Thursday, July 28, 2011

Prayers and Action for Somalia

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Somalia this week as they are facing severe hunger, drought, conflicts, and lack of security. May our thoughts and prayers lead to action, responding to the invitation to come alongside the Somali people.

The United Nations is calling the situation in Somalia the "worst humanitarian disaster" in the world. Let's pledge to stay informed and seek concrete avenues for assistance and advocacy.

Here are some news stories about what is happening in Somalia:


Please consider donating to this dire human need. Here are some organizations that are helping people in the region:

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Being Reformed: Being Presbyterian -- Questions For The Week!

This Sunday (July 24) we will continue an eight-week series on basic Presbyterian doctrinal issues entitled “Being Reformed: Being Presbyterian.” This week will be a discussion about scripture in the Reformed and Presbyterian tradition. Subsequent classes will deal with God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the church, and the future, with a wrap-up session on Sept. 4. Seven different facilitator/teachers will lead this series.

The classes will be held at 11:20 a.m. in South Hall, immediately after English-language and Spanish-language worship and prior to Korean-language worship.

As part of this series, we encourage you to participate by answering a question each week in advance of the class. Even if you can’t attend one or any of the classes, feel free to chime in with your answers; we’ll use them as part of the class discussion.

This week’s questions:

1. Do you know where your Bible is?
2. How many times a week do you read your Bible?
3. What is your favorite Bible Translation?

Feel free to leave a comment below or to email your answer/thought to: BobTatFORE@aol.com. You can also post your comment on the Facebook Page for Pasadena Presbyterian Church.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Young Adults in the News!

As a young adult community, we want to stay aware of the particular gifts that young adults bring to our world as well as the particular challenges that young adults face. We are also curious to learn about culture and trends among young adults.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Prayers of the People

God of love,


You have breathed us into being. Even now You sustain and nurture this world with Your care and attention. Help us to open our eyes to Your Presence. Help us to remember that we have received Your grace, that we are invited to share love with all those we encounter because we have been invited to be participants in Your redeeming and reconciling work.


We pray for the needs of this world - for nations that are wartorn, for places where the people are in political turmoil, often with violent results while feeling forgotten, left outside of the news cycle, more importantly, left outside of advocacy and action. We pray for places where protests meet weapons and for places where human rights are so often swept under the rug, not just in the many "theres" of this world but also in the "here" in the "now," in the "in our midst." We pray for women, men, and children who are sold into slavery - for those across the world, for those right here in our nation, and in the Greater Los Angeles area.


We pray for nations that are buckling under debt - for Greece, for Portugal, for Italy, for many African nations. We pray for the leaders of our country as they are challenged to meet economic challenges here.


And we pray for our city in its challenges and in its joys. We pray for many homeless people who struggle to know where their next meal will come from, right here in Los Angeles County. We pray for people who will receive assistance today through the God Loves You Food Ministry. We pray for people - old and young - who have never stepped into a House of Worship but who are longing for a spiritual connection and community where they can be comforted and challenged.


And we pray for our church. We pray for all those who have special needs today, those listed in our bulletin, those whom we know in our hearts. We give You thanks for the opportunity to be a multicultural church. for the joy and challenge that we can learn from each other and invite others to join that conversation and this family of faith. In our many languages - English, Korean, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Farsi, Arabic, French, Thai, and other languages - Your praises and Your words of challenge can be spoken, even here. We give You thanks for our members who traveled on the recent mission trip. We give You thanks for every person who will step into this sanctuary to hear sacred music in the coming days. We give you thanks that we - human and beloved -- are invited to be participants in Your redeeming and reconciling work.


And as Your children, with bold confidence, we remember that redemption and reconciliation so often begin with prayer. So we pray the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, saying:


Our Father who art in heaven,

Hallowed be Thy Name,

Thy Kingdom come,

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory forever.

Amen.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

New Class: We Want Your Feedback!

We are starting a new English-language adult education series — we want your input!

This Sunday (July 17) we begin an eight-week series on basic Presbyterian doctrinal issues entitled “Being Reformed: Being Presbyterian.” This week will be an introduction to the series; subsequent classes will deal with the Bible, God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the church, and the future, with a wrap-up session on Sept. 4. Seven different facilitator/teachers will lead this series.

