News From Back Bay Mission

Back Bay Mission is a United Church of Christ-related mission agency providing emergency support to those who are homeless and poor in East Biloxi, Mississippi. The following is the most recent message from its director speaking about the impact of the Katrina on Biloxi.

Aug. 30, 2005
Dear Friends -
Over the last few days your messages of care and concern have poured in by email, and in some cases by phone. Thank you. It has been a stunning reminder of the power of God to hold us together even when the very fabric of our lives is being ripped apart.
Indeed that is how this experience of Hurricane Katrina feels... as if everything has been ripped to shreds --- homes, landscapes, and hearts. I have never experienced such a thing before, and feel inadequate to the challenge that lies before me personally and before Back Bay Mission as a ministry. But I am strengthened and humbled by your embracing love and your offers of help and funds.

(Read the full message here: http://www.ucc.org/disaster/u083005.htm)

YOUTH GROUP NEWS

September Events

Sunday, September 11 YOUTH RALLY
6:00 to 8:00 PM at the HILL CHURCH
Get together with old friends and welcome new members. Meet with Youth Group Leaders and hear about plans for the new year. Bring $2 for pizza supper and your retreat registration.

Sunday, September 18 CAR WASH AND BAKE SALE
This is our big fundraiser for our Fall Retreat so we need your help!
11:30 to 1:00PM at the Hill Church

September 30- October 2 FALL RETREAT AT CAPE COD
REGISTRATION FORMS WILL BE MAILED ON SEPTEMBER 2.

A Prayer by John Thomas

Prayer after Katrina

John Thomas, UCC General Minister and President, offers a prayer for use in UCC congregations in the wake of Hurricane Katrina

Aug. 30, 2005

Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light
Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.

- Be present, O God, with those who are discovering that loved ones have died, that homes and jobs are gone. Embrace them in your everlasting arms.

- Be present, O God, with those who suffer today in shelters, hot and weary from too little sleep and too much fear. Let them know they are not alone.

- Be present, O God, with those who wonder what they will find when they return to homes battered by wind and engulfed by flood. Teach them to hope.

- Be present, O God, with those who have not been able to reach loved ones, who are frantic with worry. Offer them consolation.

- Be present, O God, with those who have hardly recovered from last year’s storms, who are unsure how much they can bear, who yearn only for quiet. Grant them peace.

- Be present, O God, with all who respond - mayors, police, firefighters, FEMA employees, Red Cross workers, pastors, church disaster response coordinators. Their work is just beginning, and will not end for many months. Strengthen them for service.

- Be present, O God, with the people of the United Church of Christ in storm damaged areas, and especially with the staff and clients of the Back Bay Mission in Biloxi where we fear so much has been damaged. Inspire us by their determination to care for others amid their own trials.

- Be present, O God, to each of us as we pray, that distance may not deter us from generous giving and enduring companionship. Help us remember tomorrow, and next week, and next month.

- Be present, O God, with all affected by Hurricane Katrina. May Immanuel, God with us, our precious Jesus, take every hand and lead us home. Amen.

John H. Thomas
General Minister and President
United Church of Christ
August 30, 2005

Hurricane Response

Emergency Appeal From Church World Service

Hurricane Katrina

08-29-2005

Appeal Number: 6280

Appeal Amount: $300,000

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Situation Report

With winds of 145 miles per hour and blinding rain, Hurricane Katrina slammed onto the Louisiana coast near Grand Isle this morning as a powerful Category 4 storm and headed north, narrowly missing a direct hit on New Orleans while pounding the Mississippi coastline where 15-20-foot storm surges were predicted. The storm also hammered the Alabama coastline and affected beaches into the Florida panhandle. The National Hurricane Center projected Katrina would turn towards the northeast and continue wrecking havoc ( although progressively weakening) through Mississippi, northwest Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and possibly even western New York.

