Windows the monthly newsletter of

LOS ALTOS UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE OR WHERE YOU ARE ON LIFE’S JOURNEY, YOU ARE WELCOME HERE.

July 2018

5550 Atherton Street ∙ Long Beach, CA 90815 ∙ Phone (562) 596-6718 ∙ www.losaltosucc.com

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From our Pastor…

How Should the Church Respond? I know that many of us are shocked and appalled at the way children in families who are seeking refuge in this country have been separated from their parents. No matter what our individual feelings and thoughts are about immigration and refugee policies may be, this is one issue on which we can agree: children belong with their parents. How Should the Church Respond? When the Attorney General used scripture to justify the practice, Christians of every stripe have risen in pro-test. A number of religious and denominational leaders issued statements that denounce the current prac-tice of separating children and parents and to condemn the misuse and abuse of scripture to support what most people are calling an immoral action. Leaders and groups as divergent as the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Southern Baptist Convention and the United Church of Christ have all come down on the same side: what is happening at the border is wrong. A recent executive order has stopped the practice going for-ward, but it does not address what will be done about the over 2,000 children who have already been taken from their parents and scattered across the country. Later in this newsletter you’ll find the United Church of Christ’s Statement about Keeping Families Together. I hope that you will read it and share it with friends, family, or neighbors. Perhaps this can be a tool that can help us start to have hard conversations about challenging issues. The Church and Politics I know that for many people, there should be no politics in church. I understand that perspective, and when our politics are so very divisive, I get that we want to keep the church as “safe space” and just stay out of it. But I honestly don’t think that’s what Jesus would want of us, nor do I think that’s what Jesus would do. His teachings were inherently political. Like the prophets of old in the Jewish tradition, he called upon religious leaders who put up barriers between people and God as well as the political powers that subjugated and abused people to come back to God and to put people above money and power. Remember Jesus’ most im-portant teaching: Love God and love people.

Continued on next page

Staff

Rev. Libby Tigner

Pastor

Ginger Joseph

Director of CE

David Joseph

Director of Music

Sumer Lesser

Youth Director

Cindy Dufford

Office Manager

Maria Shrout

Director of Discovery Preschool

Leadership Council

Moderator

Lori DeLaney

Moderator-Elect

Jackie Provencher

Past Moderator

Dave Lampert

Christian Education Chair

Wendy Parden

Communications Chair

Brenda Knepper

Facilities Chair

Tom Provencher

Fellowship Chair

Valerie Berry

Finance Chair

Matt Allen

Outreach Chair

Roberta Boyd

Worship Chair

Bill Berry

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Not long ago I posted a meme on the LAUCC Facebook page. It reads “If the church is not political, it is irrelevant to the world that God so loves. But if the church is partisan, it becomes a tool of the empire.” I have posted that, along with a number of other comments, memes and signs on the bulletin board on the north wall of the entry hall. Take a look. Sundays in July I will start a new sermon series on parable on July 1, and will continue it throughout the rest of the summer. My primary reference will be Dr. Amy-Jill Levine’s book, Short Stories by Jesus. If you have the book, please follow along with your own reading – it’ll be fun to compare our notes and individual takes on her writing! Adult Faith Formation We are introducing a couple of new opportunities for members to ex-plore what it means to be a person of faith in the 21st-century: Tuesday Morning Coffee with the Pastor. From July 10 through Au-

gust 27, I will be at the Starbucks in Marina Pacifica from 10 to 11 am. Anyone may join me to talk about life, theology, God, family – any-thing. Depending on who shows up, we may have a one-on-one con-versation or a lively discussion with several of us. Brush off your Star-bucks card and c’mon over.

Sunday Second Hour. On occasional Sundays, we’ll offer a “second hour” – a time for continued conversation on a variety of topics. On July 29 I’ll host the first of these, and the topic will be “Recognizing Whiteness.” The starting point for this conversation is an article by Emily Bazelon that appeared in the New York Times’ Sunday magazine on June 17 titled “White People Are Noticing Something New: Their Own Whiteness.” My hope is that can be the first of many open and safe conversations that we can have on the topic of race. Copies of Bazelon’s article will be on the table in the hallway starting on July 1.