The classes will be held at 11:20 a.m. in South Hall, immediately after English-language and Spanish-language worship and prior to Korean-language worship.

As part of this series, we encourage you to participate by answering a question each week in advance of the class. Even if you can’t attend one or any of the classes, feel free to chime in with your answers; we’ll use them as part of the class discussion.

This week’s question: What does the word “Reformed” mean to you? Feel free to leave a comment below or to email your answer/thought to: BobTatFORE@aol.com.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

This Sunday: Potluck Fellowship Night with L.I.F.T.!

We want to invite all of our young(er) adults at Pasadena Presbyterian Church to join us this Sunday evening at the home of Jack and Gretchen Brickson. We'll have a potluck dinner and lots of laughter! We're thankful for the hospitality of Jack and Gretchen, and we want to express our appreciation that they're hosting us.

We'll be meeting at 5pm. Please bring a dish or drink to share, and we'll see you soon!

If you have any questions, please contact Renee Roederer in the church office at (626) 793-2191.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Erin Tamayo Begins Great Work with CLUE LA!

As many of you know, I have recently graduated from San Francisco Theological Seminary and have gone on to an organizing position with CLUE LA. But, perhaps you’ll find it interesting in learning just how I got to this stage in my life and how I have tried my best to follow God’s call and remain diligent to this discernment process.

First of all, let me mention that when my husband Andres and I decided that I was being called to attend seminary and leave my job as a First Grade teacher in Phoenix, Arizona, we really had a very limited understanding of what would follow. Quite frankly, it was through witnessing the struggles that my students’ families were going through, being recent immigrants to this country, most coming from Mexico, and the difficulties that they had to endure, that I became convicted that my faith was calling me to investigate how the church should respond. Often I became angered by the ways that the church even sometimes exacerbated the problems, believing that they were attempting to do the right thing.

I came to seminary with a strong desire to “stand with” and “learn from” those on the margins of society. I must explain that as an educator, the pedagogy that inspired me the most was that of Paulo Freire which seeks to meet people where they are and does not involve one person acting on another, but rather people working with each other. Included in this theory is the understanding that the educator, the teacher, has a mutual responsibility to both teach but also learn from her students in a more organic model of education. I don’t want to get too theoretical here but these pedagogical leanings led me to feel great inspiration when coupled with the theological writings of Liberation Theologians and Hispanic Theologians such as Gustavo Gutierrez and Virgilio Elizondo. It was through reading these authors that I found courage to continue asking how the church is to respond to those who are so beloved by God but often find themselves rejected by society as a whole.

It was through my pastoral internship at Immanuel Presbyterian Church that I gained an understanding of how the church and the community can work together to promote healthy social change in the midst of so much complexity. I found myself motivated to explore the way that we should respond to Jesus’ commission to “go and make disciples of all nations” coupled with his own mission “to proclaim good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free…” Many churches take part in charitable outreach to the poor, needy and outcast but as someone who has lived, learned and worshiped with people who needed real social change to be able to live the life that God set before them with dignity, I struggled to find other paths to fulfill these needs.

Through the ministry of Immanuel Presbyterian Church, I came into communication with a Faith Rooted Organization called CLUE-LA. CLUE stands for Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice. There are many things that drew me to CLUE specifically. First of all, I found great inspiration in knowing that CLUE draws from our faith traditions as a basis for their work and is deeply committed to journeying with low wage workers in their daily struggles for fair wages and safe working conditions. As Los Angeles is a place with a wide variety of cultures and people have varying levels of societal power, this area is especially fertile for the involvement of our faith communities in standing against the exploitation of many for the benefit of a few. CLUE is committed not only to supporting low-wage workers in their struggles but also in speaking truth to power as our clergy and faith leaders can speak from positions of moral authority that are supported by their integrity and compassion.

