July 29 - August 11, 2007

Cover Story

HOLY ROLLERS
by Steve Hagins

The 2007 Summer Season for the Holly Rollers Softball Team is underway at Memorial Park in Santa Monica, and after two games the Holly Rollers are undefeated! The team was started several years ago by members of our Church as a way to share good times, exercise, and Christian fellowship. We wanted to have a team with good Christian values, that can have a lot of fun together – and best of all, everyone is welcome regardless of ability or age (18+). Our short term goal each week is to give our best and win, or lose, gracefully with dignity and pride. Our long term goal is to have a team that attracts those who subscribe to our Christian values with regard to sportsmanship, and fellowship. We try to provide an environment in which our teammates can enhance their physical conditioning and spiritual growth. After several years of play now, we have enjoyed the benefits that a team like this can provide. It has been fun! We root for one another and rally when the chips are down. At the end of the day, we can say we had a good time playing together. The real message is: There’s lots going on at First United Methodist Church in Santa Monica! Be part of it!

We would love to have you come out to the ball park and enjoy these good times with us! We play locally at Memorial Park (14th & Olympic) on Sundays after Church. It would really be wonderful if you came out just to cheer us on, but if you have any interest in being a player, we are always recruiting! Just bring your glove, your cleats, and we will provide the rest. Give it a try – we think you’ll be glad you did! Hope to see you at the Ballpark!

Team Roster: Sarah Anguiano, Amanie Antoon, Brad Beeman, Dorothy Beeman, Kim Defenderfer, Garett Gorlitsky, Kendra Gorlitsky, Janeen Guinn, Cathleen Hagins, Steve Hagins, Sam Payne, Leo Reyes, Michael Rofail, David Searfoss, Michael Thomson, Dave Wilson, Benson Won, Benson Wong

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Highlights

FINAL SUMMER SEMINAR
Sunday, July 29 @ 11:20 am
The Social Concerns Summer Seminar Series will conclude with “Denial of Genocide and Atrocity” with Philip “Flip” Cuddy on July 29 at 11:20 in the Fireside Room. Flip is a writer and speaker on Korean and Korean-American history and will talk about this often ignored part of Japanese and Korean history. All are invited. webpage

YOUTH GULF COAST WORK TEAM
In New Orleans August 4 - 12
The Youth Gulf Coast Work Team and their adult leaders will be in New Orleans from August 4 through August 12, reconstructing homes that have been gutted and treated. Please keep the entire team and the families and communities they’ll be serving in your thoughts and prayers. Remember, We’re All Going!

GIVE YOUR KIDS A NEW ALTITUDE
Soaring to New Heights with God
Vacation Bible School - “Lift Off! Soaring to New Heights with God” will take place on August 6 - 10 from 9 am - 12:30 pm. A joint effort with Westwood UMC, this year’s VBS is sure to be a spectacular community event for all children of any denomination 3 years old through 5th grade.If your child isn’t signed up yet or if you know of friends, family or neighbors who might enjoy participating, please contact the church office or view the church website for more information. We’re eager to help you get involved!

GOSPEL, BLUEGRASS & ROOTS
Music Club is Forming
A new group will be starting that gathers once a month at the church, to listen and share favorite gospel folk songs, and to sing and play, with acoustic instruments, some of the great music in this tradition. If you like Ralph Stanley, Bill Monroe, the Carter Family, et al, and would like to participate, call Ken Rasmussen at (310) 452-2925 for information about the first gathering.

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS TIP: AUGUST
Family Supplies and Medical Plan
If you came to the “Disaster Preparedness Kick-Off on July 22” you will either have a disaster kit or a list for putting one together. These emergency supplies should be packed and ready in one place before disaster hits! Be sure your supply container/ backpack has an ID tag. Plan special provisions for family members who have special needs, including: seniors, people with disabilities, children and family members with medication needs. Make provisions for: possible evacuation, special foods, eye glasses, life sustaining equipment, wheelchairs, canes, walkers and strollers. Be sure these items are stored in an easily accessible location. If you missed the July 22 Kick-Off and would like more information, contact the church office.

THANKS, ADAM!
Adam Eskridge, our sound and lighting engineer for the past four years, has resigned due to work conflicts. Adam is the head freshman basketball coach and the assistant varsity basketball coach at Culver City High School. Please join us in thanking Adam for his years of service to FUMC. We wish him much success in his future endeavors!
Go, Centaurs!

RALPHS CLUB CARD UPDATE
Many of you already participate in the Ralphs Community Contribution program, in which FUMC receives a donation of up to 4% for every dollar you spend at Ralphs stores when you scan your Ralphs Club Card. Ralphs has informed us that, beginning September 1, 2007, all participants in this terrific program will be required to re-enroll. Everyone’s participation in the current Community Contribution program will expire on August 31, 2007.
So, if you want FUMC to continue to receive this donation, you must enroll again. You may accomplish this by going on-line to www.ralphs.com/ccprogram.htm. Click on the Sign Up button under “Participant,” and fill in the form. (You will need FUMC’s NPO Number: 3874.) Or, you may also call the church office and we will be happy to sign you up. We need your Ralphs Club Card number, the correct first and last name of the cardholder and the cardholder’s address. Thanks!

