Dennis Ginoza
Retirement Speech
June 19, 2009 Annual Conference
University of Redlands, California
(Dr. Bill Klements, professor at Claremont School of Theology, chose not
to speak, he just greeted Bishop Swenson, received his pin and sat down.
From the audience there was applause and laughter. The MC, Derek Nakano
said, “Dennis, don’t think you have extra time.” Laughter. When Dennis Ginoza
Took his turn, he began by thanking Dr. Klements for his extra time. It was
humorous moment.)
God is good! Audience responded: “All the time!” Dennis: “All the time!”
Audience responded: “God is good!” Dennis, “Hey, you’re good!”
Bishop Swenson, members of Annual Conference, my
good friends and all who wonder who this character is, and all
good Methodists: This is my 40th consecutive Annual Conference.
Do I hear an Amen? Audience: “Amen!”
One thing I will miss in retirement is greeting the
people every Sunday with Good Morning in different languages.
Help me out folks! Good morning! Buenos Dias! Bon Jour!
Bon journo! Malolele! Chau An! Guten morgen! Kalymera! Salam
Alikim! Ohio goizamas! And Aloha!
38 years. In 38 years I have received insight and guidance from
what people have said. Dwayne Zimmerman said, “One thing you
don’t do your first year in the church: Don’t fire the choir director.”
Lyle Schaller says, “Every new idea is rejected three times.” He
was right! Don Locher said to me, when I was appointed to Reseda,
“Dennis, just love them.” Elton Trueblood: “Be tough with ideas,
but be kind with people.” Yogi Berra: “It ain’t over till it’s over!”
My Old Testament professor at Earlham said there are three things
We must read: the Bible—the good book, the newspaper, and
Shakespeare. Once a Baptist minister said, “The main thing is to
keep the main thing, the main thing.”
A few years ago, someone said, we all have to learn three
Languages: English, Spanish, and computer.” May we have the
video, “sil vou plait.” Please!
Video: images of 38 years: Calexico, Santee, Reseda, Chula
Vista, and Fallbrook. Fallbrook 15 years.
I have here a yo yo. A yo yo is a fundamental teaching tool.
One of the things I will miss is the children’s message. Once
There was a man who got lost in New York City. He stopped his
car to ask for directions. “How do I get to Carnegie Hall.” The
stranger said, ‘Practice, practice, practice!” If you want to get good
at anything, practice, practice, practice.” This is the same with our
faith. In the game of baseball, I learned, you have warm up.
otherwise you’ll mess up your arm. It’s the same with people.
And...every day we must walk with God. (Dennis walks with yo yo).
John Wesley said, “The world is my parish.” Dennis goes around
the world with the yo yo.)
Jesus said: “Go ye into the world and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them.” (Dennis
goes around the world with the yo yo).
This is my wife Sylvia, of 30 years, or was it 37? It
will be 37 years on September 2. Without her, all this
would not be possible. (Applause)
Martin Luther King said, “I have a dream.” I have a
Dream. I have a dream that I will see the glory of God, the
glory promised to us. (Dennis releases his butterfly
Balloon. The Fallbrook members present release ten
balloons in the audience.) Dennis says: I am free at last,
I am free at last!” And all God’s people will say: Amen!
The Fallbrook people echoed, “Aloha!”
(Dennis was selected to pass the legacy of ministry
from the retirees to the new class being ordained in
full connection.”)
Friday, September 4, 2009
First Look At Retirement
FIRST LOOK AT RETIREMENT By Dennis Ginoza
When the word got out that I was retiring from the ministry, I received varied responses: “You’re too young to retire?” “What are your plans?” “Are you going back to Hawaii?” “You deserve it!” The most often asked question was: “What are your plans?”
My quick response was, “First I want to do nothing.” Then I said, “I will be on vacation.”
Retirement was far from my mind five years ago. It seemed just a long way off. I had much to do, my ministry was not done, and there were things I still hoped for to be done in ministry.
A number of years ago, one of our pastors retired and at the Annual Conference, in a video, it showed an image of him in the swimming pool, floating on the water with a cold drink in his hand. The next image showed him and his wife in his car on the road with a sign on the back saying, “Florida, here we come!” Two years later, I was at a Logos conference in Pasadena and he walked into the restroom. I asked him, “What are you doing here?” He said, “I failed retirement.”
As my retirement approached in June, I had a remarkable send off. Our son Jeremy received his medical degree in May, so my wife Sylvia planned my retirement celebration that same weekend so Jeremy and other family members could attend. It was a celebration with many surprises. It was more, “This is your life.” There were video clips of my mother (age 94) and family members sending congratulations, a fashion show, my old high school lettermen jacket worn by a young boy, a Sunday morning skit by our sons Jeremy and Aaron about whether they should get up and go to church—on these I had no clue. Pastors and members from other churches added to the joy. My last Sunday at the Fallbrook Church was also a celebration and much like a graduation.
When I was preparing for my retirement speech at Annual Conference, given just three minutes, lots of thoughts ran through my mind on how I could capture 38 years in the ministry. One morning I woke up, ran through my thoughts, wrote them down and had my speech in hand.
