Water, water everywhere!

Time to build the ark. After a very wet Spring, we've had two plus days of rain and many people are suffering from flooding in their basements. This morning we discovered a river flowing through the church as well. It began in the basement and flowed right through the nursery and out into Fellowship Hall. The carpet in the nursery is going to be ruined. We will get the water up but it is going to take some time.

Mark Rogers came down tonight and began vacuuming it up but it just kept flowing in. We'll try again tomorrow. It's a shame too, because Easter is coming and we will have to relocate the nursery because it will never be back in shape in time for the weekend. We'll have to make due. I am sad but I am more concerned about the people whose homes have been damaged by the water. Let's keep everyone in prayer this week as the waters recede.

Cal

Palm Sunday Worship

On Sunday we celebrated Palm Sunday in church with beautiful music, a baptism and a message about humility. George Strouse served as worship assistant and he greeted everyone and asked God to be present for our praise and adoration. George's words must have worked for you could feel his spirit in the house. Rosie Rakowitz forward to make her confession of faith in believer's baptism. Rosie came forward to the strains of "Amazing Grace." I shared a bit of Rosie's journey and noted how it was Amy Rezendes who encouraged her to come back to faith. Their deep and abiding friendship opened the door for Rosie to get to know God again.

After she was baptized I gave Rosie a red rose, purchased with money given in memory of our Missionaries Francis and Gertrude rose. They were missionaries to the Philippines who lost their lives in World War II. The rose reminds us that as beautiful as the gift of life in Christ is, there are thorns, there are challenges which will often leave us discouraged and feeling hurt. But then I charged Rosie to put her focus on Christ and he will carry her through.

The Praise team followed up the baptism with a song that Fred Green wrote called, "Even When Our Feet Are Dirty." It was very nice. Curt Brockway called for the offering and offered a prayer while I finished changing in the back.

Then I came out and talked about the palms with the children. We all got to walk on them just like Jesus did. It was fun. The kids told me the people put them down in front of him so he wouldn't get dirty. They did it because they loved him. And we waved our palms too.

The choir sang about Jesus triumphant entry and I talked about his humility that flowed out of his love for us. We also welcomed Amy Rezendes and Rosie Rakowitz into membership as Curt Brockway extended the right hand of fellowship to them on our behalf.

Finally we enjoyed the fourth installment of the JPS Man. Nicodemus (George Strouse) and Joseph of Arimethia (Curt Brockway) talked with him about Jesus and the cross. Joseph of Damascas (Steve Contois) and Joseph of Norwich (Randy Sargent) also had cameo appearances.

After church Mark Kane hosted the coffee hour. It was a very good day.

Cal

Lenten Service at Park Church

Tonight Park Congregational Church hosted our last Lenten service this year. Pastor Barbara Poritzky welcomed us and then instead of preaching in the usual way, she shared two stories with us that made a point. They were like the parables that Jesus told. The point was that we should treat the people we meet with love and respect because you never know when you will bump into Jesus.

These Lenten services have been a wonderful addition to our church program. They've been met with mixed reviews. Some people love them. One person asked me why we couldn't continue doing them all year long. Then yesterday another person questioned why we give up our own service to participate in them. He felt we were shortchanging our people.

Here is the answer to both questions. I love our regular Wednesday night services. They fill a real need for those who come. Yet the opportunity to worship together with other Christians sends a message to the world as well as to the members of our congregation. It tells the world that even though we look divided and weak, we can come together in Christ's name and celeb rate our common faith. It also tells us that we have brothers and sisters who love the Lord living right next door. Most of us look forward to seeing each other every week during Lent.

As to the second question, I don't think we could sustain the enthusiasm all year long. People would want to get on to other things. So speaking of other things, we will return to our regular Wednesday night services next week. It's Holy Week so we will be reflecting on the walk Jesus took during that first Holy Week. I hope you'll join us.

Cal

PS. tonight the soloist sang Via Dolorosa tonight and it was beautiful. Here is Sandi Patty's version of it for you to enjoy.

A new baby in the family

We got word on Sunday morning that Caleb Dutrumble was born on Saturday afternoon at 12:55 p.m. at the W. W. Backus Hospital. He weighed in at 7 lb, 3 oz and 21 inches long. I got the opportunity to get over to the hospital and visit momma and baby. Cheryl was their with some family and friends. She said Dan and the kids, Adam and Anna were very excited and couldn't wait for everyone to be home. Here's a quick pic of the Caleb and his mom.

Cal

Lunchtime at St. Marks

On Sunday afternoon we hosted the Interfaith luncheon at St. Mark's. The crew was from Central Baptist. Mark Salomon and Roger Mainville cooked up a hamburger noodle casserole. Roger's wife, Doreen and Ellie Eccleston were working in the kitchen with them. Melanie Schueurmann and I were in the hall with help from her uncle Donald.

We had a good crowd. I said the prayer at 2:00 p.m. and then we served up the lunch. There were a lot of young people there. One couple even brought a baby. After lunch a number of the people there helped clean up and put things away. That's been one of the things we have changed since we began serving several years ago. We used to try and do everything for the people. Our missional church training suggested that we change that and begin partnering with the people we serve. This allows them to be a part of what we are doing as they begin to serve each other as well.




