April 2004 "For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them." Matthew 18:20 A LETTER FROM OUR MINISTER Beloved Friends, Easter is a time of joyous celebration! For too long many of us have focused on the persecutions of life, and forgotten that with God all things are possible. We sometimes give up before we claim our Resurrection, the rising in consciousness to see over the challenges to realize the divine solutions in our lives. Lent has been a time of cleansing and release. Easter is a day of reclamation, of celebrating the living Christ within each of us. Let us choose this Easter to see ourselves and our lives through new eyes, through eyes of faith and understanding and healing! This Lent I have become keenly aware of a spiritual principle that enriches my life - community. Have you ever considered community as a spiritual principle? Our lives are filled with relationships - family, friends, co-workers and church. I again realized how powerful it is to know that there are people who are sharing in my spiritual path. There is strength in numbers. People helping and supporting people - this was one of the great gifts to us from Jesus Christ. Jesus helped to gather the people into a new consciousness of understanding. He created a community of spiritual seekers who were willing to really look at their beliefs and change if necessary. He opened minds and awakened hearts! Jesus revealed to us that God dwells in each and every person. He taught us how we may live consciously as children of God through his teachings and by his example. Each day can be an opportunity for newness, for release from bondage. Let us think, act and feel like the blessed children of God that we are. Let us know that all things are possible for us! Our church is a spiritual community. Over the past few months we have done a great work, coming together to look at what we value and create new mission and vision statements. Now is the time to take the net step, to create a plan with goals that will allow us to live our mission and vision. The message of Easter is a message of rebirth. Join us this month on April 18th after the Sunday service as we "rebirth" our church and plan the net steps to expand God's abundant blessings in our church. Happy Easter! In Christ Love, Reverend Stephen P. Horn EASTER SCHEDULE Palm Sunday, April 4, 2003 The Week that Changed the World. Holy Thursday, April 8, 2004, 7:30 p.m. Holy Thursday Service with Rev. Horn and Michael Goldreyer. Together we will experience the history of the Seder and partake in a foot-washing service. Good Friday, April 9, 2004, 7:30 p.m. The Seven Last Words of Jesus. A sacred service of contemplation and awakening to the power of love and forgiveness. Special music provided by Jill and Jack Kastle. Easter Sunday, April 11, 2004 Easter Services Our choir will be singing at both our Easter services. 8:30 A.M. Communion Service Celebrate Easter with communion with the elements of bread and grape juice! 10:30 A.M. Easter Service Celebrate Life! Children’s Easter Egg Hunt after the 10:30 service. AMY’S ANGLE Recently, Mark Groblewski facilitated a Goals Course here at the church that I completed. (Being his wife was a bonus!) One of the goals I took through the process Mark taught was an "impossible dream" career goal. I have no idea how it will happen. It took some courage for me to completely experience how much I want this goal, because the distance from here to there seems very far. Interestingly enough, within a few weeks, a re-organization occurred at my job. A man that I admire a great deal and have worked with on certain projects is now my direct boss. This Vice-President is one of the most skilled and knowledgeable managers I’ve ever seen. And he wants me (who, me?) to go from being responsible for one little "piece" of the company’s training to managing the training and development area of our parent company as well. Whew! Okay, God, I get it…when the student is ready, the teacher appears! I know that this is a vital step on the path to my dream career goal. I feel some fear and a lot of excitement -this will be a big stretch for me. But more importantly, I feel the hand of God. I know I have the perfect mentor and that he will both challenge and help me. I also know that I’m ready and that God is in charge. I don’t have to know how -I just choose to take the net step. We at Unity Church of the Bay Area are also ready for the net step. We’ve gone through the mission and visioning process. Now it’s time to move forward, to take some steps toward our dream goals. We’ll be taking the net step on Sunday, April 18th - So mark your calendar! You are a vital part of this church family. Come be a part of our net step. Look forward to seeing you there! Amy Groblewski BOARD TALK by BARB CLEMONS Our revised website in online! It will provide a lot of timely information. Thanks to Chris Kuhlman for his efforts. It will be at the same address: www.unityofbayarea.org The board discussed the net step in the Visioning process which is to have a follow-up meeting to start to work our vision. The meeting, The Net Step, will be Sunday, April 18, 2004 after lunch. Rev. Steve