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Upcoming
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Blessing of the Backpacks
August 13th
Harry Potter Sermon Series!
September 10th
Camp Sunday
September 15th-17th
Women's Retreat
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Ministry Links
to Website
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Birthdays
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Tom Spencer
8/1
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Boyd Veenstra
8/4
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Nathan de los Reyes
8/4
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Jeff Bennett
8/5
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Daniel Leary
8/6
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Charlie Gray
8/7
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Kirk Harney
8/9
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Tevin Schmitt
8/13
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Luke Herme
8/13
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Letter From the Pastor
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Small World Preschool Update
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 Find out what's happening in
Maturing Ministries,
COSROW, and
Hospitality Committee.
More...
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Living as a person of peace in a broken world
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Letter from Pastor Melissa
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Summer has been a major blessing for my family this year. My family celebrated two marriages and traveled to many places. We had such a great time being with each other celebrating and just having fun. I treasure those times with my family as we shared joy, adventure, and life events, yet there comes a time when it's time to be home. It's not a sad feeling, but a feeling that my heart is full with the joy that travel and summer offered and now getting prepared to fully enter into the time of Fall. Part of that 'preparing' is continuing further study of how my faith along with faith in the world is changing. The book I have been reading this summer is, "Why Did Jesus, Moses, The Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?" by Brian McLaren. This book challenges me to examine my faith and how my faith can grow. McLaren quotes Diana Butler Bass in this book:
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Indeed, the word doctrine, a word fallen on hard times in contemporary culture, actually means a "healing teaching," from the French word for doctor. The creeds, as doctrinal statements, were intended as healing instruments, life- giving words that would draw God's people into a deeper engagement with divine things. When creeds become fences to mark the borders of heresy, they lose their spiritual energy.
"
This understanding of doctrine rejuvenates and energizes me as we look at how these faith documents could be a healing for us individually, as a church, and collectively for the world. This Fall we continue to focus on growing our faith, as individuals, as a church and reaching out into the world.
First on August 6th we will empower our kids and educators by blessing the return to school. We will pray over them and the schools. New this year we have a gift for our children that they will take with them into the school year.
On August 13th the Harry Potter Sermon series, starts off with the theme of being chosen. In the books Harry was chosen for a reason and for a mission. The idea of being chosen mirrors in many ways the idea of us being chosen. Are we chosen and what for?
Wesley Study Group at Panera will start up again on August 21st at 7:45am by studying "The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness In A Changing World" written by The Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Family Fun Night will return on September 10th with some additional fun activities such as focusing on intergenerational connecting and a class for tweens.
A Grief Group will be starting in October and lead by me.
There are also many ways to be in service to our community and world. We will be hosting Family Promise starting on July 30th and we will be part of another Habitat for Humanity Build at our Veterans Village on Saturday November 18th. Please contact the office if you are interested.
This Fall may we find ways to live into what we believe bringing healing to each other and the world!
Blessings,
Pastor Melissa
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Family Fun Night!
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Begins
September 10th!
5:00 pm for Dinner
6:00 pm for Groups!
Men's, Women's,
Youth & Children's Groups
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Upcoming Events
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Music Ministries |
Music Mission Statement
The Santa Clarita UMC Chancel Choir needs you! We are seeking singers of all ages, levels, and abilities to join us in song for Sunday services in 2017 and 2018. We meet Tuesday evenings from 7:30-9 pm and again on Sunday mornings at 8:15 am to sing for our 9 o'clock services. Rehearsal tracks are provided, so it is not necessary to know how to read music.
If you're unable to sing with us, we are seeking individuals or families to "sponsor a musician" for our upcoming performance of Faure's Requiem on November 5th. Your donation will help sponsor a professional instrumentalist to come and make beautiful music with our combined choirs. Please contact Josh Wentz at [email protected] for more information.
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Small World Preschool Update
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Hip Hip Hooray!
It's time to grab your lunch box, meet your teacher and find your cubby! It's a new school year at Small World Preschool!
We welcome many continuing and new faces at Small World Preschool. With the new school year starting, there are many exciting experiences ahead!
Join us on
Sunday, August 6th at the 9:00am service for the
Blessing of the Backpacks. The Small World community will have, "
Meet your Teacher Day" later on August 6th to welcome the students.
