T O U C H S T O N E  -  A  M i d W e e k  B u l l e t i n

 
      
     
 
10:00 a.m. FCC Worship in the chapel
5:00 p.m. (a)Spire Worship Service, Rm. 301




  
 

        
                   May 22, 2016   
                      
                      
                       

  

Our children and adult soloists offered a beautiful rendition of "Morning has Broken" last Sunday on Pentecost.

Reflections on Sunday Worship . . .

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31
"Is the Trinity even relevant in 2016 (Yes, ma'am!)"

I am raising a daughter in 21st Century North America, which is maybe the best time and place (thus far) in history to do so considering human progress towards equality for women. But then it's crazy to consider that she should still expect to earn 70 cents for every dollar that her male counterparts earn, be subjected to legislation about her lady-parts, very likely be subjected to sexual harassment in some form and on and on. Clearly, more work is needed to reach true equality and human dignity for at least half the human family. THAT is why it DOES matter what we believe about the nature of God and the words we use to describe God. 

By very intentionally talking about God as both male and female, as being IN RELATIONSHIP with us as the human family, our equality-- both male and female-- is affirmed before God. This Trinity Sunday we will reflect on the nature of God, God's Wisdom, the Feminine Divine and what we feel called to think and do in response to those reflections.

-Rev. Andy Schwiebert

 
Also This Sunday:

Come Celebrate our Choirs          
This Sunday, May 22nd, we will celebrate our choirs during and after the morning worship service. The Adult Choir will by presenting three special pieces. Come hear us perform Morten Lauridsen's beautiful "Dirait-on" from Les Chanson des Roses.We will also sing "You Are the New Day" made popular by The King Singers and used on KCET's TV station in the 1990's. Also included will be a favorite solo entitled "Come Ready and See Me" by Richard Hundley. Then plan to stay after the service for coffee hour and chat with Adult and Handbell choir members as we thank them for their continued faithfulness throughout the year and for providing us beautiful music during worship. If you are interested in joining one of our choirs, please talk to Music Director Andrew Whitenack.



For more information visit aspireucc.org.



 
Worship Leaders:
Rev. Andy Schwiebert
Rev. Marlene W. Pomeroy

Ushers :
Judi Tyler
Dana Pell
Mary Camacho
Brian Weltman

Liturgist
TBA

Organist & Music Director
Andrew Whitenack

Church School Teachers:
Elementary class with Krysty Leckrone/Grace Rinck in Room 302. 
Youth class with Jeff Tyler in the youth room.


Church Nursery (for infants - K):
Mrs. Irene Phillips, Becky Rinck and Will Brookey.

Nursery opens at 9 a.m. for early birds and then everyone comes to worship at 10:00 and stays through the Children's Time and then  children return to the nursery. 

Nina Kung  
[email protected]

Visit us at:  uccpasadena.org 

Sermon podcast:


Office Hours

Monday - Thursday

9:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

We close for lunch
12 - 1:30 PM

Tel. # 626.795.0696
Fax # 626.795.0698

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What is Highlighted in this Touchstone?

-PCU's Voting as an act of faith
-Spring Justice Market report
-Update on our Finances
-Women's One Day Mini Retreat
-Summer Directory Update
-St. Matthew's Passion
-L.A. Pride
-(a)Spire Small Group Continues
-Spring Tea June 11th
-Graduates to be honored - June 12th
-Pilgrim Pines Summer Camp sign up
-Soles4Souls
-Sign up for El Capitan All Church Camp - Oct. 14-16


VOTING AS AN ACT OF FAITH
               Join us for an afternoon of sacred ritutal as we                 
            bless our hands ahead of voting in the California 
primary elections and an introduction to PCU's latest book,  
      "Deeper Love" on Sunday May 22 at the First United       
       Methodist Church of Pasadena, Fellowship Hall 
        from 3:30PM - 5:00 PM



Spring Justice Market

The Aid Africa Spring Market table brought in $230.00 for Aid Africa this Sunday. Thank you to all the church members who continue to support Aid Africa with such generous and caring hearts.

Warm regards,
Irene Keller
Secretary on the board of Aid Africa


Update on Our Finances
 
With a little over one third of the year gone, Church Council noted at our last meeting that FCC, Aspire and our Building are all behind on budgeted income - about $18K in total.  There are several causes for this shortfall - bills that were due at the end of the first quarter, some budgeted expenses that came in higher than predicted, late rents on building space, new building income that had not been booked by the time the balance sheet was published - and pledged income to Aspire and FCC that had not been received.
 
If you are able to bring your pledge to FCC or Aspire current and have not done so, we invite you to keep your pledge up to date at your earliest convenience.  Church Council will continue to offer updates throughout the year to let the congregation know appropriate information about church finances.  Thank you all for your ongoing support!


The Women's 1-Day Mini Retreat is Happening!!
 
On Saturday May 28th from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. about 14 women are headed to a private home in Tujunga for some time together. All women of the church (and friends) are welcome! The cost is $10 per person and Marlene is accepting RSVP's all month at  [email protected].  The day will include: time to connect and learn together as women,  time to enjoy some art work, a chance to wander and reflect on the property, take a swim or a Jacuzzi, sit in the sun and enjoy the beauty of the property, journal if you wish and be together away from all our responsibilities.  Please RSVP to Marlene by Wednesday May 25th of your intent to come and she will send out more details to all participants.  We will plan to potluck lunch together. We hope you can join us!


