All Church Christmas Party and Sleigh Ride

Sunday, December 13
5:30-8:30 p.m.

The evening will include dinner and decorating gingerbread men.

There will be sign-ups starting this Sunday to let us know how many
are coming as well as how many gingerbread people to order for you
and your family. Everyone is also invited to bring a bag of candy to
share for decorations.
We will also have our Christmas Sleigh Ride complete with carol
singing so grab your hat and scarf to keep you warm as we carol
through the streets of Torrance.
There will be crafts to keep you busy when it isn’t your turn on the
sleigh. Pastor Steve will be leading a special story time and there
might even be a visit from a man in a red suit. Who could that be??
Everyone is invited and we hope to see you there!!

Page 1 November 19, 2009

 Disciples Women’s Ministry
The Candy Cane Lane Holiday Boutique celebrated a huge success on
November 14thand 15th. Under the vision and leadership of Chery
Carew, the Boutique was able to raise over $6,300 to aid in Disciples
Women’s Ministries donations throughout the next year. A heartfelt
thank you to Chery for her time and dedication in leading the Boutique
and all of her team leaders: Dorie Hernandez for baking the fabulous
cinnamon rolls, Cheryl Crawford for the much anticipated taco boats, Angie Ahumada
for coordinating the fun, enjoyable workshops, Gail Grove for the always amazing
Candy Shoppe, June Perkins for the tasty baked goods, Mary Jo Kohlmiller for the
always loved Grandma’s Attic, and of course Lynne Redderson as the treasurer and
Maureen Estolas and Emily Denis for publicity. And a sincere thank you to all who
helped, supported, crafted, donated, and participated in the fellowship of this event.
Disciples Women’s Luncheons
Join us for the December Luncheon on Sunday, December 6th at noon, hosted by the
New Hope Group. Ken Potter will be gracing us with his incredible musical talent in
his greatly anticipated musical program. Our service project will be one of the largest
rescue missions in the United States, the Union Rescue Mission. URM provides a
host of emergency and long-term services to their patrons – from food to shelter,
clothing to education, medical and dental to recovery programs and counseling, as
well as job training just to name a few – to needy men, women, children and families.
Maureen Estolas will be leading us in Worship.
Mark your calendars for our January Luncheon on Sunday, January 24th at noon,
hosted by the Faith Group. June Perkins will be leading us in Worship and our guest
speakers will be Kaci Davis and Ida Somero.
The heart of our program and service for January is Dream Center, a downtown Los
Angeles non-profit outreach program dedicated to helping inner-cities through hope.
The Dream Center is able to touch thousands of lives by meeting tangible and spiri-
tual needs through a variety of services and ministries.

All Church Christmas Card

“Glad tidings we bring…” Do you have your message for the all church Christmas
card yet? No need to worry, you still have a couple of weeks to craft your message.
Sakura Koontz will begin collecting your holiday greetings for the all-church Christ-
mas card in Sippel Hall for a $2 donation on November 22nd, November 29th, and
December 6th. You may also email your holiday greetings to Sakura
at chocosakura03@yahoo.com.
Page 2
Women’s Sunday
Women’s Sunday, January 10th is rapidly approaching. Please continue to pray for
a successful and meaningful service.

Advent Devotional Booklet

This year’s collection of Advent Devotionals comes from old and young, new and
long-time participants in our church. Copies are available in the Narthex Sunday
mornings, or from the church office. Thanks to all who contributed!

Christmas Eve Candlelight Worship

We will once again gather on December 24 to celebrate the birth of our Savior
with carols, candles, communion, and the age old story. Our celebration begins
at 5:00 p.m.—invite someone!

Angel Tree
This Advent, we will once again have our Angel Tree set up. It will be full of
“angels,” each with information about the needs of a local family that we’ve
received from a ministry that works with the under-advantaged in our area.

You are invited to take a card, to help provide for the needs and hopes of others,
and to make their Christmas a little brighter.

