 The
United Church of Los Alamos
United Chimes: Vol. 39, No. 2, February 2003
Front
Page News
Jay
Dee Conrad Announces Retirement
Dr. Conrad and Andrea came to The United Church in February of 1993. His tenure as pastor will be the second longest of the eight senior pastors who have served The United Church. Upon retirement they will move to Bend, Oregon, where they have a home waiting for them. Jay Dee stated in his letter that he fully intends for these last six months in Los Alamos to be productive months of ministry. In addition to regular preaching, he will be teaching several classes in our adult education program. In the meantime the Personnel Board, Board of Elders, Executive Board and, indeed, the entire congregation, will begin the process of making the transition. And while that is going on we will continue with the very competent staff that has been working with Jay Dee these past years. Please
Take Note
February 2nd: The Mustard Seed (Feast Day) February 9th: The Great Pearl February 16th: The Lenten Puzzle February 23rd: Jesus and The Children Children?s Worship is for Children in grades Kindergarten through 2nd Grade during the last half of the 9:30 worship service. This special program meets in room 105. Greeters and Storytellers are needed! Nursery
Help!
Puppet
Festival
Sonlight
Summer Camps
For kids entering
3rd, 4th and 5th grades:
For kids entering
6th, 7th, and 8th grades:
Those entering 9th, 10th,11th,and 12th grades: Only 1 Session: July 6th - 12th Make your plans soon, the camps fills up quickly. Camps cost $275 if registered on or before March 1st. For more information on Sonlight camps contact the church office or Sonlight?s web site: www.sonlightcamp.org In February, our sermon series on contemporary issues will continue. Each sermon will be followed by a discussion forum during the Sunday School hour (11:00a.m.-noon). Everyone is invited to participate in the discussions which will be held in the Christian Education Building Lounge. Dates and topics follow: February
2nd: We will look at the issue of peacemaking.
Please note that regular Adult Education will not begin until February 16th. The exception to this is Irene Powell?s class on ?Breaking Free? which will continue in Sangrey Chapel at 11:00 a.m Stephen
Ministry
Coming
Attractions
Eliot?s entire life was an interior search for God. His journey took him from his New England Calvinist and Unitarian roots to a near spiritual despair and eventually to a formal conversion to Anglo-Catholicism and to a whole-hearted commitment to humanity itself. Although an intensely private man, Eliot set out to deliberately capture that journey in his poetry. He believed with his whole heart that he had a responsibility to translate his personal struggles into poetry that could inform Everyman. In this effort he succeeded brilliantly. Study and immersion in this journey with Eliot can be a very profitable Lenten exercise. Jack Shepard will assist us with this project. Jack, a relatively new member of The United Church, is a recently retired UCC minister, has a life long interest in Eliot, and, as part of a misspent youth, once obtained a PhD in English Literature. Classes will be on Thursday evenings from 7:00 until 9:00 p.m. in Sangrey Chapel. Classes will begin on February 6th and run through April 10th. A volume of Eliot?s collected poetry is highly recommended. Inexpensive editions are available in most new and used bookstores. Beginning on February 16th at 11:00 a.m. Evolution
Arnie Nance CE Lounge
Kerygma:
The Sacraments Randy Erickson/Kathleen Logan
Room 315
*Death
and Dying Jay Dee Conrad
Room 218
The Power of Now (by Eckhart Tolle) Sandy Charles/Tessa Dowell Room 311 Joy and peace result from living consciously in the present moment as our True Selves. Although the journey is challenging, we can leave behind our analytical mind and its false created self, the ego. Access to the Now is everywhere-in the body, the silence, and the space around us. These are the keys to enter a state of inner peace. Eckhart Tolle offers simple language in a question and answer format. There are new discoveries to be made along the way: we are not our mind, we are not our body, we can find our way out of psychological pain by knowing the nature of our True Selves. "The author draws from all the major religions, including Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and other traditions such as Buddhism and Taoism to illuminate their shared truths." Our group will
circle for five minutes of conscious breathing and silence, twenty minutes
of listening to the book-on-tape with note-taking on ideas that intrigue
us, followed by a time of discussion and sharing. It is not necessary
to own the book for this group, although it will be readily available in
the sessions.
Continuing Sunday Offering Breaking Free (by Beth Moore) Irene Powell Sangrey Chapel Sunday, March 9, 2003, 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm This year during Spring Break, March 29th - April 5th, 2003, The United Church will be sponsoring the 18th Annual Mexico Mission Trip. Youth from the United Church and other local churches will be traveling to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico to build three homes for families. They anticipate needing approximately $10,000 for the cost of building supplies. The major fund raiser for this important mission is the MEXICO MISSION AUCTION 2003 which will be held Sunday, March 9th beginning at 2:00 pm in Graves Hall. The money raised at the auction will purchase building supplies. Please mark your calendars for this event and if you have any items to donate, please bring them to the church office or call 662-2971.
Chimes
Newsletter on the Web
Thank
You, Mary
Now Mary has
left us to pursue other activities (although she has said she will be around
to ?consult, advise or serve as backup when needed.?). We will miss
Mary as a part of the staff but will always appreciate her presence
New
Member Orientation
News
from Steve Zimmerman, Cape Town
We were very privileged to
meet Thompson Ntobie who was originally converted to Christianity by Steve?s
father Al Zimmerman, and now at age 76 is still a tireless worker.
