#44 A Truly Blended Service

WHERE I WENT AND WHY
The nice thing about this project is, I get to make up my own "rules".  Providence Baptist might technically be a "repeat" but when I went to it in November it was for  the community Thanksgiving Service.  This morning as I was reading the Observer, I was impressed with Rev. Canipe's Op Ed entitled "Freedom Doesn't Have to Mean Isolation."  http://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article152890329.html  It was so  thought provoking that I shuffled my last 7 churches, so that I could go hear Rev. Canipe preach.

WHAT TO KNOW IF YOU WANT TO GO
Providence Baptist is NOT on Providence Road, but is at 4921 Randolph Rd between Cotswold Shopping Center and Sardis/Fairview.  Unlike at the Community Thanksgiving service, parking was plentiful for the 10:30 am service.  Dress was church casual, in fact the pastor was dressed in red, white, and blue (for Memorial Day?) very casually, with his sleeves rolled up, ready for work!

REFLECTIONS ON WORSHIP

MOOD

David and I arrived just as the prelude was beginning so greetings were minimal.  Several folks said hello as we arrived and left.  There was a children's message and children were definitely welcomed in the service.  Two young people (teens?) read the early lessons and "words of mission".

MUSIC

So often I see churches offering a "blended" worship.  But when I participate, it feels like it is all contemporary or "praise" to me.  Not so here.  The music director made a good use of a grand piano, 2 guitars, drums and a magnificent pipe organ!  Three contemporary hymns were sung along with  the classical Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee by Beethoven (words by Schiller) and the Doxology.  The choir sang a contemporary version of Rock of Ages entitled "He is the Rock" (Barrett).  The congregation  was asked to remain seated during the Postlude while the guest organist played Bach's "Fugue in g minor."  It sounded wonderful on the pipe organ and definitely set a reflective, uplifting tone.  Who wouldn't be "prepared to leave for service" after it?  I wondered if this was unique to this service, or a regular worship feature.

MESSAGE

Rev. Canipe chose John 17:1-11, Jesus' prayer for his disciples before he was betrayed and brought before Pilate for his Ascension Sunday sermon.  He linked it to his Children's "Moment" where he asked the children, "What was missing at church today?"  After several guesses he reminded them of the large cross that had been on the grounds and talked about Jesus' Ascension.  He talked about how Jesus loved us and wants us to love one another, but that it is not always easy.  While the children had trouble figuring out what was missing, they quickly related to how hard it is to always love and be loved by your siblings!

In the adult message, Rev. Canipe used the entire passage and related how Jesus talks in the first 10 verses about his relationship with the Father, but he equated the last verse (v. 11) to Jesus' "parting words".  (Like how we give kids advice and hugs as we send them off to college or out into the world.) The one thing Jesus asks for is for unity ("so that they may be one as We are one.").  Perhaps, he realized that this was what was most difficult for his followers.  He said, "Whenever you get a bunch of sinners together they act like,... well, sinners!" (with church committee meetings being a prime example! LOL)  That is why Jesus made such a big deal out of forgiveness.  Because we all need to both give and receive forgiveness.  Jesus' prayer has worked, for the church has endured and grown for 2000 years.  He ended with reminding us how we often send out children out by saying, "Remember who you are."  He amended it for all of us to "remember whose we are!" 

OUTREACH AND OBSERVATIONS

Stained glass in the center of the Nave

Stained glass behind the altar -
the screen dropped down from the curved arch

• Because it was night, and I was in the "standing room only section" at Thanksgiving, I did not get to appreciate the beautiful stained glass skylight in the center of the Nave.  The window behind the altar was obscured by a screen on which the hymns were projected.  I've spoken before in this space, about the architectural dilemmas caused by retrofitting sacred spaces for new forms of worship.  This was yet one more example.  I kept wanting to "peek behind the screen" like in the Wizard of OZ!! lol
• I appreciated both Rev. Canipe's written comments in the paper, and his energetic delivery of the Word today from John's Gospel.
• I commented to David that the one almost universal common element among the different Christian churches I have visited is the use of the Doxology.  He guessed it would have been the Lord's Prayer, but I've seen the Doxology used much more often.
• This is the second Sunday in a row I've had a hard time understanding teens participating in the service.  I truly support involvement by children and teens in the service.  However, I think because they are "almost adult" and can read well, we do not think we need to practice or coach teens in reading with a microphone and/or before a congregation.  The older I get the more enunciation is important for my "old ears."  At first, I thought perhaps the mike was "muddled", but it worked fine for the other speakers.  Having at least one "run through" with someone standing in the back to make sure they are both heard and understood is very important.
• No outreach was mentioned in either the announcements (Baccalaureate for graduates next week) or the bulletin.  Their website highlights many organizations they support and opportunities to serve.  The one that stuck out to me (perhaps it was this great picture!) was their community garden where they have 29 raised beds that have produced over 2 tons of produce used for Friendship Trays, the Burmese community and their own Wednesday night dinners in the last 3 years! 
•  As the "year-long eternal visitor" I have come to appreciate how important it is to highlight at least one opportunity  for outreach (beyond the typical church Bible studies and meetings)  during the announcements or at least in the bulletin.  If I were not writing this blog, and  looking at their website, I could easily go away with no appreciation for the many organizations the church supports, or opportunities for service.