Credo, our last-Tuesday-of-the-month adult study, will resume on July 31.

Summertime Schedules Summertime often means travel, down time, and taking a break from our regular routines. This is a friendly reminder that we’re here all summer long! I hope to see each of you in your regular spot in the pews this sum-mer! But if you are away, stay safe and have fun! See you in church! Pastor Libby

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The United Church of Christ’s Statement about Keeping Families Together

"Still, when God saw the trouble they were in and heard their cries for help, God remembered God's Covenant

with them, and, immense with love, took them by the hand. God poured out God's mercy on them while their

captors looked on, amazed."

Psalm 106:44-47

Friends, once again we stand at the brink of a moral precipice in our society and the question before us is will

we choose to act in covenant with God on behalf of God's people or will we sacrifice our soul. The United

Church of Christ has long been a supporter of migrant families seeking refuge within our borders from intolera-

ble and unsafe living conditions in their homelands. As people of God committed to the sacredness of all crea-

tion and the sanctity of every life, we are compelled to heed the cries of families now being violently torn apart

at our borders for political expediency and profitability. Such violent acts are unnecessarily punitive and place

at risk the physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual, and developmental stability of hundreds of families

who now find themselves separated, caged, and commodified in a strange land.

All of our sacred texts, no matter the faith, identify the disregard of the humanity of the vulnerable as sin.

And God hears the cries of God's people. The plight of black and brown migrant families whose children are

ripped from their care cannot be the policy of a civilized land. We've been here before. Our nation's history

bears witness to a legacy of lost love. We separated the children of Native people from their families. We sepa-

rated the children of enslaved people from their families. We separated the children of Japanese people from

their families. Many of these families were never made whole again. This legacy of white supremacist ideology

is idolatrous and leaves an indelible mark of evil that can only be redeemed by a conscious act of spiritual re-

pentance and repair.

We must resist the evil of dehumanization enacted upon the vulnerable among us. The United Church of Christ

strongly condemns the dismantling of families, the criminalization of the quest for freedom, and the caging of

those whose only crime is to seek shelter from harm. How we treat those who seek shelter in our midst is a

direct reflection of how we treat God. We call upon our 5,000 member churches to write letters to your repre-

sentatives in Congress as an act of worship this month. Refugee Justice Sunday is June 17, World Refugee Day

is June 20. Remind Congress there is a law that supersedes partisanship and political bantering, and that is the

sanctity of all people of God.

Faithfully yours,

The National Officers of the United Church of Christ:

The Rev. John C. Dorhauer, General Minister and President

The Rev. Traci Blackmon, Executive Minister, Justice and Witness Ministries

The Rev. James Moos, Executive Minister, Wider Church Ministries

The Council of Conference Ministers of the United Church of Christ

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MODERATOR’S NOTE

by Lori DeLaney

Bronnie Ware spent her career as a palliative care nurse, whose her dying clients had the same five regrets.

1. They wish they hadn’t made decisions based on what other people think.

2. They wish they hadn’t worked so hard and found a balance between doing what they loved and being with the

people they loved.

3. They wish they had expressed their feelings – were more vulnerable, honest and transparent.

4. They wish they had stayed in touch with their friends – who brought energy, fresh perspectives, and a sense of

belonging.

5. They wish they had let themselves be happy.

When I read this, I thought about our church. We are each and every one of us worthy and add a unique thread to

the cloth that is our community. We need everyone’s voice. Let’s balance working together with being together.

We are that safe space where people can be vulnerable, honest and open. Even through summer, let’s stay

connected and in touch. Let’s laugh, bowl, play games, and enjoy our precious time together .

FINANCE COMMITTEE

By Matt Allen

Finance Committee met on Sunday, June 2. We discussed the May financials and funding the replacement of the

pipe that supplies McNeal Hall with water. Furthermore, on June 4th Lori DeLaney and I met with Heather

Chambers, the CPA that manages the financials for First Congregational Church of Long Beach. The meeting was

very productive, and we came away with several ideas for improving our financial management and reporting

processes that we will be implementing over the coming months.

