News

The Gift of Flowers

The Flower Guild wants you to know that there are plenty of slots open this summer for Sunday’s flower arrangements. Please consider making a donation of flowers (either money to buy them, or the flowers themselves if your garden is in bloom) in honor of a loved one this summer.

In addition…we need vases! Sunday’s flowers are hand-delivered to members and friends who need a little cheering up. Clean out your cabinets and bring unused vases to church on Sunday…look for the box in the narthex marked “Vases for Flower Guild.”

Flowers grace our sanctuary each Sunday, and bring joy to people’s lives. Seeing colorful arrangements, with each flower uniquely displaying God’s immense creative power, contributes to our spiritual experience in church. Visual elements, together with music and the spoken word, ensure we have a spiritual feast each Sunday.

Flowers are purchased and arranged each Sunday morning by Flower Guild members Erika Hagopian, Inger Hewitt, Joanne Jones, and Maureen Kalbus. You can support this important ministry by dedicating flowers in memory of someone, or to commemorate a birthday, anniversary, celebration. Or consider dedicating flower in simple thankfulness, for all to enjoy.

When you dedicate flowers, your name and dedication will be printed in the church bulletin (or not, if you prefer). To make a flower donation, please fill in a Flower Request form, put it and a check in an envelope, and drop it in the offering plate. You can also send it to the Church Office, attention Maureen Kalbus. Maureen will contact you to confirm and discuss preferences in flowers and colors. Checks should be made payable to First Presbyterian Church of San Anselmo and “Flower Guild” written on the memo line. You can also download a form to print on your computer by clicking here.

After each service, the flowers are arranged in vases and taken to members of the congregation who are sick or homebound. Your beautiful flower arrangements are part of an important church ministry and appreciated by by many, both in church and at home.

Zephyr Experience – Mark Your Calendars!

This year’s Tahoe Zephyr Experience is one you won’t want to miss, so mark your calendars for July 7-12. Plan to spend a week enjoying the beauty of Lake Tahoe, the stimulation of learning from renowned teachers (including two from our church), the fellowship of wonderful people and just relaxing by the lakeshore. Brochures describing this family conference in more detail are available in the church office and during coffee hour. Contact Joan or Carl Basore at 456-0965 if you have questions or would like more information or see the Zephyr Point website here.

Deadline to register is June 7, 2013.

CROP Walk is April 21st

Everyone is invited to walk, but we are still seeking people older than 70 to be our leaders and to raise lots of money, confirming that being older doesn’t always mean doing less. 75% of the money goes to Church World Service for its worldwide services, including relieving hunger, and the rest to three local organizations, the Marin Food Bank, St. Vincent’s Dining Room and the Interfaith Street Chaplaincy. The approximately three-mile walk starts at 2:00 with a 1:30 registration, at First Presbyterian Church San Rafael, Fifth and E streets across from the library.

Anyone and everyone can participate for a portion or all of the event. You can contribute to our special over 70 years of age fund raisers by seeing them directly at church or, click here to donate online.

We identify ourselves correctly as a generous congregation, and hunger is an issue that we continually address, so we are expecting to increase our contribution by a lot this year, hopefully in the range of at least $3000.

About CROP Hunger Walk

Each Spring Church World Service sponsors CROP Hunger Walks across the entire United States and our congregation has traditionally participated. Last year our church raised about $1000. Each year some two million participants nationwide raise on the order of $16 million. The money is used to deal with the staggering facts that one in every six people in the world is forced to survive on less than a dollar a day, 800 million people in the world are undernourished, and almost 16,000 children die from hunger related causes every day!! 25% of the money raised is used locally, in our case divided among the Marin Food Bank, St. Vincent’s and the Marin Interfaith Street Chaplaincy, to deal with the surprising incidence of food insecurity and hunger here in Marin.

See or contact Royce Truex, Phyllis Schlobohm or Libby Davis to pledge, or to be one of the leaders.

Youth Interfaith Mission Trip

Interfaith Mission Trip!  