THIS WEEK'S EXTRA

THE BULLETIN:

#43 Covenants, Commandments, and Calls

WHERE I WENT AND WHY
When I was listing churches I wanted to attend and learn more about, the Church of Jesus Christ of  Latter-Day Saints or Mormons was on my very first list.  Luckily I met Amee Roome through MeckMin and she agreed to be my "worship buddy" there.

WHAT TO KNOW IF YOU WANT TO GO
I attended the Providence Ward Sacrament meeting at 1 pm.  The church is located at 5897 Hemby Road in Weddington near the Providence Road exit off 485.  Amee explained to me that there are several meeting times for different groups.  They intentionally assign families to different times to keep the congregational meeting small.  They have groups of 150-250.
Dress is "church dressy", with women wearing dresses or skirts, and men wearing ties.  Parking was plentiful and even 485 wasn't busy at that time of day on Sunday.

REFLECTIONS ON WORSHIP

MOOD

The church was very family centered and friendly.  Young children stayed with their families during worship, so there was a constant background "song" of cooing and crying.  Amee introduced me to several folks nearby, including her husband and son who spoke. I sat with her and her 7 year old daughter Audrey who drew a terrific picture for me during worship.  She asked me what was my favorite thing to do, and when I replied I liked to read she drew a Book of Mormon for me!  The Sanctuary is very plain by design with no art or symbols.  

MUSIC

When I entered the Sanctuary a few minutes early, a small choir was practicing, but they did not sing at the service.  Music consisted of 4 hymns  sung from a hymnbook in the pew.  We were accompanied by an organist and a director.  While the hymns were not familiar to me, they were very traditional.  There was no standing for the hymns or any other part of the service.

MESSAGE

Amee explained to me that there are no "ordained" clergy in their church and that the members of the congregation take on all of the roles of service as a call.  Even the Bishop, who spoke briefly at the end is a dentist.  The message today was presented by three speakers.  Amee's young son Aaron, 12,  spoke along with a college student and Amee's husband.  The Bishop had given them topics to research and prepare their talk.  This was young Aaron's first time speaking and though he was very nervous, he did just fine!

Young Aaron spoke about why we take the Sacraments of Bread and Wine.  He sees it as a reflection of his Baptism and a way to draw us closer to God.  He related a story of a friend of his who was mistakenly passed over for the Sacrament and when the Elders realized it, they invited her into an empty classroom after worship and knelt and gave her the emblems personally.  This made her realize that the Sacrament is truly a personal event even within corporate worship and "Just for me." Though this experience, she personally felt God's love and  became closer to the Savior.

The college student spoke without notes and did not make a good use of the microphone.  I had a hard time hearing and understanding her.  I think she was talking about encountering different folks in college, both believers and non-believers.

Amee's husband Aaron spoke about the importance of covenants with God.  He cited verses from both the Book of Mormon and the King James Bible to make his points.  In keeping our Covenants with God we become empowered to control our lives, access God's authority, and receive the Holy Ghost.  This should be done joyfully and cheerfully.  He quoted an Elder that said the best way to teach our children is by example.  And that they should see us taking on our holy tasks not as drudgery, but with joy and cheer.

