2013 Kairos Worship Leaders Weekend

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1 Here is a quick report on the University Chris an Outreach (UCO) chapter in Pi sburgh by Rebecca DePoe, just back in Pi sburgh from a year of service in UCO Ann Arbor. Rebecca grew up in the Pi sburgh area, went to the University of Pi sburgh, and became involved in UCO while she was a student. Our chapter has a brand new staff team. A er six years of faithful service, Steve Logan stepped down as chapter director to pursue a secular job. He has been replaced by Ross Acheson (from UCO in Grand Rapids), and mission directors Ka e Doyle and me (photo at right: Ross, Ka e, Rebecca). Ross leads our staff, our prayer mee ngs, and the men's side of things. Ka e leads the women's household and the women's small group. I lead a women's mission team and oversee our women's environments. The three of us work really well together, and have a lot in common. Our chapter has grown a lot this year. Last week, we had 21 people at our prayer mee ng. It has been a privilege to witness a new genera on of students make UCO a priority. Our members are open to the gi s of the Holy Spirit: they regularly pray in tongues, prophecy, and pray over each other. Our worship life is rich because of it. This year we have a women's household with six women and a men's household with four men. Half of our chapter is living in household! Household life calls us into discipleship, service, and rela onships. Our households are great places to invite new folks into our life together. Both houses host open dinners and celebratory Lord's Day meals for the chapter. We have been developing a stronger bond between UCO and the People of God Community. Some of our members grew up in this community and they come to us with a vision for the community we are trying to build in UCO. This helps impart that vision to new members. I'm excited about the changes in UCO Pi sburgh. Please con nue to keep our chapter in your prayers!

2 2013 Kairos Worship Leaders Weekend Over the weekend of February 8-10, University and High School outreach staff gathered together in the Kairos regional office in Lansing, Michigan, for the second annual Worship Leaders Weekend. This weekend was an a empt to strengthen our common way of worship, and help new leaders care for this area. The 40 a endees came from all across the region: Saint Paul, MN; Pi sburgh, PA; Plainfield, NJ; Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, and Lansing, Michigan; and Montreal, Canada! Talks on a variety of worship-related topics combined with mes of worship and fellowship for a very full and blessed weekend. Community Development Meeting On February 8-9, 65 leaders of Sword of the Spirit communi es in North America met for the Community Development Mee ng at the Work of Christ Community Center in Lansing, Michigan. Presenta ons and discussion were held on transgenera onal community and young member environments, helping those with pornography problems, helping young people discern a career direc on, and helping people deal with same-sex a rac ons. People of God s Love, Columbus, Ohio In September the People of God s Love Community in Columbus, Ohio, celebrated their 35th anniversary with a special dinner and program at a very nice Italian restaurant. The first mee ng of the group was in August of 1977, when 9 of us, members of a large charisma c prayer group, met to consider beginning a community. The impetus behind beginning community in Columbus came from the Kansas City Conference on the Holy Spirit earlier in the summer of At that conference there had been several very strong words about returning home and beginning community or moving to where community already existed. It just made sense to respond to that word and begin something in our city. 2

