Thursday, September 9, 2010

A Christian Response to the 9/11 Anniversary and One "Pastor" calling for the burning of the Qu'ran

You may have read that a "Christian pastor" in Florida plans to burn copies of the Muslim sacred text on 9/11 (this Saturday). I encourage a non-violent, non-confrontational response to this atrocity, perhaps you will join me in one of the following:

1) Pray, friends, deeply and ardently, that we may love our neighbors.

2) A pastor friend of mine suggests following his lead: "I don't (care) what some Florida bigot does. But I do care deeply when sacred texts are burned in acts of fearful hatred. My response: On 9/11 I'm going to READ the Q'uran, at least some of it."

3) Call or click on the Massachusetts Bible Society to offer to give two copies of the Qur'an to prisons and hospitals, for use by Muslim people needing their services, for every one that is burned. (information below)

4) Attend one of the local interfaith events being held to remember the lives lost on 9/11/01 (information below)

The Massachusetts Bible Society Announces the "They Burn One, We Give Two" Drive.

Rev. Terry Jones of the Dove Outreach Center in Gainesville, FL intends to burn the Qur'an on Sept. 11 in an act of hatred against Muslims and the Islamic Faith. We join with thousands of religious leaders across the country to renounce this act and affirm those like General Petraeus who warn that such an act could cost innocent lives.

As people of the Book, we are joined to Islam and Judaism in a special way and as an organization that has sought to put that Book into people's hands for 201 years, we cannot stand idly by while the sacred text of a sister religion is burned as our beloved Bibles once were.

Lest the culture believe that Rev. Jones' position represents that of all Christians, MassBible is prepared to take a counter action. For 201 years we have given the Bible to those without access. In response to Rev. Jones despicable act, we are prepared to give two Qur'ans for every one that Rev. Jones burns.

They will go to prisons, to hospitals, to shelters, or to any place where there are Muslims without access to their sacred text. This in no way diminishes our belief in the Bible as the Word of God. On the contrary, it is acting on the command within its pages to love our neighbors as ourselves (Lev. 19:18) and to do unto others as we would have done unto us. (Matt. 7:12).

We can supply two Qur'ans for $25. If you would support us in this, please send a check marked "Two for one" or click below to donate to the effort directly. You may also call us at 617-969-9404 to make a donation by credit card. http://www.massbible.org/burn-one-give-two

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STANDING ON THE SIDE OF LOVE

The Brattleboro Area Interfaith Clergy Association encourages the community to remember the people of many faiths who died and all who were affected and are affected by the tragic attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in the fourth airplane which went down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001. The death toll of the attacks was 2,996, including the 19 hijackers. The overwhelming majority of casualties were civilians, including nationals of over 70 countries.

The Baha'i Center, located at 148 Elliot Street and Jewish Congregation Shir Heharim, located at 151 Greenleaf Street will both hold prayer services at 10am . This year Shabbat Shuvah falls on Sept 11th so the special Jewish Shabbat morning service that day will focus on themes of repentance and remembrance. Every year the Sabbath that falls between Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) is called Shabbat Shuvah (the Sabbath of Repentance). For more information call (802) 257-1959. For information about the Baha'i service please call 254-2115.

The sanctuary of the Guilford Community Church, U.C.C. will also be open for prayer and silent meditation between 8:30 and 10:45am The open meditation will extend from 15 minutes before the time of the first attack at 8:46 to fifteen minutes after the time of the last attack at 10:28am and will be a time of silence in honor of the many faiths who will be remembering loved ones at this time. The public is invited to come and go at any point during this time. A bell will be rung at fifteen minute intervals and a simple book of prayers will be provided for those unfamiliar with meditation. Guilford Community Church is located 1 mile south of exit 1 on route five just in back of the Guilford Country Store. For more information call 257-2776 or check out the web-site at guilfordchurch.org.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

FUMCOB Weekly News - 100912

Worship this Sunday, September 12th will focus on God’s hope for mankind as detailed in Jeremiah 4:27 and Luke 15:1-10. Pastor Cheryl Meachen's sermon will explore the remnant of hope in humanity as illustrated in Jeremiah where God is furious and plans to destroy the people because of their sinfulness, but not all of them. This is complemented by Luke’s story of the lost sheep, where Jesus asks his audience to consider whether they would leave the 99 to seek after the lost one. Tim and Bunny Fogg will provide music for the service on guitar and flute including hymns full of grace, including Amazing Grace. The choir returns to the sanctuary this week to provide special music.

