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

Sunday School This Week, May 11

Preschool & Kindergarten Only
All Other Students Stay in Church

First grade and above remain in worship to watch Confirmation.
Study Eleven: Week of May 11, 2008
Paul Teaches Regarding Spiritual Gifts:
1 Corinthians 12:4-27

Bible Point: God gives people different gifts for serving him
Weaving Faith Into Life: Students will identify their spiritual gifts and use them to serve God.
Key Verse: “For we are God’s workman-ship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)

SIX-2-EIGHT
Middle School kids meet in the Youth Center Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m. Come join us for fun and friendship!
May 8: MOVIE NIGHT Tracy Maples, and Laura Tschudin; Snack Lily Betancourt
May 15: NO SIX TO EIGHT
May 22: NO SIX TO EIGHT

Confirmation Sunday May 11

May 11 is Confirmation Sunday! Plan to come to the small dining room at 9:10 a.m. to receive your flowers. Be sure to bring a red candle of some size to light on the altar. The confirmands will gather in the sanctuary after the service for a group picture. Any questions—contact Charlie Ensley.

Children’s Musical Sunday, May 18th During Worship

The Tale of the Three Trees, written by Angel Elwell Hunt, and set to music by Allen Pote, is based on an American folk tale. As the story goes, Once upon a mountaintop, three trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up. The first tree wanted to be a fine wooden chest made to carry fine jewels, the second tree wanted to be the mast of a mighty sailing ship, and the third tree wanted to continue to grow and point to heaven. As the years passed, the three trees nearly forgot their dreams. Eventually, each tree gets its wish, although not in the way it had foreseen. They discover that things turned out just the way they should have. Those who hear the story will be reminded that God has plans for every one of his creations, that He never loses sight any of us.

Come to worship with us on Sunday, May 18th as the members of the Bay Shore Children’s Choir and guests share this powerful message of God’s love for us.

Final rehearsals for the Musical are:
Sunday, May 11 – 11 – 11:30 rehearsal Tuesday,
May 13 - 4:00 – 6:15 pm Dress Rehearsal: Pizza for everyone!
Sunday, May 18 – Call: 8:00 am – run-through dress rehearsal
Service: 9:30 am – “The Tale of the Three Trees”

Many years ago, either a visiting worshipper or guest speaker said to me after worship, with respect to the blue prayer cards I had read, “You sure have a lot of sick members.” I replied that very few of them were members of our church, only three to five of the names read. The rest were your family members, friends, co-workers, or general concerns about world situations.

The number of those cards has never diminished in the 21 years I have been reading them. Each week during the first hymn, an usher hands me a stack a quarter to half an inch thick. As you know, I generally read just the names and not the specific reasons for prayer, mostly to preserve the privacy of those for whom we are praying. The exception is for church members, known to many of you, and for whom you might well wish an update on their condition.

I have reviewed all the cards for the past three Sundays, April 13, 20 and 27, and thought you might like to know the wide variety of concerns behind the names you lovingly write down each Sunday, and for whom you hear my prayer join yours. Those listed involve persons who are sick, having surgery, those with cancer and Alzheimer’s, undergoing radiation, chemotherapy, burn treatment, rehabilitation, recovery programs for alcohol or drug addictions, family problems of every sort, caregivers, students taking tests and making career decisions, travelers, families affected by airline closures, those seeking jobs and older people making career changes, pets who are missing, sick or dying, people who are hungry, homeless and facing economic downturns, for safety, expectant mothers during pregnancy, the safe return of soldiers and their families, those who are mourning and the souls of those who have died, rejoicing at a birth, wedding congratulations, prayers for peace, and, my favorite, “thanks to God for answered prayers, God’s grace, infinite love, and the promise of each new day.”

Only a quarter to a third of each week’s cards have a reason listed, but I imagine most of the concerns fall into one of the broad categories above. No, there is never a lessening of the number of cards handed in, but, then again, there never seems to be a lessening of your genuine and heartfelt desire to lift those needs to God in prayer.

Charlie Ensley
Senior Minister

This may never be a topic that you’ve thought about, but there is a difference between leading worship and being led in worship.  Any of you can see what I (or any other minister, priest or rabbi) does at worship.  We lead worship, guiding you through the various elements, usually after designing and composing much of that worship ourselves.  There is certainly a satisfaction in accomplishing this task, but sometimes one is so busy making it happen that it is hard to worship.  It could be compared to putting on a party:  sometimes you’re so involved with the fixings, welcoming your guests, replenishing the table that you don’t always get to enjoy the party yourself.

