Newsletter

The CALLER

is published weekly

First Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ)

109 E Wilshire Avenue

Fullerton CA 92832

714-525-5525

email: fullerton1stc@gmail.com

Events for February 5 - February 12, 2012 at FCC:
February 5: Baby Recognition Sunday

       8:00 a.m. - Early Worship Service
       9:00 a.m. - Classes for all ages
     10:10 a.m. - Worship, Mark 1: 29-39
     11:30 a.m. - Baby Recognition Reception, Chapman Lounge

February 6:

7:00 p.m. - Alzheimer’s Support Group
February 7:
10:30 a.m. - Mary Circle, Chapman Lounge

7:00 p.m. - Contemplative Service

February 8:

6:30 p.m. - Hospitality Ministry Team

February 9:

3:30 p.m. - Beatitudes Bible Study, Chapman Lounge

6:30 p.m. - Bible Anonymous @ Barry W’s
6:30 p.m. - Bells; 7:30 p.m. – Choir Practice

February 12:

       8:00 a.m. - Early Worship Service
       9:00 a.m. - Classes for all ages
     10:10 a.m. - Worship, Mark 1: 40-45

LOOKING AHEAD:

February 13:

6:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. - Chapel on Wheels Fundraiser @ Polly’s
February 14:
9:00 a.m. - FIES Executive Board

7:00 p.m. - Contemplative Service

February 15:

       5:00 p.m. - Child Care Committee
       6:00 p.m. - Discipleship Ministry Team
       7:00 p.m. - Worship Ministry Team
                         Stewardship/Property Ministry Team

February 16:

6:30 p.m. - Bible Anonymous @ Barry W’s
6:30 p.m. - Bells; 7:30 p.m. – Choir Practice
February 17 - 20: FEB CAMP @ Pilgrim Pines

AA Groups - Sun. 8:00 p.m., Friday, 7:30 p.m., Sat. 8:30 p.m.
NA Group, Tues., 7:30 p.m.

Martin Luther once said, “Sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ more boldly still.”

At first, we want to take a step back and scream out “heresy!” But let’s take a quick look at what he meant by this.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote:

“As Luther saw it, ‘sin boldly’ did not happen to be a fundamental acknowledgement of his disobedience; it was the gospel of the grace of God before which we are always and in every circumstance sinners. Yet that grace seeks us and justifies us, sinners though we are. Take courage and confess your sin, says Luther, do not try to run away from it, but believe more boldly still. You ARE a sinner, so be a sinner, and don’t try to become what you are not. Yes, and become a sinner again and again every day, and be bold about it.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship)

Both Luther and Bonhoeffer encourage us to accept our given reality: we are sinners. We are broken vessels who will forever be imperfect. What if we acknowledge and accept that we are sinners? Furthermore, what if we increase our faith in Christ and place our trust in the grace of God? We minimize the effect of sin in our lives when we open our lives to grace; we minimize the power of sin in our lives when we keep our eyes on Christ! Focus on Christ and watch sin fall away; focus on sin and watch sin enslave you!

“Once there was an old and wise king, who had an only son. One day the king told his son, ‘I want you to fetch the water for my household because I want you to know humility and what it means to be the least in my kingdom.’ Being a good son the young prince decided to obey his father wholeheartedly, so he carried his yoke down the long dusty path that led to the cistern where the king’s water was stored. Many vessels were there. Some were beautifully ornate and others ordinary. The young prince chose an ornate vessel for the left side of the yoke, and a rather ordinary vessel for the right. As the young prince carried the water daily along the path to his father’s house, beautiful flowers began to emerge along the right side of the path while the left side remained bare. One day a poor servant pointed out to the prince that the pot on the right side of his yoke was cracked halfway down its side. The prince went to his father and pleaded for his father’s forgiveness, ‘Forgive me, Father, for I have only carried half the water I should have carried these past few weeks.’ The King replied, ‘Good and faithful son, have you not seen the beautiful flowers along the same side of the path you carry a cracked vessel while the other side remains bare? It’s through your vessel’s brokenness that you have watered these flowers and brought glory to my house.’ After three years the king said to his son, ‘You have obeyed the Spirit of what I asked you to do and brought glory to your father’s house. Come and sit at my right hand.”