If you are interested in reviewing the minutes of the June Finance Committee meeting, they will be available next

to Libby’s sermons in the hallway between the sanctuary and Patterson Hall beginning July 16.

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OUTREACH

By Roberta Boyd

Fisher House

The Fisher House is a large residential facility adja-cent to the Long Beach VA. It is set up to serve families with a veteran undergoing procedures at the hospital. As a church we have made a commit-ment to supporting these families in some way. On June 29 we have planned to share a meal with these families and further explore how we can best serve in the future. Several LAUCC have expressed an interest to help in this ministry. I appreciate Ste-phen Boyd taking the lead in organizing this effort. Please let us know if you might be interested in future events.

#Keep Families Together

Many religious communities have expressed grave concern over the separation of families seeking refuge at our southern borders. On page three you can read a statement from our UCC National office. Watch for futher statements and calls to action at the United Church of Christ’s news feed:

http://www.ucc.org/news

At the June meeting of the Leadership Council, there was a unanimous vote of support for LAUCC to make a gift of $1,000 from this year’s Outreach budget to the UCC’s “Keeping Families Together” fund.

FACILITIES

by Tom Provencher

Every time I’ve taken this job, I’ve started off with a list and a plan. You would

think that, by now, I should have learned that I have very little control over what I’ll be doing during my 2 year stint. The latest emergency is a failing water pipe under the Discovery Preschool playground. With excellent support from our preferred plumber, Wisdom Plumbing, the leak in the rotting pipe has been temporarily patched. During the week of June 23-30, while both preschools will be dark, Wisdom will be replacing the original pipe with a new section. This is the last original section of water supply from the early 1950’s. One unplanned project for this summer is the re-painting of the Discovery classrooms and the Church Office area, and the removal and replacement of two classroom closet sinks and the associated rotten wood. The Statement of Work (SOW) for this project is in final review. Mark Allen is the Project Manager (Thank you, Mark!). Two other projects that have skipped up the priority list are the creation of new SOWs for both our janitorial and gardening contracts. We are also looking at “outside the box” ideas to meet our needs in these areas. We will very likely put these contracts out to bid in the summer/early fall. Our transition from the Plain Old Telephone System (POTS - really, this is a legit acromyn) to internet telephony is experiencing some teething issues, but the vendor is working closely with the office staff to find solutions. Thanks to all who turned out for the All-Church Work Party on June 23rd, from 9am to 1pm. We had lots of tasks, big and small. There was great fellowship and good work was done. Humorous grousing aside, all this is just a gift to the members of our team; the privilege to serve God and our Faith Community is a true honor and Blessing.

Beyond Belief - The Universe of God

Pilgrim Pines 2018

Summer Camp

LAUCC has 11 children and youth registered for summer

camp, Week 3. They are:

Mini Camp: Orion Boyd, Benjamin Joseph, Austin

Stoskopf

Junior Camp: Nicolas Adame, Aidan Boyd, Taylor

Joseph, Amelia Klish, Daphne Marquez,

Mackenzie Mathieu, Hailey Stoskopf

CYMC (high school Conference Youth Ministry Camp):

Katelyn Wilks

LAUCC Summer Camp volunteers include Parker Schall,

Caitlin Fisher, Sebastian Lytwynec, and Emily Hughes.

We are proud of and grateful to these young people for

their service.

There is still time for others to register. Traditionally

LAUCC campers register for week 3 but there are 4

weeks of camp. Choose the week best for your camper.

All registration information and 2018 Summer Camp

Information Brochure are posted online at

www.pilgrimpinescamp.org.