As I mentioned last Sunday, on April 13 Peggy and I worshipped at Keawala’i Congreg-ational Church in Makena, on Maui.  We’ve worshipped there twice before, and always look forward to the drive down the coast from Ka’anapali to Makena.  Several hotels hosted beachside services at 8:00 a.m., but we prefer the worship experience in Makena.  It is different worshipping in a church which uses their Hawai’ian heritage.  The cadence of the music, sometimes sung first in Hawai’ian, then English, is soothing to hear.  I noted in their worship bulletin there was a liturgist’s training session on April 19.  After hearing the English-speaking liturgist pray and read both in English and Hawi’ian, I could understand why!  While sitting next to my wife (a rarity for us), we sang some of the same hymns and heard the same lesson you heard here on April 13.

I had met the pastor on previous visits, and greeted him before worship that Sunday.     As we shook his hand at the door afterwards, I said to him, “Blessings on your ministry here.”  He sighed and said, “I’m just glad it’s all over.”  Evidently, the point in my first paragraph above must be a universal experience!

While meeting last Sunday with several incoming new members, one asked about their obligations.  They were assured we do not track attendance and call them after missing one Sunday.  However, I did say if you’re going to be away for several weeks visiting elsewhere, on a cruise or other trip, mention it to me at the door.  I hope you have the experience of worshipping elsewhere when away.  Last week, a member sent me two worship bulletins from a recent trip:  a Palm Sunday evening service in London and a French service on Easter in Paris.  Enjoy worshipping . . . anywhere!

Charlie Ensley
Senior Minister

As you know, much is being said around the country about one of our United Church of Christ congregations and one of our pastors, Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright. I have been hearing from some of our church folk who only know what they are hearing in the news and are concerned about our UCC faith family and who want to understand more fully. All of this is happening in the context of the national political arena and, in my view, our church and pastor are being used by the media and political forces. I don’t intend to comment on that aspect. But I can speak personally about the church and the pastor. Some of you know that my husband and I are still members of Trinity UCC and Dr. Wright was our pastor. We hold him in high regard and are stunned by the way his long, respected and honorable ministry is being assaulted by selecting a handful of ‘sound bites’ from thousands of sermons made over 40 years of ministry. These out of context moments do not begin to express the biblical prophetic foundations and African American experience from which Rev. Wright speaks. I know that some of you have gone to the Trinity UCC website to seek the complete sermons and were not able to access them but I am told that soon 50 of Rev. Wright’s sermons will be accessible there.

I just want briefly to voice my own experience as a member of Trinity United Church of Christ. (By the way, I have spoken with several reporters about our experience at Trinity but am never referred to in print, I presume because my experience is POSITIVE!) Milt and I are members there very intentionally because it is a Christ centered, Spirit filled congregation where the worship is powerful; the preaching is spiritually insightful and prophetic; the welcome to all is warm and embracing; mission is both local and global ; tithing is encouraged and expected; members bring and read their Bibles; and disciples are nurtured in the faith. Yes, we are among just a few ‘white’ members. And yes, sometimes in worship I hear a painful biblical challenge to the white privilege that has been part of my own life and to the racism that is so destructive in our culture.  That challenge has helped to shape  my own journey in following Jesus as I try to live and minister in ways that contribute to a more loving and just world. But never—NEVER-have Milt or I felt unwelcome or unloved at Trinity because of the color of our skin. To the contrary, we consistently have felt loved and embraced because of our oneness with our sisters and brothers through Jesus Christ. Our church family has prayed for us when our granddaughter was ill and Rev Wright has pastored me through some personally challenging times. Milt and I have visited a village in Ghana West Africa where Trinity UCC has helped to build a community center with a library, provided computers for a classroom and a generator for the small hospital and they have strongly supported our UCC related Inanda School, for girls, in South Africa, in addition to significant support of Our Church’s Wider Mission.

Do I agree with every word from Rev. Wright’s mouth? No. (No more than I agree with every word my husband says! ) But I have seen and experienced the dominant direction of his whole ministry which is toward love and justice and peace for all people in the name of Jesus Christ. That is what I respect.

Jane Fisler Hoffman
Interim Conference Minister

I heard many good comments from the congregation after the Chancel Choir’s Palm Sunday’s presentation of selections from Handel’s Messiah between readings of the last days of Jesus’ life from Matthew’s Gospel. Some said they knew the story, but had never heard it presented so thoughtfully and dramatically. I noticed how quiet the congregation was, both during the choruses and the narration. Such solemnity befits the story we were hearing, in word and song, of Jesus’ sacrifice.

It is quite possible that those who heard it will have a better appreciation of the Good News of Easter morning, when various persons came to the tomb, only to find it open and empty! Had Jesus’ body been stolen, or is it possible that his prediction of “building the temple in three days” had come to pass? At the time of Lazarus’ death, he had spoken to his sister Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)

This is the crucial question for us this Easter Sunday morning: “Do you believe this?” Does the brutal crucifixion and wondrous resurrection of Jesus from the bonds of death make a difference in your life? Do you understand the miraculous transformations that can come about in a person’s life because of their belief in Jesus as the Son of God and as their Savior?

