PASTOR’S PEN
Thinking about Our Youth Ministries…
“Remember your creator in the days of your
youth…” Ecclesiastes 12:1
Recently, a ‘task group’ from session was put
together to think and re-think about CUPC’s ministry to the youth. As many of
you know, we have had quite a few Youth Directors in the past, but it has been
difficult to move forward in our overall ministry with the youth. This, by all
means, is NOT to negate the amazing, wonderful ministry that has been done by
the former Youth Directors and those who have worked (and continue to work)
with them! For them, the church is most grateful – and we hope to build on top
of their ministries. However, on the whole, our recent youth ministry has not
had a clear direction or focus, which I believe has hindered us from moving
forward.
Our youth ministry is unique – we have a major
summer camp program that brings in not just elementary school children, but
also many middle and high school youth who are invited to attend Friday
Fellowships and Sunday Worship during the summer. Many of these youth do not
come from families who are regularly a part of CUPC, or have been a part of
CUPC growing up. Unfortunately, this uniqueness has not always been compatible
with traditional models of doing youth ministry. For years, although there has
been positive steps made, our church has had its challenges in trying to
incorporate the program as a ministry of the entire church such as trying to
connect these youth to the year-round programming of the church.
In light of the above, the leadership of CUPC
decided that, (instead of ‘moving ahead as usual’ by looking for another youth
director right away), we needed to take intentional time to take a good, hard
look at our youth ministries. What is working in our ministry to youth right
now? What might need attention? Who are we trying to serve? And most
importantly – where is God trying to lead us in our next step in our youth
ministries?
Our task group came up with a ‘short-term’ plan
to offer youth programming for this fall, but we are also planning to do a
‘long-term discerning process’ in the meanwhile. We recognize that God does
indeed call us to minister to the youth, as seen in the Bible verse above. And
I am pleased that we are trying to be as mindful and intentional as possible to
discern where God is leading us in the next steps of our important ministry to
the youth.
We would love to hear your input regarding this
issue, and covet your prayers for us as we meet, plan and discern together. In
fact, there will be an all-church town hall meeting on August 22 (after
worship) where you are invited to attend and voice your thoughts. We hope that
you will come and be a part of this town hall meeting – it is all an important
part of our discerning together as an entire church. Thank you!
Summer peace and blessings,
Pastor Grace Kaori Suzuki
DEACONS' REPORT
In the June Visiting Pastor, part of the Deacon’s
report focused on seeking individuals who may have the gifts of becoming a CUPC
Pastoral Partner.
A
Pastoral Partner has the gifts of caring and nurturing and assumes
responsibility for praying and staying in contact with up to five individuals
in the church. They work closely with the Deacons and in some instances when
necessary, with Pastor Grace
We were all made in God’s (“Trinity’s”) image
(Genesis 1:26) and therefore all possess the gifts required for being a
Pastoral Partner. We must also realize that we all have busy schedules, whether
it is due to school, work, or retired things. Free time is very difficult to
program into our busy lives.
You may not choose to become an official CUPC
Pastoral Partner and that is ok. However, you should use your God given gifts
(caring, nurturing and praying) for others in this world. It is part of our
calling and ministry as Christians to help God in this area. By using these
gifts in the world, those receiving the care, nurture and prayers will be supported,
appreciated and know that through you, God is there for them.
Therefore, the Deacons encourage you to utilize
your gifts so those in our congregation and those outside the church will know
that God loves and cares for them.
COFFEE FELLOWSHIP:
The Deacons would like to thank the individuals
who have contributed to the coffee fellowship during the month of June and the
June 13 special coffee fellowship (Farewell to the Associate Pastor)
The Deacon’s 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!
Wayne Hiroshima, Vice-moderator
SUMMER CAMP MOMENTS
Kevin Lew
Sunday, June 20, 2010
I was extremely excited for CUPC summer camp to
begin. My Brother is the Omega department director this year, and my Mother is
on the summer camp committee. My Dad is also active in the worship team. Having
strong roots in the church helps me understand and participate in a more active
way.
This is my tenth year at CUPC, and my second year
being a leader. CUPC has been a huge part of my life. I enjoy all the people
and activities I embark on during the fantastic 6-week extravaganza. This summer,
I have met some new campers and leaders, who are all nice and fun to be around.