OUTREACH AND OBSERVATIONS

• Amee explained to me that this is just the first hour of their Sunday worship.  This was the "Sacrament Meeting" for everyone.  During "Second Hour" they gather in study groups, what I would traditionally call Sunday School.  The "Third Hour" is divided by gender and ages.  The men and women meet separately for specialized study.
• No social outreach was highlighted in the announcements, however in the bulletin they talked about a backpack ministry and asked for food donations.
• During the announcements, several people were "released from their call" or had "accepted a call" to serve in various capacities (lead scout group, teach, etc.)  Each of these calls was sustained on by a show of hands (to show the congregation supported their call).
• The Sacrament was served to the congregation with one very short prayer by 6 young men.  They passed trays of torn regular sliced bread and then small communion cups of water, representing wine.  I asked Amee if I was allowed to participate and she said that it is open to everyone, even babies.  However it is taken more seriously after children are Baptized at age 8 (by immersion) and Confirmed.  They feel that by age 8, children have been taught and should know the difference between right and wrong and  are able to choose their own path. The Sacrament is offered every Sunday.
• Seminary to them is 4 years of instruction which corresponds with high school where young people are intensely instructed in the faith.  They typically attend Seminary from 6-7 AM each morning before high school.   I shared with them that this is perhaps a little more intense, but corresponds to our Confirmation when young Lutherans confirm their Baptism, after hopefully intense study, and accept an adult role in the church.
• They view a call as a call from God, and trust that He will empower them with the skills to fulfill the task, whether it is speaking, leading, or teaching.
• There was no offering.  Tithing is expected and paid to the church, either directly in an envelop to the Bishop or on line.
• Amee explained to me that the church is divided into "Stakes" (like the stakes of a tent that covers the earth).  Each stake is then divided into wards and  people living within the ward's geographical boundaries are assigned to meeting times.
• Except for touring the public parts of the Tabernacle in Salt Lake, this was the first time I had visited a Mormon church.  When I was in graduate school, I had several Mormon classmates as Child and Family Development is an emphasis for many Mormons and Brigham Young is noted for its Child and Family Development department.  Several of my colleagues would get their Masters in Child and Family at Brigham Young and then apply to UNC-Greensboro for their PhD or visa versa.  So I expected the emphasis on family.
• While I know we have many theological differences, there were similarities with my worship traditions as a Lutheran.  The weekly offering of the Sacrament, along with the idea of a call from God is similar in both traditions.  Having water represent wine was unusual for me. Some Lutheran churches allow infant communion, though most offer instruction for children during primary grades.  (My granddaughters will have their First Communion next month!)  And while we have strict standards for Ordination (see  the blog post entitled Celebrating Two Homecomings) , the idea of the priesthood of all believers is also very "Lutheran".  
• I appreciated Amee and Aaron answering my questions and their openness to accompany them in worship.  After receiving my rough draft they spent time suggesting edits and commenting to help me clarify similarities and differences, and to understand "Mormon-ese"! 

THIS WEEK'S EXTRA

Who knew that the LDS church had their own cartoonist and a sanctioned cartoon page!!

THE BULLETIN:

#42 A LIBERAL CHURCH REACHING OUT IN OUR COMMUNITY

WHERE I WENT AND WHY
I think this is the first time a church's sign has drawn me in.  Wedgewood Church's sign often has unique messages.  When I found out it was Church of Christ, I became more interested and when I saw this statement on their website, I knew I had to go.

"Wedgewood is a United Church of Christ congregation, with Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, agnostic and atheist members and Christians from many different traditions."

WHAT TO KNOW IF YOU WANT TO GO

Wedgewood Church is at 4800 Wedgewood Dr. at the corner with Tyvola Rd. near The Senior Center and Marion Diehl Park.  There was plenty of parking and dress was casual.

REFLECTIONS ON WORSHIP

MOOD

This was a very friendly church.  Several folks greeted me and asked my name before I sat down and  others came over to me before the service started.  They are very child friendly and have a back "pew" of rocking chairs next to a shelf of infant/toddler toys.  Coffee and water are on the other side, inside the sanctuary. It is a small congregation.  Only about 40 were in attendance the day I visited.  With 4 "Rev"s listed in the bulletin that is a ration of 10:1!!

Rocking chair area

Coffee opposite the rocking chairs

 The service began with everyone reciting the "Extravagant Welcome" and continued with a :"Left Hand of Fellowship" where folks greeted you and extended their left hand. 

MUSIC

The young man clapping performed the Gospel number.

The music consisted of a very talented 7 member choir and a pianist/music director.  Their tight harmonies made them sound much bigger than just 7 members.  One young man did a call and response Gospel selection to "Where God Leads I Will Follow" that was as good as I have heard from any African American Gospel choir.  Two different female soloists sang wonderful solos, one with the pianist and another with pre-recorded music.  That said, all of the music was done as anthems, though some in the congregation joined in the choruses. Though there were 2 different hymnals in the pews, no hymns were planned for the congregation.

