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Join us as we gather at 6:30 every Friday evening for prayer, music, readings and silence in the parlor at Hope, 85 Grand Street here in Newburgh. Come if you can and stay for a bowl of soup, some crusty bread and conversation.

Come and meet Jim Crow this Saturday, January 18th, at  the Newburgh Free Library, 124 Grand Street. Click here for more information.
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Every Day

4:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

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85 Grand Street

 

M & W at Noon and 

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85 Grand Street

 

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1:30 p.m.

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85 Grand Street

 

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Here's a short list of items we could really use:

1. Winter boots - the exact same size as that extra pair you've got in the closet.

2. Gloves

3. White socks. The Dollar Store kind are fine

4. Lip Balm

5. Disposable razors

6. Deodorant

Bring them by, send them over, drop us a note and we'll pick them up if we can. 
 

     Hi there!
     Thank you for taking the time to read this week's edition of the EcclesiaGram. There's a lot going on, a lot we want to tell you about. Tops on our list is to say how thankful we are for those of you who've stepped forward with winter stuff for our friends who really need it. We also want to say "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" to the young women and men of the Fox Hill Community
Will Pierce offers up a song of thanksgiving during Sunday's sidewalk service.
 who spent Saturday afternoon cleaning and rearranging furniture in the big house here at hope.
   Speaking of hope - we're grateful to Will Pierce who has rejoined us after a 16-month hiatus. Will is a talented singer,  songwriter, and choir director with a message of faith and hope. To hear him perform one of the songs he wrote, click here. The link will take you to our website where our favorite Will Pierce song is posted. Let us know what you think.
   Over to the left, you'll find a reminder about Friday evening services, next Saturday's kick-off of an important film series and all sorts of other stuff. Below, you'll find a note about camping out which includes a link to a TV news story that features our friend Scottie. And, further below, you'll find a brief reflection on next Sunday's gospel lesson which Steve's been invited to talk about next week at Middletown's North Congregational United Church of Christ.
A homeless man's campsite (above) in an abandoned building. Entrance to the boarded up building was through the cellarway (below).
When you're homeless, anything beats the streets
   Our friend John camps out not far from the shores of the Hudson River. He used to work in information technology but something happened. He ended up on the streets of Newburgh. No matter what the weather, it seems that our soft-spoken, well-mannered friend would just as soon fend for himself. John is among the roughly 70 folks who spend the night out of doors or in places "not meant for human habitation." Another 19 are the lucky ones who've made it through a screening and landed one of beds at the Newburgh Ministry, the only "real" shelter in town.
   Now, 70 is not a lot of people when you consider that there are roughly 1.6 million Americans who are homeless. But, 70 becomes an overwhelming number when you know many of the "unsheltered" homeless by name
Someone recently camped in this spot on one of the Hope Center's covered porches.
. It explains why we've had as many as a dozen overnight guests at Our House on the recent bitterly cold nights. It explains why ourdoors open when everyone else closes theirs. And, it explains why Ecclesia and the Newburgh Ministry have begun dreaming up ways in which we can all work together to better serve the folks who come through our doors in search of shelter.
   If you'd like to be a part of this conversation about homeless housing and how we might better serve our friends as the journey from the streets to stability, drop us a line at [email protected].
   In the meantime, here's a Channel 12 news story about being homeless in Newburgh during last week's arctic blast and featuring our friend Scottie.
Lambs, quests and invitations
 
   One of the wonderful things about going to seminary is that you learn words like exegete which you can use to impress your family and friends. (If you're daring, you can even let them watch/listen to you do it.) Exegete is a fancy way of saying "interpret text." It's a term that comes readily to mind any time I crack open John's gospel 'cause John's not a "just the facts" kind of guy that Mark is, for example. There's all sorts of stuff going on in John's telling of the good news.
   That's certainly true of parts of next Sunday's reading - John 1:29-42 - especially the part in which John talks about Jesus. One scholar I read went on for several paragraphs trying to figure out what John really meant when he said, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (By the way - The word "world" is much greater than that. The Greek word is cosmos. Hummmmm . . . ) He gave up after a while.
   While the Christological gymnastics are fun, I prefer to take a more practical approach to scripture - what's it saying to me in my life right now and what's it saying to us right now? S
o, I gravitate to the parts of readings like this that speak to me and I hope you do the same asking, "What is our still-speaking God saying to me through this scripture?" Or, "What
behavior is Jesus modelling for me?"
   And, so I'm drawn to Jesus' question - "What are you looking for?" - and his invitation to "come and see." 
   How would you answer that question? What are you looking for? You see Jesus, you've gotten an earful about him in your life. Where are you with all of that?
   I ask myself the same question and, over the years, have gotten an assortment of answers. For example, there was a time when Jesus and God were like cosmic vending machines - i put in a humble confession and acceptance and out comes a ticket telling me I've been saved, given eternal life. There was a time when I would have taken at face value the notion of a Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world without stopping to ask who brought them all back.
   As you might guess . . . none of that really works for me. What I'm looking for - and I dare say that I think what you're looking for - is a real connection with the Divine, with God, the one who calls us to life. Depak Chopra says "Every person is a god in embryo. Its only desire is to be born." I'm looking for that part of God that God planted deep inside of me, the part of God planted deeply inside us all. That's the part of us that Jesus invites to "come and see" how we might unmask that part of ourselves, to let our lights shine.  
Sweet dreams!.

 

The Rev. Steve Ruelke

Ecclesia Ministries of Newburgh

P: 845-527-0405

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