Newsbrief: World Communion Sunday

Bonjour!
Salaam!
Habari, bwana! Habari, bibi!
Annyong!
Buenos días!
Malo e tau ma'u 'a e 'aho' ni!

That is how you say “Hello” in French, Arabic, Swahili, Korean, Spanish, and Tongan.

It is also how I am going invite you to participate in our worship service on Sunday October 3 (please note: that is not this Sunday, but the Sunday after).

You see, October 3 is World Communion Sunday. It is that one Sunday in the year when Christians all throughout the world gather in their own unique and distinct ways in order to celebrate the unity that we have in Christ by sharing the bread and the cup of Holy Communion.

If those themes sounds familiar (unity, celebration, Christ, Holy Communion) they should, because are the characteristics that best define us as the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Which is why I have always considered World Communion Sunday one of the highest of high holy days for the Disciples!

So we are going to celebrate World Communion Sunday in some special ways on October 3. We’ll have a beautiful set up in the front of the sanctuary care of our Decorating Committee. We’ll celebrate communion in a familiar, though different style. And we’ll also hear the Lord’s Prayer offered in many different languages.

Which is where I need your help. If you are comfortable reading in a foreign language (French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Sign Language, Koine Greek, whatever) and would be willing to participate in an amazing way in our worship service on October 3 then let me know. I have copies of the Lord’s Prayer in as many languages as you can think of, so you won’t have to translate it, simply read it out loud during Sunday morning worship.

(As a side note: The other important thing happening on Sunday October 3 is my Installation Service at 4PM. I’m thrilled to be installed as Senior Pastor at First Christian Church Scottsdale, and the fact that we’re doing it on World Communion Sunday is just icing on the cake for me. Hope you can join us for both services on October 3.)

Au revoir! Ma as-salaamah! Kwaherini! Annyong-hi kashipshio! Hasta luego! Po'uli!

Yours in the journey, Rev. Brian

3 Things from Administrative Council

The Administrative Council at FCC Scottsdale met on Sunday September 19 for their regularly scheduled meeting. Here are the three things you need to know from that meeting:

1. Our Outreach Program is off and running. We heard an enthusiastic report on the goings on from "We Serve" (aka our Outreach Ministries). Click here to check out their page on our website for a full listing of events including the After School Program, the Pumpkin Patch, and more!
    
2. We have some new dates to share for upcoming October events. In addition to the things you've heard about over and over again (World Communion Sunday, the Installation Service, the Rev. Vy Nguyen's guest sermon) we have new dates for you:
   -- Mission Trip Meeting Sunday October 10 after worship. Come join us to talk over options for our 2011 Mission Trip.
   -- Trunk or Treat Celebration on October 31. DWM will sponsor a Trunk or Treat event in the church parking lot on Halloween afternoon. Never heard of Trunk or Treat? Well, it is just like Trick or Treat, only we do it in a safe place here in the church parking lot. More details to come!
   
3. Stewardship is coming! In the coming weeks we'll be launching our annual stewardship campaign in order to make sure that we can fully support the mission and ministry that FCC Scottsdale is called to.

Newsbrief: Prayer Shawl Sunday

{Editors Note: In my continued efforts to keep folks informed about what is going on at the church, I've decided to publish my weekly "Newsbrief" articles here on the blog. The "Newsbrief" is our weekly e-newsletter at FCC Scottsdale, and if you would to subscribe to it, you can find the link at the bottom of this post.}

I need your help this Sunday.

Truth is, I need your help every Sunday. We simply couldn’t pull off a worship service with you!

But this Sunday in particular I have a favor to ask.

You see, this Sunday we celebrate a major milestone in the life of one of our ministries at FCC Scottsdale. Our very own Prayer Shawl Ministry has distributed over 200 prayer shawls, and we are going to celebrate by dedicating this Sunday as Prayer Shawl Sunday!

We’ll hear the story of our Prayer Shawl Ministry! We’ll celebrate God’s amazing gift of prayer! And we will charge our noble knitters to keep up the good work!

So here is where I need your help. If you are one of the members of this church who has received a prayer shawl, please bring it with you to worship on Sunday. Feel free to wear it or simply bring it with you to worship (I’ll be wearing mine, a beautiful orange one that Kay Jones presented me on my first day as your pastor!). We want to show off the full force of this ministry and demonstrate its significance in the life of our church – and what better way to do that than to have a sea of prayer shawls flooding our sanctuary with color!

