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Open Arms Metropolitan Community Church Rochester, New York
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Highlights from the November 2005 edition's:
Deacon's Corner:
Yo God:
Yo God, Amen- Deacon Debbie
Pastor's Reflection:
It probably won’t surprise you that, as your pastor, I think about you a lot. I think about each of you. I think and pray about supporting you, encouraging you, challenging you. I think a lot about faith – yours and mine.
And, thinking about those things, I carried you with me to Washington, to the National Cathedral, to the Installation of Rev. Elder Nancy L. Wilson, the 2nd Moderator of the MCC. She’s only the second moderator in our history. How young we are as a church! As I walked down that long center aisle of the Cathedral, lined up with my sister and brother clergy, I carried you with me and knew that without you, I wouldn’t have been there. As I listened to the powerful welcomes of Muslim and Jew and activist and divinity school dean, I saw that our church had come of age. The National Cathedral truly was ours that day. As I served communion to clergy, some quite well-known and prestigious, I knew that it was your trust in me that brought me there.
The press referred to the event as the installation of our “presiding bishop,” and that, I suppose, is what Rev. Elder Nancy is, even though we don’t often use that phrase. As I listened to her brave and challenging and forthright sermon, I was impressed at who we have become as a church. It was a very moving event.
And then I came home, and I realize the challenges that we face in the next year. But I am not worried. We will work hard, we will each give by faith, even when that makes each of us a little nervous. But, I saw where MCC had come from and come to. I heard the voice of God say, “I am here, and you are not doing this alone. You and I together are building MY church.” Do you hear the voice of God saying that to you? Do you hear the voice of God telling you not to be afraid as you contemplate your giving for the coming year? Do you feel a peace in your heart at where your faith has brought you? Did you know a few years ago how passionate you would become about your place in your church? Did you know that God was waiting to bless you? Do you expect even more blessings, even amidst the sorrows or problems of your life? I sure hope that your response to all the above questions is a resounding “Here I AM, God” Love, Rev. Jim Rev. Jim will be preaching on Stewardship and Capital Campaign this weekend. Thanksgiving food baskets Last week’s collection was STUFFING !! . We have collected our goal so far. This week’s collection is Dessert Mixes, 1 complete desert per Baskets. Let’s make our goal of 20 baskets on this one too. Clergy candidate, Lu Johnson, will preach on October 30. For both services, the Deacons-In-Training will participate in various roles. See our Website: http://www.frontiernet.net/~oamcc for the calendar listings. You can print the calendar if you wish. Collection for Thanksgiving baskets began on Sunday October 9. Bring STUFFING !! 2 bags or 1 box per Thanksgiving Basket. to church this Sunday. We will collect them during the service. These baskets will be distributed through AIDS Rochester. We are filling 20 baskets. Christmas Wreath Sale: if you haven’t done so, please pick up a wreath sales sheet so you can participate in the fund raiser.
Upcoming Events: Next Deacon training class will be on Tuesday November 08 from 6 to 9pm. The DIT classes are open for anyone to attend. There will be six weeks or so of mid-week worship/study beginning on Wednesday, Nov. 9. The clothing ministry, coordinated by Deacon Debbie, will began again on Thursday November 10th at 6:30. See Deacon Debbie for details. The Artsy-Fartsy Film Group next outing on November 19, a matinee. All are welcome to attend.
Complete schedule of food collections for the Thanksgiving Baskets
Nov 6 - Dessert Mixes
Nov 13 - Potatoes
Nov 20 - Frozen
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Deacon's Corner:
Yo God: It was such a
simple thing to ask how his trip went. Amen- Deacon Debbie
Pastor's Reflection:
STEWARDSHIP AND CAPITAL CAMPAIGN On Monday, Deb M., the Clerk of the Board of Directors of Open Arms MCC sent out stewardship letters to your home. We ask that you prayerfully consider raising the pledge that you made for last year’s tithe. The proposed budget for 2006 which will be presented at the Annual Congregational Meeting on December 4 is higher than this year’s budget because of anticipated costs associated with our 25th Anniversary and because of other costs of running the church. Please return your pledge form as soon as possible. The capital campaign has three parts: internal giving, external giving and fund-raising events. John W. will coordinate the internal Capital Campaign; Sherri M. and Donna T. will coordinate the external campaign; and Anne T. will coordinate the fund-raising arm of the Capital Campaign. You will be hearing more soon. Those who were in church on Sunday heard the pastor announce that the Board and their partners had pledged $18,000 for the capital campaign. We will all have 6 months to fulfill capital campaign pledges. Please keep in mind that Stewardship goes toward the day to day running of the church and the associated expenses. The Capital Campaign is for the purchase of a new building and the associated costs. These are separate financial programs and you are being asked to contribute generously to both. In our 25 years of existence, this is the first time we have been in a position to even dream of owning our own worship space. God has been so good to us. Now, as a congregation, we have chosen to step out in faith and to put our money where our faith is. A few weeks ago, I was worrying that I’d be tired after I began the hormone therapy for