June 15 - 30, 2008
Cover Story

CHILDREN'S SUNDAY by Claudia Flanders, photos by Allan Walker

Under the talented directing and planning of Janet Searfoss, the “First” Annual Children’s Sunday was an amazing experience. How proud we all were of ‘our children’ of the choir as they sang with such gusto (John Wesley would be proud) and read from the Bible so well and meaningfully. With the children guiding us through scripture and song, we revisited the wonderful stories of Noah and Jesus’ encounter with Simon as he was fishing. Then the choir clapped and sang praises to the Lord our God as taught in the Psalms. And the Children’s Choir certainly did that well! Thanks, Janet and the Children’s Choir.

We then recognized and gave thanks to our dedicated Sunday School teachers and Superintendents: Norm Ellis, David Boone, Sara Gomez de Rodriquez, Charlsa Boone, Glenda Martinez, Joy Peterman, Dot Plukas, Katya Heffner, Shelby Pascoe, Nancy Kearsley, Sue Heffner, Roxanne Corley-O’Bell, Sandra Jones, Janet Bogel, Sue Pascoe, Chris Reagh, Char Smith, and Jan Ellis (Cherub Choir).

To cap this wonderful Sunday off, the Sunday School children in Grades 1,2, and 3, guided by Sandra Jones, performed music for us in Simkins Hall. Again, a special thanks to all who nurture and teach our children as they grow in faith. We as the church family applaud you. We are already looking forward to and planning for the 2nd Annual Children’s Sunday 2009.

This summer holds many opportunities for our children:
Sunday School: This Summer’s Sunday School curriculum is around the themes of VIPs from the Bible. Very Important Pets, Very Important Purpose and Very Important Progeny. You won’t want to miss this fun, activity–centered time together.
camp C.A.S.T.: This Summer’s all day program, for children K-5th grade, June 23-August 2, will take the best aspects of Summer Adventures and incorporate them into a 6-week session that ends with the production of “Honk!”, a musical rendition of the Ugly Duckling.
Vacation Bible School: Surfin’ Through the Scriptures, August 4-8 from 8:30am to 12:30pm for children 3 through entering 5th grade. There will be music, crafts, science, re-enacted Bible stories, games, and mission projects. Come join the fun! For further information contact: Camille or Claudia or call 310-393-8258.

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PARTNERSHIP WITH GOD PRESENTS
Sunday, June 29 @ 8:45 am
The Partnership with God class invites you to their program on Sunday, June 29, at 8:45 am in Rm 101. Brian Palmer’s course on Courage and Engagement became Harvard’s largest elective with more than 600 students in 2004. Since then he has taught at three universities in Sweden. He will share stories from his courses and reflect on how courage can sometimes be almost as contagious as fear. All are invited!

ALZHEIMER'S TALK WITH DR. BUXTON
Sunday, June 29 @ 11:30 am
Verna Porter Buxton M.D., Chief, Division of Neurology at Santa Monica/ UCLA Health Center and Assistant Clinical Professor of UCLA Department of Neurology will do a presentation on Alzheimer’s, Sunday June 29 after our service and coffee hour at 11:30 in Simkins Hall. Verna, who is an active member here at FUMC, will give a general overview of the disease and discuss current treatment options and community/university-based resources. Support group information will be available.

CALLING ALL SURFERS
Sign up for Vacation Bible School!
VBS will take place August 4 - 8, 8:30 am - 12:30 pm. We are teaming up with Westwood UMC for this year’s event entitled “Beach Party! Surfin’ Through the Scriptures.” VBS is open to all children preK - 5th grade AND there are opportunities for youth and adults to participate as well! Brochures are available in the church office. Register early as space is limited!

CAMP C.A.S.T.
Registration Forms In Church Office
Camp C. A. S. T. is a summer program of FUMC’s Children’s After School Theater. The program for children K - 5th grade will be held from June 23 - August 2, 8 am to 5 pm. There is very limited enrollment. Please register early!

CONGRATULATIONS, GRADUATES!
We are proud of these church members and FUMC family and friends who are graduating this year from high school or college/university. Congratulations and may your present and future be blessed!

