April 13, 2011
Montclair Presbyterian Church
Dear Friends,
You may have already heard the good news, but it’s certainly worth repeating! Last night at the Presbytery of San Francisco meeting, the Presbytery voted 198-143 in favor of Amendment 10A (to change the Book of Order, which is the way Presbyterians govern themselves) with one abstention. For those of you who don’t know, Amendment 10A is the following:
10-A. Gifts and Requirements for Ordained Office – On Amending G-6.0106b
Shall G-6.0106 be amended by striking the current text and inserting new text as follows:
Text that will be deleted, current G-6.0106b:
b. Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity with the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (W-4.9001) or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self-acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament.
Proposed new text of G-6.0106b:
b. Standards for ordained service reflect the church’s desire to submit joyfully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life. The governing body responsible for ordination and/or installation shall examine each candidate’s calling, gifts, preparation, and suitability for the responsibilities of office. The examination shall include, but not be limited to, a determination of the candidate’s ability and commitment to fulfill all requirements as expressed in the constitutional questions for ordination and installation. Governing bodies shall be guided by Scripture and the confessions in applying standards to individual candidates.
While many of you are way past this particular bit of legislation and have no qualms about exercising our collective conscience when it comes to our own practices regarding ordaining elders, this is a matter that still has great importance. It is this legislation (the current text) that prevents me and so many others from serving freely in the church. The removal of it at least guarantees that we might have a chance.
Our elders who were present last evening were Lori Kendall, Susanne Lea, Wayne Smith, Pat Hoggatt and Chuck Dormann. I am grateful to each of them for their presence, their understanding, and their willingness to venture into this particular wilderness, knowing it is never pleasant. Pat Hoggatt stood up in front of the 400 or more people gathered and shared her story about her daughter Karen. The entire gathering was moved by her sharing and I believe she may have changed some minds and hearts. I am grateful to Pat for her courage and her vulnerability and her incredible advocacy. Her courage made the whole evening worth sitting through for me and eased some of the pain of having to hear some of the disparaging remarks made by the opposition.
Another highlight of the evening was the worship service led by the Rev. Dr. Carol Miles, who is a friend of this congregation, and the sermon that was preached by the Rev. Cal Chinn, our Transitional Executive Presbyter. He spoke powerfully to the fact that Jesus told the disciples (and tells us) to get in the boat despite the threatening wind and waves. In another article I will tell you all about the upcoming June meeting when the Presbytery will vote on whether or not to adopt the Belhar Confession into our book of confessions. The confession is causing quite a controversy and it’s very exciting!
I hope to see you this Sunday for Palm Sunday, next Thursday for Supper and the Maundy Thursday service and then the following Sunday for our Easter Celebration! I have missed seeing those of you who have been away.
Grateful to be your Interim Pastor,
Beth
SUSAN’S JIVE:
- CHILDREN: The children will be learning a song to sing at Easter during the last part of classes again this week. Please meet your children in the Thornhill Room at 11:15. On Easter please bring children to the sanctuary at 9:15 sharp to rehearse.
- THANKS FROM THE YOUTH GROUP: The youth group would like to thank all who supported the Youth PANCAKE BREAKFAST last Sunday. We fed a record number and the youth raised over $800.
- YOUTH GROUP: We will be away on our Spring Retreat at Zephyr Cove at Tahoe this weekend.
UNDERSTANDING STEWARDSHIP: What’s Stewardship? Would you like to know more about pledging to support the church financially in the coming fiscal year? Are you an experienced pledger who would be willing to share with others why you pledge? You are all invited to come to the Thornhill Room at 11:30 after Celebration this Sunday to talk with the Stewardship Committee and others about pledging. Questions? Contact Jeanne Dunn, Barbara Vaughn, or Sloan White.
SOCIAL JUSTICE “BIG TENT” MEETING THIS SUNDAY: Members of the 5 social justice committees of our church are invited to a “Big Tent” meeting this Sunday after church at 11:45. We’re coming together to work on developing a CONCISE Social Justice Mission statement, one sentence long. We’re so pleased that Tom Debley is able to be with us to lead us through this process! Tom has helped Kaiser Permanente and other organizations develop their own mission statements. It should be a valuable exercise which will give us more clarity as we invite additional people into the social justice work of our church. The meeting will be in Rm 10 and will last about 1 1/2 hour. Bring a sack lunch to eat during Tom’s introductory power-point presentation. Please let Barbara Peters know if you are planning to attend: barbxpeters@gmail.com or 510-654-9677.
PLASTIC RECYCLE AT THE CHURCH: Many people don’t realize that Oakland does not recycle plastic bags, plastic items other than bottles and tubs, or Styrofoam. The Men’s Team picks up such items for recycle, except for Styrofoam, on the third Sunday of each month (next pickup is April 17). Leave them in plastic bags on the walk just east of the Church (next to the gas station). Here is a good article about plastics recycle and also the City of Oakland recycle info (gray can).
MAUNDY THURSDAY: On Thursday, April 21, we will gather as a community to remember the passion story of Jesus. Join us for supper and fellowship in the Family Room at 6:30. We will walk together to the sanctuary for a special service at 7:30. The whole family is welcome.
EASTER FLOWERS: If you have not ordered an azalea for Easter Sunday, you are welcome to bring flowers or plants to the sanctuary at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 23 so that we can arrange them with the azaleas.
