Looking toward Sunday…
Filling the pulpit in my stead this Sunday is Rev. Phil Hardy, the new Executive Director of Johns River Valley Camp. I hope you will give him a warm welcome, for he reallytook a chance having me at that camp this summer! I will be headed “Down East” taking my Dad to the annual Parker Family Reunion in Johnston County, NC. I will also be on vacation until the 26th… Megan moves back into her dorm, and it is the last weekbefore the boys start school. While we are not away on a grand trip, we will be marking the milestones the end of summer brings. Rev. June Grubb will be available for any pastoral emergencies that may arise during the week.
Since Fall 2017, the church has been in a discernment process entitled “Building an Inclusive Church.” The mission is to help us provide a safe and hospitable spiritualenvironment for people who are often marginalized by the institution of the church. We’ve had forums, discussions, opportunities for feedback, and most recently, a church-wide brunch on July 22 to discuss the Welcoming Statement that has been circulated. Thenext step in this process is to take an Exploratory Survey about this Proposed Welcoming Statement. All households should receive a letter from me with a postcard included for each voting church member. I ask that you read the letter, complete the postcardand mail back by August 31.
I need to be very clear. This is an Exploratory Survey (also known as a “straw poll”), yet it is a vital step in our discernment process as we live into God’s future of being a place…Where People Discover TheLove of God…The Power to Love Others…The Ability to Love Ourselves
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Together with you in the work of love,
† Elizabeth
Sunday, August 19 THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
9:45AM Youth: Studying Clarence Jordan with Cathy Waitman
Adult Sunday School: Studying Dietrich Bonhoeffer with Dave Fulton{FH}
As we continue our preparation for Rev. Staggs’ visit, Dave Fulton will lead a class on the Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. These discussion classes will continue through the first Sunday in September.
11:00AM……………. Worship and Holy Communion in the Sanctuary
In the pulpit: Rev. Phil Hardy, Executive Director of JRVC
Kids Club with Alice Gray, Cathy Waitman & Lena Johnson
Intercessory Prayer Circle at front of Chapel
THANK YOU FOR SERVING OUR CHURCH THIS SUNDAY
Youth Liturgist: Griff Smith
Greeter: Gennie Lou Byerly
Ushers: Jeff Hutchens, Cheryl Walser, James Gray, Jerry Lovell
Youth Usher: Elliott Smith
Plate Attendant: Walter Hoffman
Sound Technician: Jeremy Peterson
Acolyte: Lucas Peterson
Bible Steward:
Nursery {infants-kindergarten}: Patti Lovell & Rita Lohr
THE WEEK AHEAD
Monday, August 20
6:30pm Open Hands Meal (FH)
Tuesday, August 21
6:30AM Women’s Life Fellowship{Linda Sink’s home}
Wednesday, August 22
12:00pm Friendship Club {Yarborough’sRestaurant}
Thursday, August 23
5:30PM YOGA Class {Parlor}
7:00PM Square Dance {Fellowship Hall}
Sunday, August 26 Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
9:45AM Youth: Rally Day practice with Cathy Waitman & Carolyn Robbins
Adult Sunday School: Studying Dietrich Bonhoeffer with Rev. Elizabeth Horton {FH}
11:00AM Worship in the Sanctuary & HOLY BAPTISM
BACKPACK BLESSING…YOUTH: bring backpacks to church
Intercessory Prayer Circle at front of Sanctuary following worship
OUR CHURCH AT PRAYER
We extend our deepest sympathy to the Gladys Snider family. Please be in prayer for the family for the loss of their loved one.
