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The following are excerpts from the newsletter along with additional videos:

Mission & Ministry – Calendar of Events

February

17 and 24

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•         9 am Queen City Kitchen

Compass Christian Members,

 

A quick update on the Over The Rhine (OTR) soup kitchen. OTR is a very hot real estate market and Queen City Kitchens has been getting offers to sell the building the OTR soup kitchen is in. If the real estate market continues to heat up down there, eventually Queen City Kitchens will have to accept.

 

They run a food pantry and another kitchen in Walnut Hills. We have seen our numbers drop as the poor are forced out of OTR and downtown. We are feeding approximately 140 each visit. As recently as 3 years ago we were serving 240. That being said, if you are planning on volunteering this year earlier is better. My sources would be surprised if the kitchen isn’t sold sometime in 2019.

 

I have put up signup sheets on the clipboard at the back of the sanctuary for each month we are serving this year. If you are planning to volunteer, please sign up and if you sign up, please come down. I will send reminder emails to all who sign up the week we serve.

 

We have also noticed that the people we serve have been very loud and fairly assertive over the past couple of months. We have decided to limit young children from mingling with the clients wherever possible. You can still bring youngsters down, please 10 or over, but don’t be surprised if we limit their interactions with our clients. While I have been doing this for over 5 years now and do not believe one of our clients would pose a danger to anyone working, I would rather err on the side of safety.

 

If anyone wants to talk with me (Kurt F.), please feel free to ask me questions at church or you could call me at 513-863-3224 or email me at kurt@rethinkeng.com.

 

•         7:00 p.m. Movie Night Youth Sponsored – Selma

See, I have set before your today life and prosperity, death and adversity. I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live. Deut 30:15, 19

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s final book was, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? That question, posed to a nation in the midst of war, racism, and poverty, remains as prescient and potent as when first asked in 1967. Dr. King’s question and diagnosis of our national illness are even more urgent and pertinent now given the passage of 52 years during which the forces of chaos have only multiplied. Consider these passages in light of today’s events.

King references the signing of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and notes, “A year later, the white backlash had become an emotional electoral issue in California, Maryland, and elsewhere. In several southern states, men long regarded as political clowns had become governors or only narrowly missed election, their magic achieved with a witches’ brew of bigotry, prejudice, half-truths, and whole lies.”

King then reminds those disheartened by those developments: “The line of progress is never straight. For a period a movement may follow a straight line and then it encounters obstacles and the path bends. We are encountering just such an experience today. The inevitable counterrevolution that succeeds every period of progress is taking place. Failing to understand this as a normal process of development, some are falling into unjustified pessimism and despair. A final victory is the accumulation of many short-term encounters.”

King cites a letter James Baldwin wrote on the Emancipation Declaration’s centennial anniversary. Written to his nephew, it concerned white people: “The really terrible thing, old buddy, is that you must accept them. And I mean that very seriously. You must accept them and accept them with love. For these innocent people have no other hope. They are, in effect, still trapped in a history which they do not understand; and until they understand it, they cannot be released from it. They have had to believe for many years, and for innumerable reasons, that black men are inferior to white men. Many of them, indeed, know better, but, as you will discover, people find it very difficult to act on what they know. To act is to be committed, and to be committed is to be in danger. In this case, the danger, in the minds of most white Americans, is the loss of their identity…But these men are your brothers—your lost, younger brothers. And if the word integration means anything, this is what it means: that we, with love, shall force our brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and begin to change it.”

He closes with these words: “We can no longer afford to worship the God of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals who pursued this self-defeating path of hate. As Arnold Toynbee once said in a speech, ‘Love is the ultimate force that makes for the saving choice of life and good against the damning choice of death and evil. Therefore the first hope in our inventory must be the hope that love is going to have the last word.’ We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words: “Too late.” There is an invisible book of life that faithfully records our vigilance or our neglect. We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent coannihilation. This may well be mankind’s last chance to choose between chaos and community

24

•  11:45 Offsite Movie Discussion; After worship, all are invited to discuss the film we screened the night before. We’ll head to a local restaurant and share food, conversation, and fellowship with one another.
•  3:00 p.m. Cincinnati Civic Orchestra

This is just a sample (not filmed at Compass Christian Church) of our treasured group the Cincinnati Civic Orchestra:

•  6:00 LAFWA Bible Study

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• 1:00 p.m. Women’s Bible Study
• 5:30 pm MARC 2019 Annual Meeting

