Volume XXXVII Number 6

Table of contents Page Music Survey 2 United Disciples Fellowship 2 Upcoming Adult Forums 2 Rev. Tom’s Message 3

Blood Drive 3 Treasure's Report 3 Heart 2 Heart 3 Deborah Circle 4 AMST Report 4 Church Work Day 4 On Going Events 4 June Happenings 5 CareGivers 6 In Our Thoughts & Prayers 6 Council Highlights 6 2015-2016 Pledge 6 Choir Concert Picture 6 Staff Office Hours 7 Birthdays & Anniversaries 7 Spire Dates 7 Camp Coral Lunch Program 7 Second Harvest 8 Save the Date 8 Church Office: (408) 377-7121 www.firstccsj.org

First Congregational Church of San Jose • UCC In partnership with United Disciples Fellowship

The Spire•June — 2016 WORSHIP & FAMILY PICNIC

JUNE 12TH, 10:30 AM Edenvale Park

200 Edenvale Ave, San Jose The Children’s Ministry Board would like to invite you to a special worship ser-vice and picnic in the park. We will meet at 10:30 am for a brief worship service and then will enjoy fel-lowship and lunch together. Everyone is invited to any or all, regardless of

whether or not you have kids. We hope to have a wonderful intergenerational event! Please bring your own picnic lunch and, if you can, a dessert to share. We will try to get picnic tables saved, but feel free to bring a lawn/beach chair. Edenvale offers playgrounds for kids ages 2-12, as well as a sand volleyball court, tennis courts, and a basket-ball court. There are also lots of grassy area for various games, sports, and miscellaneous shenanigans. To RSVP and get a reminder, please visit: fccfamilyworship.eventbrite.com

AN EVENING OF MUSIC AND STORY WITH

BOBBY JO VALENTINE FRIDAY, JUNE 10TH, 7:30 PM

First Congregational Church of San Jose "Somewhere deep in the heart of everything lies a melody. It speaks to

our truest selves, binds us together with the ones we love, and brings out the best part of who we are. Bobby Jo Valentine is a singer/songwriter who chases after this particular kind of music. He writes songs that travel light, but that 'grow deeper and deeper with each further listen.'"

. . .Bobby is frequently invite to offer his stories and songs, challenging us to question why we believe what we do and, most importantly, how that helps us be better humans in the world around us.” – from bobbyjovalen-tine.com

First Congregational Church of San Jose is pleased to host Bobby Jo Valentine for an evening of his "hope-soul" music. Admission to the con-cert is free, a free-will offering will be taken to benefit the Youth Scholarship Fund and the youth attending National Youth Event this summer.

To see pictures of Re-building Together click here: Spring RD 2016 #46 Golden Wheel Park

Thank you to the more than 100 people who responded to the Music Survey. A more extensive summary will be presented at a June 11th worship retreat for staff and worship leaders, as well as informing us as we begin the search for a replacement for Bill. The music program, and the Choir in particular, received wide sup-port throughout the survey. This is a church that clearly values the place music holds in our worship. When choosing which music has the most significant spiritual ef-fect, the choirs had the strongest response (92%). People strug-gled to choose among the re-maining catego-ries with a rela-tively even split between hymns/preludes (36%/32%) and between Taize/Background Music (20%/16%).

Responses from the older seg-ment of the church tended to fall fairly consistently in “strongly agree” for all categories that value our music program as it currently exists. The 40-65 group tended to choose either “Strongly agree” or “agree” in the same categories. A small minority (5%) indicated that music does not play a significant role in their worship experience.

Style of Choir Music that Speaks to my Spirit: Many commented on how much they appreciate the wide variety of music presented. Traditional anthems with organ (44%); spirituals and gospel (41%); quiet songs with meaningful words (32%); newer music with piano (30%); up-tempo, Celebra-tion music with drums, bass (21%)

Favorite Hymns Unsurprisingly, the favorite hymns tended to be those familiar ones that we sing most often in church: I Danced in the Morning, Be Thou My Vision, Morning Has Broken, Ode to Joy, Amazing Grace, Here I Am Lord, I’ve Got Peace Like a River, etc. Of the remaining 68 hymns

that were mentioned, most (40) came from a class of hymns that are older (Nearer My God To Thee). The remainder were either more contemporary (We Are One in the Spirit) or had their roots in Spirituals or World Music (Siyahumbah, Every Time I Feel the Spirit).

