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Greetings!
Greetings, CCNC-N Disciples:
Welcome to a new format for our weekly e-news! It's good to change things up every now and then, so we hope you will enjoy something a little new.
What is not new would be the ongoing, exciting, outstanding opportunities presented here to enable individual Disciples and Disciples congregations to live into our 2012 YEAR OF EVANGELISM!! We are all about: "Cultivating Disciples of Christ to become dynamic 'evangels' sharing the good news of God's transforming love."
 2012 Year of Evangelism !
Two exciting opportunities to grow in understanding, practice and comfort-ability with the E-Word!
"1,000+ People Praying" was launched at Annual Meeting and is now ready for churches across the Region to join in a three month prayer commitment.
May 6 has been designated as "CCNC-N Prayer Sunday" We hope all churches across the Region will provide your members the opportunity to make this 3 month prayer commitment. The Prayer Bookmarks that accompany this program are still available, but orders are coming in fast. Already over 900 have been sent out; only 600 remain. Call the Regional office today to order them for your church at 925-556-9900!
A Service of Prayer Commitment and other details all can be found at: www.ccncn.org. .............................................
Held in four locations around the Region
TIME TO GET THOSE REGISTRATIONS IN! Doable Evangelism Workshops
PASTORS....If you ever wanted your members to get more excited about evangelism (or you wanted to get more excited)- DO NOT MISS THIS WORKSHOP Here are dates and places:
- May 12- FCC Sacramento-
THIS DATE IS COMING VERY FAST...WE NEED THESE REGISTRATIONS IMMEDIATELY! - May 19- United CC, Fresno-
THIS DATE IS NOT FAR OFF EITHER
Our goal is 50 people at each event-200 total! Doable Evangelism registration forms are at: www.ccncn.org.
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The Justice Commission was formed in 2010 to help the region establish a process to engage in conversation, healing and advocacy around issues of biblical justice and diverse perspectives. The Commission is now seeking feedback from the Region about interests and expectations.
A Justice Commission page has been created on the regional website. Follow this link to visit the page, learn about what the Justice Commission has been up to, and take the online survey (or you can print out a copy of the survey): http://ccncn.org/jc.html.
WE DO WANT YOUR INPUT!
ONLY 20 PERSONS HAVE COMPLETED THE SURVEY AND WE HOPE FOR AT LEAST 50!
IT JUST TAKES 10 MINUTES TO DO IT--VERY EASY AND QUICK--SURVEY CLOSES MAY 14!
And regarding the Justice Commission-
A Great Opportunity to Serve
Applications to become a Member of the Justice Commission are available: http://www.ccncn.org/jc.html.
Due to persons moving or life changes, we have several positions open. You MUST apply for membership on the Justice Commission.
NOTE THE DEADLINE IS MAY 14
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DON'T MISS THIS EVENT!
FOR BOTH WOMEN AND MEN!
Human Sex Trafficking Awareness Day
May 12, 9:00-4:00
with registration from 8:00-8:45
Oakland Peace Center
111 Fairmount Avenue, Oakland
For Women- $15 for morning program and lunch
For Women and Men- afternoon program is open to the public.
Sponsored by Women of Spirit and Action (DOC-UCC)
Registration Deadline - May 8
Learn more at: http://www.ccncn.org/dwf.htm |
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 HOT NEWS CHURCHES TO HOLD IN PRAYER
Congregation to pray for this week: Tapestry Ministries, Berkeley; East Bay Area; Pastoral Team, Leon Bacchues, Nancy McKee-Jolda; Peggy Bristol-Wright.
Congregation to pray for next week: theTable, East Bay Area; Pastor Tami Groves.
We will feature two congregations in each edition of the eNews. Please pray for their vitality, spiritual and numerical growth, their commitment to serving their neighborhood and their openness to the Spirit of God calling them into ministry in the 21st century.
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WHAT'S HAPPENING AROUND THE REGION???? 1. 2012 Summer Camp Dates-Registration materials now ready!! Recently mailed to all churches and available for everyone at www.ccncn.org. Here's the really good news- cost has gone DOWN but only if received on early bird basis with adequate advance payment! Be sure to check out the Scholarship application deadline as well! (All camps will be held at CGC except SSJ which will be at Camp Pacifica) - Adult Camp June 7-10
- ChiRho/Junior Camp June 24-30
- CYF Camp July 1-7
- Grandparents & Me I June 30-July 2
- Grandparents and Me II July 4-6
- South San Joaquin June 24-29
In Summer 2011, we had the largest summer camp attendance in years...let's do even better this year. Nothing affects the life of children and youth (and adults) like those special moments around a campfire; quiet moments of mediation in God's creation; wild moments of games and skits; and the fellowship of all God's children living & learning & loving as the Body of Jesus Christ.
