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CALLER
Issue 33
In This Issue
Pastors Corner/Statistics 2 Remember in Prayer 3 Spiritual Disciplines Wk 3 Prayer Requests, August 18 3 Serving in the Military 3 Homecoming Weekend 3 Thank You 3 Hollywood Bowl 4 CWS Blanket Month 4 Disciples Women 4 Refresh Service 4 Senior Retreat 4 Seniors Met 5 Adult Classes 5&6 Worship Moments 7 Upcoming Dates 7 Outreach Ministry 8 PSWR Opp. Draw 9 Kids Page 9 Bike Nation 10 Serving Sunday 11
is published weekly (Deadline Wednesday at Noon) by First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) 109 E. Wilshire Ave. Fullerton, CA 92832 714.525.5525
email: fullerton1stcc@gmail.com www.fullertonfirstchristian.org
The Caller
August 25: Homecoming Sunday 8:00 A.M. - REAWAKEN, Early Worship Service 9:00 A.M. - Old Testament Bible Study, Chapman Lounge 10:15 A.M. - REMEMBER, Traditional Service 11:30 A.M. - Homecoming Luncheon, Fellowship Hall 5:00 P.M. - 8:30 P.M. Casa de Oracin Service, Sanctuary & FH 7:30 P.M. - REFRESH, Emergent Service August 27: Debra on vacation through September 3 7:00 P.M. - Casa de Oracin uses Sanctuary, Chapman Lounge and childrens classrooms August 28: 7:00 P.M. Council of Elders, Chapman Lounge August 29: Donna, vacation day Nancy G. in the office September 1: 8:00 A.M. - REAWAKEN, Early Worship Service 9:00 A.M. - Old Testament Bible Study, Chapman Lounge 10:15 A.M. - REMEMBER, Traditional Service 5:00 P.M. - 8:30 P.M. Casa de Oracin Service, Sanctuary & FH 7:30 P.M. - REFRESH, Emergent Service LOOKING AHEAD: September 2: Office Closed Labor Day Holiday September 3: 10:30 A.M. Mary Circle, Chapman Lounge 6:30 P.M. BA @ Barrys 7:00 P.M. - Casa de Oracin uses Sanctuary, Chapman Lounge and childrens classrooms September 4: 1:30 P.M. - Pathways of Hope, Chapman Lounge 5:30 P.M. - Hot Meal Ministry, Team A September 5: Tri-Tip Downtown Market 3:30 P.M. 2nd Corinthians Bible Study, Chapman Lounge 7:30 P.M. Choir Rehearsal resume, Bells next week September 6: 6:00 P.M. 10:00 P.M. Fullerton Art Walk AA Groups Sun. 8:00 P.M., Monday, 7:30 P.M., Friday, 7:30 P.M., Sat. 8:30 P.M., NA Group, Tues., 7:30 P.M.
Senior Pastor: Rev. Darrell McGowan Associate Pastor: Rev. Debra Todd Editor: Donna Woodbridge
the
CALLER
Issue 33
When I came to First Christian Church as Senior Pastor, we had two Associate Pastors, Ed Linberg and Dean Echols. Dean provided ongoing pastoral care to our homebound members, and Ed provided Pastoral Care as needed. When Dean moved to South Orange County we did not want our homebound members to feel neglected. After reviewing several options for providing care to this important segment of our membership, we decided to develop the Pastoral Partners program. The Pastoral Partners are members of our congregation who agree to serve a Recipient Partner by writing, calling, and making personal visits. The Pastoral Partners become a living link to the church for our Recipient Partners. Over the past ten years, this ministry has served more people than we can count. The ministry would not have been possible if not for the generosity of our Pastoral Partners and our ministry coordinators, April Johnen and Connie Townsend. April and Connie composed the following message for past and current Pastoral Partners: We, Connie and April, want to thank each one of you because you have been the heart of this beautiful ministry to our homebound family members. Its been heartwarming and satisfying working with you, as well as uplifting when hearing about the relationships you made with our many family members who needed your love and care over these 9 years. We have decided it is time for us to step down from our positions with this ministry because it needs new life and new leadership we are not able to supply. Thank you for blessing us, for supporting the program, the church and for the many hours over the years you have witnessed to our homebound members the endless love of our Lord. May peace and grace follow you all the days of your lives. If you have served the Pastoral Partners ministry or are currently serving this ministry, please set aside September 29 at 11:45 A.M., to celebrate ten years of ministry under the able coordination of April Johnen and Connie Townsend. We will also introduce the new coordinators of the program who volunteered to fill this role upon hearing about our need. If you are interested in this ministry and would like to know more about it, please email me (Pastor Darrell) at darrellmac@mac.com. We can always use more generous people who feel a call to be a loving presence in the lives of people who are no longer as independent as they once were. Finally, let me offer a public thanks to Ed Linberg, Dean Echols, Connie Townsend, April Johnen, and all our Pastoral Partners for the ministry they have provided to our homebound members over the past 10-15 years. May God continue to bless others through your generous offering of your gifts and talents.
