Spring Hill Presbyterian Church, Mobile, Alabama Volume 80, Number 15, June/July 2016 Parables of the Kingdom. T This Summer we are in for a treat! Yet again our Religious Arts Committee has designed a wonderful Faith and the Arts Summer Sunday School Series that weaves together themes What is the kingdom of God like? And to what should I compare it? from our scripture reading and sermons in Sunday worship. Last year we spent the It is like -Luke 13: 18 summer in the book of Psalms, a mind that sees truth in concrete pictures rather than conceives it in abstraction At its simplest the parable is a metaphor or simile drawn from nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness, and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt about tis precise application to tease it into active thought. This summer, get ready to and this year we will be gathering around Jesus parables have your heart and mind teased into active thought and from the Gospel of Luke. We ll share some old favorites faithful response. like the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son as well as On the next page, you will see a list of each Sunday in some possibly less familiar parables. Reformed the series and which parable will be examined in worship. theologian, Karl Barth often wrote about the strange new You will also see the exciting list of speaking from our world of the Bible, that is, the landscape of faith where congregation and our community who will speak on topics we encounter God s Kingdom breaking into our world in from the Arts (and Sciences) that relate to each parable. new and unexpected ways. Jesus parables are powerful All classes will be held at 9:00 am on Sunday mornings in encapsulations of this strange new world of God s the Fellowship Hall. Join us as we seek to glimpse together Kingdom. Biblical scholar C. H. Dodd explains how the Kingdom of God and our call to be citizens of it. parables start with our familiar world and then pull us out of our ordinary patterns of thought to glimpse God s Grace and Peace, Kingdom among us. He says, What then are parables if they are not allegories? They are the natural expression of 1
Faith and the Arts in Jesus Parables June 5 The Sower June 12 The Good Samaritan June 19 The Rich Fool June 26 The Mustard Seed July 3 The Great Banquet July 10 The Dishonest Manager July 17 Spring Hill Sunday July 24 Lost Sheep & Lost Coin July 31 The Prodigal Son August 7 The Rich Man & Lazarus August 14 The Unjust Judge August 21 The Pharisee & Tax Collector August 28 The Talents How Parables Work w/ Dr. Buz Wilcoxon, pastor SHPC The Power of Poetry w/ Dr. Sue Walker, Alabama poet laureate & Professor at the University of South Alabama Agriculture, Architecture, and Values w/ Cartledge Blackwell, Assistant Director Mobile Historic Development Commission Faith and a Garden w/ Dr. Judy Stout, Master Gardener, Retired Sea Lab Marine Botanist, & University of South Alabama Associate VP-Academic Affairs Food, Family, and Faith w/dorsey Ebarb Bronson, author of Louisiana Cooking by American Choctaw Apache Once Upon a Parable w/ Dr. Randall C. Sheets, Director of Music Ministries & Organist, Spring Hill Presbyterian Parables and Southern Literature w/ Dr. John Hafner, Professor Emeritus of English, Spring Hill College Singing Our Stories w/ Harrison McInnis, local musician & member of Spring Hill Presbyterian Church Old Testament Parables w/ Rabbi Steve Silberman Ahavas Chesed Synagogue Leprosy: From Lazarus to Louisiana w/ Dr. Dick Otts, M.D. Mobile Bay OB-GYN Center at Mobile Infirmary Faith and the Legal System Panel Discussion with local judges Ignatian Spiritualty w/ Fr. Christopher Viscardi, S.J., Professor of Theology, Spring Hill College Writing Parables w/ Mary Beth Culp & the Spiritual Writing group of Spring Hill Presbyterian Church 2
Anna 3 June lectionery for the Lord s Day: July, 2016
Let s Make a Big DONATE Your time 1. Decorating: Work Parties: Sun. June 12 (11:30-2 pm), Sun. June 19, Youth Work Party (6-7:30), Sat. June 25 (9 am-12) 2. Meal Set-Up Thursday (11:30 am) 3. Hospitality during Dinner: Thursday June 30 (5:00-7 pm) 4. Clean-Up on the night of June 30 (7-8:30 pm) 5. During VBS June 27-30 HELP MAKE VBS THE BEST YET! NO ACT IS TOO SMALL!! To avoid duplication, sign-up to donate specific items on Anna s door. All items (excluding grapes) may be delivered to the MISSION DROP-OFF ROOM no later than June 20 If you would like items back, make sure to put your name on them! These helpful Items: 5 Wallpaper Sample Books Set of Walkie Talkies (3 or 4) Will Return 10 Big Empty Water Jugs (5 Gallon) 20 Empty 1 Gallon Water Jugs 10 small foam balls 2 kiddie pools 8 Large Sponges 6 Big Tubs to Hold Water (for games) Old Beach Towels 10 Old Beach Towels Dawn Dish Soap 3 large cartons of Goldfish crackers 5 bags Rold Gold Pretzels 8 bags of Chips Ahoy Cookies 6 bags of Oreos 8 tins of Sister Shubert Pigs in a Blanket (if donate put in freezer) 300 Small, Colorful Paper Plates Purple Seedless Grapes (rinsed and pulled apart from stems) Delivered to Bullard Building Kitchen on Sun. June 26 If you are not interested in buying items, checks can always be made out to SHPC. Make the memo line: VBS 4
MUSIC NOTES: Casting Call: Once Upon a Parable Needed: singers of all ages (from rising 5 th -graders through adulthood) To sing in a group, presenting scenes from the musical Once Upon a Parable Enacting and singing about Jesus parables The Good Samaritan The Mustard Seed to be presented in Sunday School on July 10. ALSO: Speaking/acting roles available (memorization not required) Jesus Robbers Samaritan Priest Simon Pharisees Narrator Mary and Martha and MORE Rehearsals on 2 strangely-separated Wednesday nights (from 6:00-7:00 pm) June 15 July 6 Interested? Contact Randy Sheets 5
Notes and Notices PW Presbyterian Women c We Share in Sorrow. Remembered in Love News from the library 6
Service By the Numbers 250 15 17 13 250 Calendar for June/July JUNE/2016 3-5 4-11 7 8 14 19 27-30 28 JULY/2016 4 10 Dozens 4 24 2 13-15 17 18 26 Statement as of April 2016 Total Budgeted Revenue $896,680 Year to date received 334,900 Other receipts 13,209 Total Receipts $348,109 Benevolences 16,080 Salaries and services 185,696 Programs 13,524 Office expenses 9,888 General & plant services 69,455 Other 12,696 Total Expenses $307,339 Excess receipts over expenses (deficit) $40,770 7
Spring Hill Presbyterian Church 10 Westminster Way Mobile, AL 36608 www.shpc.us RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED Non-Profit Organization US Postage Paid Permit No. 1252 Mobile, AL 6