We are the broken, cracked vessels Christ fills with grace to bless the lives of others. Some of that grace is poured out in a manner we consciously choose, and some is poured out without our knowledge or intention, through the very humanness we bemoan. When we give our lives to Christ, we decrease so that he might increase. When we openly acknowledge our shortcomings, those who are touched by grace through our efforts recognize us as an imperfect conduit and Christ as the perfect source. May it be so!

Remember in Prayer.

Continue to pray for: Dorothy Bense, Harold Brickens, Linda Christman, Chris Collett, Evelyn Corollo, Lorna & Skip Farnum, Barbara Fenters, Anna Lou Horspool, Kevin Johnen, Lowenn Land, The Matney family, Flora Miller, and Dorothy Tanner.
The PSWR publishes a weekly prayer calendar to pray for the churches of the Region. Please pray for:

Logos Christian Church

101 S. Rancho Drive

Las Vegas, NV 89106

Myo Sook Cho

Prayer Requests Sun., January 29

Elizabeth Beech - Sister, Danielle, who has ongoing medical tests.

Lona Anderson - Continued prayers for my daughter, Claudia, who has heart problems

Laura Schaffell - Continued prayers for Lowenn Land and her recovery process

Nancy & Terry Knott - Our friend, Larry who has a spot on his lung

Susie Wright - Friend, Ann Shaw who lost her husband recently

Donna Bagley - Patty Marshall who has many health problems

Readings and Prayer Concerns for week of Feb. 6 – Feb. 12 Monday, February 6 – Reading: Psalm 30: 1-5; pray for the Alzheimer’s Support Group meeting tonight in Chapman Lounge.

Tuesday, February 7 – Reading: Psalm 30: 6-12; pray for the Mary Circle as they meet to make tray favors for St. Elizabeth Rehab Facility.
Congregational Prayer Day, Wed., February 8 Reading: 2 Kings 5: 1-7; pray for the Hospitality Ministry Team meeting this evening.

Thursday, February 9 – Reading: 2 Kings 5: 8-14; pray for the Bell Choir, Sharlane Blakeley, conductor; and Chancel Choir, Mitch Hanlon, conductor, as they meet for rehearsals tonight.
Friday, February 10 – Reading: 1 Corinthians 9: 24-25; pray for Global Ministries Missionary in Japan, Jeffrey Mensendiek.
Saturday, February 11 - Reading: 1 Corinthians 9: 26-27; pray for the AA groups meeting in our Fellowship Hall this weekend.
Sunday, February 12 – Reading: Mark 1: 40-45; pray for all those who lead us in Worship this Sunday.

Thanks for the Baking

A big, “sweet” thank you to Sibyl Dittberner, Laura Schaffell, Minde Findley, Jane Reynolds and Alice Wallace for baking cookies for the February Hot Meal Ministry. Our guests always like that “sweet bite” after their meal and you made it possible.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to sign up for the “Sweet Ministry,” please see Barbara Fenters or Donna Vannoy and get your name on the list. We want to thank those who have signed up. With the response we have had, at this time, it appears we will only have to bake about twice a year.

Thanks to all.

Barbara Fenters, Donna Vannoy

Mary Circle

Mary Circle will meet in Chapman Lounge at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 7. We will be making tray favors for the guests at St. Elizabeth Rehab Facility.

Donna Woodbridge is hostess. Donna Vannoy has devotions. Mary Brill & Phyllis Elliott are in charge of activity. Please bring bar soap for FIES.

All women of the church who are available in the daytime are invited to come and join us.

