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January 2011

PASTOR'S PEN

Looking Forward to 2011 at CUPC...

"For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." - Matthew 18:20

A (Belated) New Years' Greetings to all of you!

Since we didn't have a January newsletter,

this comes a bit late (now that we are in February)...

but it's every bit as sincere!

Last year, our church celebrated our 125th Anniversary - and we gave thanks for God's continuing faithfulness, and lifted up all those who had contributed to the history and ministry of the church. As we move forward to God's continuing guidance in 2011, I wanted to lift up a couple of events (by no means exhaustive) that we are looking forward to in 2011.

The first is coming up very soon - A Forum on the 'Art of Gaman' on Sunday, March 6, from 12:00pm. Many of you may have heard of Delphine Hirasuna, who has written quite a few books ranging from Japanese cookbooks to historic memorabilia. She is the author of the book Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps 1942-1946 (Ten Speed Press, 2005) and was the guest curator for the Smithsonian American Art Museum exhibit under the same name. Ms. Hirasuna will be coming to our church to present about her journey of discovery of the many arts and crafts that was created while many Japanese Americans were interned during World War II.

The second event I would like to mention is our all-church retreat tentatively from October 22-23. We are making arrangements to hold the retreat at Redwood Glen Camp and Conference Center located in Loma Mar, CA. It is located about 10 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean Coast, roughly half way between San Francisco and Santa Cruz, CA. It is about a half hour drive south of Half Moon Bay. It will be a great time for intergenerational fellowship, worship and spiritual renewal - I hope you can all join us!

As we gather together in the various events (the events above, and others) at CUPC in 2011, may we be reminded that Jesus promises to be among us - as in the Bible verse above – where two or three are gathered. May we intentionally be mindful of his presence as we pray with anticipation for God's guidance. May we be blessed by God's presence, and in turn, become blessings to those all around us!

Peace and blessings for 2011,

Pastor Grace Kaori

CLERK'S REPORT

The session, acted on the following items on January 23, 2011:

      Approved to purchase of a one-eighth page ad in Nihonmachi Little Friends' annual fundraising performance program.

      Approved the deletion of some of the names from membership roster.

      Divided the various Clerk of Session duties among the elders.

The congregation at the annual congregational meeting on January 20, 2011:

      Approved Pastor Grace's salary package

      Adopted the 2011 budget

      Unanimously elected the treasurer of 2011.

DEACONS' REPORT

God is good! The Deacons hope and pray that in this new year, 2011, you will feel surrounded by God's Love, Comfort & Care through our ministries, whether it be coffee hour, Thanksgiving Dinner, flock care or our "Be Green" efforts. The Sunday School lesson this past month has focused on the story of Bartimaeus, the blind man whose faith healed him. In the story, Jesus reveals that the Kingdom of God is about focusing on the needs of others. As we focus on the needs of our faith community, may you in turn go out and share God's Love and make a difference in someone's life.

COFFEE FELLOWSHIP:

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

God is good... All the time! All the time... God is Good!

Jan der, Vice-Moderator

ANNOUNCEMENT

NISEI CHRISTIAN JOURNEY--Its Promise & Fulfillment Volume I and Volume III are available of the Nisei Christian Journey: It's Promise BL Fulfillment. (Volume I is no longer available.)

Younger generations, especially, are encouraged to know and appreciate the tremendous legacy of the Nisei Christians recorded in these books published by the Nisei Christian Oral History Project Board, a labor of love over its 25 year history.

Because the Board desires that these volumes be read widely, these two remaining Volumes are now available for the asking.

Volume I (Oral histories of: Osame Doi (Sacramento), David Yutaka Nakagawa (Pasadena), June Toshiyuki (Fresno), Royal Louis Manaka (Monterey), Nobuko Lillian Omi (Los Angeles), Jack Nishida(Monterey), and Frances Kirihara (Livingston).

