Tributaries

Just before I left Vancouver, Washington to move to

Sonoma a colleague of mine, a hospital chaplain,

suggested that I might like the work of Francis Weller.

Little did I know at the time how much I would come to

appreciate his work and wisdom.

Francis Weller is a psychotherapist, author, and retreat

leader who specializes in grief work. He has written

two books: Entering the Healing Ground: Grief, Ritual

and the Soul of the World, and his most recent book,

The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the

Sacred Work of Grief. He lives nearby in Forestville

and does presentations at Commonweal in Bolinas

and at the Point Reyes Bookstore.

In his first book, Entering the Healing Ground, Francis

Weller says that if we are willing to undertake “an

apprenticeship with sorrow,” grief can become a

gateway to our authentic self, to becoming fully alive.

He describes Five Gates of Grief that we pass through

in our apprenticeship with sorrow, not just once, but

like a tollbooth on the Golden Gate Bridge we go

through these gates every time we cross over to the

other side of the bay.

Identifying these gates of grief and knowing how to

navigate our way through them creates the opportunity

to honor and heal the times of loss that we will

inevitably face, instead of greeting them in isolation

with denial or fear.

In reading Francis Weller I quickly discovered that he is

a great collector of quotations and poetry such as

these two examples:

“Grief dares us to love once more.” Terry Tempest

Williams

“Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,

you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.”

Naomi Shihab Nye

Volume 35 Issue 3 March 2016 Rev. Alan Claassen, Interim Minister

The Grapevine

Newsletter of the First Congregational Church of Sonoma

United Church of Christ

In the preface of his book, The Wild Edge of Sorrow,

Francis Weller writes “An apprenticeship with sorrow

offers us the chance to build our capacity to stay

present when intense feelings of grief arise. Through

meaningful rituals, a community of friends, and some

time in benevolent solitude, we are offered the

opportunity to develop living relations with loss. In so

doing, our hearts are ripened and made available for

the great work of loving our lives and this astonishing

world.”

It seems to me that this apprenticeship with sorrow is

another way of describing the journey of Lent into and

through Holy Week, Good Friday, Maundy Thursday,

and Easter.

In my sermon on February 21 I shared a Facebook

article written by the musician Barbara McAfee. In the

article she responds to a poem often read at memorial

services:

“Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep.” The response

actually came to Barbara in a voice from someone

speaking to her from heaven that said,

Now, Honey. You just go ahead and stand at

my grave and weep. Please, please…weep!

It’s bizarre to be where I am now — in this lovely

though totally indescribable place – and see you

expending such precious energy on NOT

weeping, NOT breathing, NOT living this

experience. Sweetheart, you are still alive.

So be…alive!

May we walk through the remaining weeks of the

Lenten journey trusting that our Scriptures, our

friendships, our prayers, our tears and laughter, our

faith, our times of worship that occur in so many ways

and places throughout the week, will be for us a holy

Sanctuary, tried and true.

-- Pastor Alan

Earth Care

The ECC is now organized into three subcommittees:

(1) Education, Films, Speakers, Field Trips;

(2) Healthy/Local Food and Purchasing Choices;

(3) FCC Sonoma Advocates for Earth Care

A spring schedule of films, speakers, and field trips is

being planned. A community-wide “Earth Day Festival”

may be hosted in April by the ECC on our FCC

campus, including local farmers’ market vendors, solar

and landscaping workshops, films, etc.

The next ECC Nature Walk is Monday, March 14, from

9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. at Sugarloaf. This walk will

feature an introduction to “Shinrin-yoku” led by Virginia

Bertelsen -- http://www.shinrin-yoku.org/. For this walk,

sign up at donnellyj63@gmail.com. The ECC

welcomes your suggestions and invites your

participation. Next ECC meeting is Tuesday, March 8,

at 5:00 p.m. in the Community Room.

-- John Donnelly

We Have a New Treasurer!

I’m extremely happy to announce Bill Hutchinson has

volunteered to be our new Treasurer! Our former

treasurer, Candi Horton, has begun training our

recently hired bookkeeper, Deborah Droubay, and we

are delighted that Bill will be working with Deborah to

handle our financial affairs. We are in very good hands,

indeed! As a side note, Bill will be stepping down from

the Stewardship Committee.

I wish to say a special thank you

t to Candi Horton for her

incredible dedication, hard work

and cheerfulness throughout this

transition. Well done, Candi!

Thanks also to Ray Snipes, Judy Weiner, and Alan

Claassen for their teamwork and support.

