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CCC NewsNews October 22, 2002 Fear and Faith, Investment Strategies Seminar,
Ushers Needed, Link-Ages Place I have been thinking a lot about fear recently. And I am, frankly, a little surprised with the fear that has been stirred in me: fear evoked by the hideous murders in our county and region, fear about war planning, fear about world-wide terrorism. Fear growing out of my concern for my loved ones, for the victims of war and terror, for Planet Earth. It is easy to repeat the assurances of our faith, "Fear not, I will be with you," and "All will be well, and indeed all manner of things will be well." But so often fear, fear deep in the gut, renders such phrases empty of power. Why is fear so debilitating and why is it the true opposite of faith? This is what I have been pondering. It’s not so simple. It’s not really fear of death that bothers me. The older I get the less afraid of dying I’ve become. It is somehow what fear does to my living that matters. Fear threatens to rob me of my sense of daily happiness. Fear reminds me of how easily my fragile sense of security and well-being can be subverted, that confident assumption that I will be able to pack grocery bags in the trunk of my car without being shot down, perhaps never knowing what hit me. I sense in myself a loss of buoyancy and optimism. In addition to the grief and anguish I feel for the victims and their families and the rage I feel toward the shooter, I am troubled with the possible loss of the spiritual peace of knowing I live my life in the hands of the a loving God. William Sloan Coffin has frequently said, "God promises us minimum protection, maximum support." If one has a tendency to mix the two up, fear makes the difference abundantly clear. That is why real fear is always, at root, a faith crisis. I am not talking about the need for wise precautions, diligence, or knowing how to be a "good witness" if, God forbid, it comes to that. These are sensible responses to reality. I am talking here about fear’s capacity to rob us of some essential spark of being alive. I received an email this week from CCC member the Rev. Julia Jarvis that included some quotes from the book Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience, by Sharon Salzberg. The author writes this: No matter what we encounter in life, it is faith that enables us to try again, to trust again, to love again. Even in times of immense suffering, it is faith that enables us to relate to the present moment in such a way that we can go on, we can move forward, instead of becoming lost in resignation or despair. Faith links our present-day experience, whether wonderful or terrible, to the underlying pulse of life itself. Being alive necessarily means uncertainty and risk, times of going into the unknown. If we withdraw from the flow of life, our hearts contract. We hold back so much that we feel separate from our own bodies and minds, separate from other people, even people we really care about. In the grip of other intense emotions, like grief and jealousy, we might feel anguish, but fear shuts us down, arrests the life force. To be driven by fear is like dying inside. Faith, in contrast, reminds us of the ever-changing flow of life, with all its movement and possibility. Faith is the capacity of the heart that allows us to draw close to the present and find there the underlying thread connecting the moment's experience to the fabric of all of life. It opens us to a bigger sense of who we are and what we are capable of doing. Faith enables us, despite our fear, to get as close as possible to the truth of the present moment, so that we can offer our hearts fully to it, with integrity. We might (and often must) hope and plan and arrange and try, but faith enables us to be fully engaged while also realizing that we are not in control, and that no strategy can ever put us in control, of the unfolding of events. Faith gives us a willingness to engage life, which means the unknown, and not to shrink back from it. These words speak to me in a powerful way. Love, Jim Several CCC members, along with neighbors from Silver Spring Presbyterian Church, attended the first of the FIVE SEMINARS series featuring an excellent financial planning seminar on October 15. Financial Advisor, Mike Neumeier, provided attendees with some very helpful investment advice for these difficult economic times. Plan to attend the second in this informative seminar series on Tuesday, October 29. Legal Issues Seminar The second of FIVE SEMINARS, on Tuesday, October 29 at 10 a.m., will deal with advanced medical care directives and other legal matters. The "Five Wishes" program, featured on CNN and on the Today Show, and in Time and Money magazines, will be presented by representatives from Holy Cross Hospital. This living will format, developed with the help of The American Bar Association’s Commission on Legal Problems for the Elderly, helps individuals to determine and make their wishes known regarding chosen health care agents, medical treatment, palliative care, and their wishes in relation to friends and loved ones, church/synagogue, etc. "Five Wishes" forms and other information and advanced directive materials will be available to participants to assist them in making these important end-of-life care decisions. Your RSVP will help us in our planning. Call Mable Elliott – 301-622-3174, Dale Ostrander – 301-585-8010 or Sue Dollins – 301-585-8874. We are seeking volunteers to usher at the 9:30 or 11:00 am service. This would only be for one Sunday each month. If you can help, please contact Clark Prichard at 301-384-7126 Link-Ages Place Many of you may know that the Silver Spring Child Care enter now resides on the lower level of Christ Congregational Church during the week days. The Center is open from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. It serves children ages 2 - 5 in five classrooms. You are all welcome to come visit the center. Connie, the director, will show you around. There are many opportunities for older adults to get involved with the center. Here are a few suggestions.