Meet our New Member, Phil Forbes

I was born in Pryor, Oklahoma. In the mid-40s, my parents moved my two sisters and me out west to Anaheim.

I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior and was immersed in baptism at the age of 12 at Calvary Southern Baptist Church in Anaheim, now known as the Anaheim First Baptist Church.

I married my high school sweetheart, Gwen, who, in 1991, went home to be with the Lord. We have three children, nine grandchildren and twenty great-grandchildren. I am blessed and very proud that all are Christians.

After spending thirty years as a Corporate Purchasing executive, in 1995, I changed career paths to enter the field of Law Enforcement. I was accepted into the Orange County Marshals Department which merged in 2000 with the Orange County Sheriffs Department. I was a Civil Superior Court Bailiff and assigned to the Central Justice Center, Civic Center, in Santa Ana until my retirement in 2006.

My hobby is family genealogy. I am the administrator and web-master of The Phillip E. Forbes & Family tree which is listed on two websites: www.phil4bz.tribalpages.com and www.ancestry.com. To date, I have researched and entered over 28,500 names to the Family Tree since beginning this daunting project in September 2007.

Souper Bowl Sunday

The Youth will be in the Narthex collecting canned goods, especially soup, or money to benefit Fullerton Interfaith Emergency Services TODAY. The amount of cans and money will be reported and announced during the Super Bowl game. In 2011, more than 260,000 young people across America collected more than $10 million in dollars and food for local hunger-relief charities

Baby Recognition
It’s been 2 years since our last baby recognition and TODAY is the day we are going to recognize them. Babies born since our last recognition in 2009 are:

Kayle and Brianne Sessler born 5-20-10, great grandmother is Dorothy Bense

Jack Angulo born 5-26-10, mother is Amber Angulo and grandparents are Nancy and Terry Knott

Austin McCuen born 6-14-10, parents are Shawn and Kelly McCuen and grandparents are Dirk and Jan McCuen

Brayden Daly born 8-31-10, great grandmother is Donna Woodbridge

James Dorrough born 9-7-10, parents are Joshua and Jamie Dorrough

Jane Elisabeth Cassell, born 1-25-11, great grandfather is Phil Forbes

Jamison Taylor Rees born 2-27-11, mother is Candace Hickman, grandparents are Stafford and Theresa Hickman, great grandmother is Dorothy Tanner

Mason Shane Smedley born 3-31-11, parents are Gary and Jennifer Smedley, grandparents are Judi and Gary Smedley

Levi Brian Macrae born 4-4-11, great grandfather is Phil Forbes

Eric Evans born 7-6-11, parents are Matt & Gracie (Beal) Evans, aunt is Heide Beal, grandmother is Marguerite Beal and great grandmother is Ruth Mary Beal

Sophie O’Conner born 8-6-11, parents are Patrick & Kathryn O’Conner, grandparents are Bob & Kim Rollo, great grandmother is Betty Rollo

Zachary Todd born 11-10-11, parents are Aaron and Debra Todd

Paul David Thompson, Jr. born 12-12-11, grandparents are Judi and Gary Smedley

Let Donna know if we have missed your child, grandchild or great grandchild so we can recognize them.

Thank you,

Hospitality & Welcome

Sr. Book Club Selection

The Senior Book Club members enjoyed reading Patrick Taylor’s An Irish Country Christmas over the holidays. We discussed the book on January 26 at Mary Brill’s home. We all respected the availability of and responsibility for their patients of these old-time doctors.

We’ve chosen Mark Twain’s classic novel “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” based on his own childhood and a sequel to “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” as our next book. A theme of the novel is the conflict between “freedom” and “civilization.” Huck is capable of a closeness and familiarity with nature that he doesn’t achieve with the people in the book.

We’ll discuss this book on March 22 at 1 p.m. We are a lively group; you might want to give us a try.

Flowers, Flowers and More Flowers

We are hoping to renew our long-standing tradition of having flowers gifted by one of our members on the Baptistry.