WHO: Middle School Youth (6-8th grades)

We’ll be among a group of about 30 youth and adults from (predominantly) Jewish, Presbyterian & Hindu backgrounds.  We’ll eat pizza and play games Sunday, work at the Olema Retreat Center (Hindu) helping with painting and pulling weeds Monday and Tuesday morning.  Along the way we’ll have fun and learn a little while we’re at it!

DATES: April 7-9th (Sunday night 6pm-Tuesday noon)

WHERE: Vedanta Retreat Center, Olema, CA

COST: $50

CLICK HERE for the flier: youthretreat

REGISTER: with Diana by Tuesday, March 19th

SPONSORED BY: Marin Interfaith Council

Commissioning @ Glide

Glide Memorial = Amazing worship!

The Commissioning Class (+ some parents) drove down to Glide Memorial UMC Church to the 11am celebration (their name for their worship service).  It was a very upbeat, hand-clapping, community-oriented experience.  The service ran about 80 minutes with the first hour dedicated to music from their choir.  Wow.   There was a band with a keyboard, a full drum set, three horn players, a bass guitar and a lead guitar along with a huge choir (50+).  Above the choir is a bare wall where projected images changed throughout the music. Scripture, lyrics, uplifting images and words, as well as current events flashed in front of us as the choir’s praise music washed over us.

During today’s service, they were honoring the one-year anniversary of Trayvon Martin’s death. Their pastor, Rev. Karen Oliveto gave beautiful and warm words of welcome and included a moving conversation about inclusivity and not judging people based on profiling.  A long time member of the church spoke as did Janice Mirikitani, Founding President.  Mirikitani and Rev. Williams (founder) just released a book that some of the adults are keen to read.

We had lunch and discussed what we liked best—the community feel, the music, the general vibe.  The youth are talking about how to bring some of what we experienced back here on a Sunday morning.  A few are excited to learn that we (here at FPCSA) own a set of drums.

A hearty Thank You to Steve Bicknell for helping us to reserve seats and parking!

Some quotes projected that stood out to us:

Judging a person does not define who they are.  It defines who you are.

Having a rough morning? Place your hand over your heart. Feel that?  That’s called purpose. You’re alive for a reason.  Don’t give up

Don’t let some imaginary person in your head keep you from loving the real one right in front of you.

TWS~Diana

Marin Baroque Concert in March

On March 23, the 20-voice Marin Baroque Chamber Choir and 12-piece Period Instrument Orchestra will present A Legacy, Buxtehude – Bach, conducted by our very own Music Director, Daniel Canosa.  The concert will be held at 7 pm in the glorious St. Vincent’s Chapel in San Rafael (1 St. Vincent’s Drive, San Rafael, 94903).  Linda Price, soprano in the Chancel Choir, sings in this group.  Come experience the beauty of this music in a truly breathtaking setting with marvelous acoustics!

We will sing Bach’s Cantata Aus der Tiefe rufe ich, Herr, zu Dir BWV 131, Buxtehude’s Cantatas Herzlich lieb hab ich Dich, o Herr BuxWV 41  and Ihr lieben Christen, freut euch nun BuxWV 41, as well as Telemann’s Suite in D TWV 55.   The concert will be followed by a reception for all.

Tickets may be purchased at Brown Paper Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/321387

Prices range from $7-$35; general admission is $25.

For more information or to purchase tickets offline call 415-497-6634 or email marinbaroque@gmail.com.

Our New Covenant with “Bread for the World”

Because our congregation has been involved in several programs and organizations that deal with hunger, and a relationship with Bread for the World was recently established, the Church and Society Committee, consistent with the way Session is organized now, decided to form a Hunger Team. Royce Truex will be its chair and Alice Graham and Miriam Kazan will also be members. Anyone else who is interested in hunger
issues is warmly invited to become a member. The congregation’s current activities related to hunger are:

• Food Bank offering during every worship service. (In 2011 we donated approximately 1000 lbs. of food)
• Cents-ability Offering each month. (We gave $2073 in 2011)
• Meals to Mill Street Shelter once a month for too many years to count
• Meals to the men who are our guests every Friday during the REST Program
• The annual CROP Walk sponsored by Church World Service every Spring

And now we add Bread for the World. At its November meeting  the Church and Society Committee approved Joanne Whitt’s  proposal that we become covenant members of this organization.

