Sanctuary in the City: June – July 2019 (Vol. 67 No. 2)
AWAKE TO THE SPIRIT: Advocate, Comforter, Breath
In these last Sundays of Easter, we have heard Christ’s promise of Presence in powerful ways. Two Sundays before Pentcost Sunday, we read in John 14:23-29: “We (Christ and God the Creator) will come to them and make our home with them.” “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit . . . will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.”
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.” “I am going away, and I am coming to you.” Oh how we need the assurance of God’s Presence in these days! And the gift is that God’s Spirit is present:
- As Advocate for God’s people – for ALL who forget how to love ourselves, forget who we are, forget that we are One People throughout the earth! The Advocate stands with and reminds us of the call to wholeness!
- As Comforter for ALL who feel that we have been left alone, abandoned. For all who grieve and feel lost and confused.
- As Breath, that we may live fully as one people – no longer separated by language, or race, or gender. or orientation, or nation, or religion. We are ‘God-Breathed’ for the wholeness in which we were created!
Sunday, June 9 is PENTECOST – 50 days after Easter when, as the story is told in Acts, the Spirit came like the rush of a mighty wind, and like flames
touching each one gathered. And they
heard and understood each other across
the barriers of nation and language.
As we enter this season of Pentecost, I pray that we may truly hear and speak so that understanding grows. May the harm caused by our unwillingness to see and respect each other as fully human, be revealed and healed. May women, children, people of color, people of every nation be respected in body and spirit.
Jacque
Compton Uplift Concert
We invite all CHCC members and friends to help make this a great concert, a celebration of
community, AND a great fundraiser for the COMPTON UPLIFT accessibility project!!
Please sell tickets, invite friends in person and on Facebook, help put together a basket for raffle, help with food for the evening, make goodies for the bake sale, volunteer to help with set up, greeting, tending tables, etc.
. . . . And most of ALL, COME! ENJOY! CELEBRATE! HAVE FUN!
Let Madeline Haraway and Diane Richardson know what you would like to do!
GA 2019: Abide in Me We are excited that 10 CHCC members are going to the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciple of Christ) in Des Moines. Laypersons:
Judi Linville – voting delegate
Leslie Latham – voting delegate
Marcia Hendrix (alternate voting delegate)
Madeline Haraway
Dave Boger
Marsha McGuire
Kathy Mead
Clergy: Jacque Foster, Brenda Booth, Becky
Klemme-Eliceiri (Clergy also have vote)
Isaiah 58 Ministries
Bag of Blessings
JUNE JULY
Food Item:
Hot Chocolate Oats
Canned Fruit Dried Beans
Tea
Pantry Essential:
Cooking Oil Flour
(canola, olive, (1 or 2 lbs)
vegetable)
Personal Care:
Shampoo Body Lotion
Conditioner Lip Balm
Cleaning Supplies:
SOS Pads Laundry Soap
Sponges
You are invited to bring any of these items to place in the ISAIAH 58 Offering Basket on Sunday mornings at Compton Heights CC!
We hold each other and our wider community, nation, and world in prayer. It is more than a turn of phrase to say that we “pray without ceasing.” This is a community grounded and centered in prayer in such a way that we hold each other and those we do not know in God’s Restorative Light day and night.
Please pray for:
Janet Utley’s brother-in-law Neil Alfred (healing prayers)
Audrey and Walt Tarde Those who are unemployed
Cathy Hutcherson Those who grieve over time
Karen and John Pitt Those who suffer hatred and violence
Joyce Cole All who suffer with illness
Sharon Clayton Immigrants: children and adults
Diane Richardson Those who have suffered damage, injury, and loss in recent storms and tornados
Congratulations Graduates!
Congratulations to Jacob and Ty Woodard who graduated from Bayless High School! Ty plans to attend UMSL and Jacob plans to attend Meremac Community College. Congratulations also to proud Mom, Charlsi Lewis Lee!
Congratulations to Lisa Pettis, who has completed the coursework for her M.Div. at Eden Theological Seminary. Lisa is not quite to the point of graduation, but only needs to complete her unit of Clinical Pastoral Education.
Congratulations to Lewis Family!
We celebrate with Bob and Linda Lewis at the birth of a new grandson! Declan Andre Lewis was born to Robby and Amelia Lewis on May 9. He entered the world at 7 lb, 6 oz , 20 3⁄4 inches long. Bob and Linda were able to be there for the birth. He joins his big sister Aarilyn. God bless this new addition to the family!
Expecting New Life!
Congratulations to Kim and Tom Litton who are expecting a new little Litton in late November/early December! Xavier will get to be a big brother! God’s blessings each and every day of the journey!
Blessing to Petri Family in their Move!
It is always hard to see beloved CHCC members move away to new places! Yet we bless them on their way and know that they will always be a part of those who make Compton Heights Christian Church the community of Christ.
Sunday, June 9 will be the last Sunday for the Petri family to be with us in worship before their move to Omaha, Nebraska. We will miss Susan, Roland, Willow, Matthew, Sienna, Jackson, Marcus, and Cory! What a blessing they are to this congregation and will be to a congregation in Omaha! The good news, of course, is that with parents/grandparents Walt and Audrey Tarde here in St. Louis and at Compton Heights CC, we will see them when they visit!
Compton Heights CC Book Group
Next meeting: Saturday, June 1 at 1:00 pm at the church
We are reading and discussing:
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
What Else Are We Reading?
The Book Group is not the only group reading in our congregation!
