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| 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
Thanksgiving Feast
Our Core Values are:
Spiritual Growth. Welcome. Justice-seeking
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November 20, 2016
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Join us for a Thanksgiving Dinner this Sunday at 11:45 following worship!
See article below.
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Isaiah 58:6-12
This Sunday we will have a grand celebration of our (a)Spire Ministry as we close this 5 year-long ministry. We will celebrate the work and outreach of this ministry that we supported and engaged in since 2011 with reflections by :Lead Pastor Andy Schwiebert, Rev. Carolyn Olney and Ms. Claire Richardson. Through video clips of (a)Spire over the years, we will remember and recall all the wonderful ministry that happened through this innovative community within FCC. The (a)Spire Leadership team wishes to express their gratitude for all who so generously supported the ministry over the years. Many hearts and lives were impacted by our (a)Spire Ministry.
In addition, Andrew Schuman, Eric Schuman and Reece Miller (aka the Tradical Bros) will be offering their fabulous Irish Music for us on Sunday during worship. Our children will join the adult choir in singing "A Thanksgiving Prayer."They will also offer an extended musical piece at the end of worship as we wait for the turkeys to be carved and the meal to be laid out for our enjoyment! Many thanks to Roberta White, Ken Biery, Varnell Lewis, Bob Rinck, church staff and many many others for making this happen! We plan to serve lunch at 11:45.
Also on Sunday:
Church School: A combined class with Grace Rinck teaching and Jeff Tyler assisting in Room 232
Parking Update: The Fuller overhang and the University Lot will be available for our use Sunday.
Crafting with Madame J: Our own Judi Tyler will be offering a Thanksgiving Craft at a table in the parlor after the children eat.
Looking Outward - Opportunities to Serve:
The Food Pantry at Friends in Deed is ALWAYS in need of food - especially cereal and canned protein. If you bring in your items any week we will get them up to them for you! The church school children have a donation box in the office for your items.
In addition, we are collecting men's clothes and shoes for men who are being discharged from County USC hospital. Over 80 patients each month are discharged and do not have clothes to wear. Sturdy shoes and pants are especially needed. Please bring your items to the church office and Dr. Laura Kalayjian will take them in for us. Thanks so much! Click here for more info.
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Worship Leaders:
Rev. John H. Pomeroy
Rev. Marlene W. Pomeroy
Rev. Andrew Schwiebert
Robert Rinck
Kevin Cordova-Brookey
Interim Pianist & Music Coordinator :
A combined class with Grace Rinck teaching and Jeff Tyler assisting in Room 232.
Church Nursery (for infants - K)
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Mrs. Phillips, Jaquelyne Rodriguez, and Serena Van.
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.
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Nina Kung
Sermon Podcast:
D
id you miss the gospel or homily? Please visit uccpasadena.org and select 'podcasts' from the menu on top of the home page or click below
http://uccpasadena.podomatic.com/
OFFICE HOURS:
Monday - Thursday
9:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
We close at lunch
12 - 1:30 p.m.
Tel. # 626.795.0696
Fax # 626.795.0698
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What is Highlighted in this Touchstone?
-Annual Thanksgiving Feast
-Stewardship Witness
-Being the Church in Practical Ways
-Pastoral Relations Committee Meet with Andy
Schwiebert
-Building Forum Encourages Some Dreaming!
-Andy Schwiebert's upcoming sabbatical
-Upcoming (a)Spire Events
-Small Group Addressing Racism Begins
-You are invited to go to Uganda July 2017
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ANNUAL FCC THANKSGIVING FEAST
This coming Sunday, Nov. 20th, our church celebrates Thanksgiving with our church community. Following worship, singing and coffee time, there will be a complete turkey dinner, served in our church parlors for 100 people. Judi Tyler will be doing a Thanksgiving craft for the children in the east parlor after they eat, so parents can continue socializing. Please join us; there will be good food and friendship for everyone.
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3rd and Final Stewardship Witness
James Chavers was the final Stewardship Witness last Sunday, sharing eloquently how FCC has inspired and helped nurture his faith. Click
here
for his text. Many many thanks to all who turned in their pledge cards on the In-Gathering Sunday last week. We have about half of our expected pledges to date. Please turn in your pledges in the next week so our Budget Committee has the most up-to-date information to do their work constructing a budget for the coming year. Questions about your pledge may be directed to our Treasurer Barbara Bonzo.
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Being the Church in Practical Ways
In light of increased incidents of folks being harassed in our country, we as your pastoral staff are looking to pass along suggestions for ho
w
we can continue to be the loving, welcoming, intentional, justice-seeking people of faith that we are called to be. Please see ideas below and in the coming weeks that we are passing on to you. As always, take what works and leave the rest. - Pastors Andy, Jake and Marlene.
If you follow this link, there are four persons from the American Friends Service Committee (Quakers) that share what would be helpful to them in their work for social justice - what it would look like to be an ally in a time of discrimination and violence.
Rev. Molly Phinney Baskette, UCC pastor and author of Real Good Church, is now at the First Congregational Church, UCC in Berkeley, CA. She invites us to show our solidarity with persons around us in our lives who may need support...
Wear a safety pin visibly on your clothing to show that you are trying to be a safe person in a time of turmoil and challenge - if asked, let persons know that you are a part of the UCC and that your faith calls you to stand in the way of discrimination and violence.
