Ongoing Response to COVID-19

Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2020-08-28

Posted on Aug 28, 2020 in COVID-19 |

Friday 28 August 2020

Members and Friends of
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois

Dear Friends,

Nancy MacGregor wrote an email seeking prayer for a student whose family home burned to the ground this week. She lifts her student up for prayer.

Nancy doesn’t know this, but she is living into the sermon I’m preaching on Sunday about, of all things, midwives. Much to your surprise, perhaps, you, too, are living into this sermon. The care you bring to your vocation, the holy touch you bring to your neighbors, the ways you stand humbly for justice, the ways you invest in our community.

Midwives? you ask.

See you on Sunday. Shiphrah and Puah (look them up) will be there. Invite a friend.

Pay attention to God’s activity in the world around you.
Be amazed.
Tell somebody.

PEACE,

Matt Matthews
864.386.9138

* * *

PHOTO Challenge!

From your Nurture Team — Congrats to Brandi Lowe for being the first to guess last Friday’s photo was of Gary Peterson!

Here’s this week’s photo.

Visit http://fb.com/groups/firstpreschampaign to make your guesses, or email them to photos@firstpres.church.

We are getting low on photos, so please join in the fun! We would like you to select a photo from your younger years (grade school, high school or early adulthood). Photos need not be professional. Candid shots are welcome. Please send your photos to photos@firstpres.church.

* * *

Two things I miss. Chicago. Symphony. Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syLm-9JyhuY

* * *

Christmas in August in Liberia via Atlanta (?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX3Hi5PGSDo

Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2020-08-27

Posted on Aug 27, 2020 in COVID-19 |

Thursday August 27^th, 2020
A daily e-mailer from
Matt Matthews

To Members and Friends of
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois

Dear Friends,

This prayer/poem of Sandburg’s has always moved me. I share it with you again.

Prayers of Steel
Carl Sandburg  (1878-1967)

Lay me on an anvil, O God.
Beat me and hammer me into a crowbar.
Let me pry loose old walls.
Let me lift and loosen old foundations.

Lay me on an anvil, O God.
Beat me and hammer me into a steel spike.
Drive me into the girders that hold a skyscraper together.
Take red-hot rivets and fasten me into the central girders.
Let me be the great nail holding a skyscraper through blue nights into white stars.

News:

BOOK STUDY: You are invited to a congregation-wide book study on race via Zoom. White Fragility: Why Is It So Hard for White People to Talk about Race? by Robin DiAngelo (Beacon Press, 2018). Begins the week of September 14. Sign up by emailing or calling Patty Farthing in the church office. 217.356.7238 /  Patty@firstpres.church

Claudia Kirby says this about White Fragility:   “I first started to learn about racial terms and ideas during our studies and projects through our Compassion, Peace and Justice small group at our church. My first eye opener book was, The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. It shook my life to the core. But as we have studied and discussed more and more, I realized that until I understand my own whiteness I cannot truly understand the brownness issues. Then change can happen. Christ tells us to love one another and learning about our “White Fragility” will get me closer to that humble love.”

Join us for the BOOK STUDY!

A picture of our friends Ginny and Jack Waaler.

Humor (Hard times need godly laughter):

Sometimes the jokes are super corny. Please send your intellectual jokes asap. These come from our friends the Petersons. (Blame them!)

Why did the man get fired from his job at the coin factory? He stopped making cents.
Where did article on the famous owl research appear? In the “Who’s Who.”
Why didn’t the dental hygienist like her award? It was a plaque.

Good Word:

Exodus 1:15-22
15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live.”

17 But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live.

18 So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to live?”

19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.”

20 So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.

Let us pray:

Holy God, in your mercy,
forgive what we have been,
help us to amend what we are,
and direct what we shall be,
so that we may delight in your will
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your name.
A M E N .

Much, much love to you all.

Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church

Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2020-08-26

Posted on Aug 26, 2020 in COVID-19 |

Wednesday August 26^th, 2020
A daily e-mailer from
Matt Matthews

To Members and Friends of
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois

Dear Friends,

You note two newsy things in our mailer today. The first is a “drive-by” celebration marking “Shorty Eichelberger Day” coming up in September. The second is an attached PDF about a celebration of Dr. Ben Robbins pediatric legacy at Carle. Give both of these opportunities your attention.

Also, don’t forget the congregation-wide book study I’ll be leading for 6-weeks in September. See below. We’ll meet for one hour via Zoom per meeting; we won’t meet for 6-weeks straight—that would be one, 1008-hour meeting. While I enjoy meetings, that’s on the long side for me. Six meetings, one meeting per week, one hour per meeting. Join us!

