Reaching Heights October 2019

Reaching Heights October 2019

Links to this month’s news:

WORSHIP AND STUDY
“Do Justice” Worship in October
After Worship:
* 10/6 2nd Hour – Worship & Wonder – Apples for Sale
* 10/13 2nd Hour – Holy Currencies
* 10/20 Extended Fellowship Time – Circle the City event
* 10/27 2nd Hour – Ending Child Poverty
Mid Week Bible Study – the Odd Couple continues

FROM THE STAFF
Along the Path – Thoughts from Pastor Roger
Kate’s Cogitations

MISSION TEAM UPDATES
Worship Themes – From the Worship Ministry Team
Mission Ministry Team Report
Holy Currencies – from the Administration Team

UPCOMING EVENTS
HCC Work Day – October 5
Pub(lic) Theology – October 15
Community Meal – October 19
Circle the City – October 20
Halloween Candy Collection – November 1-8

PAST EVENTS
100 Mile Potluck
Community Witness and Worship

OTHER NEWS
Prayer List Requests

See the Serving Schedule – Go to the church calendar

October Worship – “Do Justice”

October 6 – World Communion Sunday – Reconciliation Special Offering – “Care for One Another” – 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 20-27
2nd Hour – Introduction to Worship and Wonder (more info below)

October 13 – Intergenerational Worship – Who is the Alien? – Exodus 2:11-25
2nd Hour – Introduction to Holy Currencies (more info below)

October 20 – HCC’s 90th Anniversary – “I Have Plans” – Jeremiah 29:11-13a
Extended Fellowship Time
Circle the City Event (more info below)

October 27 – Intergenerational Worship – Children’s Sabbath – “Uniting Hearts & Voices to End Child Poverty” – Luke 6:20-26
2nd Hour – What Can We Do to End Child Poverty? Led by Jane Troha

Apples for sale on Sunday, October 6

Some of the apples picked on September 29 will be available for sale in the Campbell Room. Thank you for your support!

Introduction to the Worship and Wonder Approach

Second Hour class Sunday, October 6, 11:15 – Noon
Led by Carolyn Troha

Worship and Wonder is worship centered faith formation with storytelling, ritual, and fellowship that is used in churches to help children deepen their relationship with God. Based on a Montessori approach to self-directed learning within a curated environment, W+W can be used in a classroom or directly within the worship service. Carolyn Troha and Kate Gillooly have been trained in this approach and are eager to share it with the children and congregation of HCC. Come learn more about this approach, how it will look in our worship service, and how you might help!

Introduction to Holy Currencies: 6 Blessings for Sustainable, Missional Ministries

Second Hour class Sunday, October 13, 11:15 – noon
Led by Kate Gillooly

Our lives are filled with blessings and, in our gratitude, we are moved to share those blessings with others. In doing so, we become part of the Cycle of Blessings, which come from God and can benefit everyone. Come learn about this dynamic, life-giving approach for congregational vitality. We’ll examine each of the 6 Blessings, and the role they play in our own lives and the life of our church. (more information on Holy Currencies an be found in this RH article)

MidWeek Bible Study Reconvenes for Fall!

Meeting on Tuesdays at 2:00 pm. through November 12.
The new location will be at  3-19 Coffee located at  3427 Lee Rd. (the corner of Lee Rd. and Van Aken Blvd.

“The Odd Couple, Jonah and Ruth: Lessons for Our Fractured World”
A comedy, a romance – both with Old Testament lessons for today!

Jonah shows the original readers of the book, as well as us, what a picture of their bigotry and hatred of foreigners and enemies looks like to God. Ruth shows what life lived in performing deeds of hesed (or loving-kindness) looks like to us and to God.

JONAH – The book of Jonah uses the character of an outrageous excuse of a prophet to show the leaders and people of Judah just how foolish they looked with their insistence on isolationism and the exclusion of “the other.” It asks the question, “If God loves the outsider, shouldn’t we?”    4 Sessions
September 17    What Kind of Bible Story Is This?
September 24    The Adventures of Jonah
October  1             Ninevah at Last!
October 8             God Instructs God’s People

RUTH – The book of Ruth is an idealized story of what life would look like if God’s people treated each other with divine loving-kindness – insiders and outsiders alike. A key understanding in Ruth is that God uses these acts of the loving-kindness of people to demonstrate that which God gives to all, whether they realize it or not.    5 sessions

October 15           Gathering Our Tools
October 22           From Famine to Barley Harvest
October 29           Coming Alive!
November 5         Naomi Has a Plan!
November 12      The Happy Ending

Along the Path:

Do you find yourself worrying more these days?  I do.

I worry about climate change and gun violence and racial injustice and how my kids are doing and what the world will be like for my grandchildren and what retirement will be like and what the future is for the Christian church (both big “C” and little “c”).

I wish sometimes that I could just leave it all in the hands of God and trust that everything will just work out, but it seems like that is both a copout and placing too big a burden on God.  Since we all created most of the problems we’re facing, it’s only fair that we need to take responsibility for solving them.

Which is at least part of the reason why I stay involved with church and find I have to believe in God.  Because my worries and our problems are bigger than I am, and I need a community and a God that I can partner with to make the world better.

So I pray that we can all stay involved with HCC as we continue to do justice and join with others in bringing hope and Jesus’ message of love to the world.

Kate’s Cogitations

I wonder…
There are two areas of my life where I have been encouraged to wonder lately. One is a class I took in seminary about multiculturalism and diversity. In that class, Professor Eric Law encouraged us to reflect on our work by stating, “I notice…” and “I wonder…” I found it to be an effective tool for non-judgmental reflection on what people had shared. It helps me to state what seems important to me, without offending others or assuming they need to see things the same way.

