No. 32, Mar. 27 2010 Courier

March 27, 2010

Inside the Courier

:

!

A Look at the BriteSide, page 2

• Mission Notes,

page 3

• Board Notes, page 3

• April Calendar

page 4

•

FCC news briefs,page 5

On the Web: fccminneapolis.org

Pastor Brite’s Lenten

Blog

Deb Murphy on “The

Sacred on the

Street” exhibit

Intimate moments on the Jerusalem journey

Palm Sunday

,

Mar

c

h 28

10:30 Worship Service

Maundy Thur

s

day

,

April 1

":$0 Pastor’s Soup Sup

per 6:30 Communion and foot-washingserviceAs a young colt nervously stampsthe dust and jerks against the lead,cloaks are quickly thrown onto his back. And then, the strong arms of the disciples set Jesus on the colt.Jesus does not climb up alone, ac-cording to Luke; he places his life inthe hands of his friends as he facesthe road into Jerusalem.For the disciples to set Jesus on thecolt requires getting close to theTeacher, to grasp an arm or brace ashoulder. It means being close

enough to feel Jesus’ breath on their

skin, close enough to smell the sweaton his cloak. At least one friend will

be to Jesus’ back< others will be eye

-level, looking him square in the face.For Jesus, once he enters the city, therewill be many intimate moments of dis-cipleship. There will be bread-breakingand wine-sharing. There will be foot-washing and truth-telling. And at whatwould appear to many as the end of theroad, there will be time once again for afew to put their hands under his arms andtheir faces to his face as they set him downfrom the Cross. Intimate moments, all.

The Christian’s Aourney to Jerus

alemand beyond calls for extraordinary acts of intimacy. Discipleship requires vulnera- bility, closeness, and a willingness to leanin the direction of others. In this Lent, maywe give thanks to God for those who standready to love us. by Pamela D. Hawkins,in

Di

s

c

iplin

e

s

, 2010

Pray

e

r Vigil

,

April 1-2

7:30

B

Midnight

B

prayer in sanctuaryMidnight

B

9 am

B

prayer at home9 am

B

3 pm



prayer in sanctuary

Good Friday

,

April 2

7 pm Good Friday Service

Ea

s

t

e

r Sunday

,

April 4

8:15 Sunrise Service9:00 Continental Breakfast9:15 Church School Classes10:30 Worship Service

Christian Courier

Fir

st

Chri

st

ian Chur

c

h o

f

Minn

e

apoli

s

(Di

s

c

ipl

e

s

o

f

Chri

st

)

Page 2

Pastor Bob Brite

March 27, 2010

Seeing the ministry of Jesus in everyday acts

Gra

c

iou

s

God

,

w

e

li

ft

up

t

h

e

s

e

p

e

r

s

on

s

in our pray

e

r

s

,

a

s

k

- ing

t

h

e

bl

e

ss

ing o

f

your Gra

ce

and ou

t

- pouring o

f

your Lov

e

upon

t

h

e

m

.

In our prayers

We pray in with joy for the birth of

Jam

e

s

Wayn

e

Tu

c

k

e

r

, son of

Elain

e

and B

e

n Tu

c

k

e

r

and also for the baby born to

Jennifer Redmond’s

niece

Amy

; in thanksgiving that

John Tak

e

kawa

has regained his health; in gra-titude to

Bill Stump

and all the choir members and musicians for the beautiful music we have heard in worship during Lent; in concern for thosedealing with health issues including

Margar

e

t Clau

s

e

n

and those takingcancer treatments, including

David Pyl

e

s

, former member

Kay Van

Dyke’s

granddaughter

J

e

an

e

tt

e

and Jennifer Red

mond’s niece

Amy

; for all those who are homebound including

Elain

e

Glor

e

,

Dorothy Wilkin

s

and

Kathy M

e

r

kel’s

in-laws, Amen.

Daily li

f

e

c

an b

e

a

s

y

m

boli

c

wal

k

wi

t

h Chri

st

wh

e

n w

e

wor

k

a

t

i

t

The spiritual experience of Lent-Leading-into-Holy-Week ismeant to be a journey of our souls through the ministry, cruci-fixion, and resurrection of Jesus.

What I’ve found helpful over the

years is to try to see the ministryof Jesus in everyday little acts,and the crucifixion and resurrec-tion of Jesus in the same.As I told my new outside-the-church bible study a few weeksago, everybody lives daily withwounds/pain and everybody livesdaily with joys. What happens inthe spiritual walk with Jesus isthat the former become little cru-cifixion experiences and the latter become little resurrection expe-riences; I try to reflect on what

I’m

supposed to learn through the

pains and for what I’m supposed

to give thanks in the joys. Whatthis does is to put ourselves in the place of Jesus. Daily life can bea symbolic walk with Christwhen we work at it, and Christianexperience is supposed to be thatway anyway. The not-so-old tru-

ism of asking oneself, “Whatwould Jesus doK” really works if

we work at it.As we head towards Holy Week next week, try to put into each

day as many WWJD’s as you

can.

I’d like

to see YOU on (Palm andEaster) Sunday!Bob

A Look at the Brite Side

Christian Courier

Knit, Purl, Pray

At the March meeting of

FCC’s General oard, co

m-mittee chairs and pastors gaveupdates on their work and plans. Sixteen people at-tended the March 16 meeting.Highlights from Board busi-ness include the following:



Warren Westphal an-

nounced that FCC’s ref

ugeeministry is being renewed,with the goal of sponsoringa refugee family in the near future. Plans are underwayto publicize this project, andto contact other area Dis-ciple churches about joiningin the ministry.



The fuel in the alternate fueltank has been tested and isnow being used. The tank will also be cleaned, and anew fuel supply will be pur-chased soon. Pastor Bob

says, “Pray for lower fuel prices”



The Worship Committeehas made a change in the pre-worship service sche-dule. The deacons, eldersand worship leader are all tomeet with the choir at 10:25for pre-service prayer.

Board Notes

In my last column, I asked people who are passionate aboutmission to share your ideas withme. Around the same time, long-time member Dorothy Stegner came forward and shared what shehas been doing to be church out-side the walls of First Christian:making prayer shawls for homebound members of our communi-ty.

Dorothy Stegner with four of her prayer shawls.

She notes that she is committedto this ministry. Dorothy recentlygave a prayer shawl to a newmember.When I came over recently totake a picture of Dorothy withsome her shawls, she noted thatthere were some flaws.

“On thosedays,” she said, “I was the onewho needed prayer.”

Recently, Dorothy shared in anemail that others are working withher in making prayer shawls andthat two recipients were especiallygrateful for these handmade giftsof love.This is the sort of "spiritual en-trepreneurship" that is needed inthe ongoing transformation of First Christian. We need otherswho feel called to use their talentsand skills to be the churchthroughout the week to be able tofreely heed the call and be sup- ported with our thoughts and prayers.The pastoral staff is working withthe Elders and the Deacons tomake sure the shawls get to homebound members. Dorothy is look-ing for others of all ages whomight be interested in joining her in this ministry.If interested, please contact As-sociate Pastor Dennis Sanders at

associatepastor@fccminneapolis.org

or call the church.Praise God for Dorothy and her effort to be church!Dennis SandersAssociate Pastor for Diversity andMission

Getting’ Dirty for Jesus: Mission Project Notes

It’s Not Too Late!

Donations to the March Foodshare Drive can be made on PalmSunday, March 28. You candrop off your non-perishablefood item in the Big Barrel in thenarthex, or put contributions in

the offering plates mark “foo

d-

shelf” on the check memo lineU.