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Open Arms Metropolitan Community Church Rochester, New York
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Highlights from the August 2006 edition's:
August 9
============================================================================== 25th Anniversary Weekend is almost here. Schedule of events: Saturday, August 19 10am - Continental Breakfast and Conversation with our Regional Elder, Rev. Elder Arlene Ackerman at Glevdoveer's Party House. Rev. Arlene will talk about what's going on in our own region and throughout Metropolitan Community Churches (there is no cost for this event) 4-5:30pm Appetizers and Fellowship at Glendoveer's 6pm- 10pm Banquet and Dance at Glendoveer's - Cost $20. If you don't have your tickets, please get them this weekend. We have to give the folks at Glendoveer's our choice of meals. We would like all of our congregation to attend this event. If you need help with tickets, please see or email Rev. Jim (oamcc@frontiernet.net) Sunday, August 20 12:30pm Anniversary Worship at the First Unitarian Church of Rochester on Winton Road, followed by refreshments and fellowship at our church at 175 Norris Drive. =================================================================================== Pastor's Update: In the world of property exchange, uncertaintly seems to be the rule. Here is what we know: Our lease at 175 Norris Drive expires on August 31. We are getting surer that we can be in our new church for the SECOND Sunday of September. For the Sunday we are churchless, we will celebrate our transition by having worship at the Roadside Shelter at Ellison Park. Like the Israelites in Exodus, we will wander until we arrive at our new church home. Second Sunday of September we will worship at 740 Marshall Road in Chili, our new church home. Can you feel the excitement. I am starting to get revved up for the necessary whirlwind of activity beginning with our anniversary. We will probably rent a POD (check them out at www.pods.com) which is mobile storage. The Board will decide on storage at our meeting on Friday evening. That will mean that we work like crazy getting our church packed up and stored after worship on August 27. The POD will then be stored at a warehouse until we can unpack it as we move into our new church. Sisters and brothers, we are going to need your hands and your strong backs as we get ready for our triumphal entry into our new church building. Obviously, we will be in a time crunch and not everything will be in any kind of final form for our first worship. How sweet it will be to be in our new space! August 16, 2006 ============================================================================== 25TH ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND IS UPON US!!!! =============================================================================== Saturday, August 19 Morning and Evening events will take place at Glendoveers Party House at 2328 Old Browncroft Blvd. It's really easy to get to. Directions: From the Browncroft exit of 590, go east toward Penfield. Take a left on Old Browncroft Blvd. - six-tenths of a mile. Stay right on Old Browncroft for three-tenths of a mile. Arrive at Glendoveers. Breakfast with the Elder: 10am - noon Join us for a casual continental breakfast with Rev. Elder Arlene Ackerman, Regional Elder for Region 3 of Metropolitan Community Churches. Rev. Arlene will tell us what initiatives are going on in the region and in the world. Open Arms MCC is not alone is this world. Come and hear about our sister churches Banquet: 4:30 - 10pm Appetizers at 4:30pm Dinner at 6pm Dance till 10pm
Sunday, August 20 25th Anniversary Worship is at the First Unitarian Church of Rochester at 12:30pm. We will be joined for worship by Rev. Elder Arlene Ackerman and Rev. Delores Berry, our denominational evangelist. Fellowship is backat 175 Norris Drive. ====================================================================== Those who ordered t-shirts can pick them up at any of the weekend activities. Please make checks payable to Open Arms MCC with "t-shirt" on the memo line. Shirts are $13. As previously announced, we were not able to get larger than 2X. ======================================================================= Deacon's Corner: Yo God, Deacon Debbie =================================================================================== GOOD NEWS!!!!!! We have a closing date for the purchase of our new church! On September 5, the papers will be signed for the transfer of property from Calvary Assembly of God to Open Arms MCC. Praise God and thanks to every person who has made this possible: Gene Ver and his search team, Anne and Sherri and Donna and John who headed up the Capital Campaign, all who participated in any way in the campaign , all who cheered us on. God is Good. There will be a whole lot of things to do in the meantime: A PODS (movable storage unit) will be delivered to Norris Drive on August 26. After worship on August 27, our last at Norris Drive, there will be a major disassemble and storage party to get the church emptied out and stored. On Monday, August 28, the PODS will be taken to the warehouse to be held until September 8 when it will be delivered to 740 Marshall Road in Chili where we'll have an unpacking and set up party. The chairs will not be in the PODS but will be stored in Patrick F's garage. We will need pickup trucks and a chairs crew to transport and unload chairs at Patrick's. Sisters and Brothers, this is a major event in our church life. Please participate to the best of your ability. Worship on Sunday, September 3, will be at 11am at the Roadside Shelter at Ellison Park. We will have a cookout immediately after service. Stay tuned for more details. It seems like we've been waiting for this forever! Now the time is at hand. Rejoice and be glad (and work hard) in it! Rev. Jim August 23, 2006 =================================================================== Worship is at 11 am at 175 Norris Drive on Sunday, August 27 It is our LAST Sunday at Norris Drive. ================================================================== Packing and Moving Out
Sunday, August 27th is packing day! We
still need volunteers to help carry boxes to our "PODS"- (portable on
demand storage) We will have several movers to handle the heaviest items
(I.e. the altar and lectern). We also need pickup trucks and willing
hands to transport all our chairs to Patrick's garage. Please email
oamcc@frontiernet.net to offer
your truck or hands for the move.
