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

December 29, 2023

Dear Pali Pres Family,

As we settle into this quiet and calm space between Christmas and New Year’s Day, I invite us all to share in a time of reflection. I encourage you to take the time to look back on these past few weeks and notice all the ways God was active in your life, perhaps opening your eyes (or heart) to something new. Take the time to look back even further, through all of 2023, and see if you can recognize the Holy Spirit in your life at times and in places that you could not see previously. What has God taught you this past year? In what ways has God blessed you and even challenged you to lean more on him?

As Paul writes in Philippians 4:19, “God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” As we say “goodbye” to 2023 and “hello” to 2024, it is a good and appropriate time for all of us to take stock of how God has supplied our every need. This is a wonderful week to spend some time acknowledging the faithfulness God has shown us in our lives.

As you will see, this week’s newsletter is a bit shorter than normal. I’m delighted that many of our church staff members are able to take some much-deserved vacation time this week to spend with their families. We have an incredible, hard-working staff here at Pali Pres! Rest assured we will be back with a full News & Notes next week to kick off what is sure to be a year full of blessings for our church!

Happy New Year!

Pastor Matt

Is Your 2023 Pledge Complete?

As we close out the year, every effort to complete your 2023 pledge is greatly appreciated, as are any over-and-above gifts you may be able to offer Pali Pres. You can easily give through our website at this link. Thanks to all whose generous gift made possible a wonderful year of ministry!

Quarterly Giving Statements

If you’d be interested in receiving your Quarterly Giving Statement a little earlier while saving the church postage and handling, the option of receiving quarterly statements by e-mail rather than by regular mail will be available in 2024! All you need to do to change delivery from mail to e-mail is by sending an e-mail request to our Accounts Coordinator, Natasha Perez.

Mission & Outreach End of Year Report

Every year our church family dedicates 10% of its tithes and offerings to mission work. It is disbursed to a variety of local, domestic or international charities, meeting either the immediate or long-term needs of thousands of individuals and families who have been impacted by severe weather, catastrophes, violence, famine or just bad luck. We also jump in by providing hands-on assistance in many cases. To see a complete list of our charitable activities in 2023, please click here.

Our dedicated Mission Committee members have a heart for helping others and are responsible for researching, praying for and voting on how best to allocate the funding and practical support. Each committee member became the point person for at least one of the agreed upon charities.

If you have a heart for “Mission”, be sure to join the Pali Pres Mission Committee in 2024, which meets monthly.

Many thanks to our Mission Committee members for their diligent and faithful service in 2023: Lyla Corrales, Jan Gong, Nina Kidd, Margaret Knowlton, Catherine Nadel, John Prough, and David Vazquez.

With gratitude,

Nancy Gillette, Elder

Missions Committee Chair 2023

Helping Those In Need

Thank you so much to our wonderful church family who provided much-needed items to less fortunate families this Christmas season!

We delivered baby wipes to the asylum family that is staying at Emmanuel Presbyterian Church, and non-perishable food (collected at our Church Christmas Dinner) for those who are unhoused and are in need.

Join us for our Livestream Worship!

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

There is no livestream this week.

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. Please contact Refreshment Coordinator Jan Gong to sign up to serve.

Thank you to the Nick & Park Families for last week's refreshments! This week's goodies are brought to us by Dianne Jerome & Beverly Keese!

Sunday Sanctuary Flowers

Thank you to the Larsen Family for providing last week’s flowers! This week’s flowers are brought to us by Joanna Darvish, in honor of the 2023 Deacon class for their faithful service and dedication to the care of our church community.

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 Saunders 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 Sunday we will continue celebrating the birth of Christ as we also look forward to 2024. Be sure to join us in worship (and remember, there is no livestream this Sunday only).

Give to Pali Pres

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

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.

-Isaiah 43: 18-19