Connections

September, 2014 

Sanctuary Rainbow Cross

In This Issue
Pastor's Ponderings
Worship Notes
Welcome to our New Music Director!
Women's Book Group
NBOP Precinct Walks
John Brown's Body
Pasta Feed
Yom Kippur
CMP BBQ & Silent Auction
Fall Women's Retreat
Reconciling Corner
Kid's Corner
Blessing of our Children
She Said Yes!
Amnesty International
Bravo!
In Our Prayers
August Birthdays
 
5
Millie Burt
7
Steve Brown
10
Claudie Norby
11
Evelyn Bennett
13
Charlene Bunas
19
Bill Coolidge
Valerie Sizemore
23
Paul Burks
24
Joane Page
28
Emily Stockert
Susan Roxson
30
Jennifer Weil

let us know if we accidentally left you off the Birthday list! 

Computer mouse
Online Resources 

  

Christ Church United Methodist

The People of the UMC

(The global UM site)

(The California - Nevada Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church)    

Hurricane Sandy
Volunteers in Mission (VIM) 
  
UMCOR
(United Methodist Committee on Relief)

Global Health Initiative


Upper Room
(Daily Devotional)

 
UMC publications

Connection
(CA-NV Publication)
 
SOCIAL CONCERNS
 
 Newsletter Deadline
Please submit articles and special CCUM events to Administrative Assistant, Cindy Piccinini, [email protected]
before the 14th of the month for the following month's newsletter. All items are subject to approval and editing. Thank you.


 
Pastor's Ponderings

Dear Friends,

 

On Sunday, our part of the world was shaken by a magnitude 6 earthquake.  I was able to go by the First United Methodist Church in Napa and help rescue a few precious items from the building.  It is a sad thing to see that beautiful century-old sanctuary so damaged.  The one wall is pulling away from the building and expected to fall or be taken down very soon.  It can be a very scary thing to realize how powerful some of the forces in our world can be.

And yet what I noticed was that the structure that houses the homeless shelter was strong.  I talked to members who had surveyed the damage in wee hours of the morning and were still watching the wall 12 hours later.  I received dozens of texts and messages asking if my family and home were safe. And I heard that our Volunteers in Mission coordinator was already working on plans to help with recovery.

The earth moves from time to time.  Immense forces wreak havoc in our lives and communities.  And yet ... we heal, we recover, we build anew.  The United Methodist Church's Committee on Relief is one of the best disaster response agencies in the world.  It is our most effective proclamation of God's grace; to show up when all seems lost and bring in the love and resources that make life possible again.

There are many more ways lives are destroyed than just earthquakes.  May we always remember God's promise to build us up and bless us to be a blessing to the whole world.  When we say that Jesus is Messiah, we proclaim that he is the one who leads us from slavery to freedom, from woundedness to wholeness, from being out of place to being at home.  Let us trust in God's creative power to bring heaven on earth here and now.  Let us be the body of Christ that participates in that work and bears witness with our lives so that all who struggle know they do not struggle alone.

Please keep in your prayers all those whose homes, places of work, or lives have been made a mess by this earthquake. And please listen in your heart for where God is calling us to be a part of the healing and rebuilding.  God's grace is at work today.

Blessings,

Rev. Amy Beth   

 ~~~  

 


  

Sunday, September 7

Romans 12: 9-21

Glo Wellman preaching 

 

Sunday, September 14

Communion Sunday

Matthew 18: 15-35 

"Living With Humans"

 Rev. Amy Beth preaching

 

Sunday, September 21

 Exodus 12: 1-14

"Preparation"

Rev. Amy Beth preaching

 

Sunday, September 28 

Amnesty Letters

Exodus 14: 19-31 

"Leaving the Old"

Rev. Amy Beth preaching

 

 ~ ~ ~
 
Welcome  
to Our New Music Director!

The hiring committee search high and low for just the right person to lead our music ministry. They found a perfect fit in Carol-Jean Boevers.

Carol-Jean, a Minnesota native, lives in Santa Rosa with her husband, Jeff, and children Madeline, 10, and Johannes, 8. She also has 4 adult sons, two daughters-in-law and 1 grandchild in Minnesota.

 

Carol-Jean has worked with a variety of religious denominations as an organist, choir director and music director. She has also worked in musical theatre, orchestra, concert performance and as a children's choir director in a school. She learned to play the piano at a very young age and was teaching and performing before high school. Did you know she also speaks German?

 

In addition to her love of music, Carol-Jean enjoys reading, knitting, crocheting, fiber arts (her fabric basket won Best of Show in this year's fair!), writing, genealogy, and baking.

 

Carol-Jean is excited to start working with such a dedicated choir, with Carl to accompany, and to begin exercising creativity and craft to praise God in new ways.

 

