| Open Circle Calendar
2 Weeks Out
Saturday 10/10
9-Noon Workday
Sunday 10/11
10:00 a.m. Worship & Rain Garden Celebration
Children's Story: Rhonda P. Gingrich
Snacks: Doc and Jan Johnson
11:00 a.m. Community Meal
Wednesday 10/14
6:30 p.m. Leadership Formation
Sunday 10/18
10:00 a.m. Worship
Carol Wise Speaking
Children's Story: Jan Johnson
Snacks: Jerry & Faye Lefever and Laura Mattsson
Nursery: Coreen Kroehler
11:00 a.m. Education Hour
Wednesday 10/21
6:30 p.m. Leadership Formation
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Support The Mission And Ministries Of Open Circle
Please help our community of faith continue to be a progressive Christian presence in the Twin Cities metro area. You can make a contribution online by clicking here. You can see our most recent financial statement here. Thank you for your financial suppprt of our ministries!
GoodSearch
Every internet search you make raises money for Open Circle if you use GoodSearch as your search engine. It's easy. Go to GoodSearch, choose your charity, and then use it to search. You can also have a portion of your online purchases go to Open Circle by clicking on the GoodShopping logo and shopping at BestBuy, Target, Barnes & Noble, and hundreds of other retailers.
Next Newsletter
October 20, 2009
Deadline for Submission is
October 19, 2009 |
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Coffee and Conversation with Jay
I don't often make note of the feast days of Catholic Saints, but September 25 was the feast day of Saint Finbar, an Irish monk who lived as a hermit on a small island at Lough Eiroe, off southern Ireland. According to Catholic tradition, many miracles were attributed to St. Finbar upon his death in 633, among them the sun not setting for two weeks. Finbar's hermitage locale remains a pilgrimage destination to this day.
Finbar's own Christianity, though, was apparently rooted as much in local druidic tradition as Catholic teaching, and was likely grounded not in supernatural miracle but in the everyday miracles of the natural world: "the early Irish texts suggest a God who is immanent in every part of creation -- in Sun, Moon, stars, wind and wave -- indeed , inseparable from the creation, even as the unutterable mystery of the universe confounds our understanding and perception."
I have recently been re-reading Elaine Pagels' book Beyond Belief. Pagels is one of several scholars who think that the Gospel of John was written in conversation with the Gospel of Thomas, or to correct and combat the teachings of the community of Thomas. Whether Pagels is right about this is a matter of much dispute among scholars and is as we are fond of saying these days "above my pay grade" to know.
What is indisputable, though, is that the message of the Gospel of John that Jesus is God, and that Jesus came to save us, and that we are in need of salvation, and that this salvation is not possible apart from believing in Jesus became the orthodox position within Christianity and was eventually incorporated into the creeds and remains an essential element of Christian teaching to this day. Pagel's book tells the story of how this came to be.
The notion that God is within us, that we don't need salvation so much as illumination, as taught by the Jesus found in the Gospel of Thomas, isn't orthodox. The orthodox position holds that we can't save ourselves or help ourselves because all vestiges of the immanence of God within us were obliterated by original sin and now we need divine help from the outside.
I don't agree with this for a moment. Neither did Finbar, and neither did a host of Christian mystics who would follow through the centuries and keep alive within Christianity the notion that the divine spark is present in each of us and in every tree, flower, wisp of wind, and ray of the sun.
We don't need Jesus to save us. We do need to be reminded from time to time, though, that the divine spark is there within us and around us. If we listen. If we are attentive. What we can learn from Jesus is that there is a way of living that puts us in touch with the God within and around us.
For many Christians, of course, it is the miracles of Jesus and the miracle of his resurrection that make the difference, just as it was the miracles attributed to Finbar that made him worthy of being a Catholic saint. But I will settle for the everyday miracles of friends and community and the beauty that is everywhere we look, if we have the eyes to see and the ears to hear.
