We are just now in the season of Advent.  You most likely know that the roots of the word “Advent” are ad (to) and venire (come), so it is quite literally the time when we contemplate God’s grace in coming to us through Jesus Christ.  Indeed, God chose to come to us not as a grand king or powerful military commander, but born of a poor young unmarried woman, temporarily displaced and homeless due to the government’s census order.

So this is a season of expectation, of Mary in her pregnancy, and of God’s people waiting in urgent hope for redemption and for the restoration of peace on this earth.

The urgency of hope requires a few ingredients:  the patience to wait, the neediness to want change, the faith that God will effect the change, and the alertness to receive the change.  Those who wait for change, those who groan waiting for redemption, don’t experience life as good enough.  But it has occurred to me that many of us don’t like change, which means life is pretty good for us.  This may be the essential challenge for the “haves” of the world to give their lives to this God who wills change, and one reason Jesus said that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

I have thought about this as tributes have been offered about President George H. W. Bush, because he was a man who came from wealth and privilege, but acted out of a quiet faith.  His upbringing was sheltered but he was taught not to assume he was more worthy than any other person.  One person suggested that his time in the military exposed him to people of different backgrounds, and he applied this humility to the breadth of the human experience.  As a young congressman, he took the politically unpopular stance of voting for the 1968 Fair Housing Act, which opened housing to people regardless of color, saying “I served with these men in the Pacific and they should be able to live wherever they want to.”

I don’t want to delve too deeply into the moral triumphs and failings of President Bush, but it does seem that in his interpersonal relationships, he saw every person as his equal, as a fellow child of God.  A story I have always remembered was first shared by Robert Shannon:

One Sunday a homeless man was standing in front of the National Cathedral when then President George Bush and his wife Barbara were going in.  “Pray for me,” he said to the President.  “No,” said President Bush.  “Come in and pray for yourself.”  He did, and after that he came in every Sunday and sat in the back.  The congregation got to know him and began to help him in small ways.  When he died that homeless man was buried in the churchyard of the National Cathedral!  That homeless man was buried in one of the most prestigious plots of land in this country.  How fitting for a church that is dedicated to another homeless man, Jesus Christ.

This reflects the idea that the President saw this homeless man as equally worthy to enter the National Cathedral, to make his appeal directly to the same God—and to the church’s credit, for God’s people to receive him as an honored member of the family.

What do you wait in expectant hope for, this Advent?  I am touched by these stories of President Bush because the most basic prayer I have always had is that all people are seen and respected as fellow children of God, and I continue to pray for that.  I pray especially for those who are not shown that respect—those who are being demonized as murderers and rapists because they are foreign and poor; those who have to worry about food and healthcare even though they are citizens of the wealthiest nation in the world; those whose troubles are ignored because we are too focused on ourselves or the most salacious news items in the press.

Just as God came to become one of us, just as Jesus chose to call us friend, just as even the wealthiest of us can use their privilege to share and support the cause of others, may we wait in expectant, urgent hope for God’s kingdom to come.  May we have the patience to wait and not settle for short-term fixes to make ourselves feel better.  May we care enough for those in need to be willing to give of ourselves for change.  May we have the faith to keep praying for God to effect the change, and to step forward in faith to be agents of God’s change.  And may we stay alert to herald and even participate in the change, even if it means drastic change in our own lives.

As a young couple gets their nursery ready for their coming baby, let us get our hearts, our lives, our churches ready, not only to receive the baby Jesus, but to receive all the children of God whom Jesus loves.

In urgent expectation and hope,

Wendy

Good morning!  I pray you had a blessed Thanksgiving.  I have much to give thanks for, of course, including all who provided leadership at the November 10^th presbytery meeting and day by day, and my colleagues who wrote MMU columns in my absence as I visited Japan.

I had a wonderful time there, visiting several ministries of the Kyodan, the United Church of Christ in Japan.  This is the Protestant denomination that was formed in 1941 when the government required all churches to join into one.  Since then some denominations separated from the Kyodan, but it continues to be the largest Christian church in Japan.  However, all Christians make up only 0.8% of the Japanese population.

Theologian Douglas John Hall once asserted that because the church is so small in Japan, they were free of any temptations to take political or social power and instead, they simply serve.  I witnessed this.  The churches are small, but there are pastors who have also started faith-based ministries that witness to the larger world, including the Asian Rural Institute (http://www.ari-edu.org/en/), a remarkable international community founded by Rev. Dr. Toshihiro Takami that trains leaders from Asia, Africa, Europe, and the United States in agriculture and community development, and demonstrates sustainability (90% of what is consumed by the community is produced on-site).  Another ministry that I’d heard about but never visited is the Bazaar Café in Kyoto, founded by Rev. Teruko Enomoto and now supported by missionary Martha Mensendiek.  This is an actual café that welcomes outsiders in Japan, including foreign women who have been trafficked in Japan, people with disabilities and mental illness, sexual minorities, and people with HIV/AIDS and/or drug addiction.  By employing these individuals, they give them a place of community, acceptance, support, and purpose. 

