December 2004  

Thanksgiving Service

Calvary Presbyterian Church, Thursday, Nov. 25, 10 am

The Rev. Jeffrey Cheifetz, preaching

Evening Prayers - Wednesday, December 8, 7:00 - 7:40 pm 

Dream Boldly in Advent

Our Advent Theme is to “Dream Boldly.” As Christmas approaches we will be watching, waiting, dreaming, transforming, as we anticipate the incarnation of Jesus.  This Advent season we will also be asking the congregation to apply our Advent themes to envision future directions for Old First.

The questions are: Nov. 28 – What are we waiting for? Dec. 5 –  How do we dream  boldly? Dec. 12 – How do we need to be transformed? Dec. 19 – How is God incarnate in us? Each Sunday there will be a bulletin insert for the congregation to journal on about the question.

A Fair Trade Christmas

Think “Fair Trade” for your holiday gift giving this year!  Coffee and tea make fine gifts, of course, but there’s much more!

Fill the stockings that you hang by the fireplace with Fair Trade candy bars.  Give the gourmet cook in your family some Fair Trade olive oil.  Serve some nice Fair Trade hot chocolate on Christmas Eve. Don’t stop! Give a gift  basket of  Fair Trade products! 

These Fair Trade items  will be available for you to purchase at Coffee Hour on December 5, 12 and 19.

The Peace and Justice Committee would like to thank everyone who supported the Fair Trade Project this year.  You have helped to make  a difference in the lives of many people around the world. 

The Edgewood Christmas Tree

It's time again for the annual Christmas tree gift-giving in support of Edgewood Center, one of Old First's mission partners. Members of the Mission Commitee will be in the Fellowship Hall, by the tree, on three Sundays: Nov 28, Dec 5 and 12. As in past years, ornaments on the tree will have the name and Christmas wishes of Edgewood children. We take an ornament and play Santa, purchasing the desired gift for a special child.

Wrapped gifts should be brought to the church by December 5th so we can make delivery and do any needed last-minute shopping. If you saw the thank-you notes from the children, you know how very much this  Santa-playing is appreciated.

Edgewood was founded in 1851 as a refuge for Gold Rush orphans; its mission has changed over the years. It now offers residential programs and a range of support services that include abuse prevention, early intervention and intensive treatment needs. Along with helping troubled and at-risk children, the Center  also supports senior citizens functioning as extended family caregivers.

The children at Edgewood have known few, if any, happy holidays in their lives. Our Christmas gifts help the Edgewood staff teach them what life is like when somebody cares. This Christmas, please continue to give a gift of kindness to others .... or, as they say at Edgewood, "Be a Hero this Holiday !" 

January 15 Congregation Conversation

The next Congregation Conversation, sponsored by your Mission Vision Team, will be on Saturday, January 15, from 9:00 am to 12:00. We will have a conversation about our hopes for the future and what God intends for Old First. Please come! We need your help to put meat on the bones of the Mission Vision.

Annual Meeting and Congregational Lunch

Sunday, February 6, 2005 after worship

New Officers Elected

At the October 31 Congregational Meeting, the following were elected to the Class of 2008 -- Elders:  Cindy Burt, Barry Clagett, Bill Feister and Roger Lindahl;  Deacons:  Nina Berg, Emmy Clausing, Heather Losee.

                        Note from your friendly local transitional pastor

Old First Community of faith, hope, and love:

Last month I listed the five 'tasks' that belong to the congregation during a time of transitional ministry,  and then wrote at length about the task of coming to terms with history. To refresh your memory, the five areas are as follows (remember, they are not necessarily dealt with in this linear order):

• Coming to terms with history:  in order to be free for God's future for you, you need to understand how you got where you are.

• Discovering a new identity: who you have been in relationship to          the larger community, and what you dream of becoming.

• Allowing needed leadership change/shifts of power: some lay              leaders may need to take a rest, or shift their roles from                     what they have traditionally done; and potential and new              leaders can be mentored and invited to take on more                    active roles. 

• Renewing denominational linkages: look at your past              relationship with the Presbytery of San Francisco and other levels of the denomination, and create ways to enhance those relationships to the benefit of all.

• Commitment to new pastoral leadership and a new future: learn          from the past, say goodbye in healthy ways to former pastors, and prepare to make a genuine commitment to the next installed pastor.

When we deal with questions of this church's history, we meet with a natural reluctance to look again at what happened before that was hurtful. None of us enjoys re-visiting memories that bring up old pain. I certainly have no intention of re-injuring places in your life together that are now slowly healing.

However, you are where you are because of history — not that history entirely defines you, just as our personal histories do not entirely define us. Past patterns have great power over us, but are not all-powerful. You can choose new ways of relating to one another, making decisions, and structuring your community. It is instructive to note that this congregation has had, by my count, 15 pastors (head of staff, associate, transitional, and temporary or stated supply, but not including parish associates) in the last 20 years. This has solidified your sense of being a lay-led and lay-powered church, but it has made it difficult to maintain a sense of stability, continuity, and commitment to a commonly held sense of purpose over the long term, let alone develop trust between pastor and congregation!

