A Liberal Church, Welcoming of All, Passionately Committed to Social Justice

The Pilgrim - February 7, 2010

Sunday Celebration Notes from Jerry Stinson
Celebrating God’s Love Every Sunday at 10 am.

In my sermon this Sunday I will be talking about the 2009 film Bright Star which looks at the life of the English poet John Keats. In the film, Keats says, “The point of diving in a lake isn’t immediately to swim to the shore, but to be in the lake, to luxuriate in the sensation of water.” And Forrest Church, the brilliant Unitarian minister who died just recently, wrote, “Life is a miracle couched between mysteries.” Those two quotations may give a hint as to what my sermon will be about.

SERMON: Diving into Life with Abandon
The Rev. Jerry Stinson, preaching
READING: Matthew 14:22-32
LITURGISTS: The Rev. Libby Tigner and Dr. Lisa Orr

Jerry Stinson’s sermon on February 14 will be titled "The Purple Hibiscus and the Litmus Test."

 

Music on Sunday

The anthem for Sunday is “Cry Out and Shout” by Norwegian composer Knut Nystedt, who was born in Oslo, Norway in 1915. Nystedt is the first Norwegian choral composer to have his work introduced to the United States. Frank Pooler, my mentor and friend at CSULB from 1968 to the present, gave Nystedt the adapted text from Isaiah XII while visiting in Oslo in 1953. This short anthem was extremely well received by the choral community. It is scored for mixed chorus with divisi in the sopranos and tenors and is just forty measures long. Although it is best served as an introit, the choir will present it preceding the time of prayer. See you in church.

- Dr. Leland, Vail, Minister of Music

 

In Sunday School

Theme: Into the Deep
Scripture Focus: Luke 5:1-11

 

In Adult Education: The Existential Philosophy of Paul Tillich
Sundays at 8:30 am in the Klar Rooms, upstairs in Pilgrim Hall

Dr. Ed Bloomfield, Minister of Visitation at First Church and Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Cerritos College, will teach a two-week class on the life and thought of Paul Tillich on February 7 and 14 at 8:30 a.m. in the Klar Rooms. Ed had the privilege of studying under Tillich at Harvard Divinity School in 1960-1962.

Paul Tillich (1886-1965) was a German-American theologian and Christian existentialist philosopher. He is best known for his works The Courage to Be (1952) and Dynamics of Faith (1957), which introduced issues of theology and modern culture to a general readership. Theologically, he is best known for his major three-volume work, Systematic Theology (1951-1963), in which he developed his “method of correlation”: an approach of exploring the symbols of Christian revelation as answers to the problems of human existence raised by contemporary existential philosophical analysis.
Tillich is brilliant, exciting, controversial, challenging and frustrating. Plan to join us for what promised to be a very educational dialogue about one of the twentieth century’s most influential Protestant theologians. If you have any questions, give Ed a call at 562-865-1503.

 

Parent Book Study Continues

The Parent Book Study meets Sundays at 9 a.m. in the Pownall Room to discuss Making a Home for Faith: Nurturing the Faith of Your Child, by Elizabeth Caldwell. The book study will meet each week through February 21. All parents and those interested in children's faith are invited. Childcare provided in the nursery.

 

 

First Church Café

Lunch will be served after church on Sunday, February 7! There are at least three great things about that: you don’t have to prepare it, it’ll be warm and tasty, and you get to enjoy a meal with your friends!

So come down to the Dining Room following the church service for a good lunch at a good price with good people. The cost is $8 for adults, $4 for children 10 and under. Exact change is appreciated!

Many of the boards will meet following lunch, and child care is available for your meeting. Please be sure to sign up for child care in the nursery if you’ll need child care during lunch or the meetings.

Menu: The "Happy Camper" Café
From Karen Cannon and Stars Catering
Beat the winter blues by going to camp! Feel like a kid again (or just eat like one)! Join the church family for a celebration of kid classics…
Macaroni and cheese: pure heaven, plain and simple like all kids love it
and
Mom’s Mac n’ Cheese: Mom always has to ruin a good thing; this version adds sautéed celery, onions, tuna and a few forbidden spices
KidSalad: Nothing scary or objectionable, just lettuce, croutons, carrots and a little cabbage with classic ranch dressing
Baby carrots and dip, plus bumps on a log (how long has it been?!)
Dinner rolls and butter
Dessert table: cookies, brownies, blondies and Rice Krispy treats
Kool Aid and iced tea
Kids Table: Kids can dine from the big guys table (for once), or take a boxed lunch version to the hang-out of their choice.