I thought of all the people who affected my life. I decided that I would do something no one had ever done before. One of the things I knew I would miss was giving the children’s message. So I did tricks with my yo yo. Another thought that ran through my mind was Martin Luther King’s speech: he had a dream and he was free at last. This was how I felt—free from the many chores and details of ministry and always being accountable for every task. Not anymore. My closing was releasing a butterfly balloon, as in a resurrection, “I am free at last!” In the audiences were friends from Fallbrook and other churches and they released ten balloons. That too was never done before.
2
In the course of time, as I reflect, I can see myself going through stages, first approaching retirement and engaging in retirement. Upon retirement, the first stage is Moving, relocating from one home to another. That is a major task, intense, frustrating especially when you have to downsize, tiring from moving boxes upon boxes. Moving also includes finding a comfort zone, when you can relax from the labor, though not all the boxes have been opened.
Following the physical move, having served at the Fallbrook United Methodist Church for the last 15 years, I found another stage, Letting Go. Letting go of a people, a church and its ministry, to open the way for the next pastor. This stage is not only physical and behavioral, but it is emotional. It is letting go of a bond cherished, a responsibility very much a part of the person, being a pastor. This letting go however doesn’t mean that many friendships are lost.
There is a stage that follows letting go, actually it is an overlapping stage with letting go. It is a moment of grief, sadness, a feeling a loss. As I said to my wife, “I feel I lost a leg.” In this metaphor, feeling the loss of a leg is just that, a metaphor. In time, one realizes, I did not lose my leg. I still have it. A new metaphor emerges, with that leg, now I am walking a different road.
After the stage of grief, I found myself Re-engaging. You can call it, filling your time, re-directing your life and energies, a kind of re-discovering of self. On the highest level, it came to me in a question: “What do I want my life to be in the next 20 to 25 years? This is the new road I am walking.
In this period of re-engaging, I have not sat still. It is connecting with people with whom I want to spend more time with. It is looking at the next day and month with my wife as to what we can now do, for enjoyment, relaxation, and enrichment. This has a mundane note—establishing our home and refurbishing it . For me, I found this engaging as I spent hours building closet shelves, installing new blinds, fixing and adding sprinklers, planting a flower garden, planting a lemon tree, building a patio roof, restoring old wood and re-painting .
In Re-engaging, as a pastor having served in ministry, it is finding a church home. One feels like a butterfly, visiting churches, churches where we know pastors and learning about what’s out there. But yes, as a United Methodist pastor, I am connecting with a Charge Conference which will be home base.
In Re-engaging, we will travel. Our first trip will take us to Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota, seeing friends, sights, and places we have not been before. Re-engaging includes being a sheriff’s chaplain with the Fallbrook deputies and meeting with chaplains from across San Diego County. In one of my ride alongs, the
3
deputy said to me, we are checking on a “dead body.” We responded to a situation where a man had died in his sleep the night before.
In retirement, as someone said to me, “Now you can do whatever you want to do.” How true that is. I now feel rested, sleeping as I need it, without pushing myself to the brink to complete a task even when I felt exhausted. I have books to read, so enjoyed “Three Cups of Tea,” an idea and approach that can change the world. Duke Snider’s “The Chosen Few,” identifies the top five Dodger players for each position; a reading for pure enjoyment. As long as I can remember, I have watched every Little League World Series Championship game. How about the Blue Bombers from Chula Vista winning the world championship. I share with them the excitement for I hold the memories of my early days I played baseball on Maui. I got to see the San Diego Padres win their game against the Cubs from box seats behind home plate. Thanks to a friend who rebuilds porsches, I did a first, drive a porche around the curves of Fallbrook.
As one author Lynn Grabhorn wrote, “Excuse Me, Your Life Is Waiting.” This defines in many ways, Retirement. For me, it also means, how best can I serve, how best can I live, and how best I can dream dreams and work toward them.
My belief in God remains unfaltered, it’s just a different road. Or might it be, it’s the same Road, it’s just a different wagon that will take me to where I am intended to be.
9/2/09
Fallbrook, California
When the word got out that I was retiring from the ministry, I received varied responses: “You’re too young to retire?” “What are your plans?” “Are you going back to Hawaii?” “You deserve it!” The most often asked question was: “What are your plans?”
My quick response was, “First I want to do nothing.” Then I said, “I will be on vacation.”
Retirement was far from my mind five years ago. It seemed just a long way off. I had much to do, my ministry was not done, and there were things I still hoped for to be done in ministry.
A number of years ago, one of our pastors retired and at the Annual Conference, in a video, it showed an image of him in the swimming pool, floating on the water with a cold drink in his hand. The next image showed him and his wife in his car on the road with a sign on the back saying, “Florida, here we come!” Two years later, I was at a Logos conference in Pasadena and he walked into the restroom. I asked him, “What are you doing here?” He said, “I failed retirement.”
As my retirement approached in June, I had a remarkable send off. Our son Jeremy received his medical degree in May, so my wife Sylvia planned my retirement celebration that same weekend so Jeremy and other family members could attend. It was a celebration with many surprises. It was more, “This is your life.” There were video clips of my mother (age 94) and family members sending congratulations, a fashion show, my old high school lettermen jacket worn by a young boy, a Sunday morning skit by our sons Jeremy and Aaron about whether they should get up and go to church—on these I had no clue. Pastors and members from other churches added to the joy. My last Sunday at the Fallbrook Church was also a celebration and much like a graduation.
When I was preparing for my retirement speech at Annual Conference, given just three minutes, lots of thoughts ran through my mind on how I could capture 38 years in the ministry. One morning I woke up, ran through my thoughts, wrote them down and had my speech in hand.