MESSAGE

The first message was a children's sermon by the co-pastor, Rev. April Johnson.  She asked what is God's favorite color and God's favorite shape.  After some discussion, it was decided that God loves all shapes and colors, though one young man still needs to be convinced that God could speak through girls!! LOL  After the children's sermon, the children were dismissed to Children's Church.  

Before the sermon, Courtney Leak spoke in a part called "Part of My Story."  Warning us that she would probably cry, she told us through her tears about losing 2 babies at the birth of her son.  He was one of set of triplets.  She said that folks often quoted Romans 8:28 to her during this tragic time:  "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God."  She declared that this was NOT very helpful, for losing 2 babies can never be good.  However, God never promised us that life would be easy or without trials.  And that through this trial, she became stronger, and is able to honor  those she counsels in her work in their pain, and knows that she cannot fix them, but BE with them and help them through it.

The scripture for the day was John 10:1-10 read dramatically by Rev. Marsha Tegard and Rev. Chris Ayers.  In it Jesus describes himself as the Shepherd and gatekeeper to his sheep. "I came that you may have life abundantly."  Rev. Ayers spoke about false gates such as Mar-a-Lago ($200,000 initiation fee), and gates that have been put up to restrict health care to the poor and elderly.  He then went back to the scripture and noted that the sheep know the master's (Jesus') voice, and choose to follow Him, gaining abundant life. He told a story of a young man born without arms who wanted to play basketball.  He said that though folks wanted him to play soccer or anything else, he had listened to his inner voice, and followed it to work at basketball. He went out for the team and worked harder than anyone.  After sitting on the bench all season, the coach put him in the last few minutes of the last game.  He hit 2 three pointers.   He  prayed that we would hear the voice of God in familiar and unfamiliar ways.

OBSERVATIONS AND OUTREACH

• The only outreach highlighted at the service as a faith workshop being led by a member of the church and church deacon who is an Executive Organizational Consultant and Spiritual Counselor.
• The church was very thought provoking, but I think I got a little "tuna fish" (see blog post #1) as far as the message and music goes.
• On their website they list numerous ways they "Change the World" such as participating in Room in the Inn, a peanut butter and jelly ministry to the homeless, raising money for Syrian refugees, the 2nd Harvest food bank, and housing Transcend, a non-profit support group for the transgender community.
• They had a part in the service call May's Saint and Sinner where they recognized the saint and sinner in all of us and highlighted Avery McCray, an 11 year old who is suing Trump on climate change.  She, they declared is speaking "truth to power."
• Another section called "Core Values" on their website describes them as a liberal church:

• The Johnson Amendment has been in the news again this week and it has got me thinking about how churches "should be involved" in politics and the world.  I like Wedgewood's statement  "that separation of faith from politics is not acceptable for people of faith".  However I thought the "dig" at Mar-a-Lago, painted too many people with the same brush without knowing their values.  I agree that churches, their parishioners, and pastors should work for justice in the world and stand up, speaking truth to power as the prophets did.  However, Jesus also said, "Render to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God, what is God's". (Mark 12:17)  I am not comfortable when pastors equate Trump to the devil or Beelzebub or Obama to Moses (as happened at other churches I've attended).  Deifying or demonizing politicians does not advance the goal of social justice, but just draws "red lines" in the sand.  I also think that churches should not publish "how to vote" pamphlets (with specific candidates endorsed), but should help their parishioners apply their faith in the real world and make their own informed choices.  Time is best spent in my opinion in providing ways for parishioners to work for justice in concrete ways using their gifts of time, talent and treasure.
• Again, a thoughtful response from the worship leader.  My comments about the Johnson Amendment (just above) were just an observation I've had as I visit many churches, and I didn't mean to imply that Wedgewood  tells its parishioners how to vote.  Here's their comments:
• Greetings Deb,

   Last week was very hectic for me, so my apologies on just getting back to you. I see that I have missed the date for consideration of my comments before your publishing this piece. I am excited that Wedgewood is among your list of places to attend (and blog about) and I hope you will return once you have accomplished visiting the 50 churches. My only concern was the ending of your blog which could be interpreted that Wedgewood was a church that tells people how to vote or denotes devil/savior status to political candidates. We do not, the beautiful yet at times messy reality about Wedgewood is that we share a variety of different views and affirm this about our members ( be they lay or ordained). We do speak passionately about experiences of oppression and discrimination while holding the humanity of persons who perpetrate and benefit from these practices. Thank you for sharing your blob with me as well as for highlighting our church!  

