Adult Sunday School Class will start this Sunday, October 7 and run for six weeks.  Rev. Lu Johnson will teach on "Women in the Bible."

Pastor's Reflection

Are you an inny or an outie?

Did you think of your belly button when you read that question?

I didn't.  Please believe that I spend no time at all thinking about belly buttons - mine or anyone else's.

I was thinking about how you approach life.   Do you spend all your focus thinking about what's going on in your own mind or your own life?  That's an inny.

Or do you spend all your focus thinking about other people and their needs and their activities?  That's an outie.

All right.  Now suppose that you've come up with an answer to the question and have firmly designated yourself one or the other and can proudly proclaim "I'm an INNY!"  or "I'm an OUTIE!"

Sorry, I guess it was a trick question.  To be black or white in our thinking doesn't work to come up with a way of life that is satisfactory or productive or is a blessing to ourselves or others.

Let's look at the life of Jesus for an example of how to live.  He was an inny.  He was an outie.  He functioned as one who strives to recognize and meet the needs of others.    He was an innie.  When he was in need of quiet, he went off either alone or with his friends to find a time of refreshment.

Black or white thinking or theology or acting or judging just doesn't work.  Life is rarely one thing.  It is always being pulled first in and then out and then in again.  Some think one can't be both gay and Christian.  We know different.  Some think one can't be both an introvert and an extravert.  We can.  The answer to that is merely in terms of how we refresh ourselves. An introvert refreshes by being alone.  An extrovert by being with others.  I know you'll find this hard to believe but I am an introvert.  And I function like an extrovert in my day to day life.  But when I need refreshment and rest, I go to be by myself.

So, look at the question again?  Are you an inny or an outie?  I suggest to you that practicing our spiritual relationships require us to be both.

Whew!  Do you feel like you've just been forced through some mental gymnastics?  So do I.  Make sure you get rest and refreshment for your soul.
 

Rev. Jim

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On Sunday, October 14 after church, from 1-4pm, we will hold Membership Class.  Anyone who has been coming for a while and is not a member, or anyone who has been coming for a little while and is curious about our church or denomination should come.  Please email Rev. Jim if you are planning on attending (oamcc@frontiernet.net).

Adult Sunday School Class meets on Sundays at 9:30am. Rev. Lu Johnson will teach on "Women in the Bible."

Deacon's Corner:

Yo God, I'm beat. My cold is still hanging on and I'm running on empty.
My to do list keeps getting longer and my vigor shorter.
I have what feels like a hundred things to do before I can sleep.
The more I try to pull my life together, the more it appears to be falling apart.
 

My focus is off and if I have to blow my nose one more time I'll just cry...
God, tell me to just stop...remind me that I am worthy enough to rest.
Remind me that self care is a need in everyone's life.
God, rest with me and I with You and together it will be O.K. Amen

Deacon Debbie

Pastor's Reflection

Spontaneity!  We have something that never changes at Open Arms MCC:  we can never predict what is going to happen during worship.  This week, we had the pleasure of hosting Rev. Wayne Schwandt, pastor of MCC of the Chesapeake, and his spouse, Chuck.  Rev. Wayne is a good friend of mine and it was good for Paul and me to spend the afternoon with them after church.  Why does it take a visitor's eyes to see our own place?   After dinner on Irondequoit Bay, we drove up to Charlotte to walk out on the pier and then have a treat at Abbott's.  I hardly ever go to Charlotte and hardly ever take the time to appreciate the beauty of the big lake.  Chuck was amazed that there were waves on a fresh water lake!

Well back to the unpredictability of worship.  During my sermon, someone raised his hand to ask a question.  I was amazed - and pleased.  Through the rest of the sermon, there was dialogue between me and various congregants.   It was unplanned and unpredictable and spontaneous.

Then during the offering call, our dear Deacon Debbie, offered a quite personal comment on a rear part of the pastor's anatomy - to much laughter and joy.

After the service, one long-time member told me that it had been one of the most significant and moving services that he could remember.

Why do you suppose we have that kind of spontaneity and flexibility and unpredictability at Open Arms?  I think it's because we have learned to just be ourselves and to let others be themselves.  I think it's also because we have made room for the powerful moving of the Holy Spirit of God which prompts us to be more fully ourselves.   It is only when we allow that room for growth in our hearts, minds, spirits, behaviors, that we can begin to make a difference to each other.

So we never do know what to expect, except that it will be good!  Come on down and be truly your self.

