Friday 8 May 2020
 
Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois 

Dear Friends,
 
Yesterday I posted a song from Godspell drawn from a psalm of lament, Psalm 137. That song touched a nerve. Many of you liked that tune. Jennifer Black shared this version of that Psalm by Linda Ronstadt. Give it a listen: 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u60fXbTsMDg
 
I’ll be preaching about lament on Sunday. JIP has a story to tell about his recent sadnesses; and a lesson to share. 
 
I’ve been channeling my friend John Williams, chaplain at Austin College, by thinking about sad song lyrics. I’ve shared my top eight below; coming up with ten would have bummed me out. Lament as a form of prayer gives us permission to grieve, weep, complain, holler, moan, sit on our pity pot. Lament is a way of sharing the darker parts of ourselves with God. Lament gets it off our chests into God’s able hands. 
 
While I’m on the subject of lament, I recently erased the dry-erase board in my office. Goodbye to notes for some of the events this spring to which I was mightily looking forward: Ebert Fest, sharing local art in Westminster Hall with you during the Boneyard Arts Festival, Cuba Sunday, and a Cuba Trip. None that that happened. We would have grown, had fun, laughed, cried. We have so many things to look forward to, but these opportunities are gone. 
 
Is it okay to be sorry? To feel bad? Lamentation has place in a spiritual life. 
 
I’ll ‘see’ you on Sunday.
 
Turn on your “device” and find us at:   FirstPres.Live
 
Pay attention to God’s activity in the world around you.
            Be amazed.
                       Tell somebody.
 
PEACE,
 
Matt Matthews
864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church
 
 
* * *
 
New fun photo challenge! Each Friday the Nurture Committee is challenging us to read an assigned scripture about Jesus and come up with a representation of the story using whatever you already have around the house and share it in photo form.
 
CHALLENGE #4
 
 MIRACLES-????? You choose! The Petersons chose John 2:1-11
Many people came to Jesus in need.
Some sick and some lame, and some broken indeed
And often Jesus would heal, touch or feed
News of Him spread around Israel with speed
 
There are many stories of Jesus’ miracles in the Bible
 
With your family, pick your favorite miracle story and read it together.
Take a photo that represents the miracle or write the verse and take a photo with it.
 
Post your photo to:
 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/firstpreschampaign/
 live@firstpres.church
 For Instagram @fpcchampaign
 
Example
 

 
 
Fathers and sons. A Fred Craddock story:
https://www.cnn.com/2011/11/27/us/craddock-profile/index.html
 
* * *
 
Your Pastor’s Favorite Songs of Lament:
 
1-Big River/Johnny Cash
Well I taught that weeping willow how to cry cry cry,
Taught the clouds how to cover up a clear blue sky.
Tears I cried for that woman are gonna flood you big river,
And I’m a gonna sit right here until I die.
 
2-Hank Williams, Sr./I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry
Here that lonesome whippoorwill
He sounds too blue to fly
The midnight train is whinning low
I’m so lonesome I could cry
 
I’ve never seen a night so long
When time goes crawling by
The moon just went behind the clouds
To hide its face and cry…

3-Sad/Yours Truly 
Sad is the suffering, name brands and diamond ring.
Sad is having everything and nothing at all.
Sad is a sunset sky. The pretty girl likes the other guy. 
Sad is the seagull’s cry, flying over the bay.
Lord, have mercy on my tired, sad, sad soul
By your mercy, make your broken people whole
 
4-Yesterday/The Beatles
Yesterday
All my troubles seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they’re here to stay
Oh, I believe in yesterday
 
5-Mister Bojangles/The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
He said I dance now at every chance and honky tonks
For drinks and tips
But most the time I spend behind these county bars
Cause I drinks a bit
He shook his head and as he shook his head
I heard someone ask please
Mr Bojangles
Mr Bojangles
Mr Bojangles
Dance
 
6-The River/Bruce Springsteen
I got a job working construction for the Johnstown Company
But lately there ain’t been much work on account of the economy
Now all them things that seemed so important
Well Mister they vanished right into the air
Now I just act like I don’t remember
Mary acts like she don’t care
 
But I remember us riding in my brother’s car
Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir
At night on them banks I’d lie awake
And pull her close just to feel each breath she’d take
Now those memories come back to haunt me
They haunt me like a curse
Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true
Or is it something worse?
 
