“I experienced Christ’s love when we were all eating dinner together and talking and having fun. My favorite part was when we went hiking in the rain. It was good to experience nature while walking with friends. I learned that no matter what you do, God will always forgive you. I also learned that there are times when you will feel like things are too tough for you to handle but God always has a plan for you.”
– Monica Iang
You may remember that our TCCC Pre-K Teachers, Brittany Kaufman and Catherine Chop, realized a dream by going to China this summer to teach English as a Second Language (ESL). Thanks to all of those who supported them in making this dream come true.
In our last edition of the TAB, you read Catherine Chop’s story of her memories of this amazing opportunity. Below is Brittany Kaufman’s description of what was truly a monumental experience for her.
It’s been two months since I returned home from China, and I still think to myself how lucky I was to have been chosen to embark on such an incredible journey. Along the way I got the opportunity to meet some of the most amazing, kind, and generous people.
I first met a group of 12 women with love in their hearts and a strong desire to help make this world a better place. These teachers worked so hard every day to educate the children not just about English, but also about love and compassion. We shared our teachings and struggles with each other to continue to learn from one another every day.
Max and Hannah, the owners of the extraordinary school, are inspiring leaders and such a caring couple. They introduced us to countless friends who took us under their wing to show us their culture and Beijing. It was clear that the children at the school had such a craving for knowledge and curiosity for who we were. While language was a barrier, we found other ways to connect with the kids through games, art projects, stories, and of course laughter.
Lastly, I was so fortunate to be alongside my co-worker Catherine. We shared moments of laughter that still make me giggle, and other memories of being in complete awe over what we were seeing and experiencing. Even now she helps me remember to above all else explore my appreciation for life, and to not sweat the little things. I’m so grateful I had her to share this adventure with.
Now, I am left with more friends than I had before, memories to last a lifetime, and an intense craving for dumplings!
Our Children’s Ministry is a big part of who we are as a congregation. What you do to support that ministry is greatly appreciated and has a true impact for the children, as well as for our instructors. We are forever grateful!
“Freedom from_____, Freedom for_____” Exodus 32:1-14. Sterling Severns
Our Worship Service focuses on the story of Joseph.
We are so very grateful to our TCCC families and our church members who have been so tremendously supportive of our Playground Fundraising efforts. We are such a blessed family of parents and congregation that is dedicated to providing the best in care for our Children’s Ministry! We will have the final tally of donations and total raised after expenses very soon. It appears that we have surpassed our goal of $15,000, and we have placed the order for the new playground equipment based on the wonderful response we have received.
We send a special thank you to our organizers of the Silent Auction event, and to all of those who have made processing and tracking funds received work smoothly. We are so very appreciative of everyone’s dedication in making upgrades to our playground possible!
Dear Congregation,
It has been so wonderful working with you all in the food pantry and clothes closet this summer. I’m so thankful for your faith and trust as you extended my position to the end of the year in this interim position. Going into fall I’d love to share a little with you about our current ministry and how I’m seeing God work among us.
In 2009 I set up a meeting with Sterling to ask for a seminary internship. I knew of Tabernacle’s work in the Fan through the food pantry and I felt called to be a part of that. In seminary I had begun to feel a tug towards community focused ministry and I saw how central to Tabernacle that kind of ministry was. To me, Mission is not something that Tabernacle has to seek out, it is part of your DNA as a church. It has been since the church was founded as a ministry to the children in the same neighborhood we are worshipping in and serving in today. I spent much of my time in 2009 down in the food pantry, learning the ropes from Dick Denzler and researching a new idea centered around hunger ministry in an urban community like ours.
What I came back to this year when I stepped into this interim role was much the same as what I found during my internship- a warm, welcoming place where church members give selflessly to their neighbors through their time, their work, and their hospitality. They greet long-time food pantry patrons as friends. Many of our neighbors come through our doors often and all they know of our church is our food pantry and the love of Christ our volunteers show them. Wonderful relationships are formed with the folks who come see us monthly. True kingdom work happens every week in our food pantry as we help those struggling to get through a gap. I’d love to tell you story after story of ways we have been blessed on Thursdays when we open our doors to our neighbors and experience community through loving our neighbors and spending time with them. I see the Kingdom of God meeting earth in our neighborhood, welling up around the community that happens on Thursdays. If you are interested in this ministry, I’d love to talk with you about how you can get involved.
Recently, I’ve been meeting with some of you about what the future of hunger ministry at Tabernacle could look like. Later this fall a team of church members and myself will present something to the congregation to consider. I see it as the next logical step for our congregation in hunger ministry. A way to take all the good work that we’ve done and are doing, and going even deeper in relationship with our neighbors and patrons who are experiencing chronic hunger. Many names have been thrown around to describe this next level of hunger ministry. It’s been referred to as a food co-op, a friends and neighbor’s food network, a church and neighbor’s collective among other names. Whatever we may call it, the idea is this: partnering more deeply with our neighbors who are in need and allowing them to take on more responsibility and ownership in the food they receive. By doing so, we are loving our neighbors in the best way that we can and also allowing them to have more of a voice in the food pantry. We have always been advocates for the community in our hunger ministry, but by partnering more closely with neighborhood leaders in a co-op group, we are allowing them to have their own voice as we advocate alongside them.
We create small groups of folks who want to be part of this new ministry, people who maybe attend our food pantry now, live close to our church and meet certain guidelines that allow them to receive food from our food bank and allow each group to work together, to meet together, to make decisions together and to partner with us in distributing food twice a month.
I picture a typical group looking very similar to what you would see on any given Thursday in the community room. Our current volunteers sitting around the room, enjoying conversation with neighbors who have come to receive some food, except our church volunteers are partnered with someone who is there to receive food for a specific role.
