How to Intercede Like Jesus · So you can imagine the jolt I felt at reading ... What do I need to...

Centennial United Methodist Church 916.452.4477 cumcsac.org

CENTENNIALThe Pentecost Edition | May 2018

Newsletter

Christlike Intercession Asks More for Others Than a Quick Fix

A confession: I’ve been uncomfortable with my intercessory prayer

because it seems to resemble telling God how to fix things. I’ve asked God

to get people to do what I thought they should do—a friend or family

member getting a certain kind of job, stop dating a certain person, or go

back to college.

So you can imagine the jolt I felt at reading these words of Oswald

Chambers: “What we must avoid in intercession is praying for someone to

be simply ‘patched up.’ We must pray that person through into contact with the very life of God.” Was I

willing to move within and beyond my concern about people’s circumstances to caring about their

oneness with God?

From Circumstances To Soul-Formation

To pray that others would connect with the “very life of God” invites us to ponder the person in need or

the messy situation. We find ourselves asking God, What do I need to know about this person? How

might this person or this situation connect with you? Being open is important because, “if we stay with a

season of prayer for long enough, the things we originally put forward in our prayer have often been put

aside, and a whole new layer of longings for that person or situation often emerges in their place.”2 That

new layer of longings often has to do with the formation of that person’s soul.

For example, Jesus prayed for Peter’s soul’s well-being before Peter denied him. Oddly, Jesus didn’t pray

that Peter wouldn’t deny him (which would have been more tidy and convenient for all concerned).

Instead, Jesus prayed that Peter’s faith wouldn’t fail (Lk 22:32). As a good teacher, Jesus gave Peter

latitude to make mistakes and prayed that Peter would develop an abiding, enduring faith in spite of, in

the middle of, and even because of his mistake. When we err as Peter did, our faith is likely to fail—usually

because our faith is in our own faith, instead of our faith being in God. But if we can freely admit our

mistakes and choose to trust the adequacy of God, our faith will grow and we can strengthen others.

How to Intercede Like Jesus By: Jan Johnson, renovare.org

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Such praying sometimes helps us grasp the

deeper issue behind the troublesome behavior or

situation, giving us that new layer of longings. For

example, when our teenage daughter left home

for a life of “couch surfing” (sleeping on the

couches of different friends every night) we

prayed, of course, that she would come home.

After months of these prayers, I gradually saw that

this trek of hers was somehow necessary to her

development. She was trying to figure out who

she was apart from her parents and I had to give

her room to do some scary things as Jesus gave

Peter that room. So besides praying for her safety,

I began to pray that her faith would not fail in this

journey. As she saw that I wasn’t trying to get her

to come home and that my trust in her was

growing (well … trust in God and her), she

accepted our invitation to come home once a

week for “family dinner.” This was unheard of

behavior for a runaway (as our support group

leaders informed us) and such a treasure for us.

Jesus’ prayer for Peter informed me in another

way as well. Jesus asked that when Peter turned

back, he would strengthen the others. Thus the

prayed-for person’s growth—their deepened

union with God and transformation into

Christlikeness—can be released to help those

around them. So when interceding for others, we

can also pray for those watching the situation—not

only to heal their pain but also that they might

receive strength and direction from God in the

midst of it. So I began praying for my aching

relatives, my daughter’s friends and especially my

husband that their faith would grow.

Waiting And Learning

This new layer of longings emerges as we seek

and wait and listen to God. A sense of what we

need to know doesn’t usually come right away

(although now and then it does) so we choose to

remain in that space of intercessory prayer—for

days and weeks and months and years—until a

better view of the “very life of God” takes shape.

This challenges the idea that praying persistently

is about convincing God that our desire is worthy

or our having to prove our own worth to receive

answers. To pray persistently is valuable because

it enlightens us as we converse with God. As we

begin to see the good that God might bring forth

in a person, the next question falls into place:

How can I be a part of that? Then we wait more

for ideas—not quick fixes, but gentle suggestions

that probably won’t make much of a splash

(except that they’re God-empowered).

If the waiting seems tiresome or hopeless, we can

pray holding a picture of this person we’re

praying for (often from a family photo or a group

photo of those we serve or work with). To see their

face helps us get beyond their circumstances to

the formation of their soul. As I pictured the look

that so frequently appeared on our teenage

daughter’s face, I saw someone restlessly

wandering down a path, following anyone who

appeared to be smart or fun. I prayed that in her

earnest search she was find people who were

wise.