This first week was thrilling, because I met my
campers and settled into the summer camp. Friday was Track and Field day. The
campers raced in relay races and competed in various games such as Mario Cart,
Broom Stick Hockey, and jug Baseball. At the end of the day, we had Tug-O-War
between teams, and raced to form a pyramid. My team, the Brown Team, won first
place, which made the day all the more fun.
To celebrate the survival of the first week of
camp, the leaders headed to the SF County Fair, right behind AT&T Park. It
was filled with game booths, rides, and a ton of heart attack food. A few
friends and I, foolishly rode spinning and flipping rides after devouring BBQ chicken
sandwiches, chicken strips, and chili fries. Luckily, everyone came home with a
clean shirt, except for the kids who rode before Harrison and I. Other leaders
tried their luck at winning giant stuffed animals in impossible games. Try
after try, only a few succeeded, taking home a giant banana and bear.
This week has made me feel even more excited for
the weeks to come. I can already tell this summer of CUPC will be one of the
best. Happy Fathers Day Pops and Yeh Yeh.
Nicholas Lam
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Right now, I am the head leader for Group B which
consists of 1st and 2nd graders. Last week, I had seven campers and worked with
three other leaders. Overall, it was a pretty fun and eventful week, though a
little tiring and stressful at times.
We went to Speedway Meadows from Monday to
Thursday and went kite flying at the Marina Greens on Friday. Last Tuesday was
Stone soup day. Every year the directors read a book called Stone Soup and
everyone helps create it but adding a certain ingredient. My group had hot dogs
which is usually fairly easy since they’re soft and easy to cut. So we get this
box of hot dogs. We put it on the table and open it and inside were 50
completely frozen hot dogs. I had to pry these dogs from the box with my bare
hands. And as you know, last week wasn’t the hottest week we’ve had. After
about half way through the box, my fingers were completely numb. Though losing
bout three to the mighty winds and careless hands, my group toughed it out and
successfully cut the hot dogs. And soup at the end of the day was excellent and
really hit the spot.
Thursday was probably thee coldest day of the
week. So instead of going to Speedway Meadows we went to Lafayette Square up on
Sacramento and Laguna which is much closer. On every Thursday we make ice cream
for the kids and last Thursday we made a Hazelnut Coffee ice cream and added a
little bit of blue food coloring. Alright we added a lot of blue food coloring.
So much, that after we gave the ice cream to the kids, my entire group had blue
teeth, mouths, and some blue mess design on their shirts. So most of the day I
was making ice cream, serving ice cream, and cleaning ice cream.
After I finished cleaning, I was going to play on
the small play structure there. I was all ready and excited to play, and right
when I entered the gate, one of my campers go, “someone’s crying.” Oh no. I
rush to the crying and in-pain camper and find him with another leader holding
his chin. He had scraped his chin on one of the structures and started
bleeding. So for the rest of the day we’re sitting there trying to calm this
camper down and stop him from crying. I especially felt really bad because I’m
in the same boy scout troop as his brother and the day before I saw his dad.
And the last thing his dad told me was, “Take care of him.” Shoot. But I went
over to their house yesterday and he was fine and his dad didn’t get mad at me
which I guess is pretty good considering.
The rest of the week went by fairly smoothly and
I have no complaints. Although it is hard work and tiring, camp is really fun.
I’m really glad my grandma introduced me to this church when I was really
young. I’ve had some pretty fun times and met so many people. It’s been an
amazing experience. Thank you for listening and I hope you all have a great
Sunday.
Khulan Erdenebaatar
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Good morning everyone. I am the head leader of
Group A which consists of 8 monsters. I mean cute first and second graders.
Early Monday morning, one of my campers came up to me and said “what are we
doing today?” and I responded with a simple, “oh, the children’s playground”
and she slouched and slowly started walking away and of course being the great
leader I am, I asked her “Hey, how come you look so disappointed?” and she
looks up at me and goes “Being a camper is hard” and just walked away.
