This Week's News and Updates
October 23, 2018
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Please join us this Wednesday for...
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Christmas Arts & Crafts
October 24, 2018 at 7:00 PM
We will gather in the Social Hall
We will be working on Christmas cards to give to our neighbors next door at Vincent Victoria Village, Assisted Living Community. Come join us for an evening filled with love and laughter, coffee and snacks!
We will not be meeting on Wednesday October 31, it's Halloween!!!
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"
Hope
"
Rev. David Wynn
We’ve been celebrating MCC’s 50
th
Anniversary throughout the month of October and this week’s service is inspired from our fourth decade 1998-2008. When Canada became the first country to recognize same-sex marriage, we celebrated in Calgary. Our story continued with a newly elected Moderator installed at the US National Cathedral. We yearn to explore ways that everyone feels welcome at the table, with their fullest selves, particularly our transgender siblings. We celebrate our children and teach them to be great leaders. We hope for the day when there are no wars or violence, no one is left on the margin, and terrorism is a thing of the past. This week in national news has reminded us that we have much work left to do. Our movement is still crucial to the health and wholeness of many.
To do this we must be a people who stay connected to and embody hope. So, what is hope and how do we cultivate it? Author and research professor Brene Brown writes, “Hope is not an emotion. Hope is a cognitive, behavioral process that we learn when we experience adversity, when we have relationships that are trustworthy, when people have faith in our ability to get out of a jam....The most beautiful things I look back on in my life are coming out from underneath things I didn’t know I could get out from underneath. The moments I look back in my life and think, ‘God, those are the moments that made me, the moments of struggle.’ Hope is brokenhearted on the way to becoming wholehearted. Hope is a function of struggle.”
It occurred to me that we don’t have scripture where Jesus talks specifically about hope. I wonder why? Maybe this orientation of hope was born from his Jewish identity. Maybe hope is not something we “talk” about? Rabbi Jonathan Sacks says that Jews gave the world the idea of hope… “To be a Jew is to be an agent of hope in a world serially threatened by despair. Every ritual, every mitzvah, every syllable of the Jewish story, every element of Jewish law, is a protest against escapism, resignation or the blind acceptance of fate. Judaism is a sustained struggle, the greatest ever known, against the world that is, in the name of the world that could be, should be, but is not yet.”
Come and gather on Sunday…bring your hope, the world really, really needs it!
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Agape Gives Back
Rev. David Wynn
Agape MCC does a lot to give back and be of service within our community. It often happens “behind the scenes” and my hope is to make sure that more of us know about the good we do in our world…it’s good medicine. Last week our church donated tables and chairs to an AA group in Burleson. AA groups are expanding and routinely experience a shortage of physical resources. Alcoholics Anonymous is an international fellowship of men and women who have had a drinking problem. It is nonprofessional, self-supporting, multiracial, apolitical, non-religious, and available almost everywhere. There are no age or education requirements. Membership is open to anyone who wants to do something about their drinking problem. We know that addiction is prevalent among marginalized and oppressed people like the lgbtqia community and we are honored to be able to support healthy solutions for folks to find freedom.
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MCC Celebrates 50 Years
In 1968, a year before New York’s Stonewall Riots, a series of most unlikely events in Southern California resulted in the birth of the world’s first church group with a primary, positive ministry to gays, lesbians, bisexual, and transgender persons.
Those events, a failed relationship, an attempted suicide, a reconnection with God, an unexpected prophecy, and the birth of a dream led to MCC’s first worship service: a gathering of 12 people in Rev. Troy Perry’s living room in Huntington Park, California on October 6, 1968.
That first worship service in a Los Angeles suburb in 1968 launched the international movement of Metropolitan Community Churches, which today has grown to 43,000 members and adherents in almost 300 congregations in 22 countries. During the past 36 years, MCC’s prophetic witness has forever changed the face of Christianity and helped to fuel the international struggle for LGBT rights and equality.
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Our Community working together!
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The Social Hall floors were stripped, sealed and waxed during the week of October 14, 2018. Come check out how nice the floor looks!
Thank you to Jimmy for all his hard work!
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IT'S COMING!!!
Set your clocks back before you go to bed Saturday, November 3, 2018. If by chance you forget to fall back, you will arrive on time for the closing hymn and the Congregational Forum November 4th.
