“WORKIN AT THE CAR WASH….

”
October 18, 12:00 p.m.
Get your tickets starting on Sunday, October 4, for this fundraiser
for some of our Disciples Women to attend the Quadrennial Assembly in Greens-
boro, NC in June of 2010. This is a gathering of upwards of 3,000 women who
come together to learn and grow in our faith and what it means to be a child of
God. Linda Houston, Jill Foster and Chery Carew are all participating in leadership
at the event and there are four other women who hope to be able to go as well.
We will be cleaning your car inside and out and promise to make your car look
spiffy when we are done.
Don’t miss out on this and watch for more ways you can help these women to
attend this very meaningful event in Greensboro.

Welcome Our Newest Members

On Sunday, September 20, William Maupin came forward at our 10:30 service, and reaf-
firmed the good confession. He brings his transfer of membership from St. Mark’s Presby-
terian Church. William has a strong interest in spiritual writing, especially on the parables
of Jesus.
Ed & Laura Apodaca also reaffirmed the good confession on September 20, bringing with
them their son Sam. Ed and Laura are both long-time employees of Marriott International,
where they are happy to have met one another. Laura has known Kara Ryan since high
school days. Sam, healthy and bright after being born three month premature, is the delight
of their life!
Please add the following contact information to your directory, and be sure to “officially”
welcome them!

William Maupin Ed & Laura Apodaca (Sam)

2539 235th Street, Apt A, Torrance Ca. 90503 926 Teri Avenue, Torrance, CA. 90503
310-530-3431 310-328-7170—eala824@sbcglobal.net

Page 1 October 1, 2009

 Disciples Women’s Ministry
Are you ready for the boutique? It is less than seven weeks away. The boutique will be held on Sat-
urday, November 14 and plans are well underway.
Are you making something to donate to the boutique? Please call Angie Ahumada at (310)375-6037.
Handmade items from our church members are what help to make this a big success. If you don’t
have time but would like to make some items, there are still two craft workshops left, on October 11,
and November 1.
We have an exciting list of raffle prizes this year which include:
Candy Cane Triangular Shawl
Lap Afghan
Handmade Reindeer
Raggedy Ann and Andy
Hand Painted China
Gift Certificate for a family portrait

Tickets for the raffle will go on sale starting on Sunday, October 18.
Look around your home for gently used and loved items to give to Grandma’s Attic. This is a big hit
every year and we need your help. Please bring the items to the church after November 1.
Word of mouth is our most important publicity tool. Ads will be going into the Daily Breeze and Easy
Reader, but we will have flyers available for you to pass out to your friends and neighbors as well.
This year we plan to give out fliers to our local craft stores to help get more people in.

Our speaker for the lunch this month was Diane Cripe, a member of the board for Disciple Women’s
ministry. Diane has a new outreach project that she shared with us. A year and a half ago, Diane
started her project, which is to create the first Family Promise home in Southern California. Family
Promise is a program that was started 22 years ago by founder, Susan Olson. The program is a co-
operation between 13 interfaith congregations which host up to four families or 15 people. Each con-
gregation hosts the families for a week, three to four times a year.
At this rough period in US History, one in fifty children are homeless. Diane saw the need for a pro-
gram such as this and began the work needed to gather all the resources and churches needed for this
program about a year and a half ago. She hopes that the center will open in January or February of
2010. The program includes a Day Care Center for the families, transportation to and from the Day
Care Center. Transportation to school for the children, a full time and part time social worker to help
the families get back on their feet. The maximum time for each family is 90 days in the program. The
average time frame for most families is 54 days.

The program is very successful and has an 85% success rate. This is a wonderful ministry and a great
program given us by Diane. Diane asks for our prayers for her new Family Promise home.

