June/July/August 2011

Pastor's Corner

If you are reading this, then I guess Mr. Camping was wrong again; if you’re not reading this, then I guess he was right. The May 21 Judgment Day memo is the brainchild of an 89-year-old radio evangelist named Harold Camping. Using a mathematical system of his own creation to interpret obscure prophecies in the Bible, Camping originally predicted that Sept. 6, 1994, would be Judgment Day, or the day of the "Rapture" when Christian believers will ascend to heaven, leaving the rest of humanity to its deservedly dreary fate.

3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of the end
and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
it will certainly come and will not delay. (Habakkuk 2:3)

One of Aubrie’s favorite things to say is “wait for it.” I watched Marmaduke, the movie, with Aubrie, and in it the dog farts in bed and says, “wait for it” before he does it, and Aubrie just loves to say it now. Many years ago the prophet Habakkuk had the same message, just not about expelling gas. So things are bad, we can all see that, but when is it bad enough? When will God put an end to it and call the game? The Bible tells us we do not know the time, but it will come. So what do we do in the mean time? We wait for it. And while we wait, we prepare! We make sure that we are walking the path with Jesus, and then we make sure others are doing likewise. Our job as a church is to get others to join us on our journey. We do this by showing the love of Christ to all we can. We won’t do this by fighting and gossiping, but by loving. We have a job to do, and we have to do it in a way that is counter cultural. Love all, forgive all, and be at peace with all. It isn’t easy but it is required!

Brothers and Sisters the end times will come. I don’t know when, and if we are reading this, then May 21st wasn’t it. We are commissioned to be travel agents and help others as well as ourselves prepare for the trip. Ask yourself what you are doing to help this? Ask yourself what you are doing to hinder this? Increase the positive and decrease the negative. If we can do this, we will all have happy endings.

Until Sunday, Pastor Dan

Stewards

• We have a lot of plans for the summer months to keep us busy. To start we’d like to thank the ladies who weeded the flower beds a couple of weeks ago. That was a big job and it looks good. Unfortunately, with the spring we are having, we will need to have it done again and again to keep up with it. We are also looking for some donations of some perennials to pretty up the beds and so that we don’t have to keep planting. Any and all help is appreciated.

• We will be making a permanent cabinet for the sound box in the back of the sanctuary. This, when done, will match the praise band stage up front.

• We will also be working on some new storage for the Community Cupboard as it is growing in use and donations from some outside sources. You will notice the deep freezer in the fellowship hall. This was donated to us to use with the Community Cupboard so that we can also take in meats and other frozen foods to distribute.

• We are planning to have a meal or two after church to help fund some needed updates in the bathrooms. Happy eating and easier on the budget.

• A big thank you to Berlene and Rose (and anyone who helped put them up) for making the sheers for the windows in the sanctuary to help cut down on the sun glare (now we need sun to test them out).

Witness

• We had a Clothing Giveaway on May 14th. We had an amazing 200 people served that day! What a blessing it was. We also gave out 8 Bibles to some children who came with their parents. They were truly excited to receive a Bible of their own, and we were just as excited to give them out. We also opened up the Community Cupboard to several in need. We are hoping to set up two more giveaways in the summer. The first will be June 25th and the second will be August 13th when the garden starts to produce its harvest.

• The next Community Meal is set for June 18th serving from 4-7. This is being advertised on Craigslist, in the Brook Park Memorial school newsletter, as well as at the clothing giveaway in May. This meal will be a cookout. The sign up is going around for helpers and donations.

• The next project is going to be lunches in the summer for neighborhood children. There is a need in this area for a program as there are many children in the Brook Park schools who receive breakfast and lunch at school and then have nothing during the summer months. We would like to fill that gap and feed our children. Margi Jay will head up this summer project. It will be from June 14-Aug 18 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:30-1pm serving. All three Brook Park schools will be notified. Parents are also invited to stay with their children and eat. There will be fliers passed out inviting them to VBS in August as well.