7-Daniel/Elton John
Daniel is traveling tonight on a plane
I can see the red tail lights heading for Spain
And I can see Daniel waving goodbye
Oh it looks like Daniel, must be the clouds in my eyes
 
8-Sultans of Swing/Dire Straits
And then the man he steps right up to the microphone
And says at last just as the time bell rings
“Goodnight, now it’s time to go home”
Then he makes it fast with one more thing
“We are the Sultans . . .
We are the Sultans of Swing”

Thursday May 7^th  2020
A Weekday Emailer from
Matt Matthews
 
To Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
 
Dear Friends,
 
It was great hearing Jean Rene Balekita sing last night on our Wednesday Night Concert. It felt normal and good. Next Wednesday we’re going to have a evening prayer service; join us then. 
 
* * *
 
I sit on the leadership team of the Illinois Conference of Churches. We drafted the statement below this week.  With the governor’s new guidelines about “re-opening” our state, your worship team will meet early next week to discuss what that means for us. We’ll be digesting a document from the PCUSA and picking the brain of Peter Yau, our Covid-19 advisor. I’m hearing that many of you over the age of sixty will be sheltering-in-place until we get closer to a vaccine. Share your thoughts with me.  
 
News:
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For more information: The Reverend Walter Carlson, [carlson.walter@gmail.com] 
 
ILLINOIS CHRISTIAN LEADERS ADVOCATE CARE FOR HUMAN LIFE
May 5, 2020 
 
The Leadership Team of the Illinois Conference of Churches (ICC) believes sheltering-in-place guidelines save lives during the Covid-19 pandemic.  We support careful, evidence-based steps to re-open the economy.
 
We believe that the health and safety of our wider community rises above individual autonomy in this unprecedented global emergency. 
 
Limiting public excursions for anything but essential purposes and exercise and the wearing of masks in public while practicing social distancing are practical ways of showing respect for the communities where we live and serve. 
 
But we don’t like it.                        
 
Those we love and serve are hurting.
 
We grieve the myriad losses our communities are experiencing, not the least of which is the loss of life.  Even in the midst of this crisis, more have died in this country from the coronavirus than in the Vietnam War. Business owners, closed now for weeks, wonder how long and if they can hold on. Teachers and parents are struggling with teaching from home.  Our front-line workers have held the line steadily with grace and courage. While some families are enjoying down time and togetherness, economic and social stresses are tearing others apart.  Our state must rely on science-based directives so that we will properly protect the people who live here. 
 
While the CARES Act, unemployment benefits, and other programs are helping some, many people fall through the cracks. Small businesses, the homeless, the seriously disabled are struggling.  There is evidence that the fault lines of race and economic disparity that have always divided our communities may widen.  The pandemic has caused many problems for Black and Brown people because of employment as essential workers.  Many are not eligible for the stimulus money or unemployment.   Health care is not an option for part time workers while pre-existing medical conditions plague Hispanics and African Americans. 
 
While we do not know what science will indicate about coming back together for worship, movies, concerts, and even haircuts, we are hopeful that human kindness, not to mention the grace of God, will flourish just as wildly as springtime is blooming across our state.
 
We are in prayer for our beloved state and her people, particularly mindful of those whose lives and livelihoods are most endangered. 
 
The Leadership Team of the 
Illinois Conference of Churches, representing
approximately seven million Illinois 
Christians in 13 denominations.
 
Good Word:
 
A psalm of lament:
 
Psalm 137/Lament over the Destruction of Jerusalem
1 By the rivers of Babylon—
    there we sat down and there we wept
    when we remembered Zion.
2 On the willows there
    we hung up our harps.
3 For there our captors
    asked us for songs,
and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,
    “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
 
Remember in Godspell Jesus and the disciples sang this song after the last supper. We return to the Psalms in life’s highs and lows. Let this break your heart. Again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXnnpsr–_c
 
Let us pray:
 
How long, O LORD?
 
Amen.
 
Much, much love to you all.
 
PEACE,
 
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church

Wednesday May 6^th  2020
A Weekday Emailer from
Matt Matthews
 
To Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
 
Dear Friends,
 
Concert TONIGHT at 7:00 featuring our very own Jean Rene Balekita. Get the link at FirstPres.Live. ‘See’ you there!
 
* * *
 
I have said before that this pandemic puts us all—everyone around the world—in the same boat. I was dead wrong. 
 
