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





  
 

        
                   June 12, 2016   
                      
                      
                       

  


Our Spring Tea will take place this Saturday from 4-6 p.m. in our parlors. We will be awarding our first FCC Women's Scholarships at the tea! 
Reflections on Sunday Worship . . .

Luke 7:36 - 8:3
A New Beginning

How badly have you screwed up in life at this point? Not too bad, you're doing okay--you say-- and are mostly concerned about helping family and friend screw-ups around you? That's good-- it's good to help others. But IS IT POSSIBLE you might have a blind spot, and are not seeing ways you have been hurting others? This week we read the story from Luke of Jesus dining with a Pharisee who questions how he could allow a sinner woman to wipe his feet with her hair, tears and expensive oil. Jesus responds that the more indebted a sinner, the deeper their faith upon experiencing forgiveness. 

This is graduation Sunday, when we celebrate graduates who are finishing up their high school and MSW careers. It is a moment of reflection on passing from one phase of life into another, and taking stock of the meaning of our special relationships-- parent to child, spouse to spouse, church mentor to graduating youth. At the occasion of a new beginning such as this, we have an opportunity to ask for forgiveness for the ways we may have fallen short with each other AND... to offer forgiveness for past hurts. It is upon reflection on the grace offered to each of us that the grace we extend to others becomes more meaningful. 

-- Rev. Andy Schwiebert


Also This Sunday:

Krysty Leckrone and Roberta White will lead our Elementary class in room 232 and Jeff Tyler will lead our youth in the youth room.

This week we will enjoy several celebrations and shifts. This will be Andrew Whitenack's last Sunday before he takes the summer months to be away to replenish himself. Connie Washburn will be stepping in as our Summer Music Director starting June 19th.  In addition Harry Huryk has resigned and this week will be his last Sunday with us. Harry has been with us over 6 years, helping with the audio for worship, weddings, funerals and many special events. Please join us in thanking Harry for his service. David Smith, who sometimes subs for us, will be our new audio tech on Sunday mornings and for special events. We will welcome him June 19th. 
 
In addition, our Church School Teachers are taking a well-deserved summer break and we will be thanking them for their time: Krysty Leckrone, Grace Rinck, Neva Orr and Roberta White are our elementary age teachers; Jake Pomeroy, Andy Schwiebert and Jeff Tyler are our youth teachers.  The teachers will be enjoying a meal together in their honor off site on Sunday night.
 
Finally, we will be honoring our high school, college, and graduate school graduates on Sunday. Those we know who will be on site are: Rebecca Rinck, Jenny Hart and Jim Maddox.  We invite you to bring cards and gifts and notes of blessing to all of them.
 
Summer Small Groups Forming
 
You will have two choices for a small group encounter this Summer. These groups are designed around a topic or a book and are also intended to deepen our connection with one another in a smaller setting. The groups always have time for a check-in, a discussion of the book or topic, and then a time of prayer for one another. Sign-ups will begin this Sunday for either group. If there are more than 6-8 people for each book we will form additional groups. We encourage everyone to join a summer small group! They typically meet 4-5 times over the next few months at a time and place that works for the group - it can be at the church or in homes. 

Please feel free to ask Carolyn Olney, Lisa Gamber or Marlene Pomeroy if you have further questions. The two books we will be using are: Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Glorify; Reclaiming the Heart of Progressive Christianity by Rev. Emily C. Heath. We urge you to google both books for synopses and reviews of them. We have several copies of both books for your purchase  the next few Sundays (The Coates book is $15 and the Heath book is $20). You are also welcome to purchase your own book.
 
 


For more information visit aspireucc.org.



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

Ushers :
Ron White
Kathie Arscott
Sandy Biehler
Jim Maddox

Liturgist
Josh Ashenmiller

Organist & Music Director
Andrew Whitenack

Church School Teachers:
Krysty Leckrone and Roberta White will lead our Elementary class in room 232 and Jeff Tyler will lead our youth in the youth room.