 

27     6:30 p.m. Handbell Practice; 7:30 p.m. Adult Choir

 

March

1 First Friday Female Fellowship Outing

@ Cheesecake Factory Liberty Center

3

• Pastor’s Class Begins
• 29th Anniversary Celebration Sunday; March 3rd Anniversary Celebration Sunday, March 4, 1990, our first service gathered at Western Row Elementary School…and 29 years later we’ll gather to worship God, profess our common faith, & recommit ourselves to the promises of our common life. During anniversaries we remember & rejoice in our life together. We’re asking each individual or family to bring an anniversary card within which you share a fond memory of the past and fervent hope for the future. We’ll share those thoughts after service with cake and ice cream. All are invited!

 

6 7:00 p.m. Ash Wednesday Service – the following two Lenten devotionals will be available Feb. 24 and Mar. 3, 2019

 

10 Spring Forward

A fun tongue-in-cheek look at DST:

 

LAFWA Fundraiser

 

Camp Christian 2019 Schedule 

http://www.ccinoh.com/

Giving Thanks

A STEPPING FORWARD DINNER  “THANK YOU”

On Jan. 29^th volunteers from CCC helped prepare and serve dinner, made and passed out salads, desserts, washed pots, pans, dishes, packed leftovers for the guests to take home, and cleaned up in the kitchen, serving area, and dining room in order to provide for 141 deserving members of our community.

“THANKS” to Linda B, Kirk T, Sally E, Maureen M, Perry M, Mairi H, Dave Th, Kathy Z, Pam H, R.C. F,   & Ed V.

Next Stepping Forward Dinner is Tuesday, April 30^th.

Thank you for serving QCK AND IHN

* For QCK 6 Volunteers serving 133 on 1/26

* For IHN 4 volunteers serving 17 on 2/2

Christian Education Happenings

A big Thank You to our new Pre-school teachers Linda H., Nancy T., Diane K., and Mary Jane G.!  We appreciate your willingness to share the stories of the Bible with our Preschoolers!

Thank You – Repairs

Many thanks to Lindsay B., Dave D., Dave L., & Bob P. for cleanup and repairs 2/2 after pipe burst! Their willingness to come out during a Saturday night without hesitation is greatly appreciated!

Congrats to Lora Broz!

Member in the news

Student Reimagines, Transforms West Freshman Innovation Hub posted 1/24/19

Permission was given from Lakota School to share:

https://lakotaonline.com/about_us/what_s_new/student_reimagines_west_freshman_innovation_hub

Lakota West freshman Lora Broz did more than just reimagine her school’s media center, recently turned Innovation Hub. She made her vision a reality, rolling out the red carpet for her classmates’ return from winter break and just in time for the school’s rollout of Chromebooks to every student.

The idea first took shape through a project in Lora’s language arts class, for which she chose to research the environmental factors that improve student learning. She focused a lot on the impact of color, discovering that green is “relaxing and improves concentration”, while blue “makes you think outside the box.” Other factors, like furniture selection and configurations, were among her research, too.

Lora wasn’t initially basing her research around any particular space at West Freshman or elsewhere. But when her teacher, Catherine Bella, saw its potential application to the school’s up-and-coming Innovation Hub, she encouraged her to take it a step further. Lora presented it to a committee comprised of school and district leaders overseeing the school’s media center transformation. The response from the group was overwhelmingly positive, giving her the green light to bring her ideas to life in West’s new Innovation Hub.

“Honestly, my first reaction was that she had bit off more than she could chew!” said West Freshman Associate Principal Jason Jackson. “The size of the room, the timeline we needed to follow and all the moving parts that went along with the conversion of the media center to the Hub was a huge task.”

But Jackson and others were impressed by the speed with which Lora moved and the tenacity with which she inspired others to help her transform the space to match the shared vision of her project and that of the district and school leaders. She recruited more than 25 student volunteers, along with parents and staff members, to give up three days of winter break to paint the huge space.

 

The fresh paint made way for a completely re-configured space, replacing the room that was once full of bookcases with all different collaboration stations, multiple green screen production studios, a 3D printer, and virtual reality stations.

“I feel like the 1:1 idea is going to empower us to create more and share more ideas. I hope this space gives us a place to come together and do those things,” said Broz, describing the revamped space as “uplifting and relaxing.”

