We announced the launch of ChristianScienceCalendar.org at the Summit and already there are over 30 churches and organizations signed up. If your church hasn’t joined yet, here is the link to sign up. It’s free and we’re hoping to get as close to 100% participation by area churches by the end of the year.
Check it out, and add your upcoming events!
The discussions at the 2o13 Northern California Church Alive Summit were just the beginning! Here are two ways to participate in ongoing discussions:
Conference calls. Check back here for a schedule of calls on specific topics. Participants will be given a number to call (from FreeConferenceCall.com) along with a passcode. There’s no charge to participate; you just pay your regular phone rates.
Email discussion groups. Join one or more groups to connect with friends and other church members across the region to share ideas and inspiration, ask questions, and make plans. To get started, click on the name of a topic area of interest (from the list below). That will take you to the home page of the particular Google email group where you can sign up. Click on “Apply for membership” to request access. You should be approved to join the group within 24 hours. Each group has a host or two to nurture the conversation and help with technical questions.
NorCal Church Alive — Fellowship
Individual spiritual growth builds on the collective, on the fellowship and support we give and gain from one another. There are many avenues for church families to come together, break bread, share ideas, and look outward.
NorCal Church Alive — Services
Let’s look at church services with a fresh eye from the perspective of the newcomer and the next generation of participants. What about music, sensitive use of translations, and…?
NorCal Church Alive — Sunday Schools
How can Sunday School be an active spiritual connection for youth’s growth throughout the week and provide both a grounding in the Pastor and relevant inspiration and tools for daily life? Let’s explore ideas and resources together!
NorCal Church Alive — Christian Science Parenting
Looking for an opportunity to talk with and be inspired by others who use Christian Science as the basis of their parenting? Let’s build a supportive community that tackles the issues and recognizes the blessings together!
NorCal Church Alive — Including our Communities
How do we begin to reach out into our communities, to discover their needs and put our churches to work to bless?
NorCal Church Alive — Engaging with the Faith Community
How do we begin to engage with fellow Christians, as well as individuals of other faiths, to build on common ground and a desire to bless others? Let’s explore both opportunities for this outreach and how we enter the conversation.
NorCal Church Alive — Reading Rooms
Reading Rooms are a Manual provision that offer huge potential to bless from within the community. Let’s share ideas and examples of an expanded sense of Reading Rooms.
NorCal Church Alive — Lectures
Lectures are a Manual provision that offer wonderful potential to share inspiring ideas and dialog with others within the community. Let’s share ideas and examples of an expanded sense of lectures.
NorCal Church Alive — Christian Science Practice
Whether as Christian Science practitioners, nurses, chaplains or active workers in the field, how can we cultivate and expand our healing practice?
Poem by a participant at the Church Alive Summit
From the deep roots of Soul
Grow beauty and grace–
Sprouts of Life springing
From the eternal Good.
Heaven-felt calm–
A natural blend of
Joy and peace
Perpetual bloom
A church alive!
What were some of your favorite memories? Here are some nice highlights captured by Rafael Ramirez at the Summit.
More great pictures! Watch the slideshow below:
We’ve been getting lots of reports of fruitage from Summit participants. Here’s one example:
A sweet little fruit of that summit happened for me the next day — I had been asked to substitute teach a class in the Sunday School that day and I knew ahead of time that the one student wasn’t going to be there, but I prepared for the class anyway. On the way to church, I was thinking about Frankie from Ohio and the woman who was so influential in his life, what a difference her “boldness” made, and how we could all be more open to those opportunities.
There’s a house right next door to our Sunday School entrance, practically up against the building, and as I walked by it there were two girls, about 8 years old, standing on the steps, trying to sell old toys and stuff to passersby. I felt inspired to invite them to our SS, but they didn’t want to leave their little store. So I went into the SS, told the superintendent I was there and that I was going to go back to talk some more with the girls, see if I could persuade them to visit. When I returned, they were both seemed interested (neither of them attended a church), but one of their moms was on her way to pick up her daughter and she couldn’t leave, so I just sat down on the steps and started talking with them about God. One of them said she believed in Mother Earth, not God, so I started explaining how God is Mother as well as Father since she is Love. That got her attention, and we rolled along from there. They both listened intently the whole time as I explained how we are reflections of God’s love and goodness and can only do and be what God does and is, just like our own reflections in the mirror. After about 15 minutes the mom showed up and that was the end of our class, but it was such a lovely moment of opening up their thoughts to who God and who they really are. I’ll try again to invite them to visit.
I don’t think I would have done that if it hadn’t been for hearing about Frankie’s experience.
Share your fruitage and leave a comment below or on our Facebook page.
You can view a great slideshow of pictures taken by Rafael Ramirez below.
“You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness.
But that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift.”
Ephesians 4:5 from the Message
Here are the slides and text for the “Then, Now, Next: Exploring Outreach in the Digital Era” breakout session.
John Biggs, a TMC Youth staffer and Sunday School teacher, hosts a weekly conference call for teachers and superintendents. On the calls, he shares and explains online Sunday School resources and the whole group considers how they might be used in Sunday School. Plus, part of every call will include a run-through of how to play Radical Acts/the Game, which Sunday School teachers are finding really fun and useful in class.
