As we share Joys and Concerns each Sunday, we also share them each week via Realm in the “Church-Wide Prayer Requests” Group.
Please activate your Realm account and join that Group to participate in sharing our requests with one another.
Please hold in prayer the requests made so far this month by the following:
Karen Perry Pam and Charlie Robinson Jan and Mike Ziegler Donna Myer Bill and Florence Burns Mel Hutzler Holly Rice Hannah Fisher-Klug Wade Ernisse Rachelle Akpanumoh Michelle Perry Nicolle Clark Janet Sherman Family of Marcus Monroe Cheatham and VanDeaver Family
The Journey is a three-day spiritual renewal experience based on the Cursillo tradition.
The Journey is intended to strengthen the local church through the development of Christian disciples and leaders. The Journey experience is a 72-hour short course in Christianity, comprised of talks and activities led by clergy and lay persons. Themes of God’s grace, disciplines of faith, Christian discipleship, and what it means to be the church will be explored. The weekend is wrapped in prayer, meditation, special times of worship and daily celebration of Holy Communion.
This year it will be hosted at Camp Crucis near Grandbury September 29-October 2. Participants are asked to stay the entire time. Scholarships may be available. Spots are almost gone! Early registration is $225 and ends August 15th. After that, registration is $250. Go to https://thenewchurch.com/journey/ for more information.
It’s time to begin regularly fellowshipping together and multiple opportunities will exist. Be watching Realm for a new groups to join to be alerted about opportunities to formally (church game nights and potlucks, etc.) and informally (hikes, bike rides, music events) to gather with one another. For now, mark your calendars and dust off the casserole dishes (or ordering buttons) and join us for our first Fall Potluck after worship on September 11. To sign up to help, contact Holly Rice.
The following week, September 18, our new 55+ Social Group will gather at the church from 4:00-7:00pm to fellowship together over snacks and drinks, and maybe a few games. Come be part of this group hosted by Rev. Bill and Florence Burns.
Last month we had 28 in attendance at our Theology on Tap!! It was a great problem to have difficulty hearing one another. We have secured a quieter space in the Party Room at Bosses Pizza on Loop 337 for our next ToT August 21 from 4:00-7:00pm. Food, drinks, and an air-conditioned and quieter setting will allow us to gather with up to 40 people and still have engaging conversation.
All questions are welcome and last month’s dialogue was profound and inspiring! For the Fall, unless burning questions arise, we will be discussing areas of social justice that fit our beliefs, but we do not always know why or how to articulate our thoughts.
Join us at ToT this Fall as we discuss how to dialogue, how to walk away gracefully from debate, what scripture says, and why our theology supports things like protecting the environment, Black Lives Matter, reproductive freedom, those without shelter, LGBTQ+ persons, and other important causes.
We have had a great response to our need for volunteers to host families at Slumber Falls Camp the week starting 9/11/2022, but there are still a few slots left!
— Set up crew on 9/11/22 from1:00-2:30pm — We need 4-6 people to show up at the camp to make beds, unload the families’ belongings from the trailers and deliver it to the correct cabin, set up common areas as a “dining room” and a “living room,” organize breakfast and lunch supplies.
— Provide Saturday morning breakfast on 9/17/2022 from 8:00-10:00am — We need someone (individual or family) to either bring in breakfast or cook breakfast at the camp for the families. Saturday is the one day of the week the families get to stay at the camp past 7:30am. We usually try to serve them a good breakfast around 9:00 and they head out by 10:00am.
— Clean-up crew on 9/18/2022 8:00-9:00am — Loading families’ belongings into trailer, remove trash and linens from cabins, return common area to original setup and remove all food and trash from kitchen.
–Trailer Driver on 9/18/2022 9:00am — Someone with a vehicle that has a hitch is needed to pull the Family Promise trailer from Slumber Falls Camp to the next church in the rotation and drop it off in their parking lot. If you can help with any of these vital positions, please notify Michelle Perry or use the Sign up Genius link to fill a slot. Fall 2022 Family Promise – Slumber Falls Camp and plan to stay after church August 29 for a brief informational meeting!
I have been a faith-based activist for queer inclusion for a long time. Periodically when some gains are made for inclusion, activism slows, interest lags, and some decide that queer inclusion is total and complete. This happened with marriage equality, which was a wonderful moment but not the end of the need for activism. It has also happened with similar decisions, such as when a church becomes officially Open And Affirming.
For these inclusion “wins” there is certainly a time for joyful celebration and a well-earned rest. After a sabbath of this sort, it’s time to think about what’s next.
In the South Central Conference, an overwhelming majority of SCC congregations (72%) are designated as ONA. This makes my heart and spirit sing, especially at a time like this when right-wing organizations are strategizing to disrupt Pride events and queer lives. And not just disrupt, but some of the organizations are known to be violent. Hundreds of anti-LGBTQ+ bills and policies have been introduced all across the United States. These include trans-phobic intent against our youth and young people, as well as the families who support and love them.
At our SCC Annual Meeting I held a workshop about the Conference becoming Open And Affirming. Those in attendance were interested in moving forward with this designation.
The goal of the SCC being ONA is to publicly and undeniably affirm and celebrate all families and folks — not in spite of who they are but because we are delighted in the diversity of God. It is everyone’s loss when others are marginalized, bullied, and worse.
I believe that the South Central Conference is already ONA. It’s time to stand up for who we are and declare it proudly. This will send a message to our youth and young people who are wondering if the church is on their side. This will let incoming ministers know that they can come to the SCC without having to filter their open and affirming theology or their inclusive and loving theology.
