Moments for Church Focus
"You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself." - Luke 10:27 (Common English Bible)
Early this year, our session (governing body at CUPC) went through an intentional process of trying to discern where God was calling us to focus our ministries for 2012. After some initial back-and-forths, it became clear to us that although we had done some major 'work' on the church focus of the previous year, there was still much that could be done...the focus being: Love God, Love Neighbor. Of course, if you think about it, Jesus' commandment of "Love your God...love your neighbor" is not something that would be achieved over a year's worth of ministry (or a number of years, for that matter!) - it is actually a lifelong goal for every follower and church who seek to live in Christ.
As a way to continue being intentional about our church focus in 2012 and getting the word out, we decided that every committee/board would use the designated time called, "Moment for Church Focus" during Sunday worship to share with the congregation how their committee/board were planning to live out that focus in their own ministry context, and how others could participate.
Over the next two newsletters, you will find what the committees/board shared with the congregation. My prayer is that you will keep the entire church and our committees/board in your prayers so that we can fully live out how God calls us to be as we do ministry in 2012. And as you are led, please come and join us in living this out together!
Pastor Grace
Moment for Church Focus (April 29, 2012)
Worship Committee: Rachael Yamashiro
The Worship Committee is responsible for oversight and planning of all worship services at CUPC. The Book of Order (our denominational constitution) does not mandate a prescribed form of order. However, it states that "freedom in Christ should be balanced with biblical command to do all things in an orderly way." The church Focus for 2012, Love God, Love Neighbor, was also the focus for 2011. The session felt that extending it for another year would better define the goals and achievement of the various committees.
The senior pastor and lay pastors have reached out to our immediate neighbors, namely Kokoro Assisted Living, and The Sequoias. They have led worship services in these institutions. The senior pastor, alongside with the lay pastors also participated in the Day of Remembrance event held at the Peace Plaza here in Japantown. One of our lay pastors continues to be involved with the Japanese-speaking ministries in the bay area. All of the pastors continue to extend their roles beyond the boundaries of Japantown.
Here at church, the committee is well aware of the needs of the various groups. We are also aware that we are creatures of habit. We take comfort in singing familiar, traditional hymns; specific order of worship, and singing the same melodies and lyrics to the Gloria Patri and Doxology.
However, in order to meet the needs of all, the committee knows it needs to be creative, innovative and flexible. To meet the needs of the "traditionalists" we have "Hymn Fests"; for families with children, we have "Entire Family Worship"; for the Japanese-speaking worshipers, we have bilingual services; and for the youth, we have the Worship Team leading us in praise songs.
But there is another reason why we are here on Sundays, apart from gathering to participate in worship services to our own liking. We are here because we love God. In loving God, we love neighbor. In loving our neighbor, we love God. One does not necessarily take precedence over the other, nor is one of greater importance than the other. Hence, two equal parts become as one.
Go forth from the church - love God, love neighbor. Love neighbor, love God. For God's words endureth forever. Amen.
Moment for Church Focus (May 6, 2012)
Japanese-Speaking Ministries chair: Yukiko Tanaka
Firstly, we the Japanese Speaking Ministries, are very grateful to our Commissioned Lay Pastor, Hiroko Suzuki for leading our Japanese-Speaking Ministrie s so passionately.
Last Sunday, her message was taken from "John 10:11-18. She explained how to know God and how to love God by first, reading the Bible, second, to pray and third to worship.
As the Japanese Speaking Ministries, we have our monthly Bible Studies, prayer meetings and weekly Tuesday night studies. We attend the JPC (Japanese Presbyterian Churches) Retreat to listen to other Japanese pastors. Through our studies, prayer meetings and Retreats, we seek to know God and learn to love God even more.
This year, we invited Rev. Akira Satoh, who lost many churches to the tsunami and the radiation in Fukushima, to speak about God's everlasting love. Now we are planning to have two "Omanju Classes and after we master Omanju making, we will have an Omanju sale fundraising to help to build churches in Fukushima. We will have a very busy schedule before summer begins. We are going to visit the Japanese speaking members who are not able to attend church. On May 19th, we will go cherry picking with the Koinonia (Intergenerational/Inter-lingual) Fellowship. We will also co-host an evangelical opera concert at this church with the 19th Ave. Japanese Baptist Church on June 16.
Sometimes Pastor Hiroko holds one-on-one spiritual classes with non-Christians. Another wonderful fellowship that Hiroko-san holds is an English group conversation class for Japanese and Asian students called, "PIE Night" which stands for "Partners in English". (You are very welcome to join us if you enjoy conversing and/or teaching English.) Through these classes, events, and fellowship, we are learning how to love neighbors.
Hiroko-san's strong passion is to sow and plant each small seed at CUPC. We believe that these seeds will grow and bear very ripe fruits. I am sure everybody remembers the Artist Yuki Ikariya who was baptized at this church. She always remembers to send post cards with her artwork to us from Japan. Each card has a verse from the Bible. One was from Romans 8:28 - "We know that in all things, God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose." His purpose is Love God, Love Neighbor!
CLERK'S REPORT
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! You are also welcome to read the minutes, which are public documents. The minutes are available in the church office.
DEACONS' REPORT
April was a month filled with God's blessings. We gathered together for a potluck luncheon and baby shower and baptism on Easter Sunday. We also enjoyed having someone back in the choir for a couple of Sundays, before her return to Japan. It was good to see others worshiping with us again this Sunday.
As summer is rapidly approaching, we are starting sign-ups for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. We had a successful event last year at Crissy Field and hope to get even more of you involved this year. Relay for Life is a life-changing event that gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled and are battling cancer, remember lost loved ones, and fight back against the disease. At Relay for Life, teams of people camp out and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Because cancer never sleeps, relays are overnight events up to 24 hours in length. Relayers do not have to walk all night, but each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. As stated by a current member of our congregation battling the disease, "we are going to crush cancer and this is a way to give our support." Expect to get recruited.
COFFEE FELLOWSHIP:
The Deacons would like to thank the individuals who have contributed to the coffee fellowship during the month of April.
The Deacons are aware there are others who do not sign up on the list, but contribute. We would like to thank you all!
PASTORAL PARTNER PROGRAM
The Pastoral Partner Program began as a pilot program of the Board of Deacons more than 3 years ago. As of January 2012, it has replaced the 'flock system' of the Deacons and has become the main program for pastoral care at CUPC. Still under the umbrella of the Deacons' ministry, the Pastoral Partner Program is a planned, effective, flexible way to provide coordinated caring support to members of the congregation.
Each trained 'pastoral partner' is responsible for a 'cluster', which consists of approximately five family units. (A 'family unit' could be a single person, or multiple persons.) The pastoral partner keeps a friendly "eye out" for the members of his or her cluster; maintains regular contact with them; prays for them; and alerts the ministry team as needs emerge.
In addition to some of the Deacons being pastoral partners, several young adults have expressed interest in being trained as pastoral partners. Anyone who has an interest in learning more about the Pastoral Partner program, please see Jackie Kwan.
"Love one another" as Christ has loved you.
