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Greetings!
 PENTECOST OFFERING RECEIVED MAY 27
Here in Northern California, we set an audacious goal of starting 40 new churches between 2005 and 2020. We have started 22 already, and there are more on the way!
Not all of these fledgling church starts will thrive and grow into vital communities of faith. But some of them will, and some already ARE. But we have to continue to empower and encourage and support leaders who are willing to step out in faith to follow their call to try.
Your gifts through the Pentecost Offering support these courageous local leaders. 50% of this offering stays right here in our Region and goes to help offset rent, salary support, advertising, musical instruments, bibles, regional staff support, coaching, or any number of other needs that our new churches encounter.
The other 50% goes to support the national new church movement and even those dollars come back to support our new church leaders through training, coaching, grants, and consultation.
New Churches are creative about stretching every dollar as far as it can possibly go. Please give generously.
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ADULT CAMP MAKES MAJOR CHANGES
 Although this event is just three weeks away, and we are just now learning that our keynote speaker had to cancel, we still have one fantastic Adult Camp planned! Yes, we think we came up with a winner!
NPR did a series a year ago or so called, "This I Believe..." and they had a wide variety of people from a broad array of life experiences and professions, share what they had come to believe about life. It was sooooo interesting!
So, six of your regional staff (Molly, Yolanda, Daniel, Paula, Sandhya and Ben) are going to each lead one session and share with the group, "This I Believe..." and it might be theology, psychology, sociology, life lessons learned, etc. etc. Discussion will follow in a variety of ways...Q&A, small group, art, music, creative writing, etc. etc. By the end of the week-end, the goal would be that each participant might have some better sense of your own Credo-This I Believe... Plus there will be the annual "no holds barred" talent/no talent show, and campfires and star walks and fun games and great singing.
So, get that registration in!! Adult Camp is just three weeks away and we need to know you are going to be there.
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LOOK WHO'S COMING TO OUR REGION AND BRINGING THE WORLD TO US. MORE GLOBAL MISSION VISITORS ARE ON THE WAY...
 1. Betty and Ken Frank, recently retired Global Ministries missionaries, who worked in Turkey for nearly 30 years, will be with us for 2 weeks in early July.
One exciting part of their visit in our Region will be July 3-6, when they visit CGC and spend time with high school camp and Grandparents and Me Camp.
This is your chance to invite the Franks to  come by your church for a visit. Their 30 years in Turkey make the Franks ideal to speak about: Global Ministries in Turkey; Islam; Early Christian origins; Interfaith relationships; Turkish spirituality; Christianity in the Middle East.
The Franks can speak in Sermons, Small Groups, Luncheons, Sunday School, Casual round table,Youth groups, and other creative venues. Betty and Ken will be in the South San Joaquin area July 1-2, at CGC July 3-6, the Sacramento area July 6-8, the Bay area July 8-12 and Redding UCC July 12-14.
If you want the Franks to visit your church for any event at all, please complete the form immediately: www.ccncn.org
2. Tom and Lynnea Morse, home for a few months from China, will be in our Region for just 1 week, August 5-12.
 They are available both Sunday mornings and during the week. On Sunday, August  5 in the afternoon, they will be speaking at Sinapi Seed Fellowship at FCC Palo Alto and all the Region is invited-more details later. On Wednesday evening, August 8, they will be at Forest Hill CC, SF and again, all are invited. If you would like to invite the Morses to come to your church, contact Ben.
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By now, everyone should know this theme:
2012 YEAR OF EVANGELISM!!
"Cultivating Disciples of Christ to become dynamic 'evangels' sharing the good news of God's transforming love."
2012 Year of Evangelism-
two exciting opportunities right now to help us alll grow in understanding, practice and comfort with the E-word!
1). 1,000+ People Praying" in a three month commitment to daily prayer relating to evangelism. Over 1,100 prayer bookmarks have been ordered; only 400 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
Prayer Commitments reported so far: 421
Annual Meeting- 104
FCC Porterville- 30
Sierra CC, Loomis- 10
CC of Vacaville- 30
Forest Hill CC, SF- 33
FCC Antioch-3
FCC Redding- 70
Oakdale CC- 31
Fresno, United CC- 16
Stockton, Mayfair CC- 45
Berkeley, BRIM-8
Merced, FCC- 11
Fruitridge CC, Sac-60
We know many other churches already completed your Service of Prayer Commitment. Please send us the number as we strive toward 1,000+ people praying!