HELP! HELP! Junior Camp needs a nurse!! What a great opportunity for someone with special skills to share them and God's love with a group of 4-6 graders and in the beauty of CGC. Dates would be June 23-30. Please contact Pastor Larry Love, CC of Woodland, 530-662-9356.
2. WOMEN'S FALL RETREAT at Mission Springs
September 14-16, 2012
"Spirit-Empowered Women"
Speaker is: The Rev. Amy Gopp, dynamic Executive Director of Week of Compassion who travels the world on behalf of 3,500 Disciples congregations.
Learn more at: http://www.ccncn.org/dwf.htm.
3. ATTENTION PASTORS:
...Is your church striving to be a Missional church, doing God's great work in the neighborhood?
...Are you proud of the spiritual growth of your congregation, and perhaps see some numerical growth, too?
...Are you having trouble paying the light bill, the program budget, or even your own salary?
If you answered YES to all three of these questions (and especially the third), come to this event:
Entrepreneurial Possibilities for Missional Churches
(or: Help Me Keep My Missional Church Open!!!!)
A day-long event for clergy with Rick Morse, Vice President for New Church Ministry and Mission Initiatives
WHEN: Thursday, June 14, 9 AM - 4 PM
WHERE: United Christian Congregational Church of Lodi
701 S. Hutchins St., Lodi, CA 95240
WHO: Pastors of Missional churches (new and established)
COST: $50 (includes lunch)
Please register as soon as possible to help the region cover the cost of Rick's travel expenses! The registration form can be found at www.ccncn.org.
4. Pilgrimage by the Sea
August 6-9, 2012
Join us in a spiritual adventure as we pilgrimage along the beaches of the Pacific Ocean from Pescadero to Moss Beach, CA. We will be led in ancient spiritual practices, have lots of fun, tour a local farm and non-profit which serves the farm workers and community of Pescadero, ride a boat around Pillar Point Harbor out to the ocean (optional), and have quality sharing time together. The pilgrimage will end with a closing, small worship service.
Accommodations will be in the beautiful redwood forest in Loma Mar, CA at Redwood Glen.
If you are interested in learning more about this Pilgrimage by the Sea, please contact Loma Eaves, the leader, at lomaeaves@yahoo.com. Loma is a seminary student at PSR, doing her internship at CC of Pacific Grove; home church is Chalice CC, San Carlos.
5. YOU ARE INVITED!!
FCC Sacramento 10:30 service on May 27, will be a rockin' place to be!! Sharing leadership of that service will be the fantastic musical group, Sweet Potatoes. The Sweet Potatoes including Kelly Macleod, Laura and Rick Hall will share their faith, witness and gift for music that day. Be sure to arrive early and sit toward the front. You won't want to miss a single word or note. To hear some of their featured music go to: http://www.thesweetpotatoes.com
Laura and Rick Hall are members of the Van Nuys Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and have performed
at FCC before and were featured three years ago at the Northern California/Nevada Annual Meeting.
6. "OUR CHURCH ROCKS" VIDEOS NOW ON WEBSITE
One of the special joys of Annual Gathering was to view the four entries to the "Our Church Rocks" videos that were made by four church members across our Region. If you were unable to be at Sofitel, OR you missed one of those videos, they are all now on our website at: http://www.ccncn.org/annualmeeting.htm
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DEVOTIONAL
Voices from across the Region
Although 2012 Annual Gathering is past (and plans for 2013 Annual Gathering are already beginning!), the experiences of this year's week-end continue to resound around our Region.
Here are three voices sent or seen in church newsletters this past week: (One more is in the Final Word section of this e-news)
 1. From John Grose, former Moderator of FCC Vallejo:I had a great time at the Regional Church Annual meeting this past weekend. Heard many great inspirational speakers, and was able to give Carl Cordes a hand with the youth program. But what I came out with the theme of "Tell It" is hope.
In an Evangelism way, we need to be a Church of hope. Jesus is the Hope because he delivers love like no one else can or does. When I look at other religions, I always come back to appreciating the love of Jesus even more.
