STEWARDSHIP AS PURPOSEFUL GIVING
"I can only answer the question 'What am I to do?' if I can answer the prior question 'Of what story or stories do I find myself a part?'" Alisdair MacIntyre
It takes a lot longer to heal a wound than it does to inflict one. A wound left untended can fester, spread, and debilitate the one who suffers it, and it can infect future generations. There are many types of wounds--physical, emotional, psychological, economic, political, and social--and they are legion in our world.
Hurricane Katrina exposed long-standing yet often ignored wounds in our society, wounds created by the legacy of white people's enslavement of black people, enduring attitudinal and institutional racism, and persistent economic disadvantage. Despite the shocked "how could this happen in the USA?" response to the images of poor African-Americans stranded in New Orleans, was it really a surprise that they suffered the most from this disaster given our nation's unhealed race and class wounds?
Many of the homeless youth who congregate in and around our church suffer the unhealed wounds of emotional, sexual, or physical abuse. People suffer daily from wounds brought on by physical illness, emotional isolation, virulent homophobia, and religious intolerance. Inequitable distributions of power, wealth, and privilege within the web of economic, political, and social relationships that connect people near and far create wounds of injustice and oppression. On many levels and in many ways, people are hurting.
Several weeks ago, I preached a sermon suggesting that the Genesis text's claim that God created humanity in God's own image meant that God delegated power and responsibility to humanity for continuing God's creative work on earth. After God brought order to the formless void and filled it with good things, God entrusted to humanity the task of creating good order on earth and filling it with good things. However, as the Biblical drama unfolded, humanity proved either incapable or unwilling to fulfill this exalted role. Instead of creating order that was good, just, and righteous, humans introduced disorder, dysfunction, and disarray. Instead of filling creation with things that were only good in God's sight, humans also filled it with objects, systems, and ways of life that were not good. As a result, God's creation suffered many wounds.
When Jesus' announced, "the Kingdom of God is at hand," he proclaimed the healing, reconciliation, and restoration of God's creation. This included the healing, reconciliation, and restoration of humanity to its rightful place as God's image on earth. Jesus called people to follow him into a relationship with God and other people, a relationship through which God would empower people as individuals and as communities to bring healing, reconciliation, and renewal to creation. This healing, reconciliation, and renewal was good news to some, and threatening to others. Some embraced it with joy and thanksgiving, and others resisted it with deadly force.
Today, Christians in their diversity define their faith and their discipleship in a variety of ways. Fundamental to my Christian faith and discipleship is my attempt to follow Jesus into that relationship with God and other people to which he calls me, that relationship through which I receive healing, reconciliation, and renewal in my life, and through which those other people and I bring healing, reconciliation, and renewal to God's creation.
You are those other people with whom I have forged this relationship in response to Jesus' call. Together, we are The Congregational Church of Austin, United Church of Christ.
All of this bears directly on my concept of Christian stewardship. Jesus has given us the power and responsibility of keeping his vision of God's Kingdom alive on earth by proclaiming it and investing our lives into it. We are stewards of both the vision and all we have to invest in it.
In creation's current wounded condition, God calls and empowers us to create Christian communities that reflect, reveal, illustrate, demonstrate, exhibit, point to, bear witness to...the Kingdom of God in ways that are consistent with and faithful to Jesus' own revelation. We accomplish this mission to the extent that our Christian community brings tangible healing, reconciliation, and renewal to its members and to the wider world.
As I have stressed before, we don't go to church. God calls and empowers us to create the church. We create the church by investing our lives--our time, talent, energy, and resources--into the church. Christian stewardship is thus the purposeful giving of our lives to the hope-filled project of creating Christian communities that heal, reconcile, and renew God's wounded creation.
As you consider your stewardship--your purposeful giving--please reflect on how our lives are part of the Biblical drama of creation, the wounding of creation, and God's promise to bring healing, reconciliation, and renewal to creation. Reflect on how the Congregational Church of Austin UCC has addressed wounds in your life, and how it has brought healing, reconciliation, and renewal to your life. Reflect on how the church has enabled you to bring healing, reconciliation, and renewal to the lives of people in our church and the wider world. Reflect on our church's ministries to those who are sick, lonely, homeless, exploited, or oppressed.
Finally, please reflect on the prayer that I pray every week as we dedicate our offering: "Gracious God, we give you thanks for the gift of life, and for the gift of new life that we receive through the living, risen Christ. In response, we offer you our lives, and we offer you these gifts. We pray, transform them into ministries that bring your healing, reconciling love to this world."
Peace,
TOM
FROM CHRISTIAN ED
Mark your calendars for the Fall Family night, coming up on Friday, October 28, at 7:00 in the Appel Room. We will be decorating Halloween cookies and cupcakes for a bake sale fundraiser the following Sunday. Join us for some spookylicious fun!