During a Mission Moment in worship this coming Sunday, Robert Baldauf, Worshipful Master of Brattleboro Masonic Lodge #102 will discuss Warm Hands, Warm Heart, Inc., a Vermont non-profit organization, in partnership with Vermont Masons, who are sponsoring a children’s clothing drive for Vermont’s most vulnerable citizens - our children. Please look into your closets, storage areas, and most importantly, your hearts and donate new and gently used outerwear, innerwear, underwear, sleepwear, shoes and socks and school clothing for children: newborn to the 3rd grade (ages 9-10). Collection sites from Aug 15th through Sept 30th include this church and any of Vermont’s 87 Masonic Centers.

A meeting of the Vermont District Mission Team will be held at the Middlebury UMC on Wednesday, October 20, 1-3 p.m. to elect leaders, consider how to use funds from Troy Conference designated for Vermont missions, and more. Contact Rene for more information at lwilbur@vermontel.net

The Men’s Group is meeting on Monday, Sept. 13th at 6pm. They are planning a dinner and silent auction for Friday, Sept. 17th as a church fundraiser. Creative donations are needed by next Friday. Items already received include two handmade quilts, vintage golf clubs, a meal at your home, a handmade afghan, a bean bag chair, auto service, 2 quarts of maple syrup, a bride doll, a round table, 2 large china dolls, dessert a month for a year, a computer desk and a serving Genie. Registration begins at 5pm with bidding until 6:45. The meal will include pot roast with potatoes, gravy, carrots and peas, dinner rolls, coffee and dessert. The buffet line begins at 6pm with one seating. The cost is $10; children under 12 free with parent. Final bids will be announced at 7pm. Please invite your friends and neighbors to this fun event.

Warm Hearts, Kindred Friends, a three-day Academy for Spiritual Formation will be held October 14-17, 2010 at Rolling Ridge Retreat & Conference Center in North Andover, MA. Guided by the question “In an age of Facebook friends, global village connections and yet persistent stories of abuse, how can we cultivate and expand spiritual friendships, become companions with others on the journey?” led by Wendy Wright, retreat leader in contemporary spirituality and writer of “Sacred Dwelling and The Vigil” and portions of the Companions in Christ series. For more information, please contact Rosemary McNulty at (978-682-7676 x. 201 or RMcNulty@neumc.org).

A Stewardship Team from the Finance Committee is busily preparing this year’s campaign and needs your help! Consider hosting a table by making followup calls and leading a short bible study. Sign up to provide entertainment like a skit, song, dance, story, jokes or other entertainment are welcome!. Our Consecration Dinner is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 12th and our next Stewardship Planning meeting is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 13th at 5:30pm.

The Trustees have scheduled a Work Day on Saturday, Sept. 18th from 9am-noon. Please join us at the parsonage to take care of some of the overgrowth that occurred when the home was unoccupied. Some of the ways you can help include rototilling gardens, sharing perennials or bulbs from your garden, resetting the sidewalk and patio stones, preparing the deck to be stained, and painting the front porch columns. Alternatively, you could help Pastor Cheryl prepare lunch for the workers or purchase fall flowers like chrysanthemums, sedum and kale to be planted at the church in the two entry planters, around the bell and around the sign at the street. Sign up to help!

A regularly scheduled church council meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, September 15th at 6:00 pm and our District Superintendent has scheduled our annual Charge Conference for Wednesday, September 29th at 7:00 pm. Please plan to attend these important church meetings.

The Fundamentals of Financial Stewardship are Spiritual! Our church is blessed to host a Faith and Money Seminar on Saturday, October 23rd from 9am-3. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to learn more about this important topic and also to prepare a worship service, serve a meal and host our new colleagues from the New England Conference. Join us for a day of joyful and participatory worship, dialogue and practical workshops on personal and congregational financial stewardship including managing church assets, socially responsible investing, trustee responsibilities; planned giving through wills, gift annuities, charitable trusts and capital campaigns; integrating faith with financial resources. Please sign up to help with worship, preparing and serving the meal or to attend this important seminar.

