November 13, 2013

Mid-November Greetings,
There are many ways to give thanks and many ways to celebrate Thanksgiving. Feasting is a long established way of recognizing the bounty of both Creator and creation. Serving others is a time tested way of expressing the gift of being part of the human family. Speaking up, sharing stories and counting blessings is yet another very good way of giving thanks.
This coming Sunday will provide us with both the opportunity to serve (filling Thanksgiving baskets after worship and offering our pledges of time, talent and treasure) and to share our stories of Thanksgiving. There will be time in worship to share short stories of how others have been good to us. It is my hope that these stories will help illustrate the point that as human beings created in the image of a God who has a profound capacity to do good, we have a profound capacity to do good to one another. In the words of Marilynne Robinson, author of Gilead and When I Was a Child I Read Books,  “it is in the nature of people to do good to one another.”

Prayers of the Congregation

• Leona Sims in Summit Hospital
• Shirley Jones for Drew Groth
• Jesus Portillo for Judy Johnson
• Thanksgiving with Donny Johnson on a visit home and successful completion of U.S. Army Ranger training
• Thanksgiving with Marie Johnson on her engagement to Kenneth Pierce
• Helen Harrison for many friends who have experienced loss
• Theresako Harris for her aunt
• Karen Hopkins for her brother Jeff and family
• Thanksgiving with Declan and Sheila Brown on the birth of their grand niece Matilda Brown (daughter of David and Deidre Brown) and for niece Kay and Josh as they prepare for the birth of their child in early 2013.
• The people of Burma after an earthquake in the northern part of the country
• All who are grieving
• All who are traveling
• Carolyn Person for Hershel Vinson
• John and Pam Claassen for John’ workplace
• Sybil Alexander for her brother Frederick and herself
• Naomi Nutting for her mom
• Phil and Gloria Meads for Cynthia, Max, and Sam
• Paige Bence and John Lee for their Neighbor Martha who is hospitalized
• Johanna Wilkinson for Evan, Leona and President Obama
• Amber Picou for all parents struggling with actions and behaviors of of tweens and teens
• Kay Baxter for Jamie and Stacey
• Tyrone Mack for his brother
• Our Hunger Task Force as it prepares for Thanksgiving and Christmas ministries of caring
• Thanksgiving for Mikki Boyd, Stan Fong, Carolyn Matthews, the Voices of Lakeshore and the Lakeshore Handbell Ensemble
• Chuck Johnston for his dad
• Sandra Dunn for her dad

Announcements

Thanksgiving Offering-You can make a Thanksgiving gift to the church by using the Thanksgiving envelope found in your box of pledge envelopes. These gifts greatly help the church meet its financial commitments.
A Hopkins family thanksgiving tradition is a Thanksgiving morning “Turkey Trot,” a self paced 4 mile run or 1.5 mile walk in hills of the East Bay Regional Parks. This year we would like to extend the invitation to our church family to join in. Rain or shine, we leave from the parking lot at the Richard Trudeau Training Center, 11500 Skyline Boulevard, promptly at 8:00. This is a dog friendly event which concludes with hot cider and donut holes at the picnic table next to the trailhead as well as passing the hat for the Oakland SPCA.