We had about 53 people for lunch and there was plenty of food so we gave out seconds. It was a great day and so many of the folks came back to thank us for everything.

Cal

A day of worship

It was a great day at church. Members of our 2010 Mission Mexico team shared a few reflections from their experiences of working with Pastors Ramon and Alma in Mexicali. Prior to the service a slide show with photos from the trip was shown. Randy Sargent shared his testimony of how he was changed by his new friendship with Roger from Central Baptist and Eduardo from El Buen Samaritano. Erica talked about how this year built on what she had taken away from last year's trip. Her faith has grown. Amanda Duntz talked about the relationships that have been built over the three years and how now we had a sister church with people that we knew and cared about. Mark Kane spoke about the team building and how it had affected each person's faith. I promised everyone that we would have a dessert night with the opportunity to watch the 2010 DVD together sometime in April.

We also had another installment of the JPS Man. Fred Green has been playing the role of the Jerusalem Parcel Man trying to deliver a cross. This week he bumped into Barrabas (Pete Adams) a couple of bystanders (Rachel Lord and Zelda Earle)and Jesus (Harry Calkins.) After weeks of trying to deliver the cross he finally gave it to Jesus When Jesus took the cross Fred wondered to himself why it made him feel so bad. The skit has been fun and it has featured different people from the congregation each week. The cast has included Cliff Vanase, the Pastor, Mary Brockway, Judy Dupont, Nancy Allen, Bob Walker, Sarah Lord, Amanda Duntz and Mark Kane. We have two more weeks left so what happens next is anybody's guess.

The choir sang an anthem based upon a 15th century poem titled, "I Sing of my Love" and I preached about smelly feet. Actually I talked about Mary's anointing of Jesus' feet at a dinner at their home and how it foreshadows the last supper where he washes the disciples' feet. Mary washes Jesus' feet in a mirror image of his actions. She spares no cost to do what she does just like Jesus who pays the ultimate price to save us.

The service came to a close at 11:47 with the singing of the choral benediction.

Day five - Saturday

Saturday was our fourth and final day of work at the church. The week went by so quickly. Unlike the previous three days, we waited to pray until we got to the church. We wanted to establish it as holy ground. I know that sounds silly considering the fact that we were working in a church. Yet, when you are working in concrete and drywall, it feels different. I invited everyone to offer up their work as an act of worship.

Andy Scheuermann finished putting in the copper piping needed to hook up the urinal, toilets, sinks and showers. The guys brought the blocks up as high as time would allow. Upstairs the group actually finished painting one of the rooms and finished prepping most of the others.

The work is always more than we can do in the time allowed. Pastors Ramon and Alma would have loved for us to do more but they were so appreciative of what we did do. We gave them a big jump start and we provided the materials for their dreams. This year we worked four mornings and two afternoons. The first two years we came down here we only worked mornings because of the extreme heat. Temps topped 95 - 100 degrees. Last year we came in February and it was a little cooler, only topping 80 degrees. Some of the group decided to go back a couple of afternoons to finish up projects they started in the morning. This year we built that into the schedule.

Some people wanted to work all four afternoons. I discouraged that. For one thing, no matter how many extra hours we worked, we would only be able to accomplish so much. Second, a part of our mission on these trips is to experience the culture of the people we are working with. Spending four days on church property wouldn't allow us to do that. So we build in these opportunities.

This morning we had an extra opportunity as Rick took us to a brand new ministry site in one of the poorest areas of the city. The new church is La Ladrillera. It reaches out to the folks who are brickmakers. You have to see the photos to get a sense of how precious this ministry is. The folks are dirt poor and they live right on the border. It was an eye opening experience.

In the afternoon a group of us went into the city. We had a good time picking up a few souvenirs, trying new food and watching the police in action as they rounded up some "women of the evening." We got back to the cars to find that someone had tried to break into one of the vans. That was a bummer. Fortunately Ramon is a police officer and Rick assured us he would help us with whatever we needed.

At 5:00 p.m. we were back at the church and ready for vacation Bible School. It was a beautiful night. It rained a bit during the day and that left the skies looking gorgeous. Amanda captured a few photos that are breath taking. While the kids were in class, sharing three or four Bibles among twenty or more kids in each class, Mark Hopkins came to me with the suggestion that we buy some Bibles for them to use in the Sunday School. Amanda happened to overhear it and chirped in that she and Jake actually had some money that was given to them to buy something for the children. It was like an answer to prayer. We talked to Mercy and we made plans to make sure it happened.

The kids came out of their classes and ran for the craft table. They really had fun. We played a variation of musical chairs during game time. Andy played his guitar an when he stopped, the kids had to freeze. They had a blast. After snack Michelle Chaffee gave away some Barbie Dolls she had brought along and a whole bunch of goodies that Chris Colter had sent along from Mad Science. T turned into a free for all with all of the kids reaching for a prize.

As the kids headed home, we packed up the vans and went back to the seminary. It was a great day and a great end of our work week.

Cal