Month: September 2024

I (John) cannot receive calls or voice messages on my phone because Verizon is experiencing technical difficulties. I am still able to receive texts and emails whenever I am connected to wi-fi. I apologize for any inconvenience, hopefully things will be back up soon.

If you want to watch tonight’s concert with Mark Miller, here’s the link: https://caumc.church/worship/.

if it doesn’t work tonight, we’ll do our best to get the recording up tomorrow.

A reminder that CAUMC will be hosting Mark Miller for a choral worship tomorrow afternoon (Sunday, September 29, 2024), followed by an evening performance at 6:30 p.m. The performance is free, open to the public, and will feature songs of love, compassion, and joy.

From Lorrie Gfellar-Strouts:

Thank you to the 21 people from CAUMC who attended Dementia Friendly Community (DFC) training on June 12, 2024!   DFC is a national effort to mobilize communities that want to be more inclusive and supportive of individuals and families impacted by dementia (or Cognitive Impairment).  The training is one hour and provides us with a brief overview of this issue as well as some specific ideas about how we can be aware and engaged. We have set a goal of training a total of 60 people from our congregation.

The date for our next training has been set for Wednesday, October 9, at 7:00 p.m. (The John Wesley book study will not meet that night.) Please use the link below to sign up for your attendance, since attendance is limited. Or, contact the church office, and we will be happy to get you signed up.

If you have any questions or feedback about DFC, please don’t hesitate to contact Lorrie Gfeller-Strouts.

Sign-up Link: https://bit.ly/3XEkBg1

Anna is still home sick, and so the church office will again be closed this afternoon (September 19, 2024).

September has a fifth Sunday (September 29, 2023), which means we’ll receive a “noisy offering” for Ogden Friendship House of Hope. Don’t worry if you forget your coins; cash and checks are also welcome. ;-)

We’ve just had someone reschedule their Wednesday night meal preparation and we now have an opening on October 9, 2024. Let me know if you are interested.

I know that some of you have concerns about Jesus’s statement that he is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one is saved except through him. I’ve given my take on this concern in sermons in the past. Today, I thought I would share the perspective of Frederick Buechner:

“Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). He didn’t say that any particular ethic, doctrine, or religion was the way, the truth, and the life. He said that he was. He didn’t say that it was by believing or doing anything in particular that you could “come to the Father.” He said that it was only by him—by living, participating in, being caught up by the way of life that he embodied, that was his way.”

“Thus it is possible to be on Christ’s way and with his mark upon you without ever having heard of Christ, and for that reason to be on your way to God though maybe you don’t even believe in God.”

“A Christian is one who is on the way, though not necessarily very far along it, and who has at least some dim and half-baked idea of whom to thank.” [1]

I agree that Christians are not the only ones who have been, are being, and will be saved. I also agree with the idea that we are the ones who know whom to thank.

[1] Frederick Buechner, “Christian,” in Beyond Words: Daily Readings in the ABC’s of Faith (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2004).