The following is from Joshua Stoxen:
I thought it might be good to give people the opportunity to help set up and decorate the sanctuary for Sunday since there may several who would enjoy that — we will be setting up the sanctuary on Saturday the 23rd starting at 2pm. I should also mention that those interested in helping Robert cook pancakes for Easter can call him at 513.351.0751
See more info about Easter Sunday.
The following comes to us from the Speckled Bird:
The Bird is hoping to reopen on a part-time basis in May and we need your help! We would like anyone with a soft spot for the Bird to come and share any thoughts, dreams, and help you can provide. We would ideally like to assemble a strategic planning committee of folks who are committed to seeing the Bird succeed in Norwood. Come enjoy a cup of coffee at the Bird on Tuesday, April 26th at 7pm, and be part of the conversation!
Go to Facebook Event.
Good Friday Service: April 22nd
What is the crosswalk? It is a vital part of the evening and our discernment process, and will be a time of interactive confession and lament involving a walk around the neighborhood to various sites that signify the memories and hopes (personal and corporate) of the people of Vineyard Central. The questions of Jesus’ disciples (We had thought?…we had hoped?) we will seek to make ours as a part of our transition into the Easter season.
After the crosswalk, we will assemble in the Upper Room of St. Elizabeth for a time of reflective worship through simple a-capella music and readings from Scripture focused on the Passion of Christ and the events leading up to Jesus’ death on the Cross. We will be “stripping the cross” of our pieces of cloth during this time and adorning the worship space in black.
Easter Sunday: April 24th
Our hopes are not in vain! The celebration of God’s redemption and resurrection will involve dedication of children, baptism for those desiring to commit their lives to Jesus, and an opportunity to adorn the same cross we have placed our laments and relinquishments on with beautiful flowers. We will hear from VCers through poetry and testimony concerning the good God has accomplished in our lives
We apologize for this announcement coming later in the week. We had said it would come earlier, and we want to be accountable to do what we have said we would do going forward. Thank you for your patience as we all stumble toward the accountability and grace we need to hold one another as a community!
The VC Women’s Retreat is soon to happen!
Sustainable Faith (the retreat ministry of the Convent) will be hosting the VC Women’s Retreat again this year. Cost will be $25 per person, which will include use of the whole building for Friday night through Saturday afternoon, and breakfast and lunch. Dinner on Friday night will be potluck.
Jody Nixon will be collecting the money, which can be paid through their website or directly to her: checks written to sustainable faith.
Please RSVP to Mary Ellen Mitchell (maryellenmitchell@gmail.com) or through the Facebook event (preferred)before April 20, but as soon as you are able, so we can get an idea of how to move forward.
If you are interested in spending the night, please post that on the wall below and we will reserve space for you. Rooms will be shared, but over night accommodation is included in the $25, on a first come first served basis.
Please pay Jody Nixon ASAP.
This past week I shared on the fifth statement of Jesus on the cross — I’m thirsty — so I’d like to summarize my points here and place them in the context of our life together.
This expression of primal human need is a poignant and intimate picture of Jesus. It comes in the final moments of his life and at a time when, pinned to the cross, he was physically incapacitated and unable to help himself. If any liquid was to make it to his mouth, it would happen only because someone responded to the need he voiced.
In the story of his life we find other other very human moments as well:
• he becomes intensely hungry after fasting
• he’s exhausted from a long, multi-hour trek from Judea to Sychar and sits by a well
• he asks a Samaritan woman for some water
• he falls into a deep sleep on a boat caught in a squall
• he cries at the tomb of Lazarus
• he asks his disciples for company, to pray with him and be near him in the garden
• he experiences emotional desolation before his crucifixion
The list could be longer, but this is enough to form a picture of a very human Jesus, one who experiences the limitations and weaknesses of humans. As the author of Hebrews puts it, we have a High Priest (Jesus) who “understands our weaknesses, for he faced all the same testings we do.”
The sole point I wanted to draw from this was that the presence of need and the expression of weakness are part of the garment, so to speak, of Jesus. It’s as important to see the humanity of Jesus as it is to see his divinity. It’s also important for us to acknowledge our own need and weakness — unless, of course, we think we’re better than the one we follow.
The earliest record of the church (taken from Acts) is of needy church. But we also read about the church responding to those needs. Needs become known and needs get met as members of the church respond. We’re told in Scripture to “love one another” and be “devoted to one another,” but our love and devotion are compromised and watered down when human frailty is kept under wraps. Privatizing weakness won’t do.
I’ve realized recently in some very explicit ways that my own desire to hide need, pain and weakness are rooted mostly in pride. I want to look good, want to look like I’ve got my act together . . . after all these years. I fear that if others see the very messed up parts of my life then I’ll lose my glitter. After all, I’m supposed to be a leader. But maintaining the illusion of respectability or togetherness is a damnable and unnecessary burden. This past weekend I shared with you my own experience of taking a risk, of going to others and talking about an area in which I feel especially weak. And I told you how I wasn’t met with disdain and revulsion — “Away from me you wretch!” — but with love, acceptance and . . . drum roll, please . . . substantial help. Isn’t that’s the way it should work?
If we’re going to grow toward community, then we have to grow toward transparency. Sharing our needs and revealing our weaknesses should become a routine and very matter-of-fact occurrence among us. It will keep religiosity at bay, create the soil in which concrete love can be expressed, and allow the power of God to be revealed more sharply among us.
Finally, here are some questions to consider:
(1) What real needs do you have that you’ve been unwilling to share with others? What are the weaknesses that you don’t want others to know about? Name them. Write them down.
(2) If you came up with something, ask yourself, “Why have I been unwilling to let others know about x, y or z?” Name the reasons. Write them down. (E.g., I’m afraid of what people will think, I feel driven to project an image of success, I don’t believe others are trustworthy, I don’t know who to turn to, etc.)
(3) What are a few practical things we could do to foster a greater degree of transparency.
Peace to you,
Dave Nixon