Light August 2016 - First Congregational Church of Palo Alto
Transcription
Light August 2016 - First Congregational Church of Palo Alto
August 2016 Coming Soon: August 14: Service trip participants will help lead worship August 19-21: Church Campout at Foothills Park -- register now! August 28: Animal Blessing Sunday September 1: Rev. Nathan Tenney begins his ministry here September 4: Fall Work Day September 11: Homecoming Sunday September 11: Multifaith Peace Walk in the afternoon October 2: CROP Hunger Walk October 9: Sermon in Song featuring music from Guys and Dolls February 3-5: Men’s Retreat at Asilomar in Pacific Grove February 10-12: Women’s Retreat at Mercy Center in Burlingame April 28-30: Average Joe Spring Musical The Light First Congregational Church 1985 Louis Road Palo Alto, California 94303 650-856-6662 www.fccpa.org Rev. David Howell Pastor Tuesday Fellowship The August Tuesday Potluck is on August 9th in Fellowship Hall at noon. We feature Food and Fellowship! If you can, please bring a dish to share. You are welcome to join us even if you aren't able to bring some thing like salad or dessert. We are pleased to see all who can attend. August Birthdays 8/2 Anne Clark, 8/4 Greg Wait, 8/7 Kathy Davis, 8/8 Jean Roth, 8/9 Carol Stivers, 8/10 Inge Crozier, 8/15 Makee Anderson, Margaret Beeler, Cecil Lamb, 8/16 Greg Evans, 8/17 Will Moragne, 8/19 Chris Langone, 8/24 Maie Herrick, 8/26 Gary Dawson, 8/27 Nancy Drapkin, 8/29 Andrew Chow, Bruce Boyd, 8/30 Judy Noice, 8/31 Carol Zink. Rev. Dr. Eileen Altman Associate Minister Worship at 10:00 AM August 7 Communion We’ve Come This Far By Faith Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 Eileen Altman - Sermon August 14 Service Trip Sunday Set Your Foundation Matthew 7:24-27 August 21 A Little More Fertilizer David Howell - Sermon Luke 13:1-21 August 28 Animal Blessing Sunday Bring your pet to worship in the courtyard. We will offer a special blessing to each animal. Animal Blessing Sunday On August 28, we will celebrate our annual Animal Blessing Sunday, the one day a year when we truly welcome every member of your family. Dogs on leashes, cats in carriers, reptiles in terrariums – all of them are welcome! We will offer a special blessing to each one during our regular 10:00 a.m. worship service. We also offer blessings for special stuffed animals and for photos of animals who are not able to be present. We will be worshipping outdoors in our courtyard that day, so please feel free to dress comfortably. Note: Due to construction, we will be worshipping in the sanctuary for the other Sundays in August this year. Our month of outdoor worship will return next summer! Welcome! We extend a warm welcome to Rev. Nathan Tenney, our new Associate Minister for Children, Youth, and Families. Nathan will officially join our staff on September 1. I spent two weeks this July with the amazing youth of our church on Sierra Service Project (SSP) service trips. Scott Carey and I accompanied six of our high school students to Navajo Nation July 10-16, where we worked in two communities near Tsaile, AZ, Lukachukai and Wheatfields. And then after 14 hours at home, I accompanied four of our middle school students to San Diego July 17-23., We served that week in the City Heights neighborhood, rich with ethnic diversity and a gateway neighborhood for new immigrants. Each week we were joined by youth from churches throughout the West. Our projects included building decks and wheelchair ramps, painting, restoring native habitats, and learning about Navajo history and culture one week, and the ways that immigration issues affect families on both sides of the border the next. Thank you for providing the financial support which made these journeys possible. Thank you to Scott Carey for his ongoing commitment to supporting our youth ministry by serving as a youth group mentor throughout the year and accompanying our youth on their service trips for the last several years. Although I do not typically go on the youth service trips (except for the years when we are between ministers), I consider it a great privilege that I had the opportunity to get to know some of our young people better this year while on these trips. We are blessed by youth who are willing to “go deep” into the ways that their faith journeys speak to the challenges of our world. Join us for worship on August 14 to hear more from our service trip participants about what we did and what we learned. After worship we will share some ice cream together and view photos from the trips. You can see some of our experience by viewing SSP photos from our weeks in Navajo Nation and San Diego on the SSP Facebook page. — Eileen Altman Sunday School Teachers for the School Year Sunday School is one of the most important ministries of our church. Our faith formation program helps children learn the biblical and spiritual traditions of our faith, feel a sense of connection to church, and love God and their neighbors. If you would be willing to teach Sunday School during the months of September-May, please contact Eileen Altman. Most teachers teach about once per month and you can schedule times to teach that fit with your family’s schedule. Summer Sunday School Teachers Our Summer Sunday School program continues through September 4. We have three classes each week: a nursery for toddlers; a class for those entering a 3 year old program through rising 1st graders; and a class for rising 2nd-5th graders. This is an opportunity for those of you who do not teach regularly to share your gifts with the children of our church. You can create your own activity or draw upon curriculum resources provided by the church. Sign up online. Summer Book Discussion on August 21 The Peace and Justice Task Force is hosting another summer book discussion. The second book group for the summer is Sandhya Rani Jha's Pre- Post-Racial America, a short (150 page) collection of essays about the experience of discrimination and alienation of different minority groups, often enriched with conversations from community leaders that Jha met in her role as an organizer in Oakland. The discussion is planned for Sunday, August 21st after worship. This was one of the books discussed at the UCC NCNC's annual gathering in June. 9/11 Multifaith Peace Walk & Picnic SAVE THE DATE! Join communities of diverse faith traditions on a 2-mile walk in Palo Alto to say "no" to fear and "yes" to friendship and peace. The walk will be followed by a Peace Picnic at Mitchell Park. Sunday, Sept. 11, starting at 2pm. Our church is a co-sponsor and we want to have a large representation in the walk, a hopeful way to mark the 15th anniversary of the events of September 11, 2001. Click here for more information. Fall Workday On Sunday, May 29, we welcomed new members to our congregation: Colleen and Paul Gormley, Laura and Robert Lindstom; Colleen and Jay Backstrand; Suzanne Voll On Sunday, July 17, we welcomed Peter Joshua to our congregation Do you want to participate in a fun-filled activity that includes a free lunch and lets you care for the church that cares for you? Spend some time after the Sunday Service September 4th at the Fall Workday. We’ll have tasks for people of all ages. Stay as long as you can, but we’ll all be gone by 1:30. If you like to garden, bring your favorite tools and Marilyn Chow will tell you about things that need to be done to keep our grounds looking good. Our beautiful Sanctuary needs cleaning and tidying with new pamphlets for the pew racks and other jobs Marilyn Corvin, the chair of the Worship Board, will tell us about. Volunteers organized by the Education Board will wash the Sunday School chairs and tables, sort the crayons and other supplies, and reorganize the cabinets and bulletin boards so everything is ready for the Sunday School classes which reconvene during Homecoming Sunday 9/11. Everyone leaves the Workday feeling good about giving back to our church and making it look great for the start of our fall season. Come join us. You’ll be glad you did! — Debby Martin