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

• Worship Gathering @ 10am (in the main Sanctuary of St. Elizabeth)
• Pancake “Brunch” to follow at 12 p.m. (in the Speckled Bird Cafe, bring “fixins” you would like to have with the pancakes to share with others!)

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!

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest.
A time to let die and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.
… God has made everything beautiful for its own time. (Ecclesiastes 3.1-9)

An author I admire says that a disciplined person “does what needs to be done when it needs to be done.” Very true. Yet determining exactly what needs to be done often requires wisdom, and wisdom, although freely given by God, comes with its own price-tag. It’s acquisition requires self-abnegation, the deconstruction of pride, a turning away from all expressions of selfishness and inordinate ambition. That’s the first step of the dance. The second step is (re)turning in humility to both God and people as the only viable resource for the kind of wisdom we so desperately need: wisdom that’s marked by purity, peace-making, gentleness, mercy, good deeds and yielding to one another. This kind of wisdom produces what we secretly or openly desire: “a harvest of righteousness.” (James 3.17)

So wisdom is acquired by orienting ourselves in a particular way toward God and the community, and by our community then orienting itself in a particular way to the wider world. Wisdom is, therefore, deeply relational in God’s economy. It is kneaded into us over time by holding fiercely to a specific way of living with each other in full view of God.

Because wisdom is relational, every person holds a piece of it, and only by contributing our various pieces do we gain a larger understanding of what God is doing among us. We offer our various scraps of wisdom when we come together humbly, share truthfully, listen carefully, pray fervently, and reflect deeply on all that emerges. If our scraps are given in this atmosphere of humility, mercy, and deep respect, we slowly begin to see. We discern a larger tapestry, something that transcends the smallness of our individual scraps. We find the Opus Dei, the “work of God,” work that draws us into a richness of life we could never experience singly.

What time is it for Vineyard Central? In what season do we find ourselves? If in fact “God has made everything beautiful for its own time,” then let’s ask God together to show us what this season is all about so that we can participate in the beauty of it. Let’s come together with open hands in a posture of humility. Let’s listen. And let’s take as much time as we need to gain this discernment rather than expect or demand the Spirit of God to be subject to our anxiousness and impatience. (Trying to force God’s hand is an exercise in futility, anyway, so why bother?)

For the welfare of the church, the pastoral council would like to initiate a season of discernment starting with the next festival — February 6. We have no idea how long this season will last, but it will be carried forward by a weekly rhythm of worship together on Sundays. (The exact time of that meeting is still being worked out and will be announced this Sunday, Feb 6. Feel free to contribute your thoughts on this between now and then.)

Furthermore, we’ve asked Tom and Karen Wuest to oversee this time of discernment. The Wuest family is dear to many of us who have been around from the beginning. They played a pivotal role in the earliest years of Vineyard Central’s founding before moving first to Colorado and then to Vancouver, B.C. to pursue God’s calling on their lives. During their time away they held us in their hearts and prayers, and recently they felt called to return, bringing two children (Isaiah and Arbutis) and a wealth of experience in tow. They love us deeply and have experience in guiding churches through the discernment process. We think they’re a great fit and would like to recommend them to the community. We’ve also asked them to draw in others from our community to help with the discernment, so this won’t be a solo effort.

The pastoral council is hopeful for this time. We believe it will be a turning point in this long, beautiful and sometimes confusing and bittersweet journey we’ve had together. I personally hope that someday, years from now, many of us will look back on this time not only with affection but with a sense of awe and gratitude toward the great and beautiful God who is always desirous to give us our daily bread.

Peace to you,
Dave Nixon
(on behalf of the pastoral council)

PASTORAL COUNCIL MEETING

September 26, 2010

Present:  Josh Hanauer, Jeremy Eyre, Greg York, Dave Nixon, Sam Hatchett, Owen Brock, Janet McNeel, and Mandy McLaughlin

Meeting held at The Convent and led by Josh Hanauer.  Several potential agenda items were reviewed and prioritized.

1)  House Church Network

Discussion centered on status of house churches and the need for “birthing” of new house churches at the appropriate time.  Council members reflected on their own personal experiences and provided input regarding key concerns.  Many of VC’s current members are not attending a house church.  At this time, we have few options to offer newcomers. Consequently, members agreed that Dave and Josh will devote part of their time in the next week/s to establishing 1-2 new house churches.  Hopefully there will be 2-4 new house churches by January.

2)  Sunday Gatherings

Recently several VC members have expressed a desire to have regular weekly gatherings.  There are many challenges to making this a reality, but council members identified some possible strategies.  Some of the pressing issues which must be addressed include leadership, sustainability, care of children, and the need for shared responsibility for each part of the morning.  The wisdom, value, and work of establishing this weekly meeting will continue to be explored by Dave and Josh when they meet later this week.

These two topics were discussed at length and are considered to be vital to our health as the Vineyard Central community.  The council determined that it will be important to meet again as soon as schedules will allow.  The next Pastoral Council meeting is now set for Monday, October 11 from 7:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.  and will be held at the Speckled Bird.

VC Community!  Our first “Town Hall” meeting of 2010 will be held on Saturday, July 10, at 6pm, in St. Elizabeth’s.

