Volume LXII No. 84 February 13, 2019 - Disciples of...

Volume LXII No. 84 February 13, 2019

A Publication of First Christian Church of North HollywoodA Congregation of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Robert M. Bock, Senior PastorLouise Sloan Goben, Associate PastorJennifer Le’au, Director of Children’s MinistriesJeremy Gillett, Director of Youth MinistriesAlfredo Gomez & Loydi Rivas Gomez, Pastor, Spanish Speaking CongregationYoung Lan Kim & Young Jun Yang, Korean Pastors

the Father himselF loves you — john 16:27

Page � February 13, �019 First Christian news

In this day when so many churches are experiencing diminishing attendance or, in worst case scenarios, closing and selling their beautiful building, people often ask me the secret of FCCNH’s continuing health. Over the last several years, when the Disciples of Christ have closed at least twelve congregations who were once major spiritual powers in the Pacific Southwest Region, it is a question that haunts me. As some seem to think, do we have a secret, and if so, what is it?

Years ago my dear friend Bill Hayes said to me, “Outreach is to a church what oxygen is to a fire.” What a beautiful, concise, powerful and true definition of the life force of any congregation! Bill was, at that time, the chairman of the World Outreach Department and under his leadership we began to push our outreach goals. Doing what Bill and I wanted to do with the church budget got quite a bit of pushback. What we heard more than anything was, “We have to keep the home fires burning before we can give our money away,” and “We need to center our ministry in North Hollywood … We’re not responsible for the rest of the world.”

Such push back wasn’t unusual. In clergy meetings many of my colleagues expressed the same disappointment that Bill and I were feeling regarding the lack of passion for outreach. But we pushed on in our quest to raise our congregation’s awareness that without an active, generous program of outreach, supporting ministry outside the corner of Colfax and Moorpark, our beloved church would certainly diminish and

possibly wither and die. Concerts to support missions were held, sermons

were centered on outreach themes, guest speakers spoke of personal experiences on the mission field, missionaries were invited to meet with us and share their life stories. We launched an all-out campaign to raise the congregation’s awareness of the need to become a “missional church.” And it worked. Adding to the success of that campaign was a suggestion from our youth. “Replace the word ‘congregation’ with “church family.’”

Today our church family is among the top ten congregations in the entire denomination, which numbers over 300 active congregations, in our financial contributions to denominational mission work both here and around the world. We are also among the top congregations in our giving to the Week of Compassion, our very effective “boots on the ground” in any emergency -- anywhere. But our passion for mission doesn’t end with financial giving.

The Christmas Tree Lot, The Interfaith Food Pantry, Operation Christmas Child and Operation Santa Claus all sprang from that new awareness that surged over our church family in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. And since then that passion to become a “missional church” has continued to grow and expand in unbelievable ways. Ask any member of our youth group who has gone on a mission trip – to the Tennyson Center in Denver, to New Orleans, to Houston, to hospitals, nursing homes, animal rescue centers, soup kitchens and rescue missions in the Valley – ask what those experiences have done to and for them. Mission outreach changes lives and our youth will tell you straight away that the work they have done in these and other mission locations has changed their lives and deepened their faith.

One of the newest mission activities our church has

First Christian news February 13, �019

undertaken is the “Homeless in the Park” ministry. On the second Sunday of every month a group of people cook delicious food in our church kitchen and take it to North Hollywood Park to feed the homeless. Because L. A. City Parks have removed the tradition park tables our members take their own tables and chairs, stored on our campus, to the park for set up. I believe I am correct in saying that this ministry started with a few of our church family. However, this group quickly grew with people from other churches and synagogues as well as those who never attend any formal service of worship but find their worship in this service. This group of dedicated individuals are now feeding between 80 and 100 homeless people every second Sunday of the month.

However, feeding the homeless is only part of what they do. They eat with them and share stories with them and in nice weather play games with them. Some of our youth have been part of this dedicated group from time to time and have enjoyed playing soccer with the park people. And, a very important part of this mission ministry is providing clothing for the homeless. A portion of our old sound booth and costume storage area is now being used to house clothing, bedding, etc., contributed to this ministry. A small crew work almost every Thursday afternoon in the Social Hall sorting and arranging clothing for distribution on the next second Sunday.

Elsewhere in this newsletter is a group picture of our Park Ministry taken last Sunday. You can also watch their ministry in action in a film. The link is at the bottom of this letter. If you would like to be part of this awesome group of “missionaries” all you have to do is go up to the kitchen after morning worship on any second Sunday. I guarantee – you’ll be glad you did.