Bread for the World defines itself as “a collective Christian voice urging our nation’s leaders to end hunger at home and abroad.” Among other activities, members write personal letters and emails to members of congress and other leaders, especially during an event called an Offering of Letters, attempting, often successfully, to influence national and international policy related to hunger issues. The next Offering is scheduled
for March 2013, and the Church and Society committee will sponsor it as a church wide event.

By joining Bread for the World, we also covenant to…

In our worship and study…
• to seek God’s message for us regarding our hungry brothers and sisters
• learn about the causes of – and the solutions to – hunger, emphasizing the role of public policy

In our working and giving…
• to help hungry people in our community
• to support our church’s relief, development and education  programs
• to participate corporately in the work of Bread for the World and to encourage individuals to consider membership

In our living…
• to give prominence to the needs of hungry people to reflect in our lives an awareness of our role as stewards of God’s gifts

In addition to Bread for the World, the Hunger Team plans to strengthen our ties to the Hunger Task Force of Redwoods Presbytery
and the Presbyterian Hunger Program of the PC(USA). You can certainly expect that the issue of hunger locally, nationally and internationally will become more prominent in our congregational life.

My Sabbatical Plans Are Underway

[This article also appeared in the February Kensington Press]

The Personnel Committee, with the approval of the Session, has granted me the opportunity to take a three-month sabbatical, which I will begin May 1st of this year. This is an incredible blessing, for which I am deeply grateful. I will celebrate my 8th anniversary as your pastor on February 9. Although I’ve discussed this sabbatical extensively with the Session and the Personnel Committee, the news of the sabbatical is just beginning to reach the rest of the congregation, and you probably have plenty of questions.

I’ll answer a few of them now, and continue to answer others over the next few months.

First, why do pastors take sabbaticals? In general terms, a sabbatical strengthens and further develops a pastor’s ability to serve the church. A sabbatical is basically a well-planned sabbath. I read an Alban Institute article recently that describes the results of a good sabbatical; new perspective, spiritual renewal, rest, education, and renewed passion and vision. I pray for all of these results during my sabbatical.

More frequently, however, the questions are about what I will do. I have three primary goals and a number of secondary goals that I’m developing. On May 1st, I leave for Scotland for a one-week seminar at the Iona Community, a center on an island off the coast of Scotland that focuses on worship and social justice.

During the three months, I will work through The Artist’s Way, a seminal book designed to help people recover and develop
their creativity. And as many of you know, I took up the guitar two years ago. No one reaches even basic skills on a new
musical instrument without hours of practice, which my current schedule does not allow. I will use the sabbatical to practice the guitar (but don’t hold your breath for a post-sabbatical concert! I’m going for basic skills here).

And perhaps the most important questions, who will cover my responsibilities while I am away? The fact that we are a two-pastor church makes my sabbatical a realistic option. And I chose these three months in particular because May is after Easter, and June and July are slower times of the church year, while in August we begin gearing up for fall. Associate Pastor Diana Bell will moderate the Session and a number of other meetings I usually moderate, and function as Head of Staff during my absence. She will preach more often than usual; about five times during the three months. We will also have guest preachers for all the rest of the Sundays Diana will not be preaching, using funds set aside several years ago to cover this expense. The variety and the different perspectives should be a great change of pace for summer church-goers. More details will follow as I finish lining up parish associates and others to cover the responsibilities of congregational care.