Sit next to persons on the bus or train who wear a hijab
Ask persons who identify as veterans about their service
Believe the story if a survivor of sexual violence shares with you
When asked, let persons know that our church welcomes LGBTQ persons as beautiful and beloved of God
Accompany persons who feel unsafe to their car or bus stop after a meeting
Learn why refugees are seeking shelter and safety in our country
When appropriate, introduce yourself to a person with a visible disability, without assuming they need help
Notice what persons of color around you at work say and experience
Listen if persons share that they are tired, afraid, anxious and in need of support
Contact a friend at church or your pastor if you want to talk about your experiences trying to be an ally
Consider signing onto this
Sanctuary pledge that our UCC Immigration and Refugee coordinator Noel Anderson has put together with Rev. Alison Harrington (Southside Presbterian Church in Tucson) and Groundswell.
It is for individuals to sign, and also could be something that our congregation could decide to join and actively participate in. After all, FCC was part of the Sanctuary Movement of the 1980s and actually housed a refugee family in our building and supported them through difficult times. Given the renewed campaign promises shared in the past few days, immigrants and refugees and Muslims are all living in a heightened state of fear, and many could even face deportation in the near future.
Pastoral Relations Committee Meets with Andy Schwiebert
This week the Pastoral Relations Committee for Pastor Andy Schwiebert met to discuss the end of Aspire, his upcoming sabbatical and a few other items.
This Pastoral Relations Committee is made up of Carolyn Olney, Kim Story and Claire Richardson. Should you have anything you wish to communicate to the committee, please feel free to do so through those members. They will meet again with Andy in mid January after he's back from part 2 of his sabbatical on
January 2.
Building Forum Encourages Some Dreaming!
Seventeen persons gathered this past Sunday to compare our values as a congregation with the features of our building, and share what it would mean for any building to embody our values of Welcome, Spiritual Growth and Seeking Justice! Signs in different languages, a resource center, tech available in worship, a meditation garden, a playground for our children, restrooms - office space - lighting that cares for our environment, ample parking with plugs for electric vehicles...our lists generated ideas and faithful discussion! God speaks to her people in dreams in Scripture - dreaming is where our resistance is lowered and our imagination is unlimited. Seeking God's voice about our building, we did some productive dreaming - we will share those dreams as we continue to decide on the best stewardship of our building in the coming months.
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Pastor Andy to Begin Sabbatical (Part 2)
It is our practice for pastors to receive a sabbatical after every 5 years of service for renewal, replenishment and education. Pastor Schwiebert took the first half of his sabbatical in the spring and saved the second half for the fall. Pastor Andy will return to work after the new year and resume his duties half-time in the areas of youth, outreach, and emergent non-traditional ministry among us. Here is his update:
On Monday November 21st I will begin the 2nd half of my 12 week sabbatical. For this piece of the sabbatical I plan to visit several other innovative and thriving church
es both locally, out of LA and out of state. I will also go on retreat to discern professional development goals for 2017, and enjoy my time with the family at the holidays. I return to FCC on
1/2/17
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Upcoming Youth Events
On Friday 12/23
Youth are invited to join visits to long term FCC members and friends, to bring some Christmas love and build inter-generational relationships.
Please contact Nina or Marlene if your youth can take part or if you would like to suggest someone to receive a visit from our young people.
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Work On Our Building Continues
This past summer our Church Council commissioned an inspection of our building to learn from a professional about the condition of our building. Our Building Ministry and Building Manager then looked carefully through the 70 page report to prioritize work that needs to be done and seek bids for those projects. With the inspection, report, summary and bids now nearly complete, the Church Council has asked a sub-committee to bring back a proposal for funding these upcoming, necessary projects. In the next week or so, the Council will send a letter to the congregation with a proposal for funding this work on our building, a date for a Forum on this proposal, and a date for a Special Meeting of the congregation to vote on any proposed funding. Many thanks to our Building Manager, Sallie McNair, our Building Ministry (Jeff Tyler, Chris Herb, Bob Rinck, Brian Weltman), Rev. Marlene Pomeroy, Moderator Elizabeth Lanski, Investment Chair Don Hughes and the members of Church Council for helping us to act responsibly and faithfully with our building.
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Small Group Addressing Racism Begins
On
Thursday November 17th from 6:30-8:30PM we are beginning a small group discussion of the book
Waking Up White by Debby Irving. We will meet at the Pomeroys (call the office for the address and PLEASE let us know you are attending) and a light supper will be served. We will explore together a couple of discussion questions from the first two sections of the book (thru page 60) - this is not a critique of the book but an opportunity to share about our own life experiences and learnings that may support our ideas and practices of racism, white privilege and white superiority. We will start and end on time - and we have room for 3-4 more persons - let Nina know in the office if you plan to attend and have not been part of the original email chain.
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You are Invited to go to Uganda July 2017!
 We are offering a trip for one FCC/(s)Spire member to travel to Uganda with Aid Africa next summer. You will see beautiful Uganda, meet the amazing Aid Africa staff and participate in their projects in the rural communities; visit the source of the Nile, go on a safari through a national park, and enjoy scenic side trips to waterfalls and local shopping. We sent Meagan VanDeventer on the tour last summer and she had a wonderful time. Ask her to tell you all about it.
If you are a member of our church
(male or female) you are already eligible to take advantage of this great opportunity.
The Women's Legacy Fund Aid Africa Uganda Trip Fellowship provides $2,650 toward the cost of the trip.
A short Application should be submitted by January 15, 2017. Additional information about the trip, what you'll need and other costs can be found in the soon-to-be-updated Travel Brochure and the Visitors & Volunteers Tour Guide. If you have any questions about Aid Africa or this opportunity to travel to Uganda, ask Peter Keller, Irene Keller, Meagan VanDeventer. or Elizabeth Lanski.
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