At other times I’ve pictured a person’s approach

to life. As I pictured the disposition of a blustery

co-worker, I saw his inner self as fearful, angry, and

feeling inadequate. So I pictured him bound up in

fear and holding up anger like armor to avoid

being hurt again or trapped in insecurity and

inadequacy. For my friend who was plagued by a

mysterious respiratory ailment, I picture her

congested, fluid-riddled body full of consuming Continued on page 15

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CUMC PASTOR Renae Extrum-Fernandez

Music Ministry Director Rick Schlosser

Hand Bell Director Loretta Fransham

Preschool Director Denise Tessman

Office Manager Sonja Hazzard-Webster

Administrative Assistant Vilimaina Koroi

F.Y.I. UMW Book Club - May Selection

For our meeting in May we are reading The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd. A historical novel, it tells the story of a white woman from a slave- owning family and the slave attendant she was given on her 10th birthday. The story is set in

South Carolina between 1803 and 1838 and tells the story in alternate chapters from their perspectives. There are themes regarding race, women's rights, and the role of history and religion in the formation of laws in the United States. Read it and join us in the discussion on Monday, May 14th at noon at the home of Callie Smith. Bring your sack lunch.

News from the Centennial Preschool May…the last month of preschool and so many things will be happening!

The 15th annual fundraising event at Fairytale Town is Friday, May 11th from 5:30 – 8:30 pm. All Centennial families are invited to this really fun night! The park is closed to the general public and open only to family and friends of Centennial Christian Preschool and CUMC. Tickets are $5 for everyone 2 years and up, and must be purchased before that evening as per Fairytale Town. Please call the preschool office at 916.453.0976 for more information.

During the last two weeks we will honor all of our summer birthday children with one big party per class. May 31st and June 1st mark the last days of the 2017-2018 school year. As always, the time has flown by. This very dedicated staff is, however, looking forward to some time to relax and then begin to prepare for the 2018-2019 school year.

There are still fall openings available for all three classes. Please continue to spread the word of the

great work that Centennial Christian Preschool and staff provide to the children in the neighborhood. Happy Summer!

Don’t forget to get your tickets to Fairytale Town! Denise Tessman, Preschool Director

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49er Gold Rush Dinner Save the Date

South Sacramento Food Closet’s (SSIP) is celebrating 49 years of continuous service with a California 49er Gold Rush Dinner & Auction on Friday, May 11, 2018 at St. Anthony’s Parish, 660 Florin Road, Sacramento CA.

Tickets are $49. The doors open at 5:00 pm and dinner starts at 6:00 pm. The festivities include a BBQ dinner, Silent Auction, Gold panning and an onsite Saloon selling beer and wine.

For tickets call Shigeko at 916.395.2550 or go to www.ssipfoodcloset.org.

Hollywood Park Elementary Chess Club

The Hollywood Park Elementary School Chess Club held its first meeting April 12th with the enthusiastic and well behaved participation of nine 4th graders. The chess club was the brainchild of Centennial UMC member Clover Lawton who recruited fellow member Ken Iritani to coordinate and tutor the club. The club is well supported by 4th grade teacher Ms. Sadaf Motiey and principal Ms.Tenley Luke.

The club meets Thursdays from 2:15 pm to 3:15 pm and endeavors to instill a life long appreciation for chess in the students. Most chess club members have played chess before. All students learn the basics of chess and play mini-games to practice and develop their skills.

If you would like to join the fun and help tutor c h e s s , p l e a s e c o n t a c t K e n I r i t a n i a t [email protected] or 916-996-8611. The chess club will meet every Thursday through June 7th when we will break for summer vacation. Safe Gatherings certification is required for all adults who work with children. This was a surprisingly quick (1 day) certification approval process. A basic familiarity with chess is needed to tutor.

All nine (9) students returned for the second chess club meeting on April 19th, eager to learn and play.

Los Rios District Conference Save the Date

The Los Rios District Conference is Saturday, May 12, 2018 at Davis UMC, 1620 Anderson Road, Davis CA 95616.

To r e g i s t e r f o r t h e c o n f e r e n c e v i s i t www.cnumc.org and select Los Rios District Conference-May 12, 2018.

All members of the CUMC Staff Parish Relations Committee, Trustee Board, Fijian Language Ministry, Tongan Language Ministry and Church Council are encouraged to attend.

News from the Centennial UMC Music Ministry

Music (solos, duets, groups, instruments), Art, Dance, Poetry, Storytelling, and More!