In southeast Louisiana, some 370,000 customers were without power. In New Orleans where an estimated 80 per cent of the population of 485,000 evacuated, the potential of a 15-foot storm surge which could compromise levies that protect the below-sea-level city caused concern about extensive flooding. As Katrina moved beyond the coastline, inland Mississippi residents as far north as Jackson and Meridian braced for heavy rain and hurricane-force winds. In south Florida where Katrina made its first landfall last week as a Category 1 storm, 314,000 residential and business customers remained without power and officials estimated insured damages as high as $2 billion

RESPONSE

This week Church World Service (CWS) Disaster Response and Recovery Liaisons (DRRLs) are meeting with Federal Emergency Management Agency officials and partners in state Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOADs) via telephone conferences to identify:

-Material resource needs which CWS can help address through Gifts of the Heart Kits, Tools of Hope blankets, and other aid.
-Storm-affected areas where they will focus on facilitating development of long-term recovery organizations to assist vulnerable populations that will face unmet needs. (Based on its work in disasters affecting a comparable geographic area and knowledge of disaster experience in the affected area, CWS estimates as many as 20 recovery organizations may be organized and supported in Louisiana, Mississippi, northwest Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky.)

Deployment of DRRLs is scheduled for early next week to targeted areas where long-term recovery organizing work will be required:

-Lura Cayton to Louisiana
-Lesli Remaly to Mississippi
-Tim Johnson, if needed, to northwest to Alabama

Over the course of its response, CWS anticipates multiple DRRL deployments-- as many as 11 in just Mississippi and Louisiana (where need is anticipated to be the greatest and work will go on simultaneously in different areas) and Alabama alone. CWS may also deploy DRRLs to Tennessee and Kentucky where it will closely monitor effects of Katrina's impact as a potentially serious tropical storm. In other states affected by Katrina, including Florida where its DRRLs helped more than 40 communities develop capacity in long-term recovery during the 2004 hurricane season, CWS will respond on request.

Emergency Appeal

CWS is issuing this initial appeal for $300,000 (#6280- Hurricane Katrina Response) to support shipments of Gifts of the Heart Kits and other material aid as required, support long-term recovery organizing work of DRRLs, and provide seed grants to long-term recovery organizations as they are established.

Contributions to support these efforts may be sent to your denomination or directly to:

Church World Service
Hurricane Katrina Response -- #6280
P.O. Box 968
Elkhart, IN 46515

Contributions may also be made by credit card by calling: (800) 297-1516, ext. 222, or online at www.churchworldservice.org.

For further information about disasters to which Church World Service is responding please visit us online or call the CWS Hotline, (800) 297-1516.

CWS Emergency Response Program special contacts: (212) 870-3151

International: dderr@churchworldservice.org

Domestic: mailto:lreedbrown@churchworldservice.org

Jamie's Column, September 2005

Think back for a moment on why you chose to make this church your church home. When you went "church shopping," so to speak, what made you return to our church? Was it the preaching, the music, the church school and youth programs, or something else?

Last year the Gallup Organization asked a representative sample of church members how satisfied they were with their church life as well as about what factors contribute to a healthy church. They also asked why respondents joined or left particular churches. The results of the study aren't particularly surprising, but they are intriguing. In short, the most satisfied church members in America worship at places where they feel like they belong, where they are valued and appreciated, and where friendship flourishes. A particular church may not measure up to all the ideals of a "perfect church," but in the end people choose a church where they feel welcomed and loved, where people smile and remember their names. One person summarized the overall findings of the survey saying, "We are largely satisfied because ours is a connected congregation. It is a church where friendliness is rightly esteemed as a modern-day form of Christian hospitality and where relationships based on Christian friendship and love are promoted and nurtured."

I say those findings are not surprising because I think we all realize that people are drawn to friendly places. Building connectivity and a sense of community is what Christian ministry is all about. It's foundational to everything else we do as a church. But it's probably good to remind ourselves of that truth from time to time and especially at the beginning of a new church season. So, as we prepare to return to church on Homecoming Sunday, September 11, come prepared to connect with other and share the gift of friendship. And human friendship, remember, is a lot like a relationship with God. In fact, extending friendship, one person at a time, is what Jesus invites us to do. Hope to see you in church on September 11.

