October 22, 2013
October 20 was another splendid Sunday at Lakeshore. It is a source of great to joy to recount the ways that a global family has gathered, does gather and, we trust, will continue to gather at the corner of Lakeshore and Mandana. May it always be the case that when we sing, “In Christ there is no east or west, in him no south or north, but one community of love throughout the whole wide earth,” we are able to say, “That song is about us.” Thanks to the San Francisco Kachin Baptist Church for their great music and great food. Thanks to our Forum panelists, Jayne Chin, Mary Osajindu, and Alice Singh for so beautifully telling their stories.
This Sunday our celebration of Diversity Month concludes as we focus of our ministry of Affirming all Peoples. Central to this celebration will be the recognition of the 20th Anniversary of the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists (f which we are a charter member,) a sermon by The Reverend Wally Bryen (ordained at Lakeshore in 2007) and an International Potluck following worship.
Following the potluck The Reverend Dr. Marcia Patton, Executive Minister of the Evergreen Baptist Association will be with us for a conversation about our interest in exploring membership in the EBA.
These words from Peter W. Marty, Pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Davenport, Iowa, seem a fitting expression of our ministry as we honor the 20th Anniversary of AWAB:
“If you consider yourself heterosexual and you are going to talk about someone whose identity or orientation does not exactly resemble your own, fight the urge to think of that person as an issue. They have blood pressure, personality, and breath.
This someone of whom you’re speaking could well be your favorite athlete, musician, sister or mail carrier. To reduce any of these individuals to an issue or category feels more than a little irreverent. It’s enough to suck the life right out of them – precisely the sort of life you hope nobody will steal from you.
So keep recalling your connection to real people with real lives. If everything
God created is good, and God created each of us, how would a gay (or straight) person be guilty of being anything more that what God created him or her to be?”
Prayers of the Congregation
Concerns
- Jennifer Pancoe, fiancee Chad and family as they remember Bette
- Luke Oladoja as he mourns the death of his mother (October 15)
- Joan Thatcher as she mourns the death of her cousin Marjorie
- Carol Leichter for her family and herself as they mourn the death of her uncle Cliff, for Jennifer who lost her baby at 25 weeks and for one of her colleagues who lost a brother
- Helen Harrison for Amy Huh and family
- Johanna Wilkinson for family, friends, Oakland, Burma, our Country, our World
- Larry Sims for Sandra and family
- Jesse Lucas for Joe DeBro in hospice care
- Sandra Dunn for her father
- Ethan Hopkins as he mourns the death of a friend
- Cherie Smith for her mom
- LeDayne Polaski for her dad
- The families of the BART employees who were killed on Saturday
- The families of the victims of the school shooting in Sparks, NV
- Lari Musatti for her family in Cuba
- Max Powers
- Cecil White for his brother Sam and his sister
- George and Sylvia Lee
- Joan Patten for her friend John
- Sheryl and Dave Gattey for Richard and Beth
- Doris Evans for her family
- Zondra Martin for her family
- Ann Fields for her family
- Mary Karne for her daughter Maryla
- Julie Milcoff for her father
Celebrations
- Thanksgiving with Bev and Jim Jeffery that Cynthia continues to improve
- Thanksgiving with Innocent and Mary Osajundu for their extended family
- Thanksgiving with Kay Baxter for some good news from Jamie and Stacey
- Thanksgiving for the work 0f Fred Finch Center with young people exiting the foster care system
- With Geetha Thaker that Darshan was able to visit
- Thanksgiving with Jewelle Gibbs on her return to St. Paul Towers
- Thanksgiving with Fannye Leary that she is home from Alta Bates Hospital
- Thanksgiving for the ministry of the San Francisco Kachin Baptist Church
- Thanksgiving for the Congolese families that have been worshipping with us
- Thanksgiving for the ministry of the American Baptist Seminary of the West (The ABSW Board of Trustees meets this Thursday-Saturday)