SAVE THE DATE! On Sunday, May 1st, the SPLASH Team will host the MPC Community Forum on Climate Change. Come hear newly elected Oakland Mayor Jean Quan respond to a presentation of the Oakland Climate Action Plan. Do you live in Oakland? Do you live near Oakland? Do you drive through Oakland? If you said yes to any of these questions, this affects you! We will be serving a delicious lunch in the Family Room at 11:30 AM. The 1-hour program will start at 12:15 PM in the sanctuary with Q & A afterwards. Come and get to know Mayor Quan and learn about all the exciting things happening in Oakland. Child care provided upon request!
ADULT ED CLASSES COMING IN MAY: “Ball Room Dancing” with Marilyn Moore (this is a new posting) will be on Wednesdays, May 4, 16 and 23, at 7:30 pm in the Family Room. “Evolution and God: How We Got Here” with John Turpin and John Hadsell (there is room for a few more in this class) will be on Sundays, May 1, 8, 15 and 22, at 8:30 am in Room 10. “The Once and Future Church with John Hadsell, Bruce Reyes-Chow and Carol Miles (there is room for a few more in this class) will be on Mondays, May 2, 9, 16 and 23, at 7:30 pm in the Thornhill Room.
FAMILY CAMP: MPC Family Camp at the Richardson Resort in South Lake Tahoe, is a fun tradition for many of our families, singles and couples. If you haven’t gone before, we’d love to have you come. All are welcome. This year marks the 34th year. Dates are June 18 (19) until June 25. Rev. Beth & Rev. Katie Morrison will lead an intergenerational morning program. There will be more information available during the Sunday morning Family hour or check out the MPC website. Co-Deans: Debbie Fallehy & Carrie McKiernan – Registrar: Cindy Gullikson
GIVING TO THE WORLD: Giving to the World – isn’t that a Christmas program? Why are we talking about it in April? We’re taking a look at the programs on the Giving to the World list, MPC’s alternative Christmas gift list in order to have the best possible list ready to go for next Christmas.
Do you have ideas for the list? Do you have a program you’d like to suggest or possibly just areas you think that we are missing? Do you have ideas that would make the program more appealing to you and others at MPC? Send any and all ideas to Helen Hutchison (helen@helenhutch.com, 510 654 2216).
REDWOOD FOR SALE: We have eight 4 inch slabs of redwood harvested from a tree on the MPC grounds three years ago. We also have approximately 350 feet of the 2 x 6 Redwood that was formerly the slats in front of organ pipes in the MPC chancel. This is the same wood that was used to build the current chancel furniture. If you were go to a lumber yard and order 2 x 6 clear heart dried redwood, you would pay up to $8.00 a foot. The slabs are stored in the apple garden garage and should be dried for use now. Special price for MPC members: $150 each for the slabs; $1.50 per foot for the 2 by 6’s. We will have a sample of the 2 x 6’s in the family room on Sunday.
A REPORT FROM LAST SUNDAY’S YOUTH LEADERSHIP PRESENTATION: Last year one of the recipients of the External Giving Program was the Youth Leadership Training Program run by the Oakland Community Organizations (OCO). MPC is one of the 40+ member congregations and organizations of OCO. Last Sunday, April 10, MPC’s Community Connection Committee sponsored the youth leaders’ presentation after church. The youth did an excellent job of describing their momentous trip to Washington DC in March of 2010 to attend the March for America, an immigration rally on the Washington Mall. Their story of the bus trip to Washington DC, sleeping on the bus, doing 3 hours of homework each day, stopping in cities along the way to pick up more youth and meet with the media, was inspiring. The youth leaders also described other successful projects they worked on last year. Some of the listeners were surprised to hear about the practice of police impounding cars from undocumented drivers for the sole reason of not having a driver’s license. We heard testimonies of an undocumented high school student and others who were directly affected by this treatment. But OCO and the youth leaders were able to stop that discriminatory practice. Now their work is a model for other cities.It was thought-provoking for our members to hear firsthand about the difficulties facing the Latino community. All who attended the moving presentation admired the young leaders’ poise, confidence, openness, honesty, trust, and what they have already accomplished in their young lives.
DEADLINES: To submit announcements for the bulletin and Contact, please send them to office@mpcfamily.org. The deadline for Contact is Tuesdays at 3 pm and the deadline for the bulletin is Wednesdays at 12 pm. This is a change for all of us, so let’s try to remind each other!
MPC Calendar:
http://www.mpcfamily.org/getting-involved/calendar/
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MONTCLAIR PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
5701 Thornhill Drive, Oakland, California 94611, (510)339-1131
Office Hours: Monday – Friday, 9:00am-3:30pm
Rev. Beth Buckingham-Brown, Office hours Monday-Wednesday, 10:00-3:00 pm
Susan Hunn, Associate for Children & Youth: Office hours, Tuesday-Thursday, 9:30-2:30 pm
Sherrill Figuera: Administrative Assistant: Office hours: Tuesday-Friday, 9:00-3:30 pm
Talitha Phillips: Coordinator for Children and Youth
Kim Rankin: Associate in Music
Marcia Roy: Organist
Gil & Maria Chiguila: Caretakers
Rev. John Hadsell: Theologian in Residence
Rev. Kathy Ray: Parish Associate
Ajit Abraham: International Partner in Residence