So, in answer to the question at the beginning of this

For those of you who know someone serving in the armed forces, as well as people serving in other capacities, we want to lift them up in prayer... please let us know when they come home!

Joshua BigbeeThomas Matthews

Christopher A. BernsteinChris Diaz

We also want to continue to pray for peace, for wisdom for the world’s leaders, and for the people of all war-torn areas of our world.

letter -- Do we have a secret to our continued growth and health? The answer is – it’s no secret. Just follow Jesus’ teachings to the best of your ability!

What we have tried to do is continually be in the process of living as a missional church that reaches out far beyond ourselves to serve our community and the world. That – and let me say – a lot of other things! Like our children’s and youth ministry, our amazing music ministry, our emphasis on hospitality to everyone and our devotion to the Table of our Lord. Devotion that says that Table is a place where everyone is welcome, where differences that divide people are left behind, where compassion and reconciliation is emphasized and where we dedicate ourselves to living lives centered in His unconditional love.

And actually – that’s really only the beginning!Have a wonderful week. I look forward to seeing

you Sunday at one of our four services of worship.

Pergé! Pastor Bob


her image. And we can chose to reflect this love back into the

world. As the Gospel writer Luke says, “Be compassion-ate as your Father is compassionate.” (Luke 6:36 NLT)

At SpiritSong worship this past Sunday we tried a little experiment. We read aloud together 1 Corinthians 13:4-8: Love is patient and love is kind. Love is not envi-ous or boastful; love is not arrogant or rude… And what we did is to substitute the word “God” for “love” as we read it together.

God is patient, God is kind. God does not envy, God does not boast; God is not proud. God is not rude, or self-seeking, or easily angered; God keeps no account of wrongs. God takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. God bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. God never fails.

My wish for you is to know how deeply you are loved – always have been and always will be.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

Pastor Louise

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. – 1 Corinthians 13:13

Our Tuesday morning Bible circle began by read-ing together the well-known chapter 13 from Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth – the “love” chapter. This passage is frequently read at weddings. Its beauty is incomparable. Its message profound.

At the conclusion of our reading, one of our mem-bers made the comment, “I had never thought of this before, but I guess love is even more important than faith. ‘The greatest of these is love.’” Actually, I had never thought of that either. As a group we sat in si-lence for a moment or two before we all agreed this was somewhat of a revelation to us all.

One of my favorite passages of scripture comes from a little book near the end of the Bible, 1st John:

Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love, does not know God, because God is love… – 1 John 4:7,8

Some in the church have grown up with an under-standing of a vengeful, angry or punishing God. I have never found this to be my experience of God, perhaps because the church in which I was raised and the home I grew up in, God was never presented as vengeful or ready to consign me to hell simply because I was born as a human being. I have never understood the idea that God hated humanity because of our sinful nature – that we are unworthy of love, but God chooses to love us anyway. Scripture tells us that God is love. When we love, we are reflections of the One who created us in

First Christian news February 13, �019 Page �

Yay!!!We earned $419.00 from our Youth Valentine’s

Day Bake sale. The Social Hall was arranged similarly to our Easter Breakfast. There were two lines which moved simultaneously as patrons moved from one baked item to the next and youth bakers served their unique baked item with gusto. It is important to know that part of the revenue earned from this event is allocated towards youth mission trips. In fact, this year for the high school mission trip (July 14th-20th), we will be returning to The Denver Tennyson Center. Given the number of youth that participate in our mission trip (17), we usu-ally spend a total of 10k-13k. Our middle school mis-sion trip is generally less because we don’t travel as far and generally remain in the region. I have not decided on a middle school mission site as of yet but we will know more by March. Nevertheless, if you’d like to con-tribute to the middle and high school youth mission trips, we’d greatly appreciate your donations which will allow us to answer the Macedonian call of aid.

I am excited to announce that for our Pop-Up mis-sion trip this Saturday we will have The GloZell Green join us to discuss “The Proper use of Social media to help promote the best version of ourselves.” We should know that her success can be tracked to her BFA de-gree from the University of Florida. In addition, she

is a faithful member of our FCCNH congregation. GloZell is the perfect person to speak to this subject because GloZell established her YouTube channel in 2008, with video interviews, comedy about her life and song parodies. By 2015, the channel had accumulated more than four million subscribers and more than 700 million total views. Her most popular videos include the cinnamon challenge video, which has more than 53 million views.

