Sunday, Feb. 12 6:00pm in the RPC Sanctuary.

There will be no charge for admission but your donations to Habitat for Humanity are appreciated.

Desserts and coffee will be served.

♥ Thank you to all who participated in one way or another in the RPC Tag/Yard Sale and Color and Light Art Sale: We made $1279.12 from the Tag/Yard Sale and donations from Color and Light Art Sale was $621.80.

♥ Lee Popham for purchasing a 40 cup coffee maker for RPC to use for Fellowship Events and Holy Grounds.

Find us on Facebook GoodSearch.com is a new Yahoopowered search engine that donates half its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up! By simply designating Riviera Presbyterian Church as the charity of your choice, you’ll be helping us raise money!

During the first week of November I had the opportunity to attend the Covenant Network conference at First Presbyterian church in Durham, NC with Danny and Laurie. Having never attended a conference such

I was glad when they said unto me: as this, I knew it would be special. Covenant Network, along with its let us go to the house of the Lord, tireless staff, volunteers and sister pro-inclusion organizations, played a big part in the passage of amendment 10A (now known in our Book of Order as G.2.0104b) which changed our ordination standards just a few months ago. I was happy the night 10A passed as I am sure most of my Presbyterian family and friends were, but my heart and mind quickly rested on those who still opposed us. I thought long and hard about what could be done to keep the gap of separation from growing bigger and help mend broken hearts and spirits on both sides. It has been a long journey for our whole church. One of which I have only played a small part. The work isn’t over yet, so I was pleased to learn the theme of the conference was about reconciliation.

On the first day of the conference, Danny and I registered, received our packets, put on our name tags and ventured off to the orientation for new comers where we saw and met new faces and people who were all there to witness and work for the unity of our church. Before we knew it, we were in the sanctuary for the welcome and announcements. As we listened, we thumbed through our packets and found blank cards. These cards, as we quickly learned, were there for us to write down the name of a person with whom we wish to reconcile. Before worship that evening the cards were placed upon the communion table at the front.

During one of the breaks Thursday, I noticed etched into the steps leading down to the sanctuary these words: “I was glad when they said unto me: let us go to the house of the Lord.” Those words, as I now know, are from Psalm 122 and they struck me as deeply profound given the theme of the conference. So, that evening, as we walked down those steps into the sanctuary to hear Scott Anderson preach the opening worship service, I glanced once again at those words and let them sink deep within me. The moment Scott stood up to preach his sermon, he spoke no more than three or four words before all of the witnessing attendees stood up in gratitude and tears and applause for a full five minutes. I placed my hand on Danny’s back and thought about his calling and his chance to become ordained in the word and sacrament, as I know he is meant to be. Laurie came over and embraced us both and at that moment, I felt love and hope for the church. A deep and personal reconciliation also happened then and it moved me to tears.

On the second day of the conference we gathered at the church and met and communed with our newly made friends and carried on that day in workshops, where we learned about the Respectful Dialogue Initiative, which is a new program to help prepare clergy and lay leaders to create safe and neutral places for dialogue on reconciling our communities. We also heard from Cindy Bolbach, moderator of the PCUSA and Gradye Parsons speak on the state of the church, which was both honest and promising at the same time. After dinner that evening we gathered once again for worship and we were again given blank cards. This time, we were to write down the names of those who have been serving the church in silence before the passing of the now G.2.0104b, and the names of those we hope can now serve openly. During the offering we placed the names of those people on the same communion table as the names of those with whom we need to reconcile. And there they were, sitting side by side together as guests at one table, brought together by the hearts and prayers of those of us who long to see our church united. I was once again moved with emotion as my mind drifted to those words on the steps.

I imagined those words, that Psalm, could have been sung by any one of us entering the sanctuary that evening; a song of joy in the gathering of ALL people at one table to worship God in truth and spirit. I would like to think that our voices were heard by God and our prayers lifted up for our brothers and sisters in the church who still feel that alienation, that separation of understanding. I have faith that they were. I have faith in our church and in God to bring reconciliation and unity back to the PCUSA. We have a long journey ahead of us, but if we bravely walk down this path, with Christ as our guide, I believe that one day our children and grandchildren will look back on all of this and wonder why we ever disagreed in the first place.

Never have I been so moved by a gathering of voices and hearts. I am honored to have been a witness to such commitment in the full inclusion of ALL of God’s people in the church. I want to extend a special deeply felt thank you to Laurie on the behalf of our LGBT family members and friends at Riviera for all of her hard work and dedication for playing a spirit moved role in making what once seemed impossible, possible.

Thank you.

