An Evening With Leonard Bernstein

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MARCH 2012 VOLUME 8 l ISSUE 2EMMANUEL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH NEWSLETTER

Novum Voce, a Consortium of Voices, which offers a fresh

sound to the Conejo Valley, will perform April 1 here at Emmanuel. The concert begins at 6 p.m. and will feature the music of one of the most prolific composers of the 20th Century, Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein was an American composer, conductor, author and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States to receive worldwide acclaim. The evening will feature some of Bernstein’s most recognized sacred and secular works.

Headlining the program will be Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, which was commissioned for the Southern Cathedrals’ Festival at Chichester Cathedral in England in 1965. This magnificent sacred choral work was written for boy treble, solo quartet, choir and orchestra. It will be sung entirely in Hebrew. The second movement is based on Psalm 23, which is attributed to King David. The movement features the boy soprano, performed by Emmanuel’s Sean Harbor, like it was meant to be heard as if it was sung by the boy David himself.

The evening continues with acclaimed soprano Joanna Bushnell singing, “Make Our Garden Grow,” from Candide, an operetta which first opened in Broadway in 1956 based on the novella of the same name by Voltaire. Since then, Candide has been performed around the world

from Chicago to London to Milan. Moving with equal ease from the concert stage to musical theatre, commercials, television and voice-overs for film scores, Ms. Bushnell brings grace and humor to Bernstein’s popular work. Over the years, she has worked with industry greats Barbra Streisand, John Williams, Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli and Michael Bublé, among others. For many years, Ms. Bushnell was the featured soloist with the Conejo Pops Orchestra in the annual New Year’s Eve Night in Vienna concert at the Civic Arts Plaza.

Rounding out the evening will be a medley from Bernstein’s most beloved and enduring work, West Side Story, which opened on Broadway in 1957. The medley will feature solos and duets sung by local professional artists Leslie Cook, Jalin Hsu and William Martinez, as well as the consortium and orchestra. Some of the songs included are “Tonight,” “I Feel Pretty,” “Maria,” “America,” “One Hand, One Heart,” and “Somewhere.”

Tickets are $15 prior to the show or $20 at the door. They can be purchased at the church office, online or after services on Sunday mornings. For more information on the concert, contact Tony in the office at extension 12. Come, join Novum Voce on this marvelous journey that will transport the listener into the magical, transforming world of one of the greatest composers of all time.

IN THIS ISSUE

Help decorate and beautify the sanctuary this Easter by donating money for flowers and

greenery for Easter Sunday. Donations may be made in honor of, in celebration of or in memory of someone you love. All donations are welcome, and the requested amount is $10. Forms will be in the bulletin beginning Sunday, March 11. Or, you can drop yours off in the church office no later than Wednesday, April 4.

Freshen Up Easter Easter Egg Hunt

Our annual Easter Egg Hunt is on Easter Sunday, April 8

at 10:17am sharp! We are collect-ing Easter candy, small toys and plastic Easter eggs. Please bring your donations to the Easter Egg Hunt table starting Sunday, March 11. We will be filling 2,000 eggs to make the Easter Egg Hunt “Eggstra” fun for the kid-dos! Also, teens and adults, we need you to help fill the eggs on Wednesday, Apr. 4 at 6:30pm in Room 9. Many hands will make light work!

Where do a Zip Line, Human Fooze Ball, Nature Hikes, Prayer Walks, Service Opportunity,

Teaching from the Word, Worship and Friendship come together? Yes! The Annual Emmanuel Women’s Retreat at beautiful Forest Home, Ojai Valley.The women of our church will be retreating to Forest

Home in Ojai again this year on Friday, May 4 - Satur-day, May 5 for a time of fellowship and laughter, wor-ship and prayer, biblical encouragement and fun! The cost is just $145 for Friday evening, overnight accomo-dations and the full day Saturday or $75 for Saturday only. These price includes all sessions and hot meals.

Ojai is just 45 minutes north of Thousand Oaks. It is a convenient, yet beautiful and serene re-treat area. There is park-ing near the retreat room and eating area! Look for more information to come! Reserve your spot! Register at the

Women’s Retreat Table on Sunday or come by the church office mid-week!

Women’s Retreat: Laughter, Friendship, Prayer, Worship...and a Zip Line!

“Be afraid. Be very afraid.” That is the pitch for a scary movie. I guess some people like to be scared. Lucado is continuing to teach us this month that we really don’t need to go to a scary movie to be scared. There is plenty of fear hiding in our own hearts.

This month we start with the very personal fear of death. How will we face it when it comes, and is it possible to face it unafraid? We will look at the fear

of global calamity. Can we stay calm when everything seems to be falling apart? And finally, he identifies a fear we may think we don’t have: the fear of God getting out of my box. But think about it: what if God met you at your stage and moment in life and said, “I want you to do something that will seem strange to you, something that is a stretch, and something you never planned on doing.”

