Happy Blooming Church of the Roses!

“A happy heart makes a face cheerful.”  Proverbs 15:13

         One of the things people look for in a church is a positive happy atmosphere. Going to a church full of dour looking solemn people is not very attractive. I think that is one of the reasons our church is growing. New visitors have been attending worship and deciding to join us in part because they look around and see happiness! With the next new members class we will have 51 new members in the last two and ½ years.

         It makes sense that we are happy because we have so so much to be grateful for, thanks be to God! But happiness is also a choice.

         Groucho Marx once said:

Groucho’s quote reminds me of this passage in Matthew 6:25-27 that encourages us not to worry, (which inspires happiness):

         “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?” (NRSV)

There are other reasons besides a happy atmosphere that helps a church grow. Here is a list I shared with our session at our March meeting. YOU can help us accomplish these ten goals:

• 1. MAKE SUNDAY SPECIAL Put creative energy into every worship service. You may only get one chance to connect Christ to a visitor.
• 2.ADD AN EXTRA SERVICE (and maybe even an extra venue)
• The Session and worship committee are considering adding a new worship service on Friday evenings that may attract new members who like to listen to instrumentalists accompany our hymns.
• 3. WORK ON YOUR WELCOME Making new attendees feel at home from the moment they drive into the parking lot will significantly increase the chances of them returning. We need greeters at Bowen Hall doors helping people find their way into our church.
• 4. ENCOURAGE BELONGING AND BELIEVING
• Belonging will often precede believing, and forming friendships is essential. Invite new comers to our activities. Consider starting a small group study.
• 5. INVEST IN YOUNG PEOPLE Young people need to be purposefully placed into visible leadership roles and given excellent Christian mentoring.
• 6. ENGAGE YOUR COMMUNITY Churches need to place community engagement high on the priority list. One church started: Christians Against Poverty and gave financial advice and aid to those struggling in their local community. In one year that church added 100 members.
• 7. MARKET YOURSELF The best marketing is the kind that comes from positive interactions with the local community. Giving people a reason to enter the church is half the battle. So make the most of Christmas, Easter and any events that give you an excuse to invite people in. Don’t be shy.
• 8.GIVE SUPPORT TO CONGREGATIONAL CARE Churches that grow have been able to develop pastoral support networks that allow everyone in the church to be ministered to without the pastor having to do it all.
• 9. RUN AN EVANGELISTIC COURSE (AND CHURCH)
• Strategically, the church needs to be missionary-minded so that every member knows they have a role in sharing their faith, inviting friends and ensuring that visitors feel at home. Have a constant introductory course such as Alpha or Christianity Explored to teach the basics.
• 10. PRAY Praying for growth. In 1 Corinthians 3:6, Paul says: ‘I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.’ 
• In our efforts to see church growth, we need to acknowledge we can achieve nothing without God’s blessing, which brings forth the fruit. When churches become inward-looking they forget the power of the gospel and what it feels like to grow. Pray daily for our church to grow so we can meet the spiritual needs of the people in our congregation and community. All of us can pray.

 (List above adapted from: Justin Brierley’s article at: https://www.premierchristianity.com/Past-Issues/2015/January-2015/Ten-ways-to-grow-your-church-in-2015)

        I am so thankful for the willingness of our Church of the Roses leaders to work on these ten things that will help our church have a healthy future. May God continue to bless us and keep us as we carry on in faith. Remember, there are seven Sundays in the Easter season. YOU can help us make each Easter Season Sunday special by worshipping and participating in the future of our church.  Happy Easter Season!    Love,   Pastor Cindy

Jesus changes his #Facebook status to 'Risen' #SarumLPAs #SocialMedia for #Mission & #Ministry

      

Speak Up!

Adapted from a sermon by

 Reverend Dr Cynthia Alloway

Pastor of the Presbyterian Church of the Roses, July 5, 2015

Speak Up!

            How do we know when God is speaking with us? The most powerful message from the Bible is love.  And when you speak words of love, forgiveness, reconciliation, and healing, you are speaking the words of God.

            Second, when you are striving to accomplish what the prophet Micah said when he commanded us to promote justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God, then you are carrying out the intention of God.

            Third, when you are helping the oppressed, protecting the vulnerable, serving the poor, and showing hospitality to the outcast, giving food to the hungry, clothes to the naked, and water to the thirsty, and loving your neighbor—you are doing the work of God.

            In contrast, when the demons of hate, discrimination, racism, and violence possess people, so that they become irrational and shoot innocent Bible study group members, or set fire to churches, it is not the time to remain silent. In the face of evil, it is important to speak up and stand beside the oppressed, to show a holy force of LOVE in the wake of hate. We are not called to sit back quietly, but to confront the oppressor, to stand beside the victims, and to work to prevent this type of violence from ever happening again, anywhere. 