  
  

  Peace and blessings

  Rev. Malu 

THIS WEEK'S EXTRA

  THE BULLETIN

#41 WHAT IS AN EBENEZER?

WHERE I WENT AND WHY
St. John's Baptist is one of the more liberal Baptist churches in town.  I had visited the building often when I was an early childhood consultant when they had a child care center and later when they sponsored a Head Start site.  I have admired their involvement in hunger and justice issues.

WHAT TO KNOW IF YOU WANT TO GO
Located at 300 Hawthorne Lane, St. John's is between Presbyterian Hospital and Independence Park in the Elizabeth neighborhood.  There seemed to be plenty of parking, however there was no bike parking for my segway, so I chained it to a post.  Dress was church casual to dressy.  The worship service started at 10:30 am.

REFLECTIONS ON WORSHIP

MOOD

The mood of the congregation was friendly.  Several people greeted me with their names and asked me mine.  Children were welcomed into the service with a children's sermon and there were crayons on my pew, so obviously children are encouraged to write and draw.  Upon entering I was impressed with the Easter banners which were not your typical liturgical art.

MUSIC

Music was provided by a large choir, a music director who also did a solo with the piano, and an organist.  The music director also "directed" the congregation during the hymns.  His vocal meditation, "Find Us Faithful"  was beautiful and contributed to the message of the day.  The hymns were very traditional.

MESSAGE

The theme of the messages,"God's Legacy and Ours", was from Joshua 4 (the Israelites cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land after wandering for 40 years and 2 generations, and leave their ebenezer, a stone monument, to mark the event for generations to come.)  In the opening prayer the Associate asked for help to pass on our faith stories to new generations.

In the children's message, Dr. Dennis Foust explained to the children that an ebenezer is a pile of stones stacked into a monument.  He helped then understand the monument by equating it to other objects they collect such as trophies, stones or leaves during a walk, or decorative mugs. (To save my washing machine and vaccuum, our granddaughters are allowed 1 rock per walk.  Result?:  They have become very discriminate with rocks!...lol.)  When you keep these things you are making a commitment to remember an important event.  When God brought the Israelites across the Jordan River, they left stones to help generations  remember the people's commitment to God and God's commitment to them.  He had the children create an ebenezer on the table in front of the pulpit with some river rocks.

Dr. Foust also used a visual prop in his main message, an empty chair.  He told the story of a young woman who was in a horrible auto accident that required a long hospital stay and re-learning almost everything both physically and with her speech and memory.  Her younger brother kept a vigil in a chair outside her hospital room to enforce the "no visitor" rule.  As he sat there through the night and began praying, he asked God  what else he could do for his sister; how he could be more helpful?  His answer from God was to give his sister's care over to God, for alone he had done all he could do.  This lifted a heavy burden from him and affected his life forever, as it deepened his relationship with God.  

He then recounted the story in Joshua emphasizing all of the ways God helped the Israelites in the wilderness (parting the Red Sea, manna to eat, striking a stone for water, learning to live in community with each other.)  God's legacy from the great Exodus is a two sided coin:  freedom on one side, and commitment on the other.  God was committed to the Israelites, and for their freedom, he asked for their commitment to Him.  

He then spoke to us today.  This line in the sermon really spoke to me.  He said, "Some people spend their lives in the wilderness of freedom without crossing over to commitment."  He then spoke of an Endowment the church is raising and how this will aide generations to come to fulfill the mission of the church.  He highlighted a pamphlet that had been added to the bulletin about the ministries of the church (hunger, education, peacebuilding,, homelessness, healthcare, and community building) and asked the congregation to pray and commit to one ministry inside the church, and one outside of its walls.  "Attending is sitting" and doesn't count as being involved.   He ended with asking us to remember the stacked rocks of the ebenezer: that it is stacked with our faithfulness.  But to also remember the empty chair:  a sign that we need God's help to address our problems and commitments together with Him. 

