Bay Shore Church - Sermons and News from Bay Shore Community Congregational Church in Belmont Shore, California.

Al & Esther Watts, Pat Horn, Carol Davis, Nancy, peace & grace for Greg Key, Tracey Condon, Papa Lou, Vicki Wylie, Craig Peterson, Chris Hause  & family, birth of Julia Seton Hoffman, birth of Eli Phillip Sorkin, Dad, Beverly & Gary, John & Jake, Julie & family, soul of Jeanette Harvey, David Smitheran, Delores, U.S. soldiers, Doug Incledon, Julie Alvarez, Sandy Deppe, Cecelia Osborne, Herb Sauvegeau, soul of Chris Knerr, soul of Charley Knerr, soul of Joe Galvao, soul of Rick Carr, Glen Mathis, Julie Hoagland, Rich Elliott, Mike, all caregivers, prayers for  peace, Ben, Scout, Ted & Billie Anderson, Courtney Stanley, Terry Pynchon, Sherry & Lyle Holm, Harriett Robbins, Dad, Dorothy Wallace, Margaret Leake, Liz Wallace & her family on the deaths of her daughter Anne and husband Don.  Thanks to God for answered prayers, God’s grace, infinite love & the
promise of each new day.

This Sunday, March 2^nd, the chamber choir Meritáge, under the direction of Dr. Sheridan Ball, will be performing a concert featuring Benjamin Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb at 4:00 p.m. in our sanctuary.  Tickets for a $15 donation will be available at the door.

This Sunday, the United Church of Christ joins with eight other Protestant denominations in supporting the One Great Hour of Sharing offering.  The offering, administered through Church World Service since 1949, goes worldwide to create sustainable sources of income for rural villages, teaches job skills to those maimed by landmines, helps rebuild communities destroyed by natural disasters, provides small loans to women to start poverty-escaping businesses.

An insert is included in this Carillon, along with an offering envelope.  Make checks payable to Bay Shore Church, and mark OGHS in the corner.

The Board of Stewards, at the February 26 meeting, adopted the procedures for searching for a new associate minister.  Consulting with our Conference staff, and using the United Church of Christ search guidelines, the Board will appoint a search committee of 5-9 members.  The search committee will then meet with Conference staff, create a church profile (like a resume about Bay Shore Church), define position to be filled, using data from the congrega-tional survey, and then commence a search.  It may take up to 9-12 months.

The Board is seeking nominees to serve on the search committee.  Then, a sub-committee from the board, none of which will be serving on the search com-mittee, will present a slate of names to the Board of Stewards at their March 25 meeting.

A nominee must be a member of the church who worships regularly, supports the church and participates.  Search committee members are then asked to make:
•    A Faith Commitment
•    A Time Commitment
•    A Commitment to Confidentiality
•    A Commitment to Openness
•    A Commitment to Consensus
Those interested in being considered for
the Associate Minister Search Committee should submit their own name, or name of someone they think would be a good choice, by March 16 to Moderator Dede Gilmore at BayShrMdrator@aol.com.  You should include a brief description of why that person will be an asset to the committee.  It is possible than not all nominees will be selected due to the size of the committee.

Once the search committee is constituted, a step-by-step chart will be displayed, showing the progress of their work.  Since we have not had a search committee since 1993, this will be a good learning experience for our entire congregation.

I was troubled this past week by the number of shootings on our nation’s campuses. A middle school boy was shot by a classmate in Oxnard; possibly a hate crime because the teen may have been gay. A half-dozen students at Northern Illinois University killed in a classroom by a graduate student who had gone off his medications. Other shootings occur near campuses here in Long Beach, and just two weeks ago, two teens were randomly killed attending a dance just steps from a church in a “safe” section of the city. Every parent thinks their child(ren) are safe on the campus, but events in the last decade, from Columbine to today, make us realize otherwise.

