Dear Members and Friends of the Ark and Dove Community,

Deep thanks to our Worship and Facilities Ministries for pulling together our first outdoor worship service. We had a great crowd. We had the opportunity to sing Taize music and we ordained and installed Lori Kroner and Sara Fox as elders and Paula Griggs as Deacon. It was a joy to see so many masked faces. It was a deep joy to be able to worship together! This service has helped us to get ready for our next outdoor worship, which will be on Easter Sunday. The new speakers worked very well and had just a minor problem with the sound board.

We had circles set up on the lawn to help us keep social distance, which was a little weird for some, but comforting to those who have been especially disciplined in their social distancing.  Right now the Fauci and CDC science indicates that gathering outside with masks is pretty low risk. And we can sing!

Some years ago at Session one of our elders gave another elder a big hug. Finally the receiver of the hug let his opinion be known to the hugger. “Elder hugger, you are always hugging me. I am not a hugger, I would prefer not to be hugged.” The session burst out in laughter, and the hugger agreed to keep it to a warm greeting. 

Now that we are gathering outside, we must approach “reentry” with love and respect for our fellow members.  It is a fact that as a result of the pandemic, different people will have different comfort zones and different sized “space bubbles” in the months to come. By all means communicate clearly with each other.  While in worship, we will stay in our circles. After worship feel free to mingle mosey. If someone steps back a little, they are sending you a clue; their bubble is larger than yours. If we can stay cooped up for a year, surely we can learn individual cues for spacing.  If someone expresses the need for more space, please receive the message in and with love.

Peace of Christ,

tstern@arkanddove.org

Dear Friends and Members of Ark and Dove,

Not long ago, a friend of mine told me that people would call him names and slurs while he walked his city streets. He is an Asian American man and talked about it as I would talk about something ordinary. Sadly, this type of harassment is not out of the ordinary in North American history. Sadder still, discrimination and violence against Asian Americans has sharply risen during the pandemic. Such hate, as Howard Thurman would say, walked on earth this week killing children of God.

Over the last year, North American public officials over-emphasized the coronavirus' place of origin while downplaying its local spread. Coronavirus has been labeled the "kung-flu" and former President Trump called it "the China virus." Due to discrimination and racist generalizations, many Asian Americans have been made to be the scapegoats of this pandemic. This is not the first incidence of this in America. Words have consequences. Hate speech leads to violence. However, it does only little to point the finger at public officials who have bolstered racist attitudes, particularly against Asian Americans. We must, again, reckon with our responsibility as citizens living in a society where hate crimes occur with such frequency.

At Ark and Dove, we talk and reflect on racism with some regularity. Several leaders continually ask us to educate ourselves on race. This is primarily because racism is the complete contradiction of our values and mission. It is also because race continues to be the conscious and unconscious reason so many people are hurt and destroyed on this land. We have to talk, reflect, and educate ourselves. Please read one of the articles below and spend some Lenten contemplation considering what prejudices and biases linger in you. Then get behind some hate crime legislation.

