Fairlawn West

Fairlawn West UCC update

-Don't forget the Yard Sale for Justice tomorrow/Sat in the front yard of the church facility from 9 am to 1 pm.  The proceeds from this sale will go to the UNICEF program to end international child labor.  Bring your stuff to sell.  Invite people to come to buy. 

-Worship Sun at 9:20 am.  The theme is "Jesus Speaks to the Disciples" (that's who we are as the church). David Loar won't be at the Nervous Dog Coffee Bar today/Fri.

-The following quote is from an article by Bob Buford in Learnings which is is a weekly email newsletter for church leaders from the Leadership Network.  Buford became a multi-millionaire and then through his Christian faith developed an organization with Peter Drucker called Halftime which is helping people move beyond making money in their life and using the last half of their life to be significant in the world.
"...last Thursday's Wall Street Journal (June 17) carried a remarkable story. The one sentence opening paragraph said this:

"Warren Buffett and Bill Gates called Thursday on their billionaire peers to give away half of their wealth."

The story continues, "The pronouncement of Messrs. Buffett and Gates stems from a series of dinners the two men held over the past year to discuss the effects of the recession on philanthropy with some of the nation's richest people. … The result of the dinners is an invitation called the Giving Pledge which asks the nation's billionaires to publicly commit at least half of their wealth to philanthropic and charitable groups within their lifetime or after their deaths. … The goal is to create an expectation in society that the rich should give away their wealth and create a peer group of wealthy people who can offer advice on philanthropy. … "One of the most important things about philanthropy is that people do what they are passionate about. They won't do it otherwise" said Melinda Gates.

… New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, "I am a big believer in giving it all away and have always said that the best financial planning ends with bouncing the check to the undertaker."

Bring your stuff to sell on Sat the 26th before 9 am.  We will give you a table to put it on to sell. The sale is in our front yard from 9 am to 1 pm.   Any proceeds you make the church will give to the UNICEF program to end child labor internationally.  We realize that a lot of our "stuff" was produced and manufactured in other places in the world by children in very poor and sometimes slave like conditions.  So we figure any money we make off this stuff should go to end these horrible conditions.

http://www.unicef.org/protection/index_childlabour.html

The article "The Liturgy of Abundance, The Myth of Scarcity" by Dr. Walter Brueggemann, UCC pastor, professor emeritus of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta and was Pastor David Loar's prof of OT at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis.

http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=533

Fairlawn West United Church of Christ
2094 W Market St, Akron, OH 44313
www.fairlawnwest.org
office@fairlawnwest.org

We are seeing a video Sunday of an interview with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove on what it means to live a resurrection life.  He was the chief of staff of a Republican senator from the south and had plans to enter politics himself.  Until one day in Washington D.C. his life was turned around as he reflected on scripture. Jonathan is an Associate Minister at the historically black St. Johns Baptist Church, and is engaged in peacemaking and reconciliation efforts in Durham, North Carolina. The Rutba House, where Jonathan lives with his wife Leah, their son JaiMichael, and other friends, is a new monastic community that prays, eats, and lives together, welcoming neighbors and the homeless. A native of North Carolina, he is a graduate of Eastern University and Duke Divinity School. Jonathan directs the School for Conversion, an alternative seminary that hosts courses around the country. An evangelical who connects with the broad Christian tradition and its monastic witnesses, Jonathan is a leader in the new monastic movement and conversations about Christianity in the 21st century. He speaks often to churches and conferences of the "new evangelicals," but also connects with Mainline and Catholic audiences who are interested in reconnecting with ancient Christian practices.

Gatherings:

·  Prayer & Praise time, Next Sunday at 11am in the Fireplace Room.  We lift up the week's prayer concerns.

·  Contemplative/Centering Prayer, meets today, the 1^st Sun of the month, 11am in the Fireplace Room.  1/2 hour.

·  Living More Simply will meet today at 6:30pm in the Fireplace Room.  We will watch the "Stuff" segment of the DVD series ""Simply Enough" which is hosted by Tony Campolo & Shane Claiborne. 

·  NEW COURSE meets on Wednesdays at 7:00pm in Pastor Loar's Study.  We are watching the video series "Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People."

·  Bible Reading & Reflection, Thursday 9:00am in the food court of Summit Mall.  We are reading through the book of the prophets who are under the umbrella name of "Isaiah."

·  Friday Taize worship service, 6pm in the Parlor.  Prayer, scripture, song & meditation.

·  12 Step Recovery Groups

Meetings for Alcoholics Anonymous, Emotions Anonymous, and Sexaholics Anonymous meet regularly in our building.  Check the bulletin board in the main hallway for more information.

 

Centering Prayer will gather in the Fireplace Room at 10:50 am.  All are invited to share in 20 minutes of this contemplative prayer form.

 

The Living More simply group meets tonight at 6:30 pm in the Fireplace Room.  New folks always welcome.  We will be viewing the section of the "Simply Enough" series on money.  We are now ordering copies of the book "Voluntary Simplicity" by Duane Elgin for the next series of learning and growing after the dvd series.  If you would like to order a book, let Rev. Loar know.

 

Rev. Loar and Julia Hines will be at the Ohio Conference of the United Church of Christ Annual Gathering the end of this week at Heidelberg University.

 

Start planning now to have your table at the Yard Sale for Justice in our front yard on Saturday, June 26.  Bring the items you want to sell that morning.  Tables will be available for you to place your items.  All proceeds go to the UN Program to Combat International Child Labor.  This is sponsored by Living More Simply group.

 

Rev. David Loar is in the Pastor's Study Monday and Friday from 9am to 12 noon and at Nervous Dog Coffee Bar at 1520 W Market Street on Fri from 1:30-4:00pm for conversation.

Worship on Sunday at 9:20 am in the cafe.  Taize prayer and song and meditation service on Friday at 6:00 pm in the parlor.