Page 2
 Spiritual Growth Retreat
This year’s Spiritual Growth Retreat took place at the Loch Leven Camp and Conference
Center September 18-20. The keynote speakers, Carol Warsaw and our own Linda Houston
led us in this year’s theme: “Renew Your Spirit!” From the Orange Church, Tom Perring
and his daughter, Kim, led the music. Torrance was well represented with 18 women from
our church, including 4 teenage girls, making up about a quarter of the total women attend-
ing the retreat.
Sharing a spiritual time of renewal with friends old and new was a deeply spiritual and
moving experience for me, filled with laughter and tears, prayer and song. Our time to-
gether included both structured and unstructured time, with activities such as reading scrip-
ture, taking nature walks, praying alone and with others, worshiping God, singing, dancing,
doing yoga, painting Ukrainian Easter Eggs, exploring the spiritual labyrinth, attending
healing touch workshops, watching movies, knitting prayer shawls, playing board games,
reading, napping, and devoting time to healing self-care— with a focus on renewing our
spirits, strengthening our relationships with God, and experiencing prayer as a gift from
God rather than a task.
Loch Leven is a powerful place for me: I always feel I can hear God more clearly there, and
I always leave Loch Leven feeling stronger than I did when I arrived. This trip was no dif-
ferent. One of the verses we studied was 2 Timothy 1:7. In our closing worship service
Sunday, several women were asked to read this verse aloud, from different versions of the
Bible. Hearing this message spoken in so many different ways made it even more meaning-
ful to me. I was asked to read from the Amplified Bible:
2 Timothy 1:7
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing
and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm
and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.
In this promise, may your spirit be renewed.
Blessings,
Michele Wood (Disciple Women’s President)

New mentoring program

The Disciple Women’s Fellowship is going to start a new mentoring program for the young women
(junior high and high school) to start teaching them about our fellowship. They will be included in
our December luncheon and we will mentor them to show them about our service projects that we
do throughout the year. We plan to have our young women join us at two to three luncheons per
year.
Happy fall everyone and hold on to your hats, looks like the rest of the year is going to be very busy.
Maureen Estolas, Co-chair DWF Publicity
Page 3
 Endowment Committee Updates
The endowment committee would like to thank both Lee Sebaugh and Doug Craw-
ford for their years of dedicated service to the endowment committee. They along
with the remaining members have been responsible for investing and protecting the
endowment donations. In an effort to fill the vacant positions both Betsy Galyardt
and Jerry Jonas have joined the Team. The newly elected Chairperson is Andrea
Whobrey and the Secretary is Betsy Galyardt.
All endowment funds are an asset of the church and are held in different investment
accounts. These investment accounts can provide stable, dependable, long-term fi-
nancial resources for our Church. The earnings from the investments can be distrib-
uted annually by the committee upon written request by any established group within
our congregation. A new brochure is in the process of being printed and will be avail-
able to all who wish to learn more about the program.
Remember that a gift to the Endowment Fund can be a way of remembering and honor-
ing loved ones (anniversaries, birthdays, memorials). Please be sure to note “For En-
dowment Fund” on all Gifts to assure that the gift is credited for the intended purpose.

David Matson to Speak at Regional Gathering

Disciples from all over the Pacific Southwest will be spending the day at Fullerton First
Christian Church on Saturday, October 17.
Our time will include lively worship, wonderful fellowship – and lunch! And Torrance folk
should know that the keynote speaker for the day will be our own David Matson.
The deadline for the least costly registration has been moved back to October 3. Forms are
available at the church office—those postmarked after the 3rd will require a fee of $22 per per-
son. Cost at the door will be $27.
Mark your calendar, and let’s plan on carpooling over to Fullerton!

To Our Wonderful Church Family

We deeply thank all of you for the prayers, cards, phone calls and words of love and
sympathy given to us these past months, and especially when our beloved Shiloh
journeyed to the Rainbow Bridge. Special love and blessings to those who were with
us that day and helped so much. We will always remember and be
grateful.