He is translating
Steve and Thompson plan to build six Christian libraries in the next 15 years. After having created one, they have many ideas for the next ones. These will serve as community enters in townships where there are no such facilities. They will provide a place for young people to do homework and to study, as well as being exposed to Christianity. Computers will be available for use and for training. Also, information about current issues (such as AIDS) will be provided to the community. The government will sell them the land in the townships and the buildings will be constructed by the people in the community. The library community centers will be operated by the local churches and Christians. Then, the final chapter of returning the gospel and its outreach to the indigenous Africans will be accomplished after Al Zimmerman began the work in 1962. Steve sends his greetings and thanks for support to all members of the United Church and invites all to come and visit. We highly recommend accepting the invitation! Phil and Barbara Seeger
Children's
Friendship Project for Northern Ireland
1)
a "neutral" environment in the home
If you meet the above requirements, please contact me. For more information about CFPNI, visit our website at "www.cfpni.org". Thank you. Chuck Keady
(N.M. coordinator)
Volunteer
of the Month
The artist?s theme is repeated at the top of both windows where the infinity symbol is superimposed by a cross. God?s love is eternal and reigns through death is its message. The Shepard holding the lamb and looking over Joseph?s shoulder has several meanings - the sacrificial lamb, God as the Good Shepherd that watches over his sheep, and Jesus being born among the common man. Even the colors tell the tale. In the first window, the three vividly adorned wise men symbolize man?s role in God?s eternal love and the gifts they bring foreshadow the future. In the second window, the subdued colors represent the humble beginning of the greatest King. The opaque star, reaching to the top and sides of the window, represents the extent of God?s love as it leads the eye to the manger scene. It?s not a tribute to the artists but to the glorious season of Christmas. When Bob Brownlee constructed his first windows with replaceable ovals for Fellowship Hall over ten years ago, he mentioned to Betty that there should be a window for every season. She knew immediately that she wanted to do Christmas. Betty and Roger thank Jackie Beebe for inspiring them to work with glass. In her class, Jackie taught them about patterns, glass flow, carrying design, and construction. With glass donations from Jackie, the Church, Bob Brownlee, and Rusty Gray, and with their own glass purchases, Roger and Betty began their project, which took nearly three years to complete. Once the final design, glass flow, and colors were decided upon by Betty, Roger began the process of construction. A designer by trade, Roger?s artistic eye and mechanical aptitude brought the vision to life. Although Betty chose each piece of glass, Roger cut, ground, burnished and wrapped each one with copper foil. Using a template he routered out of plywood, Roger checked the intensity, opaqueness, and flow quality of each piece using a light table that he designed to shine from beneath the glass. Each piece needed to have the desired affect when light shown through it. He carefully placed each finished piece into position and soldered them into the final design. The Smiths enjoyed the windows project. They?ve always taken an active part in their Church family. Betty helped design the rose window, Easter windows, and autumn windows. She has sang in the choir, worked for Vacation Bible School, puppeteered, and served on the Membership and Evangelism Board. She has been a liturgist, a mentor, usher, and has served on the Missions Board. Currently, she serves on the Board of Elders, is mentoring a high school student, and continues to spread God?s word with the United Puppet People. Roger has served as a liturgist, usher, sound booth operator, puppeteer and on the Board of Elders. Currently, he?s the Nominating Committee Chairman, a mentor for a mid school student, and continues as a puppeteer and sound booth operator. In the early years of their marriage, they taught Sunday School for the mid-high and senior high youth groups. All the Smiths have become involved in church activities. This delightful family has been greeters and coffee hosts. Sheriden and Sonja have served as acolytes and junior ushers. The Christmas Puppet Show of 2002 was a landmark for this family. All four of them performed. In his leisure time, Roger restores planes and clocks and flies his own plane. When he?s not doing the fun stuff, Roger is working as Director of Designs for Hytec, Inc. Betty has been working full time as an artist, but still has time for her family, photography, hiking, and gardening. They both like to travel and have been in a number of states and countries. When I asked Betty why she volunteered, she and Roger agreed that ?It?s part of feeling connected to their church family.? They love the people of United Church and love to support it as they would a close member of their family. They feel they get the same love and support from their fellow parishioners. Do they have any glass projects on the horizon? Probably. Maybe. It?s too soon to tell. By Angie Chipera
The
Sun Tour
Mary Venable February
2003 Lunch Bunch
Janet Tallman
The
A-MAZ-ING United Church
Thanks to Don Tolmie and Ed VanEeckhout the book, in its interactive form, is now on the church web site. Simply go to our web site home page, http://www.losalamos.org/unchla/ and click on the site leading you to the book. Reminders!
Coffee
Hosts for February
Prayer
Concerns
Barbara Jean Wilson Brett Paglieri Harold Ecke Don Tolmie Courtney Brookover Lynn Smith Margaret Browne Sympathy
to
Sympathy to Terry FitzPatrick and family upon the death of her stepmom, Jean K. Smith, a long time resident of Los Alamos for over 40 year. A Memorial service will be held in early summer. Thank
You
P.S. Do I still have one of your serving dishes? Let me know. Thank you again. Sincerely,
Prayer
Letter Telephone Prayer Chain
To receive the Prayer Letter contact the Church Office at 662-2971 or email at UCoffice@losalamos.org It is Jesus?
name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete
healing to him, as you can all see.
A minister in Florida ... Herb Edington . . . the pastor of a very large, 2000+ church . . . retired this month at the age of sixty. In part he wrote of it in this way: My late uncle, Dr. Andrew Ellington, was a shrewd observer of the church and an unfailing guide and mentor to me. When I accepted the call to this church, I was 39 years old. Uncle Andy said to me: ?The senior minister of a large church can function effectively during the peak years of age 40 to 55, or perhaps 60. After age 60, the minister starts to move toward retirement, and all too often the church retires with him.? Well,
I happen to think that is a lot of bunk.
There
has been a lot of good . . . very good . . .
And now
we are at that future.
That,
I trust, will all be part of the process as I retire . . .
Faithfully yours,
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