From Behind the Pulpit

Jenny and I are in Topeka tonight. We worshiped at Grace UMC’s Wednesday Night Gathering and took pictures of their projection system to share when we get back. Tommorrow we’ll be visiting Topeka First UMC to look at and get pictures of their projection system.

My daily devotions sometime include readings from Frederick Buechner’s book, Beyond Words. I thought I would share his thoughts on the incarnation:

“The Word became flesh,” wrote John, “and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth” (John 1.14). That is what incarnation means. It is untheological. It is unsophisticated. It is undignified. But according to Christianity, it is the way things are.

All religions and philosophies that deny the reality or the significance of the material, the fleshly, the earthbound, are themselves denies. Moses at the burning bush was told to take off his shoes because the ground on which he stood was holy ground (Exodus 3:5), and incarnation means that all ground is holy ground because God not only made it but walked on it, ate and slept and worked and died on it. If we are saved anywhere, we are saved here. And what is saved is not some diaphanous distallation of our bodies and our earth, but our bodies and our earth themselves. Jerusalem becomes the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven like a bride adorned for her husband (Revelation 21:2). Our bodies are sown perishable and raised imperishable (1 Corinthians 15:42).

One of the blunders religious people are particularly fond of making is the attempt to be more spiritual than God.

I’ll try to get a copy of Beyond Words for the church library. You can also purchase a copy at Cokesbury.

First UMC participates in the UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) Coffee Program. Fairly traded coffee, cocoa, and hot chocolate from Equal Exchange are now available in the office. They’ve been moved from the entry way because we were having some problems with inventory slippage. The hot chocolate is not as sweet as those of us in the U.S. are used to, but extra sugar and milk take care of it. Follow the link to learn more about the UMCOR Coffee Project.

Next time you’re in the sanctuary, take time to check out our "Children’s Corner." Books and bags filled with paper, pencils, crayons, etc. for our youngest members are available there. They’re updated every week. This is part of our continuing effort to be more welcoming to little ones.

The church website has been redesigned, but it’s very simple and very sparsley populated at this point. Take a look and send  us your suggestions for content. You can follow the link at right.

The warm weather seems to have cut into numbers, but “Sunday Afternoon at the Movies” went smoothly with thirty-six adults and children. Everyone (even the adults) liked the show. Lesson learned: provide each child with only one bean bag.

Good News: the Board of Trustees has ordered new, comfortable chairs for fellowship hall and various classrooms. Bad News: they won’t be here in time for “Sunday Afternoon at the Movies” (see below), so be sure to bring camp chairs, sleeping bags, etc. to get comfortable.

The Parish Visitor will be mailed out today. If you would like to receive it more quickly by email in .pdf format (viewable with the free Adobe Acrobat program) you may sign up by sending an email to johnandjenny@gmail.com.

First United Methodist Church will be hosting a “Sunday Afternoon at the Movies” event this Sunday, March 5, 2006 at 3:00 pm in the Fellowship Hall. Our Movie will be Sheerluck Holmes and the Golden Ruler. It is a Veggie Tales Movie. You’re encouraged to bring camp chairs or a sleeping bag to make yourself comfortable. Drinks and popcorn will be provided.