thing is for sure... I m leaving a bit of me with you. Don t Rev. Kevin Ewing Sabbatical Interim Minister

Transcription

1 The Church of the Redeemer August 2012 Redeemer News From the Pastor s Desk 30 July 2012 I felt like I had to put a date on this. I m dating it because when most of your read it, I will no longer be or have a very short time remaining as your Pastor. (That is... your Interim Sabbatical P/T til Shelly gets back Pastor.) So I felt it necessary, in order to make the heading of this missive true, that I should indicate that at the time of its writing, I was still filling the role. And this section really is From the Pastor s Desk. I m not sure why that is significant to me except that I ve been thinking about what it all has meant. As we come to a close, what was the point? Two more weeks by my count. As of this date, I ll have about two more weeks with you. And this is my last chance to address you as Pastor in this newsletter. So for the last week, I ve been wracking my brain trying to come up with something good and profound to write. Today... a few hours before my deadline, I have reached this conclusion... I got nothing. Nothing new. Nothing deep. Nothing profound. At first, I was concerned about that. But then I realized that if anything truly reflects what I ve learned in my time with you this summer, I don t have to bring anything new. I don t need to be deep. And what I say doesn t need to be profound. I don t need to work that hard. Probably the best advice I got was when Jonathan Weber said after service one Sunday early on, Kevin, you re at your best when you just be you. And that s what I ve tried to give you. I ve tried to give you me. All of me. I pray that it s been enough. One thing is for sure... I m leaving a bit of me with you. Don t Rev. Kevin Ewing Sabbatical Interim Minister ask me how I know but I can tell. But this really wasn t about what gifts I brought to you. Truth be told, prior to this experience, I was only vaguely acquainted with what those gifts are. I figured I had a few. But never really pulled them all together. Not for any consistent period. So this experience was an opportunity for me to try some things. To learn. To learn how to teach. To learn how to learn. To take some risks. To step out on faith. To fall flat on my face knowing that there are those around who will pick me back up, dust me off and then help me try again. I saw you do that for me. And I watched you do it countless times for each other. One Sunday after a particularly special service (I forget which because they have all been special), I sat in my car for a bit reflecting. Then I whipped out my phone and sent a text to a buddy. Dude... I want a church!!! I hit <send> then thought about it and composed another message. STOP LAUGHING AND TALK ME DOWN!!! A few minutes later I get his response. ROFL/LMAO!!! and nothing for the continued next page Inside this issue: Shelly Checks In 2 Minister of Faith Formation 5 Member News 6 Schedule of Events 7 Special points of interest: College Scholarships, p. 3 Good-bye, Jeff Owens, p. 4 Abraham s Tent, p. 4 Moving Forward, p. 6 Shelly s 30 Years of Ordained Ministry, p. 6

2 Shelly Checks In As you read this, most of our family is enjoying time together at Winni, (Northern New England School of Religious Education at Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire) and as I write this, I am enjoying my Lake Winnipesaukee last three weeks of sabbatical! June and July continued to be great gifts to me. June was full of family events, including Ben s graduation from St. Thomas Choir School and Luke s graduation from Hamden High School with visits from my mother for both occasions. In July, Luke and I spent 8 days in South Korea, the land of his birth. Momentous for both of us in many ways, this trip was one of the most important things I ve done as a parent. We both fell in love with Korea and Koreans and experienced the grace of a wonderful tour group and guides. This was my first trip to East Asia, and other than the plane trip (14 hours non-stop is a very long time in a plane as some of you know), I would return happily tomorrow. A couple of days after our return, I was given the unexpected gift of a two day visit by my best friend, whom I have not seen in person in two years! God is good! I have also continued my reading and reflection time, and as I sit this week to plan my preaching for the Fall, I am considering many things to share with you. Perhaps the most important thing to share in this last check in before I return is that I am, indeed, ready to return! Never having done a sabbatical before, I wasn't sure how I would feel as I neared the end of the time. I will miss the grace of blank spaces and flexible time with family and friends and books. I have enjoyed worshipping in a whole variety of churches on Sunday mornings, but I find now I just want to go to Redeemer on Sunday, and that is a good feeling to have. I will see you soon and wish you many blessings as your summers come to an end. Shelly From the Pastor s Desk, continued next hour. I composed several messages because I really want to talk about this but I don t send them. The conversation is much too big to be held by text message. After the second hour, I m about to call him when I get his text... Remember, not every church is Redeemer. Sigh... Of course he was right. Not every church is Redeemer. Not every church would be as welcoming and supportive. You see, in many ways, this summer has been very easy. At no point have I felt overwhelmed or overburdened. If anything, I feel like I ve maybe left some gas in the tank. Like there was more I could have done. More I could do. But most of all I ve felt like I was at home. That is a wonderful gift you have as a community, Redeemer. And I am so grateful to have experienced it firsthand. You ve changed me greatly. So when I go... Wherever I go, I m taking a little bit of the Church of the Redeemer with me. So, what will I do next? I have NO idea. Actually, that s not entirely true. The first thing I m going to do is stay out late on Saturday night and show up at church late Sunday morning. After that we re not so sure. I know that I will continue in ministry. There is no way I can turn from that. I guess I never really thought of it being done from a pastor s pulpit. And if I were to sum up my take away from this experience, it would be these two things: You re at your best when you just be you; Most of the time never really means not now. Though our contract ends we are not saying goodbye. We are simply stepping into the next phase of our relationship. I have been proud to introduce myself as the Interim Sabbatical P/T til Shelly gets back Pastor at Redeemer. It s felt good introducing my friends to you. And it s causing me to rethink some of my original life plans. Some things are starting to look differently. A few more options have been opened. And God is still speaking. Thank you, Redeemer. Stay as wonderful as you are. Please continue to pray for me and I will pray for you. And I ll see you often. RevKev Page 2 Redeemer News

