First Pulse May 2015

May 2015 Edition

As I write this article for May it is mid-April. It is the last item on my “To-Do” list prior to a twoweek vacation.

The weather of mid-April convinces us that all nature is in transition. Flowers are beginning to appear after a very long and hard winter. Buds on the trees are beginning to formulate and it won’t be long until flowering trees will be in full bloom.

Because of the April showers, the grass is greening and Spring is springing - and what a delight it is to watch new life appear.

May is also a transition month at First Church. The program year is winding down, celebrations will occur for all that has been accomplished, and we move rather decisively toward the planning for the fall program year.

Our programmatic drawing board is full with endless possibilities, so we are talking, debating, and refining our planning for what is in the best interest of our congregation. Even though the professional and volunteer staff plus our lay leadership are part of the congregation and we believe that we have a fairly good pulse on decision-making for the greater good, there are times that we need congregational feedback.

May will be an important time for feedback from the congregation.

The Vision Team has been hard at work... attempting to translate ALL of what we heard from the 200-plus participants in our “visionary conversations” of January and February. We had 10 single-spaced, small-font “suggestions/observations” for us to consider. We have prayerfully and carefully attempted to translate feedback

inside

Intentional Faith Development

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www.grandrapidsfumc.org

into goals and objectives to formulate SIX CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS a 3-year strategic plan. May is the time EVANGELISM & HOSPITALITY for the Vision Team to present what Welcoming all people in an active we think we heard from you.

My personal observations are: 1) We really do have the right Six Critical Success Factors (see right column) that will help us focus on six areas of significant ministry. The six factors will help us stay focused in how we invest our time, talents, and treasures as a congregation. It also helps us determine how we deploy our staff resources with measurable outcomes in performance. 2) The Six Critical Success Factors will stretch and expand the horizons of our congregation. We might learn things that we have not known or thought about before. We might do some things differently than we have ever done before. Which is all good even if it might be a bit uncomfortable. 3) Embracing a strategic plan will test us as a congregation to see if “we” is more important than “me!” First Church is entering a season of important celebration: the 100th anniversary of the building of our sanctuary and the 180th anniversary of the birth of our congregation. We must honor the past... celebrate the present... and prepare for the future. It is my goal to prepare this congregation for a 3rd century of significance in ministry from our strategic urban placement in the heart of the city.

So - on May 17 during both worship services... we will share the “fruit” of our first round of listening. The statements in each of the six factors will give us a goal of what our congregation’s ministry will be in 2018.

manner and inviting them to discover God and to connect in life-changing ways

WORSHIP

Offering a variety of inspiring worship services to appeal to all segments of the community

SPIRITUAL ENRICHMENT

Enhancing our church as a place where people encounter God, deepen their faith, and are challenged to transform their lives

COMMUNITY OUTREACH/IMPACT

Expanding the way we share the love of Christ with people in Grand Rapids, the US, and around the world through acts of justice, mercy, and service

RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

Developing the funding, facilities, staff, and volunteers to support the work of the church

CONGREGATIONAL CARE

Expanding spiritual and emotional support by training pastoral caregivers from the congregation to provide visitation, prayer, education, and referrals/assistance

June 1, the Leadership Council will alter or affirm the plan - and away we go. Watch for details for conversation times and join us if you can. This will be important.

Spring IS springing... in our congregaBetween the 17th and the 31st... we tion! will invite a second round of feedback to refine our strategic plan. Then, on Pastor Bob Hundley

Pastor’s Message

Radical Hospitaliy 1

Risk-taking Mission and Service

Passionate Worship 5

Extravagant Generosity 4

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Intentional Faith Development Appreciation Sunday May signifies many things: Memorial Day, summer’s arrival, the end of another school year, etc. For the life of the church, May is a time for us to recognize all those who have had a part in teaching God’s word. Whether the students were adults, youth, or children, many volunteers and passionate individuals shared their faith, time, gifts/ talents, and their love this school year.

