From the Minister

Picnic

noreply@blogger.com (FirstUCCSR) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:13:00 +0000

Hello Friends,
This weekend is a big one for our congregation! Rev. Stephen Sterner, the Executive Minister of Local Church Ministries of the United Church of Christ, will be visiting our congregation. On Saturday he will join in conversation with the UCC churches of Sonoma County about the future of the Church in the 21st Century. This is a conversation that is on-going in our congregation.

Right now, in 2008, a minority of the US population has any religious affiliation at all. Only 15% of 20-somethings have ever set foot in the church. This has broad implications for the Church's survival - our church's survival. Rev. Sterner will help us to think about our changing world and look at ways that we in the church can successfully remain the Church responding to the world from a deep and spiritual center. This is an important meeting for our church as we move into the future. I hope you will try to attend.

On Sunday we have our picnic!! And it will be a fantastic gathering. Our sister congregation in Santa Rosa, First Samoan Congregational Christian United Church of Christ we be joining us for the festivities. Joined by our Santa Rosa Junior College Neighborhood neighbors, we will enjoy the picnic, the worship and the entertainment. Starting at around 1 pm Adwoa Kudoto, the only female master drummer from the country of Ghana will perform. Following that, our Santa Rosa Junior College Neighbors will perform. It will be a great time. Please bring a potluck dish to share for the picnic. But, mostly come to enjoy yourself.

Blessings and Peace,
David

Djembes and the Rhythm of Abundance

noreply@blogger.com (FirstUCCSR) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 18:11:00 +0000

A few thoughts:

October is around the corner and as we move into fall we are reminded again of life's rhythms as reflected in the seasons. Each year it happens as Spring moves into summer, into autumn, into winter. Each season brings with it a different experience -- in winter it's the cool rains, in springtime the verdant hills, in the summer the warm air and long days, in fall comes the harvest. In the seasons we see a Rhythm of Abundance as we enjoy God's blessings.

This October and November we will be thinking and praying about the Rhythm of Abundance. God's gifts are all around us and they are sure, just as 3 follows 2 follows 1 as we count in waltz time (3/4 time)-- a beautiful flowing abundance of riches.

Now that Adowa Kudoto, a Master Drummer from Ghana, has joined our congregation, I am learning to play the Djembe, a West African drum. I have noticed a few things. So, in the spirit of the Rhythm of Abundance I'd like to share. I am a rank beginner when it comes to drums and rhythms. I grew up believing that I had no sense of rhythm. Before I started lessons I decided to stop believing that. Perhaps, it worked. At the first lesson (Fridays at 4 pm) I found I could actually move my hands and beat out a rhythm in time. However, I noticed that sometimes it was easier than at other times. And the difference was this: the more I let go -- of thinking about it, of trying to make my hands go at the right place at the right time -- the easier it got. It was as if I had found a beat that was already pulsing. In letting go I more joined the beat than made it happen, discovering something essential about life as pure gift. This, of course, got me thinking about my life, about God's way, and the Rhythm of Abundance.

It seems that God's Rhythm of Abundance is on-going and constant. It is there to be discovered. The gift of God's love moves in our lives in a real and insistent way -- it is for us to join it. Joining this rhythm of abundance is all about letting go -- it is about moving with God's movements in our lives, drumming with God's beat, singing God's song, dancing God dance. Letting go means that we begin to move with what Jesus called "the abundant life." This is not something that we can create or make happen -- it is gift, an eternal gift of presence.

This month we will be talking about God's rhythm of abundance as it applies to the stewardship of our lives. Adowa and her daughter Sena will be taking part in our 10:30 worship services. We will drum with God's beat, sing God's song and dance God's dance. Letting go means that we move with what Jesus called, "the abundant life."

Blessings,
David

Where's God Now?

noreply@blogger.com (FirstUCCSR) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 20:38:00 +0000

Dear Friends,
In the course of the last few weeks -- the hurricanes, the plane and train crashes, floods in India, massacres and genocide in Darfur -- there has been ample opportunity for us to ask: Where is God? In the face of profound human suffering it is hard for us to imagine any God at all. Looking at human pain brought on by natural and human causes is enough to make atheists of us all -- or if we are more polite, agnostics (those for whom the jury is still out).

As I was looking at my email this morning, I noticed a number of appeals by organizations addressing the needs present in the face of natural and human-caused disasters. There are people who are trying to help. There are people working hard to relieve pain and distress. These folks wade through flood waters, provide food for hungry refugees, and advocate for those who have no voice. These are people who put their bodies on the line to help defend those who face violence and injustice. I notice such efforts and I am awestruck, much in the same way that I am awestruck as I perceive God working in my life and in the lives of those I know. So, when I ask the question about God's existence now, I say that I see God present in acts of love and compassion for others. But it goes a bit further than that...

When people who act compassionately towards others are asked, "Where is God for you in this?" they often respond, "I am serving God. God is in the person I am helping." When Jesus walked among us, he was not concerned about our reciting rote formula of belief. He did not ask us to hold to any creed. Rather, Jesus responded to the needs of others as they presented themselves to him. Further, through parables and sayings he encouraged us to do the same. In his parable of the Good Samaritan he found God in the relationship between the Samaritan and the man left for dead by the side of the road. This is where we meet the Holy One -- as we open our hearts to the other, to the one in need. After Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan, he asked his hearers, "Who acted as neighbor to the man?" They responded, "The Samaritan." "Go and do likewise," was Jesus' response.

