“God, I wish you would bless me and extend the borders of my property!” These words are attributed to some guy named Jabez in the Bible book 1 Chronicles 4:10. Jabez plays only a bit role in the Bible but a book entitled “The Prayer of Jabez” by Dr. Bruce Wilkinson has given this minor player major play. I can’t say that I recommend the book any more than I would recommend “The Secret” or “The Power of Positive Thinking” (all three are essentially the same concept). But I remembered Jabez recently when the landscaping company working in my neighbor’s yard made a startling observation; the neighbor had landscaped over about fifteen feet of our property! The neighbor had planted ground cover which had grown over the stone marker placed back in 1968 when the home was built. I didn’t even pray for it and God extended my border! I think something like this is happening to churches too, but not every church sees it as a blessing!
Every day at FUMC Hudson somebody reveals to me that our church “border” has extended.
· A clinical psychologist asks for space to set-up practice in our church reminding the trustees that the region’s mentally ill are underserved. Our border extends fifteen feet into the territory of soldiers returning from war with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and fifteen feet into the realm of survivors of sexual and domestic violence.
· A teen-aged member is accepted for a mission trip to China to learn more about peace. Our border extends fifteen feet into the Republic of China and it extends fifteen feet into the town of Hudson where residents are asked to care about, contribute toward and learn from this extraordinary mission.
· A member is stricken with cancer and we gather around the website Caring Bridge like farm animals gather at the fence looking for any sign of the feed truck. Our border extends fifteen feet toward actually fighting cancer wherever it occurs with every tool in our tool box, and fifteen feet into the realm of Internet Technologies like Caring Bridge that are changing the ways we care.
When I saw that the border of my property extended an additional fifteen feet, my mind went immediately to the responsibility to mow and tend that extra lawn. I think many of us have similar ambivalence about outreach toward new people in our ever-expanding community. “It was the neighbor’s property before, let them continue to maintain it!” We assume someone else is taking responsibility for reaching the mentally ill, people in foreign lands and all of those others who never go to church services and so look for (but only really find superficial) community online. We lament the size of our present lawn and cannot fathom the kind of machine necessary to tend that much and more.
Yet we already have the machinery we need!
Our church has a Vision Fund which was set-up to initiate live-giving new ministries. Anyone on the church with a dream for outreach can send me or a Lay Leader a request for seed money. To see an example of how this works, visit the Pepsi Refesh website HERE.
Next week we will begin revamping our communications so that our message is more helpful to a greater number of people. We currently utilize the pulpit (140), Cable television, E-news (240), Hope for Hudson Website, Front Porch Hudson Blog, Hope for Hudson Facebook Page (47) [along with worship and Vacation Bible Camp Facebook pages], Printed newsletters (250) and of course word-of-mouth conversation for outreach. We can use all of these tools much more effectively.
We are forming a Task Force which will help us understand the needs of our community. This group will meet and research in July and August, presenting findings gradually next Fall so that our church can restructure in order to address the needs we have discovered. By November the church should have a clear since of where God has placed that stone marker and a passionate desire to stick together to tend that new territory. Want to JOIN The group?
We have the machinery to care for the additional territory we are discovering. I also believe we have the determination to “serve God with single mind and willing heart” (a quotation taken from the same book where we find the story of Jabez, 1 Chronicles 28:9. Read the whole text HERE.).
May God increase your border!
Doug
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Worship at FUMC: What's our Style?
Last night after learning the newest “America Idol” we accidentally tuned-in to the cartoon series “King of the Hill”. We joined the episode at the moment when the dad was arguing with the pastor of his United Methodist Church about assigned seating—the Smiths had stolen his family’s pew! The man was so outraged that he yanked his family out of the United Methodist church and went across town to the more contemporary mega-church. A tram service shuttles worshippers between the church bookstore/coffee bar and the shiny-metal and glass worship center. “THIS church offers assigned seating!” the usher proudly informs the family. The family has found a new home church--so long United Methodist Church of open seating!
Here at First United Methodist Church (of the open pew) of Hudson, our pews are reminders of days when pews WERE assigned. The pews are numbered. Once upon a time members “leased” their family pew from the church. A nifty fundraiser, the practice never-the-less fell out of favor and is now forbidden by our United Methodist Book of Discipline. Sure, people informally settle into certain favorite spots in the sanctuary and do occasionally feel perturbed when a newcomer sits unknowingly in that favorite spot. But for the most part our worship seating practices have modernized toward more flexible seating arrangements.
What other aspects of worship should modernize? I suppose much depends on what we believe worship is meant to accomplish.
On one point of the star, what some call “Liturgical Worship” or “formal” worship, the purpose is to offer dignified space and practices that predictably emphasize a somewhat vertical experience of God.
