| September 2011 |
The Good News |
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Do you remember the 21st night of September? Not so long ago September meant back to school, a great time to head over the hill to Santa Cruz and the month magazine issues got ginourmous. A time according to Earth Wind and Fire when; “there never was a cloudy day”. This changed after the events of September 11, 2001. For me looking back a decade later, things have begun to blur a bit. The grief and anger, confusion and fear has become less raw. Yet something forever changed I think, in our national consciousness on that September day, when we realized random and dreadful things could happen to us at anytime. It is human nature when one is fearful to become suspicious of the unfamiliar. Which is why I think ten years after 9/11 there is still a tendency to blame an entire group of people for the violent acts of a delusional individual. This is easy to do when the terrorist is different from us and becomes them. If you have never meet them or laughed with them you might assume that Arabs are the same as Muslims who seem like South Asians who are identical to Middle Easterners who could pass as Sikhs. This would be like mistaking a Minnesotan for an Iowan or a Northern Californian with a Southern Californian or a Lutheran for a Catholic. I work at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, which our website will tell you is a collaboration between the City of San José and San José State University. This collaboration includes a combined computer network which is maintained and supported on the public library side by me and on the university library side by Altaful—my friend and counterpart. Altaful is Muslim; he was born in Bangladesh and moved to the US in the 1980s. He once ate nothing but French fries for six months working at Wendy’s during his undergrad at Iowa. His wife works at IBM and won’t let him eat French fries anymore. He loves the 49ers, the Giants and Seinfeld. He has two daughters who made it through the Disney princess phase, Harry Potter, Jonas Brothers and now are physically attached to their smart phones. Altaful and I quiz each other on obscure TV shows from the late 80s/early 90s. We both have aging parents and this worries us. I have known Altaful before and after the 9/11 attacks. We have spoken at length about our fears and frustrations, our differences and similarities. Mostly we get up everyday and come to work and fix things and back each other up and support one other and laugh. He will never be a them to me. He is an American. He is us. In the face of the ten–year anniversary of 9/11, I wish the world peace. The Apostle Peter wrote: “Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.” (1 Peter 3:8-10) Fall is here Our play area has stalled for several reasons. First, our district 6 representative has been unable to work with us on starting the project due to the current budget crisis. Secondly, we do not have a play area committee to coordinate all the details needed! We are still short Sunday School staff. We currently have four teachers and with the number of kids we have they are simply overwhelmed. For the needs of our young ones to be meet effectively our teachers need classroom assistants. They need someone to assist with projects, help the kids and just be that extra set of eyes and hands. Unfortunately, there has been little success in finding additional folks to support these ministries. These unmet ministries speak of a deeper need within the family of CGS – time and energy. While the family of CGS expresses a continued desire to reach out to the immediate neighborhood and to create a more family friendly community, it seems that the reality is that they are simply stretched too far to take on another ministry. It is true that staff can start and then facilitate and support a ministry. But staff cannot sustain a ministry. Without the participation of the members of a church family, a ministry cannot be sustained because it will never truly be ministry; it will merely be the marketing of a good or service. One of the virtues of a church is that it is not a business. There is no exchange of goods. There is only the sharing of the gifts of God’s people and God’s grace. Staff can only act as a catalyst for a ministry. It is through the body of Christ, with all of its parts acting in concert, led by the Holy Spirit, that ministry occurs. It is my hope and prayer that God will call and equip members of this body of Christ for this ministry. Regards, Pr. Jim Fix the Roof We are asking the congregation to help raise the money to fix the roof. In this year's budget, we planned to donate sufficient money to cover ordinary expenses. However, as of today, we are about $19,000.00 short on general giving needed to meet our ordinary expenses. This makes this extraordinary expense to fix the roof very difficult without a special fund-raising. There are three ways you can contribute to our special need: you can make a one-time donation, you can make a special pledge to be donated between now and December, when the roof work needs to be completed, or you can make a loan to CGS for the roof repairs. In the past, loans have been made to the church for one, three or five-year periods. Interest of 1%, 2% and 3% respectively are being offered. This is a higher rate than most savings accounts and CD's that you currently find at banks. The interest is simple interest, paid quarterly. Please prayerfully consider how you can help. Choir and Instruments return Special Healing/Praise Service by Shirley W.
