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January 2014 Volume 50 Issue 1

Day of Prayer for 2014 Saturday, January 4, 2014

Prayer is the most formidable weapon that we have to

make all things we do efficient. There is no better

way to start the New Year 2014 than with prayer.

Prayer Warriors of God, let us start this new wonder-

ful year 2014 with God in prayer. Please come and

join us as the doors to Sanctuary will be open 12

hours from 8am to 8pm on Saturday, January 4. “

Human Relations Day:

First of Six Special Sundays

January 19, 2014

What makes six Sundays special? The answer is in The

Book of Discipline 2012 (¶263): “The special Sundays in

The United Methodist Church intended to illustrate the

nature and calling of the church are celebrated annually.

The special Sundays are placed on the calendar to make

clear the calling of the church as the people of God, and to

give persons the opportunity to contribute offerings to spe-

cial programs.”

Human Relations Day supports Community Developers,

United Methodist Voluntary Service and Youth Offender

Rehabilitation programs. A community developer who

directs a program funded by the offering said the “primary

focus is to help kids see Jesus and to help them grow de-

velopmentally and spiritually.”

The Church Office will be closed

January 20, 2014 in honor of

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday

Messenger The Ultimate Training Day

Saturday January 25, 2014, 9am – 3pm

Northridge UMC

North District presents a training day for all church lead-

ers and others who are interested. Registration includes a

light lunch. Registration is$5 per attendee before January

18. After January 18 the registration fee rises to $10.

Each participant will choose 2 workshops to attend.

Workshops include:

Developing a Leadership Team in Your Church

Staff-Pastor Relations Committee Training

The Complexities of our Hispanic/Latino Reality and

How to Understand the Hispanic/Latino People Living

in the U.S.

All About Apportionments and Table Reports Train-

ing

The Local Church as a Faith-Forming Community

Messy Church as a Response to the Missional Move-

ment

Church-Based Social Change

Web-Based Fundraising Methods

Looking for Homeland: Ministry to 2nd Generation

Americans

Launch a Bible Study/Prayer Ministry

Do Not Be Afraid! Communications in the 21st Cen-

tury

Congregational Youth Ministry

Trustees & Church Facilities

Registration forms and workshop descriptions are availa-

ble in the narthex and the church office.

Taize Prayer Service

Tuesday, January 7, 7:00 pm

In the Sanctuary

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From the Pastor’s Desk

Happy New Year! (English)

^^

akemashite omedetō gozai-

masu (Japanese)

Frohe/Fröhliche Wei-

hnachten (German)

Ka Hauʻoli Makahiki Hou (Hawaiian)

saehae bok manhi bateusaeyo (Korean)

¡Feliz Año Nuevo! (Spanish)

Joyeux Noël et bonne année (French)

We wish you and yours a happy new year!

May our wonderful Lord bless you and guide every

step of your way in 2014!

I first want to begin by saying you are a wonderful

church of Christ. You serve the Lord by serving this

church and its ministry in all shapes and forms. We

have almost all of our members serving the church and

this makes our church one heck of healthy one.

Thank you for making year 2013 a good year for La

Canada United Methodist Church. Because of you,

we finished it well.

Thank you for your consistent presence.

Thank you for your unceasing prayers.

Thank you for your sacrificial service.

Thank you for your extravagant generosity.

Thank you for witnessing Christ through your daily

living.

In 2014, let’s buckle our belt tight and strive for

‘excellence’ in everything that we do. We all heard

the term, “practice makes perfect!” Well, we are not

going to “practice” but “press on” until we reach the

perfection in the ways we worship God passionately,

intentionally growing the faith of all bearing the fruit

of the Spirit, and involve in “missions” beyond our

comfort zone.

This means we will change and change for the better.

Here are some suggestions for us to consider and fol-

low through:

The Trustees will continue to improve our church

facility to look and feel welcoming and inviting to

visitors. Church’s sign on the corner of Oak

Grove and Berkshire is a project that is outstand-

ing!

We would like to have an all-church luncheon

once a month rotating turns to organize by differ-

ent families. Senior Fellowship will merge to ac-

commodate more participation from all members

and make this an all church program. PLEASE

GIVE YOUR IDEAS TO RENAME THIS

LUNCHEON GATHERING.