~~~   

 

WOMEN'S BOOK GROUP 
Wednesday, September 10th @ 7pm

This group meets the 2nd Wednesday of every month, 7pm, at Anita Pitzer's home. For more information, contact Anita.

 

The book for September 10th is The  Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway.  One afternoon during the Siege of Sarajevo in 1992, several mortar shells killed 22 people waiting to buy bread in the market. V. Smailovic, a renowned cellist, played Albinoni's Adagio at the site in honor of the dead. His actions inspired this novel.

 

~ ~ ~

 

 

PRECINCT WALKS

The two voter precinct walks around CCUM are on Sept. 17 and Oct. 1 from 6:00 to 8:00. pm. 

If you would like to join us, contact John Davenport.

~~~



















Thursday, September 25
First UMC


You are invited to join FUMC to screen a documentary by filmmaker Joe DeFrancesco, John Brown's Body at San Quentin. Mr. DeFrancesco will be present to talk about his experience of making this film and what has happened in the lives of the men who worked for him - across racial and social barriers rarely bridged in the prison environment.

This documentary is a story of hope for 9 male inmates at San Quentin whose choices have had life-changing consequences. Their participation in the rehearsals for this play, based on the poem, John Brown's Body, transforms their lives and is an extraordinary story.

A 5-minute clip is at http://vimeo.com/44280784; a longer one at http://vimeo.com/22270981. For more information, contact Kathy Johnson at FUMC.

~~~
 
 
 ~~~

YOM KIPPUR DONATIONS

Yom Kippur occurs this year on October 3 and 4. The canned food donations will be collected both days, and sorted in front of Elisha's Pantry on Saturday morning, October 4. Please call Marguerite Li to volunteer to help.  The arrival time is 8:45 AM. 

 

~~~

 


CMP BBQ & Silent Auction
Saturday, October 11th

Christ Methodist Preschool invites the CCUM community to our annual BBQ and Silent Auction on Saturday, October 11th from 4:00 - 6:00 pm. Enjoy a meal with our families and have the chance to bid on items like Starbucks gift baskets, jewelry and Sonoma County wine.

 

RSVP to Clair Bringhurst or call our school at 526-0204. Meet the children you support as a member of CCUM.

 

~~~

 


 

Itʼs All About You, Girlfriend!

 

All women, young & old, are invited to come and enjoy a planned program of study, reflection, and fun, at this year's Annual Women's Retreat! This year we are excited to be welcoming the Rev. Jola Bortner from Emanuel UMC in Sacramento as our guest facilitator. Jola very much enjoys leading women's retreats and is very excited about coming to facilitate ours. The retreat will be at the peaceful and close by Angela Center off of Old Redwood Highway in northern Santa Rosa. (See www.angelacenter.com). Arrive any time between 4 and 5 pm on Friday, Nov. 7th, and we will formally begin with dinner at 5:30 pm, and finish at 11 am, before lunch, Sunday, Nov. 9th.

 

We encourage everyone to come for the full weekend retreat experience, which is for 2 nights and includes 5 meals. The Angela Center has nice and comfortable rooms that sleep 2. There are indoor meeting rooms as well as lovely outdoor gardens. The cost for the full retreat is $185 if sharing a room ($210 after the early registration deadline of September 14th.) For anyone requiring your own room the cost for the full retreat is $250 ($265 after the early registration deadline.) There is a limited number of rooms for singles. If you can only make it for Saturday, the cost is $75 and includes lunch & dinner.

 

For more information, contact Charlene Simons. Mark your calendar and send in your early registration as soon as possible! Early registration deadline is September 14th.

 

Your registration form printed below should be sent with a $50 deposit to Charlene Simons. Feel free to pay in installments to Charlene.

 

Make checks payable to First United Methodist Church (FUMC) and note "Women's Retreat" on the memo line. The balance is due by October 15th. Looking forward to seeing you there!

 

~~~  

 

RECONCILING CORNER Reconciling

 

ANOTHER PASTOR COMES OUT

FOR BIBLICAL OBEDIENCE:

An Open Letter to Bishop Webb 

by Rev. Dr. Carlton L. Shepard

 

(Article from Reconciling Ministries Network)

 

Rev. Dr. Shepard officiating his son's wedding.

 

Dear Bishop Webb,

The Rev. Frank Schaefer said at his church trial, "I cannot go back to being a silent supporter.  I must continue to be in ministry with all the people."  I, too, will no longer be a silent supporter of the rights of LGBTQ people, no longer a silent opponent of the positions of The United Methodist Church.

 

I wish to inform you that I recently conducted my second same sex wedding ceremony.  I've been careful to "lay low"  -  not joining the Reconciling Ministries group or MFSA, not informing my church what I was doing (although a few suspected), neither conducting the ceremonies within the United Methodist church nor even within the Upper New York Annual Conference.  Now I want you and all of the Conference to know that there are clergy within our ranks who are willing to minister to all without reserve.

