Mexico Mission 2014
Sleepy Hollow Presbyterian Church Newsletter
Weekly Happenings at SHPC    
June 4, 2015

God Calls Us to Build the World!

Mexico Mission Commissioning Sunday

 

     Who's seen The Book of Mormon?  There, two young men who have come of age in Salt Lake City are sent out on their Mission to (spoiler alert) a place as different from Salt Lake City as any place could be: Uganda.  When we send our Mexico Mission team from Marin County to impoverished northern Mexico, we encounter some of the same questions:  Why are some of the world's people living with so much material wealth and comfort, while others are not?  Is God at work here, and how?  What are we called to do?  How do we weave the Mexico Mission experience into the fabric of our lives so that it stays with us and becomes a lasting part of our world?

 

     Don't miss this Sunday, June 7, 2015, at 9:30 a.m., when we explore these questions and commission our Mexico Mission Team! 

 

In This Issue
Quick Links
Bev piano
A Note From Pastor Bev

 

Thanks to Patti Vance, our Mission Elder, our church has become mission partners with the Short School, a K-3 public elementary school in the Gerstle Park neighborhood of San Rafael.  Most of the students come to school by bus from the Canal area, and live in poverty. With a seed donation from our church, grant money, and with wisdom and lots of labor lovingly given by Patti, Megan Jones, Liz McNamara, and parents of the school, the school now has a garden!  And thanks to Chris Lopin, Jim Irving, and Gary and Brad Newman, they have 4 beautiful benches for the children to sit outside in their new outdoor classroom.  


Yesterday Patti, Megan, Liz and I spent the morning visiting the school's garden, the library-to-be, and several classrooms.  What a wonderful school!  Every child was fully engaged in learning from each other and from a fine faculty of energetic and creative teachers.  The second graders were in teams with names like "the retailers" studying economics! Wow! 


Our church is helping to bring more of God's love and justice to the world with our work with the Short School, Mexico Mission, the REST program, the Justice Garden, the Food Barrel, the Cents-ability Offering for the Hungry, and more.  Let Patti know if you have a heart for Mission and can help.  

In peace,

Bev 


June Calendar

Thursday, June 4
7:00 p.m.


Choir Practice - New singers welcome!

Friday, June 5
Noon


Bible Study

Sunday, June 7
9:30 a.m.
10:30 a.m.


Mexico Mission Commissioning Service
Coffee and Refreshments - All welcome!

Thursday, June 11
7:00 p.m.


Choir Practice - New singers welcome!

Saturday, June 13
6:00 - 7:00 a.m.


Mexico Mission departure

Sunday, June 14
9:30 a.m.
10:30 a.m.
1:00 p.m.
3:30 -4:30
4:30 till dark


Aging Gracefully
Coffee and Refreshments - All welcome!
Church Picnic -Samuel P. Taylor State Park
Singalong with Stephen Iverson
Dinner and s'mores

Thursday, June 18
7:00 p.m.


Choir Practice - New singers welcome!

Friday, June 19
Noon


Bible Study

Sunday, June 21
9:30 a.m.
11:00 a.m.


Mexico Mission Return Service
POTLUCK Return Brunch - All welcome!

Thursday, June 25
7:00 p.m.


Choir Practice - New singers welcome!

Friday, June 26
Noon


Bible Study

Sunday, June 28
9:30 a.m.
10:30 a.m.
10:45 a.m.


Where Judaism and Christianity Meet
Coffee and Refreshments - All welcome!
Let's Talk! about Liberty w/Howard Schwartz

 

 

Bible Study - Friday, June 5 @ Noon
Isa. 61:1-4, 11; Luke 6:46-49


 

Whatever your experience with the Bible might be, you are welcome to come and learn and make meaningful friendships.