Rev. Jim

PS.  By the way, our friend Meredith Elizabeth Reiniger's column in the Empty Closet for October is definitely worth a read.  She speaks well of her spiritual journey and pays a nice tribute to Open Arms MCC.  Thanks Meredith! 

Rev. Jim

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Adult Sunday School Class meets on Sundays at 9:30am. Rev. Lu Johnson will teach on "Women in the Bible."

Deacon's Corner:

Yo God, I know You're not in a hurry, but I am.
I eat fast...I drive fast...I talk fast...
I rush here and there only to want to be someplace else.
I can't remember yesterday because I dashed through it so fast.
I'm not sure how I got here cause I was too busy rushing to enjoy the way.
God, help me slow down, chill out, stop all this rush, rush, rushing around.
How about You and I both not being in a hurry?
How about You and I kicking off the old shoes and wiggling our toes in the sand?
How about You and I God spend some deliberate unhurried time together?
Yo God, I know You're not in a hurry....I'ld like to join You there. Amen-

Deacon Debbie

Pastor's Reflection

On Sunday, we held membership class.  We will receive new members into the church on November 11 during worship.  We may have as many as seven new members that day.

This is the time of year that requires that the pastor speak about stewardship.  No pastor loves talking about money.  Couples fight about money.  Workers don't tell others what their salary is.  I wonder why money has such a hold on us.  Do we have money or does money have us?

Do you remember when you were first starting out and had very little but somehow you made do with what you had.  As your income increased over the years, your spending stretched to accomodate your earnings.  Things that once were luxuries seem to have become necessities.  I think we would all benefit to reflect on our relationship with money.

This is the time of year I have to talk about it with you.  The board is in the process of constructing the 2008 budget which you will vote on at our annual congregational meeting on the first Sunday of December.

This year's budget has been $98,000.  At the end of the year last year, we had $10,000 surplus that we were able to carry forward to offset the $98,000 and make the actual amount we needed to raise $87,000.  As you can see from our weekly budget statement in the bulletin, we are over $5000 behind budget.  There were places in the budget the board was able to cut so that $5000 deficit is not debt but is a shortfall in projected income.  So, we are not in trouble financially - at all.

The projected budget for this year has no increase, it remains at $98,000, but we have added expenses.  The board is in the second year of a three year plan to bring the pastor's salary to full time.  We have hired a very competent musician who has brought a new level of expertise to our music and who is also working with the choir to bring the choir to a new level of excellence.   At the current rate of giving, we would not be able to sustain the $98,000 budget, especially since we may not have a large surplus to carry forward.

Each of us, including the pastor and board, has to give responsibly and do the best we can to bring our church forward into excellence to do the work God has laid out for us.

We are very blessed to have God in our lives, a church like Open Arms and each other.  In the end, that's the most important thing.

Rev. Jim

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There is no Adult Sunday School Class this Sunday.

Deacon's Corner:

Yo God,

How does one define Faith to others?

At times it’s like the sea…full of conflict and yet with an inner calm.

At times it’s a fire…warming the body on the outside and the soul from within.

At times it’s the wind….fierce, strong, powerful, yet also gentle and embracing.

God, how does one define Faith?

Perhaps Faith is the candle and at other times the blaze.

Perhaps Faith is a soft melody or the roar of a thousand notes.

Perhaps Faith is within a book, the Bible, Torah, or other written word.

How does one define Faith to others?

Faith is this and so much more.

Faith is a young lesbian in comfortable dyke shoes.

She stands tall and proud as she brings a message of struggling with God.

Others hang on her words knowing they ring true.

Her partner smiles with pride and joy.

God how does one define Faith…it is our never ending journey. Amen-

Deacon Debbie

Pastor's Reflection

Today I am feeling very grateful.  Paul and I came to Open Arms MCC for the first time at Pride Worship in 2000.  We had been together for several months and were in search of a community of faith to belong to.  I had just been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was facing surgery.  Paul was wondering what he had gotten himself into.  We were in need.  From the first service we attended, Open Arms has been our home.  I can't imagine life without the church.

I entered a life of ministry when I was 17 years old.  At different times, I've tried to escape but God had other plans.  When we came to Open Arms, our intention was to sit in the pew and take whatever we could get that we needed.  And then we began to make friends with other church goers.  And then we started getting involved in things that were going on.   And then Rev. Ron asked me to be worship coordinator, a job done much better by Terry Keister than I.  One thing I was sure of was that I had spent my whole long career in ministry NOT wanting to be a pastor.  And God had other plans.  Plans that were so much greater than I could imagine.  God's work in my life is my story.

