6 March 2008

Food Channel Perspective

 

Those of us who use Bibles with Jesus’ words highlighted in red can see how many times Jesus spoke about money’s relationship to our faith; what is harder to recognize, but equally present, is the number of times he showed us the nature of community when food is shared.  The stories of Jesus feeding the multitudes, eating with tax collectors and prostitutes, healing Peter’s mother-in-law so she could “fix dinner for him” (Message, Matthew 8:15), feeding the disciples a “new food” of his Body and Blood at the Last Supper, and meeting the disciples after his resurrection who “knew him in the breaking of the bread.”  The ritual act of eating in community is similar to families gathering around the Thanksgiving dinner table.  There is a certain camaraderie found in family, eating the food that allows the “remembering” of past times while providing a stability, continuity and hope for the future.  What has been fascinating to watch in the Beloved community is the “circle of life” that revolves around our feasts celebrated together.

 

About a month ago our Clare was helping Derek with Saturday errands when they stopped by the storage unit to pick up the bucket used to burn the palms (blessed and paraded at last year’s Palm Sunday) for the ashes used to mark foreheads on Ash Wednesday.  Her immediate response when recognizing the bucket was, “Oh no, that means that Lent is near.  How much time do I have?”  Derek replied, “How much time to you have for what?”  “To eat dessert, of course!”  Our family, for a Lenten discipline, gives up desserts for the season; other families give up meat; or eat fish on Friday; eat simple meals of soup and bread; others give up specific food items, like soft drinks, or chewing gum, or chocolate.  All these are done to better focus on the sacrificial gift given to us when Jesus died on the cross for our sins…the theory being that when our tummies rumble we think of him, hungry and thirsty, hanging on the cross for the redemption of the world. 

 

The teenagers in FaithQuest recently shared with me their understanding of the liturgical cycle from a Food Channel perspective.  Lent is immediately preceded with pancakes or King’s Cake.  Pretzels and hot cross buns on Passion/Palm Sunday replace the doughnut holes at Sunday morning Hospitality Time.  The footwashing liturgy of Maundy Thursday is set in the context of a Middle Eastern meal of pita, cheese, hummus, and dried figs and dates.  The Vigil and First Celebration of Easter is followed by a wedding reception par excellence with wedding cake, finger food, shrimp, and other delicacies appropriate for Jesus, the bridegroom celebrating his bride, the Church.  During the season of Easter, while the secular world consumes eggs and chocolate bunnies, an assortment of doughnuts returns to Hospitality Time.  The piece de resistance is offered on Ascension Day when we experience “Death by Chocolate” to mark the end of our celebration of Christ’s physical presence with us on earth after his resurrection. 

 

Our congregation celebrates Baptisms with fancy cakes, feasts at the Parish Picnic in September, and consumes chili as we decorate the worship space for Christmas.  More importantly, our congregation feasts weekly on the precious Body and Blood of Jesus, looking forward to the great banquet in the heavenly city of the New Jerusalem when we will meet the Beloved, the Bread of Heaven, face to face.

 

Clifford King Harbin

Pastor  

 

 

Around Beloved…Daylight Savings Time begins this Sunday, March 9, so remember to move your clocks ahead one hour before you go to bed on Saturday night.

 

 

Sunday Christian Formation continues this week.

 

 

Beloved’s Director of Music Dan Hood is being awarded a Silver Addy Award for original music he wrote and recorded for Speed TV.  The Awards banquet is being held in NoDa tonight. Congratulations, Dan!

 

 

Beloved’s Jim Calandro will be going to Presbyterian Hospital this Wednesday, March 12^th for scans to assess how much his lymphoma has responded to the newest chemotherapy. We are praying he will be in remission so that he can go forward with his bone marrow transplant soon.  Jim and Ann have this request of us:  “Would you be so kind as to pray for healing for Jim on Tuesday evening, March 11th? Praying as a community is an important way for us to join together in this time of need. Could you pray specifically that Jim’s liver and spleen tumors will be gone, and that he will begin to regain feeling in his feet and toes?  God bless you every one. You have been so faithful in prayer to Jim and me since we began this ordeal last summer. We are grateful. We are blessed to know you.  With love, Ann and Jim Calandro”

 

 

Beloved is accepting donations for Easter season flowers.  These flowers may be given in memory of, or in thanksgiving for, a loved one or a special event.  Please either mail your donation to the Development Office or place it in a sealed envelope in the offering plate.  Please be sure to indicate who or what the donation is given in memory of or in thanksgiving for.

 

 

Are you purchasing ferns for your porch or yard this year?  If so, would you be willing for Church of the Beloved to use them during our Easter celebrations?  Click here if you can help.

