July/August Window - First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica

Window
First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica
Event Newsletter | March 2015
Newsletter | JULY/AUGUST 2016
He has made everything
beautiful in its time.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
Pastor’s Pen
Sabbath Time
Dr. Bill Wood
Summertime is sabbath time. Or at least it ought to be. The liturgical calendar now calls it “time after
Pentecost.” Its rhythm is different. It is a rhythm of rest, re-creation and renewal. It is Spirit time.
Sabbath time doesn’t just happen on its own. It requires intent. The world we live in makes demands on
our time. Lots of them. We live in the grip of the “tyranny of the urgent.” If we don’t step back and take
a look, our lives get taken over by our calendars. We end up listening to the voices that yell the loudest
demanding our time.
But our time really isn’t ours. We live in a world of space and time. Our great stewardship principle
proclaims that our “stuff” isn’t ours; it belongs to God: “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the
world, and those who live in it” [Psalm 24:1]. That’s true of time, too. Our time doesn’t belong to us. It’s
all God’s time.
“The meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time rather than space. Six days a week we live under the
tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time. It is a day on
which we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the results of creation to the
mystery of creation; from the world of creation to the creation of the world.”1
Sabbath time isn’t confined to Sunday, our Christian sabbath day. Sabbath time is God’s time, holy time,
redeemed time, time to be made new.
It can come in a brief time of prayerful meditation snatched from a busy day. It can come in a time of
worship. It can come in a more extended time of vacation from a too-busy year. Time to wind down, to
be in a new place, to be freed from the tyranny of the urgent, to be where the phone doesn’t ring.
I’m hoping you’ll be able to snatch some sabbath time this summer. Get re-connected with your family.
Get re-connected to yourself. Get re-connected to God. Enjoy the wonder of the world that God has
made.
Take some of the precious time that God has made and turn to the mystery that is at the heart of it all,
the mystery of the God who made it all, who is the author of time itself.
Let this summertime be your sabbath time.
Enjoy!
Grace and peace,
1 Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man, New York: Farrar, Straus and
Giroux, 1951.
Faith and Family
Toward a New Foundation in Children’s and Youth Ministry
If I asked you to think back to your childhood Sunday School experience (if you have one) and tell me what
you learned about God, Jesus, and being a Christian, you might describe for me what Brian McLaren calls
“The Universal Unwritten Sunday School Curriculum.” In an essay entitled, “Launching a Revolution,” McLaren lists what I would agree, based on my own experience, were the foundational understandings of the
Christian faith that most children and youth were taught in Sunday School:*
•
•
•
•
•
•
To be a Christian is to believe certain teachings (about God, Jesus, and the Bible).
The church is here to teach the correct interpretation of the Bible.
Jesus told us how to be nice, how to be saved, and how to go to heaven.
Because God is watching, you should be very careful (and afraid).
We are sinners (by nature) and need forgiveness (before we can come before God).
You love God by being a good child and going to church.
No one, including Brian McLaren or me, is suggesting that there was not a lot that was good in this unwritten curriculum. But many Christian educators and thinkers, including Brian McLaren and me, believe that
this foundation needs to be rethought and rewritten. Much of the underlying theology has come into question as being culturally conditioned, scholarship has shed new interpretive light on traditional understandings of the Bible, and entire generations of families have dropped out of church since their time in Sunday
School, finding it irrelevant and out of touch with their family life. So what might a “new foundation” for
children’s and youth ministry look like? Here’s what Brian McLaren suggests:
1. The primary goal of ministry to children and youth is to help young people become life-long followers of God in the way of Jesus.
What matters is not attendance or scripture memorization or praying a certain prayer, but the for
mation of an identity as a child of God in community with other children of God on a life-long jour-
ney of learning and growing together in Christ. We are all walking the Christ path together, children, youth, and adults.
2. To be Christian is to join Jesus in seeking justice for all, peace for all, and joy for all.
Beliefs are never an end in themselves, but prepare us to join in the mission of God, to bring about the
kingdom of God, and to seek the common good for all. Teaching our children and youth to be Christian
means equipping them to live with the same sense of purpose, priority, and mission that Jesus did.
3. Jesus gave us good news of a better way to be human, individually and collectively.
Jesus isn’t just the answer to the “sin problem” or our “ticket to heaven.” Jesus teaches us how to be truly human, to integrate our spiritual selves with our physical, emotional, and psychological selves. Then our children and youth will be prepared to face this world’s violence, hatred, war, and conflict as fully mature human beings.