There is a flower calendar on the door by the TV in the Narthex. If you would like to bring the flowers yourself, pick a date and sign up on that calendar. If you prefer to have Donna W. purchase for you, give her a call at the church office (714-525-5525) with the amount, what you would like and she will have them delivered on your specific Sunday.

The Worship Ministry

Congregational Meeting

Save the date, February 19 after the 10:10 service. We will be having a Congregational Meeting to adopt the 2012 budget. Tom Beck will be presenting the Fellowship Hall Bathroom Remodel project.

Lenten Devotional Booklet
As we've done many years in the past, the Worship Ministry has purchased copies of "Fellowship of Prayer," a resource for daily use during the season of Lent. Beginning TODAY, copies of this resource for your personal time of prayer, meditation and reflection will be available on the credenza in the Narthex. Lent begins on Wednesday, February 22, so be sure to pick up a copy of this booklet for you and/or your family to use during this important season of the Christian year that leads us to the celebration of Christ's resurrection on Easter Sunday which falls on April 8 this year.

This year's readings for Lent were written by MaryAnn McKibben Dana. She is the Pastor of Idylwood Presbyterian Church, a congregation that is described as "a small and growing congregation" located in Falls Church, Virginia, near Washington D.C. She is a frequent retreat and workshop leader and has written for a variety of publications. Chalice Press, our Disciples' publishing arm, will be releasing her book, Sabbath in the Suburbs: A Family's Experiment With Holy Time.

She is married to Robert Dana. Together they are parents of three children ages 9, 6 and 4.

We urge you to pick up and to use "Fellowship of Prayer" for Lent 2012!

The Worship Ministry

CROP Hunger Walk’s Coming

April 29 is the date!
12:15 is the time!

Fullerton Plaza is the place!

Planning is underway for the 2012 CROP Hunger Walk. We are looking for sponsors to help us. Sponsorship levels are:

$1000 – Largest print + logo

$ 500 – Larger print + Logo

$ 250 – Larger print name only

$ 100 – Small print name only

If you have a business or know someone who does, please encourage them to be a sponsor. See either Randy Langston or Donna Woodbridge for details.

Adult Class Sign-ups
You will have three different opportunities each week during Lent to be part of the 2012 Lenten Study. That study will focus on John Indermark's study course, Gospeled Lives, which is sub-titled "Encounters With Jesus." The author writes the following about this unusual title.

"The title may sound odd to modern ears. In English, "gospel" serves as a noun and occasionally an adjective. The Greek of the New Testament, though, often uses a verb form of the word we translate as "gospel," because "gospel" can express action. ‘Gospeled’ lives are lives profoundly affected by an encounter with Jesus. ‘Gospeled’ lives do not always veer in the same direction. The chapter titles reflect the diverse components of such encounters, as well as the responses they evoke. Calls may be heard or neglected. Challenges may be taken up or passed on. Transformation may be embraced or avoided. Some people leave the encounter unpersuaded. Others depart empowered. In every case, the stories of ‘gospeled’ lives remain open-ended. Our lives write the yet to be lived out stories of our response to our encounters with Jesus."

Participants in the Lenten Study are asked to do five readings, one reading per day, each week prior to the class session to learn about people who had encounters with Jesus in scripture. The weekly sessions will begin during the week of February 20 through March Third. Each session will occur after participants have had the opportunity to do each of the five suggested readings. Therefore, if you are going to register to be part of one of the three groups that will engage in this experience during Lent, you need to pick up your book a week in advance of the first session so you'll be ready to participate when your group meets for the first time. To accomplish this objective, all people who register for Gospeled Lives are invited to come to a very brief orientation session following the 10:10 a.m. worship service on Sunday, February 19, to receive their personal copy of this book. The orientation session is set for Chapman Lounge.

