St. John s UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST 432 Cleveland Street Woodland, CA 95695 www.stjohnswoodland.net AUGUST, 2017
Thoughts From the Pastor Come Out, My People! Sermons from the book of Exodus, On Slavery & Liberation St. John s UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST 432 Cleveland Street Woodland, CA 95695 www.stjohnswoodland.net Phone: (530) 662-5921 Fax: (530) 662-1621 Email: info@stjohnswoodland.net Office H ours M on.- Thurs. 9:30-1:30 Pastor Rev. Will Norman cell: (678) 428-2613 Pastor s Office Hours M on.- Wed. 9:30-1:30 Thurs. 10:30-1:30 Pastor s days off are Friday & Saturday. H e may be reached on Friday or Saturday in case of an emergency. This Summer, we have been preaching and hearing sermons from the book of Genesis. Even though Jews and Christians are pretty confident in the stories of Genesis being revelatory concerning the truth of God and creation, we are not fully certain what to do with Genesis historically, because a lot of the stories read more like myth (people who live to be 700 years old, creatures that are a mixture of angelic and human beings, a significant number of origin stories: e.g. why are there salt pillars in this land? Because God turned Lot s wife into a pillar of salt for turning back to watch Sodom and Gomorrah being destroyed, etc). Not to mention, while the book is full of divine promises to make Abraham s descendants into a great nation, by the end of Chapter 50, they are hardly a unified band of brothers the chosen progeny have just barely gotten past the grudges from all the birthright stealing and attempted murder! As a matter of fact, on the first Sunday this month, I m preaching on the doctrine of Sanctification, which is about how the Spirit of God works in us over time to make us into more godly people, and so far I can t find a SINGLE example of that in the storied lives of the fathers of our faith found in Genesis! They are family, of course, by virtue of sharing a common ancestor but they don t become Hebrews or Israelites until the book of Exodus which suggests that it might take the collective experience of suffering and liberation to form a people with a unified identity. To think about this in a more familiar context, we might ask, what experience led to the independence of the American colonies; to an American identity? It was the collective experience of and subsequent victory over tyranny and religious persecution. What unified African Americans as a defined people group in the U.S., in spite of the great diversity of national ancestry represented among them? Insofar as an experience of unity exists among the diverse Americans of African descent, it is most often rooted in the historic experiences of slavery and emancipation; Jim Crow segregation and the movement for Civil Rights. As congressman and civil rights activist John Lewis observes: "Slavery was our Egypt, segregation was our Egypt, discrimination was our Egypt, and so during the height of the civil rights movement it was not unusual for people to be singing, 'Go down Moses way on down in Egypt land and tell Pharaoh to let my people go. 1 Though it is more secular in nature than was the Civil Rights movement, Black Lives Matter is an important contemporary example of unity across diversity, which locates its roots in the experience of oppression and the ongoing struggle
for liberation. These two experiences 2 are undeniably distinct (even opposite) experiences. But our skin or the location from which we read means that we are all equally called upon to search for God s truth and ours within the story of the ancient Hebrew people, their oppressors, and the dramatic saga of liberation. When Jesus enters the scene, we are told that he first goes into the wilderness, to the edge of the promised land, and into the River Jordan 3. In his first sermon, he re-interprets the Mosaic Law 4. For the early Christians, it is clear that Jesus functions as a new Moses. Just as the first Moses called people to come out from their lives of physical bondage, so this new Moses calls us to come out from our bondage be it physical spiritual, economic, social, or otherwise. In a sense, then, Exodus is a foundational narrative for every expression of the Christian Church. I hope that you are as excited to explore these rich stories as I am, trusting that God continues to set freedom before each and every one of us, and before our congregations, cities, nations and world. Whether we are listening for it or not, the call of the Holy Spirit is always a call to Come Out, My People! Grace & Peace, Rev. Will Norman 1 http://www.pbs.org/godinamerica/black-church/ 2 that of declaring a new nation s independent sovereignty vs. being enslaved/oppressed in the new nation 3 Matthew 3-4, Jesus baptism by John & Temptation in the wilderness 4 Matthew 5-7, The Sermon on the Mount PURPOSE To glorify God in thought, word, and deed. MISSION To demonstrate the love of Christ in our community by welcoming and befriending all people, encouraging spiritual growth, and trusting and sharing God s grace. VISION Guided by the Holy Spirit, To be a vibrant, diverse, and dynamic Christian community, known for our wide welcome, thoughtful faith, resilient hope, and extravagant love.