 

This was not an act of bravery on my part.  This was an act of love. The only reason for my silence to this point was that I wanted to conduct the weddings of both my sons before I could be stopped from doing so.  Were there more time between the second of those and my retirement I would have gladly conducted more same sex weddings.

 

We both know the arguments for and against the church's official position on this issue and I won't recount all of them here.  When I was young I used to sit on my mother's bed and talk before leaving for school.  Deeply impressed in my memory is the morning she explained the Wesley quadrilateral.  I thought, "Wow!  I am not only allowed to use my brain in this denomination, I am encouraged to do so!  This is the church for me!"  No sola scriptura for me.  Nor authority telling me what I must think or how I must interpret scripture only through their lens.

 

I went on to become a teacher and scientist  -  my Ph.D. is in physics  - before I entered ministry.  I have long been convinced that homosexuality is not a social or psychological aberration but is a part of how God has created human beings, and science has increasingly confirmed my opinion.  Therefore I must minister to all as equal creations of our loving God.  Ironically, I agree with the statement that "homosexuality is inconsistent with Christian teaching."  However, I contend that it is Christian teaching which is wrong.

 

While I might wish that as bishop you, too, would openly stand for equality of ministry to all people in committed, loving relationships, I understand your need to walk the tightrope between the polarities for the sake of unity in the Church.  You may be spared the embarrassment of bringing charges against me since I have now, as of June 30, retired as a licensed local pastor, just as Steve Heiss spared you and the Conference the ordeal of a trial by retiring.  Maybe, however, my actions will inspire others.

 

 Sincerely,

 

Dr. Carlton L. Shepard, newly retired licensed local pastor

 

     

~ ~ ~
 



 KID'S CORNER
 

 

 

School Supplies for Hanna Boys Center
and Kids Street Charter School

 

You are an amazing congregation!

 

With your donations we were able to almost double (to 19) the number of backpacks we were able to give the kids at Hanna Boys Center. Kathryn Perry from their development department said that the boys are thrilled when they get to choose their backpacks. They come to the school with very little.

 

Clare Coleman who teaches first and second grade at Kids Street Learning Center Charter School expressed deep thanks for our donation of supplies for their classes. In addition to the supplies we donated we raised enough for each of their four class teachers to receive an additional $100 for teacher supplies. Their normal budget for this is for $200 so your gifts are significant.

 

Our own kids enjoyed packing the backpacks and knowing they were helping others.

 

Thank you for your thoughtfulness and generosity!

 

          

   ~ ~ ~

 


BLESSING
OF OUR CHILDREN

Sunday, August 24, 2014















~~~
 



Liesel Magnuson and Russell Hanchett were engaged Sunday, 8-31-14. Both attend Santa Rosa Alliance Church. Liesel also is a member of CCUM. At the close of SRAC's Service on Sunday, August 31, Russell proposed to Liesel. Such joy and what a Benediction to a Worship Service !!! A very ideal setting for Liesel and Russell.

~~~ 

 


AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

AN EASY WAY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!


Join Amnesty International's Urgent Action Network at www.amnestyusa.org. You can support any petitions concerning human rights issues you care about.

It helps!

~~~ 

 

There are so many of you that serve Christ Church...without mentioning a word about it.  

 

  • Thank you to the Music Director search committee and the choir for their efforts in finding our new music director, Carol-Jean Boevers. Great job!
  • Thank you to Ted Wilmsen for his continued diligence in keeping the waters of Christ Church flowing! We appreciate your labors of love!
  • Thank you to John Davenport and Gayle Pickrell for opening your home for the Social Concerns/NBOP training for precinct walking!
~~~

 

man praying

In our Prayers...

"God does nothing except in response to believing prayer."  

~John Wesley

 

 

  • Hannah Seitz (Sally Seitz' daughter)
  • Marguerite Li
  • Bob & Janet Smith, Annika & family
  • Joan Niebank
  • Durward family
  • Coolidge family (Mikey and Austin)
  • George & Jean Houser
  • Our church family & community
  • Friends, families & neighbors struggling financially
  • Military personnel & their families
  • Our government leaders
 ~ ~ ~
 
PRAYER CHAIN

One of the ways that we care for each other here at Christ Church is through prayer.  We have a team of people who regularly pray for folks who are in need of spiritual and physical healing.  Would you like to join those folks who pray daily for others in need?  

Would you like more prayers for yourself or people you are close to? Our prayer chain members feel honored to receive prayer requests from you

. Contact Darlene Davis.

 

We also welcome written prayer requests you can put in the offering plate on Sundays. Prayer request cards are in the "Gray Pad' folder. 


We have listed names above so that we might all be in prayer for each other.

 ~ ~ ~