3 Community Living Experiment There are some exci ng community developments going on in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In September a group of UCO alumni and other young folks began a year s commitment to inten onal community living called the Community Living Experiment. Much of the group is clustered within a few blocks in the East-Town area of Grand Rapids. Tuesday is our regular community night, with a potluck dinner and prayer mee ng alterna ng with small groups. On January the CLE started the new year off with a retreat, looking at the SOS Call and Mission material. This was a significant me for building vision and commitment. One With God Community, Toronto, Ontario Two Toronto communi es, the Light of Life Community and Servants of God`s Love, recently merged into one community with a new name: the One With God Community. The name and merger was announced at the community Christmas party (photo above). Ernie Del Rosario will serve as the senior coordinator of the One With God Community. Ernie Del Rosario and Michael Lim thought of the idea of a merger simultaneously a er the Sword of the Spirit s regional coordinator conference back in The decision to merge and rename the two communi es went through a process of prayer and discernment by the members and was decided by a collegial vote. Tom Mangan Elected to Service Committee At a recent mee ng, the Na onal Service Commi ee of the Catholic Charisma c Renewal elected Tom Mangan of the People of God Community to a three-year term. Tom is the senior coordinator of the People of God Community and is a member of Sword of the Spirit Assembly and North American Regional Council. He has also been president of the Catholic Charisma c Leaders Fellowship. PTI New Jersey February 21-23, The People of Hope Community in Plainfield, NJ, hosted 70 brothers and sisters from the Family of Faith, Triumph of the Cross, Brotherhood of Hope and the House of the Lord communi es for a Pastoral Teaching Ins tute (PTI). Teachings from the PTI on Conversion were presented by Dan Kea ng and Steve Clark. There was me for discussion, Q&A and fellowship throughout the weekend. Par cipants then joined the community for a prayer gathering. Jerry Munk to Lead Community Building In February Jerry Munk took over leadership of the Community Building Team (CBT) for the Sword of the Spirit in North America. Mike Shaughnessy had been leading the team, he will now focus his a en- on on developing Kairos interna- onally. The CBT works with groups coming into membership in the Sword of the Spirit. Over 20 groups are currently in some level of forma on in the region. Jerry has served for many years as a coordinator in the Work of Christ Community and as a regional coordinator of the Sword of the Spirit. 3

4 Last summer, 59 youth and staff from 8 different Sword of the Spirit communi- es par cipated in the Kairos Mission Trips program as short-term volunteers and as ambassadors of God s love in ac- on. We started the summer s trips by sending two teams to the Crow Creek Indian Reserva on located at Fort Thompson, South Dakota. The boys team worked at a home building site for a local Habitat for Humanity affiliate and the girls team worked with Lakota children at a local ministry that specializes in Chris an social work. Both of our teams received commenda ons from the respec ve directors for their job well done. In the Sandhills of Nebraska, another Kairos team of young men assembled for a week of service projects and character -forming exercises at Runner Ranch. They built rela onships through hard work and friendly but spirited games of cow pond football, all topped off by good mes of worship and sharing of personal tes monies. Wrapping up the summer of trips was a team of girls who served several local ministries that work with urban poor families located in the San Jose, Costa Rica, metropolitan area. The girls painted much of the exterior of a ministry center that reaches out to young families by providing child care services close to an at-risk neighborhood. They also constructed a storage cabinet and brightly painted wooden tot stools for the children in this center. God worked through and blessed our youth in many ways this past summer. Thank you once again for your prayers and support of these life-changing adventures. 4

5 North American Staff Conference Over the weekend of January 4-6, Kairos, the youth outreach of the Sword of the Spirit, hosted the North American Region Staff Conference for 160 people at the Quality Inn in Lansing, Michigan. The conference was en tled One, and emphasized the unity of our work in the North American Region. Andrew Davignon (UCO Ann Arbor) and Andrea Prisby (SPO Minnesota) lead a "pub quiz" that helped staff see what they knew (and didn t know) about our outreaches. Brother Ken Apuzzo, the newly elected superior of the Brotherhood of Hope (which recently voted to become an underway member of the Sword of the Spirit), led the men's session on the call to make disciples. For over forty years making disciples has been a key part of our campus work. The Canadian staff represent another facet of unity: they speak English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Tagalog and Canadian, eh! The staff of St. Paul's Outreach in New Jersey some of the 60 SPO staff a ending the conference. One call unites these ladies from Grand Rapids, Mexico and Lansing. The women's session looked closely at the distorted images of womanhood pushed in the media and then considered the true beauty of women made in God's image. Catholic Bishop Mike Byrnes, a UCO staff alumnus, speaking on Epiphany, Sunday January 6, 2013 about being a light to those in darkness. 5