• For the past month in between the raindrops the Helping Hands have been building a ramp for Pat Cronan. They have worked hard and enjoyed the camaraderie. Bless them.

Nurture

• We have a couple of semi-quiet months ahead of us. However, we are planning to continue Cans for Cookies through the summer months. This means cookie hours will continue and we are asking for help with baked goods (maybe more pastries for morning time in July and August, than the usual cookies). June 5th is the next cookie hour.

• Summer worship hours begin on June 12th. Worship will begin at 9:20 am with announcements and this will hopefully allow us to be out before the summer sweltering heat hits.

• Father’s Day is June 19th and we will recognize our dads as we did our moms for all the love they give to us.

• On July 10th Brook Park Home Days ends their weekend with fireworks and we will have our annual picnic in the back yard of the church to fellowship together and watch the fireworks. Please bring your own meat and dish to share as well as your table ware and lawn chairs to sit on.

Christian Education

• After reviewing more than a dozen applications and conducting four interviews, the Christian education commission and Pastor Dan have agreed upon a candidate for the Youth Minister position to present to board. This will take place at the 5/17/2011 board meeting.

• Sunday School continues to go very well. We have decided to continue Sunday School in the Summer, in the form of a single combined-ages class, meeting at the normal time during worship. Sunday School will revert back to the current a two-class model again in the Fall.

• During worship on the last Spring-schedule Sunday, the CEC will recognize all of the children who have participated in Sunday School this calendar year and all of the teachers who have volunteered their time. Additionally, new high school and college graduates will be recognized. If you know of anyone in the church who is graduating, please let someone on the CEC know!

• VBS curriculum (Inside Out and Upside Down on Mainstreet) has been ordered. VBS will be held from August 7th-11th, from either 5:00PM – 7:30PM or 5:30PM – 8:00PM, depending on what works best for the volunteers and attendees. Parents and volunteers, please mark your calendars – it’s going to be a blast!

Deacons

• The Deacons are now in the discernment process for three new deacons. Their term is for 4 years with 3 coming off each year. Their new year begins on July 1st. Please keep the deacons in prayer as they go through this process for you.

From My Desk To Yours - Karen

Well, American Idol and Dancing with the Stars are over for the summer. A couple of let downs as far I’m concerned, but life goes on. I also randomly/intermittently watched The Biggest Loser this season. I was impressed. Not only was this a show about changing lives for the better, mentally and physically, it was a show about working together for everyone’s benefit. Weekly they had to choose who would go home, and they honestly agonized about it. Sometimes contestants purposely gained a pound or two to be forced off to save another from going home. They seemed to be there to help each other. It was not every man for himself. What an amazing concept to help each other out. The end result was also not a popularity contest with America voting; it was each person’s gain (well loss actually) that got them where they were. The one who won was there because she had truly changed herself for the better, for herself and her family. But they were all winners on that show; no one came away unchanged. They were all healthier and happier with themselves. Why can’t that be the way we all live-helping each other win and winning to make a change for the better in our lives. Why do we have to vote for the prettiest and the most popular when we can work together and all be winners?

April/May 2011

Pastor's Corner

Ezekiel 37 is one of my favorite Old Testament stories. Ezekiel finds himself in the middle of a dry land full of bones. No life to be found, void of hope and a future. What a lonely place that must have been, and how depressing! I mean if we are honest with ourselves there are times in our lives and careers when we feel as if we also have been dumped into the valley. We sit in meeting after meeting at work with new, fresh ideas and all we get in response is “no way, that won’t work, you’re crazy, we have never done it that way before.” Or maybe your relationship has led you to the valley where you always do the same things over and over again, never trying anything new and exciting. It is a tough place to be when you’re looking for life, and want to live life. However, unfortunately, we are too often surrounded by those who would rather die in comfort, than live with change and uncertainty. For sure, life is often scary and out of control, and there is nothing more controlled than just lying there dead. God wants to show Ezekiel and you and me that there is nothing in that valley that glorifies Him. He has to come and breathe His Spirit into the dead bones to bring them to life, and then and only then is He glorified.