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Consistory & Committee News: Consistory: 7pm, Tues. 8/8/2017 w/ individual boards to meet beforehand as scheduled internally OFFICERS 125 th Anniversary Pictures The pictures of our church history are still up in the social hall if anyone would like to look at them. There are 75 posters of pictures that include directories, church functions (i.e. Harvest Home, Flowering the Cross, Advent Workshop, Christmas Programs, Jr. Choir Musicals, Picnics, etc.), church outreach programs (i.e. St. John s Retirement Village & St. John s Preschool), family trees and biographies of founding church members, capital projects (i.e. Sunday School Building, Social Hall, Parking Lot, Sanctuary Remodel), wedding and baptism pictures, and much more. If you would like to look at these pictures during the week or in the evening please contact Marilyn Mitchell at 908-1676 to set up a time. The written history of our church has also been updated to include the last 25 years if you would like a copy. We are still looking for the Confirmation pictures of: 1. Class of 1925 2. Class of 2000-something with Darril Peabody Can you help? Contact Marilyn Mitchell as above. CONGREGATIONAL LIFE Mission Clothes to Fiji In May we sent 5 large wardrobe boxes of clothes to three different churches in Fiji. They arrived in Fiji last week. We now have 4 more boxes to send to Fiji. Sending clothes to Fiji has become one of our ongoing mission outreach projects. Fundraiser Bunco Party Our Bunco Party which was held on Saturday, July 8 th was a success. We had 10 tables with 40 players. The refreshments and raffle prizes were great. Everyone had a good time visiting and playing bunco. We made $800 on the event. We want to thank everyone who helped with set-up, refreshments, prizes, tear-down and especially those who attended. June Rodegerdts A RESOUNDING THANK YOU! We would like to extend a big Thank You! to all who made our 4 th of July celebration a success: To Carolyn Reiff for ramrodding the event and making it possible To Congregational Life for their efforts in setup and cleanup To Carl Rodegerdts and Pete Martin for their culinary skills with the bar-b-que To the members who contributed to the array of food for our banquet To those who participated in the singing of patriotic songs; you brought the spirit of 1776 to St. John s Thank you one and all for a successful celebration of America. God bless America! Jim & Carol Neilson
Our Partners in Ministry St. John s Retirement Village St. John's 11 th annual Rhythm and Ribs fundraiser, held Saturday, July 15th, was a great success. The event featured the Dave Russell band. The food was great. We had 30 raffle prizes and 11 live auction items. All the proceeds will be going toward the purchase of a new van with a lift and other features needed to transport our residents. The estimated cost is about $90,000. The van will be ordered once the funds are raised to cover the cost of the van. Marilyn Mitchell, Board President St. John s Preschool We are in the process of applying for the Toddler Option Program with the state to replace our current Infant/Toddler Program. The Toddler Option is for ages 18 to 30 months, and will allow us to serve 12 toddlers with two staff. We continue to have a waiting list for the preschool and infant/toddler room. The waiting list is out until June August 2018 for the preschool, except for 2 Pre-K spots in August 2017. The toddler option has 4 openings in November 2017. We started enrolling new children in June as Pre-K children left. In July, a few more enrolled. In August, we have 14 Pre-K children leaving for kindergarten. Their spots will be filled beginning August 21 st into September. Every day we receive calls to enroll children and give tours every week. Shiloh Beard, Director WOODLAND ECUMENICAL & MULTI-FAITH MINISTRIES (WEMM) WEMM recently hosted our second Inter-cultural Competency Seminar with Sandy Holman (Saturday, July 21st), in the hopes of deepening our understanding of one another, and of the cultural issues being discussed at both local and national levels. St. John s has two more openings for members to join the WEMM council, which meets at noon on the first Tuesday of every month. If you are interested in having your voice included in the leadership of Woodland s Ecumenical and Multi-faith ministry, talk to Rev. Will about joining the council as a representative from our congregation. Mark your calendars for the 2017 Interfaith Peace Celebration (formerly The Peace Picnic ), which will be held on Saturday, Sept. 23 at Fern s Park, from 11:30am until 3pm. The main lunch dish will be provided by the Woodland Mosque, and WEMM churches are invited to bring salads and desserts to share. Woodland United Methodist Church hosts in August at 212 Second Street, Woodland Sunday August 6th 6pm-8pm We will finally have our proper Summer water fight with water balloons, squirt guns, and a small pool as a refill station! We will spend time in the sanctuary and will learn about and discuss service opportunities! Sunday August 20th 3pm-6pm We will be volunteering for the Methodist Church s yearly youth fundraiser by scooping and selling ice cream at the Moo Cow booth at the Yolo County Fair 1250 Gum Ave, Woodland. We will speak about how our experience serving others has affected us and our relationships with others and with God. Yolo Youth Collective 5th grade - High School Christian Youth Group Activities, Prayer, Discussion, Friendships Wednesday August 16, I have also signed up for a shift from 11:30am-3pm and would love four or more youth group kids to serve with me at the Moo Cow booth, continuing our service opportunity! Yolo Youth you continue to be Awesome Blessings, Ryan Johnson, Youth Minister 949-463-9545 ryanmagus@icloud.com