4. God is greater than anyone can explain or imagine.
The Bible presents an evolving understanding of God, captured in cultural and temporal images and words, over the course of more than a thousand years. It is not a textbook that defines God for us eter nally. We need to invite our children and youth into this ongoing conversation of shared experiences of God, and include their experiences. And we need to teach them to approach these experiences with holy awe and reverence in the presence of God.
5. Because God loves us—and likes us—perfectly, we don’t have to be afraid.
The old fear-based system of punishment and rewards has to go and in its place children and youth have to know that God’s universe is ruled by unconditional love. We are truly loved and liked by a God who is also our Companion and Friend. Knowing that they inhabit this world of connected love will give our children and youth the confidence and humility needed to empower them to live missional lives for God.
6. We all make mistakes, God forgives, and we can learn from our mistakes.
When children and youth make mistakes (okay, sin) in an environment of grace and love, knowing that God forgives them and still loves and likes them, it makes it possible for them to get past the sense of shame and punishment and really explore ideas like consequences and how others are affected by their actions. Learning to process their mistakes in an environment of wisdom-seeking and grace builds a conscience in children and youth that will serve them well in a life of Christian service.
7. Loving God means loving all creation with God, and the church exists to organize us for that purpose.
In a world plagued by so many social and environmental challenges, it is more important than ever that our children and youth integrate love for God with love for neighbor, stranger, the other, enemy, outsider, out
cast, and environment. The church, then, must be a place for them to experience a community that orga
nizes itself to be and practice this love in the world. That makes the church a place where children and youth want to be so that they can live out the mission of God that is part of their very identity as Christians in the church.
For McLaren, this new foundation is nothing less than a spiritual revolution. And I would agree. But it is absolutely necessary if we hope to not just keep the church alive but to actually make a difference in the world. Our
job is to find ways to infuse our worship and our spiritual formation ministries with liturgical forms and formational activities that are built on this new foundation. May God guide and bless our efforts, in Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Blessings,
Peter Earhart
Director of Cildren’s and Family Ministry
*Brian D. McLaren. “Launching a Revolution,” in Faith Forward Volume 2, Reimagining Children’s and Youth
Ministry, edited by David Csinos and Melvin Bray, 31-43. Kelowna, BC, Canada: CopperHouse, 2015.
Children’s, Youth
and
F a m i l y M i n i s t r y J u l y /A u g u s t 2016
seasons of the spirit
SUNDAY SCHOOL FOR AlL
Children (age 3 through 5th grade)
July 3–Voice of Unexpected Wisdom
July 10–Beyond Expectation
July 17–Listening, Learning, and Living
July 24­–Passion of Prayer
July 31–Life Consists of
August
August
August
August
7–Faith: Into the Unknown
14–Faith: Against teh Odds
21–Breaking the Rules
28–In Your Place! What Place?
Youth (6th through 12th grade)
July 3–Students remain in worship
July 10– Psalm 100
July 17–Psalm 23
July 24–Psalm 56
July 31–Psalm 139
August
August
August
August
7–Students remain in worship
14–Psalm
21–Psalm
28–Psalm
Midweek Groups
Church Mice, Faith Explorers, and Youth Group
do not meet weekly during the summer.
But look out for special events during the
summer months.
Summer Lasertag Event for Youth and
Elementary Children
Saturday, July 30th 12:30-2:00 p.m.
Ultrazone, 14622 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, 91403
$16 per person for two games of lasertag. Parents are invited.
Bring extra money for videogames and snacks.
RSVP to David or Peter with questions.
First Pres Community
Vawters’ Daughters
Friday, August 5th, at 6:30 p.m.
Join women of the congregation the first Friday of every
month. In honor of those spunky sisters who played
such a vital role in the history of our church, we are
the Vawters’ Daughters! Contact the church office for
details.
No gathering in July or September due to the
holiday weekends.
First Pres CARING
Westside food bank
Sunday, July 3rd and August 7th
(the first Sunday of each month during the worship service)
Wednesday mornings at 9:00 a.m.
If you like to crochet, knit or work on crafts and get the
summer off because of your employment, we would
love to have you join us on Wednesday morning at our
gathering. We meet at 9:00 a.m. and have coffee at
10:00 a.m. We work on our projects and try to solve the
problems of the world. Hope to see some new faces!!!
The Westside Food Bank provides immediate hunger relief
to the people of our community. Bring your donations of
cash and checks payable to First Presbyterian Church
with Westside Food Bank in the “memo” line to church
the first Sunday of every month. Canned food and
durable goods are also welcome, but donations of cash
or by check are preferred, as the Westside Food Bank
multiplies these donations tenfold through its bulk
buying power. A list of needed food items is available. Call
the church office at 310.451.1303 for more information.
