Reaching Heights October 2018

Reaching Heights
October 2018 

Links to this month’s news:
Worship – October theme – Prayer
Member Activity Survey – due by October 28
Second Hour – Adult Studies
Week Day Bible Study – at Juma Coffee Shop
Along the Path – Thoughts from Pastor Roger
RenewalWorks – Team Report
Missions Team Report

See the Serving Schedule
Go to the church calendar

Worship

October 7 – World Communion Sunday – Psalm 8 – Simple Prayer
October 14 – Praying in Forsakenness – Psalm 22
October 21 – Children’s Sabbath
October 28 – Finding our Call – including a special presentation by Kate Gillooly

Member Activity Survey

We’re asking everyone who is active at HCC (member or not) to fill out a Member Activity Survey. These are available in the Sunday bulletins and have been recently simplified.  Please plan to fill one out by Sunday October 28th!

Second Hour Adult Studies

Topic Study – Topic Study in October will explore different forms of prayer and how we might engage with them to nurture our life in Christ. Accompanying our worship themes, these experiential sessions will help us go deeper into communion with God. This is being offered in response to our RenewalWorks initiative, which named spiritual formation as a top priority. Each week several approaches will be offered so you can find what works best for you.  Kate Gillooly will be leading this study.

Bible Study – Join Pastor Roger as we explore the Lord’s Prayer through the lens of the six petitions it includes and bible passages that provide added insight into each petition.  This study will span both October and November.

MidWeek Bible Study

Along the Path

Many of us skate on the surface of spirituality.  There can be many reasons for that.  Fear, lack of interest, disdain for emotionality, and/or limited opportunities  may keep us from engaging deeply with our spiritual side.

Last winter’s Spiritual Life Inventory indicated that many of us desired to go deeper and the RenewalWorks Team has been meeting to keep this need in front of us and to give us tools and resources to work with on our personal spiritual journeys (see the RenewalWorks articles in this newsletter).

But we also have the opportunity to work on our spiritual selves when we gather on Sunday morning in worship and study, especially if we are intentional about it.  So over the course of this year, probably in month long segments, we are going to attempt to structure our service and 2nd hour classes in a way that will allow us to engage more deeply and grow spiritually.

Our plan is to focus our attention on each of the three movements of prayer and spirituality: inward, upward and outward.  We begin this month with the inward journey because, as Richard Foster says in his book Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, “without interior transformation the movement up into God’s glory would overwhelm us and the movement out into ministry would destroy us.”

I hope that you will come and immerse yourself in this journey as we travel together towards a richer and deeper relationship with God, each other, and all of creation.

Peace! Pastor Roger

From the RenewalWorks Team:
Spiritual Life Stages

RenewalWorks breaks down our spiritual growth as “Spiritual Life Stages.”  Icons of each stage were created as a visual to be used when a passage or an article addresses one or more of these stages.  Below is a definition of each stage and the icon representing that stage.

Exploring a Life with God
In this first state, people are taking their first steps in an intentional spiritual  journey, exploring basic beliefs and practices in the Christian tradition.  They believe in God but may not be sure who Jesus is for them.  Their faith is probably not yet a significant part of their life.

Growing a Life with God
The people in this group are more committed to their Christian faith, but still have a lot of questions.  They believe in Jesus and are working on what is means to follow him.  Their faith is closely linked to their church community.

Deepening in Life with God
This group is more dedicated to personal spiritual practices outside of the church.  They feel close to God and depends on God’s power and presence in their lives.

Life with God in the Center
For people in this fourth stage, faith is at the center of life and guides everything they do.  They may talk about giving their life to Christ or becoming his disciple.

Unsurprisingly, the surveys you responded to last spring indicated that most of us are in one of the first two stages, but one of the goals of the RenewalWorks team is to help us move on to stages three and four.  To help with that read on…

Daily Devotionals and Study Aids

Most of us are familiar with the booklets, Our Daily Bread, located in our Narthex and Campbell Room.  The RenewalWorks team developed a list of aids to assist you in your spiritual growth from pamphlets to electronic access using our computers, cell phones, Kindle, Facebook, and iPads.  All of these programs consist of daily meditations, bible studies, and spiritual blogs that are free of charge.

We will publish additional tools in future newsletters to assist with your spiritual growth.  We would also like you to share your ideas, books, and websites.   The Renewal Team is Lynda Ackerman, Rosalind Powell, Jane Troha,  Val McMillan and guided by Kate Gillooly.  We welcome your thoughts and ideas.

Suggestions for Daily Meditations and Study:

Richard Rohr Daily Meditations
cac.org

OliveTree
Olivetree.com
Pickup from Apple Store or Playstore, or Amazon for Kindle

Our Daily Bread  (PC/Mobile)
ourdailybread.org
Pick up from Apple Store or PlayStore, or Amazon for Kindle

Our Daily Bread  Book
Available at HCC  – Narthex and Campbell Room

d365
Mobile App – Pick up from Apple Store or PlayStore
(Developed for students) 

Bible Study Tools
biblestudytools.com 

from the Mission Team

On September 20th six Campbell Court residents accompanied by Joan Fronck, Val McMillian, and Andrena Jones-Sharp visited Patterson’s Fruit Farm. We were greeted by Connie, a guide who provided an exciting cheerful history of the farm. They provided us with samples of apple cider, donuts, and kettle corn. Mmm! Oh so good. After the short tour, we visited the Market. Purchases of various items were made including baked goods like fried pies, apple pies, kettle corn, and fritters. Pickles were a favorite of one person while mums guided the choice of another. There were expressions of how much the trip was enjoyable. Pictures were taken by Val.