We invite YOU to share your creative talents with us this summer! Please sign up for an open Sunday between June 17th and September 2nd with Rick Schlosser or add

your name to the Special Music - Summer 2018 Sign-Up Sheet in the church office, located on the bulletin board.

If you have questions, please contact Rick Sch losser a t r i cksch [email protected] or 916-508-7797.

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This article is the first in a series of articles from the members of your Church Council that will acquaint you with the many committees and ministries at Centennial, their roles, and the Centennialites who are members of those committees.

Committees are necessary to help the Church run smoothly and effectively, toward the goal of glorifying and worshiping God, and toward the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Those are tall orders , and that is why Centennial has some 18 working Committees. The first one we will present is the Staff-Parish Relations Committee, commonly referred to as SPRC.

SPRC's function is to build strong relationships between the staff, the congregation, and the district superintendent. We aim to encourage, strengthen, nurture, support, and respect everyone and to promote unity and Christian love among all. We oversee all personnel issues such as hiring, developing job descriptions, conducting evaluations, and managing salaries and benefits. Because these concerns are confidential, the regular meetings are closed sessions.

SPRC members represent the various constituencies in Church. Members of this year's committee are: Virisila Batiratu, Dwight Crocker, Janet Neeley, Neomai Niu, Dave Roberts, Carolyn Rokke, Tangi Taumoefolau, and Gerlene Kwan, Chairperson. This Committee is of such importance to the role of the Pastor, that the Pastor is required to attend regular meetings. The Committee may meet without the Pastor only when the Pastor voluntarily excuses him/herself, or if the District Superintendent is present.

If you have any questions or concerns about the work of SPRC, please contact any of the members or drop a note into the SPRC mailbox in the Office.

News from the Staff Parish Relations Committee By: Gerlene Kwan, SPRC Chairperson

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By: Michael Cunningham, CUMC Member

Black Lives Matter Because Race Matters

On March 18 Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old unarmed

African American man was shot and killed by police in

his grandmother’s backyard, which is located less than

4 miles from Centennial. His name is now added to the

ever-growing list of unarmed African American men

who have been fatally shot by police officers. In 2014

the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson Missouri was

the catalyst for the creation of the Black Lives Matter movement. Unfortunately the number of unarmed

Black men shot by the police has continued to wreak havoc on families and the very fabric of our

communities.

This is not “fake news”, the facts speak for themselves: In 2015, the Washington Post launched a real-

time database to track fatal police shootings. An article in the July 11, 2016 edition of the Washington

Post noted the following: As of Sunday, 1,502 people have been shot and killed by on-duty police

officers since Jan. 1, 2015. Of them, 732 were white, and 381 were black (and 382 were of another or

unknown race). Adjusting for population, Black Americans are 2.5 times as likely as white Americans to

be shot and killed by police officers.

The Post further noted, that U.S. police officers have shot and killed the exact same number of

unarmed white people as they have unarmed black people: 50 each. But because the white

population is approximately five times larger than the black population, that means unarmed black

Americans were five times as likely as unarmed white Americans to be shot and killed by a police

officer.

Of all of the unarmed people shot and killed by police in 2015, 40 percent of them were black men,

even though black men make up just 6 percent of the nation’s population.

And finally, a black person shot and killed by police is more likely to have been unarmed than a white

person. About 13 percent of all black people who have been fatally shot by police since January 2015

were unarmed, compared with 7 percent of all white people.

In response to these statistics, critics of police reform typically argue that the reason more black men

and women are shot and killed by police is that black Americans commit more violent crime.

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Researchers, as well as The Washington Post’s own analysis, have consistently

concluded that there is no correlation between violent crime and who is killed

by police officers.

As part of its data effort, The Post tracks the “threat level” of each person who is

shot and killed by a police officer: Were they shooting at the officer? Were they

threatening the officer? Were they fleeing?

An independent analysis of The Post’s data conducted by a team of criminal-

justice researchers concluded that, when factoring in threat level, black

Americans who are fatally shot by police are no more likely to be posing an

imminent lethal threat to the officers at the moment they are killed than white

Americans fatally shot by police.

They concluded with the following statement “The only thing that was significant in predicting whether

someone shot and killed by police was unarmed was whether or not they were black. Crime variables

did not matter in terms of predicting whether the person killed was unarmed.”

The patterned noted above continued for 2016 and 2017 with an additional 36 unarmed African

American men being shot and killed by police.

There are major differences in how police conduct is viewed between the Black and White

communities.

• Half of African-Americans respondents, including 6 in 10 black men, said they personally had been treated unfairly by police because of their race, compared with 3 percent of whites.

