June 18, 2013

Our preacher this Sunday will be The Reverend Esther Hargis. Esther is a member of Lakeshore, a long time friend of our congregation, a much esteemed colleague, a courageous leader and a wonderful preacher. Esther’s sermon, taken from Galatians 3: 23-29 and Luke 8: 26-39, is titled “Including the Excluded.”
The memorial service for John Taylor will this Saturday at 2:00 in the LABC Sanctuary. John, a member of Oakland First Baptist Church since 1951 and Lakeshore since 2010, was instrumental in shaping the partnership, the covenant, between the two congregations. This beloved leader ran the race of faith in an exemplary manner. As part of his memorial I will recount this story from “Why Faith Matters” by Rabbi David J. Wolpe. “A man stood before God, his heart breaking from the pain and injustice in the world. “Dear God,” he cried out, ‘Look at all the suffering, anguish and distress in Your world. Why don’t you send help?’ God responded: ‘I did send help. I sent you.’ ” John understood what it meant to be sent.
The American Baptist Biennial/Mission Summit begins Thursday in Kansas City with the Emerging Theologians Conference at which our own Leann Snow Flesher, Dean and Professor of Old Testament at ABSW will present a paper. Also representing LABC at the Biennial will be Pastor Tanner, Reverend Carolyn Matthews and Reverend Dayle Scott. We prayer for them safe travel, meaningful engagement, and a good time.

Prayers of the Congregation

• Prayers for those whose bodies need strength and healing – Bette Pancoe (The Rehabilitation Center of Oakland), Sybil Alexander, Charlotte Evans, Doris and Ted Evans, Steve Leichter (Orinda Convalescent Hospital), Joni Nomura, Angelique Gollinger, Sandra Dunn, David Broadnax,  George Lee for Sylvia, Edna Dorenzo, Virginia Damretzky, Al Johnson, Jamie Reid, Kay Baxter’s friend Abbott, Rae Rita Thompson’s father, Celestine Bennett’s son Richard, Dave Gattey’s brother Phil and sister in law Linda, Jim Jeffery, Ruben Artery for the father of his friend Jose, Jeanne Robinson for Linda Ng, Cynthia Nelson, Peg Shaw for a friend, Patricia Butterfield for a friend, Kimberly Williams for her father, Larry and Darnell Sims for their co-worker George,  Joan Thatcher, Camille Parker for Michael Colombo, Erica Quinn for her student David, Beth Rice (my sister), Bonnie Sato for Trish -her grandchilren’s caregiver, Alean Saunders-Coffey for her sister,  Myra Saxton for her sister and her neighbor, Jim Dorr for his cousin, Mary Alice and Abe Cirimele for Sal Tedesco
• Prayers for those who are aging and their loved ones who care for them – Sandra Dunn for her father, Theresako Harris for her aunt, Larry Hutchings for his mother, Marc Harrison for his father, Sheryl Gattey for her mother, Ruth Smith, Naomi Nutting for her mother, Karen Hopkins for her father, Connie Hector for her mother in law, Helen Roberson for her brother, Katrina Lau for her father, Max Powers
• Prayers for those who are grieving – Cecil White on the death of his friend Dennis, Michael Sampson for his friend Mr. Savage on the death of his wife, Jesus Portillo for Parker Schlink on the death of her brother, Tony Besteda on the death of his wife Virginia
• Prayers for our loved ones who are facing significant challenges – Kay Baxter for Stacey and Jamie, Georgia Upshaw for her friend Ginny, Toni Daniels for her family, Margaret Alexander for LaShaya and family, Joan Patten for her son Peter and her sister Anne, Rowena Jackson for her son Paul, Mary Lee,  Ann Fields for her family and for Norma Wilson a resident of Oklahoma City,  Steve Reimer for his son Greg, the Sims family, Zondra Martin for her family, Phil and Gloria Meads for Phillip Oliver and Sarah, Jason Milano, Dwight Dickerson and family, Bjoe Morris for Pamela Addison,
• Prayers for our community – For those who live in fear,  those who are too much alone,  all the prodigal sons and daughters who are thinking of coming home, Lakeshore’s LOC and our work at Oakland Technical High School, those who are not parents but work to help improve the future of today’s children, the Wilkinson family for a safe home, the many churches in Oakland who are in a time of transition and grief, the ministry of the American Baptist Seminary of the West, the ministry of our Lakeshore Children’s Center, all who are searching for work, the Congolese refugee families who will arrive in Oakland in July
• Prayers for people we don’t know who  are facing challenges we can’t imagine – the people of Syria, the people of Iraq, the people of Afghanistan,  the people of South Africa as they pray for Nelson Mandela, the young woman from Richmond during the trial of those accused of attacking her, for the fire victims and fire fighters in Colorado, California and other western states besieged by wildfires
• Prayers of gratitude – For  our community organizing network, Oakland Community Organizations, on its 36th anniversary, with Paige Bence and John Lee on the birth of their second grandson (Ciqala Ray Sani Lee), with our graduates and their families, for the passage of the Local Control Funding Formula for the public schools of California,  Geetha Thaker as she begins her medical residency in Michigan,  Google’s commitment to stand against child pornography, with Charlotte Myers on a new job
• Prayers for ourselves – May each of us know that we are counted among God’s beloved