Ben
Hulan Named Volunteer of the Year
It was
with enormous pleasure and deep gratitude that CCMV named
Ben Hulan as its ‘Volunteer of the Year’ at the
Annual Congregational Meeting held on June 7. Ben was honored
for his work as convener of the Kiyija Keneth Task Force that
spearheaded the Church’s efforts to bring Keneth to
San Francisco for life-saving heart surgery. From Keneth’s
arrival in early August until his return to Uganda in early
November of last year, Ben not only helped with all of the
logistics of the visit but he also became one of Keneth’s
closest and most trusted counselors. As such, he was involved
in both the organizational and emotional work necessary to
make this impossible dream become a reality.
Many people
worked with Ben on the task force and its fair to say that
Keneth’s visit to Mill Valley touched and galvanized
the Church in ways that were unimaginable when the venture
started last spring. Since returning to Uganda, Keneth has
established his own mission, Hope for African Children Ministries,
and will return to his studies at Makarere University in Uganda’s
capital, Kampala, in August. This event changed, and will
continue to change, the Church in profound ways and we are
all deeply grateful to Ben for all his hard work, dedication
and patience in making Kiyija Keneth’s visit such a
memorable moment in the life of the Community Church of Mill
Valley.
-
Mike Webber, Board President
______________________________________________________________________________________
Annual Meeting News
On Sunday, June 7 about twenty-eight people met in Tamalpais
Hall at noon for the annual congregational meeting of the
Community Church. Mike Webber, Board President, led the meeting
which began with an opening prayer by Sue Blanchard. The minutes
of the last congregational meeting on March 29 were duly approved
with just one abstention by the secretary who didn’t
like how she'd stated something! Sue, our treasurer, gave
a brief report on the state of the existing budget. With just
a month to go, only $116,000 of the pledged $125,000 has come
in. Nevertheless, no money will be needed to be withdrawn
from savings. Our accounts show $119,000. However, this includes
prepaid pledges for next year as well as $55,000 in designated
funds. Just $2,900 is in the organ repair fund, an item to
be discussed later in this report. Vice President Jamie Clever
reported on the Stewardship Campaign and thanked both callers
and pledgers. Happily we are now ~$1,000 over the pledge campaign.
Jamie noted that the staff has made a generous donation to
the balancing of the budget by agreeing to take no increase
in salary this year. In this very difficult economic time
we are grateful for keeping our heads above water.
The Annual
Report was accepted by vote of the congregation. Copies are
available in Tam Hall.
Mike reviewed
the situation of the organ’s state of nonworking and
the deliberations of a gathering a week ago to discuss the
issue. T he best remedy for the organ’s return to use
is to install a new whisper quiet blower motor in the room
to the left of the altar. With electrical work the best guess
at cost seems to be between $16,000 and $18,000. It was recognized
that the organ is not top-most in property problems and that
immediate repair is not likely. A task force was approved
by vote to present options for the organ; volunteers were
secured.
Next Mike
called on the conveners to present information about their
task forces. Bob Harmon spoke about the Celebrations Task
Force, Ben Hulan spoke of the work of the Keneth Kiyija Task
Force, Jack Bartlett spoke about the Lunch for the Hungry
Task Force and then the Marin Organizing Committee (MOC) Task
Force. The members present voted approval of these proposed
projects that will be in effect for one year.
Jamie
Clever presented the report of the Nominating Committee and
thanked the committee. They presented the following slate:
(a.) Board of Directors 1st year terms: Claudia Lowder (continuing
after a partial term), Camilla Burraston, and Lisa Filippi;
(b.) Delegates to the Northern California and Nevada Conference
(UCC) and Golden Gate Association of UCC: Ben Hulan and Lisa
Filippi continuing from this year; and (c.) Alternates for
Ben and Lisa: Jack Bartlett and Bob Larsen. These nominations
were approved unanimously.
Betsy
Bikle, Secretary/Clerk, led a moment of silence in loving
memory of three congregational members who died this past
year: Josette Gavin, Don DuPertuis, and Pat Stephenson.
Ben Hulan
was acknowledged as the Volunteer of the Year—earning
this honor for his huge amount of work in the process of bringing
Keneth Kiyija to the US for his heart operation and preparation
for return to Uganda for Christian service.
Other
business included a report that it is anticipated CCMV will
be signing a new lease with Old Firehouse School this coming
week.
Jamie
wrapped up the meeting by expressing the thanks of all to
Mike Webber for his leadership this past year.