• Sixty-two percent of whites said a major reason why police violence happens is that civilians confront the police, rather than cooperate, when they are stopped. Three out of 4 blacks, or 75 percent, said it is because the consequences of police misconduct are minimal, and few officers are prosecuted for excessive use of force. More than 7 in 10 blacks identified problems with race relations, along with poor police-community relations, as major reasons for police violence.

• Nearly 3 out of 4 whites - 74 percent - thought race had nothing to do with how police in their communities decide to use deadly force. Among blacks, 71 percent thought police were more likely to use deadly force against black people in their communities, and 85 percent said the same thing applied generally across the country.

The pastor of a United Methodist church recently wrote an article for the church newsletter entitled

Walk a Mile in the Other’s Shoes. Here are some excerpts from the article:

“As a law abiding white male I have a totally different set of expectations for encounters with police than do people of color. People like me would like to think that all Americans of every race are treated the same. That is far from the case.

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Of all of the unarmed

people shot and

killed by police in

2015, 40 percent of

them were black men,

even though black

men make up just 6

percent of the

nation’s population.

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We people of faith anguish over violence, hatred and fear in our country, especially when it comes to race. We worship the God of all people, whose loving grace is extended to all of God’s children. We are quick to pray for the healing of those grieving and the healing of our nation. And we should! But for those of us in the Anglo majority those prayers are empty if we don’t act in response. What should we do? A first step for people like me is to listen and learn from people who have an entirely different experience than my own, to admit that my world view is limited by the lens of white male privilege.”

Since the killing of Stephon Clark there have been continual protests. Our City Council has taken

public testimony and is looking at police practices. As people of faith and United Methodist who

believe in the reconciling work of Christ on the cross we are called to be instruments of reconciliation

in our world and community. There can be no reconciliation without peace, justice and forgiveness.

Only then can broken relationships be restored, and the “beloved community” established.

As noted in Isaiah 1:17, we are to “learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed”. The words of

the prophet Micah in Micah 6:8 call out to us: “He has told you, O mortal what is good; and what does

the Lord require of you but do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

Black lives matter, and yes, all lives matter, but in America, Black lives matter because race matters.

Next month we will present tools and steps for a roadmap to reconciliation.

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Eli Ashe 05/06 Paulina Bakalevu 05/05 Virisila Batiratu 05/14 Tomasi Bolabiu 05/29 Moniliz Brown 05/01 Agnes Buell 05/05 Mere Burelevu 05/12 Tabaki Fuakilau 05/18 Janae Hajik 05/26

Elaine Hironaka 05/15 Jim Hironaka 05/26 Vaiola Kula 05/15 Gene Lem 05/09 Tamari Marawa 05/13 EJ Mazza 05/13 Mereisi Rabuku 05/06 Emali Tewa 05/30 Kuni Vavae 05/17

Privacy Notice: Due to privacy and data security concerns, some members have asked that we do NOT publish the day of his/her birth. If you do NOT want your birth date listed in the newsletter, but just your name listed, please call or email the Church Office to notify us.

Black Lives Matter Because Race Matters - continued from page 8

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May is Asian – Pacific American Heritage Month, a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. A rather broad term, Asian Pacific encompasses all of the Asian Continent and the Pacific Islands, including, Fiji, Hawaiian Islands, and Tonga that are part of over three dozen countries.

History 1. Explore AAPI history: From helping building the first transcontinental railroad to protecting the

nation during times of war, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, have played significant roles in shaping modern history.

Geography 2. Make a globe: Help your kids cut and wrap a map of the world around a ball. Show kids how

big Asia is compared to our North American continent. As you make it, you can point out the Pacific Ocean area of the world and how Asia is on the opposite side of the world from us.

Arts Connections 3. Make a lei: Tell your kids that lei, which are garlands, are made and given for occasions like

marriages, birthdays and lu’aus. Have a lu’au and wear or give to a friend.

4. Check out an art exhibit: Consider the diverse cultures of the AAPI community by looking at Asian art. Check out the Smithsonian’s Museum of Asian Art online. Have your kids try their hand at creating similar art with basic supplies, such as paper, pencil and chalk. Older kids may like to compare the similarities and contrasts the differences in media used and subjects chosen.

Social Studies 5. Find out more about other cultures: Ask your kids how many countries make up the Asian-

Pacific area, what do they know about the country’s location in the world, what language(s) people might speak, what foods they might eat and what kind of climate they have.

