2014 - ISSUE 15 July 29, 2014

Bixby Knolls Christian Church, (Disciples of Christ) (562) 426-0428

t
h
e

PAST AND PRESENT COPIES OF THE FELLOWSHIP NEWS MAY BE VIEWED AT www.scribd.com
VACATION
BIBLE SCHOOL


Long Hot Summer?

August is coming and as I write this Axolotls are
zooming around the church! VBS is just too much
fun. If you missed it put it on your calendar for
next year.

Part of the music directors job is to select mu-
sic for services for the choir and specialty areas
(offertory and Communion). Over the last 12
years music has been played on the organ, piano,
flute, clarinet, guitar, tuba, saxophone, and of
course lots of voices.
Music has been from cutting edge contempo-
rary to pop, rock, baroque, classical, and as far
back as Palestrina! So for this summer a series of
MacDowells Woodland Sketches have been
played on the piano. Songs like, To a Wild Rose, A
Trysting Place and Deserted Farm. Why play non
Christian music you ask. Well..music of many
forms can be worshipful and can get a sense or
theme of the service across. You probably wont
hear any Beyonce, Rhianna, or Schoenberg but
you never know! One week music was played
from the movie Transformers called Arrival to
Earth at the request of Pastor Danny, and one Hal-
loween the classic Bach Canon and Fugue in D
which everyone relates to Scary movies!

Thanks for supporting our Choir as they take a
well deserved vacation in August and come and
hear our great special music. Lots of fun and var-
ied musical events will occur so August services
are not to be missed.

Improvs famous summer quote is.

THREE JAVAS! UNLEADED! WHISPER IN THEIR
EARS AND KEEP THE COWS IN THE BARN!

Hmmmmm.now I wonder what that
means..something must be coming

Stayed tuned to this section of the worship news
for more information!

Blessings,
Barb
Dear Church,
Individuals with a
greater sense of purpose
reduce their risk of
death by 15%. Focusing
on ones purpose also
helps people manage challenging situations with less
stress.
This is the result of a new study that was featured
in a recent NPR news story. Listening to the report, I
wondered if what applies to individuals could also ap-
ply to churches: Do churches with a greater sense of
purpose live longer?
I am not prepared to do a scientific study to find
out, but I have a feeling the answer is yes. And
churches that focus on their purpose and mission, I
would guess, also handle challenging situations better.
In other words, they are more successful at managing
conflict.
As pastor of Bixby Knolls Christian Church, I like to
say that our purpose is to worship God, love every-
one, and serve our community. This three-part pur-
pose is related to our Micah 6:8 mission statement:
We seek justice (by serving our community); we
love kindness (i.e. love everyone); and walk humbly
with God (worship).
Worship God. This is what defines us as a church,
in contrast to a community service/non-profit organiza-
tion. All that we do and all we are comes from God.
Therefore what we say about God, how we define God,
is important. The simplest definition defines God as
love (1 John 4:8). This leads naturally to
Love everyone. Bixby Knolls Christian Church af-
firmed the importance of this when we voted to be-
come officially Open and Affirming. As we learned
last week at Vacation Bible School, Even when youre
different Jesus loves you!
Serve our community. Love that does nothing to
help those who suffer is not real love. Love that favors
those who are like us, those who are easy to love,
is not real love. Real love requires hard work. Real
love requires sacrifice. Real love requires a commit-
ment of our time, our labor, and our resources.
I invite you to take a moment or two right now
and think about the purpose of our church. How
would you define that purpose? How strong would you
rate our sense of purpose? What can/should we do to
strengthen our sense of purpose?
Feel free to communicate to me via email (or any
other method) your response.
Blessings,
Pastor Danny






















Sumbal Sardar
Keri Clark (daughter of
Monica Lanz)
Porter Family, Ruthie Atkin (friends of B. Smith)
Nargis & family in Pakistan (family of Sumbal Sardar)
Keri France & family, Ellis Sparks, Jr., Venus (family &
friends of of A. Hillig)
Jean Woodward (friend of Becky Carroll.)
Carla Benheretz (Beit David)



Dear Church Community,

You are cordially invited to the 32
nd
Annual
Long Beach Leadership Prayer Breakfast,
sponsored by Long Beach Rescue Mission:

Thursday, September 18, 2014
7:00 9:00 am
Renaissance Hotel, Long Beach

This event is dedicated to fulfilling its mission,
which is: to unite community leaders through-
out the city of Long Beach to pray together and
receive Gods help, encouragement and bless-
ings. There will be a delicious breakfast, wor-
ship music, special presentations, and, of
course, powerful prayers!