Critiques/Opportunities for Change: While there were certain-ly many who indicated strong op-position (35%) to any updating or change in our existing programs, this was not universal , with less opposition to change voiced by

the younger crowd. 49% of respond-ents were not opposed to

some updating – not exactly a de-mand for change, but at least an openness to considering it, so long as our existing music and tradi-tions are maintained. Comments split between those who are not fond of the organ and those who aren’t fond of contemporary or jazz music. Some wanted greater use of music involving bass, drums and guitars, not to meet their own needs, but because they felt it would be more appealing to young people. And several were concerned about the theology of lyrics, both in our current hymnal and in some contemporary music.

What is the short take-away? We value our music program and the place it holds in worship and feel strongly that it must be main-tained. We place a high premium on what we already know and love. The organ and piano are valued by many who attend, and significant changes to the Choral program or loss of our traditions would be deeply felt. But there is also open-ness to a balanced use of some more contemporary styles of mu-sic, including jazz and contempo-rary folk music, with the belief that such music would be more ap-proachable by younger congre-gants.

Volume XXXVII Number 6 Page 2

Music Survey Summary United Disciples Fellowship

Saturday, June 4, 2016 6:00pm

“How to Read the Bible”

Alan Cole and Shelley Wessels will bring us a review of the book How to Read the Bible by Harvey Cox. All are welcome. Dessert will be served. When Saturday, June 4, 2016 – 6:00pm Where Home of Jim and Debbie Grijalva 2071 Bello Ave., San Jose (448.6454)

June 5th – Kick off the planning for Sustainability Fair 2017 by using the Adult Forum time to do some brainstorming about what we might want to consider and include at such an event. So, if you think this might be some-thing you are interested in, come to the forum and help us imag-ine the possibili-ties.

Adult Forums

We value our music program and the

place it holds in worship and feel

strongly that it must be maintained

Page 3 Volume XXXVII Number 6

Dear Friends, I can’t believe we have been with you for very nearly three years. Three years during which time we have experienced a fair amount of transition as well as a fair amount of attempting to de-sign, or at least plan for, some of that transition. There are days when everything feels stable and relaxed and days when it feels as though we have just been given a healthy shove over the brow of the bob sled track. Still, when I can exercise a preference, I generally prefer to talk things through with interest-ed parties before taking off and hoping the brakes work. Summer is a great time to do some of this planning, and it looks as though we will have sev-eral opportunities to engage in the discussion and planning pro-cess around a variety of topics. Yay. The most significant (and the one coming up most quickly) will be the promised opportunity to put all our discussions about wor-ship into some semblance of practice. On Saturday, June 11, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (in the Choir Room) we will be hosting a comprehensive conversation about the flow and implementa-tion of worship. This planning workshop has, most often, been open to deacons, sacred spaces, and staff, but we want to extend that invitation to any and all of you who are interested in helping to shape our worship practice. The day will be divided into four main parts. We will begin with a look at the structure of worship. We will look at what we include, or might like to include, how these elements link together and what challenges we face with each item. We want to craft a worship flow and try it out over the summer to see what feels helpful. Then we will discuss our music program and practices, to

Heart 2 Heart June 3

Hearts on Fire The evening includes: games, a craft project, dinner, and more. H2H is a great chance for the children in our congregation to get to know each other better, bring their friends, and have blast doing it. Adult leaders include: Marlie Heberling, Teri Heberling, John Heberling, Katie Kraft, Tara Neis, and Kadie Eckhardt.