will offer a prosperity class, The Keys to the Kingdom, by David Owen Ritz, after Easter. Rev. Steve reported that the special Sunday service and concert by Marienne Kreitlow and Jerry Ford was very well received. Elton Witt, Jeff Stocki and Suzanne Oliver participated in the concert. The Teams are doing well. Youth Ed has some great plans for the children. Easter season services were discussed. Michael Goldreyer will present a Seder on Thursday, April 8th. Jack and Jill Kastle will provide music on Good Friday. There will be two services on Easter Sunday, at 8:30 and 10:30. An Easter Egg Hunt for the children will follow the 10:30 service. Have you considered tithing to the church on your tax refund? What a great way to plant seeds of prosperity for the year! "...for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap!" -Galatians 6:7 YOUTH ED I sometimes forget how often a child is troubled by an adult issue. They try to understand adult behavior with less life experience to draw from. We all have choices to make, and our choices define who we are and what we create in our world. Some things just don't make sense from a child's perspective. For instance, if we say we care about someone and our behavior doesn't match, the message might be construed that we don't care, or that our caring is dependent on certain conditions. I think that these mixed messages children perceive have a great impact on them. Occasionally, issues come up for a child in class on Sunday. Whether they seem troubled, refuse to participate in class activity, or disrupt the class with their behavior, it normally doesn't have anything to do with the lesson plan, the teacher or the other students. It's important that we have a loving and safe environment to deal with uncomfortable feelings, mixed emotions, and conflicting thoughts. That is not to say that we can or are attempting to resolve everyone's issues. However, we can listen, acknowledge their feelings, and sometimes help to put things in proper perspective. We are here to teach Truth and help our children to realize the tremendous power within them. We are creating "Peace chairs" that will allow anyone in the class a way to center himself or herself for a few minutes, and remember the Truth of who and what they are as a blessed child of God. We'll invite our children to be part of the process through role modeling and gathering their ideas about how Peace chairs can help them. Everyone will have an opportunity to sit in the Peace chair and have it be an effective, calming, and refreshing experience. This simple practice will complement our teachings of centering prayer. We teach prayer as the solution to any of life's challenges. Our children are our future, and I thank all of you for entrusting them to us on Sunday mornings. If you wish to know great joy on a deeper level, and are willing to serve one Sunday a month with our youth, please contact me at 281-339-2096. Youthful blessings, Chris HOW WILL OUR CHURCH BE LIGHTED? Several centuries ago in a mountain village in Europe, a wealthy nobleman wondered what legacy he should leave to his townspeople. He made a good decision. He decided to build them a church. No one was permitted to see the plans or the inside of the church until it was finished. At its grand opening, the people gathered and marveled at the beauty of the new church. Everything had been thought of and included. It was a masterpiece. But then someone said, "Wait a minute! Where are the lamps? It is really quite dark in here. How will the church be lighted?" The nobleman pointed to some brackets in the walls, and then he gave each family a lamp, which they were to bring with them each time they came to worship. "Each time you are here," the nobleman said, "the place where you are seated will be lighted. Each time you are not here, that place will be dark. This is to remind you that whenever you fail to come to church, some part of God's house will be dark." That's a poignant story, isn't it? And it makes a very significant point about the importance of our commitment and loyalty to the church. The poet Edward Everett Hale put it like this: I am only one, but still I am one, I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something I can do. What if every member of our church supported the church just as you do? What kind of church would we have? What if every single member served the church, attended the church, loved the church, shared the church, and gave financially to the church exactly as you do? What kind of church would we be? From "Cup O'Cheer"; Compiled by Kimberly B. Quiggle What a beautiful message! It is a powerful call to understanding that the church we wish to become is an intricate tapestry of each of us weaving together in consciousness. Unity Church of the Bay Area grows and prospers because we each give of our time, talent and treasure. I invite you to consider this article in your time of prayer and meditation, and see what Spirit reveals to you! Blessings, Rev Steve TAKING THE NEXT STEP We have been gathering the last few months to see who we have come to be, whom we serve and where we are going. We looked at our