LAUCC provides a $200 campership for all children and

youth who participate in any of our LAUCC programs,

events or activities. Additional financial assistance is

provided when needed. We want every child/youth to

be able to go to camp. For more information, to

request financial assistance or get a paper copy of the

summer camp brochure or the registration form

contact Ginger Joseph, Sumer Lesser or Wendy

Parden. 6

MUSIC NEWS

By David Joseph

July is a great time to come and sing

with the choir. We rehearse on Sun-

day mornings at 9:00 AM. The songs

are not difficult and it is really a lot of fun (at least

that is what the choir members tell me)! Below is

the schedule of choir anthems that we will be sing-

ing during July. See you at church!

July 1st: “Great Is Your Love

July 8th: NO CHOIR

July 15th: “Sing A New Song”

July 22nd: “The Prayer with Lead Us Lord”

July 29th: “Oh How Good It Is”

COMMUNICATIONS

by Brenda Knepper

The Communications Committee is looking for

new committee members to help with digital and

print church communications. If you have experi-

ence in website production, graphic design, or

photography, or would like to learn skills in those

areas, please send an email to bkknep-

per@gmail.com or speak to me after church any-

time. Thanks!

The next Priscilla Circle get-together will be on Thursday, September 20, at 11:30 am in Patterson Hall. We will be taking a summer break for July and August.

Priscilla Circle’s “Garden Patch”

If you have fruit or vegetables

from your garden that you wish to

share with your church family,

you can put them in a basket on the table by the

front door into Patterson Hall. You will find a

basket along with a jar for donations and a sign

that reads “Priscilla Circle’s Garden Patch” in the

desk/secretary in Patterson Hall. All donations

collected will help Priscilla Circle to continue the

mailing of cards each month and gifts/flowers at

Easter and Christmas to our “Homebound”

members. Help Priscilla Circle support this

program of reaching out. Thank you very much.

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BIBLE BASICS

On Sunday, July 1st, our summer Sunday School

curriculum will begin with a study of Bible Ba-

sics. Children from pre-school through 8th

grade will learn to use their Bibles. Pastor Lib-

by will present the children with their own Bi-

ble to take home. We will then begin a journey

of exploration and discovery as the children

become acquainted with this special gift and

make the Bible a lifelong, go to book in their

lives.

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL 2018

ROLLING RIVER RAMPAGE

It’s a “wrap!”

52 children led by 27 dedicated volunteers “Experienced the Ride of a Lifetime” on a Rolling River Rampage.

Once again it was an exciting, fun week, none of which would be possible without the dedication of our many

volunteers who bring so much joy and love along with their varied talents to help make VBS week the best

week of the year! Thank you one and all for making this week happen each year. Along with special thanks to

everyone who participated in VBS 2018 comes the challenge to do it again next year!

Blessings to all,

Ginger Joseph

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Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1

8:30 Adult

Education

10am Worship

2

3

Office closed.

5

6

7

3:10pm Softball

game

8

10am Worship

9

10

10-11am Coffee with Pastor

Libby*

11

12

13

14

2pm Softball

game

15

10am Worship

11:15am

Finance Mtg.

16

17

10-11am Coffee with Pastor

Libby*

6:30pm

Leadership

Council Mtg.

18

19

10am

Staff Meeting

20

21

2pm Softball

game

22

10am Worship &

Children’s Church

23

24

10-11am Coffee with Pastor

Libby*

25

26

27

28

2pm Softball

game

29

10am Worship

30

31

10-11am Coffee with Pastor

Libby*

7pm Credo

JULY

Pilgrim Pines Camp

1 Jean Schall 12 Stephen Boyd

6 Nika Marshall 14 Cheryl Coggeshall

8 Kate Clark 14 Matt Allen

9 Lavinia Dimabayao 22 Stephen Hansberry

10 Bill Yochum 30 Ian Coggeshall

11 Mark Allen

*”Coffee with Pastor Libby” is Tuesdays from 10-11 am

at the Starbucks in Marina Pacifica. See page 2.

Windows

at LAUCC

5550 Atherton Street Long Beach, CA 90815 562-596-6718 Office email: office@losaltosucc.com Pastor email: Libby@losaltosucc.com

www.losaltosucc.com

201820182018