Science 6. Learn about the lunar calendar: Explain to your kids that the lunar calendar is based on phases

of the moon, unlike the calendars we typically see at home and in the classroom that are based on the earth’s rotation around the sun. Ask your kids to find out what countries observe the Lunar New Year and what type of traditions and celebrations take place during the Lunar New Year.

7. Try Asian horticulture: With you kids, read about bonsai and penjing. See if your kids would like to try their hand at creating a bonsai.

Asian - Pacific Cooking 8. Make an Asian- Pacific dish: With your kids research different countries in the Asian- Pacific

region, and think about what kinds of foods the people there might eat. Prepare an Asian- Pacific dish. Find recipes that your kids can help prepare. Many grocery store carry ingredients common to Asian- Pacific cuisine. You and your kids could also make a special trip to a local Asian-Pacific market.

Resource: U.S. Department of Education

Enrich Your Kids’ Appreciation of Asian Pacific - American Culture By: Brenda Cunningham, CUMC Member

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Family Reading: Celebrate Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month By: Brenda Cunningham, CUMC Member

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Hush

Author: Mingfong Ho

Age Level: 0-5 yrs

Thai lullaby

Sina and Tinilau

Author: Vilsoni Hereniko

Age Level: 5yrs and up

Pacific Islanders (picture book)

Hippa Comes to Beauty Point

Author: Nigel Forteath

Age Level: Adults reading to toddlers - 6yrs or 7 years and up

Australia

Over in Australia

Author: Marianne Berks

Age Level: Preschool-5yrs.

Australia

Bee-bum Bop!

Author: Linda Sue Park

Age Level: 3-5yrs.

Korean

Counting in Tongan and English

Author: Ahurewa Kahukura

Age Level: 3-5yrs.

Tonga

Cultures of the World: Fiji

Author: Rosaline Ngcheong

Age Level: 10-17 yrs.

Fiji

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Cultivating the Connection Between Soil and the Soul By Kimberly Winston, Religion News Service

Sometimes a tomato isn’t just a salad ingredient. Sometimes it’s a call to action.

That’s the revolutionary idea of about 40 farmers who gathered for a first-of-its-kind interfaith weekend at a working ranch in the rolling green hills 60 miles southeast of San Jose. Christians, Jews, Muslims, and the spiritual-but-not-religious united to seek nothing less than a complete

disruption of how food is grown, distributed, and even served.

Their vision, laid out over three days of talks, communal meals, and prayer, banished Big Ag and the factory farm. In their place, at the center of all that is grown, prepared, and eaten, these farmers raised up the church, the synagogue, and the mosque.

Faith communities that once concerned themselves with soup kitchens and food pantries — stopgap measures for the poor — would focus on what these farmers call “food justice” and “food sovereignty” — empowering of all people, but especially the poor, underserved, and marginalized, to grow and control their food.

“We never ask questions when it comes to a handout model of food ministry,” said Venice Williams, a Lutheran lay minister who came to the conference from Milwaukee, where she is executive director of Alice’s Garden, an urban farm. “But when we begin to move into a self-sufficiency model, a model that acknowledges the talents and gifts of the communities we are called to journey with — not ‘serve,’ but ‘journey with’ — it gets more complicated, because that is more work.”

Jesus, she said, does not call his followers to what is easy.

“Jesus was a leader who was with the people, not distant from them. We are called to transform, to eliminate the injustice that we see. When we acknowledge that, then we have to look at this as an issue that every ministry should be engaged in because everybody has to eat.”

In other words, they want God’s people to get into the land business — to grow food and, along the way, nurture faith communities. What’s good for the table is also good for organized religion, they suggested, especially at a time when congregations face falling numbers, crumbling buildings, and aging membership.

“As a pastor, the most important thing I want to instill in my people is not a fear of God but a sense of wonder,” said Sam Chamelin, a 35-year-old United Church of Christ pastor and farmer who sometimes leads worship in a Maryland barn. “I want us to say, ‘Who is this God that created all this beauty and diversity?’ If we can envision that, maybe we can find a different way of being believers.”

Another goal these farmers mentioned, more than once: to save the planet through the preservation of the land and the sustainability of local farming.

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“Religion is really a response to the gift of life, and an ethical response to the gift of life is the stewarding of life,” said the Rev. Nurya Love Parish, co-founder of Plainsong Farm, which holds “Sabbath at the Farm” weekends, and an organizer of the event. “So in an age of ecological devastation, crisis, challenge, concern, religious communities are coming together for the health of creation.”