In short
- in fact the meeting closed at 1p.m. - it was a GOOD meeting!
-
Betsy Bikle
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Day Lockers for the Unhoused
During
the past 6 months of congregations offering shelter for those living
outside, many congregants heard a consistent plea from
our unhoused neighbors: space to store their belongings.
Thanks to Dianne Linn, Executive Director at the Ritter Center,
and Michael Tupper, one of the staff with the winter shelter,
a pilot program is beginning on Monday, June 1st, at the Ritter
Center. They will provide day locker space for 40-60
persons.
What is needed:
2-4 volunteers per day
Two 1 hour shifts: 7:30-8:30a.m. AND 2:00-3:00p.m.
If you or someone you know is available to volunteer,
please contact Michael Tupper at hvdc2@yahoo.com or 415/879-2962.
Thank you for your consideration of this important need.
- The
Reverend Carol Hovis
Executive Director, Marin Interfaith Council
415.456.6957
chovis@marinifc.org
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Board Report
The board met as usual on the fourth Tuesday evening of the
month in the Chapel—May 26. We opened with a prayer
and closed with a prayer.
In between
the prayers, we considered stewardship, property management
matters and congregational matters. We heard the good news
about the stewardship campaign and our every member conversations.
We considered stewardship of our piece of ground – re-roofing,
fencing some beds from dogs, thanking Aaron for often picking
up five gallons of dog droppings, brightening up the Narthex,
completing security adjustments, and changing some plumbing
to increase water conservation.
A pleasant
part of the short evening was agreeing to responsibilities
for different parts of the Annual Meeting after church on
Sunday, June 7 and preparing for the transition to the new
church year.
-Betsy
Bikle
Secretary to the Board
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Summer Reading and Viewing
Book Recommendation from Anonymous
Meeting with Remarkable Men (All and Everything), by G. I.
Gurdjieff. A “Road Trip” in search of the roots
of spiritual practice.
Book
Recommendations from Jack Bartlett
The Moral Measure of the Economy (Paperback) by Chuck Collins
and Mary Wright.
The authors provide a clear and insightful look at the economy
through the lenses of
Catholic social teaching.
The First
Paul (Hardbound) by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossman.
Borg and Crossman have applied top notch Biblical scholarship
to the Letters of the Apostle Paul and made them understandable
in a way for which we can all be thankful.
Cold Service
(Paperback) by Robert B. Parker. Looking for a mystery that
is fast-reading, well written, contains snappy dialogue and
good humor? Try this Spenser novel or any of Parker’s
Spenser novels.
Book
Recommendations from Karen Benoit
Eat Pray Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert. This is a memoir about
a mid-thirties woman who, following her divorce, takes a year
to live first in Italy to enjoy the food, than in an Ashram
in India and ends the year in Bali. She is a delightful story
teller with the ability to say things in such a way as to
provide new insight. My book is marked through out with passages
that I go back to for inspiration.
The Guernsey
Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Shaffer and
Anne Barrows. This book is set in England and Guernsey immediately
following World War II. It is written as a collection of letters
being exchanged between the main character, Juliet, and the
people in her life. The character development and writing
is delightful. It will make you think about writing some old
fashioned letters or at least a journal and cut back on email.
All I
Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, by Robert Fulghum.
This book was published in 1989 and I originally read it back
then, but I had been thinking about it recently and found
a copy while browsing a used book shop. The subtitle of the
book is, Uncommon Thoughts on Common Things and though a few
of the essays are a little bit dated, most still have the
little gem of wisdom that carries across the decades. Because
they are essays, it is easy to pick up and read one or two
then set it down for another day.
Book
Recommendations from Betsy Bikle
String of Pearls, Edited by Carolyn Myers. An army doctor's
wife writes about life on a remote island in the Philippines
during the American occupation. Carrie Ida Ford wrote her
original impressions of the Philippines back in the very early
1900’s. The writings were compiled last year into a
short book of 117 pages by our own church member Carolyn Myers.
Carolyn’s grandmother’s sister (her great aunt)
was Carrie Ida Ford. The book starts in 1906 - and is enjoyably
written and engrossing in a far away time and place. Carolyn
has given a copy to the church because she knows of our interest
in the Philippines through Arn Mutia and his family and work.
I've just finished it and will leave it at the church office.
You are welcome to borrow it. If you would like it mailed
to you, send postage of $5 to Community Church, 8 Olive St.,
MV, 94941 to cover costs of shipping.
