The Community Organizes and Orders Its Life Through the Flow of Information

M O N T C L A I R
P R E S B Y T E R I A N
C H U R C H


August 13, 2008


This Sunday, August 17th: MPC family member, Graduate Theological Union scholar and Family Therapist Peggy Alter will be the guest preacher this Sunday.


Next Sunday, August 24th: Karen Stokes returns from vacation and will continue the series on "Essentials."


ALL CHILDREN’S CHURCH SCHOOL CLASSES continue meeting through August 24. Grades 1-6 will join us in Celebration Aug. 31.


ALL IN THE FAMILY
Susan Hunn had total knee replacement surgery yesterday and is doing well. She expects to be at home through the end of the month. Congratulations to Helen Hutchison and Lee Aurich on the marriage of their daughter Karen to Nigel Dookhoo in Los Angeles on August 1st. Please keep Barbara Robinson and the Robinson family in your thoughts and prayers as she undergoes treatment for cancer. Also, Kathy Ray's brother Duane is at UCSF hospital in San Francisco, recovering from a successful pancreas transplant. He and his wife Gail are looking for a place to stay for about a month during his recuperation. If you know of anything, please call Kathy on her cell phone: 510-299-2400.


THE REV. ADRIANA TUNLIU-DUKABAIN MPC's incoming international presence is Adriana, from Timor, Indonesia. She is enrolled in the D. Min. program at the Pacific School of Religion and lives with her son, Axel, - who turns 6 on the 18th - in the Berkeley Presbyterian Mission Homes. Husband Allen will follow.
She has been working in the Timor Synod office, coordinating relief work with international partners for the victims of the floods and droughts and famines in various parts of Timor. She has been active in developing a micro-credit agency, is secretary of a forum for families with disabled children, and on and on. . . Come and meet Adriana and Axel - sign up for a course she may teach and come when she speaks at a Sunday brunch. Your life will be enriched!


THE BUILDING RENOVATION COMMITTEE is looking for someone with some experience in recovering furniture. We have the fabric to cover the 2 benches in the narthex to match the pews; now we just need some nimble fingers to help make it happen! If you can help, please call Helen Hutchison at 510 654 2216.


EXPERIENCED FOOD BASKET VOLUNTEERS: Please let us know by Aug. 19th if you do NOT plan to volunteer with the Food Basket this year or if you need to make any scheduling changes. Email Ruthann Taylor at clydetayl@att.net. Thanks.


NEW FOOD BASKET VOLUNTEERS NEEDED. Would you like to join our Food Basket team as a regular member or alternate to help with bagging, delivery or staffing the table once a month? If so, please email Jan Stites at scribejes@aol.com by Aug. 19th. Thanks.


ALL FOOD BASKET VOLUNTEERS. Plan on joining us September 7 for a thank you Continental breakfast in the Thornhill Room after the service. Ruthann Taylor and Jan Stites.


WANTING TO TAKE A BREAK FROM YOUR BUSY LIFE? Tempted to enjoy a short spell in a secluded spot with a quiet chapel and gardens that invite contemplation? Hungry for nourishing conversation and some spiritual practices? If so, mark your calendar and call the MPC office to reserve a spot. MPC will be offering a women’s 24 hour retreat on September 5th and 6th at the Santa Sabina Center on the Dominican University campus in San Rafael. For more information email rebecca@mpcfamily.org or call Rebecca Herrero at the office.


EVERYONE IS INVITED TO OUR OPEN MIKE READING at the Thornhill Coffee House, across from the church at 5772 Thornhill Drive, on Wednesday, August 20 at 7:00PM. Hear or share original stories, poems, vignettes or opinion pieces (under 6 minutes). To be included in our Anthology 2008, bring camera-ready copy on 8 ½ x 11 white paper. Questions? Call Margaret Irvin, 510-243-1114. Sponsored by Poets and Storytellers.


THOSE WISHING TO CONTRIBUTE items for upcoming Family Hour refreshments .Please contact Diane Hall email: diecca@aol.com . Home phone: (510)295-7146


SAN FRANCISCO THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY is looking for donations for its annual Furniture Faire. All new students will have the opportunity to “shop” for gently used furniture and household items, that will help to make an apartment a home. Please bring your donations to MPC on 08/17/2008. Vern and Gloria Alexander and Arthur Horn will make the delivery to SFTS


INVITATION FOR COMMITTEE CHAIRS AND COORDINATORS
Set aside 6-9 pm on August 20th for the summer Committee Chairs and Coordinators party and training at Jeanne Dunn’s digs. Please bring an hors d’oeuvre to share.
We’ll compare notes on what is working and search for new ways for committees to flesh out the new current emphases. Call the office or email rebecca@mpcfamily.org with your RSVP.