United Methodist membership means sharing our prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness in this church. How are you equipped to lead and participate? The Lay Leadership Committee is accepting self-nominations to any committee, mission or ministry, existing or new. Please drop a note in Pastor Cheryl’s box or send an e-mail to Cheryl.meachen@gmail.com to identify your gifts, ideas and willingness to serve!

The Community Justice Network of Vermont unites the efforts of Vermonters seeking to make restorative responses available for people whose lives are disrupted by conflict or crime. Volunteers are needed for the Reparative Probation Program. This program brings together offenders on probation with a panel of 4-5 community volunteers to discuss the impact of their crime and ways in which they can make fair and reasonable amends. The panel meets once a month for two hours. Join us on Monday, October 25th at 6:00pm and visit http://www.brattleborocjc.org/ to learn how you can participate!

Thursday, September 2, 2010

September 5, 2010 - FUMCOB Weekly News

CONTENTS:
1) Worship notes
2) Stewardship Campaign looking for volunteers
3) Choir rehearsals to start
4) Trustees' Work Day needs volunteers
5) Church Family Tag Sale this weekend
6) UMW Events
7) Opportunity to help Pakistan Flood victims
8) Helpers needed for Faith and Money Event
9) Men’s Group Dinner and Silent Auction Fundraiser
10) Calendar

1 - Worship this Sunday, September 5th will focus on God as the eternal
potter reworking us as found in Jeremiah 18:1-11. Pastor Cheryl
Meachen's sermon will focus on the ways in which water works to soften
and loosen a potter's clay and fire works to set it in it's final
shape, in much the same way that Christian baptism and fiery trials
mold our human lives. Tim and Bunny Fogg will provide music for the
service on guitar and flute including the hymns: "God the Sculptor of
the Mountains" and "Eternal Mind the Potter Is." Jane Clarke and
Lillian Hellinger will present a soprano duet and the communion table
is open to all.

2 - A Stewardship Team from the Finance Committee is busily preparing this year’s campaign and needs your help! Consider hosting a table by making followup calls and leading a short bible study. Sign up to provide entertainment like a skit, song, dance, story, jokes or other entertainment are welcome!. Our Consecration Dinner is scheduled for Saturday, November 12th and our next Stewardship Planning meeting is scheduled for Monday, September 13th at 5:30pm.

3 - Choir Rehearsals begin again this week and held weekly on Thursdays at 5:00 pm. You are welcome to join whether or not you can read music or have perfect pitch. Make a joyful noise to the Lord!

4 - The Trustees have scheduled a Work Day on Saturday, September 16th from 9am-noon. Please join us at the parsonage to take care of some of the overgrowth that occurred when the home was unoccupied. Some of the ways you can help include rototilling gardens, sharing perennials or bulbs from your garden, resetting the sidewalk and patio stones, preparing the deck to be stained, and painting the front porch columns. Alternatively, you could help Pastor Cheryl prepare lunch for the workers or purchase fall flowers like chrysanthemums, sedum and kale for the church to be planted in the two entry planters, around the bell and around the sign at the street. Please sign up to help.

5 -This Saturday, September 11th beginning at 8am, all are welcome to bring items from home to sell to the public at our Church Family Tag Sale. We will provide a table, space and advertising and you bring the items, keep the proceeds and bring leftovers home or to the dump. You are encouraged to tithe to the church from your proceeds. For example, if you sell $100 worth of items, you would give $10 to the church for the general fund. A great opportunity for some fall cleaning!

6 - There will be a potluck picnic and meeting of UMW at Leslie Kramsky’s home on Tuesday, September 7th at 6:00 pm. Other upcoming events include the UMW Rummage Sale on Saturday, October 16th and the UMW Christmas Bazaar on Saturday, November 20th. Other regional UMW events include: Fill Us with God’s Spirit! Spiritual Growth Retreat on Saturday, October 9, 2010 at Green Mountain College, Poultney VT from 9:30 am to 3:00 PM. Come and enjoy the singing, sharing, prayers and food with us! $15 includes lunch and supplies. Register by Oct 2, 2010. Contact Rene Wilbur, 13 Bliss Road, Tinmouth VT 05773. The New England Conference UMW Annual Meeting will be held on Saturday, October 23, 2010, 9:00am at Wesley United Methodist Church, Concord NH. Fanning the Flame of Faith Hope and Love: Fall Gathering of United Methodist Women will be held at the Rutland United Methodist Church on Saturday, October 30, 2010 from10:00am to 3:00pm. $10 includes lunch.