            Why? Because it is your family that is being killed and abused! These are your people because we all have the same mother.  In human genetics, Mitochondrial Eve is the matrilineal most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of us all. She is estimated to have lived approximately 200,000 years ago, and she represents the woman from whom all living humans today descend. All mitochondrial DNA in every living person is directly descended from hers.

            And our Mother Eve is from the continent of Africa.  We are all connected to Africans through our DNA. Now a quick reminder about why there is a diversity of colors in our human skin. Dark skin has more melanin, which is a natural sun screen. If you could choose to have the most resilient skin, you should choose the skin with lots of melanin, because it protects from the sun’s rays and skin cancer.

We don’t all have dark skin anymore because as humans migrated out of Africa and up to the Northern less sunny regions, they needed to absorb more Vitamin D from the sun. So humans adapted with whiter skin to help absorb vitamin D. Yet, some people don’t recognize the inherent advantage of having more melanin. Instead they have arbitrarily decided that darker skin is inferior. This racist attitude is the root cause of massacres like the one in Charleston and the recent burning of eight churches in the South.

Nine victims of the Charleston AME church bible study massacre

            So why are people still racist to the point of violence in this country when we know biological differences are related to minor biological adaptation? One reason is a lack of education or just plain ignorance. There is not enough science education about ethnic diversity. The confederate flag wavers did not learn that we are all related to each other as one global human family and that there is no such thing as a superior race.

            When people feel powerless, they often look for someone to blame. At times when they feel insecure and unhappy in themselves, they look for someone vulnerable to pick on in order to get a momentary feeling of power and superiority. They become classic bullies. Put a bunch of bullies in white robes and you have the Ku Klux Klan who publicly gathered at the South Carolina statehouse after the confederate flag was recently taken down. After that meeting, churches began to burn.

            Prejudice and racism have caused enormous suffering across history. Prejudice and racism both refer to a negative view of one group of people based solely on their membership in that group. In reality, “race” is merely a social construct. It was used to categorize people in the early part of the 17^th century to rationalize slavery in this country. At that time they did not know the results of a DNA survey by Dr. Marcus Feldman of Stanford University that showed all humans are 99.9 percent genetically identical. (see: http://stem-works.com/external/article/859)

            This finding gives us hope for the future! We should educate one another and make our world better by making friends with people of other ethnic groups. Positive emotional experiences with members of different groups reduces negative stereotypes. Having close friends from different groups builds our awareness of what it is like to walk a mile in their shoes.

            As disciples of Christ, you have a big job to do and limited time to do it!  Challenge evil, stand alongside victims, advocate for equal rights for those who are oppressed or bullied no matter what the reason. Maybe they are oppressed due to their skin color, or their sexual orientation, or because they are disabled.

Your job as members of the people of God is to welcome, promote healing, and help provide justice for all people—even the least of these. Can you do your job?  Remember the words of Martin Luther King junior: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”  Speak up!           

Reflections on the First PCOR Haiti Work Trip

The first Haiti work trip from the Presbyterian Church of the Roses was a true blessing for all! Eight people from the Church of the Roses and one from Knox Presbyterian Church came back with a greater sense of the Holy Spirit’s amazing grace and new friends as a result of our work with two children’s homes outside of Port au Prince in the region of Ganthier. We left on March 7^th and returned on the 14^th in good shape. 

Our team consisted of: Pastor Cindy Alloway and her daughter, Kathryn Culver (co-leaders), Pastor Sue Fleenor, David Hansen, Mickey and Don Marshall, Chris and Liz Rhodes, and Brian Smith. In the Hope House home we created an aquaponic garden where they will grow many vegetables to feed the 40+ children they have taken in after the earthquake.  (below see the big tank holding the fish with a blue filter tank and piping that flows the water beneath floating plants in long pools that are located outside the photo).

At the CAD home where there are 90+ children, we planted 72 Moringa trees and taught the children about the precious resource trees are for them and for the world. The moringa tree is edible and contains all the nutrients one needs in a diet. Moringa grows well in arid regions and it is even rich in protein. The children helped us plant the seeds and put chicken-wire fencing around each one to protect them from the goats. We had a creole translator read to the children a Shel Silverstein book, The Giving Tree, to help them understand the precious value of trees.

(illustration from: http://miracletrees.org/moringa_urban_grow.html#growmoringa)

We want to thank everyone who donated to help make this trip possible. The children were so grateful for the backpacks and school supplies! We hope to return again to see how the trees and the children have grown! God calls us to use our many blessings to bless others. The people of Haiti blessed us far beyond what we were able to give to them. They trusted us with their love and took extra special care of our whole team as we worked, prayed, and worshiped with them at the Kwa Kok outdoor church.

God is good! And we learned that many of the children have Psalm 46 memorized to assure them of God’s care for each one of them. We suggest all of us do likewise and memorize the words of this Psalm so we never forget that God is with us no matter how difficult our lives may be. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Bondye beni nou,”

which means, “God Bless You!” in Haitian Creole.