Solitude, Seeking Wisdom in Extremes, A Year Alone in the
Patagonia Wilderness, by Robert Kull. (New World Library,
Novato California, 2008.) I know he made it back, because
I met Bob at a luncheon at Book Passage as he sat at my table
with my friend, Nancy, his sister! It's an interesting mixture
of self doubt vs. attempting to achieve wisdom, and modern
technological aid such as a generator for sending monthly
email check-ins vs. the wonder of nature and weather down
in the southern tip off Chile. An admirable feat and fun to
read about from the comfort of your cozy surroundings.
Book
and Film Recommendations from Chris Bikle
Take the Cannoli: Stories From the New World, by Sarah Vowell.
Wonderful collections of essays about the American experience
from an eclectic historian.
Freedom
Writers with Hilary Swank. The movie is a stand and deliver
story of disadvantaged youth and their awesome teacher.
Book
and Film Recommendations from Sue Blanchard
The Ambassadors, by Henry James. My nominee for the great
American novel. Not an easy ready but a rewarding one.
Paris
When It Sizzles, with Audrey Hepburn and William Holden. Funny
and light, the script which the characters are writing keeps
intruding on the movie itself.
Book
Recommendations from Linda Clever
You may know that Jamie's family had a Guernsey dairy. In
fact, his mother was so gifted at genetics that the herd became
the best large herd in the world and she won the Guernsey
Cattle Club "Man of the Year' award. We have visited
the Island of Guernsey and hold it in our hearts. With that,
might I add to the list?
A Marin
County original: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society
(Dial Press, NY 2008) is by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows,
her niece, who polished the book after Mary Ann died. It is
entirely written as correspondence and tells stories about
Guernsey during the Nazi occupation.
The Book
of Ebenezer Le Page is also the only novel by its author and
also one that is NOT put-downable. It is by G.B. Edwards and
John Fowles. ( Avon Books, NY 1981) (It’s vailable at
Amazon. I just ordered another one for a gift.) It covers
the years of about 1896-1970 and tells of Guernsey life and
values by a funny, crusty old man whose life on the tiny island
(with ties to William the Conqueror) is bounded by the sea.
Here's
an unusual entry that I heard about on Weekend Edition: a
list of 10 top new cookbooks, ranging from barbeque to vegetarian.
The review was positively salivating. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103675257
Book
Recommendation from Dora Ford
The Shack,
by William P. Young. An intriguing tale which offers an opportunity
to think about what God might really be like.
Book
and Film Recommendations from Bob Harmon
Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town, by Warren
St. John, is a recently-published book about a boys' soccer
team, made up of young war refugees who had ended up in Clarkston,
Georgia. It's the story of how they succeeded against language
barriers and local hostility, under the guidance of their
coach, a woman from Jordan. Nonfiction and highly inspirational.
Millions
is a 2004 British film, directed by Danny Boyle and out on
DVD. It is a family film about two brothers who find a bagful
of money just as Britain is about to change currencies. It's
a heartwarming story of loneliness and moral dilemmas: what
to do with this sudden wealth? Beautifully directed and written.
The Lives
of Others is a 2006 German film, out on DVD, about a secret
police agent in East Germany, in the waning years of the German
Democratic Republic who is assigned to spy on a theater director
and his lover and gradually comes to care about his subjects,
and question his job. Dark material but uplifting. The movie
earned an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
Book Recommendation from Sam Hulan
Captain Underpants, by Dav Pilkey Dad Ben reports that Captain
Underpants is full of potty humor, which encourages young
readers. Sam recommends Captain Underpants to anyone with
kids, nieces & nephews, or grandchildren in grades 1-3.
Book
Recommendation from Connie Kloh
The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Live,
by Leonard Mlodinow. Though not a book by a theologian (the
author is a physics professor at Caltech), this is an in-depth
exploration of the thought expressed in Ecclesiastes 9-11
which ends "but time and chance happeneth to them all."
Perhaps a bit heavy to qualify for “summer” reading,
but worth the effort.
Book
Recommendation from Jane Kloh
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace …
One School at a Time, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.
This is a story of an American mountaineer who was injured
and lost in the mountains of Pakistan. Rescued and nursed
back to health by a small group of local Pakistanis, he was
so impressed with the sparseness of their resources that he
vowed to go back to help them build schools, especially ones
to include girls.
Book
Recommendations from Pam Shortridge
Roads to Quoz: An American Mosey by William Least Heat-Moon.