Keynote Speaker: Phil Cooke, Ph.D.
Nationally known Inspirational Writer, Pro-
ducer and Media Consultant

We are happy to also have Pastor Ed McGlasson,
former NFL football player share his amazing
leadership moment and testimony. As we
know, there is power in prayer and strength
in community. Dont miss out on this special
gathering to be uplifted and encouraged as we
come together to pray for each other, our city,
church, schools, business and government lead-
ers and future of the Greater Long Beach Com-
munity. Individual tickets are $40. To register
or to learn about valuable sponsorship opportu-
nities please visit www.LBprayer.com or call us
directly at 562) 591-1292, ext. 113.
The South Coast Interfaith Council presents the 8
th
an-
nual Interfaith Unity Bike Ride on Monday, Sept. 1
(Labor Day). The ride begins at 8:00 at DeForest Park
(arrive early to register), and ends with an Interfaith/
Intercultural Brunch at 11:00. Non-riders are welcome
to attend the brunch! Its potluck, so bring a dish to
share.
Disciples of Christ General Minister & President
Sharon Watkins has written a new book titled
Whole: A Call to Unity in our Fragmented
World. In this book, Watkins shares her vision of
how the good news of Jesus calls American Chris-
tians to unite around justice, mercy, and openness
in the 21st century. The book is available every-
where on July 30, 2014.
PRAYER REQUESTS



Help cook food for
Christian Outreach in
Action (COA). Every
2
nd
Thursday at 8:00
a.m. in our church
kitchen.
Our prayer circle
meets every 2
nd
and
4
th
Tuesday at 10:00
a.m. in room 115.
Join this dedicated
group in praying for
our church, community, &
world.
Litter pickup: we meet
at the front gate every
3
rd
Sunday at 8:15, to
pick up litter in Somer-
set Park and along our
neighborhood side-
walks & gutters.



WEIRD Animals... VBS 2014 has come and gone, but won't soon
be forgotten! It truly was a place, "where Jesus' love was one-
of-a-kind." Our culmination Sunday in Fellowship Hall was also
a fun and meaningful worship service. I am always concerned there will not be enough
volunteers to help the week's activities, but God ALWAYS comes through! We had more
older youth and adults each day than we did children! It's heartwarming to renew friend-
ships and make new friends from year to year, and the daily Bible Adventure, Imagination
Station, Kidvid, game, music, and even snacks at the Critter Cafe, all reinforced the mes-
sage that Jesus is always with us and loves us, even if even though we're all a little weird!
AND, VBS week's offering of $184.00 will support the "Kid to Kid Operation" and provide
clean drinking water for school children in India! I am deeply appreciative to all those who took time to help en-
rich the lives of Gods children. Thank you Sandy Jeglum, Gretchen Rugh, Pat Cohen, Pastor Danny, Dena Johnson,
Barb Peebles, Chris Perkinson, ChrysanNaw, Thunder Hintl, Ioane ("Yanny"), Monica Lanz, TJ Hillig, Ethan Bradfield,
Marlene Martinez, Kassidy Schwaben, Michael Martinez, Lauren Dubon, Leslie Brown, Ken Brown, Rob Char-
boneau, Octavia Cook, and Heather Ruiz! From setting up to cleaning up, you can see it takes a chunk of our BKCC
village to successfully roll out Vacation Bible School! I apologize to anyone I may have inadvertently left off.
Blessings to all. Scheri, Weird Director, Dubon
Vacation Bible School

Pictures from our Weird Animals Vacation Bible School!


Summer Camp!
This is the last week of summer camp at Loch Leven! This week, T.J. Hillig and Ethan Bradfield are at CYF 2, the
camp for our oldest youth.
Here are some photos of some of our campers (if you have others, email them to the church office so we can
include them in a future newsletter.)









Youth Camp 2014






CHURCH STAFF:

Pastor Daniel Bradfield
-Minister
Monica Lanz
-Church Secretary
Barbara Neal-Peebles
-Music Director/Organist
Christine Perkinson
- Church Child Care
Suzie Romero
- Custodian

BOARD OFFICERS:
Ken Brown
-Board President
Leo Dittemore
-Vice President
Pat Cohen
-Secretary
Angela Hillig
- Treasurer
Chrysan Naw
- Financial Secretary

-Church Clerk
BIXBY KNOLLS
CHRISTIAN CHURCH
(Disciples of Christ)

SUNDAY SCHEDULE:
9:00 a.m. Sunday School for Adults
10:15 a.m. Morning Worship and Childrens Church

OFFICE HOURS:
Monday - Thursday 7:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Friday closed
The Fellowship News

A publication of
Bixby Knolls Christian Church of
Long Beach (a Disciples of Christ
Church)
1240 E. Carson Street
Long Beach, CA 90807
www.bixbyknollschurch.org

Editor:
Monica Lanz
562-426-0428
bkcchurch@aol.com
fax 562-426-0429

Pastor:
Daniel Bradfield

The Fellowship News is published
twice monthly.
Check us out on Facebook

www.facebook.com/bixbyknollschurch
website: www.bixbyknollschurch.org
Bixby Knolls Vision Statement
To know what the Lord requires of us;
to do justice, and love kindness,
and walk humbly with our God. (Micah 6:8)
Submit your
articles for the
next newsletter
by August 10
United Shito Ryu Karate meets on
Tuesday and Friday evenings at 6:00
p.m. in fellowship hall. They are offer-
ing discounts to church members who
are interested in taking class. You may
contact the office for further details.
August 3 - Acts 2:42-47
We are near the end of our shoe drive
any day now, the new & used shoes that
have been donated by members of our
church and community will be combined
with donations received at other Long
Beach locations, to be given to thousands
of people in need in southern California
and around the world. Thank you so
much for your generous support of this
important mission project! If you have a
last-minute donation, it can still be
brought to the church this week, anytime
the office is open.