I thought of all the people who affected my life. I decided that I would do something no one had ever done before. One of the things I knew I would miss was giving the children’s message. So I did tricks with my yo yo. Another thought that ran through my mind was Martin Luther King’s speech: he had a dream and he was free at last. This was how I felt—free from the many chores and details of ministry and always being accountable for every task. Not anymore. My closing was releasing a butterfly balloon, as in a resurrection, “I am free at last!” In the audiences were friends from Fallbrook and other churches and they released ten balloons. That too was never done before.
2
In the course of time, as I reflect, I can see myself going through stages, first approaching retirement and engaging in retirement. Upon retirement, the first stage is Moving, relocating from one home to another. That is a major task, intense, frustrating especially when you have to downsize, tiring from moving boxes upon boxes. Moving also includes finding a comfort zone, when you can relax from the labor, though not all the boxes have been opened.
Following the physical move, having served at the Fallbrook United Methodist Church for the last 15 years, I found another stage, Letting Go. Letting go of a people, a church and its ministry, to open the way for the next pastor. This stage is not only physical and behavioral, but it is emotional. It is letting go of a bond cherished, a responsibility very much a part of the person, being a pastor. This letting go however doesn’t mean that many friendships are lost.
There is a stage that follows letting go, actually it is an overlapping stage with letting go. It is a moment of grief, sadness, a feeling a loss. As I said to my wife, “I feel I lost a leg.” In this metaphor, feeling the loss of a leg is just that, a metaphor. In time, one realizes, I did not lose my leg. I still have it. A new metaphor emerges, with that leg, now I am walking a different road.
After the stage of grief, I found myself Re-engaging. You can call it, filling your time, re-directing your life and energies, a kind of re-discovering of self. On the highest level, it came to me in a question: “What do I want my life to be in the next 20 to 25 years? This is the new road I am walking.
In this period of re-engaging, I have not sat still. It is connecting with people with whom I want to spend more time with. It is looking at the next day and month with my wife as to what we can now do, for enjoyment, relaxation, and enrichment. This has a mundane note—establishing our home and refurbishing it . For me, I found this engaging as I spent hours building closet shelves, installing new blinds, fixing and adding sprinklers, planting a flower garden, planting a lemon tree, building a patio roof, restoring old wood and re-painting .
In Re-engaging, as a pastor having served in ministry, it is finding a church home. One feels like a butterfly, visiting churches, churches where we know pastors and learning about what’s out there. But yes, as a United Methodist pastor, I am connecting with a Charge Conference which will be home base.
In Re-engaging, we will travel. Our first trip will take us to Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota, seeing friends, sights, and places we have not been before. Re-engaging includes being a sheriff’s chaplain with the Fallbrook deputies and meeting with chaplains from across San Diego County. In one of my ride alongs, the
3
deputy said to me, we are checking on a “dead body.” We responded to a situation where a man had died in his sleep the night before.
In retirement, as someone said to me, “Now you can do whatever you want to do.” How true that is. I now feel rested, sleeping as I need it, without pushing myself to the brink to complete a task even when I felt exhausted. I have books to read, so enjoyed “Three Cups of Tea,” an idea and approach that can change the world. Duke Snider’s “The Chosen Few,” identifies the top five Dodger players for each position; a reading for pure enjoyment. As long as I can remember, I have watched every Little League World Series Championship game. How about the Blue Bombers from Chula Vista winning the world championship. I share with them the excitement for I hold the memories of my early days I played baseball on Maui. I got to see the San Diego Padres win their game against the Cubs from box seats behind home plate. Thanks to a friend who rebuilds porsches, I did a first, drive a porche around the curves of Fallbrook.
As one author Lynn Grabhorn wrote, “Excuse Me, Your Life Is Waiting.” This defines in many ways, Retirement. For me, it also means, how best can I serve, how best can I live, and how best I can dream dreams and work toward them.
My belief in God remains unfaltered, it’s just a different road. Or might it be, it’s the same Road, it’s just a different wagon that will take me to where I am intended to be.
9/2/09
Fallbrook, California
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
As I Was Saying
Meditation: “As I Was Saying….”
Psalm 29
June 7, 2009 Dr. Dennis Ginoza
God does exist! Are there any questions?
Woody Allen says: “If God does exist, why doesn’t he
give me some sign—like depositing a million
dollars in my name in a Swiss bank?”
Once there were two men on a cruise ship. The first man
fell overboard. The second man saw all this so he
jumped in the water to save the first man’s life; which
he did. When both men were pulled out of the water
and back on the ship, the second man said, “I want to
know, who pushed me?”
God does exist! Are there any questions?
A few years ago, there was a woman who started to come
to our church. Her name was Mayne New. She was
a retired school teacher. Often, she would say, “I just
love this church.” One day she was driving on Reche
road and she was hit by another car. She had a neck
fracture and eventually we lost her. She had a daughter
in Seattle and a son in Germany. After her memorial
service, he son said to me, “In all the years, I have never
heard my mother talk about a church as she did this
church.” He went on to say, “My family and I would
like to make a substantial gift to this church.” (I thought,
probably maybe $2,000, that would be a substantial gift,
but I wasn’t sure.” He said, “It will about $20,000.”
I’d say: God does exist, wouldn’t you? …And that gift
helped us to purchase and install our video system.
