MBCC Blog

National Council of Churches looking for GA Stewards

NCC seeks young adult stewards for General Assembly Annual gathering slated for Nov. 11-13, 2008 in Denver

from Presbyterian News Service

LOUISVILLE — The National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (NCC) is seeking young adults ages 18-30 to serve as stewards for its 2008 General Assembly, Nov. 11-13 in Denver.

Each year, the NCC and its partner relief and development agency, Church World Service, gather for worship, legislation, fellowship and ecumenical sharing. More than 250 delegates from the NCC’s 36 member churches attend.

Stewards must arrive in Denver for orientation on Sunday, Nov. 9, and will depart on Friday, Nov. 14.

“The Stewards Program offers a unique opportunity to encounter one aspect of the ecumenical movement from the inside,” says program director Garland Pierce. “Ecumenical formation involves learning ecumenical theology and sharing the excitement and joy of worship and fellowship with others in the ecumenical movement.”

Stewards offer support in hospitality, the Assembly office, the Assembly newsroom, on the Assembly platform and with technology.

All expenses, except personal expenses, are paid by the General Assembly.

Applications for the 2008 General Assembly Young Adult Stewards Program must be submitted by Sept. 12, 2008. Those selected will be notified by the end of the month. The application form is available online.

For more information, contact Garland F. Pierce [email].
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Mark your calendars!

Be sure to mark your calendars for the following events:

6/20 to 6/27 - General Assembly of the PC(USA)
6/28 SF Pride Parade
7/20 AIDS Walk San Francisco
10/19 SF CROP Walk

With summer approaching, it's time to mark your calendars for these upcoming events!  All of them are great opportunities for  to become active in the community, and in the denomination.  Here's the rundown:

6/20 to 6/27 General Assembly
What's this thing called General Assembly?  What's this position called Moderator that Bruce is running for?  You could read about it at www.pcusa.org/ga218 but why not check it out in person, since it's in San Jose this time around?  Besides observing the election of a Moderator on 6/21, there will be lots of meetings from 6/20 to 6/27 about our denomination's church government.  Don't want to pay the registration fee to watch all this?  Become a volunteer and get a badge to attend for free anytime during the week.  You could read about volunteer vacancies at http://www.pcusa-ga08.org/ but it would be easier to to contact Marc marc@missionbaycc.org or Leslie leslie@missionbaycc.org for more information and help with signing up as a volunteer.

6/28 SF Pride Parade
In view of the recent historic California Supreme Court decision, it is strategically even more important now for Presbyterians to march in this year's SF Pride Parade, in order to publicly demonstrate to the world that not all religious organizations are conservative groups that do not open their doors to all people.  Therefore, there are a number of people who are  already in town for General Assembly, who are organizing a Presbyterian contingent that will be marching in the SF Pride Parade.  In past years, other local Presbyterian churches have organized a group to march, and hand out candy plus flyers (listing local Presbyterian churches).  Because General Assembly attendees are still in town, there will be many folks marching with us at this year's parade.  Contact Marc marc@missionbaycc.org  for more details!

7/20 AIDS Walk San Francisco
Our multi-church Presbyterian team at AIDS Walk San Francisco will be walking again this year!   We'll want to qualify for a team table, so that people can still find us amongst the crowd of 25,000, even if they can't come by the park until after worship. As in past years, we'll have a BBQ at our team table after the walk.

All ages may register, and we've even had pets walk and get sponsors in past years. The event has been made kid-friendly with the addition of Kids Zone, a special area with bounce houses, face painters, and free carousel rides.

The event takes place in Golden Gate Park. The route is 10 km long (approx. 6 mi). While it is a fundraiser, there's no minimum fundraising requirement, and registration is free. Go to aidswalksanfrancisco2008.kintera.org/presbyterian and sign up online (one name per registration, so a family of three does 3 registrations, for example)!

The proceeds benefit approximately 40 Bay Area-based AIDS service organizations. For those unable to walk the 10 km, our team also includes members to help start the BBQ and watch our team table while the rest of us walk, so mark your calendars to be there on 7/20/08! Email Marc marc@missionbaycc.org with any questions.

10/19 SF CROP Walk
Each year churches representing many denominations join together at Crissy Field for a fundraising walk called CROP Walk, which benefits the SF Food Bank, SF Interfaith Council, and Church World Service.  For those of you not familiar with Church World Service, they organize disaster relief both domestically and overseas.  Often they can provide relief faster than government aid programs, because they work with local churches that are already in the affected areas.  Stay tuned for more details about this event!

Bolivia PC(USA) Mission Worker in Berkeley

Bob Dunsmore and Dr. Rolando Yanapa to speak at San Francisco offices in Berkeley as part of the PC(USA)'s Joining Hands program.

Monday, July 7, 2008
SF Presbytery Offices
2024 Durant Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704

Bob Dunsmore, our PCUSA mission worker in Bolivia, and Dr. Rolando Yanapa, president of UMAVIDA in Bolivia, will be visiting us in the Bay Area.  We will meet with them on Monday, July 7, at 7 pm at the Presbytery Office.  We hope also to have our Youth Delegates from the recent Youth Congress in Bolivia join us, as well as the travelers who have just returned from Bolivia.

It will be a VERY exciting meeting.  We hope to see all of you there.

For more information please contact Anore Shaw or Will McGarvey

Where is the Love? - worship video

Here is the video that we used this past Sunday based on John 17:1-11.  For all the videos be sure to subscribe to MBCC's YOUTUBE account.

A Note from JerMark

TomKat.  Brangelina.  Bennifer. For years now, the entertainment press has combined the names of celebrity couples to shave valuable seconds off reporting time and give us all a handy way to refer to our favorite couples over coffee. However, the name combination phenomenon is not strictly reserved for the A-listers. Here at MBCC we have our own couple worthy of the name game - Jerry Lunsford and Mark Vernon, or, JerMark.

As many of you know, JerMark are in the process of adopting a newborn and we are all eagerly awaiting the arrival of a little one into their loving arms. They have set up a website (www.jermark.net - natch) as well as a toll-free number (1-866-JERMARK) for information on their adoption enterprise.

The following is a note from the happy couple regarding their process and the next steps. Please check out their website and let's continue to love and support them as they become the JerMark family!

Hi Everyone. 

As many of you know, Jerry and I are planning to adopt a newborn.  We are working with a licensed, non-profit agency, the Independent Adoption Center (IAC), to go through an "open adoption."
    
As of November, we were officially certified as "ready to adopt."  It has been quite a process of in-person interviews, home visits, surveys, references, medical tests, and criminal checks.  Now, however, that is all behind us and all that remains is to find a baby in need of parents.  In most cases the mothers approach the adoption agency when they are pregnant and state their wish to give up their child for adoption.  In other situations, birthparents learn of this option through personal networks – churches, doctors, friends, families, etc.  They may then approach us directly, and we will put them in contact with our agency to ensure they receive the proper counseling and support they will need in making the decision to place their child up for adoption.

So we wanted to share our write up with you our church family, in case you are aware of any birthparents who may have an interest in going through this process.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions. Thank you!

Mark and Jerry

You can also Download their Adoption Letter and or drop them an eMail.