FOCUS • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2025
Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church
Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church
Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church
By Lauren Gully – Pastor, Mission & Outreach
Pastoral Staff
Peter Whitelock - Head of Staff
Lauren Gully - Mission & Outreach
Jaime Polson - Care & Executive Leadership
Chris Baldwin - Community & Formation
Jane Doty MacKenzie - Pastor
Ministry Directors
Emily Austin - Children’s Ministry
Bryan Dunnewald - Music
Coleen Moulton - Seedlings Preschool
Cynthia Purvis - Youth
Susan Wentworth - Children’s Ministry
Finance
Suzanne Ferraro
Focus Newsletter
Pamela Moidel - Design
Lexi Morrissey - Editor
2026 Pledge Campaign .... 2
Community............................ 3
Care/Session ....................... 5
Seedlings............................... 6
Youth...................................... 7
Children .................................8
Thursday Fellowship........... 9
Molly Worthen Event......... 10
Special Offering....................11
Mission...................................12
Christmas Concerts.............13
Christmas Worship..............14
CONTENTS
November/December 2025
Submissions & Deadlines
Please send requests for submissions to:
lexi@lopc.org no later than December 1 for the
January/February issue.
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A Global View
This year, we are beginning
something new and deeply
meaningful: our participation
in the International Scholar
program, through which we will
welcome Rev. Joby Joy of India
into our church community.
The Christian faith has always
been global in scope, but today that
reality is becoming more visible than ever. While the
church in North America faces challenges of change
and decline, Christianity is growing rapidly in places
like Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Increasingly, the
thought leaders, theologians, and pastors shaping
the future of our faith will come from those parts
of the world. That is something to celebrate—and
something from which we have much to learn.
In my own continued education over the past
few years, I’ve had the privilege of learning from
several global Christian thinkers. Their insights have
opened my eyes to new ways of reading Scripture
and understanding biblical witness—ways that arise
from different cultural experiences, yet deepen the
meaning of our shared faith. These voices have
reminded me that the gospel is both timeless and
expansive, always finding new expression in every
place it is received.
By welcoming Rev. Joy, we are taking a small but
significant step toward that wider understanding.
My prayer is that this partnership will enrich our
appreciation of the worldwide church and renew
our sense of calling here at home, as we remember
that we belong to one body—joined together in
Christ across every culture and continent.