BOARD RETREAT THIS SATURDAY!

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1 Community Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) 1300 Holly Drive Richardson Texas voice fax Communi-K Volume 38 Number 15 July 23, 2014 Dear Friends, Life takes some odd turns. While formulating more discussion questions for the next couple of chapters of Learning to Walk in the Dark, Dani and I find ourselves now sitting in the dark. Here in South Carolina for the past two days we have had continuous bands of rain and thunder showers rolling through two or three times a day. One lasted about an hour and a half at 5 p.m. Another started about 8 with increasing thunder and lightning, so much so that the power went off about an hour ago in the neighborhoods surrounding our hotel including us. Dani decided to call it a day while I sit in our stuffy room watching the light bursts from the storm as it moves on and listening to the symphony of frogs surrounding the hotel as they revel in the rain. Some might even say they are loudly praying for more. Unfortunately, the stars are hidden by cloud and rain, but I would bet they would be magnificent above this area now plunged into darkness! Barbara Brown Taylor's book intends to help us walk in the dark while appreciating and attending to that half of life physically, spiritually and emotionally. Due to present circumstances, I am sure it could also be helpful to learn to sit in the dark as well, if done constructively. Without the distractions that lighted space normally offers, in the dark, one's mind is free to roam remembering the day or a recent conversation. Remembering now that I had intended to write this article on a piece I saw on Facebook about the death of character Calvin, of Calvin and Hobbs fame, that really touched me. Darkness has changed that, too. Darkness offers choices and at the same time denies others, so I go with the one most palpable at the time. To be fair, I know I am cheating the dark experience right now. The battery on my computer is keeping the screen softly glowing, and I could use the flashlight app on my phone to move around the room or find something if needed. Between pauses in writing, I am allowing the battery saver to darken the screen so I have the luxury of being plunged back into the darkness. In those pauses, I try to remember and recreate the hotel room in my mind where did I leave my carry-on bag in relation to the chair in the corner. Dani had been doing her laundry right before the lights went out, so where approximately was that pile of laundry on the floor? I don't immediately need to know where the room key is since the electronic keys aren't working, so we are relatively safe unless the fire or tornado siren goes off. My mind shifts to thinking about the Charleston harbor cruise we took earlier in the day cruising past Forts Sumter, Johnson and Moultrie. What type of darkness did the soldiers experience in each of those places during times of war? None of the three forts were completed when they were defended. Moultrie was only a pile of Palmetto logs and sand when the British attacked in 1776, and still they withstood the attack and actually beat the British ship back (even using the British cannonballs to fire back at them after the cannonballs bounced off of the Palmetto logs or buried themselves in the sand). Being shelled for 30 to 40 hours had to have made for some pretty intense dark experiences not even comparable to my sitting in a dark un-air conditioned hotel room. Another memory crowds in about being at the McDonald Observatory, near Fort Davis, Texas, and looking up at the heavens brightly lit by millions of stars. Seeing the belt of the Milky Way stretch from horizon to horizon and spotting constellation after constellation move slowly overhead was an awesome experience. The soldiers at Forts Moultrie and Sumter saw the same ones; Jesus and the disciples saw them, too. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob saw them as well, and yet our generation has a hard time seeing them because we are so electricity and light dependent.

2 Well lo and behold ask and you shall receive the lights just came back on and the air conditioner has kicked back on! We're saved! Seriously, finding good dark time can be a blessing on many different levels, not the least of which is our physical well-being. I hope we all can find some good dark time for ourselves! In Christ's service together wherever He leads, David BOARD RETREAT THIS SATURDAY! We will have our Board Retreat on Sat, 26 Jul at Fellowship Hall, starting at 8:45 with rolls, coffee and juice. We need a good attendance by all our board members listed below at our meeting to help plan our new church year activities. The meeting will go no later than 1:00 PM. The members of our Church Board are: Our chairs of the committees: Education Evangelism Membership Outreach Property Stewardship Worship Bill Whitley and Larry Fairchild Christy Horn Open Greg Hendrickson Mark Slaight Teresa Gafford The Officers of the church: Treasurer Board Secretary Board Vice chair Board Chair Pat McPherson Open Marvin Rogers Elders: Carol Johns, Paul Latham (vice chair) and Larry Fairchild,, Mark Slaight with Karlan Fairchild, Elder Chair. Diaconate: Ann and Jerry Erwin, Greg Hendrickson, Kevin Horn, Pat McPherson, Ruth Rogers, Dick Seawright, Joan Taylor, Cyndy Emmert, Linda Fairchild, Julie Knecht, Rick Martin, Joanne McKinley, co-chairs Judy Whitley and Colleen Wooten. Junior Diaconate: D. J. Burnett. See you Saturday! Marvin Rogers Board Chair