The attributes of God are:
Gratitude, Generosity and Grace.
Today, this is my penultimate sermon. Penultimate means, next
to the last. I can’t believe that my time with you is
coming to an end. But remember, Yogi Berra said,
“It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over.”
I have cried with you, I have laughed with you,
I have struggled with you, and I have walked side by side with you.
In Psalm 29, verse 4, the psalmist says: “The voice of the
Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of God is a quiet voice, The voice of God is a blasting voice,
It will swirl, it will shake, it will thunder, and it will whisper.
The psalmist says, 2
The voice of the Lord flashes forth
flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes
the wilderness;
the lord shakes the wilderness
of Kadesh.
In all of us, there are three ego states: a child, a parent,
and an adult. In us we also have a human nature
and a divine nature. We are here to develop all of these.
When I was working in Honolulu, I saw
a part of me that was political. I was appointed to
the governor’s task force representing Palolo Valley.
I would go the meetings at the state capitol, and I found,
There was in me, another force. As I worked in the
church, I could see that the fundamental principle of
change is not political. But, I might say—the United
States Constitution is a light upon this planet. I have
come to believe, ultimate change takes place in spiritual nature.
This is the Course Jesus has set for the twelve disciples, the
early church, and for us today. This is where many
miss the mark. If there are two people in our history
that exemplify this—they are Albert Schweitzer and
Mother Theresa. The other two I would name are St. Francis
of Assisi and Mahatma Ghandi.
All of you know by now that I use athletic metaphors, life stories,
and then I bring it down the heart. My preaching professor
used to say, “Truth comes through personality.” When I
use life stories, I call them windows. Sermons need windows
otherwise they can be boring. Alan Loy McGinnis
writes about getting the best out of people. Pat Venditte
played for Creighton University. Venditte, a right hand
pitcher struck out the batter. . When the next batter came up,
Venditte switched his glove to the other hand, he had a
Special kind of glove. Now he pitched with his left hand.
He is the only pitcher in NCAA baseball that is ambidexterous..
When Venditte was three years old, his father noticed he could
Pick up the ball with either hand. There is a lesson here:
God is an amazing God. With God, all things are possible..
As I was saying, God does exist! Any questions?
The Bible says, Enoch walked with God, and he was no more.
Genesis 5:21-24
He did his work and he was raised.
Elijah parted the waters of the Jordan, went to the 3
other side and he chariots raised him up.
He did his work and he was raised.
Jesus suffered and died. He was resurrected
and he ascended.
He did his work and he was raised up.
And Jesus said, “Learn from me.”
Saint Frances de Sales says:
You learn to speak by speaking,
To study by studying, To run by running,
To work by working; and just so,
You learn to love by loving. All those who think
To learn in any other way deceive themselves.
In a book entitled, Miracles of Healing written by Brad and
Sherry Steiger, they write about a school of thought
in Hawaii called Huna. Huna is a healing process.
Huna teaches that we have three parts to our soul:
uhane, the weak spirit; unihipili the spirit that hides;
Aumakua, the old spirit, the mature spirit. Even before
Freud and Jung, the Polynesians had identified the three
parts of the mind, the conscious mind, the sub-conscious
mind, and the superconscious mind. Our bodies and minds
are fed by mana, the vital force. Peter calls it The Holy
Spirit. The old, mature spirit in us is the divine part of God
in us. The Aumakua is that which Paul calls the Mind of
Christ. Put on the Mind of Christ, it will bring you well-being.
It will transform this World.
So let me close with these thoughts. In all the years I have lived, I never
thought the day would come when I would be a part
of a mass evacuation. Remember the fires of 2007,
but we survived. God does exist! I want to say:.
thank you for my fifteen years of ministry with you.
I say to you: strive to be best in everything—
God is watching you..
When strangers come to this church, reach out
to them with the spirit of Aloha. Jesus said,
“Love one another as I have loved you.
When your new pastor comes—Brad and PJ Resare—teach
them what Aloha means.
Psalm 29
June 7, 2009 Dr. Dennis Ginoza
God does exist! Are there any questions?
Woody Allen says: “If God does exist, why doesn’t he
give me some sign—like depositing a million
dollars in my name in a Swiss bank?”
Once there were two men on a cruise ship. The first man
fell overboard. The second man saw all this so he
jumped in the water to save the first man’s life; which
he did. When both men were pulled out of the water
and back on the ship, the second man said, “I want to
know, who pushed me?”
God does exist! Are there any questions?
A few years ago, there was a woman who started to come
to our church. Her name was Mayne New. She was
a retired school teacher. Often, she would say, “I just
love this church.” One day she was driving on Reche
road and she was hit by another car. She had a neck
fracture and eventually we lost her. She had a daughter
in Seattle and a son in Germany. After her memorial
service, he son said to me, “In all the years, I have never
heard my mother talk about a church as she did this
church.” He went on to say, “My family and I would
like to make a substantial gift to this church.” (I thought,
probably maybe $2,000, that would be a substantial gift,
but I wasn’t sure.” He said, “It will about $20,000.”
I’d say: God does exist, wouldn’t you? …And that gift
helped us to purchase and install our video system.
The attributes of God are:
Gratitude, Generosity and Grace.
Today, this is my penultimate sermon. Penultimate means, next
to the last. I can’t believe that my time with you is
coming to an end. But remember, Yogi Berra said,
“It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over.”