Disasters and suffering raises deep philosophical questions. We need to be careful: these questions really only serve to distract us from what is at hand. Jesus told a very concrete story with a very concrete point: "Go out and be a neighbor to others." That's where we will find God.

Blessings,
David

Vital, Attractive and Inviting

noreply@blogger.com (FirstUCCSR) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 21:11:00 +0000

Dear Friends,
A living, vibrant spiritual community looks like a tree, a spreading chestnut -- no, we're in California -- an oak with a canopy that gives shade and cools the air as it blows through her leaves. Such a tree, such a community is vital, attractive and inviting.

VITAL
A living, breathing, vital tree is a wonder to behold. Set against the green hillside, her roots spread wide and reach deeply into the earth, her leaves flutter in the wind. You can tell a vital tree -- life abounds -- in it, all around it. Gazing upon such a tree, taking it in, one is moved to stammer in awe. Just so with a vibrant spiritual community -- life abounds: there is strength in community, beauty in togetherness. As the tap root of community sinks deep, people in vibrant spiritual community find, "at root," a connection to the vital source of their lives and the lives of those they love. This, of course, causes folks to wonder, to behold a vital, strong and beautful thing.

ATTRACTIVE
See how our oak tree attracts life? Beneath her branches, cows out to pasture seek her cooling shade. Up high, the birds rest in her branches and the neighborhood boy, chasing off the cows, comes and lies beneath the tree, sleeping under the protective span of her branches. Our spiritual community is attractive like that. People are attracted to the strength of our community, they find shelter in the beautiful togetherness of folks united in common affection. Sensing the depth of relationships they find love embodied, at home in the world. Deep spiritual community is attractive to people.

INVITING
I remember when I was growing up I had my favorite tree. I could climb in her branches, eat lunch in her shade and sit in her coolness on a hot day. She was all I could want in a vital, attractive tree. It took more than one person to reach around her trunk. For that you had to invite others: and that is what I did. One day, out walking in the woods with friends, I lead them to my favorite tree. And soon, we were always meeting there -- it became our clubhouse tree -- making our plans for the day at the foot of this mighty tree. So, the spiritual community. In the forest of spiritual communities we are one among many. People do discover us, stumbling upon us in the forest. However, far more folks are likely to find us as we share the joy of our community with them. So, the challenge is there: let's go out and share this great community that we have found. This means that we will invite people to church. You might ask, "How can I do that?" It’s simple: Trust your community, the joy and consolation you have found here with your spiritual friends, your fellow church members. When you invite, just let others know what is precious to you; let them know of your experience of your spiritual home. More than any catalog of beliefs, or ideas of right or wrong, just let them know the joy that you have found here at First Congregational UCC.

When you consider spiritual community, it is sort of miraculous. Think: how many organizations in your life can you say this about: we are vital, attractive and inviting?

Blessings and Peace,
David

We Take Requests

noreply@blogger.com (FirstUCCSR) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 18:35:00 +0000

I just began reading a book by Daniel Levitin, The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature. The title itself sounds a bit highfalutin and got me to guessing right away what those 6 songs might be: I'll Take You There by the Staple Singers would top my list. But, Levitin is not concerned with particular songs. Rather, he lists 6 categories of song that have helped over the millenia to fashion us into the human race that we are. People Get Ready (Curtis Mayfield, 1966) for the 6 categories. Drum roll. The six categories of song that have made us human are: Friendship, Joy, Comfort, Knowledge, Religion, and Love.

This is a great list. In the book, Levitin writes a chapter on each category. I won't even begin a synopsis of each chapter here. Just spend a bit of time with each word -Friendship, Joy, Comfort, Knowledge, Religion, and Love - and notice how it makes you feel. You might add a category or two to round out the list, but I think that pretty much everyone would agree that the list is a good one. And while there is a special category for religion, I find that each category, because it reflects something about what makes us basically human, has something to say about life and faith.

As I said before, there are not 6 particular songs there are 6 categories. So that means that each of us will have our favorite song in any particular category, one that hits home for us. So it is with the music we have in church. Every one of us has a different taste. So, with church music we paraphrase Lincoln, You can please all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot please all the people all the time. This is why we need your help. Tell us what you enjoy singing in worship -- we'll sing it. And if we sing something you don't particularly care for, its OK. Your song will come around on the juke box. Diversity is a precious thing, right down to our taste in music. We take requests.

David

Worship and our Life Together

noreply@blogger.com (FirstUCCSR) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:38:00 +0000

Dear Friends,

"Excited and Enlivened by the Holy Spirit we are Transformed!"
-First Congregational UCC, Santa Rosa -- Mission Statement

In her book Worship for Vital Congregations UCC pastor, Talitha Arnold, reminds us that at the heart of our Sunday morning worship is the presence of God. We open ourselves wholly to the lively Spirit of God. For this reason, our worship is at the very center of our covenant, indeed at the core of our existence. We live and gather together to commune with the Holy One, to find ourselves in the "community of Christ."

As the caterpillar emerges from her cocoon transformed, so we emerge from worship changed and made new. Moving from "me" to "we," we move from alienation and isolation to grow in love for God and neighbor. Like good tea, worship infuses our lives in the love and the grace of God. What a gift! In worship we have all that we need. Even as metaphors mix, the transforming character of worship is clear. Giving ourselves to God in communal worship, we are never the same.