We are not in the same boat. We are in the same storm, yes, but not the same boat. Some families are enjoying family time together, zooming with grandparents, catching up on projects at home. The stress of unemployment is tearing some families apart. The economic safety nets aren’t catching everyone. The ‘boat’ I’m in with my family at my house is different from the boat friends in frail health are paddling. And our boats are different than those in a refugee camp or a village in South Sudan. 
 
I fear I’ve sometimes been smug equating my inconveniences with those of others. Some of you have lost loved ones. I apologize for my insensitivity. 
 
Yes, under these shelter in place orders I have truly enjoyed my family and writing letters to you (beloved flock). I have taken a close look at spring on long walks. We’ve cooked good meals, played music and ping pong, and have watched movies. My pantry and heart have been full. 
 
Not so for others in other boats. 
 
My prayer of lament this morning goes something like this: Bless us all, LORD, but bless everybody else first. I’m fine. I’m thankful. And I’d be glad, for once, to stand in the back of the line.
 
* * *  
 
Grace Ashenfelter shares this bit of history with us. It’s floating around Facebook. Younger members of our flock have nothing to compare this Covid-19 pandemic to. Our older friends, have lived through a lot. This doesn’t reduce our pain, but it places it in the bigger picture of the last 120 years.
 
Imagine you were born in 1900. On your 14th birthday, World War I starts, and ends on your 18th birthday. 19-22 million people perish in that war. 
 
Later in the year, a Spanish Flu epidemic hits the planet and runs until your 20th birthday. 50 million people die from it in those two years. 
 
On your 29th birthday, the Great Depression begins. Unemployment hits 25%, the World GDP drops 27%. That runs until you are 33. 
 
When you turn 39, World War II starts. On your 41st birthday, the United States is fully engaged in WWII. Between your 39th and 45th birthday. 75 million people perish in the war. 
 
Smallpox was epidemic until you were in your 40’s, as it killed 300 million people during your lifetime.  
 
At 50, the Korean War starts. 5 million perish. 
 
From your birth until you are 55 you dealt with the fear of Polio epidemics each summer. 
 
At 55 the Vietnam War begins and doesn’t end for 20 years. 4 million people perish in that conflict. During the Cold War, you lived each day with the fear of nuclear annihilation. 
 
On your 62nd birthday you have the Cuban Missile Crisis. When you turn 75, the Vietnam War finally ends. 
 
What wisdom do our older neighbors have to share with us about living through hard times?
 
News:
 
Wednesday Night Concert with Jean Rene Balekita. Join us at 7:00 p.m. Tune in to the link you will find at FirstPres.live. See you tonight for an hour of celebration in song.
 
Good Word:
 
A psalm of personal lament and hope: Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16
 
¹   In you, O LORD, I seek refuge; 
          do not let me ever be put to shame; 
          in your righteousness deliver me. 
²   Incline your ear to me; 
          rescue me speedily. 
     Be a rock of refuge for me, 
          a strong fortress to save me.
³   You are indeed my rock and my fortress; 
          for your name’s sake lead me and guide me, 
⁴   take me out of the net that is hidden for me, 
          for you are my refuge. 
⁵   Into your hand I commit my spirit; 
          you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God
¹⁵  My times are in your hand; 
          deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors. 
¹⁶  Let your face shine upon your servant; 
          save me in your steadfast love.  
 
Let us pray:
Bless the boats we are in as we weather this storm, Holy God. And even on this rough sea, might you find a way through our hands to bless others. AMEN. 
 
Much love to you all.
 
PEACE,
 
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church

Monday May 4^th 2020
A Weekday Emailer from
Matt Matthews
 
To Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
 
Dear Friends,
 
The Silly Humor Edition (Laughter is a God-given gift. Share it.)
 
 What has four legs and goes OOM! OOM!
A cow walking backward!!! (Thank you Petersons!)
 
People keep asking, “Is COVID 19 really that serious?” Listen up. Casinos and churches are closed. When Heaven and Hell agree on the same thing, it’s pretty serious. (Thank you Waalers)
 
And Bill Ackermann offers several:

1.      Apparently RSVP’ing to a wedding invitation “Maybe next time” isn’t the correct response. 
2.      I’m on two diets. I wasn’t getting enough food on one. 
3.      Do you ever get up in the morning, look in the mirror and think “That can’t be accurate.” 