Neighbors are taking the lead by checking people in with church members helping, dividing food into bags or boxes alongside other church volunteers, or helping people find what they need in the clothes closet. Another few are just returning from the food bank with to bring back another truckload that will need to be moved into the basement. Everyone would have a role in the group, even if it is just to give a warm welcome on the way in or to hand out cups of coffee. Multiple groups would meet separately as a community to help gather and distribute groceries and build relationships with one another and with those from our church who are serving with them in their group. We would be partnering with our neighbors and sharing not only food with them, but working alongside them shoulder to shoulder to further God’s kingdom.
There are still many small details that we would need to work out if Tabernacle decides to support going in this direction in its ministry to the community, but it’s a beautiful picture of what the next level of hunger ministry and of relationship with our geographical neighbors could look like. It is truly something I think is worth working towards as a church.
Nothing would change initially, as membership in the groups are completely by choice. The pantry will still operate for those who need it just as it does today. I envision us starting with one group in addition to our current pantry as a trial, and growing more groups from there as more neighbors sign up and church volunteers commit to building relationships with new groups. As a church we will see how the groups evolve alongside what we currently offer and continually hold our ministry to the test that we are currently using: are we furthering the kingdom of God? And is everyone who is eligible to receive food from us and has a need still able to receive it?
Other examples of this model in other states show that many times people will choose to be part of one of these communities because they want some ownership and control of what they are receiving. These groups are a wonderful way to offer that in partnership with our church. In many other places where communities like this operate, they have to be careful to not grow too fast because of the huge interest they get from their neighbors in these partnership groups.
One of the things Dick Denzler instilled in me as an intern and again when I came back to Tabernacle was that no one in our neighborhood who has a need should ever go hungry. That principle will guide how we pursue this new path together, ensuring that we are not letting anyone go hungry or unclothed as we look at new and different ways of doing things to deepen our relationship with our neighbors.
We will be working closely with the food bank and with our neighbors to make sure everything we do is beneficial for all who are experiencing hunger in our area. The food bank will offer guidance on how and when we can host these groups as we will continue to withdraw food from them. We would still also meet all emergency one-time food needs from our pantry and clothes closet to be sure that we are doing all we can to serve and love our neighbors. As the church considers whether to pursue this next step in our hunger ministry please prayerfully consider whether this is something you are called to be a part of directly. I’m always available to answer any questions I can or to talk more with you about this idea. I’m excited by how God is moving and working in our church and I’m thankful for your prayers and support as we explore taking this next step in ministry together.
Yours in Christ,
Interim Pastor for Hunger Ministry
Our annual church-wide retreat was held September 23-25, 2016 at Camp Alkulana. Seventy TBC members and friends gathered in the mountains for a weekend of retreat, fellowship, and worship. This year our theme was “Hearing God Through the Psalms.” Over the course of the weekend, we listened for God’s voice in the beautiful nature that surrounded us and through the lives of the people we were gathered with. Corey Williams shares some of his thoughts about this year’s retreat.
I found God in the babbles of quiet streams, boxes of crayons & in faces covered in spaghetti sauce. I felt community in the conversations of 8 AM coffee & by campfires complete with glowsticks, marshmallows & a sky full of stars. For those three days, I connected & rekindled friendships with some of the most incredible people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Ever since coming to Tabernacle almost a year ago, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reaching out and connecting with members of the congregation but there was something different at Alkulana. Fuller, more meaningful conversations. Spiritual guidance. Wide-ranging forms of worship. That weekend, I felt God a little bit closer & heard His voice a little bit clearer.
Tabernacle has a beautiful & unique way of finding people where they are on their journeys & creating safe places for those who need it most. And the retreat I was honored to be able to talk to others about what stages they are on their journey. But the part I loved most was seeing other receive things that they needed for their physical & spiritual voyages. Some needed bread, some needed company & encouragement, and some just needed a time to rest. I’m so happy to be a place and experience a time where people got what they needed.
As we go through our lecture this season and walk the road together. I pray that our loaves of bread go unending and our canteens of water remain overflowing. May our salt keep it savor and lanterns remain burning. Thank you all for the laughs, stories & memories created as we walk together to create new roads.
We Make the Road by Walking…
Sterling Severns
Our Children’s Ministry is growing!! In planning for our fall church activities and the Tabernacle Child Care Center Pre-K class needs, we realized that we needed to reevaluate their space requirements. Both our Kindergarten to 2nd Grade Sunday School class and the TCCC Pre-K class expect an increase in class size. In August the Administrative Board approved a request to update the K-2 Sunday School room so that it can serve the needs of both groups of children, with changes to include:
We are pleased to announce that we completed the work to prepare this room on time for our 9/6/16 goal! There are many people to thank for many hours of work to make this all possible. Below are some people that we want to extend our sincere gratitude to for their time, effort and other gifts:
What was the Pre-K classroom is being transitioned into a Children’s Music activity room. That classroom has been cleaned and different furniture arranged to help our children have a dedicated space for creative time together!
Again, we say a big thank you to everyone who helped make this change for our children possible. This was a tremendous example of how teamwork can make things happen as we grow. We can’t thank all of you enough for supporting our young ones!!!
Last Sunday, we began a new Narrative Lectionary season together. The NL is a four-year cycle of scriptural readings. On the Sundays, from September through May each year, the texts follow the sweep of the biblical story, from Creation through the early Christian church.
The texts show the breadth and variety of voices within Scripture. They invite people to hear the stories of our forbearers and, more specifically, to celebrate God’s initiative in their lives. The theme for the season ahead is “We Make the Road by Walking”.