In the next year we want to talk about what it means to be ONA as a conference. We want to talk through any concerns. We also want to lift up the need that LGBTQ+ people have for organizations like ours to stand up and speak out.
Remember, though, for the SCC to become ONA doesn’t mean we will have arrived and be done with the work. It means that we have set ourselves in a position to walk and talk the teachings of Jesus — good news for those hearing bad news, standing in solidarity with those who are being pushed to the sides, freeing prisoners, and speaking truth to power. That’s what ministry is all about.
There are three ways you can help:
You can join the team working on this project by clickinghere and filling out the contact form.
We are looking for videos from people sharing why being ONA has been life-giving and hope-building for them. And why you believe the Conference being ONA is important. Share your story with us.
You can help us spread the word about this project. Talk about it at church. Share the video testimonials, as they become available, on social media. Pass around the articles and education materials we will offer as the year progresses. Organize conversations in your churches and associations.
Let’s do this important work together.
Rev. Mak Kneebone Plymouth United Church, Spring, TX Open and Affirming Coalition: Leadership Team and Past President
The Florida Conference of the UCC, in cooperation with the Southern, Southeast and South Central Conferences along with Justice and Local Church Ministries, invites you to join us for “Just Peace in a Southern Context” on Saturday, Aug. 27, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This virtual event will offer a historical overview, theological grounding, and current examples of why being a Just Peace Church matters today. Guest Speakers will include Rev. Dr. Susan Thistlethwaite, Rev. Geoffrey Black, Sandra Sorensen, and others. The UCC Washington Office and members of the UCC Just Peace Network will share examples of how together we can bring hope for a more just and peaceful tomorrow.
There is no cost to attend the event. However, registration is required. Please register here.
Recently, we hosted a viewing of the PBS Point of View documentary called, On the Divide. It shows the individual and collective tensions around reproductive freedom in the border town of McAllen, Texas. You can still watch this documentary here https://www.pbs.org/pov/watch/onthedivide/video-on-the-divide/
Afterward, those gathered engaged in dialogue about the issues we face. In the midst of this conversation, we discussed not just what to do, which we are all grappling with during these challenging days, but also HOW to BE as we engage.
When we are angry, when we feel helpless, when we grieve, it is tempting to look for blame rather than solutions, especially when answers seem few and we feel powerless to implement change. The tendency can then be to fall victim to overwhelm that leads us to apathy on one extreme or to allow our outrage to boil over into violence, including verbal violence against individuals or groups.
Neither produce good, for us or the broken systems we seek to transform and heal or the justice we long for.
We in the group gathered that evening talked about looking for a third way, a middle path, in which we seek justice while remaining a people of peace and avoiding becoming unjust ourselves in the process. It is not an easy line to find, in our actions or in our hearts.
The prophet Jeremiah is known as the lamenting prophet because he so grieved the state of injustice in the world and the seeming unwillingness of the people of God to repent and follow God’s way. In chapter 6 verse 14, we read these words, “ They have treated the wound of my people carelessly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.”
Jeremiah was speaking of false prophets who pursue peace to such a degree that they ignore injustices. A great and prophetic article about this tendency was written after torch-wielding white supremacists marched in Charlottesville, VA in August of 2017 by American Baptist minister, Rev. Dr. Karyn Carlo. You can read this brief but powerful piece here https://medium.com/christian-citizen/crying-peace-peace-when-there-is-no-peace-ca7d4b3face9.
We who strive to follow the ways of peace and justice often wrestle between the two. Carlo reminds us that to not take sides is to take sides; that to try to see both sides as good ignores the violence being perpetrated by some as others are being oppressed. We are reminded, as well, of Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel’s, words from his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in 1986:
“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must—at that moment—become the center of the universe…Action is the only remedy to indifference: the most insidious danger of all,”
As we individually and collectively seek solutions, as we look for answers to the multiple forms of injustice around us, let us fall neither to despair and inaction nor the verbal spewing that replaces true action. Let us not look simply for persons to blame, but for bold words and wise actions that bring true justice and peace. We need always be hard on systems but gentle with people. Let us not simply trust God to work it all out, but ask God how we can be part of real progress.
Perhaps we consider becoming a Reproductive Freedom Congregation as a way of changing the conversation and providing an alternative Christian voice amidst the cacophony of vitriol in the media and on-line and our social gatherings. I encourage members to learn more about this movement here https://justtx.org/rfc/ and prayerfully ask God if you are being called to participate in transformation by championing Faith Church’s participation.
In chapter 7 verses 5-7 of Jeremiah, the prophet speaks the following words from God:
“For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, then I will dwell with you in this place, in the land that I gave to your ancestors forever and ever.”
I have no clear answers for you about what exactly we should do, but I believe that we should do something before the next crisis and sound bites draw our attention elsewhere, leaving us having done nothing. If this is not the cause we believe God is calling us to, since we cannot and should not try to do everything, that is fine, but let us do something.
We do much at Faith Church to support our neighbors’ experiencing food and housing insecurity, to support our LGBTQ+ siblings, and more. Caring for the environment, seeking justice for immigrants, responding to on-going violence against black and brown lives, supporting women’s reproductive health and freedom, working for peace for those in Ukraine and other war-torn parts of the world, protecting our children and other innocents from gun violence…
The list is long, the needs are many, and we cannot tend to them all, but let us prayerfully consider where God is leading us, calling us, equipping and inspiring us to stand in the gap and bind up the wounds of God’s people, including our own.
As we seek both justice and peace, may God grant us the grace to trust but also to stand, to speak, to follow the example of our radical Savior, Jesus, wherever our God leads us next.
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