 
Please Remember in Your Prayers
Praying Hands


 

Larry Mong, for freedom from suffering from his illnesses, and for grace and strength for Shannon and the family as they support him;

Lesli, Brandon, and their daughter Lindsey Dumler as they mourn the loss of their son and brother, Preston;
Kit Argilla for healing and full recovery;

Wil Swalberg, for healing for his back and full mobility;

Wanda Latta for successful surgery, healing, and full recovery;

For the family and friends of Carolyn Goodman's Auntie Wilma, for comfort in their bereavement;

Marie Ongaro for healing and full recovery;

Skye Bailey and her daughters as they mourn the loss of Michael;

Chris Lopin, and his father and family as they mourn the loss of Chris's mother;

Cat Caldwell and her father and family as they mourn the loss of Cat's mother;

Ahmed Abu-Aly, for healing, and Ahmed and Robin, for safe travel;

Jean Brockett, mother of Jody, for full recovery, and for Jody and her father;
Carolyn O'Hara, mother of Laurie, for healing, and for strength and support during her recovery;

Andrea Proster, sister of Nancy Elberg, for complete healing, and for Nancy for strength in companioning her;

Jerry Lambert, mother of Paul, for blessed assurance of God's constant presence;

For the people of Nepal, relief of every kind;

For the imprisoned and those in detention and their loved ones;

For our church community, for creativity, compassion, unity in the Spirit, and energy for mission.


Please take time this week to pray for those on our list.

   

Back to the top 

 

Thank you to all who contacted your State Senators!  Our
State Senate Passed Senate Bill 124 to End Youth Solitary Confinement!  Now on to the Assembly - More Help Needed!


 

Yesterday, the state Senate passed Senate Bill 124 by a vote of 26-13 to limit the solitary confinement of youth in California's prisons!

 

Thank you for your emails and calls to your Senators, and for spreading the word to your friends! We would not have won this important first victory without your support.

 

Thanks also to Senator Mark Leno for his leadership, and to the other co-sponsors, Children's Defense Fund-California, Youth Justice Coalition, and the California Public Defenders Association, for their efforts to support this bill. 

 

Next, the bill is headed over to the state Assembly. There will be at least 3 votes. 

 

To make sure that lawmakers know that we want an end to this cruel and inhumane practice, we are gathering 1,000 letters from youth and allies across the state with their stories about why we need to #EndYouthSolitary.

 

Please send a letter to break youth out of solitary confinement today.

 

You can use this form to create your statement, or you can mail a letter to our office: Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, 1970 Broadway, Suite 1125, Oakland, CA 94612. For the letter to be presented in legislative committee, it must be signed.

 

So far we have collected 303 letters-please spread the word and help us get to 1,000!


 

With appreciation,


 

Jennifer Kim
Director of Programs
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights

 
Join us for the 3rd Annual 
"Church in the Redwoods" Picnic

 

Sunday, June 14

1:00 p.m. - Games and Hiking

3:30 p.m. - Singalong w/Stephen

4:30 p.m. - Dinner and S'mores

Samuel P. Taylor State Park - Redwood Group Picnic Site

 

Wear your hiking shoes or your bocce shoes, and let's play games, hike, sing, BBQ and have fun together!  BBQ available and kept going by the Peltzmans. You provide your set ups (plates and utensils and cups) and what you want to BBQ and bring a potluck dish to share. Water, iced tea, and decaf coffee will be provided. Other drink selections welcomed; there will be an ice chest available. We will plan to have an early dinner together and a camp fire after.

 

Other suggestions:

camp chairs, jackets, games, bikes, guitars, books

 

 

See you there!

Elder Linda Peltzman, 

Membership Nurture 

 

 
Let's Talk! will be taking a break for June 7 for the 
Mexico Mission Commissioning Service

 
 
Please Sign up now for "REST Plus" in June and July!

 


SHPC is stepping up to host the temporary shelter for men on 6/8 and 7/6 at St. Anselm's School Gym, serving 40 guests at these events.  On 6/29 and 7/27 we'll be hosting the women's program, which will remain at the county's Health & Wellness Campus in San Rafael. As during the regular season we anticipate serving 20 guests each evening.  In addition to preparing and bringing a dish to the site, the volunteers are on-site from 5-8pm to welcome and say a blessing with our un-housed neighbors, serve and share the home-cooked meal, and then clean up.

