PASTOR'S PEN
What is Worship? Some reflections and updates on our alternative worship…
“For it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.”– Romans 14:11
During worship these past Sundays in July and
August, we had a ‘Worship Series’ – in which church intern, Parish Associate
Pastor, and I took turns in offering reflections and understandings regarding
Presbyterian worship. Following the order of a traditional Presbyterian worship
service, we looked at each of the parts of worship – what they were, and
why we did them when we did them. This was the second time during my
time at CUPC where we examined our worship style, our assumptions and
expectations, and took the time to reflect upon them in the context of
congregational worship. (The last time was in 2004 – so it’s been a while, and
it’s always good to remind ourselves!)
I’m not going to reiterate what was said then
here, but I would like to mention that I was reminded of some very important
things throughout the series (and it wasn’t even from my own message!) The one
that struck me the most is that we don’t come to worship for ourselves.
It is God who calls us, invites us to gather, and it is this God who is the
focus of worship. The primary reason for why we gather to worship is that
it is a response to God’s calling us - it is not that we gather to ‘get
something out of God’. Ultimately, it is not about us, it’s about God.
Having said that, I also know that various styles
of worship can greatly affect our postures of worship. If you find that a
silent, meditative, ethereal space helps you focus more on God, you might find
it hard to do so in a more excited, upbeat kind of environment. If you find it
hard to focus on God’s Spirit if it’s too structured and same from week to
week, you might find a more spontaneous, creative setting to be worshipful. And
the list goes on: traditional vs. contemporary, relaxed vs. serious, familiar
vs. new, etc…
At CUPC, I think we try very hard to understand
these different preferences, and our current bilingual, blended worship tries
to maintain those delicate balances in liturgy, music and styles. And as
blended, bilingual worships go, I think we are doing a pretty good job. Many
kudos to our Worship Committee and others who help make our worship as
meaningful to as many people that gather!
However, there are likely to be limitations to
this configuration, even as good as it is. And so, the Worship Committee and I
have been talking about developing an ‘alternative worship’ (some of you may
have heard it being referred to ‘contemporary worship’ in the past) for a while
now – one that would hopefully meet afresh the needs and longings of those
already with us, and also those that we would like to see more of. If we see
the style of worship as a vehicle which enables people to truly worship God,
this ‘alternative worship’ would hopefully give many the new and renewed
opportunity to worship more fully.
Although we have been talking about this for a
while now, due to setbacks in resources, we have finally begun to develop this
‘alternative worship’ intentionally. I will now be working with Pastor Diana on
this endeavor, and we hope to gather your input along the crucial points of the
way. As we develop and craft a different way of worship, we hope that we can
create opportunities in which more people can hear and heed God’s invitation
and call – and truly and fully respond, which is what worship really is.
As we, as followers of Christ strive to be
faithful in our own worship of God, I invite all of us to be in a spirit of
openness and creativity as we allow others to be faithful in their worship of
God. Let us hear, and enable others to hear, God’s call and invitation. And let
us respond, and enable others to respond, wholeheartedly and faithfully. Let us
live be those who live out the scripture above, allowing all to worship God
fully.
Worshipfully, Pastor Grace Kaori Suzuki|
DEACONS' REPORT
Where has the summer gone?!?! It seems like just
the other day we were congratulating the graduates, and welcoming in the summer
campers to camp. The days of the courtyard being filled with children running
around and laughing are coming to an end, and we know that summer is almost
over. Despite the not so sunny summer weather, I hope that all of you have had
a wonderful summer thus far, and are able to enjoy the last month or so that is
left.
A couple of weeks ago the Deacons, along with the
Fellowship committee, hosted a baby shower. It was a wonderful time of
fellowship, games and of course … EATING! We were all overwhelmed at how much
food there was, and would like to thank all of you who helped cook, set up plan
and clean. There were even people who provided food, even when they were unable
to attend the shower itself. The abundance of food shows me how much of a
family we are at CUPC. This is especially fitting as it was a baby shower for
the new family.
Thank you for those who contributed food to the
potluck luncheon for the Baby Shower on 7/26/09.
Also, earlier this summer, a church family
welcomed into their family a new baby girl. Blessings to their family! Big
things for the whole family!!!
Please continue to pray for those in our
community and world. If you have any prayer requests, please feel free to
contact the church.
COFFEE FELLOWSHIP:
The Deacons would like to thank the individuals
who have contributed to the coffee fellowship during the month of June and
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 as well.
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!
Kara Woo, Vice-Moderator
ARTICLE OF INTEREST
The Session, at its regular meeting on Sunday, June
28th 2009, discussed the following item:
• There will be a special event on August 23.
During the worship service the president of the Toyohiko Kagawa Society will
speak about evangelism. In the afternoon (2:30 pm) Before the Dawn (Japanese
with English subtitles) will be shown. Other Japanese churches in the Bay Area
have been invited.