This August will mark the 48th school year for Small World Preschool. There are parents who attended here and even teachers who attended Small World. The legacy continues and we are so thrilled to be a part of it!
- Michelle Moyer
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What's Happening
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That is just what you will experience at this years Women's Retreat. You can sing, play, or just listen, but if you like music, you'll like the retreat We will learn about our hymnal, play games with songs and hymns, and think about how music effects our lives. Our Friday evening speaker, Holli Willibey, teaches music performance and psychology at the college level. She is an enthusiastic leader who I'm sure will enjoy us as much as we will enjoy her. The cost is $225 which covers 5 meals and two nights lodging in Pacific Palisades, close to the beach. Saturday afternoon is free time to explore and Saturday night is a time for games, talking, or videos. We'd love to visit with all of you! Look for the COSROW table on the patio Sunday morning.
Feeding it Forward at the Homeless Shelter
Our next two days of service are August 15 and September 5. The people who share our food have always been thankful for the meals. It is a wonderful feeling to spend time in service representing our church, and letting them know we are. If you are unable to bring the food to the shelter, you can leave it in the kitchen and your missions committee will take it for you. Just be sure to label the items as Feeding It Forward. Contact Candy Holsenbeck- Smith if you need more information or look for the Missions table on Sunday Morning.
Alternative Gift Faire
November 19, will be this year's Alternative Gift Faire. This is your chance to show your friends and family how much you care about them by caring for others. Donations can be made to many different charities such as SCV Food Pantry, USO, Habitat for Humanity Wounded Warrior Project SCV, and many more. The cards make wonderful stocking stuffers or Holiday Cards. For more information talk to anyone at the Missions table. Each person will be given cards representing their purchases to give to gift recipient.
COSROW Boutique
COSROW will again hold a boutique on November 12. If you like to make crafts, afghans, cookies, jewelry, Christmas ornaments, etc. now is the time to get out those scissors and thread to see what you can do. A free lunch will be served and samples of cookies available. There will also be an Odds and Ends table to donate puzzles, books, and games for sale. The money from this event allows us to make a donation to the Domestic Violence Center and keep the price of the retreat from going up. Sign up at the COSROW table to let us know what you can contribute to the event. COSROW will also have a booth of items at the Relay For Life Boutique held at our church on November 18.
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J.A.M. Club
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The long lazy days of summer are quickly ending. Many of us are looking forward to the new school year (well at least the mom's and dad's) With the approaching school year comes one of my favorite things, wait for it...
school supply shopping. There is nothing like a brand-new notebook, the smell, the crisp clean pages all ready to be filled in. Then there are new pens and pencils, using a new pen the first time is amazing. OK, maybe that is taking it a little too far, but I know each of you can relate to at least a little of it. There is nothing better than all things new. So, what does this have to do with church? I could relate it to scripture like 2 Corinthians 5:17, or Revelation 21:5. I could write about being the new kid in town, at a school, everything that you know has changed. I could even use the notebook analogy - we have a fresh page on which to write our life story. We could look at anyone of the three, and they would be true, this is the time of year we get a do over. A chance to, as John Wesley would say, continue to work towards perfection. Change what hasn't worked, and find ways to live our best life ever.
But my reason for mentioning school supplies is much simpler than that. I mention school supplies with the hope that as you pass some of those great school supply sales, you will pick up a little extra and donate it to our Church School or Small world preschool.
Our kids will thank you.
As we are wrapping up the Summer quarter, I want to take a moment to thank each of you who have contributed to a successful family ministries program, through Sunday school, Family Fun Night, VBS, and more there have been many ways to serve... Thank you all. There are many opportunities to serve in the church and to live out our membership vows,
"to faithfully participate by our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our service, and our witness." What does that mean for you? We are starting a Sunday School class for our tween's, we have many opportunities for teaching or assisting our teachers, the time commitment can be a little as 1 hour a month. Please pray about these opportunities, I will thank you. More importantly you can be part of our children's spiritual journey. There is nothing better than that, not even new school supplies.
- Kristi Smith
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Youth Ministries
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Upcoming Youth Summer Fun Activities:
Thursday, August 3rd
Final Youth BBQ of the year!
5-7pm on the church lawn
It's our last BBQ, and it's going to be a fun, crazy, messy one! Come celebrate the end of summer with us, dress ready to get messy, bring a friend, and enjoy some grilled food! :)
Sunday, August 6th
Beach Day Extravaganza!