7 - With new floods compounding the effects of weeks of inundation across Pakistan, the people of this nation in crisis are in desperate need of a different kind of deluge: the rain of compassion. Please give generously to International Disaster Response, UMCOR Advance #982450 and help the people of Pakistan survive the worst disaster in memory in their country. Please indicate Pakistan Floods on the memo line of your check.

8 - THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL STEWARDSHIP ARE SPIRITUAL! Our church is blessed to host a Faith and Money Seminar on Saturday, October 23rd from 9am-3. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to learn more about this important topic and also to prepare a worship service, serve a meal and host our new colleagues from the New England Conference. Join us for a day of joyful and participatory worship, dialogue and practical workshops on personal and congregational financial stewardship! Some of the focus areas include:

A. Narrative Budget/Annual Giving: communicate your church’s mission and ministries through its giving (power of storytelling and narrative budget examples); helpful budget setting processes and resources.

B. Managing Existing Church Assets/Resources: “Endowments: Blessing or Curse?” –investment policies and spending plans; diversification/asset allocation, socially responsible investing, how to maximize income; trustee fiduciary responsibilities.

C. Major/Planned Giving and Developing New Church Assets/Resources: New opportunities for significant giving: planned giving vehicles (wills, gift annuities, charitable trusts), capital campaigns; how to promote a year-round gift planning ministry.

D. Year-Round Stewardship: Models for effective annual financial stewardship; developing models of stewardship-themed worship and education for all ages that integrate faith with financial resources. Please sign up to help with worship, preparing and serving the meal or to attend this important seminar.

9 - The Men’s Group is meeting on Monday, September 13th at 6pm. They are planning a dinner and silent auction for Friday, September 17th as a church fundraiser. The men hope someone will contribute 3-4 hours of house cleaning, ironing, yard work, a restaurant gift certificate, baked beans that could be frozen, babysitting service, tickets to a youth theater performance or a $50 gas certificate. Donations are needed by next Friday. Items already received include two handmade quilts, vintage golf clubs, a meal at your home, a handmade afghan, a bean bag chair, auto service, 2 quarts of maple syrup, a bride doll, a round table, 2 large china dolls, dessert a month for a year, a computer desk and a serving Genie. Registration begins at 5pm with bidding until 6:45. The meal will include pot roast with potatoes, gravy, carrots and peas, dinner rolls, coffee and dessert. The buffet line begins at 6pm with one seating. The cost is $10; children under 12 free with parent. Final bids will be announced at 7pm. Please invite your friends and neighbors to this fun event.

Week of Week of September 5th – September 11th
SUN 10:00a Worship / Communion
MON LABOR DAY
TUE 6:00p United Methodist Women
WED 9:30a Exercise / Strength Training
5:30p WOW Planning
THU 9:30a Prayer Circle
5:00p Choir Rehearsal
FRI 7:00p Sabbath Space
SAT 9:00a Church Family Tag Sale

Week of September 12th – September 18th
SUN 10:00a Worship (with Robert Fagge from Masons re: Clothe the Children)
MON 9:30a Exercise / Strength Training
10:30a Monday Morning Quarterback
5:30p Stewardship Planning
6:00p Men’s Group
WED 9:30a Exercise / Strength Training
6:00p Church Council
THU 9:30a Prayer Circle
5:00p Choir Rehearsal
5:00p Trustees
FRI 5:00p Silent Auction…6:00p…Dinner
SAT 9:00a Trustee Work Day
SAT 9:00a Church Family Tag Sale

UPCOMING CHURCH EVENTS
Restorative Justice Talk Monday, October 4th
UMW Rummage Sale Saturday, October 16th
Faith and Money Seminar Saturday, October 23rd
Stewardship Consecration Dinner Saturday, November 12th
UMW Christmas Bazaar Saturday, November 20th
Drive Through Nativity Sunday, December 12th
Lifeline Tuesday, December 14th

Open Hearts. Open Minds. Open Doors. All are welcome.

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