3 Aid for Unaccompanied Minors If you wish to make donations that will specifically help the unaccompanied minors at the border, checks to Week of Compassion, with that designation noted, will be used effectively for that cause. If you wish to donate through CCC, make your check out to CCC and note WOC UAM in the memo section. WOC is one of very few relief organizations that spend 8% or less on administration. They have a designated program for aid directly for these children. You can also donate via their web site Community Garden We had our garden workday on Saturday July 19th. This was mainly to work on our compost bins, but also to remove any grass and weeds that had appeared in the walkways. We used a new leaf shredder to shred all the leaves from the bins and some of the extra sacks of leaves. Since we hadn t shredded them before, the compost was not developing fast enough. We also added some green grass clippings and weeds, although we are still short of the green plant materials needed. We also added some dry molasses to help boost the nitrogen and attract beneficial microorganisms. Hopefully we will have completed compost by the end of the fall growing season to help prepare the plots for the next growing season. If you have or can find clean grass clippings (without seeds), please bring them, and continue bringing kitchen vegetable scraps and coffee grounds. Please put new materials into the bins on Thanks to those who helped out last Saturday. We had a good working crew. August 20 August 27 August 2 August 6 August 7 August 9 August 11 August 13 August 15 August 16 August 18 August 20 August 21 August 25 August 27 August 30 August Anniversaries Bill & Jane Keene Paul & Patty Latham August Birthdays Douglass A. Cartwright Carolyn Straw Wesley Long Jimmie Wooten Norwood Heinley Nolan Burke Taylor Hogan Robert Frieling Mary Ann Kellam Amy Taylor Larry Fairchild Rachel Kellam Jim Benton Austin DeLay Bill Keene Pooh Plummer Jason Fairchild Hop Chu Charlene Pierce Lexie Wright Drew Kowalski the side facing the alley, leaving the bins at the other end to finish making compost as soon as possible. The garden is growing very well and we have delivered a fair amount of veggies to Network

4 CCC Annual Hymn Fest & Ice Cream Social Don t get to sing your favorite hymns as often as you d like? Can t remember when you ve been able to get your fill of your favorite homemade ice creams? Well, you won t have to wait long. The annual CCC Hymn Fest & Ice Cream Social is coming up soon. Mark your calendar for Sunday, August 17, 4:00-6:00 PM and invite your family, friends and neighbors for a fun-filled afternoon with music director Aaron Lucero as our song leader. The Worship Committee has a sign-up sheet on the office window. They need volunteers to make homemade ice cream and cookies and other folks to serve the ice cream. All Church Garage Sale Mark Your Calendar Saturday, November 8 8:30 a.m. 3:00 p.m. Volunteers are needed on November 6 to help set up for the garage sale. The main garage sale room is full. Please place donated items in the room across from the tablecloth room (SW corner). We cannot sell cribs, car seats, or mattresses.

5 Calendar of Events Saturday, July 26 9:00 a.m. Board Retreat in Fellowship Hall Sunday, July 27 Wednesday, July 30 1:00 p.m. Book Study in the parlor Thursday, July 31 10:00 a.m. Spiritual Disciplines Group in library Sunday, August 3 8:00 a.m. Elders meeting in library Wednesday, August 6 1:00 p.m. 55+ meeting in library 1:00 p.m. Book Study in the parlor 7:00 p.m. Choir practice in library Thursday, August 7 10:00 a.m. Spiritual Disciplines Group in library Sunday, August 10 Wednesday, August 13 1:00 p.m. Book Study in the parlor 7:00 p.m. Choir practice in library Thursday, August 14 10:00 a.m. Spiritual Disciplines Group in library 11:00 a.m. Crafters meeting in library Saturday, August 16 8:30 a.m. Property Workday Sunday, August 17 4:00 p.m. Hymn Sing/Ice Cream Fellowship Hall 6:00 p.m. Executive Committee Worship Attendance 07/13/14 55 Visitors 58 Theresa Dyer Karen Anne Hall Arthur Roberts Eric Weers Ian Hall Zoe Hall Brock Weers Hunter Weers Worship Attendance 07/20/14 63 Visitors 63 Ian Hall Zoe Hall Ruby Latham Taylor Redwine George Tidmore Brock Weers Hunter Weers Financial Report Karen Anne Hall Angela Latham Leslie Redwine Arthur Roberts Monica & Patrick Wallek Eric Weers (Budgeted weekly revenue: $2,816.27) Receipts for 07/13/14 $1, Receipts for 07/20/14 $1, Memorial Gifts In Memory of Nancy Peables From Lee Cole Food Donations to Network We donated 68 pounds of food to Network recently. This covered the months of May and June and the first two weeks of July. They are always appreciative of the food we bring. Please bring your contribution of food (canned goods, peanut butter, beans, rice and other nonperishable staples) and put them in the basket in the Narthex. You are welcome to bring food any time, but especially on the last Sunday of the month we can make that Sunday to take food to CCC for NETWORK. Thank you for helping to feed the hungry in Richardson. Your Outreach Committee.

6 Join Us on Sundays 9:30 a.m. Sunday School Service 12:15 p.m. Fellowship Time Church Office Hours Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Church Office Contact Info David Cartwright s Contact Info (office) djc@cccrichardson.org (home) tracvad@aol.com (cell) Calendar Updates For updates to the CCC calendar, check with the church office or the bulletin board across from the church office. The next issue will be Wed., August 6, 2014 The Communi-K is published bi-weekly by Community Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), 1300 Holly Drive, Richardson, Texas 75080, (972) , (972) fax, editor, Jeannine Frank Community Christian Church ccc@cccrichardson.org Rev. David Cartwright Jeannine Frank Aaron Lucero Anne Speights Hop Chu Santos Camarillo Marvin Rogers Pat McPherson Minister Church Secretary Music Director Musician Childcare Custodian Board Chair Board Vice Chair Board Secretary Church Treasurer Community Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) 1300 Holly Drive Richardson, TX 75080