Reminder that we still need Sunday School assistants. The sign up sheet is in the Fellowship Room. No preparation required; just be there to help the teacher and children. As you've gathered from Children's Time during the service, working with our youth promises to be spiritual, educational and entertaining!
We will start preparing for the Christmas pageant in November. If you would like to help (artwork, costuming, etc.) please contact Jennifer Howicz at 246-3753 or jhowicz@austin.rr.com.
UPDATE FROM TRUSTEES
It's budget time again and while most things go up every year, we are proposing lowering the budget for our phone bills and for our printing costs. (You'll hear more about where we need increases later!) Since we got a new copier early this year, the total costs of producing our printed materials has decreased. We now do all of the work in-house. Thank you, Trish. Additionally, we have found some unnecessary costs associated with the phone bill and we propose that we decrease that line item in the budget by $500 for 2006. On another note, our building is in need of constant maintenance and perhaps you are seeing some results of an organized Building and Grounds "committee": the latch on the women's restroom has been fixed and the ramp has been reworked to remove some dangerous bumps. The plumbing problems and water penetration problems continue to plague us, but we try to make continual progress toward resolving those problems--we call it triage!
Chairs of our Boards
Trustees: Pam Tucker
Deacons: Liz Nash
Christian Education: Jennifer Howicz
Christian Outreach: John Goff
PERSONALS
by Pat Oakes
The impact of Hurricane Katrina was strongly felt in our church community--as it has been around the country. Nodie and Dennis Murphy took in her sister Julie Nice and brother-in-law Herb Larsen who left New Orleans before Katrina hit. Nodie's mother, sister Debbie, brother and sister-in-law and their child evacuated to her brother's friend's home in Ft. Walton Beach, FL. In mid-September Julie and Herb were hoping to go back to New Orleans for a few hours to see what they could retrieve from their home and Herb's office. There was even some thought that they could go back and stay, but plans were changing daily. Dennis' father D.J., who lives with Nodie and Dennis, is undergoing treatment for cancer, so life has been very out-of-the-ordinary at the Murphy home of late.
Mathis Blackstock and Rambie Briggs (both retired doctors) worked at the Austin Convention Center providing medical care for relocated evacuees from New Orleans and other places along the Gulf Coast. Rambie reported, "It didn't seem possible that so many Americans could find themselves in a strange city. They were exhausted, frightened, hungry, thirsty, and most were overwhelmed by the events in New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina. Most of the evacuees had lost everything. Many did not even have personal identification. It was a good experience to help care for the evacuees. In spite of their fear and fatigue, most were gracious and all were grateful. The only expression of anger came from those who had been driven back into New Orleans as they tried to escape to the west bank of the Mississippi River. Their personal stories of loss and despair will not be soon forgotten. The Austin community did well by their visitors. The staff of the City of Austin, and the Red Cross were on top of things addressing the many issues of the evacuees. The CVS Drug Store people brought a large tractor trailer pharmacy to the inside of the facility. They were efficient as they provided free medications to the folks. HEB provided large amounts of medication and had their staff pharmacists there to help. Several of the pharmaceutical companies also had volunteers to help us provide appropriate medications. There were many businesses and agencies that were too numerous to mention, but they all contributed to helping the evacuees get settled. I think we all wish we could be doing more. It is likely that there will be much opportunity to do so in the future." Matt Blackstock reported that he and Rambie were called, as were many other doctors, as a part of a disaster plan through the Travis County Medical Society. There were originally about 5000 evacuees in the convention center who were being treated and placed as rapidly as possible. Matt also said that it was his first time to take care of patients in many years, but that it was very meaningful. A number of other church members helped in many ways--some at the Freescale facility where Austinites dropped off donations. Church members also put together personal hygiene kits for evacuees and made more than 50 packets. There was an extra drive to get food for the Micah 6 food pantry since there will now be a greater need for many more families.
Lisa Kirch's 78-year-old father and sister Carol are safe after a difficult time in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi. After the storm they had to evacuate to Houston and then were going to wait until electricity was restored to their area to go home. Lisa found comfort during the worst of it (when she could not reach anyone at home) in the thought that her dad was probably being someone's hero, and he was. He spent three days cutting trees and branches out of Carol's driveway so she could get into her house to see how much damage it had sustained (one small hole in her kitchen ceiling). When they ran out of water to flush the toilets, he tied a rope to a garbage can, carried it five blocks in the blazing heat to a nearby lake, filled the can, and then hauled it home. Before they left, he made arrangements for someone to finish repairs to his and Carol's homes. Lisa has asked them to come stay with her and Sarah, who never had any doubts that her grandpa would be fine. One morning Lisa accidentally left the news on while she went to brush her teeth. Lisa came back to find Sarah staring at scenes from New Orleans. "Your grandpa's okay," she said. Sarah said, "I know. But what about all the other people?"