The Elders are almost always reading a book or articles. In 2018, the Elders read Prophetic Lament which was a focus on Lamentations in the context of our world at this time. The author began it after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson.
At this time, the Elders are reading Where the Cross Meets the Streets by Noel Castellanos. “Castellanos shows the strengths and limitations of a narrowly focused church, and he broadens our imaginations to embrace a gospel that proclaims Christ and that forms disciples while demonstrating compassion, confronting injustice and restoring individuals and communities to wholeness. This is the whole work of the cross; this is the privilege of those who follow the the Word made flesh.”
At least three of us, Madeline Haraway, Becky Klemme Eliceri, and Jacque Foster are reading: Honoring the Body: Meditations on a Christian Practice by Stephanie Paulsell. “Here is a book we have needed for a long time, a book that will help Christians – who affirm that ‘the Word became flesh’ – overcome their baffling historic aversion to the body and learn to honor it. Stephanie Paulsell is a wise and compassionate guide, and she has given us the most compelling treatment of this topic I’ve ever read. May her insights be received, and embodied by many.” – Parker Palmer, author, Let your Life Speak and The Courage to Teach.
How Is the Pentecost Offering Used?
To help our new church movement continue
to take root! Each year, half of this offering
stays in the local Region or Area where it’s
collected to start and uphold new churches.
The other half is used across the United States and Canada by New Church Ministry to support the recruiting, assessing, training and coaching of new church leaders at events like Leadership Academy. Our church planters remain committed to answering God’s call . . . to serve their neighbors, spread the gospel, and make more Disciples. But they need the nurturing and generous support of people like you. Please help our new church movement continue to take root, bear fruit . . . and grow more Disciples every day!
Please note that at Compton Heights CC, we will receive the 2019 Pentecost Offering on June 9 and 16.
SUMMER SUNDAY SANDWICH-MAKING FOR THOSE WHO ARE UN-HOUSED AND HUNGRY
Our Outreach Ministry Group and Cabinet said “YES!” when asked if our congregation could help Winter/Summer Outreach this summer by making sandwiches which will be a part of meals provided on Sunday evenings for those who are un-housed and in
need of food. NOW, having said “YES” we ALL have an opportunity to help!
After worship on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each summer month, we will make 125 sandwiches (not the whole meal as we did in a previous summer). We will then take the sandwiches to Mokabe’s Coffee House after 2 pm, where they will be put together
with other meal items donated by different churches/organizations. Winter/Summer Outreach Volunteers will then deliver the meals to those in need of them.
We will purchase the sandwich bread, sandwich meat (NO pork, NO peanut butter), and sliced cheese, and sandwich baggies to make and pack 125 sandwiches on each of these 6 Sundays. This year Winter/Summer Outreach has the resources to reimburse
us for the cost of the items. What they really need is for us to make and deliver the sandwiches to them! We will need people to help put together sandwiches following worship! With sandwich-making assembly lines, we are fast and it’s fun!
Our Sundays to make sandwiches are JUNE 9th and 23rd , JULY 14th and 28th , AUGUST 11th and 25th.
PRIDEFEST PLANNING
PrideFest is June 28 and 29! Participation in PrideFest is an important part of our Open and Affirming Ministry. Our Booth Planning is underway! Once again this year, we will be part of a joint Disciples of Christ Booth at the downtown Pridefest site. There will also be a Disciples of Christ group in the Pride Parade.
In addition, our congregation will have a booth at Tower Grove Pride on Saturday. Last year was our first year at Tower Grove Pride and it was wonderful!
We will want to have CHCC representatives in the Downtown booth and the Tower Grove booth. Kathy Mead has made arrangements for our Tower Grove booth space. Kathy, Leslie Latham, and Jacque are in conversation with the group from other congregations planning the downtown booth. If you would like to help with either or both booths, or
the parade, please let Kathy know asap.
“SIX WEEKS OF COMPASSION”
On the first Sunday of August, we will begin our “Six Weeks of Compassion.” During this summer mission emphasis, we will, once again, prepare Emergency Clean-Up Buckets for use in natural disasters such as flooding, tornado, hurricane clean-up. We will create needed mission kits for Church World Service. We will emphasize giving to our Disciples “Week of Compassion” ministry which is our disaster relief ministry. And we will support Isaiah 58 Ministries, for our local community outreach.
In light of recent storms and tornados, you are invited to begin saving for the Week of Compassion offering to be taken in August, OR if you would like to give now, your gifts will be welcomed and sent. Week of Compassion has responded immediately to Community Christian Church, Jefferson City, which took a direct hit by a tornado at the end of May.
Christ is truly everywhere, the very heart of life continuing to love the world into being. We have only to recognize.
Maundy Thursday Worship
Good Friday Stations of the Cross Friday, April 19
Easter Breakfast 9:00 am
Worship – Celebration of Resurrection! 11:00 am
ARRANGEMENTS
Why is that Equal Exchange display in the hallway near the library?
We also have many varieties of tea, and about a dozen kinds of chocolate. We have just received two of the newest chocolate bars: Organic Chocolate with Coconut Milk (lactose free) and Organic Dark Chocolate Almond and Sea Salt. Soon we will have some of another new variety: Organic Total Eclipse Dark Chocolate (92% cacao). We have 10 additional flavors in stock.
PLEASE NOTE: THIS INVITATION TO VOLUNTEER WITH THE PRIDE CENTER HELPLINE is TIME-SENSITIVE.
Compton Heights Christian Church 