Kindergarten — 5th grade: $10 Preschool or younger: $5

As the congregation is complet-ing its Stewardship campaign, you might be asking yourself “Where does the church’s income come from and where does it go?” Income 57% from Pledges 32% from our Tenants 6% from Rentals and other Misc. Income 5% from Other Donations and Plate Expenses 62% for Staff (payroll, benefits, etc.) 22% for Facility Support (maint, utilities, tax, insurance, etc.) 7% for Programs, Boards and Committees including Outreach 5% for Our Churches Wider Mis-sion (8% of actual pledges) 3% for office Supplies and Busi-ness Expenses 1% transferred to the Capital Fund Underlined items are trending higher as a percentage

look at the powerful voice that music lends to worship and dis-cuss how best our music program can support and enhance the worship we are designing. Then we will discuss the liturgical sea-sons from Advent through Easter for the 2016/17 year, looking for dynamic themes, relevant events, and special services that move through these seasons. Finally, we will spend a bit of time discussing (and perhaps practicing) the ways

in which deacons, staff, and ushers interact for com-munion Sundays, special and regular

Sundays as well. We will provide ample food and coffee to fuel the work of the day, and we are looking forward to a really exciting discussion that focuses on what we would all like to see created in our worship life. Mark the date (June 11th) and let us know if you think you might like to be with us (it will help us plan food and make sufficient materials available) at rev-tom@firstccsj.org Also in the works this summer are discussions about Pastoral Care strategies and practices; Publications and marketing for the church, and round two of our great conversation about wel-coming guests! Who said the summer had to be dull? Anyone? Ever? Blessings, Pastor Tom

Who said the summer had to be dull? Anyone? Ever?

Rev. Tom’s Message

Treasurer’s Message

Blood Drive

The next blood drive will be on

July 16th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

This notice should remind you to

save the date and not donate

elsewhere by the time you get

the spire. I will start the sign ups

after church starting in mid-June.

You all have been such generous

donors. Stanford appreciates

your support. Did you know that

an automobile accident victim

may need up to 50 units of red

blood cells. That is our average

from one drive at our church.

Please save this date.

Helen Battad,

Community Service

Page 4 Volume XXXVII Number 6

Our last meeting of the year will be on Wednesday, June1 at 11:00 a.m. (Note time change) We will be having a pot-luck luncheon. If you can’t remember what you signed up to bring, call Betsey. We are each asked to bring a school picture and we’ll see how good we are at identifying our “younger” selves. See you June 1st.

BOARD/COMMITTEE MEETINGS

Church Council 1st Tues. 7:30 pm Friendship Rm Children’s Ministries 1st Sun. 11:30 am Youth Center Youth Ministries 2nd Sun. 11:30 am Youth Center Common Ground 3rd Tues 6:30 pm Friendship Rm Diaconate 3rd Tues. 7:30 pm Tom’s. Office

Outreach 3rd Tues. 7:30 pm Office Mtg. Rm Trustees 3rd Tues. 7:30 pm Friendship Rm Fellowship 3rd Tues. 7:30 pm Room 14

Stewardship As Needed Adult Learning As Needed See Events Calendar Special Gifts As Needed for dates and time. Pastoral Relations As Needed Personnel Policies As Needed

ONGOING WEEKLY EVENTS.

Sun. 10:00 am FCC Worship Sanctuary 11:00 am FCC Fellowship Fellowship Hall 11:30 am Adult Forum Friendship Room 2:00 pm Bible 101 Friendship Room 6:30 p.m. Faith Group Friendship Room Mon. 12:15 pm Dream Group Friendship Room 7:30 pm Bell Rehearsal Sanctuary Tues. 3:30 pm Wake Up & Knit Friendship Room Wed. 10:00 am Staff Meeting Rv. Tom’s Office 12:30 pm Spiritual Practice Rv. Tom’s Office Thur. 1:00 p.m. Bereavement Group Friendship Room 7:30 pm Choir Rehearsal Choir Room Sat. 10:00 am Organ Practice Sanctuary

AMST The Associate Minister Search Team continues to meet faithful-ly, both with in-person meetings and regular email discussions. We begun interviews with several promising candidates and done a significant amount of reference checking. We are prayerfully con-sidering the candidates and providing them with the necessary infor-mation so that all can best hear the answer to the questions, "Where is God calling us to go, and who is God calling to be part of that future?" We ask for your continued prayers and support on this journey.