I believe with GloZell’s experience, success, and spirit our kids can learn to navigate the ups and downs of social media. The youth of FCCNH will have an in-side track on how to deal with all kinds of attention generated by social media and how to become social media entrepreneurs. I am happy GloZell has taken the time out of her schedule as a mother, wife, and business woman to help our young people become more aware social media users. Finally, you can find GloZell and our youth in the Youth Hut this Saturday(2-15-19) at 1pm; we will conclude our meeting by 2:15pm.

I thank all of our FCCNH members for their love and support of our young people and the youth program.

It takes team work to make the dream work.

Jeremy GillettDirector of Youth Ministries

Did you know FCCNH has a Facebook page? Please check it out and Like us on Facebook. It is a great way to keep up with what is going on in the life of the church.

www.facebook.com/pages/First-Christian-Church-of-North-Hollywood/111570318857728


Learn how you can help address homelessness in your neighborhood. Join in dialogue with guests experienc-ing homelessness and service providers who are making a difference in our community. Make bag lunches, no-sew blankets, prep the clothes closet for our next drop-in. Sign up and train to be a NoHo Home Alliance Volunteer.

Please bring items for hygiene kits (any size toilet-ries), white socks (adult), men’s underwear (large), coffee supplies (ground coffee, sugar, creamer) or tubs of oat-meal. Come learn how working together we can affect positive change.

NoHo Home Alliance (located on the campus of St. Matthew’s)

11031 Camarillo St, N. Hollywood, CA 91602For more info contact Barbara Javitz, volunteer

organizer, [email protected] or StephanieJaeger, ED, [email protected].

SAT, FEB 16 • 10am – 1pmopen house

A memorial service for Lillian Carlson will be held in the Chapel this Saturday, February 16th at 1:00pm. followed by a reception in the Social Hall.

monday eveningbible study

winter /spring 2019

Our Prayer Group meets in the Chapel to pray on Monday mornings at 9:30 am and on Tuesday evenings at 6:30 pm. We pray for those of you who have written on the back of one of our prayer cards, prayers forwarded to one of the members of our prayer group via email, in person, or submitted via our website (www.fccnh.org).

Don’t forget that there is a prayer cabinet in the area outside the Chapel and the office at the bottom of the stairs. You may take a card and write down your prayer, then put it through the slot of the locked cabinet, and the Prayer Group will be your prayer support. It will be com-pletely confidential. This cabinet is available any day of the week to receive your prayers and will be checked throughout the week.

prayeris always there

Date:

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Visitor - If this is your first visit, how did you happen to find us?

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Newcomer to the area Would welcome a call from the church Interested in joining this church Email me the church weekly newsletter

Please use the back of this card for additional notes or prayer requests.

10:00 AM SErVICE 5:30 PM SPIrItSONg SErVICE 7:00 PM EVENLIghtSErVICE

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First Christian news February 13, �019 Page �

Due to the President’s Day holiday there will be no meeting of the study

group this Monday, February 18th. Our study series resumes at 7pm on Monday,

February 25th when our topic will be “Action Prayer: Serving Others” with

guest speaker Luis Oliart.

n o h o h o m e a l l i a n c e

TrAin-ThE-houSing-AdvocATES EvEnT

in partnership with la family housing

sunday, february 17, 2 – 5pmst. matthew’s

11031 camarillo stnoho, ca 91602

help address homelessness by helping create more affordable housing

• become a housing advocate• learn how housing subsidies work• learn how meaningful and effectively talk to friends and

neighbors about making rooms and rental units available

luis oliart, advocacy lead - [email protected] : [email protected]

Donations can be dropped off at the church office during normal business hours or given to Deborah Luster in the Narthex on the morning of the second Sunday of the month. Please contact Deborah with any questions at 323.854.6707.

The Human Needs Committee is in need of supplies to protect from this weather... clothing, rain gear, shoes, tents, blankets, and more. Please take a look at the list below and consider donating one or more of these items to the homeless of our community.

coats warm socks jeans blankets

tents gloves sleeping bags knit caps

sweatshirts scarves men’s shoes sweatshirts/pants

In all their years of serving the homeless the Human Needs Committee has never failed to serve

the homeless of our community with the weekly Feeding in the Park because of weather. This past Sunday, not hindered by the pouring rain, they

were in the park providing much-needed food and supplies to those in need. A friend of one of the

committee members was on hand and took a video of the day. You can view the inspirational short film at www.fccnh.org/church/media/videos.