I'll see you in church this Sunday.

Love,

David

Musings Along Life's Way: For Whom the Bell Tolls

noreply@blogger.com (FirstUCCSR) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 21:51:00 +0000

Dear Friends,
Last week, just before our youth returned from the National Youth Event in Knoxville, Tennessee, we learned of the tragedy at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. A man entered the church's sanctuary on a Sunday morning and opened fire, killing two people. For those of us who gather each week for worship, this is way too close to home, the violation is far too extreme. As we gather in community we assume that we are safe and that we are able to express ourselves fully in worship, without fear. Such a violent act creates a climate of dis - ease. We join with our brothers and sisters in Unitarian Universalist churches across the country as we contemplate the actions of a week ago in Knoxville. Below is a letter that I sent on our behalf to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation here in Santa Rosa. Blessings, David

Dear Chris and Members of Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Santa Rosa,

It is with great sadness that we received the news of the tragedy in Knoxville which last Sunday took the lives of two members of the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. We, the members and friends of your sister congregation, the First Congregational United Church of Christ, Santa Rosa join you in your grief. On the day of the tragedy four of our youth were at our National Youth Event at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. They joined with 2100 of their fellow youth and youth leaders in solidarity and prayer for the Tennessee Valley Church. Too, we want you to know that First Congregational UCC is praying for the church in Knoxville, for you and for your denomination in this difficult time.

Since Sunday it has become known that this action by one person was a hate crime directed at the church for its support of progressive causes, causes that our church and denomination affirm and share with you. As John Donne said,
No man(person) is an island, entire of itself
every man (person) is a piece of the continent, a part of the main
if a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less …
any man's (person’s)death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind (humankind)
and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls
it tolls for thee.
Your grief is our grief. As the bells toll, may we human beings learn to live together with peace, understanding, tolerance and affirmation.
Blessings,

David Parks-Ramage
First Congregational UCC, Santa Rosa

Musings Along Lifes Way: Facebook Connections

noreply@blogger.com (FirstUCCSR) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 03:30:00 +0000

No man (person) is an island, entire of itself; every man (person) is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less...any man's (person's) death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind (humankind).

Hello Everyone,
At the heart of human life is a basic truth; we are part of one another -- our isolation is but an illusion. So John Donne writes No man (person) is an island, entire of itself. Our human lives seem to hover around our connectedness -- its affirmation or its denial. We are trying to figure out, or better, realize how we are connected. So, we communicate, ask one another questions, worry about whether people like us or not. There are newspapers, books, Rotary Clubs and churches. We write letters, now emails and instant messages. We sit down over coffee and we share our lives. Sometimes we figure that we are not connected, can't be connnected, will never be connected. Then, we make enemies and fight. All of this seems to orbit around one primary question, "How are we related?"

When Ron Buford, the first coordinator of the United Church of Christ's "God is Still Speaking" initiative visited our church last Saturday to discuss the Northern California Nevada Conference's "Rhythm of Abundance" program for spirituality, church vitality and stewardship, he took some time to meet with some of us from the Sonoma County United Churches of Christ to help us discuss our forthcoming Christmas/Advent joint advertising campaign (another way to use our connections). Our discussion lead us to to acknowledge how quickly and how thoroughly the world is changing. In terms of publicity and advertising, newspapers are on the way out and the internet is still building up steam. We are realizing our connections in new ways. This got me interested in Facebook. So, this past Monday I dove in.

Working with Facebook is like going to a party. When you are by yourself and arrive at a party you look for someone you know, someone you can make a connection with and talk to. When meeting this person you see that she has some friends that you don't know. When you start talking with these people you have never met, you find that they know people who are also unknown to you. Soon everyone is talking with everyone else and new connections are made, new friendships are forged. Well, folks have figured out how to do this online. After about 24 hours I have 35 friends AND some of those folks are new to me. That's a wonder.

So, that's it: human beings doing what humans do -- making connections, realizing something about themselves in a new medium, the internet. As connections are made some of us move deeper into currents of grace, love and compassion. Here we find the true source of all our connections -- to paraphrase Donne, "we are all part of the main, we are part of one another." Come see me and all my friends on Facebook.

Blessings,
David

Musings Along Life's Way: The Summer Day

noreply@blogger.com (FirstUCCSR) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:24:00 +0000

Here's a poem that I hope you will enjoy. The title is The Summer Day and it is by Mary Oliver. It is one of my favorite poems.

The Summer Day
Who made the world?

Who made the swan, and the black bear?

Who made the grasshopper?

This grasshopper, I mean

the one who has flung herself out of the grass,

the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,

who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down

who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.

Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.

Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.

I don't know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?

All summer we have been studying the parables of Jesus -- stories that Jesus told in order to lead us more deeply into an experience of presence, into what he referred to as the kingdom of Gold. A good poem can do that same thing. Take this one -- it starts off with the big question, "Who made the world?" It doesn't get any bigger than that. But like a distiller of fine spirits, Oliver boils it down to the very specific grasshopper eating her lunch out of the poet's hand. Oliver pays very close attention to this grasshopper and shifts the conversation -- for that is what this poem is -- to the act of paying attention itself and to its attendant graces. To pay attention is to knell down in the grass, to be idle (relaxed attention not strong fixed attention) and blessed. And she takes it out of the abstract once again -- she, Mary, has been strolling all day "through the fields." All this is Mary Oliver's answer to that initial question, "Who made the world," or put another way, what is the meaning of life?" "Tell me," she asks in the specific, "what else should I have done?" Then she throws it back, what about you, "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

Oliver calls us to our specific lives -- the grasshoppers, the plants, one step in front of another along life's way. It is here, she is suggesting that one finds the answers to life's big questions by just living. The parables do this too. Jesus talks of mustard seeds, pearls, and leaven as was to enter the Presence. Our task is to bring them to life.