6 Triumph of the Cross, Middletown, MD This past fall, the Triumph of the Cross Community (TCC) ramped up its Grade School Program, and added a Junior High Program to support families in their efforts to engage their children in the Lord. The children worship with the adults for the first half hour, and then break into their own groups for fellowship, teaching and serving the youngest children. This summer, TCC will host its second annual Junior High Girls Summer Camps (July 7-13, and July 21-27). Girls from other Sword of the Spirit communi es who have completed grades 7 or 8 are welcome to a end! In September, TCC marked its15th community anniversary with our annual Anniversary Celebra on. A great me of dinner and dancing was had by all (photo above). University Chris an Outreach Maryland is having a great spring semester. We have 15 commi ed students and four new students coming this semester. Our young people con nue to seek the Lord and reach out to new students. People of God, Pittsburgh, PA A er faithfully serving the People of God Community as senior coordinator for the past 14 years, Tom Mangan will soon re re from the role. Tom will con- nue serving the community on the council of coordinators and will also con nue in his Milo Milburn and Tom Mangan role as president of the Coraopolis Ministerial Associa on. Replacing Tom as senior coordinator will be Milo Milburn, who has been a member of POG for twenty-nine years and has served on the council of coordinators for the past 5 years. Milo is Director of the Graduate Counseling Program at Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he teaches Chris an Counseling. He and his wife Joanne have been married 38 years and are the parents of 5 children. Milo will be installed as senior coordinator later this year. Several members of the Senior Women s Leaders Team have recently re red: Velma Bolland, Pa y Mangan and Bobbie Tedesco. Pa e Kers ng and Pam Smith will now serve in the role. Bob Tedesco, who was the founding senior coordinator of the POG and former president of the North American Region, suffered a stroke in December. We are pleased to report that Bob is recupera ng and gaining strength and stamina once again. Brotherhood of Hope Joins SOS On January 1st the Brotherhood of Hope voted to make an underway commitment to the Sword of the Spirit. Behind this decision was a several year discernment process that entailed three dynamics: reviewing all the SOS Courses (yes all!), making agreements with the SOS in light of our unique canonical situa on as a consecrated brotherhood, and deepening our rela onal bonds and interac on with SOS groups. The me was well worth it. Not only was our BH Assembly vote unanimous, so too was the Regional Council s acceptance vote. These are clear signs of the Holy Spirit s work of convic on, purpose, and unity. We are grateful to God for his encouraging providence, and grateful to the SOS leaders for their flexible assistance. by Br. Rahl Bunsa, BH Called to Rome Fr. Bob Oliver, member of the Brotherhood of Hope, was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to Promoter of Jus ce at the Congrega on for the Doctrine of the Faith. Father Bob is charged with direc ng the CDF s work. Within the SOS Fr. Bob has served the teaching team and CKA as a theological and canonical advisor. He has taught community conferences and given retreats for coordinators and senior women s leaders. His life, gi s and wisdom also have been an immense blessing to the Brotherhood. 6