Brothers and Sisters lately we have seen God’s breath breathing new life into our church. We have seen many new faces in worship, we have seen many new programs proposed and started, and we have even seen a proposal for a new building. This is scary stuff for those who are happy with the status quo and the way things used to be. I mean new people sit in our seats and we may have to find a new seat or rudely ask them to move, in which case we won’t see many new people. New programs mean new ways of thinking and doing, and that is scary. On top of all that there are these crazy folks out there talking about a new building; don’t they know we are fine the way we are? I don’t mean to be flippant, but I think if you take a step back and look with Christ-like eyes, you will see Ezekiel’s story. We can choose to be bones or we can choose to be alive.

If we were to take a hard look at church history and our church’s history, we would see that our Christian ancestors had to make some radical changes in the way they did things or we wouldn’t be here today. When Sunday school was first proposed, the Church at large thought it was crazy and it would never last. When music was first introduced, the same reaction occurred. When single men and woman were allowed to sit together in worship, some thought the end had come. If we were to go back in time and worship and run church the way we do now, we would have been thrown out of the church. Make no mistake, things have changed over the years and they will continue to change. If we stop growing and changing, then we die. Is that what we want?

In closing I would like to quote theologian Richard E. Byrd, “give wind and tide a chance to change.” You may just find yourself liking the new ways, and in a few years they will be the old, comfortable ways.

Until Sunday, Pastor Dan

Stewards

• We are looking into the prices of the materials to build a platform for the praise band and their instruments.

• Another event in the works for Stewards is an after church dinner fundraiser to help cover the costs to re-vamp the bathrooms. We will be looking to repaint the walls, retile the floors, and replace the toilets.

• With spring just around the corner, weather-wise, we will be looking for help with cleaning the yard waste and soon we will be back to mowing the lawn.

• The copier in the office has been replaced. As many of you remember, we had no bulletins a few weeks ago due to the old copier finally dying of old age. The new copier can do what needs to be done, but we do ask that you ask for help in making copies as there are settings that need to be changed with each type of copy made.

Witness

• The Clothing Giveaway was on March 19th. We were pleased to serve 101 adults and 8 children. This is the most we have had for our one day giveaways. Blessings to all who helped.

• The next Community Meal is set for Saturday, April 16th from 4 to 7pm. The set up and cooking time will begin at noon that day. If you know of anyone who would benefit from coming that day, please pass along the information. Please ask them to call the church on Tuesdays or Thursdays from 8-11am to leave a name and number of those coming.

• We continue to have fundraisers for the Camp Scholarship Fund. We will be selling Easter Candy this month to build the fund. We will also be doing the Easter breakfast this year instead of the Youth Group. Our goal is for us to be able to send any and all of our kids to camp this summer, based on desire to go not on need of assistance.

Nurture

• Easter is soon with us.

• We will be soon passing out Flower Order Forms. We have always decorated the front of the sanctuary with beautiful spring flowers and this year will be no different.

• We have already shared the service of Ash Wednesday together and begun the season of Lent. The season continues this month as we head to Palm Sunday, April 17th which is the beginning of Holy Week. During Worship on Palm Sunday we will be having baptism of the Youth who have chosen to join the church family membership. On Thursday, April 21 at 7pm we will come together to celebrate Love Feast with feet washing and communion. On Friday there will be a Choir cantata and scripture readings with communion for Good Friday Service which is also at 7pm. There will also be a service on Holy Saturday, April 23rd at 7pm. This is a candle service of the extinction of the light.

• This leads us to Easter Sunday, the Service of Light! SonRise service will be at 8am followed by breakfast. Easter Worship Service is at 10:20.