It is summer time, and the living is easy -- enjoy your one wild and precious life.

Blessings,
David

Musings Along Life's Way: To discover God’s realm, even in great loss.

noreply@blogger.com (FirstUCCSR) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:07:00 +0000

Jesus taught using parables. All summer we have been looking at the parables as we have tried to re-imagine the world that Jesus himself envisioned. As we study the parables we find that Jesus was addressing the very concerns that we long to have addressed in our world. Things like: how is it that one is accepted by God? Who is acceptable? How far do God’s blessings reach? What does one have to do? This week we will be looking at two parables concerning “losing things.” We all know what it is to lose things. In the Parable of the Lost Coin we have a story about a woman who loses a coin and goes to great lengths to find it. Jesus is saying that the realm of God is just like that.

In the gospel of Thomas there is an account of another type of loss the loss that is permanent, the sort of loss where what is lost is not restored. A woman buys grain at the market. On her way home the grain runs out of the jar and she has no inkling that anything is happening. When she gets home, she finds that the grain has all leaked out. And that is the end of the parable! The question for us is: when we lose everything, what is left? What is there? How might the realm of God be perceived in emptiness, in absence?

In the parable of the empty jar we are confronted by a reality that we all must face: when someone we love dies; when we lose a job; when we ourselves suffer a permanent loss through illness or injury we ask ourselves what is there, what is left? In the face of such loss we might even ask ourselves, “without this thing that I have lost, who am I?” This is where Jesus leaves us in the parable of the empty jar, inviting us to discover God’s realm, even in great loss.

I will be in church this Sunday the 13th , out of the office for a bit of vacation the 14th to 19th and back in church on the 20th to send-off our youth for the National Youth Event. If there are any emergencies during my absence, please call the church office and Carmen will be able to reach me.

Blessings, David

Musings Along Lifes Way: The Best Things Cannot be Talked About

noreply@blogger.com (FirstUCCSR) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:47:00 +0000

“You travel over sea and land to make a single convert, and once you have him (of her), you make him (or her) twice as fit for hell as you are.” Matthew 23:15 (as translated and paraphrased by Richard Rohr, in “Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality”)

Ouch! Is this Jesus speaking? You betcha. He is speaking this to the folks of his time who were “in the know.” They were the spiritual leaders, the ones who sought to teach others about God and God’s ways. Statements like the one above show us how radical Jesus was as he faced the religious authorities of his time. In Jesus’ time, as in ours, there are those who seek to explain the ways of God, who have definitive answers concerning the end times, morality, the spiritual observances of the faithful. These were the people who Jesus was addressing. Jesus spoke in the prophetic tradition that spoke not only of the known but also the unknown aspects of the Divine. At the heart of Jesus’ Jewish upbringing is the notion that God, in God’s totality, simply cannot be known. This is reflected in prophets like Isaiah when he says,

"For My thoughts are not (your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD.

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways

And My thoughts than your thoughts."

Richard Rohr quotes Heinrich Zimmer who says, “the best things cannot be talked about,” and the “second best things are almost always misunderstood.” Think about that which is very best in life: qualities such as love and joy. Such qualities elude words as does a definitive explanation of God’s essence and Way. No language is adequate, all words fail. So, you see the best things cannot be talked about. And, “the second best things are almost always misunderstood.” The second best things are those things which point to the best things, the second best things are the signs and metaphors that participate in what Teilhard de Chardin called the Divine Milieu. These second best things have the quality of poetry, not explaining but pointing to and participating in the reality of the Divine in life. The second best things are misunderstood when they are concretized and lowered to the function of explaining things that cannot be explained. In our modern times, for example, some “fundamentalists” take the poetry of the Bible and solidify it to the point that many are waiting for, “the holy city, new Jerusalem” to come down from God out of heaven. (Rev. 21)” Unable to grasp the unknowing quality of faith such folks lead others to a faith that becomes one of believing certain beliefs rather than trusting in the One who is beyond any capacity that we might have to comprehend, yet is trustworthy beyond any of our expectations. Enter the parable.

Jesus chose not to explain God and God’s ways in his teachings. Instead, he chose speak of God through use of the “second best things” properly understood. These he called parables. Parables are well-used metaphors that open the hearer to an experience of grace, divine love, rather than to a cognitive understanding. Parables allow the mystery to remain inviting the hearer to participate in the mystery as she hears the parable. Parables are an invitation into the divine thoughts that are not our thoughts, the ways that are not ours. Parables are understood then not in our minds, to say cognitively. Rather they are embodied. With our lives as parable, we participate in the grace that God gives – a love and a grace that is beyond all our understanding.

Over the summer, we will continue to focus on parable in Bible Study and Meditation on Wednesdays and in Adult Study and Worship on Sundays. Parables dare us to embrace that which cannot be known. Blessings, David

Musings Along Lifes Way: God's Love

noreply@blogger.com (FirstUCCSR) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:18:00 +0000

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.., 8 for God is love. 9God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us.... 11Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.