values and created a new mission and vision statement. The energy we created together is awesome! Spiritual Combustion! The next step is to create an action plan for our church that will allow us to fulfill our mission and give life to our vision. Many great suggestions for programs and services for our church were offered. Outlines of the visioning sessions are available in the Gathering Room. In taking the next step, we will together decide what changes and additions are important for us to implement this year and in the years to come. Change is a constant that allows us to better serve our spiritual community and the greater community. Join us for this important time of planning on Sunday, April 18th at 12:45 p.m. We will have a light lunch after the Sunday service, followed by the meeting. We have arranged for childcare during the meeting. Together we will create a plan for the future of our church! Blessings, RevSteve and your Board of Trustees A COURSE IN MIRACLES! A Course in Miracles Daytime Study is Returning! Beginning Thursday after Easter, that is April 15th, at 1 p.m. in the afternoon. Feel free to bring your lunch and/or come earlier to help prepare the Sunday bulletins. For more information call Dianne Marion at 281-996-0508. The evening meeting for A Course in Miracles is still going strong. They meet in the Lighthouse at 7:30 p.m. each Tuesday evening. Both opportunities are open to anyone who would like to attend. NOT BELIEVE IN GOD! by Ethel Romig Fuller Not believe in God On an April day! Not believe in April, One as well might say Not believe in God With the world athrill To the awakening of spring, Meadow, stream, and hill! Not believe in God When a petaled tree Is proclaiming it is kin To Divinity! When each nesting robin, When each leafing limb, When each budding daffodil Confesses Him! MEMORIAL EASTER LILIES Would you like to provide an Easter lily in memory of a loved one for our Easter Sunday service? We will publish a list of those remembered in our bulletin on Easter Sunday. Each lily will be $10.00 and they will be available for you to take home after the 10:30 service on Easter Sunday. Congratulations, Best Wishes and Many Blessings to Sue and Elton Witt who were married on Saturday, March 20, 2004! 2-4 BOOK CLUB Join the 2-4 Book Club on the second and fourth Sundays, 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Lighthouse. Circle of Hearts Thursday, April 22, 7:00 – 8:30 PM Sara Thompson, Art Teacher Extraordinaire, will be leading the Circle of Hearts group in making our own journals. There is a sign-up sheet in the gathering room. LENDING LIBRARY Our Lending Library, located in the Gathering room has lots of great books! To borrow a book, simply sign the book out on the library's clip board. When the book is returned, remember to mark the date of return on the clipboard, too. If you have borrowed books from our lending library, please remember to return them so that others might borrow them. TREASURER’S REPORT Weekly Goal $3655 Year to Date 10/01/02 to 2/29/04 Total Income $82,075.67 Expenses and Tithe $72,790.57 Net Income $7,582.73 Unity Church of the Bay Area's tithe for the month of February was $1,603.68. It was split evenly between Rev. Diana Hughes, our mission/vision workshop facilitator, and Red Cross of Houston. EGO HONEY by JANIE NEILL I saw a cartoon where Jay Leno is interviewing God. God says, "The best thing I ever created was a sense of humor. The irony is that the ones who claim to believe in Me most are the ones who don't have one." Now that's funny even if it is a little judgmental. But, if I use it to look at myself, I can see the part of me that is too serious and too self-righteous doesn't have a sense of humor. That part of me that feels like a victim never thinks that anything is funny. Learning to laugh at myself may be the most enlightening thing I've ever done. You know, the word enlightening could mean, "lighten up." I decided to call my ego -- Ego Honey. I figure that a term of endearment is rather disarming and keeps me from taking her too seriously. It's sad to say that I don't think Ego Honey ever laughs, but I now think of her as a character rather like Mad Maine. I think I'll get one of those cartoonists to do a caricature of me and title it "Ego Honey." I'd like to share a recent encounter I had with Ego Honey. My husband loves to gamble. Well, okay, I like it too. But the strangest part is that he likes it best when we are both gambling. Go figure! So it's about 10:00 a.m. and I know my husband is probably ready to eat, but I want to meditate first. Here I am in my room at Harrah's trying to meditate and feeling guilty because I am not downstairs eating and gambling. "Oh! Ego Honey, you are good!! I've got to keep an eye on you. Hey girl, can you see I am meditating as fast as I can!" Usually when I look closely at Ego Honey I find that she is so preposterous that I have to laugh. I'm sure laughter is a miracle. Remember this whole dream started when we forgot to laugh. Your newsletter contributions are welcome! Please submit them to the church office or e-mail them to: unityofbayarea@aol.com by the 15th of each month.