Susan and Pumpkin Babcock

Page 4
 CHURCH FAMILY PRAYERS & CONCERNS
Gerri Stoodley is now home and receiving treatment. Her fever is gone, but
her breathing continues to be difficult.
Carol Wilk was briefly hospitalized with an infection in her injured knee—she is out and
doing better.
Don Zukas is better after a bout of shingles, as is Sue Zukas’s mother. Doctor’s are con-
cerned, though, that Sue’s mother may have had a stroke, or could be in the early stages of
Alzheimer’s.
Dottie Taggart is pleased to have been called back to work part-time, and that she has a
hearing to help resolve other employment complications.
Kelly Rogers’s sister, Shawn Knudson, is in her second round of radiation and chemother-
apy as a follow-up to surgery for ovarian cancer.
Arlyn Wehage-Ortega asks for prayer on behalf of her friend, Maria Bohannan, who has
been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Bonnie Evans’s father-in-law, Fred, is home from the hospital after suffering a head injury
in a fall.
Nora Pagdilao’s aunt has had a recurrence of cancer after 20 years of remission.
Gene Wiehe asks prayers for Cheryl Gerole, the daughter of a friend, who has been diag-
nosed with terminal lung cancer.

With Sympathy
Delores Koontz’s life was celebrated in a memorial on September 29. Rich, Jimmy and
Sakura are all in our prayers.
Jimmy Koontz asks prayers for the family of his friend and coworker, Jermaine Denis,
who died at 25 after a recurrence of cancer. He was recently married.
Mary Matson asks for prayer on behalf of her long-time friend, Gretchen Hinojosa, whose
husband passed away suddenly.

World Communion Sunday

This Sunday is the 69th observation of World Communion Sunday. We will
mark the day with a special emphasis in our 8:30 worship, and by joining with Torrance
The Lord’s Church (the Korean congregation that uses our gym) for a joint service at 10:30,
which will be followed by a special coffee hour.

Page 5
 October 2009
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thurs

WORSHIP SERVICES
8:30 and 10:30 am
Sunday School 9:30 am

Unbinding t
2:00 &
New Hop
Choir

4 5 6 7

World Communion Amazing Gray’s Choir Pr

Bible Study 10:00
Sunday
1:00 Prayer Ministry 5:45 Prayer Shawl 2:00 7:00
Youth Adventure 12:00
Great Communion
Unbinding the Gospel Worship 7:00 Unbinding t
7:00 Education 7:00 7:00
6:00 p.m.

11 12 13 14
His Hands 12:00
Bible Study 10:00 a.m.
Craft Workshop 12:00 Church Office Closed Prayer Ministry 5:45 Choir Pr
Prayer Shawl 2:00
Unbinding the Gospel Columbus Day 7:00
7:00 Unbinding the Gospel Disciple Women 7:00 Unbinding t
Cabinet 7:00
7:00 7:00

18 19 20 21
Youth Adventure/CYF Bible Study 10:00
Love 9:30 Choir Pr
12:00 p.m. Newsletter
Car Wash 12:00
Faith 1:30 7:00
Unbinding the Gospel Prayer Shawl 2:00
Unbinding the Gospel Prayer Ministry 5:45 Unbinding t
7:00
7:00 Elders 7:00 7:00

25 26 27 28
Women’s Lunch Bible Study 10:00
Feed the Hungry Prayer Ministry 5:45
Sunday Prayer Shawl 7:00 Choir Pr
Prayer Shawl 2:00
CYF 12:00 Unbinding the Gospel 7:00
Unbinding the Gospel 7:00 Unbinding t
Page 6
7:00 7:00
 sday Friday Saturday

October Birthdays
Aron Fried (2)
Helen Adams (3)
Chery Carew (3)
1 2 3 Gene Wiehe (3)
Jenna Sandberg (4)
Devyn Galyardt (6)
the Gospel Deborah Galyardt (6)
& 7:00 Unbinding the Gospel Bridgett Lubrani (13)
pe 7:00 7:00 Robert Fenton (19)
7:00 John King (21)
Brianna Livernois (22)
Brenlee Griego (24)
8 9 10 Landon Colby (26)
Esther Gendall (27)
Hugh Finlay (28)
ractice Beverly Roseberry (28)
0 Robert Swartzlander (29)
the Gospel Linda Houston (30)
0

15 16 17

ractice C.M.F.
0 8:30 a.m.
the Gospel Regional Gathering
0 9:00 to 4:00 ANNIVERSARIES
Fullerton FCC Jim & Andrea Whobrey (1)
22 23 24 Melvin & Helen Adams (3)
Richard & Tamara Griego (26)
ractice Bob & Kim Rogers (27)
0
the Gospel
0

29 30 31

ractice
0
the Gospel Page 7
0
 Education Notes & News
Bible Explorer Teachers
If you are interested in teaching a Bible Explorer class but are not sure what it entails, please
feel free to drop in any Sunday morning to see what is going on. Remember that our teachers
offer the same lesson to two age groups over a two-week period. We’d love to have you join
the team so go check it out.

