July 26, 2011
It is another busy week at Lakeshore. The Sanctuary, Family Room and Library have been transformed into the rain forest home of Pandamania, our Vacation Bible Camp. If you read last weeks message closely you will note that I referred to it as Pandamonium. A Freudian slip perhaps? Prayers for Karen Okusu, Pastor Tanner and an impressive team of volunteers as they incarnate the age appropriate message “God is wild about you.”
Karen and I are going to make a quick trip to Portland over the weekend to visit her family and help her Dad celebrate his birthday. The Reverend Dr. Ryan Parker will be our preacher in my absence. His sermon is taken from the story in Genesis in which Jacob, on the way to a reunion with his brother Esau, wrestles with an unidentified figure throughout the night and at daybreak receives the name Israel for striving “with God and with humans.” His sermon is titled “On the Necessity of Limping.” Ryan will also lead tonight’s Soup and Study.
The terrorist attacks in Norway last Friday continue to defy both explanation and understanding. It appears that misguided religion is at least partially to blame for these tragedies. In a critique of the religious right Frank Schaeffer argues for the importance of humility in religious matters. He writes, “No one ever blew up a mosque – or an abortion clinic – after yelling: ‘I could be wrong.’ ” Prayers continue for a grieving nation and for the incarcerated assailant.
On Thursday afternoon I will officiate at the funeral of Francisco Sanchez. Francisco was the father of Frankie Sanchez who was my goalie when I coached soccer at Skyline High. One of the chief values of sports teams are the enduring relationships they produce. Please join me in concern and prayer for the Pound and Sanchez families as they grieve.
Prayers of the Congregation
- Virginia Cheatham (Summit Hospital)
- Bette Pancoe (Has been at Summit Hospital, likely returning home today
- Sandra Dunn for her cousin Clovis and herself
- Edna Dorenzo
- Idella Berry
- All our shut ins
- A just resolution to the pending federal debt ceiling crisis
- Ann Fields for her family
- Mary Karne (recuperating at home)
- Joan Thatcher for Phyllis Deer
- Thanksgiving that Arnold Anderson was able to be in worship
- Leona Sims and the Sims family
- Bonnie Sato
- Margaret Alexander for her family
- Thanksgiving with Cathy and John Leaks on their marriage
- Thanksgiving that Jonah Bartlett (son of David and Carol Bartlett) and Elizabeth Smith-Bartlett were with us in worship. Jonah and Elizabet were married on July 16. They make their home in Connecticut
- Pat Hughes for her brother
- The Kachin people in Burma and the United States
- Paul Keener for his mom
- George and Sylvia Lee for their son and daughter in law as they travel
- Susan Joachim
- Richard Ice
- Camille Parker, relief from arthritis
- All who are grieving the untimely death of singer Amy Winehouse
- Nancy Smith as she nears the completion of her CPE year at UCSF
- Bettigene Johnson (has been in Kaiser Oakland, likely returning home today)
- Reverend Cherie Smith, Reverend Dave Robinson, Reverend Wally Bryen and all chaplains and pastoral care providers
- Carol and Steve Leichter
- All who are unemployed and under employed – may furlough days bring a little rest and little financial stress
- All who are grieving
- All who are traveling
- Kay Baxter for her family
Announcements
All are invited to join Darshan Thaker and the LABC Social Club for a hike in Marin Headlands on Saturday, August 6. There are two hikes, one more strenuous than the other, to choose from. Please RSVP to Pastor Allison
Allison and Roehl will also be away this weekend. They will be camping with Roehl’s family in Big Sur. Erica and Karen O. will be responding to pastoral emergencies.