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New Items
- Free webinar: Social Media-Plan, Prepare, Protect. Social
media is "child's
play" for children, but not for churches. A review of the
many considerations around church use of social media, including
management controls and oversight, copyright, libel, privacy and
security. November 30 at 11AM and again at 3PM. Register for the
webinar at https://insuranceboard.ilinc.com/perl/ilinc/lms/event.pl.
- The Support Center is looking for people interested
in writing articles for Synergy,
the monthly newsletter for the Eastern Ohio
and Western Reserve Associations. The articles will be about
association churches, people and events. If you're interested, know a budding
journalist who might be or have questions, contact Cheryl McGraw at cherylm@eoaucc.org or
330-453-8178 x100.
- Area E Clergy Gatherings:
- Dec. 2, 2011, 7:30PM, at the home of Welton and
Cathleen Stein, 1018
McDonald Drive NE, Sugarcreek
- Jan. 6, 2012, 7:30PM, at the home of Arnie and
Anna Belle Klaiber, 630
Hickory Drive SW, Sugarcreek
o
Jan. 17, 2012, 10:30AM, at St. John UCC, 516 Wooster Ave.,
Strasburg
- Got Resources????? Gerry's
House has nearly completed the online listing of all the resources
in the center! Please visit our growing list by
typing in the link http://www.librarything.com/profile/gerryshouse. You
will be connected to a page that allows you to look at many
collections of resource materials. Books can be reserved by
emailing us at jgrigg@wraucc.org or by calling 216-749-3116
ext 100. The resources can be picked up at Gerry's House 1375 West Clifton
Blvd, Lakewood, Ohio 44109 (we are located on
the 2nd floor at Lakewood Congregational UCC). Resources can be
shipped to you at your expense or resources can also
be dropped off (and picked up) for you at the EOA/WRA Canton
Support Center by request.
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Around EOA
- Starting October 7, and
continuing each Friday through November 18, Reiki will be offered
at the EOA/WRA support center in Canton between 1 and 4PM.
Rich Plant, our Associate Association Minister, is a Reiki
practitioner, and has recently been attuned in a Celtic form of
Reiki. Call or email Rich if you have questions at
330-453-8178 x 103 or richp@eoaucc.org.
- Conversation on Church
and the Justice System. A member of your congregation serves as a
police officer. Last year your brother's
co-worker was the victim of a crime. Your daughter's best friend at school lives with her
grandmother because her mother is incarcerated. At some point, in
some way, we all encounter the U.S. criminal justice
system. Churches, in small towns and big cities alike, are sensing
the nudging of the Spirit and discovering the need to share
ministry with those whose lives are most affected by our troubled
system of criminal justice. In response, the Department of Church
and the World will hold an open conversation on the Church and the
Justice System to bring together our experiences, questions,
creativity, and sense of the Spirit's
call. Please join us in this conversation on Tuesday November 29th
at 7PM at the EOA offices at 2560 Clearview Ave. NW in Canton.
Questions? Contact Mariah Marlin-Warfield at youthpastor@uccmedina.org or (330) 725-4559
ex.33. If this is of interest to you, but you cannot be present on
the 29th, please let Mariah know
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Youth & Education
- The Fall Youth Event is scheduled for November 18-21 at
Pilgrim Hills Camp in Brinkhaven,
OH. The theme is Let
Justice Roll based on Amos 5:24 But let justice roll down
like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. For
more information or questions regarding the event please feel free
to email Bree at blee001@defiance.edu or Margaret at
mmills@wraucc.org.
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Local Church
- The
Suffield United Church of Christ (1115 State Route 43, Suffield,
OH) annual Country Christmas Bazaar will be held on Saturday,
November 19th from 10AM -3PM. We have crafters, luncheon of
homemade soups and sandwiches and homemade apple dumplings
and a book sale. There is no cost. Any questions contact
330-628-4038.
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In This Issue
New Items
- Free Webinar
- Journalists Wanted
- Area E Clergy
- Gerry's House
Around EOA
- Reiki
- Church and the Justice System
Youth & Education
Local Church
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Food for Thought
Applause in Church
"Praise
God in God's sanctuary!
Praise God with the blast of a ram's
horn! Praise God with drum and dance! Let everything that breathes
praise the Lord!"
Excerpt
from Psalm 150
Reflection by Anthony B.
Robinson
(Stillspeaking Devotional)
I was recently in a congregation where everything was greeted with
applause. Well, okay, not quite everything. People applauded the choir's anthem, the children's song, all the announcements and even the
prayers of a lay leader. But no one, as I recalled, applauded the
offering.
Is applause in church okay or not? Is it okay sometimes but not other
times? I've been in some
churches where thunderous applause seemed like another form of praise
of God and just right. And I've
been in churches where applause made it seem that worship was a
performance and the congregation an audience and just wrong.
What I mostly noticed in the church where everything but the offering
was responded to with applause is that the open and empty spaces in
which God might move and get to us were all filled up. They were filled
in and filled up with applause. No silence was allowed.
That church seemed long on friendly, but short on mystery.
While I have experienced times when applause in worship was
spontaneous, joyful and somehow right, when applause becomes a norm or
expectation it does turn worship into something it isn't, namely a performance. Worse, it fills up
the spaces, the silent spaces following a powerful solo or anthem or
sharing or testimony where God's
presence is palpable, or might be.
Another way to put this reservation about applause is to say that
applause tends to move us out of our hearts and into our heads. We ask,
":Did I like that?" "Should I applaud?" "Will
it make him/ her/ them feel good and appreciated?"
One thing that gifted worship leaders do, in my observation, is they
don't do too much. They lead
with a light touch. They leave room for God. They hold the space. And
only very rarely do they invite applause.
Prayer
Thank you Lord, for worship. It's
a different and special time. Thank you for worship leaders who lead
lightly and don't need
applause because they know it's
not about them. Amen.
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