prostate cancer. Now I wonder what I’m going to do with all the energy I have. God has not only showered me with opportunities to serve; God has also given me the strength to do it. The many activities, from conducting 5 funerals in five days to speaking at a conservative Free Methodist college about homosexuality and same-sex marriage have been life-giving exercises for me. I could barely contain myself as I came to worship on Sunday. One of the funerals was for a baby who was born pre-maturely and only lived for 4 hours. Her parents were 16 years old with broken hearts. One funeral was for an 85 year old lady who had estranged herself from her gay son and his family for many years but had reconciled as she was preparing to die. She came to realize what a wonderful person he was and she grieved that she never knew his family, that she missed out on her beautiful grand-daughter’s early life and hadn’t experienced her son’s spouse’s strength and gentleness. It all came together in the end and the memorial service was in two parts: the private interment of her cremains which was very emotional, and the public memorial service at the Seneca Park Zoo in the Rocky Coast reception room with sea lions and polar bears watching us through the observation windows. And what can I say about the class at the college? I expected a set up. I expected to be the recipient of hostility and rejection. The class of 52 was largely ignorant of homosexuality and only knew what they had been taught. They had the opportunity to hear a gay minister give witness to God’s love and to describe our warm and loving church and our LGBT family life. There were many questions and good participation. Some of the questions were what you would expect about bible teaching but this was the first time many of these students had an opportunity to hear a different story and a different interpretation. Those 52 were not the same after the class. Nor was I. All the way home, I thanked God for the opportunity. The professor has been asked to teach the class again next semester and I was asked to return to do it again. We had 58 people in church on Sunday. Two of our visitors, the mother and aunt of one of our Michel(l)e’s, were moved by the service. And I was moved by them. They come from a church tradition where people answer back during prayers and preaching. I love that. I want them to come back and give us a course in answering back! The passion of their response takes a preacher to a place of wanting to excel even more and to elicit even more “yeses” and “Amens” In 2000 the board of directors, a different board, put out a strategic plan which called for us to grow. We should have been 125 members by now according to that plan. You know, that plan is still a good one. We just started later! I see us being 125 and maybe more. The secret is simple: joyful worship and warm and welcoming community that has a place for every single person who comes through the doors. God has been calling us to this growth and we have been responding. I will tell you, though, what I told the board at our meeting on Sunday morning: “It can’t be business as usual. We can’t leave on Sunday and forget about church till the next Sunday. Our Moderator, Rev. Nancy L. Wilson, challenged us to turn the page. Turning the page means working tirelessly for the growth of God’s church to bring the word to the outcast and orphan and broken-hearted. It means praying without ceasing for one another and for God’s continued challenge and blessing. It means opening our hearts and our wallets in a way we have never done before. It means taking God’s church so much to heart that we live and breath God and God’s work. I jokingly call Martha “the Church Lady” but it’s only half a joke. Martha is one of our newest but she has dug in with both heels and worked with both hands completely! To me that says “Church Lady”. To me that says, “this is an example of an open heart and mind and hands” in eagerness to learn and to do and to bring our church forward, not for the sake of growth but for the sake of all our sisters and brothers, gay and straight, lesbian and transgender, intersex and questioning, who do not know that God loves them. We are the hands and feet and mouth and heart bringing God’s love. Could we even have a more important role to play in the salvation of this world? Love, Rev. Jim Rev. Jim will be preaching on Stewardship and Capital Campaign this weekend. Thanksgiving food baskets Last week’s collection was Dessert !! . We have collected our goal so far. This week’s collection is TATERS (5 pound bag) & Gravy (2 jars or cans). Let’s make our goal of 20 baskets on this one too. See our Website: http://www.frontiernet.net/~oamcc for the calendar listings. You can print the calendar if you wish. Collection for Thanksgiving baskets began on Sunday November 13. Bring Taters !! (5 pound bag) and GRAVY (2 jars) per Thanksgiving Basket. to church this Sunday. We will collect them during the service. These baskets will be distributed through AIDS Rochester. We are filling 20 baskets. Christmas Wreath Sale: if you haven’t done so, please pick up a wreath sales sheet so you can participate in the fund raiser.
Upcoming Events: Next Deacon training class will be on Sunday November 20 from 1 to 4pm. The DIT classes are open for anyone to attend. There will be six weeks or so of mid-week worship/study beginning on Wednesday, Nov. 9. A Pause that Refreshes: Mid-week service begins this week, Nov. 9 at 7pm at Norris Drive. The clothing ministry, coordinated by Deacon Debbie, will began again on Thursday November 10th at 6:30. See Deacon Debbie for details. The Artsy-Fartsy Film Group next outing on November 19, a matinee. We will be seeing a matinee of the film Bee Season at the Little. To read more about the film, go to www.littletheatre.com and click on the Coming Soon link. All are welcome to attend.