Sunday Statistics
Aug., 18 13 100 (Remember Service) 11(Reawaken Service) 12 (Refresh Service) Weekly Giving: $3,573.90 Mission: $397.10 Budget Goal: $3,881 Blankets: $165 Downtown Market: $1040.50 (August 22) Financial Report (Year to Date July 31, 2013 Budget: $116,430; Actual - $104,276.90 Deficit: ($12,153.10) 10.44% Sunday, September 1: Reading: Luke 14: 12-14; pray for Debra as she is on vacation through Tuesday. Remember in Prayer Continue to pray for: Dottie Bense, Harold Brickens, Mary Brill, Betty Ruth Buchanan, Linda Christman, Chris Collett, Dean Echols, Lorna & Skip Farnum, Anna Lou Horspool, Kevin Johnen, Carolyn Kenrick, the family of Lowenn Land, Flora Miller, Sue Miller, Jim Piper, Norma Rill, Marj Schwenker and family, Edee Stahnke and family, Julie Stuart, Claudia Tammen, Dorothy Tanner and Bob Vannoy Please pray for the following church in the Pacific Southwest Region: Pasadena Christian Church 789 N. Altadena Drive Pasadena, CA 91107 Aaron Todd, Pastor
Bev Reinke
Jack Matthews who is in the last stages of cancer Norma Rill Son-in-law, Bob McKennon, diagnosed with Lou Gehrigs disease (ALS) Jim Ottoson, friend, recovering from a pathological fracture of his leg Wes Nichols who has stage 4 throat cancer
Kentucky. Petty Officer Michael J. Borden, Nancy Geigers grandson, who is stationed in Guam for the next year.
welcome.
Thank You
Dear Fullerton First Christian, Thank you so much for awarding me a $500 scholarship for school. This will be my third year at Cal State Fullerton and I love it! I cannot wait to finish my college education and use my career expertise to help other people. Thank you so much for helping support me through school and allowing me to not have to stress as much about the financial aspect of college. Thank you so much. With Love, Kristyn Grime
Hollywood Bowl
There are a few tickets left for our annual trip to the Hollywood Bowl to see Earth, Wind and Fire & Fireworks on Sunday night, September 15. Tickets are $33, which includes the bus from Lakewood Mall at 5:30 P.M. We have great seats in Section L1 rows 21 & 22. First come first served.
Juarez from the Fullerton Police Dept to talk about current scams that are being used against seniors in our community. We hope that you can join us Sept. 17 for that presentation.
minutes for our Sunday morning sessions. Therefore, the class will likely take two Sunday mornings to adequately cover each of the seven chapters. Twelve people have already signed up for this course. There's room for many more! Registration forms for both of these classes are posted on the bulletin board in the Narthex. If you want to be in either of these Bible Study courses, put your name on the appropriate form by today. You may register after 8/25 for either of these courses, but you will not likely have the Student's Book the first time your group meets. Payment for your copy of the Student's Book may be made at the first session, or spread out over several weeks.
This is a series of 24 half-hour lectures presented by Dr. Amy Jill Levine, Professor of New Testament, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. Those who have heard Dr. Levine, including those who heard her preach on the Parable of the Good Samaritan in our worship service last year and those who participated in some of the Parlor Class sessions that just ended know that she is a firstrate scholar and communicator. As this is a 24session class, we will be breaking it up into smaller segments. We will do six-week sessions with a one or two week break in between. You do not need to attend all of the sessions. Registration form is on the bulletin board in the Narthex. Deadline for registering is September 1.
