November News – Volume 71, No. 8

Dear Church,

“We [Kim and I] always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.” I Thessalonians 1:2-3, 2:8

THANK YOU for calling us to share the interim journey with you! It seems fitting to me that the journey began, and draws to a close, in this Season of Thanksgiving.

Your “work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope” inspires and changes lives. I lift up these particular words to you as you prepare for the next chapter of your interim journey. In the year ahead, there will be continuation of things we have begun together, as well as new activities and processes. AND your “work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope,” in all circumstances, undergirds and empowers everything.

Thank you for these gifts of faith, love and hope that you have exemplified and freely shared with Kim and me these last two years. We give them back to you, knowing that with you and through you, God has a mighty-in-spirit-church to be sanctuary in the city!

As I did last month, I also want to share another prayer by Ted Loder from Guerrillas of Grace. The prayer is entitled I Praise You for What Is Yet To Be. It reflects the faith, hope and love with which you have engaged the interim journey all the way along, and it serves as a prayer for the next chapter. I have pluralized and adapted it a bit.

Wondrous Worker of Wonders, we praise you, not alone for what has been, or for what is, but for what is yet to be, for you are gracious beyond all telling of it. We praise you that out of the [next chapter] of our life, a kin-dom is coming, is being shaped even now out of our slivers of loving, our bits of trusting, our sprigs of hoping, our tootles of laughing, our drips of crying, our smidgens of worshiping; that out of our songs and struggles, out of our griefs and triumphs, we are gathered up and saved, for you are gracious beyond all telling of it. We praise you that you turn us loose to go with you to the edge of now and maybe, to welcome the new, to see our possibilities, to accept our limits, and yet begin living to the limit of passion and compassion until, released by joy, we [continue uncurling] to other people and to your kin-dom coming, for you are gracious beyond all telling of it.

Thank you, Compton Heights Christian Church! And, thanks be to God, the Ground and Source of all of our life and being and gracious beyond all telling of it!

Steve (and Kim)

Prayers of the Community

Please hold in prayer: Walt T., Howard M. on the death of his beloved wife, Penny, Millie S., Celia P. in the loss of her brother-in-law, Warren; Nancy O. for her mother, George H., Joan J. for her aunt Adeline in hospice care, Diane R.’s mother, her cousin Mona, and her uncle Jimmy; DebE M.’s friend Sheila, Leslie L.’s parents, Carolyn H.’s sister. We Also pray for: An end to fighting in Ukraine, Gaza and Israel; an end to gun violence in the USA; all who have been killed, injured and driven from their homes to refuge in other countries and those affected by extreme weather events. Everyone struggling with loneliness, depression and isolation. All who grieve the loss of loved ones. All of our LGBTQ family and friends. Anyone experiencing pain and alienation:may you know that God loves ALL of us.

Sunday Morning Study Continues

Why were the titles of Caesar Augustus — Divine, Son of God, God from God, Lord, Redeemer, Liberator, and Savior of the World — taken from a Roman emperor on the Palatine hill and given to a Jewish peasant on the Palestine plain? Was it low lampoon or high treason? Either way, the Romans were not laughing. What were the priorities of Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom? How was the status quo of Roman imperial theology subverted by this obscure Galilean whose message continues to indict empire today?

Rev. Steve will share short videos and lead discussion at 10 a.m. in the Church Library. It is titled, First Light: Jesus and the Kingdom of God. The series is a 12-session study of the historical Jesus and the Kingdom of God, featuring John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg, two of the world’s leading Jesus scholars, recorded on location throughout Galilee and Jerusalem.

Looking Ahead to 2024

As our intentional interim period with Rev. Steve draws to an end, many of us may have questions about what the next phase of the interim/settled pastor search is going to look like. On Sunday, November 12, moderator Leslie Latham and other members of the board will facilitate an informational session after church during an extended coffee hour/light lunch in the library. Please plan to stay after worship and participate as we look ahead to 2024.

Book Circle November 11th, 1pm

For November, the group is reading the 2023 Pulitizer Prize Fiction winner, “Demon Copperhead, ” by Barbara Kingsolver. Everyone is welcome to join the discussion, even if you haven’t finished (or read) the book! Click here for more information.

Trivia Night November 17th to benefit Lift Fund