Complete schedule of food collections for the Thanksgiving Baskets
Nov 13 - Potatoes
Nov 20 - Frozen
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Annual Congregational Meeting Sunday December 4 at 1pm.
Stewardship Campaign is underway. Please return your pledge forms Sunday if you have not already done so. Blank forms are available at church.
Capital Campaign will have three phases: Internal Campaign: for members and regular attenders of Open Arms MCC will begin Nov. 21. External Campaign for the wider community will begin Dec. 1 Fundraisers will happen throughout the six months of the Campaign THANKSGIVING BASKETS – WE NEED SOME FOLKS TO HELP WITH PACKING THE THANKSGIVING BASKETS AFTER CHURCH ON SUNDAY.
Deacon's Corner:
Yo God: Yo God.... Deacon Debbie
Pastor's Reflection:
On Sunday, I preached about prophetic voices and spoke about Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson’s challenge to the Roman Catholic church to not scapegoat good, faithful gay priests but rather look to their systemic injustices. How pleased I was to see Bishop Matthew H. Clark’s letter on the subject, first in the Catholic Courier and then an article in the Democrat and Chronicle. This Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester took a courageous stand defending the ministry of gay priests and affirming his willingness to receive qualified gay students into seminary. It is not easy for a bishop to take a stand contrary to Rome. This is not the first time Bishop Clark has shown his openness and acceptance of LGBT peoples. Please take a moment to drop Bishop Clark a note or an email thanking him for his brave and compassionate stance.
How wonderful to realize that all the dialog in the churches and denominations began with our MCC denomination. Rev. Elder Troy Perry’s OUT LOUD voice stimulated dialog among churches, within churches, among theologians, among ministerial associations, in the press.
Because we are a church meaning what we say when we speak of the priesthood of all believers, we are all called to raise voices of challenge. We are all called to be conduits of God’s amazing voice of integrity and compassion. We are all called to be God’s prophets, naming the sin of injustice WHEREVER we see it.
God prospers our church to the extent that we embody God’s inclusive love, to the extent that we live OUT LOUD, not just as LGBT but also as LGBT Christians.
The fear and hesitance we feel to live OUT LOUD is in us, not in the world. Most people have experience a great freedom in coming out.
I know that you have come out as LGBT, but have you come out as Christian? Has God spoken through you? Are you willing to let God speak through you? Are you willing to be the instrument of work that reveals God’s love to another? Have you invited others to share what we have at Open Arms? If yes, HURRAY! If not, WHY NOT? Love, Rev. Jim Thanksgiving food baskets Last week’s collection was Potatoes and Gravy !! . We have collected our goal so far. This week’s collection is TURKEY (frozen) & Gravy. Let’s make our goal of 20 baskets on this one too. See our Website: http://www.frontiernet.net/~oamcc for the calendar listings. You can print the calendar if you wish. Collection for Thanksgiving baskets began on Sunday November 13. Bring Turkey's !! (frozen) 1 per Thanksgiving Basket. to church this Sunday. We will collect them during the fellowship. These baskets will be distributed through AIDS Rochester. We are filling 20 baskets. THANKSGIVING BASKETS – WE NEED SOME FOLKS TO HELP WITH PACKING THE THANKSGIVING BASKETS AFTER CHURCH ON SUNDAY. Christmas Wreath Sale: if you haven’t done so, please pick up a wreath sales sheet so you can participate in the fund raiser.
Upcoming Events: Next Deacon training class will be on Sunday November 20 from 1 to 4pm. The DIT classes are open for anyone to attend. There will be six weeks or so of mid-week worship/study beginning on Wednesday, Nov. 9. A Pause that Refreshes: Mid-week service begins this week, Nov. 9 at 7pm at Norris Drive. The clothing ministry, coordinated by Deacon Debbie, will began again on Thursday November 10th at 6:30. See Deacon Debbie for details. The Artsy-Fartsy Film Group next outing on November 19, a matinee. We will be seeing a matinee of the film Bee Season at the Little. To read more about the film, go to www.littletheatre.com and click on the Coming Soon link. We will meet at The Little at 1:10pm All are welcome to attend.
Complete schedule of food collections for the Thanksgiving Baskets
Nov 20 - Frozen
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Action Item's:
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Thanksgiving Service Wednesday, November 23 7-8pm
Annual Congregational Meeting Sunday December 4 at 1pm. Running for two Board positions: Bess W. and Terry K. Running for one Lay Delegate position: Deb M. Please let Rev. Jim know if you want to run for either of these positions. There is an addition to the agenda you received in your Annual Congregational Meeting Packet: Proposal: to make a purchase offer on the church we discussed and showed pictures of at our Special Congregational Meeting
Stewardship Campaign is underway. Please return your pledge forms Sunday if you have not already done so. Blank forms are available at church.