Bible Explorers
All children ages PreK through 5th grade are invited to Bible Explorers at 9:30 on Sunday
mornings. See schedule below.
Middle School students are invited to be shepherds for this program. See Jill if you are inter-
ested.
High schoolers will continue to meet for their Sunday School in Room 8 with Jeff Wood as
their teacher.

Several of our young girls have asked to help out in the Worship and Wonder program so the
Junior Greeter position has been reinstituted. There is room for one more so if anyone out
there is interested in helping out once a month, please contact me. 5th grade and up preferred.

BIBLE EXPLORER SCHEDULE

DATE CLASS WORKSHOP ROOM TEACHER

Noah’s Ark
10/4 PRE K-1 STORYTELLING 3 PEGGY
10/4 2-5 COOKING KITCHEN KARA
10/11 PRE K-1 COOKING KITCHEN KARA
10/11 2-5 STORYTELLING 3 PEGGY

10/18 PRE K-1 MEDIA 4 SAKURA

10/18 2-5 SCIENCE 2 JIMMY
10/25 PRE K-1 SCIENCE 2 JIMMY
10/25 2-5 MEDIA 4 SAKURA

Page 8
 October Youth Calendar
Sunday, October 4
12:00 Youth Adventure (grades 3-5)-Bring a sack lunch for a picnic in the park.
No CYF meeting after church. High schoolers are invited to attend tonight’s World
Communion program at 6:00. RSVP to the church office if you plan on attending.

Sunday, October 11
12:00 CYF (grades 9-12)-Long awaited trip to the Getty Villa

Saturday, October 17
CYF is attending the Regional Gathering. Registration is necessary.
See Jimmy with questions.

Sunday, October 18
12:00 CYF-meet at church
12:00 Youth Adventure-light lunch served-craft project

Sunday, October 25
12:00 CYF-Boys will meet with Jimmy. Girls will attend Disciple Women’s
luncheon and program.

Save the Dates

Sunday, December 13-Children’s Christmas Program
Sunday, December 13-Evening Christmas Party and Horse Drawn Carriage Ride

An All Church Picnic in Every Way

According to every report and comment, our All Church Western Style picnic in Sep-
tember was a huge success. Thanks to every single one of you who participated in
any way—from planning to eating—for making it possible. Special thanks and grati-
tude to those who set-up and cleaned up, decorated and created the “scenery” and
entertainment, AND organized and prepared the food. Also, many thanks to all who
brought food and drinks. This time of good fellowship is impossible without the efforts
and hard work of so many people. We truly have a wonderful and loving church fam-
ily. Thank you again.
The Membership & Church Growth Committees.
Page 9
Upcoming Sermons
October 4 – “Five Things We Do Together--#4: EAT” (Acts 2:42; 1 Corinthians 11:17-
29)
Most churches claim to be “good at eating.” So do service clubs, fraternal groups, and biker
gangs! But for Christians, sharing food – symbolically in communion, literally at our pot-
lucks – takes on a deeper, godly meaning. We explore this as we celebrate World Com-
munion Sunday with our Korean brothers and sisters from Torrance the Lord’s Church.
October 11 – “Five Things We Do Together--#5: PRAY” (Acts 2:42; James 5:13-16)
With varying degrees of regularity, each of us has a personal prayer life—which is as it
should be. But Christians are also empowered to pray together, in worship and in smaller
groups. We finish our series by considering how these different prayer settings can
strengthen God’s people.
October 18 – “A Celebration of Music!” (Colossians 3:16-17)
This special worship service will lift up the power and importance of music in our lives.
Our “message” time will include a sharing of the backgrounds of some of our favorite praise
songs and hymns—please feel encouraged to share yours!

Sermons on line
Those wishing to listen to past sermons can access them on our church website
(www.fcctorrance.org) by clicking on Worship Media, and then on the title or date of the
sermon. Dates are listed by sermon title, year, month and day—for example, September 7,
2009 is 20090907. Thanks to Jimmy Koontz for helping us to provide this service!

Adult Sunday Class

Our Sunday morning adult class continues its pattern of lively discussion with a number of
thought-provoking topics and facilitators. All people and views are welcome—and often
expressed! It’s also OK to come and just listen!
Lilian Asomugha will facilitate a timely discussion of communion on World Communion
Sunday (October 4). Ted Oden will then take four weeks to guide us through a discussion
of Mike Yaconelli’s book Messy Spirituality.
We will once again be privileged to experience the scholarship of Dr. David Matson as he
addresses the biblical question, “Do We Have a Soul?” on November 8 & 15. Steve Fietz
will guide a seasonal discussion during the four weeks of Advent.

Page 10
 Footnotes
As you may know, Delores Koontz lived just off Crenshaw, a major route to Torrance
Memorial Hospital, and not too far from a fire station. In a given day – a given hour! –
she could hear a lot of sirens. I remember visiting with her when an emergency vehi-
cle would howl by, and watching her pause a moment to say a prayer for the respond-
ers, and for those in need.
She didn’t know what the emergency was, nor for whom the sirens wailed. She
wouldn’t know how things turned out, and couldn’t say what impact her prayers might
have had. But when she heard trouble, when she knew someone was in crisis, she let
her compassion be a connection between the sirens, and God.
What is an emergency? A situation that “emerges,” perhaps unexpectedly, from the
rush of life. A chance, not for fixing all the world’s ills—we don’t know how things
may turn out; we scarcely can control any outcome, and if we could, we’d be wrong
more often than we care to admit.
But an emergency, with sirens or not, can be an opportunity for compassion. Resisting
the temptation to know or control outcome, any problem or crisis presents a chance for
linking our lives and our world to God. Delores understood that. So may we.

Shalom, Steve

Home phone: 310-212-5950 email: steefeets@hotmail.com

Prayer Service—5:45 pm Tuesdays

This is a quiet time of centering and praying for one another. All who wish to be part
of the common support we have in prayer are invited.

Wednesday Morning Bible Study

Our Wednesday Morning Bible Study is looking at the First Letter of John, a New
Testament writing that struggles to hold things together after an early church split.
Bible Study meets in Sippel Hall, Wednesday mornings at 10:00. We will not be
meeting on October 14, when Pastor Steve is out of town.

Next Newsletter articles need to be need to be at the church office by 10/19/09.

Page 11
 FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
NON PROFIT ORG.

(Disciples of Christ)
PERMIT NO. 109
TORRANCE, CA

2930 El Dorado Street

Torrance, CA 90503
(310) 328-2820 Fax 310 328-2929
E-mail - fcctorr@pacbell.net
Web address - fcctorrance.org
Sunday Schedule
8:30 a.m. - Worship - Informal
9:30 a.m. - Church School for all ages
10:30 a.m. - Worship - Traditional
Children’s Worship - Ages Pre-school through
2nd Grade
(During the Traditional Worship Service)
Nursery Provided
Or Current Resident

For birth through age 3 during Sunday School

and the Traditional Service
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Staff
Steven Fietz, Senior Pastor
Ted Oden-Minister of Contemporary Worship
Administrative Assistant– Camelia Olloque
Choir Director - Ken Potter
Nursery Attendant - Kim Larson
Dorie Hernandez
The Christian Messenger

Officers
TIME VALUE DATA

Chair - Doug Crawford

2930 El Dorado Street

DO NOT DELAY
First Christian Church

Torrance, CA 90503

Vice Chair - Don Zukas

EXPEDITE

Treasurer– Bill Wysong

Financial Secretary - Charlotte Sandberg
Clerk– Angie Ahumada

Page 12