Faith Works 2-9-13

Faith Works 2-9-13

Jeff Gill

 

God welcomes help of all kinds

___

  

We got a little theology during the late stages of the Super Bowl, not from the victorious Ravens or the hapless 49ers, but during an ad (of course), with words spoken in the distant era of 1978.

 

Paul Harvey's paean to farmers was justly praised as a rhetorical high point of the night, with Beyonce's praise of putting a ring on something coming in a distant second.

 

The next day, some were asking "Does God make any other professional categories?" In the spirit of the original, and with apologies to Paul Harvey, there's one parallel occupation that struck me as worthy of some theologizing, even if this one is never going to make it onto a Super Bowl broadcast.

 

Thus was born: "And God created artists."

 

And on the eighth day, God looked down on a creation filled with possibility and said, "I need a collaborator." So God made an artist.

God said, "I need somebody willing to get up in time for the golden hour, shoot pictures for subject studies before going to their paying job, and come home after pulling overtime waiting tables and still work for hours on a charette." So God made an artist.

"I need somebody with arms strong enough to carve wood and marble and yet gentle enough to help a grandchild draw a perfect circle freehand. Somebody to call the co-operative studio scheduling list, re-set everyone's time an hour because of someone else's mistake on Google Calendar, and tell everyone they understood how upsetting this was -- and mean it." So God made an artist.

God said, "I need somebody willing to sit up all night with a kiln. And watch the glaze inexplicably crack when you take the firing out. Then wipe their brow and say, 'Maybe next batch.' I need somebody who can make a frame from a piece of driftwood, assemble a display panel from foam core and duct tape, sort beads with tweezers for forty minutes, and pick them up off the floor after a hunk of the driftwood hits the tray when you turn to reach for your cell phone. And who, during Gallery Hop season, will finish a forty-hour week by Tuesday noon, then, after working as a grill cook for a lunch rush, put in another seventy-two hours." So God made an artist.

God had to have somebody willing to wash the brushes by hand even after the thinner runs out, and yet be willing to work with what's on hand when they come in and find all the supplies have been scavenged over by someone looking for paint to patch a wall. So God made an artist.

God said, "I need somebody strong enough to hoist video installation display units onto wall brackets, yet gentle enough to sort egg shells for a mixed media project that requires twelve dozen, who will stop their potter's wheel for an hour to talk to the delivery guy about how he always wanted to be an artist. It had to be somebody who'd paint layered or wash, spattered or straight, even on a wall with the proper legal releases and not cut corners. Somebody to dab, daub, dot, drip, drizzle, and delineate, marking the bounding line and blurring the margins and mixing up more number three and finish a hard week's work with a five-mile drive to church where you'll be asked to 'donate some of that art stuff you do' to a rummage sale."

"Somebody who'd look at a family together and with a few quick lines on a tablet outline the strong bonds of sharing; who would laugh and then sigh, and then look for enough oil paint in tubes that haven't yet dried up to start a painting of someone who hasn't even imagined that their life itself is a work of art."

So God made an artist.

  

Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and pastor in Licking County; tell him what you think God is making these days at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow on Twitter @Knapsack.

Knapsack 2-7-13

Notes from my Knapsack 2-7-13

Jeff Gill

 

Somewhat off-target observations

___

 

My relationship with guns is a complicated one.

 

There are no guns in my house. I grew up with a bunch around, two or three at least, but they were black powder muzzle loading Civil War re-enactor weapons, and as such, not what you worried about an intruder turning on you.

 

When I went to summer camp as a Boy Scout, I took up target shooting. My first swim test had not gone well at all, and most of Lake To-pe-nee-bee was off-limits to my non-swimmer self. So I took the long walk past the dam and the chapel and out to the far corner of the reserve where the Field Sports department was.

 

Archery was a tough pull and I was, hard though it might be for some to imagine, fairly short for my peers. But a few hundred yards past the archery range was the rifle range, and the shotgun hut next to it.

 

We were, I was to learn later, quite fortunate to have Mossbergs to learn on, a good quality .22 caliber rifle with a closed rear sights and an open post at the end of the muzzle. For a simple 50 foot range, with wooden uprights and wire across them bedecked with clothespins, it was all we needed to hang our targets and learn the difference between accuracy and precision.

 

What I quickly became fascinated by was the ritual act of opening the bolt (click thunk), inserting the brass cartridge into the breech, closing the bolt (thunk click), then raising the butt of the stock to our shoulder and thumbing off the safety (tick), keeping the rifle pointed down range without qualification or variation, because what we now had in our hands was a precision power tool that was ready to operate, and that improperly operated could do serious harm to ourselves or others.

 

Was my experience unusual, in hearing it put that way over and over? I don't know, but at Camp To-pe-nee-bee and a couple of years later, from Les Hill at Camp Tamarack up in Michigan, that's how I heard it said. A gun is a power tool, like a belt sander or drill press. And in northwest Indiana, where it seemed like most Scoutmasters had lost fingers at Bendix, or an eye at Studebaker, or been crippled in an accident at a steel mill along Lake Michigan, that was respect and fear enough. Part of growing up was learning how to behave around, and operate power tools, and it really didn't matter if you planned to work in the shop later in life, or if your dad was in management or worked out in the yard: we all needed to know basic safety with dangerous tools, and Field Sports was part of that.

 

Back then, we had "Rifle & Shotgun" merit badge along with Archery, and I got both. You picked which you were qualifying on, rifle or shotgun. More recently, the BSA has created two separate merit badges for Rifle Shooting and Shotgun Shooting, and the Lad has earned now all three Field Sports badges.