Wil and Hulen Brown left New Orleans on the Saturday before the storm hit. Wil, the former associate South Central Conference minister--and now the pastor of Central Congregational Church in New Orleans--and Hulen first made their way to Houston and as of mid-September were in San Antonio with Wil's sister. They talked to a policeman member of their congregation who reported that there had been at least five feet of water in their house and in the church. At that time their plans for the future were uncertain.
Charles Stark reported that Slumber Falls had provided shelter for 78 folks at the peak of the evacuation Charles was contacted by an Austinite involved with local access TV who had gotten word of a large extended family which was trying to stay together in a home in Round Rock. He hit upon the idea of "Googling" church camps and came up with Slumber Falls. The staff there and the New Braunfels community and other folks soon had the lodge piled high with donations. The oldest person to come was 75, there was one pregnant woman, and a number of children and young people. Some of the evacuees were professional food service folks, so they were able to pitch right in and help with meals. Others of the folks had been traumatized by their stay in the Superdome in New Orleans, but Charles was able to enlist the aid of a psychiatrist to help those most in need. As of mid-September, the number of people who were still there was diminishing daily, and Charles thought that everyone would be placed in a more permanent situation by the end of September. Charles also reported that he and Bonnie will become first-time grandparents in February.
Back Bay Mission in Biloxi is still standing, but was flooded and looted. As of mid-September there was no word about what was going to be done about the facilities (we know it will rise again!), but thankfully, the staff managed to survive. Executive director Shari Prestemon's house was OK, but Don Morgan, the work camp director, had his apartment partially destroyed. There had not been any word on the fate of the home which our youth worked on this summer in Gulfport, but it was not near the water, so we are hoping it survived. David and Karlyn Stephens (David is the retired director of Back Bay) had a terrible time. They decided to ride out the storm in their home which had withstood Camille. There were five adults and a dog in the house--12-15 feet up on stilts and about 100 yards from the water. To make a long and terrifying story short, they had to swim from their roof to an old oak tree, tie themselves to the tree, and hang on for dear life for 9 hours. When their rescuers found them, they were 40 feet up in the tree, pretty badly battered, but all alive--including the dog. The house was destroyed.
Enough hurricane news! Rizer Everett reports that he has been quite busy this past month. He attended the retirement party of long-time friend, Dr. James Reeves, visited the Lynn Storm ranch near Dripping Springs with Natalie Kreisle, then toured with Doris Tyler the Wimberley Glass Works where the glass blower owner and his two helpers were making colorful glass goblets. His daughter, Dot, came for a four day visit on Sept. 1. As soon as she arrived, they made their way to El Rancho restaurant where she always enjoys the Tex/Mex food that she is unable to find at restaurants in Albuquerque. During her stay in Austin they had a good visit with Charles Etheridge who shared the showing, with Dot, of photographs of various members of the ancestors of the Kuehne, Wild, and Everett families. One of the interesting newspaper clippings they examined told about Rizer's grandfather, Henry Clay Rizer, who entered the Civil War at the age of 15 and retired as a Colonel after four years of service in the Union army.
Mary Blackstock is doing very well and is keeping cool also. Her hair has not grown back, but she has decided not to wear a wig. "Too darn hot," she proclaimed. She was at two recent League of Women Voters meetings and was surrounded by friends and well-wishers delighted to see her out and about.
Mel and Pat Oakes had a marvelous time at their youngest daughter Mardie's wedding to Tony Deifell at" wedding camp" the weekend of August 19-21, which was held at the Headlands Center for the Arts, an old fort now used as an arts center. It is across the Golden Gate Bridge and near Sausalito in beautiful, rustic surroundings near the Pacific Ocean. The 80 person hostel was filled to the brim with guests from near and far as was the 20 person family hostel. The rehearsal dinner was supplied by a taco truck which came up the mountain, the bride flew kites by the seashore the morning of the wedding, and there was a surprise roller skating party after the reception (Pat and Mel missed that). Daughters Sarah and Beth (and Eugene, Emily and Ethan, of course) were there as were many of the family who had been at the family reunion just weeks before. Tony's father, a pastor at First Church in Wethersfield, CT, co-officiated and pronounced them husband and wife. After a 3 day honeymoon in the Sonoma Valley, the bride and groom and 21 of their good friends spent 6 days camping at the Burning Man Arts Festival in Black Rock, Nevada--along with 25,000 other people. Ah youth!