OUTREACH AND OBSERVATIONS

• This was my second sermon by Dr. Foust.  He also preached at the Community Sunrise service.  I love his Benedictions (see below) and his use of imagery.
• The collection of agencies and missions listed in their MT25 pamphlet (see below) are impressive and shows the congregation's deep involvement in the community outside their walls.  (It took me a while to figure out that MT25 reflects Matthew 25 "I was hungry and you gave me food...")
• An interesting announcement was a "Brotherhood of the Biscuit Trivia Night" being held at Birdsong Brewing.  The winners of the trivia contest will select the charity to which a portion of the $25 entry fee will go!  My perception of Baptist churches was definitely tweaked!
• I have sung "here I raise my Ebenezer" all my life and I attended Ebenezer Baptist in Atlanta for this project.  As a youth I often attended Ebenezer Lutheran Church in Columbia, SC for Luther League events.  But I never considered the definition of ebenezer as a stack of stones to remember our commitment to and from God.
• I also had to look up another word from their weekly calendar.  They offer an Enneagram Class.  Enneagram is a system of spiritual psychology based on ancient Sufi typology of nine personality types or primary roles with the recognition of one''s type tantamount to a spiritual awakening".  My "almost" daughter-in-law who is a counselor offered me a book on the topic when I told her about it.
• Dr. Foust had an interesting Benediction.  When I looked it up, it is attributed  to several folks from Ralph Waldo Emerson, Lao Tzu (a Chinese philosopher) to Frank Outlaw, the late president of Bi-Lo!  In Dr. Foust's version your destiny is equated to an ebenezer with God.  The original I found used "watch" instead of "pay attention to..."
• Pay attention to your thoughts, they become words;
  Pay attention to your words, they become actions;
  Pay attention to  your actions, they become habits;
  Pay attention to your habits, they become character;
  Pay attention to your character, for it becomes your ebenezer (destiny)."
• After last week's celebrations at Advent, David and I have had several discussions about what makes for great church music, especially since today is our music director's last Sunday.  This project has helped me appreciate many types of church music from traditional, classical, folk (OK, not much folk but I can wish! LOL), praise, gospel and jazz (and don't forget the Shout Bands, they are in a class by themselves!!)  I have found all of these forms can be uplifting, reflective or distracting.  Distracting when the musicians become the focal point by emphasizing performance versus worship.  Sometimes this is overt and other times I think it is the interpretation of the receiver of the music, (ummm me!) versus the musicians' intent.  But when it comes to personal worship, perception becomes reality.  This has to be a tightrope that musicians must walk (to insert another metaphor!) and one that they need to seek "reality checks" on regularly.  When a musician is very talented, it can be easy to slip into performance mode, rather than integrating music into the whole worship experience.  I have come to realize too that the worship leader needs to consider these things and take responsibility for them  (perhaps giving that reality check!).  The entire staff needs to  keep a worship perspective by being thoughtful not only with the content but also with the layout of the chancel, its layout of furniture and people, and lighting surrounding the worship participants including the musicians.  With many churches incorporating more "band" type music and less organ and piano, this can be an architectural, technical, and contextual challenge to balance the mood, music, and message of the worship experience.  I wish I had some advice on how to solve these issues.  Coordination and prayer are all I can think of.  Sometimes I recognize deliberate coordination among the worship participants.  And other times it seems the musicians are either "running the show" or lack any coordination with the message.  This definitely sets up a disjointed mood for me as the worshiper.

ADDENDUM

Most of my readers know I usually  send a rough draft to the worship leader before I publish the blog.  I got this very thoughtful response from Dr. Foust Sunday night (via his I phone)!  Just hearing all that St. John supports or sponsors makes my head swim!  I wonder if he realizes how verbose I can be!! LOL!  Thank you, Dr. Foust. 

Thank you, Deb. 

And thank you for being a good listener. 

I am glad you found our folks friendly and hospitable. 

We continue to offer a Weekday Childcare Ministry and have now hosted Bethlehem Head Start for more than 25 years. We have also hosted, for almost 30 years, the office for CROP, the largest walk in the world for local and global hunger. We also host the offices and work of Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America; Charlotte Family Housing; and NAMI - National Alliance for Mental Illness, offering support for families and caregivers. We also have six homeless families who live in our buildings at all times. These parents and children live in our facilities for a few months as they work through a supportive educational process with care teams focusing on employment, parenting, finances, etc. One more interesting facts about us is that our youth and adults have built a Habitat house every other summer for almost 30 years. As you can see, we are very involved in service as an Active Faith congregation. 

Thank you again for introducing yourself to me this morning. I will read every entry in your blog.

Shalom,

Rev. Dennis W. Foust, PhD

THIS WEEKS EXTRA

THE BULLETIN AND MT25 PAMPHLET: