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November 2004
Evening
Prayers -
Wednesday, November 3 , 7:00 - 7:40 pm
Jazz
Vespers
Jazz
Vespers has moved its service to the first
Sunday of each month at 5:00 pm.
The
2004/05 lineup for this popular alternative worship service is:
Nov
7 - Michael Smolens/ John Thomas
Dec
5 - Anton Schwartz Quartet
Jan
2 - Mad & Eddie Duran Quartet
Feb
6 - Clairdee & The Ken French Trio
Mar
6 - Geoffrey Keezer
Apr
3 - Gerry Grosz
May1
- John Calloway Quintet
June
5 - Paul Scheffert Trio
July
3 - Don Pender Quartet
Thanksgiving
Service
Calvary
Presbyterian Church,
Thursday, Nov. 25, 10 am
The
Rev. Jeffrey Cheifetz, preaching
Note
from your friendly local transitional pastor
Old
First Community of
Faith, Hope, and Love:
At
this time of year, thoughts of church officer elections, the
annual stewardship emphasis, and Thanksgiving move toward center
stage. That’s the way we are made, I suppose, always anticipating
the future while trying to keep up with our daily commitments. The
familiar cycle of the year guides us in predictable directions, though of
course the nature of life itself ensures that change and surprise keep us
on our toes. Otherwise, why speak of things such as faith, hope,
and vision for the future?
Last
month I wrote about the five developmental tasks that congregations take
on during interim (transitional is a more descriptive word, so I’ll
continue using it) ministry. Again, though not necessarily dealt with in
this order, or in the same way in every congregation, they are:
• Coming to terms with history
• Discovering a new identity
• Allowing needed leadership change/shifts of power
• Renewing denominational linkages
• Commitment to new pastoral
leadership and a new future.
Experience
has shown that congregations that take the time to deliberately and
creatively explore these aspects of their life are better equipped to
enter the next phase of their life together with
their new installed pastor.
This
month I write more about the first task, that of coming to terms with
history, of which this congregation has plenty. I am referring to the 155
years of this congregation’s life, of course. I am also referring to the
changes, priorities, relationships, pastorates, programs, heartaches, and
joys experienced by this faith community through the years
of its ministry to this city.
When
we speak of the history of any church, probably the first area that comes
to mind is the relationship between the congregation and its pastors. The
tenure of former pastors must be put in perspective before a congregation
is ready to enter into a constructive and supportive relationship with the
next installed pastor. If a significant amount of energy is still invested
in anger or grief over a previous pastor, then the next pastor will find
himself or herself a target of unresolved hopes and fears, and of unclear
expectations. Whether a previous pastor was taken into the
congregation’s heart or not, eventually that person’s memory and
legacy must be seen through a perspective that accepts both the good and
the bad, and releases or says goodbye to that person, with faith in the
God who is the ultimate leader of the congregation‘s
life and history.
If
friendships and working relationships within the congregation remain
conflicted, and if trust in one another is a scarce commodity because of
conflicts over previous pastorates, then the next pastor will spend a lot
of time healing old hurts and negotiating relationships between people
rather than being free to guide the whole congregation into its
long-anticipated and hoped-for future - a frustrating
situation for all concerned.
What
are some of the symptoms that demonstrate the staying power of unresolved
issues?
The
congregation and its lay leadership:
-
lives in the past, its glory and its hardships
-
has a selective memory rather than owning all facets of the past
-
is stuck in grief, anger, denial, guilt, and alienation
-
experiences declining membership, giving, and participation
-
is unwilling to consider the “Why?” of traditions, even
those that do not ‘work’ anymore
-
hangs onto the ghost (s) of pastor (s) past
-
tries to clone the previous pastor or find his/her exact opposite.
Question:
How are you experiencing unresolved issues within the life of Old First?
And
what are some of the signs that issues are being resolved?
The
congregation and its lay leadership:
-
lives in the present as it actually is while accepting the past
-
moves through the grief process in a healthy way
-
experiences stabilizing membership, giving, and participation
- is able to articulate its traditions while being willing to
change and adapt
-
asks ‘process’ questions: where are we going? what do we do now?
