1 Corinthians 13:4-7 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Window

First Presbyterian

Church of Santa Monica

May 2019

The

Pastor’s Pen

Dear Friends, In the season following Easter, I will be looking at how to build great relationships based on 1 Corinthians 13:1-7. Relationships are critical factors in our sense of well-being and happiness. Therefore, making those relationships great is fundamental to having the type of life we hope for. The key to building great relationships is love, which the Bible defines as a commitment to look out for the welfare of others. It is seething we do which is not dependent upon how we feel. It is what Jesus asks of us in John 13:34: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”

We will parse out what it means to love and how to do it based on Paul’s descriptions in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

May 5 – Love is Patient: how do we control anger so that it does not overwhelm our relationships and alienate others?

May 12 - We will celebrate mothers who give life through giving birth, nurture, freedom and love.

May 19 – We will have a guest preacher.

May 26 – How to reflect the kindness of Christ by developing empathy for others and the courage to make a difference.

June 2 – How to handle envy so that it does not derail our relationships.

June 9 – Humility is the key to turning me into we.

June 16 - Signs of respect and particularly how we show respect to our fathers.

June 23 – Forgiveness is not forgetting but a decision about whether the past defines what is possible in the future.

June 30 – Love speaks the truth but in ways that bless.

See you on Sunday.

Blessings,

May 2019 Calendar

Friday, May 3rd 6:30 p.m. Vawters’ Daughters, Off-Site

Sunday, May 5th 10:00 a.m. Worship Service, Sanctuary 11:15 a.m. Spiritual Growth Seminar, Library

Saturday, May 11th 5:00 p.m. Kids Night Out, Youth Lounge

Sunday, May 12th 10:00 a.m. Worship Service, Sanctuary 11:15 a.m. Worship Team Meeting, Library

Sunday, May 19th 10:00 a.m. Worship Service, Sanctuary 11:15 a.m. Inquirers’ Class, Library

Monday, May 20th 6:15 p.m. Finance Team Meeting, Library 7:15 p.m. Session Meeting, Library

Saturday, May 25th 8:00 p.m. Jacaranda Concert, Sanctuary

Sunday, May 26th 10:00 a.m., Hymn Sing during Worship Service 11:15 a.m., All Church Picnic, Patio

Tuesday, May 28th 6:00 p.m. Men at the Manse, the Manse

WEEKLY AT FIRST PRES Wednesdays: 9:30 a.m. Wednesday Morning Gathering, Wictum Hall 12:30 p.m. Church Mice, Church Mice Room; C.E. Building 7:00 p.m. Yoga, Renaissance Room Thursdays: 9:30 a.m. Bible Study, Library Sundays: 10:00 a.m. Worship Service, Sanctuary

First Pres Spiritual Growth Team presents…

Kids Night Out 3

Saturday, May 11, 5-8 p.m. at the church. Drop off your kids for an evening of fun that will

include food, games, music, art, and more.

All kids 3 years to 5th grade are welcome, but you must sign up in advance. Feel free to invite a friend.

Send an email to peter@fpcsantamonica.org to register.

Spiritual Growth Ministry May 2019

SUNDAY FAITH GROUPS

Church Mice (Preschool – Kindergarten) Middle School Youth (6th–8th Grade) Faith Discovers (1st-2nd Grade) High School Youth (9th-12th Grade) Faith Explorers (3rd-5th Grade) May 5 – Turning Point of Transformation May 5 – From Easter to Pentecost May 12 – Identity of Resistence May 12 – From Easter to Pentecost May 19 – Spirit of Solidarity May 19 – From Easter to Pentecost May 26 – The Power of Listening May 26 – From Easter to Pentecost

WEDNESDAY FAITH GROUP

Church Mice (Preschool – Kindergarten) 12:30 – 2:00 p.m. May 1 – I Can Talk to God Like Jesus Did May 8 – Love Is A Gift We Give May 15 – I Can Love My Family And Friends May 22 – I Can Love God’s Creation May 29 – I Can Love My Uniqueness

To Mars and Beyond Vision!

To Mars and Beyond VBS invites Voyagers of all ages on a space travel adventure to explore where God’s power can take them!

Along the journey, Voyagers discover a new realm of possibilities as they reach for the stars and encounter the limitless

Vacation Bible School June 17-21 9am – noon For children age 3 to rising 5th grade VBS Plus noon – 3 p.m. For children in grades 1 - 5 Don’t have kids or can’t volunteer for VBS, look

for information coming soon on how you can

sponsor a child to attend or financially support a

VBS activity.