(If we missed anyone who sent information, we apologize; just refresh our short memory!)
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2). Doable Evangelism Workshops in four locations around the Region.
Here are dates and places:
Registration form at : http://www.ccncn.org/Doable-Evangelism-Flyer.pdf
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FINAL WEEK FOR YOUR INPUT TO THE JUSTICE COMMISSION AND FOR YOUR APPLICATIONS TO SERVE ON THE JUSTICE COMMISSION
The Justice Commission wants your input!!!
What are the issues that are engaging the hearts and minds of Disciples across our Region?
Here is the link to the online survey that invites your thinking. FIVE MINUTES is all it takes!
We now have close to 50 completed surveys but our goal is at least 100! DO IT RIGHT NOW!!! Justice Commission Survey. Deadline is May 31.
And regarding the Justice Commission-
A Great Opportunity to Serve-
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 31
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 ATTENTION: All Disciples Young Adults in Northern California-Nevada We have a date for the Regional Summer Young Adult Mission Outing called "REACH-OUT-REACH" August 10-12 in Santa Cruz at The Circle Church Friday night will be optional but we'll have some fun for sure. Saturday we will begin at 11:00AM with Pastor Steve DeFields-Gambrel beginning to help us learn about the street community and the the rest of the day will be learning and interacting with the street community. In the evening there will be fun at the Boardwalk and back at the church in their full gym which is also where we will sleep. Sunday morning will be worship with The Circle Church and then lunch which always includes all members of the church, some of which are the street community. Much more later, but hold the dates!! Registration forms and more details to come. Thanks to our Regional Young Adult Council for leading this ministry to/with/for young adults. Check out the registration form at: www.ccncn.org ...........................................
Dear CCNC-N:
In 2012 "The Year of Evangelism," we've had:
...Rock the Church video contest
...Lenten Devotional with an evangelism theme
...Annual Gathering with the theme TELL IT!
...Four Do-able Evangelism Training workshops currently being offered
...1,000+ People Praying daily with an evangelism theme
What's next you ask????
THE E-VAN!!
(Can you guess what the E stands for?)
August 12-16- light dinner, evangelism workshops and closing worship
Sunday, August 12- FCC Concord 5:00-7:30
August 13-16, Monday-Thursday- working on locations now which will take the van all across our Region.
TRULY THIS IS 'THE YEAR OF EVANGELISM"
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 HOT NEWS CHURCHES TO HOLD IN PRAYER
Congregation to pray for this week: First Christian Church, Colusa; Mt. Lassen Area; Pastor, Darrin Harvey.
Congregation to pray for next week: First Christian Church, Concord; Contra Costa Area; Senior Pastor, Russell Peterman.
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 at: http://www.ccncn.org/summercamps.html Adult Camp June 7-10
ChiRho/Junior Camp June 24-30
CYF Camp July 1-7
Grandparents & Me I June 30-July 2
Grandparents & Me II July 4-6
South San Joaquin June 24-29
PLEASE NOTE THAT THAT THE DEADLINE FOR THE EARLY BIRD RATE FOR CAMP WHICH SAVES MAJOR $$$$$ IS June 5, 2012.