 

We still don't have guns at home. Nor have I ever gone hunting. But I've taken Hunter Safety three times, and plan to take it with my son someday soon. Hunting is common in this area, as are weapons in homes. The breath control and focus it takes to hit a target, at 50 ft or 100 yards (my M-16A1 was serial number 5511359, speaking of things you don't forget), is a kind of calming mediation that belies the violence some say is inherent in firearms and their use.

 

I don't think we need more guns in our society, and I'm open to all sorts of common sense restrictions on access to them. But I also reflect on Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.'s sage counsel "Hard cases make bad laws," and I wonder about what it would take to prevent some of the tragedies we've seen recently.

 

The only thing I'm sure of is that I think we all would benefit from taking Hunter Safety. Just to be more aware, and to understand, that if you see a gun, it's loaded, and you handle it accordingly, no matter who says it isn't.

 

Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and pastor in Licking County; he's heavily armed with trivia. Tell him something new at knapsack77@gmail.com, or on Twitter @Knapsack.

Faith Works 2-2-13

Faith Works 2-2-13

Jeff Gill

 

Some things just don't change

___

 

 

With today being Groundhog's Day, I feel like I should write something about one of the most theologically thought-provoking movies ever made, but I've done that before.

 

See what I did there?

 

Anyhow, whether your tradition marks this date as Candlemas or you celebrate the Presentation in the Temple or anything else like that for Feb. 2, your faith community probably has a question common to us all: what do we do about the men?

 

Men's groups are generally harder to keep going and active than women's groups in the church. History and family and a love of personal connection seems to come a little more easily to females, while males . . . don't.

 

There are exceptions, of course, as there are to all general observations. But it is still the case that for local, regional, and national gatherings, "Women of Faith" is still going strong while "Promise Keepers" has largely fizzled, and for denominational groups, the women's events may be smaller than they were fifty years ago, but in many case the big national men's events simply are no more.

 

Men and their involvement with the life of the church in worship and leadership is a related concern, and there's a chicken and the egg relationship here. I've had men I greatly respect (hi, Dad!) ask if making women leaders alongside men will result in most of the leadership becoming female . . . and seen that question become a prediction. One can reasonably say "well, if men were only showing up because they had a job to do up in the front, then their commitment wasn't all strong to start with," but it's still one more part of a general disengagement in church life that is rightly and reasonably decried.

 

A few weeks ago I went to breakfast with "The League of Ordinary Gentlemen," a group of guys from the "Church in the Mall," whose intention is to be a sort of men's group with a contemporary twist, much like their worship.

 

Their online tag says "Reviving the lost art of gathering around a campfire" under "Est. 2012." Their throwback post-modern take is mitigated by the fact that we gathered at Stacey's Hometown Buffet for an all-you-can-eat buffet, something that arguably none of us, and few men, really need.

 

But what a draw.

 

And in fact, there were by our count at least two, maybe three other church men's groups gathered there that morning. And in some churches, an actual or de-facto men's fellowship makes a community breakfast as a contribution-only fundraiser, with the same essential attraction.

 

Anyhow, we went through the line, sat together around some big tables, prayed, and ate. And we talked about "guy stuff." Yes, guns, and killing animals (appropriately and in season), eating animals (ditto), and sitting around a fire was discussed even if we weren't actually doing so, unless you count a gas log across the room.

 

Men need a place to gather, whether they know it or not. In the US, men as a specific demographic group have seen their average income go down, adjusted for inflation, EVERY year since 1973. Men are making babies and not bothering with marriage, or even sticking around, in ever increasing numbers, and married men are chasing after women they aren't married to "because, well, you know, she, um, and one thing led to another . . ." and may I just say, as a pastor, and as a male: BS. One thing does NOT lead to another, men make choices, and you made some bad ones.

 

But lots and lots of men are making those kinds of choices, and acting sheepishly helpless afterwards, because, well, you know, it just happened (I refer again to my earlier prophetic statement: BS!).

 

I think, in the end, only men can be prophets to other men in a way that we need to hear. Most of us have women, often godly women, in our homes or at least in our lives, who call BS on us in other words but no less clearly. What many of us need are other men to laugh with us, but at our excuses, and say "Man up, dude – God does NOT smile on that kind of decision."

 

We need men's groups. Maybe at Gobbler's Knob in top hats, or around tables at Stacey's, or in prayer in church basements, or around a fire. Where we can speak honestly to one another.

 

Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and pastor in Licking County; he's a fan of gathering around campfires. Tell him where you see men gather at knapsack77@gmail.com or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.

The Newark Christian - January 23, 2013

The Newark Christian

Serving God's Transformation of Licking County

January 23, 2013 - Volume LXXIV - Issue 2

Church Office Hours: Monday – Friday, 7:00 am – 2:00 pm, Phone:  740-366-4961, Email: secretary.newarkcentral@gmail.com

 We're on the Web! Visit us at: newarkcentralchristian.com

Lenten Opportunities

As Lent approaches, beginning with Ash Wednesday on Feb. 13^th, we will have a number of ways for you to use the season to prepare for Easter. One is a challenge for the congregation to read through the New Testament by Easter (more info and resources to come!), and the other is the opportunity to come Wednesday nights for a soup & salad supper and Lenten program. These will run fromFeb. 20 to Mar. 20, and after the 6:00 pm dinner, a devotional time at 6:45 will close with a short message from one of a number of clergy from around the area.

 

·       February 20, Rev. Pamela Roth, Amplify Ministries, Inc.

·       February 27, Rev. Chris Whitehead, Hebron Christian

·       March 6, Rev. John Romig, Gender Road Christian

·       March 13, Rev. Brian Harkness, New Life UMC

·       March 20, Rev. Kevin Koske, Church in the Mall

Game Night

The New Disciples Sunday School Class is sponsoring a new venture. On the last Saturday of each month, we will be gathering in Fellowship Hall for an evening of games and fellowship. Bring your favorite game and a snack or beverage to share and let's have some fun. The first game night will beSaturday, Jan. 26 at 6:30 p.m.  All are invited!