Unpacking and Moving In
We will unpack at the new church on
Saturday, September 9th. Time to be announced. We'll need volunteers to
carry boxes, set up furniture, etc.
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On Sunday, September 3, we will be
homeless and wandering, like the Hebrews of old.
Worship will be at the Roadside Shelter at Ellison Park. Coming from the 590 direction or from Winton, Roadside Shelter will be on your left, the entrance just before you start up the hill out of Roadside Shelter. Coming from Browncroft Blvd., it is the first entrance on the right. There will be a picnic immediately following worship. Hots and Rolls will be provided. If someone would volunteer to coordinate dishes to pass, that would be helpful (oamcc@frontiernet.net) ======================================================================== On Sunday, September 10, we will have our first worship at our new church home, 740 Marshall Road, Rochester, NY 14624. Easy directions in two varieties: 1) Take 490 West to the Rt. 204 Exit. Turn Right on Chili Ave. Turn Left on Marshall Road. Marshall Road is right at the end of the cemetery which is right after a funeral home. Our church is the first church on the left. 2) From 390 North or South, exit at Chili Ave. Turn RIGHT (West) onto Chili Ave and LEFT onto Marshall Road. At our first worship, we will celebrate the end of this part of our journey and the arrival into the home that God has promised us. ====================================================================== New Church Dedication We will have an official dedication ceremony on a Sunday in October, date to be announced. ====================================================================== Deacon Debbie's Corner: Yo God, =================================================================== Thanks to all who contributed to the success of the weekend. A special thanks to Karen Lasky who worked hard to make sure that the details of the party house, setup, the meals and the dance were arranged smoothly for us to enjoy; a thanks to Martha for printing the tickets and place markers; to Deb M who sold tickets; to Linda and Roza who handled refreshments for Fellowship on Sunday. Thanks to Sharon H and John deP who created such incredibly beautiful centerpieces. And a heartfelt thanks to each of you who participated in any way in the weekend by work or presence. Thanks to Gary L and the choir who made us proud. Thanks to Bess for her loyalty to a thoughtless friend. ======================================================================== Pastor's Reflection: Praise the Lord, O my soul; let all that is within me praise God's holy name. After this past weekend, Anniversary Weekend, I can understand the Psalmist's need to shout out praises to God. We saw ourselves at our best! We experienced wonderful community in all three Anniversary events: there were over 40 at the morning session on Saturday; 84 for the banquet and dance on Saturday night; 77 for Sunday worship at the Unitarian church. Throughout, there were smiles and laughter and enjoyment in being together. At the beginning of our banquet, Rev. Elder Arlene leaned over to me and said, "Listen to the sound of conversation in this room. Look at the faces. See the balance of men and women enjoying each other's company." I did and saw what I'm used to. It was not a surprise for me to see how we are together as a church and as a community. At the same time, I saw pain in some faces; I saw anger in a few; I saw disappointment in others. I recognized shortcomings in myself and in others. I saw our lack of perfection, and even our lack of unity. In other words, I saw us as we are. When we preach that God loves us just the way we are, we remind ourselves that we don't have to reach perfection in order to be love and loveable. We don't have to reach perfection to be loving people ourselves. When we live with each other in both our strengths and our weaknesses and love constantly, we arrive at the result that the Elder remarked on: we enjoy being together IN SPITE OF our weaknesses and faults. That proves the presence of God among us. Praise the Lord, O my soul and let all that is within me praise God's holy name. Rev. Jim August 30, 2006 ============================================================= If you'll look at the address for the church above, you will see that we have no address. We are temporarily homeless. We have moved out of Norris Drive but don't yet own our new church at 740 Marshall Road in Chili. We will close on the property on September 5 and move in on the 9th. Sunday, September 3 Worship is at 11 at the Roadside Shelter at Ellison Park on Blossom Road. From Winton Rd. or 590, go down the hill into Ellison Park. It is the 3rd entrance to the LEFT, just before you start up the hill. A cookout will follow worship. Patrick has donated hotdogs and rolls. Deacon Karen Ware (kew444 is 5@aol.com) is coordinating the other needed items. Here is our wish list. If you can bring something, please let Deacon Karen know:
10 lb. of charcoal briquettes
100 paper napkins
100 paper plates
Hot cups, cold cups
Forks, knives, spoons
Sugar and creamer
Mustard, catsup, pickles, pickle
relish, diced onion
Table cloths
Bottled water
Coffee, ice tea
Soda provided
Salads
Desserts
Fruit
Please feel free to bring items you
might like to have cooked on the charcoal.
==========================================================================
All our church belongings are in
storage. It was AMAZING to see the hands and feet flying after lunch
(thanks, Anne and all who prepared food) as boxes and everything else got
loaded into the portable storage unit which is now safely in the PODS
storage warehouse. Our Grand Poobah for Moving, Terry K, has been
thinking and working non-stop, to insure that everything got organized.
Thanks to those who crawled around inside the PODS to get things
stabilized and to maximize every inch of storage. By 3pm, the church was
empty and cleaned. The 20 or so of us who were there to close formed a
circle in our empty sanctuary and prayed a prayer of thanksgiving for all
our blessings at Norris Drive and for our landlords, John and Rob, who
have been so good to us over the years. And a prayer for guidance as we
move forward to follow where God is leading.
On Saturday, September 9, we will have
an unpacking/setup party at 740 Marshall Road. Time to be announced.
Getting to Marshall Road is easy.
From 390, take Chili Ave west to Marshall Road and take a LEFT on
Marshall. The church is just after the cemetery on the left. From 490,
take the 204 Exit, turn West on Chili and the LEFT on Marshall Road.
We will use our old chairs for the
first Sunday. Sometime on or after September 15, our new chairs will
arrive and will need a crew to unload/assemble/setup. We will send out a
call. No delivery company will guarantee an exact delivery day for the
chairs. They will call the Pastor 24 hours in advance of the delivery
date. We'll go from there.
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Deacon's Corner:
Yo God,
Last Sunday we said good-bye to our home of nine years. As exciting as that was...it was also somewhat sad. This once dirty warehouse was transformed by our own hands into our house of Worship. This house of Worship, was where we celebrated baptisms and Holy Unions. This house of Worship, was where we set the table for pot lucks and Thanksgiving dinners. This house of Worship, was where we installed our Pastor and Deacons. This house of Worship, was where we went from a dying Church to the Church Alive. This house of Worship holds many moments of faith, hope and love. God...just as we packed up the altar, so too I pray we packed up our hopes and dreams, our faith and love, our hospitality and Open Arms welcome. For our house of Worship has changed, but our ministry hasn't. Amen Deacon Debbie ========================================================================== Store
House Volunteer's Needed! ========================================================================= Pastor's Reflection: We are homeless as a church. But only for a short time. We know we are blessed in our temporary homelessness. We have just marked the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina which caused a wave of destruction and homelessness and uprooted lives. Many of those folks from Louisiana and Mississippi are still uprooted and homeless. The war in Lebanon has caused many thousands of people pain and death and loss and homelessness. The streets of Rochester have many hundreds of people, old and young, who have no place they call home. They sleep on benches and in boxes and under bridges. We are homeless as a church. But not really homeless. Let us open our hearts to those who are truly homeless. Let us open our eyes to those at the margins of our daily lives. Let us find a way to open our arms. Rev. Jim ============================================================================
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This page Last updated on: Sept, 2006 By: Martha K. |