HELP! HELP! HELP! Pastor Tom Warren, FCC Hanford, who is directing the SSJ Camp, is looking for a Volunteer Certified Lifeguard / additional Camp Staff Resource Person for South San Joaquin Valley Camp to be held at Camp Pacifica in Ahwahnee, CA. June 23-29. If you can do this or know someone who might, please contact him immediately at 559-584-3082. 2. Applications for the Annual Clergy Continuing Education Scholarship Grants are now being sent out across the Region. If you are interested, you can also get the materials at: www.ccncn.org 3. The Tapestry Ministries community will be worshiping one more week, May 27, in our home sanctuary in the Ecumenical Center (formerly University Christian Church, Berkeley). On June 1, Tapestry moves across the street to the Chapel of Pacific School of Religion. The Tapestry Ministry Team, Leon Bacchues, Nancy McKee-Jolda, and Peggy Bristol-Wright, and the TM community, welcome all to join us for worship on the 27th. We also invite your prayers for our move and for the new opportunities it will offer. Tapestry worship is an evening service, beginning at 6pm. We gather for fellowship at 5:30 and continue our fellowship after worship. 4. 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 5. First Samoan Congregational Christian Church of Sacramento, a new Disciples congregation who was welcomed "under care" with us at Annual Gathering, and brought us the incredible music that opened Saturday morning with a 35 voice a cappella choir, is trying to complete their new 300 seat sanctuary this year. The foundation is completed and the parking area is paved, but the building itself lies before them. They are seeking a loan from Disciples Church Extension to help with this building project, and want to cut the expenses as much as possible. One of their hopes would be to receive bids for some of the work from skilled Disciples!! They are looking for licensed electricians, air-conditioning and fire sprinkler experts, and landscaping experts to bid on the projects. Their desire is to offer the work at a fair price to Disciples whom they feel share important Christian beliefs about their work. Please contact Ben if you would like to know more. 6. ATTENTION PASTORS:
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. 7. 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.
8. "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 AND FLASH, Jordan Williams from FCC Sparks has just completed another video about the youth ministry at their church. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAk77W2ngsI |
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DEVOTIONAL by Sandhya Jha
Regional Reconcilation and Missional Minister
The women gather crying
tears that fill a million oceans
It doesn't matter where you're living,
The women gather crying
tears that fill a million oceans
It doesn't matter where you're living
The women gather
"The Women Gather," Sweet Honey in the Rock
The women gathered. On Saturday, May 12, over 20 women (and at one point a few men) gathered to learn about human trafficking in Oakland.
..We learned about resources related to rape crisis counseling.
...We learned about how many men are trafficked as laborers and many women as domestic workers, in addition to the women we were focused on: women forced into the sex trade on the streets of Oakland.
...We walked the neighborhood, acknowledging things that create sex slavery (poverty, greed, sexism, lack of opportunity for some, lack of love),
...and we prayed,
...and we cried.
...We heard powerful testimonies from people in the field who have helped young women (many of whom are from this community, as well as some who were brought from other countries) escape a life on the streets.
The thing that just kills me in the midst of conversations like these is that many of the young women who end up being pimped out, walking International Blvd. in east Oakland all day and night, are there because when they ran away from home, they met a guy who said he loved them. And it was the first time they had experienced any tenderness, kindness or affection. So when he told them that part of loving him was selling their bodies for him, they did it. It kills me that a young woman could be twelve, fourteen, sixteen and never have experienced love.
The day after the event, I saw an article about a pop star who had posed for nude photographs, and even the journalist couldn't keep the sneer out of the title: "_______ poses nude, AGAIN." She's a musician I really like, and I found myself thinking, "Where are the men and the church folks reaching out to her and saying, 'We love you too much to want you to do that. You're worth so much more than that'?"
Because it's all part of the same continuum. Women are brought to this country and their bodies are sold on the streets, or their labor is sold for pennies on the dollar to care for elders and children or to clean our homes. Men are brought to this country and forced to work in unbearable conditions. Or they stay in their home countries and build the things in horrible working conditions that we buy for cheap.
Young women run away from homes where they have never experienced love, and the love they encounter enslaves them. Men pay for pictures of talented pop stars without their clothes on. In every instance, their world is made up of messages of "You are not valuable. You are not loved."
...I am REALLY proud that the women of the CCNC-N and the UCC conference gathered on May 12.
...I am REALLY proud that a young woman, Emily Crain, who emerged from the love of her church and RYC and Chapman University, coordinated this event as part of a new initiative of the UCC and DOC women of this region/conference, because of her deep love for the women trapped in the sex slave trade.