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October Highlights
Work Day
Saturday, October 10, 9am to noon
Final clean up before celebration
Rain Garden Celebration
Sunday, October 11
Worship and Potluck
Join us this Sunday as we celebrate the completion of the rain garden project. We are happy to report that both the county and city have given their final approval to the project which means that the grant money is on the way. On Sunday during worship Scott Holm, Vice Chair of the Dakota County Soil and Water Conservation District, will be speaking in worship. Other county and city representatives have been invited as well.
After worship we will have a potluck meal. We will be grilling meats. You are invited to bring a dish to share. As we have invited neighbors from the community around the church as well as city and county officials, we invite you to bring a little extra to share.
Card Club
Please join us at the church Friday October 23 for Card Club! We will meet the 3rd Friday of each month (except this month because of MEA) from 7pm-10pm to play 500 and other card games, depending on interest. Please bring a small snack to share and your own beverage. Childcare will NOT be provided for this social event. Interested but don't know how to play or need to brush up on your bidding skills? No problem - There will be plenty of opportunity to learn! Call Kristin Standafer 952.210.5137 or Nicole Giesen 952.873.6715 with questions. ***Due to MEA in Oct. we will meet on the 4th Friday, Oct. 23***
Stewardship Drive
Our annual fall stewardship drive begins Sunday October 25. As we have done the past several years stewardship folders will be distributed from house to house. Folders will be returned to the church on Sunday, November 15. A congregational meeting will be held on Sunday, November 22.
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For Your Thoughts and Prayers
If you have prayer concerns or joys to share with our community please e-mail me. Todd and Mary Hall; Todd and Mary are recovering from their transplant surgeries. Dan Kanitz, who has a heart murmur caused by a tear in a valve that will require surgery this winter. Faye Lefever, who is losing her sight due to macular degeneration. Mary Ann Steele's father, Ed Davies, who continues to struggle with a chronic pulminary disease. Todd Lines' dad, who continues to suffer with a chronic pulminary disease. Jeannine Mayer who continues to receive chemotherapy. For families both in Open Circle and in our communities and world who are struggling with life's problems. Continued prayers for the men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, and for the Iraqi and Afghani people.
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On the Web this Week - Buying Local
The Star Tribune had a great article this week about Holy Land Brand, Inc. which has just opened the state's first hummus factory in the Central Avenue corridor of Minneapolis. Holy Land has invested lots of money and is employing a growing number of people at its deli, store, and factory. It is leading a resurgence of this once run-down community. Read the article and then go buy their products which are available at Lunds, Kowaski's, Cub, and local co-ops.
Closer to home Joe Mayer's dad Vern has added to his line of home-made wood products for sale through the web. You can visit his web site here.
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Upcoming Events for your Calendar
New or Special Events Common Spirit Celebration
The Northern Plains District has approved Common Spirit, the Minneapolis COB group, to move from project to fellowship status. Common Spirit will be having a celebration on Sunday November 1 at our church from 3:30 to 5:00 pm with a worship to follow. Open Circle members and friends are invited to participate.
Inquirer's Class
November 1, 8, 15 after worship
Interested in learning more about OC or thinking about joining, this class is for you.
Rain Garden Update
The project is mostly done. Thanks to everyone who helped. You can see the latest online update here.
Open Circle Music Schedule- Fall 2009
We welcome all to join us in creating beautiful music at Open Circle! Please mark your calendars now and join us for any and all groups that you may be interested in:
OC Choir: Practicing at 9am the 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month- 10/18, 11/1, 11/15, 12/6. Singing in church on 12/13 for a Christmas Program, and possibly one of the Sundays in November.
OC Folk Group: Practicing at 6:30pm the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month- 10/20, 11/3, 11/17, 12/1, 12/15. Playing and Singing regularly in church, including accompanying/leading congregational singing. (You DO NOT have to be there every Sunday to participate!) Bring your instrument or just your voice and join us for this new group at OC!
OC Children's Choir: Practicing every Sunday after church, before Sunday School (When there is not a community meal). The children's choir will sing in church once a month starting in October (Including 12/13 for the Christmas Program). All Kids ages Kindergarten through 5th grade are welcome.