The Mission Committee will discern and search

for ONE additional mission that will identify and

characterize our church.

Four Back-to-Church Sundays will take place and

we are asking you to reach out to friends and fami-

lies without home church. Name them in your

heart then start with prayers!

Intentional Faith Growing: Increase attendance of

your Sunday worship service by 30%. Participate

in a weekly Bible study. Find a time for a devotion

each day.

Among many questions, we must ask two questions to

ourselves. One is, is my church stronger because of

me? Second, what would this world and community

miss if we cease to exist here in La Canada?

I will be starting the year by sharing the words from

Five Practices of Fruitful Living. Please join me in

this endeavor to become a fruitful congregation for the

world in Jesus’ name.

Blessings to you and pray for your best year ever!

Love and Peace,

Pastor Elaine

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to examine,

to understand, and

to respond to God’s unfailing love and grace. Education Providing experiences and opportunities for students…

focus

Partnering with parents in the Spiritual formation of children & youth. La Cañada UMC

Children, Tweens, Teens, and College Kiddos Come Beat the Winter Blues! All Students are invited to “You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby” Fun Night on Saturday, January 11th!

Here’s the plan:

Who? Our children, tweens, teens and college students and their friends

What? An evening of games, fellowship, and food all with the theme: You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby!

Everyone should bring a framed baby photo (without identifiers) and $10 to cover expenses

When? The event begins at 6:00 for everyone, but has varying ending times according to grade!

Grades K-4 ends at 9:00 p.m.!

Grades 5-8 ends at 11:00 p.m.!

Grades 9-College ends at 10:00 a.m.! (Then, we’ll attend worship together at 10:30)

Where? LCUMC Multi-Purpose Room

Why? To beat the winter blues...if that’s even a thing in Southern California! :)

How? Parents drop off students (then go out for a fun night of their own!), everyone makes

their own pizzas (we’ll have all of the fixings ready), high school and college age students

help run super fun, sometimes gross, but always amazing games for everyone (all with a

“baby” theme), then we’ll have even more fun!

Scripture theme? Matthew 19:14-15, “Some people brought children to Jesus so that he would

place his hands on them and pray. But the disciples scolded them. ‘Allow the children to come to

me,’ Jesus said. ‘Don’t forbid them, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to people like these chil-

dren.’ Then he blessed the children and went away from there.”

Cal-Pac Conference Summer Camp Registration OPEN NOW! Our camps are week long, overnight, Christian based camps where children engage in worship, small group activities, large group activities and games. They could also participate in activities, such as swimming, archery, ropes courses and many, many more. At summer camp, children will grow in their faith, learn leadership skills, grow their self-esteem, develop inter-personal skills with peers and adults, make life-long friendships and have fun.

Summer Camp Dates and Rates: (Younger Elementary Grades 1-3, Elementary Grades 3-6, Junior High Grades 6-9, Senior High Grades 9-12.)

ALDERSGATE RETREAT CENTER

Film Camp (Grades 9-12): June 27- Jul 3 Art Camp (Grades 8-12): July 20-26 Surf Camp (Grades 8-10): July 13-19

CAMP ARROYO GRANDE

Younger Elementary Camp: August 3-6 Elementary Camp: August 3-8 Junior High Camp: July 13-19 Senior High Camp: July 6-12

CAMP CEDAR GLEN

Younger Elementary Camp: July 20-23

Elementary Camp: July 20-25 Junior High Camp: July 13-18

Senior High Camp: July 6-11 Young Adults-Beach Camping Life Challenge (18-25): June 17-21

COLBY CAMP & RETREAT CENTER

Younger Elementary Camp: July 6-9 Elementary Camp: July 6-11 Jr/Sr High Camp: July 20-26

LAZY W RANCH

Elementary Camp: July 13-18

Junior High Camp: July 20-26 Senior High Camp: July 27- Aug 2 Adventure Camp (Grades 7-12): July 6-12 and July 20-26 A Week in the Arts (Grades 7-12): July 6-12

CAMP WRIGHTWOOD

Younger Elementary Camp: July 20-23 Elementary Camp: July 20-25 Junior High Camp: July 6-12 Senior High Camp: July 27-Aug 2 Urban Kids Camp: July 14-18

REMEMBER! CAMPERSHIPS available!