As you think about why your pastors have been chosen to serve this congregation, how pastors and this congregation have said 'hello' and 'goodbye' to one another, the expectations pastors and congregation have had of one another, and the quality of the pastor/parish relationship, you will begin to reveal patterns of behavior. This is instructive, for the goal is the awareness of those patterns which have proven to be harmful or destructive, and those which have been helpful and life-giving. With these discoveries in mind, this congregation is then empowered to choose: will you continue to perpetuate the former, or make every effort to pursue the latter? As Moses said to the people in the wilderness, ".I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live." (see Deuteronomy 30:15-20).

This sounds like a lot of work - and it is! But, just as with physical or psychological therapy, both of them being by nature hard work, it is very good work, and results in greater flexibility, ease, health, and life enjoyment.

And on into Advent! The great cycle of the Christian year begins again on Sunday, November 28, the first day of Advent. The themes of judgment, active waiting, anticipation of new birth, as well as anticipation of the return of Christ at the end of time, are brought to the fore during this time prior to the feast of Christmas. Preparing ourselves through self-examination, asking and receiving forgiveness, making room in our hearts for the coming Christ, seeking the face of Jesus in all the faces we see every day - all this is the prelude to the great song of the angels that guided the shepherds to behold joy incarnate. This is where we find ourselves, and we want to enter fully into the journey toward that day of renewed hope, before we are ready to claim it. Your corporate (community) journey through transition is part of the very fabric of this Advent season. You have the opportunity to make that journey in concert with the greater Christian journey.

I ask you to consider these two questions during Advent:

• How is this congregation choosing death? What is your part              in this?

• How is this congregation choosing life? What is your part in             this?

Again, I invite you to contact me via email, phone, or in person to talk about personal and congregational issues.

May you find joy in your walk with the God who is with you, trusting that you will be led into new beginnings, and that the new birth will come about in its own time.

Peace to you and yours,

Jeffrey Cheifetz, Transitional Pastor

Forrest Cummings' Birthday

New Year's Day 2005  marks the 80th birthday of  our own Rev. Forrest Cummings.  Forrest's family will come from Oregon and Illinois   to be with him to help celebrate this milestone birthday.   Forrest also wanted to share this special occasion  with his Old First family, so on Sunday, January 2, 2005 there will be a birthday cake served  in the social hall after the eleven o'clock service.   Hopefully many Old First parishioners will be back from holiday travel to share in this special 80th birthday celebration.

How the Welcome Ministry Helps People Get off the Street

These Welcome Ministry October success stories are typical of Megan Rohrer’s work with our homeless and low-income neighbors.

Barbara, 18, a guest of the Welcome Center for over three years, decided on her birthday that she was tired of being controlled by her drug addiction and wanted to move off of the streets. Long estranged from her family, Barbara didn’t know how to begin the road to recovery. After counseling Barbara and encouraging her to make healthy life decisions, Megan helped her contact her parents. She also counseled Barbara’s parents to help them safely support Barbara. Megan facilitated an acceptable arrangement that worked for Barbara and her parents. The parents agreed to pay for Barbara to stay in an SRO room to “get sober.” She is building trust with her family by sending them receipts to show that she is making good choices. Barbara plans to move home with her parents soon, attend support groups and re-enroll in school.

Ed, 56, was disabled, mute and homeless. After Megan helped Ed apply for and receive Social Security benefits, he was able to save enough money to afford his own apartment and open a bank account. She made several phone calls to Ed’s family to let them know about his progress. It was agreed that Ed would move to the city where his parents live. Megan helped him find an apartment near his parent’s home, buy a train ticket and prepare for the trip (how much money to take, how to pack, and be sure he had enough paper to communicate with people). On the day of his departure Megan took Ed to the train station, made sure he got on the train and called his family to confirm that they would pick him up.

Shirley, 66, a low-income senior, came to the Welcome Center when she moved to San Francisco and couldn’t find housing she could afford. She had stayed in a shelter the night before, and she refused to go back. Before coming to the Welcome Center , Shirley had been to three agencies that informed her that the waiting list for housing was over three years long. Megan told Shirley about organizations focusing on seniors; if she told them she was currently living in a shelter, she would be moved to the top of the list of some buildings. Megan called the buildings and got Shirley an appointment. Shirley came back later and told Megan she was able to get into housing within three days.

Ghana 2004 - Part 3

More of Jeanne Choy Tate’s experiences at the World Alliance of Reformed Churches conference

Tuesday, August 3       

This morning we get up at 4:30 for a pilgrimage to the Elmina slave castles. Our caravan of about 20 buses carries close to 1,000 people. Even with a police escort stopping traffic on the way, the trip takes four-hours. The main coastal artery to the Ivory Coast is bumpy and dusty.  Our bus plays some weird, soundless voo-doo video where Africans with guns and mansions and limousines build shrines to evil powers.

