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Lent and Easter 2007 |
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Congregational Community
Church of Sunnyvale
* 408-739-3285 * conglchurch@earthlink.net
1112 Bernardo Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94087 *
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by Pastor Gen Heywood
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During these weeks of Lent, we have been worshipping up on the chancel floor. It has been a time when we have sung better, sat closer, even felt like we might want to get to church a little earlier to get the best view. Sitting up front we see all the windows in the sanctuary and they are beautiful. No, they are much more than beautiful. They are breathtaking. And of these, the South Window is the grandest of them all. It is in that window that Holy Week is portrayed and Easter promised.
When we enter worship, we come under this window leaving the week just past and reaching our hearts more intensely toward God. When we leave, we pass under the same window which reminds us that God continues to reach for us no matter what the new week may hold.
In our South Window, three crosses stand on the hill. Spears of glass come from all directions. The human hand weakly reaches out for God while God’s hand forcefully reaches out to humanity and the two meet at the cross of Jesus.
This is the story of Holy Week. In our lives, Holy Week happens each time we feel betrayed, misunderstood, sad, alone, and scared. Holy Week happens when we suffer loss of health, loved ones, jobs, and life the way we know it. In the story of our gospels, Holy Week lasts just one week. But in the lives of many people, Holy Week may last months or years.
Many of us have lived or are living in Holy Week. We experience struggles and trials that seem too great for us to bear. We experience death and loss that shatter life as we know it. And we will never make it to Easter unless we are willing to welcome a new life that is not like the one we had before. This is the mystery of Easter. The world has dished out its worst, even God’s own self has not been spared suffering and death. And life will never be the same.
There is a resurrection on Easter - but Jesus does not return to be with his friends in the same manner as before. Everything changes. It is a new and different life, an unexpected life. If we hang on to the way our lives were, we will not make it to Easter. We will not have the new life that God intends for us. We can remember and delight in the good old days of the past but we will never, never be able to have them back. They are gone. We might even welcome something better.
The Christian story tells how through the death of Jesus, all the world, the rich, the poor the sick the well, men, women, everyone is welcome to live in covenant with God. Through the death of Jesus, there is no more separation based on what we are. Now, we are known by how we live the way we have seen in Jesus.
We each experience the struggles of Holy Week in our lives. We can also experience the profound mystery of Easter when we are willing to let go of the good old days when we had things as they used to be - health, that loved one, those abilities, that home, that job, that way of living. When we can remember the days of the past while letting the new days of the future come to us, we too can experience the miracle and mystery of Easter.
With Blessings,
Pastor Gen
Time for Prayer
Please join Pastor Gen
in prayers for our church
every Tuesday and Thursday
from 9:00 - 9:30 a.m.
Come to church and
pray in the sanctuary if you can
or take a few minutes for prayer wherever you are!
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Come join
our little choir!
All abilities welcome - just drop in!
Choir practice is
every Thursday night at 7:45 p.m.
and on Sunday mornings at 9:30 a.m. before Worship
Pastor Gen on Sabbatical
- Meet Pastor Ina
As most of you know, Pastor Gen will be on sabbatical from mid April to mid July. I am excited that the church council has agreed on having me as our part time interim minister for that period! And we will get help from Pat and also Lee and Maxine in the office. Thank you very much in advance!
From mid July to mid August Pastor Gen will be on study leave and vacation and I will be visiting Germany. - So on the four Sundays July 22 & 29 and August 5 & 12 the Reverend Melinda McLain, Associate Pastor from the City of Refuge Community UCC in San Francisco, will lead our church in worship.
Please ask Pastor Gen about her plans for her sabbatical - among other things she will travel to Rome and attend General Synod in Hartford, Connecticut, helping to celebrate our UCC’s 50th anniversary!
Maxine Eggerth had said that although the church of course knows me, it still might be interesting if I introduced myself a little bit. So here are a few things that maybe you didn’t know about me yet:
Maybe you didn’t know that I was born in Berlin, and although we moved when I was still small my parents to this day are very serious Berliners...
Maybe you didn’t know that I grew up in historic Aachen, founded by the Romans, home of Charlemagne and border town to both the Netherlands and Belgium. I was intrigued as a child to stand at that three country border and have one foot in Belgium, the other foot in the Netherlands and my hands in Germany! So here is an early root for my love of languages and my interest in other cultures...
Maybe you didn’t know that Ingo and I spent two years in Japan in the nineties, so we speak some Japanese and learned, not without suffering but also not without a great deal of excitement and joy, what it means to be a stranger and foreign to a culture...
