to paddleball once or twice. Sam
Alexander made several pars and, given the lack of free time to work on
his game, was pleasantly surprised. Barry
Clagett was smooth of swing and managed to find the shady spot on the
veranda overlooking the 18th hole before anyone else finished.
Dana Nojima was also cool as a cucumber and was reported to have
blasted long, straight drives on every hole.
Bill Feister had the snazziest golf shirt and an illegal driver (so
we are told) that didn't help as much as it should have. After
finishing the course, the players visited over a cold drink and deep-fried
sweet potatoes, replaying the good shots, forgetting the rest, and sharing
the stories of the day. All
in all, a great day, with a little bit of everything for everyone.
With any luck, next year's event will happen in San Francisco! 119
! by Jeanne Kirkwood The
2003 SF Pride Parade was held Sunday, June 29. Last year was the first
year that Old First had an official presence in the march when we
commissioned our participants during the Sunday worship service. We joined
the More Light Presbyterian contingent in 2002 and marched under their
banner. One
of the recommendations in the Strategic Response Task Force report adopted
by Session was that Old First have its own contingent in the Pride Parade
starting with 2003. We organized and were assigned number 119 which was
positioned with other Presbyterian churches. Once again, Rev. Sam
Alexander commissioned the walkers during the worship service with the
following: Commissioning
of Walkers
Leader - Many of us have strong feelings about the exclusion
that meets
our Gay and Lesbian members in the Presbyterian Church, USA. We ask
you to
march in today's parade and show the world that we at Old First do
not believe
such exclusion is of God.
People - So go, represent our congregation. Be ambassadors
for Christ.
Tell those you see that we welcome all who seek to know our Lord.
Tell them that
we believe our Lord longs to welcome everyone into the kingdom of
God.
We
had a number of folks and
friends from our congregation who were commissioned and/or walked
including Rev. Sam Alexander, Alison Armstrong, George Becker and Christo
Bresnahan and their friend Patrick Spaulding, Michael and Nina Berg, Ted
and Betsy Chiao, Barry and Tracy Clagett, Tom Culp and Charlie Wagner,
Forrest Cummings, Jeanne Kirkwood, Jerry Lebsch, Bryan Nichols,
Dana and Elaine Lyford Nojima, Glen Premo,
Megan Rohrer, Mary Russell, Sarah Taber, Emmett Zediger and his
parents. Once
again we were stationed near the More Light group so we had the pleasure
of seeing our dear friends Rev. Erwin Barron and Rev. Susan Ashton. Also
moving between ML & OF was Daniel Pearch. Safety monitor Jeanne was
able to spot Dan Joraanstad and Bob Hermann with the Gay Men's Chorus and
George Tobias riding in a motorized Cable Car! If
you missed the parade this year, you'll have a chance to march under the
Old First banner next year. This has become an annual event for us. Triennial
Gathering of Presbyterian
Women — Trois by Carol Carter This
summer I made my third trip to Louisville for the Triennial Gathering of
Presbyterian Women, and it was a wonderful experience in ways I never
expected. I’ve
had the same roommate each time, a woman completely unlike me. Let’s
call her “Eloise”. She’s a grandmother, a retired teacher who lives
in Kansas. My first PW Gathering was her seventh, and we got along
wonderfully. Being a part for
the first time of 5,000 women singing a hymn is an amazing experience.
It was all so new and exciting; I went to every workshop, every
plenary session, joined the choir of 200+, and I could barely keep my eyes
open after 5:00 in the evening. At
the second Gathering three years ago, I was a veteran.
I didn’t go to any afternoon workshop without a nap somewhere on
the agenda, toured PC(USA) headquarters and the Seminary and enjoyed
spending time with Eloise. We were assigned a room at a Holiday Inn away from downtown,
and more times than not it was just too hot to walk. The alternative was waiting for what felt like the oldest
school bus in the world, but I was around a lot of women who were having
fun. What was most memorable
was all of us 5,000 having Communion together before returning home. It was as if we each were being given a bit of heavenly
spirit to see each of us safely back to our homes.
As hokey as that may sound, it made the entire trip worthwhile. This
year Eloise and I decided I should book my flight to Kansas City, and we
would drive to and from Louisville together. I had no idea at the time
what drivers are like in the Midwest! The usual speed in that part of the
country appears to be 70mph. What
also appears to be usual is that motorists drive up to about one car
length behind the vehicle ahead at about 75-80 mph, and if the driver
ahead doesn’t get it, they pass it in the slow lane.
Eloise does this and then becomes irritated when it happens to her.
Only twice did she catch me hitting my imaginary brake.
A couple of times I saved us from accidents, as she thinks nothing
of reading the map while going this fast, or eating a meal. This
year there was no need to compare one Gathering to another, and I could
just sit back and enjoy. I
went to three workshops and left at the break from two of them.
I discovered that jet lag and driving with a lunatic require naps
when the trip is over. Janice
Catron did a marvelous job with bible studies each day. There were some
great speakers this time: Joan Martin, Elizabeth Tapia, and Ann Rhee.
Joan Chittister was so moving in her talk on "Ministry to a
Wounded World", I am certain many would have stood up and followed
her anywhere. The
experience that went directly to my heart was the More Light breakfast
where there were no formal speakers, but several individuals got up from
where they were seated at various tables and told of their own experiences
of the enormous positive impact Presbyterian Women have had on their
lives. Listening to these
individuals’ stories made me proud to be a Presbyterian and a member of
PW. It was thanks to More Light that
I left Louisville re-energized and ready to start again. |
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our news archives: July/August 2003, June 2003, May 2003, April 2003, March 2003, February 2003, January 2003
December 2002, November 2002, October 2002, September 2002, July/August 2002, June 2002, May 2002, April 2002, March 2002, February 2002, January 2002 December 2001, Nov 2001, October 2001, September 2001, July/August 2001, June 2001, May 2001, April 2001,
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