Another type of worship, what some might call “Charismatic Worship”, allows space for the Holy Spirit of God to come down and for God’s presence to become immanent in the lives of participants.
Another unique form of worship, what some have called “Contemporary Music Driven Worship”, offers contemporary space and practices which are relevant to everyday lives so that people are drawn into authentic relationship with Jesus Christ.
Another point on the “worship types star” is what some have called “Emergent Worship” which emphasizes a horizontal experience of God (God is in us and we are in God) through eclectic (with endless variety) space and practices.
I think our current worship is 75% Liturgical, 15% Contemporary, 7% Emergent and 3% Charismatic. What do you think?
I am not always satisfied with how we worship together, often wishing the star was more symmetrical at least, or maybe even with a longer “emergent” beam of light, because I personally experience God best when I am hearing God speak through the surprisingly mundane actions and words of others. But I suspect that a majority of FUMC parishioners prefer a longer “liturgical” shaft of light, so I continue to offer more vertical space and practices (such as using a program that lists everything we expect to do in worship, wearing a robe, preaching from the pulpit, placing offering on the altar.) I can offer these practices faithfully because I believe in a God who can use something as simple as a shrub (See “Burning Bush”) or bread (See “Last Supper”) in order to be “experienced”. And to me, that is the mid-point of the star, the space where these diverse lines intersect, the reason and purpose of worship:
God CAN be experienced!
A vital, authentic experience of God leads to loving relationship with God.
A loving relationship with God leads to a vitalized, loving relationship with all of creation.
Whatever your preference for worship, I hope you will meet with us one day soon so together we can share in the love of God!
Pastor Doug
Here at First United Methodist Church (of the open pew) of Hudson, our pews are reminders of days when pews WERE assigned. The pews are numbered. Once upon a time members “leased” their family pew from the church. A nifty fundraiser, the practice never-the-less fell out of favor and is now forbidden by our United Methodist Book of Discipline. Sure, people informally settle into certain favorite spots in the sanctuary and do occasionally feel perturbed when a newcomer sits unknowingly in that favorite spot. But for the most part our worship seating practices have modernized toward more flexible seating arrangements.
What other aspects of worship should modernize? I suppose much depends on what we believe worship is meant to accomplish.
On one point of the star, what some call “Liturgical Worship” or “formal” worship, the purpose is to offer dignified space and practices that predictably emphasize a somewhat vertical experience of God.
Another type of worship, what some might call “Charismatic Worship”, allows space for the Holy Spirit of God to come down and for God’s presence to become immanent in the lives of participants.
Another unique form of worship, what some have called “Contemporary Music Driven Worship”, offers contemporary space and practices which are relevant to everyday lives so that people are drawn into authentic relationship with Jesus Christ.
Another point on the “worship types star” is what some have called “Emergent Worship” which emphasizes a horizontal experience of God (God is in us and we are in God) through eclectic (with endless variety) space and practices.
I think our current worship is 75% Liturgical, 15% Contemporary, 7% Emergent and 3% Charismatic. What do you think?
I am not always satisfied with how we worship together, often wishing the star was more symmetrical at least, or maybe even with a longer “emergent” beam of light, because I personally experience God best when I am hearing God speak through the surprisingly mundane actions and words of others. But I suspect that a majority of FUMC parishioners prefer a longer “liturgical” shaft of light, so I continue to offer more vertical space and practices (such as using a program that lists everything we expect to do in worship, wearing a robe, preaching from the pulpit, placing offering on the altar.) I can offer these practices faithfully because I believe in a God who can use something as simple as a shrub (See “Burning Bush”) or bread (See “Last Supper”) in order to be “experienced”. And to me, that is the mid-point of the star, the space where these diverse lines intersect, the reason and purpose of worship:
God CAN be experienced!
A vital, authentic experience of God leads to loving relationship with God.
A loving relationship with God leads to a vitalized, loving relationship with all of creation.
Whatever your preference for worship, I hope you will meet with us one day soon so together we can share in the love of God!
Pastor Doug
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Faith Development of Teens
When I first interviewed here at FUMC in 2008 a committee member asked me how I felt about cheese puffs and shaving cream. The group showed me a picture of FUMC youth on Ski Retreat playing a game that required a person to don a trash bag and shower cap and smear shaving cream all over their head and face. Team members would carefully pitch cheese puffs, lodging them in the shaving cream to tally-up points for the side. Was I the kind of pastor to do such things or would I be one of those stuffy academic types who could not be playful?
Looking at all of the pictures of youth ministry in Lamson Hall I find it easy to thank God for all of those youth and adults who have said “yes” to the shaving cream and cheese puffs. I am thankful for service projects like the 30 Hour Famine and CROP Walk and for all of those late night gatherings around illuminated crosses and for the Bring Your Own Bible studies and for the scores of programs offered by church leaders. I am also thankful for the relationships youth counselors Matt, Susan, Laurie, Sara, Michelle and Diana (and other over the years) have built with these kids.