Maybe you didn’t know that I am very fond of mystery stories, especially the series by Elizabeth George, Donna Leon and Faye Kellerman. Self-analyzing myself I think that is because in real life you have all those shades of gray - whereas at the end of a mystery book there is clarity: you know who the victim and who the wrongdoer is...
Maybe you didn’t know that I have a very, very sweet tooth (well, then again you might have guessed this one) and like especially everything that is chocolaty or caramelly...
Maybe you didn’t know that I do classical ballet and can sit in a split...
Maybe you didn’t know that I decided to become a minister mostly because I am eager to learn about (and from) other people’s life-lessons and life-perspectives and to share their faith journey intertwined with those...
Maybe you didn’t know that I was ordained in April 2000 in the Church of the Rhineland, a partner church of the UCC. I served two Rhineland churches over a period of almost five years, before Johanna was born...
And, please do know that I am extremely happy to be part of this our church here in Sunnyvale, that I am very grateful for Pastor Gen and all of you to be my church family, that I am very much looking forward to being your interim pastor for the next months and that I welcome all and any kind of feedback and input you have to offer me.
Let us pray and wish for a very meaningful and refreshing sabbatical for Pastor Gen.
And let us pray and work to make this interim period worthwhile together!
Blessings,
Pastor Ina
You Are so Kind!
Thank you, Church Family, for your kind birthday card and gift.
Yes, our home was burglarized on January 11, 2007. Among the things stolen was my jewelry. Thus, I used your gift to buy my birthstone. I now have an amethyst ring and earrings.
Each time I look upon them, I remember your kindness. Thank you.
Pastor Gen
CELEBRATING
HOLY WEEK AND EASTER
AT OUR CHURCH
 Please join us for our
SEDER DINNER ON MAUNDY THURSDAY
April 5, 2007 at 6:00 p.m. - followed by the
SERVICE OF TENEBRAE
(Please see the sign-up sheet in Shephard Hall.)
EASTER NIGHT AT OUR CHURCH
We will mark the Easter Night (Saturday April 07 to Sunday April 08) this year again by having hourly vigils in the sanctuary from 6:00 p.m. to midnight.
We will meet around 5:00 p.m. and start decorating the sanctuary for Easter - letting our butterflies fly, setting up the Easter fountain and Easter cross. Then we will have a potluck dinner between 6:15 and 7:00 p.m. and will continue decorating the sanctuary and doing Easter projects between the vigils for the rest of the night.
- This is a very contemplative and meaningful way to make the transition from Lent to Easter. Everyone, including families with children, are invited to sleep over at the church! Bring your air mattress and bedding - it is lots of fun! In the morning then, there will be the Sunrise Service at 6:30 a.m. and a breakfast with Easter goodies.
Please feel free to come for any or all parts of our Easter Night!
WORSHIP SERVICES ON EASTER SUNDAY
Sunrise Service at 6:30 a.m.
followed by Easter Breakfast
Morning Worship at 10:30 a.m.
followed by Easter Egg Hunt
 EASTER EGG HUNT
Worship and Community Board asks you to kindly bring in filled Easter eggs during the remaining weeks of Lent for the Children’s Easter egg hunt on Easter Sunday. Thank you!
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 SPRING TEA PARTY
The Women’s Fellowship
will be presenting a
Spring Tea on
SUNDAY, APRIL 15,
in Shephard Hall or
- weather permitting - outside
immediately following Worship.
Spring hats and gloves
are optional!
As this is a fund raiser
a $7.50 donation per adult is requested.
Celebrating 30 years
in Santa Clara County
and around the world!
SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2007
Registration 12:30 p.m., Walk 1:00 p.m.
Start: Lincoln High School near the Rose Garden in San Jose
Last year over $50,000 were raised with over 380 walkers at South Bay CROP Hunger Walk!
In Celebration of our 30th anniversary and Church World Service / CROP’s 60th Anniversary, our Goal for 2007 is:
60 Groups with 600 walkers
and raising $60,000!
The funds raised this year will help people served locally by the Second Harvest Food Bank, Sacred Heart Community Services, and globally by Church World Service and other agencies.
PLEASE NOTE: Our Women’s Fellowship sponsors the first 15 walkers from our congregation with $10 per person!!
YOU ARE A KEEPER
submitted by Ted Carlson
Ted found this on the web and wanted to share it.
I grew up with practical parents who had been frightened by the Great Depression in the 1930's. A mother, God love her, who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original recycle queen, before they had a name for it... A father who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones.
Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and Mom in a house dress, lawn mower in one hand, and dishtowel in the other. It was the time for fixing things? A curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress. Things we keep.
It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that repairing, eating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more.
But then my mother died, and on that clear summer's night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more.
Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away... never to return. So... while we have it... it's best we love it...
And care for it... And fix it when it's broken... And heal it when it's sick.