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Agape Grief Support Group
Will be meeting on October 27, 2018 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM.
The meeting will be held in the Agape' MCC Social Hall.
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Meet, Eat and Greet Family Style Pot Luck
Sunday, October 28, 2018
Meet and eat this month is a family style potluck event. Please bring your favorite casserole dish and/or dessert...let's make some community memories.
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Come join Agape' MCC as we attend the Fort Worth Parade of Lights together on November 18th. Save the date, more info to come!
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Congregational Meeting Information:
Our annual Congregational Meeting is fast approaching! Our Congregational Meeting occurs once a year and is the time our congregation gathers to review and conduct the business of the church. Here are the dates to mark on your calendars.
Sunday October 28 - Congregational Meeting Packets will be available for downloading from the Agape' Website. A limited number of printed copies will be available for those who do not have internet access.
Sunday November 4 - Congregational Forum - This time is set aside for the congregation to ask questions regarding the reports and or budget information provided in the Congregational Meeting Packet. In addition, the candidates running for office will be presented. We will begin the forum after a short break when our morning worship service has concluded.
Sunday November 11 - Congregational Meeting -
During this meeting the reports and budget provided in the Congregational Meeting Packet will be presented to the congregation for approval. In addition, the candidates running for office will be presented for election. We will begin the meeting after a short break when our morning worship service has concluded. Members will be required to sign in to establish a quorum and receive their voting cards. Friends and Visitors are welcome to attend to observe.
Click here
to view/print the Board of Directors Application.
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Creator God,
We know, even now, that whatever we ask of You, oh God, You will give to us. We pray that a mighty flood of prayer ascends to the heavenly realms and we, Your children, receive the bounce back of Your Glory.
So we, the ministers of MCC, may continue to pray, stand up, speak up, for those who have no hope; those who have no voice, those who feel unloved, those who have fallen away from You; and especially, for all the separated, lost, abandoned, or forgotten children.
God we seek Your mighty power of prayer, as we seek not only for personal transformation but the transformation of the world as well. Help us to be active participants in YOUR magnificent plan to raise humanity to a higher standard of care and loving-kindness.
Thank You today and always for the gift of life, just as we are gifts from You, our Creator; may the actions of our lives be a gift back to You and Your people and not remain as unopened presents!
In all that is holy we pray, and have confidence that our prayers are already answered, may it be so, Ashé, Ahó, and Amen!
Prayer submitted by:
VELMA GARCIA
Deacon
MCC Austin
Austin, Texas
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SECURITY
CORNER
by Lisa O'Grady
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Hi Folks,
The meeting scheduled for October 13
th
was rescheduled due to weather conditions. A new date will be set soon.
Have a SAFE WEEK!!!
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__________________________________________________________
January 5, 2019 5:00-7:00PM "Fun with Clay"
Looking for something fun to do with the kids?
Kids AND adults
love creating with clay. You’ll be using air dry clay (each person will receive a one pound package) and provided tools and assistance. The clay objects you form can be taken home to finish drying and be painted.
Class Fee: $75 which includes one adult and one child eight years or older.
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- 10/03 Evelyn Brown
- 10/05 Billy Stewart
- 10/06 Deanie Sewell
- 10/16 EJ Hudzina
- 10/20 Donna Boutwell
- 20/25 Jude Nerio
- 10/28 Shawn McCraw
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Sunday - October 28, 2018
"Hope"
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Call to Worship
-
Tibetan Bowl
Morning Meditation
- Rev. David Wynn
Song of Intention
- "For Everyone Born"
Words of Welcome
- Rev. David Wynn
Time of Greeting
- Community
Time With Our Children
- Trish Ashton
Response
- This Little Light of Mine
Song of Preparation
- "Word of God Speak"
Gospel Reading
-
Lamentations 3:21-23 Leigh Wolfer
Song of Response
- "Word of God Speak"
Time of Teaching
-
"Hope"
Rev. David Wynn
Centering Song
- "Healing Rain"
Community Prayer
- Rev. Robert Myers
Prayer Response
- "Healing Rain"
Time of Offering
- Cassy Batts
Celebration of Holy Communion
- Rev. Robert Myers
"Remember Me" - Community
Song of Sending Forth
- "God Is Holding Your LIfe"
The Sending Forth
- Rev. David Wynn
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