Month: April 2010

Posted on

Voice of the Day: Dorothy Day

As is so often the case this is via Sojourners:

We need always to be thinking and writing about [poverty], for if we are not among its victims its reality fades from us.
—Dorothy Day, from her book, Loaves and Fishes

I find myself often thinking or writing about poverty in part because we have so many who come to the church office seeking assistance. The reality of poverty would fade from me if it were not continuously forced upon me simply because I don’t want to know about it. I do not want the disruption my Christian duty to the poor imposes upon me. The truth is that even if the person in front of me is “undeserving” of my help, then I have a duty to introduce to the truth of Jesus Christ and help them get straightened out to a place where they are “deserving.” So far from having no responsibility to the “undeserving” I have an even greater responsibility.

Posted on

Next Sunday's Sermon

John Wesley preaching John Wesley preaching at a meeting house in Nottingham, England, in 1747. Note that his listeners are separated by gender which was customary at the time.

This coming Sunday, I plan to preach on the lectionary readings from both John (13.31-35) and Acts (11.1-18). In particular I’ll be focusing on John 13.34-35:

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (NRSV)

The difficulty in this passage that I’ll be addressing the tendency of congregations to pick and choose who we will love and who we will not by welcoming and associating with only like-minded  individuals (theologically, politically, demographically, etc.). We prefer to associate with like-minded people because they are easier for us to love. This does great harm to the diversity necessary for a congregation (or a denomination) to truly be the body of Christ—instead a congregation being made up of eyes, ears, feet, hands, etc. we end up with one congregation made up almost entirely of eyes, one almost entirely of ears, etc.

Posted on

Vision Team — Simply Christian

The Vision Team is reading Simply Christian by N. T. Wright for a theological/devotional phase of our time together. Since not everyone on the team has received a copy yet, we’ll put off any any reading assignments until the first meeting in May. It’s a great book that I would recommend to anyone.  There will be a copy available in the church library for anyone who wants to read it.

Posted on

Church Dinner a Success

Everyone had a good time at the church dinner after the 10:50 worship service today. The fellowship was great. Thanks to everyone who helped with food preparation and clean up.

Posted on

Church Dinner Tomorrow

We’re having a free, all-church dinner tomorrow after the 10:50 service because of the amount of food left over after today’s funeral dinner. Come and get it.

Posted on

'Queen Mother' of Civil Rights Movement Dies

From United Methodist News Service:

When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his historic “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963, Dorothy Height was the only woman, besides Mrs. King, invited onto the platform.

When Barack Obama was sworn in as the nation’s first African-American president 46 years later, she was invited onto the platform once again.

“This is real recognition that civil rights was not just what Dr. King dreamed,” she told The New York Times about Obama’s inauguration. “But it took a lot of people a lot of work to make this happen, and they feel part of it.”

Height, a United Methodist who worked tirelessly on behalf of civil rights and equality for women, was one of those people. She died April 20 at Howard University Hospital in Washington at the age of 98.

The whole article is available at umc.org.

Posted on

$311 for Nothing But Nets — Updated

We received $300 in special offerings for Nothing But Nets yesterday. In addition the Nurture Committee decided to make Nothing But Nets the VBS mission project.

Update of April 23, 2010: That amount has now risen to $311, enough for 31 nets.

Posted on

Grace Park Slideshow

Here are some more pictures from our Change the World workday at Grace Park this past Saturday (April 17, 2010). Many were taken by Elizabeth Collins.

Posted on

United Methodists in Grace Park — Updated

Dave Larimore, standing with paint scraper in hand, has apparently not noticed the warning on the ladder that reads: "Do not stand at or above this level."

We had eleven thirteen people at Grace Park this past Saturday (April 17, 2010). All the equipment was thoroughly scraped and a first coat of paint put down. It looks a great deal better already.

Jan Hester was kind enough to hold the trash bag while I shoveled out some of the curbs and it was interesting to see that after I had done some, one person living next to the park came out and cleaned the curb in front of their house. This kind of work can be contagious.

The first job given to humanity, a task given before the fall from grace into sin, was to tend to God’s good creation. Both the volunteers at Grace Park and the volunteers taking recycling materials up to Independence this past Saturday were doing just that. Thank you all.