The United Methodist Women’s Mother’s Day Luncheon in Founders Hall was filled with happiness, moms, guests, beautiful (and in some cases whimsical) décor based on Broadway shows such as Music Man, Carousel, Annie Get Your Gun, The Lion King.  Under fine direction, the Youth Bell choir, Canticle choir and solo performers rang, sang and played with spirit, making everyone glad they got the kids to all those lessons.  Food was provided by the Kiss Me Katerers and Spamalot Servers—mmm, delicious!

Click here for this week’s Youth News.  Don’t forget this Sunday is Music Sunday.  For those of you not performing we will meet at 8:50am in front of the church so we can sit together.  

Jr. High and Sr. High students are welcome to serve at the Loaves and Fishes soup kitchen on May, 20th. This will be our May service project.
We will leave the church at 1:30 pm and return no later than 5:00 pm.

Dear Friends,

“Those who danced,” wrote Angela Monet, “were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music.”  Perhaps this is why those who attend worship each week discover a strange vitality that powers them throughout their lives — a joy which cannot be understood or felt by those who do not.  This Sunday is Music Appreciation Sunday at San Dieguito UMC, a day to give thanks for the holy “insanity” we share together through the ministry of our music program.  It is a day to honor the extraordinary work of so many people — about 120 adults and youth and children — who contribute to the worship life of our congregation each week, and whose songs of praise lead us to the holy mountain of God.  I know you will want to join me this week in giving thanks for their ministry of music and the joy that it brings to our lives.  Our text, appropriate for the occasion, will be Psalm 47: “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with songs of joy.”

See you Sunday,
Rev. Mark

You’re Invited!

Let’s go out to the ball game!
All families are invited to “Kids Run the Bases Day” at Petco Park for a Padres game against the Cincinnati Reds Sunday, July 8th. Join us for a 1:05 pm. start at “Park in the Park” for fun and sun! Kids 14 and under run the bases after the game! Ticket prices are TBD and will be announced two weeks prior to game time, but usually are between $7 – $10 per ticket. It is important that you make your reservations before June 1st at familyfellowship@encinitaschurch.com to ensure that tickets can be purchased in advance. Ride the coaster or meet us at the park. For more information, please contact Brian King at 760.271.0393 or bgnking@gmail.com.

Here’s this week’s e-news.  Great job last week with Youth Sunday.  There is alot going on with end of the year activities and our news 5th and 6th grade group.  Click here to read what is happening this week.

Dear Friends,
 
If you’ve ever been given a “promotion” at work, you’ve likely felt both elation and at least a little dread.  What feels like a blessing will surely also be something of a burden – longer hours, greater responsibility, more stress, less sleep.  It’s easier to just stay put and do the job you’ve always done, to do what you are told and, at the end of the day, to punch the clock and not have to take your work home with you.  But then the promotion comes, and you’re staying late, making greater sacrifices, asking more questions, dealing with problems which previously did not concern you.  With the blessing comes the burden.

Jesus, in preparing to say his final goodbye to his disciples, said to them, “I no longer call you servants, but friends” (John 15:9-17).  It was a statement that fundamentally changed their relationship with Jesus.  They had been promoted.  Before, they just did what they were told: feed the hungry, heal the sick, forgive sins, etc…  They never really asked a lot of questions.  They just did the work, because they were servants. 

But now Jesus calls them friends.  And what is a friend?  How do you define a true friend?  If you are a true friend to someone, you take seriously, even personally, what the friend takes seriously – their problems, their passions, their purposes.  You will say, “If it’s important to you, it’s important to me.  I will do anything for you.  Anything.”  

The servant comes and goes as he pleases, doing the job and getting something in return.  The servant maintains proper “boundaries.”  The servant doesn’t sit around wondering what the boss is thinking, or how the company is really doing.  But the friend of Jesus knows the mind and the heart of the boss.  There is a reciprocity; there is shared responsibility.  They are both subjects undergoing the passion and pain of loving the world.  The friends of Jesus, like Jesus himself, know what keeps God up at night while the rest of the world is sleeping.

We are the friends of Jesus.  We do not come and go as we please.  What mattered to him must matter to us.  We know the mind of Jesus, the heart of Jesus, the depth of his mercy, the boundlessness of his compassion.  As his friends, we know the great problems of the world, and we know what we are to do.

This is a blessing, and it’s a burden.  That’s how we know that it’s love.

See you Sunday,

Rev. Mark

Dear Friends,

Last week we celebrated Confirmation Sunday and welcomed nine of our students into the life of the Church.  Another group of our older high school students are currently exploring the Christian faith as they prepare to be confirmed next month.  All of this is evidence that our youth program is thriving under the great leadership of our Youth Director, Chelsea Simon.

