I think about it all the time.
While I’m driving, praying, eating. I
guess I can call it one of my little obsessions. It is the question, “How can we get more
people involved in church life.
Well,
understand I am not the only person on this church asking that same question. We as a whole are not the only church asking
that question. As a person who needs to know the facts, I have turned
to a group of researchers who have already explored these questions. They are called The Barna Group. In its 30-year history, Barna Group has
conducted more than one million interviews over the course of hundreds of
studies, and has become a go-to source for insights about faith and culture,
leadership and vocation, and generations. Barna Group has carefully and
strategically tracked the role of faith in America, developing one of the
nation’s most comprehensive databases of spiritual indicators. Barna Group has
worked with thousands of business, nonprofit organizations and churches across
the U.S. and around the world, including many protestant denominations,
Catholic parishes, and faith leaders. Some of its notable clients have included
the Salvation Army, World Vision, Compassion, the American Bible Society, and
Habitat for Humanity. It has also served mainstream business and non-profit
leaders at organizations like Sony, Walden Media, Easter Seals, CARE, the ONE
Campaign, the Humane Society, the Gates Foundation, and NBC Universal. The
firm’s studies are frequently cited in sermons and talks, and its public
opinion research is often quoted in major media outlets such as CNN, USA Today,
The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Chicago Tribune, Huffington Post, the New
York Times, Dallas Morning News, and the Los Angeles Times.
Their research always surprises
me. Here is a statistic I feel we can work with.
Millennial
Non-Christians Show Greater Spiritual Curiosity Than Older Adults
Despite
the growing indifference toward Christianity, especially among young people,
there appears to be a spiritual curiosity among Millennials. Barna’s recent report Reviving
Evangelism, shows that Millennials report many more faith conversations or even
evangelistic encounters than older non-Christians. For at least some young
adults, there appears to be deeper interest in spirituality in general, and in
Christianity specifically. This statistic appeared as a research release in the
magazine Faith and Christianity,
2019.
What
is a millennial? According to the US Census Bureau, they were born between 1982
and 2000. They are the largest generation in the workforce because of their
birth years. Millennials are the children of the baby boomers and are also
called the Generation Y or Gen Y. They possess several qualities and
characteristics different from the past generations. And although the
characteristics of a millennial varies on the culture and environment,
they grew up in; these are the common characteristics of millennials
today.
Millennials are Often Optimistic About the
Future
They Love Social Networking
They are Tech-Savvy
They Believe in Work-Life Balance (prioritizing
family over work).
They are Goal-Oriented
They Want Recognition (feeling valued).
Millennials Love to Multitask
They Have an Entrepreneurial Spirit
They Like Adventures
They are Educated
I feel these are some great attributes, and I am sure you do also. As you read this list of qualities, imagine them being put to work in our modern day churches. I, along with many others in our church, are serious about considering these characteristics and putting them to work for the good of our world. Our older church folks have so much to share with this generation and they will embrace your thoughts and visions. So look out! Expect some changes at Emmanuel UCC. Changes for the good of all of us.
THANKS to everyone who helped in any way to make this year’s 300 Club
and Silent Auction a fantastic success.
Almost all the 300 tickets were sold, ensuring us a good profit. We also had additional guests who each
donated $15 to enjoy the great food and bands.
We are still waiting for some of the Silent Auction payments to be
collected and will have and update of the profit as soon as it becomes
available.
Worship begins at 6:00 pm Sunday evenings beginning July 7 and continues
to the end of August. If you can help
with refreshments for July 15 when we are host, please see Cindy.
July
7……………. Emmanuel
UCC
July 14……………… New Hope UMC
July 21……….. St. James Lutheran
July 28……………… St. John’s UCC
Aug.
4………. St. Mark’s
Lutheran
Aug. 11……………… St. Peter’s UCC
Aug. 18……………….. Mt. Zion UCC
Aug. 25……. Cemetery Association
We hope everyone will find time to worship in this historic setting.
It’s summer and time for our
choirs to be on vacation. But that
doesn’t mean that we want a vacation from music. Anyone who will sing, play an instrument or
(if you’re really talented) do both, is welcome to pick a Sunday to make a
joyful noise to our God. Please see Denise
Dean so we can fill the air with music on Sunday mornings.