 

 

Are you interested in assisting with worship ministries on Sunday morning?  Beloved has a need for additional readers, chalice bearers and powerpoint operators.  Click here if you would like to serve in one or more of these.  If you are an Offering Basket Passer or a substitute on the passing schedule, be watching for a postcard reminding you of a practice after Hospitality Time on Palm Sunday, March 16 as we don’t have Christian Formation. 

 

 

The Beloved Advisory Team received and accepted with regret the resignations of Harris High and Bud Moore at their meeting on February 26 and unanimously called for a special election to fill these two vacancies (one position will carry a two-year term and the other a three-year term).  Serving on the Advisory Team is a significant ministry, one that requires dedication and faithfulness to the worship, fiscal health and mission of Beloved and a willingness to work openly and cooperatively with others for the good of the entire Beloved Community.  Those eligible are: Catherine Atwood, Todd Atwood, Ann Calandro, Janis Conlon, Ben Copeland, Marilyn Doyon, Betsy Fox, Tony Hodgson, Dick Reif, Toni Reif, and Liz Wilson. Pray earnestly in the days ahead, that God will reveal this duo to us when we gather in worship on Palm Sunday, March 16.  To learn more specifics about this selection process, click here.

 

 

Sunday, March 30 is another Kairos Cookie Sunday!  Kairos is a ministry that shares the love, grace and forgiving mercy of Jesus Christ with those men and women serving time in prison.  Cookies should be normal in size, contain no fruit or nuts and cannot have sprinkles or sugar on top. 

 

  

Beloved eNews normally publishes each Thursday.  News and calendar information should be submitted via email by Monday.

 

 

March 2…Attendance: 117; Worship Offering: $5,536.  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.

 

 

 

 

Holy Week and Easter at Beloved…Many folks at Church of the Beloved are working behind the scenes to prepare for the worship services of Holy Week.  For those who have never remained in town during the school holiday break or who may be new to this congregation, you can well imagine that these are each participatory and engaging!  On Palm Sunday, 9:30am on March 16, we will have a parade while we wave our palms; after worship we will enjoy Shari Wynn’s delicious hot cross buns during hospitality time.   Maundy Thursday, 7pm on March 20, celebrating Jesus’ gift of the Last Supper, is a worship service including participation in an Agape Meal and Foot Washing.  To make it easier on those preparing the Meal, you are invited to make a reservation here or on the sign up list in the Hospitality Area on Sunday mornings through March 16.  Please do not let a lack of reservation keep you from attending at the last minute but for those who know that they will be present, this allows the Sacramental Reception Team to be good stewards.  A Watch at Beloved Garden follows this service when one sits quietly for at least a half an hour with the Body and Blood of Jesus (blessed on Maundy Thursday to be used at the Good Friday worship service, Friday, March 21 at 7pm).  Each household is encouraged to sign up in the Hospitality Area for a thirty-minute period between 9:00pm Thursday through 9am Friday morning.  This is a powerful experience we recommend you try at least once; it might become an important part of your Holy Week spirituality.

 

 

The Easter Vigil Reception follows the first Eucharist of Easter (with a Baptism this year) at Sundown on Saturday, March 22 (7:37pm).  Each household is invited to bring a wedding reception hors d'oeuvres (finger food) that will serve at least a dozen people to be added to the pork tenderloin sandwiches, shrimp cocktail and wedding cake provided by the Sacramental Receptions Team.  (Please note:  this is not a wedding dinner nor is it a potluck “Super Bowl Party” buffet.  Please do not bring desserts, potluck casseroles or chips and dip.  It is wedding reception finger food.)  Please do bring a favorite “hors d’oevre” that you would serve when the “boss comes to your home to offer a promotion!!”  If you have any questions about what to bring or would prefer to contribute cash for the team to purchase something on your behalf, please contact Janie Wooten or Michele Nichols here.  The sign up list will be available in the Hospitality Area beginning this Sunday through Palm Sunday, March 16.  To assist with other behind the scenes preparations including the volunteer Angel Army Team on Thursday at 4:30pm and Friday at 5:30pm, click here.

 

 

Scripture Readings for March 9…Ezekiel 37:1-14 & John 11:1-45

 

 

Serving at God’s Altar on March 9…Complete setup/complete teardown: Angel Army Team #1; Acolytes: Victoria Floyd, Brian Sanniota, Jack Sanniota, Katie Sanniota; Offering Basket Passers: Trinity Atwood, Joy Dygowski, Madison Simpson, Zachary Simpson; Presenters: Ben Copeland, Jennifer Sanders, Kate Copeland; Altar Bread Baker: Shari Wynn; Lay Eucharistic Ministers: Brian McCarthy & Liz Wilson; PowerPoint: Mitchell Harbin; Reader: Tony Hodgson.

 

In our Prayers…click here

Upcoming Calendar…click here