There are plenty of people out there who need hope. We need to figure out which group of people we can give hope to, and then Tell It! Whether it be people with spiritual hopelessness, the LGBT community, the homeless, foster children, people in financial crisis, etc. If we find a true need within the community and fill it. Just maybe, others will be inspired to join us in that service. The mission shouldn't be trying to fill the pews, but our call to action and action could do so indirectly. What people who are hopeless want to know is that there is a community that can love them and give them a safe place to encounter the love of God.
 2. From Heather Hennessey, Pastor FCC Redding
Last weekend's 158th Annual Meeting of the Christian Church in Northern California/Nevada was a dynamic event.
It was a little crazy - after all, we were in a new place with a different layout, a different neighborhood, a different sound system and stage, a very diverse gathering of Disciples (from Korea, Samoa, Latin America, Africa and elsewhere) - yet our time together was full of energy, information and encouragement.
The theme of our Annual Meeting had a lot of us quite nervous. The theme of the meeting was evangelism, and that - for many of us - is the dreaded "e" word! We've all been exposed to bad evangelism, and we want none of it. Last fall, when we learned that the topic of our beloved family gathering was going to be evangelism, there were many skeptics among us. I was one of them.
"How was Ben Bohren and company going to make this palatable," I wondered. "How could we get excited about doing something that makes most of us want to run in the opposite direction?"
 Part of the answer came from the first night's preacher. Rev. Nancy Brink, Director of Church Relations for Chapman University, redefined evangelism for me.
She described it as "coming alongside" another human being in order to truly listen to them, and then being willing to share one's own spiritual discoveries. "Huh," I thought. "I get that. In fact, I think I've been doing that for about thirty years! I don't think I learned this in seminary, but my whole approach to preaching has been to reflect on life, then to put into words what has been true for me. If that's what evangelism is, I might just make it through this weekend!"
(By the way, the Sunday after Annual Gathering went really well at FCC Redding: Bob Moore gave two great evangelism meditations - one for Offertory and one for Communion - and Bonnie Sterling gave a shout out for the value of the Annual Meeting (and Darrell Burrell had done the same for our newsletter), so the meeting and the topic got great coverage. We also received a bunch of prayer covenants!)
 3. This opening line from the Saturday night sermon by Jose Morales has appeared again and again and has been quoted again and again:
"The opposite of bad evangelism is not NO evangelism!"
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REGIONAL STAFF NEWS
Ben is in St. Louis, MO to attend the Higher Education and Leadership Ministry (HELM) Board Meeting and will take an extra day to visit with friends.
Carl and wife Jeanne are in southern CA for a week's vacation in Palm Springs. (They won the bid last year in a Mission Action Auction to use Ben's condo).
Sue is sure looking a whole lot less stressed these days now that Annual Gathering is over! What a fantastic job she did directing this event at a whole new venue.
For the next three months, Sandhya will have a part-time contract position as Interfaith Organizer with the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy working on their "Revive Oakland" campaign, which is advocating for local, living wage jobs at the warehouses being built on the old Oakland Army Base. During that time she will take a leave
of absence from First Christian Church of Oakland (leaving it in co-pastor Tai Amri Spann-Wilson's capable hands), returning there on August 1. She will continue her work with CCNC-N and with the Oakland Peace Center.
The Regional Executive Committee has asked that you save the date of Saturday, October 20 for a Celebration of Ben's Ministry. Exact time and place to be announced later.
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 UPCOMING MEETINGS & EVENTS
Per requests around the region,
here is a listing of regional meetings
and events over the next 30 days or so.
We do not put the dates of local church events here as we never could get them all and we would always miss some! MAY 7- End of the year DSF Seminarians Dinner 12- Do-Able Evangelism FCC Sacramento 8:30-4:00 12- Human Trafficking Awareness Forum- Oakland Peace Center 9:00-4:00 15- Regional Recognition and Standing Committee 9:30-3:00 Regional Office 15- Serra Center Board Meeting 6:00 pm 19- Justice Commission 9:00-1:00 United CC, Livermore 19- Ad-Ministry Council and Regional Resources Committee 19- New Church Committee Regional Offie 19- Do-able Evangelism United CC, Fresno 8:30-4:00 23- Regional Staff 10:00-1:30- Regional Office 26 & 27- RYC Meeting, FCC Vallejo Back to top |
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CELEBRATIONS & PRAYERS
CELEBRATIONS
 How wonderful to honor a lifelong Disciple with an endowment to end hunger!