This is true... For marriage... And old cars... And children with bad report cards... And dogs and cats with bad hips... And aging parents... And grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it. Some things we keep. Like a best friend that moved away or a classmate we grew up with. There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special... And so, we keep them close!
Good friends are like stars... You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.
Keep them close .
CHILDREN'S VIEWS ON ANGELS
submitted by Ina Bork
I only know the names of two angels: Hark and Harold.
Gregory, 5
Everybody's got it all wrong. Angels don't wear halos anymore. I forget why, but scientists are working on it.
Olive, 9
It's not easy to become an angel! First, you die. Then you go to heaven, then there's still the flight training to go through. And then you got to agree to wear those angel clothes.
Matthew, 9
Angels work for God and watch over kids when God has to go do something else.
Mitchell, 7
My guardian angel helps me with math, but he's not much good for science.
Henry, 8
Angels don't eat, but they drink milk from holy cows.
Jack, 6
Angels talk all the way while they're flying you up to heaven. The basic message is where you went wrong before you got dead.
Daniel, 9
When an angel gets mad, he takes a deep breath and counts to ten. And when he lets out his breath, somewhere there's a tornado.
Regan, 10
Angels have a lot to do and they keep very busy. If you lose a tooth, an angel comes in through your window and leaves money under your pillow. Then when it gets cold, angels go north for the winter.
Sara,6
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Angels live in cloud houses made by God and his son, who's a very good carpenter.
Jared , 8
All angels are girls because they gotta wear dresses and boys didn't go for it.
Antonia, 9
My angel is my grandma who died last year She got a big head start on helping me while she was still down here on earth.
Katelyn, 9
Some of the angels are in charge of helping heal sick animals and pets. And if they don't make the animals get better, they help the kid get over it.
Vicki, 8
What I don't get about angels is why, when someone is in love, they shoot arrows at them.
Sarah,7.
FROM OUR ACTING TREASURER BONNIE:
In February our annual Northern California Northern Nevada UCC share of $9,000 was paid, as approved at the Congregational Meeting in May 2006.
Also, Women's Fellowship donated $150 toward the purchase of our new Bibles, so the Benefit Concert fund was reimbursed. Although in this month we overspent our income, as of February 28, over the first nine months of the year our income is $21,000 over our spending.
The Board of Finance and Personnel is looking for a person who would like to research investments. We would like to move some money and to use socially responsible funds. If you are interested, please talk to Markus Berber, Bonnie Harvey, Mary Ruth Green, Doug Evans or Pastor Gen.
This would be an important help to the church.
A letter from Mary Ruth,
sent to us in February
about her “sabbatical” in Oregon:
HELLO TO EVERYONE,
We just finished our six week session of classes. We will be off the next week and I am looking forward to a visit from Darryl. One of the things that I hope we do is go to a quilt display of work by Faith Ringgold, a civil rights artist. The display is at Gonzaga U, here in Spokane.
I live in a house that is about 5 blocks from the office and yoga studio. I walk back and forth 2 or 3 times a day. I have four house mates. Two are yoga teachers at the studio and the other two are college students. Another teacher who lives in the building the office is in often joins us for meals. We all take turns cooking.
Edward, one of the students, is working on a masters in sociology. He is the only male in the household and the youngest. He is always on the verge of moving but doesn't have time to look for a place, much less, pack up. He is probably the best cook. We told him if he moved we would come over once a week for his burritos. He is looking forward to Darryl's visit and has requested that he make some more cookies.
On Mon., Wed, & Fri mornings we meet in our living room for 15 minutes of chanting and then a half hour of hatha yoga practice. We take turns leading the chanting and then do our own hatha. I can usually tell what asana each teacher is focusing on in her classes that week.
I teach 4 hatha classes a week, one at Hospice. In the upcoming session, I will also teach a hatha class at Deaconess Hospital to staff and I will be teaching a dream yoga class at the studio. Sacred Heart Hospital has asked us to do an hour of chanting and spiritual practice on one Wednesday of their Lenten series.
We have a free forum for young adults (18 to mid 30's) every other Friday evening where they can explore & discuss their issues. We have a topic,
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such as, The Power of Speech: Finding Your Voice or Taking a Stand. We encourage people to explore their feelings and intuition, that is more than the intellectual response, by doing some singing, drawing, writing or dancing. One of the leaders was considering asking the group to write a haiku about what they considered the purpose of their life. She asked me to try it as a kind of test run. This is what I came up with:
Germinate & grow,
Develop, unfold, blossom,
Nurture and embrace.
Maybe we should think about a group for teens....
I am actually doing a bit of writing - an article for a spiritual magazine, a book review, and a short article for a contest. It is different and I am enjoying it. I'll send them along when the journals come out.
