Month: May 2023

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Gender-Inclusive Bathroom Signage

From Karen Ice, chair of the board of trustees:

We replaced the signs for our two single-stall bathrooms with new “All-Gender Restroom” signs. CAUMC’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously to make this change to offer a secure bathroom option for our transgender and nonbinary members and visitors. CAUMC’s Statement of Guiding Values calls us to treat others with dignity and compassion, and we honor this commitment by ensuring that our facilities accommodate all who enter and that our signage reflects our desire to welcome and support everyone. Signs within these restrooms explain the need for all-gender bathrooms:

For many transgender people and others who don’t conform to societal gender norms, using a public restroom is a daily struggle. Trans, nonbinary, Intersex, and genderqueer people might be harassed or even physically assaulted in a single gender restroom if they are assumed to be in the wrong place. Jesus wouldn’t want that.

As a practical matter, the new signs are also a response to the recently enacted Kansas law requiring people to use bathrooms that correspond to their gender assigned at birth.  They will provide our members and visitors with a clearly marked alternative to multiple-stall bathrooms restricted by gender, and they will allow us all to avoid the awkward questions and ID checks that the law may impose . You are welcome to contact me at 847-682-5910 or karenEice@hotmail.com or to approach Pastor John with questions or concerns.

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Donations from Dillons and HyVee

From Gary Beach, our church treasurer:

Did you know that both Dillons and HyVee provide charitable donations to our church. We earn this in the following ways.

The church office has $100 gift cards to HyVee that we are able to purchase at a 6% discount.. If you purchase one or more cards from Anna in the office we, in effect, make 6% on every card you buy.

If you shop at Dillons and use a Dillons Plus card you can designate College Ave UMC to be the recipient of a rebate on each purchase you make. To accomplish that go to your Dillons Plus app or account online and find the “Rewards” menu. If you click on that you find two choices, Fuel Points and Community Rewards. Choose Community Rewards and then you can select College Avenue United Methodist Church to be the recipient of rebates on your purchases.

This past week we received a check from Dillons for over $300 for the first quarter of the year. You can help us add to that total by signing up.

Each year the Church Council designates a committee or organization within the church to receive each months rebates from both HyVee and Dillons.

We appreciate your support.

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Voices: Overcoming Our Fears

I found a keen insight by Richard Boyce while researching my sermon for this coming Sunday. It won’t make it into the sermon, but I wanted to share it here. It’s a commentary on John 14:1-7: “The constant move of Jesus in John is to recognize our fears regarding the future, then ask us to overcome those [fears] by abiding in Jesus’ presence with us now.” [1]

It’s an unsettling time for our country and our denomination (our local church seems to be doing just fine). But, moving forward, I’m going to try to abide in Jesus so that my fears might fall by the wayside.

[1] Richard N. Boyce, “John 14:1-7, Theological Perspective,” in Feasting on the Gospels: John, First Edition, vol. 2 (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015).

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Voices: The Gospel Itself

Another important point from Allister McGrath:

Christianity is not just about the historical fact that Jesus was crucified; it is about the astonishing and thrilling truth that he died in order that we might be forgiven. Paul makes a clear distinction between the event of the death of Christ and the significance of this event. That Christ died is a simple matter of history; that Christ died for our sins is the gospel itself.

[1] Allister McGrath, I Believe: Exploring the Apostles’ Creed (Downers Grove, Illinois, 1997), Kindle, 59.

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KSU Housing for $500 a Semester

From K-State Wesley:

The Wesley House is a United Methodist dorm at Kansas State University. To repopulate the dorm after covid, we have reduced our housing rates for the 23-24 school year, down from $2600 to $2000 per semester. In addition, Wesley is offering 10 Wesley Ice Fellowships to United Methodist students. These fellowships are for $1500 per semester, which means the first 10 United Methodist students to apply can live at Wesley for $500 a semester! For more information, visit Kstatewesley.com or send an email to kstatewesley@gmail.com.

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Voices: He Descended to the Dead

“He descended to the dead.” We say those words almost every Sunday as part of The Apostles’ Creed, but what do they mean? My explanation has always been that they signify that Jesus was really dead. But now you don’t have to take my word for it. Here’s Oxford scholar Allister McGrath in his book I Believe: Exploring the Apostles’ Creed:

“He descended to the dead.” What does this mean? It is a statement of the belief that Jesus really did die. For the New Testament writers, Christ was not raised “from death” (an abstract idea) but “from the dead.” . . . The Greek term literally means “out of those who are dead.” In other words, Jesus shared the fate of all those who have died. . . . Jesus really was human like us. His divinity does not compromise his humanity. Being God incarnate did not mean he was spared from tasting death. He did not merely seem to die; he really did die and joined those who had died before him. [1]

He descended to the dead. Jesus really did die, but, of course, that was not the end of the story.

[1] Allister McGrath, I Believe: Exploring the Apostles’ Creed (Downers Grove, Illinois, 1997), Kindle, 61.