Louise Johnson, who turned 103 on April 11, was born on Easter Sunday in 1909 while her father, a Disciples pastor, Rev. Marcellus Ely, was preaching. A member of FCC, Vallejo, for most of her adult life, she has been a life-long advocate for hands-on justice and peacemaking, especially when God's people are hungry. She helped begin an ecumenical group called Lunchless Monday in the 1970s in response to the world hunger crisis. As a way of celebrating her faithful witness, the Louise Johnson Ending Hunger Endowment is being established with Church World Service. Johnson is also a graduate of Chapman University (then Chapman College). FCC Vallejo walked in Louise's honor in the Vallejo CROP Walk on April 29.
Congratulations to our new Regional Youth Council
Robin Slovak-Lafayette CC
Josh Jensen-FCC Redding
Ellie Corbett-FCC Sacramento
Sarah Ellsworth-FCCSacramento
Rachel Mostafaie-FCCSacramento
Ivy Chapman-FCC Selma
Emily Morgan-FCC Concord
Mikey Allphin-Lafayette CC
Hannah James-Lafayette CC
Michael Sanders-FCC Redding
Charlotte Thompson~adult-FCC Selma
Carl Crane~adult-Sierra CC, Loomis
Carl Cordes-FCC Vallejo
Congratulations to David James, Disciples clergy and member at Lafayette CC, who recently completed his M.A.in History at the Franciscan School of Theology and the Graduate Theological Union. Commencement is happening on May 12.
A Celebration report from Vickie Firch, Disciples clergywoman and wife of Pastor Ted Firch, FCC Sacramento: "The biopsy news was good, no cancer. I will continue on the medication and the doctor will continue to run tests every 3 months for the next year to monitor the cells.
Annual Gathering Offering has now reached $11,692 toward the goal of $12,000!! Your gift is still welcome.
We received word from Sandra Gourdet, Africa Executive for Global Ministries and our interpreter at Annual Gathering for Georges and Gertrude Ngoka, that they arrived home safely!! God has blessed us with new friends across the globe who brought to us an awareness of the power of the good news in a culture and country very different from our own. Our ties are strengthen mightily with the Republic of Congo, our Regional Global Mission Partner. Thanks to all those across our Region who hosted the Ngokas in their church, home, car, or restaurant. It was a very full two weeks for Georges and Gertrude and our Congo Hospitality Team who helped coordinate each step of their journey. It is estimated that the Ngokas met and spoke with over 1,000 CCNC-N Disciples!
You can now view some photos of the visit by Georges and Gertrude at: http://www.ccncn.org/annualmeeting.htm
New members as reported: FCC Redding (1 adult transfer); Oakdale CC (2 adult transfers); Cottage Way CC, Sacramento (1 adult transfer); FCC Sacramento (1 adult transfer)
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CONCERNS
 Funeral Services for Pastor Nordean Baxter last Friday found an overflowing congregation at Raynor Park CC, Sunnyvale. Cards can still be sent to Gloria and family at: 6163b Joaquin Murieta, Newark, CA 94560.
We are very sad to announce the death of Teresa Fraticelli, Lafayette CC, this past Monday morning. You are invited to attend a Service of Remembrance and Celebration for the life of Theresa Fraticelli, this Sunday May 6 at 2:00 p.m. in the sanctuary of Lafayette CC. A reception and visitation with the family will take place from 12:30 p.m. to approximately 1:45 p.m prior to the service. All of you are invited to the reception! Teresa fought a very valiant and brave fight against leukemia and was bold in undergoing the bone marrow treatment. Rejection of that treatment started about a month ago and and her loving family has been keeping vigil for weeks. Her father, Disciples clergyman, Ben Fraticelli, former CCNC-N Regional Staff, and family will appreciate your cards of prayer and care: 4102 Moller Drive, Pleasanton, 94566.
John Grose, former Moderator of FCC Vallejo, is having a recurrence of lymphoma cancer that he had treated two years ago. Last Monday, April 30 he had an all-day Retuxan treatment. The Retuxan targets this type of cancer with antibodies and will allow his white blood cells to attack and kill the cancer. His doctor says that this treatment has a 50% chance of being successful. Please pray for God's healing touch to continue with John for the 100% success of this procedure. John feels very
blessed that he and wife Beth ere able to attend and could be so "up" during the recent Regional Annual Gathering.
