Dec. 31, 2008

One of the best things a Christian can do to further his or her discipleship is to read the Bible through from cover to cover.  There are many different ways to accomplish this project and a large number of Bibles have reading lists for you to use.  Some folk like to start with Genesis 1:1 and work their way through to Revelation 22:21; others prefer to read a little each day from both the Old and New Testaments.  Another way (and the one I prefer) is to read a section from both of the Testaments, a passage from the Psalms and a short passage from Proverbs.

The Psalms teach us how to relate to God, and the Proverbs teach us how to relate to one another.  The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) teaches us about God’s relationship with creation and the Christian Bible (New Testament) teaches us about God’s commitment to repairing the brokenness of that creation and restoring us through the life, teachings and ultimate sacrifice of Jesus.

I am making a Calendar of daily reading, which I am following for the year 2009.  The list will get you through the Old Testament once and the New Testament and Psalms two times.  The calendars will be in the church for anyone who whishes to have a copy.  Also, if you would like for us to send you a copy through the mail, just call Barb at the church office.  I hope to have a list on the web within the first week of the year, so you will also be able to follow along there.

Just a few tips…

First, pick a translation that you find comfortable reading.  Pick one that you find easy to read, one of the best “reading” translations is the New International Bible, but there are several on the market at the moment and the best is the one you will read.

Second, set a specific time to read each day and make it a habit.  It is very hard to work your way through the Bible if you don’t make it a habit.  Things happen, days are missed and the next thing you know you are books behind and you lose heart.  If you do get behind, read two days worth of readings until you are back on track.  Or you can catch up with one reading at a time and in this way you can be caught up in just four days.

Finally, don’t get discouraged.  Keep a notebook with you and in this way you can make notes about any passage that may strike you in some way; questions you might have, passages that speak to you, etc…

God Bless and Good Reading,

Rev. Kelly

14 June 2008

Welcome and thanks for dropping by.  This is the section of our web page in which I will be sharing thoughts about our journey together.  It will discuss affairs of the Church as well as the world at large.  Hopefully, it will create dialogue and when Judy and I have a better handle on this project we can have it as an open forum, but you’ll have to give us a little time on that.

I would like to thank Greg Fuller for his spearheading the project and Judy Lathrop for her hard work as our web master.  We also want to make a call out to all of you for photos and information to put on the web page and ask you to use the web page.  The more we use it, the better it will become.  Also, let others know about it, so they can keep up with what we are doing.

As we go along, we will be adding to the web page and we need to have certain ground rules.  We know already what some of those are and others we will discover as we go along.  We know that we don’t want photos of children without a signed release from the parents and even then we don’t think that we want to identify the kids, in an effort to keep them safe.  On that same note, we don’t want to give out personal information, such as personal phone numbers or addresses.  Bear with us and we hope to make the site something useful and something of which we can all be proud.

Peace,

Rev. Kelly

4 December 2008

One ancient Christmas tradition, which is slowly being lost, is that of the Yule Log.  In olden days a large log was dragged into the household hearth on Christmas Eve and the end was lit.  It had to be large because the log was to burn for the entire twelve days of Christmas.  It was carefully lit with a piece of burning log which had been saved from last year’s log, therefore continuing a line of good fortune from one year to the next, and from one generation to the next.

The log was brought into the house with great ceremony and as many people as possible grabbed onto the ropes to help pull, because doing so was believed to bring good luck into the New Year.  Passersby even raised their hats in tribute as the log went by.

No unnecessary work was to take place in or around the household as long as the log burned.  The season of merriment and reflection was also a time of rest from daily labors.

When the twelve days of Christmas were over, the scraps of the log were carefully preserved to be used for the next year’s Yule Log.  The ash was spread over the fields as a blessing for the coming year and un-charred pieces of the log were often made into ceremonial plowshares to guarantee the fertility of the fields.

It’s easy to see how this ancient pagan custom was brought into the celebration of Christmas.  Just as the evergreen reminds us of God’s everlasting commitment to us today and in the afterlife, the Yule Log reminds us that the Holy Spirit continues to burn within us year after year, and that God is always with us.  It also is a constant reminder of our connection to all of God’s creation and how we are called to be stewards of all that God created.  Creation isn’t just here for our use and enjoyment, but we are called to the husbandry of the universe.

For most of us, we can no longer keep this custom.  We either have no fireplace, or little wherewithal to burn the same log for twelve days.  As a matter of fact, there is a burgeoning industry of DVDs which portray fireplaces and sounds, so people can have a fire in their homes for the Holidays.  Yet, perhaps we should all find a way to remember the lessons of the Yule Log.

Merry Christmas,

Rev. Kelly

September 10, 2008

How are the Sunday Passages Selected?