-
invests in current and future issues
-
has a healthy sense of humor.
Question:
What signs do you see that issues are being worked through within the life
of Old First?
As
your elected and ordained governing and spiritual leaders, the elders
serving on the Session will be working toward a healthy congregational
future. Please join with them in prayer, in the healing of relationships,
and in asking questions that point toward the future. Consider how each of
you can be part of the healing of this faith community, so that it may be
empowered to move ahead
in ministry to this city.
If
you want to share your answers to the two questions above, or to the ideas
I have presented here, please contact me. If you need to talk about
personal issues rooted in previous pastorates (or about any matter that is
of deep concern to you) I am available to listen to you, pray with you,
and keep your confidences. Contact me by phone (415-776-5552, x305) or
e-mail (jeff@oldfirst.org) to set up a time to meet.
My
hope for this congregation is that in God’s time you will welcome the
next installed pastor with a deep sense of congregational unity,
anticipation of the future, and joy in God‘s grace. Let’s pray and work
together toward that goal.
Peace,
Jeffrey
Cheifetz, Transitional Pastor
Shalom,
For
those who weren’t in worship on October 10, let me introduce myself.
My name is Alexis Myers, and I am the new seminary intern.
I am a second year M.Div student at San Francisco Theological
Seminary. I
transferred this year from Louisville Presbyterian Seminary in Louisville,
Kentucky.
I
am originally from a small town in Kentucky, where my mother is the
minister of the Methodist church where I was baptized and my father is
still a physician in the hospital where I was born.
I went to Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts for undergrad
and lived in Boston for four years after graduating.
I worked for United Parcel Service in human resources and learned
that October is a season of sometimes joy, but mostly disappointment, —
Go Red Sox!
At
Old First I will be working in Christian Education, and I am excited to
see all of you on Sundays.
If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to
contact me at Old First. I am in the office on Wednesdays.
If
It’s November, It Must Be Time for Stewardship
by
Jean Olson
It’s November —
falling leaves, fall colors, start of the rainy season, end of the church
year (liturgically speaking), and Stewardship time.
The theme this year is
“Thine is the Power.” It’s
all about staying connected and growing together in faith as we share our
time, talents, and resources. We
need to begin to restore our Mission budget, which has been cut
mercilessly over the past two years.
The pastor and rest of the staff, including our new Christian
Education intern, must receive salaries.
We need to maintain our building. pay for mailings, for telephones,
etc.
This church has always
been known for its welcoming atmosphere, for its wonderful worship with
glorious music and edifying sermons, for its service to our neighbors, and
for its excellent Christian education.
However, with each new lower budget over the last several years, we
have cut all the way to the bone and have begun to erode our own identity.
The present time of transition is our opportunity to regain
momentum as a congregation.
This congregation is
being called to think of its life as more than an exercise in survival.
Old First's best days are ahead of us. All of us need to pray for guidance
in the setting of ministry priorities, and actively take part in ways that
add to the liveliness of this faith community. This church has so much to
offer to those who are already here, and to those who have not yet found
their way into our midst.
By the time you read
this, you will have received our first mailing describing the “Forward
Steps” and “Steps of Faith” that you can take.
A personal
guide is enclosed in that brochure that
will help you to determine where you are in your current giving as
well as how you might grow. The
pledge cards are available on October 31, with additional material to
guide you in this important decision for you and Old First.
If you don’t go to church on that Sunday, the materials will be
mailed to you.
Jeff will provide
additional guidance with sermons on Stewardship on October 31 and November
14, Stewardship Sunday. We
will bring our envelopes forward personally or in the offering plate and
consecrate our gifts to God on that Sunday.
Additional pledge cards will be available for those who forget to
bring their cards from home. Reminder
letters will be sent November 21 for those who need them.
Reports will be given of
the progress of the drive. Your
filling out the pledge commitment cards for 2005 lets the Session know
that you are "buying into" the future of Old First, and this
method greatly assists our leaders in their planning. The ministry of this
church requires your financial contributions, so we may turn around the
budget cuts of the recent past and go forward knowing that the resources
are available to sustain forward movement
“Thine is the power.”
