August 2011

PASTOR'S PEN

Outreach Sunday!

"Jesus said to them, 'Go into the whole world and proclaim the good news to every creature.' - Mark 16:15

Going in to the world - outreach - it's a word that tends to get used and tossed around in the church world a lot. But being a part of the Christian church for as long as I can remember, I can attest to the fact that this word means different things to different people and different church communities. There are differing understandings (and theologies) of 'what' the good news is, and 'how' to go about doing that.

I am hoping that discussion about the various understandings and how they get implemented will take place in the near future - whether it via another newsletter article or Sunday worship. But no matter what, as Jesus tells us in the above Bible verse, the bottom line is for us to go out - out of our church walls and out into the communities and the places around us. (I can safely state that all would be in agreement regarding this.) Our own church mission statement, too, clearly states for us to "Go Ye Therefere...into the larger community reaching out and sharing God's Good News."

And so, for us to be faithful to Jesus' call and our own mission statement on which it is based - we will be holding our first OUTREACH SUNDAY! It will be held on September 18, 2011 from 10am with worship. We'll gather for our regular worship with Mission and Outreach Committee chair speaking briefly about outreach. Then, as a response to hearing God's word and call for us, we will all participate in an OUTREACH ACTIVITY together in the sanctuary, which will be to make care packages for the residents of Kokoro Assisted Living, Kimochi Home and the Sequoias Health Center. To finish off our activity, we will form groups to visit each of the facilities and bring the care packages to them to give.

When we think of outreach, we sometimes think it has to take place in a grand scale, and/or in a place far away. But outreach includes the people right outside our doors - in fact, I believe that it's the place we need to start! And it doesn't have to be something monumental - it can 'merely' be a small act of kindness, like care packages. This small act of kindness could be just the kind of 'Good News' that someone is in need of and is longing for.

So, I invite you to not just join us to worship with us on September 18, I invite you to participate with us in the all-church OUTREACH effort at CUPC. It may not be the 'biggest' of all outreach efforts, but I believe that it is a good, solid effort for us. I believe we are headed in the right direction - I believe we are truly trying to be faithful to Jesus' call to us!

And for those of you who cannot join us due to physical proximity, health and otherwise - I invite you to think about how you can do outreach in the context of wherever you are. Could it be to find ways to go out into the community that you are placed in? Could it be to write letters and/or pray? Please remember that reaching out, no matter how small, could be Good News that God can use!

Prayerfully, I invite you to join us - and together, may we respond faithfully to Jesus' call to us to 'go into the whole world!'

Peace and blessings,
Pastor Grace Kaori

CLERK'S REPORT

There is no Clerk of Session's report for this issue - the next session meeting will be held on September 25, 2011. 

Note: Everyone is invited to attend our regular session meetings. If you are interested in how the session, our governing body, discusses ministry at CUPC, please come and join us!

DEACONS' REPORT

Hello Everyone:

I hope that every one had a wonderful summer. The summer is coming to an end and school is starting soon. This year time is flying very quickly for me. Throughout the summer I have been keeping myself busy with summer camp and other things. Every time I write something for the VP it seems it is getting shorter.

The Deacons would like to thank the individuals who have contributed to the coffee fellowship during the month of July.

The Deacons are aware there are others who do not sign up on the list, but contribute. We would like to thank you all!

COFFEE FELLOWSHIP:

The Deacons would like to thank the individuals who have contributed to the coffee fellowship during the month of July. The Deacons are aware there are others who do not sign up on the list, but contribute. We would like to thank you all.

Ralph Tanaka, Co-moderator

SUMMER CAMP MOMENTS

Each Sunday during worship in the summer, leaders from our Summer Camp program share with the congregation what has been going on at camp, along with their reflections. You will see what they shared below:

Edward Wong
July 10, 2011

Good morning and hello. This is my 2nd year volunteering at CUPC. Anyways, this past week was a relatively short week because July 4th was a holiday. We started on Tuesday and we took the campers to Julius Kahn. The play structure there was nice and it seems like everybody had a good time at the play structure.

One of the more memorable parts of the week came as we were leaving Julius Kahn to head back to camp. I think some people were going to paint something and they left a box of paint at the corner of the street as we were about to cross that part of the street and you guys could probably already guess what happened next. Anyways, we told the campers to be aware of the box and most of them were able to get by the box successfully, however, one camper tried stepping over the box and he tripped on the box and the paint splattered all over his clothes. It's a good thing his parents didn't get too mad and most of the paint did wash off.

On Wednesday, we went to the zoo. It was awfully crowded that day and I think we all saw some people we knew there. One of my campers actually got upset because she saw her brothers classmates and it made her miss her brother. On Thursday, we stayed at church and watched movies. It was actually really nice to relax a bit because we were all extremely tired from taking the campers out to the parks and zoo. During Friday, we went ice skating. So, we skated for quite a while and the ice because rough with shavings of ice everywhere. Then, one leader decided to make a snow ball out of the shavings of ice on the rink. She had it for a while and I wasn't sure who she was going to throw it at. After a minute, she launched it at me and it hit. It was nice to see that she fell and hit the ice immediately after she threw the snowball at me. It was a perfect example of karma.

