Oops ... One More Thing

It's stated in the Coffeyville Journal, that I'll be preaching at Wednesday's Lenten luncheon, but our present plan is for Jenny to preach.

Day Off

I failed to take a day off last week, so I'll be trying to observe a sabbath today. I plan to start posting again tomorrow.

No Altar Flowers During Lent

Several people noticed that we didn't have any flowers on the altar yesterday. In recognition of the solemnity of Lent (and in an attempt to fill other Sundays in the year) we don't have altar flowers during Lent. We already have flowers scheduled for Easter Sunday. After that, I think we have flowers scheduled until June 20th, but there are still plenty of Sundays left in 2007. Call the office to reserve a week in honor or memory of someone you love.

VeggieTales Movie Event

Due to sickness, we missed some of our regular attendees at yesterday's Movie Event, but we were very happy to welcome some new folks. We've already scheduled the next Movie Event for Sunday, March 25 at 3:00 p.m. We'll be watching Little Joe, the "prequel" to yesterdays Moe and the Big Exit. We need volunteers to help with these events. Please let John or Jenny know if you are willing to help.

Main Office Repainted

This was the big one. We moved everything out of the main office, our painter painted it, and then we moved everything back in. It looks great. If there was one thing that kept me from posting very much last week it was the process of moving so much stuff during a week when I was preparing a sermon.

Updates

Regular readers may have noticed that I didn't do much posting last week. It was a busy one. I'll try to get everyone up to date in the next few posts.

New Parish Visitor Available

The most recent Parish Visitor is now available on the "Newsletter" page of our website.

Book Study Times and Dates

We'll be beginning the book study on Eight Life-Enriching Practices of United Methodists by Hal Knight next Tuesday (February 27) at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (You only need to come to one, not both). If you want to take part, but haven't signed up call the church office or email john@coffeyvillefirstumc.org.

Ash Wednesday Service Tomorrow

We'll be having our Ash Wednesday service tomorrow during the Wednesday Gathering at 7:15 p.m.

The Function of Lent

The Upper Room has a new "Daily Reflections" page at: http://www.upperroom.org/daily. I thought the quote for today's reflection very aptly summarized the purpose of lent. Here's the quote:

"Lent serves as our annual invitation to come closer to God. It provides a time to look at our lives and ourselves, not so we may criticize ourselves more harshly but so we can identify the obstructions that keep us from God. What keeps us from feeling the presence of the divine in our every day? How do we hide from God, and why? Lent gives us a chance to look at such obstructions and to move them gently away so that we can come closer to the Love that gives us life, the Love whose triumph we will celebrate on Easter morning."

—Sarah Parsons, A Clearing Season. Copyright © 2005

Email Lists III

I just realized that I haven't mentioned what electronic mailing lists we have available. They are: Newsletter, Movie Events, Aldersgate Experience (Young Adults), Weather Cancellations, Yoga/Pilates, Youth Group, and Other. You can sign up for as many as you are interested in.

More Email Lists

Just a note about the new electronic mailing lists for those of you who have previously been on our email lists. When you try to register, you'll get a message stating:

"You are already a member of the Coffeyville First United Methodist Church mailing list. If you would like to update your profile, please re-type your email address below and instructions will be emailed to you."

Please go ahead and re-type your email address so you can update your profile. You're already a member because we migrated the previous mailing lists into the new system.

Email Lists

We're trying a new system for email notifications using a company named Constant Contact. You can follow the link at right to sign up for updates in areas of interest. Please let us know how it works for you.

Parsons' District Leadership Training

The Parsons' District Leadership Training event is this Sunday from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. in Parsons. The flyer is available on the downloads page of the church website.

Technology You Like

I'll be leading a session on "Technology for Small Churches" at the Parsons District Training Event, this coming Sunday. What are some of your favorites technologies here at Coffeyville First? Let me know so I can be sure and highlight them this Sunday. You can email me at john@coffeyvillefirstumc.org, or make a comment below.

The Image of God and Torture

We end every yoga session with the words imago Dei, Latin for "in the image of God." Imago Dei is the term used by theologians to describe the Biblical belief that we are made in God's image. Genesis 1.26 reads: "Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness" (NRSV). This theological doctrine is the foundation of a quote attributed to the Roman Catholic archbishop and martyr, Oscar Romero:

"There is no dichotomy between man and God's image.
Whoever tortures a human being,
whoever abuses a human being,
whoever outrages a human being,
abuses God's image."

