December
Please join us for our annual Christmas Eve service
on Wednesday, December 24th
at 7:00 p.m. All are invited, as we celebrate the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ.  
A special message for children will be given as well.












































Where do thankofferings go?
During the year, the women of the church put aside their pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters in a
thankoffering box. In November, when the coins are brought in, the savings are sent to the church-wide office
of the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. From the office in Chicago, the money
collected is sent out to be used for programs to benefit women and children throughout the world. A program
in Nicaragua helps to educate women in technology so they come off the streets. In African nations, women
are able to attend seminaries to learn more about spreading the message of Jesus Christ and his love, In the
United States, special grants are made to congregations to support programs to educate and aid women
and children in poverty. You too can participate in these efforts. Please use the special  Women of the ELCA
envelope, or mark your gift “thankoffering” and place it in a pew envelope. THANK YOU!
                                                                                                                           - Women of the ELCA


Budget Preparation Time
The Executive Committee of the Church Council will be meeting to draft the proposed church budget for
2009. This will be presented at the Congregational meeting of December 14th.
A great deal depends on our level of giving, our spending patterns,
and our diligent efforts to save on all costs.
If you have any questions, please contact your Church Treasurer, Lillian Simons.


THANK YOU!!!
Volunteers at the Friday Food Pantry

From the congregation…
Connie Yeckley, Lois Dupont, Bill Laurence, Lillian Simons

And from the community…
Jessica, Joe, Randy, Norman,
Joe, Shirley
The Food Pantry will be closed on the Fridays after Thanksgiving, Christmas, & New Years.
At about 8:45 a.m. we unload the cars, and start sorting the food received from donations of food placed in the food
barrel in the church, picked up from Trader Joe’s, and from the purchases made with donations of money.
We open doors at 9:00 a.m. and have been dealing with over forty drop-ins each of the last 4 Fridays,
and this equates to supplying food for about 110 persons.  
THANK YOU!!!





Gravesites Available
Forest Lawn Properties
We have 4 gravesites available that we would enjoy selling to someone in need.  
Please feel free to call Pastor Ken or Audrey with any questions.  
Three of them are $3,500 each and a fourth one is $4,800.  
All are single gravesites in the ground, and the more expensive site is in
a long closed section of the Forest Lawn Cemetery that is a more expensive section.  
The prices are 10% lower than you could get from Forest Lawn directly
due to the pre-payment of certain fees when they were originally purchased.   
Please note that we will be offering them to the public in a few weeks if not sold to someone here.


Pastor Ken’s Reflections:  Our Mission and Vision
With special thanks to Bishop’s assistant, Pastor George Tan
Three chapters of Acts – three chapters that describe the very first church of Christ were set before us recently.  These
passages were easy to pass over for me during my early years of ministry.  
Some of the ideas sounded foreign to the church of my childhood and young adult years
– I just could not make the connection.  
But through time, these passages have begun to haunt my heart and challenge me to grow and ask questions.  Often
questions of my own priorities and mission as a pastor.  
Chapters 2, 10 and 16 alone have been powerful enough to humble me –
because… these early followers believed that they were called to change the world.  
These people felt responsible for the total life of the community – far beyond their friends alone.  
“They shared everything in common…”  I guess
I am finally wise enough to think these words actually could be true.  
“They lived with constant prayer…”  I don’t think this is lightweight prayer
where we want a simple answer to our current problem.  
It’s more like prayer about directing my ways of thinking and acting throughout each day and then throughout my life.
Why am I here?  Why does God think that I am here?  
Why are you here – do you feel clear about your gifts and your mission for this time in your life?
I am very thankful for the leadership of Pastor Tan in this process of discerning the
mission and vision of our total congregational ministry.  
The process of holding our mission and vision right alongside the three key chapters of Acts
and the early church in those passages, is humbling.  
But I have to quickly add that I see so much hope for our larger world,
for our community and specifically our congregation’s total ministry right there in plain view.  
It is hard to walk away unchanged by this process of study, prayer, discernment,
and naming of our coming mission and vision.  
We hope to complete our work December 7th with Pastor Tan and start sharing it with everyone.  
Pastor Tan has graciously offered to keep working with us until we feel secure that our
words fit the needed mission here at 1300 Colorado Street.  





Women’s Bible Study News
Enjoy a Christmas Celebration and Bible Study on Monday, December 15th, at the home of Elsie Roberts.
Delight your eyes as well as your palate. Elsie’s home is filled with beautiful hand crafted decorations. Many
of the ladies of the Joy/Faith group have signed up to bring their favorite dishes to the potluck lunch. For more
details, time, address, and directions, call Elsie at 323.256.7054


From our Parish Nurse Elsie Ford...
Christmas is coming! With all the stress those words imply,
how many of us dread the coming of the Advent and Christmas season?
Not coincidentally, many of us suffer from colds and other ills during the colder months.
My husband has been known to throw out the word “adiaphora”,
meaning that which neither advances nor harms a cause.
Much of what surrounds our celebration of the coming of Christ could be called adiaphora,
and adds significant stress to our lives.
How much stress do we put on ourselves in the preparations for Christmas?  
And more importantly, what can we do to reduce it?  
One thing we can do is to make a list of all that we feel we have to do,
and then think hard about it.
Put your list in priority order.
Are there some things that could be delegated to someone else
(could a teenager do your gift wrapping?).  
Maybe some substitutions could be made
(a polyester or paper tablecloth instead of that white linen cloth that’s so hard to iron, o
r ready-made dishes rather than cooking “from scratch”).
Perhaps some things on your list could be modified or eliminated altogether
(three kinds of homemade cookies instead of six, or simply purchase cookies – do I dare
suggest forgetting the cookies altogether?).  
Now make a master list of the tasks you feel are essential to your
celebration and make a schedule.
Is your schedule realistic?  If not, review your priorities again.
Many people are suffering from anxiety resulting from the financial crisis this year.
Don’t add to that anxiety by spending beyond your means!  
Make your Christmas gift list and consider it carefully.
Is there someone you’ve been exchanging gifts with who might be grateful for
your suggestion to simply exchange good wishes instead?
Maybe you could give a gift of your time
(babysitting, house maintenance jobs, or meal preparation)
rather than purchasing a gift.
Remember that gifts don’t need to be expensive in order to be meaningful.
Set a dollar limit on your spending and stick to it.
Be sure to include gift shopping in your master list and schedule of tasks
so that you don’t become overwhelmed and tempted to ignore your budget.
I’ve heard it said many times that Christmas is all about family,
and I do believe that family is important.
But let’s remember that we are all part of the Christian family
and reach out to those who might otherwise be alone,
not just on Christmas day, but all through the year.
What is Christmas all about?  
It’s all about celebrating God’s sending His own Son to redeem us.
Christmas is all about Christ, and the rest is adiaphora!
So let’s relax and enjoy the season of celebration of God’s great gift,
rather than stressing over whether our holiday dinner is perfect,
or our house is decorated in the latest fashion.
The Board of Lutheran Health Ministries of the Foothills
and I wish each of you a blessed (and healthy!)
Advent and Christmas season, secure in the knowledge of God’s love for you!