You may register today, or next Sunday, to be part of the 2012 Lenten Study. Here is the schedule for this year's Lenten Study:

Group #1 will meet on Sundays at 9 a.m. beginning on Sunday, February 26. The group will meet in the Conference Room that formerly was the Office of the Senior Pastor. Ed Linberg will be the facilitator.

Group #2 will meet on Mondays, at 6:30 p.m. beginning on Monday, February 20. This group will meet at the home of Donna Woodbridge who will be the facilitator.

Group #3 will meet on Thursdays at 3:30 p.m. beginning on Thursday, February 23. This group will meet in Chapman Lounge with Chris Fee serving as the facilitator. Even if you have not been part of the weekly Thursday afternoon Bible study since last September, you are most welcome to be part of this group. They would love to have some new people join them for this Lenten Study.

Donations will be accepted for the cost of the study book. The cost of the book is $10 . If that price is too high for your budget, you are free to make a donation toward the cost of the study book in any amount that is comfortable for you.

The Discipleship Ministry

FIESFood Loving Guys Fundraiser

FIES Food Loving Guys Fundraiser is coming on March 18, 6 p.m. at Coyote Hills Golf Course. Cost is $50 per person ($60 at the door.) Each congregation has been asked to donate a basket. Hospitality & Welcome has been chosen to spearhead the basket for FCCF. We are going to do a BBQ basket. Any donations to the basket would be appreciated. We are requesting anything to do with BBQing: utensils, BBQ mitt, apron, chef hat, hand towels, napkins, plates, platter, BBQ sauces, mixes & spices, canned BBQ beans, lighters, etc. Let's get creative and make this a great basket!

Thank you,

Judi, Hospitality & Welcome

FIESFood Loving Guys Fundraiser (cont’d)

FIES is also in need of chefs to make their favorite dish and give tasty samples to approximately 200 people. It is a really fun time. Members of our congregation have participated in the past (Tom Beck and Dirk McCuen, Barry Woodbridge, Paul Smith and Jim Bailey.) If you are interested, contact Barb Jennings at barb.jennings@fies.us. For more information or sponsorship opportunities, please call, 714-680-3691.

Homemade Disaster Supply Kit (cont’d)
Here is the list for week number four supplies to purchase for your Disaster Supply Kit.

Week 4:

Stationery store supplies:
waterproof container for important documents,
Notebook and Pencil

TO DO:

1.Gather and copy all important documents - wills, trusts, social security numbers, insurance papers (life, home, auto), passports, etc. Include a photo of all household members including pets.

2.Be sure all family members have the number of a contact away from the immediate area so everyone can check in with that person who will be your “central” contact.

Find the circuit breaker to your house and find out how to shut off electricity at www.pge.com/mybusiness/edusafety/gaselectric/electriconoff/. FEMA recommends that you always shut off all the individual circuits before shutting off the main circuit breaker.

Becoming a Green Congregation

The Women of the church (CWF) are in the process of starting a recycling project. There is a recycle container in the kitchen off Chapman Lounge for bottles, cans, plastic, etc.

We will be collecting recyclables and saving the money to help purchase carpeting for the Narthex, Chapman Lounge and Sanctuary. We will have more containers shortly and have them around the facility, in the Education building, Fellowship Hall, etc. So start saving your recyclables and bring to church for us. Thanks.

We also are still looking for a few others who would like to join our team and help us become a “Green Church.” We could use your ideas, etc. We will no longer be using Styrofoam cups, plates, etc. So if you have a good contact to help us get recyclable materials to use for coffee fellowship, dinners, receptions, etc., call, email, or see Carol Henke or me at church. We are looking forward to leading FCCF to become a “green congregation” with your help.

Donna Woodbridge

Save the Dates
Feb. 19 & 26 – Week of Compassion
Special offering

Feb. 26 – Pastoral Partners’ Luncheon

March 4 – Donna Bagley’s 100th
Birthday Celebration

March 23 & 24 – Founders’ Day celebration at Chapman University. Dr. Amy-Jill Levine is speaking on Friday night and our own Ed Linberg will be honored as the Disciple Church Leader of the Year during the worship service at 10:30 in the morning.
March 25 – Dr. Amy-Jill Levine will be speaking at our 10:10 Worship Service.