Yet those pictures also make me aware of kids who do not seem to be a regular part of the life of our congregation. It happens in every church; young people get enthusiastic about big events but are largely absent from worship, education and service at the host church. Lately we have noticed in this church that youth events like Mystery Tours and Lock-Ins and Bible Studies draw fewer and fewer teens. And, like most churches, we have watched as teens are confirmed and then disappear into the woods of high school. My favorite book on youth ministry is “The Godbearing Life: The Art of Soul-Tending for Youth Ministry” by Kenda Creasy Dean and Ron Foster (1998). Here is how they explain the problem with many churches such as ours:
“The problem we have discovered after a hundred years of youth groups, is that the youth group is notoriously unreliable for fostering ongoing faith. The youth group model—sometimes referred to as the “one-eared Mickey Mouse” model of ministry—created an environment in which youth, isolated in an “ear” on top of Mickey’s head, had only marginal contact with the rest of the body of Christ. The congregation worshipped in the sanctuary; youth met in the basement. The congregation gathered on Sunday mornings; the youth gathered on Sunday nights. The congregation listened to sermons; youth heard ‘youth talks’. The congregation had Bible study; youth had devotions. The congregation had a budget; the youth had a bake sale.
Nothing that happened in the life of the congregation as a whole looked even vaguely familiar to youth ghettoized in youth groups and vice versa…When youth graduated from youth group—the only form of ministry they had ever experienced—they effectively graduated from the church as well. Those who returned to church as adults often found worship an alien experience, a distant second to the warmth and intimacy they remembered from the youth ministry of their teen years.” P.30
I see the author’s point: The youth ministry of the church should dovetail neatly with the overall ministry and movement of the congregation. How can we do that better at FUMC? Please be part of a discussion at our Facebook page which is Hope For Hudson. http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=135&uid=109123902448060
This summer I am looking forward to working with adults and teens on youth ministry that does what few churches have been able to do—inspires teens and adults together, forging a love for God and a sense of purpose and virtue that lasts a lifetime. I have a few ideas about how to do it and I expect that you do too. Please share your ideas!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Christian Education
One of the most controversial books in my library is one by Grace Llewellyn called “The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education”. Written by a former middle school teacher, the book lists the following problems with schools:
· Schools require passivity.
· Schools cram you too full too fast.
· School people care more about appearances than about learning.
· School isn’t challenging enough if you are academically inclined.
· Schools present learning backwards, emphasizing answers instead of questions.
· School asks you to get stressed-out attaining mediocrity in six or so subjects rather than be amazed at one or two you love.
I am not listing her argument here to make the case that your children or grandchildren should rethink returning to school next fall. Rather, I want our church to consider the extent to which our own efforts at education stumble on these same pitfalls. Notice the list does not indict teachers whose love for students and passion and knowledge about the subjects they teach are generally beyond question. The list attacks the overall system.
I am a product of Sunday School, I took classes in Christian Education in College, I worked in my grad school’s Religious Education Curriculum Library—evaluating every single piece of curriculum created by every denomination from 1990 to 1993, and I have seen both active Sunday School and the results of Sunday School in seven United Methodist churches. I’ve seen lots of theory and many different models. On the other hand I have heard from a lot of worn-out teachers, bored children and confused parents. And I am aware that Sunday School attendance has decreased in all churches by at least 70 percent since the 1970s. It continues to decrease here at FUMC too. Yes, there is now more competition for a student’s time and Church often falls below sports, but why is that so?
Every curriculum that I have seen in action has had a certain “cookie-cutter” quality. They have to, because they are written by committee for hundreds of churches to be used by thousands of teachers who, because their lives are complicated enough, need straightforward teaching helps. The curriculum is getting more and more high-tech and uses cooler and cooler ways to communicate the Gospel, but I can’t help wondering if the reason we lose school age children (and the reason churches have lost so many adult products of Sunday School) is because Sunday School has been:
· too passive (unlike soccer),
· too full--too fast (curriculum correctly identifies the variety of learning styles among children but then forces teachers to hit all six styles to address seven lesson points all within 45 minutes…too much!)
· answering questions students are not asking
Sunday, May 23rd at 9:30 I am planning to meet with Sunday School leaders and their children to talk about a new model for education called the “Rotation Model”. I would like for us to adopt this innovative, LIBERATING model next fall. If you care about this, I hope you will join the conversation. And that leads to my final point here.