 

You can sign up now to volunteer one or more of these dates at our online sign-up site: REST Plus sign-up

 

If you'd like more information about what's involved with volunteering, or anything else related to the REST program), please contact Shannon Mong at [email protected] 

 

Mexico Mission 2015


 

The Mexico Mission home-building trip is a life changing opportunity to go outside of our comfort zones and make a meaningful change in the lives of families living in poverty. This year's trip is scheduled for: Saturday, June 13 through Saturday, June 20, 2015

 

Upcoming Important Dates:

 

Mission Commissioning Service

Sunday, June 7 @ 9:30 am

Mandatory Attendance - Sleepy Hollow Presbyterian Church 

 

Mission Trip

Saturday, June 13 to Saturday, June 20

departure and arrival at Sleepy Hollow Presbyterian Church

 

Mission Return Service and Brunch

Sunday, June 21 @ 9:30 am

Mandatory Attendance - Sleepy Hollow Presbyterian Church

 

 

 

Completed forms can be dropped off / mailed to Sleepy Hollow Presbyterian Church, 100 Tarry Road, San Anselmo, CA 94960, e-mailed to Mark Sarkisian, or sent to Mark at 667 Butterfield Road.
 

Forms can be found here.

 

Please contact us if you have any questions.  

 

Mark SarkisianAllie Duro
Cell Ph: 415.812.3395Cell Ph: 415.497.5006
Email: [email protected]Email: [email protected]

 

Greeters Needed for the month of June

Help with our ministry of hospitality by signing up to be a greeter! All you have to do is get to church by 9:15, light the candles, and hand out bulletins with a smile. Thank you to all who have signed up so far!




Jody Brockett Schmetz, 
Worship Elder
It Takes a Village --
Thank you so much to all the volunteers who are making our church so warm and welcoming with coffee hour hospitality!

 

Fellowship time is organized by your Deacons, but we rely on everyone pitching in to help. While each Parish is assigned a month for Fellowship, that time may not be convenient for your schedule. So now you can sign up online! Just click here and pick a Sunday that's most convenient for you.

 

JUNE: Nancy Elberg/Frankie Eakes

JULY:  Marie Ongaro

AUGUST: Robin Abu-Aly

 

Sign up now and keep the hospitality going!

 

NEW FOLKS - JOIN THE SIGN UP TO TAKE MEALS TO WIL AND BETTY!
 
Thank you and bless you to all who have signed up to take a hot meal and your love to Wil and Betty on Wednesday nights. The online sign up sheet has been updated and is ready for more volunteers!


 

Life Can Only Be Understood Backwards

 

This week I've been thinking a lot about the future.  What lies ahead for each of us is like night and day from what lay ahead for previous generations.

 

It used to be that if you had a message for the world, it would be filtered by gatekeepers - the government, an editor, or even an academic institution - but now anyone with a smartphone can broadcast (in text or video) anything they wish. We are being told we will have to learn to collaborate with machines and robots, that we will have to adapt to things we never saw coming, maybe even to cars that drive themselves!

 

How does all of this make you feel? How does this make me feel?

 

Fortunately, I ran across an appropriate quote by Corrie ten Boom, a wonderful Christian who was arrested by the Nazis along with the rest of her family for hiding Jews in their home during the Holocaust. Imagine what she must have been pondering while imprisoned in Germany.

 

Yet, she wrote "Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God."

 

Proverbs 19:21 states "Many are the plans in the minds of man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand." Even though life can only be understood backwards, it must be lived forward (Mark Twain). So, as we move forward one day at a time we can be comforted and have confidence that we are protected, we are loved, and we are surrounded by a God who knows the future and can erase any fears we might have about it.

 

We were destined to live now. So let's live in the light, be active and fearlessly pursue what God has intended for us and implanted in us. For "Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4).

 

Therefore, let's look forward and courageously move ahead ... so, when we look backwards someday, it will all make sense.

 

Onward ... your friend, Paul

 

 

Paul Lambert is a member of SHPC who travels extensively for his career as a producer of Broadway-bound musicals.  He is a graduate of Moody Bible College who studies the Bible daily and attends our Bible Study whenever he's in town. He posts this blog each week no matter where he is, to the delight and comfort of many.  SHPC thanks you, Paul.
SHPC teams up with The Short School in San Rafael

 

 

Back in March volunteers from SHPC and the Short School in San Rafael worked together to install a new school garden at the Short School.  The result is a beautiful school garden that the children can enjoy.

 

Check out the Short School website for more information about the school community and more photos of the school's garden.

 

A big Thank You to Patti Vance, Liz McNamara, Megan Jones, and Ethan Russell for their support!

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance responds to earthquake disaster in Nepal

 

The death toll from the massive earthquake in Nepal continues to rise. Nearly 4,000 are known dead and more than 6,000 were injured when the 7.8 quake struck just west of the capital of Kathmandu on April 25. The quake, the worst in more than 80 years, along with many serious aftershocks has also caused damage in parts of India and Bangladesh.