 

Support Haiti and Local Food Banks with Souper Bowl of Caring

This is the last Snday to bring in non-perishable food for the hunger labyrinth, which the youth will construct this Sunday. At a time when need and hunger are making the headlines on a daily basis, the labyrinth will be a place to pray, meditate, and offer aid to others after the service this Sunday. Food donated for the labyrinth will be given to local food banks. Monetary donations will be given to the One Great Hour of Sharing Fund to help support the people of Haiti.

What is a labyrinth, you ask? It’s a path that at first glance might appear to be a maze, but in actuality it is the opposite. With one way to enter and one way to exit, it is a single purposeful path that is walked to help become closer to God. It is a meditation and prayer tool used to quiet the mind and focus in prayer or meditation. It can be a powerful experience.

 

Friday Night at First Church
By Yvonne SaMarion

The Gamesters of First Church would like to invite players of all ages to this coming Friday Night at First Church on Friday, February 5. There will be dinner of a Louisiana bent for adults and kid-friendly food for children. The game of the night will be a Wii bowling tournament. There will be other games in play as we work our way towards the bowling championship match of the night. As this is a special game night, combining youth and adults, please let Yvonne SaMarion know by Wednesday morning if you intend to come so that we can prepare enough food for attendees (ysamarion@firstchurchlb.org or 562-436-2256 ext. 227). Dinner will start at 6. The cost is $5 per person.

 

Potluck Memorial for John Baney This Saturday
By Jim Deaton

On Saturday, February 6 at 6 p.m. we will gather for a potluck memorial for John Baney. We hope that all of you knew and loved John will join us. A phone call or email of your intentions to attend would be most helpful in planning the event. Please RSVP to Jim Deaton at 562-424 2311 or slimjimlb@aol.com.

 

Potato Lunch on February 14
By Martha Duncan

Board of Parish Life Fundraiser February 14! Forget the roses for Valentine's Day - go to the Dining Room after the service and for a mere $5 you'll get baked potatoes with all the fixings plus salad and beverage. And, since it's Valentine's Day, we'll have SWEET potatoes, too!

 

Church Vitality Event at First Church February 19-20
Can You Help Host?

The Southern California Nevada Conference of the United Church of Christ will hold its annual Church Vitality event in Long Beach at First Church on February 19 and 20. Designed to motivate and provide resources for ministers, lay leaders (officers, board and ministry team members and volunteers), worship planners and musicians, the event will draw about 150 from all around the conference to our campus. This is a great opportunity for us to shine!

We need about fifteen people who can be hosts for the weekend. We need help with registration and greeting, ushering and assisting the workshop leaders. If you are a volunteer, you will also be able to attend the event free of charge.

Just to entice you a bit further, the keynote speakers are the Rev. Michael Piazza, Dean of the Cathedral of Hope, a congregation of the UCC, known as the world’s largest liberal church with a predominantly LGBT membership, and the Rev. Anthony Robinson, president of Congregational Leadership Northwest, an ecumenical education and resource group (Rev. Robinson led us through our Imagining Tomorrow Together process five years ago). Additionally, workshops on a variety of topics will be offered.

For more information about the event, go to the Conference website at scncucc.org, where you can download a brochure. To volunteer to be a host, please contact Libby in the church office at 562-436-2256, ext. 224, or via email at ltigner@firstchurchlb.org. Whether you can help for a few hours or for both days, your presence will be greatly appreciated!

 

Writing the Sacred: A Psalm-writing, Journaling and Poetry Workshop
From Libby Tigner

Date: Saturday, February 27
Time: 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Cost: $15

Come play with words. Come and discover ways to unlock your creativity and give expression to your own spiritual journey through writing. At a Writing the Sacred workshop, author Ray McGinnis will show you some of the timeless poetic forms present in the Hebrew Psalms. Alongside the Psalms, he’ll draw from a splendid range of spiritual seekers who wrote poetry from St. Francis of Assisi to Rumi to Mary Oliver. He’ll offer selected Psalms, poems and journal writing exercises as prompts to help you to express your own longings and experiences of the sacred in the ordinary on paper.

In an open and hospitable setting, Ray invites you to bring to God what is on your heart: whether gratitude, lament, trust, wisdom, vision, forgiveness, loving-kindness or other emotions in your unfolding relationship with the God. Whether you are a seasoned writer or have never put pen to paper, you'll be expertly guided, step-by-step, to a place where you'll emerge with your own new psalms/sacred poems. You'll emerge from this workshop with ideas for how to use poem-making as a tool to write your own new psalms - as a companion on your own spiritual journey
or for enriching the life of your congregation. Signed copies of Writing the Sacred will also be available for purchase at this workshop for $20, cash or check.