There is no magic curriculum or educational formula that can turn the ship around. The difference takes place when we all take seriously the third bullet point problem in the Liberation list above: caring more about appearances than about learning. This is not an issue among our teachers who DO attend to the learning. It is an issue for all of us parents and fellow Christians who do not reinforce what has been shared, who are not aware of the direction the curriculum is going and cannot adequately explain to our young people why Sunday School is really important. Everyone knows why soccer is good—it is fun, physical and teaches teamwork. What about Sunday School?
This Sunday we celebrate Sunday School. This year it invited our children to live their belief in God by cultivating trust in God’s love and responsibility for God’s church and creation. Let us give thanks for these students and their teachers and then let’s work together to make a good thing better for next year!
Pastor Doug
· Schools require passivity.
· Schools cram you too full too fast.
· School people care more about appearances than about learning.
· School isn’t challenging enough if you are academically inclined.
· Schools present learning backwards, emphasizing answers instead of questions.
· School asks you to get stressed-out attaining mediocrity in six or so subjects rather than be amazed at one or two you love.
I am not listing her argument here to make the case that your children or grandchildren should rethink returning to school next fall. Rather, I want our church to consider the extent to which our own efforts at education stumble on these same pitfalls. Notice the list does not indict teachers whose love for students and passion and knowledge about the subjects they teach are generally beyond question. The list attacks the overall system.
I am a product of Sunday School, I took classes in Christian Education in College, I worked in my grad school’s Religious Education Curriculum Library—evaluating every single piece of curriculum created by every denomination from 1990 to 1993, and I have seen both active Sunday School and the results of Sunday School in seven United Methodist churches. I’ve seen lots of theory and many different models. On the other hand I have heard from a lot of worn-out teachers, bored children and confused parents. And I am aware that Sunday School attendance has decreased in all churches by at least 70 percent since the 1970s. It continues to decrease here at FUMC too. Yes, there is now more competition for a student’s time and Church often falls below sports, but why is that so?
Every curriculum that I have seen in action has had a certain “cookie-cutter” quality. They have to, because they are written by committee for hundreds of churches to be used by thousands of teachers who, because their lives are complicated enough, need straightforward teaching helps. The curriculum is getting more and more high-tech and uses cooler and cooler ways to communicate the Gospel, but I can’t help wondering if the reason we lose school age children (and the reason churches have lost so many adult products of Sunday School) is because Sunday School has been:
· too passive (unlike soccer),
· too full--too fast (curriculum correctly identifies the variety of learning styles among children but then forces teachers to hit all six styles to address seven lesson points all within 45 minutes…too much!)
· answering questions students are not asking
Sunday, May 23rd at 9:30 I am planning to meet with Sunday School leaders and their children to talk about a new model for education called the “Rotation Model”. I would like for us to adopt this innovative, LIBERATING model next fall. If you care about this, I hope you will join the conversation. And that leads to my final point here.
There is no magic curriculum or educational formula that can turn the ship around. The difference takes place when we all take seriously the third bullet point problem in the Liberation list above: caring more about appearances than about learning. This is not an issue among our teachers who DO attend to the learning. It is an issue for all of us parents and fellow Christians who do not reinforce what has been shared, who are not aware of the direction the curriculum is going and cannot adequately explain to our young people why Sunday School is really important. Everyone knows why soccer is good—it is fun, physical and teaches teamwork. What about Sunday School?
This Sunday we celebrate Sunday School. This year it invited our children to live their belief in God by cultivating trust in God’s love and responsibility for God’s church and creation. Let us give thanks for these students and their teachers and then let’s work together to make a good thing better for next year!
Pastor Doug
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Ministry Opportunities for May 2010
For people who have been feeling a bit uptight, have some FUN with FUMC:
Mother’s Day in Church
May 11th
Graduating Senior Kevin Anderson shares the morning message! Come and learn what Kevin has seen over the past years and where is making plans to go in the years ahead! He will make you proud!
We will celebrate our families by bringing simple flowers from our homes or neighborhoods (even greenery is welcome!). We will collect all of these signs of Spring in our yellow buckets and form a beautiful display in honor of our families. If you would like to share with all of us a minute or two story about your mother or child or even someone else’s parent or children, contact Pastor Doug before Sunday: 781-913-2799 or pastordoug@hopeforhudson.com.
We will also celebrate the baptism of Nick and Tamera Brickl’s son Aaron. Don’t miss the chance to sing Aaron a lullaby on Mother’s Day!
Church Clean-Up
Saturday May 22nd
Interested helpers e-mail Trustee Chairperson Jeff Czerwinski jeffcz@pga.com.
Clean cobwebs—dust tables—cover scratches in pews—trim hedges—clear-out closets. There is a one-hour task for every one of every age. We always have fun cleaning together!