Our prayers are with Tina Heck, Disciples clergy, member at Sierra CC, Loomis, and Chair of our Regional CGC Facilities Committee, is having surgery next Wednesday in Grass Valley, but will probably only be in the hospital a few days. You can send her a note of care at: 10743 Ridge Road, Nevada City, 95959
Bad news and Good news for Pastor Fred Williams, FCC Alameda, who suffered a slight heart attack last Thursday night. He was hospitalized for several days but is already home and feeling quite well, You can send a card to: 381 Breed Avenue, San Leandro, 94577.
Pastor Taulau Tupua, Via Dolorosa Samoan Congregational Christian Church of Modesto, has now begun a second complete round of chemotherapy in dealing with his lymphoma leukemia. The good news is that he is feeling stronger in this second series of treatments and has been able to preach each Sunday. The Tupua family and Via Dolorosa congregation appreciate prayers greatly. You can send cards to: 2329 Senimi Circle, Ceres, 95307.
Barbara Wikoff, musician at Oakdale CC, and husband Bob, Chair of our Regional Resources Committee is having some really good days right now following test results showing that the chemo treatments are working! in prayer. She and Bob deeply appreciate all the prayers and ask that you keep them coming. Cards can be sent to: 941 Terrace Court, Oakdale, 95361.
This word from Dick and Doris Lauer, former CCNC-N Regional Minister on the progress of their daughter Karen: "Greetings: So far so good! 55 days following the stem cell transplant and doing good! All counts are up in the normal range and holding. She just got back from the clinic and the doctors are pleased. No complications yet. Red cells a little sluggish but happens and they take longer some times to come in strong. she is getting a little stronger and her head is more clear, etc. Still about six weeks of close watch to go. We are so thankful and thank God each minute. and thanks for your prayers and thoughtfulness. Keep them coming. We are going to get through this; with love to all.
Our prayers continue for the following who remain in need of our support and concern:
Darrell Burrell, FCC Redding
Bea Tiffee, FCC Dos Palos Violet Fields, FCC Oakland Darla Foglio, Oakdale CC Wanda, daughter of Gloria & Nordean Baxter, pastor at Raynor Park CC
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FINAL WORD
by Pastor Janet Chapman, FCC Selma
This past Annual Meeting of the CCNC-N Disciples of Christ churches had over 400 participants at the Sofitel Hotel in Redwood City. It was a new venue for us but the same Spirit/spirit present which, for me, was a blessing.
It may surprise you but at such events, I tend to be somewhat of an introvert. With such a large crowd, I am content to sit back, watch, and soak it all in. However,
it was harder to do this time. The fuss over a 50th birthday along with John performing a magic trick for everybody the first night made it difficult to stay in the shadows.
A public acknowledgement was given of our Church Board's decision to "tithe" monies to the Region from the Smith and Hunt estates in the form of a 5' enlarged check which appeared up front and I was caught off guard once more (along with the words on PowerPoint, "Now that's a BIG check!").
Ivy and Charlotte were introduced as new members of Regional Youth Council and, as Ivy's parents, we were publicly asked to support her endeavor. We had 8 from our church attend the Choir Workshop who enjoyed it so much, they were ready for more! The "Our Church Rocks" contest,which was inspired by Jordan's creative video, netted four very different videos. As Jordan stood with the other winners, including a 5th grader and a developmentally disabled adult, I was reminded that this is what the Body of Christ looks like.
Yet the speakers were the worst at not letting me be a passive observer. Rev. Nancy Brink from Chapman University challenged us to "walk alongside" those in our world who are hurting and become "evangels" through our compassion and advocacy. Regional staff members shared heart-felt stories of when they had witnessed evangelism in action. Regional Ministers Rev. Jose Morales and our own Rev. Ben Bohren had us sitting at the edge of our seats and kept my teenagers mesmerized (which is saying a lot!).
The Congolese missionaries spoke of appreciating the work of the women in their church and struggling with how to get more men involved (so much for detaching from that one). Randy Siever, leading the Do-Able Evangelism Preview had me laughing out loud at his reflections and insights.
I had gone with the idea of sitting back and watching, but apparently God had other plans. Do you ever feel that way when you come to worship? With all love and respect, it is my prayer that God disrupts your plans just as God did with mine.
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