-- Margie Mitchell

COMMITTEE NEWS

Church Council

At our leadership retreat on February 6 all our

committee chairs and council members met and

discussed plans to more fully “live our bylaws” this

year. We are focused on:

1) What the bylaws say about each committee’s responsibilities.

2) What each committee is actually doing (or not doing) and why.

3) What, if anything, needs to be changed in the bylaws to better reflect our current needs and practices?

We also talked about improving communication

between council and all the committees. A few years

back we changed the structure of our council to

include five members-at-large in lieu of the committee

chairs. While this structure has its advantages

(committee chairs do not need to attend two meetings

every month), the disadvantage is communication

between groups is not always what it should be. To

compensate for this disadvantage, it was stated in the

bylaws that each committee would report to council at

least two times a year and each committee would have

a council member liaison.

Council plans to “live the bylaws” more fully this year

by doing two things:

1) Strengthening the liaison roles between council members and committees.

2) Inviting all committee chairs to attend council meetings on June 2 and October 6

At the October meeting we will share our “live the

bylaws” experiences and recommendations for the

bylaws revision committee in 2017. I’m looking forward

to a lively discussion!

-- Margie Mitchell, Moderator

Hospitality

Our thanks to everyone who has helped with coffee

hour. It's a wonderful time of friendship and

fellowship after the worship service, and we

appreciate those who make it happen each Sunday.

If you haven't helped with set-up, clean-up, or

bringing food, we hope each of you will take a look

at our Coffee Hour sign-up chart, and fill in with your

energy and talents when you can. It isn't difficult,

and it's a wonderful way to contribute to our

community.

If you're bringing food, we suggest keeping it fairly

simple; Hospitality Committee members can offer

suggestions if you're not sure what to bring. We

want the emphasis to be on fellowship rather than

food. As an Earth Care church we encourage

healthy local snacks, if possible, and we welcome

any food you are willing to share.

-- Patricia Henley

Worship Committee

Points of interest from the Worship Committee:

1. Mary Evelyn has agreed to chair the Sanctuary Renovation Committee.

2. Following our change of scheduling, Communion will be held on Maundy Thursday, and the first Sundays in March, May, July, September and November.

3. The Earth Care Committee will organize a

special Sunday Service to celebrate Earth

Day on Sunday, April 17.

-- Joan Howarth

Sanctuary Renovation Committee

The committee continues to work very hard to

develop recommendations to fulfill the hopes and

dreams of the congregation for our sanctuary. At the

same time we are updating cost estimates. We look

forward to presenting a plan soon.

I will be leaving for a brief trip north, then over 4

months to the Dominican Republic, so I am leaving

the committee at the end of February. Mary Evelyn

Arnold is the new chairperson.

-- Brian Smucker

West Spain Thrift Shop

The shop has been quite busy the last few months. We

always are in need of clean, high-quality, usable items

of all kinds – clothing, accessories, house wares, linens,

jewelry, tools, artwork, and collectibles – and right now

we would especially welcome donations of jewelry.

We were only open for half the month of January, but

our sales were brisk once we opened, and our January

numbers look good:

$2,345.43 in sales

$205.22 in sales tax collected

$12.77 from eBay sales

$27.59 in cash donations

January Total = $2,591.01

A Thrift Shop business meeting is set for 11:30 a.m. on

Tuesday, March 22: all Thrift Shop volunteers are

welcome to attend.

Our thanks to everyone who supports the shop with

donations, purchases, and volunteer work.

-- Patricia Henley

Pastoral Search Committee

As the "Camino" map in the Community Room conveys,

the Search Committee is continuing to receive and

review candidate profiles. As of this writing, we each will

have read and evaluated 41 profiles, each being 15-20

pages in length. We have begun interviewing intriguing

candidates, mostly through pre-arranged Skype.

To gain further insight into candidates with whom we

feel a possible connection, we listen to, observe and

read their sermons. Seeing and hearing the candidate

adds another level of evaluation. Many of these

technical aids were not available during the last

selection process.

We have some excellent candidates. Their voices bode

well for the depth and breadth of leadership in the

UCC. We know how critical our task is, and we accept it

with reverence and enthusiasm. Please continue to

remember the Pastoral Search Committee in your

prayers that we may discern the best possible candidate

for our church, and prayers that the candidate feels

called to journey with us.

-- Jan Edwards

Education Committee

Members of the Education Committee, formerly known

as Spiritual Formation Committee, met recently to

reorganize supplies that are kept in the sliding door

cabinet on the left as you enter the West Wing of Old

Adobe School. While most of these materials are used

for Sunday School, there are a variety of supplies such

as votives, other candles, copy paper in white and a

variety of colors, poster board, and craft supplies that

might be used for committee projects.