I have cried with you, I have laughed with you,
I have struggled with you, and I have walked side by side with you.
In Psalm 29, verse 4, the psalmist says: “The voice of the
Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of God is a quiet voice, The voice of God is a blasting voice,
It will swirl, it will shake, it will thunder, and it will whisper.
The psalmist says, 2
The voice of the Lord flashes forth
flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes
the wilderness;
the lord shakes the wilderness
of Kadesh.
In all of us, there are three ego states: a child, a parent,
and an adult. In us we also have a human nature
and a divine nature. We are here to develop all of these.
When I was working in Honolulu, I saw
a part of me that was political. I was appointed to
the governor’s task force representing Palolo Valley.
I would go the meetings at the state capitol, and I found,
There was in me, another force. As I worked in the
church, I could see that the fundamental principle of
change is not political. But, I might say—the United
States Constitution is a light upon this planet. I have
come to believe, ultimate change takes place in spiritual nature.
This is the Course Jesus has set for the twelve disciples, the
early church, and for us today. This is where many
miss the mark. If there are two people in our history
that exemplify this—they are Albert Schweitzer and
Mother Theresa. The other two I would name are St. Francis
of Assisi and Mahatma Ghandi.
All of you know by now that I use athletic metaphors, life stories,
and then I bring it down the heart. My preaching professor
used to say, “Truth comes through personality.” When I
use life stories, I call them windows. Sermons need windows
otherwise they can be boring. Alan Loy McGinnis
writes about getting the best out of people. Pat Venditte
played for Creighton University. Venditte, a right hand
pitcher struck out the batter. . When the next batter came up,
Venditte switched his glove to the other hand, he had a
Special kind of glove. Now he pitched with his left hand.
He is the only pitcher in NCAA baseball that is ambidexterous..
When Venditte was three years old, his father noticed he could
Pick up the ball with either hand. There is a lesson here:
God is an amazing God. With God, all things are possible..
As I was saying, God does exist! Any questions?
The Bible says, Enoch walked with God, and he was no more.
Genesis 5:21-24
He did his work and he was raised.
Elijah parted the waters of the Jordan, went to the 3
other side and he chariots raised him up.
He did his work and he was raised.
Jesus suffered and died. He was resurrected
and he ascended.
He did his work and he was raised up.
And Jesus said, “Learn from me.”
Saint Frances de Sales says:
You learn to speak by speaking,
To study by studying, To run by running,
To work by working; and just so,
You learn to love by loving. All those who think
To learn in any other way deceive themselves.
In a book entitled, Miracles of Healing written by Brad and
Sherry Steiger, they write about a school of thought
in Hawaii called Huna. Huna is a healing process.
Huna teaches that we have three parts to our soul:
uhane, the weak spirit; unihipili the spirit that hides;
Aumakua, the old spirit, the mature spirit. Even before
Freud and Jung, the Polynesians had identified the three
parts of the mind, the conscious mind, the sub-conscious
mind, and the superconscious mind. Our bodies and minds
are fed by mana, the vital force. Peter calls it The Holy
Spirit. The old, mature spirit in us is the divine part of God
in us. The Aumakua is that which Paul calls the Mind of
Christ. Put on the Mind of Christ, it will bring you well-being.
It will transform this World.
So let me close with these thoughts. In all the years I have lived, I never
thought the day would come when I would be a part
of a mass evacuation. Remember the fires of 2007,
but we survived. God does exist! I want to say:.
thank you for my fifteen years of ministry with you.
I say to you: strive to be best in everything—
God is watching you..
When strangers come to this church, reach out
to them with the spirit of Aloha. Jesus said,
“Love one another as I have loved you.
When your new pastor comes—Brad and PJ Resare—teach
them what Aloha means.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Thirty Eight Years
FROM THE PASTOR
“Thirty Eight Years”
In a rural Methodist church on the west side of Maui, a small seed was planted. Every Sunday the church bell would ring calling the people to worship. A young boy’s heart was stirred.
That village was named Puukolii after a flower.
Yes, it was mine. My mother reminded me that at one point she was ill and couldn’t iron my Sunday clothes. I told her, “I’ll iron my own clothes.” I did. That began a journey.
Never in my wildest dream had I thought I would be a pastor. I walked through many thresholds—carpentry, baseball, 4-H, FFA,agricultural training, student teaching, national park ministry, youth work in three different states, Peace Corps, inner city teaching, —which laid many foundations.
In the sum of these experiences, there was an unseen hand guiding me along without my full awareness. I realized in time, God was calling me into the ministry. Along the way, I met people whose faith and knowledge stirred this call. Add to this a dream-encounter with Christ as a child. A personal conversion was another stamp toward this direction.
This call became clear in a collection of experiences, a deep hunger to learn more about the inner spirit and life, the love for serving people, and theological reflection and clarity.
One summer when I was visiting at the Lahaina Methodist Church potluck, Dr. Frank Butterworth had brought a church tour to Maui. He heard there was a young seminarian from Indiana. I met him. He said me, “Dennis, Irene and I want to have lunch with you.” I said, “I can’t, I work at the Maui Hilton.” He said, “We’ll meet you there for lunch. One door opened and another. By February the next year, I had a job at the Palolo United Methodist Church in Honolulu in education and youth and a ministry to low income families.
