REGION 3 UPDATE
Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Bermuda, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guadeloupe,
Haiti, Martinique, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St.
Vincent, Trinidad, Tobago, Turks & Caicos Islands, Virgin Islands
and the U.S. States of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania,
Virginia, the District of Columbia (Washington, DC)
July 12, 2005
General Conference is Fast Approaching
Please join with your brothers and sisters from all over MCC in praying for a successful and productive General Conference in Calgary, Canada. I wish every MCC'er could attend a General Conference . For me it has been a life changing experience as I listen to other viewpoints, learn about new approaches to ministry and doing the business of God's church. It really does make a difference. Actually, I have not missed a General Conference since 1976. Whether you are attending conference or not I invite you to join with us in daily prayer from July 21 - 27.
Rev. Elder Ackerman Taking Some Vacation Days
My family and I will be driving to Calgary this year combining General Conference with a family vacation. We are taking a few extra days on the way out and on the way home to see the beauty of at least part of Canada and the US. I will be available in case of emergencies via cell phone.
Church Planting Fund for Region 3
As you know we are dedicated to not only strengthening existing churches but planting new churches in Region 3 and beyond. Currently we are exploring planting in Binghamton, NY and Williamsport, PA and others are being considered. Would you like to help? Rev. Clay Witt suggested recently that we give good people like you the opportunity to make a contribution to our Church Planting Fund. If you would like to make a contribution send it to MCC Region 3 Church Planting Fund at the address below. I also want to again thank all of our churches who continue to give your 15% assessment to UFMCC, the extra percentage goes to help plant MCC churches throughout the world.
Chi Rho Press to publish a book of MCC Hymns and Choruses
"The Church Alive," "Our God is Like an Eagle," "I'm Not Afraid Anymore," MCC members have written some memorable hymns. It's time to gather some of them into a new book and Chi Rho Press would like to publish a book of hymns and choruses written by MCC members, with music and words that can be used by congregations in their worship services. Mr. Brian Norton, music director at Holy Redeemer MCC in College Park, Maryland, will be heading up this effort.
We are inviting MCCers everywhere to send in their original words and music or words to existing tunes that are in the public domain. Since some of you are very prolific, we obviously have to limit to number of entries per person to five. A team is being assembled to assist Brian and the Chi Rho Press publications committee in selecting the music to be included.
We are looking mostly for hymns and choruses for congregational singing. If you have anthems for choirs we will need SATB sheets. If your music is not written for keyboard (guitar, a cappella chorus, etc.), please let us know that.
For more details contact Brian at Brian@ChiRhoPress.com. Or mail them to Brian Norton, c/o Chi Rho Press, P.O. Box 7864, Gaithersburg, MD 20898, USA. Our phone/fax number is 301/926-1208.
Message from A Pastor: (Reflection by Rev. Rob Taylor, Open Door MCC)
Dear Friends, We had the pleasure recently of hearing the Rev Elder Arlene Ackerman as she shared with us during worship. Arlene was with us for the Board of Directors training which was wonderful. What a great time we had laughing and sharing about new models for leading the church. Thanks Arlene! Arlene shared a moving message with us during worship about Christianity being a verb and not a noun. SO often we think of faith being something we possess. A "Thing". Jesus taught that faith is a verb. It is an action, something we share or do. That got me to thinking… (which is a very scary thing sometimes) How has our faith been an action verb at Open Door? How has Christian been not a thing, but something we do and share? Do you realize that during the past year we did an amazing amount of things to reach others for Christ? We sent 200 blankets to Church World Service to help those in crisis. Remember the tsunami victims? Your blankets may have been the ones that kept them warm at night. We sent two station wagons of coats to the Lawrence Court Halfway House to enable residents to keep warm going to and from their new jobs. Many of them do not yet have cars and so they stand for hours each day walking to work or taking buses. Your love kept them warm as well. We developed a domestic abuse website to give support and resource information to GLBT persons seeking a way out of abusive