Church Work Day Deborah Circle Thanks for a great Church Work-day! On Saturday, May 21, the Board of Trustees held our Spring Church Workday, which actually encompasses a number of spiritu-al practices. It is an act of stewardship, as we care for this wonderful cam-pus that was gifted to us, so that it can continue to serve the needs of the church and the community for future generations. It is a practice of faith. We put together a long list of tasks to complete, with no guarantees of how many people will show up, or what skills they might have. Yet, miraculously, at the end of four hours, two-thirds of the tasks were completed. And it is a wonderful time of fellowship, as we meet new peo-ple, and get to know each other better as we spend time together planting a tree, laying down bricks, cutting branches, or figuring out how those door closers actually work.

In addition to exercising these spiritual practices, the following 22 members also did a lot of great gardening, tree trimming, carpentry, mechanical repair, plumbing, and lots of cleaning: Austin Kilburn, Roger Tricco, Noel Tebo, Ruth Tebo, Erik Houts, Kathryn Vandiver, Bryan Vandiver, Tyler Vandiver, Julie Horst, Claire Markus, Glen Brynsvold, Marilyn Cohen, Debbie Grijalva, Kelly Baker, Karen Armor, Liz Carey, Tom Gough, Rita Knudson, Mark Knudsen, Lionel Kirton, Maurice Stevenson, and Charles Weidmann.

To all of you, on behalf of the Board of Trustees and the Church, I thank you very, very, much. Charles Weidmann

Page 5 Volume XXXVII Number 6

June 2016 Happenings Wednesday 1 11:00 am Women’s Fellowship Pot Luck Luncheon Fellowship Hall

Thursday 2 1:00 pm Bereavement Support Group Friendship Room

Friday 3 6:00 pm Heart 2 Heart Fellowship Hall

Saturday 4 9:30 am NCNC Director Training Fellowship Hall

4 6:00 pm UDF Meeting Off Site

Sunday 5 11:30 am Sustainability Fair Planning Forum Friendship Room

Monday 6 11:30 am Dreamer’s Choice Lunch Friendship Room

Tuesday 7 7:30 pm Church Council Friendship Room

Thursday 9 1:00 pm Bereavement Support Group Friendship Room

9 2:30 pm Play Date Fellowship Hall

Friday 10 7:30 pm Bobby Joe Valentine Concert Sanctuary

Saturday 11 9:00 am Worship Workshop Choir Room

Sunday 12 10:30 am Family Worship & Picnic Edenvale Park

12 6:30 pm Faith Group Friendship Room

Wednesday 15 7:00 pm Evening Women of Faith Off Site

Thursday 16-19 NCNC Annual Gathering Sonoma State University

16 1:00 pm Bereavement Support Group Friendship Room

Saturday 18 12:00 pm CareGivers Support Group Friendship Room

Sunday 19 11:00 am Congregational Budget Meeting Sanctuary

Monday 20 Spire Articles due Church Office

Tuesday 21 6:30 pm Common Ground Meeting Friendship Room

Thursday 23 1:00 pm Bereavement Support Group Friendship Room

23 2:30 pm Play Date Fellowship Hall

Saturday 25 4:00 pm Labyrinth Walk

Sunday 26 6:30 pm Faith Group Friendship Room

Monday 27 10:00 am Morning Women of Faith Friendship Room

Tuesday 28 9:00 am Spire Folding Church Office

Thursday 30 1:00 pm Bereavement Support Group Friendship Room

In Our Thoughts

and Prayers Billie Cole

All those who are recipients of

hospice care.

The women at Elmwood Jail.