Please don't hesitate to look in the West Wing - when

Old Abode School is not in session - for materials you

might need for agendas or projects before spending

hard-to-come-by money for something we already have.

-- Mary Beth Halsey

Outreach

The Outreach Committee is grateful to the congregation

for their continued support and especially pleased that

more money was allocated in 2016 to support the

organizations we embrace. Thank you so much!

We are no longer collecting change for Pennies for

Peace as this collection has run its course and we want

to give our time and energy to other worthy causes.

Thanks to all of you for your past generosity!

One Great Hour of Sharing provides support that

changes lives and gives people a future filled with hope.

The bulk of the One Great Hour of Sharing offering goes

to support water, hunger, disaster relief, and

empowerment programs. Focusing on these four areas

allows One Great Hour of Sharing to address some of

the root causes of suffering in our world. Your gifts for

this special collection on March 13 will make hope

possible.

-- Janice Mattison

Spring Equinox Concert Love Springs Eternal!

Sunday, March 20, 2:00 p.m., FCC Sanctuary

Enjoy an eclectic acoustic music ensemble playing new arrangements of great popular songs with talented musicians: Taras Lumiere (guitar, violin, vocals); Carol Emanuel (harp, vocals); Keith Ridenhour (flute, sax); Alan Claassen (guitar, vocals); Robert Young (congas, percussion); and special guests. A free-will offering will be taken with all proceeds directed to F.I.S.H.

In Memory of the ones we love... Two beloved saints of our church passed away; Lori Hutchinson and Carol Knope. Lori was well known in this community, Carol by only a few, but both led lives worthy

of their calling and will be missed.

In Celebration of one we welcome… We are also holding in our joy-filled memory the baptism of Jack Tucker Leary, grandson of Bill and Lori, son

of their daughter, Kate, and son-in-law, Owen. Jack was baptized by Rev. Bill during our Sunday worship

service on February 14, Valentine’s Day. Love continues…

Easter Preparations

Palm Sunday Sunday, March 20

10:30 a.m., Sanctuary

Maundy Thursday

Thursday, March 24 7:00 p.m., Sanctuary

Good Friday Community Service

Friday, March 25 12:00 p.m.

Sonoma United Methodist Church 109 Patten Street, Sonoma

Easter Sunday

Sunday, March 27 10:30 a.m., Sanctuary

Daylight Savings Time

Be kind to

your new

bookkeeper

There are a few ways that each of you can help in

making the job of Deborah Droubay, our new

bookkeeper, efficient and unstressed. They include:

Use your full name. When communicating in writing

please always use your full name and make sure it is

legible. This would include offering envelopes, notes,

and invoices you are submitting for payment.

Use the in-box. Any items being submitted to the

bookkeeper should be placed in Angela’s in-box in the

office. They will then be routed appropriately.

Include account information. If you know what account

a payment is for please include a note to that effect. If

you don’t know the account, please include the

committee requesting payment and any additional

information that might help determine which account is

correct. Clues are good.

Plan ahead. It can take seven to nine days to send a

check or make a payment. There is an emergency plan

in place for items that need payment sooner but that

plan involves an extra trip to the church and

coordinating of check signers out of the established

routine.

When your committee has approved expenditure from a

specific account or will be having an event that will

involve monies coming in and/or out please make sure

this information is relayed to the bookkeeper as soon as

possible. This can be done through the green

reimbursement forms found next to the copier in the

office or via email to the church office.

Indicate where your funds are to be allocated. As

usual, it is most helpful to use the memo line on the

bottom of your check to indicate what your check is for.

Thanks for your help in making this a smooth transition.

-- Candi Horton

Next Earth Care Nature Walk

by way of "Shinrin-Yoku, Forest Therapy"

Monday, March 14, 9:00 a.m. -12:30 p.m.

Sugarloaf State Park - Rain will cancel

Meet at 9:00 a.m. at the back FCC parking lot

to arrange carpools to Sugarloaf State Park.

Parking Fee: $7.00 day use fee; bring park passes if

you have one.

Bring: Water, snacks, and tripod stools if you have

one.

The way of Forest Therapy:

A gentle walk of less than one mile lasting about

two hours. During the walk you will be given

invitations that will help you slow down, open your

senses, deepen your connection with nature and

cultivate personal well-being. Forest Therapy is

inspired by the Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku,

which translates as "bathing in the ambiance of the

forest."

