Reaching Heights October 2020

Heights Christian Church Icon of Two Followers Lifting a CrossReaching Heights October 2020

Links to this month’s news:

WORSHIP AND STUDY
Worship in October
     All Saints Day – November 1st
Adult Study – Sunday morning study, Tuesday Bible Study

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

OTHER NEWS, EVENTS, and REPORTS
Power of Prayer – from the Renewal Works Team
God Sightings – your submissions requested!
Gift Cards
Shaker Food Drive – October information
Prayer List Requests – Wednesday night prayer group

See the Serving Schedule – Go to the church calendar

October Worship – 

This fall we are following the Narrative Lectionary, which tells the whole biblical story through selected passages over a 4 year cycle.  This is a new adventure for HCC.  The Worship Ministry hopes you will find it meaningful!

Oct 4 – The Promise of Passover – 12:1-13; 13:1-8 – World Communion Sunday – Reconciliation Offering

Oct 11 – Golden Calf – Dr. Kate Gillooly preaching – Exodus 32:1-14

Oct 18 – God Answers Hannah – 1 Samuel 1:9-11, 19-20; 2:1-10

Oct 25 – God’s Promise to David – 2 Samuel 7:1-17

November 1st is All Saints Day

HCC has traditionally celebrated the lives of Christians who have passed from this life to the next on the first Sunday in November.  While our worship services this year are quite different, we will still remember with thanksgiving the lives of HCC members who have died in the last year.  In addition, we extend the opportunity to remember anyone in your family who has passed away since last fall.  Please email Kese at kese@heightscc.org or call the church office at 216.561.4800 with your information as soon as possible so that the name of your loved one can be included.  All names are needed by noon on Wednesday, October 28th.

Adult Study

Sunday Morning Study – “A House Divided”
First Hour Adult Study — “A House Divided”
9:30 am on Zoom (use the Sunday morning worship link)

“How do we find common ground on the issues that divide us?” Using Mark Feldmeir’s book “A House Divided” we will explore how a politics of compassion can help us find shared values on today’s most divisive issues and inspire us to find practical solutions. This study will be led by Pastor Roger, Kate Gillooly, Carolyn Troha, and Lloyd Ackerman.

Oct. 4 – Healthcare (Lloyd Ackerman)
Oct. 11 – Medical Aid in Dying (Kate Gillooly)
Oct. 18 – Social Isolation and Suicide (Pastor Roger)
Oct. 25 – Where Do We Go from Here? (All)

 

 

MidWeek Bible Study – continues exploration of Isaiah
Tuesdays September 15 – October/27
1:00 pm on Zoom (contact Kate for the link)

Isaiah Part One – Holy, Holy, Holy

We will spend seven weeks exploring the first 39 chapters of Isaiah, the largest book in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). See and hear the word of God through the faithful witness of this prophet as he reveals what God would say to us with reverence and compassion. Isaiah’s extraordinary visual vocabulary can engage the heart and fire up the imagination. Describing what it was like to be in the presence of the Holy One, the Lord of Hosts, is just one example.

Oct. 6            The LORD’s Righteous People
Oct. 13          New Songs of Salvation
Oct. 20         Built Upon a Righteous Cornerstone
Oct. 27         The Perilous Journey to Salvation

Along the Path

The Salt Project posted this poem called “A Prayer for Our Nation”.  I will let it speak for itself…

And then all that has divided us will merge
And then compassion will be wedded to power
And then softness will come to a world that is harsh and unkind
And then both men and women will be gentle
And then both women and men will be strong
And then no person will be subject to another’s will
And then all will be rich and free and varied
And then the greed of some will give way to the needs of many
And then all will share equally in the Earth’s abundance
And then all will care for the sick and the weak and the old
And then all will nourish the young
And then all will cherish life’s creatures
And then all will live in harmony with each other and the Earth
And then everywhere will be called Eden once again.
+ Judy Chicago

May it be so.
In peace and hope! – Pastor Roger

Kate’s Cogitations

Lost
Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.
— David Wagoner

I discovered this poem by David Wagoner when I was on sabbatical in 2008. I love it because every time I return to it, I learn something new. It came to mind recently as I strive to recognize God’s presence in the midst of this pandemic. There are days where I feel lost, or as though I have lost sight of God. Often when I take the time to be still, I can regain my sense of place and of the Divine. I wonder what helps you stay grounded and feel connected with God? I wonder how the ways our lives are adapting to the pandemic might offer opportunities for more “God Sighting?” I look forward to seeing and hearing how you experience God in these strange times.