10am-9pm
Our last beach day is a doozy! We'll head to
Carpenteria State Beach
, hang out there all day, grill a burger dinner together, and watch the sunset before heading home. You won't want to miss this extended beach day! Bring friends, boogie boards, frisbees, sand toys, and whatever else you want for a fun day in the sun!
Cost - $7, plus money for lunch on the way up and snacks while there.
Monday, August 7th
Pool Party!
3-7pm
And our final event of this year's Summer Fun calendar is a pool party! Location TBA. Join us for a relaxing and fun day in the pool to finish the summer out before school begins!
Cost - $5
Youth Fall calendar coming soon! Watch your email for more details!
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Living as a person of peace in a broken world
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An article from UMC.org
We live in a world of heightened division. Terror attacks across the globe highlight the polarization, but we sense the brokenness in our everyday lives also. United Methodists around the world know the pain of conflict within our nations, churches, families, friend groups, and sometimes within ourselves.
The Bible teaches that God created us to live in community and that Jesus came to reconcile us to God and one another. Right now, however, we don't appear to be a doing a very good job of coming together.
To help us process the division and become better agents of peace and community, we asked a United Methodist pastor, the Rev. W. Craig Gilliam, for techniques and tips about how to begin a
process and healing and find peace.
Reconnecting
To work past a conflict, we need to find ways to reconnect. Rather than retreating to a safe space surrounded by those with whom we agree, we must now move toward the disagreement. We must be willing to listen to those we are tempted to label as "other."
"If I'm interacting with that other, if I'm sitting down looking at them eye-to-eye, if I'm listening to their stories," Gilliam says, "that very interaction helps make space for the alternative narratives and for the correction in the narrative I'm telling myself about the "other."
Our diverse United Methodist churches provide wonderful opportunities for connection. Worship, Sunday School, choir, committee meetings, and the sacrament of Holy Communion bring us into contact with those we might find difficult, reinforcing the true narrative that we are all children of God.
Serve somebody
Participating in selfless acts of service is another great way to reconnect with others. Volunteering with your church or a local non-profit, "takes you out of yourself. It really puts you in a context of giving to others with no reward, just to do it because it's the kind, Christian thing to do," Gilliam reports. "I think that's very healing."
Service opportunities and social activism can also be means of meeting those of another culture, faith, or nationality.
Limit television and news input
Limiting your exposure to the media is another way of resisting false narratives and anxiety. Those outlets can be "like a hose that is pumping anxiety into our homes," Gilliam says.
Audit your news consumption. While we want to remain informed, consider limiting news alerts on your smartphone, and the time spent watching your favorite news channel. If your social media feeds are a source of anxiety, limit time spent with those also.
Remember, God is in control
In a divided culture, we may be tempted to put our hope on winning an argument, position, or
While governments and other organizations hold a great deal of power in our lives,
election. While governments and other organizations hold a great deal of power in our lives, God is ultimately in control. Going to church, reading the Bible, and spending time in other activities that re-center us are helpful.
Go for a hike. Attend a concert. Get lost in a good book. "Find those rhythms that bring you back to your better self," Gilliam advises.
Hit the gym
When stress and anxiety are high, many of us turn to junk food. Others stop exercising. Return to eating well. Join an exercise class. "Go to the doctor to get help starting a new lifestyle," Gilliam suggests.
God created us as complete beings. Body, mind, and spirit are all connected.
Spend time with friends
Gilliam suggests, "Be with those friends that when you're around them you're just a better person." Spend good, quality time with people you love.
Listen for the invitation
If you continue to struggle, consider asking yourself, "What is the invitation here? How is God calling me to grow?" Spend some time discerning what God may be trying to show you through this season, what you might do differently in the future, and ways you might get involved to make a difference.
Take your time
"Reconciliation is a journey. It is not a one-time act," Gilliam cautions. Our pace will differ from others. We cannot force it. Sometimes, we may need to accept that a relationship will never be reconciled. One of the more difficult tasks is to "honor their choice not to forgive," Gilliam says, "and not allow it to embitter us."
Stay in love with God
"Do no harm, do good, stay in love with God." When we do that, we can overcome the conflict and grow from the experience.
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