What makes your heart sing? What do you love? For many of us, members and friends of First Congregational UCC, our church makes the heart sing, but even more so, we are in a love affair with God.

Love is a wonderful thing! Let us be glad and rejoice in just that, we love God. But, check things out in John’s first letter: it is not that we loved God, that is not the big deal – the unbelievable, great news is this: God first loved us. Our love for God, for our church, our love for our family and friends is a gift because God first loved us. God’s love for us is our first love – primary, predating even the love our parents have (had) for us. Now, isn’t that interesting: all love proceeds for God. This is a very good thing, showing us that love itself, God’s self, reaches further than we can imagine – embracing all. God’s love is basic, underlying the love a mother has for her child, the love that two people who are considering marriage have for one another, the love a child has for her parents, the love that we have for our friends, the love that we carry for people we haven’t even met yet. God’s love supports all this – supports everything. This first love is THE TRUTH attested to by all the spiritual teachers of all time. This first love is the midwife’s hand helping you out of the womb. This first love is the hospice nurse as he holds you while you take your last breath. There is no where that this first love does not reach.

Even our grumbling and grousing, our moaning and complaining--is held in God’s love. The gospel is Good News, pure and simple: there is an unending supply of God’s love, ours is a rhythm of abundance. You cannot escape this love that reaches everywhere. So what do you with it?

Your heart sings, you raise your voice, give witness and testimony. Everyone needs to know of God’s undying, unending, limitless unconditional love. The Church uses a particular word when talking about sharing God’s love with others: evangelism. Yes, yes, I know that is a hard word. We have seen others turn this word around where the good news seems to become unwelcome burdensome news – having something to do with being able to repeat a certain belief. But No! Evangelism is simply telling Good News. What do we tell? That there is a first love, a love that gives meaning and life to all loves. Evangelism is really an invitation to fall head over heels into this first love, so that we can become all that it is humanly possible to become: reflections of divine love in the world.

So, what makes your heart sing? Who do you love? Who loves you? Remember Jesus summing up all spiritual knowledge—two rules: Love the lord your God, heart mind and soul. And love your neighbor as yourself. That’s good news. Love, David

Musings Along Lifes Way: What Jesus Taught

noreply@blogger.com (FirstUCCSR) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:33:00 +0000

As we approach the Bible, it might be hard for any of us to know what precisely it is that Jesus taught. The different gospel writers each had their own slant on Jesus. They differ in many ways ranging from particular theologies as to who Jesus was to the ways in which they shaped their voices for their particular audiences. For instance, the writer of Matthew is clearly a Jewish author placing Jesus within the Jewish thought world and perspective, where John, written much later has a clear anti-Jewish bias in his telling of the story and teachings of Jesus. If we study the gospels closely we are left with the question, “What exactly did Jesus teach?”

Over the next nine weeks of summer we will be examining the teachings of Jesus. The parables give us insight into the teachings of Jesus: how he re-imagined the world and how these re-imaginings subverted contemporary renderings of the world, or reality itself. In his teachings on the Kingdom of God, Jesus imagines a kingdom where the first shall be last, and the last shall be first. His imaginings of the Kingdom are such that the realm of God is more like a mustard plant, small and pervasive weed than it is like a strong cedar of Lebanon – is more pervasive than it is dominant and domineering.

In the next weeks we will discover how radical a teacher Jesus really was. We will explore his creative, parabolic imagination, and discuss the implications for his vision for our contemporary world. We will find, I think, that Jesus is as radical today as he was 2000 years ago. Here are the places that you can encounter Jesus’ parables and teachings over the next weeks:

~8:30 and 10:30 Worship on Sunday mornings. Check your brochures for each weeks scripture and theme. This week: SCANDAL ROCKS THE REALM!!
~9:30 am Adult Study on Sunday mornings. We will be studying the book, “Re-imagine the World: An Introduction to the Parable of Jesus by Bernard Brandon Scott
~10 am on Wednesdays during our Bible Study: we will be studying different parables each week.
~7 pm Beyond Belief: Meditation and Spiritual Enrichment: we will read the parables of Jesus during our Meditation times.

I am looking forward to studying the teachings of Jesus. I invite you all to share in this time of intellectual and spiritual exploration.

Blessings, David

P.S.: I just received a notice from the IRS that I will be receiving my Economic Stimulus Check this week. I’m excited because in the “Rhythm of Abundance” I will have an opportunity to “give back” 10% of my check to the church to help with our deficit.

Musings Along Lifes Way: We are called to be a People of Invitation

noreply@blogger.com (FirstUCCSR) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:15:00 +0000

Dear Friends,
It’s hot. Yesterday, I was in my study at the church working on the grant proposal which we will be presenting to the national setting of the church. The day had started off warm and by 1:30 it was hot. That is when I heard the call. It was the swimming pool at the YMCA, calling out, “Come submerge yourself in my coolness, find relief in my waters.” What an invitation! For days like this, not a bad idea. God, the universe herself, calls out to us in a like way, inviting us into the loving-kindness that is the pattern of all that is. Did you know that we human beings can do this for each other?