We will also be gifting the Prayer Shawl Ministry with gift bags that they will fill with future prayer shawls. Please bring a gift bag on Sunday so that we can get our knitters fully equipped for the next 200 prayer shawls! In so doing, you will literally be giving the gift that will carry our prayers to folks when they need them the most.

I’ll see you Sunday, and don’t forget: Bring your prayer shawl and bring a gift bag. I’ll see you there! I’ll be the guy up front…with the orange prayer shawl on!

Yours in the Journey, Rev. Brian


{The "Newsbrief" is our weekly e-newsletter at FCC Scottsdale. If you would to subscribe to it, then click here.}

Work Day!

You know what simply HAS to proceed any good Kick-Off Sunday?

Work Day, of course!

Lucky for us, FCC Scottsdale has plenty of committed, hard working folks willing to give up part of a Saturday morning each month (you know, once the weather cools off a little...which should happen any day now, right?) in order to help keep our church grounds looking great.

Here are some action shots from Work Day, September 11, 2010:

Don, our fearless leader (and keeper of the list of projects for the day) hard at work

Dave repainting the handrails leading up to the Sanctuary

Barry doing...well, I'll just let you insert your own punchline here!

Scott cleaning up the roof of the Education Building (thus proving that the newly installed ladder actually works...now all we need is a fireman's pole to help folks get down quicker!)

Jim raking up after one of our many olive trees

Thanks to everyone who participated in work day (both those pictured and those who weren't!). We hope more folks will join us for the next Work Day on Saturday October 2 at 8AM. See you there...and don't forget your work gloves!

Three Things from the Elders

The Elders met on Wednesday evening at 5:30 in the library for their regularly scheduled meeting. Here are the three things you need to know from the Elders:

1. The worship service will be slightly tweaked this coming Sunday. Same for the printed bulletin on Sunday morning. Nothing major, just a few small changes here and there. For starters, we'll be reintroducing the prayer of dedication for the offering. We'll also be introducing a "take home page" in the Sunday Bulletin. To put it together we've shuffled a couple of items in the Bulletin, but hopefully it makes the whole thing more readable for everyone, more usable for our members, and more inviting to our guests and visitors!
   
2. My Installation Service is fast approaching! In fact, several significant announcements on that front: The Rev. Eric Smith (one of my best friends and closest colleagues) has agreed to come in as our guest preacher for the Installation. Eric is a PhD student at the Illiff School of Theology in Denver, the Associate Minister at Plymouth Congregational Church (a large UCC congregation), an ordained Disciples pastor, and a great preacher! I'm thrilled that he'll be with us. We also have a set time for the Installation, so please plan on joining us Sunday October 3 at 4PM in the Sanctuary with a reception to follow (that is the other big news, the menu has been set for the reception and it is going to be delicious!).
   
3. In celebration of the 200+ prayer shawls that our ladies have knitted and given away we are dedicating Sunday September 19 as Prayer Shawl Sunday! Please plan on joining us for worship that morning, and if you have received a prayer shawl then bring it with you! We'll rededicate all of the prayer shawls, celebrate this vibrant ministry in our church, and give God thanks for the holy gift of prayer. And don't forget to bring a gift bag to donate to the ministry, so that your gifts can literally carry the prayers of our congregation to those folks who need them the most.

We're cheating a little bit here, but if I don't number it then it doesn't have to count as a "Fourth Thing" in our "Three Things from the Elders". We want everyone to know that we looking for new Elders! We will have four openings available starting in 2011 and have already started to review names. If you are interested, or if you have somebody in mind who you think fits the role as a spiritual leader in our congregation then let us know!

Three Things from the Worship Committee

The Worship Committee had a brief meeting in my office on Sunday September 5 to plan for all the amazing worship services we'll be having in the coming weeks at FCC Scottsdale. Here are the Three Things you need to know from that meeting:

1. Kick-Off Sunday is coming! We are going to recognize Sunday September 12 as Kick-Off Sunday and use it to celebrate the formal start of our Fall Program Year! You are not going to want to miss it! We'll dedicate and bless all of our Fellowship Groups, Sunday School Classes, and Outreach Projects that are kicking back off after the summer hiatus. Come and join us!
   
2. October 3 is going to be HUGE! "How huge?" you ask. So huge that we'll need two worship services just to contain it all! At our regular 10:15AM Worship Service we will celebrate World Communion Sunday (one of the highest of high holy days for us as Disciples) and then we'll reconvene in the afternoon for my Installation Service. Both services are going to be great and I can't wait to celebrate them...on the same day!
   