Hudson Fest
June 5th
Interested helpers call or write to Ada, a.arenstrup17@verizon.net or 978-618-7350 OR the church office, Bonnie@hopeforhudson.com 978-562-2932
BOOTH downtown
5 people needed to set-up booth, handout free water and distribute free flower bulbs while we share information about our church. 8:30-10:30 Set-Up Crew. 10:30 to 1:30 Hand-Out Crew. 1:30 to 3 Take-Down crew.
YARD SALE church parking lot
Drop-Off and price goods Thursday after 7pm through Friday evening.
Remember, no clothing donations.
Sale Opens at 9AM. Help us set-up at 8AM and take down after 3PM
BBQ church parking lot
We need a few folks to make salads and three or four general helpers to clean tables and offer greetings to newcomers. And of course bring the family for some GREAT Barbecue with all the fixin’s!
Sunday School and Vacation Bible Camp Areas
We are preparing NOW for FUN new Educational Offerings:
Vacation Bible Camp
Sunday August 15 through Thursday, August 19th
EVENINGS!
Beginning with cook-out at 5:30 and ending with campfire at 8.
Interested helpers see our VBC Page, http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=119046771441526#!/group.php?gid=113204568701755, or contact Stacey Hartford shartford1874@yahoo.com .
If you are an Adult or High School Teen, we want to know if you…
· Enjoy recreation with kids?
· Enjoy watching videos and talking about it?
· Enjoy theater?
· Enjoy showing kids cool science experiments?
· Enjoy leading silly songs?
· Enjoy the creation of art?
Can you join a team one or two nights to help cook for 70 people?
Can you help us paint a classroom and create an indoor forest?
Can you lead a group of young teens hiking, biking and window-shopping in Hudson?
Can you invest two hours a day for one week with some precious children?
Summer Planning for Fall Learning
Interested helpers please call Pastor Doug 781-913-2799 or e-mail Pastordoug@hopeforhudson.com.
Our educational model next year will be new. It will look a lot more like Vacation Bible Camp and feel a lot less like school or “church”. Kids will really want to attend and adults leader will find it much easier and more rewarding assisting the kids in their learning.
We will be using what is called the “rotation” model. You can read a brief three page introduction to the model at this site: http://www.rotation.org/outlook.htm
In our church, we might offer the same “rotations” as we will at Vacation Bible Camp. One area may be dedicated to showing science experiments, another focuses on Art projects, another focuses on recreation, another helps kids experience the Bible story as a drama, another area invites kids to cook! The overall theme for the six week group of rotations might be the story of the Exodus from Egypt. So in the science rotation, the kids are making good and bad bricks and learning how Egyptions might have used Hebrew slave labor. The teacher offers that same lesson five times over five weeks. The teacher and lesson don’t change, but each week a new pack of kids does. The kids rotate from a previous lesson—maybe they cooked flat-bread the week before—and into the science rotation.
We will need teachers and lovers of children who enjoy cooking or science experiments or storytelling or recreation or showing DVDs and websites to help kids grow in faith and knowledge. We also need shepherds who will stay with the same kids week to week. Shepherds have no lesson to prepare, rather they make sure kids and their needs are remembered week-to-week. If you would like to be in on this awesome experiment for 2010, please find us on the Hope For Hudson Facebook Page here: http://www.facebook.com/?sk=2361831622#!/group.php?gid=109123902448060 Look for the SUNDAY Education Forum.
For people who have been feeling like they have more to offer in life, but are wary of getting over-involved. A range of options to do some good:
Buy an Adirondack Chair
Support the Adult Mission Team!
Requests for chairs should be e-mailed to Steve: steve.albino@oracle.com, or Jim james.m.niro@lmco.com.
Stephen Ministry/CARE Team
A New Stephen Ministry Training Series will be held Wednesday nights over the summer.
Interested members please write to Susan at s.niro@raytheon.com
Stephen Ministers are trained to form special weekly, caring relationships with people who are suffering and need a friend to talk with. Many in our church already know the value of the training (see the bulletin board in Lamson Hall to find out who they are!) and many others have privately, gladly accepted the help. We want to expand this opportunity to more Care-Givers and Care Receivers to respond to the longer-term needs of people in crisis.
Care Team Forming
Interested members please write to Barbra Kirk cwa1290@yahoo.com
One simple visit to the hospital can completely change a patient’s outlook! One simple meal delivered with love or one simple card or phone call can erase a week of misery and a month of loneliness. How can you help the Care Team respond to short-term needs of individuals in crisis?
Children Acolytes
Interested parents of grade school children may call Stacey 978-875-1238.
This Summer we will bring back the participation of children as candle-lighters. Once we have enough interested families we will offer an acolyte training at a convenient time.