All Military active duty and all

Veterans; May we be a wel-coming congregation for all those who have served (and their families) in the Armed Forces

Page 6 Volume XXXVII Number 6

Our next meeting is June 18, 2016 noon - 2:00 p.m. in the Friendship Room. If you are in the position of being a caregiver or support person (long distance, or nearby), and would like to con-nect with others experiencing the same kind of challenges, this is the group for you. Whether you are caring for a parent or a spouse, sibling or neighbor, you are welcome to join us. We meet on the third Saturday of each month. Each meeting we have a time of check in, and then ex-plore a topic related to caregiv-ing. Bring a dish to share for our monthly potluck.

Acknowledgments & Celebrations: To 15 members of Congrega-

tion and community for their work on Rebuilding Together, and to Liz Carey and Roger Tricco for their leadership

To Sue Clayholt and Rev. Tom Gough for hosting the New Member Luncheon

To Kristin Link for all of her work dealing with all the de-tails connected with Bill Fergu-son’s retirement, and taking charge of getting the organ motor repaired

To Karen Armor for creating the cloth for the Welcome ta-ble in the Narthex

To Rev. Lois Mueller for her partnership with the Senior Minister during her time as Interim Associate Minister

To the Church for its response to the request for baby clothes and diapers for the Bill Wilson Center

Barbara Thomas requested that her membership be reac-tivated, and is again an active member. Applause all around

If you would like a full copy of the Church Council Minutes please email: office@firstccsj.org or call the office: 408-377-7121.

2015-2016 Pledge As of May 15, our total pledges paid for the current 2015-2016 pledge year are $340,000 and the amount pledged was $414,000. Our annual funding of programs, payroll, facility support and other expenses are based on the amount pledged. As the fiscal year comes to a close, please help us balance our budget by keeping your pledge payments current.

Thank you, Board of Trustees

Highlights: Open table task team (Rev. Tom, Karen Armor, Bryan Grady, Julie Scheve) – report and recommen-dations 1. Project at Elmwood Correc-

tional Facility. This is in-progress

a. Negotiating creation of gar-dens in the Women’s facility, including a healing garden, and a raised bed vegetable garden

b. We will offer financial and hands-on support through the leadership of the Outreach Board

2. Sustainability fair at FCC a. Goal to hold fair mid-May

2017 b. Will include maker faire/

demos/lectures c. Planning and implementation

will require task force and tar-geted committees, including all aspects of church community. Youth are particularly enthusi-astic about participating

3. Development of cooperative garden at FCC Rev. Tom

a. This is a long-term goal b. Seek to partner with surround-

ing neighborhood associations in creating garden – possibly Blackford Elementary School or ebay

Council Meeting Highlights

June Birthdays

Peggy Charlesworth 6/1

Brad Cox 6/1

Joanna Scoggins 6/4

Connie Woodward 6/5

Jake Charlesworth 6/6

Tate Warner 6/6

Ariana Cesare 6/7

Paul Heymann 6/8

Shelley Neis 6/9

Kathleen Busse 6/11

Mary McCreath 6/11

Norma Olavarri 6/11

Rachel Hendricks-Key 6/14

David LaVoy 6/20

Marsha Stevenson 6/20

Darrell Grey 6/21

Liz Carey 6/22

Lydia Tan 6/24

Chuck Reed 6/25

Eric Stachnick 6/25

Norma Brynsvold 6/26

Eric Pooler 6/26

Caitlin Pooler 6/27

Chris Kirkpatrick 6/30

Page 7 Volume XXXVII Number 6

June Anniversaries

Dorothy & Bob Hamilton 6/3

Pat & Bob Meyer 6/6

Norma & Glen Brynsvold 6/7

Mariel & John Oliver 6/8

Kristin & Brian Link 6/9

Peggy & Mike Charlesworth 6/10

Ruth & Noel Tebo 6/16

Aileen & Allen Daily 6/18

Kathy & Carl Cilker 6/22

Nancy & Mark Domnauer 6/24

Cynthia & Gary Eckhardt 6/24

Katie Brown & Michael Lipman 6/25

Staff Office Hours Rev. Tom is in the office Saturday — Wednesday & takes Thursday & Friday off.

