Reaching Heights August 2018

Heights Christian Church Icon of Two Followers Lifting a CrossReaching Heights
August 2018 

Links to this month’s news:
Worship – Faces of Faith Continues
Backpack Blessing – and FUN
Along the Path – Thoughts from Pastor Roger
Retreat Report – Part 2
Youth News – Mission Trip
Book Chat

See the Serving Schedule
Go to the church calendar

Worship

This summer we are focusing our worship on ordinary people of faith in the Bible and what they might teach us.  The series wraps up Labor Day weekend.

Coming up:
August 5 – Judas – Mark 14:1-2, 10-50 – Pastor Roger preaching
August 12 – Joseph of Arimathea – Luke 23:44-56 – Rev. Moreland preaching
August 19 – Lydia – Acts 16:11-15, 40 – Pastor Roger preaching
August 26 – Eutychus – Acts 20:1-12 – Pastor Roger preaching
September 2 – Philemon – Philemon 1 – Pastor Roger preaching

Backpack Blessing and Fun!

Be sure to join us on Sunday, August 26 for our annual Blessing of the Backpacks and fun on the lawn after worship. Community members are invited too, so bring a friend! We will offer prayers for all who are beginning a new school year (as student or teacher or both!) and bless all backpacks, briefcases and book bags. See you there!

Along the Path

Last Sunday, July 29, we celebrated in grand fashion the ordination of Reverend Michele Moreland.  This was a significant event in her life and a significant event in the life of Heights Christian Church.  As far as I’ve been able to determine, it is the first ordination that has taken place at HCC and  I am grateful to have been a part of it.

I am also grateful to the many people (too many to name) who put in countless hours to make sure that we provided not only a glorious service, but the warmth and hospitality to make it a truly wonderful day for all involved.  I am grateful, but not surprised, because this is how we in our church family treat each other and the community around us.  I know that we will continue to be a place of warmth and welcome as we open our doors and reach out beyond our walls.

Peace,
Pastor Roger

The Great Spiritual Migration Retreat

As Val explained in the July Reaching Heights, several members of the congregation attended a retreat led by Brian McClaren last spring. It was an intense, long day, but was filled with interesting, challenging information and ideas for modern churches like ours.

In reflecting upon my take-aways from the retreat, one idea presented really resonated with me. McClaren challenged us to imagine making this promise every Sunday in worship, “If you become part of this community of faith, we will help you and your children become the most loving versions of yourselves that you can be.” Although those of us attending agreed that the language needed to be more inclusive of all types of individuals and families, especially those without children, we were captured by the commitment encompassed within such a promise. McClaren emphasized that the promise shouldn’t be conditional. The promise is that we will be these people! All I could think in response was “Let it be so, for me and for all of my church family.”

Jane Troha

HCC Youth Participate in Mission Trip

Several of our youth and some dedicated adult chaperones joined members of Disciples Christian Church for a mission trip to Wooster, Ohio at the end of July. Trinity United Church of Christ provided a home base and connected them with service opportunities in the Wooster area. The team helped with feeding programs, and did some landscaping at a mental health facility. After their work was done, they had some fun at an Escape Room! We are grateful for a chance to collaborate with Disciples Christian Church to provide a service learning opportunity for our youth, glad that Madison Durham, and Claire, Tommy and Billy Dunn were able to participate. We are especially grateful to Andrena Jones-Sharp and Lloyd Ackerman for providing adult leadership!

More photos from their trip:

Pop-Up Book Chat

Join us on Monday, August 13 at 7:00 pm to discuss the young adult novel All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. This book is told from the perspectives of two youth in the same town – one black, one white – as they, their families, school and community grapple with the repercussions of a single act of violence. All of Shaker seems to be reading this book in anticipation of the authors’ visit here October 1. You can pick up a book for purchase or on loan from the church office and plan to join us here Aug. 13.