Trustees may also hold other offices within the Congregation if elected by the Congregation. Does this position sound like something you would want to do? You may be approached by someone on the Nominating Committee to fill a Trustee position. I hope you will prayerfully consider serving if you are asked. In addition, if you are interested, you may submit your name to Craig Wallace, Chair of the 2014 Nominating Committee. Deb Taylor
the gospel of Jesus Christ using our fingers to help us remember them: The Five Fingers: The first three steps involve human action: 1. Faith: This is more than just agreeing something is true. It involves commitment and deep trust. It's something we build our lives around. We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Living God and is our Lord and Savior. 2. Repentance: We recognize that we have missed the mark, have separated and alienated ourselves from God and from our fellow human beings, and by doing this have disobeyed God. We confess this freely and vow to turn from this way of living. 3. Baptism: We offer ourselves for baptism by immersion. This represents our death (to old self), burial, and resurrection (to a new life in Jesus Christ). This is also reminiscent of the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by John the Baptizer. The last two steps belong to God and are associated with the third step: as baptism is completed, 4. Forgiveness: We then fully accept the forgiveness of God for all that we have done. Daily we go to God asking forgiveness for we recognize ourselves as sinful by nature and desire to have God cleanse us daily of those things that keep us from feeling God's blessedness. 5. Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit then commences in every believer after baptism into the church, the living Body of Christ. The Holy Spirit becomes our Comforter and Sustainer and helps us to remember all the things that Jesus has taught and continues to teach us daily. If you would like to know more about the historic "5 Finger Exercise " in a way that can be appreciated both by adults and presented to grandchildren and children, please download and read: https://www.discipleshomemissions.org/wpcontent/uploads/2012/10/FCMFiveFingerExercise.pdf 7
Upcoming Dates
September 2 Office Closed, Labor Day Holiday September 4 5:30 P.M. Debras PRC Meeting September 7 - 9:00 A.M. 2 p.m. Worship and Wonder Training September 9 - 5:30 P.M. Darrell and Debras joint PRC meeting September 18 7:00 P.M. Council of Elders, Darrell and Debras PR Committees and Trustees meet with Susan Gonzales-Dewey
Fund in support of the three members of our congregation who are going to be part of the Disciples Volunteering Mission Project in Joplin, Missouri, October 20-26. 6. Debra Todd, Associate Pastor, shared preliminary plans for an Intergenerational Mission Trip, March 24-30, 2014 to be part of the rebuilding of the community of West, Texas--site of a major explosion this past spring. Work will be coordinated through Disciples Volunteering and Central Christian Church, Waco, Texas, which is about 15 to 20 minutes from West. The Youth Group is very excited about this mission trip, which will occur during their Spring Break next year. We hope several adults will plan to be part of this mission trip, too. 7. Ed Linberg reported on his e-mail to Jeffrey Mensendiek with whom we have a Missionary Relationship through Global Ministries. Jeffrey begins a new three-year term of service in Japan on September 1st. Look for updates from Jeffrey, who spoke to our Sr. Adult Ministry in February, from time to time in the coming months. 8. Donna Woodbridge shared plans for our collection of Food Bags for Pathways of Hope next month. 9. Set a goal of $500 for the 2013 Reconciliation Offering to be received September 29th and October 6. 10. Learned that Ben Stuart, Randy Langston and Kevin Wilbur will coordinate our 2013 Offering of Letters on Sunday, September 15. 11. Donna Woodbridge reported that the Tri-Tip Project is going well with two months plus left in this year's Downtown Market. Profit to date is a shade under $9,000.00. 12. Decided to work with the Discipleship Ministry and the Worship Ministry for the 2013 Light a Candle for Children program, an interfaith activity that calls upon faith communities to focus, pray and advocate for children between September 15 and October 20 of this year. Watch for more details about this activity. The Outreach Ministry is very grateful 8
for the strong, on-going support of the congregation for the many projects and special offerings it has overseen to date in 2013. We gratefully anticipate the support of the congregation for our Outreach ministries for the balance of this year and on into 2014. If you would like to be part of the Outreach Ministry, you'd be welcome to attend our next meeting on Wednesday, September 25, 7 P.M. in the Choir Room. Ed Linberg, Chair Outreach Ministry
tickets for the 2014 BCS game to be played at the Rose Bowl. They will be given away in a "bonus drawing" at the Golf Tournament. The tickets for this special drawing are $5 for 1 ticket and $10 for 3 tickets. This drawing is completely separate from the Opportunity Drawing described in the foregoing paragraph. By the way, in case you're certain you'll have the winning ticket, the BCS game is scheduled for Monday, January 6th next year. And you do not need to be present to win the BCS tickets. Tickets for both the Opportunity Drawing and the BCS Game will be available for purchase from Donna Woodbridge through Sunday, September 15.
