Proud To Be A Part of MCC!
The installation of our new moderator, the Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson, was a life changing event. Not only was I proud of who we have elected but the grace, depth of worship and honor given the installation as well as the historic location spoke volumes about who we are and what we stand for. Those of us in Region 3 were doubly blessed to have had the service held in our corner of the world. Many if not most of our churches brought bus loads of people or caravaned to the service. Even some of our smallest churches had 20 plus people attend. Yes, I am proud of our denomination as a movement and I am delighted that we elected who I believe is clearly the person most qualified and called to serve as our moderator. I am also proud of those in Region 3, the MCC staff and all others who helped make the services and the entire weekend such a powerful series of events. A special thank you to Rev. Candace Shultis and MCC Washington. You all were amazing!!!
Proposed New Region 3 Boundaries
At the recent Board of Elders I was asked to serve as the acting Elder for our North & South Carolina churches until January 1 when the new boundaries, if approved, would take effect. As you may know 18 months ago the Elders asked the Geographic Review Board to recommend changes to all of our boundaries to bring about more balance. You can see the entire proposal at ufmcc.org. The proposed changes puts Region 3 in-line with the other regions in terms of number of churches and makes it more financially realistic for all of UFMCC. Also, pending feedback and the vote to affirm the new boundaries by the Board of Administration and the Board of Elders would mean the inclusion of North and South Carolina and all of the islands of the Caribbean including Cuba and Jamaica into Region 3.
If the changes to Region 3 boundaries takes effect in January it would mean that some of the way we now function as a region would need to change. What I am considering is a three fold plan: 1. Establish a facilitating team of appointed people from around the region to assist in the planning an implementation of plans regionally; and 2. Host annual sub regional gatherings for networking, training, and resource sharing; and 3. Increase the support staff hours here in the regional office. Given these changes I believe the additions to region 3 will be a very doable thing and we will all benefit from the additions.
Regional Boundaries - input wanted!
The MCC Geographic Review Board's long awaited Proposal for Regional Realignment was recently released. The full detailed report can be reviewed at: http://www.mccchurch.org/Content/NavigationMenu/AboutUs/BoardsCommittees/GeographicReviewBoard/SevenRegionAlignmentProposal/Seven_Region_Alignme.htm
Additionally, they are asking people to give feedback via the following survey:
Here is how you may send your feedback:
-- Send an e-mail to GRB@MCCchurch.org.
-- Provide the following information and feedback:
1. What are the name, city, state, country, and current region of your Metropolitan Community Church?
2. What is your role in your local MCC: Clergy, Lay Delegate, or Other?
3. Can you accept the placement of your church in its new region: Yes___ or No___?
4. Please give the rationale for your opinion about the new regional placement of your church.
THE DEADLINE FOR THIS FEEDBACK IS NOVEMBER 30, 2005.
Email Challenges
Recently we discovered that the Region 3 email accounts at MCCchurch.org were not forwarding email messages to our AOL account. Some emails were lost and another 600 were discovered. While we are trying to sort through them all if you sent something important that has not been responded to please send your email again. The problem has now been resolved but we are still trying to catch up.
Open Door MCC - New Phone Number
Open Door MCC, Boyds, MD, has a new phone number - 301 916-5777
Prayer Requests
Rev. Lisa Belongia, associate pastor/music director of New Life MCC in Hampton Roads, VA, underwent surgery recently. She is recovering well. You can email her at Tile5@comcast.net.
Mary Homsher, the Region 3 office assistant, has injured her back and has been out of the office for two weeks and is uncertain when she will be able to return.
Deacon's Corner: (taken from the Open Arms MCC E-Newsletter, Rochester, NY)
Yo God, "They" let us use the Washington National Cathedral.
This for me was indeed a time of standing on holy ground.
It wasn't just...the beautiful stained glass windows with sunshine dancing through...
Or the sounding of trumpets and angel voices coming from the choir.
It wasn't just...the clergy in all their dressed up glory, proudly processing in...
Or our allies, again standing up and offering us words of congratulations, encouragement, and love.
It wasn't just...the Elders laying hands on the shoulders of this woman who now leads us...
Or the honor of serving communion to so many of our Tribe.
It wasn't just...Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson's powerful clear voice reminding us of our unfinished calling... Or the thundering applause that welcomed her to this new chapter of ministry
.