The other place is using the Worship and Wonder approach to exploring scripture stories with children. After telling a story, the storyteller always asks some “wondering questions.” I wonder which part of this story is your favorite? I wonder where you are in the story? I wonder how the disciples felt when Jesus said that?  The curriculum usually suggests a few questions, and we can make up our own as well. The important thing about these wondering questions is that they are open-ended. There is no one right answer. They are meant to encourage deeper exploration, rather than test comprehension.

Whether we “wonder” in amazement at God’s awesome creation, or “wonder” about something with curiosity, I believe we could all use a little more wonder in our lives. So next time you are summing up your reaction to something, consider using the phrases “I notice” and “I wonder.” And next time God’s Story is presented in worship, consider joining in wondering along with the children. Think about the story and what part matters most to you, or what God might be saying to you through that story, or how the story speaks to your experience. We can all learn and grow as we wonder together!

Missions

Outreach Committee
Sunday, October 6th is our Special Offering for Anti-Racism/Pro-Reconciliation. The Christian Church’s effort to promote healing relationship and restoration in the whole family of God are enlivened by funds from this offering.  This year we will use 1/2 of the funds collected to help underwrite one of the ways we are working to end racism – Porch Talks for a Beloved Community.  Please give generously as God has blessed you.

 

 

 

 

Community Meal
Our September meal was canceled due to the flooding in our basement. We expect to restart our regular 3rd Saturday of the month meals on October 19th from 12-2pm. Come join us to eat, help serve, set up/clean up and/or get to know someone whom you didn’t know before.

CWF
The Thrift Shop has resumed it regular hours after being closed because of the flood. So visit and make purchases of items you wont find any place else. More volunteers are always needed. If you want to volunteer, please contact Martha Cubberley at 216-751-3419. 

Holy Currencies: 6 Blessings for Sustainable Missional Ministries

This year our annual fund campaign will be part of a larger exploration of The Cycle of Blessings approach to year-round, holistic stewardship. Also called “Holy Currencies,” this was conceived by the Rev. Dr. Eric H. F. Law to help congregations move beyond “time, talent, and treasure” to create missional and sustainable ministries. These currencies are: Time & Place, Gracious Leadership, Relationship, Truth, and Wellness.  They flow and recirculate to form a Cycle of Blessings which empower us to strengthen our internal relationships as well as reach out and connect with the diverse populations in our neighborhoods. It is the flowing of these currencies that gives them value. the word currency comes from the Medieval Latin word “currentia,” which means “a flowing.” We invite you to explore how these blessings flow in your own life, and how you might share them for the benefit of all. Watch for opportunities to learn more about these blessings and how to increase their dynamism in our life together.

Currency of Time and Place – paid and volunteer time that leaders and members offer to the church. Properties from which a church operates and other properties owned or which can be accessed by the church.

Currency of Gracious Leadership  – ability to use skills, tools, models, and processes to create gracious environments for build mutually respectful relationships across differences.

Currency of Relationship is the network of relationships, both inside the congregation and outside. It seeks balance, between internal and external foci, and between attention to tasks and attention to relationships.

Currency of Truth – ability to articulate individually and corporately the global and holistic truth, both internally – the experiences of individuals and groups within the church – and externally – the experiences of different individuals and groups in the community and beyond.

Currency of Wellness  – the state of being healthy physically, socially, economically, ecologically, and spiritually within a church or community, especially as the result of deliberate effort. Sustainable wellness requires regenerative and circulatory flow of material, human, financial, and natural resources.

Currency of Money – something generally accepted as a medium of exchange, a measure of value, or as a means of payment.

HCC Work Day

October 5, 9-Noon
Help make the world a more beautiful place, starting right at our own church property! There are outside and inside projects for everyone.  Join church friends, or make new ones, while getting our grounds ready for the seasons to come.

4th Annual Circle the Cities with Love Event

Public Square Cleveland
October 20th 1-4 pm

Join us for an afternoon where we will stand in silence for 30 minutes with the intention of spreading love into our city and world. Live entertainment and fellowship!

No registration needed but let us know you plan to attend by clicking here

STAND FOR LOVE t-shirts will be available, first come- first served!  $10 donation suggested

Circle the City with Love was conceived in spring 2016, the vision of Sr. Rita Petruziello CSJ who hoped for a peaceful event in our cities to show the unifying and transformative power of love to the world. Her vision became a reality through the efforts of a dedicated and inclusive group of men and women.

Join us as we stand for love in our world!

If you are interested in going as a group, please sign up at the “Do Justice” table in the back of the Sanctuary or on the sign up board in the Campbell Room.

Kiwanis Halloween Candy Collection

November 1-8
HCC will serve as a drop off site for leftover Halloween candy that will then be donated to local and national charities.  This is a service project of the new Shaker Kiwanis Club that has helped with our community meal.

6th Annual 100 Mile Potluck (Pictures below)

Community Witness and Worship

Community Witness and Worship, a ministry of Heights Christian Church held its first event. On Tuesday, September 10 at 7 pm.  The brief vigil outside the church invited participants to pray and act on behalf of children.

Stay tuned for future events.  Here are a couple of pictures from the September vigil.

Prayer List Requests

A new procedure has been established for listing names of individuals to remember in prayer. As of September, each name will be listed on the bulletin insert for a period of one month. If anyone wishes for a name to be included for a longer period, please call the church office to continue listing that individual for a subsequent month. The list will be kept on a rolling basis. As always, the congregation of Heights Christian Church welcomes and honors any requests for prayer support.

Reminder

HCC is on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and You-Tube! If you see something you like, share it on your page! This will increase our reach and may draw in our next visitor!