Songs and Stories of Solidarity Update: Over $3,000 Raised
In August, our church hosted an intergenerational and interfaith gathering, Songs and Stories of Solidarity, sponsored by the Pomona Valley Spiritual Leaders for Justice. With key leadership from our church community, over 100 people gathered to sing songs of solidarity, hear stories from our immigrant neighbors, and march to downtown La Verne as a justice demonstration.
During the gathering, we collected over $3,000 for the Adelanto Detention Center commissary fund through Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, supporting detainees as they seek to purchase medicine, food, and maintain contact with their friends and family. May we continue to support our neighbors impacted by ICE and hold all those detained in prayers of strength and comfort.
Stay Connected!
Congregational Care Team
Congregational Care Team members continue their visits and caring contacts. Team members are Carolyn Cockrell, Reba Herder, Nancy Sassaman, and Karen Weed. The care team is part of this congregation’s long-standing commitment to nonclergy visitation.
In addition to the congregational care team, every other Sunday mornings, “Faith Partners” are available to listen and pray with persons before, after and during the morning worship service. Current Faith Partners are: Reba Herder, Linda Himes, Lisa Stamatis, Mary Kay Ogden, Debra Jahnke, Beth Snowden-Ifft, Carolyn Cockrell.
Commission News
CLUE Pilgrimage Breakfast
Sunday, October 4
6:30a.m.
The Peace and Justice Commission will host a breakfast Sunday, October 4th at 6:30 am, for faith leaders walking from Adelanto Detention Center to Los Angeles to demand an immediate end to the deplorable conditions and deaths at immigrant detention centers.
The interfaith pilgrimage organized by Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice CLUE, runs from September 29 – October 6.
Learn more about how you can support the pilgrimage or join at: cluejustice.org/pilgrimage. A video invitation to pilgrimagehere: https://www.instagram.com/reels/DdW6kG4MWMa/
Be Our Guest Dinner
Saturday, October 17
Be Our Guest is October 17th. For those who signed up, be on the look out for information in your inbox from the Spiritual Life Commission. For questions, contact Beth Snowden-Ifft.
Alternative Christmas Gift Faire
Sunday, December 6
10:45 a.m.
Fellowship Hall
Give Differently This Season!
Are you tired of the holiday rush and looking for a more meaningful way to give gifts and support worthy charities? Join us for our Alternative Christmas Gift Faire on November 1st!
This unique event changes how we give. Instead of buying traditional, mass-produced items, you can purchase gifts that truly make a world of difference. You can:
- Honor your loved ones by making a donation in their name to vital local and global ministries, such as Heifer Project, Brethren Disaster Ministries, Habitat for Humanity, Church World Service, Inland Valley Hope Partners, and Camp La Verne.
- Select practical, life-changing gifts, such as funding medical supplies, clean water projects, or meals for families in need.
- Purchase beautiful, handmade crafts from local artisans who give 75% of their Gift Faire proceeds to these same ministries.
- Take a name from the Christmas tree for the David and Margaret Home and buy a gift for a foster youth.
We will provide beautiful honor cards for you to tuck into your family members’ stockings to let them know how their gift is changing lives. Come enjoy fellowship and lunch prepared by our youth, and help us transform holiday shopping into a powerful act of hope and compassion!
We’re looking for vendors as well as donated crafts (handmade Christmas ornaments, jewelry, knitted items, pottery, etc.) and baked goods. Email Service Commission Chair Laurie Schreiner if you would like to have a table—or if you know of someone we should reach out to! (laurie.a.schreiner@gmail.com) Start thinking now about how you would like to be involved in this all-church extravaganza!
Spiritual Life-Nametags
You are invited to help build our community by wearing a nametag during and after church. Find the supplies you need to make a re-usable nametag at the Welcome Table in the lobby. You can take it home with you, or leave it at the Welcome Table to pick up next time. If you forget to bring it, make a temporary sticker tag at the Welcome Table.
What else can you find at the Welcome Table? A list of upcoming events. A place to hand in forms. A place to sign up to volunteer. Come check it out!