Volume III (Oral histories of Rev. Chaplain George Aki, Rev. Lester Suzuki, Rev. Donald Toriumi, Rev. Howard Toriumi, Rev. William Kobayashi, Rev. Lloyd Wake, and Rev. Paul Nagano).

Any donation amount will be gratefully accepted which will be used to help reimburse expenses incurred by the Project. Please send your request and any donation check, plus $5 shipping charge.

If interested, call the church.

December 2010

PASTOR’S PEN

Christmas Greetings from your Pastoral Leadership Team!!

For this month’s Pastor’s Pen, each member of CUPC’s pastoral leadership team is sending their personal Christmas greetings to you and your families…

Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year!!

As with many of you, Christmas time for me comes with many memories. For me, they are things like: playing flute for the Christmas pageant one year, the excitement of opening the exact gift that I wanted, (then, the disappointment of opening a gift that wasn’t anything like what I had hoped!), caroling around town, buying a ‘real’ Christmas tree for the first time…and the list goes on.

As I celebrate my 7th Christmas with you, the CUPC community, I continue to be thankful for all of you - the wonderful people that make it up. I am thankful for the additional Christmas memories that you have given me: the Advent candlelightings, the seasonal chorus, the children and youth in the pageants, the generous giving to the church, the gentle ministries to those in need.

Just as in the Advent theme of this year – you truly have been the ‘Stars that Tell the Story’…the stars that shine the way for others, the stars that point to who God is. My prayer is that you will continue to be such stars as you journey on being and becoming the church community that God has called you to be.

Many Christmas blessings, and a New Year filled with joy to you all!

Gratefully,

Pastor Grace Kaori Suzuki

Instead of a standard greeting, Jackie’s greeting comes in the form of a poem, written by her. She first shared this with the congregation on 12/5/10: 

Christians - "The Promised Stars" 
By Jackie Kwan, lay pastor 


So long ago darkness loomed 
Our fore bearers toiled 
Amidst fear, hunger and gloom. 


But God was never far 
To those who responded... 
"Yes, Lord, I am here." 
From Abraham, David, Moses, 
Mary, Joseph and more. 


And to this day, You who hear the Word of God... 
Have also said, 
"Yes Lord, I am here". 
So do not fear, 
For Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of all promises to God's people, 
Shines on in "you" - Abraham's promised children- 
as numerous as heaven's stars.

Blessings as we celebrate the birth of Christ!

I am thankful that I am able to ponder and celebrate with you this season how our Almighty God became human and was born among us.

Looking back at this past year, I was able to witness how God’s love truly flows through our brothers and sisters in Christ – not only to the church and the community, but to me, personally, as well. I was truly touched by this experience. I found it to be tremendous grace that greatly encouraged me to continue serving God and God’s people.

Thank you so very much! In this coming year, I pray that with God’s help, we can proclaim God’s love through our words and actions as we follow Jesus, the Light of the World.

Praying for the Lord’s grace and guidance,

Hiroko Suzuki, lay pastor

DEACONS' REPORT

Thanksgiving Dinner acknowledgments

Greetings and blessings for the Advent Season! For those of you who weren’t able to join us for the annual Thanksgiving Dinner, we missed you dearly. Our tables were filled with the Lord’s bountiful blessings, but the best part of the evening was being in community with our church family and friends. We have much to be thankful for and in turn, the proceeds collected for the dinner will go to the San Francisco Food Bank. For every $1 donated, the Food Bank can distribute $6 worth of food and 97% of all donations will go directly towards getting food to hungry people. Your contributions will put much-needed food on the table for many grateful families this advent season.

Thank you to everyone who lent a helping hand in preparing our wonderful meal!!!

COFFEE FELLOWSHIP:

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

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

The Deacons will be visiting some of our homebound members in December. If there is anyone you would like us to visit, please let us know. You are also welcome to join us in our home visits. Thank you for your faithfulness in our mighty God and Redeemer!

Wayne Hiroshima, Vice-moderator