Month: February 2010

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Lenten Luncheon Schedule

The Coffeyville Ministerial Alliance will be hosting four Lenten Luncheons this year at First United Methodist Church in the Fellowship Hall. Doors will open at 11:30 am and the Luncheon proper will start at 12:00 pm. The schedule is as follows:

Wednesday, March 3, 2010: Diane Massey of First Presbyterian will be preaching, Katherine Riley of First Christian will be providing special music and First Christian will be providing the meal.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010: Lee Passwater of Trinity UMC will be preaching, Mike Clark of First Southern Baptist will be providing special music and First United Methodist Women will be providing the meal.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010: Jerry Adinolfi of St. Paul’s Episcopal will be preaching, Gerald Morris of Grace Fellowship will be providing special music and Grace Fellowship will be providing the meal.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010: Mark Wilson of First Church of God will be preaching, Linda Beever of First Church of God will be providing special music and First Baptist will be providing the meal.


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HIPAA Rules and Hospital Visitation

Coffeyville Regional Medical Center has tightened enforcement of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) rules for privacy. When checking at the hospital, Jenny and I now only receive a list of people who have indicated that they are Methodist when they were admitted. In our experience the list is not always complete. If you are admitted to the hospital the only truly reliable way to let us know that you are there is to have someone contact us and let us know.

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Kitchen Clutter

We’re getting ready for Lenten Luncheons in March but there is a lot of clutter in the kitchen and a lot of left over food in the refrigerators. We need to tidy up. If you have something personal in the kitchen that might be accidentally thrown out please pick it up (Non-perishables will be put in a box and kept for six months). If you have food in the refrigerator that needs to be kept, please mark it as such (I’ll leave sticky notes in the kitchen for this purpose).

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Voice of the Day: Bob Sabath

Via Sojourners:

“Not only is the Bible extensive in its teaching on wealth and poverty, but it is uncomfortably clear and plain. There is not the ambiguity and complexity that one finds in some other subjects, as in the ‘tension’ and dynamic balance of apparent opposites that one finds in such doctrines as the New Testament view of the state. The Bible is clearly and emphatically on the side of the poor.”

— Bob Sabath, in a 1974 article for Sojourners.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about our social safety net and about the way that many “abuse” the system. And I can’t get away from the idea that our social safety net is designed to be the least we can do at the lowest possible cost. To create a system that puts people to work in exchange for what they receive, to nurture them and hold them accountable for growth, to help them learn job skills and personal responsibility, to work for justice so that all employment is compensated by a living wage, all these things would require a much greater commitment on our part (as individuals, as communities, and as a country) than what we currently do. It is far easier to stick to our current band-aid system and complain when people “abuse” it then to truly help them. I remember a line from a movie or TV show: “No it’s literally the least I can do.” Our current system is literally the least we can do, it is not what God calls us to do.

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Bring Your Lunch

In case this hasn’t already been made clear you are more than welcome, indeed encouraged to bring your lunch to the Lenten conversation today (Monday, February 22, 2010) from 12 to 1 pm. You’re also welcome to arrive late and leave early, depending on your lunch hour.

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The Covenant is Cut, the Die is Cast

John Wesley preaching John Wesley preaching at a meeting house in Nottingham, England, in 1747. His hearers are separated by gender which was customary at the time.

I’ll be preaching on Genesis 15.1-12, 17-18 this coming Sunday. My working sermon title is “The Covenant is Cut, the Die is Cast.” Thanks to providence this text is one that plays a central role in the book Justification: God’s Plan & Paul’s Vision by N. T. Wright that my theological reading group is discussing this Wednesday.

Please note that even though the covenant is cut and the die is cast neither the scripture text nor sermon title are set in stone.

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Lenten Lunches Scheduled

The Worship Committee for the Coffeyville Ministerial Alliance has scheduled four “Lenten Lunches” this year. We’ll be hosting all four in our fellowship hall. The lunches will begin on Wednesday, March 3 and continue every Wednesday through March 24. Our United Methodist Women will be providing the meal on the 10th.

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2009 Church Conference Packet Online

The 2009 Church Conference Packet (containing information for 2010), including the report of the Lay Leadership Committee (committee members and church officers), pastor’s compensation figures, minutes of the 2009 Church Conference and fund balance report is now available on the downloads page of  church website.

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Out of Books

We ran out of copies of Get Over Yourself; God’s Here! today. But we still have sample pages available which will carry one through the book until this Saturday and more copies can be ordered. Be sure and let us know if you would like to order one.

Last night at the pancake feed at the Episcopal Church, I mentioned to Father Jerry Adinolfi that we were reading this book for Lent and he tolds me that Kate Moorehead (the author) is a friend of his.