CHURCH MEMBERS: Melody Evans, Brian McKerlie, Lee Bouchard, Vogen Everhart, Deanna Michael, Lauren Thompson Gould, Ruth Fritts, Peggy Bates, Margot Everhart
HOMEBOUND MEMBERS: Lib & Jimbo Hinkle, Jo Hudson, Valerie Price, Rita Tussey, Adena Wall, Marzell Crotts, Hoyle Potts, Doris Flynt, James Everhart
Our Friends: Clifford Beane (Neighbor of Lee & Ellen Bouchard), Brian Arensman (Keith Johnson’s friend and co-worker), John Hayden (Friend of Kivi Miller), Ed Leonard (Brother of Sylvia Walser), Dan Smith (Brother of Steve and Jerry Smith), Shane Gordon (Friend of Alane Holste), Lacy Belcher (Friend of Vicky Gray), Jonelle Parker (Friend of Frank Leonard); Dr. Sidney Hood…Family of Cindy S. Bowers…Kiana Sinz (Friends of Patti & Jerry Lovell); Dennis Yocum (Son of Carolyn Yocum), Ike Trexler(Friend of Mike & Lynn Brown), Eddie Wray (Friend of Lisa Nelson), Lynn Younts (Friend of Susie Smith), Eliza Paris (Friend of Sylvia Walser’s granddaughter), Harold Peoples (Friend of Cheryl Walser), Ashley Hutcheson (Daughter-in-law of Heidi & Ron Hutcheson)
SUNDAY IS THE LAST DAY TO SIGN UP FOR THE NEW BRIDGE DINNER MINISTRY THAT BEGINS IN SEPTEMBER!
(Building Relationships In Dinner Groups Eating)
The mission is not to play cards, but to build bridges. We want to get to know congregation members better by sharing a meal together in a small group setting oncein September and again in October. Who’s invited to participate? Anyone who wishes…from long-time members to those who are recently visiting. Tammy Rhodes and Susie Smith will coordinate those who are interested into groups of 6-8 people. Next, an “engineer”will be selected from each group to contact the group members to decide when and where and how the small group will meet for a meal. Meals could be a covered dish at someone’s home, a local park picnic, a table at local restaurant…each small group willdecide for itself the meal details.
To participate, e-mail Tammy Rhodes at tammyrhodes2215@gmail.com by SUNDAY, August 19th or text your name to (336) 250-3121.
LATER ON THE CHURCH CALENDAR
- AUGUST 28 6:00 Finance Committee Meeting (Parlor)
- The East Lexington Collaborative Ministries Group (First Reformed UCC, Second Reformed UCC, Shady Side Presbyterian Church, and St. Stephen UMC) will be holding a 6-week Collaborative Bible Study. The study will be on the book of Psalms and will begin on September 4, 2018 from 12-1:00pm in the Parlor of First Reformed UCC. The study will be led by Rev. Elizabeth Horton and Rev. Arnetta Beverly. Please contact the church office as soon as possible to reserve your study book, “Invitation to Psalms” by Michael Jinkins. The cost of each book is $6.00. The deadline to order is MONDAY, AUGUST 20th.
Please bring your lunch and join us as we study and interact with members of our sister churches.
- September 5 BLOODMOBILE coming to First Reformed UCC
More information will be provided as we get closer to the date. A sign-up sheet is currently available on the bulletin board outside the church office, or you may contact the office by e-mail carolyn@frucc.org or phone (336-248-2617) to add your name to the list. - SEPTEMBER 9th Rally Day 2018!
Rally Day is coming. We will have a program in the Chapel for Adults and Youth culminating our study of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Clarence Jordan. We will receive Confirmands and new members during the worship service. A delicious baked potato and salad bar luncheon is planned for the CONGREGATIONAL MEAL. - UPCOMING MINISTER and PERFORMING ARTIST
After serving as a pastor for 24 years, Al Staggs became a full-time performing artist. His repertoire includes characterizations of such luminaries as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Clarence Jordan, and Oscar Romero. He is the author of What Would Bonhoeffer Say? (Intermundia Press), A Pilgrim in Rome: Cries of Dissent, and another collection of poetry, In Mammon We Trust . . . (Intermundia Press).
A poet and full-time performing artist, Al Staggs served as a pastor for 24 years. His repertoire of programs includes characterizations of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Clarence Jordan, and Oscar Romero.The weekend of September 15-16 Rev. Al Staggs , a minister and performance artist, will share three presentations.
- Saturday evening, September 15th, Rev. Staggs will present Laughter for Life . This program focuses on the spiritual, emotional and physical benefits of humor and features his numerous comedic impersonations.
