MVP Mission Update

August 14, 2014  

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2014 Mission Yearbooks  
are available for 
$15.00 each
 
 
Per Capita 2014
GA
 7.02
Synod 3.25
Presbytery18.36
Total
28.63
   

Original Blessing

 

Years ago, Dick and I played around with the idea of writing a screenplay about the life of Augustine. Our working title was "Confession" drawn from the title of Augustine's opus magnum. We even had his role cast: with the young Augustine being played by (a then young) Denzel Washington; and the older Augustine being played by Morgan Freeman. Fast forward twenty years, and I am now relieved to have never realized that dream given that I come to believe that Augustine's doctrine of original sin is the source for much of the bad theology that fuels the political divide we find ourselves in today.

 

As any faithful Jew will tell you, original sin is not a biblical concept. Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel notes, "The concept of original sin would be totally alien to a Jew." God's original intent was blessing! As our reading from Genesis reminds us, God created... and it was good! Very good! We have paid a great price in adopting Augustine's doctrine without sufficient scrutiny. The result has been an over-focus on the negative at the cost of the ideal born of the grace-saturated embrace.

 

To be sure, our world is broken and torn apart by sin. Just looking at the daily headlines reminds us of that reality. But redemption is not offered through finger-pointing judgment;

it is found through the recovery of blessings. If we are to address the brokenness of our communities, then we must reclaim the notion of God's original intent: that of blessing!

 

This involves recovering a sense of blessing (born of joy and wonder) in our own lives. The challenge is that we have confused growing up into maturity in Christ with becoming serious. Somehow, we have come to believe that busyness, endless activity, and the burden of possessions is a symbol of success. And yet, are there not moments when we wonder what happened to our joy? What happened to the wonder? How is it that we can grow up, accumulate all those years of education, get married, have children, work for decades, and never really live? Never really experience God's blessing and our belovedness?

 

Genesis 1 and 2 call us back into a state of remembering God's original intent was (and is) blessing.   When scripture is the starting point, then our understanding is grounded in the actions of God. God spoke, ("dabhar"), and there was light. The challenge is that our translating dabhar (in the Hebrew) as "word" is understood the through the lens of the written word, rather than the spoken and embodied word. As a result, the power of the word becomes reduced to a theological concept.

Imagine a time before our noise polluted world when silence prevailed. For those of you who hike and camp in the wilderness, you know something of this silence beyond what we call civilization. It is out of this silence that the dabhar of God gave birth to creation.  

 

Imagine a time when silence prevailed and God's Word gave birth to life! God spoke, and it was. God said, "Let there be light," and there was light! There is power in the Word! Power and play born of the divine creative energy. Dabhar is the creative energy God. According to Gerhard Von Rad (whose work was required reading by every seminarian), the Creator's relationship with creation is grounded in blessing! The Dabhar of God is God at play, born of love.


 

Are we ready to engage in God's blessing? Are we open to an encounter with the source of all that is? Will we allow the divine, creative energy to flow through us? What will be our response to God's blessing? Our yes begins with falling in love again. When we recover an experience of the creative energy made known through dabhar, we are filled with energy. It is then that we come to understand in the very fiber of our being that we are blessed to be a blessing.  

 

In the words of Rabbi Heschel, "Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy." It is telling that the Hebrew word for blessing, berakah, finds its root in the word to create, bera. Creation is God's original blessing. Dust and delight. That is what we are made of. Dust from the ground of creation. Delight from the heart of the father. God breathed into 'Adamah (the stuff of the ground) and we took form. And God said, "It is good... very good!" We who are created in the image and likeness of God are being called to imagine a different reality, a holy reality, a time when heaven and earth come together.

 

 

With love in Christ,



Debbie Rundlett
General Presbyter


Holy Habit: Blessing   

This next week, take some time to prayerfully read through Genesis 1-2. As you read, feel the rhythm and cadence of the text. Allow a sense of God's delight to wash over you. Feel the power of God's blessing. Then spend time with God in prayer offering thanks and listening for God's word to you. How is God calling you to be a blessing? What one thing can you do in this next week to bless another person? Act on that thought and be blessed.

 

2 Cents a Meal Grant Applications are now being accepted!

Applications are now being accepted for the 2 Cents a Meal grant. You can download and fill out the application form by clicking on this link or from the MVP Website.

Several grants were awarded in 2013, so there is a total of $2,800 available for grants in 2014. Preference will be given to those for whom this is their first time applying for the grant.

Grant applications are due to the Mission Center no later than Monday, October 20, 2014, by fax (330-339-6225), email ([email protected]) or in person. Awards to be given at the December 2014 presbytery meeting.