Calling All Youth Submakers...

All youth, parents, and congregation members who are interested in making subs will meet at the church in the kitchen from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2012. Also all sub orders with money must be turned in by Sun. Jan 27 at the 10:30 service. All subs will be ready for pick up on Sun. Feb 3. Thanks for all your help and support with our Super Bowl Event! Samantha (call church office)

God and Stuff

On Feb. 10 all youth in grades 7-12 will meet with Pastor Jeff and Samantha after the 10:30 service. Please bring your bible and money for lunch. Get ready for an invigorating discussion.

Youth Art Event

All youth ages 5 and up will meet at the church on Sunday, Feb. 10 from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m. Marilyn Stocker will assist the youth in painting and making artwork with a Valentine's theme. Refreshments will be provided and games to follow. Until then get ready to be crafty! Samantha (364-1532)

Internet Safety & Cyberbullying

We will host in Fellowship Hall on February 10 at 5:00 pm a program on "Internet Safety & Cyberbullying" for parents, grandparents, and anyone interested in safe use of the internet for children in their care. This program is open to the public, and anyone is welcome to come – invite someone you know who has interest or concern on this subject!

Book Club

Book Club will meet again Feb. 24 after the 10:30 service in the parlor.  The book is The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer.  Read the book and join the discussion.  All are welcome!  A light lunch will be served.

24-Hour Prayer Vigil

Please plan to participate in this year's 24-Hour Prayer Vigil.  From 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, Feb.12 through 6:00 p.m., Wednesday Feb. 13, we will have people praying for 30-min. time periods.  There will soon be a sign-up sheet in the narthex.  Participants may pray in the church or from home.  Prayers can be from your heart, from the Psalms, from hymns, and/or from some suggested sources we will provide.  Wherever we pray, the Lord hears our prayers.

If you cannot get to the church to sign up, you may call the church office (366-4961, 7-2 daily) or Carol Thompson to request a time period.  This is a good way for some of our home-bound members to participate.

Remember the Ash Wednesday Service is on February 13 in the Sanctuary at 6:00 p.m.  It follows the 24-Hour Prayer Vigil.

The Worship Committee

Meet Your 2013 Committee Chairs

Christian Education Chairman--Kim Halter
 
Evangelism Chairman--Vickie Bope
 
Fellowship Chairman--Linda Jewell
 
Membership Chairman--Alex Compton
 
Memorial Chairman--Jim Ritchey
 
Outreach Chairman--Dianne Cline
 
Property Chairman--Earl Stevenson
 
Stewardship Chairman--Harry Cline
 
Worship Chairman--Carol Thompson

If you are interested in one of these committees, please consider volunteering. When you are asked, please prayerfully consider helping on one of these committees.

Ohio Disciples Men 2013 Leadership Team

The Ohio Disciples Men ("ODM") is comprised of all the men of the Ohio Region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). ODM exists to minister to the unique needs of the men in the church, enabling them to fulfill their potential as servants of God, advancing their spiritual journey, and strengthening the total ministry of the church. The Ohio Disciples Men 2013 Leadership Team is made up of Remmie Crawford, Rick Hayden and Peter Engle.

We are in the process of forming "Work Teams" for mission from men (or women interested in being on the team) from all over the Regional Church.  These teams could then be used by individual congregations or for work projects here in Ohio or for disaster relief where ever needed.

Other Upcoming Events

·         Spring Retreat at Camp Christian
May 17 & 18, 2013

·         Fall Retreat at Camp Christian
September 13-15, 2013
Speaker: Rev. Dr. Rick Lowery 

Under the Big Top

Susanna Circle is accepting donations for our annual fundraiser dinner on March 16. Contact Kim Halter, Kristi Blount or any circle member for more information. The circus theme this year is "Under the Big Top". Tickets will be $10 each and should be available next month.

Plastic Bag Sleeping Mats for the Homeless

Susanna Circle will be collecting plastic grocery bags to make sleeping mats for the homeless.  This mat creates a barrier between a person and the ground.  It takes 500-700 plastic grocery bags to make one mat. The bags are cut into strips which are looped together to make "plarn".  Plarn = plastic yarn.  Once the plarn is made, it is crocheted to a width of 3 feet and length of 6 feet.  A strap is also made of plarn to use to carry the mat after it is rolled up. Once we have collected enough bags, I plan to make one for everyone to see!  You can also go on-line (Google "plastic sleeping mats for the homeless") and watch a YouTube demonstration.

 

Please bring in your plastic grocery bags and leave them at the Welcome Center.  This is a great way to help bring a little comfort to someone and recycle unwanted plastic bags at the same time! You can help by collecting bags, making the plarn or crocheting the mats.  If you are interested in helping with this project, please contact Connie Crothers (740-644-7138).

Thank You and You're Welcome!

The whole staff here at Central Christian Church would like to say a BIG THANK YOU for all the thoughtful gifts and goodies we received at the end of the year. We are very blessed to serve such a wonderful congregation and we appreciate each and every one of you. We look forward to another great year together.  

I want to thank you all for the generous scholarship from your church. I am honored to be a recipient. College is a very expensive endeavor, and every little bit helps a lot. I am working as a barista at Starbucks, and I am attending a community college because it is the most financially smart option available. I am currently enrolled and attending courses full time at the Rock Creek Campus of Portland Community College.

