These bi-weekly emails will focus on Small Group tips, FAQs, and resources to encourage the life of your group. If you have any questions, please drop a line to Scott, here.

May your small group be a blessing to you and your neighbors!

When your small group gets together this or next week, please carve out time to be praying for those effected by Sandy and helping with recovery. Here's a simple way to do that:

• After some socializing and simple catching up, dedicate 10 minutes to intercede for those effected by Sandy
• Before praying, ask for specific requests (make a simple list)
• Explain the process and recruit a few partners. Process is: silence-opener-intercede-closer-silence-reflect. Partners: one to open and one to close, plus a commitment from a few to pray for the requests (assign them to those). 
• Silence: Start with silence to give each person a chance to purposefully open themselves us to God and bring to him what is on their hearts and minds
• Opener: one person opens the vocal part of the prayer, as they see fit; when they finish opening, they say so
• Intercede: a time for all to pray, including those who agreed to pray for the request; Silence is fine; people are praying and God is listening and speaking back; give others a chance to sort out their prayers in that silence, voice them, and listen
• Closer: when nearing the end of the time, the closer asks if all have prayed out loud who wish to, lets others finish if they desire, and concludes the prayer and invites the group's agreement in "Amen."
• Reflect: take a breath and then ask how the prayer was. Neither it being "great" or "not so great" is the point, rather to invite people to converse with God and his people openly. God is always desirous of hearing us and our shared spiritual life builds Christian community. 

The devastation along the East Coast is overwhelming: at this point more than 26 have died, more than 7 million without power, fires, untold damage to people's homes and businesses, infrastructure flooded, and Manhattan largely cut off from it's neighbors. What can St. Matthias do? What can I do? 

First, we can intercede. Intercession is bringing the needs of people to the power of God. Because God is Spirit, he can touch the hearts, minds, and wills of people huddled around a candle or at the end of a repair truck ladder, giving courage, strength, comfort, and hope. Pray for first responders, work crews, those who are stranded away from family, the sick and mentally ill, those who's family members were injured or killed, and those who have lost homes and livelihoods. And then pray for the church to be gracious and faithful servants to and along side of others, and that they might share the hope they have. 

Second, we can and ought to share of our abundance. Right now two groups with proven track records are on the ground and ready to help with redevelopment: The Red Cross and Episcopal Relief and Development. While just two of many, The Red Cross is already running shelters, helping plan for temporary housing, and will be the front line for volunteer efforts for the upcoming weeks. Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) provides grants to help local organizations providing front line relief, and then partners with individuals, agencies, and (especially) churches to help in economic redevelopment - such as gifts or loans to church-known small businesses to get their shelves restocked or help the church's ministries return to serving the poor, needy, lonely, and homeless. 

Third, donate blood through local hospitals (all ours have regular clinics). During disasters, blood drives - the lifeblood of the blood supply - are disrupted. As Christians, we know the preciousness of blood. 

Fourth, we, especially small groups and teams, can pray about going and helping through well-run assistance agencies. ERD will have some possibilities as things begin to settle, as will others. Here's a link to FEMA's volunteer page - with some possibilities.

Fifth - we can continue to pray for months to come. Recovery takes time - sometimes years. I'm putting a reminder in my calendar for 4 weeks and 8 weeks and 6 months out. Click here to add a monthly prayer reminder to your calendar. Again, this brings people and their needs in contact with God's power.

Finally, pray about your own response. Frequently, I feel inadequate to respond which tends to keep me from engaging. My desire to help is high, but my sense of what I can do is frequently low. God wants us all to pray, ask how we can help, and then faithfully do that which we are lead to do. He's familiar with our human frailty and with our great gifts - so he's able to respond to our pleas. 

There are probably many more things you already are thinking. Please don't hesitate to let me (Scott) know and if it seems right we'll pass them along to the whole congregation. 

Finally, if you have family or friends on the East Coast we can be praying for, please let me know. 

Yours, in Christ,
Scott+ 

 

 

May your small group be a blessing to you and your neighbors!