Englewood Christian Church

As we tear off the first page of the calendar, we see that this Sunday is the first Sunday of the month. That signals the All-Church Potluck Dinner, February 5 at 12-noon, immediately following the worship service.

It is a regular potluck dinner, so bring a couple of dishes of food to share and your own table service. Please join us.

Scholars Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan have written a book entitled, The Last Week. It is a study of the last week of Jesus’ life beginning with Palm Sunday and concluding with Easter. They examine what the Gospel texts have to say and they discuss the dynamics going on in Jerusalem at that time.

This book study will be held on Sunday mornings at 9:30. For those interested in participating in this study, please contact the church office, 966-6550 or sign up on the sheet in the narthex so that books can be ordered for you. Or, you can go online and purchase your own, if you wish.

This will be an eye opening study as we look at texts in a completely different way.

The season of Lent begins February 22 and we are already planning special things for this season of the church year.

For the six weeks of Lent you are invited to gather in small groups of 3 to 4 people which will commit to meet each week for one hour, at a time determined by those in the group. The purpose of small groups is to spend time in Bible study, sharing and prayer. Study material will be prepared and distributed. We hope that these small groups will strengthen the spiritual life of those who participate.

Would you be interested and willing to participate? If, so, plan now to sign up on the welcome center in the narthex.

The 2012 Lenten Devotional booklets have been ordered and will arrive soon. They will be located on the table below the nametags in the narthex.

Pick up a copy and experience Lent through daily stories, prayer and reflection. One per family, please.

A total of 16 members participated in the Retreat held this past Saturday. We spent time reflecting on our Ministry Plan and what areas need our attention this year. We realize we need to focus more on our spiritual growth and we hope to encourage our members to share in various activities that will be planned.

Rev. Helseth shared information he has gathered regarding young adults and recent trends across our country in relation to church involvement. This was the beginning of conversation we will have about how to relate young adults and church. See Rev. Helseth’s column this week.

Have you ever walked a Labyrinth? It is an ancient spiritual practice that has seen renewed interest in recent years. Rev. Cheryl Rohret, pastor at Unity Spiritual Life Center, has a large labyrinth on canvas that she will spread out in our Fellowship Hall this coming Saturday evening for those in the community who are interested in participating. Come any time between 5:30 – 7:00 pm.

Rev. Rohret has had the Labyrinth open here at Englewood several times in the past. She has, however, sold it to some people in Seattle so this will be the last time for it to be used in Yakima.

Have you ever experienced a Taize Prayer Service? St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Yakima will host their monthly Taize service this coming Sunday, 7pm at St. Michael’s. This is a special style of worship music that developed in the community of Taize, France and is now a very popular place for people around the world to attend and spend a week in meditative and reflective worship. If you enjoy a quiet, reflective style of worship, you might enjoy this.

ATTENTION, DIACONATE MEMBERS

There will be a Diaconate meeting on Sunday, February 12^th following worship.

Please plan to attend.

John Neurohr, professor of trombone at Central Washington University, will be the featured artist at the February Second Sunday Recital that will be held February 12 at 2:00 pm. John performed last year and did an outstanding job. Plan now to attend.

The Bethel A.M.E. Church is holding their annual Baron of Beef dinner on Sunday, February 19 from 1:00 to 4:00pm. Donations of $10 per person are appreciated. This is a fund raiser meal sponsored by “The Mighty Men of Bethel.”

This is a way to support this congregation and get in touch with our African American brothers and sisters in Yakima.

The Christians In Action have set up some future dates for those who enjoying going out to dinner together. The following dates have been set:

All dates are on Wednesday and the gathering time is 5:30 at the restaurant. There is generally a signup sheet in the narthex for you to sign on so arrangements can be made with the restaurant. The fellowship is always great. Join us!

L ast October at our Common Table Worship service when we asked you who were present to share areas that we need to address, several people commented about our need to attract more young adults into the church. I have done some reading on this topic since then and am beginning to get a clearer picture of the cultural dynamics going on. By no means am I an expert; I’m just opening the door on this.

First, there are thousands of congregations across the U.S. that are in the exact same position we find ourselves – few if any young adults are involved in church. Yes, there are those churches that seem to have all the young adults but they are a small minority when you list all the churches.

Second, the trend is very clear that over the past 25 years there has been a significant increase in young adults who have no experience and no interest in being involved in a church. And the number of young adults participating in church, even evangelical churches, has been on a decline since 1995.

Third, many of these young adults state that one of the reasons for their rejection of church is how the church has been portrayed in the public media for the past 20 years. The church is seen by young adults as negative, oppressing, against the rights of women, against all other religions, etc. In other words, church is a place that is against a lot of things they hold dear. Young adults love Jesus but they can’t stand how organized church presents its message. Not all churches are like this, but this is how churches are seen.

Fourth, the culture of Englewood Christian (and most churches) with our style of music and worship is a foreign culture to young adults today. We live in different cultural worlds. Young adults are not comfortable in the worship culture that is meaningful to us.

We live on a mission field. In order to relate we have to enter their culture and get to know them where they are and on their terms. There are some very strongly held views that are incorrect but will take a long time to overcome and correct. We have to be church differently. –Rev. David Helseth