Christian Education

• The CE commission has finalized the job description for the Youth Minister position. It is now posted both on the church website (brookparkbrethren.org) and in the narthex. If you know of anyone who might be interested in the position, please forward this information to them.

• We are looking for adults interested in helping out with planning and fundraising for the Jr. and Sr. High Youth, as members of the new Youth Support Team. This group will plan and direct the youth fundraising efforts (for NYC, trips, etc.), will coordinate transportation and chaperoning for youth events, and at least one representative from the YST will attend the second half of each of the Sunday afternoon youth meetings. Please let Matt, Meredith, or Tammy know if you are interested.

• The first few weeks of the new Sunday School schedule have gone very well, and overall attendance is up. Youth meeting attendance and Soteria service attendance are also increasing. Thank you to all of the teachers, helpers, and nursery staff for sharing your gifts.

• Bibles for the children and youth who had not yet received one were ordered and distributed. If you did not receive one and would like one, please let us know.

• Pastor Dan’s baptism class is currently underway and going well.

Deacons

• The book cart will be wheeled out weekly in to the vestibule. Check out the books for some great reading. Donations are accepted too.

• The Deacons are ready to start the process of nominations for new deacons. Every year three deacons come off and three new go on for a four year term beginning July 1st. Please take a few minutes and fill out a form with up to three names to call to be deacons. The forms must be completed by May 15th.

Other Important Tidbits

• Offering Envelopes-If you'd like your own box of offering envelopes, please call or see Margi Jay.

• Recycling-You know helping make the Earth a greener place is near and dear to my (Margi’s) heart. Perhaps you have noticed the green and yellow dumpsters in the school and city parking lots. You can put all your newspapers, junk mail, magazines, phone books, (yes, they take them now), and lightweight cardboard (ex: cereal boxes, granola bar boxes, anything not corrugated). The city has 2 dumpsters in the football field parking (across from city hall) lot where you can take heavyweight cardboard. They are marked cardboard only. You will notice your amount of trash drop significantly if you recycle all your paper and cardboard.

• Brethren Disaster Ministries is supporting Church World Service with its relief efforts in Japan. If you feel called to donate gifts of money you can go online at www.brethren.org/emergencydisasterfund or send donations to
Emergency Disaster Fund 1451 Dundee Ave
Elgin, IL 60120

From My Desk To Yours - Karen

I was out of the office most of the week of St. Patrick’s Day, and when I came for choir practice, imagine my surprise to see the whole flower bed outside the office window filled with purple crocuses already up and blooming. What a beautiful treat that was. Living in the Cleveland area, we have learned that Spring comes when it is ready, calendar or not. When it does finally really arrive, we are blessed to see the beauty of color and songs of birds. When it seems like we just can’t take anymore of the cold, and we are tired of being isolated from everyone, that small flower of faith pops up, and we are renewed. The change in us is as visible as the change in the earth around us. May the spring blessings find us all.

January/February/March 2011

Pastor's Corner

1 Corinthians 10:13

13” No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

As I write this I have just left the emergency room with my wife in a leg brace and on crutches after she fell and badly hurt her knee. We will be seeing an orthopedic surgeon today to see if surgery is needed. This event comes at the most inopportune time. You see I’m still recovering from back surgery with one more on the way in a few days; I’m also trying to overcome a cough that won’t go away. Harmony is scheduled for a procedure to help with some preexisting issues the day after my second back surgery. Aubrie has a stomach virus that keeps coming and going, and she just started a new gym class. My mother is scheduled for knee replacement surgery. Just to add one more issue to this already chaotic situation, my jeep developed some issues while trying to get Harmony to the emergency room after her fall. Sounds like a bad joke doesn’t it? However I’m still waiting for the punch line!