Church Nursery (for infants - K):
Jaquelyne Rodriquez  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

Like us on Facebook

 
What is Highlighted in this Touchstone?

-Spring Tea June 11th - last chance to RSVP
-Building Updates
-FCC Vision statements approved at Church Business 
  Meeting
-Youth traveling to National UCC Youth Event in July
--Graduates to be honored - June 12th
-Sign up for El Capitan All Church Camp - Oct. 14-16
-Soles4Souls Shoe drive
-(a)Spire Small Group Continues
-Summer Directory Update
-Pilgrim Pines Summer Camp sign up



Annual Spring Tea - last chance to RSVP!!
Please contact church office no later than Thursday June 9th.

On Saturday June 11th  we will have our 2nd Annual Spring Tea which we have now dubbed our "Scholarship Tea." The food is going to be fantastic, the music delightful and the company joyful. We will also be awarding our very first Women's Scholarships! It is going to be an exciting event and we hope you will attend. Please call Nina in the church office to reserve your spot or send in your invitation response card. Note: Nina is in the church office Monday - Thursday each week. 



Building Updates

Here is what's going on in the building.

Since January, we have installed 70 exit combo lights in assembly halls, stairwells and around access door. We have finished the installation of 15 new push bars on several interior doors and have included occupancy load signs in various halls. Since February, we have completed the following: a septic tank enclosure, renovation of the new youth lounge, Walnut parking lot signage, scraped/sealed interior basement wall, repaired a broken ceiling pipe in the choir room, installed a couple AC units in offices, mounted new exterior lighting, repaired broken pipes in Mayflower hall wall, supplied hot water to the nursery, repaired glass windows in #301 and carpeted office #220 on 2nd floor.

New projects are in progress!

-Sallie McNair
Building Manager

New Values, Mission and Vision to be Adopted at Business Meeting

Over the past year our congregation has been working hard to revise our values, mission and vision statements. We will be voting to endorse the new statements at our upcoming Annual Spring Business Meeting this Sunday June 5th. We held a forum to discuss the applications of these statements on Sunday May 22. Afterwards, those present at the forum expressed the following hopes about our new statements: 
  • "We now have clearer sign-posts guiding the ministries of our church"
     
  • "Now we are more empowered to answer requests for ministry partnerships with both an emphatic "yes" and a thoughtful "no" as ministry opportunities align or not with our newly adopted mission and vision statements."
     
  • "These statements of Values, Mission & Vision give us clearer focus for our church."
At the forum we also discussed possible impacts that the new statements will have on our ministries. The next steps are for the congregation to endorse the statements and then for council to spend an upcoming August retreat evaluating current ministries against the newly endorsed statements of Values, Mission and Vision. 

Also, one additional tweak to the statements was offered, that are in line with our history as offering welcome and support to our sisters and brothers who are developmentally disabled. Council endorsed this friendly ammendment and the final, revised version of the statements will be voted on this Sunday. Click here to see the New Statements of Values, Mission and Vision.

National Youth Event

Two of our youth plus one youth from Altadena will be going with Andy Schwiebert and youth and adults from neighboring churches to the National Youth Event in Florida. Youth and adults are planning to meet up in the next couple of weeks and Andy is meeting this week with other SoCal church pastors leading youth to plan extra-curricular programming, including our day of arrival and other "dead/lull" spaces in the NYE schedule. 

Celebrating our Graduates

We are celebrating FCC graduates on Sunday June 12th with cake and snacks after worship. Rebecca Rinck, Jennifer Hart, Neal Biery and Jim Maddox will be celebrated. Please bring cards of congratulations and any gifts you wish to offer. We will confirm in next week's Touchstone if all 4 will be present or if some cards/gifts should be sent directly to any of them.

We also extend our congratulations to Elizabeth Register's grandson Arthur Register who graduated May 24th from Lowell High School in San Francisco.

-Andy Schwiebert

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.


null



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.





a(Spire) Small Group Continues: "This May All Go Up in Flames" 
Final meeting is Sunday 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



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.

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.