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This Month in Your Church
| 11/1
Daylight Savings time ends
11/2
BeadforLife after Worship
11/15
9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Living Well financial workshop
Fireside Room
1 p.m. -- Santa Clara Ass'n of the UCC Fall Meeting at Foothills Congregational Church (Los Altos)
11/16
Isabel Circle bake sale after Worship
11/22
9 a.m. - 2p.m.
A Joyfilled Christmas in Lean Times
11/23
11:30 Thanksgiving Luncheon
6 p.m. Hanging of the Greens
11/27
Give thanks to the Lord!
11/30
Youth Group cancelled |
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Coming Jan. 7
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Christian Yoga and Meditation
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Starting January 7, 2009, we will offer Christian yoga and meditation on the 1st & 3rd Wednesdays.
7-8:30 p.m. Yoga
(adaptive to your body's abilities)
8:30-9 p.m. Meditation
We will request a donation for the yoga classes;
meditation is free.
Child care available.
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November 1, 2008
All Saints' Day -- Dia de los Muertos |
For all the saints, who from their labors rest... alleluia, alleluia!
I was brought up in a church that celebrated the classical saints -- the Teresas, Peter, Paul, Mary -- and so this song became part of my autumnal landscape. It is a fitting song for All Saints' Day, when we remember and celebrate the giants of our personal faith. These giants are rarely the capital-S Saints, these holy ones who pointed our way to God. Instead our saints tend to be the ones who touched our hearts, whose life history is inextricably intertwined with our own.
My own saints include my grandmother, who taught me to cover my head and uncover my joy, and my Aunt Kickie, the excommunicated Catholic who never lost faith in either the Church or her Jesus. They are surely in the presence of the majestic glory of God; theirs will be among the lives I mourn and honor November 1st.
But must our saints all be resting from their labors? St. Paul calls all the faithful, both Jewish and Christian, "saints". Which means we're all saints, as surely as we are all sinners, or at least have the potential to be saints. And Lord knows we need more saints, those giants of faith!
We can be Christ's saints. We can be those legendary faithful, whose names are recorded or lost, who with their lives widened the doorway to the Kingdom for all of us. When we live in gratitude, in community, in real interdependence, when we see our enemies as extensions of our own families (indeed, of our own selves) and treat them with love and respect, we become the people Jesus knows we can be. We become the people someone mourns and honors on All Saints' Day.
A better lyric just came to me: Oh I want to be in that number, when the saints go marching in.
Rejoice, O saints, and live into the Kingdom!
Pastor Elane
PS -- I will be in North Carolina November 3-8 (contact your Moderator or Council in case of pastoral emergency).
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BeadforLife for Christmas
This Sunday, BeadforLife will join us once again at Coffee and Conversation. If you shop for Christmas, you'll want some of their beads.
BeadforLife
eradicates extreme poverty by creating bridges of understanding between impoverished
Africans and concerned world citizens. Ugandan
women turn colorful recycled paper into beautiful beads, and people who care
open their hearts, homes and communities to buy and sell the beads. The
beads thus become income, food, medicine, school fees -- and hope. It is a small
miracle that enriches us all.
All profits from BeadforLife are invested
in community
development projects that generate income and help people work their way out
of poverty. |
Two workshops for better living
Living WellA workshop to help you find financial stability and spiritual satisfaction.
Time-tested tools
Eternal wisdom
Saturday, November 15, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
A Joy-filled Christmas in Lean Times
Discover what actually matters to you while
minimizing your stress and maximizing your joy.
Saturday, November 22, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.Lunch and child care provided. $15-25 suggested donation.
To reserve your place, call 408-378-4418 or email church@campbellucc.org. |
Holiday Happenings Begin November 16th
It's Christmas pageant time!
All
kids are welcome and encouraged to join the show, which will be
presented after Worship in December. Adults are needed to help with
sets, costumes, and child wrangling. For more information, contact
Director of Music Ministries Cheryl Forest Morganson.
Isabel
Circle's Annual Bake Sale
On Sunday, November 16th
the Isabel Circle women's group will host
their annual Bake Sale during Coffee and Conversation in Nelson Hall. The proceeds go to the various mission
projects that the Isabel Circle does throughout the year, such as presents for
the children served by Friends Outside, Christmas Cards to homeless, Dinners,
Heifer Project, and others. Bring your
purse, your wallet, and your empty tummy!
Thanksgiving Luncheon Sunday, November 23rd
Come share lunch with your church family
on Sunday, November 23rd following Worship! The church will provide the turkey and stuffing;
you can bring a side dish and/or dessert to share. If you don't cook, please volunteer
to set up that morning and clean up afterwards.
Please let Cheri Whaples
(260-2409) or Teresa Lewis
(378-3508) know if you are volunteering, if you will be attending and what you
will be bringing. Watch for an Evite in
your email and pass it on!