Faith in the land

The farmers at the gathering — they considered it too informal to call it a conference — came from around the country: church-owned farms, interfaith food cooperatives, intentional communities and religious orders with lands, faith-based community gardens, and private farms guided by their owners’ personal faith.

Some distribute food through community-supported cooperatives, some grow food for lunches for underserved schoolchildren, some involve low-income residents in urban farms on rooftops, vacant lots, and other gardens.

One farmer grows a strain of heritage wheat that is made into Communion bread.

The oldest attendee was a Catholic nun in her 80s with decades of experience in food justice; the youngest was a Protestant in his 20s who works his church’s few acres.

For three days, they met in a 100-year-old ranch house in the middle of Paicines Ranch, a working farm that raises sustainable, grass-fed beef and lamb and doubles as a conference center. The meals for this group were vegetarian and, of course, organic.

While the 40 or so farmers and others sprawled on well-worn sofas and chairs, sometimes taking notes on their laptops, a couple of lambs frolicked on the lawn as the wind spun a kinetic sculpture nearby.

Inside, the group shared best practices, solved each other’s problems and delved deeply into issues like honoring indigenous peoples displaced from the land they farmed. There were a handful of people from secular organizations who discussed practical things like the creation and management of land trusts.

None had ever been to a gathering like this before. Parish said that only recently has the number of farmers motivated by faith grown to the point where such a gathering is possible.

“In just our Christian food movement directory there are 300 people and resources – covering everything from seed banking to animal husbandry,” she said at the beginning of the meeting’s first full day. “The limiting factor of this gathering was the size of this room.”

And the name of their new gathering could double as a name for their farms and what they are now calling a movement — “FaithLands.”

Back to the future

FaithLands did not arise out of a vacuum. It came from a flood of small streams, some flowing back centuries: medieval monastery farms, the Catholic Worker movement, the 1960s “back-to-the-land” m o v e m e n t , w h e r e



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urbanites — some motivated by religious ideals — left cities for small, cooperative farms.

What is new about FaithLands is that there is now a critical mass of people and groups who see farming as a religious imperative.

“People ask me, is this a fad, are we just following society at large in terms of their interest in growing our own good, local food?” sa id Br ian Sel lers -Petersen, author of Harvesting Abundance: Local Initiatives of Food and Faith and a FaithLands participant. “And my response is, no, this is for real, this isn’t going away and there are some historic antecedents to it in the church. We are discovering each other and there is a lot that is being shared all of a sudden.”

And there is a new urgency for faith-based farms.

“My suspicion is that there is a virus that is affecting both the church and our agricultural communities in the same way,” said Chamelin, who founded The Keep and Till, a Maryland faith-and-farming community that provides fresh tomatoes and other produce to two programs that feed the food-insecure.

“Both populations are struggling with aging populations, with production and profit mindsets that are rooted in the past century. They are struggling to communicate to the wider world who they are and why they exist and how to hand it off to the next generation. These are two things we can try to solve concurrently” through the establishment of faith-based farms.

There is theology across faiths that supports the establishment of such farms. The Christians and Jews at FaithLands pointed to the Bible — from the creation of a garden in the first pages of

Genesis to Jesus’ institution of Communion at the Last Supper.

“Jesus left us a meal to remember him by,” Parish said. “That is what he left us and that meal illuminates all of our meals and helps us ask how does this connect us to God?”

Hisham Moharram, a Muslim, said his inspiration for the founding of his Good Tree Farm Project in New Jersey came from the Quran.

“Islam teaches us that the ground we walk on and everything we touch or impact on the day of judgment will either speak for you or against you,” he said. “We are taught you will not be able to hide anything you have done, the angels are reporting all the time, their batteries never go low. Likewise, the land we inhabit and use will either speak for you or against you, so it really does matter how we, Muslim or other, treat that most sacred of trusts out there.”

Rocky soil

The angels may be watching, but there are still challenges. Several attendees said that when they try to involve African-Americans in their farms there is often resistance.

“They see it as tied to the history of slavery in this country,” Moharram said. “We have to change the way we talk to some of our potential allies so we don’t push that button.”

Williams said an awareness of slavery is ever-present at Alice’s Garden, where some local residents born to sharecropping parents remember picking cotton or eating home-grown squash because there was nothing else.

In an attempt to reframe the story of slavery and reclaim food traditions, she has dedicated a section of the garden to re-creating some of the

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https://www.churchpublishing.org/harvestingabundance


https://www.thekeepandtill.org/

http://www.goodtreefarm.com/vision/

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https://www.thekeepandtill.org/

http://www.goodtreefarm.com/vision/



farming techniques and foods that enslaved Africans brought to America.