Thank You

Janie Fietz
Outreach Chair

Page 3
A Big “Thank You” to Janie Fietz for the lovely Prayer Shawl. It is so soft and pretty. I
keep it where I sit in the family room so it is always handy. Believe it or not but it
matches the sofa where it is draped over perfectly ready for my use. The card is up
on the mantle where I can see it reminding me about what the Prayer Shawl is all
about. Thanks again, Janie, for your thoughtfulness.
Geri Stoodley

ENDOWMENT FUND UPDATE

In October, our Endowment Fund celebrated its fifth year of operation. Our Endow-
ment Fund exists because of the moral and financial support received from the mem-
bers and friends of the First Christian Church of Torrance. Over the past five years
there have been periods of good economic growth and some periods of no growth.
2009 Year to Date returns for our investment trust account with the Christian Church
Foundation are positive. We renewed a CD in September for a portion of our funds.
Our Church members and friends have been faithful in their support and we, as di-
rectors, want to say thank-you. The Endowment Committee would like to thank the
following for their loving gifts:

• Jun and Nora Pagdilao in memory of Mark Sleeth

• Jack & Ruth Perry in memory of Hilda Corless, Duane Johnson and
Dolores Koontz
• Shirley Brummett in memory of Lorraine Ingram
• John & Phyllis King in memory of Dolores Koontz and in honor of John’s
89th Birthday

A new brochure has been printed and is available in the narthex and in the pews, and
will provide you with more information about the fund.
We hope you will remember our Endowment Fund in your estate planning and/or to
honor and recognize a birthday, graduation, anniversary, etc. Any gift, large or small,
is welcomed.

If you have any questions, please contact one of the directors listed below.
Betsy Galyardt Jerry Jonas Andrea Whobrey Gene Wiehe Doris Wilson

Update on Adam Whobrey, son of Jim and Andrea, grand-son of Bob Schnepp: Earlier this
year, Adam opened a working studio for his glass art torching business in Westminster. You
can check out his latest artwork on his website, www.sandmanmovement.com.
Page 4
 CHURCH FAMILY PRAYERS & CONCERNS

Beverly Roseberry is hoping to be home from rehab by Friday, November

20, where she will continue to receive therapy for her broken hip..

Geri Stoodley is coming off current medications in order to find more appropriate treatment
for an undefined ailment affecting her immune system. She is once again dealing with fe-
vers.

Julie Chavez is home from the hospital, but still wearied in her battle with cancer. His
Hands, our cancer support ministry, is helping with meals—contact Gail Grove if you wish
to be part of this caring effort.

Marlen Sanchez’s mother has been diagnosed with colon cancer. The hope is that it is con-
tained.

Alice Postlewaite is waiting on tests to see whether cancer of the liver and pancreas has
spread.

Others in our prayers as they continue to battle cancer: Shaun Knudsen, Dana Morgan,
Nick Fiamengo, Maria Bohannon, Manuel Escobar, Judy Mowry, Dean Noble, Mike De-
Sarro’s father-in-law, Bobbie Hubbard’s teacher, Miss Wills, Wally and Charlotte
Sandberg’s brother-in-law.

Hilda Coleman’s test for thyroid cancer came back negative; Donna Hahn was also re-
lieved to receive negative test results.

Anne Beecher asks for prayer on behalf of her long-time friend Sarah Gimber, who is near-
ing the end of her struggle with Alzheimer’s.

Maureen Estolas invites prayer for her father, Eldon Rash, who is in decline with Alz-
heimer’s, and for her step-mother, Joyce, as she seeks to care for him.

Ziggy Wilk escaped serious injury after being knocked off his skateboard by a hit-and-run
driver.

After weeks of battle with numerous symptoms, Carole Jones’s puppy, Charlie, died of a
heart attack.

Page 5
 December 2009
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thurs

WORSHIP SERVICES
8:30 and 10:30 am
Sunday School 9:30 am
1 2

Bible Study 10:00 a.m.

Prayer Ministry 5:45 Choir
Prayer Shawl 2:00
New H
Education 7:00
(At Jill Foste

6 7 8 9

Amazing Gray’s 1:00 Bible Study 10:00 a.m.