1 Corinthians 10:13 can be translated in a couple of different ways. The one that is most common talks of temptation; however, the word “tempted” in Greek can also mean “tested”. This is the scripture where we get the all-familiar saying, “God will not put more on you than you can handle.” You can see where I’m going with this I’m sure. As a pastor, I encounter folks everyday who have been dumped on such as we have in the last few weeks, some even more so. Maybe you’re one of those people who read my story and say “that isn’t anything let me tell you about my life.” We all have these stories; we have all lived or are living through these trials. When these things over take us, we find ourselves thinking, “Lord how much more do You think I can take?” My favorite has always been, “Lord I wish You didn’t have so much faith in what I can handle” or I think “You may have misjudged my testing threshold.” It is overwhelming what we find ourselves in all of a sudden, and we just don’t see how we are going to get out of it. I caution on asking God what next, for when I do so there always seems to be an answer that I don’t like.

So how do we survive? How will my family and I ever get through this? I mean not just the problem of trying to be ten places at once, but what if Harmony has to miss a lot of work; what then? And if I dare say it what if something else happens?

Have you ever felt this way? I know you have, we all have. It is crazy, it is overwhelming, and it is so out of control. I believe that is the issue most at hand; it is out of control! Whose control? My control! Now we see the issue don’t we?

In Matthew 4:35-41 the disciples find themselves in an out of control situation. Jesus had asked them to set sail on the sea, and He decided to take a nap. The problem is that while He was sleeping, a terrific storm kicked up and the disciples thought they were going to drown. Sound familiar? I can relate. I feel like I’m going to drown in all this stuff I’m in right now. The funny thing is Jesus is still sleeping like a baby. Now let me paint a picture for you if I can. This wasn’t a luxury cruise liner of a boat; this was a raft with open sides and a shallow hull. It was the kind of boat that you would see two lovers taking across a calm pond to watch the stars. However this was a storm in the middle of the sea with no land in sight with waves bigger than the boat and lots and lots of water. Did I mention that Jesus was asleep? The disciples woke Jesus in panic and asked what to do. I can imagine Jesus slowly stretching and rubbing his eyes, kind of like Aubrie when I have to wake her in the middle of the night, awake but not quite with not a care in the world. Jesus looked around, saw the storm and asked why they were frightened. You have to be kidding me, right! Jesus looks at my situation and asks me why I’m stressed. Is He that disconnected with my life? He doesn’t have a clue! But just as the disciples had to have been asking the same questions, Jesus raised His hand and the storm vanished. He then asked the disciples why they were so afraid and did they still lack faith.

I have to be honest; my faith is wavering at this moment. I know it could be a lot worse, but you have to admit this is pretty bad. Harmony and I had to discuss scheduling of surgeries and possible reschedule, and we sounded like old people in the emergency room. However, I know just like in the past when life has overtaken us, God will see us through. We will look back at this and laugh and wonder what we were ever stressed about. Psalm 30 says, “…although pain may come by the night, joy comes in the morning”. The morning can’t come fast enough.

Until Sunday, Pastor Dan

Stewards

*We have many projects in the works right now. To begin, at the end of this month, on Jan 28-29, we are planning on scrubbing and waxing the fellowship hall floor. We can use any help offered, especially to move the items out of the hall.

*We will also be removing and cutting up the old and broken pews that are in the hall.

*In the ladies bathroom the floor tiles need to be replaced and we are also looking to replace the toilets as they are old and use a lot of water. New efficient toilets will reduce the water consumption and lower our water bills a bit.

*Next on the list to be replaced are the tables in the Sunday School rooms. They are very old and sagging.

*The big job/improvement we hope will be replacing the projector screen in the sanctuary and mounting the new one permanently to the front wall which will eliminate the cluttered look in the front by the altar.

Witness

*On February 12th we will be offering the first of many free community dinners. This first dinner will be Italian fare and will be served from 3:30-6:30pm. We are asking for reservations so we have a head count. There will be cap of 150 people to be served, so a phone call and reservations are necessary. Please spread the word to any you feel would benefit from this dinner. The next dinner will be on April 16th. The information so far has been put out to the families in the Berea School System. If you can help with set up, serving, clean up or donation for these meals see Jan Skinner and Alice Ramser who are in charge of the kitchen.

