The Great Awakening

In our end is our beginning.  

T.S. Eliot, East Coker, Four Quartets

Historian William McLoughlin believes we have entered into a "Great Awakening," which will eventually result in a new global ethic of economy, environment, and equality.   He describes an awakening as the means by which "a people or a nation reshapes its identity, transforms its patterns of thought into action, and sustains a healthy relationship with environmental and social change."[1] 

In his study of religious and cultural change, McLoughlin identifies five distinct, yet interwoven, stages:

1.  Crisis of legitimacy;
2.  Cultural distortion;
3.  New vision;
4.  New path; and
5.  Institutional transformation.

While the last stage results in transformation, the first two stages, by necessity, involve breakdown and decline.  Even with the gift of imagination and possibility born of the third and four stages, pastors seeking to lead change will still encounter significant resistance.  Only as hearts and minds are changed through new practices of believing, behaving, and belonging will actual transformation of institution occur. 

The painful reality is that awakenings emerge out of "periods of cultural distortion and grave personal stress, when we lose faith in the legitimacy of our norms, the viability of our institutions, and the authority of our leaders in church and state."[2]   Leaders seeking to nurture new practices of believing, behaving, and belonging must at care for while also challenging people to embrace changes that they often neither understand, nor want. 

"In our end is our beginning," the poet assures us, prompting the question: How do we make a good ending that we might make a good beginning?  

With blessing, 

Debbie Rundlett

General Presbyter 

Holy Habit: Endings

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, 

the Beginning and the End.

Jesus (Revelation 22:13)

We much prefer beginnings to endings, yet deep down we know that we cannot have beginnings without endings.  Jesus, through his crucifixion, modeled the necessity of endings.  Death precedes resurrection.  We know this, but still we resist.  Revelation 21-22 holds before us a vision of a new heaven and a new earth, reminding us that the first heaven and first earth have passed away.  

Awakenings -- resurrection living -- cannot happen without endings. What in your life must end in order for you to begin?  Put another way, what is God seeking to make new in and through you?

This next week, ponder Jesus' promise in Revelation 21:5, set in the form of a short song from Iona, and allow God to name what must end in your life for there to be beginning:

Behold, behold, I make all things new, 

beginning with you and starting from today.  

Behold, behold, I make all things new, my promise is true, 

for I am Christ the Way.

RSVP Deadline Approaching for

"Beyond Interpersonal Mush to Clarity:

Caring, Passion and Compassion in Ministry"

"Believing Out Loud: Finding Your Preaching Voice" training for Lay Preachers coming soon!

"How can they call on him unless they believe in him? How can they believe in him unless they hear about him? How can they hear about him unless someone preaches to them?" 

(Romans 10:14 NIRV)

Save the date! 

On March 15, 2014, we will be offering "Believing Out Loud: Finding Your Preaching Voice," a one-day training session at the Mission Center for lay people who might serve as pulpit supply.  This is an excellent opportunity for those who may consider the Commissioned Lay Pastor transformation track in Fall 2014, as well as other church leaders, elders, and/or deacons.

Preaching is a physical activity where mind, body, spirit, voice and passion are engaged. In the process of preparing for and practicing sermons out loud, this seminar will provide the practical basics of preaching and aims for your discovery of and gaining confidence in your preaching voice.

• Date: Saturday, March 15, 2014
• Time: 9:30 am - 4:30 pm
• Location: MVP Mission Center, 109 Stonecreek Rd NW, New Philadelphia, OH
• Cost: $25 (includes materials and lunch)
• RSVP to Candice by email or phone (330) 339-5515 before March 11, 2014.

An Update from the Mission Center

from Candice McMath 

Save the Date!

Upcoming Stated Meeting of the Presbytery

Tuesday

February 25, 2014

9:30 am - 4 pm

Stated Meeting:

The Presbytery Gathers for Worship and Business

Wooster First Presbyterian Church

621 College Avenue

Wooster, OH 44691

Cost: $10 for lunch

RSVP to Candice

by February 18, 2014

Registration begins at 9:30 am 

Worship begins at 10:00 am 

and will include worshipping with musicians from Wooster First! Many thanks to them for sharing their musical worship gifts with us.

Upcoming Event: Work/Life Balance Seminar

From Weatherhead School of Management

Please see the attached information regarding an upcoming event on May 3, 2014 from Weatherhead School of Management. This interactive session will include a customized feedback report and work life development guide, catered to where you are right now. The tool will provide you with your own personal work-life effectiveness profile, including your strengths and challenges, and insights on how to improve your work-life relationships and manage boundaries on and off the job. 

If interested, please RSVP to Candice by February 28, 2014.

An Update from the Presbyterian Women

From Sandi Butterbaugh

Attached is the winter 2013 newsletter for the Presbyterian Women of the Synod of the Covenant.  Enjoy!

Winter 2013 Newsletter

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.

Upcoming Encore presentation of Discovery 2!

from Candice McMath

For those who were unable to attend The Journey's "Discovery 2, Where Am I Now?," we are having an encore presentation on Wednesday, February 26, 2014 here in New Philadelphia.  If you are interested, please RSVP to Candice.  Location and time details are being confirmed this week and will be announced next week.

From Christ Presbyterian Church in Canton

Gold and Ivory: Concert for Flute and Piano

February 9, 2014

Mark your calendars for an afternoon of great music! Sunday, February 9, 4:00 pm at Christ Canton will be "Fold and Ivory: Concert for Flute and Piano" feature Dianne Williams and Brent Schloneger. Music lovers will appreciate the duo's classical pieces, featuring compositions from Bizet, Debussy, Taktakishvili, Beethoven and Brahms.

The concert flyer can be accessed here, as well as a full schedule for Christ Canton's 2014 Church Concert series.

2014 PW Gathering: "Radical Hospitality"

From the Presbyterian Women in the Synod of the Covenant 

The PW in the Synod of the Covenant wish to announce their 2014 Gathering, "Radical Hospitality."

• Date: July 18-19, 2014
• Location: Trinity United Presbyterian Church, 5151 W Lennon Rd, Flint Township, MI 48507

Details on breakout sessions, cost, and speakers can be found in this brochure.

Save the Date: May 1, 2014

Re/Entry: Rebuilding Productive Lives, Post-Incarceration

A Policy Coordination and Training Symposium for Professionals