The Latest News

Important:  Please join us in person for 8/21 and 8/28 (sorry, no Zoom access on these dates due to the interactive worship planned as part of our Summer Series). We regret any inconvenience.

Did you know that there is a shortage of aluminum cans because, during the pandemic, aluminum can recycling dropped 20%?

Tossing cans in our blue bins is convenient, but last year 2.8 billion aluminum cans in California ended up in landfills, mostly because of contamination in the mixed recycling bin. POVUCC is resuming our CRV recycling as part of our Love of Creation goal. Please place your empty aluminum cans and plastic bottles in the designated receptacles in Fellowship Hall. We have a volunteer who will pick up our filled bags and take them to a Recycling Center.

Beginning August 21, we will embark on a new worship series guided by the “Gift of a Sacred Summer” resources from Free Range Worship. Led by the Board of Christian Education and friends, we will explore the gifts of creativity, play, nature and community through reflective and interactive practices designed to help us grow closer to God. The series will run through mid-September.
 
On August 28, as part of the Sacred Summer series, we invite you to join us for an informal outdoor worship and all-church picnic as we celebrate not one, but two of our gifts. We will celebrate Pastor Mary Sue’s 10-year anniversary with POVUCC (truly a gift to celebrate!) and also celebrate the Gift of Play. This will be a special day in the life of our church, as we will reflect on the wonderful partnership we have enjoyed with Pastor Mary Sue and also re-commit ourselves to embarking on our next chapter together.
 
The August 28th Anniversary Celebration Picnic for Pastor Mary Sue and Informal Worship Service will take place outdoors on our beautiful Point beginning at 10:00am and include plenty of fun activities, special presentations and an all-you-can-eat taco luncheon. Kindly RSVP here by August 24, if you plan to attend. Attire for this event is casual. Limited shade will be available. If you have questions or prefer to RSVP by phone or email, please contact the church office.
 
We hope you will join us for the entire “Gift of a Sacred Summer” series that begins on August 21!

Please join us on Tuesday, September 6 at 11:00am at POVUCC as we gather to remember and celebrate the life of Shinobu Yoshioka, who died earlier this year on April 30. Following the service, there will be a luncheon in POVUCC's Fellowship Hall. If you plan to join us for the luncheon, please take a moment to RSVP here.  You may also call or email the church office to RSVP. Thank you!

This summer, our worship theme is "Sharing our Stories." Each week, two POVUCC members will share about themselves and their faith journeys. We would love to hear from YOU! We will provide guiding questions for reflection, but all that is required is to be yourself!  For those who are uncomfortable with public speaking, there are other ways to share your story. Please contact Pastor Mary Sue for more information.

POVUCC leaders met recently and decided to pause our summer choir plans so that we can do some deeper discernment about POVUCC’s music and worship needs. We have ended Adam Nenn's position as Acting Director of Music, and we met with him to thank him for his time with us and wish him all the best in his future endeavors. Once we have a better sense of our needs and plans for the future, we will address our staffing needs. Until then, we will have volunteer song leaders who assist in worship.
 
As we enter this time of discernment, we would appreciate your prayers. We will be asking for congregational input as we listen together for how God is calling us to "be the church" in this particular time.