Things you can make at home:
Jan Forbes/ Link-Ages Place Task Force Interested? Contact Jan Forbes 301-881-2856 SEE US…HEAR US…JOIN US… The Senior High group has a lot on its plate this year in terms of community outreach. This month, we are volunteering at the CCC Workday, where we will be working with members of the congregation to make our church a better and safer place to worship. In November, we will be walking in the 15th annual Help the Homeless Walkathon, a charity event that has become something of a tradition for us. This year we are donating our proceeds to Rebuilding Together (Christmas in April), so be sure to sponsor a member of the senior highs as we walk for the homeless. Also in November, we will be serving as ushers for CCC’s production of "Fiddler on the Roof." Next up is "Souper Bowl Sunday," which is held on Super Bowl Sunday in January. The senior highs will use large soup tureens to collect donations from the congregation to be donated to Shepherd’s Table. We will also be making soup for members of the congregation to order before-hand, so we would love for people to donate recipes or ingredients for their favorite soup. For some time now, we have been collecting items to make health kits to be distributed by Church World Service or Progress Place to those in need. If you have any men’s white tube socks or hand towels, please talk to Kathy Stedman about donating them to this worthy cause. The senior highs will also be working to make a difference in the local community by volunteering our services to Rebuilding Together and Shepherd’s Table. And lastly, but perhaps most exciting, is our planned service project, immersion program and fellowship with the Dakota Association at a Native American reservation. As you can see, the senior highs will be very busy this year helping to make our church and the world around us a better place. Jamie Platky There will be a teacher training session for all church school teachers on Tuesday, Oct. 29th, at 7:30 pm in the Conference Room. This will provide an
introduction to the Christian Education grade level goals; training in
opening activities to help with children's transition into class as they
arrive in the morning; and information about safe church policies. Any
questions, please contact Jim Stedman at 301-589-2250 or jbstedman@aol.com Should CCC Do a Recommitment Campaign to Pay Down the Debt? That was the recommendation made to a group of CCCers in early September by Bea Stoner, the UCC financial consultant who worked with CCC on the Keystones Capital Campaign. After attending worship and touring the building on September 8, Bea talked with a dozen members who had worked closely with the building renovation and capital campaign. She strongly suggested that the Church consider a second capital campaign when Keystones ends in February 2003, and said that CCC has the knowledge and ability to conduct a campaign without outside assistance. At its September meeting, the Executive Council heard a report of the meeting with Bea and, after thoughtful deliberation, authorized the Moderator to appoint a committee to study the options and to prepare a report and recommendation for the congregation’s consideration. This Recommitment Campaign Study Committee has as its charge the objective and thorough study of the issues, options, and feasibility of launching a capital campaign in 2003 – the Executive Council gave no preconceived instructions regarding the outcome of the Committee’s work. The Committee will be involving members of the congregation in its study. Members of the Recommitment Campaign Study Committee are David Bell, David Bobbitt, Rick Brush, Karen Lee, and Anne Weissenborn, Chair. At their request, the Boards of Trustees and Stewardship and the Keystones Follow-up Committee are appointing ex officio members to the Committee. The target for reporting to the congregation is the end of November. How YOU Can Have Fun with Fiddler (Nov. 14-17 in the Social Hall) Put a Break-a-Leg greeting* in the program for family and friends in
the cast
Contact: Jackie Walters, Stage Manager (301-565-3197; jjwalters.silverspring@verizon.net) *For a small donation, which will help defer production costs, your good wishes will appear in the program throughout the show’s run. Here’s an example: To x: Hope you and the others have a great performance. Best wishes from Mimi Return the form below to the "Break-a-Leg" box in the Church office or to Marti Hoffacker, P.O. Box 30835, Bethesda, MD 20824 by Friday, November 1. ________________________________________________________________ TO: _______________________ FROM: _______________________ MESSAGE: ______________________________________________ _________________________________________________________. Contribution: _____________________ All checks should be made payable to Christ Congregational Church. Return the completed form and check to Marti Hoffacker by Friday, November 1, 2002.
Don’t Miss the Fun!... Halloween Party & Scarecrow Making The Board of Church Life would like to announce the resumption of our annual CCC Halloween Party to be held 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Oct. the 26th in the Social Hall. Come early to the Halloween Party and make a scarecrow for your yard or porch. Please bring some old clothes and a hat if you have one. Straw and everything else will be provided. Scarecrow making begins at 5:30. If you have questions on the scarecrow making, contact Glenda Neal at 301 622-3948 or gbneal@aol.com. Volunteers for the Halloween Party are welcome: contact John Potts at 301 879-7894 or onyxp@aol.com. On behalf of the Senior Highs, I want to thank everyone who donated items for Church World Services Health Kits. Through your generous donations, we were able to make 30 complete kits. We still have an abundant supply of most of the required items. The Senior Highs will make their own contributions of hand towels and money over the next few weeks so that we can complete another set of 30 kits. We are also working on making "Care Socks" for Progress Place. We will be filling clean men’s socks with toiletries for people to use when they shower there. We have a wonderful supply of trial size toiletries to use, once again thanks to the contributions of many kind CCC members. (Special thanks go to Carolyn Hoskinson.) The Senior Highs are very grateful to everyone who has supported them as they work to be of service to others. Kathy Stedman An Invitation to Find Out About the Committee for the Arts The date and time of the committee’s next meeting is Saturday Nov 2nd at 10:30 am in room #107. We will welcome new and interested participants with fresh ideas at that meeting. For further information please call Vicki Taylor (301-593-0597) or Carl Brandt (301-589-8694). Community Ministries announces a series of October 22 (Tuesday) - 7:30 p.m. November 22, (Friday) - 7:30 p.m. December 22, location to be announced ************************************************************ Community Ministries celebrated 30 years of helping the poor at Temple Beth Ami in Rockville on September 30. A "thrifty dinner" was served to over 200 guests who attended. Becky Wagner, Director of CMMC said it "was about honoring our legacy of service and accepting the call to go forward to continue to meet unmet needs in the community." PLEASE NOTE: Deadline for the next issue is THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 5:00 P.M. Please submit articles via: email - mojobo@aol.com, phone - 301-236-0025, or paper copy - drop off in the News Notes box in the church office. Thank you, Joan Boyer, Editor The Rev. Jim Todhunter, senior minister; the Rev. Linda Carder, assoc. minister; John Touchton, director of music; the Rev. Dale Ostrander, director of programming for older adults; Richard Meyer, property administrator; Ruth Avery, office administrator; Archie Freedman, Custodian |