Women’s Luncheon Choir Pr
Membership 7:00 Prayer Ministry 5:45 Prayer Shawl 2:00
Youth Adventure 12:00 7:00
Disciple Women 7:30
CYF 12:00
Newsletter Board Meeting 7:00

13 14 15 16
Love 9:30
Faith 1:30 Bible Study 10:00 a.m.
All Church Christmas Choir Pr
Prayer Ministry 5:45 Prayer Shawl 2:00
Party & Sleigh Ride Worship 7:00 7:00
Elders 7:00
5:30-8:30

20 21 22 23
Bible Study 10:00
Longest Night
Cantata Prayer Shawl 2:00 Christmas E
Service 5:45
“Within These Walls” 5:00
Prayer Shawl 7:00
10:30 Worship

27 28 29 30
Prayer Ministry 5:45 Bible Study 10:00 a.m.
Feed The Hungry Prayer Shawl 2:00
Sunday New Yea
Page 6
sday Friday Saturday

December Birthdays
Dorothy Rind (1)
Arlene Zingery (2)
Stacy Martinez (2)
3 4 5 Tommy Wood (4)
Dylan Rogers (4)
Mike Mine (5)
Betty Fenton (5)
7:00 Jean Steenson (6)
Hope Laura Duncan(8)
er’s Home) Roger Grove (9)
Donis Johns (10)
Ruthie Totes (10)
10 11 12 Janie Oden (12)
Kristi Marvin (13)
William Maupin (13)
ractice Courtney Colston (14)
Eric Johns (15)
0 Lynn Jonas (18)
Jun Pagdilao (18)
Nduka Ibe (18)
Helene Strayer (19)
17 18 19 Jose Gonzalez (19)
Christy Brummett (22)
Grant Galyardt (24)
Men’s Breakfast
ractice Carrie Fontaine (25)
8:30 a.m. Mackenzie Monson (25)
0
Ellen McCune (26)
Phyllis King (27)
Roy Houston (28)
24 25 26 Steve Fietz (28)
Melissa Woodman (28)
Nora Wiehe (28)
ve Service Judy Musser (30)
0

31
ANNIVERSARIES
Bill & Carol Rimmey (4)
Joe & Debbie Gonzalez (16)
ar’s Eve Bernard & Jean Steenson (21)
Bill & Janet
Page 7 Wysong (27)
 Education Notes & News
Bible Explorers
Christmas has come to Bible Explorers as the children will participate in workshops exploring
Christmas Around the World. The season will end with both groups celebrating at a Three
Kings Party on the last Sunday of the year. All children ages PreK through 6th grade are in-
vited to Bible Explorers at 9:30 on Sunday mornings. See schedule below.
Speaking of the Bible Explorer schedule, it has been set for next year and sign-ups for leading
workshops are going on right now. Contact Jill if you are interested in teaching.
Middle School students are invited to be shepherds for this program. See Jill if you are inter-
ested.
High schoolers will continue to meet for their Sunday School in Room 8 with Jeff Wood as
their teacher.

BIBLE EXPLORER SCHEDULE

DATE CLASS WORKSHOP ROOM TEACHER

Christmas Around the World

11/22 PRE K-1 DRAMA 3 PEGGY

11/22 2-5 COOKING KITCHEN KELLY

11/29 PRE K-1 COOKING KITCHEN KELLY

11/29 2-5 DRAMA 3 PEGGY

12/6 PRE K –1 DRAMA 3 ANDREA

12/6 2-5 CRAFTS 2 JANIE FIETZ

12/13 PRE K –1
Both Groups Practice for the Christmas Program
2-5

12/20 PRE K-1 CRAFTS 2 JANIE FIETZ

12/20 2-5 DRAMA 3 ANDREA

12/27 PRE K-1 3 Kings Party

12/27 2-5 All ages meet Jill in Room 4
Page 8
November/December Youth Calendar
Sunday, November 22
12:00 CYF (grades 9-12) at church

Sunday, November 29
All youth groups invited to the Hanging of the Greens
after church.

Sunday, December 6
12:00 Youth Adventure (grades 3-5) at church
12:00 CYF at church

Sunday, December 13
5:30-8:30 Everyone invited to All Church
Christmas Party and Sleigh Ride

Friday-Sunday, January 29-31

Loch Leven All Church Retreat

Page 9
Upcoming Sermons
November 22 – “Slow Food” (Mark 4:26-29)
Thanksgiving is a time when we celebrate harvest, but most of us have gotten away from
our agricultural roots. If farming requires anything, it requires patience—and perhaps a
sense of mystery. What might we learn at Thanksgiving from the slow growing seed?
November 29 – “Green Christmas, Blue Christmas” (Isaiah 44:2-4)
On this First Sunday of Advent, we will celebrate by decking our hall with all kinds of
boughs. But the season has other colors, too—for some, it is a “blue” time of remembering
loss and grief. Along with our green hopes, we will consider the story of Jennifer Parsons,
who is having a very different kind of Christmas this year.
December 6 – “Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?” (Isaiah 9:6-7)
This year, the second Sunday of Advent is also St. Nicolas Day—which is part of why he is
associated with Christmas. How can the story of the saint himself help us come to a fuller
understanding of what (and who!) we’re celebrating?