For people been feeling disconnected from God or the church lately:
(5 minutes)
Share Your Opinion About Summer Worship Times
Visit our Facebook page here:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=119046771441526
This year we would like to offer a service on Thursday nights in Lamson Hall at 6:30PM and a service Sunday mornings at 9:30AM. Both services will feature similar music, scripture and messages for adults and children. The Thursday service offers a bit more informality and the opportunity to be away on the weekend without missing live worship at FUMC Hudson. The service on Sunday is early enough to keep sanctuary participants cool and to offer a full day summer activities after 10:30.
In consultation with our food coordinator, Barbara Moore, in the summertime we would like to shift away from a table full snacks and cheeses and punch toward a simple option of coffee (or cold water or tea) and one breakfast-like baked-good like small muffin. We would charge an affordable fee for the snack. Parents will appreciate knowing that the kids will not be racing down to eat goodies without supervision and the small fee will pay for the paper goods and food that tend to cost annually around $800.
Have an opinion about these? Share it on the Worship Team page of Facebook or write to pastordoug@hopeforhudson.com.
(2 hours)
Offer Your Song this Summer
If you have a special song for worship which you would like someone to share or if YOU would like to offer it, please contact Deacon Erika: Erika@hopeforhudson.com
(5 months)
Serve on an IMPORTANT Short –Term Task Force
Please contact Pastor Doug by phone: 781-913-2799
What is working really well at FUMC Hudson?
How can we better reach those in our community who have a hard-as-rock indifference to the message of Jesus’ love?
How can we best address inequalities and injustice in our community that sap hope from our neighborhoods?
How can we restructure our church so that our ministry produces fruit which is not tangled by the weeds of excessive time-commitments, financial burdens or other outmoded assumptions.
Small groups will research the answers to these questions and present findings the larger church in August, September and October. Our goal is to propose new initiatives to our next annual meeting in the Fall of 2010.
The group will be composed by nomination from church leaders (3), nomination from pastor (3) and self-nomination (3) for a total of nine. Self nominations are welcome at this time.
(3 Years, one meeting a month)
FUMC Leadership
Contact Pastor Doug: pastordoug@hopeforhudson.com
The Trustees, Staff Parish Relations Committee, Finance and Stewardship committees are all looking for dedicated participants of FUMC Hudson.
People who have expertise in law, construction, real estate, business management might most enjoy membership on the trustees.
Mother’s Day in Church
May 11th
Graduating Senior Kevin Anderson shares the morning message! Come and learn what Kevin has seen over the past years and where is making plans to go in the years ahead! He will make you proud!
We will celebrate our families by bringing simple flowers from our homes or neighborhoods (even greenery is welcome!). We will collect all of these signs of Spring in our yellow buckets and form a beautiful display in honor of our families. If you would like to share with all of us a minute or two story about your mother or child or even someone else’s parent or children, contact Pastor Doug before Sunday: 781-913-2799 or pastordoug@hopeforhudson.com.
We will also celebrate the baptism of Nick and Tamera Brickl’s son Aaron. Don’t miss the chance to sing Aaron a lullaby on Mother’s Day!
Church Clean-Up
Saturday May 22nd
Interested helpers e-mail Trustee Chairperson Jeff Czerwinski jeffcz@pga.com.
Clean cobwebs—dust tables—cover scratches in pews—trim hedges—clear-out closets. There is a one-hour task for every one of every age. We always have fun cleaning together!
Hudson Fest
June 5th
Interested helpers call or write to Ada, a.arenstrup17@verizon.net or 978-618-7350 OR the church office, Bonnie@hopeforhudson.com 978-562-2932
BOOTH downtown
5 people needed to set-up booth, handout free water and distribute free flower bulbs while we share information about our church. 8:30-10:30 Set-Up Crew. 10:30 to 1:30 Hand-Out Crew. 1:30 to 3 Take-Down crew.
YARD SALE church parking lot
Drop-Off and price goods Thursday after 7pm through Friday evening.
Remember, no clothing donations.
Sale Opens at 9AM. Help us set-up at 8AM and take down after 3PM
BBQ church parking lot
We need a few folks to make salads and three or four general helpers to clean tables and offer greetings to newcomers. And of course bring the family for some GREAT Barbecue with all the fixin’s!
Sunday School and Vacation Bible Camp Areas
We are preparing NOW for FUN new Educational Offerings:
Vacation Bible Camp
Sunday August 15 through Thursday, August 19th
EVENINGS!
Beginning with cook-out at 5:30 and ending with campfire at 8.
Interested helpers see our VBC Page, http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=119046771441526#!/group.php?gid=113204568701755, or contact Stacey Hartford shartford1874@yahoo.com .
If you are an Adult or High School Teen, we want to know if you…
· Enjoy recreation with kids?
· Enjoy watching videos and talking about it?
· Enjoy theater?
· Enjoy showing kids cool science experiments?