We are called to be a people of invitation, inviting one another into the refuge of God’s presence. It is this way in the church. Churches are hubs of invitation, communities of loving-kindness and refuge, calling out, inviting. We have something to give, something that is unique in our world. However, we have to call out and invite people to join us. In the church of 1955 (the church many of us remember fondly – and for good reason), we held the idea that if we “built it they would come.” That used to be enough so churches of that era built great in house programs knowing that an active church would attract others. However, in 2008 this no longer works as a model for spreading the good news (evangelism).

Did you know that 87% of people who come to churches today and stay do so because someone invites them? Like the swimming pool in paragraph one of this note, we need to learn to call out, to invite. You see, in this fractured and fracturing world we offer coolness and relief. We carry the teachings of Jesus, which offer a clear alternative to the distractions, disorder, “the heat” of our day. With the teachings of Jesus we taste the pattern of things as they are, a kingdom or realm of God where the blind can see, the lame walk, the oppressed are set free. See how Jesus invites us.
I invite you to invite your friends to our church. What we have to share is “good news,” the blessings that we experience as a community of God’s love, the hope that is active and alive in our experience of the God’s grace.

Blessings,

David

Musings Along Life's Way: Celebrations!

noreply@blogger.com (FirstUCCSR) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:53:00 +0000

Dear Friends,

This coming Sunday we will have the opportunity to honor our graduates and give thanks to our church musicians for a year of hard work in giving us outstanding music. So, we will celebrate. To sing is to embody prayer. To sing the singer must use her whole body. The breath is from the belly, deep with the diaphragm fully employed. To keep rhythm the singer moves, sometimes swaying with the beat. Emotions, too, are involved as they give color and flavor to the words sung. To sing is to embody prayer – to be fully involved as one gives glory to God. You are invited to come and celebrate our musicians this Sunday.

NEWS FLASH!!!
This Sunday, June 8, there will be a service of worship at the Center for Spiritual Living in celebration of Gay Pride Week. The service starts at 7 pm. I will be having a part in the service.

On July 26th, from 10 am to 12 pm, Ron Buford, the founding director of the God is Still Speaking initiative in the United Church of Christ will be coming to our church to direct a "financial development seminar." Since leaving Still Speaking Ron has been hired by the Northern California Nevada Conference to help churches in their identity and financial development. Put the date on your calendar.

Fed Ranches, from the Local Church Ministries – Evangelism Team will visit our church on June 28 and 29 as part of the process of renewing our revitalization grant for the next three years. Please try to attend church on that day.

Blessings, David

Musings Along Life's Way: Annual Meeting of the Northern California Nevada Conference

noreply@blogger.com (FirstUCCSR) — Thu, 22 May 2008 18:53:00 +0000

Dear Friends,

I would like to tell you a little about the Annual Meeting of the Northern California Nevada Conference (NCNCUCC) that I just attended last weekend in Pacific Grove. This year’s Annual Meeting was perhaps the most exciting meeting that I have attended since coming to California 8 years ago. At the meeting delegates addressed big issues: External issues like racism and issues internal to the church such as by-law revision. In addition, we heard from national church leaders and were informed of exciting new programs being offered by the conference. For me, the most exciting moment came at the very beginning when the Conference meeting overwhelmingly affirmed the California Supreme Court as it overturned the ban on same sex marriage.

A few highlights:
Ron Buford comes to the Northern California Nevada Conference. Ron was the national coordinator for the God Is Still Speaking initiative in the United Church of Christ. This identity movement within the church has done much to help churches throughout the country. Now employed by the NCNCUCC , Ron is development officer for the Conference. He will be helping churches throughout the conference to strengthen their identity, mission and stewardship. We are currently in conversation with Ron to have him pay us a visit this fall. The Stewardship and Growth Boards will keep you informed.

A Spiritual Five for Five., As part of his presentation, Ron Buford offered a “spiritual five for five” for local churches. The five primary activities of a healthy church and healthy Christians are: worshiping, connecting, learning, serving and giving. A plan is being offered to churches that will help individuals focus on these spiritual disciplines for their lives and for the life of the church. Stay tuned.

Felix Carrion, current God is Still Speaking Coordinator addresses the Conference. Felix is the coordinator of God is Still Speaking for the national setting of the church. Felix spoke twice to the meeting. With a Pentecostal background his excellent presentations were filled with life and passion. The Still Speaking God is active in our midst, offering us countless opportunities to affirm God’s actions in our midst. It is my hope that the Still Speaking Initiative will be able to provide us with resources for an ad campaign in July. We’ll keep you posted.

A Conversation on Racism. Rev. John Thomas asked that May 18th might be a day for national conversation on race and racism. Over the weekend this conversation began on the Conference level. The conversation had highs and lows. Painful at times, churches agreed to continue the conversation on the local level.

It was good to be at annual meeting. We are a church known on all levels of the United Church of Christ. Because we were included in the video which was shot in our parking lot two years ago, both Ron Buford and Felix Carrion were familiar with us and our ministry. It is wonderful to be part of such a lively and healthy church. Also, did you know that we are #12 among 132 conference churches in terms of our giving to the Conference and National levels of the Church? Did you know we are #3 in our giving to the Christmas Fund (an offering for retired clergy)? These are just two examples of how we are a lead church in the NCNCUCC and nationally. Keep up the good work. Blessings, David

Musings Along Lifes Way

noreply@blogger.com (FirstUCCSR) — Wed, 07 May 2008 19:59:00 +0000

Dear Friends,

Holy, Holy, Holy, God of Love and Majesty, the whole universe speaks of your glory. -UCC Book of Worship – echoing Isaiah, Chapter 6

This Sunday will tell the glory of God in our fellowship. So much is happening…so much not to be missed. Here’s is a list with some of my comments:

· It is Mother’s Day – a day to celebrate women, to celebrate the gift of life, to celebrate the woman who brought us into the world – whether she is living or she has passed. It is a Sunday to celebrate our God, who like a good mothers nurtures us with her strength and compassion.