Ray McGinnis is a poet and has written in journals all his life. He has taught over 9,000 people how to write prayers, poetry, and autobiographies, all the while guiding them to bring their whole heart, mind, and spirit to the process. Writing the Sacred is in its third printing. He lives in Vancouver and attends Canadian Memorial United Church. For more information about his workshop and book visit www.writetotheheart.com. To register contact the church office.

 

Share Your Joys and Celebrations
Remember Those Who Are Gone  

Provide the flowers for one week and let your church family know more about your joys and sorrows. Remember those you care and cared about by supporting this church function and helping to beautify the sanctuary each week. 

The cost is $75 for two bouquets. Check with J.J. Halter (562-421-5610  or haltjones@aol.com) to arrange a date. At this time February 28, March 7, 21, 28, April 11, 18, and 25 are open. Of course, many other dates later in the year are available.   

 

One Great Hour of Sharing

I am often astonished by the swift passage of time. Nearly a year has passed and it’s almost time for our Lenten offering, the One Great Hour of Sharing. Part of its mission is to respond as rapidly as possible to natural catastrophes such as the earthquake that ravaged Haiti. As of noon on Tuesday, January 26, more than $560,000 had been raised by the UCC Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund, according to Susan M. Sanders, UCC’s minister for global sharing of resources. That money purchases food, water, medical supplies, and tents and helps fund longer-term projects.

Mark March 14 on your calendars. That’s when the offering will be taken. The need is great, so I invite you to begin budgeting now for the One Great Hour of Sharing.

- Lloyd Wright, Board of Outreach

 

January Council Highlights
By Alison Mitchell, Moderator

• Class of five confirmands
• Pledging $475,130 for 2010
• Church designated receiver for Haiti relief donations
• Board of Parish Life will have baked potato and sweet potato fundraiser Valentine's Day
• Diaconate focus on attendance
• Sparkling Reception netted $5,106 for youth music programs

You are ALWAYS welcome to attend Council!
7 p.m. Fourth Tuesday, Downstairs Dining Room

 

Missed How Now, Need How To?
By Alison Mitchell, Moderator

The member's area on the church website has the "How to Get Things Done at First Church" document as well as the "Building Use and Event Booking Form."

P.S. The answer to the Just Jotham Around trivia question regarding the date on the church cornerstone is 1914, NOT 1916 as your not so clever moderator had written.

 

Taizé at St. Luke's

St. Luke's Episcopal Church will hold a Taizé service on Tuesday, February 9 at 7:30 p.m. All are invited to a quiet hour of meditation, readings, music and prayers for peace. St. Luke's is at the corner of 7th Street and Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach.

 

American Prayer Hour

“Oh God, of Many Names and Faiths, Guide us to a new place where our faith builds bridges and creates places for healing. Amen.” — The Rev Lesley Brogan

We see our faiths as a means to heal those who suffer, as an affirmation of the common human dignity of all of God’s people, and as a strong rebuttal of cruelty and derision attributed to God.
In this spirit, we have come together to form the American Prayer Hour, a time to pray in communion with our brothers and sisters in faith. We pray for an end to the spiritual violence continually suffered at the hands of the wrathful.

Join us at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, February 4 for the Los Angeles Prayer Hour hosted by the Glendale City Seventh-day Adventist Church,
610 E. California Avenue, Glendale, CA 91206

There is much work to do: every February, politicians and religious leaders flock to the National Prayer Breakfast. Long a tradition in the Capitol city, the National Prayer Breakfast is organized by the Fellowship Foundation, a fundamentalist Christian organization, scrutinized for their involvement in the Ugandan government’s draconian proposal to criminalize homosexuality—punishable by life imprisonment or death.

We cannot be silent or complacent at such an egregious violation of basic human rights and decency. The American Prayer Hour offers an alternative to the collusion in prayer with those who would inflict and support such unspeakable cruelty on another child of God.

Join us this Thursday, February 4 at 10:30 a.m. Visit us online at www.americanprayerhour.org for more information and to support the Prayer Hour.

Anchored in four key cities—Washington, DC, Dallas, Chicago and Berkeley, CA—the American Prayer Hour sees to show that hatred and extremism are contrary to the faithful, and an affront to loving religious traditions worldwide. We invite you to participate in this powerful event and encourage you to invite your friends, neighbors, congregations and families.

American Prayer Hour services are currently planned for the following cities: Anchorage, AK (Church of Life Alaska); Berkeley-Pacific School of Religion (The Chapel); Boynton Beach, FL (Church of our Savior, MCC); Buffalo, NY (The Episcopal Diocese of Western New York-Bishop’s Chapel): Chicago, IL (Chicago Theological Seminary-The Chapel); Dallas, TX (Creating Change, Sheraton Dallas, Ballroom A); Minneapolis, MN (Plymouth Congregational); New York (The New Seminary); Washington, DC (Calvary Baptist Church, Chapel).