3 College Scholarships First Annual Missions Committee Sponsored College Scholarships to be Awarded On Sunday, August 12, the Missions Committee will be proud to present its first annual College Scholarship Awards to Church of the Redeemer members Luke Ferriby and Ethan Minkema. Ethan and Luke have fulfilled the award requirement of completing a Mission activity and reporting on the activity by writing an article for the church newsletter (see articles, below). Please join us on Sunday, August 12 as we celebrate these young men. If any current Church of the Redeemer high school seniors are interested in applying for the 2013 scholarship award, they can access the application and requirements at the Church of the Redeemer website, uccredeemer.org. Congratulations to Luke Ferriby and Ethan Minkema My Mission Project Once a month, I have gone to the Church of the Redeemer and taken the food that we receive every Sunday over to the Connecticut Food Bank. The food bank usually takes all the food they receive unless it is opened packages. I feel like I m doing a good thing because people that don t have enough food or an income for them to get enough food will be able to get the food they want from the food bank. By taking the food to the food bank, it will help people in need, so it makes me understand that doing a little mission like this can change people s lives. I would like to thank the Missions Committee for offering me this scholarship. I will miss coming to church each Sunday while at Sacred Heart University. Luke Ferriby Once a month, Luke brought food to the CT Food Bank. College Scholarship Project The entire philosophy behind weeding has always troubled me. It essentially puts you in position to decide which plants are the flowers and which are the weeds. This is clear in most scenarios, the flowers being the bright and pretty ones you may remember planting, and the weeds, gnarled and prolific, look the part of the villain. This method may hold up in your own scrupulously maintained lawn, but what about the raw tangle of ivies that several years of neglect can turn a garden into? For my project to earn a Church of the Redeemer college scholarship, I decided to tackle the southeast piece of the church s property, focusing on the overgrown ivy bed at the corner of Cold Spring and Whitney. I was left with two options to confront this task: donning a mental sheriff s badge and sorting out the detractors from the desirables, or locating some Vietnam-era jungle defoliant. Only after several trips to the dumpster did the area begin to resemble something like a garden. It was still a lion mind you, but now it was a lion continued next page August 2012 Page 3