Now I have never been a camper before so I guess
just I don’t understand the hardship of playing games like toilet tag and
singing silly songs such as I wish I was a little piece of soap. After spending
the day at the playground, Tuesday was Carnival day one of my personal favorite
days of camp. My station in the morning was making funnel cakes, although I
couldn’t quite match up with Great America’s funnel cakes, with a lot of
practice by the end of the day I learned that if I cover up the burnt pieces
with powdered sugar and with a hint of chocolate syrup, no one could tell the
difference! The rest of the day was spent catching goldfishes for those who
made the ping pong balls into the ‘swans” which were a just bunch of bowls
floating around.
Wednesday morning majority of the older kids went
on their overnight trip which meant that there were less kids but we were all
stuck with the little ones. With them we did a 15 minute workout session where
2 leaders were the instructors telling everyone to do jumping jacks, different
stretches, and running while chanting… “We are CUPC, mighty mighty CUPC” then
later in the day we went all the way by the zoo to watch a play called “Vince
and the Shooting Star” the moral of the story was be careful what you wish for
and always listen to your parents.
Thursday we all went to Baker Beach where the
campers can’t quite grasp the rule of going into the ocean ankle deep. And for
some reason after their whole bottom half is wet, my campers think that rolling
around in the sand with wet pants will dry them up. Luckily, their smart
parents packed a change of clothes which made our job much easier.
After an eventful week we ended Friday with
watching movies. As much as I wanted to just sit back and relax, Friday was
also the day for the leaders to perform in the Talent Show. Being the way that
I am of course I wait until last minute and after 2 or more hours of stressing
and getting ready to break an arm or a leg just so I don’t have to perform, 2
leaders came to the rescue and we performed a wonderful trio singing/dancing
piece to Quit Playing Games With My Heart by the Backstreet Boys. After
worrying so much about performing something great at the talent show, it wasn’t
until I was sitting with the campers watching the other leaders perform that
the campers adore the leaders whether we just stand there and tell a knock
knock joke or even do an amazing drum solo, the kids love us. Some might not
admit it, some might not realize it, but they spend much their whole summer
with us and they do look up to us.
There are some days where I’m exhausted and I go
home and just lay in bed and I think, man am I really working 6 weeks? Then I
come in the morning and I get greeted by kids that aren’t even in my group and
I realize that by me being here and by everyone working at camp being here we
are helping every kid grow and shaping them to become wonderful teenagers and
adults and we are a part of the reason why they will be so amazing one day. And
that is by far the greatest feeling. Thank you.
Ryan Chang
Sunday, July 11, 2010
I have been a CUPC leader for 2 years now and
both years I have been placed in the Alpha Department. It’s not the easiest
thing being in the Alpha department because both years I have been assigned to
the youngest groups and you know how little kids they have energy which last
for days.
Last year I was assigned to Group B which
consisted of first and second graders, and this year am assigned to Group C,
which consists of the same. Last year was nice I had, I thought which was the
perfect group, they listened, sang songs very enthusiastically, and overall
wasn’t any trouble for me, so this year I thought I would have it easy as well.
The first day the campers were all very cooperative, oh boy was I wrong. They
started acting up, but the things they did were very cutely done, so I thought
maybe I’d let a couple slide. Then it started to get out of hand and I’d have
to come in with some authority so they would listen and ironically, they
listened . So I am going to explain what we did this week.
This week started off nicely with a day off on
Monday and I sure got a lot of sleep. Tuesday, we went to Lindley meadows and
played games and sang numerous songs at the park. Oh my, Wednesday one of the
craziest days this week, first off me and my group leaders thought it was okay
to buy frozen pot stickers for cookout, but then later on we found out that
frozen pot stickers were not considered a cookout because all it was, was
reheating. Secondly, I had a camper; one camper who would consistently act up,
it was really tough to handle. Lastly, the bus rides seemed longer than it
actually was.
Thursday, we made ice cream, my group made
chocolate raspberry, it turned out alright, kind of in the form of a milkshake
though. Friday, we had a family picnic, I met a couple of parents and helped
with the game station. I have to say this week hasn’t been the easiest, but it
sure has been a lot of fun.
Overall CUPC has been amazing. I have developed a
second family, which I can always turn to. Cupc is one thing that I will always
love and remember. Thank you.