- Sunday morning, September 16th, at 9:45am in the education building, Rev. Staggs will perform “Clarence Jordan and the God Movement.”
Taken from the book description and reviews:
Clarence Jordan was a farmer, Baptist minister and biblical scholar who, in 1942, founded the interracial community of Koinonia in south Georgia. His perspective of Christian discipleship, particularly in regard to the issues of racial equality, war and greed, made him a highly controversial figure in his hometown of Americus and Sumter County, Georgia. Jordan’s life and theology were a radical emodiment of the teachings of Jesus, especially those from the Sermon on the Mount. In 1968 he and Millard Fuller founded Fund for Humanity, which later became Habitat for Humanity International.
Reviews:
- “Al, there are legions of legends but none sound like Daddy until I heard you. You have mastered the pauses, the tone, and some of the mannerisms I knew so well as a child. When I closed my eyes during your performance, I was moved to tears at the sound. You do a great job! It’s good for both a laugh and a cry!” –Jan (Jordan) Zehr, daughter of Clarence Jordan
- “I want to thank you for your outstanding performance here at Habitat for Humanity International headquarters. You did a superb job of impersonating Clarence Jordan. Indeed, I cannot imagine you doing a better job of impersonating that great man of God. One of the best indications of how well you did was the reaction of the Jordan family including his three living children. They were astounded at your magnificent portrayal of their father.” –Millard Fuller
- “Al, I just wanted to thank you on behalf of the entire ‘Jordan Clan’ for a performance that captured the essence of daddy! Your cadence, your inflection, your mannerisms, and humor were so real, it was hard not to think back 30 years ago, when we would sit and listen to daddy speak. Both performances were outstanding!” –Lenny Jordan, Clarence Jordan’s son
The book may also be bought from Amazon at Clarence-Jordan and The God-Movement
- Worship Service at 11:00am in the sanctuary, Rev. Staggs will perform, “A View from the Underside: The Legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer” . The audience is brought into the prison cell where Bonhoeffer awaits execution and listens to his struggles with evil, injustice, and God. In the play, Bonhoeffer tells of the profound influence of fellow Union Theological student, Frank Fisher, an African-American friend who introduced Dietrich to the blight of racism in America. Prisoner Bonhoeffer expresses moral outrage against the Nazi treatment of Jews and explains how that outrage led him to become involved in the German resistance movement, a commitment that would result in his execution by hanging on April 9, 1945.
Taken from the The Intermundia press, LLC
The story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, pastor and theologian, is the story of a man who spoke as a prophet to a German church that was more concerned with her own security than she was with doing the work of God in the midst of oppression and human need. This pastor-prisoner challenged the typical expressions of popular Christian piety, a piety that denied the reality of injustice toward innocent people, namely Jews.
Bonhoeffer compels us to struggle with him regarding the nature and expression of Christian faithfulness in the context of horrifying injustice. One of his most important contributions to theology and to our understanding of contemporary discipleship came as a result of his experiences as a prisoner of the Gestapo from April 1943, until his death by hanging on April 9, 1945. During his incarceration he learned what it meant to view life, history, and scripture from what he termed “the view from below, from the perspective of the outcasts, the suspects, the maltreated, the powerless, the reviled. In short, from the perspective of those who suffer.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s testimony in word and deed continues to influence people all over the world. His witness has drawn praise from leading theologians and philosophers alike. After Bonhoeffer’s death his close friend and biographer, Eberhard Bethge, said of him, “When he was silenced for good at age 39, he began to speak more loudly than ever before.”
A real contribution to Bonhoeffer studies, performance artist Al Staggs brings this modern martyr’s testimony to life with wit and sensitivity, compelling us to struggle along with Bonhoeffer with regard to the nature and expression of Christian faithfulness in the context of horrifying injustice.
- Tuesday, September 25 NEXT COMMUNITY MEAL:
5:00pm Fellowship Hall
First Reformed United Church of Christ, 104 East Center Street, Lexington, NC 27292
Donations appreciated!
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