At the beginning of every Advent, the first Sunday’s reading is a text from the gospel describing what is commonly known as the “Last Days” or the “Second Coming.” These texts are a type of literature known as “apocalyptic,” which is hidden language, used in times of crisis or catastrophe, to offer a secret message of hope to beleaguered believers. From the greek “apo” (un) and “kalypto” (cover); “apocalyptic” moments and texts serve to uncover the presence of God hidden in the midst of crisis or in seasons of darkness. In popular imagination, “Apocalpytic” predicts the catastrophic end of time, when the world will come to an end. In traditional Christian theology, these readings and their location represent our awareness that telling the story of the advent or coming of Christ at Christmas is not mere remembrance, but also, holy anticipation: a prayerful way of looking forward and acknowledging that our life belongs to God and, as we live faithfully, we practice and anticipate God’s redemptive work being incarnate in the world—not just once, long ago: but now and in the unknown future as well.

More personally, I invite you to consider these texts as an invitation to “uncover” what is hidden, hard, or shaky in your own world. Maybe there is distress about the economy, violence, or political unrest here or abroad.

Maybe your shakiness is centered around a troubled relationship or an illness in your family or friend. Maybe this is a time of spiritual silence or darkness for you personally…a season in which prayer doesn’t work as it once did, or God seems absent or silent. Maybe there is anger, or fear or anxiety in you or one you love. When we find the courage to speak about and acknowledge these unsettled and unsettling places, we open up, and make room in our inner being for hope, and the possibility of a sacred touch. This is what theology means by the word “Incarnation”—which describes both how the Divine One was, once and long ago embodied in Jesus of Nazareth, a man…and how our own human selves are met where we are—whether in distress or gladness and changed by the interplay of divine hope and human experience.

We move through the Advent Season: beginning from our own and the world’s places of darkness and brokenness into a consideration of Voices of transformation and turning, represented by the stories of John the Baptist. Who are the people in your work and world who challenge your best self? Whose are the voices in public discourse that inspire our attention toward a more perfect union; who invite our practices of justice and mercy and kindness to be revitalized, for the common good? What needs to change in me? In our communities of faith? In our nation and world, so that we might move out of places of danger and wilderness into newness of life?

Advent culminates in the powerful example of Mary of Nazareth, a girl of no means, no power, and little prestige…who accepted the invitation of a Holy Mystery, and who allowed what could have been a season of personal apocalypse— an unexpected and unsanctioned pregnancy— to be a moment for spiritual transformation; a chance for the Holy Spirit to birth God’s Presence into the life of a young girl and a particular moment of history. She could have said no. Instead, she said “yes.” This Christmas season; what place in your life needs the “yes” of reverent attention, patient illumination, a dose of hopeful imagination?

May the blessing of Christ Light fill you and yours, this holy season and always. Laurie

As we all probably remember from the hoopla surrounding the event, on October 31st the population of the world reached 7 billion people, yet here we see that 1 out of 7 have no “reasonable access” to safe water. According to Water.org, “Today’s water crisis is not an issue of scarcity, but of access. More people in the world own cell phones than have access to a toilet. And as cities and slums grow at increasing rates, the situation worsens. Every day, lack of access to clean water and sanitation kills thousands, (while) leaving others with reduced quality of life.” They further note that “half of the world’s hospitalizations are due to water-related diseases.”

At the Living Water International website (http://www.water.cc) it is noted that “More than a billion people in the world live on less than a dollar a day, including the vast majority of those without access to safe water…. Access to clean water is the foundation for other forms of development. Without (it), countless hours are spent in water collection, household income is spent on purchasing water and medical treatment for water-related diseases. These factors contribute to keeping people trapped in poverty ….This is a silent crisis experienced by the poor, and tolerated by those with the resources, technology, and the political power to end it. Yet this is a crisis that is holding back human progress, consigning large segments of humanity to lives of poverty, vulnerability, and insecurity.”

What can we do? We can take some time to learn more and act on that learning. In Sustaining Waters, part of the Just living series, (http://www.earthcovenantministry.org/RiverOfLife/PCUSA Sustaining Water. pdf) we can learn how, as Presbyterians seeking to live as global disciples, there are many ways we can more responsibly use our water resources here at home and also help protect water supplies around the world. And then, beyond the “think global, act local” aspect, what else can be done?

As they say on the Advent Conspiracy website (http://www.water.cc/advent), “CHRISTMAS CAN {still} CHANGE THE WORLD.” They report that each year Americans spend $450 billion on “Christmas”, while it is estimated that only $20 billion per year would assure clean drinking water for every person in the world (“do you see where this is going?”).