News:

BOOK STUDY: You are invited to a congregation-wide book study on race via Zoom. White Fragility: Why Is It So Hard for White People to Talk about Race? by Robin DiAngelo (Beacon Press, 2018). Begins the week of September 14. Sign up by emailing or calling Patty Farthing in the church office. 217.356.7238 / Patty@firstpres.church

The church received a letter from Boulevard Presbyterian Church in Grandview Heights, OH, informing us that Rev. Preston Shealy will be retiring from his life-long ministry on September 13, 2020. Preston served as a youth pastor here at First Pres from 1988 – 1992. Their Session wanted to give our congregation the opportunity to join in thanking him for his ministry and congratulate him on his retirement. Preston wrote in a letter to the congregation: “While Debbie and I do not know exactly what is ahead for us and how God will use us in ministry, we do look forward to finding God’s call as we transition to the foothills of South Carolina.”

Send cards to: Boulevard Presbyterian Church, 1235 Northwest Boulevard, Grandview Heights, OH 43212

* * *
The First Generation Scholarship/Award: $1,000
Godoy Law Office is pleased to announce The First Generation Scholarship. This scholarship is open to students currently enrolled in a community college, undergraduate, or graduate program in the U.S. To apply, students should answer the following prompt: In a 700-1000 word essay, describe your experience as a first-generation citizen. Describe your own personal immigration success story as a first-generation immigrant or as the child of a first-generation immigrant. Explain the struggles involved and what lessons the experience of being a first-generation immigrant has taught you.
To learn more about this scholarship, visit The First Generation Scholarship page.

* * *

This news from Dick Arnould:
Lou Liay, Dick Arnould and various neighbors of Shorty Eichelberger are planning a PARADE of CARS to honor Lila Jeanne on Friday, September 11, 2020 at 4:30 pm. This is being advertised as LILA JEANNE (Shorty) Eichelberger Day in Champaign. Mayor Deb Feinen is presenting a Framed PROCLAMATION that will be given to Shorty in the “Drive-By”.

Those who join the drive by parade will remain in your car and if you have cards or mementoes for Shorty, there will be a few neighbors ready to retrieve them from your car as you slowly pass by. Cars should meet on VALLEYBROOK DRIVE. Please enter from Duncan Rd west on to Valleybrook. (There will be a sign with balloons stating to TURN WEST from Duncan to Valleybrook.) Cars will line up on both sides of Valleybrook At 4:45 the parade of cars we proceed on Valleybrook turning left on Meadow Valley Rd. for 1 block, then turning right back West on to Meadowbrook Drive.

We hope to have sheriff deputies to help direct traffic going west one way on Meadowbrook Drive to the western edge of Valleybrook Drive.

Yes, you are encouraged to have signs, balloons or decorate however you like. The purpose is to show appreciate for Shorty and all she has done in our community throughout her years since beginning her teaching career here in 1954.

It is NOT HER BIRTHDAY, it is an APPRECIATION DAY.

And, YES, Shorty is aware of the parade and is looking forward to it. She plans to decorate her house. (She loves displaying both Illini and PATRIOTIC symbols). It is 9-11 Day so if you would like to wave a FLAG, that is appropriate.   FLAGS, ILLII STUFF, anything significant!

Two Things you can help the committee with are:

#1 Please send an e-mail to GALE BIUCKEL at the Alumni Assoc.
gbickel@uillinois.edu or text her at 217-412-4612 so we have an idea of how many cars there will be. OF COURSE, we HOPE a lot.

#2 PLEASE, pass along this information to the vast number of friends of Shorty who might want to participate in this special day honoring her, her service and love demonstrated in her 92 years.

Hope to see you in the parade. Barb Barker

Humor (Hard times need godly laughter):

Jokes from Gary and Linda Peterson:

1. When will the little snake arrive? I don’t know, but he won’t be long.

2. Why did Dracula lie in the wrong coffin? He made a grave mistake.

3. Why should you not let a bear operate the remote? He will keep pressing the paws button.

Good Word:

Amos 5:14ff  ¹⁴Seek good and not evil,
    that you may live;
and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you,
    just as you have said.
¹⁵Hate evil and love good,
    and establish justice in the gate;
it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
    will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

Let us pray:

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
for health and food, for love and friends,
for everything Thy goodness sends.
Amen.

(Emerson)

Much, much love to you all.

Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church

Attachments:

Dr. Benjamin Robbins Legacy Fund Brochure 8-2020.pdf

Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2020-08-25

Posted on Aug 25, 2020 in COVID-19 |

Small groups at First Presbyterian Church have continued to support one another as the pandemic restrictions have continued. One of these groups is the Monday Munchers, a mission-minded group with a thirty year history of yearly visiting Presbyterian camps in need of repair and fixing things, who “before Covid” ate together in a different CU diner every Monday at 5pm throughout the year. These guys have been helping with small repairs around this church during the pandemic. Bill Gamble has kindly kept us informed of comings and goings. Most recently we learned, “The kitchen project hit a snag related to an A/C unit, with completion of the prime contract now expected by the end of the month. Then equipment installation will begin.” and “Session approved a project to repair and paint the east main doors and do several repairs on the east steps.” It is nice to know work continues. Thank you all!

I learned this week that in the 1960’s Ginny Tutje’s brother, Harold P. Nebelsick, was on staff at the Near Eastern School of Theology (NEST) in Beirut which I mentioned a couple of weeks ago in the Heart of Mission newsletter after the explosion in Beirut. (He was a Professor of Doctrinal Theology at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY.) Interesting fact: Beirut is the modern city that in the Bible is referred to as Laodicea. The World Mission Committee is sending support to Beirut through Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. Anyone who wishes to give to Beirut is invited to give directly to PDA. Contribute to: Disaster Relief-Lebanon/Syria (DR000007). To give by phone, call 800-872-3283. To send a check, please designate where you want your gift to go on the memo line and mail to: Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), PO Box 643700, PIttsburgh, PA 15264-3700

Finally, Jesus Is the Way Prison Ministry ‘s FIRST EVER Facebook Live event is on Friday, Aug.28 at 6pm. https://www.facebook.com/Jesus-is-the-Way-Prison-Ministry-1594891964064517/

Peace,

Rachel Matthews, Temporary Mission Coordinator
Our Mission Agencies Announcements:

Courage Connection: If you or someone you love need help, please call Courage Connection’s Domestic HOTLINE (217)384-4390 OR (877)384-4390

Cuba Partner Network Virtual Gathering 2020 – The PC(USA) Cuba Partners Network Virtual Gathering: Celebrating our Connections in the Time of COVID, will be held via Zoom webinar, September 25 -26, 2020. Registration is $20 for all three days. If you are interested in attending, please contact Rachel@firstpres.church for the registration link.

ESL (English as a Second Language) will be virtual through December. They are on break right now but are planning for an active and busy Fall. If you would like to tutor or have an interest in strengthening your English as a second language contact our ESL Director Jeanette Pyne at Jeanette@firstpres.church

Presbyterian Women – Time to order study books. Two ways – Subscribe to Horizon or email Rachel@firstpres.church this week to order a book.

PC(USA) Presbyterian Mission Agency

On Aug. 28, 2020, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will be joining #Give828, a national day of giving focused specifically on supporting Black-benefiting organizations. #Give828 isn’t like other fundraising campaigns. This day takes place during Black Philanthropy Month and commemorates multiple important historical landmarks in Black Americans’ march toward freedom. Did you know that on:

· Aug. 28, 1955: 14-year-old Emmett Till was brutally murdered by three white men, which became a “flashpoint in the civil rights movement”?
· Aug. 28, 1963: The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech during the landmark March on Washington in Washington, D.C.?
· Aug. 28, 2005: Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana? The storm, which devastated New Orleans, inordinately impacted many of the city’s Black residents.
· Aug. 28, 2008: Then-Sen. Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for president, becoming the first Black man to ever win the nomination and bid for the presidency?

Your gifts to #Give828 will go to support leadership development for leaders of color by funding the Katie Geneva Cannon Scholarship and the Conference for Seminarians of Color. Donating to the campaign is one of the action steps you can take as a part of the Presbyterian Week of Action, Aug. 24–30.

Go to pcusa.org/weekofaction for more information on the Presbyterian Week of Action.

