News & Notes — 7/3/08
Hello my Friends!!
It is good to be “back in the saddle again.” I enjoyed my vacation last week, but am thrilled to be back at work - as we begin (July 1st) our fourth year of partnership in ministry together! Oh how time has flown by! It seems like yesterday that I began my ministry with you. May God bless us in the year ahead as we continue “Reaching Up - Reaching Out - Reaching Deep.”
Probably it goes without saying, but the Church Office will be closed tomorrow for Independence Day. I hope you have the opportunity to do something special to observe our nation’s independence. Our family will continue the tradition of gathering with Wendy’s extended family, at her aunt and uncle’s home in Manchester, Maine. We always have a wonderful time, and I’m anticipating that to be the case again this year. Hope your day is great, too.
We will celebrate Communion this Sunday morning - our first Communion service of the quarter, which means we’ll receive Communion at the rail. Along with this service we will receive the special offering for the Pastor’s Discretionary Fund. I want to mention that this fund is down quite low at the moment, and your ever-present generosity to this ministry is appreciated very much by the folks who are helped by the fund. Special envelopes will be included in the bulletin.
This Sunday - and maybe in some upcoming Sunday’s as well - you may see Cynthia Hollis and/or my wife, Wendy, taking candid photos of events around the church. This is to provide us with some material to use in a brochure (about St. John’s) that the Witness Committee will be mailing to new residents in the area. Before any of the pictures would be published we will seek the permission of all those included in the chosen “shots.” If you would rather your picture not be included, of course we will not include it. I just wanted you to know why photographers are randomly snapping pictures.
The Red Cross Blood drive will be taking place at St. John’s a week from today. Because it was so hot at last year’s July event - and it had to be cut short - the Red Cross folks are bringing their air-conditioned van. But we still need the food and goodies to offer the donors! And the get-your-body-back-to-normal time will still take place in Hartford Hall. Speak to Jinny Scott if you have questions.
The other “big” events to be watching for in July are the Chicken BBQ - on Saturday, July 26th! And then the next morning we’ll have our “Jubilation Worship Service” (formerly called the Tent Revival) at the Rotary Shell in Henry Law Park - downtown - at 9:30 AM. We’re making an extra effort to reach out to the community through this event, and hope that EVERYONE will come, and EVERYONE will bring a guest. And while any guest is welcome, the Worship Committee is hoping we connect with many folks who don’t have a church home, and more importantly, may not have a relationship with Jesus Christ. So be sure to put both these events on your calendar!!
That’s all that I have, but I want to include two things that came from the Conference office yesterday. They’re long, but I think they’re worth the time to read. So enjoy the reading and I’ll see you in church!!
Peace, Mark
Safe Havens Thanks New England Conference for Cell Phone Collection
The Miracle of the Loaves and the Fishes appears in the Gospels of both Mark and Matthew. I know you’ve heard the story, but have you noticed that in all the accounts, the miracle begins with Jesus’ compassion?
Faced with a needy and rambunctious crowd, it would have been easy for Jesus to feel overwhelmed. Instead, we are pointedly told that Jesus felt for and with the gathered people, and wanted to meet their needs and sustain them, “lest they faint along the way.” Jesus’ response grew out of his compassion. He gathered everything he had, blessed it, and gave it away. And, somehow (this is the miracle part), it was enough to feed and sustain the crowds.
During the week of Annual Conference, I was living inside this story. There are so many victims of domestic violence who need our help. And Safe Havens is always in need of support for its education and advocacy ministries. It would be easy to get overwhelmed with the need.
In April, I had sent out an email to the Annual Conference asking for cell phones that could be reprogrammed and given to victims of domestic violence, or recycled to support Safe Havens’ preventive education. This was the first cell phone drive at an Annual Conference ever, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Perhaps a bag or two of phones? Maybe, I thought, if I’m really lucky, there will be enough to fill the collection box.
At the same time a nagging, doubting voice inside my head said, “People are too busy to collect cell phones! They may even be too busy to read an email asking them to collect cell phones!” It was like the voice of Jesus’ disciples, who said, “Where are we to get enough bread in the desert to feed so great a crowd?”
That’s where you, the members of the New England Annual Conference, stepped in. Like Jesus, you began with compassion for victims and survivors of domestic violence, and for everyone, victims, abusers, children, family members, friends, fellow parishioners, bystanders, co-workers, who are affected by abuse. In the face of great need, you, like Jesus, gathered up what you had, blessed it, and gave it away. And, lo and behold, a miracle! Safe Havens collected more than 800 cell phones!! Enough to fill the collection box to overflowing, spill out onto the front porch of Gordon Chapel, and fill the back of my minivan with the seats folded down! And since Annual Conference, Safe Havens has received several mailed packages and boxes, all containing phones! (You can mail phones to Safe Havens, 101 Arch Street, 11th Floor, Boston, MA 02110 anytime.)
Many of these phones will be re-programmed and given to victims of domestic violence so that they can call emergency numbers. These phones can save a life. Others will be recycled to raise funds to support Safe Havens’ work. These phones can also save a life, because they support preventive education.
On behalf of the victims and survivors who will receive phones, and on behalf of the many congregations that will receive domestic violence education and training, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your Christ-like generosity and compassion. This is what the network is all about, and if you are wondering where God is at work in our world, think of a minivan overflowing with cell phones driving away from Annual Conference!
Submitted by: Rev. Dr. Anne Marie Hunter, Director, Safe Havens Interfaith Partnership Against Domestic Violence
Invitation for Volunteers in Mission to Serve in Gulf Coast
Mary Ann and Skip Danforth, along with Becky Leonard (a lay person from Maine) and Jane and Dick Thompson (a clergy couple from Manchester CT) will be leading this three week VIM trip, and this notice is your personal invitation to share with us. We are asking you to check your schedule and Your Heart, and then consider signing up for either the week of Oct. 26 - Nov. 1, or Nov. 9 - Nov 15. We know that this is only two weeks, however, the middle week Nov. 2 - Nov. 8 is already filled. Praise God for volunteers who sign up early!!! Our plan is to have about 60 volunteers who will be willing to serve for one of these weeks, and our understanding at this time, having just spoken with the UMCOR Staff, is that we will be staying in a brand new facility, still under construction, in Slidell, LA. For those who have served with us, and/or with others the new Volunteer Building will be right behind the sanctuary of The Aldersgate UMC, in Slidell. We are also assured that there will be plenty of tasks for each us to fulfill.
We will be more than glad to send you all of the information you will need before you make your final decision, however, we hope that you might consider at this time, a VIM trip this Fall, and an Email sent to kitesky [at] comcast [dot] net with your questions will be answered promptly. We know that there are many other Persons and Places that could well use your Volunteer In Mission services, however, at this time we urge you to take the next step and get in touch with us. Also, your conversation with others and your encouraging them to consider this volunteer offer will help spread the knowledge of the great needs. Dale Kimball, the Director of The Southeast Disaster Recovery Center, when asked, “When will the recovery efforts be finished?” answers by saying, “When you, the Volunteers, stop coming!!!” We invite you and your friends, and fellow church members, and neighbors, etc., etc., etc. to keep the MISSION ALIVE.
Submitted By: Mary Ann and Skip Danforth
Phone: 508-430-0778