We come together 

Our Annual Congregational Meeting, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2011      

                                                                 by Dr. Chris Neufeld-Erdmam, Senior Pastor 

UPC considers a columbarium                                 

For hundreds of years, Christian churches were not only places of worship, education, fellowship and social life, they also housed burial grounds. Church members would be baptized, married and buried in the church. In modern times, municipalities have established public cemeteries where people of all faiths are interred. However, many churches are now including a columbarium on church property,  which provides a permanent place for cremation remains of their members. A columbarium can be built into walls or gardens, inside or outside. Our Session has approved the creation of a committee to investigate and make recommendations for providing a columbarium on UPC's campus.

       If you would be willing to serve on this committee, please call Dave Eaton.

Music and Worship: Praise flows from Crosswinds

A new sound blew on the Fresno Pacific campus during the 2006-07 school year with the creation of this troupe of 20 singers and five instrumentalists. The ensemble performs two genres of contemporary music: European-influenced choral anthems and African-influenced praise-and-worship music, the latter featuring guitars and drums to provide a backbeat.

       Come hear Crosswinds during our Classic Worship on Jan. 22 at 8:30 a.m.!  

Youth Ministries  

Our Sunday night youth group is continuing to work through the Old Testament. Right now we're learning about the prophets, and we will pick up with the book of Samuel on Jan. 9  at 6:30 p.m. 

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Dig out your skates!

Join the youth group for ice skating at Gate Way Ice Center on Saturday, Jan. 21.  

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White nights (and days) 

       Please turn in registration forms to Stephanie by Sunday, Jan. 16.

For more information about events happening in January, feel free to contact Stephanie Wright at  Stephanie@upcfresno.org.

Adult Ministries: Exercise your brain with a good winter book

One of Adult Education's offering for the new calendar year will be our Winter Book Study:  "The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor," by Mark Labberton.  

       We will initiate the new year with a study taught by Pastor Tedd Lyons and Cordie Qualle that expl

Mark Labberton is the chairman and director of the Lloyd John Ogilvie Institute for Preaching at Fuller Theological Seminary and is working together with our Pastor Chris in that role. He previously served as senior pastor at First  Presbyterian Church of Berkeley for 16 years. Labberton received his doctorate in theology from Cambridge University in England and is a senior fellow of the International Justice Mission.

  Please join us as we continue to more deeply understand the meaning of "loving our neighbor."

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'In the beginning'

In our series Point to the Power of Genesis,  Walt Blore will continue to lead us in this in-depth Bible study of the book of Genesis.

Missions: Bundles of joy

The Ministry of Missions is borrowing the idea of "JustCare bags" from a church in Denver,  whose members are concerned for the many homeless individuals they encounter on street corners in their city. Fresno is no different. All of us have seen street corner sign-holders or have been asked  for money in a parking lot. It makes us feel uncomfortable because we don't have anything to offer them or don't think giving them cash is the right  way to help. JustCare Bags are one small way to respond to this need.
       JustCare Bags are brown paper lunch bags that contain nonperishable items such as crackers, tuna or chicken, peanut butter, fruit cups, nuts, energy bars, socks, bottled water and travel-size toiletries. They are perfect to keep in your car as an alternative to giving cash to people standing on street corners.
       Earlier this fall, a couple of us made up a few dozen JustCare bags and have been handing them out. Here's one person's experience:

       "It was Thanksgiving Eve and I noticed an elderly man with his sign on a street corner in downtown Fresno. I was in the wrong lane to hand him a bag, so I  parked in a nearby parking lot and walked over to him. I offered him a JustCare bag and told him it had some food and socks in it. He looked at me and said "Socks? It has socks?" It was like I gave him a precious gift. He was so thankful - for a pair of socks. I was humbled."

       There are many ways for everyone to help with this ministry opportunity.   

   -- 1. Decorate the bags - a perfect job for children.

    --2. Donate items or money toward the purchase of items to be included in the bags.

   -- 3. Help assemble the bags.