Frontera de Cristo –

Jesus is the Way Prison Ministry – The Annual Celebration-Fundraising Banquet will be online this year on Friday, August 28, 2020 at 6-8pm. https://www.facebook.com/Jesus-is-the-Way-Prison-Ministry-1594891964064517/

There are some things you can do to join in and take part:

· Hosting a watch party at your home or church on Friday Aug. 28th at 6pm
· Watch and share the LIVE feed on your Facebook page for your friends and family to view on Friday Aug. 28th at 6pm — (This is a GREAT way to help not only spread the message of JITWPM BUT also share some amazing testimonies of how GOD is transforming lives for HIS glory and help encourage others to know they also can be set FREE)
· Donate silent auction service and/or products
· Host a “Drive-By” to support the evening and drop off monetary donations, items for our blessing room, non-perishable food for our food pantry, etc.
· Give a love offering to “JESUS IS THE WAY PRISON MINISTRY” to help meet any expenses of this special event and the continued daily costs to keep the ministry going forward

Steve Gritten has written this about Jesus Is the Way –

Jesus is the Way Prison Ministries is an important ministry of our
congregation. They are having their annual Celebration/Fund Raiser this
Friday, August 28, beginning at 6:00pm. Via Facebook due to Covid-19. This
is their primary fund raiser for the year and due to the Pandemic, fund raising
is a challenge for them. We hope each of you will join them by Facebook if you
are in town and/send them a generous check to help them out. You may join
them at: https://www.facebook.com/Jesus is the Way Prison Minisstry-
1594891964064517.

For those of you new to our congregation and/or community, here is a
description of who they are and why they are important to our community.
Founded in 1977, and located in Rantoul along the west side of Route 45 as
you enter Rantoul from the south, they occupy a former Holiday Inn Motel.
Their goal is to reduce repeated prison cycles by male offenders by accepting
parolees who feel the need to change their lives by offering a temporary life
structure which many of them have never witnessed. Key to the program is
immersing them into a study of the Bible for which many of them have never
known. This part of their ministry begins with approximately 40 volunteers
that go into the correctional facilities in Douglas, Ford, Piatt and Champaign
counties. There, they meet men who say they want something different in their
lives. Many of these gentlemen become the residents for approximately 18
month at the Rantoul facility.

In addition to their initial awareness of this man Jesus and the Bible through
studies and devotions, they are also taught the various life skills needed to
become model citizens on their own from cooking, housekeeping, learning to
get along with others, plus such topics as anger management, financial
management, plus skills necessary to get and keep a job.

Following the initial intense training, they are allowed to get employment with
various Rantoul Companies. as they continue to study and work at the Rantoul
facility. Upon graduation, there are several Rantoul companies eager to hire
them as these companies know and respect the quality of workers that Jesus is
the Way Prison Ministries provide. Their success rate is very high. Of course,
a very few wash out at the beginning, because the effort needed to succeed in
the program is way more than they bargained for. This number is extremely
small due to an intensive interview they must pass before they are accepted.
Please consider this important ministry to our local communities and give
generously as you are able. You may give directly to them or via our church.

Canaan S.A.F.E. House: In an effort to help people break free from controlling addictions and troublesome habits, members of the Champaign-Urbana Christian community joined together in the creation of SAFE House (Substance Abuse Free Environment). We have experienced successful results since the inception of the Program in February 1994. The residents who were a menace to society are now ministering to society. What a testimony! We offer separate 12-month live-in Men’s SAFE House and Women’s SAFE House programs that incorporate a structured daily regiment of: G.E.D., and/or adult education, devotions, group therapy, personal counseling, volunteer work projects, evening community-wide personal enrichment courses, and weekly worship services. The enabling power of the Holy Spirit helps them break free from controlling addictions and troublesome habits. https://www.facebook.com/canaansafehouse

The fourth weekend in August is typically when S.A.F.E.House has their annual Jazz Benefit at Hessel Park. We are saddened this year that due to COVID19 that has been cancelled. Nevertheless, the ministry at S.A.F.E.House continues. Brother Tatum the pastor at the Canaan Baptist Church has overcome some health issues this year and for that we are grateful. We keep him and the entire minsitry in our prayers.

CU at Home – February 5, 2021 will be the 10th anniversary of One Winter Night. I thought CU at Home’s recent reminder was an important thing to include in its entirety this week:
10 years ago . . .

C-U at Home first organized an event that allowed anyone in the community to learn first hand what it is like to be on the streets without a home on a cold winter’s night. Our hope was that this very personal experience would generate empathy, compassion, and support for those who live this reality 24/7.

10 years later . . .
Our annual One Winter Night event has given more than 1000 different community members the opportunity to support our mission to house and support the most vulnerable homeless on their journey of healing and restoration. The unusual circumstances of the past year present us with unprecedented challenges as we prepare for the 10th Annual One Winter Night event on February 5, 2021.Our planning team is working on creative ways we can expand our capacity by spreading the box dwelling experience to churches, neighborhoods, and homes throughout our community. Rest assured, One Winter Night 2021 will be as exciting and fulfilling as ever!

