Barbara Strader Editor
V
ol. 59 , No. 2 January 22 , 2010
In This Issue
Incredible Generosity 22010 UCC Prayer Calendar 2January Birthdays 2Loving the Earth for Lent 3Calendar of Events 4Adult Faith Retreat, Enchanted Hills InsertPlease join us at
11:30 a.m. following worshipthis Sunday, January 24
. Those who attended theOctober 25th MOC Founding Convention willshare their experiences and give feedback to all.Everyone from the congregation is invited. In addi-tion to Convention feedback, Linda Xiques willgive an update describing the research activities of the MOC Health Care Research Team. If time per-mits, you will receive a report on the activities of other MOC research groups. Keeping with MOCtradition, we will begin on time, end on time, andkeep the meeting to no more than an hour-and-a-half. We’ll also provide you with food to stay yourhunger pangs. We look forward to seeing a gener-ous number of you on the 24
th
.
MOC House (atCCMV) MeetingOrgan to be Repaired!
Let the music soar! Congratulations CCMV, thecall went out and you met the challenge. As acommunity we have achieved our $16,000 goal torepair the blower for the beloved organ. As of this writing the call to Schoenstein & Co. to ar-range for the repair has been made and the Eastermusic has been chosen.A great big thank you to all those who donated.(Beth Arvidson, Meta Bare, Jack Bartlett,Betsy & Dan Bikle, Linda & Jamie Clever, JohnEagleton, Bill Gerecke, Peggy & Paul Hewett,Ben Hulan & Lisa Filippi, Jacquie Hoffman, Buzz& Lydia Hull, Jane & Connie Kloh, Harriet Kos-tic, Verna Parino, Keith Phillips & Sue Blanchard,Judy Reneau, Jean Rhodes, Tamayo Sato, Carol &John Schmiedel, Marjorie Scott, Pam & MuncieShortridge, Russ Wallace and Mike Webber.) Forthose of you who thought about donating butnever quite got around to it, please do. We metour goal but everyone knows what can happenwith repair projects (cost overrides, unexpectedproblems) and at this point we will need to use thefull balance of the Organ Fund Reserves towardthe project.Please come look at the new poster Peter has cre-ated for the Tamalpais Hall to celebrate ourachievement as a community. I am, personally,really excited to hear our special Easter music onthe newly reinvigorated organ. How appropriatefor the season. I also wish to thank the membersof the Organ Task Force for their help and unwav-ering support, Barbara at the Church office andMike Webber. We couldn't have done this without you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
- Chris Bikle, Chair, Organ Task Force
think on these thingsWhatever things are
Earl Lectures
This year’s Earl Lectures, held
January 26-28
atthe Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, are freeand open to the public. (Leadership Conference is$125.) To register, or for more information, pleaseseehttp://www.psr.edu/earl-lectures-2010.This year’s lectures
will explore the increasinglypopular phrase spiritual, but not religious.
“
Earl Lectures” continued on page 2.
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Of Good Report
is published on the second and fourth Monday of eachmonth. Deadline for submissions is the previous Monday at noon.Pastor: Pam ShortridgeMinister Emeritus: Jack BartlettParish Associate of Mission: Dora FordMinister in Covenant: Jacquie HoffmanSeminarian In-Care: Arn Lou MutiaSeminarian In-Care: James ChristieDirector of Music: Esther ArcherExecutive Editor: Barbara StraderFacility Operations Manager: Aaron YoungSunday Morning:
9:00 a.m. “The Unexpected Word” Class, Foster Room10:00 a.m. Worship Service, SanctuaryNursery Care for Infants & Toddlers, NurseryProgram for Children in Preschool through ThirdGrade, Children gather in the Chapel11:15 a.m. Coffee Hour in the Tamalpais Hall
The Community Church of Mill Valley
United Church of Christ
An Open & Affirming Congregation
8 Olive Street, Mill Valley , CA 94941Phone 415/388-5540Fax 415/388-1678e-mail CCMVUCC@comcast.netwww.millvalleyucc.org
Giving to the UCC's Haiti earthquake response isshattering previous online rates, indicating a gener-ous outpouring from across the United Church of Christ, church leaders say. Within six days of thedisaster, a total of $250,603 has been received from2,366 online donors. That far exceeds a previousonline giving record set in early 2005 when$112,000 was raised at ucc.org over 23 days from alittle more than 1,000 donors to aid victims of theIndian Ocean tsunami. To find out more, visit:
http://act.ucc.org/site/R?i=b3cziFAouXpxecfMHyGPqg
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United Church of Christ’s
Calendar of Prayer
con-tains stories from across the United States and fromaround the world that illustrate the depth andbreadth of the mission outreach of the UnitedChurch of Christ. Globally, that outreach is done inpartnership with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) through the common witness of GlobalMinistries. There are stories that reflect the rich di-versity of our denomination as well. They are sto-ries of local congregations, individuals, and faithcommunities from around the world that speak tothe one church, the one body of Christ. We givethanks for the support that you have given to thechurch through your gifts of time, talents, andtreasures. We give you thanks for your generoussupport of the special offerings of the church, aswell as your support of Our Church's Wider Mis-sion without which many of these ministries wouldnot take place or be heard. To view and print thecalendar:http://www.ucc.org/worship/calendar/
Incredible Generosity
“
Earl Lectures” continued from page 1.