In God's peace,

Jamie

P.S. Key Findings of the Gallup study include the following:

Respondents who report they are very satisfied with their current church...

§have a best friend at church (87%)

§attend church weekly (86%)

§report "the spiritual leaders of my congregation seem to care about me" (84%)

§have eaten a meal with people in their congregation in the last year (77%)

What might these findings suggest for you? Bring a good friend to church. Do it regularly. Make friends with your pastor, church staff, and deacons. Come to the progressive dinner we will be holding this fall. Or, if you can't wait for that, simply invite your church friends to a dinner party! Spread friendship all around you. It's good for your church health.

Weekly Bible Study

First Congregational Church, Woodstock CT

Fall 2005 Tuesday mornings, 10:30-12:00 p.m.

We invite you to a weekly Bible Study on Tuesday mornings in the John Eliot Library. We will begin with a brief time of worship and prayer, then study the scripture lessons for the coming Sunday. By "study" we mean not just understanding the Bible better, but experiencing scripture in a way that transforms our living. Our goal is to enable each other to move toward the sacred possibilities inherent in each one of us by listening for God's word together on numerous levels.

During the fall the selected passages encourage us to reflect on what it means to be the church Jesus invites us to be...the Body of Christ in the world, called by Christ to acts of mercy and justice. As individual followers, we are called to discover the meaning of our discipleship within this community of faith.

During this season, we listen to exhortations, encouragement, stories, and letters from Matthew and Paul. Both are writing to and through three very early Christian churches. Concerns of love, war, peace, work, relationships, health, and God are all included. Through the words of Matthew and Paul-- originally intended for the Christian communities at Antioch (possibly the church of Matthew's community), Philippi, and Thessalonica we receive wisdom to guide our lives as the church today.

Date	Scripture focus
Sept 13	Philippians 1:21-30
Sept 20	Philippians 2:1-13
Sept. 27	Philippians 3:4b-14
Oct 4	Philippians 4:1-9
Oct 11	1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Oct 18	1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Oct 25	1 Thessalonians 2:9-13
Nov 1	1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Nov 8	1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
Nov 15	Matthew 25:31-46

Stewardship Plans 2005-2006

At the Church Council meeting on June 10, it was decided to conduct our annual stewardship campaign to enlist the financial support of members and friends for the work of our church next year after, not before the congregation adopts a budget at the 2006 annual meeting.  Traditionally, September and October are the months we are encouraged to make pledges indicating our intended giving for the coming year.  This invitation coincides with the development of the budget for the coming year, and it is not until the annual meeting in January that the whole congregation has a clear understanding of the financial needs of the church. By that time, however, the level of anticipated income is also set, so the actual church budget (and the variety of needs it represents) can’t help members determine their level of giving.

This coming year the congregation will approve the 2006 budget at the Annual meeting on January 22.  January 29, 2006 will be our Stewardship/Commitment Sunday when we will invite member and friends to make pledges to support the budget approved on the previous Sunday.  We hope this Sunday will be a festive occasion! (Weather permitting, of course.)  Follow-up calls will be made through February with weekly reporting to the congregation.  A concluding report and celebration is planned for February 26, 2006.  How we will make the transition between 2005-2006 with this new schedule has not yet been worked out.  We will undoubtedly send out envelopes to everyone encouraging members to continue giving at their 2005 level as they are able.  We are hoping this new approach will give all of us a better understanding of the financial needs of the church and a willingness to support them.

This does not mean that the fall season will be free of stewardship concerns, however.  Our plan includes five goals.  Those goals for 2005-06 will be:

Plan a stewardship program that is exciting and conveys a sense of urgency.

Develop a vision for our church that is widely shared by members of the congregation.                     A special all-church gather will be held on Saturday, September 24, to develop that vision.  Mark the date on your calendar now.