Published by Little Brown. Also available as a sound recording
read by Sherman Howard. A fascinating tour of the continental
United States with visits to off-the beaten-trail places and
stories of the off-beat residents who live in such places
told by a lover of words.
Dreams
from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, by Barack
Obama. I read this aloud to Muncie when Obama became a viable
candidate for president. This autobiography provides a fascinating
look inside the mind and heart of our current president.
Infidel
by Hirsi Ali Ayaan. A disturbing account by a Muslim woman
from her childhood in Somalia to her election to the Dutch
Parliament to her decision to write this controversial book
after being labeled an “infidel.”
The Search
for God at Harvard by Ari L. Goldman. Why in the world would
a Jewish journalist decide to attend Harvard Divinity School
and what will he learn in those environs? Read this gently
told story and find out.
The Defining
Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope by
Jonathan Alter. In the midst of our own “depression,”
a good book to read abut another president’s first one
hundred days in office.
Book
Recommendations from Carol Schmiedel
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built: The New No. 1 Ladies'
Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith. I have read a
number of Smith's books and I think this is one of his better
ones. I like the reasonable, personal evaluation to
problem solving. I was attracted to the book because I identified
with “traditionally built.”
The Guernsey
Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer.
What can I say? It's been a best seller for months. I learned
and thought about the second world war in a different light.
Heat and
Soul, by Maeve Binchy. I have also read several of Shaffer's
books. You don't have to read these books in any order.
Each book has an interesting story about what could be real
people.
Meeting
Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus and the
Heart of Contemporary Faith, by Marcus J. Borg. This is a
book I will look into over and over again. There are answers
to things I have thought about and got answers.
Book
Recommendation from John Schmiedel
I recently read a fascinating book entitled Physics for Future
Presidents: The Science Behind the Headlines, by Richard A.
Muller, a professor of physics at UC Berkeley. This book deals
with many of today's problems such as terrorism, energy, solar
and wind power and global warming. The author clears up the
huge amount of conflicting information which could lead to
solutions that could exacerbate the problems. Don't be intimidated
by the subject -- it's written in easily understood language.
W. W. Norton is the publisher. I am willing to lend my copy
to anyone interested.
Book
Recommendations from Mike Webber
There are two books that have given this history buff particular
pleasure in recent months. The first is by H.W. Brands and
is a biography of FDR entitled Traitor to His Class: The Privileged
Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
There have been a number of books on FDR and the New Deal
in recent years (and there will be more to come as comparisons
are made with Obama's election) but this book is probably
the best single volume account of FDR's complex life and politics.
It is lively and informative and nicely balances personal
detail and historical context without becoming bogged down
in footnotes.
The second
is by William I. Hitchcock and is entitled The Bitter Road
to Freedom: A New History of the Liberation of Europe. This
history of Europe’s liberation in 1945 takes a somewhat
different approach to the usual triumphalist military accounts
of WWII by centering on what happened to civilians as, and
after, the Allies overran Germany. Using personal stories
and accounts, Hitchcock gives us a searing portrait of how
traumatized survivors coped with liberation.
Book
and Film Recommendations from Marin Xiques
Little Heathens: Hart Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm
During the Grat Depression, by Mildred Armstrong Kalish. This
book is about a family making do during the Great Depression.
It has some great suggestions for making things from scratch
and doing stuff without money.
Eye of
the Dolphin is a film that has a great environmental message
about hope and standing up for what you believe in. Stars
Katherine Ross, Carly Schroeder and Adrian Dunbar.
_________________________________________________________________________
Congratulations Graduates!
Logan
Shortridge graduates from the 8th grade (Del Mar Middle
School) on Friday, June 12 and plans to attend Redwood High
School in the fall.
David
Strader graduated from California State University, Chico
on May 25 receiving a Bachelor in Business Administration
degree. His focus of study was in Marketing and he also received
a Minor in International Business. Last week he accepted a
job offer from Victaulic, the world's largest developer and
producer of mechanical pipe joining systems. In his new position
he will be a Fire Protection Specialist in Northern California
after he completes his training at the company headquarters
in Easton, PA this summer. Matthew Phillips graduates from
Tamalpais High School on June 11. He plans to attend the University
of Chicago in the fall.
Sonoma
State University announced that Vanessa Louise Bacon is a
candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
with Honors on Saturday, Mary twenty third, 2009.
Cowell
College, University of California, Santa Cruz announced the
candidacy of Jessica Arvidson for the degree of Bachelor of
Science in Psychology. Commencement is Saturday, June 13.
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