PASTOR'S PEN
Welcoming the Newest Members of CUPC’s Leadership
I love September. More than anything, September
has been a time of promise - of new beginnings, new openings, new
opportunities. And the special one for me this September is starting as CUPC’s
Parish Associate for Preaching and Christian Spirituality. It’s been a delight
working with Pastor Grace and the leadership of CUPC as we’ve moved toward this
point. And there is much joy in my heart now as we begin this journey together.
I’ll add just a few words here about the two
specific areas in which I’ll be working. In terms of the preaching, as one
former seminary president once said to me, “There is nothing like preaching to
your own congregation.” I have preached in lots of different contexts, and
enjoy doing so. But to have your faces before me as I am writing a sermon,
praying my way through a passage, and wrestling with its practical
implications, is a specific kind of loving – to which I am looking forward!
In terms of the work in the area of Christian
Spirituality, people usually wonder what that IS. In his book, Holy Longing:
the Search for a Christian Spirituality, author Ronald Rolheiser describes
Christian Spirituality as what we do with the deep desire we each have for God
- whether we follow it, ignore it, or struggle with it. As a spiritual
director, I help people - clergy and lay folk - follow that longing, and grow
in their awareness and responsive action to the presence and movement of the Spirit
of God in their lives. Together, we will shape what my ministry in this area
looks like.
Many of you know me as the wife of your former
interim pastor, Rev. Jeff Cheifetz, so I’ll add just a bit more here. I grew up
in a Christian family, the oldest of five daughters, and attended 1st
Presbyterian Church in Berkeley. Most of my extended family lives in the Bay
Area and in the Santa Clara valley. Both my parents grew up on farms south of
here, and they and their families were interned during the WWII in Poston,
Arizona, and Topaz, Utah. While my own conversion experience happened while I
was a college student at Berkeley with Inter-Varsity, God has shaped me
mightily through the churches that have been the life of ministry I have had,
both with my husband and on my own. Rural, suburban, urban - of all different
sizes - they have been profoundly formative, as I have thought about the
kingdom of God, and my own place in its work. So, even as I hope you will learn
from me, I, too, will be learning from all of you, as together we share this
good and rich journey to which God has called us. I am excited and grateful at
the prospect of serving alongside Pastor Grace and Hiroko, sharing in the good
work of God’s kingdom with all of you.
May God bless us in this and all of our new
beginnings, all the lovely Septembers of our lives.
In Christ’s love,
Pastor Diana Cheifetz
DEACONS' REPORT
Summer is over and the kids are back in school.
Have you noticed the new playground structure outside? That must’ve been a nice
change for the young folks at Nihonmachi Little Friends when they returned.
Change is good. And so we continue to grow and change here at CUPC.
The Deacons are looking for volunteers who would
be willing to provide transportation to/from church for those members who are
unable to join us on a regular basis due to lack of transportation, or who may
be uncomfortable in using public transit. Please call the church if you would
like to give someone a ride to church.
We have much to be thankful for in our lives and
we come with hearts filled with joy and gratitude as we lift up our community
and world.
COFFEE FELLOWSHIP:
The Deacons would like to thank the individuals
who have contributed to the coffee fellowship during the month of August.
We are aware that there are those who contribute but do not sign up on the
list. We wish to thank you also
Jan Der, Co-Moderator
SUMMER CAMP MOMENTS
Hello, my name is Samuel Zhou. You can call me
Sam for short. Well I can say that some of you, no wait most of you don't know
me. This is my first year at CUPC as well as a leader and I have found that
these few weeks working here have been fulfilling and gratifying.
This week at summer camp was pretty fun. On
Monday, the campers stayed here at church. They had the choice of watching
movies or playing games in the social hall. The two movies were Mulan and
Hercules. Personally I think that watching Mulan fight the Huns and Hercules
doing his thing is more fun than board games. On Tuesday, the entire camp took
the bus down to Aquatic Park for a day of adventuring. After about half a day
of adventuring, where most of the kids just went to the arcade, the second half
of the day, after lunch, was spent at the beach where the campers enjoyed the
cold weather and playing at the beach. The leaders planned to do themes this
week, and given on a certain day, we had to dress a certain theme. On Monday we
didn’t dress as anything as it was the day we used to plan out what we were to
wear this week. Tuesday, the leaders dressed up as movie characters. Leaders
and directors dressed up from characters like Juno and the Joker, to things
like the Zorro and Hancock. Wednesday, thee entire camp ventured to Yerba Buena
for a fun day of bowling and playing at Yerba Buena Park. Alpha went to bowl
first, and I was a little worried whether or not the kids were strong enough to
carry the bowling balls, but they managed. After bowling, the campers spent the
rest of the day playing at the park, enjoying the sunshine and playing with
their friends. For Wednesday, the Leaders dressed their formal wear to bowling.