Capital Campaign will have three phases: Internal Campaign: for members and regular attenders of Open Arms MCC will begin Nov. 21. External Campaign for the wider community will begin Dec. 1 Fundraisers will happen throughout the six months of the Campaign THANKSGIVING BASKETS – Have been DELIVERED... Thanks for your assistance
Deacon's Corner:
Yo God:
Deacon Debbie
Pastor's Reflection: As I get ready for Thanksgiving service tonight, I am almost overwhelmed by the uncountable blessings that have come to Open Arms MCC and to me personally. I think that if I started listing them, I would exceed the length allowed for this e-link! After I finish counting the blessings Paul and I have received, I can scan your faces and count yours – at least the ones I know about. I’m sure you have been blessed far beyond MY ability to count. I wish you could stand where I do on a Sunday morning and look out over our congregation. You come to church knowing that God is there. You know that your family who loves you will be there. You have come to expect a new face or two. I wish you could see the expressions on faces that I see from the front. Each time I preach, I try to make sure to notice each of your faces to do a quick “reading” of how you seem to be doing. Your openness has grown so much – which is one of my blessings. Your inner selves have learned to show through your eyes, your smiles, your frowns. On Sunday, we had a first time visitor. His face was a marvel! He went through the whole service delighting in the warmth of your greeting for him. His eyes were as wide as a child’s as he participated in all our prayers and songs and reflections and hugs. After service, I asked him what he thought of our church. He replied, “I was very pleasantly surprised. It’s not what I thought church would be!” Good answer. And I watched my friend, L, who has made us a regular part of her spiritual life. She grins from the minute she walks through the door as you greet her like an old friend. She was all excited about helping to pack the Thanksgiving boxes after church. Those are just a few of the blessing I receive each time I am with you. If we all began recounting all our blessings: the blessings in our inner lives and in our families, we’d need more than one Thanksgiving Day. If each of you scanned your memories for all the faces of your brothers and sisters at Open Arms MCC and recounted the blessings that each has brought you, the walls of the church would blow right out because it lacks capacity to contain such volume of blessings. And when we have a new church building, our blessing will only increase. The world around us doesn’t know about these blessings. The world around us doesn’t contain the joy that fills us when we gather at Open Arms MCC. And the world around us will not ever know unless you let your face show to the world what it shows in church on Sundays, unless you are the hands and feet and healing words of Jesus. There are so many sisters and brothers in our own Rochester area who need us, who need to know that God loves us completely and beyond reason. God is crazy about you and you know it. Share your joy. Share your blessings. Don’t let your knowledge of your richness lie buried as the timid servant buried the talents the Master gave him to invest and spend recklessly and with risk. Spend your blessings recklessly. Multiply your blessings by giving them away. On this Thanksgiving, let the turkey (or Tofurky) only be background, not the center, of your joy. Open your mouths and recount your blessings. Tell each one you meet on Thanksgiving what a joy/blessing he/she has been to you. Stop me the next time you see me and ask me what a blessing you have been to me. With Love, Rev. Jim See our Website: http://www.frontiernet.net/~oamcc for the calendar listings. You can print the calendar if you wish. Christmas Wreath Sale: if you haven’t done so, please pick up a wreath sales sheet so you can participate in the fund raiser. Decorating of Christmas Wreath's: Saturday December 3 , 10am - 2pm in the Fellowship Hall.. all our welcome no artistic gifts required!
Upcoming Events: Next Deacon training class will be on Sunday November 20 from 1 to 4pm. The DIT classes are open for anyone to attend. There IS a six week or so of mid-week worship/study began Wednesday, Nov. 9. A Pause that Refreshes: 7pm at Norris Drive. Deacon Debbie will be preaching this Sunday, Nov. 27. Deacon-in-training, Bonnie, will be consecrating. The clothing ministry, coordinated by Deacon Debbie, will began again on Thursday December 8th at 6:30. See Deacon Debbie for details. The Artsy-Fartsy Film Group next outing on December ??, a matinee. We will be seeing ?? at the Little. To read more about the film, go to www.littletheatre.com and click on the Coming Soon link. We will meet at The Little at ?? All are welcome to attend. The Christmas Party is on December 18th – Save the date – Ellison Park – Hazelwood Lodge immediately after service. Subject: MCC Installation Commorative T-shirt
Greetings from MCC Region 3,
Until next time, let us pray for one another (oremus pro invicem)
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This page Last updated/ reviewed on: November, 2005 By: Martha K.. |
and Gravy
(Jars or Cans) 
Turkeys 
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