Now it’s time for us to show our appreciation for their dedication: Thank you to our teachers and shepherds who lead by example! Please join us in celebrating our leaders on Sunday, May 31 following the 10:00 am worship service.

Also on May 31, all current and future teachers and shepherds are invited to stay for training from 12:00 - 2:00 pm.

Lunch will be provided as well as a wealth of information designed to enhance leadership skills for all teachers and shepherds.

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Show yourself in all respects a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, gravity, and sound speech that cannot be censured; then any opponent will be put to shame, having nothing evil to say of us. Titus 2:7-8 (NRSV)

Passionate Worship

Open Hearts: Our hearts are full of love for our local communities and our world.

Our service reflects that love. Open Minds: We all think in different ways. But when we work together to serve others we share a common goal.

Open Doors: Our doors swing wide, not just to let others in but so that we can all get out to serve our community.

– From www.ReThinkChurch.org

You are one body and one spirit, just as God also called you in one hope. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all, who is over all, through all, and in all. Ephesians 4:4-6 (CEB)

Of Christian Denominations, and Full Communion You are one body and one spirit, just as God also called you in one hope. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all, who is over all, through all, and in all.

– Ephesians 4:4-6 (CEB) In Christ there is no East or West, in him no South or North, but one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide earth.

– John Oxenham, 1913, Hymn 548 Though creeds and tongues may differ, they speak, O Christ, of thee; and in thy loving spirit we shall one people be. May thy great prayer be answered that we may all be one, close bound, by love united in thee, God’s blessed Son: to bring a single witness, to make the pathway bright, that souls which grope in darkness may find the one true light.

– Frederick Morley, 1953, Hymn 547 Christian Unity is an important topic for us as the church. Many of the themes and challenging questions that we have been asking comes down to our shared unity in the love of God. Christian Unity is about recognizing and celebrating the richness of diversity and otherness, while recognizing our unity and oneness in the love of God. The mission and ministry of Jesus is one of breaking down barriers that divide us, and finding purpose in common service with and to each other. Christian Unity is about openness to the varied forms of prayer and spirituality as expressed in the multitude of Christian practices. “Open hearts, open minds, open doors,” is a profound expression of Christian Unity, and a topic that we will continue to explore in our worship themes.

Among various Christian denominations, especially The United Methodist Church, there are encouraging signs of a move toward what is known as “Full Communion” with other denominations. In mainline Protestant churches, “Full Communion” refers to agreements that allow for mutual recognition of members, shared celebration of Holy Communion, recognition of ordained clergy, mutual recognition of the sacraments, and a shared commitment to mission and service. The United Methodist Church is in “Full Communion” with The African Methodist Episcopal Church, The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, The African Union Methodist Protestant Church, The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and The Union American Methodist Episcopal Church. There is at present an interim agreement for sharing the Eucharist with The Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Re-

cently, and for the first time, a United Methodist pastor celebrated communion at The National Cathedral in Washington, D. C. One official with the Episcopal Church contended that Methodism and Anglicanism might not be separate traditions today, had the Church of England been a little broader in the time that the Wesleys were preaching and working as reformers of the church. “There is a great yearning that we might become one again,” said Katharine Jefferts Schori, the presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church. A similar agreement is being fashioned between The Methodist Church of Great Britain and The Church of England.

I pray they will be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. I pray that they also will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me. I’ve given them the glory that you gave me so that they can be one just as we are one. I’m in them and you are in me so that they will be made perfectly one. Then the world will know that you sent me and that you have loved them just as you loved me.

- John 17: 21-23 Eric Strand Director of Music and the Arts

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Risk-Taking Mission and Service

Why Take the Risk?

nothing and built a rural community.

Currently, Dr. Alejandro Jose Urbina, whom we call Dr. Alexander, cares for these impoverished people.

cumbed to meningitis. We experienced the parable of the Good Samaritan and the risks involved in a palpable way.

