Pastor Greg s Gandering

Transcription

1 October 2015 THE UNITED CHURCH OF BROOMFIELD an Open & Affirming Congregation of the United Church of Christ The Center of Our Lives Pastor: Greg Garland 825 Kohl Street, Broomfield, CO Pastor Greg s Gandering So I m working on my sermon right now about the 1st chapter of the Letter from James and by the time you read this many of you will have already heard that sermon. If you are among that lucky number you will know that the very first lesson we get in James s letter is about finding joy in our endurance of trials and tribulations. Just a reminder here that God doesn t cause the trials and tribulations to teach us lessons, but God does help us to endure them and learn from them and even find joy in them. So here s your challenge As you are all aware by now, we are well along in the marathon election season. Now enduring this will require that you call upon God to help you endure. You will learn: patience, kindness, understanding, and how to endure the worst of deceptions and lies and name calling. You will have to endure hour upon ceaseless hours of campaign commercials. Most traumatic you will have to endure the insane, inane, irrational, and downright stupid ideas of friends, family members, co-workers, and church members who are less enlightened than you. These will be times to tempt your faith and challenge your ability to love. You will find new meaning and value in the practice of loving your enemy, who may only be your enemy until the election and then they will once again be your friend, in-law, spouse, etc. You will be disillusioned at the fact that what usually seem like such nice, thoughtful and rational people will radically disagree with you. The good news is that there is an end to this trial and tribulation and if you have endured with the grace of God -- you and your enemies will all find joy together. Joy that it is all over. Like the cabbie who taught more people how to pray than did the local minister; some will be praying a great deal more, while others will look to heaven with shouts of joy and thanksgiving. But here is a helpful hint for all of us. A friend of mine long ago, told me that he really loved stoplights because he used each stoplight to find time to pray and so he looked forward to hitting a stoplight. Well, you can take the same approach to campaign commercials and maybe by the end of the election you will have endured and found great joy. Look Inside. October Anniversaries & Birthday s 2 Moderator column 3 Education & Offerings & Attendance 4 Small Groups & Activities / Prayers 5 Holy Smokes Flyer & youth flyers October calendar & TOWN HALL MEETINGS 8 November calendar & notes 9 Sunday Hours: 10AM Service of Celebration 6&7 Our Mission Statement Our Church is dedicated to the love of God as demonstrated by Jesus Christ and inspired by the Holy Spirit. We demonstrate our love of God through everyday living. Everyone is welcome to join us as we grow in our faith and in our relationship with God and each other through worship, teaching, caring and fellowship.

2 2 October 2015 Birthday s Tom & Jennie Belval October 2, Aaron Dees Brian & Keri Conn October 2, 1993 Gary & Nancy McKee October 7, 1977 Roger & Anna Widdowson October 13, Heather Ottem 3 Stephanie Gastelbondo 5 Kathy Wathen 9 Donald Evans 13 LeRoy Schonberger Kristen Cochran Joshua Floyd Dwight Stein Sam Gastelbondo Debi Gray 20 Pasha Ripley Steve Snyder 21 Caleb Ottem 24 Beverly Hopson Your 2015 Church Leadership Greg Garland Pastor Corey Hill Moderator Jane Martin Shelton Vice Moderator Jonathan Wade Clerk Alice Kidney Financial Secretary Gary McKee Treasurer Brian Conn, Mark Stevens Members at Large - - Commi ee Chairs Mark Stevens Trustees Jonathan Wade Worship Lu Reuter Spiritual Care Bob Wathen/Mary Beth Jones Chris an Educa on Kathy Plomer Mission Mary Jones/Desi Hill Fellowship If we missed 25 your b day John please Lanzavecchia contact the church office. 29 Marti Pratt DBSA Depression and Bipolar Support Group Open to all those diagnosed with either depression or bipolar disorder. Families and friends are invited the fourth Thursday of the month. We will meet every Thursday from 6:30-8pm in the Steele Commons Room. *This is a peer support group and in no way is meant to be medical advice nor is it to replace individual therapy.