“Spiritual, but not religious” includes those whoglean inspiration solely from nature and the physicalworld around them, as well as those who prefer todivorce themselves from institutional structures.The phrase also refers to some who are alienatedfrom organized religion—refugees from a house of worship that has not accepted or affirmed them.“Spiritual but not religious” can also describe thosewho find church irrelevant or who prefer to worshipin individual and private ways. Following is a sum-mary of the Plenary Sessions:
Session I:
Jan. 26, 10a.m., Matthew Fox
,
“From Religion to Spiritual-ity—and Back Again?;
Session II:
Jan. 26, 3 p.m.,Women’s Spirituality Panel;
Session III:
Jan. 27,9:45 a.m., Melissa Wilcox, “A Spiritual Being Hav-ing a Human Experience: Gender, Sexuality andReligious Individualism”;
Session V:
Jan. 28, 9a.m., Scotty McLennan, “Growing Up Spiritual orReligious?: A Developmental View.”
2010 UCCPrayer CalendarJanuary Birthdays
January 24 Brian ViallJanuary 27 Muncie ShortridgeJanuary 28 Teresa Main
Loving the Earth for Lent
“Of all the seasons of the Christian’s pilgrimage, Lent has probably been most abused.It has in certain times and places become a period of excessive introspection, empty abstinencefrom tidbits of affluence, and the enjoyment of the gloom of self-denial.”
On February 17—Ash Wednesday—Lent begins
.If Lent is a pilgrimage or a journey, what is our destination?Some say that Lent is a journey home, even if it is to a place we have never been. It is a physical journey in which new discoveries are made, new insights gained, and greater depths explored. It isa path that leads to oneness with God through union with ourselves, our neighbors, and creation. Itis a bringing together of the life of the Spirit and the realities of the human condition.This year we will “observe Lent” by taking a journey home to earth—the only home we will everknow.With each breath and each mouthful of food, whenever we make love, witness the miracle of birth, or bury a loved one, our spirits engage with our physical selves. Every time we stick ourhead out the window to scrutinize the weather, thrill to the sudden glimpse of a cardinal’s scar-let plumage, or throw ourselves with gleeful abandon into the ocean’s stinging immensity, weengage with that encompassing reality that we may think of as nature, the earth, or the environ-ment.Our home is in very serious trouble. Every time we hear the evening news, pick up a magazine ina doctor’s office, or scan the Internet, there is more bad news about the planet we call home. Wehumans are damaging the earth at an unprecedented rate. Unfortunately the heavy drumbeat of ourplanet’s environmental crisis can produce a kind of paralysis often expressed in either angry denialor heartbroken despair, but serious religious life demands that we look at stuff most of us wouldprefer not to. We must grapple with our own carelessness and call ourselves to account, acknowl-edging “God’s purpose for us is to love and to live in harmony with all that [God] made. All of creation and all generations to come are our neighbors.” The good news is that we are not alone.God’s Spirit fills the cosmos. Although we must admit that we will not be able to fix everything,we each have a contribution to make. We know that our home is a holy place and that life itself isa sacred gift. To sustain life on earth we need to be better informed about the things we do thatendanger our planet, discover the tools that are available to help us change our ways, and recon-nect to the beauty and wonder of nature.This Lent we will work together toward a “Greener” faith. Beginning on Ash Wednesday and es-pecially at our adult faith retreat we will look for what we need to soothe our troubled spirits androuse our energies to heal the earth. Throughout Lent we will honor the traditional practices of Lent—prayer, fasting, and almsgiving—in new ways that will help us transform our lives in orderto become more faithful lovers of the earth.
- Pam Shortridge
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