It wasn't even knowing that I was standing in a moment of history that will continue to change the world... For indeed all of this was a time of many blessings.
But that sacred moment for me, was that slight pause that many may have missed.
The Elders had gathered around a kneeling Nancy for the laying on of hands.
There Troy paused looking through tears of love into Nancy's face and could not go on.
It was a sacred moment of two loving souls really touching each other.
It was a holy moment of God's love shining from one to the other and back again...
Yo God, thank you for letting me see Your loving face here on earth. Amen -
Deacon Debbie
HIV/AIDS Resource Released!
"STOP AIDS. KEEP THE PROMISE"
Now available online, the 2005 MCC HIV/AIDS Social Transformation Ministry Resource Kit. Browse the kit online by clicking here or Download the entire kit in .doc or .pdf
This resource kit marks MCC's recommitment to stopping the pandemic of HIV/AIDS.
The kit provides resources for you -- not only for World AIDS Day, 2005, but also for the entire year ahead, as we together renew our focus and efforts to ending HIV and AIDS.
Join us in our efforts by leading a Treatment Action Campaign in your local community.
Gain the media's attention and speak out boldly to our cause to end AIDS.
Use the facts and figures provided by the United Nations to better educate your community.
Host movie nights to heighten awareness in your church.
Renew HIV/AIDS ministries in your local congregation.
Empower your community with the stories of others.
___________________________________________
Join us in fighting this disease...
Join us in empowering each other to win this battle...
Join us in calling the powers of the world to task to...
STOP AIDS. KEEP THE PROMISE.
MCC's FREE 2005 ADVENT RESOURCES ARE NOW ON-LINE
Looking for worship and outreach ideas for Advent?
Check out MCC's 2005 Advent Resources -- now on the MCC Website.
(click here to access the page directly)
You'll find worship resources for each Sunday in Advent -- including scripture readings from Lectionary Year B, worship planning resources, and suggestions for liturgy and music -- along with sample direct mail letters for the holidays, a sample press release, and Advent activity ideas.
To access/download these resources:
-- Visit www.MCCchurch.org.
-- On the Home Page, click on "Resources" (top of page).
-- On the next page, click on "Worship" (left side of page).
-- The click on "Advent Resource Area."
Our thanks to Melanie Martinez for her work in compiling these excellent resources for local churches -- and for making them accessible in four formats: Text, Rich Text, Microsoft Word, and Adobe PDF.
Our thanks, too, to Ms. Judy Dale, Rev. Jim Birkitt, and Rev. Dr. Justin Tanis for the authoring of most of these resource materials.
NOTE:
MCC is now completing the 2005 Resources for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Kwanzaa, and Epiphany -- but it's not too late for you to submit your favorite materials for inclusion in these resource areas. To submit materials for consideration -- including liturgies, prayers, outreach ideas, congregational activities and children's materials -- simply send your info by e-mail to MelanieMartinez@MCCchurch.org
MCC Richmond - Ministry Update & Ideas
We at MCC Richmond, VA have had a busy month, ‘Living Out Loud.’ After our first Sunday potluck in October, we teamed up with the Fan Free Clinic and hosted ‘Healthy Happenings’, a community health fair on Saturday, October 8, 2005. Among the offerings were; Free Rapid HIV testing, Free High BP screening, Free Diabetes screening, Free Breast cancer screening & Self Breast exam education, Free Nutritional supplement consults from USANA, Free Education literature, and face painting & fun for the kids.
MCC Richmond presented an ‘Evangelism Weekend,’ October 21-23, 2005, Proclaiming the Good News for All God's People! Brenda E. Lee, Minister of Evangelism, Rev. Brian Harris, Minister of Performing Arts, Gravel Hill Baptist Church, Jay Irvine, soloist, opened with a Praise and Worship Service Friday night. Rev. Robin, Eric King, Professor of History & Political Science, VUU, Rev. Marquita Carmichael-Burton, Author of “A Drop of Oil,” Rev. Bryan Harris and Thank you, Rev. Elder Arlene Ackerman for your “Set the Angle Free”message, for the ‘Witness of Hope and Healing’ on Saturday. That night, Jane Nelson, Minister of HIV/AIDS, lead a ‘Healing Service’ with Rev. Candy Holmes, Hallelujah Ministries, and David Craig, Minister of Fine Arts. Sunday’s Worship Service with Rev. Candy Holmes, The Spirits of Joy & The Joyful Noise, and Sermon, “Golf Balls & Cockleburs” was powerful and thank you for your wisdom and community dialogue.