· It is Pentecost – a day to celebrate the church’s founding by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is like a mother to the church bringing forth life and community. She is like a flame lighting the fires of compassion and love in us all.

· We are baptizing Collin Brown. Collin is the son of Graham and Linda Brown. It is in the Holy Spirit that we baptize realizing the power of new life.

· And finally, our children, the one’s baptized grow up. It is Youth Sunday. The Youth of our church reflecting their love for God and community will be helping me with Sunday’s service.

I look forward to seeing you all in church this Sunday.

Blessings and Peace,
David

Musings Along Life's Way: Pauls Preaching

noreply@blogger.com (FirstUCCSR) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 19:15:00 +0000

Hello Friends,

This Sunday we will be reading from the Acts of the Apostles, the sequel to the gospel writer's Gospel of Luke. The Acts catalogs the travels of Paul, the antics of Peter, the early church in the time after the death and resurrection of Jesus. In many ways, though contemporaneous with the gospels, it has an entirely different feel than the gospels. I think this is because it is about us, in the guise of Jesus' followers after the coming of the Holy Spirit. Acts is a Spirit centered book, the Spirit empowering people to do the work of the Lord. One such work was Paul's preaching to the people of Athens from Mars Hill, from the Areopagus. The Areopagus was a place for Athenians to come and to discuss the philosophical issues of the day. For Paul, the Areopagus is a challenge, a challenge much like our own.

Paul was journeying into a foreign land, with a foreign religion. The people he was speaking to were not inclined towards the Christian religion, were not inclined to the person and presence of the Risen Christ. However, they had a strong philosophical and religious bent. So, Paul begins right where they are:

2Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. ^23 For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’

From there, Paul, respective of mystery, makes his case. Join me this Sunday as Paul speaks to the Areopagus and as we discern our place and our message to a world filled with philosophical questioning and religious doubt, a world longing for the mystery of God's presence in the incarnation of the divine in everyday life.See you in church.

Blessings, David

Musings Along Lifes Way

noreply@blogger.com (FirstUCCSR) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:31:00 +0000

Hello Friends,
We send this eletter out on Thursday, early morning. This morning when you get your Press-Democrat look in the first section, the "news" section, and you will see a half page ad promoting the United Churches of Christ in Sonoma County. This ad well presents the United Church of Christ
1. as a church that respects and promotes a free and open exchange of
ideas
2. as a church with a rich history as a church promoting justice in
"in the world"
3. as a church that stands squarely in the Christian tradition

It is also remarkable that all churches in Sonoma County contributed to this effort. It is the hope of many that our Sonoma County United Churches of Christ will continue to work together as they find a unity of spirit, joining together for a common mission. Don't miss the ad in today's paper. Show it to a friend that does not have a church.

I would like to remind you of Bob Orr's wonderful book study on Sunday mornings at 9:15 in the Fireside Room. Participants are studying the book, "The Great Awakening," by Jim Wallis, a book that explores the link between personal faith and social justice concerns.

Also, annual meeting this week after church.

Blessings,David

Musings Along Life's Way: Second Sunday in Easter

noreply@blogger.com (FirstUCCSR) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:15:00 +0000

Dear Friends,

This coming Sunday, the Second Sunday in Easter, has been called "Low" Sunday in the traditional church calendar. In Protestant circles this has come to mean low attendance after the huge attendance for Easter Sunday the week before. I suspect that traditionally this has been the case -- fewer people attend church the week after Easter than do on Easter Sunday. That is almost a certain thing.

However, I have reason to believe that we will not experience a typical "Low" Sunday this week. This is because we have the wonderful opportunity to hear fantastic music in our church sanctuary. Yes, yes, I know that we hear fantastic music each week (Thank you Ron and Chancel Choir). However, this week is special because the Chamber Singers from Montgomery High School will be with us in worship. Their director, Dana Alexander is a member of our church and has graciously offered to bring them to our church to sing sacred music during worship. We are looking forward to a wonderful worship service with the Montgomery High Chamber Singers featured prominently. Oh yes, low Sunday. Apparently, it was all a big mistake. An article from wikipedia sets it all to rest:

It was sometimes said that the name derives from its relative unimportance
compared to the solemnities of Easter Day, but it is more likely that "low" is a
corruption of the Latin word Laudes, the first word of the Sequence of the day:
"Laudes Salvatori voce modulemur supplici" (Let us sing praises to the Savior
with humble voice). Laudes means "praises.

We invite you to come to our continuing celebration of Easter this Sunday. Let me remind you that after church, a wonderful meal will be served. As a gift from the Stewardship Board, a thank you for your contribution to the church, there will be a Corned Beef and Cabbage lunch served in Friendship Hall. All are welcome!!
See you in church.