Stay connected and help us all grow together in faith.
Congregational
Conversation on the
Mission
Vision,
September
25
The
September 25 conversation, the first in a series, focused on where we’ve
been and where we are now. 35 members of the congregation gathered in the
Fellowship Hall to discuss several topics suggested by the Mission Vision
Team.
To
set the stage for our conversation, Jeff discussed the nature of the
transitional work that is ahead of us. The discussion topics summarized
below were selected to help us understand and start to deal with some of
the issues that should be a part of our transitional work.
With
ample donuts and coffee as reinforcement, those present formed
self-selected small groups and recorded and discussed their views. Each
participant was asked to reflect on and evaluate where they are in
relation to the following parameters:
• Dwelling in the past or focusing on the future
• Unresolved feelings about the past or celebrating the past
• Interest in Mission Vision study
• Our sense of purpose and direction
• Lay leadership preferences
• Talking about power and authority
• Dealing with conflict
• Impressions of the helpfulness of Presbytery
One
important value of the meeting was the small group conversations. The mood
was upbeat, and people were glad to be together talking honestly and
listening respectfully to one another. The small groups recorded their
views and then shared them with the whole group for further discussion.
A
sample of participant comments follows:
-
“We’ve
been inaccurately portrayed as clinging to the past.”
-
“I
was surprised that we are looking forward to the future.”
-
"I
felt safe in expressing my views; it is good that we followed
the ground rules and didn’t try to counter or change
others’ views.”
-
“The
past has little interest to newer members.”
-
“I
was surprised that so many people said they were comfortable
discussing these matters”
-
“The
previous 2000 Mission Vision tried to do too much.”
-
“I
was surprised by the level of interest in the current Mission Vision
study.”
-
“This
is one of the most open congregations I’ve ever been in.”
-
“There
is no open way to discuss issues with the Session.”
-
“The
Session and Pastor need to be leaders and not be indecisive.”
-
“I
don’t understand what the Presbytery does for us.”
-
“The
whole congregation needs to be involved in order to move forward.”
-
“We
need to clarify where we are going and set short-term goals.”
The
Mission Vision Team welcomes additional member views on the September 25
topics. They will announce the next congregational conversation soon.
Lectionary
Nov
1 - All Saints’ Day
Dan.
7:1-3, 15-18; Ps. 149; Eph.
1:11-23; Luke 6:20-31
Nov
7 - 32nd
Sunday in Ordinary Time
Hag.
1:15b-2:9; Ps.
145:1-5, 17-21 or Ps. 98;
2 Thess.2:1-5, 13-17;
Luke
20:27-38
Nov
14 - 33rd
Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isa
65:17-25; Isa 12; 2 Thess3:6-13; Luke
21:5-19
Nov
21 - 34th
Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jer.
23:1-6; Luke 1:68-79; Col.
1:11-20; Luke 23:33-43
Nov
28 -
35th Sunday in
Ordinary Time
Isa.
2:1-5; Ps. 122; Rom. 13:11-14; Matt. 24:36-44
Dec
5 -
36th
Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isa.
11:1-10; Ps. 72:1-7, 18-19; Rom. 15:4-13; Matt. 3:1-12
Ghana
2004 - Part 2
More
of Jeanne Choy Tate’s experiences at the World Alliance of
Reformed Churches conference
Tuesday, July 27 - The sense
that homosexuality is a taboo topic has resulted in a build-up of
unexpressed feelings that has a profound effect on many of us. There seem
to be a fair number of gays and lesbians here, though I only know of one
for certain. The gays and lesbians who came to
Ghana
were either naive or courageous or a mixture of both, or maybe they just
don't let their faith actions be shaped solely by the ways in which others
define their sexuality.
The
most important thing I have learned here in
Africa
is that the suffering of injustice rarely goes away in one person's
lifetime. That is why it is so important to celebrate even in the midst of
suffering, like they do here in worship. We celebrate that somehow God
comes to us even in the midst of that struggle and suffering.
Wednesday,
July 28 - For our core course today, we have an excellent guest
speaker on HIV/AIDS, a woman who heads the Dept. on Health Education here.
