“No matter who you are, no matter where you are, you are welcome here!”

May 26, 2023

Dear Pali Pres,

This coming Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, one of my favorite days on the church calendar. I very much look forward to leading worship with Rev. Elizabeth Gibbs Zehnder, who will be our guest preacher (you can read more about Elizabeth below). No stranger to Pali Pres, Elizabeth will be sharing with us a message on God’s gift of the Holy Spirit. Be sure to wear red (the liturgical color for Pentecost) and join us for what is sure to be a festive Sunday.

The story of Pentecost can be found in Acts 2, when the disciples were visited by the Holy Spirit after Jesus’ ascension to heaven. The Spirit appeared to them in the form of “tongues of fire,” which enabled each disciple to speak in a different language, as the Spirit enabled them. This event has long been recognized as the birthday of the church. It was from this point—after receiving the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit—that the disciples went out among the people and began spreading Jesus’ message, even to those who spoke other languages.

This Pentecost I encourage us all to take a moment to reflect on God’s gift of the Holy Spirit and to give thanks to God for the gift of his church. Empowered by the Spirit, may we continue the work of the first disciples and help spread Jesus’ message to all.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Matt

Special Guest Preacher This Sunday

Rev. Elizabeth Gibbs Zehnder

This Sunday we welcome back to our pulpit Rev. Elizabeth Gibbs Zehnder. Elizabeth has served as Presbyterian Chaplain at Los Angeles County-USC Hospital since 2015. Prior to chaplaincy, Elizabeth spent over twenty years in parish ministry, primarily at Immanuel Presbyterian Church here in Los Angeles. Elizabeth creates a home in the city with her favorite teachers - husband Tim and daughters Eva and Naomi and rescued greyhounds Luna and Arlo. Join us on Sunday as Elizabeth shares God’s word with us!

A Prayer for Memorial Day

God, your holy word promises that one day peace will reign in human hearts, and war will be no more. This Memorial Day weekend, we come before you desiring peace, justice, and liberty for all people. We thank you for the men and women in every generation who have willingly walked into harm’s way in order that we might enjoy such freedom. Heal their memories, honor their service, bless their sacrifice, and comfort their loved ones. May they be remembered in this life, even as they are entrusted to you in the life everlasting. Amen.

Donate to the special music appreciation fund HERE.

Family Corner

It was such a joy to honor our High School Seniors during worship last Sunday!  Each of them received a special journal, with a beautifully engraved scripture (Joshua 1:9), and they were prayed over by Pastor Matt. The celebration continued on the patio with refreshments being served by the Children and Family Ministries (CFM) Committee. A special graduation cake was provided by Karen Roswell. It was very inspiring to take a moment to commemorate this important milestone in our young people’s lives. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as they go on to the next chapter in their lives.

Another highlight from Sunday was the GRAND Reopening of our Youth Room. A special thank you goes out to our CFM Elder, Caroline Nick, who spearheaded this effort. Caroline has impeccable taste, no doubt, but most importantly she has a beautiful heart to see the next generation be impacted by God’s love here at Pali Pres. Please be praying for God to prepare the “soil” of the young people in our community. Thank you also to our wonderful maintenance staff, Enrique and Dennis, who worked diligently to help us “unveil” on schedule.

Pastor Grace’s Sabbatical

A message from Pastor Grace:

Bonjour mon ami! C’est Pastor Grâce! Le travail est dur Mai j’apprends beaucoup. I miss you. I have sent some photos for you. I am exhausted from the work, but I am learning so much and I am so thankful to be here. Bisous et prières!

Follow Pastor Grace during her sabbatical journey in France on Instagram.

She will be back with us on June 5th.

Pali Pres Prodigals

Pali Pres Prodigals: 19

Beverly Hills/Brentwood Presbyterian: 9

Our church softball team has officially doubled their win total over last year… to two!

With the stands packed after the annual family picnic and one win under their belt, the Prodigals had some swagger in their step walking into Monday’s game. Yet, with so many past losses, the threat of having their one game winning streak snapped in twain loomed like a dark shadow. Yay, as they walked through the valley of the shadow of defeat, their bats and their gloves comforted them, as their fear quickly galvanized into steely mettle.

Three homeruns in three consecutive innings by Dave Vazquez, Kevin Homsy and James Park ripped the game wide open. Solid fielding when it mattered most kept the opposition at bay. Mental and physical toughness by Ash Park after a nasty finger injury served as inspiration as the Prodigals rallied behind their fallen comrade. Beverly Hills/Brentwood Pres were simply no match against such physical and psychological fortitude.

This was our last game for two weeks due to the upcoming Memorial Day weekend and then a scheduled bye week.

Monday, June 12th - 9pm - Cheviot Hills Rec Center - Field 4

“Baseball is like church. Many attend, few understand.”

-Leo Durocher

May Session Notes from Your Clerk of Session

The Session held its May meeting on May 16th.  Here are some of the highlights of that meeting!  

• Our budget is on track for the year and we continuing to invest some of our funds to take advantage of favorable interest rates.

• Our Employee Handbook has undergone a much-needed revision and will soon be approved.

• As an enhancement to our campus security, we will have a security guard onsite for the balance of the school year and also during summer camp sessions.

• The Sunday Ministries Committee is planning a special worship service to highlight our fabulous musicians on June 4th.  There will be an opportunity to make a special donation to support the music program during the Music Sunday service.

• The Children & Family Ministries Committee has almost finished the refurbishment of our Youth Room.  Stop by and take a look when you have a chance!

The next Session meeting will be June 20th. 

Cynthia Block     

Clerk of Session     

Join us for our Livestream Worship!

Join at 9:50am on Sunday Morning to enjoy the prelude, with worship beginning at 10am.

Sunday Refreshments

Bringing refreshments on Sunday mornings to share with our church is a loving and very important ministry. Thank you to all of you who have been doing this so faithfully. We need folks to sign up for spring. Please contact Refreshment Coordinator Jan Gong.

Thank you to the Children & Family Ministries Committee and the Roswell Family for last week's refreshments! This week's goodies are brought to us by Jan Gong!

Sunday Sanctuary Flowers

A BIG thank you to Sylvia & Jon Boyd for donating last week! This week’s flowers are brought to us by Janice Larson, in memory of Shelby Larsen; with love for Chuck and family.

We invite all of our church members and friends to provide donations for flowers to adorn our sanctuary, along with a special dedication of your choosing. The cost is $75 per week.

Please contact Will at will@palipres.org and the church will order flowers from a local florist to be placed in the chancel on Sunday morning.

Our Deacons will distribute the flowers to one of our members/friends after the service.

Thank you for helping make our sanctuary even more beautiful!

Sunday Sermon Teaser

This coming Sunday is Pentecost, which means we will celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit! Be sure to wear your red and join us!

Give to Pali Pres

Don't forget, you can easily give your tithes and offerings through our website!

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

- Acts 2: 1-4