Week of Compassion Offering
Sharing Brings Joy
Reti, the mother of two toddlers, was cooking in her kitchen when she heard the thunderous boom of Mount Merapi volcano in Indonesia. She fled her hillside home just minutes before she would have lost her life in the volcano’s eruption beneath her house. She says Week of Compassion and Church World Service was the first and only aid she received.
“Sharing brings joy,” says the Rev. Amy Gopp, Executive Director, Week of Compassion.
“For all that we are, all that we have, is of God. Therefore, our response to God is to give all that we are and have right back. There is no greater joy than being in a position to offer our gifts and resources with those in need,” said Rev. Gopp.
Take the flood in Pakistan, which affected 4 million people, among them Said Qamar and his wife. They focused on getting the twelve children in their care to higher ground. People there received emergency food assistance. Through the Week of Compassion’s partner, Church World Service they got help to rebuild their farms and their livelihoods as well as l00,000 medical consultations during the crisis.
And a little closer to home, the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti will require a long road to recovery; especially for people with a disability like Mireille Emerival. Shot five times by home invaders about l3 years ago, she is confined to a wheelchair. Our support of Week of Compassion helps Mirielle and 600 other Haitians with disabilities to have access to small business grants, counseling, tools and other help to make a new life. She used a $75 grant to start a small business selling candies and baked goods, earning income to meet her family’s needs.
We should rejoice that we have the means to help people no matter where they are.
“The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:6-7}
We will be receiving our WoC offering on February 12 and 19.
Outreach Committee

Early Worship Service: Sunday, 8:00 a.m.

Church School for all ages: Sunday, 9:00 a.m.

Traditional Worship Service: Sunday, 10:10 a.m.

Youth Groups: Sunday, 1:00 p.m.

Contemplative Service: Tuesday, 7:00 p.m.

Sunday Evening Service: Third Sunday of every month, 6:00 p.m

Serving February 5, 2012

Greeters: Sue Harless, Diane Daugherty

Guest Book: Janelle Vannoy

Coffee Host: Harper/Hospitality Ministry

Acolytes:

Acolyte Parent:

Sound: Alyssa Robidoux
Video: Clare Keech
Lay Leader: Craig Wallace

Children’s Moment: Pat Van Vliet

Elders: Randy Langston, Emily Malotte, Norma Rill

Diaconate: McCuen’s Team

Prepare: Dirk McCuen, Emily Steward- Styffe

Ushers: Bill & Jodie Martin

Serve: Masumi & Mike Hogan, Bill & Jodie Martin, Dirk & Jan McCuen,
Emily Steward-Styffe, Deb Taylor

Clean Up: Masumi & Mike Hogan, Jan McCuen

Alternate: Emily Steward-Styffe, Deb Taylor

Serving February 12, 2012

Greeter: Sibyl Dittberner

Guest Book: Jan McCuen

Coffee Host: Harper/Hospitality Ministry

Acolytes:

Acolyte Parent:

Sound: Emily Steward-Styffe
Video: John Styffe
Lay Leader: Dwain Van Diest

Children’s Moment: Alice Wallace

Elders: Luanne Bailey, Janelle Vannoy, Kathy Robidoux ( HC)
HC Elders: Kathy Robidoux, David Ressler,Randy Langston
Diaconate: McCuen’s Team

Prepare: Ben Stuart, Deb Taylor

Ushers: Masumi & Mike Hogan

Serve: Masumi & Mike Hogan, Bill & Jodie Martin, Dirk & Jan McCuen,
Ben Stuart, Emily Steward-Styffe, Deb TaylorClean Up: Bill & Jodie
Martin, Ben Stuart

Alternate: Annie Frater, Jane Reynolds