In
Africa
, 3.4 million more people are being infected with HIV/AIDS each year, with
80% of infection coming through intercourse. Men dictate sexual activity
and women have no choice but to submit even when they know their husbands
are infected.
Today
marks the beginning of two pre-councils before the General Council
meeting; one is for women, the other for youth. These groups represent two
areas WARC is emphasizing to encourage growth and lend support.
WARC needs to be given a lot of credit for the way it has not just
supported women but has integrated their concerns and perspectives
throughout its organization. 30% of WARC member churches still do not
ordain women, but the good news is that 60% do, largely due to the work of
the World Alliance.
Two
thirds of the people in the world who cannot read or write are women. This
reality is brought home to me when Dorcas, a Masai from
Kenya
who is one of the GIT students, tells me her story. Dorcas is suffering
from malaria and goes in and out of chills and fevers. I am struck by her
beauty and by the way she shyly looks at the ground and rarely meets your
eyes. I see suffering in her face, and think I also read the signs of
childhood abuse. She tells me that she is the oldest of six girls in a
family where girls were not allowed to be educated. She got an education
any way, though evidently at great emotional cost, and is now in seminary
in a country which does not ordain women. Her minister husband is her sole
source of emotional support and encouragement.
In
a women's small group, I hear about a young Indonesian woman pastor. Just
last month, Rev. Tinulele, age 28, was leading Sunday evening worship when
a group of masked men burst into the church and fired their automatic guns
at her, shooting her dead in the pulpit. Though Muslim violence against
the Indonesian Christian minority has been going on for the past five
years, we in the
U.S.
church have heard little about it. A GIT student from
Indonesia
tells me that 90% of her country is Muslim and all schools are now
required by law to have mosques. With the upcoming elections, her province
will most likely also require that all women wear head coverings even if
they are Christian.
Friday,
July 30 - The opening convocation is stunningly beautiful. Once again,
dance plays a central role with the
University
of
Ghana
dance troupe giving an incredible performance along with the drumming and
dancing of local congregations. Center stage when the curtains go up is a
huge white egg which represents a common African symbol for life. As the
dancers perform, this egg is gradually transformed into the logo for this
conference. It is based on an Adinkra symbol known as Gye Nyame which
literally means "except God" from an Adinkra proverb – the
"great panorama of creation dates back to time immemorial, no one
lives who saw its beginning, no one will live to see its end, except
God".
Later
I go with three of the Canadian
students to do some exploring on our own. I feel as if I have broken out
of prison! We go to an Internet Café in downtown
Accra
, which consists of a few moderately substantial buildings interspersed
with shacks. Many of the roads are dirt. The sewers are open channels with
‘everything' flowing down in open view. You have to be very careful
where you step.
Sunday,
August 1 - Today is the big day when churches from all around
Ghana
join the World Alliance in the gigantic
Independence Square
for worship. Close to 10,000 people flood into this stadium that sits
beside the
Gulf
of
Guinea
. Worship is a strange combination of German and African traditions. I am
not so sure that hymns like "O God our Help in Ages Past" work
well with bongos, but this seems to be common African fare. The dancing is
once again marvelous and the African rhythms are embedded in my soul...and
hips. The worship turns out to actually only last one and half hours which
by now seems almost short to me.
C.
S. Song, clearly taken with the African music, declares that the Reformed
tradition has put too much emphasis on "word, word, word" and it
is time to start saying "dance, dance, dance." He reminds us
that justice alone cannot rebuild community and that we in the Reformed
church need to look to renewing our spiritual traditions, particularly in
relation to celebration in the midst of suffering. "In your
singing," he said, "I have seen the singing of Jesus; in your
dancing, the dancing of Jesus. In your celebrating the celebrating of
Jesus." We all marvel
that Africa has not let the suffering of its poverty and the bitterness of
its experiences, especially those imposed by westerners in the slave
trade, erode their capacity for the celebration of life. It is clear that
justice alone cannot rebuild community. We need a living spirituality and
the healing that can only come through celebration and the Holy Spirit.
(concluded
in the December issue)
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