For each one of us at Open Arms, God has plans and is working to accomplish those plans.   Each one of us at Open Arms has that still, small, voice of God in our hearts leading us, sometimes to places we're not sure we want to go.  As we listen and agree to that voice of God in us, we each find our voice and raise it in harmony and praise.

As a church, we each raise that voice of God within us and we each learn to hear and follow God's promptings.  

Can't you just hear, louder and louder, the conjoined voices of God in our worship and service together?  Can't you feel the surge of gratitude because of it?

Rev. Jim

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Deacon's Corner:

Yo God,
I went to court Monday for credit card debt problems.
I filed for Chapter 13 which means I will be paying some of the debt back, over time.
How easy it has become to get credit cards and max them out.
Even with the debt I'm in, I still get approvals weekly for new cards offering me huge lines of credit.
How did I get here God?
It is was so easy to get pulled into the I want it now.
I need that new flat screen TV....now!
I need the latest CD....now!
I'll just take a week off and fly someplace....now!
It's OK.... I'll just put it on my card or cards.
Than I found myself taking from one card to pay on another....and the hole got deeper and deeper.

God, I am so humiliated, embarrassed, and ashamed.
I pray that others will read this and stop this craziness of plastic money.
I pray that I have learned from my mistake.
I am thankful that the courts will let me budget stewardship into my budget..for the Church is so vital to my life and well being.
In all my shame and humiliation I know that You and my Church still love me.
For that I am thankful! Amen-

 

Deacon Debbie

Pastor's Reflection - Odds and Ends

I've been asked to talk about church etiquette.  Over time, things become noticeable.  Here are a few:

1)  Traffic Flow:  As people come into church, sometimes a lot of conversation causes people to get bunched up trying to get in or to pass through.   At the end of service, there is a major congestion at the rear of the sanctuary as people try to get to fellowship but are impeded by others standing in the middle of the aisles or in the entranceway.  Please just be aware of where you are in relation to others and be aware of the need for clear access and exit.

2) Communion Time:  our congregants come from many religious traditions and from many ways of looking at communion.   All of our traditions regard communion as a sacred rite.   There is far too much talking during communion time which is distracting to those who are trying to have quiet prayer and reflection.   Ilan has been playing very beautiful music during this reflection time.  Let yourself be immersed in it and in your sense of God's presence.

Those two items are housekeeping details.  Now my message.

Do you remember that old saying "don't judge another until you have walked a mile in his/her shoes?"  I wonder why this is so difficult for us.  I suppose that, because we are a relatively small church, we all know each other well - or at least we think we do.  In fact, we have many people who are regular attenders who never saw our old place of worship, who never experienced Open Arms as a renting church instead of as owning our own worship space.  We have a lot of people now who don't know the history of the church, who don't know individual histories of our members.  We are really a very different church than we were just over a year ago when we moved into our new church. 

Can you remember the first time you came to Open Arms MCC?  Were you out of the closet?  Were you fearful that someone would know you?  Were you comfortable with your sexuality?  Were you wondering if God could possibly love you?  Were you open to the message of God's inclusive love but still worried that it was too good to be true?

When we've been around for a while, we forget what it's like for someone coming for the first time.  Lack of welcome can be a problem.  Too much welcome can be a problem.  Both can be factors that determine whether someone returns for a second time.  We really have to be a safe place for first-timers.  Recently, I called someone who had come to a service or two and then did not return.   I called to see how they were doing and how they were welcomed at Open Arms.  I was told that the church was really what they were looking for but that they were made very uncomfortable when someone sat beside them and put an arm around them.  They were not comfortable returning to our church because it didn't seem safe.  This person had a history of sexual abuse and was not comfortable with touch and not sure enough of themselves to speak up about it on a first visit.

We are a wonderful congregation.   I think everyone could be at home with us.  But I also need to be aware that I have to put myself in the place of a newcomer, to walk in his/her shoes for a while.   I have to learn to know someone and what he/she is comfortable with before I offer a hug or put my arm around him/her.   I have to learn to ask if I can give a hug during our community greeting, rather than assuming that everyone is comfortable with our effusive greeting.  I have to be aware of creating a safe and sacred space.

I wish life were simpler.  I wish we could instantly know people's intentions.  I wish we could always presume pure-hearts in the people around us.  But we can't.  We have to know we are an imperfect people in an imperfect church in an imperfect world.  And knowing that, we can also know that we have been graced with an incredible church community.  And, like any relationship, it takes hard work to keep it that way and to grow individually and as a community.

Love,

Rev. Jim

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