And these bloopers are from actual church newsletters: 

1.      Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale. It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands. 
2.      Don’t let worry kill you off – let the Church help.  
3.      For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
4.      Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM – prayer and medication to follow.  
5.      Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.   

From Bill Marble: The man on the news said at the end of the day what’s going to keep you sane is common sense; some of y’all are in trouble! 
 
News:
 
CU-BetterTogether . . . Is a new community group (United Way, Community Foundation, YMCA, and local churches) coming together to fight hunger and give hope to area public school families in need. Laurie Jacob, Kena Jo Chapman, Rachel, and I helped yesterday and had a blast. Together we packed three pallets of food—possibly 1,500 grocery bags—for our public school children and their families. It was a WOW morning. Want to help? Are you between 18- and 60-years-old? You can, here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F044EAEA822ABFA7-cubetter
 
From Jane Tock: Dear Matt, Thank YOU and your team for continuing to keep “the FLOCK” together during this time of…alteration. (Although, we all know that LIFE has ALWAYS been one giant adjustment!)

It’s so comforting to hear the voice of Joe, the music of Richard, and the calm readings and prayers from Eric. I love seeing sweet Rachel by your side…she adds the touch of gentleness and care. And, she reminds us of family. Mindy is such a blessing. (I’m still getting used to the puppet, though. Ha! Always had an aversion to mimes, magicians and, especially, CLOWNS ?!  EEK!  Swore that I’d never marry one. Then, well…Steve.)

Please say thank you to all those who have shared their time and talents not only in joining you in providing with a weekly Sunday Morning Service but, in continuing to connect us and to serve us through ongoing committees. We are aware that our maintenance staff is keeping our building clean and safe and standing TALL.
And, the prayer team!!!  And, and, and…..♥?

Gratefully yours, 
The Tocks
…..Hug the boys. 
 
Good Word:
 
 Psalm 126
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
    we were like those who dream.
² Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
    and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
    “The Lord has done great things for them.”
³ The Lord has done great things for us,
    and we rejoiced.  
 
Let us pray:
 
O God, 
you are the well-spring of life. 
Pour into our hearts the living water of your grace, 
that we may be refreshed to live this day in joy, 
confident of your presence 
and empowered by your peace, 
in Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
AMEN
  
Much love to you all. 
 
PEACE,
 
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church

Friday 1 May 2020
 
Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
 
Dear Friends,
 
Miriam and Woody Chenault keep in close contact with J.A. Fukama-Kabika (our church member who is in Danville Correctional Center). Miriam sends this update:
 
They are all in lockdown [at the prison] and can go outside for only 30 minutes a day but can’t play basketball or soccer (which he loves to do). They can only walk or run around the yard. He is still taking his U of I classes, which will be finished Friday. 

Just to show you the kind of guy he is – his big concern is that Woody and I don’t get the coronavirus. He calls us mama Miriam and Papa Woody!  It is such a joy to think of him as our son.

When I think of his life right now during this pandemic, I cannot complain at all about any of this. I am so unbelievably blessed and lucky to have the freedom to go outside and enjoy God’s creation any time I want and to eat anything and anytime I want (food is definitely one of the joys in life right now!!). 

e e cummings was the son of a Harvard professor who left the academy to become the ordained minister of South Congregational Church in Boston.  In this poem, cumming’s own theology comes through – influenced by both traditional Christianity and the transcendentalism of Ralph Waldo Emerson – in a playful, modernist take on an Elizabethan sonnet (fourteen lines, closing couplet, and a rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG).
 
* * *
 
On Sunday, we celebrate communion, which is a kind of poetry in action, poetry of body and of soul, with all saints in all time and dimension. It is Holy Mystery and great joy. Bring bread and juice to celebrate. See you Sunday. Bless you all. 
 
* * *
 
Same time (9:00 a.m.). Same place. Turn on your “device” and find us at:   FirstPres.Live
 
Pay attention to God’s activity in the world around you.
               Be amazed.
                               Tell somebody.
 
PEACE,
 
Matt Matthews
864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church
 
 
* * *
 
New fun photo challenge! Each Friday the Nurture Committee is challenging us to read an assigned scripture about Jesus and come up with a representation of the story using whatever you already have around the house and share it in photo form.
 
