THE WELCOME TABLE Come and eat at so you may be strengthened to practice mercy, do justice, and love your neighbor! 1
Welcome Welcome to the first edition in the first volume of our new quarterly magazine. This experiment offers us an opportunity to publish a variety of stories and information that doesn t have the same time constraints as our weekly e- news. This publication is intended to supplement our weekly newsletter. It also offers the opportunity to share a variety of stories with the congregation. Included In This Issue Is There Room For Me? 3 Love Thy Neighbor 4-5 God in, for, and with Us 6-7 Extending the Table 7 Moving Forward in Faith 8 Holy Week Schedule April 13 April 17 April 18 April 20 Ecumenical Blessing of the Palms 10 a.m., FCC Courtyard Maundy Thursday Worship 6:00 p.m. Good Friday Worship 6:00 p.m. Easter Sunday, Worship 8:45 a.m. & 11:10 a.m. Do you have a story or personal essay to share? We are accepting submissions for The Welcome Table. To have your article or idea considered, please submit to: Jenny Good at fcctopeka@fcctopeka.org. 2
Is There Room For Me? By Dale Matherly Both my parents grew up worshiping in Disciples congregations in and around Louisville, Kentucky. After my parents were married and my brothers and I were in the mix, my dad took a job that transferred him, and us, to West Virginia and then to the Cincinnati area. I remember in each of those moves that when we went to church, my parents always made sure that communion was a weekly part of worship and that the table was open to everyone. I didn t understand those requirements at the time. Now I know why they were important. My parents desired to pass along a particular understanding of God and life in the church. Because of my parents desires, I ve also only known congregations that had men and women as elders and deacons and communion servers. I know now that these topics were difficult issues for many Disciple congregations over the years - and probably still for some today. For a long period of time, these issues have been non-issues at First Christian Church of Topeka. We celebrate the welcome table and invite all people to come and partake of the broken bread and the cup that remind us of God s love of each and every person and the grace of God that has been poured out upon all creation. There are many though who have not always known this way living in relationship with God and one another. They wonder, Is there room for me at this table? Our answer is Yes, there is room for you here at this table. This practice, I believe, invites others to know God in new ways and to discover God s love for them and the gift of grace in their lives. 3
Love Thy Neighbor By Michael Lollar It was in 1968 when FCC began a ministry for the elder citizens of our local community. This was when First Apartments came to life. It was visionary to take this ordinary place.barren rural land in West Topeka.and develop it into an extraordinary place for senior citizens of our community. Recognizing something common as uncommon is deeply divine. One of the most telling uses of the ordinary common idea being used as a way to celebrate God s love is the holy communion meal we all partake in every Sunday. As we know, this celebration has its origin with the night before Jesus was arrested and crucified, while sharing the Passover with the disciples, he instituted this new celebration. Jesus told the disciples that they were to repeat the sacrament in remembrance of Him. He took the common element of bread, and, sharing it with the disciples, told them that it represented His body which was about to be broken for them. In the same manner he took the common element of wine and made it be for them as His blood that was to be poured out for the forgiveness of sin. Telling the disciples that they remember His death as often as they participate in the Holy Meal, Jesus made uncommon the common element of time throughout the life of the Church as we gather at the Lord s Table. I do not believe that it is an accident that Jesus chose the sharing of a meal to be the means of conveying spiritual grace and love. It is my belief that there is certain spirituality in the act of sharing a meal. I believe that nearly everyone recognizes this at some level. Family mealtimes are not just about absorbing the protein and other nutrients that our bodies need; they are about talking, listening, teaching, learning, and sharing with one another. The time that we share over a meal in our conversations gives testimony to that fact that we instinctively recognize that the needs of the meal transcends simple bodily hunger. That is why the focus of many of our family gatherings, parties and other celebrations become centered on the food we eat. That is also why eating a meal alone or not eating due to depression or sickness is disruptive to our health and body. Having families and friends to enjoy a meal can be joyous and invigorating in sustaining life. To this point, in May of 2012, FCC began a monthly sharing of a common ordinary meal with the residents of First Apartments. This was a re-energized continuation of the ministry started many years ago for the senior citizens of our community. Taking 4
