Local Church Updates

• Oakland and San Jose Ladies Enjoy Tea and Exchange Feast Gifts
• Auckland, New Zealand, Sabbath School Explores Nature
• 30 Years of Service Recognized
• Member Interviewed by USA Today
• Members Make the Front Page as Foster Parents for a Bird
• Canadian Member Delivers 400 GNs and 1,000 Brochures
• Pastor's Editorial About Halloween Sparks Interest

Oakland and San Jose Ladies Enjoy Tea and Exchange Feast Gifts

Ladies from the Oakland and San Jose, California, congregations gathered for the Women's Friendship Circle annual tea and gift exchange Nov. 19. The ladies sat down to a lovely gift packet of individual teas and a fragrant candle presented by Rita and Andrea Spears.

After tea, scones, finger sandwiches and desserts, the gifts bought at the Feast of Tabernacles were exchanged. A length of ribbon was tied to each gift, and all the gifts were put in a large basket. Each lady picked a ribbon and pulled it out to discover her gift.

After the gift exchange, there was much pleasant fellowship.

Jerri Anderson

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Auckland, New Zealand, Sabbath School Explores Nature

The Sabbath of Dec. 2, 2006, found the Auckland, New Zealand, Sabbath school in the Domain, an extensive park that borders the church hall. The children were asked to consider the question, "What does nature teach me about God?" The idea behind the outing was to clarify and expand the children's understanding of God by focusing on His creation.

The weather was picture-perfect and the children thoroughly enjoyed the change of venue. The exploration included a sensory-garden where the children could handle various plants, an indoor "winter garden" with a vast variety of flowers and plants, several ponds and countless trees.

The children were prompted with questions on God's nature, His care for them and their place in His plan. Conversation flowed freely during a picnic under the trees. After the park tour, the children returned to the Sabbath school room to decorate their own world with flower petals, leaves and bark collected from the park.

We all enjoyed the lesson and the chance to get to know each other better. We hope to hold our lessons outdoors a few more times during our southern hemisphere summer.

Monica Webb and Sharon Maguire

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30 Years of Service Recognized

On Nov. 18, 2006, the Watertown and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, congregations had the pleasure of giving special recognition to Harlan and Janice Spieker for their 30 years of dedicated service in the ministry of Jesus Christ. The pastor, Mitchell Knapp, presented the Spiekers with a beautifully engraved mahogany clock commemorating the occasion.

Mr. Spieker was called in 1957 when he answered an ad for The Plain Truth in Capper's Farmer magazine. He and his wife, Janice, were baptized on April 11, 1968, in North Dakota . Later that summer the Sioux Falls congregation was established, and the Spiekers began attending and serving the brethren.

In June 1973, the Watertown congregation was established, and Mr. Spieker was ordained as the first deacon in the area. Three years later on the Feast of Trumpets, he was ordained as an elder.

Mr. and Mrs. Spieker continue to serve both congregations. Among Mrs. Spieker's many responsibilities is playing the piano for services. Mr. Spieker maintains a rigorous schedule of preaching, counseling, etc. The Spiekers have been pillars in these congregations for nearly four decades, and the congregations were pleased to recognize their dedication, service and love!

Ken Skorseth

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Member Interviewed by USA Today

Alix Kubik, a member in Indiana, was interviewed by a reporter from USA Today about the service project she is involved with—coordinating a wheelchair distribution project for LifeNets.

USA Today included a paragraph on this project in their Dec. 19, 2006, article "Charity Meets Ingenuity" in a sidebar titled "How You Can Help."

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Members Make the Front Page as Foster Parents for a Bird

In July 2006, Tim and Mallory Ribera, members who attend the El Paso, Texas, congregation, were featured on the front page of the Alamogordo [ New Mexico ] Daily News.

The article, by June Prager, began: "An evening stroll in the park is no longer the same for Tim and Mallory Ribera.

"Now, as they wander the pathways, they cast the occasional glance upwards, hoping to catch a glimpse of a grackle. Grackles are a dime a dozen in Alamogordo, but this one is different. It has a name.

"Honey Hawk is a grackle they rescued a year ago as a fallen nestling...The story began one year ago on Father's Day, at Alameda Park.

"'As we walked along, this little bird kept following us, squawking and flapping its little wings as if to say, "Save me, save me!"' Mallory said.

"So they gave in, thinking she might not survive and wanting her 'to die in peace in a warm place,' Mallory said."

The article went on to explain that the Riberas nursed her to health and eventually taught her to scavenge for herself, all the while forming a strong bond with the bird.

"'Our intention has always been to return her to nature,' Mallory said.

"Then it happened. This past Father's Day marked another discovery. Taking their usual stroll in the park, the Riberas were surprised to learn that Honey was building her own nest...

"Misty-eyed, Tim gathered twigs, stems and strong pieces of grass and held them up in his hand as Honey swooped down, grabbed a few, and added them to her nest...

"Bystanders were goggle-eyed as they watched. Future park visits elicited similar reactions."

Mallory Ribera told United News, "For eleven months she chose to stay with us, playing outside with us during the day and resting inside whenever she wanted to. Since June 1, she lives away with a group of grackles and still enjoys spending time with us at our meeting place, a city park.