CHALLENGE #3
MINISTRY  Matthew 4:18-20
Jesus began to teach all the people
They’d come to hear him, on building or steeple
He’d talk in the mountains or down by the sea
And to those who would listen, He’d say, “Come, follow me”
 
If Jesus were here today, where do you think he would teach?
 
Take a photo of a place you think Jesus would like to teach today. If you can’t go there, make something out of Legos, blocks, toys or get a picture from a book or online and show it.
 
Post your photo to:
 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/firstpreschampaign/
 live@firstpres.church
 For Instagram @fpcchampaign
 
Example from Gary and Linda Peterson…
 
  
 
* * *
 
This is fun to hear AND to watch. Hallelujah*:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag6CYY0cbFc&feature=youtu.be 
 
* Hallelujah/Alleluia is a Hebrew word. What do you think it means? Multiple choice:
1—Deck the Halls.
2—God is Groovy.
3—Praise the Lord.
4—Dental flossing is vital for oral health.
 
* * *
 
This just in from Frontera de Cristo:
http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?m=1103337725578&ca=a4b89791-0c69-4192-b29f-40dcc4cf13dd

Thursday April 30^th 2020
A Weekday Emailer from
Matt Matthews
 
To Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
 
Dear Friends,
 
Last night’s Zoom Dessert was fun!
 
My friend Kevin Murphy writes to the flock he pastors every day. He wrote this about dreams. Not the dreams we dream when we are asleep, but our “waking dreams.” Dig it:
 
Waking dreams are our imaginations taking flight. They are the ideas that move us ahead. They are the new understandings that undergird our best inventions and innovations. They may be seen as undoable or unattainable or just silly, but how would things like vaccines or immunizations ever have been invented if someone hadn’t dreamed of a world without infectious diseases? Who would ever think that open-heart surgery or an organ transplant could be an effective way of extending a life? Every innovation takes a dreamer who won’t give up. Every dreamer dreams of a better world and then works toward it.

As we slowly and carefully come out of our COVID-19 dens after this spring-long hibernation we are going to need lots of dreams and dreamers to envision what the next chapter of our lives will be. Will we learn new lessons from this experience that make our world safer? Will we continue to appreciate all those front-line workers who have keep our society moving and kept us safe? Will we figure out how to pay them better for the hard and necessary work they do? 
 
God-shaped dreams will be needed. God-shaped dreamers will be welcomed. Will we, as the dreamers in God’s loving and loved family, dream those God-shaped dreams? If we don’t, who will? We can dream God-shaped dreams and we can work for them to come to fruition because we know the love and grace and mercy of God is always with us, calling us to be the God-shaped dreamers this world needs.  
 
I say, AMEN.  
 
News:
 
Don’t forget the new fun photo challenge! Each Friday the Nurture Committee is challenging us to read an assigned scripture about Jesus and come up with a representation of the story using whatever you already have around the house and share it in photo form. Tomorrow I’ll share the NEW Challenge. Here’s the old one:
 
CHALLENGE #2
BAPTISM  3:13-17
As he grew, he gained respect from God and man
And his calling to save us, He began to understand
He declared He came to set the captives free
And baptized by John to begin that journey
John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the Jordan River
 
Take a photo of your family doing something with water.
 
Take some time to discussed what happened when Jesus was baptized, how God spoke from heaven, and what John said about him.
 
Post your photo to:
 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/firstpreschampaign/
 live@firstpres.church
 For Instagram @fpcchampaign
 
* * *
 
CU-BetterTogether . . . Is a new community group (United Way, Community Foundation, YMCA, and local churches) coming together to fight hunger and give hope to area public school families in need. Laurie Jacob, Kena Jo Chapman, Rachel, and I helped yesterday and had a blast. Together we packed three pallets of food—possibly 1,500 grocery bags—for our public school children and their families. It was a WOW morning. Want to help? Are you between 18- and 60-years-old? You can, here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F044EAEA822ABFA7-cubetter
 
Humor: How did Noah see the animals in the Ark at night? With flood lighting!!!!! (Thank you Gary and Linda Peterson.) 
  
Good Word:
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord has done great things for us, and we rejoiced. Psalm 126:1-3  
 
Let us pray:
 
God of experts and amateurs, in a time of great uncertainty, we begin to realize how little we each know. Yet you have placed within our community those who speak from reason, who know the science, whose profession it is to protect. May we hear the voices of informed wisdom, and give thanks for what is already here: the knowledge that overcomes ignorance, the love that overcomes fear, the community that includes the grace we all need. 
Amen.                       (Alex Wimberly) 
 
Much love to you all.
 