Thy Neighbor, cont d something as common as a daily meal and turning it into an extraordinary abundance of love and grace of God s Spirit for the souls of all the children of God. For nearly two years now, different members and/or groups (Sunday school classes, Sunday youth groups, Boy Scouts, Men s fellowship group, etc.) through our church have visited, entertained and socialized with the First Apartment residents monthly while enjoying a meal. This action of love of family, friends and neighbors was born out of the communion table. As we all know communion literally means "sharing". The word "communion" comes from King James Bible translation of the Greek word for "sharing" which Paul used in describing the taking of bread and wine as the body and blood of Christ. The Latin root is commun'-is, meaning participation by all. The same root word is used for the words common, community, and communicate. This participation by all is what has made this nourishing sharing ministry an outpouring of love to our elderly neighbors in this community. Jesus always did both the sharing of love and the providing of spiritual nourishment. He gathered people to break bread together, and then he sent them out to feed and comfort others: "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me... Just as you did it to the least of these [my brothers and sisters]...you did it to me." Like Jesus, this is what the ministry of providing a meal for the residents of First Apartments is all about. Thank you to all who have continued to show their agape love of giving because you want to and not in order to receive for this ministry of First Christian Church. Loving thy neighbor. the communion table of love. If you are interested in participating in this love sharing ministry, please contact Michael Lollar. In addition, if you know of an elderly individual that would like to be a resident in this loving community of the First Apartments, please call The First Apartments @ 272-6700. 5
God in, for, and with Us By Janie Jones, Elder Chair In the words of a song by Casting Crowns, God is in us, God is for us, God is with us, Emmanuel. That s the message of Christmas. But it is also part of the message we enact each Sunday as we join together to celebrate communion, or, as I knew it as a child, the Lord s Supper. The tradition in which I grew up did not celebrate the Lord s Supper at every service. We took communion perhaps four times a year. I thought of the Lord s Supper as a time to imagine myself present with the disciples and wonder which of us would betray Jesus. It was a time of remembrance, and I experienced the sadness of knowing the betrayal and death that came next for Jesus. When I joined a Disciples of Christ church, communion became an every-sunday affair. I heard more communion meditations, more interpretations/explanations of what occurred in that upper room. Gradually, I began to realize that the remembrance was not one of guilt, but one of acceptance and welcome. Jesus didn t invite the disciples to the Passover dinner to accuse, but to be among those close to him for this special meal. I started to more fully understand Jesus as an expression of God s great love for all of us all of God s creation. Accepting that God wanted me to rejoice that, like everyone, I am a loved and wanted part of God s family, I could share that love with everyone by inviting them to take a place at God s Welcome Table. Helping serve communion and offering a prayer at the table both allow me a concrete role in expressing that welcome. I now approach the table as an invitation by God to come and join the feast that has been prepared for us to accept that we are part of God s family, and that God throws a banquet for us every day, much as the father did for the prodigal son. All we must do is come to the table and accept our place as part of the family. At the table, we celebrate that God cares enough to come and be one of us in Jesus. A reading of the sermon text and study panel earlier in the week helps me prepare for my turn to pray at the communion table. And I pray about what to pray. While that may sound odd, here s my reasoning. When I am part of the congregation, sometimes I am praying my own communion prayer. Many times, though, I allow the prayer of the elder to become mine. Thus, I want my prayer to be one that could become the prayer of anyone in the congregation. While praying at the table, I try to envision God holding all of us as tenderly as a parent holds a much-loved child. It is an experience of God s love and joyous welcome to all of us, wrapped in the remembrance of Jesus specific, loving acts. Truly, God is in us, God is for us, God is with us, Emmanuel. 6