...I am really proud that Paula Pociecha worked so hard to make sure it was successful, because of her deep love of our women and her desire for us to be even more powerful advocates for our sisters.
...And I am really proud of the women who gathered so that we could return into the world better able to be the face of love in the world.
And I dream of a time when both the men and women of our churches can go into our communities, seek out those whose bodies, whose labor, and whose love are being exploited and we can look them in the eye and say, "You are valuable. You are loved."
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REGIONAL STAFF NEWS
The Regional Office will be closed on Memorial Day, Monday, May 28.
This week, Ben received, with great regret, a letter of resignation from Cliff Cole, our Regional MInister of Placement, Training and Care. Cliff has served in this position for 9 years and has been a huge asset to regional ministry in his diligent work with dozens of Disciples seminarians and with 32 local church search committees. Thank goodness, he has agreed to remain as a consultant for the Search and Call process during the coming transition time of Ben's retirement and a Transitional Regional Minister. You are welcome to send cards of appreciation to Cliff at: 520 Crestfield Circle, Roseville, 95678.
Paula asks for prayers for her mother who fell recently and then blacked out and underwent emergency surgery to implant a pacemaker. She is in Colorado.
Ben is on vacation over Memorial Week-end! Please no e-mails or voice mails except in emergencies.
Kyung Min (Daniel) made a very quick trip to Boston this week for the Advisory Committee of the Week of Compassion.
From Cliff: Please add our grandson, LaFrance Cole, to the regional prayer list as he has been deployed to Afghanistan in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Clearance Unit.
From Cliff:
As summer nears and you are making plans for pastoral coverage and preaching for your time away, please remember that the Region has several capable "becoming" pastors that are looking for experience and income. If you would like names of students who will be this and the next generation's ordained ministers, please contact me: cliff@ccncn.org for names, phone numbers and EMail addresses. Your church will be blessed by their presence and skill in bringing the word of God.
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.
Have you been wanting a copy of the directory of churches in our Region?-like names, addresses, phone numbers, pastors names, etc. Did you know you can download that directory any day right from our Regional website. It gets updated regularly (if we know the changes). Just go to:
http://www.ccncn.org/directory-of-churches-2012.pdf
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 26 & 27- RYC Meeting, FCC Vallejo 27- PENTECOST SUNDAY JUNE 1-3- Women's Ministries Council Retreat 2- Regional Executive Committee 9:30-3:00 7-10- Adult Camp 14- Entrepreneurial Possibilities for Missional Churches UCC, Lodi 9:00-4:00 16- Do-able Evangelism- Lafayette CC 23- D0-able Evangelism- FCC Palo Alto (hosted by Walking Faith CC and Sinapi Fellowship) 24-30- Junior Camp 24-30- ChiRho Camp AUGUST 12-16- E-Van on the road across our Region SEPTEMBER 14-16- Mission Springs Women's Conference Back to top |
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CELEBRATIONS & PRAYERS
CELEBRATIONS
(Editors note: Please forgive any omissions or errors this week. We have lost this section of the e-news twice in trying to address "bolding" issues. This is the best we could do and still get you the news!)
What a joy it was this past week to distribute 50% of the Annual Gathering Offering to four of our mission partners. A check for $1,474 was sent to each one:
...All Peoples Christian Center, Los Angeles (an historic Disciples mission center)
...Yakama Christian Mission in Yakama, WA (an historic Disciples mission);
...Serra Center, a living center/support for persons with developmental disabilities (historical Disciples mission
...California Council of Churches, holding strong to our ecumenical roots and commitments
As announced at Annual Gathering, the other 50% of the offering was to support the two week visit by Georges and Gertrude Ngoka, our Republic of Congo Global Mission Partners. When our ROC Hospitality Team met last Wednesday, they heard the good news that although we did not reach the goal of $16,000, we were generously supported with gifts of $14,000 which was more than enough to cover all costs of the visits. So many people around our Region were generous in providing housing, meals and transportation, we ended with a surplus in our funds. This allowed for further support of the ministry of the Disciples in the Republic of Congo, our dear Global Mission Partners. We are excited to say that we were able to send $1,000 to the ROC Disciples for the re-building of their "mother church" in Brazzaville. At Annual Gathering, we saw photos of the severe damage to that church as result of the munitions explosion building close to the church. We also were able to send $1,000 to Global Ministries, in honor of Sandra Gourdet, who translated so beautifully at Annual Gathering and helped the final steps for the Ngokas to receive their visas and be able to get to the United States.