We had a Halloween Party on Friday Night October 28th. So many of our congregation wanted to participate and witness the history making Installation of Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson at the National Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul on Saturday, October 29, 2005, we chartered a bus. Fifty-six members of MCC Richmond were present, six sang in the choir, Rev. Robin processed with the Clergy and our own reigning Miss MCC Richmond, Miss Joanna Powers (the only Drag Queen to ever sing to our Founder, Rev. Elder Troy Perry, he says) was also there. She wanted to make her own little piece of history that day. We were all moved by the celebratory occasion and later reception at MCCDC, seeing old friends and meeting new ones.
Last Thursday Night, November 3rd, a caravan with the ‘Campaign to End AIDS’ stopped here at church, on their way to lobby Congress. We shared dinner together, hosted a community meeting where they shared their stories of how cuts in the Ryan White Fund, has effected the lives of so many. We were touched by the testimonials, and our members housed the weary, forty travelers, and our new friends. Friday morning Rev. Robin and Jane Nelson lead us in a special blessing for them and their journey as local news media captured the moment. As the bus pulled away, we realized that the very ground we stood on had shifted, and we all had been transformed. What an Awesome God we serve!
During yesterday's All Saints Sunday Sermon, “Will We Live the Gospel of Blessing?” Rev. Robin reflected on the caravan and its blessing. Recalling that Skyler, a six year old little girl in our midst, could recognize the travelers as heroes, where our law makers struggle to. Counting the blessings of those we have lost like Rosa Parks who sat down to make a difference in the world, to those we might not see again, like some on this bus, to be empowered to stand up.
Love and Prayers, David R. Wilson - First Lay Delegate - (DRWricVA@aol.com)
Liturgical Calendar - Chi Rho Press
The 2005-2006 Liturgical Calendar and Lectionary Year B is now on the Chi Rho Press Web site.
Dismounting Dead Horses: A Metaphor for Change
Ron Johnson, Ph.D., Managing Director, Samaritan Counseling Center
(taken from the MCC Lehigh Valley, PA E-Newsletter)
The tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians, passed on from one generation to the next, says that when you discover you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount. Of course, we may first try other strategies. We might whip harder, or offer sugar, or change riders, or appoint a committee to study the horse. But at the end of the day, we will still be left on a dead horse.
Why would anyone (or any organization) hold on to a dead horse? For many reasons, possibly. We have believed in the horse, hoped for the horse, loved the horse. We doubted or denied the horse could ever die. Perhaps we even relish the hero's role of resurrecting a dead horse, or the martyr's ideal of self-sacrifice alongside the horse. Dismounting seems to mean giving up, or doubting that there will ever be another live horse again.
Actually, discerning our dead horses takes uncommon wisdom, and rarely happens without an intentional process. Perhaps such discernment begins with noticing, not denying, a lack of forward movement. (Others of us must absolutely crash!) The discernment continues as we discover that despite trying harder, or smarter, or more aggressively, we remain at the same place. And we finally acknowledge that the same place is not our desired destination.
Spiritually, the temptation to keep riding a dead horse comes from a misplaced faith. We think our horse is sacred, and we are in ultimate control. Whether the horse is a relationship, a job, a dream, or an ideal, we think we must stay on and ride it out, with
our own blinders blocking any other vision.
Paradoxically, sometimes only by dismounting, by letting go of our dead horse, can we begin a new trek. It can be the hardest thing we ever do. As I reflect on my own life, I find myself reminded of a dead horse or two. I think I'll try sugar first.
November
19 - 20 MCC Washington, DC - leadership training, worship
21 - 27 Vacation & Holiday
28 - 30 office
December
1 - 5 MCC Winston Salem, NC - Conflict Mediation weekend
6 - 7 Days off
8 - 9 office
12 - 16 office
19 - 31 Vacation
When Rev. Ackerman is away on vacation you can obtain information on who to reach in case of emergency by calling the office phone number 717 898-3713. When Arlene is traveling away from the office you can reach her by cell phone. Please remember, the cell phone does not work when Arlene is at her home or office