4 Good-Bye and Best Wishes to Jeff Owens Jeff Owens recently announced his resignation as longtime Sexton from both the Church of the Redeemer and Spring Glen Church. Although this is sad news to lose such a faithful and valuable member of our community, this is good news for Jeff as he has accepted a new fulltime position that better meets his and his family s needs. Given this news, the Trustees and Personnel committees have begun work on a transition plan. The Sexton is primarily responsible for carrying out a schedule of maintenance for the sanctuary, meeting areas, offices, classrooms and Best of luck, Jeff! church grounds. As we expect this process of finding and engaging a permanent replacement to take 1-2 months, we will likely need to seek temporary services in the interim. During this time of transition, please continue to follow the same procedures to note issues of concern on the Sexton maintenance clipboard. Urgent issues with the building can be directed to any member of the Board of Trustees. We bid Jeff a fond farewell and wish him the best of luck in his new position! Many thanks for your dedicated and steadfast service and for your commitment to the Church of the Redeemer. Planning for Abraham s Tent You are invited to attend an Abraham s Tent planning and informational meeting on Wednesday, August 15 at 12 noon at Church on the Rock, 95 Hamilton Street, New Haven. The purpose of the meeting is to: Begin scheduling for the year; Hear what congregations need to make their experiences more successful; Discuss training; Introduce the Abraham s Tent program to new congregations and volunteers. Please RSVP by Friday, August 10 to Megan Melamed at meganm@columbushouse.org. If you have any questions, please contact Cheryl Bergman, Chair, Missions Committee. Abraham s Tent Meeting August 15, 2012 College Scholarship Project, continued lapping from a saucer of milk; it had been domesticated, at least as much as a lion can be. Freed from the smothering presence of the weeds and unwanted ivy, the remaining plants, the easily recognizable perennials and well-established shrubs, were now again exposed to light. I was confident that what we had left behind belonged there, all but one plant in the far side of the garden. It was smaller than the other plants, but its foliage was more unique: dark green oval leaves that gradually tapered off to a deep red the farther up the stem you go. I couldn t decide if this plant was meant to be there, or if it was a fluke, so I gave it a chance to grow. Hopefully, one day this plant will grow into something great, but the possibility does exist that it could be nothing more than another detractor. And what could be a more fitting gift for a young person to leave behind? Ethan Minkema Attending Marlboro College, Vermont, starting fall 2012 Page 4 Redeemer News

5 Minister of Faith Formation Hired As most of you know, when Susan Hauser resigned as Director of Christian Education, we hired Chantee Parris to serve as Acting Director of Christian Education for nine months. During Chantee s tenure, the CE Committee, the Church Council, and Shelly had the opportunity to think about Christian education in our church both areas that were thriving and areas that were not. After the CE Director s position at Redeemer was advertized this past winter, Shelly shared with us that, Welcome, Marilyn! both locally and nationally, many churches are having difficulty filling CE staff positions. The more appealing trend, for congregations and job applicants, is to hire a minister or director of faith formation. Faith formation positions tend to focus on faith development over the human life cycle rather than on educating children and youth. When the hiring committee began reading applications and interviewing candidates, it became clear that the applicant pool was not generally at the level of our other staff. We offered the job to one person who retracted her acceptance days before Shelly was scheduled to go on sabbatical. Some quick creative thinking ensued. As a result of that creative thinking, I am pleased to announce, on behalf of the Church Council and the Christian Education Committee, that Marilyn Kendrix will be serving in the newly created and evolving position of Minister of Faith Formation from August 16, 2012 to June 14, In this position, Marilyn will lead Sunday School and be in charge of adult education. Every six weeks, Marilyn will preach at our worship service, and Shelly will be in the Sunday School room. Marilyn will organize the Christmas pageant or Children s Sunday; Shelly will organize the other special service. The youth group will be led by Kit Novotny and volunteers (as yet to be determined). Marilyn will serve as Minister of Faith Formation for fifteen hours per week. We are thrilled to have this opportunity at Redeemer to experiment and think creatively about faith formation and education for everyone in church. As the year progresses, please let Marilyn, Shelly, and the members of the Church Council or CE Committee know about your ideas around Christian education and faith formation. By next spring, we hope to have evaluated and further defined this position and how we wish to fill it. If you would like to know more about the UCC s thinking on faith formation, you may find it helpful to read The Dialogues on Christian Faith Formation and Education at Heather Jessen Chair, Christian Education Committee Urgent Need for Men s Clothing The Loaves & Fishes Clothing Closet is in desperate need of men s clothing. With more and more people seeking their help, they are finding it hard to keep up with demand. Please call to arrange a time to drop off your donation: The Rev d Alex Dyer Priest-in-Charge Church of St. Paul and St. James 57 Olive Street New Haven, CT (203) The Rev. Dyer is also available to pick up your donation! Page 5 Redeemer News