I am nearly a sophomore in college, working on my associates in General Studies. Once I am finished with my associates, I will be transferring to a bigger university to finish out my bachelor's in English. I plan to get my doctorate, so I have many more years of schooling ahead. The money provided to me by you was a big help in buying text books, and paying for facility fees and parking. Your contribution to my education means so much to me, and I am so thankful for it. Sincerely, Tara Holmes

              Sunday was a very special day for both of us. We are grateful to Pastor Jeff for baptizing us. Thank you to everyone that attended the 8:30 service and shared our special day with us. We appreciate Steve Crothers rounding up the Mission Team and Rev. Dr. Rick for laying our ground work. We feel so blessed to have found such a good home with all of you at Central Christian. Love & prayers, Bob & Claudia Weaver

On behalf of The Vintage Voices we'd like to say thank you for your contribution. We hope you enjoyed our performance in December as much as we enjoyed giving it. Sally Brigham

YARN NEEDED

The Knitters & Crocheters are in need of yarn and hands to assemble their squares. The yarn is used to make afghans/blankets for the Salvation Army and Battered Women's Shelter. Please help any way you can. 

ALTAR FLOWER CHART

The 2013 altar flower chart is now hanging on the bulletin board in the Narthex. Please select a Sunday to acknowledge a person(s) or an event (in memory or in honor of).  There are envelopes with the chart so you can easily make a donation of $24.00 for these flowers.  The flowers are yours to take following the 10:30 a.m. worship service.   If you have questions please call the church office. 

Joys and Concerns

·         Monica Kohler, continuing health concerns

·         Marilyn Yost, who came in to do bulletin boards right before her surgery 

Daily Scripture Readings

Jan     23      I Corin 9:24-27

         24      Titus 3:3-7

         25      Genesis 39:1-23

         26      John 10:14-16

         27      Psalm 121:1-8

         28      Genesis 18:1-15

         29      Ephesians 2:1-10

         30      Genesis 1:1-5

         31      Job 2:11-13

Feb    1       Matthew 5:14-16

         2       Luke 20:45-21:4

         3       Joshua 4:1-7

         4       James 2:14-26

         5       I Corin 1:26-31

         6       Exodus 23:4-5 &

                  Luke 6:27-36

         7       Philippians 2:1-11

         8       John 10:1-10

 (Taken from The Upper Room)

Looking Ahead

January 27 –

 Why We Do What We Do: Hymns

 Ephesians 5:15-20

February 3 –

  WWDWWD: Elders & Deacons
  Titus 2:1-15

February 10 –
 WWDWWD: Discipleship
  II Timothy 3:10 – 4:5

Wed., February 13
   Ash Wednesday, Lent begins

Faith Works 1-26

Faith Works 1-26-13

Jeff Gill

 

Mystic Chords of Memory, Rhyming or Otherwise

___

 

In Lincoln's first inaugural address, before there was a Civil War and while reasonable men and women could hope there would be none, the newly elected President spoke of harmony, and how to restore it as disharmony and cacophony filled the air.

 

He spoke and indeed prayed that "the better angels of our nature" might help us find that lost note when we allow them to play "the mystic chords of memory" and "swell the chorus of the Union."

 

Lincoln's memory for a good phrase, an apt quotation, or a slightly bawdy story, was legendary. Most of us wish we could just remember our account passwords that the system demanded we change last week.

 

When memory is engaged, and works on our behalf, there is something mystical about that power to raise the dead, to envision what is lost, to return missing pieces to their place in life's puzzle.

 

Along with public speaking in general, death is preferable to being asked to recite something from memory, or so the pollsters tell us. Ask around, and you'll mainly hear "I have a terrible memory" from folks.

 

Come around from a different direction, and ask if a person knows that song starting "Now sit right back and you'll hear a tale . . ." but know that you'll end up hearing the whole song. We joke about stars stumbling on the Star Spangled Banner, but the truth is most of us know the whole thing, and it isn't short.

 

Camp songs from the dining hall, bits of poetry from the classroom ("into the valley of death / rode the six hundred" or "Listen, my children, and you shall hear / of the midnight ride of Paul Revere"), batting orders from long ago baseball teams (Tinker to Evers to Chance, or Becker to Kessinger to Santo), or the sing-song chant of a train conductor on a line you often rode ("Arcola, Tuscola, and Coca Cola").

 

Religious formation may not feature ruler wielding nuns or Mr. Lambert's fierce gaze any more, in exchange for a focus on experience and understanding and feelings, but there are still elements of faith that it helps to learn, and learn by heart. From the books of the Bible, if only so you can find Nahum and Philemon someday without panic or confusion, to the history of your own movement's founders, and even some points of your faith and practice – wouldn't you like to know those things by . . . heart?

 

In ancient times, memory was not linked so strongly to the grey mushy stuff you found inside of cow skulls and between your enemies' ears. Whatever it was the brain did, memories, especially those that moved us deeply, were recorded in an even more secure, central location: in our heart.

 

So learning something by heart meant a bit more than even remembering. You could recall how many scoops of grain the chickens ate each night at feeding time, but you knew by heart how your children looked as you fed them when they were babies.

 

And so on.

 

Poetry, especially memorized, is considered a heartfelt matter, for these reasons and more. Most churches have sacred music, or what we call hymns, as a way to give us a reminder of our beliefs and recall the story of our faith community's journey.  Rhyme and rhythm carve deeply into our hearts the words, and the ideas we might not remember as well otherwise.

 

A hundred years ago, "In the Garden" spoke to worshipers in America's growing cities of the restful presence of Jesus as if he showed up in the middle of your dreams of a childhood home, but spoke to you personally about today's problems. C. Austin Miles wrote in 1912 "and he walks with me, and he talks with me, and he tells me I am his own; and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known."

