Healdsburg Community Church was creative a second year in a row with its Vacation Bible School July 10-14 -- attracting 115 children from churches throughout the city from kindergarten through sixth grade singing, playing, and worshiping with 55 adult volunteers. Four teens presented a skit each morning to illustrate the theme of the New Testament's love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13. Oddly enough, perhaps, Healdsburg used a shipwreck motif to drive home the point of finding God's great treasure. Decorations of a tall ship and a rowboat filled the vision of children entering the doors, as suggested in a Gospel Light program called "SonTreasure Island." Classrooms had motifs like Coral Reef, Blue Lagoon, Caribbean Cove, Banana Beach, and Dragonfly. There was a Prayer Pirate, who received prayer request on parrot paper. Children were invited to bring a can of food and a quarter each day -- the can going to the Healdsburg Food Pantry, and the quarter to the Healdsburg church's mission project this year in Costa Rica that provides indiginous people with medicine, books, school materials, and Bibles. Roxanne Lemereis, Healdsburg's minister of Christian formation, directed VBS again this year, playing an admiral each day. She said it takes five months to prepare properly. Last year Healdsburg hosted a VBS with an African safari theme...

The Rev. John Oda of Pine UMC in San Francisco was one of three deans August 6-12 at Asian American Summer Camp (along with the Rev. Michael Yoshii of Buena Vista UMC in Alameda and the Rev. Derek Nakano of Faith UMC in Torrance). The 30-year-old camp, sponsored by the Japanese American UMC Caucus, is for senior high school students -- mostly United Methodists, but open to all demonminations -- meeting at Camp Cazadero northwest of Santa Rosa. The deans preached, celebrated community, and generally provided clergy oversight and pastoral leadership... Sebastopol UMC has pledged to raise $5,000 next year to help Habitat for Humanity build a Faith House in Sebastopol. A Faith House is one in which at least $60,000 for construction costs (of an estimated $175,000 total) comes from area churches. Sebastopol UMC plans to raise the money as part of its $35,000 campaign to renovate its building. "Many congregations decide, when they raise capital funds," said the Rev. Judith Stone, "to add a tithe onto the total to help others as they help themselves." So the fundraising goal is now $40,000...