October Events
October 18
6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Rainbow Room
Join us for pizza and games as we welcome our new 6th graders and start the fall season with some fun!
October 18
10:45a.m.
Fellowship Hall
Join us for our third all-church council meeting of the year immediately following worship. Council meetings are where the business of the church happens, and all are invited to attend.
Please join us for brunch and help shape the future of our beloved community.
Candy Collection
Donate by October 18
The Service Commission is sponsoring community trick-or-treating in La Verne on October 31. Please bring bags of wrapped Halloween candy to the church lobby by October 18th so we can prepare for this event.
October 23-25
Fall Campout
Registration Closes on October 11!
Come spend a weekend with us at Prado Regional Park in Chino, Friday, October 23 through Sunday, October 25! Everyone’s welcome, whether you’re coming solo, with a few friends, or with your whole family. Pitch a tent, bring your RV or trailer (full hookups available), or grab one of the on-site RV rentals if you don’t have your own rig. Stay both nights, or just swing by Saturday for the day.
We’ll spend time together doing crafts, playing games, riding bikes, and exploring the campground, with campfires each night to wind down. Meals are on your own, so bring what you like to eat and cook however you prefer.
Suggested cost: $10/person per night to cover the cost of campsite reservations. Don’t let cost deter you from a weekend of fun; reach out for scholarship information.
Questions? Connect with Jeff Neu: neu.jeffrey@gmail.com
October 25
10:45a.m.
Fellowship Hall
All from our church are welcome to join ULV alumni, friends, and the campus community for brunch after worship. It will be a special time of fellowship and celebration during Homecoming Weekend. Go Leos!
Mark Your Calendar
November is children’s book month!
The Service Commission is collecting new and gently used children’s books to sell at the Alternative Christmas Gift Faire. All books not sold at the Faire will be donated to the church library. Please bring books to the church lobby any Sunday in November.
November 1st
Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF
All kids and kids at heart are invited to come to church dressed in their Halloween costumes and trick-or-treat for UNICEF! Instead of collecting candy, children will be collecting spare change and dollars to donate to UNICEF. All funds donated will help support UNICEF programs in over 150 countries, helping children when and where they need it most
Pacific Southwest District Conference
November 13-14
Journey South Bay Church, Redondo Beach
Registration opens on September 1st for this year’s district conference.
Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.: Ministers & Leaders Event, led by Daniel Topf, PhD, Director of Intercultural Studies at Lancaster Bible College. The workshop will focus on “Following Jesus in an Age of Disruption: Evaluating the Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the Church and Society Leadership”.
Saturday 8:30-noon: Opening worship begins at 8:30 a.m., followed by the business session. At 10:30 a.m., Founa Augustin Badet, Director of Intercultural Ministries for the Church of the Brethren, will be the keynote speaker. Her topic is “Missional Disciple-Making in an Intercultural Church Opening Curiosity, Deepening Belonging, and Becoming the Body of Christ Together”
November 15-29
Angel Tree is here!
Each year we support foster youth at the David and Margaret Home by purchasing Christmas gifts for them. This year we are asking for $25 gift cards for the youth. Each angel on the tree has the first name of a foster youth and the type of gift card they like best. Take an angel off the tree, replace it with a plastic ornament from the basket, and help us decorate the tree! Sign your name on the sign-up sheet by the tree so we’ll know which youth and type of gift card you will bring. Bring the gift cards to the Alternative Christmas Gift Faire on December 6th and put them at the Angel Tree table.
World AIDS Day 2026
Tuesday, December 1, 2026 7:00p.m.
La Verne Church of the Brethren
Join us on Tuesday, December 1 at 7:00 PM as we gather in remembrance, solidarity, and hope for our annual World AIDS Day observance, hosted by Pomona Valley Pride in collaboration with various churches, faith communities, and community organizations.
This meaningful evening will include an interdenominational service, community procession, Presente honoring those we have lost, and a candlelight remembrance, followed by a light reception. Together, we will honor lives lost to HIV/AIDS, stand in solidarity with those living with HIV, and recommit ourselves to ending stigma while advancing education, prevention, care, and compassion.
Together, we remember. Together, we honor. Together, we continue the work.