We've Moved — Updated

We've moved! We're now at www.revcollins.com. Someone this morning mentioned to me that they had to update their RSS feed. If you're reading this via an RSS reader you'll want to update to our new feed at http://www.revcollins.com/feed/. If you don't know what an RSS reader is, then you have no reason to worry.

We've Moved!

We've Moved! We're now at our new home at www.revcollins.com.

2009 Newsletter Available

The February 2009 edition of The Parish Visitor, the church's newsletter, is available on the downloads page of www.coffeyvillefirstumc.org.

Emergency Assistance Fund

We collected $868.62 for the Emergency Assistance Fund on Christmas Eve. Thanks to everyone who contributed.

Vision Team Meeting Still On

Today's Vision Team meeting is still on.

Shut-In List

We’re trying to compile a comprehensive list of all members of First United Methodist Church who are shut-in. If you know of someone who should be on the list, drop Linda a line at linda@coffeyvillefirstumc.org.

Church Office Open

School's on for today and the church office will be open (although you might give us a little extra time to get in).

Church Office Still Closed Today

The church office is still closed today (Tuesday, January 27, 2009) because of snow and ice (mostly the ice).

Fund Balance Report

We started 2008 with $13,663.49 in the General Operating Fund and ended with $16,876.35. We got there through faithful giving during difficult times. Thanks to you all and may God bless you.

Church Office Closed

The church office is now closed. I sent Linda home early because of the deteriorating conditions of the roads. Remember, if school is canceled or delayed tomorrow, the church office will be closed or delayed.

You 404’d it. Gnarly, dude. — Update

Problem solved. A shout out to Rick Beckman, creator of Thesis Openhook.

Sermon Available for Download

Today's sermon, bulletin, and scripture insert are all available for download on the "Podcasts" page of our website: www.coffeyvillefirstumc.org.

Update: The "Podcasts" page has now been changed to Multi-Media — Podcasts.

Faithful Inclusiveness

According to an article in Sojourners, Rick Warren's prayer was far broader than I realized. Here's an excerpt from the article by Arthur Waskow:

I was especially moved by his speaking, in English, the Jewish “Sh’ma“ about God’s unity and the Muslim “Bismillah Er Rachman Er Rahim” — “In the name of God who is Compassionate and Merciful.” I doubt that most Christians knew what he was doing in either case, but Jews and Muslims did.

Warren didn't water down his own beliefs, but was aware that others might not share them, an important starting position for sharing one's Christian faith. Waskow continues:

And I respected his going out of his way to affirm that he spoke in Jesus’ name not as if Jesus were the self-evidently, universally accepted God Incarnate, but rather explicitly that Jesus is the aspect of God that Warren himself feels called by.

The full article also discusses the great benediction given by Rev. Lowry and notes that it contained lines from "Lift Every Voice and Sing," something I immediately caught, but many on air commentators apparently did not. As I have indicated in an earlier post, I was enthralled with Lowry's benediction, and though I often disagree with Warren, I was impressed with his thoughtful faithfulness in this case.

The full article is at: http://www.sojo.net/blog/godspolitics/2009/01/22/gods-inaugural-spokespersons/.

New Website Up

Looking at that last post, I realize that it may not be particularly obvious that the new website is up.

You 404’d it. Gnarly, dude.

Our redesigned website is now up and running. Unfortunately, if you bookmarked or made a favorite out of the old home page you get an error message that reads as follows:

You 404’d it. Gnarly, dude.

Surfin’ ain’t easy, and right now, you’re lost at sea. No worries, though—simply pick an option from the list below, and you’ll be back out riding the waves of the Internet in no time.

* Hit the “back” button on your browser. It’s perfect for situations like this!
* Head on over to the home page.
* Punt.

The wording of this error page doesn't match the rest of the site and I'm trying to change it. In the meantime just click on the "HOME" tab in the top left hand corner and reset your bookmark or favorite.

Update: My first attempt to change the page made it worse and the second made no discernible difference. For the time being, I'm just going to have to content myself that the page goes with our "Surf's Up" 2008 VBS theme.