13 September 2007

Religious Tolerance

Our children are home today for a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ Teacher Workday.  While Thursday might seem a bit strange to schedule a workday, it is our secular school system’s method of allowing space for the religious celebrations of Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish new year festival) and Ramadan (the Islamic festival celebrating the gift of the Koran) that coincidently both fall on this particular weekday.

Tomorrow, Christians around the world will celebrate Holy Cross Day.  This feast commemorates finding a portion of the True Cross in AD 325 at the site of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem by St. Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine I.  In the decade that followed, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was funded and built at the site of this discovery by the Emperor himself!  The Church was dedicated, followed by a day for public veneration of the True Cross of Jesus, on 13 & 14 September AD 335. 

Today, this wondrously holy building is a much smaller shell of the incredible Basilica that Constantine originally built.  Its bell towers have been truncated and its upper floors broken down so that they do not stand higher than the towers of nearby mosques.  Little of the original tomb of Jesus actually remains as centuries of civilizations, hostile to the resurrection story, attempted to destroy any evidence of its historicity.  Though Holy Sepulcher’s very walls carry the scars of religious intolerance, its interior spaces remain thick with the holiness of the momentous events of salvation that occurred there and the continuing prayers of centuries of saints.

 

Recently I have found myself reflecting on what seems to be the beginnings of a new era of religious intolerance in our culture.  Stories you share about cultural enrichment classes in the schools (both public and private), where traditions from any faith except Christianity may be shared with the class to “broaden” the understanding of your children, raise my eyebrows.  School regulations prevent our teens from counting ministries accomplished at church toward the necessary community service hour credits they need for grade promotion.  Increasing numbers of books and journals recount stories of students on today’s public college campuses who experience classroom hostility from a growing number of faculty members opposed to Christian perspectives yet supportive of a plethora of other “spiritual” viewpoints, including those that glorify the more violent tenets of Islam.  And this year, in a community where we appropriately allow for the religious expressions of other faiths, there will be no teacher workday or holiday on the day Christians commemorate Jesus’ sacrificial death—Charlotte’s public schools will be in session on Good Friday.

 

Edmund Burke, the 18^th Century Irish Christian statesmen, is famous for these words:  “All that is necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing.”  I want to give space for any and all to practice the faith of their choosing, even if it means inconvenient mid-week school breaks.  I passionately want to share the Good News of Jesus with the majority of our culture who are spiritual seekers but who have yet to pick a religious path.  Yet I clearly want to stand, without being a bigot, against the erosive forces that seek to truncate, break down or quiet Christian witness in the midst of our pluralistic culture.  Will our wonderfully free society be allowed to silence the story of Jesus’ Cross of Glory and Empty Tomb?  The answer to that question is up to us.     

 

J. Derek Harbin, priest

 

 

Around Beloved…Christian Formation for all ages will follow worship this Sunday.  Open Registration for a large number of midweek opportunities continues to be available online.

Bring your Kairos cookies this Sunday!

Signups begin this Sunday during hospitality time for the September 30^th Annual Parish Picnic. 

Beloved eNews publishes each Thursday.  News and calendar information should be submitted via email by the Monday preceding the publication date.

 

September 9…Attendance: 130; Worship Offering: $4,599.  Income needed for ministry each week: $5,500 (fully funded) à $4,400 (requiring other funding sources i.e. fundraising events).  The financial goal of Church of the Beloved is to reach self-sufficiency (i.e. pay all expenses without income from outside sources) by 12/31/2008.

 

 

 

Simon Evening of Giving…In our ongoing effort to achieve financial independence, Church of the Beloved will be one of the non-profit organizations participating in the fourth annual Simon Evening of Giving at SouthPark Mall on Sunday, November 18^th.  For every $10 ticket to this event we sell, our church keeps $7.  The remaining $3 will go to the Simon Youth Foundation, which provides support and resources for at-risk children.  For the past two years, Church of the Beloved has been one of the top selling charities at this event.  Last year, Beloved participants sold 630 tickets.  We hope to do even better this year! 

 

While this money is greatly needed by our congregation, this event also offers us many wonderful marketing opportunities.  Church of the Beloved will be included in print, web and radio advertising as a participating charity.  Additionally, on the night of the event, we will have a table in the center of the mall to market and promote our church and its programs.

 

Almost all of SouthPark’s retailers will participate in the form of store discounts (typically 15-25%), gifts with purchase, door prizes, raffled items, and more.  You need not be present on November 18^th to win.  Beyond the charity and great Christmas shopping opportunities, this is a night of fun for all.  Everyone who attended the past two years had a wonderful time.  The mall will close to the general public that night at 6 p.m., but then will re-open from 6:30-9:00 only to ticket holders.   There will be family entertainment, music, and a varied array of delicious food and drink samples throughout the mall as well as other festivities.

 

Packets containing tickets and additional details for this event will be available to COB participants after worship beginning this Sunday, September 16^th.

 

 

7^th Annual Beloved Picnic

Cane Creek Park, Waxhaw, NC

 

 

Sunday, 09.30.07

2-7pm

Come for fellowship and family fun all afternoon

Dinner ready about 4:30pm

Mark your calendars now!

Why do we Give?

 

In this series, Deacon Deb Blackwood details one of the ways the faithful people of Beloved have responded to the call of Jesus.  Though gifts from Beloved’s offering basket tithe have already made a profound difference in people’s lives around the world, there is more that can be done.  Our global church continues to challenge us (and millions of other Christians around the world) to accomplish the Millennium Development Goals in order to show Jesus’ face to the poorest countries of the world as together we systematically and realistically tackle the devastating poverty, sickness and lack of infrastructure we find there.

 

Goal #4: Reduce Child Mortality

 

Did you know that about 29,000 children under the age of 5 die every day (about 21/minute)?  According to the World Health Organization, poor neonatal conditions are the prominent cause of young death.  Improving family health care in developing countries happens in the home—and the majority of children who die do so at home, without being seen by a health care worker.  Increasing access to improved water and sanitation to control water-borne diseases is a vital part of increasing a child’s chances for survival.

 

The target of this Millennium Development Goal is to reduce by two-thirds the mortality rate among children under age 5.  This can be achieved by providing the means and building awareness about clean water, nutrition and their affects on child health and mortality.

 

Progress to date:

• Global: Child mortality rates have declined from 106 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 83 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2005.
• Africa: Under-five mortality rates dropped from 185 per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 166 per 1,000 live births in 2005. The child mortality rate is still twice that of the developing world as a whole. Civil war and HIV/AIDS epidemics have hurt efforts in this area in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In spite of the broad number of ministries our human needs outreach ministries have supported, Beloved has not given directly to an agency or program designed to reduce child mortality. This is an area we might want to seriously consider this year.  For more details about Beloved’s outreach efforts, click here.

 

People were bringing children to Jesus in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them…Jesus was indignant and said: “Let the little children come to me, do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.”  (Mark 10:13-14)

 

Deb Blackwood, Deacon

 

 

Scripture Readings for September 16…1 Timothy 1:12-17 & Luke 15:1-10

 

Serving at God’s Altar on September 16…Complete setup/complete teardown: New Angel Army Team #1; Acolytes: Volunteers; Offering Basket Passer & Presenters: Volunteers; Altar Bread Baker: Kris Leinenkugel; Lay Eucharistic Ministers: Anna Moore & Mary Reid; PowerPoint: Miles Harbin; Reader: Tony Hodgson; Offering Counters: Roey Southard (Head Counter) & Craig Doyon (Assistant)

 

 

In our Prayers…Click here

 

 

Upcoming Calendar…Click here