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February 27, 2010
Inside the Courier
:
•
A Look at the BriteSide, page 2
• Mission Notes,
page 3
• March Calendar
page 4
•
February Boardnotes, page 5
On the Web: fccminneapolis.org
“From Dust You Came, to Dust You Shall Return”
by Brandon Gilvin, Associate Director, Week of Compassion
Every year, when Lent rolls around,something about these words, spokenduring the imposition of Ashes onAsh Wednesday, gets to me.This year,thoughts of dust bring upimages of rubble anddust in Haiti.The massivedevastation there has raised ourawareness of what it means to bemortal, vulnerable, and in need. Thegenerosity of Disciple congregations,individual church members, andpeople who, looking for a way tohelp, found Week of Compassion,has been staggering. The reports of the response our partners have engi-neered on the ground have beenbreathtaking.Mortality. Dust. Generosity. Life.These are the things that are swirlingaround my head as we head intoLent.This Sunday is not only the secondSunday of Lent, but it is the secondSunday set aside for our Week of Compassion special offering. Thisoffering funds our general Compas-sion Response Fund -- an importantpart of Week of Compassion's ministry that allows us to respond immediately,efficiently, effectively, and for the longhaul. Because of the generosity of Dis-ciple churches across the country in 2009,we were ableto wire$10,000 forearthquake re-lief to Haitifrom the Com-passion Re-sponse Fundwithin 24 hours of the first report.Because of your generosity, we can re-spond before the dust has even cleared.And because of your faithfulness, we'll bethere long after the last news crew packsup to go.We're not only your disaster relief missionfund, but we are your sustainable devel-opment mission fund as well. Chronic po-verty, disease, refugees leaving war-tornvillages -- these are more than just abstractissues. They affect people as profoundlyas devastating earthquakes, and we ad-dress them because of what you give onany Sunday throughout the year. Fromwater projects in Kenya and Zimbabwe toagricultural development in Nicaragua andArmenia and North Korea, your giftsthrough Week of Compassion make a re-markable difference in the lives of peopleworking for a better life. Whether it's
Continued, page 3
Christian Courier
First Christian Church of Minneapolis (Disciples of Christ)
Page 2
Pastor Bob Brite
February 27, 2010
Three new projects that need your prayers
I have a list of three endeavorsfor which I would ask your con-tinued prayers:1) After being gently encouraged(or was it nagged?) by DennisSanders over the past severalmonths, I have, as part of myLenten devotional, started a dailydevotional blog on our churchweb-
site. I’m not sure why I r
e-sisted the encouragement, possi-
bly because I’m not sure if I have
anything on a daily basis to share.But so far, outside of a tendencyto forget at the end of the day that
I haven’t blogged and thereby
needing to make up for it on the
next, I’ve found tha
t God hasprovided some reflective wordsfor me to share. So log on tofccminneapolis.org, hit the bloglink, and see if such reflectionsare worthwhile for you.2) I work out 4
–
5 times a week for the sake of spiritual and phys-ical balance. Usually I do sowith a workout bud-dy/relationship I developed at myhealth club, and not too long agoshe asked if I would lead a Biblestudy for her and some of herfriends. We started last Saturday,and it was a good experience.Apparently the group will startwith two of us guys and sevenfemales, all of us single.
(It’s atough job, but somebody’s gotta
do it!)While this is part of my personal
life, it’s also part of my profe
s-sion, sharing the Good News in away that helps to build souls. Bythe way,
they’re a
lready talkingabout coming to worship at FCCsometime!3) Prayer shawls
–
it’s a ministry
started by Dorothy Stegner. Do-rothy uses her praying time asknitting time, then gives away theshawls to people recovering fromsurgery, new members, or othersouls who she thinks would like
one. We’re distributing theshawls as they’re being made,
and encourage others to take upthe devotional as a way both topray and to do ministry. If
you’re interested in building your
prayer life and knitting skills inthis way, please let me know, andtalk to Dorothy.
I’d like to see YOU on Sunday,
Bob
A Look at the Brite Side
In our prayers
Gracious God, welift up these personsin our prayers, ask-ing the blessing of your Grace and out- pouring of your Loveupon them.
We lift up prayers for members of our community who have lost lovedones recently, including
Skip Wolverton
(mother), pianist
James Bar-nett
(grandfather),
John Billman
(brother-in-law), and
Martha
Harris
(nephew); for those experiencing illness and physical problems, includ-ing
Phyllis Takekawa
(pinched nerve),
Dorothy Wilkins
(a fall),
Ri-chard Schwersinske
(blood clots), and someone with a gambling addic-tion; for the
state government
as it negotiates a budget, with hope thatthe needy people in our state will be remembered; in joy over the birth-days this month of
Doris Helvig
and
Russ Griffin
, and for the safe re-turn
Steve and Amy Dunlop
from work of in Tanzania and Thailand; inconcern for our homebound members, including
Emma Armstrong
and
Elaine Glore
, Amen.
Page 3Christian Courier
What Do You Want To Do Today?
Forum on Aliveness Project on Feb. 28 after Worship
Tim Marburger, Volunteer Coordinator for the Aliveness Project,will be leading a forum after worship on Sunday, Feb. 28The Aliveness Project is a local charity that helps persons livingwith HIV/AIDS.Tim will talk about what the Aliveness Project does and how weas a community can be more involved in being Christ to those livingwith HIV/AIDS.
“Dust to Dust”
"What Do You Want to Do To-day?" That was the slogan Micro-soft used about a decade ago asthey launched Windows XP. Thead campaign was trying to sell thenew features of the latest versionof the operating system and how itwould allow you to do what youwant to do.In the year that I've been back atFirst Christian, I've tried to createmission experiences that allow usto be church beyond the walls of this building. We've gone to FeedMy Starving Children severaltimes, started a new relationshipwith Community Emergency Ser-vice, sent donated items to theAliveness Project and much more.I've enjoyed my time in trying tofoster those experiences. Howev-er, truth be told, I am only doingpart of my job. A pastor is notthere to "do" ministry, but also toempower the gathered communityto minister to the world we livein.So, I want to ask all of you: whatideas do you have for mission andoutreach? Do you have certaingifts you would like to use for thegreater glory of God and to helpour fellow sisters and brothers? Isthere something going on in thewider community that First Chris-tian should be involved in? Howdo you want to make a differencein the world?If you have any idea or desire tolead a mission project, please dropme a line either by email
or call me here at church.What do you want to do today?How can the rest of First Christian join in? How can we be church toothers?Go and be church.Dennis SandersAssociate Pastor for Diversity andMission
Continued from page 1
through ongoing recovery and re-building work on the Gulf Coastor supporting our Refugee andImmigration Ministries help ourcongregations set up a home for a just-arrived family from Bhutan,we can be present thanks to yourgifts. Week of Compassion isaround the world, around the year.While our lives spin madly on-ward, in the van heading to soccerpractice, the plane headed to thenext meeting, the combine pullingin the last bit of the harvest, and atthe helm of the grocery cart in thecheckout line, we can pause-turning our fleeting time into sa-cred time, and our gifts into lifeabundant. We can pray. We cangive. We can make a difference.We invite you to help us continueto make a difference-not only inthe lives of those suffering in Hai-ti, but also in the lives of those allover the world who are also still inneed. Give generously to ourWeek of Compassion special of-fering so that when the next disas-ter strikes, we will once again beready to respond, thanks to youand your courageous compassion.Source:
Posted Feb. 19, 2010
Getting Dirty for Jesus: Mission Project Notes
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