Kristin’s hours are Monday, Wednesday, & Thursday 9:00 a.m.-noon.

Marlie’s hours are Sunday, Tuesday — Thursday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m

Cindy’s - Office manager is in the office Monday — Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

The Outreach Board and the Community Services Ministry Team are asking your help to support a summer camp pro-gram offered by CORAL (Communities Organizing Resources to Advance Learning). This camp is offered to “at risk” students in San Jose’s high-est poverty and lowest perform-ing schools. While the emphasis of the camp will be ‘Nutrition and Physical Education”, an im-portant feature will be literacy instruction, to help students per-form at grade level or better in reading and English when they return to regular school in the fall. We would like to provide a healthy lunch every Monday dur-ing the six week camp which runs from June13 to July 22. Here’s how you can help. Each Sunday during camp we’ll need to collect enough lunch food to serve 45 children plus counsellors on Monday. If you bring lunch items (listed below) to our church on the Sunday be-fore they are needed, we will de-liver them to the camp at Wash-ington United Youth Center on South First Street. No need to make the sandwiches- the chil-dren themselves will make the lunches with what you donate. Please come to our table af-ter church, starting May 29, to sign up with Diane Kirton to donate food for specific lunch dates. Here is the list of items needed:

Bread Baloney or other sandwich meat Baby carrots or cherry tomatoes Bananas, grapes or cherries Cookies Boxed fruit drinks

Or if you prefer, you may offer cash to cover the cost of food items. Diane Kirton Board of Outreach

2016 SPIRE DATES Month Deadline Mailing

January Mon. Dec. 14 Dec. 30

February Mon. Jan. 19 Jan. 28

March Mon. Feb. 16 Feb. 25

April Mon. Mar. 16 Mar. 25

May Mon. Apr. 20 Apr. 29

June Mon. May 18 May 27

July Mon. June 15 June 24

August Mon. July 20 July 29

September Mon. Aug. 17 Aug. 26

October Mon. Sept. 21 Sept. 30

November Mon. Oct. 19 Oct. 28

December Mon. Nov. 16 Nov. 25

January 2017 Mon. Dec. 19 Dec. 28

Thank You for all the good food, cards, and calls.

Pat Meyer

Camp Coral Lunch Project

Mission Statement: To understand and live out Jesus' vision for a just and loving world.

1980 Hamilton Avenue San Jose ● CA ● 95125-5638

CHURCH OFFICE SUMMER HOURS SUNDAY WORSHIP - 10:00 A.M.

9 a.m. - 2 p.m. (Monday - Friday) Children’s Church School &

Nursery Care are available.

We are an Open and Affirming Congregation!

Saturday September 17th

8:30-3:00

Friendship Room

Gathering:

“On Death and Dying” Please join us for a time of thought provoking conversation around end of life issues. Topics will include physical and spiritual perspectives as well as current views on the cultural and social aspects. You are welcome to in-vite friends and neighbors to this important and inspirational event.

Rev. Tom Gough and Rev. Penny Phillips

Second Harvest Food Sort Volunteer Opportunity

Your help is needed. We are once again sponsoring an opportunity to help Second Harvest Food Bank by providing volunteers to sort and package food for distribution to soup kitchens, homeless shelters, senior meal sites, and children’s programs.

Where: Second Harvest Cypress Center, 4001 North First Street, San Jose

When: Saturday, July 9, 9:00AM to Noon Who: Adults and youth 14 and older

We have sorted and packaged all kinds of food in the past, from apples and oranges to canned and packaged foods. One time we taped labels on little cans of mandarin oranges. It is fun and rewarding. Second Har-vest provides thousands of pounds of food to the hungry throughout

our area. They rely heavily on volunteers to make this possible. We hope you will con-sider joining a group from our church and contribute your time to this worthy cause.

Signups will begin June 5 after church. We have room for 15 volunteers.

Questions? Contact Judy Stevens (408-378-2064)

Community Service Ministry Team

Save the Date!