Karl and Andrea Putz are loving being parents and watching little Murphy thrive and grow. Murphy was baptized on September 4th at the same church where they were married and where Andrea was confirmed (Christ Church UCC in Des Plaines, IL). Andrea is back at work, as is Karl--and Murphy is at day care. They report that he has already made friends. They are also looking forward to dressing him up for Halloween!
OCTOBER BIRTHDAYS
1 Ann Horner
Frances Alford
Emily Grace Knowlton
2 Gary Pickens
4 Marie Scheel
6 Kiana Pinkard
7 Catherine Hubbs
8 Samuel Jon Knowlton
10 John Burlinson
15 Marguerite White
18 Olivia Deisler
19 Beth Oakes
George Carruthers
Conrad Deisler
Don W. Brown
25 Michael Sparkman
26 Mark McCoy
COFFEE HOUR
Please sign up in the Fellowship Room to be coffee hour hosts on an upcoming Sunday. The coffee hour time is such a good opportunity to visit old friends and meet visitors. We keep coffee and ginger ale and some punch fixings in the pantry in the kitchen. There are usually paper napkins, and we use coffee mugs and punch cups to avoid wasting natural resources. Your menu can be as simple or complicated as you want. Cookies and/or chips and salsa are just fine! If you have questions, talk to Pat Oakes, Tommie Pinkard, or Lynne Lemley.
FROM THE BOARD OF DEACONS
On September 11, the Deacons hosted a meeting for prospective members. We gathered with 12 long-term friends and newcomers to the church community. The group got acquainted, shared lunch, and discussed the life of our church, the identity of the United Church of Christ, and the affirmations that we make in joining the church. We know all of you will be as delighted as our board will be to welcome those who choose to join as members.
We continue, too, to enjoy all the people who are visiting. Our need now is to continue to become more intentionally welcoming to those who are new to the church. To this end, the Deacons are renewing our welcoming ministry. We are recruiting welcomers and are looking at ways to be sure all are greeted and invited to be part of our worship and fellowship.
You will soon see an eye-catching (we hope) addition to the exterior of the church. We recently ordered a "God is Still Speaking" banner through the United Church of Christ. This will be hung outside near the fellowship hall entrance to be easily visible from 23rd Street. We have discussed this for several months, and believe it will be one more way to welcome people and let those around us know more of who we are as a faith community.
As we continue to consider ways of reaching out to those who visit and to our members, we invite and appreciate your ideas and creative thoughts.
NEW MEMBER PROCEDURES
Congregational Meeting: October 9
On October 9, we will have a Congregational Meeting to vote on proposed By-Law changes regarding the procedures our church follows in accepting new members. The proposed changes have been sent to all church members. Please make every effort to attend the Meeting.
OUTREACH ALERT
400 Voices Project
Thanks to everyone for donating school supplies for the children of the Trepca School in Stanterg, Kosova. This sister city project aims to form a cultural bridge between the children of Austin and those in Stanterg and five surrounding communities, all of which were devastated during the ethnic war in the former Yugoslavia. We gathered enough supplies for 12 backpacks, which the Sunday School children filled with great enthusiasm on September 4. A letter to the children of Trepca School from our Sunday school will accompany each backpack. We also raised $225 in cash, which will be donated directly to the 400 Voices project, and will be used toward the purchase of more major supplies, such as a computer.
STEWARDSHIP SCHEDULE FOR FALL 2005
As we have for the past few years, we are asking our church's Boards to present visions for their ministry in the upcoming year. The schedule for Board presentations is as follows:
Sunday, September 25, Christian Education
Sunday, October 2, Christian Outreach
Sunday, October 9, Deacons
Sunday, October 16, Trustees
PLEDGE SUNDAY will be Sunday, October 30
We are encouraging everyone who can pledge to pledge on this Sunday. It is incredibly important that the Budget Committee receive accurate information regarding 2006 pledged income by early November so that it can craft an accurate budget to fund our ministry for 2006. If at all possible, please offer your 2006 pledge on October 30.
Thanks you for your generous support of our church's ministry.
CHANGE THE LIFE OF AN ABUSED CHILD
Each month in Travis County there are more than 1,200 children living in foster care because of abuse and neglect. CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) of Travis County connects these innocent victims with caring individuals who want to impact and improve a child's life. A CASA volunteer can add safety, friendship, and hope for a new future to the life of an abused child - things they may have never had before.
Attend a CASA Open House to learn how you can change the life of an abused child in our community. Open House is an opportunity for you to come meet some of our staff and ask any questions you may have.
Upcoming Open House dates:
Oct. 3 and Nov. 9
All Open Houses are held from 11am - 7pm at the CASA office located at 6330 Highway 290 East. Please call for directions or visit www.casatravis.org for a map.
If you are unable to attend an Open House, please feel free to call us at 459-2272 or email us at volunteer@casatravis.org. Attending Open House is not mandatory for becoming a volunteer.
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