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Birthdays

3 Steve Harder

Yoshiko Kim

16 Kendra Fredrickson-Laouini

21 Ralf Persson

25 Anne Tierney

Finance Committee Update FINANCIAL REPORT:

November Year-to-Date

Receipts $22,827.14 $257,640.63

Expenses $21,782.02 $245,863.35

Net (Deficit) $ 1,045.12 $ 11,777.28

UMW Holiday Meeting

The Children's Center annual Christmas program was opened

with Pastor Elaine's greeting and blessings to the guests. The

Sanctuary was packed with parents and grandparents taking

pictures of adorable children of God dressed up as ani-

mals welcoming the baby Jesus into this world. It was a suc-

cessful event of the year and we thank our staff and director,

Blanca for their dedicated work.

Gifts to Baldwin Park UMC 147 stockings filled with gifts for children were delivered three

to Baldwin Park UMC on December 16. Pastor Tona and the

members of Baldwin Park UMC are very grateful for our part-

nership .

Prayer Requests

Ministry Prayer Needs: The Church and its Mission. The

health and growth of LCUMC, our families, community, and

nation. Renewal and revival of the UMC. The search for a new

Music Director.

Prayer Concerns: Anne Tierney, Jane Tweed, Don Clary,

Nancy Roberts, Juliet Voigtlander, Jack Brisco, Charles Gulick,

Delores Dowdy, Rowlanda Huff, Marilyn Lott, Hal Thomas,

Ginny Nichols, Eric Moore, Dennis Carpenter, Rob Berwin,

John Faison, Steve Carpenter, Tony Warburton, Nancie Quick,

Mark Roscki, Sara Barnes, Bill and Jane, John Chandler, Cari

Fike, Theron Huff, Louise Lewis, Esme Lingam, Margaret

McGlyn, Gary McWhorter, Helen Merrifield, Michael Tierney,

Colin Tierney, Stephanie Holtman, Gary Gerstner, Erva Huff,

Dr. John Yaeger, Fred Kuester, Sarah Maize.

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Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 1 New Year’s Day Office Closed

2 10:00am Chapel

3 10:00am Chapel

4 8am to 8pm Day of Prayer,

Sanctuary

5 9:00am Adult Ed 10:30am Worship, Sunday School 11:30am Acorn Singers Noon - Sr. Fell. 12:15pm Tweens, Youth

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7 7:00 pm Taize

8 7:00pm Finance

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11 6:00pm Youth Fun Night, MPR (continues to 10:30am, 1/12/14)

12 9:00am Adult Ed 10:30am Worship, Sunday School 11:30am Acorn Singers 12:15pm Tweens, Youth

13 7:00pm UMW, FSR

14 11.00am Staff mtg.

15 7:00pm Church Council

16 10:00am Chapel

17 10:00am Chapel

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19 Human

Relations Day

9:00am Adult Ed 10:30am Worship, Sunday School 11:30am Acorn Singers 12:15pm Tweens, Youth

20 Martin Luther

King, Jr. Birthday Office & CC

Closed

21 Noon CC Advisory Council, FSR

22 10:30am Bible Study Resumes, FSR

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24

25 9-3 District Training, Northridge UMC

26 9:00am Adult Ed 10:30am Worship, Sunday School 11:30am Acorn Singers 12:15pm Tweens, Youth

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29 10:30am Bible Study, FSR

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January 2014

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La Cañada United Methodist Church

P. O. Box 667; 104 Berkshire Place

La Cañada Flintridge, CA 91012

La Cañada United Methodist Church

Rev. Elaine Hisu Cho, Pastor

Sheri Gray, Administrative Assistant

Victoria Symonian, Accompanist

Kendra Fredrickson, Education Associate

Kendra Mathison, Child Care Provider

Blanca Rodriguez, Director of Children’s Center Preschool

JANUARY SERMONS—Based on “Five Practices of Fruitful Living” by Robert Schnase

January. 5—“Receiving God’s Love” (Radical Hospitality), 1 John 4:9

January 12—“Loving God in Return” (Passionate Worship), Luke 10:27

January 19—“Growing in Grace” (Intentional Faith Development), Hebrews 10:24-25

January 26— “Loving and Serving Others” (Risk-Taking Mission & Service), Matthew 16:24-25