6 Moving Forward All Day Church Retreat Saturday, November 10 The Church Council is encouraging all members to read Flexible, Missional Constitution and Bylaws: In One Day, Not Two Years before our All- Church Meeting on Saturday, November 10, The theme of the all day church retreat is Moving Forward. As a church, we have been moving forward in many ways over the past few years! In terms of our church governance structure, how we operate and make decisions, we continue to utilize a framework that is over 50 years old. Retreat, November 10 In recent years, we have begun to realize how a rigid and complex framework from another time might be limiting and restricting us. More recently, we have begun conversations at house meetings discussing the possibilities that await us as a community facing budget challenges. These conversations have naturally dove-tailed into questions and dialogue looking at more flexible and mission-centered models of organization. As we all prepare for our retreat on November 10, please watch for newsletter updates about the upcoming process! And please do your best to try to read the booklet above. Reading chapters 1-4 is most critical and will be important to members understanding and acceptance to the process that will occur on the day of the retreat. Do you have a copy? If so, please return it to the Tower Lobby to ensure that all get a chance to read it. September 16 Save the Date! Please join us as we recognize the Reverend Dr. Rochelle A. Stackhouse and celebrate her 30 years of ordained ministry on Sunday, September 16, We will hold a special worship service at 10:00 a.m. A reception and Silver Tea will immediately follow the service. Hope to see you there! Celebrate Shelly s 30 years of ordained ministry. Member News Happy birthday to the following: John Barnett Kathleen Carr Peter Dixon Paul Ferrucci Susan Gooley Peter Halsey Olivia Mason Jalean Petricka Aaron Rhodeen Jeanne Rowe Shelly Stackhouse Happy anniversary to: Aldo Cupo & Cheryl Bergman Paul & Judy Falcigno Tony & Kristen Forman Luis Pagan & Kathy Hagearty Stan & Pat Youngberg Page 6 Redeemer News

7 The Church of the Redeemer August 2012 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 1 2 7:30 Summer Choir Rehearsal, Sanctuary 3 4 9:00 Fiscal Possibilities Breakfast, Home of Heather Jessen 5 8:55 Summer Choir Rehearsal, Sanctuary 10:00 Worship 12 Rev. Ewing s Last Day 10:00 Worship & CS 4:00 Missions Committee at Columbus House 6 7 6:00 Fiscal Possibilities Potluck, Home of David Carter & Bob Parker 7:00 Church Council, 13 7:00 CE Committee, Upstairs Parlor Phillips Room 14 6:00 Eat, Drink, Divorce, Upstairs Parlor 8 9 6:00 Fiscal Possibilities Potluck, Home of Geoff Johnson 15 7:30 Senior Choir Rehearsal, Sanctuary 16 3:30 Knitting Group, Phillips Room 7:15 Deacons, Missions, Sanctuary :00 Staff Retreat, Phillips Room Rev. Stackhouse Returns 10:00 Worship & CS :00 Worship & CS 27 Deadline: Sept. newsletter

8 The Church of the Redeemer 185 Cold Spring Street New Haven, CT (203) Rev. Dr. Rochelle A. Stackhouse Senior Minister Rev. Kevin Ewing, Sabbatical Interim Minister Jonathan Weber, Moderator of the Church Henry Sykes, Treasurer Charles McEnally, Clerk Marilyn Kendrix, Minister of Faith Formation Marguerite Brooks, Director of Music Julia Blue Raspe, Kinder Choir Director Larry Bishop, Organist Debra Tangarone, Office Administrator and Financial Secretary Geoffrey Johnson, Security Bread Not Bombs... the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. John 6:33 Sixty-seven years ago, on August 6, 1945, the world s first atomic bomb, known as Little Boy, was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later a second bomb, Fat Man, was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. Although estimates differ on the number of those wounded or killed, it is likely that over 200,000 people lost their lives or livelihoods as a result of those two bombs. Although we know that more lives were lost during fire bombings earlier in the war, it was the dropping of these two atomic bombs that changed both the course of the war and of course human history. As people of faith, we continue to mourn the loss for the people of Japan. We mourn for our world in which life, our most precious gift, is swept away by the thousands in mere seconds. We mourn the fact that weapons of such destructive potential exist, and for our nation which has used such weapons, even for noble purposes, in our name. Although some justify violence as a means of creating peace, in the United Church of Christ we challenge this logic and affirm the possibility of peace resulting from friendship, justice, and common security. As a Just Peace church, we stand opposed to the institution of war and envision a world free of nuclear weapons. With God s help, let us work for a world in which bread, not bombs, rains down from heaven. Lead us from death to life... Michael Neuroth Justice and Witness Ministries United Church of Christ