Why should the kids at my church

care about pursuing God?

This is a central question for parents, church members, and church leaders who take seriously ministry to children and youth. In the following excerpt from her blog, Journey with Jesus, Debie Thomas, Director of Children's and Family Ministries at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Palo Alto, CA, shares her thoughts on why the church and the Christian faith are so important for children and youth. I hope that you will find it as helpful and encouraging as I did. Perhaps her words don’t just apply to children and youth. The fun part of my job in children’s ministry is the kid stuff. The Lego towers and Magna-Tile castles; the art projects that leave our children’s chapel looking like a tornado blew through it. Telling the children my favorite Bible stories, helping them make Advent wreaths, and hiding hundreds of candy-filled eggs for them on Easter morning.

The much harder part of the job is stepping back and wrestling with some big-picture questions. Why do parents struggle to get their children to church? What case can I make for Christianity at a time when kids have so many appealing alternatives? Why should young people commit themselves to spiritual things when their wider community views such commitments as quaint, obsolete, and even regressive?

When I was growing up, I never heard anyone ask these questions. The culture that raised me was so tightly religious, so uniform in its beliefs, and so self-reinforcing that there was no need to ask why we did what we did. We went to church on Sunday mornings because that’s what Sunday mornings were for.

But what happens when the terms change? Without the fearmongering and the hellfire, the guilt and manipulation, how do we make a compelling case for following Jesus? What do we say when kids ask things like: None of my friends have to go to church, why do I? If your parents hadn’t raised you to be Christian, would you still be one? Why should I pray to God when I have no proof? If Jesus is so important, why doesn’t anyone talk about him outside of church?

I don’t have answers to all these questions, but I want to keep wrestling with them and weighing the answers that matter to me. If I could offer a child some reasons to stick around—reasons to pursue God in the context of a confusing world and an imperfect church—here are three possibilities.

Christ invites us into a compelling story. Kids love stories. They love living in stories. And they need stories to teach them that life is complicated, that easy answers rarely satisfy, and that even the best “happily ever after” endings exact a price. Good stories show all of us that our lives aren’t random and meaningless. They promise us meaning and coherence; they hold out the hope that our lives matter as essential parts of a larger whole. Most importantly, good stories point beyond themselves. They begin and end with an author. Maybe Christianity is worth it because it’s a deep and comprehensive story we can fall in love with. It’s a story that will hold us.

Faith allows us to glimpse eternity—in creation, in the church, in the fellowship of the saints and the breaking of the bread. In every action we take and every thought we think, Christianity insists that tiny seeds of eternity are growing. Nothing is superfluous; nothing is in vain. What we do, how we live, what we give ourselves over to, what we profess, what we worship—all of it matters. It’s so easy to forget this, and the church, if nothing else, helps us remember.

The ground of Christianity is love. When our children need it (and they will), there is a love available here that nothing else on earth will ever explain, diminish, or destroy. It’s a love that overcomes every barrier of suspicion and hatred we humans construct. It cleanses, blesses, challenges, and fortifies us. It’s an eternal love, the love of the broken, resurrected Christ. It’s a love worth living and dying for.

I wish I could know that these reasons will suffice for the kids I care about, both at home and at work. I can’t; their journeys aren’t mine to control. All I can do is hold these reasons out to them, small treasures in my hands, and invite them to take a good, long look—and then another, and another. All I can do is say, “Come and see.” Blessings,

Spiritual Growth

Hymn Sing and All Church Picnic - Sunday, May 26 Please plan to join us for the All Church Picnic on May 26th, right after the Hymn Sing service. Delicious food, wonderful company, and a great way to start off your summer enjoying a meal with old friends and meeting new ones! The church will provide fried chicken and ice cream. You’re invited to bring a side dish, salad, or ice cream topping; sign-up sheets will be available on the patio during coffee hour in May. The Organ is on its way The Marcia Hannah Farmer Schantz Organ has been removed. It’s not too late to be a part of our Organ Renovation Campaign. After Easter our organ console was removed from the sanctuary and will be rebuilt with a new solid-state relay and memory systems. Although the keyboards, pipes and wind chests are in good condition, the original 1983 console does not include digital technology and its rubber and felt internal parts have severely deteriorated. It is time to both repair and upgrade our organ to realize the instrument’s full potential. We will also be moving a few large pipes that were moved during our sanctuary renovation to their original location for better sound quality. The cost of this work will be $103,000. The church budget has already paid a deposit of $28,000 and has now received gifts and pledges of $39,000 so that the remaining balance to be raised is $36,000. Please consider making a special contribution for the repair and enhancement of our organ. You can find a pledge card in the pews to indicate how much you wish to contribute over the next year (April 2019 – May 2020) to this project. You may also go to our online giving site from your phone and make a one-time gift or recurring payments with your credit card by selecting “Organ Renovation Fund.”