 PEACE,
 
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church

Wednesday April 29^th 2020
A Weekday Emailer from
Matt Matthews
 
To Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
 
Dear Friends,
 
Wednesday Dessert!  Join us for a Zoom gathering on Wednesday April 29^th at 7:00 p.m. We’ll meet online to catch up, chat, visit, show off our flower gardens. Bring some dessert “to share.” We’ll practice having an online conversation with each other. Think of it as the Sunday morning coffee break after morning worship. Technology makes these gatherings over distance possible—but it might not be easy. We’ll have to figure out how to talk without talking over one another. We’ll get the hang of it. So, help us experiment. Nothing beats face to face gatherings, but in the absence of that we’re trying this. “See” you there. Email info@firstpres.church for the link.
 
A connection from our past: Bill Wimberly was our interim pastor here some years ago. I was in touch with his son Alex this week and he sends this email:
 
Thank you for reaching out. My parents have fond memories from their time at First Champaign. I hope you found yourself settled in before these unsettling times. 
 
I doubt anyone at the church would have a memory of me; I was only there a few times visiting my folks while finishing up at seminary . . .
 
I have been writing daily prayers as Leader of the Corrymeela Community. Corrymeela is an ecumenical Christian community, based in Northern Ireland, committed to the work of peace and reconciliation. We have a residential center on the north coast of Ireland that hosts about 8,000 people a year. As Leader, I am meant to hold the dispersed community of Corrymeela members together through prayer and to lead us in our mission of transforming division through human encounter. 
 
The pandemic has closed our center, but has kept me busy as we learn what it really means to be a ‘dispersed Christian community’ in these days. One thing we’ve done is to share ‘prayers for community in a time of pandemic.’ You can find those posted daily (with pretty pictures) on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Corrymeela; the whole collection is at our website: www.corrymeela.org. 
 
You are, of course, more than welcome to share them. 
 
Matt, I wish you every blessing in your ministry at First Champaign. We are all learning how to be the church again, and I pray that you and the congregation know of your brothers and sisters in Ireland stumbling forward in joy and faith with you. 
 
Grace and peace,
Alex
 
 
Mary Jane Kelley Shares this Springtime poem:
 
Spring/ BY Gerard Manley Hopkins
 
Nothing is so beautiful as Spring –         
   When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;         
   Thrush’s eggs look little low heavens, and thrush         
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring         
The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing;
   The glassy peartree leaves and blooms, they brush         
   The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush         
With richness; the racing lambs too have fair their fling.         
 
What is all this juice and all this joy?         
   A strain of the earth’s sweet being in the beginning
In Eden garden. – Have, get, before it cloy,         
   Before it cloud, Christ, lord, and sour with sinning,         
Innocent mind and Mayday in girl and boy,         
   Most, O maid’s child, thy choice and worthy the winning.   
 
News:
 
Prayer Concerns: Barb Hoover is under hospice care. Join me in praying for her and husband Lon. This is hard.
 
Deaths: We rejoice that Don Dixon and Marian Babbs have entered the Church Triumphant, but we are sad we won’t see them again here. Let us pray for their families. 
 
Graveyard Walks: I’ve seen some of your family names on the silent stones of Mount Hope/Roselawn cemeteries. Thank you for the stories you are telling me and the tombstones you are introducing me to. 
 
Safe drinking water is not a privilege! Marion Medical Mission fights the water crisis in Africa by partnering with villages to build over 3,000 wells each year. In 2019, our American volunteers traveled through rural areas of Malawi, Zambia & Tanzania to provide safe water and build sustainable, protected wells for over 380,000 people in 12 weeks! These Christian volunteers dedicated every well to the Glory of God. Volunteers spent three weeks on their mission trip and and shared Christ’s love with the extreme poor over 60,000 square miles. This is amazing! Marion Medical Mission:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZqZ02BhFgk
  
Humor: Share your clean jokes with me. During this season especially we need to laugh. (What do you call a joke you make in the shower? A clean joke!) 
  
Good Word:
Psalm 13
Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies
To the leader. A Psalm of David.
1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I bear pain in my soul,
    and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!
    Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
4 and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”;
    my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I trusted in your steadfast love;
    my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
    because he has dealt bountifully with me. 
 
