Big Names in Katrina Relief

According to the July 10, 2006 issue of Newsweek magazine (page 71), the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) was number six of a list titled "The Big Names in Katrina Relief." UMCOR raised $64.5 million.

VBS Pictures

The bulletin board on the way down the steps to the fellowship hall is now the proud home of VBS pictures. Stop by and take a look.

Posted by John

New Life

At right is a close up picture of the smallest redbud tree we planted this spring. You can see one brown leaf, but there were many. Indeed it lost all its leaves. But now new ones can be seen coming in. Take a look and remember that new life is all around us, if only we will look closely enough.

Posted by John

Greetings

We got word today from someone who recently visited Olympia, Washington, that the United Methodists there send greetings to those in Coffeyville, Kansas.

Posted by John

The Star Trek Liturgy

The official name for "The Star Trek Liturgy" that we'll be using as the Great Thanksgiving this Wednesday is "Eucharistic Prayer C" from The Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

Posted by John

The Gospel of Jesus

Garrison Keillor (of The Prairie Home Companion) has narrated a harmony of the gospels from, for the most part, the New Living Translation. While I've always been (and remain) cautious about harmonizing the gospels and the New Living Translation, this is a great way to hear the story of Jesus again and anew. It is also the way members of the early church learned the gospel stories, not from reading, but from hearing. Jenny and I have a copy we're willing to loan. Let us know if you are interested.

Posted by John

T-Shirt Reminder

Just a friendly reminder that if you ordered a First UMC t-shirt, but
have not yet picked it up, you need to do so as soon as possible.

Posted by John

Sunday Afternoon at the Movies, Part 3

I just received a confirmation email from Big Idea (the company that produces VeggieTales). They're confirming our order for the next "Family Fun Event" centered around their new video, LarryBoy and the Bad Apple. As always we'll be looking for volunteers.

Posted by John

DaVinci Code Cartoon

If you want a good laugh, check out this "Close to Home" cartoon about the DaVinci Code:
http://www.uclick.com/client/wpc/cl/2006/06/23/index.html.

Posted by John

Front Door

No, we didn't suffer an attempted break-in. When the lawn people were weed eating, they flung a rock into it and it shattered.

Posted by John

Habitat for Humanity Fall Softball Tournament

Habitat for Humanity of Montgomery County is hosting a "Coed Church Teams Slow-Pitch Softball Tournament" on Saturday, September 9, 2006. I don't play softball, but I'm posting this information for anyone who does.

Posted by John

Pioneer Dinner

Jenny, Elizabeth and I helped serve the Pioneer Dinner today. The food was excellent and the entertainment by Cindy Powell was great. Thanks to everyone who helped with the meal and to all the saints we honored today.

Posted by John

Youth Group Cookout

Youth will be meeting at the Walker home (410 Centennial) for a cookout this coming Sunday evening at 5:00 pm. Bring chips, dessert, or a side dish.

Posted by John

Sermon Help Needed

I mentioned last Sunday morning that I plan to preach on "Confronting Chaos" this coming Sunday. I also mentioned that I would like to know what kinds of chaos you're faced with in your lives. Please drop me a line (e-mail or comment) or give me a call.

Posted by John

VBS Program Attendance

In case you were wondering, we had 171 in worship for the VBS program this morning.

Posted by John

VBS Pictures

This is an example of one the pictures the VBS kids got to take home. Professor Whoo (the Owl) was this year's VBS Mascot.

Posted by John

67 VBS Participants

We had a total of 67 kids at VBS this week. What a great success! That's up 17 from what we had last year. Thanks to Klinell and everyone who helped last year for giving this year's leaders such an excellent foundation to build on.

Posted by John

61 at VBS

Numbers at Vacation Bible School (VBS) have been fluctuating, but we've been taking a picture of every child over the last two days for one of the crafts. So far we have pictures of 61 kids and two more registered after we stopped taking pictures today. God has blessed us with a great mission opportunity.

Posted by John

Recycling Program Starts

A recycling meeting was held Monday evening. It was decided that we would collect the following for recycling: shredded office paper, newspaper, magazines, aluminum cans, cardboard, paperboard, plastic bottles. All items need to be sorted and bagged. Stop by the office to find out where recycling materials should be left. We're also looking for volunteers who can take recycling materials up to Independence the third Saturday of the month. Also we would appreciate any volunteers who can take a load of recycling materials when going to Bartlesville, Lawrence, Manhattan, Topeka, etc.