Archbishop Romero is most remembered for his work on behalf of the poor and oppressed in El Salvador, he was martyred by gunmen while presiding over mass. Romero is not alone, or even isolated in his thinking. The image of God has long been understood to convey dignity to every human being. Furthermore, throughout church history there has never been any attempt to limit the imago Dei to persons of "good character." It is simply not the way the image of God works. We were made in God's image at the time of creation, that image, however tarnished by sin, remains in each of us. To torture someone, no matter how evil, is to abuse God's image, and by extension to challenge God's honor.

At the present time, Wikipedia (wikipedia.com) has an good, short biography of Oscar Romero.

Heat Back on in the Parsonage

I don't know how many of you have heard that the furnace in the parsonage has been replaced (this was a planned replacement after 30+ years). The new furnace is up and running and the parsonage is warm and toasty.

No Yoga Tuesday

Just a reminder, there will be no yoga this Tuesday night.

Church Council

Church Council will meet next Monday (February 19, 2007) at 7:00 p.m.

Water Damage

If you were in the 8:10 service last Sunday, you heard the news that we were having water heater problems. The hot water got shut off and after a couple of days (Wednesday) a new water heater was installed. Then the hot water was turned back on. The tap in the brides room had been left open and the sink overflowed, soaking the carpet and pad in the brides room and then dripping through the floor and into the Keystone classroom. A professional cleaner was called and the issue is being addressed, I just wanted to keep everyone informed.

The New Abolitionists

Twenty-seven million slaves exist in our world today. Girls and boys, women and men of all ages are forced to toil in the rug looms of Nepal, sell their bodies in the brothels of Rome, break rocks in the quarries of Pakistan, and fight wars in the jungles of Africa. Go behind the façade in any major town or city in the world today and you are likely to find a thriving commerce in human beings.

So begins NOT for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade – and How We Can Fight It by David Batstone. The book is not yet released, but Jim Wallis has an excellent summary in an article on beliefnet.com in which he argues that we need new abolitionists, new people like William Wilberforce.

Why we're not using a pink candle in Advent.

I had questions about why we stopped using a pink candle in the Advent wreath. Tonight, while looking for some information on liturgical colors, I found a good explanation from a "worship glossary" by Ken Collins:

The use of the color rose has a strange origin. Long ago, the pope had the custom of giving someone a rose on the fourth Sunday in Lent. This led the Roman Catholic clergy to wear rose-colored vestments on that Sunday. The effect was to give some relief the solemnity of Lent, so this was a very popular custom. Originally—before shopping malls—Advent was a solemn fast in preparation for Christmas, so the custom was extended to the third Sunday in Advent to liven it up a little bit, too. Somewhere in there the third candle of the Advent wreath turned pink. Meanwhile, Advent is no longer solemn and the pope no longer has the custom of giving out roses. It is kind of odd to think that a Methodist would put a pink candle in a Lutheran Advent wreath because the pope used to have the custom of giving out roses, but sometimes we’re a little more ecumenical than we realize!

—www.kencollins.com/glossary/liturgy.htm

Found History

I found this web page (http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/montgome/methodist.html) that tells a history of the first 100 years of First United Methodist Church. I have a copy of some of this information in my office and I thought some of you might be interested.

Burnout

"Burnout is a function of loss of meaning."

— Notes of Tony Campolo speaking at the Kansas Area Seminar on Professional Ministry.

I think it is true of not only clergy (which were the subjects that Tony was addressing), but churches as well.

Youth Group Announcements

The youth had a great Super Bowl Gathering last night, though not much of the game was actually watched. Activities for the next few weeks: Painting Ceiling Tiles, A Lesson, and helping host the Movie Event for younger children and then watching the movie Radio afterward.

The ACLU in a different light

I was looking for information about the connection between Abraham Lincoln and a Presbyterian church in New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC, and my Google search returned this press release from the ACLU on their defense of a Presbyterian church in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Apportionments

Our apportionments for 2007 are be $34,473. They were $35,869 last year, a decrease of $1,396.