Bible Study First Corinthians: Good News Then and Now
Greeters welcome you
Wednesday Morning Gathering
Thursday mornings at 9:30 a.m.
The apostle Paul exuberantly wrote to Christians in
Corinth, telling God’s good news of new life in Jesus
Christ offered to all. Join Dr. Wood as we engage this
passionate, thoughtful, encouraging proclamation of the
living Christ and consider what it means for us today.
Hatha Yoga
Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m.
Join us for yoga in a supportive, relaxing atmosphere!
Knowledgeable, trained, innovative teacher.
Bring water and a mat to the Renaissance Room,
Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m.
The suggested donation is $25 per month. Questions?
Call the church office 310.451.1303.
Mariner’s Social
Sunday, July 17th, at 11:15 a.m.
The Lunch Bunch will meet at 11:15 a.m. in the
Renaissance Room for pizza and salad before adjourning
to the Morgan Wixson Theater to see the musical,
The Addams Family at 2:00 p.m. Additonal theater
tickets may be available by calling the theater directly. A
contribution of $5 will be appreciated if you plan to have
lunch with us.
Sunday, August 7th, at 5:30 p.m.
The Mariners have been invited to spend the evening
with Bill and Sherril Wood at the Manse for a delicious
dinner and conversation beneath the stars. Be prepared
with a joke or short story to share.
Reservations are a must.
Please contact Diane 310.470.2536 or the church office
310.451.1303 to let them know you will be joining us.
The Price Is Right. Do you know the TV show that gives
you prizes if you know the correct price of an item? It’s
fun to guess along with the guest, isn’t it? Today, we want
you to know that this place is right. You don’t have to
know anything except that God loves you and so do we.
We greet you and give you a warm welcome because we
are happy that you are here. Please join us in fellowship
and worship. You are invited to become part of the
Greeter ministry; call the church office or contact Carole
Riggs at [email protected].
Need a ride to church?
If you are in need of a ride to church,
our van driver, Tyrone DuBose, has
been providing transportation to First
Pres members and friends for thirty-four
years. He will make sure you get to
church on time and in style in the First
Pres van, and take you back home after
the service. To schedule a ride call
Tyrone directly at 310.920.0410.
Flowers
They beautify our sanctuary, honor
your loved ones and provide cheer
to our hospitalized and homebound
parishioners when deacons deliver
them. Please see Pat Alston during
the coffee hours to reserve a date
in 2016 for $60.
vbs was awesome!
Thank you to all of our amazing leaders and assistants:
Bevin Earhart, Gannon Earhart, Logan Earhart, Mason Earhart,
Peter Earhart, Jack Hyde-White, Shelly Hyde-White,
Jessie Johnson, Mackenzie Lowe, Paula Lowe, Andrea Morgan,
Irene Navarro, Allison Riley, Tracy Riley, Mariel Rodriguez,
and Ailie Walters
First Pres Santa Monica Cares Food Train
For the past few months, the Deacon and Children’s and Family Ministry teams have joined forces to
help First Pres families in need. We currently provide one meal a week to a family struggling with serious
health problems. The gift of a homemade or store-bought dinner each week has given this family of four
much needed respite from the daily grind of food preparation and costs.
We call it First Pres Santa Monica Cares. Now we’d like to open up this special project to the entire congregation! We encourage all cooks in our church family to come aboard the Food Train and provide some
delicious fare. Peter Earhart, our director of Children’s and Family Ministry, delivers the dinners on Tuesdays. All our volunteer cooks need to do is bring the food to church by early afternoon.
What if you’re not into cooking, or don’t have time to cook—even for yourself!?
You can support the Food Train through the Deacon Fund. A donation of $15-$25 would help us provide
a nutritious meal. You can submit your donation during the offertory on Sunday morning, donate online
through FPCSM’s website, or contact Kathy Stickel at the church office to make other arrangements.
If you have any questions, please contact Phyllis Kai-Kee, our First Pres Santa Monica Cares coordinator
([email protected]), or Pat Alston, deacon team leader ([email protected]).
All aboard!
How will you know when dinners are needed?
We now have a website that makes it easy to choose a date
that is convenient for you. Not surprisingly, the website is
called First Pres Santa Monica Cares, which you can access
easily through an online caregiving coordination service
called Lotsa Helping Hands (lotsahelpinghands.com). Just
log into the Lotsa Helping Hands website, enter First Pres
Santa Monica Cares, and our beautiful church logo will pop
up with an invitation to join the Food Train. The only information required is your name, email address and a password of your choice.Thereafter, you can view the Food Train
calendar whenever you like. Place your name by an open
date and it’s yours! You’ll receive a friendly email reminder
the week before your scheduled date.