Arlene VanSolkema was an elderly retired nurse who traveled on many trips with the Healing Hands ministry, led

by Nancy and Bob. She had the steady task of administering anti-parasite medication to every eligible patient coming to our clinics over a number of years.

Despite her age, she rode the school buses over remarkably rough and treacherous roads, slept in tents, bathed with a bucket of cistern water and consistently signed up for the next trip. Arlene died at age 81 in April of 2013.

She requested memorial funds be given to Healing Hands Ministry and specified the work of Dr. Alexander, Dr. Mir, and Reagan’s school. Nancy Gillette has helped deliver her bequest.

We then hiked and rode mules six miles into the jungle to a village known as Salpaka. Dr. Alexander has used “Mama Arlene’s” donation to rebuild a community school where 90 rural children and a number of their parents receive education. Their school had been destroyed by a hurricane. Dr. Alexander assisted the village people to bring desks, by mule, via a very challenging trail. Gary and I experienced humbling fatigue and met our limitations with dehydration and heat on the hike back to Sahsa. Three of our team members fell off mules, fortunately to be left muddy and bruised, but not broken.

The two teachers in Salpaka receive no pay.

The people, with Dr. Alexander’s leadership have planted crops, which support them. When the school children gathered in the small church and sang and clapped with unfettered enthusiasm, I whispered to Nancy, “If this was the only thing you did in Nicaragua, you should feel fulfilled!” I would love to see our church community continue to support this school.

One opportunity would be to support their teachers by offering a salary. If you are interested in helping, please talk with Nancy, Bob or myself!

My husband Gary and I had the privilege to travel with Nancy and Bob Gillette and a medical team, “Healing Hands” ministry, to Sahsa, Nicaragua in March. We traveled to the eastern coast of Nicaragua and then inland to the small village of Sahsa. The Miskito Indians formed Sahsa in approximately 1979, when the Sandinistas deported the farming community from their native area along the Rio Coco River during the Contra – Sandinista conflict. These remarkably resilient people It was inspiring to see were left in this jungle location with Arlene’s legacy. Dr. Alexander has built a Clinica Campesina in Sahsa.

These remarkably resilient Currently it is a concrete people were left in this block building with open jungle location with windows and doors, with nothing and built a rural tremendous potential. community.

We saw patients by the hundreds for medical care and dental care for 6 days.

Many have aches and pains and infections and no medications for relief.

One five-year old boy, Domingo, was gravely ill. Dr. Alexander arranged for his transport to a Puerto Cabeza hospital, where he ultimately suc-

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Deanna Mitchell

Radical Hospitality “…have you ever found God in church? I never did. I just found a bunch of folks hoping for him to show. Any God I ever felt in church I brought in with me. And I think all the other folks did, too. They come to church to share God, not find God.” ― Alice Walker, The Color Purple

I’ve been pondering the above quote for a couple of weeks now. I don’t entirely agree that we don’t find God in church; we do through hymns, scriptures, sermons, the greetings from another parishioner. But I have been intrigued by, “Any God I ever felt in church, I brought with Maybe we bring the God within us to be me.” Maybe we nurtured by hymns, scriptures, and sermons, bring the God but then also to share with others around us. within us to be nurtured by hymns, scriptures, and sermons, but then also to share with others around us. Maybe those who come to church looking for God aren’t aware that they already have God within them. So maybe, by being open and welcoming, we ignite that spark within them.

As I was surfing the web for something new, I ran into a small group study guide that had been prepared by Myers Park UMC for their fall study on a book called “Radical Hospitality.” It included the following prayer:

“Almighty God, as You created us to be whole, balanced people, develop in us the ability to move between solitude, relationships with those near to us, and those strangers that You bring into our lives. God, transform our view of work from being something we do for ourselves to being something we undertake for you and for others you bring into our lives. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.”

Maybe by asking God to transform our view of being hospitable as something we do for God and a means of building God’s kingdom rather than just another task that we do for the church… maybe, just maybe, RADICAL HOSPITALITY will come alive in us and in our community of faith.