Join us there for a quick rundown of what the Pastoral Council has been working on in the following areas:

• finances
• building
• house churches / hospitality (structure)
• neighborhood

This should take approximately 90 minutes to 2 hours.  Please come with any questions related to these topics.  If you have a pressing question that doesn’t fit in this meeting, send them this way.

There’s still time to cast your vote on the naming of these events!  (survey is not scientific)

cforms contact form by delicious:days

PASTORAL COUNCIL MEETING

March 28, 2010

Present:  Jeremy Eyre, Dave Nixon, Mandy McLaughlin, Sarah Ross, Janet McNeel, Christiane Sears, Owen Brock, and Josh Hanauer.

Meeting led by Josh Hanauer.

Brief updates shared by each member.

Mandy (Communications) – Reports 172 people are on the VC email list (about 50% regularly open the message).  Recent addition of the PC minutes on website was most popular page.  Plan to encourage joining email list.

Christiane (Orientation) – Kenny Havens has stepped down from co-leadership of this area.  Christiane is in the process of setting specific dates when the orientation group will be offered.

Dave (Pastor – Internal Focus) – Has been working on House Church Handbook.  Also plans to offer opportunity for 15 weeks of discipleship teaching on Sunday evenings – venue will be either Speckled Bird (or possibly 1801 Mills).  To start this on April 25 and continue until early August, then break for few weeks, resuming next 15 weeks (repeated topics) in late August and run until December.

Sarah (Finance) – Stewardship Committee is going to meet in next 1-2 weeks, looking at ways to strengthen financial status.

Jeremy (Facilities) – Two house churches have taken on room remodeling/improvement Projects.  Mills HC is doing children’s room; Hearth has selected room at front left (formerly S. Brock’s area).  Planning to set up yearly maintenance schedule for St. E’s.

Considering fundraising concert with local group for the fall.

Janet (Admin/Support) – Assisting Dave in reviewing HC Handbook and planning for discipleship group meetings.  Has reviewed bylaws and will assist Bd. of Trustees with revisions.  Trying to be informed in all areas and available to help as needed.

Josh (Pastor – External Focus) – Shared that he has recently sold his home in Cheviot and will soon relocate to Norwood.  Will involve two moves due to timing—first move to Speckled Bird apartment on April 30 and second move into newly acquired home on Spencer Ave. on May 27.  (Side note:  Jill and Jonathan Hicks have recently moved to Red River Gorge area).  Josh has attended meetings of the Cincinnati Faith and Justice Group.  There will be a workshop/conference soon on April 30 and May 1^st at the First Christian Assembly Church.  Topic is Re:Discovering Biblical Justice with special speaker coming to present.  More information will be shared soon.

Easter update – Hispanic mass will not be happening.  Attempts to reconnect with individual at Su Casa have largely been difficult, not as warmly received.  Decision has been made to look for other ways to extend outreach to our Hispanic neighbors.

Josh has been working on a mission idea/project which will involve selecting a school in South America that does not have a library.  Plan will be to fill a large shipping container with books and sent this to the school (e.g. children’s books available in Spanish to be purchased — available fairly inexpensively).

AGENDA  (Reviewed by group, all but one selected by voting)

1) Way to Present Items to PC in the Future

Josh has recommended book Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott, will start using format suggested there,  members complete form beforehand and share via email or bring to next meeting with information filled in.  Josh will put this form on Google Wave.

2)  Who is a Member/Who is a Friend of VC

Owen explained how this issue arose a few months ago when this PC model was implemented.  Discussion followed regarding how various other churches address the matter of membership and what if any of those elements would be valuable to consider.  General consensus is that this is a very important topic and that membership needs to be delineated in some manner.  Owen volunteered to complete form referenced above as a way to capitalize on important aspects.  He will bring this to next PC meeting.

3)  Hospitality Committee

Unable to discuss due to PC member not present today.

4)   Building Issues

—Maintenance
—Renovation
—Need to remove this from responsibility of either pastor
—There had been a committee looking at options. Options such as selling, retaining ownership but involving another entity (leasing?), tearing down bldg. and rebuilding.
—Wedding business and how this would be related to building needs to be clarified   (This item generated discussion as to status—Owen and Dave and Greg will discuss this as Board of Trustees, will meet soon).

Mention was made of need to catalog what is going on at VC.  Mandy will explore and together with Sam determine how to present this on the website with brief sentences and photos.

Josh gave an update about Norwood Rugby and his goal to have volunteers (at least 6-10) involved in tutoring (Rugby players must maintain 3.0 grade point average).  This rugby will be co-ed.  It will be primarily through Norwood Middle School.  Will be 6 week long program probably in the summer.  The tutoring relationship will continue throughout the year.  This is flag rugby (noncontact).  PC gave support to Josh to continue his involvement as a outreach ministry for VC.

Dave mentioned that the Regional Conference for Vineyard Churches will take place in Columbus, Ohio, May 11-14 if anyone is interested in attending.

Next meeting of Pastoral Council will be Sunday, May 2 from 1:00 – 4:00 (at Tilden Ave. – Brocks’ home).