Click here for a web-copy of the June 2 issue of The Reconciler
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Tyler Williams will be leading a summer book study on Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed by Phillip Hallie. This book records the true story of a small, Protestant village in One Jewish woman, whose three children were saved by the people of Le Chambon described the village as the rainbow after the flood: “The Holocaust was storm, lightning, wind, rain, yes. And Le Chambon was the rainbow.” Le Chambon was a small place of refuge from the storm and a sign that God’s church was not completely dormant but was reaching out to people in need. As we read and explore this book, we will learn about this community’s radical hospitality, courage, humility, commitment to Jesus Christ and love for human beings. In John 15, Jesus says to his disciples, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” The people of Le Chambon were prepared to lay down their lives to save their neighbors. They fought for justice not with weapons of war but with the equipping power of the Holy Spirit. Yet they did it with grace and humility, not regarding their actions as particularly heroic or noble, but simply doing what was right. The study will be held on Sundays at 5 pm beginning on June 13 and continuing through August 1. Our hope is that this study can be hosted by different church members every week. If you are interested in the study or hosting the study, please let Tyler know as soon as possible either through the welcome card in the bulletin, by phone (336-312-8518), or by email to tkw3@duke.edu. From our Habitat Coordinator: Dear Friends, Please share this information with your congregations. Perhaps some of your members have furniture they no longer need and are willing to give away or sell at a good price. Martha would like to use brown and golds in her living room with touches of green in pillows. Any color of wood is okay with her. She needs a couch, chairs, end and coffee tables etc. For her bedroom she wants a double bed, end tables and dresser. She wants to use blue in her bedroom. for Alex she needs a bookcase and a dresser. If you or members of your congregation have any of these items, please call or e-mail the RUMC Church office. June 26th isn’t very far away. Don’t forget the dedication of her house on June 26th at 11:00 A.M. followed by a potluck lunch. Russell Odom will be cooking chicken for us. Habitat will be providing the chickens. We will bring all the side dishes and desserts as we did when we began the house on March 6th. Honest Memory: A Thanksgiving ReflectionPsalm 78:1-4 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; For Christians, memory is vital. Whenever we partake of Holy Communion, we are called to do this “in remembrance” of Christ. Yet as Christians, we are not just called to have a good memory. We must learn to have an honest memory. Christians must tell their story truthfully. As Psalm 78 reminds us, we must not hide our history from our children and we must proclaim the glorious deeds of the Lord to every generation. Thanksgiving is a day for remembrance as well. The history of this day goes back to the Puritans’ observance of special fast and feast days. It was a time for them to give thanks to God for all of God’s gifts. In America, we trace the history of Thanksgiving to the Pilgrims who arrived at Cape Cod in 1620. That first winter was very harsh. Many Pilgrims died and others became deathly ill. Finally spring and summer came. By the next autumn, the Pilgrims found that they had a plentiful harvest and were blessed with abundance. They decided to celebrate God’s gifts with the Native Americans in a special three day feast. Later, president Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving as a national holiday in 1863. When most of us think of Thanksgiving, this is usually what we remember. A day when those people in the funny black clothes would go around cooking turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and green beans. The problem is that our memory is a little faulty. Research shows us that there is a lot we don’t know about those early European settlers. For one thing, the Pilgrims did not wear black and they did not carry copies of Pilgrim’s Progress around in their pockets. They may or may not have cooked turkey for their first and only Thanksgiving feast. We do know that they cooked deer, ducks, geese, and swan - all brought by the Wampanoag Indians. Sorry, but there was not cranberry sauce or pumpkin pie. If you really want to have an authentic Thanksgiving meal this week, you may find yourself eating Applemoyse, Ipocras, Stewed Pompion, Peasecods, and maybe a little sauce for Stubble Goose. The actual meal at Thanksgiving is not the only thing we often tend to forget about. There is still more to this story of the Pilgrims that landed at Cape Cod. It is not as pleasant as reading about the three day feast, but it is just as important. Soon after the Pilgrims landed, they signed a treaty with the Native tribe called the Wampanoags. This document was then used to justify taking over the Indian land. The Wampanoags, who were already weakened by an epidemic, were unable to resist the English invaders. What was happening at Plymouth was happening throughout both North and South America. Statistics often vary, but even the most conservative historians estimate that by the time the Pilgrims landed in 1620, over 60 million Indians had already died in the Americas from war and disease caused by the Western invaders. As Christians, it is our responsibility to face this history truthfully and not hide from it. As Christians, we must tell this story to our children as well. Thanksgiving is not a time to forget the sins of the past or we will undoubtedly make them the sins of our present and our future. Thanksgiving is a time to remember both God’s gracious gifts, and humanity’s sin and separation from God. So this Thanksgiving, don’t forget to give thanks to God for all of God’s gifts and provision … and don’t forget to tell our story truthfully. After all, Christ has taught us that the truth shall set us free - free to face our past, blemishes and all. Free to be redeemed and transformed by God’s saving love. Free to be reconciled to God and neighbor – particularly our Native American sisters and brothers who have suffered much. Free to gather round the table and receive from God’s bounty. I leave you with a table blessing that my family sings regularly (it is sung to the tune of “Jesus loves Me”). Come Lord Jesus, be our Guest Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!
Max Cisneros is a retired Deacon in the United Methodist Church. After his retirement in 1991 he felt a call to do ministry among migrants in the most remote, desolate regions of New Mexico. Max is deeply concerned with the plight of people suffering and dying in the desert. Believing that the call to love the neighbor knows no borders, the ministry that he directs provides 55 gallon tanks of water, blankets and health kits for migrants making “la pasada” (the passage) from Mexico to the United States.
Reconciliation United Methodist Church …invites you to a special Border Ministry Presentation with Q&A to follow at the Asbury UMC Fellowship hall 807 Clarendon Street (Where church office is located; enter from Clarendon Street) Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. —————————————————– Multicultural Gospel Concert - Get your Praise on! - Oct 3rd
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Feel free to comment to this post and type the full name of any who have died that you would like lifted up in this coming Sunday’s Eucharistic Prayer.
October 3, 2009 From 3:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m.