This provided a laboratory to complete my master’s project from the Earlham School of Religion; the University of Hawaii Research Center provided staff ressource. Pastoral call is a journey of stepping stones. This was another.
Rev. Dale Smith invited me to be on staff at the First United Methodist Church in Honolulu where I served for another two years and here, Sylvia and I were married. I was now a certified Lay Pastor.
The School of Theology at Claremont brought me to California to receive my advanced Doctor of Ministry degree.
Calexico. It’s summer heat was awful, the warmth of the people memorable. I cried when we left. Jeremy’s first birthday was a church affair. I was ordained an elder.
Santee. As a young pastor, I so enjoyed working and helping build a new sanctuary and offices. For two years, almost every Saturday was work party. Santee became a city and I was privileged to give the invocation at the inaugural council meeting. It was a wonderful home for Sylvia, Jeremy and Aaron, and me. Our final departure was riding in a red Cadillac convertible in the Santee Parade as Citizen of the Year. Oh, the memories.
Reseda. A well established church in San Fernando Valley. It had a wonderful choir, great leaders, many teachers and professors willing to serve, and a loving people. We had a good softball team.
Chula Vista. A church in process of building a new complex, it had its challenges. It was short stay.
Fallbrook. What can I say. Fifteen years—you know the story. Many lives touched, a church with expanding mission, a warm hospitable people, a place we have called home. We survived three major fire storms, 2001, 2003, and 2007. Thank you all for your kindness, generosity, and expressions of love.
Retirement awaits me. What does it mean? How do I know? I got some ideas and I am getting more.
I will encounter further the true teachings of Christ. There are still more stepping stones ahead of me.
—Dennis Ginoza
“Thirty Eight Years”
In a rural Methodist church on the west side of Maui, a small seed was planted. Every Sunday the church bell would ring calling the people to worship. A young boy’s heart was stirred.
That village was named Puukolii after a flower.
Yes, it was mine. My mother reminded me that at one point she was ill and couldn’t iron my Sunday clothes. I told her, “I’ll iron my own clothes.” I did. That began a journey.
Never in my wildest dream had I thought I would be a pastor. I walked through many thresholds—carpentry, baseball, 4-H, FFA,agricultural training, student teaching, national park ministry, youth work in three different states, Peace Corps, inner city teaching, —which laid many foundations.
In the sum of these experiences, there was an unseen hand guiding me along without my full awareness. I realized in time, God was calling me into the ministry. Along the way, I met people whose faith and knowledge stirred this call. Add to this a dream-encounter with Christ as a child. A personal conversion was another stamp toward this direction.
This call became clear in a collection of experiences, a deep hunger to learn more about the inner spirit and life, the love for serving people, and theological reflection and clarity.
One summer when I was visiting at the Lahaina Methodist Church potluck, Dr. Frank Butterworth had brought a church tour to Maui. He heard there was a young seminarian from Indiana. I met him. He said me, “Dennis, Irene and I want to have lunch with you.” I said, “I can’t, I work at the Maui Hilton.” He said, “We’ll meet you there for lunch. One door opened and another. By February the next year, I had a job at the Palolo United Methodist Church in Honolulu in education and youth and a ministry to low income families.
This provided a laboratory to complete my master’s project from the Earlham School of Religion; the University of Hawaii Research Center provided staff ressource. Pastoral call is a journey of stepping stones. This was another.
Rev. Dale Smith invited me to be on staff at the First United Methodist Church in Honolulu where I served for another two years and here, Sylvia and I were married. I was now a certified Lay Pastor.
The School of Theology at Claremont brought me to California to receive my advanced Doctor of Ministry degree.
Calexico. It’s summer heat was awful, the warmth of the people memorable. I cried when we left. Jeremy’s first birthday was a church affair. I was ordained an elder.
Santee. As a young pastor, I so enjoyed working and helping build a new sanctuary and offices. For two years, almost every Saturday was work party. Santee became a city and I was privileged to give the invocation at the inaugural council meeting. It was a wonderful home for Sylvia, Jeremy and Aaron, and me. Our final departure was riding in a red Cadillac convertible in the Santee Parade as Citizen of the Year. Oh, the memories.
Reseda. A well established church in San Fernando Valley. It had a wonderful choir, great leaders, many teachers and professors willing to serve, and a loving people. We had a good softball team.
Chula Vista. A church in process of building a new complex, it had its challenges. It was short stay.
Fallbrook. What can I say. Fifteen years—you know the story. Many lives touched, a church with expanding mission, a warm hospitable people, a place we have called home. We survived three major fire storms, 2001, 2003, and 2007. Thank you all for your kindness, generosity, and expressions of love.
Retirement awaits me. What does it mean? How do I know? I got some ideas and I am getting more.
I will encounter further the true teachings of Christ. There are still more stepping stones ahead of me.
—Dennis Ginoza
Insights, Learnings, Tidbits, and More
SERMON: “Insights, Learnings, Tidbits, and More”
Ephesians 1:15-23
May 24, 2009 Dr. Dennis Ginoza
Today I have asked Steve LeFevre to share some of his
thoughts and insights. He is a businessman and a good one.