3. We're going to see if you are paying attention... In conjunction with Kick-Off Sunday we are going to usher in a few small tweaks to the regular Sunday Order of Service and our printed materials for the Bulletin. Don't worry, nothing too radical. In fact, we're sure you are going to love them. You know, if you even notice them!

Lunch with a friend

Today I had lunch with my friend, the Rev. Vy Nguyen. He's an ordained Disciples pastor, a fellow TCU grad, and a product of "the other" Disciples Divinity House (he's a University of Chicago guy, I'm fromVanderbilt!).

Vy is the Assistant Regional Director for Church World Services. That means he is THE GUY who oversees CROP Hunger Walks for Arizona, Northern Nevada, and Northern California.

Vy also happens to be one of the very first people that I told I was coming to serve as your pastor at First Christian Church Scottsdale. At the time he replied, "Well, we'll get to measure your success as a pastor based on how many people you can turn out for the CROP Hunger Walk on November 14!" (Did I mention Vy is very good at his job? He is. The man knows how to turn out a crowd for a CROP Hunger Walk!)

Vy is in town helping to set up CROP Hunger Walks throughout central Arizona in order to raise funds for Church World Services. CWS works with partners like the Disciples of Christ and other Christian communities to eradicate hunger and poverty and to promote peace and justice around the world. CROP Hunger Walks are one of the major ways that they raise funds to accomplish this marvelous mission.

Over lunch today Vy formally accepted my invitation to fill our pulpit on Sunday October 24. I then quickly bought him lunch to say thanks! I will be attending a family wedding that weekend, so Vy will fill the pulpit, preach up a storm, and get us all charged up for the CROP Hunger Walk.

Katie Newton and Sarah Dale are our coordinators at FCC Scottsdale for the East Valley CROP Hunger Walk. You can look for lots more details and information in the coming weeks, and you'll get to hear all about the program from my friend the Rev. Vy Nguyen in October. And remember, Vy's measurement of my success as your pastor is hanging in the balance here...so lets get a HUGE group of folks out there for the CROP Hunger Walk on November 14!

Pastor Rep Breakfast

So this past Sunday I preached about Sabbath and told everyone about how my wife, son, and I all spend Monday together as our sacred time to rest. What happened the very next day? The very first Monday after my big Sabbath sermon?

I went to work really early that Monday morning!

I know, I know. I can hear you all saying, "Pastor, you've gotta practice what you preach!" And in general, I do. No really!

It is just that this past Monday morning was the Arizona Region Pastor-Rep Breakfast, and it was simply to important of an event for me to miss (and for the record, after I got home Susan, Henry, and I enjoyed a nice full day off together complete with trips to the Splash Pad and an afternoon swim with the neighbor kids; great way to recharge my batteries and restore my soul).

For folks who don't know, Pastor-Rep Meetings happen twice a year here in Arizona. It is a chance for the pastors and representatives from of our local Disciples churches (thus the name Pastor-Rep!) to get together and share with one another. You can learn more by visiting the Region's Pastor-Rep website by clicking here.

Bob Bruns and I attended representing FCC Scottsdale. It was nice to celebrate so many of the achievements of our brothers and sisters in the faith, brag up our church a little bit, and share some of the important dates in the Region with each other.

As I am prone to doing, I came up with three things you need to know from that meeting!

1.  Regional Assembly is coming! You'll be hearing a lot more about this in the coming weeks. We have the opportunity to send at least NINE voting delegates to represent us at Regional Assembly October 22-23 at Sun City Christian Church. Click here for more details and contact me if you would like to attend.
   
2. We need pictures! As part of the program at Regional Assembly each church is invited to submit FIVE digital photos of "the church doing the work of transformation in the world." Which means we need photos. Do you pics from the last Mexico Mission Trip, the After School Program, a Church Work Day? Then please share them with us in the church office!
   
3. Save the Dates for Youth Events! Fall Retreat will be in Tucson from October 30-31 for Chi Rho and CYF. Spring Retreat will be in Phoenix from February 12-13 for CCF, Chi Rho, and CYF. Locations and further details to be determined.

The Mighty Casey

The Mighty Casey

This past Sunday my sermon was titled "Faith (part 2)" and for folks who weren't there, yes the previous Sunday's sermon was called "Faith (part 1)". It is the first time I've done anything as gimmicky as split a sermon in half and told people if they wanted to know how it ended then they needed to come back the following Sunday!

I started off "Faith (part 1)" by reading Ernest Lawrence Thayer's classic poem "Casey at the Bat" in its entirety. If you don’t know the story of “Casey at the Bat” or if you are just feeling sentimental then you can find Disney’s 1946 cartoon version on YouTube by clicking here.