~Kate Gillooly

Power of Prayer

As the pandemic continues, the ReNewal Works Team invites you to bolster your spirits and join us in harnessing the power of prayer. While we cannot gather physically for corporate prayer, we can join together in spirit. To that end, we invite you to set aside 5 minutes each Wednesday at noon to pray for our church and its future.

We will provide a Prayer of the Month in the newsletter at the start of each month. We ask that you use it as a starting point for your own short prayer session, knowing that as many of us as possible will be pausing and lifting our prayers at the same time. If you can’t pray at the suggested time, please pray at whatever time works best for you.

Let’s kick off our efforts using this prayer in October:

Creator God,
The beauty of your creation fills us with wonder and hope! We lift our voices in praise and thanksgiving for all the blessings you have given us in the sky, the seas, the earth and the inhabitants therein. Help us to cherish all of your creation, protecting it and nurturing it as you protect and nurture us.

In these difficult days, we ask that you open our hearts and souls that our creative spirits may bloom. Lead us to discern and develop your vision for each of us individually, but especially for our congregation collectively. We seek a path forward in uncertainty. We puzzle over the future of our congregation and its mission and ministry. We mourn the passing of our “normal” ways of being church.

Guide us, O God. Inspire us, use us, in familiar and yet-to-be-discovered ways to be truly your disciples in our church, our community and our world. Empower us to dream big dreams and to act boldly to be agents of good in this time and in this place. In the silence of these moments, we listen for your voice. All this we ask in Christ’s name. Amen.

God Sightings

“Each day presents a new opportunity to experience God’s presence.”
~Alden Wilson Tozer

God is everywhere and always with us, although we don’t always recognize God’s presence. You are invited to look for God’s presence and action in the world and in your own life, and snap a picture of where you have “seen” the Divine. It may be in nature, or human interaction, or a pet. It may be when you walk in the neighborhood or in a park, at the grocery store, a quiet moment of prayer, or family dinner. Wherever you experience a holy moment, capture an image to share.

Please text or email your picture to Kate Gillooly (216-408-9512 or katehcc@sbcglobal.net) or post on our HCC Facebook page (or Twitter or Instagram). Kate will make sure these images are shared in future newsletters and on social media, and we may use them in worship as well. *Be sure to include a photo credit (who took the picture) or “Anonymous.”

(above photo by Lynda Ackerman)

Gift Cards

During the pandemic shutdown we have not been able to provide gift card services.  An increasing number of you have requested to purchase cards.
We have stalled trying to find a socially responsible way to distribute cards.
So here is the process we are going to try:

  1. Email Kese your card request including card(s), denomination(s), quantity.
  2. Kese will fill your order and let me know it is ready and the dollar total.
  3. I’ll provide a time slot or range for you to visit me at my home.
  4. You will provide a check (payable to HCC) and I will give you an envelope.
  5. We may socially distance visit outside as either of our time/weather allows.
  6. If you are not able to travel, I will arrange to socially distance deliver cards as possible.

Please use kese@heightscc.org for your order.

Mike Singerman

Shaker Food Drive

The Unity in the Community campaign continues to provide food to those who need it.  The next distributions will take place on October 5 & 12.  These distributions take place from the circular drive off Winslow Road at the back of our building from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. We are also making deliveries to  families without transportation.  

You can sign up to help with distributions and other tasks online: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508084ba4a62ba6fc1-unity

And your monetary gifts are always welcome and encouraged. Those gifts can be made online on our website (you can specify the food drive): https://www.heightschristianchurch.org/donate/

Prayer List Requests

Don’t be anxious about anything; rather, bring up all of your requests to God in your prayers and petitions, along with giving thanks. (Philippians 4:6)

Even in the ongoing pandemic (maybe especially in these times), individual and corporate prayer continue!
Our Hearts Together in Prayer group meets each Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m. to share prayer concerns and updates, and to spend time in prayer together via Zoom. (contact Kate or Val for the link if you’d like to join). We begin and end with a set of prayers that change each month and are read by the facilitator, and the time in the middle offers opportunity for everyone to share their own petitions, intercessions, and thanksgivings. All are welcome and encouraged to join us as you are able; praying together is powerful and lifts the spirits. If you have a prayer request, you can use the online prayer request form (https://www.heightschristianchurch.org/prayer-request/) or send an email to Pastor Roger.
These requests will be lifted up on Wednesday evenings and forwarded on to the Elders, and our Prayer Ministry Team.

Social Media outreach

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!