Amistad United Church of Christ
a 1st century church for the 21st century

Happy New Year Amistad!

 
Here's a schedule of our Friday evening Agape Meal gatherings for January 2007.  Watch the website for changes.

Friday, January 5 -- Epiphany, "Amen!"  Celebrate the coming of the Magi and the coming of the Light as we sing along with Sidney Poitier in a rousing chorus of "Amen!" from the 1963 classic, Lilies of the Field.

 
Friday, January 12 -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Observance with a videoclip from Soulforce ("Satyagraha"):
 
"Mel White founded Soulforce with his partner, Gary Nixon. Inspired by the nonviolence movements of Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., White developed a program based on their principles. These principles were called satyagraha or "soul force" by Gandhi, who based many of them on the teachings of Jesus, and White adopted them to address the suffering of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. In 1997, he was awarded the ACLU's National Civil Liberties Award for his efforts to apply the "soul force" principles of Gandhi and King to the struggle for justice for sexual minorities."
 
Friday, January 19 -- another segment from the Living the Questions DVD, "Social Justice and the Prophets".   From the Participant Guide for this session: 
 
"The prophets appealed to the people of God to wake up to the injustices being perpetrated right in their midst. Each person standing up, striking out against injustice, sending out a ripple of hope.  At its core, Biblical faith has a sense of expectation called hope. The prophets clung to the conviction that judgment proclaimed out of hope for a renewed relationship with the divine would yield a better, more just and peaceful future.  Far from being hateful or “unpatriotic,” today’s prophets engage in social criticism out of that same hope, a conviction that “doing justice” is essential to expressing both a vital faith and building a world at peace."  Where do we see hope for a better, more just and peaceful future today?
 
Friday, January 26 -- our 7th Annual Amazing Grace-a-thon!  Listen to this theme song for grace, sing it, watch a segment of the Bill Moyers video about it, sing it again, talk about it, and then listen to it again!  Judy Collins, Tramaine Hawkins, the Soweto Gospel Choir -- or bring your own favorite rendition from home!  (Personal note: a soloist sang it in Japanese at Andrew and Chisato's wedding last month.)  The Amazing Grace-a-thon is dedicated to the memory of Mig Beelard whose idea it was!
n.b. --In the light of our Watchnight observance last week you might be interested in Danette Mitchell's column in yesterday's Reporter,  "New Year's Eve: A night to watch and remember."
 
And, in keeping with the promises of our website and our yellow pages ad ("We find the Christ in science, art, spirituality, feminism, ecology and prayer") I have tentatively scheduled both an art project and a science-themed evening for February and would welcome suggestions for both.  I invite you to let me know what you'd like to do art-wise -- and especially what you might be able to help with -- and also which science themes interest you now.  Global warming?  Evolution and transitional fossil fish?  Primate genomes?  the deciphering of Neanderthal DNA?  Shrinking ice sheets?  New techniques in microscopy?  The downgrade of Pluto as a planet?  *The proof of the Poincaré Conjecture?
 
A new project for the new year:  let's help send Meiling on a mission trip to Cuernavaca, Mexico!  The Rev. Drew Nettinga, good friend of Amistad and our Associate Conference Minister, will co-lead a trip in July and Meiling has signed up to go.  We've set up a special fund to receive gifts to help subsidize the ~$1200 cost of the trip, and we've earmarked some of the Mission Fund to help her fill a suitcase with items requested by the host Benedictine sisters in Cuernavaca.  If you'd like to contribute, mark your gift "Special Fund" and put it in the basket.
 
And an old project coming around again in the new year:  I'll soon have a "Balikbayan box" to receive children's backpacks and school supplies to send to our friends in Cebu.  Look for it on the table!
 
At our last gathering of 2006 we decided to send a year-end gift to Heifer International which is already on its way. 
 
Many blessings to all of you as we begin another cycle around the sun!
 
In hope --
 
Marian
www.amistad-vacaville.org
 
*Grigory Perelman's proof of the Poincaré Conjecture was rated the mathematical "breakthrough of the decade" by Science Magazine, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
 

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