An update from the Japanese-speaking community…
This summer we sent off 4 of our friends from the Japanese speaking community
as they follow God’s calling. Please pray for these girls as they to new
seasons in life. Our CUPC family will greatly miss them.
Remembrance
We were recently informed that a member of CUPC,
who lived in Japan , passed away of a heart attack while golfing with friends
on July 17, 2009 in Japan.
He had been received into membership at CUPC
through transfer on May 30, 1997.
After spending a one-year research sabbatical as
a professor of cross-cultural communication at San Francisco State University,
he returned to Japan with his family. He was serving as Professor of
Communication Studies, Department of Foreign Languages and Studies at
SeinanGakuin University in Fukuoka, Japan.
He leaves his wife and daughter, who is 11 years
old. We extend our heartfelt condolences to their family. May God, through His
ever abiding love, comfort the family in their great loss.
SUMMER CAMP MOMENTS
Good morning! I’ve been involved with CUPC for 6
years now; 2 years as a camper and this will be my 4th year as a leader. This
past week was the first week of CUPC ’09 and although it was a lot of fun, it
made me remember how tiring camp actually was. I was so nervous and anxious for
camp to start that I couldn’t sleep the night before, but as soon as I walked
into the gates Monday morning I was greeted with a huge hug from one of my old
campers. That action alone was able to calm my nerves changing my mind set from
nervous to being excited and ready for camp to start.
This past week we spent at log cabin park right
by Stow Lake, and we were lucky enough to have really nice weather. Monday, the
first day of camp I was excited to see my new campers. I was hoping that they
would be somewhat easy to manage, but they soon proved otherwise. They were all
really cute, yet all so different. There were a few shy ones who are scared to
talk and then those who couldn’t stop talking. However, as the week progressed,
I noticed a change in my campers. The rowdy ones were slowly becoming more
obedient and the shy ones were gradually breaking out of their shells praying
and laughing with the group. The first day of the camp we spent playing mostly
icebreakers and name games to get the campers to become more comfortable with
each other. Because I have 1st and 2nd graders, I found it a lot more
challenging to keep their attention. As soon as we got back to the church, I
realized how tiring camp was going to be. When I got home, I immediately
collapsed on my bed and fell asleep. Tuesdays was a little better than Monday.
Since it was really hot, we planned for the Alpha Department (1st-4th graders)
to play some water games which the campers really enjoyed. The games seemed to
have worn them out because the majority of the campers fell asleep on the bus
ride back to church.
Wednesday was cook-out day for Alpha, which are
always fun days because the campers get a chance to prepare their own food. My
group decided to make Mexican Pizzas when actually it turned out more like soft
tacos, but at least my campers liked them. Thursday was ice-cream day, which
each group made ice-cream for the campers. This past Thursday, my group made
Chocolate Strawberry ice-cream. But, our ice-cream maker was kinda broken so
our “ice-cream” was more like a milkshake. I’m assuming they liked it because
they asked for seconds and that’s all that matters. Friday was my favorite day
by far, because it was Track & Field day. We split the camp into 8
different teams and they competed against each other in a bunch of relay races
and games such as, Broom Hokey, Mario Kart, and Jug Baseball. It was a lot of
fun both watching and leading games with the campers. I thought it was a great
day to end the week.
Working at the camp is a lot of work, but it is
worth it in the end. That feeling of knowing your making your camper’s summer
fun is what makes me always want to come back. I have a lot of fun both playing
with the campers and getting to know the other leaders and I am very excited to
see how the other weeks to turn out. Thank you.
Melissa Nishihama Sunday, June 28, 2009
Good Morning! I have been going to CUPC Summer
Camp since the 4th grade. That means, this is my 9th year going to CUPC Summer
Camp. Before I came to CUPC, my summer days were staying at my grandparent’s
house from 8am-6pm, and I found that really boring after a while. Until my
friend I used to dance hula with told me about CUPC Summer Camp. I came here
and it was so much fun that I have been coming here since. It amazes me that we
are in CUPC of 2009.
So, I have been a leader for 4 years and lucky
for me and 6 other leaders we are getting paid. I am so glad that this year I
got the opportunity to be a head leader for the oldest girls, also known as OG.
Our girls decided to be called Superstars Eight. I feel fortunate to work with
people that are totally awesome. My first year as a leader, I had group C. My
second year I had 5G as well as my third year as a leader.