How You Can Help
· Pray for God’s guidance and grace for our planning team.
· Pray that God will raise up businesses and organizations in the community to come alongside us in support of the event.
· Prayerfully consider becoming involved yourself, perhaps for the first time, as a participant in what we hope will be the most exciting and impactful One Winter Night so far!
Click here to read about last year’s OWN 2020 experience ››
https://www.cuathome.us/one-winter-night/?blm_aid=253367297

So Far This Year…
Your support has helped make a difference in your community! Here are some important ways your help has impacted lives in meaningful ways. Click on the icons below to learn more details about our work.

Men/Women served by our emergency shelters: over 500
Individuals/families helped with transitional housing: 19
Individuals blessed by our Phoenix drop-in center: over 400

Prayer
· Would you join us in prayer for our local law enforcement officers as they work alongside us in the trenches and put their lives on the line each and every day?
· Please pray for one of our friends who has sickle cell disease and just found out. We ask God’s comfort and healing as she begins to process of finding out what her next steps might be.
· Would you also pray for two of our longtime friends on the street, that we would be able to complete all necessary paperwork and complete their search for housing very soon! Working with these two men has been a blessing and to see them in their own apartments would truly be diving intervention!

Praises
· Thank you God that our “Hope Givers” monthly giving campaign has reached 10% of our overall goal with 60 people joining the team out of 600! Praise God for the 60 people who have committed at least $40/month to support our year-round emergency shelter initiative! Click here to help us reach this goal and ensure year-round shelter is available now AND in the future!
· Praise the Lord for the opportunity to help a family of 6 get back to Milwaukee and not end up on the streets of Champaign!
· Praise to Jesus for our partnership with the Champaign Police Department and our Austin’s Place women’s shelter as we continue find ways to get our female friends on the street the help they need, even in emergency situations!

Other Mission Opportunities around town –

Twice is Nice Thrift Store is
Open for Porch Sales
607 W. Elm St.,
Urbana

Saturdays August 22, 29, Sept.12, 19, 26
From 10am-2pm

Featured Items:
Aug. 22 Kitchen, Appliances, Yard
Aug. 29 Bed linens, Towels, Rugs, Kitchen linen
Sept 12 Electronics, Decorative (wall and other)
Sept 19 Puzzles, Games, Toys, Books Stationery
Sept 26 Winter apparel, Holiday

We are not closed for good, just exercising extreme caution in these difficult times. We will not be opening the shop itself until we are safe. Your patience is greatly appreciated.

We have missed you and hope to see many old and new friends at one or all of our porch sales. Cash and checks only.

We will be requiring masks, limited numbers on the porch and providing hand sanitizer for use before and after shopping.
International Friendships, Inc – Several FPCC members were interested in participating in connecting and welcoming international students arriving at the University of Illinois. International Friendships is an organization that is seeking to do that. You may be interested in the following flyer being passed out to arriving students.

https://uiuc.ifiusa.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2020/08/International-Friends-Flyer-Final-Proof-8-12-20.pdf

The City Director of IFI, Bill Erickson, writes, “IFI is endeavoring to offer our new international students, as well as our local volunteers, several options in how they can connect in friendship during this unique academic year. Friendship partnering will be initiated through visiting on the phone or computer. Outdoor activities can provide settings to meet in person. Please click on this link and let us know if you can help in some way that fits your personal abilities and circumstances. We will need help with personally greeting students on campus over the next few weeks. We will also need many friendship partners willing to connect with new students remotely as they respond to IFI’s invitation for friendship. In looking at our adapted approach to outreach for this fall, will you consider how you might participate?”

Bill’s information is
Cell phone: (217) 621-3846
Email: b.erickson@ifiusa.org
Local U of I volunteer website: cu.ifipartners.org
Local U of I student website: uiuc.ifiusa.org
National website: ifipartners.org

Let us keep all our mission partners in our prayers, those who are waiting to go back to their place of ministry and those who are able to work where they are. Listen for God’s call to you in their ministry.

