wednesday communnique
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weekly newsletter, oklahoma, indian nations presbyteryTRANSCRIPT
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QUICK CALENDAR May 11, Council @INP, 10a May 12, NOM @Moore, 1p May 13, CPM @INP, 10a May 18, Con. Cong. @Memorial, 10a May 20, Clergy Lunch @Chisholm Trail, 12noon Jun. 5, INP Stated Mtg @Clinton, Jul. 15 - 16, PW Gathering @OKC - FPC
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Mission Yearbook Prayer Dear God, we pray for the children of Thailand and for us, that you will open your hearts so that all may see the worth in all people. Please be with the workers of Hope Home and others who give themselves so compassionately to care for your children. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen
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May 5, 2010
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Around the Presbytery May is the month for our graduation seniors! First Presbyterian Church in Elk City honored their graduates at the Memorial Scholarship Banquet on April 25. Approximately 100 people enjoyed words of Nancy Jones as well as a delicious dinner prepared by the Women's Special Dinners committee ( headed by Suzanne Walker). Following the banquet,. bibles were presented to graduating seniors Austin Hunter, Samantha Carson and Katelyn McKeever. Recipients of the Vesta Bruce Memorial Scholarship were recognized by Cindy Bruce Briggs. Congratulations to Cezanne Barrios, Mattie Weldon, Jill Brown, Kemmerer and Kyle Brewer. This year's recipients of the church's Memorial Scholarships are Samantha Carson, Kately McKeever, Samare Owsley and Austin Hunter. All the graduates expressed their appreciation for the scholarships and for being a part of their Church family. Job well done graduates and congratulations to your caring church...
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‘The Waters Shall Not Overwhelm You’ From Ice Damage to Restoration By the Rev. Jan Burns-Hintze On January 8, 2010, at Chisholm Trail Presbyterian Church, a sprinkler pipe above the pastor’ desk froze and broke. The pipe ran at about 50 gallons per minute for about 20 hours before it was discovered. When it was discovered, the fire department came and shut off the sprinkler system water. We then were allowed to enter the building with the fire department. The ceilings and walls were collapsing in about 1/3 of the building and the entire building was flooded. We called Blackman-Mooring Restoration Co. to come and begin the process of clean up and drying out. They brought special drying equipment up from Houston, TX. There was a huge generator and machinery that sat in our parking lot. There were large plastic tubes running throughout the building that blew perfectly dry air into the building and brought out the wet air. They also brought a crew into the building to rip out the wet walls and ceilings, the carpets, and the tile floors. All the office furniture, the pastor’ library, and all office equipment were thrown out as well. The process of cleaning out and drying the building took 8 days. The cost of this was approximately $42,000. The next phase of our restoration was to find a General Contractor to oversee the restoration. We finally chose TPC Construction. The general contractor and his sub-contractors began by setting the pastor and the secretary up an office in a back Sunday School room with telephones, doorbells, and internet. The insurance company, Brotherhood Mutual, immediately sent a check so that we could go out and buy new computers and office equipment and set up our new office. Then the hard work of rebuilding walls, putting up ceilings, painting, putting down new carpet, and tile floors began. It took about 14 weeks from what we now call “The Great Flood of 2010” to the time when everything was completed. The cost of rebuilding was approximately $110,000 plus office furniture, office equipment, and the pastor’ library. And during all of this we only missed one Sunday of worship. The building is beautiful and the congregation is proud of it. We will have a building rededication service in the near future. Chisholm Trail Presbyterian Church is still raising funds to renovate some of our outside walls and doors. CTPC appreciates your prayers and help during this time. God has said, “When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you…” We have passed through the waters and we have come out stronger and more faithful than ever. Amen
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10379 May 4, 2010 Tennessee churches inundated by floods Middle Tennessee Presbytery, PDA assessing damage, needs by Janet Tuck Special to Presbyterian News Service A church with a red arched door surrounded by flood waters. Harpeth Presbyterian Church was one of many buildings affected by the floods. Photo by Greg Breetz NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Harpeth Presbyterian Church was crawling with members Monday morning (May 3), cleaning up after the nearby Harpeth River overflowed its banks Saturday and Sunday, flooding this historic church in Brentwood, Tenn. [Read more]