3 3 October 2015 The Moderators Monthly Column Church stewardship Ugh. Here it comes. Seriously? Could this part of church be any more painful? Why am I coming to church to get lectured about money? I happened to walk in this church for the first time about 6 weeks before the 2009 Stewardship Drive. You can imagine that I felt a bit uncomfortable with the notion of being pestered about money when I was still unsure if I even wanted to commit to this church (or any church). I begrudgingly came to church each of those weeks of that dreaded Stewardship drive, hoping that the previous week was the last week and I kept waiting for someone to feed me a line that I should pledge a certain percentage of my salary to the church because it was important to God or that He will strike me down or something if I don t. But a funny thing happened as I sat through those services in Hardly a word was spoken about money. Instead, I listened to members of the church come up week after week, tear after tear, and describe a love for a community and a church that I had never seen or been a part of before. I immediately fell in love with the idea that for so many of you all, this place is home, and this building is as much sacred for worship as it is for the place where you gather with your family. And by that final week on Stewardship Sunday, I found myself committed to a church for the first time in my life mentally, financially, and most importantly: spiritually. Six years later, here I am sitting at a table that has turned quite sharply trying to figure out how to tell you that God will strike you down if you don t pledge 10% of your salary to the church or something like that. Lucky for me, the UCC chose an absolutely perfect theme for our 2015 Stewardship Drive: Trust in the Promise. It s as if they wrote this specifically for the United Church of Broomfield, isn t it? When I apply the message to our church, it connects with a very clear purpose. We have spent a lot of this past year looking toward the future, and we ve acted as a unified congregation to pursue exciting change. We ve entrusted seven generous, hard-working individuals - with the Promise that they will represent us well, and find a co-pastor that will help shape the future of our church home. We are putting our Trust in a new pastoral arrangement, with the Promise that it will bring with it a new-found energy, new ideas, and perhaps even new members. And while new is exciting for all of us, we have to dig deep and do our part to realize the Promise of all this change. As you think about 2016, how will you commit yourself as a steward of this church? Will you give your heart to the church s many outward missions? Will you commit your time and talents to a committee that desperately needs your service? Will you commit your hard work or finances to a building that is starting to show its age? Will you support a Youth program that needs more volunteers? Will you provide the energy this church needs to embrace a new co-pastor and grow towards the future? This church we meet in every week is just a building. It doesn t create its own energy, it doesn t love by itself, and it doesn t even pay its own electricity bill. Instead, it runs on the energy of the community inside its walls, and it s time once again to re-fuel. In whatever way feels right for you whether it be through time, money, volunteerism, hard work, or all of the above - I pray you will strongly consider re-committing yourself to this church in the coming year. With Warmest Regards, Corey Hill Moderator, United Church of Broomfield Here we sit as a congregation, preparing for 2016 and what looks to be a year of exciting change in our church, and we re met by the UCC with four words to guide our hearts as we plan how to commit ourselves to the church in the coming year: Trust in the Promise. How fitting. For me, this message from the UCC really resonates with my personal journey in this church. From trusting the tears of your stewardship testimonies 6 years ago, to trusting the unexplainable calling I felt drawn to when I decided to take on this role as Moderator I have found that the Promise I seek is always right in front of me. It s this place where I share my life with you all, where I find people that give an extraordinary amount of themselves to others, where my kids have countless wonderful role models to look up to, and where my family and I have found a second home. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption. A backward poet writes inverse. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says, 'I've lost my electron.' The other says 'Are you sure?' The first replies, 'Yes, I'm positive.'

4 4 Nov 2012 October Holy Smokes Cooking Party Holy Smokes Cook-off (a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity) will be Oct 24 BUT the real fun will be the Thursday night before. The Holy Smokes Cooking Party Thursday, Oct 22 6:30-8:30 PM The Home of the Plomers 5128 Bottlebrush Run Broomfield, CO There is a $5 requested donation to help cover the cost of the food BUT You get to eat some. Street Tacos Feel free to bring a beverage to share. Kohl Street Kids Before and After School Care Linda Neville, KSK director Kohl Street Kids is now registering for the school year!!!!!!! Thank you for suppor ng KSK for another school year. CHRISTIAN EDUCATION We are pleased to announce UCB FALL SUNDAY SCHOOL EVERYONE is Welcome. Join us each Sunday Morning! We are very blessed to have the same wonderful group of teachers. ADULT CLASSES: Pat James & Nancy McKee GRADES 9-12: Darcy & Aaron Dees GRADES 4-7: Brian Conn & Bob Wathen GRADES Preschool - 3: Teresa Holst, Pizza Pete Crouse & Anna Widdowson NURSERY: Kristi Foshee Pat s Adult Class The Adult Sunday School that meets in the Steele Commons Room will continue their study on the life of Jesus with a study of all four Gospels. All are welcome to join us. Attendance & Offering Aug Offering: $11, collected / $11, budget (over by $56.33) Sept Offering: (thru 9/30) Adults / Kids Septmeber 6 September 13 =63/11 =52/7 September 20 = September 27 = 63/10 57/11 $11, collected / $11, budget (over by $112.04) YTD Offering: (thru 9/30) $94, collected / $99, budget (under by $5,294.28) A Big Thanks to those of you who have already completed your 2015 pledge and continue to give on a regular basis. If you would like where you stand on your year-to-date contributions please contact Gary McKee or toptrack@msn.com