Can we each redirect some of our own holiday spending toward achieving this goal? Among many other mission efforts, PC(USA)’s Living Waters for the World is supported through the holiday’s One Great Hour of Sharing offering – please consider an extra generous donation this year to support the effort to provide fresh clean water for all, and help solve this aspect of human misery within this generation.

While these global numbers are sobering, World AIDS Day this year notes some positive changes. At least 56 countries have either stabilized or reduced new HIV infections by more than 25% in the last decade. New infections among babies have dropped by 25% and now more than 4 million people are on antiretroviral therapy.

Recently a series of highly publicized scientific advancements have fundamentally altered future possibilities and equipped us to turn the tide of HIV and AIDS. In May 2011, researchers announced a breakthrough that proved treating HIV positive people with antiretroviral therapy can reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to uninfected partners. We now know for certain that treatment is prevention.

Despite emerging opportunities, we also know that public concern about HIV and AIDS has plummeted significantly since 1995. We are greatly alarmed that global AIDS spending fell in 2010 and among nine states in the U.S. there are now over 8,500 persons on waiting lists for the treatment.

For more information go to www.worldaidsday.org

Please join us for the next Clergy Dialog on December 8th at Temple Judea at 10:30 am.

Our program will focus on the multifaceted work of our community’s chaplains and how their work enhances our faith community.

Special guests:
Rev. Patricia Wilson , Director of Pastoral Care and CPE Supervisor at Jackson Memorial and Chaplain, US Reserves

Rabbi Frederick Klein, Director of Jewish Chaplaincy, Greater Miami Jewish Federation

Rev. Diane Hudder, Bereavement Services Managaer and Chaplain, VItas Innovative Hospice, Inc.

Rev. Ronald G. Perkins, Chaplain for Seafarers House, Port Everglades

With blessings,

Rev. Laurie Kraus
Rabbi Judith Siegal
CoChairs, ClergyDialog
PS TO VIEW THE FILM CLIPS OF OUR BEAUTIFUL 9/11 COMMEMORATION, GO TO MCCJ’S HOME PAGE: www.miamiccj.org

Riviera Presbyterian Church, PCUSA, has had a mission focus since it was founded 66 years ago in 1945.  Anybody on the mission committee would know that.  But not everybody is, so they are having a fair—and offering Sundaes on Sunday to anyone who would like to know more on November 6, 2011 beginning at 12:30pm, after their 11:00am worship service.  Riviera is located at 5275 Sunset Drive Miami, Florida 33143.   Web: www.rivierachurch.org

Led by Rev. Dr. Laurie Kraus for over twenty years, Riviera Presbyterian Church started out as a community based congregation, and has been involved in social justice issues, women’s rights, and for the last ten years has been a leader in the local and national inclusivity movement to extend the welcome of the church to all, especially the LGBT community.  The Mission Fair will have representatives from a variety of missions including the following.

Local Mission

• CHILD CARE CENTER, opened in 1980 to fill a need for working parents who needed care for infants, and recognized for also offering a quality work environment including health benefits to early child care professionals.
• GATE- provides guidance/education and re-training to youth offenders involved in gun violence
• FOOD PANTRY- now more than ever,  a resource for the South Miami community
• THE SOCK MINISTRY—member Isabelle Hill, and long time nurse at Camilla’s house has a one women “mini-mission” to collect socks for homeless men and women
• THELMA GIBSON HOUSE—Local community center, focused on teenage girls
• TML (Touching Miami with Love)—urban ministry

National Mission

• EARTH CARE CONGREGATION—national environmental program of the PC(USA)
• COVENANT NETWORK- Working for full inclusion of gay, lesbian and transgender persons in the full life of the church.

International Mission

• HEIFER- mission is “to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the earth.”
• KENYA – supports rural boarding school,  Kiawaithanji Academy, in a country without free education
• SERRV—sale of international fair trade food and the handiwork of artisans from around the globe

Other missions, but not participating in Sundae Sunday—

YES Institute–A not for profit organization that provides education on gender and orientation to the community, and is an accredited CEU provider to mental health professionals and medical professionals. For more information, call (305)-663-7195.

Alzheimer’s Care Giver Support Group — Meets third Thursday of every month, 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. in the Riviera Church Library. For more information, call (800) 861-7826 Ext. 7;

Overeaters Anonymous (OA) Meets every Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. in the Riviera Church Library. For more information: call S. Tarjan at 305-275-1774; Overeaters Anonymous.

SUMMARY: Riviera Presbyterian Church, located at 5275 Sunset Drive near Sunset Shoppes, is hosting Sundae Sunday, a mission fair to highlight the local, national and international organizations that the church supports.