Extending the Table Robert Welsh, President of the Council on Christian Unity, has again emailed his thanks to the World Outreach Ministry Team of First Christian Church for the gift of $500 to the Council on Christian Unity to help in covering the expenses for one of our Disciples delegates to the 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churchs in Busan, South Korea. Dear Friends of First Christian Church, I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you for your generous gift of $500 in support of my trip to the 10 th Assembly of World Council of Churches in Busan, South Korea, last month. Without your gracious support, it would be hard for me to be part of this global gathering of Christians from all around the world. Thank you. This trip has definitely changed my perspective on ecumenism and also on the world itself. I was able to engage conversations with people from every continent and to hear their joys and struggles in their ministries and lives. I also had chances to share my own experiences as a young minister and as an immigrant from South Korea who is now serving a historic Disciples congregation in the United States. While sharing and praying, listening and speaking, and laughing and shedding tears together with those assembly participants, I came to realize that ecumenism is an effort to seek God s Kingdom by reaching out to one another. I was truly convinced that ecumenism is nothing less or more than celebrating our life in God together and embracing diversity among us as God s gift. This trip has changed my congregation, too. Who could imagine that my 220 year old church from the early settlement in the old Virginia would reach out to the world and its people? Members of my church believe now that God will continue to bless us with a great vision to be pioneers in Christian unity as it was in the frontier of the United States. Thank you for your support, again. May God continue to bless First Christian Church of Topeka with God s grace and love. Sincerely, The Rev. Paul Tche is the minister at White Oak Pond Church, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Richmond, Kentucky, and moderator-elect of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). 7
Forward in Faith By Randy Clayton The Board of First Christian Church completed its second year of operation under a new and different structure. The last two years the Board has operated as a hands-on visioning, and long term strategic planning group. Much of the routine administrative work that was traditionally performed by both the Ministry Council (formerly called the Cabinet) and the Board was eliminated from the Board s agenda. All of this was done on a temporary let s see how it goes basis. Starting in 2014, the Board will be operating under recently congregational approved bylaws. Let me give you a short history of how we got here. In January 2011, the newly elected Cabinet and Board conducted a half day retreat. At this retreat it was agreed that a task force should be established to study how our church (and other churches) conducts business and governance. A task force was appointed which consisted of the current and the five most recent moderators. The task force met throughout 2011. During that year there was required reading on church governance and surveys were informally conducted on other churches that were larger than First Christian Church of Topeka. Also in the last half of that year our Senior Minister was called. The task force meetings were always engaging because there was a spirit of breaking new ground. Near the end of the year, at the congregational meeting, the task force asked the congregation to approve a temporary change in the bylaws so that the Board could experiment with this alternative way of conducting business. The numbers of Board members were reduced from 26 down to 7. The entire ministry staff was no longer required to attend each and every Board meeting and the duplication of Ministry Council duties were eliminated. The congregational vote was unanimous to approve. So starting in January of 2012, the Board began operating with 7 members, and with a new focus of discerning God s purpose for First Christian Church of Topeka. These changes have not been easy because there is a tendency to fall back on the way we have always done things. Robert s Rule of Order are substantially gone. And votes are rarely taken. There is time for reflection and prayer. Every decision has been thoroughly discerned and discussed and so far unanimously agreed upon. Please do not think we are so naïve that we do not anticipate disagreement, because there are and have always been differences of opinion within the Board. But so far, if there has not been consensus, there has not been a decision made. Brainstorming, imagining, conducting congregational surveys through World Cafes, face to face interviews, and online/internet questions are all part of the process. Strategic planning is also an important function of the Board, but very difficult to define. Realistic assessments of God s call, and our abilities to act upon that call are vital. Tradition, stability, and capability have impact on every discussion, but we do not want to these things to stop the Board from thinking big, and stretching our minds. The Board meets monthly now instead of quarterly, and there have been some additional meetings as needed. After two completed years of this experiment, the Board recommended, and the congregation approved a change in bylaws to reflect the changes. So now we start 2014 as truly an official Board. There are exciting possibilities for FCC Topeka, but without the congregation s input and feedback the Board can accomplish very little. So if you have dreams, or simply ideas to improve FCC, contact one of the Board members and share your thoughts. 8