· Enjoy leading silly songs?
· Enjoy the creation of art?
Can you join a team one or two nights to help cook for 70 people?
Can you help us paint a classroom and create an indoor forest?
Can you lead a group of young teens hiking, biking and window-shopping in Hudson?
Can you invest two hours a day for one week with some precious children?
Summer Planning for Fall Learning
Interested helpers please call Pastor Doug 781-913-2799 or e-mail Pastordoug@hopeforhudson.com.
Our educational model next year will be new. It will look a lot more like Vacation Bible Camp and feel a lot less like school or “church”. Kids will really want to attend and adults leader will find it much easier and more rewarding assisting the kids in their learning.
We will be using what is called the “rotation” model. You can read a brief three page introduction to the model at this site: http://www.rotation.org/outlook.htm
In our church, we might offer the same “rotations” as we will at Vacation Bible Camp. One area may be dedicated to showing science experiments, another focuses on Art projects, another focuses on recreation, another helps kids experience the Bible story as a drama, another area invites kids to cook! The overall theme for the six week group of rotations might be the story of the Exodus from Egypt. So in the science rotation, the kids are making good and bad bricks and learning how Egyptions might have used Hebrew slave labor. The teacher offers that same lesson five times over five weeks. The teacher and lesson don’t change, but each week a new pack of kids does. The kids rotate from a previous lesson—maybe they cooked flat-bread the week before—and into the science rotation.
We will need teachers and lovers of children who enjoy cooking or science experiments or storytelling or recreation or showing DVDs and websites to help kids grow in faith and knowledge. We also need shepherds who will stay with the same kids week to week. Shepherds have no lesson to prepare, rather they make sure kids and their needs are remembered week-to-week. If you would like to be in on this awesome experiment for 2010, please find us on the Hope For Hudson Facebook Page here: http://www.facebook.com/?sk=2361831622#!/group.php?gid=109123902448060 Look for the SUNDAY Education Forum.
For people who have been feeling like they have more to offer in life, but are wary of getting over-involved. A range of options to do some good:
Buy an Adirondack Chair
Support the Adult Mission Team!
Requests for chairs should be e-mailed to Steve: steve.albino@oracle.com, or Jim james.m.niro@lmco.com.
Stephen Ministry/CARE Team
A New Stephen Ministry Training Series will be held Wednesday nights over the summer.
Interested members please write to Susan at s.niro@raytheon.com
Stephen Ministers are trained to form special weekly, caring relationships with people who are suffering and need a friend to talk with. Many in our church already know the value of the training (see the bulletin board in Lamson Hall to find out who they are!) and many others have privately, gladly accepted the help. We want to expand this opportunity to more Care-Givers and Care Receivers to respond to the longer-term needs of people in crisis.
Care Team Forming
Interested members please write to Barbra Kirk cwa1290@yahoo.com
One simple visit to the hospital can completely change a patient’s outlook! One simple meal delivered with love or one simple card or phone call can erase a week of misery and a month of loneliness. How can you help the Care Team respond to short-term needs of individuals in crisis?
Children Acolytes
Interested parents of grade school children may call Stacey 978-875-1238.
This Summer we will bring back the participation of children as candle-lighters. Once we have enough interested families we will offer an acolyte training at a convenient time.
For people been feeling disconnected from God or the church lately:
(5 minutes)
Share Your Opinion About Summer Worship Times
Visit our Facebook page here:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=119046771441526
This year we would like to offer a service on Thursday nights in Lamson Hall at 6:30PM and a service Sunday mornings at 9:30AM. Both services will feature similar music, scripture and messages for adults and children. The Thursday service offers a bit more informality and the opportunity to be away on the weekend without missing live worship at FUMC Hudson. The service on Sunday is early enough to keep sanctuary participants cool and to offer a full day summer activities after 10:30.
In consultation with our food coordinator, Barbara Moore, in the summertime we would like to shift away from a table full snacks and cheeses and punch toward a simple option of coffee (or cold water or tea) and one breakfast-like baked-good like small muffin. We would charge an affordable fee for the snack. Parents will appreciate knowing that the kids will not be racing down to eat goodies without supervision and the small fee will pay for the paper goods and food that tend to cost annually around $800.
Have an opinion about these? Share it on the Worship Team page of Facebook or write to pastordoug@hopeforhudson.com.
(2 hours)
Offer Your Song this Summer
If you have a special song for worship which you would like someone to share or if YOU would like to offer it, please contact Deacon Erika: Erika@hopeforhudson.com
(5 months)
Serve on an IMPORTANT Short –Term Task Force
Please contact Pastor Doug by phone: 781-913-2799
What is working really well at FUMC Hudson?
How can we better reach those in our community who have a hard-as-rock indifference to the message of Jesus’ love?