Patsy McGillivray Director of Invitational Ministy

Extravagant Generosity

Although First Church is a very generous and faith-driven congregation, we are not yet a tithing church. Just think This good news is due to of the possibilities that still await us! the combined effect of Faith has inspired our good works, but As we celebrate all the good our church does, let us continue to remind having our giving actually just like the seedlings of Spring, our being ahead of budget, faith needs to be nurtured and grown ourselves that more needs to be done. and our expenses being at so that it bears even greater fruit for Is God inspiring you to do more? only 94% of planned lev- God. els. Thank you to all for It’s hard to believe we are already allowing God to guide your giving in As we celebrate all the good our one-quarter of the way through 2015! such generous ways, and thanks also to church does, let us continue to remind Alas…Spring is finally in the air, the the great work of our church staff and ourselves that more needs to be done.

Tigers are playing ball, and the warm leadership for the great way in which Is God inspiring you to do more? You don’t need to wait for the next giving bright days of summer are coming expenses are managed. campaign to increase your gifts back quickly. to God here at First While we should be Church. Our work The Finance Committee is happy to proud of our financial is amazing, but even report that our 2015 finances are very performance, it seems greater possibilities healthy. Through March we have only also important to reexist as we all work a very slight deficit of $1,750. When member that God contogether to become you consider that our annual budget is tinues to call our attenExtravagantly Gennearly $1.5 million, this means for all tion to many great needs. erous in the name intents and purposes, we are right on There are still many peoof Jesus Christ! budget. This is great, and is actually a ple needing the comfort much better situation than in past years and love that our minisChris Hawkins - when we would typically be showing tries can bring - but our Finance Committee a larger year-to-date deficit. work is limited by our resources.

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Compassionate Care Compassionate Care Is Love!

Love is easy to show during the good times. When someone gives you an amazing gift. When your spouse is particularly thoughtful. When your mom buys you your favorite cookie. But when it sticks through both the good times and bad - that’s real love.

Pete and I both loved growing up in this church, and have enjoyed gradually finding our spots as adults and spouses. We have always felt loved and accepted by our congregation. Church members have celebrated birthdays, graduations and weddings with us. But I don’t think we realized how supported we were until we really hit some rough times.

In the Spring of 2013, our son Asher was stillborn five days before his due date. This was devastating for us. We had been looking forward to meeting our child in so many different ways, but particularly looking forward to having him

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baptized, raised in the church, teaching him to know that he was loved

by God, and meeting all these wonderful people.

There was so much that was dark and wrong about this time in our lives. But a truly amazing thing was that we were utterly surrounded by love from so many people. The church rallied for us. We received ...and these three remain: faith, hope many lovingly made and love, but the greatest of these is meals, beautiful notes, thoughtful visits and kind love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 words from so many. And prayers, so many prayers. Just having helpful. Then, to have the Adoption people around to be present and sit Hoedown as a means of raising funds with us was a gift. We still talk about was just one more true blessing. A how we felt very cared for. We also wonderful group of people attended, thought at the time, and still believe, and I think the group as a whole had that this support was very important a great time. The music was lively, the to us, and that we want to be more cupcakes delicious, and the dancing alert and helpful to those who might was enthusiastic. When we have shared with others the many ways our church need support in the future. has supported us throughout the years, Now, after working through grief and they are truly amazed. health issues, we are entering what we hope will be a lighter time of life. We As we move toward growing our famare going through the adoption pro- ily, we continue to look forward to the cess, and when we shared this with love and support of our church. We the church family we once again felt hope that we can return that love and that immediate rush of love and sup- support to others. We look forward port. Many words of excitement and to bringing our child to a place where encouragement have been shared with they can be accepted, not just tolerus. The Adoption Ministry Team was ated. A place where they can be noisy immediately welcoming, and very and naughty and still loved. A place where they feel they belong.

So, thank you. Thank you First United Methodist Church for hanging in there with Team Muszkiewicz. We have never had to doubt the love and support from our church family.