*We are collecting clothes still for the next clothing giveaway, set for March 19th from 9-2pm. The set up will be Friday, March 18th from 5-7pm. A new side on the clothing giveaways-if anyone does a lot of traveling and would like to, we would like to offer the hotel hygiene products at the giveaways. If you don’t use these products but can take them anyway we can put them out as well to help. These can also go into the community cupboard.

Nurture

*We’d like to start by thanking everyone who stayed and helped undecorated the church after the Christmas season ended. Many hands make light work.

*Cookie hours continue the first Sunday of each month. If you would like to help and bake cookies/bakery, please see anyone on Nurture.

*This is a slow month for us, but things will be changing soon as Lent begins in just a month.
We will be hosting The Ecumenical Ash Wednesday service this year on March 9th. Then the Easter season begins a few short weeks later.

*The new sound system is in place and there are still a few kinks to work out, but we can hear everything now. We are looking to also purchase four wireless portable speakers to mount in the fellowship hall and the nursery room since the new system does not work with those old speakers. The system itself is paid for, 80% coming from grant monies and the remaining from our Memorial Funds. We thank everyone who helps with the working of this each Sunday.

Christian Education

Membership Classes –
*We have decided to separate membership and baptism classes. The membership classes will focus mostly on the denomination’s history and beliefs, while the baptism classes will also include a large focus on personal faith.
*We would like to get a class going in the next month or two. Please contact Pastor Dan if you would like to become a member or be baptized.

Vacation Bible School –
*We are beginning the process of selecting VBS curriculum.
*VBS will be held August 7-11, 2011.
*Please check your calendar, as we will start looking for volunteers soon! We will have 3-4 planning meetings for the volunteers, starting in late spring.

Youth Minister –
*The Christian Education commission is working with Pastor Dan to put together a detailed job description for a new youth minister position, focusing on the Junior and Senior High youth. We feel that engaging the youth is crucial, so we are open to filling this position from inside or outside our Church body. In any case, the youth minister would need to be vetted and approved by Pastor Dan, the executive board, and any other church leadership required by our bylaws.

Sunday School –
*In early spring, youth and children’s Sunday School will undergo some exciting changes! Pre-worship Sunday School attendance is variable and low, which makes it difficult for teachers to plan lessons. Also, we have many more children attending Children’s Church than Sunday School. Therefore, we will eventually be moving children’s Sunday School to take the place of Children’s Church (during worship).
*Pre-K through 2nd grade will be in one class, and 3rd through 5th grade will be in another. We are currently looking at using the Brethren Press’ “Gather Round” age-specific curriculum for these classes. We will be working with the teachers to navigate these changes.
*The Junior and Senior High youth will each be combining their Sunday School with Youth Group meetings. This is still in the planning stages, but one idea is to have Junior High (6th-8th grade) youth meet on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month from 4:15-6:15pm, and the Senior High (9th-12th grade) youth meet on the 2nd and 4th Sundays, also from 4:15-6:15pm. Meetings, led by the youth minister, would include bible study, a focus on personal faith, team-building, service, and of course fun! The youth would then have the option of staying for the potluck meal (6-7pm) and Soteria service (7-8pm). The evening service would be an awesome place for our youth to get plugged in!
*Please note that these plans have not yet been implemented, and the current Sunday School/Youth Group schedules are still in effect. We will update you when the switch is made.

Deacons

*We are excited to see new families attending church with us. Please join us in welcoming them into our church family.

*We also have seen steady use of the community cupboard this winter. Please continue to bring in donations. Always needed are cans of heat and eat soups and stews, rice and noodle packets, peanut butter, etc. Particularly needed are cereals, boxed or instant foods, baby foods, feminine products, personal hygiene products, and of course money.
On behalf of the deacon body, thanks and God Bless.