Kids Page
Church Fullerton joins with Orange County (OCTA) and Bike Nation in bike sharing
In June of this year, the Church was approached by the Orange County Transit Authority and Bike Nation to be a participant in the OCTA Bikelink program. This program is for providing short-term bike sharing through an automated system in cities throughout Orange County and Southern California. The program is targeting 20 locations within the city of Fullerton to place the bike racks and the program determined that our location is an ideal site for placing a bike share station. This opportunity was discussed at the Council of Elders meeting on July th 24 with a follow up meeting on August 7. At the August 7 meeting the Trustees and Elders met with Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) and Bike Nation regarding the proposal to place a bike rack on church property. All of the questions below were satisfactorily answered to the Elders and Trustees. The questions and answers that were discussed are provided below. In addition, copies of the brochure will be provided in the Narthex. A contract was provided and Mike Hogan has reviewed the contract and has stated it is very well written and answers all concerns about liability to the Church. The Council of Elders approved by majority vote to proceed with the placement of a Bikelink site on Church property. The location will be on Wilshire on the west side of the Narthex doors. Does the 5 x 40 size include the length of the bike or does the bike extend beyond that? YES Is this a public or private venture? OCTA with Bike Nation providing the bikes What happens to the funds obtained from the bike rentals? Will the Church receive any compensation? Money goes back into the program Are there fees that the Church would need to pay for sponsorship on the bikes? N/A. OCTA is looking for a corporate sponsor What is the liability, if any, to the Church if the bikes or rack are damaged? Who pays for damages to the Church caused by someone renting a bike? The Church is not liable for the bikes or rack or any damages. Damages caused to the Church would be covered by our insurance Who is in charge of maintaining/cleaning the bikes and racks? Bike Nation Is there a trial period or a clause in the contract that permits us to end the contract if the Church determines they no longer want to have the bikes and racks located on our property? The Church can exit the agreement with a 30-day notice
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Are all sponsorships on the bikes family appropriate? We would not like to have a bike in the rack in front of the church that does not reflect a family appropriate ad? Yes How noisy can it get with people renting bikes? During services/activities in the sanctuary we can often hear noises from outside which can be disruptive? There should not be much noise. If the noise gets to be an issue we can contact OCTA and/or Bike Nation. Would you be able to provide statistics on usage in other cities/locations? We did not get statistics but did receive verbal information regarding other areas such as Anaheim where the program is currently operating. There was no negative information received. Would you be able to provide us names/locations in other cities that we can contact as references? See #10 Will you be able to bring a sample contract? Provided and Mike Hogan has reviewed. Where do the renters go for help? We want to ensure that they will not come into the Church? There is a number on the bike rack for persons to call. The Church will not be required to provide any assistance.
First Christian Church 109 E Wilshire Avenue Fullerton, CA 92832 Reawaken (Early Worship Service) Sunday, 8:00 A.M. Church School for all ages: Sunday, 9:00 A.M. Remember (Traditional Worship Service) Sunday, 10:15 A.M. Refresh (Emergent Worship Service) Sunday, 7:30 P.M. Youth Groups: Sunday, 1:00 P.M. & Wednesday, 3:30 5:15 P.M.
Acolyte Parent: Acquistapace Sound: Clare Keech Video: PJ Vannoy Lay Leader: Chris Fee Childrens Moment: Alice Wallace Elders: Joshua Dorrough, Randy Langston, Sharlane Blakeley Diaconate: McCuens Team Prepare: Bill & Jodie Martin Ushers: Mike Hogan, Ben Stuart Serve: Annie Frater, Mike Hogan, Nancy Knott, Dirk & Jan McCuen, Ben Stuart Clean Up: Annie Frater, Mike Hogan, Ben Stuart Alternate: Barbara Fenters
Guest Book: Coffee Host: Hospitality Ministry Acolyte Parent: McCuen Sound: Kyle Fought Video: Clare Keech Lay Leader: Childrens Moment: Elders: Dwain Van Diest, Randy Langston, Chris Fee Diaconate: Pauls Team Prepare: Rod & Jan Farley Ushers: Janelle Vannoy, Paul Robidoux Serve: Luanne Bailey, Rod Farley, Linda Johnen, Paul Robidoux, Janelle Vannoy, TBA Clean Up: Bev Reinke, TBA Alternate:
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