 

More recently Steven Curtis Chapman tried to explain what baptism meant to a friend who loved the outdoors and adventure, and with his song "Dive" suggested "The long awaited rains / Have fallen hard upon the thirsty ground / And carved their way to where / The wild and rushing river can be found /And like the rains 
I have been carried here to where the river flows…"

 

If you think about it, you might be surprised by just how much you know by heart after all.

 

Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and pastor in Licking County; tell him what your favorite memory verse (or poem) is at knapsack77@gmail.com or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.

 

http://www.ushistory.org/documents/lincoln1.htm

Knapsack 1-24

Notes From My Knapsack 1-24-13

Jeff Gill

 

Calculating Where I'm From

___

 

Somewhere in the last few weeks I crossed a subtle, but significant (for me) dividing line.

 

I was born in Elmhurst, Illinois, part of what's known as "Chicagoland," and my parents moved to a different corner of that region when I was six weeks old, across the state line into Indiana.

 

So from not long after I was born to just before my seventeenth birthday, I lived in Valparaiso, Indiana, the place that for most of my life I've called my hometown, and even my birthplace though not strictly true on that count.

 

When I moved into a dorm at Purdue University, I began seven years of residence in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, five in West Lafayette and two on the other side of the Wabash in Lafayette. At the end of that time, I got married, and the Lovely Wife and I moved to Indianapolis after a last summer at Scout camp in Michigan.

 

(Another odd calendar note: I spent seven to eleven weeks every summer for ten years at that camp, meaning I lived a total of a year and a half in Michigan, but never outside of June, July, & August!)

 

We lived for four years in Indy while I was in seminary there, and then in 1989 we came for the first time to Licking County, Ohio. For four years we lived in Newark, then departed in 1993 for West Virginia where we spent the next six, returning to Hebron in 1999. We lived in Hebron for five years, moving to Granville in the midst of the infamous ice storm closing out 2004.

 

So what all that chronology and math means is that I have now lived longer in Licking County, Ohio than anywhere else I've ever been. In our marriage, we've been through what was, at one time, a shocking number of addresses (seminary and grad school and associate pastor positions all add up to a whole bunch of moving), something like ten moves in twelve years. But we had six years in Fairmont, West Virginia, and six Christmases in one home (a parsonage, but a nice one), a welcome change of pace – and now, here in Granville, we've had eight, a level of stability new for us all, but now what we're used to.

 

And altogether, I've lived just over seventeen years in Licking County. I've never lived longer in any other place. My childhood memories, and sense of "home" are still powerfully shaped by Valpo, and the presence of Lake Michigan just to the north (ah, lake effect snow), not to mention Chicago always in the background . . .

 

But this is now, and continues to be ever more so, home. We hope and pray for a ninth and tenth and many more Christmases with the tree in the same spot, and decorations hung on nails and hooks we put in place ourselves, and expect to use again and again.

 

Someday, around 2021, I will have lived in this one town as long, and then longer than the place where I grew up. By then, I suspect it won't even matter that much, other than as a number. Licking County as a whole, and Granville, Ohio in particular, is where my family and I are . . . from. We're from here, because at a certain point we've been here, and it's "from" this place we go so that in time we can come home, to here.

 

We haven't yet bought funeral plots here, but it has crossed our minds. I guess that's when you really know where you're from.

 

Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and pastor in Licking County; tell him how you know where you're from at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.

Faith Works 1-19

Faith Works 1-19-13

Jeff Gill

 

The Bishop's Candlesticks

___

 

My first encounter with "Les Miserables" was not the book, nor the musical, but in a chancel drama for church.

 

It wasn't even a production I saw, but a still photo and the story that went with it from decades before I was born.

 

The picture in the First Christian Church history room was in black and white, of course, and showed a rather cobbled together bishop in mitre and robe, holding a staff, a couple of women in housekeeper's uniforms, an obvious stage set of table and chairs and flats behind for a wall, with an angry looking man crouching forward in the foreground, almost ready to leap out of the picture.

 

And a pair of candlesticks on the table behind him.

 

The angry man was young, in the picture, but his face familiar. It was Red Clover, who was to me, when I first saw that photo, older than God.

 

Cloyce Clover signed my ordination certificate at Valparaiso, Indiana in 1989 along with other elders and clergy present on that occasion, and he died the next year at 90. But twenty years earlier (when, I now realize, he was only twenty years older than I am now, clearly nowhere near older than God), Red Clover taught me to pray. He was the first person I went out with to take home communion to shut-ins other than my dad, and Red Clover prayed as if God was a very respected friend who was right there in the room. His prayers didn't presume a casual acquaintance or an informal offhandedness, but they were personal, from him, to God, and drawing anyone else in the room into the conversation.

 

Red Clover was not always an elder, nor was he always on good terms with God. He had been a young man back in the 1920s, and as the Depression pulled people down in 1930, Red got drug into a corn auger. He lost a leg, shockingly high. Everyone told him his survival was a miracle.

 

Miracle was not how he saw it, he explained to me as we drove from one nursing home to the next, but a curse. And he cursed God. And found that drinking helped him curse God more fluently. He left the church, slept in on Sundays after cursing God Saturday night, but built his strength and kept on in school weekdays, and planned to get a degree in scientific agriculture at Purdue University.

 

He got good at working around his disability, and using his new artificial leg. Just about everything on the farm he'd done before, he got back to doing. And one day, he was atop a haybaler, powered and mechanized, back in the days before safety cut-offs and other such improvement. And he slipped.

 

From a perch up above, Red slipped into the mouth of the baler. Thunk, thunk, thunk, the arms of the device swung and chopped the thick heavy hay and shoved it deeper into the machine. He had no purchase on the metal chute, and slid on down. Thunk, thunk . . . chunk.