The poem has surprising things to tell us about faith and gave me the chance to ask if anyone had ever felt like Casey. Or like Flynn stranded at third. Or Jimmy Blake stuck on second. Or the Mudville Nine unexpectedly defeated on the last day of the season.

In "Faith (part 2)" I ended the sermon by saying that our scriptures remind us time and time again that the story doesn't end where we think it might. Resurrection is possible. Grace is always reaching out to us. New life is just around the corner. And then I closed the sermon by reading "Casey at the Bat (reprise)".

Plenty of folks have asked me for a copy of the poem. And just as many people want to know where it came from. The most common guesses are that Ernest Lawrence Thayer (the author of the original poem) wrote it, or that I did. Neither one is right.

The truth is a bit zanier, really.

It was written several years ago to be a part of a national advertising campaign called "The Strolling Man." The series of ads would show a cartoon mascot strolling leisurely through revisioned endings of classic stories.

“Casey at the Bat (reprise)” ran as a full-page ad in ESPN: The Magazine (which I subscribe to and read each edition cover to cover). I clipped out the strolling man ad and saved it in my “future sermon ideas” file.

The advertising campaign didn’t take off, thought, and was eventually canceled. The company has scrubbed all references to it and you can't find it anywhere on the web.

That company? Johnnie Walker Scotch Whiskey! 

I’ve been all to happy re-purpose their forgotten ad campaign and use “Casey at the Bat (reprise)” to talk about faith. Here is the poem:

The last we heard of Casey, he’d made 5,000 faces pout,
For with the season on the line The Mighty Casey had struck out.
The manager was furious, he sent Casey to the farm,
There ‘The Mighty Casey’ could do the club no harm.

Casey sank into depression – he could hardly play the game,
The fans and players taunted him, when the announcer called his name.
Casey’s batting average plummeted, soon his eyes had lost their spark,
No one could remember, last time he’d hit one out of the park.

Then one day when all looked bleak, and Casey’s hope began to fade,
He heard a voice inside him, reminding Casey why he played.
He dug his heels in deeper, and worked his body nearly broke.
And then one day it happened: The Mighty Casey found his stroke.

Meanwhile back in Mudville, headlines screamed of a pennant race,
But the home team lacked a Slugger, Casey hadn’t been replaced.
‘Twas on the eve of the final game, when Casey got the call,
The desperate boss of The Mudville Nine, asking Casey to play ball.

Casey strode to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning,
The scoreboard said four to two, and the home team wasn’t winning.
Jimmy stood safe at second, while Flynn was hugging third,
When there rose a rumble from the stands, the second loudest ever heard.

And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,
Oh, how the boos are shattered, by the force of Casey’s blow.
In the favored land of Mudville, women dance and twirl about
For there is joy again in Mudville, Mighty Casey hit it out.

Yours in the Journey, Rev. Brian

Three Things from the Elders

The Elders had their regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday August 11 (aren't they a good lucking bunch!).

Here are the three things you need to know from that meeting:

1. We have some important dates coming up in the life of the church
   
   • 9/12 Kick-off Sunday
     We will celebrate the official start of our Fall Program Year!
   • 10/3 World Communion Sunday and Rev. Brian's Installation
     A day so important we'll have TWO worship services!
     At 10:15AM we will celebrate World Communion Sunday, the highest of high holy days for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
     In the afternoon (around 4PM, details to come) we will have an Installation Service that formally installs me as the Settled Pastor here at FCC Scottsdale!
   • 10/24 Rev. Vy Nyguen of Church World Service to fill the pulpit
     My good friend the Rev. Vy Nyguen (Assistant Regional Director for Church World Service) will lead worship and preach a rousing a sermon to get us geared up for the Crop Hunger Walk! 
     
2. In helping to lighten the load of the Nominating Committee (yep, it is about that time already!) we began discussing potential Elders to come aboard in 2011. If you have ideas please feel free to let me know.
   
   
3. I passed out Version 1.1 of my schedule which contains some minor tweaks. Since my son's new school starts at 8:30AM (and since it is only 2 minutes down the street) my normal office hours on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday will be from 8:30 to 4:30.
   Also, in addition to being available for evening meetings, dinners, and pastoral visits on Wednesday evenings I will also be available on Thursday evenings now too thanks to a gracious offer to babysit each Thursday from a member of my wife's congregation.

So there are your three things: Important Dates, Potential Elders, and a Revised Schedule.