Peace,

jnelson@arkanddove.org

PRAYERS OF HEALING AND SUPPORT for Arlyce Lohr; Annetta Fenstermacher; Amy Richarme; Patty Plander; Krista Klohr; Christa Kronser; Merlin Berry; Dick Paronto; Bob Johns; Richard and Edie Budd; Amy and Kyle Morris; Vaughn Brown; Debbie Saylor’s sister, Christine; Ryan Stavely’s father, Brian; Brooks Emrick and her sister, Susan; Dotty Kaufman, her son, Bill, daughter-in-law, Carol, granddaughter, Sarah, and grandson Nathan; Steve Debus' cousin-in-law, Stephan; Kathy Miller’s brother-in-law, Jeff Miller; Lewis Shorter and Lewis Shorter’s niece, Jennifer Schwandt-Gayle; Emily Crose’s grandmother, Lois Eichhorn; Bob Fuller’s brother, Joe Fuller; Dot Forloines’ family and her great-grandson Luke; Donna Anderson's brother-in-law, Tom Brown; Debbie and Bruce Arey’s family in Connecticut and daughter, Allison, and niece, Naomi; Linda Taylor’s mother, Izola; Grant Kirby’s mother, Caroline, and Julia Kirby's mother, Margaret Floyd; Clarke Beaudry’s mother, Judy LaMarque; Kennon Bauman’s uncle, Dan Johnston; Amy Goldberg’s grandmother, Ruth Cooper; Christy Yeager’s mother, Linda Jordan; Diane Johnson's Uncle Ed, Aunt Janet, and cousin Richard; Shelley Franklin's father; Hollis Butterworth’s daughter, Rachel Mershont; Amanda Wehage’s sister and father, Dave; Laurie Barrow’s nephew, Gunther Kurtz; Sabonna Keeney’s mother; Bernabe and Griselda Solano, and Griselda's sister, Irma; Laura Doughty’s brother-in-law, Carl Hahn, and Paul Doughty’s mother, Ruth Doughty; Laura Willoughby's father, Norman; Bill Ruble’s mother, Mary Jane Weathers; Ann Hirschy’s aunt, Cindy, and brother; Christina Nelson’s grandmother, Pat Dole; Kelly Burnett’s nephew, Justin; Patriceo Green’s cousin, Philip Brown; Lou Kareha’s aunt, Judy Kochis, and cousin, Thomas; Cheryl and Doug Walcutt’s grandchild, Gray Adacutt; Cheryl Walcutt’s mother, nephew, and sisters, friend Don Clark and student, Clay; Erika Sealing's son, Trip, and grandmother, Margaret Schade; Sue Hanburger's friends, Barb, Phyllis, Martha and Craig; Linnie Girdner and Jan Hof’s friend, Grace Ligon; Ylonda Fauntleroy’s friends, Alma Hinton and Tanya; Rob Yeager’s friends, Lisa and Kearston; Scott Howe’s friend, Jen Miller; the Gaurins’ friends Nyla and Danielle; Kim Young’s friends, Pat and Joyce; Catherine Chambers’ friend, Seamus; Michelle Schoonmaker’s friend Bri Reed; Craddock family; and Kathy Emmert's friend, Pat.

PRAYERS OF HEALING for those with COVID-19 including: Wendy Wellington’s sister, Bonnie; Christine Connally’s cousin, Karen; Jim and Judy Cooper’s friend, Tim McNutt; Linnie Girdner’s granddaughter, Michelle Hyman and Josephine Girdner; Doug Walcutt’s father, Chuck Walcutt, and stepmother, Linda Walcutt; Diane Johnson’s grandson, Avery Woods; Ed Barrett's friend, Joe Bogner; Julia Kirby’s great niece, nephew, his wife, and friends, the Speer family, the Coffey family, and April and Sam; Amy Hagemann’s friend, Mary Hurt Werner; Rob Yeager’s friends, David Palombo, and Jeff and Ana Siegel; Lisa Marino, Jay Mulholland, and their 4-month-old daughter Lily; Ylonda Fauntleroy's family, Annette and Leah Turner, and friends, Sandra and Elijah Williams; Debbie Saylor’s friend, Frank Williams; Michelle Schoonmaker's friends Kate Kaput and Ajita Robinson; Yeni, her husband and their six children; Jennifer Roman's aunt, Laura Clay, and grandmother, Louise Nothdurft; Kathy Emmert’s friends, Chuck and Cheryl; and Lori Kronser’s friend Debbie and her family.

PRAYERS OF LOVE, SUPPORT AND PROTECTION for all essential workers around the world, including: Mike Stiegler; Bill Gaurin; Tricia Gray’s mother, Sabrina Johnson; Becca Distad; Jack Burnett; Caitlyn Bussey; Emily Sanders; Audrey Miller; Linda Jordan’s nephew, Russell; the Ralston’s family members and friends; Simone Stiegler’s friend, Jean Marie; Amy Grimm’s mother; Jeff Grimm; Amy Goldberg’s brother, Joseph Alexander, and parents, Michael and Maryann Cooper; Judy Cooper’s daughter; John Mikeska’s son, Jonathan; and Hollis Butterworth’s sister-in-law, Cyndie.