Sermons on line
Miss a Sunday? You can listen to past sermons by accessing them on our church website
(www.fcctorrance.org) Just click on Worship Media, then on the title or date of the sermon.
Dates are listed by sermon title, year, month and day—for example, September 7, 2009 is
20090907. Thanks to Jimmy Koontz for helping us to provide this service!

Adult Sunday Class

Our Sunday morning adult class continues its pattern of lively discussion with a number of
thought-provoking topics and facilitators. All people and views are welcome—and often
expressed! It’s also OK to come and just listen!
Chuck Aruta is facilitating our class on November 22, and Steve Fietz will guide a seasonal
discussion during the four weeks of Advent, beginning on November 29 with the question
“Is Jesus Really the Reason for the Season?” Thanks to Ted Oden for a wonderful five
weeks looking at the message of Mike Yaconelli’s Messy Spirituality, and to David Matson
for his deep consideration of the biblical view of the soul!

Wednesday Morning Bible Study

Our Wednesday Morning Bible Study is looking at the First Letter of John, a
New Testament writing that struggles to hold things together after an early
church split. Bible Study meets in Sippel Hall, Wednesday mornings at 10:00.
Page 10
 Footnotes
Somewhere in the next several weeks, there may come that moment where we push
back from a meal and realize, 1) we really overdid it, 2) the pain of overindulgence
will last much longer than the pleasure of it, 3) we must never over-do again, and 4)
we will over-do again all too soon.

If we are not attentive to our needs, the whole of the season can be like that meal: a
flurry of all too fast ingestion of things hardly enjoyed, followed by enduring bloat,
regret and sincere but un-kept pledges.

And this is about way more than food, isn’t it? Dare we name all the places our lives
are overstuffed? shopping, schedule and storage space; commitments, obligations, and
debts, financial and otherwise; connections, dysfunctions, and emotional defaults…
Scary list? For me too!

Mind you, I’m so looking forward to our second December here—the celebrations, the
traditions, the fun, the familiar, and the things that are still new. But each year, the
accompanying dilemma is the same: how do we stuff less and enjoy more?

First to confess: I haven’t completely solved this! But I suspect there’s a good reason
why the season gets going, not with grasping for what we want, but with gratitude for
what we have.

Shalom, Steve

Home phone: 310-212-5950 email: steefeets@hotmail.com

Prayer Service—5:45 pm Tuesdays

This is a quiet time of centering and praying for one another. We still meet in the
sanctuary, but with a new seating arrangement that helps us hear one another better.
All who wish to be part of the common support we have in prayer are invited.

Our next Newsletter will be the last one for the year. Please have your articles into
the church office by 12/7/09.

Page 11
 FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
NON PROFIT ORG.

(Disciples of Christ)
PERMIT NO. 109
TORRANCE, CA

2930 El Dorado Street

Torrance, CA 90503
(310) 328-2820 Fax 310 328-2929
E-mail - fcctorr@pacbell.net
Web address - fcctorrance.org
Sunday Schedule
8:30 a.m. - Worship - Informal
9:30 a.m. - Church School for all ages
10:30 a.m. - Worship - Traditional
Children’s Worship - Ages Pre-school through
2nd Grade
(During the Traditional Worship Service)
Nursery Provided
Or Current Resident

For birth through age 3 during Sunday School

and Contemporary & Traditional Service
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Staff
Steven Fietz, Senior Pastor
Ted Oden-Minister of Contemporary Worship
Administrative Assistant– Camelia Olloque
Choir Director - Ken Potter
Nursery Attendant - Kim Larson
Dorie Hernandez
The Christian Messenger

Officers
TIME VALUE DATA

Chair - Doug Crawford

2930 El Dorado Street

DO NOT DELAY
First Christian Church

Torrance, CA 90503

Vice Chair - Don Zukas

EXPEDITE

Treasurer– Bill Wysong

Financial Secretary - Charlotte Sandberg
Clerk– Angie Ahumada

Page 12