“We are still unpacking and dismantling the many ways that the ‘unsettlers,’ as I call them, attempted to dismantle our humanity, and that is directly connected with the growing of food,” she said.

Others chimed in. A Methodist minister from the South said she received death threats after welcoming African-American farmers to her community garden, and a woman from a Jewish agriculture co-op in the Northeast said some Jews worry about anti-Semitism in rural areas.

There is also the difficulty of convincing religious institutions that they should give or lease their land for this kind of farming. Exact figures are scarce, but many churches are land-rich. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints owned more than $1 billion worth of U.S. real estate in 1991, and the Catholic Church, with an estimated 177 million acres, is the single largest landowner in the world.

Even small plots can bring big headaches. In an informal breakout session held on rocking chairs and wicker furniture on the ranch house’s shady front porch, Moses Kashem, the youngest attendee, sought advice on a disagreement between him and leaders at his Florida church. The church allows him to farm two acres of valuable real estate it owns, for which it receives a portion of the profits.

“How can I make them feel involved, to make them know I am not just a young farmer who comes to the church just so he can farm?” Kashem asked.

The answers, considered and thoughtful, ranged from the practical — get a contract to farm the land — to the more ephemeral.

“I think you have to ask yourself what have you done for the church to make them feel spiritually invested in your farm,” one man said.

Planting the next crop

At the close of the weekend, many of the pie-in-the-sky goals had become concrete plans of action.

Kashem returned to Florida with a template for a contract to formally lease land from his church; Williams headed to Milwaukee with plans to connect monthly with other African-American participants; and the wheat farmer planned to share her methods and seeds with other farmers.

“I am still sorting through all the things I learned and heard,” Amirah AbuLughod, a Muslim who farms with Jews and Christians, said a few weeks after returning to Stony Point Center, a farm and interfaith community in upstate New York. “To be in a space where people were coming from different backgrounds but were able to have common ground around the land — I feel very blessed to have been asked to come and be in that space.”

Via sojo.net - Cultivating the connection between the Soil and the Soul with ‘Faithlands’

Kimberly Winston, Religion News Service

Kimberly Winston is a freelance religion reporter based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She covers atheism and free thought for Religion News Service.


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http://sojo.net

https://sojo.net/articles/cultivating-connection-between-soil-and-soul-faithlands



http://sojo.net





15 // May 2018 //

little germs that were eating up her energy. Then

I sat with that image and ask God that my friend

be freed.

As I pray with these pictures, other ideas come to

me—my daughter has felt she missed out on fun. I

can pray that she find legitimate sources of fun

and that I communicate to her how much I enjoy

her. My co-worker had a dictatorial parent and

needs to be freed from continually defending

himself from that parent. My friend is doubly

frustrated because she hates to slow down when

she’s sick so I pray that this time of slowness will

enrich her rather than frustrate her.

Participating In The Love Of Christ

To pray for those we intercede for into contact

with the very life of God helps us join Christ in

truly loving them—wanting what is best for them.

We learn to care more deeply for others instead

of just trying to get our way, and this becomes an

important part of forming our soul. Dallas Willard

writes, “Prayer is, above all, a means of forming

character. It combines freedom and power with

service and love.” Our desires become more

about participating in the love of Christ and less

about getting what we thought we wanted.

As intercession becomes a work of love, one of

our greatest challenges is to intercede for an

“enemy,” whom I define as anyone we find

difficult today. For my husband and me, that

meant praying for our daughter’s wayward

boyfriend who influenced her so much. But it

could include folks such as the person who

throws trash in our yard or the family member

who bullies us. In this way, we see such people as

ones whom “God so loves” instead of persons

whose primary function is to thwart us. This also

results in the formation of our soul—shaping us

into lovers of our enemies—and perhaps the

formation of the soul of that enemy.

But praying for difficult people confuses us — do I

want this person to be blessed? Did I want my

daughter’s wayward boyfriend to make money so

he could finance her life on the streets? In these

cases, we can borrow from the best, using ideas

the saints have used. For example, these phrases

were used by the Apostle Paul:

• that they be strengthened in their inner being with power through Christ’s Spirit (Eph 3:16)

• that they be rooted and grounded in love (Eph 3:17)

• that they know (interactively) the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge (Eph 3:19)

• that [in them] love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help [them] to determine what is best (Phil 1:9-10)

Praying this way for a difficult person benefits not

only his soul but mine.