Dave Myers is shown at our Spring Turkey Dinner held on May 4 packing a box with a dinner for Slocum resident Carl Peters to take home and enjoy.
Members of Emmanuel UCC are shown remembering the fallen at the Memorial Day ceremonies which were conducted at several locations across the mountain, including VFW Post 7918 Memorial, St. Martin in the Fields, St. Mary’s Cemetery, Emmanuel United Church of Christ, Albert Cemetery and Mountain Post 781 Memorial, on Sunday, May 26, 2019. Organizations participating in the ceremonies were American Legion Mountain Post 781, Dorrance Post 288, Ashley Post 673, and Slocum VFW Post 7918.
Among the 222 Graduates of Crestwood High School Class of 2019, was a very familiar face. Morgan Rinehimer received their diplomas and is now on her way to her new futures. Morgan is off to Stevenson University to pursue her degree in nursing. Congratulations and all the best.
Dave Myers was on the grill making Ray Stec a hamburger at the 10th annual 300 Club picnic.
Emmanuel will
host VBS July 14th thru 18th from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm. Everyone
is welcome to join especially our youth, they are encouraged to help as leaders
and decorating/design. Any questions please
see Pastor Lou.
This summer, bring your kids to SonQuest
Rainforest VBS. Based on 5 key Bible verses that will change a child’s
life—SonQuest Rainforest VBS transports young minds into a vivid
rainforest environment of jungle sounds, sights and smells,
where they’ll dig into the Bible and meet Jesus in every day’s story.
Worship
begins at 6:00 pm Sunday evenings beginning July7 and continues to
the end of August. If you can help with
refreshments for July 7 when we are host, please see Cindy.
July 7 Emmanuel
UCC
July
14 St. Peter’s UCC
July
21 St. John’s UCC
July
28 St. James Lutheran
Aug. 4 New
Hope UMC
Aug.
11 St. Mark’s Lutheran
Aug.
18 Mt. Zion UCC
Aug. 25 Cemetery
Association
We hope everyone will find time to worship in this
historic setting.
**
THIS IS A TENTATIVE SCHEDULE, ORDER OF HOSTS MAY CHANGE. I WILL KEEP EVERYONE
UPDATED AS I RECEIVE INFO ** THANK YOU, PENNY
Only 300 tickets are sold for this “exclusive” Club!!
Hurry up and get your ticket for our 10th annual 300 Club fundraiser!
Where
else can you get great food, excellent entertainment
and terrific cash prizes for two people for $35!! At our annual 300 CLUB on June 15 from noon to
6 pm! That’s a bargain! And if you’re not into the prizes, you can still
come and enjoy all that food and music for only $15 a person. There will be two bands: The Mud Pond Boys and Sundance. On top of
that, every hour from 1:00 to 5:00 there will be a drawing for five CA$H prizes ranging from $25 to
$50. At the 6:00 pm drawing, we award
the grand prizes of $1,000, $500, 5 at $100, and the remaining $50 and $25
prizes. Plus, all during the event, you
will be able to bid on items for our Silent Auction which will be called at 5:00
pm. It’s going to be a wonderful day
with lots of excitement – so don’t miss out!
We always need items for the Silent Auction. These need to be new items for a Silent
Auction. Many items are donated by local
merchants and businesses. If you have
something to donate or think of someone who might donate, please take some of
the donation memos on the table in the narthex.
Fill in the person/business name, the date, and the item and its value
and give it to the person/business for their tax records. Also note the value of the item for us so we
can put that on the bid sheets for the auction.
We’ve had some amazing items in the past, from kid’s toys to
kitchenware, hand-made clocks to fine jewelry, and everything in between. We’d like to have an even greater variety for
this year’s auction. So please see what
you can find to add to our assortment.
THANKS!!
Our first meeting was on May 7. We decided to hold our program from Sunday, July 14, through Thursday, July 18. We reviewed the materials and discussed preliminary decorating ideas. We have leaders for all the centers but for everyone who would like to help, assistants are needed for the snacks, crafts and PreK areas. The PreK leader is asking for one or two adults for extra hands for in-class projects. Please see Cindy if you can help with snacks or Pastor Lou for other areas.