Just this past week, which was the second week of
CUPC, 2 of my campers got in a fight. The stories the campers told me from what
they saw or what had happened, they said they saw one of the campers push a
camper because she wasn’t in line. When they camper that got pushed asked if
she had a problem, the camper that had pushed her replied, “No, I don’t. You’re
just lucky because I could have slapped you across the face.” Of course CUPC
and I don’t tolerate that, so I decided to talk to both of them and hear each
of their stories. And figuring out who did wrong, I made sure they apologized
to one another. Of course, I had to let the camper who pushed the girl’s mother
know what had happen. While I was letting the campers know that pushing each
other and fighting is not allowed in camp I decided to let them in on a little
thing that not a lot of people know what I think about God. I told them that
God has a special way of being with me. So, I told them that God is my wind.
When I either talk about God or think about him the wind blows really hard.
After I had told them that, it got really windy. And, that’s when I looked at
their faces and they knew that God was with them at that very moment. And, I
hope that every time you talk about Him or think about Him you will get that
big gust of wind that I always get.
To end my long Summer Camp moment, summer is
going by so fast and we are entering our 3rd week of camp and I can’t believe
it. CUPC is definitely my second family and I have many relationships with each
leader. CUPC is a place for me when I don’t know someone for like 10 minutes
and become really good friends the next minute. If it wasn’t for CUPC my summer
would be boring and I wouldn’t have any memories or stories to tell my friends
at school. I am definitely glad that I came back to not only have more friends
but more memories. My summer wouldn’t be a summer for me if it wasn’t for CUPC.
Thank you and have a wonderful day!
Rebecca Wong Sunday, July 5, 2009
This week was a pretty eventful week. We had
dinosaur egg hunt which kids dug up dino eggs hidden in the forest. We made new
ice-cream, such as cement, which don’t worry, was not really cement. We had
delicious cook-out, such as gyoza and teriyaki burgers. We also had our family
picnic on Friday which turned out really great.
During camp though, we had lots of incidences
some good but mostly disastrous, though we had a couple of run-ins with the
insects that live in there while the kids played in the woods. One day a kid
was stung by a big black bug while playing a game in the forest. Then the next
day playing the same game, one of the campers stumbled in a hornet’s nest. I
was outside the forest at the time and hear this scream. I run into the forest
to find one leader running out followed by the camper behind him who was
covered in hornets. Hornets then proceeded to attack people. It was pretty bad
but not as bad as it could have been.
This is just one of the many fiascos that we’ve
had over the last 3 weeks. Like I think it was week 1 where me and the other
leader forgot to add sugar in the ice-cream. We thought it was so good to,
because it looked like it hardened. But, when we tasted it, we knew that we
forgot to add an essential ingredient. After that, it was mistake after
mistake. We tried adding the sugar later, but dumped the whole back in which
froze in the ice-cream. One director and I tried to help break the frozen
ice-cream but ended up breaking pieces of the plastic fork into the ice-cream
which we had to find. Finally finding 4 out of 5 pieces in the ice-cream, we
finally served it. Another director had to warn the campers to swish and feel
the ice-cream in their mouth in case they came across the plastic piece.
Finally one of the campers pulled it out either his cup or mouth, but at least
nobody got sick or choked.
This year of camp has been different for me being
older and having to take on more responsibility. But as always, I find camp
being as fun as ever. So that’s about it. Thanks!
Dillon Gee Sunday, July 12, 2009
Good Morning everyone. This past week was our 4th
week at camp and it was one of my favorites. Monday was a regular day at the
park where the campers were able to play at the structure at Sharon Meadows.
Carnival day was on Tuesday and the campers played games, won prizes, ate
funnel cake, and even went through a haunted house made by some of the leaders.
All the campers seem to enjoy the haunted house except for maybe Alpha
department. Most of them asked to leave before they did a full walk through.
Wednesday through Friday was the overnight at
Valley of the Moon. Since this was my first year going to overnight, I didn’t
really know what to expect. Because it was so hot there, we spent most of the
afternoons playing water games. The other leaders and I most have filled up
100’s of water balloons. Most of them were used to play a game called
Bombardment. If you don’t know how to play Bombardment, it’s just basically
throwing water balloons at campers as they ran from one side of the field to
another. Simple game, but the campers loved it. At night we all went on an
arrow hike which eventually led to an open field. Seeing stars in the city is
almost impossible so you can imagine how excited the campers were to see the
big dipper, the North Star, and Orion’s belt. Before the campfire on the second
night, we held a vanilla pudding eating contest. Sounds easy right? Well, not
when we snuck mayonnaise in one of the pudding cups. And, I guess it’s not
really camp until someone gets creamed with shaving cream in the middle of the
night. While we were at the overnight the rest of the camp went on a trip to
Julius Khan, Baker Beach, and watched Lion King at camp.
When we came back from the over night it was the
leader talent show. My favorite would have to be one leader’s magic show where
he did telekinesis and even made another leader disappear.
Next week is already week 5, and it seems like
every summer at CUPC goes by even faster than the year before. I am excited to
see how these last two weeks of camp will go, especially with Parent’s Night
coming up.
Jillion Yson Sunday, July 19, 2009