How can we best address inequalities and injustice in our community that sap hope from our neighborhoods?
How can we restructure our church so that our ministry produces fruit which is not tangled by the weeds of excessive time-commitments, financial burdens or other outmoded assumptions.
Small groups will research the answers to these questions and present findings the larger church in August, September and October. Our goal is to propose new initiatives to our next annual meeting in the Fall of 2010.
The group will be composed by nomination from church leaders (3), nomination from pastor (3) and self-nomination (3) for a total of nine. Self nominations are welcome at this time.
(3 Years, one meeting a month)
FUMC Leadership
Contact Pastor Doug: pastordoug@hopeforhudson.com
The Trustees, Staff Parish Relations Committee, Finance and Stewardship committees are all looking for dedicated participants of FUMC Hudson.
People who have expertise in law, construction, real estate, business management might most enjoy membership on the trustees.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
LENT 4
Call to Confession
We pause to consider how far we may have wandered from our home with God. Are we sometimes like a horse or mule whose temper must be curbed? Have we turned away from responsibility in order to seek shallow pleasures and selfish gratification? Or do we consider ourselves beyond reproach, looking down on those mired in the pigpens of life? Wherever we are, there is much to confess.
This call to confession relies on a reading of Luke 15:11-32, the story of the Prodigal Son. It will help you to read this story before Sunday. Few of us preachers ever actually preach about the Prodigal Son because it needs very little interpretation. Read it before Sunday and find yourselves in the story. Chances are good you will relate to either the younger or the older son.
Confession
O God we will not try to hide from you the wrong we have done or the good we have neglected. You know our transgressions. You have observed our pretensions. We have claimed too lightly the label “Christian,” for often we cut ourselves off from you and from the people we disdain. At times our rebellion leaves us hungry, alone, friendless. O God we are not worthy to be called your children. Grant us, we pray, your forgiveness and pardon and a renewed sense of who you intend us to be and to become. (Silent, personal confession)
This week talk show host Glenn Beck encouraged listeners to check their church’s website looking for the word “social justice”. To Beck, “social justice” is code for “Communism” and church members should “run” from churches which support “social justice”. I know this is just more incendiary stuff meant to attract attention. It is not an invitation to think critically and debate honestly the boundaries between personal liberty and the common good. It is just a Molotov cocktail tossed into an open window. Still, it does offer an opportunity to consider what it means to be a “Christian”. To what extent is our participation in this religion simply a pretension---a journey that we always talk about but never actually take? How likely are we to run from “social justice” not because Glenn Beck says we should but because it shames our satisfactions?
Assurance of Forgiveness
Be assured that God forgives the guilt of our sin. Happy are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sin is covered. Rejoice, for God has brought us back to life!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Third Sunday of Lent
Call to Confession
This Sunday, at 10:45 worship, we will be singing two short songs reflecting a southern, African-American Spiritual tradition. I chose these songs because I find them soulful and true-to-life. Though the words are quite simple—“You better min’ how you talk”—the theology is deep: we are accountable for how we live our lives, for what we say and how we say it. That is the lesson we will read in Luke 13:1-9.
You’d better min’ how you talk,
you’d better min’ what you talking’ about,
You got to give account in de Judgment, you’d better min’!
You’d better min’ how you shout,
you’d better min what you shoutin’ about,
You got to give account in de Judgment, you’d better min’.
Confession
Lord I’m bearin’ heavy burdens, trying to get home.
Lord, I’m climbin’ high mountains, trying to get home.
Lord, I’m standin’ hard trials, tryin’ to get home.
I chose this spiritual song as a confession after hearing news about K Latzka’s diagnosis of lung cancer. I felt a bitterness toward God for all of the cancer-stricken people I have known. The more angry I became, the more people I included in my diatribe against God. Then there was silence. Then I remembered a guy named “Job” from the Bible who said “I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul (Job 7:11)…for the arrows of the almighty are in me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me” (Job 6:4). Mmm, I could hear the spiritual rising up inside me… “bearin’ heavy burdens…climbin’ high mountains…standin’ hard trials.” “Tryin’ to get home.” I am not sure how you are handling this news about K or other difficulties in your own life. Maybe you console yourself with “It is what it is” as you pack the additional burden onto an already heavy load. I turn to God in confession: “Lord, as a reasonably faithful man I suppose by now I should be able to put things like cancer into proper perspective…but I can’t. This stinks, to put it plainly.”
Assurance of Forgiveness
Will there be an assurance of God’s love? What form will it take? Will I understand why cancer exists? Will I hear what the man Job heard from God, something along the lines of “You can’t possibly fathom what is at work here…but I love you anyway!”? The very possibility of hearing a word of grace makes me crave worship-I can’t wait until Sunday to hear God’s assurances.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)