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Dear Leaders and Friends,
About once a month we get "anonymous" mail, by regular means and email, and we throw it away. We tend not
to read even the first page (and these communications tend to be long!). Often they are photocopies of
articles, underlined, highlighted, but the sender is unidentified.
To take these communications seriously, to even give them a "second thought" is to
give credence to a communication process that is totally opposite to the one I suggested
when appointed just over a year ago.
That suggestion involved using the metaphor of a round table at which
each of us has a place, an image which helps us move into this exciting time of our Association. Whatever the
topic, whatever the concern or issue, we are "at the table." We speak to each other, we disagree
with each other, we pray for one another, we love each other, we plan and implement with
each other, we see each other across that table, we dream and hope with each other, we feel called to the table, and
we commit to staying at the table.
One of the meanings the "Lord's table" has for me is just that _ we are at the table sharing Christ's life as a result
of his sharing and giving his life for us. Because of this, there is no anonymous person at any table we have created,
are creating, or will create.
ALERT!
One of our clergy has notified
the NA office of a scam that is being perpetrated on churches of various
denominations at different locations throughout the country. Church
offices and individual congregation members are being contacted,
by telephone, requesting emergency funding for conference/district
staff member(s). The caller suggests that staff members were injured and
hospitalized while away from home and that there is a need for
immediate funding for airline fare for them to return home. The caller also
asks that funds be wired immediately.
DEEPEST SYMPATHY
to Lois Heilmann on the passing of
her mother, Freda. The family has requested memorials to the NACCC.
WHO DOES YOUR CHURCH TURN TO…?
The stock market is fluctuating
at dramatic and sometimes frightening levels. Churches' investments
are down. Members of Boards of Trustees are perhaps asking _ to
whom do we turn for advice? Some churches are fortunate enough
to have active and retired investment counselors in their congregation,
but many do not. The Congregational Investment Trust may be the answer.
Call Marina Rosenberg, our controller, for more information (800)
262-1620 Ext: 14. |