Those are the topics we will be considering as we head towards the greatest event in the history of the world, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Use these weeks and this study to prepare yourself for that great day, and face your fear right now about asking someone to church for Easter. Then, do it anyway!

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Sunday Journey

Have you thought about what you may need when there is a family emergency? The

Deacons brought together a group of our members who have experienced the loss of a family member to design a booklet to guide you and your family through the process of planning before the need arises. It is the intent of this guide that you be aware of the many details and options involved in planning adequately for your family, including end of life issues. Because this is an emotional and confusing time, advance knowledge will assure you that decisions will be made according to your personal wishes. Taking time to prepare will also provide you and your relatives with support and comfort when it is needed the most. ( This is not meant to give you legal advice.)

Where can you find this amazing resource? Just go on line at www.epconline.org, click on Resources and Newsletters, locate Deacons Handouts, A Guide for Planning Ahead 2011, and click! Hard copies are also available by calling the Church Office at 498-4502.

Deacon’s Corner

Planning Ahead Guide

High School Forest Home Service WeekendBy David Anderson

I think I am only now recovering from a four-day weekend of snow, service, and very little sleep. Thirty of Emmanuel’s

youth spent President’s weekend serving over 650 high school students from all over southern California. This is our second year working in the kitchen at Forest Home in order to help their staff put on the incredible programming they are known for. We spent hours cleaning dishes, floors, tables, and silverware. For each meal, we prepared the dining room, and then cleaned up their messes after they left. Let me tell you, this is no easy feat. I think the students pride themselves in making the most disgusting concoctions of milk, sausage, syrup, and scrambled eggs. But you know what? It was a blast and our students served with vigor!

I am so proud of our young adults and the positive attitudes they maintained. Thank you for your prayers while we were away, and thank you for your continual investment in the lives of these great emulators of Christ!

Memorial Services

Thank you to all those who have graciously volunteered to provide food preparation, food

service, set up and/or clean up for the Emmanuel memorial services over the years. As part of the Care Ministry, our Deacon’s Memo-

rial team coordinates and participates in the Memo-rial Services as one of our ministries that provides witness of the love of Christ through outreach to our Emmanuel family.We access our volunteer list for people who have

offered to help with the food donations and food service. We welcome anyone who would like to vol-unteer or have questions to please call Sarah Steen-berge at 499-4422, Carol Lane at 492-8704, or Steve McKee at 402-8407.

Thank You! The deacons want to thank everyone who

donated at the blood drive on February 19.3

On Sundays March 18 and March 25 at Emmanuel, you

can donate to Habitat for Humanity of Ventura County by purchasing raffle tickets for the beautiful castle play-house pictured here. This playhouse was built and decorated by Habitat volunteers. The playhouse is 6 feet by 8 feet with a 4 foot moat in front. The raffle drawing will be on March 31 at a Habitat benefit event. You don’t have to be present to win. If you win the playhouse, Habitat volunteers will deliver it to you or a deserving charity within 50 miles of the event. To purchase raffle tickets, see Dick Wilhelmsen or Milt Radant at the Habitat table on the patio after both services on those dates. Thank you for considering this opportunity to support one of Emmanuel’s local missions to help poor families in Ventura County.

Mission MorselsHelp Support Habitat for Humanity of Ventura County

On Sunday af-ternoon, what

could be more fun for a guy who has preached a couple of sermons than to take a nice walk with friends? Pictured with me are David and Erin Rodewald, Ed Jones and Wendy Ridenour. We traveled the route as “Team Emmanuel.” Along the route we found the youth group helping, along with the Steen-berge’s. A great time to join the rest of our community to raise funds for those in need in our area and around the world.

CROP Walk 2012 By Pastor Stuart Bond

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3/7 Empty Nesters, 7pm at the Bonds

3/13 Parents of Young Children 6:45pm drop off children at EPC nursery, 7pm at Bonds

3/17 Spring Campus Cleanup 8am - Noon

3/25 Congregational Meeting 10am, between services

Coming in April

4/1 Palm Sunday

Family & Puppet Sunday 9am & 10:45am, Rm. 5

Spring Concert, An Evening With Leonard Bernstein, 6pm

4/4 Easter Egg Stuffing, 6:30pm in Room 9

Empty Nesters, 7pm at the Bonds

4/5 Maundy Thursday Service 7:30pm in the sanctuary

4/8 Easter Sunday, services at 9am & 11am

Easter Egg Hunt, 10:17am

4/10 Parents of Young Children 6:45pm drop off children at EPC nursery, 7pm at Bonds

4/11 New Members Class 6:30pm, Pastor Stuart’s Office

4/13-15 Men’s Retreat at Forest Home

Weekly & Bi-Monthly GroupsROMEOS - (Retired old men eating out), Thursdays 8am at the New-bury Park IHOP. (New Location!)MOPS - Mothers of Preschoolers, 2nd & 4th Wednesdays at 9:15amMOTS -Mothers of Teens, Every Wednesday, 12pm, Youth Room.