Let us pray:
 
God of those in plenty, God of those in want: this disease separates us one from another. It also exposes an underlying division that has been there all along: the difference between the haves and the have–nots. May the chasm finally close between those who will wait this pandemic out with stockpiles of reserves and the luxury of rest, and those who have been waiting too long for a voice at the table, a seat at the banquet, a prayer not filled with pleas.
Amen.
 (Alex Wimberly) 
  
Much love to you all. 
 
PEACE,
 
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church

Tuesday April 28^th 2020
A Weekday Emailer from
Matt Matthews
 
To Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
 
Dear Friends,
 
Rev. Cindy Shepherd prayed this “Climate Prayer” for us on our Sunday celebration of Earth Day. (Send me one of your favorite prayers.)
 
We Hold the Earth. 
We hold siblings who 
suffer from storms and droughts 
intensified by climate change. 
 
We hold all species that suffer. 
 
We hold world leaders delegated 
to make decisions for life. 
 
We pray that the web of life 
may be mended through 
courageous actions to limit 
carbon emissions.
 
We pray for right actions 
for adaptation and mitigation 
to help our already suffering 
earth community. 
 
We pray that love and wisdom 
might inspire my actions and 
our actions as communities. . . 
so that we may, with integrity, 
look into the eyes of siblings 
and all beings and truthfully say, 
we are doing our part to care for 
them and the future of the children. 
 
May love transform us and 
our world with new steps 
toward life. AMEN.
 
News:

Keep up with Mission: Check here https://www.firstpres.church/HoM20200428
 
Wednesday Dessert!  Join us for a Zoom gathering on Wednesday April 29^th at 7:00 p.m. We’ll meet online to catch up, chat, visit, show off our flower gardens. Bring some dessert “to share.” We’ll practice having an online conversation with each other. Think of it as the Sunday morning coffee break after morning worship. Technology makes these gatherings over distance possible—but it might not be easy. We’ll have to figure out how to talk without talking over one another. We’ll get the hang of it. So, help us experiment. Nothing beats face to face gatherings, but in the absence of that we’re trying this. “See” you there. Email info@firstpres.church for the link.
 
Prayer Concern: Miranda Rowland asks that we remember all the teachers out there teaching online, student-teachers, their students, and their families. This is a stressful time for these saints.
 
Your Staff meeting this morning. Pray for us!
 
Tithes and Pledges . . . Thank you for keeping your pledges up to date. If you know of anyone experiencing food insecurity, please let me know. Because of your generosity, I have grocery gifts cards. Thank you. Thanks be to God.
 
Graveyard Walks: I’ve seen some of your family names on the silent stones of Mount Hope/Roselawn cemeteries. I walk there regularly because it’s quiet and green.
 
Humor: When being chased by a bear, remember, you don’t need to outrun the bear, only the person you’re with. 
  
Good Word:
 
Psalm 100 
 
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
2     Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come into his presence with singing.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he that made us, and we are his;
    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
    and his courts with praise.
    Give thanks to him, bless his name.
5 For the Lord is good;
    his steadfast love endures forever,
    and his faithfulness to all generations.
 
Let us pray:
 
Almighty God, your word of creation 
caused the water to be filled
with many kinds of living beings
and the air to be filled with birds. 
We rejoice in the richness of your creation,
and we pray for your wisdom
for all who live on this earth,
that we may wisely manage and 
not destroy what you have made 
for us and for our descendants. 
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. 
 
(A Samoan Prayer)
 
Much love to you all.
 
PEACE,
 
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church

Monday April 27^th 2020
A Weekday Emailer from
Matt Matthews
 
To Members and Friends of 
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
 
Dear Friends,
 
Are you tired of sheltering at home, wearing masks, watching the news with trepidation? Me, too. So, let’s have some dessert together. Wednesday. We’ll meet at YOUR place at 7… 
 
Just open your computer and join us for a Zoom gathering on Wednesday April 29^th at 7:00 p.m. We’ll meet online to catch up, chat, visit, show off our flower gardens. Bring some dessert “to share.” We’ll practice having an online conversation with each other. Think of it as the Sunday morning coffee break after morning worship. Technology makes these gatherings over distance possible—but it might not be easy. We’ll have to figure out how to talk without talking over one another. We’ll get the hang of it. So, help us experiment. Nothing beats face to face gatherings, but in the absence of that we’re trying this. “See” you there. For the link, email info@firstpres.church.
 