Men's/Women's/Mixed Ensembles: If you are interested in singing in a small ensemble group, please let Todd or Kristin know and we will inform you of practices. We are hoping to have the Men's Ensemble sing in October and the Women's Ensemble sing in November and several mixed groups singing throughout the Fall.
Wanted: Three or four volunteers to serve as part of a teaching team for our children's educational program.
During the spring of 2008, we had a congregational conversation about what we wanted for our children. This conversation generated several sheets of newsprint full of ideas. A small group that included Rhonda Pittman Gingrich (Team Leader for Ministry with Children and Youth), Vicky Goplin (Pastoral Leadership Team Member), Sam Lucido (parent), Jan Johnson (parent), and Nicole Giesen (parent), took the wealth of ideas generated during the congregational conversation and consolidated the ideas, articulating a list of 15 key learnings we want to pass on to our children (birth through grade 5). The list includes:
· Stewardship/Caretaking (time, talents, money, resources, environment)
· Community, belonging, relationship
· Who/what is God (source of love and life, God is love)
· Service
· Peace (internal, relational, global) and Justice
· I am a child of God (a person of value)
· I have gifts to share (value in the congregation and the world)
· Present an approach to life/God through the life and teachings of Jesus
· Understand and respect diversity.
· Kindness
· Questions are good. Life is a journey.
· Denominational heritage.
· Faith takes courage (the cost of doing the "right" thing)
· Sense of the biblical story (What is the Bible? What is in the Bible? the good, the bad, and the ugly)
· Welcome
This list serves as a guide to how we plan for and interact with children during the education hour and in the broader context of congregational life.
This year, we will be working with the theme: Living our Values. We will be focusing on the values of self and community; values based financial decision making; the values of love, joy, peace, and hope (traditional Advent/Christmas concepts); the value of the Bible (What is it? How did it come to be? How do we read it? How does it give roots and wings to our values?); the value of prayer and meditation; and the value of service and outreach (and the importance of seeking balance between our internal and external spiritual practices).
During our education program we want to expose children to these ideas through scripture, conversation, experiential activities (games/art/etc.), and relationship.
We are looking for a team of teachers-people who genuinely enjoy and value children and want to help them grow in faith-who will share the teaching responsibilities throughout the year, providing some stability and consistency for our children and allowing them to build a stronger relationship with a small group of adults. Responsibilities include: attending planning meetings (one meeting approximately every six weeks to prepare for the upcoming theme), willingness to teach (or assist another teacher) once or twice a month. If you are interested in more information or would like to join the team, please contact Rhonda Pittman Gingrich at rpgingrich@yahoo.com or 612-926-9460.
Rain Garden Celebration
Sunday, October 11. We will celebrate the completion of the rain garden during and after worship. Our plan is to invite city and county representatives to thank them for our grants, as well as neighbors and friends. We are having a bake sale as part of this event.
Ongoing Events
October Birthdays
2 Jay Steele
11 Ryan Steele
13 Tony Johnson
18 Nate Standafer
23 Kristin Standafer
25 Lisa Lavin
30 Charlie Roach
31 Meagan Steele
31 Steve Carlson
Women's Group
Our Women's Group will be meeting through the summer every other Thursday evening at 7 pm. Folks are welcome to contact Danette (952-835-0353) or Jodi (952-881-3051) for more information.
Community Events
mnpACT Event
October 9th, 7 pm.
Updated Directory AvailableThe
2009 Open Circle Church Directory (18 pages with Pictures) is now
available. Also available is the short form Directory (4 pages without
pictures). These copies are printed in black and white and are
available in the vestibule of the Church. Both directories are also
offered as a PDF file for saving or printing from your own computer.
This PDF versions of the 2009 OCC Directory is in color. Anyone wanting
a PDF version should Email mdhenly@msn.com and it will be returned with the PDF attachments.
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| About Us
Open Circle Church
2400 Highland Drive, Burnsville MN 55337
612-578-3233 |
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