-Emily Beltramo, Carter Chang, Ian Graham, Kara Kedrick, Ryan Morar, Jessica McCammon, Julian Wan, Colleen Wilson, Kate Youngman, Zubin Zadeh

-Katie Cole, Northwestern University, Bachelor of Music: Voice & Opera Performance, attending graduate school in San Francisco
-Casey Dunn, graduating from high school, attending UC Irvine
-Matthew Edwards, Harvard Westlake School, attending Princeton
-Brian Eskridge, CSU Northridge, Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology with an Option in Exercise Science
-Garratt Hogue, Santa Monica High School, attending SMC
-Holly Hoskinson, Santa Monica High School, attending UC Santa Barbara
-Amy Kearsley, UC Santa Cruz, Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science with focus on Agroecology
-Logan Kinsey, Brentwood School, attending Kenyan College in Ohio
-Megan Lamb, UC Santa Cruz, Bachelor of Arts
-Julie Naylor, Santa Monica College and Loyola Marymount College, Accounting
-Diana Oh, Smith College, attending graduate school at Tisch School of the Arts at NYU
-Kurt Olsson, UC Santa Barbara, Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, beginning with Raytheon Company in Goleta, CA
-William Rich, University of Michigan, Political Science & Japanese, continuing at Michigan for a Master’s in Public Policy

NEW LABYRINTH OPPORTUNITIES
Walk the Laybrinth at noon! Give yourself the gift of some quiet moments in the middle of the week. The permanent Labyrinth in Simkins Hall is now open for walking every Wednesday from noon to 1 pm. Bring your lunch and sit outside in the courtyard or just come to walk.
Also, on Wednesday evenings, July 9 & 23, and August 13 & 27 from 7 - 8:30 pm, the Labyrinth will be open. Come enjoy a quiet summer evening experience that soothes the spirit and nurtures the soul. For more information contact the church office.

UBH HEALTH FAIR DAY
Upward Bound House is hosting its first Health Fair Day on Saturday, June 21, from 9 am - 1 pm at 1011 11th Street. Come join in the fun! There will be free blood pressure screenings, mammograms, clinical breast exams, oral hygiene instructions, prizes and more. Other participating organizations include: OPCC, CLARE, Chrysalis, Harvest Home, Santa Monica Red Cross, Venice Family Clinic, Planned Parenthood, FUMC and more. If you’re interested in volunteering for this event or would like to learn about other volunteer opportunities at UBH, please contact Tracy Chin at 310-458-7779 ext 215 or at tchin@upwardboundhouse.org.

SUMMER SING-ALONGS ARE COMING!
We will offer our annual Summer Sing-Alongs on the four Thursday evenings in July at 7:30 pm in Simkins Hall. Come sing along with, or simply enjoy listening to, major choral works led by outstanding guest conductors. Find the list of works and conductors on the church website’s Music page. For advance tickets, contact the church office. $45 for the series if purchased before July 1, or $15 at the door each night. Scores and refreshments will be provided.

UMW COLLECTING ITEMS FOR "DAYBREAK" KITS
The UMW are collecting white or black socks, toothpaste, toothbrushes, combs, small lotion, small shampoo, small conditioner, bar soaps, small kleenex, packages of Bandaids and tampons for the women of Daybreak. Please drop off items in the UMW workroom. Thank you for your donations!

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God’s amazing world presents us here at FUMC with yet another fascinating challenge and opportunity. And that has to do with how we share information with one another about all the wonderful things going on in the life of our congregation. The tried-and-true methods are still good—the Sentinel newsletter, bulletin boards, the Order of Worship, announcements, phone calls and probably the best of all—word-of-mouth! In recent years, we’ve also launched our wonderful webpage, www.santamonicaumc.org, which continues to become evermore comprehensive and user-friendly. Our Friday Emails help us focus on the themes of weekly worship.

The challenge is, of course, that while some of us are still in the “paper-only” mode, others of us have already moved beyond email to text-messaging. Our goal is to share Christ’s love, build community, and motivate for service--through shared information. What to do? How will we reach as many people as possible with the story of all that our congregation offers?

Here are some of the exciting avenues we are developing to best serve you and to reach out more widely into the community. A group of USC graphics students chose us as their project last year to assist in the design of our logo and “look.” Guidance and Outreach is working on an informational DVD about FUMC to give to first-time visitors. We are constantly updating our webpage—more and more visitors tell us that they decide to worship with us based on what they find there. And our traveling members find that they can stay connected with congregational life from anywhere in the country or in the world.

Our paper Sentinel will become an expanded monthly newsletter beginning in July. Keeping its exciting color photos in a clean new look, the new Sentinel will include a full-page pull-out Calendar with all the events of the month. It is specially designed for you to post on your refrigerator or family message board. Going monthly will save paper and ink. It will also free up financial and personnel resources, allowing us to devote more time to the webpage, to advertising and outreach and to some new possibilities such as weekly text-messages to supplement the weekly Friday Emails.

We are so blessed to have savvy staff and members with the skills, creativity and vision to help us fulfill the needs of the present moment while reaching out to embrace the future into which God is carrying us. Send us your ideas, hopes and dreams. Let us know how we can best serve you and help you know the range of opportunities offered at FUMC.

It’s our challenge to make contemporary the command of God to the ancient prophet, Habakkuk: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. For there is still a vision for the appointed time!”

Service