Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2020-09-25
Friday 25 September 2020
Members and Friends of
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
Dear Friends,
I’m hearing that our school children are exhausted. Online learning is difficult. Parents are frazzled. Teachers are stretched. Bless them all.
How are you doing? Are you breathing, deeply? Have you noticed the cool of the mornings? Nightfall is sooner, and cooler. So many people in our community are feeling tugged and torn.
Have you ever walked a labyrinth? Prayerfully, quietly, slowly, and alone you walk into a circular path that winds to a budded center, then you unwind yourself back out, retracing your steps to where you started. It’s not a maze. You don’t have to figure out how to get there and how to get back. You can’t get lost on the path. You simply walk to a centerpoint, then you walk out.
People walk labyrinths to clear their heads. To pray. To unwind themselves from a stressful life. To think. Ideally, one feels calmer and more centered after the exercise.
I’m walking and I’m praying for our frazzled flock, for those ‘working from home’ and finding the lines between home/work blurred. I’m walking and I’m praying for those isolated from loved ones across town or across the country/world. I’m walking and I’m praying for those who are struggling financially, for the furloughed, the laid off, the gigging artists who find themselves without an audience, without a stage, without an income. I’m walking and I am praying for those in hospitals who can’t be visited by their family.
Join me. Help me pray for our world.
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What are you devoted to? I’ll ask you on Sunday morning in worship. See you at 9:00 at FirstPres.Live
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After worship, join us for Sunday in the Park. Hessel Park, north/main entrance, Sunday 11:00. Wear a mask and be prepared to be ‘checked safely in’. Bring a lawn chair. I’ll be there rain or shine.
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Tom Ulen is excited to invite us to the Wesley Fall Seminar. He says the speakers are stellar. It’s online, so you can join from the comfort of your home. The topic is super relevant. America 2020: Pulling Apart or Coming Together? See below for all the details.
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Pay attention to God’s activity in the world around you.
Be amazed.
Tell somebody.
PEACE,
Matt Matthews
864.386.9138
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PHOTO Challenge!
From your Nurture Team — Congrats to Suzanne McNattin for being the first to guess last Friday’s
Here’s this week’s photo.
Visit http://fb.com/groups/
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@
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Join the Wesley Fall Seminar this Sunday…
America 2020: Pulling Apart or Coming Together?
U of I Professor Emeritus Tom Ulen, Moderator
Join the Wesley Student Center and United Methodist Church online via Zoom and Facebook Live on September 27 at 2 pm as we hear from various presenters covering topics of racism, police brutality, media bias, civil and public discourse and many other topics.
These topics and many more will be presented by Chancellor Jones, Director Michael Schlosser, Professor Brant Houston, Professor Ned O’Gorman, and Professor Jennifer Robbennolt. Following the presentations there will be a 25 minute Q&A session. We look forward to having you with us online for this event.
Click on the links to access the Zoom Meeting on the day of or join us via Facebook Live.
Facebook Event…
https://www.facebook.com/
Zoom Meeting…
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
Speakers and Program:
Chancellor Robert Jones — Addressing racism
U of I Police Training Institute Director Michael Schlosser — Police Brutality and Police Reform
U of I Professor Brant Houston — The Role of the Press
U of I Professor Ned O’Gorman — Political Engagement Without Political Polarization
U of I Professor Jennifer Robbennolt — Civil Public Discourse
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‘‘SUNDAY IN THE PARK” The Nurture Committee invites you to gather in Hessel Park on September 27. God didn’t intend for us to live in isolation. God specifically designed us to have relationships with each other. Therefore, bring your lawn chairs and let’s gather for an hour at 11 am near the Pavilion at the north end of the park. The committee will be available to guide you to our location and provide a safe location following social distancing, sanitation and guidelines such as wearing masks.
Psalms 133:1 NIV- How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!
We had 29 people at the Hessel Park gathering on September 13. We would sure like to see more on the 27th. We plan to do these gatherings every other Sunday as the weather permits.
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Japanese pianist in the aftermath of Tsunami
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
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Labyrinth:
https://www.
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A story about how a man met his wife. (You’ll like this.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
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Champaign-Urbana Symphony!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