Through my work at CLUE-LA, I have come to hear the heartbreaking stories of workers throughout a variety of industries. A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to meet Greg Fletcher, a warehouse worker at an international corporation, as he illustrated the lack of human dignity and care he receives at this workplace. “They treat us like paperclips,” he said, “useful tools but when it’s bent too much it breaks. And nobody cries for it. Nobody cries for a broken paperclip. They just throw it away and go get another one.” Through stories such as Greg’s, I began to connect it to the difficulties that immigrant families go through in Phoenix. I began to understand that as people of faith, we must respond together, partnered with those in these struggles. If we are to believe in the inherent worth that each individual has in being created in the image of God, we cannot remain motionless when workers are made to labor until their bodies wear out, working for poverty wages that don’t allow them to care for their families.

At CLUE-LA, people from various religious traditions are brought together under the belief that “All Religions Believe in Justice.” As an interfaith organization, I always find it interesting to learn how different faiths draw from their own traditions to support the call for a more just society. One thing that I have learned while working in a place where the Executive Director is a Jewish Rabbi, The Program Director is a Methodist Pastor and the Board President is an Muslim Imam, it is that you have to know your own tradition before you can even attempt to draw from someone else’s. For example, did you know that employment, working conditions and labor relations are all subjects that have merited attention at a variety of Presbyterian General Assemblies? I’m proud to say that concern for human dignity in the workplace and at home has consistently been upheld by our church and our governing bodies for at least half of a century. In closing, I’d like to share with you a statement from the 1971 General Assembly which inspires and supports me in the work I now do:

“Since God has created life and material resources to sustain life, humanity does not have the right to deny life by withholding the means of existence to some…justice demands that everyone have the material conditions necessary for their physical and social existence…a guarantee to every American for income…large enough to provide for basic needs and to sustain every person’s participation with dignity, in society.” General Assembly 1971.

-Written by Erin Tamayo

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Sermon: The One Who Knows The Soil

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23


‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil.But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!’ . . .


A sower went out to sow.


That's simple enough. That's how Jesus' parable begins. A sower went out to sow. Plain and simple. A sower went out to do what a sower does: Sow seeds.


But is it simple? I mean, what kind of sower is this, really?


Now I confess that I know little to nothing about farming, but even if I were to plant a small, family garden - perhaps large enough for Ian and me with some extra vegetables thrown in to share with friends from time to time - I would till the ground in some way, and I would sow my seeds in a methodical way. I would likely place my seeds in rows. I would certainly place the seeds in such a way as to know where to find them! And even with my limited knowledge, I would somehow take inventory of my yard. I would discover which area of the yard has the best soil, or at the very least, which area of the yard has the greatest access to the right level of sunlight, not too much, not too little. See, I would look into these things. I would sow methodically.


But not this sower. Not at all. This sower seems to throw seeds around willy-nilly. A little here, a little there. It's as if this sower just throws seeds to the wind, letting them end up wherever they might go. So what would make someone do this? It doesn't really make logical sense, does it? I suppose we can't really know the answers to those questions, but perhaps this sower really had hope and faith that something positive - something fruitful - would come from these actions. So instead of picturing an irresponsible or even an inept sower, perhaps we might begin to see an image of playfulness here. Perhaps we might begin to see a sower who throws seed in absolute delight, with great abandon, the entirety of the sower's being overflowing with abundance, with full confidence that the seeds are just the beginning, that the fruitful increase of unexpected harvest is just around the corner. Maybe our sower is that kind a sower - mysterious to us in ways that we can't fully understand, yet a sower we can picture with our limited sight, one we can envision as seeds are thrown with imagination and playfulness and even conviction. This is the sower of our parable.


So as Jesus speaks these words, this sower emerges as one who throws seeds continuously, everywhere with belief - with trust - that fruit will emerge even in the most unlikely of places. This is good news for us. But you might also say, "Now wait a minute! Don't some difficulties emerge in this parable too?" There's is a good deal of realism in Jesus' words, isn't there? Some seeds end up on the path, and before they can get into the ground at all, they're gobbled up, right into the stomachs of birds. Other seeds fall into shallow soil. No fault of their own. But the conditions just aren't right for them to thrive in the long term. And still other seeds, fall into places where danger lurks. There are thorns and weeds growing around them, choking off the possibility for them to blossom and grow in a healthy way. Even though the final word of this parable is abundance, Jesus' parable is full of realism too. And since you and I live in the real world, maybe it's helpful to see that Jesus gets it. Maybe this is good news for us too.