The most recent improvements are just laying the foundation for the school’s new Hub, designed to support hands-on, application-based learning through collaboration, creativity, and digital learning. While the school awaits a delivery of furniture to replace some of the decades-old pieces, Lora still hasn’t seen through other ideas in her plan that give students ownership of the space. This includes giving each class one of the space’s pillars to make their own and leave their mark.

One thing’s for sure though; Lora has left her own mark on Lakota West Freshman.

“The fact that this was a student-led project makes a huge difference in how I view that space. I think that’s probably true for everyone involved,” Jackson said. “This is a student who invested heavily into something that she will only get to use for a few months, but other groups will use for years to come.”

“That is what a community is about and Lora and the others who helped have led by example,” he continued. “Besides being a great resource for our students’ learning, the Hub is a physical example of what our students are capable of if we let them follow their vision.”

Photo: Lakota West freshman Lora Broz infused ideas from a language arts project into the recent transformation of the school’s media center into an Innovation Hub. Her work included leading a group of volunteers to paint the new space for three days over winter break.

The Greatest is Love!  – Library Corner

Our library banner says it all – Love!

The number of times that love is mentioned in the Bible depends on the version of the Bible, but in the King James Version, love is mentioned 310 times – 133 times in the Old Testament and 215 times in the New Testament.  New International Version: 551 times – 319 times OT,  232 NT; New Revised Standard Version: 538 instances –  317  OT, 221  NT.  (www.reference.com)  And Jesus said to love one another eleven times!  Must be pretty important for us to learn this concept.

Our library selections this month come from the personal library of Michael H. He is loaning these to us in response to the series led by Rev. Pete S. concerning the Bible & homosexuality. If you choose to read one of these, please check the book out in the usual way and return it as soon as possible for others to read.

God and the Gay Christian by Matthew Vines; Walking the Bridgeless Canyon by Kathy Baldock; and Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gays-vs-Christian Debate by Justin Lee will help us learn to love & understand one another.

Thank you, Michael, for loaning these thought-provoking books to us.

 

Final Thoughts

Listening Sessions for Ohio Region

What?  Come together with other members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to share the power of connection. Worship, pray, share memories of vital ministry, and vision the future of church into a new decade.

Who? YOU! All members lay and clergy, are invited. There is something special that happens when we show up together. This will be an affirming time as we listen for God’s dream for our region.

Why? During our Ohio Regional Assembly this past October, we passed a resolution that formed the Regional Transition Team. We asked this team to create venues to listen to the voices within the region as we navigate the way we will relate to each other as a regional body. Notes will be taken from these listening sessions so that they can be compiled; vital and common themes that emerge from the sessions will be integrated into a presentation for a Regional Assembly in the spring (the date of which will be Sat., May 11, place & time TBD).

What will the schedule of the listening session look like?  We are asking for two hours. Attendees should commit to being on time and sharing succinctly so that all persons can contribute during the course of the gathering. The meeting will begin with a brief gathering time and light refreshment, followed by opening worship and prayer. Then we’ll have guided conversation which may be described as “Appreciative Inquiry Light.” This will be followed by an educational piece about covenant before engaging the five questions sent to congregations. A closing send-off will complete our time together.

When and where? Listening sessions are being planned with clergy in connection with Regional Elders and the Regional Transition Team. You are invited to any listening sessions. These have been scheduled so far in February and March:

February 23, 2019; 9:00am – 11:00 am
First Christian Church 116 E Boyer St, Wadsworth, OH 44281
Note: A luncheon will be provided following this meeting.  To reserve a meal please contact the office of FCC Wadsworth no later than February 18th at 330-336-6697 or secretary@fccwadsworth.org. The cost of the meal is $5 at the door.
February 25th – 6:30pm – 8:30pm
First Christian Church, 4520 Rosedale Rd., Middletown, OH 45042
March 3rd – 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Woodland Christian Church, 143 Woodland Ave., Columbus, OH 43203-1775
March 3rd – 2:30pm – 4:30pm
First Christian Church, 33 N Arlington Ave., Niles, OH 44446

More sessions are still being planned. There will also be Remote Listening Sessions via telephone/internet. Keep an eye on the webpage and the Region’s social media pages for dates as they are added.  

Questions?  Contact Co-Chairs of the Regional Transition Team: Rev. Audrey Connor (audreyconnor@gmail.com)
or Rev. Josh Baird (jbaird@dhm.disciples.org )

Boundless compassion, a world away…