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April 26 CWS rips Arizona immigration legislation Ecumenical humanitarian agency says law is 'reactionary and hateful' by Jerry L. Van Marter Presbyterian News Service NEW YORK — Church World Service (CWS), the ecumenical humanitarian agency that includes the Presbyterian Church (U. S. A.) has joined President Obama in condemning a new Arizona law that instructs police in that state to seek out and arrest illegal immigrants. The new legislation, adopted Friday (April 23), has sparked widespread protests in Arizona. CWS Executive Director John. L. McCullough said in a statement that the enactment of the "Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act" "goes beyond anti-immigrant sentiments and supports racial profiling. This legislation feels reactionary and hateful." [Read more] Law and (Presbyterian) order Retired detective rededicates himself to the office of elder by Emily Enders Odom Associate, Mission Communications GREENSBORO, N.C. — When Nick Shargo retired from law enforcement in 2003, he in no way saw his career as ending. The 30-year veteran of crime lab and detective work instead welcomed this latest life passage as an opportunity to strengthen his gifts as a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) elder. "In law enforcement I always felt that my work experiences were interrelated with my growth in faith and church," said Shargo. "Whether I was taking a class offered by the FBI or called into a tense situation, I know that God was always taking me where He thought I should go. My work and faith experiences informed and enhanced each other." One defining moment in which work and faith intersected for Shargo, altering the course of his life, was when the former detective got a call from his bureau chief, who asked that he assist the SWAT team during a crisis. [Read more] April 27 Missing in action Merritt: to reach young adults, the church must recognize their challenges by Duane Sweep Special to Presbyterian News Service DEERWOOD, Minn. – As church-goers we should "begin to imagine our churches a little differently," said the Rev. Carol Howard Merritt, an author and Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) minister, who spoke April 17 at the Clearwater 2010 conference here. Using the Israelites' time in the wilderness as a metaphor for today's church, Merritt said, "We’re kind of in a wilderness. We're in decline. Everyone knows it." Addressing the conference theme — "Finding Our Way in the Wilderness" — Merritt asked, "What's over the horizon?"
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Speaking of the first congregation she served in Louisiana, Merritt said, "I looked out at my congregation. I started adding 20 years and it didn't look like my congregation was going to be here." As a denomination, Merritt said, we are quick to lament the "missing generation," acknowledging the need to attract young adults and families with young children. That group is missing from churches. Merritt placed the number of "the missing" at 6 million. [Read more] Don Marsh is dead at 86 Church musician was half of Avery and Marsh songwriting duo by Jerry L. Van Marter Presbyterian News Service LOUISVILLE — Donald S. Marsh, 86, who with his companion and collaborator of 50 years Richard Avery provided the soundtrack to a generation of Presbyterian camp- and conference-goers, died at Casa Real Health Center in Santa Fe, N.M. on April 10. For more than 40 years, Marsh served as choirmaster and director of arts for First Presbyterian Church in Port Jervis, N.Y., a small city 80 miles northwest of Manhattan. During that time he collaborated with Avery, the church’s pastor, in the composition of more than 150 published hymns, carols and anthems. He also founded a church-sponsored community theater program called Presby Players and directed 75 major plays and musicals, ranging from ancient Greek drama to Broadway musicals. Beginning with a small songbook called "Hymns Hot and Carols Cool" in 1967, the team of Avery and Marsh wrote songs in a variety of contemporary styles that are now found in hymnals and songbooks around the United States and Europe. They include "We Are the Church," "Every Morning Is Easter Morning" and a joyful calypso version of the Doxology. [Read more] The feeding of 90,000 Sunday worship at the world's largest Presbyterian church Text and photos by Jerry L. Van Marter Presbyterian News Service SEOUL — From the outside, Myung-Sung Church doesn't look any more imposing than any number of "tall-steeple" churches around the world. Perhaps it's the church's location, tucked snugly in a modest neighborhood in high-rise punctuated Seoul. Or the steady stream — but not hectic throng — of worshipers who make their way from the nearby subway station to the front doors of the building. Or the roomy but not overly expansive plaza that fronts the church building. View a slideshow of the church on the website. But one step inside Myung-Sung assures the visitor that this is not just any First Presbyterian Church in Podunk. Thirty-year-old Myung-Sung Church is the largest Presbyterian Church in the world. Ninety-thousand members large. Eight services per Sunday beginning at 5:00 a.m. large. A separate 550-voice choir for each service large. A series of prayer services six mornings a week beginning at 5:00 a.m. that draw 30,000 participants each week large. Seventy pastors on staff, 70 elders on session, 1,200 deacons, 60 full-time overseas missionaries and another 250 part-time and volunteer mission workers large. [Read more] April 28 Christian Films A 60-year survey by Edward McNulty Special to Presbyterian News Service WALTON, Ky. — Letters to God opened April 9. It is a film in which the characters talk in a matter-of-fact way about their Christian faith. Co-directed by David Nixon and Patrick Doughtie, it’s inspired by a true story about a boy and a man, each with serious problems.