I'm sure that Jesus' first hearers could relate to this realism because many of them were farmers themselves. And if they weren't farmers, they knew people who were. This parable was certainly a lived parable. Jesus' audience knew what it was like to start with good intentions and then be forced to deal with a less than perfect harvest. They knew what it was like to sow well - perhaps even methodically - only to discover that conditions beyond their control could throw the harvest out of balance, or worse, cause its destruction. Drought, floods, and pests could threaten more than the livelihood of profit for an individual farmer. They could ravage the food supply entirely, all there is to live on. This is a lived parable, one to which Jesus' hearers could relate.


But we also learn in the latter half of this passage that this parable isn't just about seeds. It isn't ultimately about farming techniques. It's about people. It's about us. And when we move to the level of people and the word of the Kingdom, this ultimate good news that Jesus depicts as seeds, we also see some realism here. When we move to this level, we realize again that this parable is a lived parable.


Jesus and his disciples were itinerant preachers, moving about all the time. And like sowers scattering seed, Jesus and his disciples were scattering words about everywhere, scattering words of good news - the Kingdom of God is coming and is already here! These seeds - these words of the Kingdom- are about the Ultimate Good, but in Jesus' experience, they didn't always lead to perfect blossoming when they fell on the ears of people. In the Gospel of Matthew, hearers misunderstand, hearers follow Jesus only to turn away when he makes inconvenient demands of them, hearers receive the word and yet struggle intensely with temptations; in the case of the rich young man, you may remember, the pursuit of wealth and the desire to keep many possessions were true stumbling blocks. Jesus and his disciples lived this parable.


Yes, this is a lived parable. It's a parable that we live. When we think about our own lives - when we think about our relationship with that mysterious, imaginative, abundant Sower - we know that we have lived this parable. In the different moments of our lives, we too have misunderstood, we too have followed Jesus only to turn away when he makes inconvenient demands of us, we too have received the Word and yet struggled intensely with temptations. We've lived this parable too. And we're not just one category. We're not one type of seed or one type of soil. That's good news for all of us. We're not destined to live this way or to get stuck in any of these places. We've simply experienced them in our lives. That's realism.


But this reality is not the final word. In order to know the what is the final word, in order to know Who is the final word, we need only to look to the Sower once again. On one hand, this Sower is so unlike us - unmethodical and persistent in imaginative possibilities. Yet on the other hand, this Sower is so with us! This is the Sower who never gives up, who believes an abundant harvest is not only possible but is what we are destined for. This is the Sower who keeps throwing seeds our way - seeds of love, call, nurture, vision - who keeps willing us and dreaming us into good soil. This is the Sower who looks at each one of us and at this community of us and says, "You are mine. You are my beloved creation. And I have named you and claimed you to be endlessly and profoundly good in my sight." This is the Sower who knows the soil. This is the Sower who throws seed with total abandon and reaps a harvest beyond all imagination. This is the Sower who makes a harvest out of us, one that is miraculous. Apart from that Sower's vision and action, it seems almost unbelievable.


It is almost unbelievable, isn't it? When we look back on this parable and see seeds thrown all over the place - upon the beaten, bird-filled path; upon the barren, shallow soil; upon the soil filled with stumbling blocks of weeds and thorns - it would be miraculous if even a normal harvest were to emerge. It would be miraculous if the typical harvest were to come through: five-fold or seven-fold. But that's not what happens here. Despite difficulties and problems, this Sower produces harvests that are thirty-fold, sixty-fold, beyond all odds, one-hundred-fold! This is miraculous! This is astounding! This Sower who knows the soil dreams possibilities for harvest that come to fruition beyond our wildest imagination! Incredible.


When Jesus tells parables, he often issues a call. "Let anyone who has ears, listen!" Maybe Jesus is saying something similar to us in this moment, "All you who have ears, listen! All who have eyes, keep them open and see what's around you right now! Pay attention!" As God spoke to Moses in the wilderness, perhaps our Sower is telling us, "Pay attention! Look around you and see that you are on Holy Ground! Together, you are Holy Ground. Open your eyes and ears and recognize that you are on good, holy soil!"