HOMELESS IN THE RAIN

HOw YOu CAN HELp


The North Hollywood Interfaith Food Pantry serves roughly 5,000 people each month, and we are in need of wholesome, health giving food—high protein foods are especially needed. Our next Ingathering Sunday is February 17th. Please bring your donations to the Narthex or the Church office during normal business hours or before the Sunday morning service.

IN SUPPORT OF THE INTERFaITH FOOd PaNTRyingathering sunday is february 17

pastor bob’s 50th anniversary Family Day celebration upDate

Please join us Sunday, March 3rd for a Family Day cel-ebration in honor of Pastor Bob’s 50th Anniversary with FCCNH! We are grateful to Pastor Bob for his 50 years of love and service to our FCCNH family and will be cel-ebrating his 50 years with an extra special Meet & Greet with fun for all ages throughout our FCCNH campus following our March 3rd morning service.

As we’ve been preparing for this celebration, we’ve had many people exclaim “Let me know how I can help!”. So for starters, here are a few things we need from you:

DESSERTS: We will supplement our March 3rd Meet & Greet meals in the Social Hall and the Annex with yummy finger desserts made or donated by you! Please note: All desserts must be NUT-FREE, and should be delivered ready-to-serve, already on a tray, plate or cupcake stand (la-beled with your name for safe return, please). To sign up, please email [email protected] , or sign up at: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0a4ba5a92ea1fc1-dessert.

BOTTLED WATER: Please provide one flat/case (Costco/Kirkland brand is 80 quantity) of the small 8 oz. bottles of drinking/purified water. The Bottled Water may be dropped off at the church office during business hours any time before March 3rd, clearly labeled “Family

Day Event”, please.

VOLUNTEERS: We will need help with set-up on Saturday, March 2nd, AND with tear-down/reset on Sunday afternoon immediately following the March 3rd Family Day. We will also need lots of help during the event. To volunteer, please see Deb Carson during today’s Meet & Greet in the Social Hall or email [email protected].

PHOTOS: Please share any special photos you have of your family at an FCCNH event (if they include Pastor Bob and/or Peggy…even better!) to be used in a slideshow video that will play during the Family Day celebration. Please email a digital copy (.jpg, etc.) of the pic to Scott Lewis by Friday, February 22nd ([email protected]).

Please note: if you plan to donate a finger dessert or wa-ter, please notify either Deb Carson (or Chris Carson in the church office) so we may plan accordingly. We love and appreciate all of you, and look forward to celebrating with you!

Thanks so much!Pastor Bob’s 50th Anniversary Family Day Committee

(deb carson, barbara campbell, connie staton, andrea surova, mona levin and scott lewis)


“Speaking Christian:A Second Look at Christian Teachings””

tuesdays . 10:00 am in the Annex

“Speaking Christian” is based on a book by Marcus Borg. There are many words, phrases and concepts that most Christian people have a connection to, even if they don’t always under-stand the concepts in full. In many cases, our modern usage of these words is very different from the concepts they were originally intended to convey by Biblical writers, ancient teachers or theologians and by those who began to shape the early life of Christian communities. We will take a second look at Christian concepts.

2/19 Jesus 2/26 Easter 3/5 Believing and Faith 3/12 Sin – Forgiveness – Repentance 3/19 John 3:16 3/26 The Rapture & The Second Coming 4/2 Creeds & The Trinity 4/9 The Lord’s Supper

The church office will be closed for the President’s Day holiday on Monday, February 18th and our next newsletter will be published

on Thursday, February 21st.

president’s day holiday schedule

Colleen Beasley joined the church this past Sunday, February 10th. Colleen is a recent

graduate of Hanover College in Indiana and came to Los Angeles to work in the entertainment

industry. Please be sure to introduce yourself to Colleen and welcome her to the FCCNH

Family the next time you see her.

— colleen beasley —

February 13, �019 First Christian news

FOOd PaNTRy VOLUNTEER CONTaCTSTransportation Teams:

Maggie Talton [email protected] Representative:

Erin Zavala [email protected]

another way to donate to the pantry

Make your donations to the Interfaith Food Pantry through the FCCNH web page

(https://fccnh.charityfinders.com/Donate%20Cash).

the Food pantry is in need oF:Canned tuna, canned chicken, rice, canned beans (pinto, navy etc.), boxed (dry)

cereal, diapers, powdered milk, baby food, peanut butter and tomato products!

