The River Church Community

[Our Lead Pastor Brad Wong is on sabbatical until mid-July.  In his absence, Mark Phifer-Houseman, our Pastor of Leadership Development will be sharing some thoughts in this space]

Dear River Family,

Sometimes the Holy Spirit speaks to us from very unexpected sources. Moses was taught how to delegate judicial authority by his Midianite father-in-law, a God fearer, but an outsider to Israel. (Ex. 18) As many of you know, if you were at celebration on Palm Sunday, my dad was at the service. He is a Unitarian by practice. He is also an organizational consultant, a lifelong educator, and a good judge of organizational health as a result. I was most focused on how he would respond to hearing me preach – he left the Christian ministry when I was young for his career in education and my step-mom is a Zen Budhist, so, while he respects Gayll and my life of “helping people”, he hasn’t heard me speak in 25 years of Christian ministry. So, I was pleasantly shocked when I received the following email assessing the River a couple days ago:

“As I am about to leave for my church I am thinking about my visit to yours.  I guess one phrase from the Bible describes The River for me, “Behold how they love one another.”

You are in a good, holy place.”

Wow! What a shock! I know I have opened up towards him and my step-mom over the years, but I never expected such an affirming message. He doesn’t bestow such praise lightly. Even though he’s slipped on his Bible a bit, “Behold how they love one another” is actually a quote from the early church Father Tertullian not the Bible, he was tuning in to our love for one another. This Biblical foundation for the church (see John 13-15) something that has been growing in the River the last few years, has accelerated this past year since we started the peacemaking process and as God has brought such wonderful new folks into our midst this year, I believe, as a result of many old wounds being healed and a new day of loving across differences is dawning among us.

What did he experience on Sunday morning that most of us are blind to because we’ve swum in the Christian waters so long or we are weighed down by personal burdens? He was welcomed by several folks in blue lanyards with smiles on their faces and real hospitality in their souls. He saw people of many different cultures, economic backgrounds, and ages worshiping God together in unity – a unity that secular educators dream of. He felt our unity of passion for this God/man Jesus who laid down his life for us and taught us to lay down our lives in order to bear fruit. He heard Tony’s report on how the River’s gifts are making huge differences in communities outside the U.S. He saw people caring for one another’s kids and for the youth (he pays attention to how people treat kids, he’s an educator, and he has 3 grandkids in our youth program.) He witnessed several lay people caring for our guests from the Emergency Housing Consortium. He experienced people really enjoying each other after the service and welcoming newcomers.

So, be encouraged! God is doing a wonderful thing among us. If it hasn’t yet caught you up in your corner of the world, take heart and dive in somewhere like kids’ community or Tuesday intercession. I felt such joy in his email I had to share it with you all.

Peace,
Mark P-H

Hello River,

Pretty quiet around here as many people are travelling.  Current topics of conversation around the ministry center include MY10 themes and goals, our school-year end activities, planning for the August All-Church retreat, and upcoming ICE trips.

And since I don't have much else, here's a happy youtube clip for the few people out there who haven't seen it yet.

Peace,

Dave

• For Newcomers or those who want more information about the church
• Friday, May 1st from 7:30 to 9 pm.
• At Tom and Judy Tsao’s home in Sunnyvale
• RSVP to and she will email you directions.