We aim to increase our donor base by reaching out to inactive and new members.

We will regularly inform our membership about the financial needs of our church and emphasize the privileges and responsibilities of stewardship each month. Along with this regular reporting, we recommend that the 2006 budget be presented and approved before our annual stewardship campaign.

We will develop a Stewardship Campaign and Commitment Sunday that involves as many members as possible.

A late summer meeting of our Stewardship Taskforce will be held on August 24 at 7:30 p.m.  If you would like to assist with new approach to inspiring generous giving in our church please plan to be there.  If you have questions about any of this, give Ruth Healy a call—928-9410.  You will be hearing more about all of this in September and throughout the fall.

 

All Are Welcome

 

Hymn:  Words by Marty Haugen

 

Let us build a house where love can dwell

and all can safely live,

a place where saints and children

tell how hearts learn to forgive.

Built of hopes and dreams and visions,

rock of faith and vault of grace;

here the love of Christ shall end divisions:

Refrain: All are welcome, all are welcome,

all are welcome in this place.

 

Let us build a house where prophets speak,

and words are strong and true,

where all God’s children

dare to seek to dream God’s reign anew.

Here the cross shall stand as witness

and as symbol of God’s grace;

here as one we claim the faith of Jesus: Refrain.

 

Let us build a house where love is found

in water, wine and wheat:

a banquet hall on holy ground

where peace and justice meet.

Here the love of God, through Jesus,

is revealed in time and space;

as we share in Christ the feast that frees us: Refrain.

 

Let us build a house where hands will reach

beyond the wood and stone

to heal and strengthen, serve and teach,

and live the Word they’ve known.

Here the outcast and the stranger

bear the image of God’s face;

let us bring an end to fear and danger: Refrain.

 

Let us build a house where all are named,

their songs and visions heard

and loved and treasured,

taught and claimed as words within the Word.

Built of tears and cries and laughter,

prayers of faith and songs of grace:

let this house proclaim from floor to rafter: Refrain.

Jamie's Column July 2005

If God wants something, he will provide a way.

I don't know who said that, but that simple phrase has reoccurred in my dreaming and thinking recently. It is both a challenge and a source of comfort and hope. On the challenge side, that statement reminds me that God does have an intention for my life and the life of our world. God, I believe, wants something of me. God wants to be in relationship with me. God wants me to be guided by the example of Jesus in my relationships with others. God wants me to enjoy the fullness of life (a fully human life) revealed by the life of Jesus. And what he wants for me, he wants for all of us. God also, wants, I believe, a world where justice and peace are the norm--a world where "the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." When I take an inventory, therefore, of my own life, and the current state of affairs of the world, if God wants something God has lots of work to do. And I do too. That simple statement, "If God wants something, he will provide a way," means that I need to dig deeper to discern what God wants. And that will always be a challenge.

On the other hand, that statement reminds me that I don't have to do it all myself. I have to admit that there are occasions in the vocation of ministry when it is easy to become dispirited and discouraged. I suppose the same could be said for most other vocations as well. There always seems to be a large gap between our ideal expectations and reality. Time for all of us is at a premium and there never seems to be enough of it to get it all done. We never seem to have enough money. The plans we make crash and burn when life intervenes, as it always does. At the end of some days I look back and wonder just where I have been. It's hard to measure progress when your job is to announce the reality that the kingdom of heaven has drawn near. How do you measure something like that?

But then I realize, I don't have to do it all by myself. If God wants something, God will provide a way. God is in this crazy, mixed up world, and in each of our lives in hidden, but powerful, ways. I find that a liberating notion. I’m not in charge here. God is.

In the less frantic and more laid-back days of summer that notion is something that is easier for me to internalize and celebrate. May it be that way for you too, as you seek to discover Go's intentions and do them. God certainly wants something, and that something may just be, "Relax!"

In God's peace,

Jamie