Anyways, that pretty much sums up my week at CUPC. Thanks for listening.

Cameron Kurozawa-Chow
July 17, 2011

It's already week 6 of camp and things seem to move by a little too quick. The beginning of this week was like any other camp day, going to the park and playing with the kids, except for the fact that it was really cold and wet outside. Thursday was song contest and the oldest boys dominated the competition. Due to their leader who makes us sing 100 songs a day.

Friday we spent the day at Great America. I remember passing all the 4th grade boys leaders sitting on a bench with no campers and I asked where they were and their head leader, points to my right and all of 4b is laying on the pavement in the sun because they are soaking wet from running through the water park area of Great America.

This week's devotion theme was loving and respecting the environment. And the kids really took part in picking up trash and trying to understand why we need to respect our environment. But it wasn't just the campers that made an effort to clean up, on our way back from the park on Thursday, the 8th grade dept. director saw someone writing inappropriate comments on stickers and posting them on the bus. After he sat down she really wanted to take them down but she didn't want to be seen by the guy so some of us kind of surrounded her so that she wouldn't be seen and peeled them off. We had a good laugh over it, but she was able to embody this week's devotion theme more than anyone.

Being able to work at a camp where you grew up in is really rewarding. CUPC will always be like a second family. Thank you, congregation.

Calvin Ma and Quincy Ouellette
July 31, 2011

Calvin: Good morning. My name is Calvin Ma, I was the Oldest Boys leader.

Quincy: Hi guys! I'm Quincy Ouellette. If you can't tell I really love it here. So this week was Extended I week. It's a little different from the rest of the weeks because most of the days are field trips and are more relaxed yet still very busy for the leaders.

Calvin: But anyways, this week we did a number of things. On Monday the campers watched a movie in the sanctuary. But on Monday, the leaders had to clean out the supply room. Lucky us, right?

Quincy: Tuesday we went bowling at Yerba Buena. We first spent the day at the play structure at Yerba Buena than later on in the afternoon we actually went in to bowl. Us leaders and directors are quite the trash talkers so we ended up team bowling with the losers having to wash cars and cook the other team dinner. Lets just say some of us leaders have next weekend already planned out for us. Its always nice to see the kids go bowling granted they used the bumpers I did see a few 4th graders bowl over a 100 which is far above my average.

Calvin: Wednesday we went to Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39. Having first and second graders, group ABC, was very tiring. It's not that the campers don't listen - they listen very well. It's just that they get distracted very easily which prompts me to repeat myself, all the time. But then again, the campers are too cute to get mad at.

Quincy: Thursday we went to Six Flags Marine World. Lets just say last year I had the 1st and 2nd graders and boy was that hectic having to watch tiny kids amongst a thousand other people. Luckily this year I had 5th graders. The day went pretty well seeing that they would actually ride rides unlike last year where I spent most my day at the Looney Toon Starport Waterpark. It was eventful, I even got stuck on a ride whoop tie doo.

The kids enjoyed going on the water raft where you can pay a measly 25 cents to shoot a water hose at your campers as they go by just to hear them say YOUR MEAN! FOR GETTING US WET! right when they get off. They also got to spend their parent's precious money at the arcade trying to win ginormous prizes in what seems to be impossible games. Overall it was a great HOT day at Six Flags.

Calvin: Friday, we went to Heather Farms in Walnut Creek to go swimming. Swimming is always one of my favorite things to do because all I end up doing is throwing them around at their request.

My most memorable moment of all of my 8 years at CUPC would be when I was in Oldest Boys, along with Quincy, and our group won the song contest. I have never felt so accomplished, since our leaders back then always told us that Oldest Boys haven't won in centuries. After that year, I felt like my life was complete. Which brings me to my highlight of this summer - Song contest. In the beginning of the summer, I gave up teaching the Oldest Boys songs because they never wanted to learn them. But I really wanted them to win the song contest, so in order to get them to sing, I just told them to sing 40 different songs in one sitting, yes, the Oldest Boys are hardcore. On the day of the song contest, my group was anxious and excited. So was I. but I decided that I would refrain from helping my group, hoping that they would all work together to win. My campers were very shocked and mad at me for not helping them, but I realized I did the right thing when I saw a lot of teamwork and bonding throughout the contest. In the end, my campers prevailed and we were all extremely happy. I was very proud of them, and I told them that they won this contest by themselves, without any help. After hearing that, all my campers smiled and we had a huge group hug. It was an amazing experience, and I will never forget it.

Quincy: CUPC really means so much to me. It is honestly my second home. I have friends vie made here that I will always remember and even gained some family members who I know will always be there for me and keep me in line and check up on me in college. CUPC really isn't just a camp to send your kids to keep them busy while you're at work during the day. It's a lifestyle that I wouldn't ever give up or regret having. Its really one of my favorite places on earth and I can't even try and express in words how much these people mean to me. I'm so thankful for all of them. I'll miss you all, but while we're still here lets live things up! GO CUPC!