News for November 7, 2023
This Sunday, Nov 12: In-person service at 10am
This Sunday, Nov 12, our guest preacher will be our very own Roy Gesley. He's going to be talking about Moses' experience of encountering the burning bush in the wilderness and how we might experience that today.
This will also be Gina Lee's last Sunday with us as our Tech Maven. Her baby is due in about a month! Join us in saying thank you to Gina for keeping us connected. John Latham and David Wartman will be handling sound and Zoom in her absence.
The Giving Sunday offering for November is for Samaritan House, our fantastic local social services organization. "Fighting poverty. Lifting lives."
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.
Starting in Sept 2023, recordings of our Taize services are also on the YouTube page.
Sabrina's cybersecurity talk is now posted. This is worth watching even if you heard her give it.
Taize service this Friday
Join us at 7:30pm this Friday for our monthly service of chant, prayer and silence. Hear Jane Kenyon's poem "Let evening come," which seems so apt for this season of the year. Ariel Wang will be back with her violin.
Thanksgiving Food Drive
Sunday, Nov 19 will be our Thanksgiving service and we are reviving an old tradition that got suspended with Covid. We bring non-perishable food items to church and stack them under the altar. After worship they go to a local food pantry. This year they will be donated to St. Anthony's Padua Dining Room in Redwood City, where Caje volunteers each week. They provide hot meals 6 days a week all year long, to anyone who shows up, plus groceries to those who are homebound.
Upcoming services and events
• Weds discussion group:Nov 8 (7 pm), Zoom
"Basic Bible Stories", meeting the main characters of the Old Testament. We've moved through the time of the judges, and now on to the time of the kings. All are welcome to join these gatherings.
• Taize service: Nov 10 (7:30 pm), in-person and on Zoom.
A contemplative time of chant and prayer.
• Harvest Dinner: Nov 17 (6 pm) at Congregational Church of the Peninsula (aka "the Belmont church"). Joint early Thanksgiving with area UCC churches. Turkey provided, we bring sides. It was fun last year!
• Farewell Party for the Hasse's: Sun after worship, sometime in late Nov. Come say good-bye as they head up to Enso in Healdsburg. (Note: this date is subject to adjustment. Stay tuned for more info.)
• Congregational Meeting: Sun, Dec 3 after worship. The annual meeting to vote on next year's budget.
• Book Group: Sun, Jan 28 (7 pm), Zoom Al Hasse is still going to lead the Book Group! The next discussion won't be until after their move and the holidays, which will give you plenty of time to prepare your arguments, pro and con, on Sam Harris' "Free Will".
Links and resources
• Songstress Tammi Brown, who has graced our worship with her music more than once, is battling cancer. If you are moved to help, friends have set up a GoFundMe page.
• Last Sunday's guest preacher, Dr. Jim Doty from Stanford, gave us lots to follow up on. In case you didn't catch all of it, here are some useful links:
-- His book is called "Into the Magic Shop". Amazing life story!
-- His current website has some fascinating podcasts; the one he mentioned in particular is with our friend Sam Harris (see Book Group entry above).
-- The compassion beads made through San Antonio Compassion are temporarily not available for sale, but you can see the video about them that he mentioned.
Quote of the week
"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion." Dalai Lama
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: Roy Gesley