RECYCLE YOUR PLASTIC
The third Sunday of each month e.g. (August, 17th) Clean plastic tied in plastic bags will be picked up from MPC for recycling by the Ecostewards committee. Leave your tied bags of clean plastic on the east side of the Family Room near Thornhill Drive before 11:30AM. The pickup will be at 11:30AM on Sunday.


ARE YOU LISTENING? Paraprofessional Counseling: New College Berkeley, an associate of GTU, offers a chance for lay people to develop sophisticated counseling skills integrated with faith. The skills are usable for work or with families. Tuesday evenings Sept 2 through Dec. 9, 7:00-9:30 pm. Call 841-9386. Or ask Peggy Alter.



Studying Our Story Together
Jewish, Christian and Moslems consider the Golden Calf
Sunday, September 7, 3-6pm
At the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California
1433 Madison Avenue at 14th, Oakland (94612)
with leaders from
Kehilla Community Synagogue,
Montclair Presbyterian Church,
and the Islamic Cultural Center
The story of the Golden Calf is found in both the Bible and the Quran. All three of the Abrahamic religious traditions consider this story central to their understanding of the dangers of idol-worship. While there may be few worshippers of idols in the classic sense in our midst, the issue is not a dead letter. Often we worship values or materials and invest them with a holiness they may not deserve. We look for easy answers to give us illusory powers of the problems that confront us. How do these three religious communities struggle with their texts of this story and apply to our spiritual, political and ecological concerns today? We will sit together and read this short story in both texts and discuss what it may mean to us today. The biblical story is found in Exodus chapter 32; the Quran’s story is found in Sura 7:138-157





THURSDAY, AUGUST 14
10:00AM BIBLE STUDY CANCELLED Thornhill Room

FRIDAY, AUGUST 15

SATURDAY, AUGUST 16
10:30 to 1:00 ART GANG EVENT Dot’s House

SUNDAY, AUGUST 17
9:00AM SESSION MEETING Thornhill Room
10:00AM - 11:00AM SUNDAY CELEBRATION Sanctuary
11:00AM - 12:00PM FAMILY HOUR Family Room
11:30 COMPANIONS Thornhill Room
11:30AM GLOBAL CONCERNS Room 10
11:30AM DRAMA COMMITTEE MEETING Room 1

MONDAY, AUGUST 18
7:30PM ADULT ED MEETING Thornhill Room

TUESDAY, AUGUST 19

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20
10:00AM-11:30AM PRIME TIME Thornhill Room
7:00PM BARRELHOUSE JAZZ BAND
6:00PM CHAIRS & COORDINATORS MINI RETREAT
7:00PM OPEN MIKE READING Thornhill Cafe

THURSDAY, AUGUST 21
10:00AM BIBLE STUDY Thornhill Room

FRIDAY, AUGUST 22

SATURDAY, AUGUST 23

SUNDAY, AUGUST 24
10:00AM - 11:00AM SUNDAY CELEBRATION Sanctuary
11:00AM - 12:00PM FAMILY HOUR Family Room

MONDAY, AUGUST 25
12:45 JOURNALING Thornhill Room
7:30PM SPIRITUAL ACTIVIST /PEACEMAKERS Thornhill Room

TUESDAY, AUGUST 26

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27
6:00PM MEMBERSHIP Room 1 & 2
7:30PM COMMUNITY CONNECTION COMMITTEE Thornhill Room


Next Contact: August 27.

Staff Members:
Rev. Karen Stokes, Pastor
Rev. John Hadsell, Theologian in Residence
Rev. Kathy Ray, Parish Associate
Susan Hunn, Associate for Children & Youth
Marcia Roy, Associate in Music
Christine Peterson, Associate in Communications & Logistics
Rebecca Herrero, Associate in Life & Programs


OUR MISSION
Montclair Presbyterian Church is a family of open- hearted, open-minded, joyfully imperfect people.
We know and share the radical hospitality of God.
Affirming God's love for the whole world, we work and pray for peace, justice and reconciliation.

Blessings,
Christine Peterson
Associate in Communications and Logistics
Montclair Presbyterian Church
5701 Thornhill Drive
Oakland, California 94611
510/339-1131
Christine@mpcfamily.org