Estate Planning Seminar

There will be a free Estate Planning Seminar on September 23 at 2:00 pm in fellowship hall. Wills, trusts, advance health care directives, and much more will be discussed. The Seminar will be led by Steve Childs, J.D. [Juris Doctor], President of the Kansas Area United Methodist Foundation.

Church Conference Date and Time

I went to the Parsons District Clergy — Secretary Gathering in Parsons today. There I learned that our Church Conference has been scheduled for December 9, 2007 at 6:30 pm.

Humility

Two Sundays ago I preached on John 13.1-16, the passage in which Jesus tied a towel around himself, got down on his knees and washed the disciples’ feet. Those of you in the early service, may remember that my sermon notes had a reminder for me to share "The monk quote" and that I couldn't remember what in the world I was talking about. Well here it is. It is from an article on humility titled "The Lowly Virtue" by Carol Zaleski in the May 16, 2006 edition of The Christian Century:

“Occasionally, though, it [humility] takes a startling form, as my husband I discovered many years ago. We had just begun a nine-month sojourn in a studio apartment in Paris, where I was working on my dissertation. Early one morning my husband answered a knock at the door, thinking it might be the plumber our landlady had promised to send to fix the heating system. As I emerged from the bathroom I saw something that stopped me in my tracks: Dom Jean Leclercq, the famous Benedictine medievalist, was crouching alongside my husband, peering at the pipes and trying to be helpful. He had received a letter of inquiry from me and decided to answer it in person. Here was a world-class scholar, a legend in his own lifetime, the most famous living monk next to Thomas Merton–and my husband took him for a plumber! The embarrassment faded, however, as soon as it became clear that Jean Leclercq was perfectly comfortable being taken for a plumber, perfectly willing to fix our pipes if he could, perfectly willing to sit in our homely surroundings, share a baguette and discuss 12th-century thought. This is not the way distinguished medievalist, generally speaking, comport themselves with their inferiors. But it is the most characteristic of monastic traits.”

Clearly, Zaleski comes out of an academic background that considers medieval scholars above plumbers in status. Having recently required the services of a plumber, I’m not sure I agree with that view. But the point she is making about humility being “the most characteristic of monastic traits” is an important one. Humility is a key component of being Christ like. Christ got down on his knees and performed the lowly service of washing the feet of his disciples. In so doing he showed that no service was beneath him. If we want to be like and with him we will consider no service beneath us, for “servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them.”

Flat Screens are in the Building

The flat screens for the chapel and for the confidence screen (the screen visible from the pulpit) in the sanctuary have been picked up and at Wal-mart and taken to the church. Thanks to Justin Thiesing for his help and the use of his truck.

Movie Event: LarryBoy Double Feature

Our next movie event will be September 9 at 4:00 pm. More information is available on the "Movie Event" page of our website at coffeyvillefirstumc.org.

Pastoral Crisis Intervention Seminar

Jenny and I will be attending a Pastoral Crisis Intervention Seminar in Independence tomorrow and Wednesday as part of our ongoing continuing education. The seminar will be from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm both days.

No Youth Group Next Sunday

Because of Labor Day, there will be no youth group next Sunday.

Redesigned Website Up

I've got our redesigned website up and running. Right now it looks better in Mozilla Firefox, which is really the most recommended web browser rather than Internet Explorer.

Flat Screen TV's for the Chapel on Order

Because the model of flat screen TV's that were originally selected for use in the chapel have been discontinued, another model had to be chosen. This new model is the same brand, but instead of being black and silver they are all black. They are also available at our local Wal-Mart and are now on order. You can see a picture and the specifications here.

Web Site Redesign

I'm in the middle of redesigning our website right now. If you want to take a gander at the new look go to http://web.mac.com/jcollins11/Site/Home.html. Be warned that the server the new site is now on is not as fast as our regular one and download times are a little on the pokey side.

It's 5:00 am, Do You Know Where Your Preacher Is?

He's at the church. In these last days before Elizabeth starts school, I'm wanting to spend as much of her waking hours as possible as home, so I'm logging some hours now while she's asleep.

Wi-Fi

Were working to extend the reach of the church's public wi-fi network (CoffeyvilleFirst) to provide better coverage down in the fellowship hall, and some coverage up in the youth room. We're doing this by switching to a wireless-n router.

Feel free to just ignore this post if all of that meant nothing to you.

Birthday Cards

When Jenny and I first became the pastors here at Coffeyville First, we started sending out a card to everyone on their birthday. This activity got sidelined during the flood and the subsequent recovery. I'm wondering how many people (if any) would like us to start it up again. Shot us an email and let us know.