Our next meeting will be on May 28 at 7:00 pm. We will continue discussing decorating and
what will be our mission. Each year, our
VBS decides on a mission project. Our
projects have helped children here locally and around the world. All ideas are welcome and we will all decide
then which one is right for this year.
At a
recent meeting with my mentor, the Rev Dr. Jane Hess, we talked about our
churches and what is important to us. I
mentioned community and relationships.
We both agreed that both are important and that relationships are just
another gift the church has to offer. One
reason why relationships are such an important part of the Christian life is
because God values relationships. That’s why we should value relationships as
well.
God
himself is relational
The Bible
teaches that God has eternally existed as three persons in one divine being.
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have been in relationship with each other
forever. In Genesis 1:26, we read, “Then God said, ‘Let us make human
beings in our image…’” Notice that God says “us”, not just “me”. This is
why the Bible can say that “God is love.” God was able to express and
experience love long before any created beings existed, because God encompasses
three persons. Without going into detail on the Trinity, we need to understand
that God is not a solitary being. The Father loves the Son and the Son, in
turn, loves the Father. If God is relational, why should we think that we can
go it alone?
The Old
Testament shows that God values relationships
We can
find many examples in the Old Testament scriptures that prove how important
relationships are to God. For example, when God called Abraham (Genesis 12:2),
he told him, “I will make you into a great nation.” God wasn’t content to
establish a relationship with just one man. His purpose was to create
a people – made up of families, clans, and tribes. God chose to bring
redemption into the world through human relationships.
Another point of data from the Old Testament is the special care God shows
toward people who are alone in the world. In particular, God’s heart is for
widows and orphans. These are people who are the vulnerable and most subject to
oppression and neglect, because they lack people who can provide a structure of
support. So God told Israel in Isaiah 1:17, “Defend the cause of orphans.
Fight for the rights of widows.” And Psalm 68:6 says, “God sets the
lonely in families…” Relationships are important to God!
The New
Testament shows that God values relationships
To begin
with, God created the church. While the people of Israel were all related to
each other, the church encompasses people from every national and ethnic group.
The church includes everyone who is united to Jesus by faith in him. As a
result, we are all united to each other as well. The New Testament calls the church
a family. It compares it to a living body. Metaphors like this emphasize our
interconnectedness as Christ-followers.
In light of this, the New Testament contains hundreds of verses that instruct
us on how to live in relationships. There are dozens of “one another”
statements that direct how we should live: forgive one another, be patient with
one another, encourage one another, pray for one another, love one another, and
many more. It is quite clear, then, that no one can be obedient to God’s Word in
isolation. God’s design is for us to connect in relationships. That’s why he
told us how to do it.
God
never called anyone to a purely individual salvation
The New
Testament teaches that salvation places each of us into a web of relationships
centered on Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:1-10describes our salvation in
individual terms. We were dead in our sins. God made us alive in Christ. He
saved us by his grace, through our faith, for a life of good works. But the
rest of Ephesians 2 describes the relational aspects of this same
salvation.
Ephesians
2:19-22: So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and
foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are
members of God’s family.Together, we are his house, built on
the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ
Jesus himself.We are carefully joined together in him,
becoming a holy temple for the Lord.Through him you Gentiles
are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit. When
you’re connected to Jesus, you are also connected to his people. We are now
members of a single family. We are citizens of the same kingdom. We are
connected like stones in a house. In fact, as our lives are joined together, we
become a temple. God lives among us by his Spirit – not individually, but in
the unity of our relationships. Relationships
are important to God. God’s people are completely out of step with his values
and priorities when relationships are not important to us.
Our relationships continue,
especially with the young people in our church. Starting on July 14th,
and ending July 18thy, 2019 we will gather every evening for our vacation Bible
school! We have many educational activities planned, and also time for
fun. We will meet in our church social
hall beginning at 6:30 pm and end at 8:30 pm.
Enrollment forms are available at church or by calling the church office
at 570- 868-5675. Our relationships continue, hope to see you there!
Betty Dickson
would like to thank everyone for the cards and flowers.
Janet Milliner
would like to express her sincerest Thank You from her heart for the generous
gift toward her hearing aid costs. Thank you note can be found on the bulletin
board in the bell tower.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. — Romans 1:16 (NIV)