Over the last few months a few folk have asked how the Sunday passages are selected for our time of worship.  I follow the Revised Common Lectionary, which almost all of the Main Line Protestant Churches use each week.  The Common Lectionary has been around for a few hundred years, but the latest form has been in use since 1992, when it was last updated by the Consultation on Common Text Committees (both North American and International).

There are four elements to the readings each week; the Old Testament Lesson, the New Testament Lesson (the Epistles or Revelation), a Psalm, and a Gospel Lesson.  Also, the system is based on a three-year cycle, labeled A, B and C; based on the Synoptic Gospels Matthew, Mark and Luke respectively.  The goal is for the church member to hear the main passages of all of the books of the Bible within the three-year period, while following the Church year.  One quick note, the books of the Bible are not treated in order.  For example, we are reading from Romans for our New Testament Lesson and we are next going to be reading from Philippians.

The Church year is divided into seasons; Advent, Christmastide, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost and Common Time.  During special seasons, such as Advent and Lent, the Gospel of John and the Book of Acts are read and the passages fit more into the themes for the week.  During Common time, which we are celebrating at the moment, passages are less thematic but follow the line of the books for the weeks in question.  For example, right now the New Testament Lesson comes from Romans and then will go to Philippians.  We will work our way through Philippians for four weeks and then the next book will be started, which is I Thessalonians.  The same is true of the Old Testament Lesson.  Right now we are reading Exodus and then in a few weeks we will move to Joshua.

Not every book of the Bible gets read, but most do.  Also, not every passage gets read, but the main passages of each book get read.  As I said earlier, this is so we can cover the Bible in three years.  It also helps the minister to not fall into a trap of only using passages that are familiar to them and the congregation, or picking out passages to prove whatever point the minister may wish to make (this is known as proof texting).

If you would like to learn more about the Revised Common Lectionary, there are some very good sites you can visit.  En.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revised_Common_Lectionary, commontests.org/rcl/faq.html, or you can visit the United Church of Christ Website at ucc.org/worship/Samuel.  All of these sites are filled with great information concerning the lectionary and can give you valuable insight into the passages themselves.

I hope this helps.  If you have questions, please feel free to contact me at any time.

Peace,

Rev. Kelly

14 June 2008

Dana, Judy and I went to the New York Conference last weekend and I am happy to report that the Conference is doing quite well.  We have a new church start in the state and we have another two or three that are about to start.  We want to have twenty new churches by the year 2020.  There are also one or two churches that want to join us from other denominations, so the future is looking good.

Also, we are financially sound.  We are in the black and the new conference office (the Amistad Center) is paid off and the capital campaign is almost finished.  We are having meetings there and the education programs are now meeting there.  We have a great resource center there for all of our churches.

We are in the early stages of our joint ministry with the protestant churches of Germany and our missions to Africa and Latin America are going strong.  Mission opportunities continue to be explored throughout the United States and New York.  Each church was asked to bring two “cleaning kits” for Church World Service, which were to go straight out to Maine and Iowa.

We had four resolutions which were deliberated and then passed.  There was a resolution concerning The Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright and the Trinity United Church of Christ of Chicago – it was a pledge of support for Rev. Wright and the Church (not agreement).  Another resolution concerned Family Medical Leave, as proposed in the New York Legislature.  The third resolution dealt with a toxic waste dump, found near the Great Lakes and a request to bar expansion of the site.  The final resolution concerned the “New Sanctuary Movement” and an effort to keep undocumented families together with their U.S. citizen children.  All of these were discussed in length in hearings and then presented and discussed in session.

There were any number of workshops that were offered, of which we went to two (meditation and spirituality in nature and Our Churches’ Wider Mission); both were informative and well worth attending.  There were also youth events and a children’s program.  Eleni and Saige can tell you more about what they did, but the youth led our Saturday night worship and also were a part of the closing worship on Sunday morning.

All in all, it was a good meeting and we can be proud of the work of our Conference and the Associations.

Peace,

Rev.  Kelly

14 June 2008

Mom, Tina and I would like to take a few moments to say thank you to all of you.  The last few days have been full and bitter sweet.  We have spent time with family and friends and your kind words, acts and thoughts were among the most profound.  The flowers were beautiful and they were the first thing I saw when we went to the Funeral Home for the visitation.

The funeral was Thursday and it was a celebration of Dad’s life.  His friends from High School, work, church and around the world came to share stories about Dad and it was a time of joy.  They told about pranks he pulled years ago and a few weeks ago.  Grown men and women came and told stories of when Mr. Shiflett taught them in Children’s Sunday School and others talked about being in Bible Study with Dad for over 35 years and how he taught and learned with them.

The days ahead will continue to be a challenge, but with your support we will continue to live the life in which Dad helped point the way.  Thank you again for your prayers and your love.

Peace,

Kelly and the whole Shiflett Family