Summer Directory Update
Our office Manager Nina will be updating our church directory this June. Please give her any updates and additions to her by June 6th - this includes addresses, cell phones, etc. that you wish to be accessible in our church directory for all church members.
 

St Matthew's Passion
Our soloist Eugene Carbajal is singing in J.S. Bach's Passion on Saturday June 4th at the First United Methodist Church on Colorado Blvd.  at 2 p.m. The Pasadena Conservatory of Music and the Artes Vocales of LA. are presenting the event. Tickets are $25 each and you may purchase them at stmatthewpassion.bpt.me or see Eugene at church! More info may be found at www.pasadenaconservatory.org
 
 
L.A. Pride
A group of UCC churches is meeting up in Hollywood to march together in the L.A. Pride Parade on Sunday June 12th.  For over 8 years a group of UCC folks have had a presence in this nationally televised event.  The parade starts at 11 a.m. and you can meet up with folks from Hollywood Independent UCC church prior to that. Please let us know if you are interested in attending and we will put you in touch with folks from that church. We may also add our name to a UCC banner if there is interest. Please speak to one of our pastors. More info on the parade may be found at http://www.timeout.com/los-angeles/things-to-do/la-pride



a(Spire) Small Group Continues: "This May All Go Up in Flames" 
Next meetings are: Sundays 5/29 and 6/12 at 5:00 p.m.




This small group continues and is being co-led by the Revs. Timothy Murphy and Allison Mark. The book is called Beyond Resistence: The Institutional Church Meets the Post-Modern World and was written by our  UCC denomination's new General Minister and President John Dorhauer. He offers ideas on how we can engage the next generation (aka church 3.0), all the while being "church 2.0". It will meet every other week. FCC folks are welcome to join this group; please RSVP to Timothy




2016 Annual Gathering of the Southern California Nevada Conference

On June 3-4 the Annual Gathering (AG) of our conference is taking place on the campus of
SCNC Chapman University in Orange.  It is a wonderful way to see the broader Southern California UCC church! . We send two delegates from our church each year along with our pastors. Our delegates this year are: incoming Vice Moderator Elizabeth Lasnki, and Stacy Thomas/John Gamber-Thompson who are sharing a position. If you would like to attend the event on either day, please let one of our pastors know. Registration is taking place through May 23rd atwww.scncucc.org
.
Workshops include topics such as: joining a virtual church, Bounday training for laity, Labyrinth walking and designing worship that energizes and soothes, as well as info about our UCC Insurance Board with Charles Cutler.  One day registrations are available and you must sign up for food requests by the deadline.

Spring Tea Scheduled for June 11th - Invitations will be mailed in the next week


On Saturday June 11th  we will have our 2nd Annual Spring Tea which we have now dubbed our "Scholarship Tea." It will be held at 4 p.m. in our parlors. We hope you will plan to attend and bring some friends.

If you plan to donate to the brand new Women's Scholarship Fund, which will be awarded for the first time at the Tea, please contact Grace Rinck or Nina in the church ofice. Click here for more information about applying for the scholarship.

Graduates to be Honored June 12th
diploma_grad_cap.jpg

Calling all graduates of high school, college or beyond! If you have a family member who will be graduating this spring, please let Rev. Marlene know and we will honor them on Sunday June 12th. 

Pilgrim Pines Sign-Ups - Camp is June 22-July 23

We have our local UCC camp registration sheets available in the church office for the five weeks of summer camp. There are sessions for 3-8 yrs olds (with an adult companion), 1-3rd grade, 4-6th grade, 7 & 8th grade, and 9-12th grades. In addition, there are several options for different ages of campers with special needs (10-14, 15-21, and 22 or older). You may pick up the paper registration in the office or view online at www.pilgrimpinescamp.org The deadline is May 15th.
FCC has a special needs campership scholarship fund in memory of church member Beth Biery. Contact Rev. Marlene for more info on that.


Soles4Souls 

It is estimated that 300 million people worldwide can't afford shoes - leaving them vulnerable to injuries and infections, yet every year, millions of shoes are thrown away in landfills.

Sonnet Apple is collecting shoes for Soles4Souls, an anti-poverty organization that monetizes new and gently used shoes and clothing to create sustainable jobs and fund direct relief efforts.

She will be accepting new and gently worn shoes (women's, men's and children's) through July 4th.  All you have to do is attach the pairs together either with rubber bands or string and drop them in the box.  She'll take care of the rest.

Take a look in your closet, under your bed, and ask your friends for their gently used shoes!  It's a simple thing to do and will make all the difference to someone in need.

El Capitan All Church Camp - Sign up NOW to reserve your spot 
Oct. 14-16!

Our Membership Ministry has selected the weekend of October 14-16th for our All ChurchCamp!!We have reserved cabins and safari tents and now you can call up and reserve your tent or cabin. You must call directly and reserve your spot and pay for one night. The second night must be paid as you arrive in October. So, check your calendar, grab a friend or two and plan to join us!!! We are just above the heated pool and a short walk to the store and a hike to the beautiful beach. The more the merrier! The phone number is 1-866-352-2729 and ask for the block reserved for the First Congregational Church of Pasadena. There are 8 bunk cabins set aside ($501 per cabin with private bath and shower and kitchenette for the entire weekend or $125.25 per person if you split four ways), 4 tent cabins  with access to a public bathroom nearby ($347 per weekend with either two doubles or one queen bed), or 3 creekside cabins with queen beds if you want to splurge for $589 for the weekend. We have until August to reserve the cabins and tents we want.
el capitan camp oct 13