"WHERE ARE WE ON THE SIMKINS HALL PROJECT?"
The permit from the City of Santa Monica has been obtained and is displayed in the front window of Simkins Hall. Barker and Son Electric began work in the Hall. The eletrical phase of this project is expected to last 6 weeks. Sunset Studios Media Systems has been hired as our AudioVisual Contractor. Some of the AV equipment has been ordered. Check out the progress!

GET STARTED ON YOUR READING
If you’ve been wondering about what to read this summer, how about picking up one or a few of the upcoming Book Study books that Rev. Patricia Farris will tackle in the fall. Beginning on Sunday, September 23, the Book Study and Potluck will resume after worship at 12 noon on the last Sunday of each month. The first book will be Relating to People of Other Religions: What Every Christian Needs To Know by Thomas Thangaraj. The book on October 28 will be The Sky is Crying: Race, Class and Natural Disaster by Cheryl A. Kirk-Duggan (Editor). These books and others will be available for sale in the church library. Check the church website for the complete Book Study list and schedule. Happy Reading!

 

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by Patricia Farris

Pope Benedict XVI recently released a statement reiterating the position of the Roman Catholic Church that Christian denominations outside Roman Catholicism are not the church in the full sense of the word. The statement alarmed many church leaders and some of you as well.

One wise veteran of ecumenical dialogue has pointed out that the Pope was not saying anything new. This has been and is the position of the Roman Catholic church. And frank clarity, said Fr. Leonid Kishkovsky, is essential to dialogue. If we “fudge” or misrepresent our position for the sake of friendliness or nicety, true dialogue will not be able to proceed.

Nevertheless, we might also note that “on the street,” that is in our homes, families, neighborhoods and workplaces, a level of interaction and mutual respect already exists that goes far beyond the official proclamations of the church. Our lives and our relationships are far more complex, interactive and beautiful. Many of you look forward eagerly to our annual Service of Christian Unity as a time to worship side-by-side as Protestant and Catholic friends and neighbors. Our own Health Ministry Nurse, Mary Jo Dalton, an active member of St. Monica’s, is a bridge between our two communities and a wonderful exemplar of working from our places of commonality and shared mission rather than from what divides us.

Recently, when Ron Theile’s group of bell-ringers provided music for our Sunday worship service, many of those Catholic kids in the group had questions for me. Because they feel so at home here, because they feel so loved here, and because some of them even think of FUMC as their church family, they wondered if it would be OK to think of themselves as “Catholic Methodists” or “Methodist Catholics”!

“Of course you can!” I assured them. Because they are. And even if that makes the job of church statisticians and boundary-keepers harder, so be it. Change in the church always comes from the bottom up, not from the top down. And one day, probably not in my lifetime, the kind of distinctions that can seem so important now will surely be viewed as relics of a former time.

Let’s keep living into the truth of who we are and what we believe—that indeed we are all one in Christ Jesus. Christ claims us in our baptism and unites us with one another. And Christ gives us as a gift to the world, united in service, in mission, and in love.

Patricia Farris

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Community

OUR ORGANIST IN THE NEWS
UCLA Live expands the legacy of the historic Royce Hall pipe organ with a new series that includes silent film classics and a contemporary multimedia concert featuring renowned organist and composer Christoph Bull. “The revived Organ Series opens several new doors, in addition to continuing the beloved Organ & Film family tradition,” Bull said. “We also have a German silent movie classic and will cover a variety of German organ masters in the same event. I’m especially excited about the return of ‘Organica’ which, for the first time at Royce Hall, will have two guest performers and feature French composers and new music.” For more information, visit www.uclalive.org.

NEED A RETREAT?
A Single-Parent Family Retreat for single parents and their children is being sponsored by the Adult & Family Ministries of the Cal-Pac Conference on Labor Day Weekend (August 31 - September 3, 2007) at Lazy W Ranch in San Juan Capistrano. The theme will be “Building Your Ark: Surviving Single Parenthood.” For a registration form, contact the church office.

PRAYER QUILT THANKS
-The quilt is gorgeous. The more I look at it, the more “African” it looks! I love the colors. The rainbow Easter eggs bespeak hope and new life. The other outbursts of color reach outward and upward as if visual prayers. The cross on the back is also a profound visual comfort. It’s truly a “comforter.” It will go with me to Cedars next week, but presently is hanging in our sanctuary so the congregation can see it this Sunday and know they too are being prayed for by your congregation. Talk about wondrous Methodist-Lutheran relations! -Rev. Jim Boline (Pastor, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church)

-I want to inform you of the great comfort the quilt gave me during this difficult journey I am taking, but I know that with God’s strength I can make it through this. With great gratitude, Suzanne Poulin

Missions Update

Upcoming Worship