Thursday, February 14 #5 Rosey Tamkin Barbara Erdahl Derek Reisinger Cathy Reisinger

Sunday, February 17 #6 Barbara Erdahl Kevin Kenney Margaret Talton

Wednesday, February 20 Studio City Team

Sunday, February 24 #8 Sally Hallada Aidan Hallada Luke Hallada

Thursday, February 28 #1 Art Dielhenn Terri Hall Jackie Fecske

Sunday, March 3 #2 Louise Goben Galen Goben Jeff Goben Hutch Hutchinson Fred Sloan

MarcH 10, 2019 11:30-1:30at congregation adat ari el

12020 burbank blvd, Valley Village(light lunch provided, vegetarian option)

Please rSVP to one of the following: Stuart Zimring ([email protected]) • Denise Klein ([email protected]) Marsha Novak ([email protected]) • Julia Wackenheim ([email protected])

Rabbi Jim ([email protected])

WorKSHoP: PolIcy & ProSecUTIoN: elder abUSe

SPeaKer: Susan P. Strick, Esq. - Director of Elder Abuse Policy & Prosecution/Los Angeles City Attorney

www.caringacross.orgC A R I N G A C R O S S G E N E R A T I O N S


CHURCH STaFF

Robert M. Bock Senior PastorLouise Sloan Goben Associate PastorAlfredo Gomez Pastor, Spanish Speaking CongregationJennifer Le’au Director of Children’s MinistriesJeremy Gillett Director of Youth MinistriesTyana Parr Director of Children’s/Youth ChoirsDavid Rigsby Music Director/OrganistChristine Karasseferian Director of FinanceChris CarsonChurch AdministratorGabriela Dorantes Administrative AssistantGlenda Morgan Brown Administrative AssistantTerri Burton Church PublicationsMichele Amundsen Wedding Director Elmer Maldonado Building & Grounds SuperintendentMiriam MancillaDirector of Christian Nursery SchoolGreg Kirkland Media Director

VOLUNTEER STaFFCraig Brooks, Janette Jara, Tom Louie, Susan Marble, Jeff McFadden, Denise OvaldsonSound Technicians

Luis Oliart Security

IN MEMORIaMEarle Immel Minister of Music Emeritus

Merle E. Fish, Jr. Minister Emeritus

By Way OF REPORT

Week of Sunday, february 10, 2019___________

10:00 AM Worship 189 5:30 PM SpiritSong Service 26 7:00 PM Evenlight Service 5 Wednesday Meditation Service 3 Sunday School Children 48 Youth (morning) 32 Youth Group (evening) 13

10:00 AM Worship $6,213.04 Servicio en Español $34.00 5:30 PM SpiritSong Service $740.50 7:00 PM Evenlight Service -- Wednesday Meditation Service $10.00 Sunday School Children $11.30

ToTal General offerinG $7,008.84

Souper Bowl of Caring $5.00 In Honor of Sheryl Fitzpatrick $25.00 Valentine Bake-off $419.00

PLEASE SUBMIT ARTICLES VIA EMAIL [email protected] or [email protected]

Please indicate “newsletter” and/or “bulletin” in the subject line if articles are for publication. Articles can

also be delivered to the office M-F, 9am to 5pm.

is midnight sunday!

n e w s l e t t e r

First Christian News First Christian ChurCh oF north hollywood

a Congregation oF the Christian ChurCh

(disCiples oF Christ) 4390 ColFax avenue

north hollywood, CA 91604 - 2898

THINK GREEN! PLEASE RECYCLE!NOTE: If you would like to receive this newsletter via Email, which saves

on printing/mailing costs and is better for the environment, please contact us. Annual subscription cost for first class mail version is $24.

February 17 10:00 am AlizaRamos (O) Cindy Kaller (C) 5:30 pm Randy Carver 7:00 pm Aliza Ramos

Diaconate: Stacey Constantine Denise Bourne Joan Norland Toni Rossi Chris Carson Deb Carson Gaye Coffman Ian Williamson Larry Brown

Upcoming Diaconate: February 24 Cindy Kaller & Kirsten Karlsrud

First Christian Church of North Hollywood818/763-8218 • FAX 818/763-8457Web Site: www.fccnh.orgemail: [email protected]

Pastor & senior editor Robert M. Bockart direction Terri Burton

Production services

Byron Armantrout

emeritus

Mary Ann Steuterman Billie KlineLillian Carlson Heather Kenney Margaret Defibaugh Cathy Melendez Fern Donald Chuck Mont Jean Johnson Wanda Kanoy Helen Scarna Kay Smith Betty Van Zanten Shirley McClure Deborah Wheeler Virginia Stebbins Cindy Kaller

Volume LXII No. 84 February 13, 2019 - Disciples of...

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