        More information will be available in the worship bulletins and at the JustCare table after each service beginning sometime in January.
       Our intention is to assemble 200 JustCare bags together as a congregation this one time. After that, you will be equipped to carry on this practice on your own if you choose. It is one way we can triumph over small evils and injustices. We can nurture our own compassion and
understanding and make someone's life just a little bit easier. Just care.

Kathleen Smith, Ministry of Missions  

Southeast Asia Ministry praises the Lord

Praise the Lord for what He did in November and December and what He will do in this new year as we serve Him together.

        Our travelers from Laos safely returned. The water installation system at Banh-Na-Sung-Pai is complete! Our Lao Partners travel team will be reporting to the congregation during the Sunday school hour on Feb. 12.  

       Our Lao language worship group has found many ways to enjoy fellowship and share    meals together. A pre-Christmas lunch potluck on Dec. 11 brought us together with good food and dancing by our Champa dancers.

       We welcome our English-speaking brothers and sisters to come enjoy these events with us. Every Thursday evening at FIRM is our music practice. The latest Laos Culture for Christ meeting was Dec. 10 and our next Laos Culture for Christ celebration will be April 28 at FIRM.  The Laos Culture for Christ brings together Lao-language congregations across Fresno to worship and share their faith to the Lao-speaking community in and around Fresno.

       Praise the Lord for each and every day that we are one congregation at UPC. We believe that a multigenerational and multicultural church is what the Lord wants us to be. We praise the Lord for all He's doing today and for all that will be in His ways and in His will. We praise the Lord for what God wants us to become through His love for us. We are very important to Him. He allows us to love and share our gifts with one another. Remember that He has given these gifts for us to use here on Earth. Praise the Lord and grace to everyone!

Session Summary - Cindy Correia, Clerk of Session

The UPC Session met on Tuesday, Dec. 6. Here's a brief summary of the meeting and the actions taken:

1. The Session and Deacons shared a holiday supper together before going to their respective business meetings. Incoming and outgoing officers were recognized.

2. The Session approved the formation of an ad hoc committee to explore the financing, design, purchase, installation, dedication, and operation of an electric digital marquee sign to be installed somewhere in front of the church, eliminating the need for the banner system. The committee will report to the Board of Property and Finance, which will then return to the Session with a proposal for ultimate approval. The committee members are Doug Haas, Byron Morgan, Doug Lowe and John Sunderson, with Pastor Tedd Lyons as an advisory member. The sign and fundraiser would be dedicated to the memory of John Kallenberg (Ruth Kallenberg has approved of this).

3. The following officers were elected by the Session for 2012: President of the Corporation, Terry Holland; Clerk of Session, Cindy Correia; Treasurer, Jim Gabel; and Presbytery Commissioners, Terry Holland and Joe Wilson.

4. The 2012 UPC Endowment Committee members will be Terry Holland, Board of Property and Finance; Greg Faulk, Adult Ministries; and Ruth Kallenberg, member-at-large.

5. The Christmas Eve 2011 offering will support the Witnessing Ministries of Christ (the ministry of the Rev. Philip and Elizabeth Prasad in India).

6. The Session approved holding a single, combined service on Feb.19 (Transfiguration Sunday) at 9:30 a.m. This is the final Sunday before Lent begins. The purpose is 1)  to provide the congregation with a meaningful service that readies us for Lent, and 2) to finally transition the prayer doves out of the main sanctuary. The service will involve a number of stations and actions that invite the congregation to enact our 2012 practice of relinquishment. Tom and Cyndee Gravette, Susan Quinn, Rosie Erickson and Pastor Chris Neufeld-Erdman have developed plans that help the moving of the doves fit with our annual practice of relinquishment and the liturgical season of Lent. There will be preparation for this combined service on Feb. 19 in each of the preceding four Sundays.
7. The elders have formed an ad hoc committee to explore the most responsible way for our congregation to assist a member who will be released from prison this coming spring.  The committee will report back to the Session by February. 

'From every tongue, tribe and people and nation'