Happenings at First Pres

FIRST PRES COMMUNITY

Wednesday Morning Gathering We are still meeting on Wednesdays and working on items for another bazaar. Come join us. We meet at 9:30 and usually stay for a couple of hours to work on our crafts. We are always looking for new people.

Bible Study Join Pastor Tim as we continue a season of exploring what it means to be a follower of Jesus by reading and discussing the book of Genesis. We meet at 9:30 a.m. on Thursdays, in the library.

Greeters Welcome You! We are happy you are here. Please join us in fellowship and worship. All are invited to be a part of the Greeter ministry.

Vawters’ Daughters Join the women of the congregation the first Friday of every month. In honor of those spunky sisters who played such a vital role in the history of the church, we are the Vawters’ Daughters. Contact the church for more details.

Flowers What better way to honor or remember someone special in your life by dedicating the chancel flowers in his or her name – to the glory of God.

Your gift also brings joy to First Pres members confined to their home or hospital due to illness, injury or frailty. Each Sunday, the deacons deliver bouquets of the colorful arrangement to those unable to attend the service.

The cost of the weekly flowers is $65. This month offers three opportunities for special dedications: Mother’s Day, May 12, as well as the 19th and the 26th. Please let Pat Alston know which date you’d like to reserve – No matter what Sunday it is in the year. You can reach her by phone at 310-390-5206, or by email: pat@patalston.com. Or you can call the church office at 310-453-1303, between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

We also welcome donations, in any amount, to the flower fund. Thank you for your support.

Westside Food Bank The Westside Food Bank provides immediate hunger relief to the people of our community. Bring your donations of cash and checks payable to First Presbyterian Church with Westside Food Bank in the “memo” line to church the first Sunday of every month. Canned food and durable goods are also welcome, but donations of cash or check are preferred, as the Westside Food Bank multiplies these donations tenfold through its bulk buying power. A list of needed food items is available. Call the church office for more information. Need a Ride to Church? If you are in need of a ride to church, our van driver, Tyrone DuBose has been providing transportation to First Pres members and friends for thirty-four years. He will make sure you get to church on time and in style in the First Pres van, and take you back home after the service. To schedule a ride call Tyrone directly at 310.920.0410. Hatha Yoga Join us for yoga in a supportive relaxing atmosphere! Knowledgeable, trained, innovative teacher. Bring water and a mat to the Renaissance Room, Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. The suggested donation is $25 per month. Questions? Call the church office 310.451.1303.

Concerts at First Pres

PUBLISHER: First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica 1220 Second Street Santa Monica, CA 90405 SUBMISSIONS: Send newsworthy information about church activities for consideration in the Window to info@fpcsantamonica.org.

May Birthdays May 1 Avelaine Thompson May 14 Fred Armitage May 2 Cory Bales May 14 Colton Thompson May 2 James DiGaetano May 17 Jeffrey Wilkins May 4 Gavin Dechaussé May 17 Hugo Wolff May 4 Tyrone DuBose May 18 Madison Forsander May 4 Carl Forsander May 18 Carole Riggs May 7 Stephen Hall May 20 Suni Allen May 8 Sarah Baum-Lopez May 20 Mathias Matkovic May 10 Antonio Hernandez May 20 Richard Vincent May 11 Karen Carrey May 22 Melanie Wolff May 11 Judy Sommer May 23 Tate Doré May 12 Dionicio Aguilar Martinez May 24 Marlo McNeil May 12 Shelly Hyde-White May 29 Eric Larson May 13 Gemma Rodriguez May 30 Hahrin Chiang

Concerts

Saturday, May 25, 2019 8:00 - - VIVID REVERIES Witold Lutoslawski - Five Dance Preludes (1954) Mauricio Kagel - Piano Trio No. 3 (2007) Alban Berg - Four pieces (1913) Wolfgang Mozart - Quintet in E-flat K 452 (1784) Sanctuary Series - 7:00 Michele Zukovsky, clarinet; Gloria Cheng, piano; Alyssa Park, violin; Tim Loo, cello; Steven Vanhauwaert, piano; David Kaplan, piano; Danielle Ondarza, horn; Ted Sugata, oboe; Don Foster, clarinet; Anthony Parnther, bassoon;