Throughout Lent, I have been using stories from John’s Gospel to tell how Jesus personally and intimately touched and changed the lives of various individuals: the Pharisee Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman at the well, the man born blind, the sisters Mary and Martha, and their brother Lazarus, whom Jesus brought back to life. Each of these demonstrates not only Jesus’ role and power, but also his compassion and caring, both for persons he knew—Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and those unknown to him—the woman at the well and the blind man.

Do you have any reason to believe Jesus wouldn’t have just as much of a personal interest in you, in what’s going on in your life, a concern for whatever is keeping you from being the best person you want to be? I believe he does, and hope Easter will bring hope and resurrection to your life and faith.

Charlie Ensley
Senior Minister

I was asked a very good question in the parking lot last week. Why do we also refer to Palm Sunday as Passion Sunday, and why is this Sunday’s cantata called “The Passion”?

We generally have a different notion when we hear the word “passion”, but the first definition for passion in Webster’s dictionary is: “1 often capitalized a) the sufferings of Christ between the night of the Last Suffer and his death b) an oratorio based on a gospel narrative of the Passion.” Our more common notion of passion is not listed until “5) a) ardent affection; love b) a strong liking or desire for or devotion to….” The derivation of “passion” is “Late Latin, passio, suffering, being acted upon, from Latin pati, to suffer.”

For this Sunday’s Lenten cantata presentation by the Chancel Choir, Julie Ramsey and I have taken Matthew’s account of Jesus’ Passion, separated it into the various scenes of what happened between the Last Supper and his death, and woven selections from Handel’s Messiah into it. The choir has been practicing their music for two months, but last Thursday’s rehearsal was the first at which we paired my narration from Matthew with Handel’s musical selections. Some choir members told me it was very moving to hear the Gospel account, which we usually do not have time to hear on Palm Sunday.

I had another very good question from a choir member, who was obviously listening intently to the narration. She wondered why I said the two thieves being crucified on either side of Jesus “taunted him”. “Didn’t Christ say one of them would be with him that day in Paradise?” Yes, that is in Luke’s account, but not in Matthew’s. The famous seven last words of Christ, both read and sung in the cantata of the same title, use the four Gospel accounts together to find the seven statements Jesus made from the cross.

Only 60-70 people attend Maundy Thursday’s chapel communion service to hear the account of the Last Supper, Jesus’ prayers in Gethsemane, his betrayal and arrest. So few attended Good Friday services, we gave those up and instead open the sanctuary for your own personal meditation. For some years I have wanted the congregation to hear the Gospel account of what happened to Jesus in the days between those two Sundays: the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday, and the glorious resurrection on Easter. I think you will be impressed by the choral presentation and narrative you will hear this Sunday.
Charlie Ensley
Senior Minister

It has now been nine months since Rev. Elaine Schoepf left to serve a church in Hawaii.  In the interim, our Christian Education Commission has been very active and visible in making sure this vital ministry of our church is accomplished.  Last fall, the Board of Stewards appointed an Open Position Exploration Committee to determine the best staffing model for our church.  Nearly 100 of you responded to their survey, and two-thirds of those responding indicated they wished to call an Associate Minister, who would share both pastoral duties, but with an emphasis on Christian Education.

At last week’s Board of Stewards meeting, the Board adopted the process and procedure of the United Church of Christ for calling a minister.  (In fact, we held up printing last week’s Carillon until Tuesday night after the meeting so we could share those details in as timely a manner as possible.)  As you may have read last week, again this week on the next page, and by Moderator Dede Gilmore’s announcement last Sunday, the Board is open to suggestions for persons to serve on the search committee.  There will be 5-9 members, chosen by a sub-committee of the Board from those names submitted to the moderator by March 16.  Then the Board can approve the search committee on March 25.

Just today I received a phone call from our interim Associate Conference Minister June Boutwell, who will be working with the committee once it is formed.  They will create a profile about our church and define the job responsibilities.  Only then will our open position be listed in the monthly national listing of open positions in the UCC.  The search committee will receive profiles, interview candidates, narrow their search, and finally present a final candidate to the congregation for your approval.

We have not done such a search in 15 years, so many of you may be unfamiliar with the process.  In our congregational style of government, each autonomous local church may choose their own minister(s); they are not assigned.  While the search committee must maintain absolute confidentiality about candidates during the process, you will be kept up-to-date about their progress by a chart, showing each step of where the committee is in the process.  This can and should be an exciting time for our congregation as we seek an additional minister to join with us in Bay Shore’s ministry.

Charlie Ensley
Senior Minister

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