RSVP: Space is limited to 20 participants. Please

confirm your place with an email to John Donnelly at

donnellyj63@gmail.com as soon as possible.

-- John Donnelly

Daylight Savings begins March 13

SPRING FORWARD!

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 4:00 pm CR Jam Session 7:00 pm S Choir

2 7:00 pm CR Pastoral Search Committee

3 10:30 am CR Lenten Book Study 3:30/4:15 pm CR Bells 7:00 pm CR Church Council

4 8:00 am CR Meditation

5

6 F.I.S.H. Sunday 10:30 am Worship and Communion

7 4:00 pm CR Poetry Group

8 11:30 am CR Women’s Fellowship 5:00 pm CR Earth Care Committee 7:00 pm S Choir

9 12:30 pm CR Caring Friends 5:00 pm CR Outreach 7:00 pm CR Pastoral Search Committee

10 10:30 am CR Lenten Book Study 3:30/4:15 pm CR Bells 7:00 pm CR Worship Committee

11 8:00 am CR Meditation 7:00 pm BH Congregation Shir Shalom Shabbat

12 9:00 am - S and CR Congregation Shir Shalom Service

13 Daylight Savings Begins 9:00 am CR Practicing Presence 10:30 am Worship One Great Hour of Sharing offering

14 4:00 pm CR Poetry Group 7:00 pm S Sanctuary Renovation Committee 7:00 pm CR Seekers

15 1:00 pm CR Property and Finance 4:00 pm CR Jam Session 7:00 pm S Choir

16 7:00 pm CR Pastoral Search Committee

17 10:30 am CR Lenten Book Study 3:30/4:15 pm CR Bells

18 8:00 am CR Meditation

19

20 Palm Sunday 10:30 am Worship 2:00 pm S Spring Equinox Concert

21 4:00 pm CR Poetry Group

22 7:00 pm S Choir 7:00 pm S Choir

23 1:00 pm S Education Committee 7:00 pm CR Pastoral Search Committee

24 10:30 am CR Lenten Book Study 3:30/4:15 pm CR Bells 7:00 pm S Maundy Thursday service

25 8:00 am CR Meditation

12:00 pm Good Friday Service - Sonoma Methodist Church

5:00 pm BH Congregation Shir Shalom Shabbat

26 10:00 am CR Congregation Shir Shalom Torah Study

27 Easter Sunday 9:00 am CR Practicing Presence 10:30 am Worship and Potluck

28 4:00 pm CR Poetry Group 7:00 pm S Sanctuary Renovation Committee 7:00 pm CR Seekers

29 7:00 pm S Choir

30 7:00 pm CR Pastoral Search Committee

31 3:30/4:15 pm CR Bells

S = Sanctuary

CR = Community Room

BH = Burlingame Hall

March

First Congregational Church of Sonoma 252 West Spain St., Sonoma, CA 95476 707- 996-1328 · contact@sonomaucc.org · www.sonomaucc.org Office Hours: Wednesday – Friday 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Worship Service and Sunday School: 10:30 a.m., Sunday

We are an Open and Affirming Earth Care Church Interim Minister: Alan Claassen, alan@sonomaucc.org

Music Director: Terry Lezama-Jensen

Pianist: Sondra Cooper

Sunday School Teacher: Emily Webber

Childcare Providers: Anna DeSmet & Natalie Baker

Office & Event Manager: Angela Ljung

Facilities Manager: Steve Cook

Pastor Emeritus: David McCracken

West Spain Thrift Shop Store Hours: Thursday and Saturday from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Donation drop-off hours: Regular store hours, and Monday, Tuesday, and Friday from 9 a.m.-11 a.m.

Happy March Birthday!

5 - Annika Baumgarten

6 - Candi Horton

10 - Bill Hutchinson

16 - Patricia Serota

27 - Dotty Abbott

29 - Mary Cort

30 - Jan Edwards

Liturgist Deacon Ushers Flowers Coffee Hour March 9 Cathy Webber Elizabeth Palmer Mary Evelyn Arnold Barbara Naslund Mary Evelyn Arnold and David McFarland and Women’s Fellow. March 13 Dick Ridenour Tim Boeve Betsy Claassen Kit Conforti Earth Care and Janice Mattison March 20 Dotty Abbott Joan Howarth Bev Pearson Janet Engelbrecht Church Council and Judy Weiner March 24 Tim Boeve and Maundy Thursday Elizabeth Palmer March 27 Nancy Denkin Tim Boeve Taras and Diane Lumiere Easter Lilies Easter Potluck