Sanctuary Screen has Arrived

I went in for the Stewardship Committee meeting this evening found a long box from "Da-Lite Screen Company." It looks like the screen for the sanctuary is here. I'm beginning to get excited.

Whose Feet will you Wash?

Via Sojourners' "Voice of the Day." This quote goes well with yesterday's sermon:

If you live alone, whose feet will you wash?

—Saint Basil
Quoted in How Shall We Live by Joan Chittister, OSB.

The UMC and the Pursuit of Happyness

I'm watching "The Pursuit of Happyness." I remembered that Glide United Methodist Church was the site of the homeless shelter features in the movie. I searched my email and found the following from the January 19, 2007 edition of Newscope, published by the United Methodist News Service:

Chris Gardner, a member of Glide Memorial UMC, is the inspiration behind the movie The Pursuit of Happyness starring Will Smith playing the role of Gardner. The movie about the once homeless man who now runs his own financial firm also features the church, whose shelter Gardner stayed in, and its now retired pastor Cecil Williams.

More on George Muller

When we watched "Gideon: Tuba Warrior" for a Movie Event, we heard a little bit of the extraordinary story of George Muller. Here's more from wikipedia.

Quote from the Sermon

This is the quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer that I shared in the sermon this morning.

“Nobody is too good for the meanest service. One who worries about the loss of time that such petty, outward acts of helpfulness entail is usually taking the importance of his own career too solemnly.”

—Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, 99.

Tony Campollo on Mixing Religion with Government

Mixing religion with government is like mixing horse manure with ice cream. You know, its not going to mess up the manure, but its going to raise havoc with the ice cream and I contend that religious movements are ice cream and government, I hate to say it, is kind of like the horse manure.

—Tony Campollo

Disaster Training

We'll be hosting a "Disaster Recovery Tools and Training" event tomorrow in the fellowship hall from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. It will be led by Church World Service, FEMA, KSVOAD, UMCOR (the United Methodist Committee on Relief) and others. This is an excellent opportunity to put our building to good use.

Equipment Arriving

We have received a shipment, which included the projector for the sanctuary, for the new multimedia system.

Sabbath

Because of the funeral scheduled for Friday, I'm taking my Sabbath today.

Website Upgrade

I made some minor cosmetic changes to the website. If it doesn't look right, just hit the reload button.

Joys and Concerns Email List

A while back we started an email mailing list for Joys and Concerns. I thought this would be a really popular list, but so far I haven't had any takers. Are there problems with the signup process (button on the right)? If so please let me know by email or comment.

New Hours for Here's Hope Ministry

Due to the heat and the need to be open late for the sake of those who have jobs, the hours for Here's Hope (the Ministerial Alliance flood relief "store") will be from 10:00 am until 1:00 pm and 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm beginning this coming Monday. Hopefully this will enable more people to volunteer.

Multi-Media Project Materials on the Way

Materials for our multi-media project (the screens for use in worship services) are on the way. We got an email notification yesterday.

Adopting a CCC Student

As Jay Shearhart announced Sunday, we are adopting a Coffeyville Community College student (from Coffeyville) for the upcoming Fall semester. We'll be paying for tuition, books, and fees at a total cost of around $1,500. The Church Council voted to raise money for this program from special giving (above and beyond regular giving, we want to adopt a student, but we still need to pay the electric bill) instead of taking it out of the general fund. If you would like to donate to this cause write CCC student on your check or donation envelope. 

The other, non-monetary side of this program will be an attempt to provide guidance. To put it bluntly, we're conceited enough to believe that hanging out with us is a good thing that would enhance a student's performance.

Long Term Recovery Committee

We are transitioning from the short term recovery process to the long term recovery process. A long term recovery committee is being formed. I'm on the executive committee of this new committee.

Regular Posting to Return Soon

I apologize for the lack of regular posting during the past week. For those of you in the know, yesterday's procedure went fine and the results were that there is nothing to worry about. Thanks for your prayers. Jenny and I both have meetings up in Independence this morning.

Found My Good Robe

For those of you who were wondering, I found my good robe. It was at home in the front closet.

Conference Capital Campaign Begins

From www.kansaseast.org:

The United Methodist Kansas East Conference’s $5.3 million capital campaign that will raise funds to support camping, campus ministry and church development throughout the conference is officially underway with the hiring of campaign director Laura Murphy, who started July 16.

Read the Entire Article

VOAD Meeting

Don't worry, all the vehicles outside the church this morning are for a county-wide VOAD (Volunteer Organizations Assisting in Disaster) meeting. You didn't forget anything.