Sunday Flowers
My mother loved her rose garden. It gave her great pleasure to snip a few of her prized flowers (the
Chrysler Imperial was one of her favorites), wrap the stems in wet paper towels and take them to church
members in convalescent homes or the hospital. My mother didn’t drive, so the Big Blue Bus shuttled her
around. Sometimes I tagged along. The bright pinks or deep reds of the fragrant blossoms never failed to
bring a smile to the recipient’s face.
Decades have passed since that time. But the church’s mission has remained the same: to let First Pres
members confined to their homes or skilled nursing facilities know we care. After each week’s service, the
deacons divide the chancel flowers into several small bouquets and deliver them to those we affectionately
call our “Friends at Home.”
How can you help?
By making a tax-deductible donation to pay for the floral arrangement, which you can dedicate in honor or
memory of someone important to you. The cost is $60.
Just write “Flower Fund” on an envelope with your name, phone number, email address and donation, and
place it in the offering plate or mail it to the church. Or make an electronic donation by visiting the church
website. Click on “Online Giving” and scroll down to “flowers.”
Questions? Please let me know. Thank you for caring.
Pat Alston, Deacon Team Leader
July
July
July
July
July
July
July
July
July
July
July
July
July
July
July
July
July
July
July
July
July
July
July
July
July
July
23455889911 12 12 12 13 14 14 14 14 15 15 17 17 18 18 18 18 -
Kanaga Watt
Alexandra Weed
Steve Patrick
Mary Woods
Andy Edstrom
Elliott Kai-Kee
Sophia Moore
Lucy Heimbold
Craig Lowe
Margaret Miller
Amy Cella
Rhys Levin Sebastian Weed
James Kazanegras
Averie Perrin
Paige Schmalle
Megan Smith
Laurence Sullivan
Wendell Hahm
Mary Sivalon
Bruce Edstrom
Amanda Nee
Kaj Kosinski
Uri Lee
Kim Peterson
Joy Rosenberg
July
July
July
July
July
July
20
20
22
23
23
31
-
Niniek Lukito
Ari Smith Harrison Kazanegras
Luke Coulter
Joanna Edstrom
Ashley Lewis-Hunter
Don’t Let Your Pledge Go on Vacation!
August
August
August
August
August
August
August
August
August
August
August
August
August
August
August
August
August
August
August
August
August
August
August
August
August
August
August
August
August
12567811 13 14 15 15 15 16 17 18 21 22 23 24 26 26 28 28 28 30 30 30 31 31 -
Troy Casey
Christian Weed
Alix Kosinski
Shannen Chandler
Joan Campbell
Scott Hunter
Connie Fairbanks
Madison Creekbaum
Patricia Armacost
Jim Jenkins
Christopher Henning
Catie Sterparn
Shu-Hwei Lu
Dylan Wilson
Ana Rose
Samuel Wilson
Aidan Stuempfig
Kim Williams
Rocco McNeil
Jeff Sebastian
Kennedy Simpson
Ted Simpson
Kandus Simpson
Griffin Olds
Noah Needleman
Abigail Newman
Sonia Hsieh-Schum
Jim Amos
Jeffery Droeg
Just as we all rely upon receiving income on a regular basis, First Pres relies on your regular contributions. We are currently running approximately $17,000 under our year to date expectation and hope you can help close the gap by keeping your pledge current. We appreciate the efforts of our members to make consistent donations throughout the year.
If your summer travel plans prevent you from attending services, our electronic giving option will allow your weekly,
monthly or quarterly offerings to continue on an uninterrupted basis. Just go to fpcsantamonica.org and click the
Give Your Support link to set up your one-time or recurring automatic donations, change your donation plan, or view
your online donation history.
If you have questions, please call the church and speak to Kathy Stickel or email her at [email protected]. She
will be happy to set it up online giving for you or answer any questions you may have about your pledge.
Window | Editor Notes
Publisher:
First Presbyterian Church of
Santa Monica, 1220 Second
Street, Santa Monica,
California 90401
First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica
1220 Second Street, Santa Monica, California 90401
A welcoming and caring community.
SUBMISSIONS:
Send newsworthy information
about church activities for
consideration in the Window
to [email protected].
TO SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE:
Contact the church at
310.451.1303 ext. 24 or
[email protected].
The Window (USPS 604.320)
POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to address above.
Published monthly by First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica
1220 Second Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401
Periodical Postage Paid at Santa Monica, CA
Periodicals
Postage
Paid
Santa Monica