"We spent the Feast of Tabernacles in France and were worried about her during that time, not knowing if we would ever see her again.

"When we came back, we found her at the main park of our town, and I regularly go and meet her again.

"Many people who watch Honey Hawk interact with us say 'it's amazing,' 'I can't get over that bird' and 'it's a miracle.'

"How could such a common little bird—a grackle, also sometimes called by some a pest—become so special, earn the front page of a local newspaper and touch so many lives?

"Because the Lord God decided to make us cross her path on that fateful day of June 2005, and He opened our eyes and understanding on the beautiful qualities of this intelligent creature," Mrs. Ribera said.

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Houston Area Holds Annual Fall Campout

Isabelle Nicol, a member in Ottawa, Ontario, regularly walks around her suburban neighborhood for exercise. While she does this, she delivers UCG advertising brochures and Good News magazines to people's homes.

So far this year she has delivered 1,400 items—400 Good News magazines and 1,000 subscription brochures. "And so far there has been one confirmed subscriber request," she said.

At church someone expressed concerns about her safety in delivering the brochures. "I explained that I'm not the least bit worried about doing it. Postmen (women) have been delivering mail for a long time and the worst that ever seems to happen is to have some dog come chasing after them.

"Nowadays, however, dogs are not allowed to roam about freely. Or at least they are not supposed to. When it comes to delivery people, the most fun dogs seem to get out of their day is to bark hysterically as they tear the literature from your fingers while you're trying to push it through the mail slot in the door," she said.

Excerpted from the May-June 2006 United News Canada, page 12.

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Pastor's Editorial About Halloween Sparks Interest

Stuart Segall, pastor of the Eureka and Crescent City, California, congregations, submitted a guest editorial titled "Halloween Revisited" to the local newspaper. The Eureka Reporter, which circulates throughout Humboldt County, ran the editorial the first week in November.

"What was most interesting was the calls I received from local pastors wanting to ask more questions about the subject and other 'holidays,'" Mr. Segall said. "I had two active pastors, a retired pastor and a youth pastor call me. The youth pastor used it in his Bible class for youth and on his youth Web site... He told me later it generated a great discussion."

The editorial began: "Now that another Halloween is over, I offer a little humble food for thought. I couldn't help but meditate on this again as I walked through my jam-packed neighborhood the evening of the holiday observing carnality from start to finish. It was also on my mind the next morning as I walked again through my neighborhood picking up trash all over the place.

"Any student of simple history knows that this 'holiday' has its origins in paganism with its roots firmly implanted in the dark world of evil spirits. Somehow, many justify that if you have rancid milk, and you throw in several scoops of ice cream, you will no longer have rancid milk.

"The Bible in Jeremiah 10:2 counseled the children of God to 'learn not the way of the heathen' [KJV], yet we seem to consider this not worthy. We just add the scoop of ice cream to the heathen pot and we seem to think it makes it right. So many Christian Web sites that I read all offer the counsel that there is no problem with Halloween as long as we Christianize it. The implication is that we have the right to take something evil in origin and somehow bring Christianity to blanket the past.

"Yet, Jesus taught simplicity to weigh this logic on His scale when He gave the illustration in Matthew 9:17 that you don't put 'new wine into old wineskins' any more than you would put a scoop of vanilla ice cream into a rancid carton of milk. Jesus also emphasized the same point in the previous verse when He spoke that 'no one puts a piece of unshrunk [new] cloth on an old garment.' It seems He is stating that His new way of life is not to be added on to old human, dark things.

"Jesus offers simplicity so we don't have to have great theological debates over the wisdom of these applications, yet how we try to rationalize past pagan holidays of days gone by and put new cloth on them. The question would be, does Halloween bear any good fruit, even though it brings in lots of candy?

"Kids at a very young age are bombarded with the dark side filled with horror and evil spirits, from the decorations to the entertainment. Is there any wonder why young children grow up to have a fascination with horror movies and video games filled with violence, abuse and often immersion into the dark occult world that they are exposed to in such entertainment? Year after year, they are reminded by the ever-growing preparation and completion of all that accompanies these things in Halloween.

"The fruit that Jesus [brought] bears a uniquely different outcome. I realize this is not the popular position with both Christians and others, and I'd better batten down the hatches, but what I am offering, again, is just food for thought, and you must decide if what I am setting before you is 'trick or treat.'"

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What's New on the Web?

World News and Prophecy Seminars online.

View recent seminars given by writers of World News and Prophecy at www.wnponline.org/videos/.

E-mail Updates. Sign-up for various United Church of God e-mail updates, such as the Good News Reader Update and the World News and Prophecy eNews, online at www.ucg.org/contact/updates.htm.

Vertical Thought. Read the latest January–March 2007 issue of Vertical Thought. Inside are informative articles focusing on prophecy. Access online at www.verticalthought.org/issues/vt14/.

UCG Commentary

"How Authentic Is the Christmas Portrayal of Christ's Birth?"

"Deciding How to Decide"

"God's Holy Day Season Differs Greatly from Man's Holiday Season"

"Stand Up and Be Counted"

"The Author of Terrorism"

www.ucg.org/commentary/

Featured Links

Beyond Today. www.beyondtoday.tv

Good Works Program. www.ucg.org/goodworks

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