relationships. We took a leap in faith in hiring a sign language interpreter for our morning worship and what wonderful new people it has brought us! We praise God for your presence among us. We provided food, gifts, and money for 11 families for the holidays. We recently celebrated our second year at Capital Pride and our second booth at the Gay Rodeo is just two months away. We gave out 1000 Frisbees and hundreds of pamphlets about the Bible and sexuality. We have been able to be a loving presence in the lives of the residents at Shady Grove Nursing and Rehabilitation Center to provide evenings of music and fellowship. We have developed ecumenical relationships with area churches for worship, the Seder Meal, and upcoming Vacation Bible School. We sent almost $1000 to an orphanage in Sri Lanka ravaged by the tsunami and a huge amount of money to a friend of the church who lives with her partner in Canada who is battling cancer. My point is this: These are not insignificant things we do. This is not just peripheral activities to the ministry of Open Door. This IS the Ministry of Open Door! It is our very essence to be in active ministry to those around us. Making Disciples for Jesus Christ is the very heart of the Church's existence. I can't thank you enough for your dedication and love as we search for ways to be in active ministry to the world around us. What a blessing God has been to and through us. Without your commitment to making your faith an active verb, this could not happen. May God bless you. + Rob Taylor
ICM Cristo Sanador Celebrates Pride
We celebrated our Pride weekend on June 4-5. On June 4 Cristo Sanador had a Fund Raising Activity called "Noche de Estrellas" (Celebrity Night). 17 brothers and sisters prepared a show were they demonstrated their talents. We had the performance of Elvis, Diana Ross, Cindy Lauper, Jennifer Holiday, and many other Latin artists. We had a great time and we had an audience over 200 people.
ICM Cristo Sanador Resumes Pastoral Search
Recently, Rev. Manuel Guzman- Arizmendi has stepped down as the interim pastor of ICM Cristo Sanador after faithfully serving for the past year. Thank you Manuel. Rev. Elder Ackerman will be going over to San Juan meet with the leadership of the church to explore the next phase of the churches pastoral search process in August.
MCC of the Blue Ridge Update
I am writing to tell you that many good things have been happening at our church. We continue to have 150 or more people in church every Sunday. We have had many activities and recently one of the exciting events was our "Ministry Fair" in which committees set up booths that explained what is involved in each ministry. Lunch was served after church and people were able to visit each display and sign up for the committees they would like to serve on for this year. We were blessed by having a "full house" that day, most stayed for lunch and were excited to learn about all the ministries. Many found a team that fit their interest and was excited to become a part of a ministry in which they could share their individual talents and gifts.
We also have our new webpage available that includes an explanation of each ministry as well as many other things relevant to the church and church activities. This shows our community as well as our new members the variety of ministries they may choose to serve. You will find all this and more on our new webpage we are so proud to present: http://mccbr.info/
It is an exciting time for us to watch the spiritual growth in the people at MCCBR. We continue to give God ALL the praise for our blessings, as well as answered prayers. Reverend Catherine continues to lead us spiritually in our walk with God. We often ask visitors what they like about our church, the answer will often be the following things; friendly & caring people, uplifting music, and the "spiritual life application" sermons. These things continue to bring people back to our church time and time again. The word is being shared that our church is a church for all of God's people.
Love and prayers, Joanna Lonker-lay delegatePhotos: Ministry Fair at MCC of the Blue Ridge, Roanoke, VA.
Rev. Elder Arlene Ackerman Schedule
While away Arlene can be reached via cell phone for emergencies
July 9 - 10 MCC Rehoboth - worship, leadership training
11 Day off
12 - 14 Office
15 Day off (heading towards Calgary)
18 - 19 Vacation days
20 - 27 General Conference and related meetings
28 - 29 Vacation days
August
1 - 5 Vacation days
8 - 9 Vacation days
10 - 12 Office
13 - 14 Binghamton, NY - meeting with our new church plant
15 - 16 Days off
17 - 18 Office
19 Small Church Pastors Gathering
20 Region 3 Church Planting Team meeting
21 - 22 Days off
23 - 24 Office
25 - 30 ICM Cristo Sanador, Puerto Rico - worship, pastoral search
31 Day off
Arlene Ackerman