5 Nov October Men s Fellowship will meet 7:30AM Sat. October 3rd at ipie Prayers for Bob Churchman, a friend and neighbor of Pat James. His Cancer has returned after having one kidney removed last year. The family and friends of LaVay Griess. She will be greatly missed. Gathering Circle will meet Sat. October 10th at 8:30 AM At First Watch 100 E 120th Ave #140 Northglenn CO A friend of Chad Steinbeck and his girlfriend (Skye and Jasmine) going through a very hard time. Marti Pratt who will be having surgery on Wednesday for Invasive Ductal Carcinoma Bob Churchman, a friend and neighbor of Pat James who is home but only has about 2 months to live. His cancer has returned and is in his spine and liver. He is undergoing some radiation treatments to slow down the paralysis from the tumor on his spine. Marti Pratt as she has surgery this week. Jane and Bryan and family as Jane's mother has been given 6 months to live. Book Club Update: The next meeting of the Book Club will be Friday, October 23rd at 7PM at the home of Lu Reuter We will be discussing The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty The UCB Wall of Prayer For Those Serving at Home and Abroad has been taken down this month to give us time to update the names our service men and women. If you know someone serving in the military and would like to add their name to the wall please ucboffice@gmail.com, nancy_mckee@msn.com or call the office at MORNING STAR GROUP WILL MEET AT NEW STAR CAFÉ TUESDAY October 6th AT 11 AM. ALL WELCOME!!! OCKTOBERFEST...special thanks to members of council and church committees and church families for the gorgeous clever Fun Baskets. Thanks to Gary for the delicious lunch and preparation. Thanks to Desi for the yummy bake sale and the decorated hall. Thank you to everyone for attending!

6 6 October 2015

7 7 October 2015 Worship Service Volunteer Sign-Up If you'd like to sign up to volunteer as Liturgist, offer a Kid's Time message or host after service snacks, we have a new way to do so. Just click here: Worship Help and simply follow the directions to sign up. It's easy and we appreciate all your volunteer efforts. And don't forget that you can put pen to paper and still sign up on the sheets hanging in the Narthex.

8 October TOWN HALL MEETINGS Dear companions in Christ, The search commi ee would like to invite the congrega on to some town hall style mee ngs so we can gather your input on ques ons of worship and congrega onal life. Rather than have one big mee ng, we are taking the me to have four smaller mee ngs, so everyone will feel comfortable speaking out on the topics. Each of the mee ngs will have the same topics and ques ons, so we would like everyone to sign up for one of these four mee ngs Saturday 3 Oct am Sunday 11 Oct 2015 a er church This is the first and best opportunity to share your opinions about the direc on for the church as we begin the search for a new co pastor. We would really like to have everyone a end one of these four mee ngs, but knowing that may not be possible for everyone, we will also be providing some other ways for you to give input to the search commi ee. We will announce these opportuni es soon. In addi on, later in the search process the commi ee will be solici ng your review and addi onal comments as part of the process of compiling a church profile. We look forward to your par cipa on. Signup sheets will be located in the narthex. Sincerely, The Search Commi ee (Brian Conn, Aaron Dees, Beth Engle, Kim Jones, Emily Joo, Lu Reuter, Jonathan Wade)

9 9 October 2015 Did you know... That we're on Facebook? We here at the United Church of Broomfield are cool and tech savvy! Jump on the bandwagon and stay up to date and informed! Click the link and "Like" us. Another great way to keep up with what's going on here and in the UCC. The United Church of Broomfield 825 Kohl Street Broomfield CO 80020