PASTOR'S PEN
Peacemaking…Yes, Again “And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations…”Revelations 22:2
Last month, I shared with you about CUPC and our
“Peacemaking Journey”. I also mentioned briefly about our upcoming
‘Peacemaking Series’ in October. In this Pastor’s Pen, I would like for
us to continue thinking about Peacemaking – both individually and corporately –
and invite you to be a part of the PC(USA) Peacemaking Offering. For
those who regularly worship with us, we will receive the offering on November 4
during the service…for those who cannot worship with us but still would like to
contribute, please send in your offerings to the church.
Beginning October 21, CUPC is having their annual
‘Peacemaking Series’ where we will again be intentionally thinking about
peacemaking and our roles as followers of Christ. This year’s Peacemaking
Offering theme as you see above is taken from a verse in the book of
Revelation. The verse is part of a larger description of John's vision of the
new Jerusalem. One of the images John uses is the tree of life, with its twelve
kinds of fruit and leaves that are to be used for the healing of all the
nations of the world. It is an image of a world at peace, with enough for
everyone to eat and the “medicine” to heal all the wounds and illnesses of
humankind. We live in the hope of that vision of peace and well-being expressed
so vividly in the tree of life.
The image you see is the theme poster.
Because it’s not in color, I apologize that it may be difficult to
see. We do have a color version posted at the church. It is a
picture of a quilt that is made up of different squares – but together, it
depicts the tree in which ‘the leaves of the tree are for healing’. I
see this quilt as a way in which we are called to be peacemakers in this
world. As there are many different distinct ‘pieces’ to the whole, our
peacemaking efforts take many forms and are distinct. But together, they
are woven into the bigger picture of peace.
So what are some of the ‘squares’ of peacemaking
that we can all contribute to individually? Here are some concrete,
family-friendly ideas (compliments of the Peacemaking Program of the PC(USA)):
God
calls us to live in peace with the world God created.
Make a commitment to care for the earth by creating a recycling plan or
cleaning up a local green space.
Peacemaking
begins at home: relationships between family members can
sometimes be less than peaceful. Write a family covenant about ways you
can resolve conflicts in a peaceful manner.
Living
in peace means getting to know more about those neighbors who live close and
far away. Find out more about another
culture. One resource is www.buildavillage.org, an interactive Web site for
all ages.
One ‘square’ that CUPC hopes to contribute to as
a church is the PC(USA) Peacemaking Offering. At the conclusion of our
three-week ‘Peacemaking series’, we will receive this offering on November
4. Not only does this offering go to our National Church to support
peacemaking programs and efforts, some of the funds are kept for our congregation
to use for our own local peacemaking.
Would you come and join us in our journey to live
out our calling as peacemakers? What will your ‘square’ in the big quilt
of peacemaking look like?
Let the healing begin!
Pastor Grace Kaori
Suzuki
DEACONS' REPORT
With the cool, crisp mornings and evenings and
warm days, fall is definitely upon us. I recently returned from a trip to
New England to see the fall foliage. The scenery was beautiful as the
foliage was just beginning to turn colors. It’s amazing to see all of
God’s creation in nature and the changes that occur. Embrace all the
beauty that surrounds us.
The Deacon’s will be meeting this month on Oct.
21st. We’ll continue planning for the Thanksgiving dinner, the Deacon led
worship service, and the Pastoral Partnership Program. The Pastoral
Partnership Program was summarized a few weeks ago in a Moment for
Mission. It was explained that the main goal of the program is in the care
we offer, our sole goal is to ensure that people are supported in their journey
of faith. I John 4:9-10 tells us that God is Love, that God’s whole
intention is to love us, and that when we love, God lives in us and we live in
God. A woman told a story of a little boy who was awakened by thunder and
lightning and reassured him that all would be fine. Never wasting an
opportunity to talk about God with her child, she said “You know Troy, God is
always there for you at times like this, when you’re frightened. God
loves you too!” “I know, mom” said Troy, “but I prefer Love with skin
on!” If you would like to participate in this pilot program, contact one
of the Deacons.
If you have any prayer request or needs, please
contact the office..
COFFEE FELLOWSHIP:
The Deacons would like to thank the individuals
who have contributed to the coffee fellowship during the month of
September. We are aware there are others who do not sign up on the list,
but contribute. We would like to thank you all. Also, if you
haven’t signed up recently, I encourage you to sign up on the bulletin board
next to the social hall. Thank you in advance.
Irene Woo, Vice Moderator
ARTICLE OF INTEREST
Annual Church Clean-up
On behalf of the Board of Trustees, we would like
to thank everyone who helped clean the Church on Saturday, September 8th.
It was a lot of hard work, but everyone seemed to enjoy working together.
Many hands made the work a lot easier. A lot of people also
commented on how the Church looked much brighter and cleaner than it has been
in a while. Lunch was provided for the workers. Thanks once again for all the
hard work.
Doug Inori, President
Board
of Trustees
We're getting a new roof!
Starting October 10th, the roofing contractor
will begin installing a new foam roof. The estimated completion date is
October 18, 2007. During this period the parking spaces going east and
west will be used by the roofers and their equipment. We ask for
everyone’s cooperation and patience at this time because we know how much
better the new roof will be. The sanctuary should be cooler in the
spring, summer and fall (when we do get warm to hot days) and warmer in the
winter. And, no more leaky spots during the rainy season!
Let us extend our Christmas greeting!
We are once again offering a service of which you
may wish to take advantage. It was felt that many people may wish to send
Christmas greetings to the members and friends of the church through the
printed version of the Visiting Pastor in lieu of sending Christmas cards,
thereby saving the cost of postage and cards and allowing you the opportunity
to use the money for some other worthy cause, a cause which may be especially
meaningful to you at Christmas time.
What we are proposing is to make available
several sheets which will be the Christmas greeting pages of a special edition
of the VP. There will be a large central Christmas greeting message with
the little boxes of space (2 ½ X 1 ½ inches) surrounding it. Within these
little boxes of space, you may place your Christmas greeting messages along
with your name or family names.
If you wish to take advantage of this service,
we ask that you contribute $10.00 for the space. The amount received will go
towards off-setting the cost of publishing the V.P. during the year, so you
will be helping the church also by participating in this Christmas greetings
project of the V.P.
For a copy of a reservation form, please call the
office. WE MUST HAVE ALL RESERVATIONS TURNED IN BY SUNDAY,
NOVEMBER 25TH along with your contribution. The Christmas
edition of the V.P will be printed on December 5th and mailed on December 6th
in order to allow time for delivery before Christmas.
VP Committee
