This Week's News and Updates
April 09, 2019
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Come visit our very own
Judy Hudson
at the
Main Street Art Festival.
Main Street is the largest four-day event in the southwest. It brings the finest in art, music, food and culture together in an incredible urban setting.
Dates: April 11 - 14
Judy: Booth 362
Way to go Judy! We are sending prayers for a great show with much love!
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This Wednesday at 7PM is drumming and meditation.
Drumming gives us an experience where we can be free to connect with ourselves and others, in order to release, restore and heal. A drum circle provides an opportunity to connect with your own spirit at a deeper level and
to feel connected with others
.
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Lent 2019
“Stride Toward Freedom”
When was the last time you felt truly free? When was the last time you felt your Divinity well up inside of you? When was the last time you woke up feeling balanced in your life even when all manner of things outside of your control were swirling around you? At its best, the ritual of Lent, gives us a communal structure where we can live into our authentic answers to those questions and others. Our communities depend on this kind of group seeking…Martin Luther King Jr. wrote “In the final analysis, Agape means a recognition of the fact that all life is interrelated. All humanity is involved in a single process, and all people are connected.” Come and “Lent” with us. You have a lot to lose and way more to gain.
3/06
–
Ash Wednesday – “Welcome to a Clean Slate.”
3/10 – “The Hardest Part is Getting Started.”
3/17 – “How to Win Friends and Influence People?”
3/24 – “Focus on the System not the Person.”
3/31 – Community Breakfast Sunday – "Welcoming Sinners and Eating with Them.”
4/07 – “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished.”
4/14 – Palm Sunday, “Where the Burro Meets the Road”
4/21 – Easter, “Freedom”
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Holy Week at Agape'
Join the Agape community for our annual pilgrimage through Holy Week. Pilgrimage is an ancient spiritual practice found in every faith tradition and requires us to do a few things:
- Understand that the goal of our spiritual life is transformation, healing, and wholeness.
- Suspend our usual routines and comforts to focus on our spiritual path.
- Imagine that every week is actually “Holy”, and practice is key.
The opportunities and lessons of this journey are universal with no labels required. All are welcome!
Thursday, April 18 – T. B. A.
Friday, April 19, 7:00 p.m. – Contemporary Stations of the Cross
Saturday, April 20, 10:00 a.m. – Community Easter Egg Hunt
(doors open at 10:00, egg hunting at 11:00.)
Saturday, April 20, 8:30 p.m. – The Oratory of St. Anne, Easter Vigil Mass
Sunday, April 21, 7:00 a.m. – Easter Sunrise Service on the Labyrinth
Sunday, April 21, 7:45 a.m. – Pancake Breakfast in the Social Hall
Sunday, April 21, 10:30 a.m. – Easter Celebration
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In lieu of the traditional giving up something for Lent (i.e. chocolate, road rage, smoking, etc), here are 40 ideas to Keep Lent Holy as adapted from Nadia Bolz-Weber. The suggestions listed below encourages the development of community, relationships, social action, ecological responsibility and individual spiritual growth. Remember that Sunday is not included in the 40 days of Lent, Sundays are considered a mini-Easter Days .
40 Ways to Keep Lent Holy…adapted from Nadia Bolz-Weber
March 6 - Day 1: Pray for your enemies
March 7 - Day 2: Walk, carpool, bike or bus it.
March 8 - Day 3: Don’t turn on the car radio
March 9 - Day 4: Give $20 to a non-profit of your choosing
(Sunday)
March 11 - Day 5: Take 5 minutes of silence at noon
March 12 - Day 6: Look out the window until you find something of beauty you had not noticed before
March 13 - Day 7: Give 5 items of clothing to Goodwill
March 14 - Day 8: No bitching day
March 15 - Day 9: Do someone else’s chore
March 16 - Day 10: Buy a few $5 fast food gift cards to give to homeless people you encounter
(Sunday)
March 18 - Day 11: Call an old friend
March 19 - Day 12: Pray the Paper (pray for people and situations in today’s news)
March 21 - Day 14: Pay a few sincere compliments
March 22 - Day 15: Bring your own mug
(Sunday)
Day 17: Forgive someone
Day 18: Internet diet
Day 19: Change one light in your house to a compact florescent
Day 21: Ask for help
Day 22: Tell someone what you are grateful for
(Sunday)
Day 23: Introduce yourself to a neighbor
Day 25: Bake a cake
Day 26: No shopping day
Day 28: Light an actual candle
(Sunday)
Day 29: Write a thank you note to your favorite teacher
Day 30: Invest in canvas shopping bags
Day 32: Donate art supplies to your local elementary school
Day 34: Worship at a friend’s mosque, synagogue or church and look for the beauty
(Sunday)
Day 35: Confess a secret
Day 36: No sugar day – where else is there sweetness in your life?
