According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, Feeding America (a charity previously known as America’s Second Harvest) estimates “that 37 million Americans—or one in eight people—turned to food pantries and soup kitchens during the 2009 recession. It’s a shocking statistic. I’m thankful that we as a church have been able to respond through our own food pantry and our support of Genesis and The Salvation Army. It also brings to mind that this coming Sunday is Food Pantry Sunday, when we focus on restocking our pantry shelves.
An Example of What UMCOR's Been Up To
From United Methodist News Service:
“Good brothers and sisters, thank you so much for this food.”
Louis and Madame Felix, 74 and 76, were the first to receive a white plastic bag containing 18 pounds of rice, three pounds of beans, a quart of cooking oil and a one-pound bag of salt from the United Methodist Committee on Relief Jan. 29.
“We were married here and baptized here,” said Mr. Felix, standing in the yard of Mellier Methodist Church. The church and school were both destroyed in the Jan. 12 earthquake. So were the homes of the people sitting quietly on pews and benches under the shade of trees waiting to get their allotment of food.
Ten church members organized the food distribution and kept order.
Household representatives waited until their names were called to receive food and Aquatab water purification tablets.
Madame Louis Felix, 74, is first in line to receive a food package from UMCOR.
A few days before UMCOR arrived with the food, church leaders canvassed the community and decided which families would receive the distribution. Families were chosen based on the greatest need; many were members of the church but not all.
Stories of humanitarian aid workers being mobbed by frantic crowds were a far cry from the peaceful, respectful distribution handled by church volunteers and UMCOR.
The rest of the story can be found at: www.umc.org
February Newsletter Available Online
The February 2010 edition of The Parish Visitor, the church’s newsletter, is available on the newsletter page of coffeyvillefirstumc.org.
Lenten Conversations
You are invited to bring your lunch and come to the church on Mondays during Lent to discuss the devotional book, “Get Over Yourself; God Is Here”. We will meet in room 102 (right across the hall from the church office) at 12:00 pm, beginning Monday, February 22, 2010. Please feel free to come and join us over your lunch hour, even if you can’t stay very long. Books are available in the church office, with a suggested donation of $12.
1,324
Jenny recently finished filling out the annual end-of-year reports for the annual conference. This year those reports included a number of new questions including the following: “Number of persons served by community ministries for outreach, justice, and mercy.” Our number for that question was 1,324. This is an estimate, but a conservative one. It includes all the kids we gave toothbrushes and/or backpacks to, all the people we helped through the food pantry, Christmas baskets, and lice kits. It is a large number. We know that our membership and attendance are not what they were in the past, we’re concerned about those numbers and spend quite a bit of time thinking about them, but we want to celebrate this number. It’s a large number, it’s an impressive number, it’s a number that indicates that the Holy Spirit is active and at work in our church. And the movement of the Holy Spirit is always cause for celebration.
Possible Ash Wednesday Service
Haiti Relief Update
So far we’ve received 81 health kits and $1391.00 for Haiti earthquake relief. What a great response. Thanks to all who contributed.
Get Over Yourself; God's Here! — Updated
I’ve been wanting our congregation to share a set of common lenten devotions, but I’ve never been able to find just the right book. Now, I think I may have found the right book, though what can only be described as divine providence. The book is by Kate Moorehead and is titled Get Over Yourself; God’s Here, which is actually a pretty good alternative translation of “The kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the gospel.” From what I’ve read so far, Kate Moorehead is dealing with serious and weighty theological issues in a very approachable manner that combines wit, wisdom and integrity. I think the book has a lot of promise, but I would like a second, third, fourth, etc opinion. Would you be willing to take a look at some sample pages and let me know what you think at john@revcollins.com?
Also the book has a picture of an ostrich on the cover and you just can’t beat that.
Update: We’ve ordered and received copies of the book which are available for a suggested donation of $12 each. We want the book to be available to everyone regardless of ability to pay so let us know if $12 is more than you can afford.
Home Sick
I stayed home yesterday because I was sick. I’m still sick. I’m still at home.