 

The baler's arms bit deep into . . . Red Clover's artificial leg, and stuck in the cork and wood and metal, jamming the equipment to a stop. He reached down, unstrapped his leg, clambered out, and at least when he told me the story, "hopped on one leg all the way to church, just so I could apologize to God properly."

 

Not long after, the Young Adult group was doing "The Bishop's Candlesticks" in worship, and they asked Red if he would play Jean Valjean; the picture tells the tale from there.

 

His story and that of "Les Miserables" will always be utterly intertwined for me.

 

Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and pastor in Licking County. Tell him about what you've seen recently in an old photo at knapsack77@gmail.com or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.

Faith Works 1-12-13

Faith Works 1-12-13

Jeff Gill

 

The Triumph of Javert

___

 

If I were to tell you my intention is to write about "the triumph of Javert," some of you would say "are you still writing about that darn musical?"

 

Others might note that, avoiding spoilers, it is kind of difficult for Javert to win given the closing scenes of "Les Miserables."

 

So I guess what I'm talking about is sort of a symbolic victory, even more so since Javert is a fictional character.

 

But if you've not read the Victor Hugo novel (and it's a long one), nor seen the musical now nearing thirty years in production, let alone missed the movie trampling like a T. Rex across the local cineplexes, Javert is the relentless cop who pursues the fugitive Valjean across the decades.

 

Javert does not come out a winner, really, in the musical or movie versions of the mid-1800s book. He devotes a chunk of his life to pursuing this one paroled felon who skipped out on his terms and vanished, although both book and movie make it clear Javert is a dedicated police officer, stern and unyielding , whose work over the years is about law and order in general, not just this one fellow.

 

But oh, this one fellow. Valjean. Prisoner 26401. Mayor Madeleine. Monsieur Leblanc. Urbain Fabre. Ultime Fauchelevent. Jean Valjean adopts many names and identities, and by all accounts keeps on working his way, over and over, up from laborer to something of a success in a variety of positions, ending up a factory owner, a landlord.

 

As Valjean flees justice, Javert pursues. It began with a theft of bread for his sister's starving child, and it continues because of his attempts to escape cause Valjean to be branded an incorrigible, a dangerous character, a parolee who will be watched and labeled for the rest of his likely short and brutal life.

 

So Valjean escapes the net by remaking himself, starting with the aid of an elderly bishop whose humility and perceptiveness about Valjean leads him to a risk, and a request. For Valjean to make something more of himself than he had been, as the bishop asked, he had to remake his very identity, a tension that runs through the entire storyline.

 

What kept nagging at me as I watched these scenes from early 1800s France was how utterly impossible Valjean's journey would be today, and how mechanically the demands of Javert's sense of justice are imposed in our world now.

 

Let's just argue, for the moment, that someone in 2013 could be either unjustly accused, or be much less guilty than simple circumstances warrant. I'm not saying this happens always, or even often: maybe it never happens. I doubt that. But we'll say it might come to pass.

 

Can someone, in any way, escape the label of thief or predator or criminal if they come out starting with absolutely nothing and no one to help them? Can one "lift themselves by their own bootstraps," a phrase that hints of the essential impossibility in the idea, since you can't counteract gravity with a sharp tug on your shoelaces.

 

Your identity is in so many ways less personal than it is official, and your SSIN, your driver's license number, your fingerprints and retina scan and grade school permanent record . . . you are in so many more ways now than 1832 the person Javert says you are, and if that record says something bad about you, I fear it is ever so much harder to turn that around than it was then.

 

In "Les Miserables" we have the Thenardiers to remind us that the ability to shed one's past and take on a new identity can be woefully misused, even evilly twisted to sin and sin again without repercussions, and that's why we are so intent on "keeping track" of criminals . . . and others. It's not meant to be shackles for life, but it can be, and a weight that keeps people from climbing back up to where they might otherwise rise.

 

As you can tell, I'm not done meditating on "Les Mis," and Valjean, and Javert, and the good bishop of Digne. And even Valjean learns that you truly cannot remake yourself alone, but there has to be a loving community around you, and you need to let them share their aid, to enter your wounded heart, or no healing can begin.

 

But I worry about Javert, too, and how his compulsions might well be our own without our even recognizing in the mirror who we've become.

 

Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and pastor in Licking County; tell him about how you've seen lives changed at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.

update for 1-09-13 - full pastor's column!

Notes From My Knapsack

[for 1-09-13 "Newark Christian"]

We're barely into the new year of 2013, and what's the parson talking about but: Lent! 

That's right, Lent. The season of prayer and preparation to approach Easter will begin February 13^th, and 40 days plus Sundays, on towards March 31^st.

We have a long-standing tradition at Newark Central of Wednesday night Lenten dinners, following an Ash Wednesday service which will be Feb. 13^th at 6:00 pm, then the dinner programs in Fellowship Hall on Feb. 20 and 27, Mar. 6, 13, and 20. Stay tuned for our guest presenters and meal preparers for these simple soup & sandwich suppers.

During Lent, with those 40 days, I have a proposal. We will have some commitment cards in the bulletin the next couple of Sundays, and they will be for you to make a commitment to yourself, not to the pastor or the church. Mainly between you and God.

There are 260 chapters in the New Testament, Matthew's Gospel to John's Revelation, all 27 books. If you were to read seven chapters a day, with Saturdays off and a skip day or two just to give you some flexibility, you could read the whole New Testament (7 chapters a day!) by Easter morning right down to Revelation 22.

To be fair, I know there's a goodly number of you who've read the whole New Testament (hat tip to y'all!), and I also know there's more than a few who really, really have meant to get around to doing that . . . so this is the Lent to get it done!