This Sunday our Jr. High and High School students will lead us in worship for our annual Youth Sunday Service.  Four of our graduating seniors will share their faith from the pulpit; our youth band will lead music; and more than a dozen of our students will lead various parts of our worship – including what promises to be a lively Children’s Moment. 

I am so proud of our students and inspired by the commitments they have made to God, to their church, and to the needs of our broader community.   I know you’ll want to join me this Sunday as we celebrate this vital ministry in our church. 

See you Sunday,

Rev. Mark

Dear Friends,

Leadership is all the rage these days.  It seems that everyone has something to say about what makes effective, or successful, or persuasive leaders.  Over the years I have read books on “servant” leadership, and “primal” leadership,” “courageous” leadership and “crisis” leadership.”  I’ve read books on the twenty-one laws, and the six steps, and the seven habits, and the twelve keys of leadership.  I’ve even attended a few leadership conferences over the years, shuffling from one seminar to another with my colleagues, listening to leadership gurus teach what, for the most part, is written in the new book they’re hoping I will buy. 

There are countless experts on the subject of leadership, and yet we are reminded everyday that the world suffers from a glaring shortage of genuine leaders.  Read the daily headlines and you will see the overwhelming evidence of people who, from positions of great authority, have abandoned their values, betrayed trust, exploited and manipulated people for self-gain.  Jesus called them not leaders, but “hired hands.”  They may be skilled at what they do, but in the end, their ambition is self-serving. 
 

Jesus modeled a different kind of leadership.  In the tenth chapter of the Gospel of John, he reveals himself as “The Good Shepherd” whose purpose, in contrast to the hired hands, is to serve and protect the sheep, even at the risk of losing his own life.  “I am the Good Shepherd.  I know my sheep and my sheep know me…  And I lay down my life for my sheep.”  
 

We are all leaders, in some form or other.  Whether we occupy positions of influence in the corporate world or coach the local Little League team; whether we lead a Bible Study or Chair a church committee; whether we are parents or grandparents or pastors or playground partners at the local elementary school, we are to understand ourselves as leaders.  And this Sunday morning we hear the words of our Good Shepherd, who says that to lead, something of us must be laid down.  A part of the self must be freely surrendered in order to take up the mantle of life-giving leadership. 
 

As we reflect this week on our own calling to lead like Jesus, we celebrate the confirmation of ten of our students who, over the last several weeks, have studied what it means to follow the Good Shepherd, and committed their lives to serving the world as the new generation of Christian leaders in his name. 
 

I’ll see you Sunday,

Rev. Mark

Confirmation is this Sunday for our Junior High Confirmation and next Sunday is Youth Sunday.  Click here to read this week’s youth news for dates, times and events

SDUMC Women’s Retreat—2012—Thank you Chris Hornback, Rev. Martha, and other organizers

I learned a valuable lesson at retreat:  introverts need time alone to get the energy to be with others and enjoy it.  This retreat offered every opportunity for both kinds of experience—alone time and together time; receiving spirit warmth and giving spirit warmth; feeling grace pour on us, sharing love with others.  We worshipped through tai chi, morning watch, daily worship service, singing, talking, laughing, and meditation.

And the labyrinth—this practice dating from medieval times facilitates introspection without fear of being lost.  As we each walked around the intricate pattern, knowing it was not a maze, but a plan, we achieved a balance, an individual pace which suited each one.  We could leave our burdens at the center.  Each one experienced the journey differently.  I felt walking the labyrinth is a metaphor for life’s journey.  We had the opportunity for meditation and silent reflection, journaling, reading, walking the stations of the cross—a blessed quiet time all Saturday morning.

There were fun times, and great meals.  We made book marks under the expert tutelage of Sandi Hadder, had the opportunity to create something memorable with the beautiful beads Esther Riney’s daughter Debbi brought.  No failure in those activities.  Saturday evening we laughed out loud, enjoying the movie Calendar Girls with Helen Mirren.  It centered on a community of women supporting a friend.  Sunday morning we woke to sunny skies and beautiful hot air balloons above the vineyards.

Before the retreat, participants were asked to submit a fabric square which Mary Walman assembled lovingly into a quilt.  During the retreat we were invited to tie a yarn knot as we prayed.  This quilt will be presented to Gertrude Stoddard, a long-time church member whose activities have been increasingly restricted by ill health and failing sight.

The most wonderful thing for me personally,was that my daughter Shannon came from Brooklyn NY to participate in the retreat with all of us. She is really a special young woman, and will finish nursing school at the end of the summer.

- Sandy Hayes