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Mr. Nixon was a producer for two other explicitly "Christian" films, Facing the Giant and Fireproof. Both of these earlier low-budget films astounded critics by raking in millions of dollars at the box office, beating out many studio and better-connected independent films during their opening weeks at theaters. Thus, the producers have high hopes for Letters to God. The film centers on Tyler Doherty, an 8-year-old boy who has what might be terminal cancer. He copes with his illness by writing a diary-like series of letters addressed to God. The letters reveal that he is as concerned for his angst-ridden mother and friends as he is for himself. The letters are placed in the Dead Letters section of the town’s post office, eventually landing in the hands of the unbelieving Brady, a mailman with deep troubles, including a bitter divorce and alcohol addiction. What happens to all concerned will evoke many a chuckle and tear — and, the filmmakers hope, some thought on viewers' part about their own relation to God. [Read more] Barnes-Davies wins Angell award for best first book Presbyterian Writers Guild prize goes to environmental stewardship tome By Presbyterian News Service LOUISVILLE — Rebecca Barnes-Davies, a student at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and consultant for environmental and social justice ministries for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), has been named winner of the Presbyterian Writers Guild (PWG) 2010 Angell Award for the best first book by a Presbyterian author. Barnes-Davies will be honored at the PWG luncheon at the upcoming 219th General Assembly in Minneapolis for her book 50 Ways to Help Save the Earth: How You and Your Church Can Help Make a Difference (Westminster John Knox Press. Louisville, KY). The Angell Award, named for longtime Presbyterian writer Jim Angell, is given each Assembly year to the best first book written by a Presbyterian author. Barnes-Davies' book was chosen from among seven entries. Of 50 Ways, Angell Award Chair Nancy Bray of Dallas writes: "While the author acknowledges that there are many more than 50 ways to help creation," she explains that she has chosen 50 to symbolize the Scriptural idea of the fiftieth year as the jubilee year, "a time when justice and Sabbath benefit the whole community." [Read more] Maggie Lauterer is 3rd GA moderator candidate Pastor endorsed by Presbytery of Western North Carolina by Bethany Furkin Presbyterian News Service LOUISVILLE — The latest candidate to stand for moderator of the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) was named yesterday. The Presbytery of Western North Carolina endorsed the Rev. Maggie Palmer Lauterer to stand for moderator at its presbytery meeting. Lauterer is the third candidate for the moderator position, joining the Rev. Jin S. Kim (Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area) and Elder Cynthia Bolbach (National Capital Presbytery). The new moderator will be elected July 3, the first day of the weeklong biennial meeting in Minneapolis. The winner will succeed the Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow, moderator of the 218th GA. Since 1999, Lauterer has served as pastor of First Presbytery Church in Burnsville, N.C. A second-career pastor, Lauterer came to the ministry after working in newspaper, magazine and television journalism. She also made an unsuccessful run for Congress, being the first woman to run for a congressional seat in western North Carolina. [Read more]
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April 29 A different world is possible Accra Confession calls for economic, ecological justice by Bethany Furkin Presbyterian News Service LOUISVILLE — The Accra Confession represents a ministry of ecological and economic justice, with the idea that a different world is possible, said the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. Kirkpatrick spoke at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary's Festival of Theology and Reunion, held April 25-28. WARC adopted the Accra Confession in 2004. It's not a doctrinal confession — it challenges economic doctrines that exclude the poor and vulnerable and deny God’s sovereignty. Kirkpatrick, a former stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)' General Assembly and visiting professor of ecumenical and global ministries at LPTS, called the formation of the confession a "kairos moment" for the ecumenical community. [Read more] Standing where God stands Allan Boesak speaks of history, importance of Belhar Confession by Bethany Furkin Presbyterian News Service LOUISVILLE — The Belhar Confession was formed out of parochial necessity, but its appeal is ecumenical and universal, said Allan Boesak, the opening speaker of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary's April 25-28 . Boesak, a well-known theologian, anti-apartheid activist and political leader in South Africa, spoke about the Belhar Confession's roots, meaning and significance. Adopted by the Dutch Reformed Mission Church in South Africa in 1986, the confession was a response to apartheid in that country and particularly focuses on reconciliation, justice and unity. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is considering adding Belhar to its Book of Confessions as the denomination’s response to ongoing racial prejudice in this country. A task force will recommend to the 219th General Assembly, to be held July 3-10 in Minneapolis, that the study process continue. [Read more] Crossing borders: photo essay A border encounter between Douglas, Arizona and Agua Prieta, Mexico Text and photos by Erin Dunigan Special to Presbyterian News Service DOUGLAS, Ariz. — The April 15-17 "Crossing Borders, Encountering God" conference here — co-sponsored by the Synods of the Sun and Southwest of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Presbyteries of Noroeste and Israel of the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico — brought together close to 200 participants from both churches for worship, workshops, teaching and learning from one another about the complex border relations between the two countries and churches. View a slideshow of the conference on the web. One group of 11 participants engaged in a border encounter between Douglas and Agua Preita on the Mexican side of the border. [Read more]
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
The lack of civil discourse has become a matter for deep concern. Not aweek passes without several references to this on major newsprograms. Following the last General Assembly, one of our commissionersnoted with sadness that rhetoric seemed to have replaced debate anddiscernment - even on the floor of the Assembly. This week's Alban articleis a timely reminder for us all - and I hope that it will challenge us to rethinkthe way we engage one another in discussion.
Shalom!Aaron
Issue: 301 May 3, 2010
THE PROPHET CALLS FOR CIVIL DISCOURSE
by Howard E. Friend, Jr.
For three hundred years, the voice of prophecy had been silent in the land untilJohn appeared, brusque and outlandish, one "crying in the wilderness." How oddthat they came to him in droves, even as he addressed them as a brood of vipers,announcing an axe poised to cut them down at the roots. Even hard truth catchessome inner, discerning ear. They were baptized by the hundreds, Jesus amongthem.
The voice of prophecy may not be totally silent in our time, but where is it beingsounded with vigor and volume, with relentlessness and outrage? Then again, whowould choose the role? In a time of escalating fear and hopelessness, will wenurture a new generation of prophets? Will they be unafraid to stand against theempty promises and illusions of security offered by an ethos of domination andpower? Who will arise to boldly trust in God's promises of fullness and grace andreconciling love?
I remember a workshop participant at a church with a history of tension anddiscord, who even as she said these words laughed at herself, "I wish we could doeverything with graciousness and goodwill like they did in the Bible." The OldTestament narratives are rife with dissension and rebellion, competition andconflict. The positioning and rivalries among the disciples dismayed Jesus. Andvirtually no one signed aboard for a second missionary junket with Paul. It doesn'ttake reading between the lines to see how deep the conflict was between Peterand Paul, though Acts 15 narrates its resolution. Biblical characters, failing to closethe gap between differences, bridged them. The issue is not whether there will bebroad and ardently held differences of opinion, but how those differences will beexpressed. In a time when civility is in collapse, when public discourse is riddled
with innuendo or outright assault, the church can model an alternative. Sometimesit does. Too often it does not.
Continue Reading "The Prophet Calls for Civil Discourse"
Gifts of an Uncommon Life:The Practice of Contemplative Activismby Howard E. Friend, Jr.
This book of ten essays is a breath of fresh air, a source ofinspiration, a wake-up call, and a bold challenge for pastors,congregational leaders, and church members--both active andlapsed--who long for a new perspective, even a touch of creativeirreverence. Howard Friend offers forthright, at times disarming,candor as he shares his personal pilgrimage of activism rooted incontemplation. Drawing on a range of stories from the Bible and
his own lived experiences, Friend invites us to meet real people--pastors, leaders,everyday folks--who dare to dream a new dream, journey toward a far horizon,walk with tireless determination, and press on with awesome hope.
This week only - Save 30% on Gifts of an Uncommon LifeMember discounts do not apply | Valid through May 9, 2010
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Lost in the Middle: Claiming an Inclusive Faith for Christians WhoAre Both Liberal and Evangelical
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Church on the Edge of Somewhere:Ministry, Marginality, and the Future
RAISING THE ROOF
Seminar: May 19 - May 20, 2010
Facilitator: Alice Mann
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COMING SOON The Power of Story to Transform Your Leadership Seminar: July 27 - July 29, 2010 Facilitator: Larry Peers | |
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The Alban Institute | AlbanRoundTable Blog | Congregational Resource Guide
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