It was a little harder to bowl, but still was an all around great day. On
Thursday, we spent the early morning watching the Lion King before taking
school busses all the way to Concord for a fun day of swimming. The kids looked
like they really had fun. I guess you can say it was a good day to leave the
city and enjoy some sunshine over at Concord. For Thursday, the Leaders dressed
up as hippies, showing off our awesome tie-dye shirts. Friday, the last day of
the extended weeks, we all took the school busses and spent the entire day at
Marine World or Discovery Kingdom. The kids were all tired by the end of the
day and had a lot of fun riding on rollercoaster’s and playing games. Some of
the kids even saw Shouka, the killer Whale and other animals. For Friday, in
celebration of the start of the Olympics, the Leaders dressed as if they were
in the Olympics themselves. We had track stars to bicyclists to tennis players.
I would say, after working these past, oh, 3
weeks with CUPC, I have changed as a person. In my relationship with God, I
feel as if I have gone closer to him, just by working with the kids. I
personally believe that working with kids reflects the goodness of god and his
love for children. I have grown as an individual, as it was hard to come here
to meet all these new campers and leaders that I hardly know. I have made new
friendships that will last a lifetime. Although my three weeks here have been
short, all the memories and the friendships I’ve made this summer will continue
to grow and stay with me always.
Throughout my time here at CUPC, I have been
given the opportunity to make memories with all the friends I've made here and
to serve the community at the same time. It has been truly a gift, coming to
camp each day and seeing the smiles on the kids faces as they play their
favorite game or sing their favorite song, knowing that I was given the
opportunity to share in their experience at CUPC. I hope that the Leaders and
Directors of the Extended Week two will have just as good as a week as I did.
Thank you.
Good morning, Unfortunately, and sadly, this last
week was the very last for CUPC Summer Camp 2008. Since this is the last camp
moment for this year I hope this piece is halfway decent.
Well my name is Alex Kawano. This summer has been
one of many steppingstones for me. This was my first year as an Omega
department leader. I have had the privilege to work with older kids for the
first time. With the younger campers my patience level had to be rather high,
but with oldest boys my patience level just fell off the table. But after all
the stressful moments with the oldest boys, I managed to have a blast, just as
I do year after year of coming to camp. I also had fun being on the God Squad.
This was the first time I did anything like this, leading and discussing
devotions with campers and fellow headers, and becoming vulnerable by sharing
life struggles and believes in God with my fellow leaders. Being on this
devotional team, I was able to get one step closer on my faith journey.
As for this week, it had its ups and downs. The
only sad thing about this week was saying goodbye to everybody. As far the rest
of the week, it was uber fun. Monday, well actually that was also a down
moment. We had to clean! However, I'm sure the campers enjoyed watching movies,
playing board games, and playing outside. Throughout the week the leaders
dressed up for an apparel theme, Monday’s being Giants day, Tuesday, we
graduated to Sausalito. We all dressed up in our caps and gowns, resulting in a
lot of questions and weird looks from strangers. The campers, as well as
leaders were able to buy an array of things while window shopping. The
merchandise ranged from loads of candy, to unibrow kits, to very phony wallets
and of course, Starbucks. Also, it was Sir Mix A Lot's birthday. Wednesday we
went to Yerba Buena Gardens for ice skating. Once again, the leaders got a lot
of peculiar looks. It was mismatch day and we were sporting some pretty unusual
and bright outfits. Over the next two days we got super wet, sliding at Raging
Waters and swimming at Heather Farms.
This week I had added to my book of countless
memories at camp. I will remember some hilarious remarks by the campers, some
scary accounts with the leaders, the building of the new play structure, and
the friendship that I have built upon. As far my 10th summer at camp, it’s gone
by so fast and it’s just been a blast. I'm so thankful for this camp because it
has presented so many great opportunities for me. I have been able to share the
same joy that I have as a camper with the campers. I have also been able to
sharpen my leadership skill and build friendships and great memories that will
stay with me forever.
Lastly, I think we should all be thankful that
God has blessed us with this amazing camp. We should also thank everyone who
made this summer another successful one. Thank you.