He is a Christian and a good one. He reads good
Books, he drives fast cars (his wife Ellen keeps him straight),
and he is a Notre Dame fan and that’s okay. He is a graduate
of the University of South Dakota and majored in Jewish
engineering—actually it was business. At age 30 he was
the youngest Dodge dealer in the US. He was a member of
the Dodge Dealer’s Council representing 5 states. His dad
was a dealer of the early cars, DeSoto, Nash, Plymounth,
Studebaker, etc.; lots of them which no longer exist.
Steve LeFevre Presentation
723-5516, 723-4727, 723-0116, 451-8668, 451-0663, 451-1928
728-1472, 728-4038, 728-4248, 728-1191, 728-1689, 728-3979
728-3976, 728-1123, 728-4311, 728-7433…and so on.
A few years ago, Betty Jackson had volunteered to
make calls to people who came to the church
for the first time. So every Sunday after church,
I would call Betty. At first, every time I called
Betty, I had to look up her phone number. So I
decided I just need to remember her number. So
I started, Fallbrook has four prefixes, 723, 728, 731, and 451.
Betty’s number is 728-5210. All right…I repeated
728, 728… not 723 or 731 but 728. 52 that’s
a highway down south. 10 that’s another highway
up north. 728-5210 …that how I started to remember
Betty’s phone number. From that day on, I started
Put people’s phone number in my head.
When Plato was asked by one of his students, how do you
remember all your ideas? He said, “I just walk down
the street and visit my friends.” When Plato visited
one friend, he could recall all his ideas in the Republic.
When he saw another friend, it made him think about
his essay on Timaeus. And so it goes.
2
The mind is a wonderful gift.
The mind is the window to the world.
Not too long ago, there was a story on television about
the oldest working man in the world. At the age of 104 he still goes to work. He drives his car to
his office, sits at his desk, and mails out his
orders. He is a bee keeper. The interviewer said to him,
I understand you have a philosophy of life. He said,
“Yes, I do.” …”What is it?” …..He thinks and thinks
and he says, “I forget.” So the interviewer went on.
“Now do you remember?” He said, “Yes. …Use it or lose it.”
Did you see in the article inSan Diego Union entitled, “Dementia-free
Past 90: Secret May be Bridge.” The point is: use you
mind, keep active, and play bridge. Georgia Scott who
is 99 says, “It’s where our closest friends are.” How
many of you play bridge? How many of you do crossword
puzzles? How many of you speak a second language?
The apostle Paul says, “Put on the mind of Christ.” In Ephesians
He says, “Pray that God of our Lord Jesus Christ will give
you wisdom and revelation.”
Wisdom will tell you what’s important.
Wisdom will tell you, you never stop learning.
Wisdom will tell you, some people you can trust only
sometimes. Some people you cannot
not at all. Some people you can trust most of the time.
When I was a freshman in college, I spent my first summer in Defiance,
Ohio. I was the guest of my good friend, Duane Pickering. I
learned that his parents, Bob and Naomi Pickering, were so
inspired by Elton Trueblood, they left their home in Dayton,
bought a farm, took an old barn and converted that into a retreat
center. It is called the Tri-State Yokefellow house serving Ohio,
Indiana, and Michigan.
*What I learned from that experience is,
if you have just one idea, it can change your life.
Bob Pickering had served as a county
commissioner and he got Duane and me a job with
the Toledo Construction Company and later the La Choy
Food Factory, in Archbold, Ohio.
*What I learned again is that, it’s not
what you know, it is as much, who you know.
*In his book, “A Place to Stand,” Elton 3
writes about Archimedes the Greek mathematician who
invented the lever. He said, “Give me a place to stand and
I will move the world.” Elton Trueblood says, ”The place
to stand is on Jesus Christ our Lord.”
*What I have learned is that first, I must put
my life into the hands of God,
in Jesus’ name.
*When I graduated from college, I decided I wanted
to change the world so I joined the Peace Corps.
I was trained in Texas and in Puerto Rico.
Yes, I did change some lives. I found a leader
to start a Boy Scout troop started. Iworked with
a health inspector eight families to give 50 colognes
(about $7.00 each) and we got a Care Pump over the
open well. Our Peace Corps group got the Vice President of Costa Rica to come out and speak at two of our leadership training seminars. I worked with the teachers of a school, visited the Department of Education and got
got three new classrooms built. We got a lot of volunteers in the construction project. I worked with leaders of several beach communities got help from the government to build a landing strip. That’s another story.
*What I have learned is that, first, I must change myself. That’s why God put me here. Until I change, I cannot change the world.
When I was pastor of the Santee United Methdist Church, there was
a woman named Marty Marshall. She had MS, multiple sclerosis.
Every Sunday her dad would bring her to church. She was cared for at the
County Facility called Edgemoor. I used to take Jeremy and Aaron
with me to visit her. Marty was sharp, witty, and funny. I used to
tell Marty, one day you will understand “why” things happen as
they do. When Jeremy was applying for medical school, he
mentioned that one of the experiences that helped him was his visits
with Marty Marshall. Today, Jeremy is a medical doctor.
*I believe today that in a little boy named Jeremy, a seed was
planted when he visited Marty Marshall.”
Jesus said, the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. It is the
smallest of seeds and it will grow into a tree.
*Thank you Steve LeFevre for planting new seeds of ministry.
*Thank you all for the seeds you are planting today.
Ephesians 1:15-23
May 24, 2009 Dr. Dennis Ginoza
Today I have asked Steve LeFevre to share some of his
thoughts and insights. He is a businessman and a good one.