And even if you're already taken the full tour through what God has to say in the "Apostolic literature," here's a new suggestion. Frank Viola, a Bible teacher & preacher, has proposed a sort of chronological order of the books of the New Testament. As most of you know, we have the library of the NT organized with four gospels, a bunch of letters, most from Paul, a few from others, then the closing prophetic vision of Revelation. It's not chronologically organized, and your reading of it "straight through" can cause a fair amount of back-flipping and flip-backing.

Viola offers this sequence, not in order of events, but in the order they were (possibly) written, to help you feel the development of Christian thought & belief:

Galatians, James, I & II Thessalonians, I & II Corinthians, Romans, Mark, Matthew, and Luke; Colossians, Philemon, Ephesians, Philippians, I Timothy, Acts, Hebrews, Titus, John; I, II, & III John, I Peter, II Timothy, II Peter, Jude, and finally Revelation.

Or, you could try Marcus Borg's proposed sequence:

I Thessalonians, Galatians, I Corinthians, Philemon, Philippians, II Corinthians, Romans, Mark; James, Colossians, Matthew; Hebrews and John; Ephesians, Revelation, Jude, I, II, & III John, Luke; Acts, II Thessalonians, I Peter, I Timothy, II Timothy, Titus, and finally II Peter.

Either way, it's an experience of the New Testament that might well bless your Lent this year!

In grace and peace, Pastor Jeff

The Newark Christian, Jan. 9, 2013

The Newark Christian

Serving God's Transformation of Licking County

January 9, 2013

Volume LXXIV

Issue 1

 

Summer 2013 Camp Schedule 


Registration for summer programs will be available early in 2013

Grandparents Camp - For Children in grades 1 & 2 and a Grandparent
Held at Camp Christian, May 31 - June 1

 

Otter Junior Camp - For youth in grades 3, 4, & 5
Held at Camp Christian, June 16 - 22


Chi Rho Camps - For youth in grades 6, 7, & 8
All Chi Rho Camps are held at Camp Christian

Hocking June 9 - 15

Portahoga July 7 - 13

Maumee July 14 - 20

Miami August 4 - 10

 

CYF Conferences - For youth in grades 9, 10, 11, & 12
All CYF Conferences are held at Camp Christian

Hiram June 23 - 29

Phyo June 30  - July 6

Lakeside July 21 - 27

Wilmington July 28 - August 3

 

Adult Ministries - For adults of all ages
Held at Northwest Christian Church, Columbus, June 17 – 21

Adventure Camp - For adults of all ages and high school age youth
Location TBA, June 28 – 31

Advance Ministries Summer Conference - For young adults ages 19 - 29
(at least one year out of high school)
Held at Camp Christian, August 11 - 18

 

General Board Meeting

All elders, deacons, deaconesses, trustees, department chairs and fellowship group presidents are reminded of their right and responsibility to attend the board meeting January 16 at 7:00 pm.

 

Caroling was a Success!

Many thanks to all who came out to carol around the neighborhood in December.  We ended up with around 30 people and received good response all the way down Jefferson Road, around the corner to Woods, and back up to the church on Rugg Avenue.  Many folks came out to hear and received an invitation to our Living Nativity and our worship services.  Thanks, also, to Carol Thompson, who provided refreshments for all of us.

Youth Sub Sale 2013
The youth of Central Christian Church will be making subs for Super Bowl Sunday February 3, 2013. All proceeds will go to SCOOP (Special Concerns Ohio Outreach Program). This year the youth will offer Italian and turkey subs (lettuce and mild banana peppers will be offered on the side). Each sub is $5.00 and you can pay cash or write a check to Central Christian Church and write "subs" in the memo line. Please turn in all money and orders by Sunday, Jan. 27 to Harry Cline or Samantha Frizzell. The goal is 175 subs and $800 to send to SCOOP. Thanks again for your continued support!

Youth All Christian Skate Night

On Monday, January 21, all youth should meet at the church from 6:15-8:15pm. Skating admission is free, thanks to Betty Lou and Larry Iden, In line skates are $1.00 and any money needed at the concession stand. We will have devotions at 7:30 at the skating rink. Until then get ready to play the number game!

Planning Event

Christian Education will be having their annual planning meeting at 7:00 p.m. at the church on January 15. Please send any ideas for events to Kim Halter at kmhalter7@hotmail.com

Book Club

On January 20, the Book Club will meet in the parlor after the 10:30 service.  Lunch will be provided.  The book for Jan 20 is That's Why I'm Here, the story of Chris and Stefanie Spielman.  Come join the discussion.

Please Remember

The parking lot on the North side of the church, near the elevator, is intended for handicap parking only.

2013 Board & Program Cabinet schedule

 

(all meetings of the general board are at 7:00 pm on the ground floor)
Wed., Jan. 16

Wed., March 20 (after the Lenten dinner)

Wed. May 15

Wed., July 17

Wed., Sept. 18

Wed., Nov. 20


The meetings of the Program Cabinet, made up of team leaders & committee chairpeople, will be on third Monday nights as follows at 6:30 pm:

Mon., Feb. 18
Mon., Apr. 15
Mon., Aug. 19
Mon., Oct. 21

 

Notes From My Knapsack

We're barely into the new year of 2013, and what's the parson talking about but: Lent! 

That's right, Lent. The season of prayer and preparation to approach Easter will begin February 13^th, and 40 days plus Sundays, on towards March 31^st.

We have a long-standing tradition at Newark Central of Wednesday night Lenten dinners, following an Ash Wednesday service which will be Feb. 13^th at 6:00 pm, then the dinner programs in Fellowship Hall on Feb. 20 and 27, Mar. 6, 13, and 20. Stay tuned for our guest presenters and meal preparers for these simple soup & sandwich suppers.