The theological undergirding for all this activity is our responsibility to be good stewards of God's good creation.

Posted by John

Mission Opportunity

From the Parsons' District Office:
Mark Loftin will be leading a Mission team to Franklinton, LA and has selected three different dates for opportunities to go: July 9-15, July 30-August 5, and August 6-August 12. Call the church office or send us an email if you are interested.

Posted by John

Net Neutrality

If you scroll down to the bottom of this page you'll find a link to savetheinternet.com. I've hesitated posting this for a long time. Because the issue of whether or not to preserve net neutrality is one that will soon be decided by congress, it is somewhat a political issue. I want to avoid any political divisions within the church. However, how fast you can view this site (indeed, whether or not you can view it at all), will be affected by whether or not net neutrality is upheld, because net neutrality is what insures that all sites receive the same treatment from internet service providers. Without net neutrality, internet service providers (like AT&T and Cox Cable) would be free to charge both you (for the internet access that allows you to read this site), and the church (for transmitting this site to you). When I saw that savetheinternet.com has both the Christian Coalition and ACLU (as well as countless others) as charter members, I began to think that this might be an issue we can all get behind.

Posted by John

Landscaping Progress

Great progress has been made on the Eagle Scout projects to landscape the front of the church. The landscaping work proper is done. The hole is where the refinished "Brotherhood Class sign" will go. The lighted sign on the corner is also being refinished. Many thanks to Jared Dobbins for coordinating these projects with the Boy Scouts.

Posted by John

VBS Next Week

Many volunteers have been hard at work for many weeks getting ready
for Vacation Bible School. The decorations look great. While you are
at church on Sunday, I invite you to take a moment to check out how
the basement looks. Also, we still have openings for kids at VBS, so
it's not too late to invite someone you know. VBS will be held June
12-16, from 9 am to Noon. Thank you for all your prayers and support.

Posted by Jenny

Parish Visitor by Email

This weeks Parish Visitor has been sent out by email. If you would like to receive a copy, send us an email at johnandjenny@gmail.com.

Posted by John

Gobal AIDS Fund Goal for KEC Churches

News from the Kansas East 2006 Annual Conference:

Bishop Fritz Mutti was invited by Bishop Jones to speak about the Global AIDS Fund in response to the decision of the Conference in 2005 to raise $1 per member for this fund during the 2005-2008 quadrennium. Three churches (Lenexa: St. Paul's, Topeka: Asbury-Mt. Olive, and Manhattan: College Ave.) were recognized for already meeting or exceeding that goal. And a petition was passed pushing forward the date for reaching this goal to Annual Conference 2007.

We'll be talking about what we need to do to raise our fair share soon.

Posted by John

First Wednesday Evening Service

24 people attended our First Wednesday-Evening-Contemporary-Casual
Service. We need another name for this service. What about the
Wednesday Night Gathering, or just "The Gathering" for short? Send us
an mail and let us know what you think.

During the sermonette, I promised to post websites on which you can
check out e-rumors. Here they are:

www.truthorfiction.com (This is the one I use most often.)
http://www.snopes.com (This one is sometimes a bit snipy.)

I also mentioned that this new service is in flux and we're open to
suggestions and direction. Feel free to e-mail if you have something
you would like for us to try.

Posted by John

Recycling Meeting

We'll have a meeting on a church recycling program next Monday (June 12) at 7:00 pm. Anyone interested is invited to attend.

Posted by John

Casual and Contemporary Service this Wednesday

This Wednesday at 7 pm, we'll begin our "Casual and Contemporary Service" as a supplement to the regular Sunday morning service. It will be casual. How casual, I hear you ask? Well, I just made a promise at youth group that I will wear cargo shorts this first Wednesday. It will be that casual.

Posted by John

Nic at Night: Must Christians be Born Again?

This weeks sermon title will be "Nic at Night: Must Christians be Born Again?" John will be preaching because VBS is taking alot of Jenny's time.

Posted by John
Edited at 6:35 pm

Back from a Great Annual Conference

We got back from Annual Conference about 9:30 pm last night. Sorry for the lack of posting, but internet connections were tenuous at best. One of the things we'll need to talk about at annual conference was a committment to raise $1 from every member of a United Methodist Church in the Kansas East Conference for Aids.

Posted by John