He is a Christian and a good one. He reads good
Books, he drives fast cars (his wife Ellen keeps him straight),
and he is a Notre Dame fan and that’s okay. He is a graduate
of the University of South Dakota and majored in Jewish
engineering—actually it was business. At age 30 he was
the youngest Dodge dealer in the US. He was a member of
the Dodge Dealer’s Council representing 5 states. His dad
was a dealer of the early cars, DeSoto, Nash, Plymounth,
Studebaker, etc.; lots of them which no longer exist.
Steve LeFevre Presentation
723-5516, 723-4727, 723-0116, 451-8668, 451-0663, 451-1928
728-1472, 728-4038, 728-4248, 728-1191, 728-1689, 728-3979
728-3976, 728-1123, 728-4311, 728-7433…and so on.
A few years ago, Betty Jackson had volunteered to
make calls to people who came to the church
for the first time. So every Sunday after church,
I would call Betty. At first, every time I called
Betty, I had to look up her phone number. So I
decided I just need to remember her number. So
I started, Fallbrook has four prefixes, 723, 728, 731, and 451.
Betty’s number is 728-5210. All right…I repeated
728, 728… not 723 or 731 but 728. 52 that’s
a highway down south. 10 that’s another highway
up north. 728-5210 …that how I started to remember
Betty’s phone number. From that day on, I started
Put people’s phone number in my head.
When Plato was asked by one of his students, how do you
remember all your ideas? He said, “I just walk down
the street and visit my friends.” When Plato visited
one friend, he could recall all his ideas in the Republic.
When he saw another friend, it made him think about
his essay on Timaeus. And so it goes.
2
The mind is a wonderful gift.
The mind is the window to the world.
Not too long ago, there was a story on television about
the oldest working man in the world. At the age of 104 he still goes to work. He drives his car to
his office, sits at his desk, and mails out his
orders. He is a bee keeper. The interviewer said to him,
I understand you have a philosophy of life. He said,
“Yes, I do.” …”What is it?” …..He thinks and thinks
and he says, “I forget.” So the interviewer went on.
“Now do you remember?” He said, “Yes. …Use it or lose it.”
Did you see in the article inSan Diego Union entitled, “Dementia-free
Past 90: Secret May be Bridge.” The point is: use you
mind, keep active, and play bridge. Georgia Scott who
is 99 says, “It’s where our closest friends are.” How
many of you play bridge? How many of you do crossword
puzzles? How many of you speak a second language?
The apostle Paul says, “Put on the mind of Christ.” In Ephesians
He says, “Pray that God of our Lord Jesus Christ will give
you wisdom and revelation.”
Wisdom will tell you what’s important.
Wisdom will tell you, you never stop learning.
Wisdom will tell you, some people you can trust only
sometimes. Some people you cannot
not at all. Some people you can trust most of the time.
When I was a freshman in college, I spent my first summer in Defiance,
Ohio. I was the guest of my good friend, Duane Pickering. I
learned that his parents, Bob and Naomi Pickering, were so
inspired by Elton Trueblood, they left their home in Dayton,
bought a farm, took an old barn and converted that into a retreat
center. It is called the Tri-State Yokefellow house serving Ohio,
Indiana, and Michigan.
*What I learned from that experience is,
if you have just one idea, it can change your life.
Bob Pickering had served as a county
commissioner and he got Duane and me a job with
the Toledo Construction Company and later the La Choy
Food Factory, in Archbold, Ohio.
*What I learned again is that, it’s not
what you know, it is as much, who you know.
*In his book, “A Place to Stand,” Elton 3
writes about Archimedes the Greek mathematician who
invented the lever. He said, “Give me a place to stand and
I will move the world.” Elton Trueblood says, ”The place
to stand is on Jesus Christ our Lord.”
*What I have learned is that first, I must put
my life into the hands of God,
in Jesus’ name.
*When I graduated from college, I decided I wanted
to change the world so I joined the Peace Corps.
I was trained in Texas and in Puerto Rico.
Yes, I did change some lives. I found a leader
to start a Boy Scout troop started. Iworked with
a health inspector eight families to give 50 colognes
(about $7.00 each) and we got a Care Pump over the
open well. Our Peace Corps group got the Vice President of Costa Rica to come out and speak at two of our leadership training seminars. I worked with the teachers of a school, visited the Department of Education and got
got three new classrooms built. We got a lot of volunteers in the construction project. I worked with leaders of several beach communities got help from the government to build a landing strip. That’s another story.
*What I have learned is that, first, I must change myself. That’s why God put me here. Until I change, I cannot change the world.
When I was pastor of the Santee United Methdist Church, there was
a woman named Marty Marshall. She had MS, multiple sclerosis.
Every Sunday her dad would bring her to church. She was cared for at the
County Facility called Edgemoor. I used to take Jeremy and Aaron
with me to visit her. Marty was sharp, witty, and funny. I used to
tell Marty, one day you will understand “why” things happen as
they do. When Jeremy was applying for medical school, he
mentioned that one of the experiences that helped him was his visits
with Marty Marshall. Today, Jeremy is a medical doctor.
*I believe today that in a little boy named Jeremy, a seed was
planted when he visited Marty Marshall.”
Jesus said, the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. It is the
smallest of seeds and it will grow into a tree.
*Thank you Steve LeFevre for planting new seeds of ministry.
*Thank you all for the seeds you are planting today.
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