During Lent, with those 40 days, I have a proposal. We will have some commitment cards in the bulletin the next couple of Sundays, and they will be for you to make a commitment to yourself, not to the pastor or the church. Mainly between you and God.

There are 260 chapters in the New Testament, Matthew's Gospel to John's Revelation, all 27 books. If you were to read seven chapters a day, with Saturdays off and a skip day or two just to give you some flexibility, you could read the whole New Testament (7 chapters a day!) by Easter morning right down to Revelation 22.

To be fair, I know there's a goodly number of you who've read the whole New Testament (hat tip to y'all!), and I also know there's more than a few who really, really have meant to get around to doing that . . . so this is the Lent to get it done!

And even if you're already taken the full tour through what God has to say in the "Apostolic literature," here's a new suggestion. Frank Viola, a Bible teacher & preacher, has proposed a sort of chronological order of the books of the New Testament. As most of you know, we have the library of the NT organized with four gospels, a bunch of letters, most from Paul, a few from others, then the closing prophetic vision of Revelation. It's not chronologically organized, and your reading of it "straight through" can cause a fair amount of back-flipping and flip-backing.

Viola offers this sequence, not in order of events, but in the order they were (possibly) written, to help you feel the development of Christian thought & belief:

Joys and Concerns

·        Lucille Peoples, Sue Lynn, Monica Broceus and June Harman Butts  

Daily Scripture Readings

Jan     9       Revelation 21:1-7

         10     Genesis 1:26-28

         11     I Corinthians 3:5-11

         12     I Corinthians 13:1-7

         13     Colossians3:1-4

         14     2 Corin 6:1-2

         15     Matthew 5:38-48

         16     Psalm 103:8-13

         17     Matthew 25:31-46

         18     2 Corin 4:6-12

         19     Psalm 32:6-11

         20     I Corin 12:12-27

         21     Psalm 139:1-18

         22     Matthew 18:10-14

         23     I Corin 9:24-27

         24     Titus 3:3-7

         25     Genesis 39:1-23

 (Taken from The Upper Room)

 

Looking Ahead

January 13 –

 Why we do what we do: Baptism

         Matthew 3:13-17

January 20 –

 WWDWWD: Communion

         I Corinthians 11:23-26

January 27 –

 WWDWWD: Hymns

         Ephesians 5:15-20

February 3 –

WWDWWD: Elders & Deacons

Titus 2:1-15


February 10 –
 

WWDWWD: Discipleship
          

II Timothy 3:10 – 4:5


Wed., February 13
   Ash Wednesday, Lent begins

Thank You and You're Welcome!

First, we would like to thank everyone who came to celebrate Mom's 90^th birthday. It was wonderful to see so many of our church family there to honor her. Second, we would like to thank Linda Hurst, Susie Morris and Jeff Gill for their help with the party. Third, we would like to thank Steve Crothers, Ron Thompson, Earl Stevenson, Dave Engle, Rick Crothers and Cooper Leibas for putting in our ramp. It really makes it easier getting Mom in and out. Thanks to all. The Kohlers

 

Hello my friends at Central Christian Church. You certainly outdid yourselves. Thank you for your more than generous donation for the homeless. Just got another family off the streets and your donation paid for the stove and refrigerator and 2 beds. I praise God for you all and I ask Him to favor you and your church with His mighty blessings! Again, thanks and God will bless. Love, Effie Enman, "My Corner and Beyond"

         

Thank you for all the concern shown to me after my hospital stay in the way of cards, calls and visits from members and Jeff. It is wonderful to have a caring church family. Jean McDonald

           

I just wanted to drop a little note to say thanks for the cards, phones calls, and special visits from Rev. Jeff Gill and a very good friend, Carol Van Winkle, while I spent some time in the hospital. Also would like to thank the elders who filled in for me in church services. For all you have done, we are blessed for a great church and such leadership. There is a God in the mountain and a God in the valley. I have been both places and He is real. He said I will never leave thee or forsake thee. James Green

         

Adrian and I would like to say "Thank You" to our Central family! We have been shown such incredible support through all of our journeys. The generosity we have been shown is overwhelming as well! Thank you for the prayers, diapers, monetary gifts, etc. We are so blessed! Katie Leibas

           

Greetings from First Christian Church, Tuscaloosa, AL!

To my church family, Happy Holidays! Thank you for your thoughtfulness following my recent hip surgery. I so enjoyed the cards and visits at the nursing home. A special thanks for those taking time to bring me communion at home. I still can't drive and am having eye problems but look forward to a speedy recovery so I can get back to church again. A special thanks to the Medical Loan Closet for their hard work. I still use my walker and the shower chair. Hope to be on my own soon. Happy New Year everyone, Margaret Kreager

I hope all is going well with all of you. I want to tell you again how much we appreciate all you did to help restore our community while you were here. I really need to get back to some of the areas that DV worked on, but haven't done a very good job of getting it done.

            I have copied some photos (which are hanging on the narthex bulletin board) of some of the businesses that have been rebuilt and are operational. There is still a lot of new building going on in our city and there is s still a lot of repairing going on as well. There is still a lot to go, though. I hope that you will have an opportunity to come back to see the progress that has been made.

            Merry Christmas! "And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory." John 1:14

Kathy Mason, FCC Tuscaloosa

 

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Phone:  740-366-4961

 

Email:

secretary.newarkcentral@gmail.com

 

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Our mission is to lead people to faith in Jesus Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit and Scriptures from the Holy Bible.  We seek to grow in knowledge and grace of Christ to strengthen the unity of all Christians toward building the Kingdom of God.