I was able to meet with several other ministries working with the rebuilding of Ishinomaki and victims of the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster, the Korean Christian Church in Japan, and churches in Sendai and Kyoto.  I preached in Japan for the first time in Kyoto.  A highlight from that visit came at lunch.  I noticed in general that people with disabilities, who traditionally would have been kept at home, are now much more active in Japan, where pretty massive infrastructure improvements have been made to accommodate them.  The Kyoto Church had several people with evident disabilities, including one young man who was totally blind—he was even missing the iris in his right eye.  He was at the lunch table with the pastor and his wife, who was also an associate pastor, a visiting seminarian, and myself.  The conversation was limited since I speak almost no Japanese and they speak no English.  But then we realized that the blind man spoke English very well—since they don’t speak English, I don’t think the others knew that.  He ended up translating for us, which means for that moment, the most able person in the group was the one identified as disabled!

But the most meaningful moment for me was when my sister and I visited our family homestead and the church our family helped to start.  When my great-great-great-grandfather converted to Christianity in 1886, he immediately invited the missionary to hold meetings in a family building, but by 1888 a church building was raised nearby, and is still serving the community now.  Sitting in the empty sanctuary, I had a strong sense of family roots that was a true blessing.

Coming back home, I had another great blessing yesterday, when I preached at La Verne Heights Presbyterian Church.  Pastor Jonathan Hughes planned a month-long series on race and faith, and invited several guest preachers to speak.  I was honored to be one of them, and it was a joy to speak, and then to have conversations after worship with one biracial family, a group of members, and then over lunch with several church leaders.  I don’t know of any other church in our Presbytery to have an intentional focus on race over several weeks.  I applaud La Verne Heights for doing this, and I feel blessed to have been part of it.  This is actually a priority for the PC(USA), and all levels of the church, especially congregations, have been encouraged to focus on anti-racism.  See https://facing-racism.pcusa.org/ for several different resources, including the 2016 policy which gives spiritual, historical, and sociological information on racism and its impacts, and a challenge for the church.

So yes, I’m back.  I pray that this holiday season will be truly holy for you.  As we are painfully aware of many who are facing this season with grief over personal tragedies and disasters of nature and violence, I pray that the spirit of Christ may pervade places of hurt and longing.  And may we all be bearers of Christ’s spirit of peace and healing.  I’m sure you know of the efforts to promote tomorrow as “Giving Tuesday” and I encourage you to consider where you can give, including to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance at pda.pcusa.org, and to the Presbytery—just go to sangabpres.org and look for “DONATE.”

Blessings to you and yours.  May we continue to give thanks to God!

Wendy

The mass shooting in Thousand Oaks at Borderline Bar and the devastating Woolsey and Camp fires have traumatized and effected many in California. Undoubtedly, the churches of San Gabriel Presbytery are praying for those who lost family and friends, and for the safety and work of first responders and organizations responding to these tragedies. Lord, hear our prayers!

If your congregation would like to directly get involved with supporting the relief and recovery efforts for those affected by the various fires, please consider giving to the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (http://pda.pcusa.org/situation/california-fires/). From my personal experience working with the PDA in the aftermath of hurricanes Rita/Katrina, I can attest that the work of the PDA is highly regarded by government and other disaster response agencies. Various governmental agencies have made public requests that people consider making financial donations at this stage to relief assistance agencies like the PDA or American Red Cross.

The following are updates that I have curated from various websites and individuals familiar with the churches and presbyteries of Sacramento, Pacific, San Fernando, and Santa Barbara, that had churches with members who lost homes in the fires, or had members directly affected by the Borderline shooting.

The Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) already deployed four members of their National Response Team to the Presbyteries of the Pacific and San Fernando to be embedded into the American Red Cross shelters in Pacific Palisades and San Fernando Valley (at A.R.C.’s request) to serve as Disaster Spiritual Care Providers.  PDA has already released $7,500 in grants to the Presbytery of Sacramento to assist in the Paradise Fire recovery efforts. (PDA Website & Presbyterian Outlook)

Local fire fighting and governmental agencies are asking people not to donate goods for the relief effort but to donate funds to agencies that are directly providing services to those affected by the wildfires in California. They currently are receiving items that they cannot use and have become a burden. The homes of three families that were destroyed by fire are members of two PC(USA) churches in Westlake Village. Some of the graduates of the youth group from one of the Westlake Village churches were at the Borderline Bar & Grill at the time of shooting. (San Fernando Presbytery)

At this early stage of the disaster response, donating to the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is probably our best option. Let us continue to pray for the families and churches directly affected by the shooting and fires. Once the fires are put out, and rebuilding begins in earnest, the Presbytery of San Gabriel will let our churches know of other requests for assistance from our sister presbyteries/churches.