 

Human Trafficking

If you are interested in the subject of human slavery, I cordially invite you to attend a symposium on human trafficking on February 27 at St. Mary’s College. In addition to various workshops, the keynote speaker will be E. Benjamin Skinner, author of A Crime So Monstrous: Fact-to-Face With Modern Slavery. There also will be a screening of the film “Trade.” For more information, including a registration form, you can email justice@csjorange.org or call me at 714-527-5330.

- Lloyd Wright, Board of Outreach

 

Pilgrim Deadline

The deadline for submitting items for inclusion in the newsletter is Friday at 12 noon for the email going out the following week. Due to the new email format, it is no longer necessary that items be submitted as attachments; they may simply be included in the text of your email.

 

 

February Birthdays

1 Cathleen Clay, Miguel Criado, Madeline Sharpe
2 Loni Meeker, Evan Nutt
3 Douglas Schading, David Sroka
5 Laverne Joseph
6 Margaret Jones
7 Shana Hassan, James Woods
8 Ed Allen, Barbara DeJong, Vicki Doolittle, Cathy Flynn
9 Martin DeJOng, Catherine Jaeckel, Aaron Gonzalez-Palmer, Patrick Wells
10 John Callahan, Don Pitchers
12 Reza AmirArdalan, Christopher O'Keefe
15 Bret Witter
17 Don Clay
18 Marjorie McMillin
19 Chris Butler
20 Donald Taylor, Ray Vargas
21 Steve Schatz
22 Elizabeth Schatz
23 Tobias Bush, Katie Hickox, Jerry Wulk
24 Claire DeJong, Bruce Russell
25 Clarence Dendy, Barbara Kingsley
27 Lily Penner, Linda Silas
28 Raj Advani
29 Lisa Orr

 

February Anniversaries

4 Glenn Agoncillo and Mike Andrzejewski, 9 years
12 Laura and Keith Butler, 17 years
13 Jerald Stinson and Kay Gault, 23 years
14 Kenia and Jacob Adajian, 29 years
14 Bob Phibbs and Bill Pratt, 22 years
16 Louise Fiori and Suzanne Turner, 8 years
19 Harold and Neloise Curtis, 67 years
21 Randall Goddard and Scott Juhl, 18 years
25 David Fitzgerald and Raymond Allen, 17 years

 

The Church Mouse has heard ...

... Long-time member the Rev. Ernie Fowler just turned 97. He is now living with his daughter and son-in-law in Encinitas, which is why we don’t see him very often. He would love to hear from First Church members. His new address is 1411 Calle Christopher, Encinitas, CA 92024.

 

Parish Concerns

Your thoughts and prayers are requested for Melvin Langston (Adreana Langston's brother); David Travis-Bourassa; Cathy Flynn; Tom Rogers (Joanne Halley's husband); Bill and Iris Wells; Dorothy (Oma) Carr (relative of Matt and Tracy Balin); Tabetha Faux (Todd Faux's sister); Marcia Hoffman, a UCC minister, upon the death of her husband; the McMillin family upon the death of their sister-in-law, Marlyn McMillin; and Harold Sutherland's mother, aunt and greataunt.

In the armed forces: Daniele Ware (Karen Miller’s granddaughter, stationed in Iraq) and Laura Anderson (Kathy Young's niece, stationed in Bahrain).

Names on the Parish Concerns list appear in two consecutive editions of the newsletter. Those in the armed forces serving in combat zones are listed until they come home. To put someone on either list, put a note on the Parish Concerns board on the Third Street landing or contact Ruth Warkentin in the church office.

 

Becoming a Member of First Church

Whether you have been attending for a few weeks, a few months or several years, we would like you to consider becoming a member of First Church. When you are ready to take that step, please call or email Rev. Jerry Stinson at 562-436-2256, ext 230 or revjstinson@verizon.net.

 

Online Calendar

Don’t miss out! Check the online church calendar at www.firstchurchlb.org/calendar.html for details about all church events. You can use the online calendar to email invitations to friends to church events and to set up emailed reminders to yourself. Just click on any event to see information about it.

 

The following information is paid advertising. To place an ad in this newsletter, please contact Ruth Warkentin in the church office.

 

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First Congregational Church - 241 Cedar Avenue - Long Beach, California 90802
562-436-2256 - Fax: 562-436-3018 - E-mail: office@firstchurchlb.org