 



Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) is providing emergency relief and short-term recovery in the impacted areas with our partner, ACT Alliance and its members who are already on the ground. Immediate response will help provide needed food, water, supplies and medicine to the impacted towns and villages. As long term recovery plans are developed, PDA will accompany and further financially support our partners in the area to insure that a comprehensive recovery is sustained.

The needs for the response will be great. God's people are once again called on to stand in the "GAP" - Give. Act. Pray.

 

Give: Financial support for relief efforts can be designated to DR999999 with reference to Nepal. Gifts can be made  online, by phone (800) 872-3283 weekdays between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. (EST), or checks can be mailed to Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), P.O. Box 643700, Pittsburg, PA 15264-3700.

 

Act: Learn how your congregation can help families who have lost everything in the devastation. Stay informed and  like us on Facebook, download resources and share updates with your congregation.

 

Pray: Pray for those who suffered loss of family or those who are working tirelessly to provide rescue, humanitarian aid, and spiritual and psychological support.

For more information, visit www.pcusa.org/pda.
 

 

"And after the earthquake....the sound of sheer silence, and a Voice said: 'what are you doing here?'" 
(1 Kings 19:12-13)


 

Be the presence of God with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance 
for the people of Nepal.

 

Help Needed for Nepal Earthquake Relief

 

Providing safe drinking water is the #1 challenge in disaster zones. While Sarah Kuehn was at Cal Poly she contributed to the research and development behind a portable water treatment device that the Red Cross is distributing in Nepal. You can support this project by sponsoring one of the "water bags" from Day One Response: 


www.dayoneresponse.com

You are invited to visit these other organizations that can help with relief and assistance in Nepal:


www.mountainfund.org

www.orchidgardennepal.wordpress.com

 

With thanks,

Patty Kuehn

Connecting Farm to Fork: A Forum on Building a More Just and Sustainable Food System

 

Monday, June 22

6:30-9:00pm 

First Presbyterian Church of San Rafael

1510 Fifth Avenue

Suggested Donation: $5.00 - $20.00

 

There will be a film screening of Ripe for Change, followed by a panel discussion featuring: 

  • Armando Nieto, Community Food and Justice Coalition
  • Janet Brown, Marin Food Policy Council Chair and Allstar Organics farm owner



 

The film, Ripe for Change, raises important questions about the sustainability of our current food system, addressing topics such as chemical farm inputs, the loss of the family farm, changing food paradigms, atrazine in the environment, and GMOs. Moreover, the film features diverse perspectives of family farmers, scientists, and policy experts who advocate for alternative models of local food production and marketing. It also highlights farmers who have connected with congregations in Marin City and San Anselmo to deliver affordable, culturally appropriate food, including Dru Rivers of Full Belly Farm and Will Scott, of Scott Family Farm and President of the Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association.


 


Please call (707) 634-4672 or email us for more information about this event or our organization.

 

We look forward to seeing you there!

The Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative Team


 

Interfaith Counseling Center:

Sometimes "the Good Old Summertime" Provides an Excuse to Party and Overindulge


 

The Specter of Addiction: Are you or someone that you care about in the throes of an addiction to food, internet, gambling, shopping, work, alcohol or sex? The bad news is that such behavior tends to be progressive; the good news is that issues of dependency and co-dependency can be treated.


 

The counselors below may be able to help:


Natalie Harvey, MSD, MFT #53575[email protected];  415-747-5182

 

Barbara Nelson, MA, MFT #33773[email protected];  415-332-4194

 

Ruth Schweitzer-Mordecai, MA, MDiv, MFT #21841[email protected]415-258-9382


Jim Burns, MA, MFT Intern #55688; 415-494-8599

Looking for a Summer Job?


 

Steve & Kate's Camp in Kentfield is hiring full time students (40 hour a week) for 10 weeks - paid jobs include Summer Staff Dance, Operations managers, Assistant Directors, etc., and regular staff. If interested please call or email Bear Whitfield directly or apply online at www.steveandkatescamp.com/jobs. Must be a high school graduate.  

 

 

Sleepy Hollow Presbyterian Church, 
100 Tarry Road, San Anselmo, CA  94960
Allie Duro, Editor/Office Administrator
E-mail us at [email protected] or call us at 415-453-8221