Love, Bethany and Pete Muszkiewicz

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May 2, 9:00 am Faith Travelers Musical Set Building Day May 3 Communion and Blood Pressure Sunday 9:15 and 11:00 am Worship: “Are We Open Minded?”

9:15 am Faith Travelers Musical rehearsal 9:30 am Children & Youth Church School 9:30 am Race Relations in Grand Rapids 10:25 am Youth Choir 11:00 am FISH Room 12:00 pm Membership Exploration 2:00 pm Hunger Walk at Park Church 5:00 pm Senior & Junior High Youth, Kids’ Club, and Disciple I May 4, 11:00 am Retiree Bible Study 6:30 pm Stephen Ministry May 5, 7:00 am Work Program May 5, 5:30 pm Staff Parish Relations May 6, 6:00 pm Disciple II May 6, 6:00 pm Young Adults Bible Study in a Bar 7:00 pm Taizé Sung Prayers May 7, 9:00 am Fixin’ ‘n’ Fellowship 6:00 pm Jubilation Ringers 7:15 pm Chancel Choir rehearsal May 9, 11:30 am Mom & Me Yoga May 10 Coffee Can Offering Sunday 9:15 and 11:00 am Worship: “If Our Doors Are Really Open, Who Will Come In?” 9:15 am Faith Travelers Musical rehearsal 9:30 am Children & Youth Church School 9:30 am Race Relations in Grand Rapids 10:25 am Youth Choir 11:00 am FISH Room 12:15 pm Second Sunday Lunch Bunch 5:00 pm Junior High Youth May 11, 11:00 am Retiree Bible Study 1:00 pm Staff Meeting May 12, 7:00 am Work Program 12:00 pm JFON Advisory Board 5:30 pm Finance 5:30 pm Stephen Leaders

Mark your calendars May 13, 5:00 pm Legacy 6:00 pm Disciple II May 14, 5:00 pm Trustees May 15, 2:00 pm UMW Meeting at Clark May 16, 8:30 am Feeding America at Cesar Chavez Elementary School 3:30 pm Wedding May 17 Vision Presentation and Senior Recognition Sunday 9:15 and 11:00 am Worship: “What Are We Afraid Of?” 9:15 am Faith Travelers Musical rehearsal 9:30 am Children & Youth Church School 9:30 am Race Relations in Grand Rapids 10:25 am Youth Choir 10:30 am “Welcome Back, Billy Best” Faith Travelers Musical Performance in Wesley Hall 11:00 am FISH Room 12:00 pm Faith Travelers and Kids’ Club to SkyZone 5:00 pm Senior & Junior High Youth, and Disciple I May 18, 11:00 am Retiree Bible Study 12:00 pm 60+ Luncheon 1:00 pm Staff Meeting 6:30 pm Stephen Ministry May 19, 7:00 am Work Program 6:00 pm Disciple II May 20, 9:00 am Caring Connection 6:30 pm Missions Commission May 21, 9:00 am Fixin’ ‘n’ Fellowship May 24 10:00 AM SUMMER WORSHIP SCHEDULE BEGINS 10:00 am Worship: “Pentecost” 10:00 am Summer Sunday School: “Hometown Nazareth” May 25 Memorial Day: Church Building and Offices Closed May 26, 7:00 am Work Program May 31 Family Promise/IHN 10:00 am Worship: “Am I Willing To Be An Instrument of Peace?”

10:00 am Summer Sunday School: “Hometown Nazareth” 11:00 am Teacher Appreciation Sunday and Reception 11:30 am Teacher and Shepherd Training and Lunch

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Celebrate Our Teachers!

Sunday, May 31 at 11:15 am

Also on May 31, all current and future teachers and shepherds are invited to stay for training from 12:00 - 2:00 pm. Lunch will be provided as well as a wealth of information designed to enhance leadership skills for all teachers and shepherds. firstchurch@grandrapidsfumc.org

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