Fair Trade Coffee Many of you are aware that we use fair trade coffee from Equal Exchange at our coffee hour and at church functions. We also have fair trade coffee available for purchase. Coffee is a big business and it’s one of the most heavily traded commodities in the world, but for the majority of small-scale farmers the benefits are few. One answer for small-scale farmers is fair trade, which shares the bounty of the coffee trade with those who grow the crop; helping them to build a better future for themselves and their communities. Cooperatives use profits from fair trade coffee sales in establishing community improvement programs such as training in organic farming, leadership development, schools and health clinics. The LWR Coffee Project closes the gap between our parish and the kind of communities in which LWR works. During the month of September we will have a table displaying the coffees we offer for purchase and some new products. Please stop by and get some information and give us some input regarding what products you would like us to offer. Second Mile Giving for September is Lutheran Disaster Response
W.E.L.C.A. WELCA will convene at 11:45 on September 25th in the Fireside Room. This is a change in normal date due to the homecoming on the 18th! September is grandparents' month, so we will commemorate our grandparents. If you have photos, please bring them to liven up the discussion! Nursery will be available; snacks are provided.
Many thanks...
New Member orientation-September 17 Birthdays
Anniversaries
Calendar of events
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September Good News In this issue: Do you remember...? |
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The Good News e-Version September 2011 If you wish to subscribe to this newsletter, email us here. Our mailing address is: 1550 Meridian Ave San Jose, CA 95125 Our telephone: 408-266-8022 Copyright (C) 2011 Christ the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church All rights reserved. |
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Fall is here and with it comes the start of a new Sunday School season. While things have been quiet this summer there have been some milestones. In addition to our teachers having a curriculum that they are comfortable with, Pr. Bea has modeled a style of instruction that I hope we will begin to use as well. Our library is kid-friendly and will soon have an expanded catalogue thanks to Paul Thomas and Laura Clark-Moore. We have the beginnings of a partnership between Sunday School and Worship and Music that we are hopeful will bring a new dimension to Sunday School. But there is still much to do.
As you may have heard, the flat portion of the roof over two different sections of the church is badly in need of repair before the rain begins. Our dedicated property committee has researched the problem and possible solutions, and has come up with a plan to fix the roof. The best price, from the most reliable source, comes to a little over $20,000.00. 
Choir and instrumental rehearsals will resume on Wednesday September 14th- instrumental rehearsal at 6:30 and choir at 7:30.
Please join us Sunday, September 11 for a special healing service, were we will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Our second Summer of Comfort project, Undies Sundays was a great success. At the time of this writing we have collected nearly one thousand items that have been taken to Sacred Heart Community Center to be given out to those in need. Many thanks to those of you who participated and a special thanks to Esther Rechenmacher and Sarah Janigian for their community outreach in getting donations. 
For 60 years, Lutheran World Relief has worked throughout the world to combat the causes of poverty and restore the dignity it robs from people’s lives. They advocate for fair trade that helps artisans and farmers earn a better income. LWR does this exclusively with partner organizations in the communities being served, which helps them remain effective and efficient. Equal Exchange, which is a worker-owned cooperative committed to principles of fair trade, is LWR’s fair trade partner.
We offer periodic orientation events where we give people a tour of the church, acquaint them with the current ministry of CGS, give a brief overview of how our ministry relates to the ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and address any questions you may have. The orientation lasts 4 hours; refreshments will be served. I highly recommend that all new and returning friends of CGS attend this orientation event. The next CGS orientation will be held on September 17th at 9am.