Hanging of the Greens November 23rd
All ages are welcome on Sunday, November 23rd
at 6:00 p.m.
to help prepare the Sanctuary and Fireside Room for Christmas Youth Group and Faithful Followers will be
there, and you can join the fun! If you
have an decorating idea, share it! One person has suggested that we put lights
on the pine tree out front: bring your extra strings of lights and your creativity on the 23rd. |
The Montgomery Street Christmas Ministry
From Cheri Whaples
(260-2409) and Jerry
Spradlin (690-2594):
A Parable: There was
a quite shy young person walking around the church. Everyone was busy getting ready to decorate
the sanctuary, bake the holiday feast, plan the pageant, and set up the chairs
and tables. Everywhere the young person
went, people were busy at the church, but he felt he had nothing to
contribute. He filled his pockets with
the goodies left out for people to enjoy, stopped at the AM/PM market and got a
six pack of coke and went walking. He
began to get tired of walking and sat on a bench next to a shabbily dressed old
man. The man looked like he was down on
his luck and very depressed. The young
person was too shy to start up a conversation but sensed that the man was in need
of companionship. They sat there in
silence-each with their own thoughts.
The young person offered the old man some goodies from the church and
some of his coke. The man seemed chilly so the young person gave him his
sweatshirt. They sat in silence and munched, pondering stuff. They said nothing really to each other but
each was acutely aware of the other's presence.
After an hour, the young person got up, smiled at the old
man and gave him what was left of the goodies and coke. He mumbled a God Bless you and left. When he
got back to the church, his friends asked him where he had been. He told them he was talking with God and that
he didn't know God was so old. The old
man made his way home to the shelter where he was staying and when he was asked
what he had done today, he told them he had been talking with God and didn't know
he was so young.
* * * * *
Montgomery Street Ministry is about giving of ourselves, our
time, talents, and our love. The sharing of God's bounty and love are very
tangible things we as Jesus followers can do to bring about the kin-dom. The Montgomery
Street ministries needs the items listed below to
complete our gift baskets for the men. You can bring them to the church campus on Sundays.
We especially urge families to shop for a bag together. It is a very tangible way to show your
children how to practice their faith.
Pray for the men and this ministry.
Please plan on coming to the party on Wednesday, December 17th,
meeting at the church campus at 7:00pm. Bring
cookies and your carol singing abilities or musical instruments and be with us as
we share the joy of being God's family with the men of Montgomery
Street.
The items needed are listed below:
90 brown paper grocery bags
24 knitted caps
247 boxer briefs
265 pairs of white socks
352 disposable razors
83 anti-perspirant/deodorants
158 toothbrushes
80 tubes of toothpaste
90 bottles of mouthwash
86 cans shaving cream
90 pads lined notepaper
180 pens
900 first class stamps
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Serve and Connect
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Handy hands needed
Facilities Manager John Rodgers (378-4418) is looking to put together a team of handy men (and women) to help with construction and repair projects around the campus. Can you give some time and muscle? Please contact John as soon as possible: winter rains are on their way!
PS -- It takes 4 people holding a ladder to change the burned-out Sanctuary light bulbs. You are needed!
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Youth group update
CREATE, our group for kids ages 12 to 18, meets Sunday evenings in Room 1 from 6-8 p.m. to worship, connect, serve, study, and pray. And eat. Did we mention eating? Which leads us to...
Can you cook or order pizza?
We need you! Kids eat; enough said. Please sign up to bring dinner for CREATE. Contact Cheri Whaples by email or phone (260-2409). |
Do you enjoy having friends over?
Have we got a ministry for you!
On Sundays, we gather with Christ as friends and family to worship and celebrate -- and then we gather with each other, some snacks, and the events of our lives. It's just like hosting friends at your home!
 You too can
host Coffee and Conversation - it's easy! Cookies and treats are in the kitchen if you
don't wish to provide them. Coffee instructions are posted, and there are
several people who can help. Clean up takes just a little time, and you can always draft others to assist. These dates are still
available: Oct. 12th, Nov. 9th & 30th,
and Dec. 7th, 14th, and 28th. Sign up in the kitchen or contact Cheri Whaples by email or phone (260-2409). Thanks to Susan
Hough, the Whitaker Family, and Bran Scott for September hospitality!
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Praise Reports!
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October at the Women's Shelter
Colorful
zinnias from Margaret Engdahl's yard combined with the foil leaves
garland I put on all the tables created a nice effect in the dining
room as the 21 women & 10 children entered for our dinner.
Thanks
to members of the Worship Team, namely, Pastor Elane, Cheryl Morganson,
Susan Hough, Debra Carpenter, Suzanne Keyes & John Rodgers. They
put together a great meal which included pumpkin noodle casserole,
veggie lasagna, chicken enchiladas & broccoli chicken pasta.
Loaves of french bread, juices, large salad & small candies were
also part of the dinner.
I provided an early Halloween treat of
animal nose masks for the children while the women enjoyed are usual
basket of lotions, soaps, shampoos, etc. The women also received a
nice surprise of assorted costume jewelry from Kathy Powers, a
co-worker of Sheila Mollett's.
One of the gifts God has given us is the ability to
share something of ourselves with others less fortunate. I am thankful
that our congregation continues in this spirit.
Angie Jaggars Shelter Dinner Coordinator
292-4063 |
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Employment opps with Campbell UCC
 Part-time Office Administrator needed to greet guests, share information about our church, and keep both the business and the pastor on track! 10-15 hours per week, depending on your skills and time, but must include Saturdays from 9-3. Computer, MSOffice, and English composition and proofreading skills required. Must love God and God's people and be able to show it.
For more information or to apply, contact Pastor Elane, 378-4418. |
Real Faith for Real Life
Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving. ~W.T. Purkiser
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