Our PC(USA) Mission CoWorkers:
Mark Adams and Miriam Maidonado Escobar (Mexico)
Farsijanna Adeney-Risakotta (Indonesia)
Jeff and Christi Boyd (Central Africa)
Jo Ella Holman (Carribean and Cuba)
Bob and Kristi Rice (South Sudan)

Our regional and global mission partners:
Kemmerer Village (and Camp Carew)
Lifeline Pilots
Marion Medical Mission
Mission Aviation Fellowship
Opportunity International
Friends of Presbyterian Education Board in Pakistan Presbyterian Cuba Partnership
Special Offerings of the PC(USA)
Theological Education Fund
Young Adult Volunteers

Here in Champaign – Urbana:
CU Better Together
CU at Home
CANAAN S.A.F.E. HOUSE
CANTEEN RUN
COURAGE CONNECTION
DREAAM
eMPTY TOMB, INC
FAITH IN ACTION
JESUS IS THE WAY PRISON MINISTRY
THE REFUGEE CENTER
RESTORATION URBAN MINISTRY
SALT & LIGHT

Here at First Presbyterian Church
FPCC Amateur Preachers
FPCC Environmental Committee working with Faith in Place
FPCC Presbyterian Women
FPCC ESL
FPCC Children, Youth and Families
FPCC Mission Possible/Go and Serve

302 W. Church Street
  Champaign, IL 61820
  217-356-7238
  info@firstpres.church

Attachments:

The_Heart_of_Mission_082520.pdf

Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2020-08-24

Posted on Aug 24, 2020 in COVID-19 |

Monday August 24^th, 2020
A daily e-mailer from
Matt Matthews

To Members and Friends of
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois

Dear Friends,

Overheard: It is not only prayer that gives God glory but work. Smiting on an anvil, sawing a beam, whitewashing a wall, driving horses, sweeping, scouring, everything gives God some glory if being in his grace you do it as your duty. To go to communion worthily gives God great glory, but to take food in thankfulness and temperance gives him glory too. To lift up the hands in prayer gives God glory, but a man with a dungfork in his hand, a woman with a slop pail, gives him glory too. He is so great that all things give him glory if you mean they should. So then, my brethren, live (Gerard Manley Hopkins).

I rather like the idea that work is prayer, especially when that work is offered to God. On my good days, I work like that. And while I might not have used many words that day in my prayers, I have used my hands, and, as Hopkins intimates, my heart.

How will you pray today? Let’s pray for each other.

News:

Join me in praying for Kathy Kinser, whose husband Dave died on Saturday night. A memorial service will be announced later. Give rest, O Christ, to your servant with your saints, where sorrow and pain are no more, neither sighing, but life everlasting.

* * *

You are invited to a congregation-wide book study on race.

WHAT? White Fragility: Why Is It So Hard for White People to Talk about Race? by Robin DiAngelo (Beacon Press, 2018).
WHEN? The study begins on the week of September 14 (either on Monday night at 7:00, or Thursday afternoon at 11 a.m. Exact times TBA).
HOW? Sign up by emailing or calling Patty Farthing in the church office. We will meet on-line via Zoom. 217.356.7238 or Patty@firstpres.church
WHO? Everyone in our congregation and community is invited. Pastor Matt Matthews will facilitate. Our Compassion, Peace, and Justice Committee will host.
WHY? Having conversations about race may open us to whole new ways of being “neighbor” and give us ideas about how we can help heal the divisions that divide our nation along racial lines.

A twenty-minute video, Deconstructing White Privilege with Dr. Robin DiAngelo produced by the United Methodist Church, introduces the author and some basic concepts about white fragility. View it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7mzj0cVL0Q&feature=emb_title

I’m eager to be challenged by this book and our conversations around it. I have a lot to learn about race, about myself, and about our complicated, beautiful human family. I’m eager to grow. Join us!

Those who have studied the book say this:

It is not a fluff book.It is thought provoking.
There will be uncomfortable parts.
It will challenge us to think about things we’d rather not think about.
It is a journey of learning and awareness.
I became aware of little things in daily life I never noticed before.
It gives an understanding of our white culture I never had before.
It is an opportunity to consider cultural blind spots that might inhibit how fully we live out Christ’s call on our lives as His disciples.
Together we can identify and practice ways to build our capacity to listen and to speak about race, faith and justice in a manner that builds up the Body of Christ.

* * * *

Humor (Hard times needs godly laughter):

(From Bill Gamble): A guy, a bit hot under the collar, took a recently purchased chain saw back to the store, complaining bitterly that was the worst tool he had ever tried to cut wood with. The clerk carefully examined the saw for a while, and finally said:” I don’t think this has ever been started.”

To which the customer replied: “Started?”

Good Word:

Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.

Let us pray:

God bless us, everyone.

(Tiny Tim, from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol)

Much, much love to you all.

Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church