News for October 31, 2023
This Sunday, Nov 5: In-person service at 10am
This Sunday, Nov 5, our guest preacher will be Dr. James Doty, professor of neurosurgery at Stanford and founder and director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE). His life is a testimony to the power of setting intentions from the heart. He tells his story in "Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon's Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart."
Instant Choir will meet at 8:45 am. We'll be singing Stephen Paulus' "The Road Home."
The Giving Sunday offering for November is for Samaritan House, our fantastic local social services organization. "Fighting poverty. Lifting lives."
Worship & Arts will meet after worship.
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.
Annual pledge drive underway
Annual pledge letters have been mailed out to members; please return your responses by Nov 10. You can mail in the form (attention: Marilyn Courter) or email your pledge to Marilyn. This coming year will be an exciting one, as we anticipate calling a new pastor during that time. Pledges account for about half of our income, so every contribution matters. Please be generous! We will vote on the proposed budget at the congregational meeting on Dec 3.
Giving Sundays
A bit of CHC history about Giving Sundays... Years ago we were trying to figure out how to remember all 5 of the annual UCC special collections. We wanted to do them but we kept forgetting! So someone got the brilliant idea that if we did a special collection once a month all year long, we would get in the habit of giving and easily remember the UCC ones. The other 7 could be for local nonprofits that we had been supporting anyway, just not as regularly. Groups like Puente and Mission Hospice and Samaritan House and so on.
Around the same time we were all reading Robin Meyers' book "The Underground Church" where he makes a very wise observation about church outreach budgets. He said that people give happily and generously to specific causes they care about, but if you lump all the causes together in the church outreach budget, people are not so committed and not so generous. They're a step removed from the causes they care about. That's why our CHC budget for outreach has only a standard amount for the UCC's OCWM. All the rest of our outreach giving comes through Giving Sundays, and the totals are so large for such a little church that I literally once got a call from the conference people checking the annual yearbook data. They thought the numbers had been misreported!
If you have suggestions for groups you would like to see on the Giving Sundays list, let Polly or David W. know. The list of 7 local groups each year is flexible.
Upcoming services and events
• Worship & Arts: Sun, Nov 5 after worship. Everyone is welcome to help plan future 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.
• 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.
• “Don’t give up on me!” by Andy Grammar and 65 10-year-olds from PS22 on Staten Island NY.
• Samaritan House Toy Drive opens. The annual holiday donations of toys and coats through Samaritan House.
Quote of the week
"Your values become your destiny." -- Mahatma Gandhi
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: Dr. James Doty