In Prayer,

Rev. Jake Kim
Associate for Ministry Development

This past Saturday, November 10^th was the last presbytery meeting of the 2018 year. We were welcomed into the Sanctuary of First Thai Presbyterian Church, Covina, to the sight of a beautifully fall decorated sanctuary that was a delight to the eyes. There were fall wreaths spaced intermittently along the side and back walls and a massive expression of fall foliage in the front of the sanctuary. I was suddenly drawn into a place of Thanksgiving in my heart and mind, and I am quite sure that was intended by the environment. Many of the members of First Thai were present to welcome us as the two portions of the worship service included the participation of the Praise Dancers of the church – a group of young people who led us joyfully in the second portion of the worship service. And, thank you to Rev. Jennifer Ackerman for planning another inspiring worship service. Pastor Peter Tan-Gatue led us in the Lord’s Supper this day. We received an offering for Inland Valley Hope Partners during the worship service, as well. If anyone would like to participate in this offering and was not present, you are welcome to send your check in to the presbytery office. And there was a feast of Thai food for lunch after the meeting. What a blessing was our day in Covina. Thank you to Pastor Tan-Gatue and his volunteers that took care of the meeting and meal so beautifully.

The business of the day was fairly limited:

• We received an update from Administration and Finance on the sale and rentals of some of the presbytery’s property. Things seem to moving right along now.
• A highlight of the meeting was a presentation by Sara Armstrong and Rusty Edmondson on their ministry for the last many years in Peru and how Living Waters for the World created a wonderful bridge for their ministry there. Thirty two systems have been installed while they have worked with them. Our team to Peru has worked hand in hand with them all these years and could not have made the installations the presbytery has been involved in without Sara and Rusty. They are retiring back to the United States and have been replaced by a young couple ready to step into their shoes. We can only benefit from having them present in our area. What a blessing they will be to us.
• Carl von Bibra of the Personnel Committee informed the body of the partial retirement of Twila French, the presbytery’s Administrator/ Associate Stated Clerk/Bookkeeper. A deep sigh was heard throughout the gathering as Twila is such an important part of the efficiency of the presbytery. This partial retirement will take place in the middle of 2019 as she will continue to work part-time as the presbytery’s bookkeeper. Now, it will actually take one and a half people to do the work that Twila has been doing as the presbytery will be hiring a full-time person to take over the other responsibilities she has cared for over the years. One can tell she has definitely been over-working.
• The Presbytery Executive Commission’s report included the presentation of the 2019 Budget highlights. The budget was approved, as well as the per-member apportionment of $69 for the 2019 year.  An Administrative Commission, requested by the congregation of Grace Presbyterian Church, was formalized at this meeting, as well.
• We received a very interesting presentation by Navy Chaplain Lt. Daniel Menza. He has left information with us to distribute if anyone is interested in considering a call to Navy Chaplaincy. Please contact the presbytery office if this interests you.
• We approved the new slate of Committee/Commission members for the 2019 year. I cannot call them universally the Class of 2021 as there were additional classes included. And we elected our new Vice Moderator, Rev. Karen Sapio, pastor of Claremont Presbyterian Church. She will be installed at the January presbytery meeting. This will mean that Fried Wilson will have completed his three year commitment. Rev. Becca Bateman will become the Moderator of the PEC and Rev. Roberto Ramirez will become the Moderator of the Presbytery. We all look forward to the New Year’s leadership. And we thank all those that have completed their terms of service. We have appreciated the sharing of their gifts with the presbytery.
• We received into membership, TE Eun-hyey Lok, transferring from the Presbytery of the Twin Cities. She is the Director of Outreach and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist at the Asian American Christian Counseling Service in Alhambra. She led the body in a meaningful Lectio-Divina during part of the worship service. I can tell we are blessed to have her become a member of this presbytery.
• We also approved the temporary half-time pastoral leader for Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in Claremont. He will be going through a plan of preparation for authorized ministry in the PC(USA) as he comes to us from the Church of the Nazarene.
• The presbytery concurred with two congregations in the dismissal of their pastors:
  • Pasadena Presbyterian Church – Rev. Walter Contreras
  • Arcadia Presbyterian Church – Rev. James Connor
  • In addition, the Minimum Salary and benefits package for 2019 was approved:
    • Salary and Housing           $55,840
    • Professional Expenses       $ 2,645
    • Study Leave                          $ 985

This does represent a 3.9% increase in the CPI-U in our geographic area.

I am sure that I have not remembered everything that occurred Saturday. As those that were present read this, I hope that they will forgive me if I have not focused on something they felt was important on the day.

As we enter the Holiday Season, may I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and a Blessed Advent and Christmas Season!

Diane M. Frasher
Stated Clerk