7 Family Of Faith, New Jersey Pursuing the call to be a transgenera onal community, the Family of Faith held two important events for their children and youth. In January, they gave a Life in the Spirit Seminar for 18 teens (photo above). The main purpose of this seminar was to bring the youth to deeper conversion and love of the Lord through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. It also served an opportunity for the youth to evangelize others. A er the LSS, three new youth looking to join the Youth group. In February FOF held a Dedica on of Children during its community gathering. The ac vity has a three-fold purpose: to acknowledge the children as special gi s from God created for His purpose; to entrust and dedicate the children to the Lord, imploring His protec on, guidance and provision for them; and for parents and other adult members to commit themselves to raise these children to become men and women that God intended them to be. Each child was prayed over by their parents and other adults. May the children of FOF come to full maturity in Jesus Christ. Detroit Community Outreach Over the past year, the Word of Life Community s outreach to Detroit (Detroit Community Outreach) has hosted monthly Lord s Day dinners, followed by a prayer mee ng, for brothers and sisters in Detroit with whom God has given us rela onship. The Lord has anointed this event, which is one of the more diverse events in the Sword of the Spirit: black and white, Orthodox, Catholics, and many varie es of Protestants; people of all ages, including members of our Detroit youth group. The worship has been powerful and vibrant, and God s word is alive and plenteous among us. Opportuni es for leadership abound: brothers and sisters Standing in the Gap (or youth group members) assist or lead worship. Detroit brothers and sisters o en help lead mee ngs, small groups, prayer mes, and give sharings. The Holy Spirit moves among us. Our meals are pot-luck, and our fellowship is sweet. Each of us brings something unique and delicious to the table, and God blesses our offerings and mul plies his bounty among us. Work of Christ Book Ministry The Work of Christ Community in Lansing, Michigan, has for years operated one of the most successful book ministries in the North American Region. Two sisters manage the book ministry: Elaine Riley and Judy Magee. They offer the full variety of books available from Tabor House. They set out the books for viewing and sale at most gatherings of the community and the books do sell. The book ministry puts materials from the Sword of the Spirit into the hands of members and guests, thus suppor ng the evangelis c outreach and the ongoing member educa on. 7

8 Christianity Today Features Yvette Rock at Detroit Institute of Arts Anyone who has been a part of a Sword of the Spirit program in Detroit probably has run into the passion and energy of Yve e and Josh Rock for the city of Detroit. Now, Chris anity Today (CT), the na onally-known journal for evangelical Chris ans, has recognized the same thing. The journal is focusing on six American ci es and stories of Chris an residents who labor to improve blocks, neighborhoods, and communi es within these places. The sociologist Rodney Stark has observed in his scholarly books that the early Church thrived when its members flocked into crumbling ci es just as residents were fleeing and giving up on the civic project of Late An quity. Stark s insight led CT to commission a video of Yve e s efforts to bring art into the civic project of renewing a city. The video began by introducing the viewer to a world of abandoned buildings and desolate spaces, so striking to anyone who visits Detroit. Yve e, however, surveys the scenes, collects ar facts and materials, and then puts them together in an ar s c and hopeful way. The camera follows Yve e from field to studio, from brooding to building, and the viewer is drawn into her vision for healing and restoring life and community in waste places. Her hope is founded on Isaiah 58:12, reverbera ng throughout the presenta on: And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the founda ons of many genera ons; you shall be called repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in. Despite the bone-chilling cold on a January Tuesday evening in downtown Detroit, the Chris anity Today mee ng a racted a wide variety of Chris ans dedicated to rebuilding the city. Yve e s cameo was the opening to a mélange of various speakers, entertainers, and videos in a most appropriate se ng, the Detroit Ins tute of Arts. It was an encouraging evening for all of the members of Detroit Community Outreach, because it drew together those individuals and organiza ons and churches that DCO has known and partnered with for many years. If you want to learn more about CT s perspec ve, check out the Jan/Feb issue or be er yet, come to Detroit for yourself and join Yve e and others in imagining and rebuilding an ar s c and hopeful future for this great city! Link to the video: h p: // anitytoday.com/thisisourcity/detroit/art -of-restora on-in-detroit.html 8 The Sword of the Spirit is dedicated to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ and strengthening Christian people (Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox) through active evangelization and by forming Christian communities. In our youth outreach and community building work, we encourage men and women to give their lives fully to Jesus Christ, practice daily Christian disciple -ship, and to zealously proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to others. The Sword of the Spirit is supported by charitable contributions. Your support is welcome! Contributions to The Sword of the Spirit are tax deductible in the United States. Jerry Munk, Newsletter Editor 2013 by The Sword of the Spirit 4828 S. Hagadorn Road East Lansing, Michigan Telephone: (517) With this issue we begin a change in the SOS-NAR Newsletter pattern. For many years the newsletter has been published in March and September. We will now publish in April and October; one month later than before. This change will allow us to better cover summer and fall activities.