Blessings, David

Musings Along Life's Way: Holy Week

noreply@blogger.com (FirstUCCSR) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 20:30:00 +0000

Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. -- John 12:24-25

I abandoned and forgot myself,
laying my face on my Beloved;
all things ceased;
I went out from myself,
leaving my caresforgotten among the lilies.
-St. John of the Cross, Dark Night of the Soul

It is Holy Week, the week between Palm Sunday and Easter, the week of Jesus' suffering and on Friday, Christ's death. During Holy Week we enter into the heart of mystery, we embrace the truth "that God's ways are not our ways." In a world where we desire order we find that that resting in the heart of things is paradox, that things are upside down: dark is light and death is life. Perhaps more mysterious still, we find our hope in such upside down thinking.
What I like about thinking upside down is that it asks you to forget everything you thought you knew. It asks you to revise all your previous formulae, your conclusions about life and invites you to open your heart to the new and previously unimagined. When John of the Cross forgets and moves out from himself, his new life in Christ opens in an new found intimacy, his face upon the Beloved. In this relationship, John finds that he leaves worry behind and that without anxiety he is free, free for God's love in and through his life.

This is Holy Week, the time when we focus on a prime symbol of the faith , the cross, that, frankly, leaves us all a bit uneasy. Perhaps it can all be summed up in a popular phrase very often heard – let go and let God. The cross is the symbol for letting go. As we let go of even that which is precious to us we are then able to awaken to God's presence. Have a good Holy Week.

Blessings, David

Holy Week Schedule
Thursday, March 20, 6 pm: Maundy Thursday Simple Meal and Worship. The meal begins at 6, the service at 7.
Easter Dawn, March 23, 8:30 am: Our early service will be out on the lawn as we welcome the risen one into our heats and lives. Easter Festival, March 23, 10:30 am: Come to our Easter Festival Worship.

Musings Along Lifes Way: Palm Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (FirstUCCSR) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 03:20:00 +0000

40 Some of the people in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, order your disciples to stop.’ He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.’ Luke 19:40

When something joyous happens in our lives, when the miraculous breaks through ... say the birth of a child or grandchild, or perhaps the joy of standing beneath a flowering plum tree as the spring wind sends her petals flying...when the miraculous breaks through, there is no containing it. This is what happened on Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, the day we celebrate as Palm Sunday. Something joyous was afoot -- God's Word made flesh in Jesus was coming to town. Love was about, entering the city, entering human lives, transforming hearts as love made love's way through city streets.

As often happens there were those who want to contain the joy, hold back the emotion, control others. They said to the joyous, "Be quiet." Then love incarnate, Jesus, love love's self, spoke up -- "if they were quiet, the stones themselves would shout out loud." There is no containing love's way in the world. Love will be done, joy made manifest. Palm Sunday is an invitation to be caught up in the joyous, to sing hosanna and to throw off our coats with abandon. Palm Sunday is an invitation to briefly touch the joy, that despite the sorrow of Holy Week, will prevail. With Palm Sunday we are invited to enter Jerusalem, to walk the city streets and discover for ourselves to the love with will not let us go, the love that can endure all things and emerge victorious.

This Sunday is Palm Sunday. I look forward to seeing you in church. David

Musings Along Lifes Way: Upcoming Workshop

noreply@blogger.com (FirstUCCSR) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 01:51:00 +0000

Next Saturday, March 15 there will be a Lenten retreat held in our church building. What is exciting is that the United Churches of Christ of Sonoma County, are jointly sponsoring this event.

Workshops will include:
The Practice of Compassion
Clowning Ministries
Everyday Holiness: knitting prayer shawls
Praying with Color
Meditation

There will be opportunities to worship together and to get to know people from other United Churches of Christ. Lunch will be provided and child care will be available. There is a fee of 20 dollars for each participant. If the fee is a problem, no one will be turned away for lack of funds. I am looking forward to this event and to seeing many of us there.
Blessings, David

Musings Along Life's Way:

noreply@blogger.com (FirstUCCSR) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 19:22:00 +0000

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 10 – 11

What a busy month!!! In the month of March we will continue our Lenten theme, "By Heart." As we examine our hearts, as we enter most deeply into our lives we uncover eternity. To know by heart is to know that the love of God that we know in Jesus Christ is the eternal foundation, is to know that the mystery of God's love is so deep and wide that there is no area of our lives that is untouched. Easter, which we will celebrate on March 23rd , says that this eternal foundation is irrepressible and will prevail no matter what, not even death can overcome it. Let us enter most deeply into the eternal promise of God's love. Come Easter may our hearts resound with unending joy, the joy of God's beloved. Blessings and Peace, David

noreply@blogger.com (FirstUCCSR) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 21:28:00 +0000

This week, preparing for our meditation/spiritual enrichment time, I came across this bit in Jerry May's book, The Awakened Heart.

Quoting William Blake:

And we are put on earth a little space

That we might learn to bear the beams of love.

Jerry says, I think William Blake was right about the purpose of humanity; we are here to learn to bear the beams of love. There are three meanings of bearing love: to endure it, to carry it and to bring it forth. In the first, we are meant to grow in our capacity to endure love's beauty and pain. In the second, we are meant to carry love and spread it around, as children carry laughter and measles. And in the third we are meant to bring new love into the world, to be birthers of love. This is the threefold nature of our longing. Isn't that beautiful. My hope is that Jerry words will put us in touch with our own longing, that love will be done in and through us. I look forward to seeing you this Sunday, the Second Sunday in Lent. Below take a look at everything that is happening this week at your church.

Blessings, David