This is not a diatribe against 2nd Amendment rights to bear arms, or the easy-availability of handguns. I suspect those who wish to commit violence will find a way to get what they need to do that. What bothers me most is the total disregard they have for human life, and that killing others is the solution to anything. Many of these shootings are not even in retaliation or against a known opponent. Most of the victims are innocent people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I am troubled too, troubled with helplessness, over acts of genocide in distant countries.
Suicide bombers in Iraq—the latest, two women with Downs Syndrome in a marketplace.
I will likely never visit those places, but newspapers, television reports and Internet news services bring those acts of violence—nearly live—right into our own homes or computers.

I have always believed it risky to presume what Jesus would say, but I really don’t think Jesus would believe such senseless and tragic acts of violence are right. He certainly knew and experienced persecution, even an unbelievably painful death. But would he not think, with his Creator Father God, that each human life is of value? Certain folks are troubled and distressed, perhaps mentally unbalanced. Some of the same situations occurred in Jesus’ day. Some of the persons “possessed by demons” that he was asked to heal might have been as disturbed as the shooters/killers of today.

Now, more than ever, it seems we must be on the lookout for those who would perpetuate such acts of senseless violence against the innocent, since they seem to care so very little for the value of a human life.

Charlie Ensley
Senior Minister

On Sunday, March 2nd, the choral group Meritáge, a chamber choir under the direction of Dr. Sheridan Ball, will be performing a concert featuring Benjamin Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb at 4:00 p.m. in our sanctuary.  They look forward to performing in our space for the first time and using the pipe organ.  Tickets will be available at the door.

The 2008 Pilgrim Pines summer camp brochure, With My Own Two Hands, is out.  Advanced registration for UCC and returning campers is now open.  Costs vary by age and camp, but are $355-365 by June 1.  A minimum $50 deposit is required to hold the date.  Bay Shore campers are urged to register by March 1 for guaranteed placement.  (If camp fees might keep someone from going, speak confidentially to Charlie Ensley.  We want everyone who wishes to attend to have a summer camp experience.)

This summer, camp will cover six weeks.  Bay Shore will attend week 3, July 13-19, which is the calendar week we usually attend, although campers are free to pick any week or program which meets their interest and schedule.  A counselor-in-training program is included in week 1, June 29-July 5 for senior highs.  (Not mandatory for CITs in 2007.)  See the camp brochure for more details on the various weeks. Volunteers are also needed and welcome.  One volunteer is needed for each ten campers.

Upcoming Lenten preludes are:
Feb. 24 – Ellie Choate, harp
March 2 – Michelle Haun & Cheryl Loofbourrow, flute; music of Bach & Telemann
March 9 – The Bay Shore Bells
Palm Sunday, March 16 – String Quartet
Easter, March 23 – Trumpets & Timpani

The Board of Stewards has called a congre-gational meeting to follow worship Sunday to vote on rebuilding the hooded trumpets of the pipe organ.  Installed in 1990, the trumpets have twice been modified:  once revoiced and once with changing the air pressure.  Neither of these resulted in a tone that complements their use with other organ stops.

Our organ technician, Dale Schweitzer, has presented a proposal to the Worship Commission and Board of Stewards to have the trumpets rebuilt by Schopps Sons, a leading firm in organ trumpets.  (They are currently rebuilding the trumpets at the Crystal Cathedral.)  The total cost for the project is $13,923, to be taken from existing organ funds.  Our constitution requires a congregational vote for expenditures in excess of $10,000 not already in an approved budget.  A quorum of sixty (60) church members is required to vote.  It is hoped the meeting, immediately after worship in the sanctuary, will be brief, to be followed by our regular Fellowship Hour and the Blood Drive in progress from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Bay Shore Friends “Bake Sale” will be held Sunday, March 9th after services in the Concert Hall.  Homemade Cookies, Cakes, Pies and Breads! “Just like Grandma use to bake”. Bay Shore Friends members and church members who might wish to contribute some “Homemade Baked Goods”, please contact John Dooley (562) 434-9339 or email @ jdooley5@charter.net