In these ways intercessory prayer becomes the

work Christ does in us forming our soul — helping

us to love others deeply as we see them from

God’s point of view.

How to Intercede Like Jesus - continued from page 2

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Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2 2 4 Tongan Choir Rehearsal 7:00 - 8:00 pm

5 Fijian Choir Rehearsal 7:00 - 8:00 pm

6 Trustee Meeting @ Noon

7 8 Church Council 7:00 p.m.

Tongan Devotion 8:00 - 9:00 pm

9 Worship Team Huddle 7:00 pm

10 Hand Bell Choir Rehearsal 6pm Chancel Choir Rehearsal 7:15 pm

11 Tongan Choir Rehearsal 7:00 - 8:00 pm

12 Jubilee Initiative Workshop 10:00 am Fijian Choir Rehearsal 7:00 - 8:00 pm

13 HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

14 15 Tongan Devotion 8:00 - 9:00 pm Church Council 7:00 pm

16 17 Hand Bell Choir Rehearsal 6pm Chancel Choir Rehearsal 7:15 pm

18 Tongan Choir Rehearsal 7:00 - 8:00 pm Newsletter articles due.


20 Finance Meeting @ Noon Pentecost in the Park

21 22 Tongan Devotion 8:00 - 9:00 pm SPRC Meeting 7:00 - 8:00 pm

23 24 Hand Bell Choir Rehearsal 6pm Chancel Choir Rehearsal 7:15 pm

25 Tongan Choir Rehearsal 7:00 - 8:00 pm


27 28 29 30 Tongan Devotion 8:00 - 9:00 pm

31 Hand Bell Choir Rehearsal 6pm Chancel Choir Rehearsal 7:15 pm

REMEMBER: CUMC is a voting center for the June Primary election. The Fellowship Hall is unavailable May 30th - June 5th.

May 2018

Looking for meaningful and fun things to do this summer? How about… Start your own food and flower bank. Grow vegetables and flowers to give away to your friends, neighbors and people in need. A large, fancy garden or yield isn’t necessary. Sometimes small and simple is what the doctor ordered. Declutter and give away furniture, clothes and goods that are in GOOD shape to those in need. Offer to pet-sit for friends, neighbors or family members that are traveling. Knowing that your canine or feline companion is safe and well cared for can mean the difference between having a fun and memorable vacation or a worry filled one.


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Fijian Prayer & Bible Study meets every Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 8:30 pm - 10:00 pm at members homes. Contact VirisilaBatiratu or Sireli Rokoyawa for a schedule of locations.

Fijian Choir Rehearsalmeets every Saturday from 7:00 - 8:00 pm in the Fireside Room.

Tongan Devotion Group meets every Tuesday and Friday from 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm in the Fireside Room. (Choir precedes devotion.)

Men’s Covenant Group meets every other Tuesday. Contact Ken Iritani or Mark Hanzlik for details.

UMW Fellowship meets quarterly. Please see your Circle Leader or a UMW Board member for the yearly schedule.

Church Council meets every 2nd Tuesday from 7:00 - 8:30 pm in Room 7.

Finance Committee meets every 4th Sunday from Noon- 1:00 pm in Room 7.

Trustee Committee meets every 2nd Sunday from Noon - 1:00 pm in Room 7.

Hollywood Park Neighborhood Association meets every second Monday from 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm in the Fireside Room.

West Sacramento Community Orchestra meets every Tuesday from 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm in the Fellowship Hall.

Food Addicts meet Wednesday from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm in the Fireside Room.

Zumba meets every Saturday from 8:00 am - 10:00 am in the Fellowship Hall.

Alcoholics Anonymous Speakers Bureau meets every second Saturday from 5:30 pm - 9:00 pm in the Fellowship Hall.

Note: If your committee meeting isn’t noted here, please email the Church Office to give us your schedule for the year.

If your committee meeting dates and times have changed, please email the Church office.

E-mail address: [email protected]

Heads Up!

Northern Lights UMW Circle meets Monday, May 7th @ 1:00 pm.

Esther Friendship UMW Circle meets Wednesday, May 2nd @ 10:00 am at Clover Lawton’s home.

Fijian UMW Fellowship is Saturday, May 6th.

Recurring Monthly Gatherings

17 // May 2018 //

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Grace to you and peace from God our Father

and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:3

May 2018, Volume 2, Issue #5

Centennial United Methodist Church 5401 Freeport Blvd. Sacramento, CA 95822

http://cumcsac.org

How to Intercede Like Jesus · So you can imagine the jolt I felt at reading ... What do I need to...

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