There are two "castles," Cape Coast and Elmina and our group is assigned to Elmina. When the castle comes into view, it is beautiful – white and clean against the bright blue sky, framed by coconut palms and sparkling sands, lapped by ocean waves. These so-called castles are really fortifications that housed slave dungeons for both the Portuguese and the Dutch. Between 1540 and 1850, an estimated 60 million Africans were captured. For every twenty of the captured who lived, twenty others died of disease and mistreatment.

At the end of a dark room where 300 men were enslaved without adequate ventilation or toilet facilities, you crouch down to enter a tunnel. When you stand again, you are in a much smaller room, the "Room of No Return." There is only one exit and that is now barred. Through this door which bears the label "Door of no Return," the slaves began their journey to the Americas . In 1998 Ghana celebrated Emancipation Day by bringing the skeletons of two slaves from New York and Jamaica back through the Door of No Return to their homeland for burial.

The most powerful experience for me is to reach out and touch the walls of the dungeon. The walls are moist and clammy; it feels as if the sweat, blood and tears of the many prisoners crowded into these rooms decade after decade, seeps through me. It is hard to fathom an experience so miserable that the smell of human waste still lingers 400 years later.

Above that dark and evil chamber, we next stand in the chapel where the Dutch worshipped each Sunday. Surely the stench rose from below. In the silence of prayers, screams and wails must have penetrated.

Friday, August 6

The topic for the morning class is "Polygamy through African Eyes."  It is very surprising to learn that polygamy is still a pretty common practice even though Christian missionaries did their best to wipe it out. Now here is a burning pastoral issue for you...if you are polygamous and become a Christian, do you have to become monogamous? If so, which wife do you choose and what happens to the ones you leave behind? This is no small matter and generates a lot of feeling, especially since the wives left behind have no means of financial support and no likelihood of ever being married again. It was incredibly interesting to experience how much feeling and tension are generated when this issue is brought up. It is as if everyone suddenly sits up in their seats and immediately a heated debate begins.

Later I stand up and say just how amazingly strange this conversation about polygamy is for me, a North American, and yet, I say, I am sure that Africans feel the same way when they hear our issues about homosexuality. Who can come to the table? The issue, though the contexts and content differ across cultures, is nonetheless strangely the same.

This discussion seems to open something up because a meeting to discuss homosexuality gets called for later on in the evening. There are places in Africa , I am told, where women marry women and other places where shamans  only practice homosexual relations in the belief that heterosexuality dilutes their healing powers.

A pastor from Kenya speaks very eloquently saying that Africans shouldn't act so naive – that homosexuality has always been with them and is part of their past and their present. He tells me later that three Kenyan pastors who are friends of his came to the U.S. this summer. Upon their return to Kenya , they did not receive the expected appointments to new pastorates because they had visited a church in Minneapolis that supports gay ordination. I wonder what church that might be?!

Saturday, August 7

The whole WARC conference, including the GIT students, are farmed out through Ghana and Togo to spend the weekend with local congregations ....... Our destination is the mountain village of Akropong . We are received in a worship service of people from all over the Presbytery, then tour the first missionary school in Ghana and the first seminary. I am sent with five other people another hour further on to the city of Kofuridia , back down in the lowlands.

We get out of the car in front of a tin shack with a sign saying Evangelical Presbyterian Church. It turns out that it’s not the church, which is actually down a very dirty path.  The congregation is all sitting outdoors. They have been waiting for hours for us to arrive and dancing and drumming is in full progress. These people are Ewe from the Lake Volta region; most of the people we have encountered before have been Twi.  We go into the parsonage to eat the lunch, now dinner, they had already prepared. The pastor and elders, all males, seem disappointed there are no men in our delegation. They invite some of the women officers in and leave.

One issue very similar to America is that these parents fear they are losing their youth to more charismatic churches. It is hard to believe with all the vibrant drumming and dancing that goes on here but the youth find the worship too staid and too traditional. They prefer the synthesizers and amplifiers of the charismatics. There is also concern that youth are ‘seduced' by a Prosperity Gospel that promises ‘blessings' of quick wealth for those who contribute money to these ministries. As a Reformed faith, we all seem to be struggling with the fact that our more thoughtful, intellectual approach to Christianity is not immediately attractive to outsiders or to young people.

The pastor tells us that when the Ewe were missionized by Germans, they were told they should not work for profit but should only work for the Glory of God, because everything they needed would be provided for them by the mother church in Germany. In recent years, however, as European churches have declined, Europe itself faces decreasing funds and decreasing membership. Now money is no longer available to support the Ghana churches. Unfortunately, the people here still have the idea that they do not need to contribute financially to the church.

There is a sudden downpour and the dancing moves under canopies for shelter but the singing and drumming continue. Eventually through the congregation gives up waiting for the rain to stop and they go out and continue their dancing in the rain. I try to envision what it would be like if Old First danced in the rain to welcome visitors.

December 2003,  November 2003, October 2003,  September 2003,  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, March 2001, 
February 2001, January 2001 

December 2000, November 2000,October 2000, September 2000, July/August 2000, May/June 2000,April 2000, March 2000, February 2000