Day 37: Give $20 to a local non-profit
Day 39: Pray for peace
Day 40: Pray for your enemies (you probably have new ones by now) then decide which of these exercises you’ll keep for good
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Community Easter Egg Hunt
Saturday, April 20, 2019 at 11:00AM
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Please join us in the Social Hall beginning at 10:00 AM for pre- hunt activities which include a bounce house and games. The Easter Egg Hunt will begin at 11:00AM. The children will be grouped by age for the hunt.
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Easter Sunday is Hat Day!
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You are invited to wear your favorite Easter Bonnet or Easter Hat to Easter Service, Sunday April 21, 2019 at 10:30AM.
Let's be festive fabulous!
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A.L.I.C.E.
A
lert
L
ockdown
I
nform
C
ounter
E
vacuate
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The main objective of the A.L.I.C.E. (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate) program is to provide options increasing chances of survival during an “Active Shooter on Campus” emergency.
It is designed to be an enhancement to the standard “lockdown” system used for emergency situations.
Our Security Team will be providing additional training soon to our community customizing our response and defining roles during any perceived threat on our campus.
Thank you to our Security Team for the many ways you care for our community and keep us safe.
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Palm Sunday 2019 Prayer
Lent 6
“Blessed is the One who comes in the name of our God!
Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest!” Psalm 118
God of triumph and of pain, we come to the end of Your earthly journey. This week will see Your betrayal and execution, receiving brutality in exchange for a message of love and reconciliation.
Our world seems so different from the one You knew; but some things have not changed—hatred, violence and oppression.
In this season of giving and taking, give us the grace to recognize our own part in oppression, our own mistrust of others, our own participation in brutality. We will give You our repentance and work to turn mourning into dancing, fear into hope, and shame into joy, so that everyone born may join in exultation for the One who comes in the name of our God, to take away strife and fear, and to give peace.
We lift our palm branches high to celebrate Your presence in our lives, in this world, on this Palm Sunday of joy!
Amen, so let it be!
Reflection submitted by:
Rev. Martha Daniels
, Pastor
Holy Covenant
Metropolitan Community Church
Brookfield, IL
, USA
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Dear Agape Family,
I wanted to tell you about a big challenge I’m taking on this fall. I have committed to walk 60 miles (yes, really!) over the course of three days in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day. Those of you who know me well know that there must be a really good reason that I would volunteer to exercise this much, and there is. It’s to raise money for a cause that’s very near and dear to my heart, to help end breast cancer.
Breast cancer has been a part of my life since last August when I was diagnosed. I underwent surgery in August to have a spot removed and later had radiation treatment to help make sure it won’t return. Since then I have been on hormone blocking medication that I will have to take for at least another five years - but more likely for the rest of my life.
I am very lucky in that my form of cancer was very treatable and that I caught it very early. I am so thankful! But I look around and nearly every day I hear about someone else. Many are not as lucky as I am and I know I have to do something now to raise awareness and try to help. So this is for them …and this is for me, because I am alive and so very thankful.
I’ll be lacing up my tennis shoes, going on training walks, and most importantly, asking for money! It is your donations that will help fund the research and the treatment that will make a difference. I’m not used to asking for money, this is not for me. This is for all who are fighting the battle.
The 3-Day is not until November, but my goal is to raise the minimum $2,300 (or more!) before then, so I’m getting started now. You can help! Click the link at the end of this email to go to my personal fundraising webpage, or see me and I’ll make sure you get a donation form. (Or you can call 800-996-3DAY and the nice people at the 3-Day can take your donation over the phone.)
This is a huge deal for me and that is why I’m asking for help. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Love,
Lisa O’Grady
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Apr 02 - Troy Kilgore
Apr 08 - Sheri Campbell
Apr 09 - Rachel Carr
Apr 09 - Dusty Esparza
Apr 11 - Miguel Vasquez
Apr 20 - Amy Ashton
Apr 24 - Trish Scott
Apr 30 - Connie Maples
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Sunday - April 14, 2019
Palm Sunday
Call to Worship - Rev. David Wynn
Opening Song - "Hosanna"
Welcome and Greeting - Rev. David Wynn
Time with the Children - Trish Ashton
Song of Intention - "
Ancient Words"
Gospel Reading -
Luke 12: 1-11
- Leigh Wolfer
Song of Response - "There Is Only Love"
Time of Teaching - “Where the Burro Meets the Road”
Rev. Wynn
Centering Song - "Deep In Love With You"
Community Prayer - Rev. Robert Myers
Prayer Response - "Deep In Love With You"
Bringing our Gifts - Cassy Batts
Celebration of Holy Communion - Rev. David Wynn
"One Bread, One Body"
Song of Sending Forth - "Be Still"
Announcements and Benediction - Rev. David Wynn
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