News for July 23rd, 2024
Dear Beloved Community,
This past Sunday, Meg Given led us in meditating on a few questions. One of them was “Have you ever gone to the mountaintop only to hide in a cave? Who or what brought you out?” Meditating on this question, I was reminded of “I’ve been to the Mountaintop” speech by Martin Luther King Jr which he delivered on April 3, 1968 at Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee. In the speech, King compares himself to Moses, saying that he has "been to the mountaintop" and seen the Promised Land, a society where Black people have equal rights and peace. He also says, "I just want to do God's Will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land". Some believe that the speech's final passage foreshadowed his assassination the following day. The speech primarily concerns the Memphis sanitation strike. King called for unity, economic actions, boycotts, and nonviolent protest, while challenging the United States to live up to its ideals. This speech looked toward a better tomorrow—a journey through hardship to eventually reach "the Promised Land." My prayer during that time we had in silence together, was that I too may be used to reach the mountaintop and make a positive impact on the world around me.
This upcoming Sunday we will hear from a good friend of mine and Polly’s, Bruce Reyes Chow. The title of his sermon is “Choosing to Follow What is Good” and the scripture readings will be brom Mathew 4:18-22 and Romans 12:9-21. There is so much I can say about Bruce, but below is a short bio about him. I am so delighted to have him with us this coming Sunday.
“Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow is an active speaker and writer on topics of faith, culture, race, and technology. He writes and podcasts on Substack through his newsletter, “The Amalgamation” and has authored five books, most recently, “In Defense of Kindness: Why It Matters, How It Changes Our Lives, and How It Can Save the World” (Chalice Press, 2021) and "Everything Good about God is True: Choosing Faith" (Broadleaf Books, 2024). His speaking has taken him to The Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Australia, and Canada and he has also been active in local politics and community organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area for nearly three decades. He has been an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) since 1995. In 2008, he was elected Moderator of the Presbyterian Church USA, 2008-2010, the youngest and first Asian American to hold that office. He is also a Senior Consultant and Coach with Convergence and is a Gallup-Certified CliftonStrengths Coach. Reyes-Chow and his spouse have three adult children, two dogs, way too many houseplants and live in San Jose, California.”
As always I looking forward to seeing all of you this Sunday. May each one of you have a great week.
Peace and blessings!
Jorge
July's Giving Sunday offering is for "Catherine Center". Thanks for always being so generous with your gifts in life. Below is their programs video.
Recent sermons
Check out our YouTube page to see recent sermons. Go to our archive of slides to see bulletins and slides used during recent services.
Recordings of our Taize services are also on the YouTube page.
Upcoming services and events
Borg Discussion Group: Thursday, July 25th, 7pm on Zoom. We are moving on to ch 5 for more discussion of Jesus and wisdom, in Borg's "Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time."
Book Group: Sunday, July 28, 7pm, on Zoom. We’re going to try again with “Catastrophe Ethics” by Travis Rieder. (The gathering last time was very small!). Al recently led a 20-person discussion of this book at Enso so he’s totally into it. The question it deals with is ‘How to make choices when every action has so many ripple consequences, many of them unintended and unknown? It’s tempting to conclude that individual actions don’t matter, but that logic is flawed too.’
Worship & Arts: Sunday, August 4 after worship. Join us and help plan worship for the early fall.
Annual Women’s Retreat: Labor Day Weekend (Aug 30 - Sept 1) at Polly’s house in Pacific Grove. All church women invited; RSVP to Polly if you are coming.
Celebration of Life for Jim Mathews: Saturday, September 7 at 2 pm.
Annual Men's Retreat: October 4-6 at Polly’s house in Pacific Grove. RSVP to Roy Gesley if you are interested.
Links and resources
Last Sunday, Caje and Janice shared with us their project to provide non-tuition assistance to college-bound kids from the Visitacion Valley/Sunnydale projects, operated by Mercy Housing in San Francisco. To make it easy for you to contribute to this project, it will be our Giving Sunday recipient for the month of August. In the meantime, check out the amazing things the Mercy sisters have been doing to create affordable housing (all over the country), at Mercyhousing.org
Sound of the stars, credit NASA and ESA (and thanks to Susanne Croft for sharing).
There will be a celebration of life for Rev. Kristi Denham at Congregational Church of the Peninsula, Saturday, August 10 at 2pm.
Quote of the week
“The dominant religion on the planet is not Christianity, Islam, Hinduism or Judaism, but the pervasive faith in violence.” — Walter Wink
Weekly events
• Meditation group: Wednesdays at 7:30 am
In person at the church building.
• Sunday worship: 10 am
In person at the church building.
Image: Meg Given
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