The Journey is Our Home

Please, celebrate me home, Give me a number,

Please, celebrate me home Play me one more song,

That I'll always remember, And I can recall,

Whenever I find myself too all alone, I can sing me home.

Kenny Loggins

"Please Celebrate Me Home." Haunting and filled with yearning, the song speaks of the hunger that is within us all to come home.  As philosopher Pascal reflects, "There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every person which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus."  As we become like Jesus, we come to know the yearning as a gift that nurtures our relationship with God in Christ. 

We come to understand that we share a call to bear Christ into a world that is dislocated and displaced by change. Marjorie Zoet Bankson defines call as "an invitation to wholeness, a spiritual prompting to complete the work of love that we are here to do."  She invites us to explore God's call to build the new through a cycle that includes:

• Resistance: What are the patterns of resistance in your life right now? What do these patterns have to tell you about call? 
• Reclaiming: In reclaiming, we seek the form behind our skills - the original seed of call, the DNA of our souls. Reclaiming is not simply a process of reminiscence but of observation and action. What essential part of you is God calling you to reclaim?
• Revelation: It happens in the cusp between kairos and chronos time; it brings with it ambivalence and uncertainty, possibility and potential danger. This is the way of new vision being born. What has God revealed to your heart?
• Crossing Over: True revelation demands a response. It demands a "crossing over," coupled with a willingness to be changed, healed, and expanded as we confront the barriers between belief and embodiment. To cross over we must confront our fears. To what must you attend in order to cross over?
• Risk: Deep within us is planted the seed of new creation - dreams for a better world and wild hope that our visions can be realized. We need to act to make our dreams real. Risk is the courage to change. Risk requires that we be willing to fail as well as succeed, to be wrong as well as to be right. What is God calling you to risk?
• Relate: Call cannot be fully manifested without community. A community that takes God's call seriously understands the importance of shared purpose. Yet developing such community is neither easy nor orderly. To whom do you relate?
• Release: Completing the cycle of soul work means integration, endings, and release. Release calls for generativity as we give call away and begin the cycle anew. Release is a stage of rest and listening. Learning when to let go and when to hang on is the essence of release. What aspect of your present call is God asking you to release in order to live forward?

Even as the cry of our hearts is to "please, celebrate me home," we know that we are called to be Christ for the world and make the journey our home.  The early church father Augustine assures us, "Ask not where our home is, because in the end we all come home to God."

Blessings as you make the journey your home!

 

Debbie Rundlett

General Presbyter 

Holy Habit: Stewardship of Self

2014 Updated Terms of Call Forms

Can Now Be Submitted!

If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact Candice at the Mission Center by calling 330-339-5515 or emailing at Candice@MVPJourney.org.

From Candice McMath

2014 Mission Yearbooks Have Arrived!

For those who have pre-ordered Mission Yearbooks, they have arrived at the Mission Center! You may pick them up at your earliest convenience.  Due to the holidays, the Mission Center is operating on reduced hours.  Please call or email prior to driving to New Phila to make sure we are here so you can pick up your yearbooks.

If you did not pre-order a 2014 Mission Yearbook and would like one, we did order extra.  They will be available here at the Mission Center and also will be brought to upcoming events, and you can purchase them at the door.  The cost is $15.

From Rev. Robin Swinsburg

Choir Robes Available

Free for the cost of shipping.  60 choir robes (blue)  Only a couple of years old and only worn one year.  

If you are interested, please contact The Rev. Robin Swinsburg at 941-748-2848

From Massillon Central Presbyterian Church

Seeking an Organist

Central Presbyterian Church of Massillon has an immediate opening for a quarter-time organist and accompanist. Instruments are a 2002 Allen Renaissance 80-stop, 3-manual digital organ with MIDI and a Steinway six-foot grand piano.  The individual filling the position will be responsible for one Sunday morning worship service, weekly rehearsal (September-May) with a twenty-five voice chancel choir, special liturgical services, weddings, and in-church funeral services.  

Position reports to the Director of Music Ministries. Compensation will be negotiated and based upon commensurate experience.  A full position description is available upon request. 

Interested persons are asked to contact Larry Lalama at 330-832-7455 or cpcp@sssnet.com.

From Lynn Thompson Bryant 

Orwell North Presbyterian Church Seeking a Pastor

The Orwell North Presbyterian Church, a spirit filled, "country" church, is looking for a full-time covenant pastor.  Our church is located in the Village of Orwell in southern Ashtabula County Ohio.  The church was established in 1831.  It has a membership of 110 members.  

We are looking for a pastor who reflects God's abiding love and the peace and joy that following Him brings.  If you feel that our church would be a good fit for you please contact us with your information and we will provide our pastoral information form in its entirety.  We look forward with great anticipation and joy to meeting the new pastor God has chosen for our church.  

Orwell North Presbyterian Church

135 N. Maple Ave.

Orwell, OH  44076

(440) 437-6677

From Mary Ann Borland, FPC Minerva

Craft Supplies Available

For anyone that accepts greeting cards to be

From Jerry Norton, Christ Church

1990 Hymnals available

Due to a recent upgrade, the 1990 version of the hymnals previous used at Christ Church are available for churches in need. 

• Regular Hymnals (with music):         470
• Large Print Hymnals (words only):    120

All the hymnals are in good condition, as Christ Church got them in 1999, so they have only been used for 14 years.  They are boxed and available to ship immediately on a first come- first served basis.

Save the Date: May 1, 2014

Re/Entry: Rebuilding Productive Lives, Post-Incarceration

A Policy Coordination and Training Symposium for Professionals

From Alice Phillips, Creston Presbyterian