We’ll be trying to have a gathering every Wednesday for a while to see how it goes. Let’s BE the church apart but together. 
 
A poem from Tom Ulen. (Send me your favorite spring poems.) 
 
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
William Wordsworth
1807
 
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd
A host, of golden daffodils; 
Beside the lake, beneath the trees, 
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. 
 
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay: 
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. 
 
The waves beside them danced; but they 
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: 
A poet could not but be gay, 
In such a jocund company: 
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought: 
 
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.  
 
 
News:
 
Tithes and Pledges . . . Thank you for keeping your pledges up to date. If you know of anyone experiencing food insecurity, please let me know. Because of your generosity, I have grocery gifts cards. Thank you. Thanks be to God.
 
Graveyard Walks: I’ve seen some of your family names on the silent stones of Mount Hope/Roselawn cemeteries. I walk there regularly because it’s quiet and green. 
 
Humor: I don’t know if this is humor or news. It comes from Dave Whitford, and he can be a very serious man. He also likes to joke. You decide. Here’s an email he shared with me over the weekend:
 
After a bountiful harvest of acorns in a fall that was followed by an unusually mild winder, a midwestern community began to suffer a plague of squirrels. There was a proverbial multitude of these clever furry creatures. They began to find their way into the community’s churches.
 
The Presbyterians called a meeting of the Session to decide what to do about their squirrel infestation.  After much prayer and consideration, they formed a Squirrel Infestation Committee. After several months of deliberation, the Squirrel Committee issued a report. In due course they had congregational vote and issued a proclamation that stated that the squirrels were predestined to be there, and the church should not interfere with God’s divine will. 

Over at the Baptist church the squirrels had taken a keen interest in the baptistery. The deacons met and decided to put a water-slide on the baptistery. Their hope was that the squirrels would drown themselves. The squirrels really liked the slide and unfortunately, knew instinctively how to swim. The following week twice as many squirrels showed up. 

The Lutheran church’s Elders decided that they were not in a position to harm any of God’s creatures. So, they humanely trapped their squirrels and set them free near the Baptist church. Two weeks later the squirrels were back when the Baptists took down the water-slide.

The Episcopalians tried a much more tempting alternative to rid themselves of their squirrels. They set out pans of whiskey and wine around their church in an effort to kill the squirrels with alcohol poisoning. They quickly learned how much damage a band of drunk squirrels can do.

The Catholic church came up with an even more creative strategy! They baptized all the squirrels and made them members of the church. Now the squirrels only show themselves at Christmas and Easter. 

Not much was heard from the Jewish synagogue. It is possibly due to the fact that the Rabbi was able to capture the first squirrel to enter the synagogue. In a matter of minutes the Rabbi circumcised and released him in a nearby park. They haven’t seen a squirrel since.

Selah*
  
 
Good Word:
 
John 10:11-18                    
 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18 No one takes[a] it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”
 
 
Let us pray:
 
This gutsy and beautiful hymn by David Haas dares to be a lullaby from God to us. Joe Grant will sing it with us this coming Sunday for worship. 
 
I will come to you in the silence
I will lift you from all your fear
You will hear My voice
I claim you as My choice
Be still, and know I am near
 
I am hope for all who are hopeless
I am eyes for all who long to see
In the shadows of the night,
I will be your light
Come and rest in Me
 
Do not be afraid, I am with you
I have called you each by name
Come and follow Me
I will bring you home
I love you and you are mine
 
I am strength for all the despairing
Healing for the ones who dwell in shame
All the blind will see, the lame will all run free
And all will know My name
 
Do not be afraid, I am with you
I have called you each by name
Come and follow Me
I will bring you home
I love you and you are mine
 
I am the Word that leads all to freedom
I am the peace the world cannot give
I will call your name, embracing all your pain
Stand up, now, walk, and live
Do not be afraid, I am with you

I have called you each by name
Come and follow Me
I will bring you home
I love you and you are mine 
 
Much love to you all. 
 
PEACE,
 
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church
 
 
Are you curious about that little word Dave ended his message with? “Selah” appears in the Psalms and Habakkuk some 74 times—but nobody really knows what this ancient Hebrew word means. Look here for an interesting article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selah