The sun has been out the last two days and people really take advantage of it. I appreciated it when the temperature rose to the high thirties and I didn't have to worry about slipping on the ice. The birds are singing but no flowers yet.
Sending you Light,
Mary Ruth
RUMMAGE SALE
FUND RAISER
SATURDAY, JUNE 16, 2007
Help our Church raise some "green" to go "green"! By supporting our rummage sale on June 16th you will be helping raise money so our Church can do more to reduce energy usage. The more money we raise the more environmentally friendly our Church can become.
How can you help make our rummage sale a success?
There are a number of different ways for you to contribute. Choose one of 5 different teams to join: merchandise, facilities, publicity, food and finance. Either sign-up on sheets posted in Shephard Hall or e-mail / call me with what you are interested in.
So far leadership for 3 out of 5 teams is in place. Sue Wilson has agreed to put her many years of retail experience to work as head of merchandise (sorting /
pricing / displaying / making items sellable / etc.).
Not to be out done, Barton Wilson is heading up facilities (dealing with parking / equipment needed for the sale / security / etc.).
Our web master extraordinaire, Ted Feely is leading the publicity effort (posters / flyers/ Craig's List / etc.).
A second way to help is to gather some items for donation to the rummage sale. While you are at it, how about asking relatives and friends to do the same. You never know where a great source of donations will come from. I even talked to my tax accountant. He told me he has a bunch of stuff in a storage unit that he would love to donate - and will even encourage some of his clients to do the same. How's that for hitting the jackpot! I know you can do that too.
While we are not ready to accept donations yet, you can still spread the word and line up people to donate items that are in good condition and working order. In another month I hope to be able to give you some specific information about where and when donations will be collected.
Third, give of your time on the day of the sale (June 16th) by helping to set up for the sale, selling merchandise, collecting money, selling snacks and beverages to customers, keeping workers well feed, providing security and many more things. I am sure we have tasks to fit all talents and abilities.
While rummage sales may be a lot of work, they also can be a lot of fun. And with our Church family, work and fun have always gone hand in hand. So let's have fun getting and going "green"!
Marilyn Martinyak
Chief "Leprechaun"
of the Rummage Sale
mmartinyak@yahoo.com
408-996-3788
 Looking Ahead
- Please mark your calendars!
Our Christel Fliss is a member of the California Native plant Society and makes us aware of these two events:
SPRING NATIVE PLANT SALE
April 7, from 10 am to 3 pm
at Hidden Villa Nursery
SPRING WILDFLOWER SHOW
April 14 and 15
at Mission College in Santa Clara
Hospitality Management Building from 10 am to 4 pm daily
The show is a two-day expo showcasing the diversity of wildflowers of Santa Clara and Santa Mateo Counties. Over 400 species of wildflowers and native plants are displayed, each accurately labeled, many suitable for the home garden.
Knowledgeable botanists and gardeners will be on hand to answer questions. Books, posters, seeds, note cards, and other wildflower-related items will be available for purchase.
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EARTH DAY FESTIVAL
Sunday, April 22,
Mark your calendars now for the Earth Day 2007 Festival sponsored by the Santa Clara Council of Churches on April 22, 1:30 - 5 pm at the Los Gatos United Methodist Church. Featured speaker will be J. Matthew Sleeth, M.D. and author of "Serve God, Save the Planet."
There will also be children's activities and child care.
See www.councilofchurches-scc.org for more information.
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THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
NEVADA CONFERENCE
of the UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST offers
FORUMS
ON THE FUTURE OF OUR CHURCHES
Forum 5
"Financing the Ministry"
Saturday April 28, 10:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m.,
2501 Harrison St., Oakland
will include conversations on
the call to be good stewards
and evangels of generosity,
approaches to fundraising for ministry,
just compensation for pastors and
planned giving.
There will be
Biblical inspiration,
nuts-and-bolts practicalities,
general hooplah
and free lunch.
[Childcare and overnight housing available.]
Register with Dawn at 510 4448511, ext. 16 or at newsletter@firstoakland.org
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ANNUAL MEETING
OF OUR CHURCH FAMILY
Sunday, June 3, 2007
following Worship Service.
Please prayerfully consider if you would like to serve on one of our boards.
If you would like to be part of the nominating committee, please talk to our moderator Doug.
Communicator Deadline
Deadline for the May 2007 Communicator is April 24, 2007. We accept submissions of texts, photos & graphics at our office, 1112 S. Bernardo Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94087 or via e-mail (conglchurch@earthlink.net).
Office hours: Wednesdays 1:00 - 4:30 pm
Thursdays & Fridays 9:30 am - 2:30 pm
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