The Tapestry Ministries community will be worshiping one more week, May 27, in our home sanctuary in the Ecumenical Center (formerly University Christian Church, Berkeley).
New members as reported:
Cottage Way CC, Sacramento (2 adult transfers);
FCC Sacramento (2 young adult baptisms and 1 youth baptism); CC of Pacific Grove (2 adult transfers); FCC Concord (3 adult transfers)
 We are keeping Pastor Mark Foglio, Oakdale CC in our prayers. Mark began having chest pains last week-end and went into emergency Saturday afternoon. Tests did not show any signs suggesting a heart attack and he was sent home that evening. He is still experiencing numbness in one arm so taking it easy to see how things go this week.
Our prayers for Shayne Flowers, Disciples clergy and Pastoral Assistant at New Spirit Community Church, Berkeley, who was admitted to Kaiser Oakland last Thursday with an infection for which they were seeking the source. She was released on Monday evening and is home doing far better.
Julie Jones Rodriquez, active leader at FCC Sparks and former Regional Board member for three years, has been in the hospital in Reno with an infection. She is better but you can send cards to: 11860 Canyon Dawn Dr. Sparks, NV 89441
Rev. Wendell Pew, long time senior pastor at FCC Chico, now retired many years, is hospitalized in S. California with a serious blood infection.
We continue to pray for John Grose, former Moderator of FCC Vallejo, as he battles a recurrence of lymphoma cancer. It was great to see him at Tapestry Ministries worship last Sunday night and have him share a beautiful solo of "To Dream the Impossible Dream." We pray for God's healing touch in John's recovery.
Pastor Taulau Tupua, Via Dolorosa Samoan Congregational Christian Church of Modesto, is now beginning a new portion of his second round of chemotherapy in dealing with his lymphoma leukemia.
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.
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
All People's Christian Center and CCNC-N A Great Partnership!
Scrub a dub dub!
All Peoples Community Center- our denomination's urban outreach in South Central LA - is sending 75 Campers, ages 8-12, to camp this August, and they need soap. Actually All Peoples needs more than soap, they need health kits for these campers.
In the last four years our regional CCNC-N/All Peoples Team has developed our historical relationship with All Peoples into an engaged and supportive partnership
that includes the following actions:
...Churches of our region have sponsored sleeping bags and backpacks for teen camping trips.
...Four members of the team traveled to LA in 2008 to help with their spring Health and Book Fair.
...We have hosted several All Peoples staff in the San Francisco Bay Area for job training.
...Sandy Bryant, their Executive Director, and a life long Disciple, joined us at our Region's 2011 annual meeting and spoke about the value of this CCNC-N collaboration. We are happy to say that our relationship is flourishing.
Now your All Peoples Regional Team is inviting the folks of this region to assist All Peoples as they prepare to take 75 urban children to camp. Below is a list of items needed for the camper health kits, and contributions you can make toward their purchase. You may be a sponsor as an individual, a family or group, and/or as a church congregation. We hope you will join us in supporting this summer camp program in which 75 children will discover the excitement, adventure, and fellowship of camp.
What do you want to contribute? These are the items needed in the kits, and prices for purchasing them. We will be collecting contributions through the end of June.
Checks should be made out to CCNC-N, with "All Peoples health kits" on the memo line. Please mail checks to our regional office: CCN-N 9260 Alcosta Blvd., Suite C-18, San Ramon,CA 94583-4143
- facial tissue $10.
- toothpaste $50.
- tote bags $150.
- combs $10.
- toothbrushes $50.
- soap containers $50.
- wash cloths $25.
- lotion $100.
- bar soap $25.
- sun screen $100.
If you cannot send the full amount for an item, send what you can...just be sure and mark how you want it used.
Thanks so much for being part of this project!
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