When I return in August, I look forward to sharing with all of you stories of my most excellent summer vacation. Until then, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns

Joanne’s Sabbatical – A Time of Renewal

[This article also appeared in the February issue of the Kensington Press]

By Dick Schlobohm

A pastor’s job is unlike any other. How many CEOs do you know move from celebration to grief to deep spiritual wisdom—all in the course of a day’s work? And do so with grace and presence? For pastors, perhaps more than any other profession, a sabbatical is an essential opportunity to re-charge and reflect. This is why our session leaders are making it possible for Joanne to take a three-month sabbatical this year, beginning on May 1.

A sabbatical is deeply aligned with God’s intentions for all of us. After all, the Sabbath is the day of rest. Biblically, a Sabbath is a time of renewal, practiced every seven days, seven years, and seven-times-seven years. Sabbaticals are well-known in the academic world, and many technology companies have adopted the use of sabbaticals as an antidote to high-stress work environments.

Among local churches we are not unique; St. Andrew provided their pastor with a sabbatical beginning in 2003, and Novato Presbyterian and First Presbyterian Church of Santa Rosa have recently initiated the same opportunity for their
pastors. Nor is this unprecedented; our former pastors Chuck Eaton had a sabbatical, and Chandler Stokes’ sabbatical was in the works before he left.

For churches like ours who provide for pastor sabbaticals, the typical interval is every seventh year. This year marks the
eighth year of Joanne Whitt’s call to FPCSA. Last year we planned for Joanne’s sabbatical leave, but the timing wasn’t quite
ideal for Joanne.

Joanne’s sabbatical has been well planned. Funds have been carefully set aside over a number of years to cover stipends for
guest preachers. And all the resources are now coming together—from session leadership to Diana Bell to Parish Associates
and Staff—who will cover for Joanne while she is away.

Joanne will be missed, but we will all benefit from her time away. As final details solidify over the coming months, we will
keep everyone informed of how responsibilities for preaching and pastoral care will be assigned. And while she is gone, to
borrow a phrase from the stalwart Brits, it will be an opportunity for us as well—to “keep calm and carry on.”

The REST Program Meets and Exceeds New Challenges

This year has felt very different to those of us who have participated as volunteers in the REST program during past seasons. The convoluted transportation issues caused by local politics (San Rafael) have necessarily resulted in a changed “culture” of the guest/participants in the program. Suffice to say that registering to be a REST Guest (!), has required a different type of schedule this year. That may have been hardest on those who are trying to hold down at least a part-time job.

Having said that, things are constantly evolving, and we are just now beginning to see some stabilization within the homeless population we serve. While transportation to and from participating congregational shelters was in a state of flux, at the same time, the (more typical) weather this year also increased the sense of urgency among homeless folk who formerly may have chosen to remain outdoors. Too cold and/or wet most nights to stay away from REST shelters this year!

Thankfully, beyond the scope of our guests, our little piece of the REST Program has continued to expand the diversity of its volunteer cadre. We have welcomed more new volunteers in the first 10-11 weeks of this program than in the entire season last year! 12 brand-spanking new volunteers from within – as well as from “outside” – our congregation. And, those 12 newbies are the offshoots of 6 households – which, naturally, means that they represent a wide range of age and relationship status!

Additionally heartening is that fact that SFTS (encouraged and led by Dan Schilling and Scott Clark) will once again sponsor a night of their own service to the Shelter at the end of January. And March is shaping up to become “The Month of The Groups”. It is already featuring not only a return of ”Youth-Group-Age-Types” (<- my words … but definitely not restricted to members; details available from Rev. Diana Bell); a newly participating 4-H group under the tutelage of Martha Olsen-Joyce; AND a welcome to returning service by the PEO Sisterhood. So, if you’re in a group, and you think they might like to participate, consider making your reservations now! It’s a hot (and rewarding) ticket!

If you are unfamiliar with the Shelter program, we always say, ”Just ask around at Coffee Hour; it is easy to find a happily experienced volunteer to answer your questions.” Or for those of you who prefer email, feel free to contact:  joysnyder@sbcglobal.net (put “REST Inquiry” on the subject line).