Thoughts and Musings from My Faith Journey
Tomorrow, we’ll gather for our second Wednesday Evening Service of Prayer and Praise at 6:15. This meditative service only runs about fifteen minutes, but it’s crucial to fulfilling our task of praying for members of the congregation, family and friends. The chapel will be open for individual prayer from 5:15 pm to 6:15 pm and again from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm.
The way orthodoxy synthesizes the New Testament’s complexities has forced churchgoers of every prejudice and persuasion to confront a side of Jesus that cuts against their own assumptions. A rationalist has to confront the supernatural Christ, and a pure mystic the worldly, eat-drink-and-be-merry Jesus, with his wedding feasts and fish fries. A Reaganite conservative has to confront the Jesus who railed against the rich; a post– sexual revolution liberal, the Jesus who forbade divorce. There is something to please almost everyone in the orthodox approach to the gospels, but something to challenge them as well.
— Ross Douthat, Bad Religion
I think this is key not only for how we approach the gospels (there are more than a few things that I wish Jesus had left unsaid) but how we approach our life together. We are all flawed and fallen, a church that doesn’t challenge us is a church that is not being true to the gospel.
The church office will be closed this coming Monday, October 8, 2012 in observance of Columbus Day. (Fun fact: in Uraguay it’s observed as “Day of the Americas.”) Apologies for any inconvenience, we plan to reopen on Tuesday.
The light bulbs in the lobby (more than half of which were burned out), have been replaced with new LED bulbs and I’ve never seen the lobby so well lit. The lobby is now actually suitable for use after dark and on cloudy days.
The board of trustees met on Wednesday, October 3, 2012, for their regular monthly meeting. Two bids for the repair of the sanctuary lighting system were considered. The lower bid, from Mike More Electric, was accepted.
Repairs to the plexiglass cover over the large ocular stained glass window in the sanctuary were discussed. Repairs have already been made to insure that the stained glass is fully protected and thus it was agreed that the matter was not urgent and it was tabled for a later meeting.
A congregational workday was discussed that would include replacing the yellowing ceiling tiles in the Fellowship Hall. The purchase of the tiles was approved, the date of the workday has yet been decided. Those who are interested in volunteering should speak to John or Jenny Collins.
Dave Larimore reported that the benches in the west lot have been set in concrete.
Jenny and I experienced last night’s 15 minute service of Prayer and Praise as a success. However, there are a couple of bugs we’re going to try to squash. The first is that we’ll continue to leave the doors open during the time in which the candles are lit, the background music is playing, and the chapel is open for prayer; but we’ll close them during the organized service. We’ll also post a sign on the main doors reminding people of the need for silence in the lobby (anything said in the lobby can be heard in the chapel even if the doors are closed). We also want to involve anyone who is willing in the service, be it by the reading of scripture or the sharing of a prayer. Anyone else have a suggestion? If so, drop me a line.
This coming Sunday is the first Sunday of the month, Food Pantry/Good Samaritan Sunday, when we collect food stuffs for the pantry and money for the Good Samaritan Fund. Items needed for the food pantry are: green beans, corn, fruit, soup, pork and beans, canned chicken, chicken helper, jelly, rice, dry beans, peanut butter, crackers, cereal, macaroni and cheese. Other food items will be put to good use filling up the remainder of a sack. We’ve been using paper sacks from Braum’s so if you have any extras to donate they would be much appreciated. Donations of personal care items are always helpful.
This Wednesday (October 3, 2012) we’ll begin an experiment with a Wednesday Evening Prayer Service. The chapel will be open from 5:30 to 7:30pm every Wednesday evening during October. Anyone and everyone is welcome to come and go as they please, but there will be a brief, somewhat organized service from approximately 6:15 to 6:30pm. In that fifteen minutes, we will have a call to worship, a scripture reading, a time for sharing joys and concerns, a reading of the prayer list, and a time (around three minutes) of silent prayer and Lord’s Prayer. This service will very much be a work in progress and changes may be made from week to week. If all goes well, it will be continued after October.