You know, a healthy dose of realism that takes difficulties seriously and sees them for what they are is a gift. But those difficulties are not the final word. Like other congregations, we have difficulties here at Pasadena Presbyterian Church. Some of them are very tangible. We don't have a working air conditioning at the moment, and we haven't since May. I know you're feeling that. It's hot in here, but let me tell you, the choir room is an absolute inferno. Can I get an amen from the Summer Choir?


We're worried about building needs and staffing needs. We're concerned about finances. It's good that we're paying attention to these needs. That's part of our call. At the same time, we can open our eyes and ears to the constant seed-throwing that's coming our way, that's happening around us, and among us, and in us, and even sometimes, in spite of us.


So here is a message for us today:


Let anyone who has ears, listen up! Let anyone who has eyes, open them wide!


In a few minutes, when our Spanish-language worship service is over, about thirty people will gather for a Kaleidoscope Bible Study. They'll study together, and they'll find ways to articulate God's call in their lives. Some of the participants of this study are completely illiterate, but they have life experience and wisdom, and God's seeds are finding and taking root in them in that study. That's happening right here in our midst! That's happening on good, holy soil that God has claimed.


After this service, some young adults will gather on the patio and then go grab lunch and talk about this sermon. And they'll do it with the conviction that the sermon isn't something on a piece of paper. It's certainly not confined to words that Renee Roederer typed out on her computer. Instead, they'll remind themselves that they are part of the sermon, that they're still preaching it with their lives. That's happening right here in our midst! That's happening on good, holy soil that God has claimed.


In this moment, friends of this congregation are worshipping with us through a television broadcast. They may not be physically present, but they're a part of this worship. And they're a part of this sermon too, still living it forward. That's happening right here in our midst! That's happening on good, holy soil that God has claimed.


Right now, sixteen Korean-speaking members of our church are on a mission trip in Aguacalientes, Mexico, working with children, teaching them, and building relationships. We have the privilege of keeping them in our prayers daily. That's happening right here in our midst! That's happening on good, holy soil that God has claimed.


And in a few moments, this congregation will ordain new Elders and Deacons who will lead this church, serving us with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love. They will lead us into new possibilities, making decisions and nurturing us to be an even stronger multicultural church for this city. That's happening right here in our midst. That's happing on good, holy soil that God has claimed.


Friends, you are that good, holy soil. You. Through the power of God, our faithful sower, you are called to be a Sacred Space for our city. So go forth into Pasadena and all the places where you dwell, living with abandon and abundance. Go forth expecting an unimaginable harvest. Thanks be to God. Amen.


Renee Roederer, Director of Young Adult Ministries,

and the Community at Pasadena Presbyterian Church


***This sermon was influenced and enriched by the insights of four authors who write on this passage in Feasting Upon the Word: Year A: Pentecost and Season After Pentecost. Those authors are Gary Peluso-Verdend, Talitha J. Arnold, J. David Waugh, and Theodore J. Wardlaw.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Spotlight on Ministry: Aguacalientes Mission Trip!

Korean members and friends of Pasadena Presbyterian Church are leaving today for a ten day mission trip in Aguacalientes, Mexico. They will be working with a contact person who is a missionary for the region. While they're in Mexico, they will be planning and participating in a Vacation Bible School for a local orphanage. They will also assist in a wedding!

Sixteen people are traveling to Aguacalientes this week. They trip lasts from July 6-16. Let's covenant to hold our friends in prayer every day of this trip.

July 6: Let's pray for safe travels.
July 7: Let's pray for meaningful introductions between PPC and the people of Mexico.
July 8: Let's pray for a powerful multicultural experience.
July 9: Let's pray for all the children who will receive the message through VBS.
July 10: Let's pray for the family members of these children.
July 11: Let's pray that meaningful friendships are built between the mission trip participants.
July 12: Let's pray for the safety and health of the nation of Mexico.
July 13: Let's pray for rest in the midst of so much work.
July 14: Let's pray that this multicultural experience will enrich our multicultural church.
July 15: Let's pray in gratitude for all the ways hospitality has been received.
July 16: Let's pray that mission trip participants will bring back a powerful message for PPC.