 


It will be a FIRST!
A Presbytery-Wide CROP Walk for Hunger

The September 23, 2014, meeting of Presbytery will be held at the Genesis Conference Center in Creston, OH.  During the meeting, we will break for a brief CROP Walk for Hunger sponsored by the Mission Commission.   

 

A short-distanced CROP walk will take place on the residential streets behind the Genesis Center.  For those desiring a longer walking adventure, Creston Park is a few streets behind the Genesis Center. 

 

We are encouraging all members, churches and friends of Muskingum Valley Presbytery to be involved.  A sponsor envelope will be sent to each church at the end of August.  We encourage you to collect donations from church members to sponsor those commissioner coming to the Presbytery meeting.  Even if you will not have anyone walking or attending the meeting, churches can still give a donation to CROP.  

 

As in all CROP Walks 25% of the monies raised stay in the local community.  The rest of the monies raised are used to fight hunger worldwide.  The 25% of the money we raise will go to fight hunger within our Presbytery.

 

So, don't forget to bring your walking shoes to Presbytery and let's help to fight hunger together!  If you have any questions, please contact Alice Phillips, (Pastor at Creston and Coordinator for the CROP Walk), at  [email protected] or 740-391-2531.

 

Blessings in Jesus!

The Mission Commission of MVP


 

 

 
All are welcome at the Ice Cream Social at
Wayne Presbyterian Church

Attached is information about our Ice Cream Social and other events this weekend at Wayne Presbyterian Church.

YA GOTTA BE THERE!

Sunday, August 17, 2014
Wayne Presbyterian Church
7152 Burbank Road
Wooster, OH 44691
www.waynechurch.org

Sharon Ostroski
Wayne Presbyterian Church

 

 

Let's clown around in worship!

from Tara Mitchell, Cambridge First Presbyterian Church

 

Sunday August 17th is your chance to experience faith in a whole new way!  Join us in worship for Christian Clowning through the scriptures.

 

Cambridge First Presbyterian Church

64364 Pigeon Gap Rd, Cambridge, Ohio

 

Contact Tara Mitchell, DCE for questions via phone at 

740-432-7604

 

 
200th Anniversary Block Party
First Presbyterian Church in Ashland


All are welcome to join us for our 200th Anniversary Celebration weekend!

Saturday, August 23, 2014
11:00am and 12:00pm: Juggler for Jesus
11:30am and 12:30pm: Pastor John Robinson portrayed by John Moser
11:30am-1:00pm: Balloon Artist
11:00am-1:00pm: Hot Dogs and Fixings
1:00 - 3:00pm: Band, Led by Faith
Bounce Houses & Face Painting

All are Invited to Celebrate with Us!
Further details can be found by visiting our website at this link.
 
We look forward to seeing you!
First Presbyterian Church of Ashland
320 Church Street
Ashland, OH 44805
(419) 289-6205

 

 
Warsaw First Presbyterian Church
Seeking Pastor

 

We are seeking to fulfill our pulpit by a part-time pastor, either half-time or three quarter-time. Our pulpit is now vacant due to resignation.

We are an 80+ member church serving God through our mission to community, country and world. Our church is a "Confessing Church" and holds faithfully to "Reformed Doctrine." Our purpose exists to bring the bread of life to all of God's people.

Interested persons should contact, Jim Lawrence, Elder, Worship Committee Chairperson at 1-740-3890 or [email protected].
 
Northminster Presbyterian Church
Seeking Student Ministries Coordinator

 

We are seeking a part-time student ministries coordinator for Northminster Presbyterian Church in North Canton, Ohio.  Details can be found in this attachment.

Interested persons should email a cover letter and resume to the church office at [email protected]

Applications are being accepted through August 29, 2014.

Fall 2014 Opportunities Available
to Host International Peacemaker

Muskingum Valley Presbytery will welcome an International Peacemaker from South Sudan from
Tuesday, October 7 until Monday, October 13, 2014.  He/she will be available to preach on Sunday, speak to church groups of all shapes and sizes, times and places in the presbytery. 

For anyone interested in hosting, please contact Lynn Shetzer (email: [email protected]) and home phone number (330-494-2288).
We are happy to post news and requests from your church in this section of the MVP Update.  Just email Candice or call 330-339-5515 to relay your news.  Please also let us know the "expiration date" on the news item so that we can keep this section current.

 
 
Prayer Requests/Updates

 

 

If you or someone you know has a prayer request, please send them to Candice at


Journeying with Jesus to touch the world...
Empowered by the Spirit to:
Make Disciples, Nurture Our Faith, and Serve the Needs of the Community! 
 

Candice McMath, Mission Coordinator 

  

Muskingum Valley Presbytery

109 Stonecreek Road NW

New Philadelphia, Ohio 44663 

330.339.5515

1.800.693.1147

Fax: 330.339.6225

 

 Visit our website: www.MVPJourney.org

 

  

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