Emma, Chanda, and I made the rounds together one Sunday at Fairfax Nursing Center. We popped our heads into one room and asked, "We're volunteers - would you like some company?"  We found a woman who cut right to the chase:

 

"I want lasagna and a man!" she cried.

 The woman, Mary, settled for a diet soda and an audience. 
 

Mary was 94-years-old and was looking for a rich man. Said she might just steal someone else's man. Then she roared.

 

Mary said she had lived - had taken chances, made mistakes, and tried many new things. She told Chanda she had a cute figure and asked when Emma and Chanda were getting married. She seemed unafraid of possibly approaching the end.
 

Last I saw her, she was still hunting. She told me to behave and I encouraged her to flirt with the staff (not that she needed encouragement).

 

At Fairfax Nursing home, I've met a basesball fanatic who enjoyed the company of a fellow fan, a sharp former CIA agent, a teacher who enjoyed telling me of her elopement years ago. I met a woman with a voice so soft I could barely hear her speak. She was just happy to have someone push her wheelchair outside and sit with her a while.
 

Meeting Mary kind of stuck with me, though. When a sickly, 94-year-old with a twinkle in her eye tells you to seize the day, you listen.

 

If you have a half hour on July 12th - join us at Fairfax Nursing Home. Bring lasagna and a man or just yourself. ;-)
 

For more information, contact Grace Borell or Pat Monahan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(and potluck) 

 

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS DURING WORSHIP
 
It is probably not news to anyone that we have too many verbal announcements during worship on Sundays.  Though many of these announcements are important to the life of our community, the pastoral staff try to limit these as much as possible.  Below is the criteria that we generally follow and we include this as a reminder to request your assistance in helping us manage and minimize verbal announcements during worship.
 
1)    Announcements need to be reviewed and approved in advance.  Ideally this means contacting the church office during the week to discuss any proposed announcement.
2)    Announcements are judged on these criteria in deciding whether or not to include them verbally as part of worship, 1) Relevant to the whole community? 2) Time sensitive - is event coming up soon? 3) Priority given other announcements that "need" to be made? 4) Other, more effective methods for communicating subject matter - are there too many details for verbal announcement? 5) New ministry or program requiring focused attention?
 
Also, just to remind everyone that our weekly e-update, Catch the Rainbow (CTR-Sunday Bulletin) and a monthly electronic newsletter, are all more effective means of communicating news and staying update with what is happening in the community.  CTR contents can be forwarded to info@mccnova.com and newsletter contents can be forwarded to crkscrw@msn.com  Hopefully we can continue to minimize Sunday morning announcements during worship that often feel like an intrusion into the sacred space of worship.  Thank you for your support in this regard.