Mark Your Calendar
January Events
January 14- 21 Back Bay Mission
Trip
A group of 12 youth and adults of South Church will will participate
in the housing recovery program to those struggling on the Gulf
Coast, a mission of our United Church of Christ located in Biloxi,
MS.
Sunday, January 15
An Informational Session on the Community House renovations and
change in the alcohol policy will be held by the Trustees at 11:40
in the Community House.
Sunday, January 29 - Annual
Meeting
The Annual Meeting of South Congregational Church will be held
in the Community House following the worship service and lunch.
(snowdate February 5)
Business will include the reports of the Minister, Officers, Boards
and Committees of the Church, presentation and action on the proposed
budget, and to elect officers and board and committee members.
This year's meeting will also include taking action on recommendations
presented by the Leadership Task Force, the Communication Task Force
and the renovations to the Community House and revision of the Alcohol
Policy as presented by the Trustees.
Words from the Minister
These words of Howard Thurman are most fitting as
the new year arrives and Epiphany – January 6- is celebrated,
sometimes called Twelfth Night. It marks the traditional arrival
of the magi at Bethlehem. Thurman was a faculty member at Boston
University, prolific writer, civil rights leader, ordained Baptist
minister who attended Colgate Rochester Seminary and earned his
doctorate at Haverford University. Ebony Magazine named Thurman
as one of the 50 most important figures in Afro-American history.
Here he links our faith foundation with a call to service, resting
upon the prophet Isaiah along side the birth and teachings of Jesus
Christ.
"When the song of the angel is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost - To heal the broken -
To feed the hungry - To release the prisoner -
To rebuild the nations - To bring peace among brothers and sisters
-
To make music in the heart."
As we prepare for our Annual Meeting, the star may
fade for some yet as people of faith it still shines brightly. There
are committees for which we can offer faithful leadership, programs
within the church for which we can volunteer, outreach opportunities
which await our hands and heart in action. We take stock of where
we have been as a church and where it is to which God calls us.
Let us join together to accomplish that which God has placed before
us.
Charle
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Greetings from Biloxi
  
Friday, January
20 - Our last day of work, hoping
perhaps all our painting of the interior would allow us to start
of sub-floor (maybe even laying some tile) in the kitchen and bathrooms.
At both sites, however; it was clear that a second coat of paint
on the walls throughout was necessary. We wouldn't have been satisfied
if it were our homes with many areas where the paint was thin….
It should be no different for these folks. Thus it was back to rollers,
trays and brushes. Initial disappointment but no question of what
was called for - sometimes life is like that. We did make sure the
crews could see each other's work site by end of the day, along
with picking up those who worked the morning at the Micah Center
(a program coordinating for services to the homeless) who joined
us for the afternoon. Both homes now look more and more like homes,
clean/crisp white ceilings and a light coffee color for the walls.
Folks often have a choice of interior/exterior colors from a list
however the design of the house is fairly standard.
We were back to the mission building by 4pm for a 'wrap up / reflection
session with Craig who oversees the entire program before tacos
for supper and closing gathering. Folks volunteered to speak in
church on Sunday to begin bringing home the message and the story
of how Back Bay Mission has become a part of our daily vocabulary
and our faith walk. It is likely too early to process all that took
place, images of people and homes, stories still resonating in our
minds, places where God is still appearing. It isn't always pretty
living in community yet Jesus calls us to find the richness before
our eyes and the peace in our souls which await re-birth. For our
group of 21, this new birth is now taking place.
On building a house, Craig's guiding phrase is; "One nail
driven this week is one less to be done next week." The same
could be said for each stroke of the paint brush.
Saturday was 'clean up morning' to leave the facilities set for
the next group. Rev. Charles got up at 4am for a 6am flight to retrieve
his car in Newark, then driving to Maine. We finished up clean-up,
three folks did a quick trip to the Jefferson Davis Home just up
the road and another group did brunch at "The Waffle House."
Flights had some delays (a couple hours across the board with storms
up/down the Atlantic seaboard) and Miriah is still awaiting her
suitcase, but all returned safe and sound to Maine. And Rev. Charles
drove up to the Portland Jetport to see the rest of us off the plane
at 11:45pm !
Thursday, January 19 - A
full day of work. Both houses now have all ceilings done, all walls
primed and now all interior walls done in a soft beige color. Exterior
green is being applied at Hoxie Street residence. Amazing how much
has been accomplished !
Dinner was done by
our youth group, fine potato salad and grilled hot dogs and hamburgers.
Dessert was a King Cake from a local bakery and a chocolate cake
unexpectedly given to Dayton who was working in the Micah Center
(a program geared to coordinate services for the homeless, now open
for two years) from a local citizen. Word is that we are in for
a large card game of 'Apples to Apples' tonight.
Wednesday, January 18 -
Hump day.... traditionally Wednesday is a 1/2 day of work. Keller
Street began interior painting of walls with primer as did the Hoxie
Street site. It is a bit unusual that both current projects are
at similar stages. And speaking of staging, the underside of the
eaves are now done on the north side at Hoxie Street.... and ALL
the staging (three levels) had to be dismantled and moved to the
south side. A job not for the faint-hearted and not exclusively
male or female. All hands on deck for this one.
After lunch at the Mission building, most
folks took off to New Orleans for the rest of the afternoon while
another group took a back water river eco- cruise. The guide said
towards the end, 'You know if you had asked if people really care
about each other either here or in this country, I'd say probably
not. But since Katrina, I'd have to say that is no longer the case.
We / they do care.'
For the New Orleans bound group, the time
was primarily spent around Jackson Square which included a visit
to Cafe DuMonde and later dinner at Acme Oyster House before a trolley
back to the cars.
Tuesday, January 17 - Today
was a full work day. One half the crew at Keller Street, the other
at Hoxie Steet. Both homes are at similar stages, both are up high
on stilts and ready for some paint under the eaves (done on 2 and
3 levels of staging and/or ladders), final coats of paint on the
underside with some foam spray via Olivia to fill cavities and today
making final preps for interior painting. Most likely Keller Street
will begin interior painting tomorrow and Hoxie did two (three?)
rooms all primed today. The hope is in those rooms to complete first
in order to begin laying tile in the next 24 hours.
Our people have been tremendous. Living in community is a challenge
and while we feel the strain, the learnings and gains far exceed.
Shari P., the Mission's Executive Director spent some time with
us at day's end. A German 19 year old, long term volunteer here
just two weeks, we have befriended (with our youth, it is no surprise)
and joined us as we all went out as planned for bbq at a rather
funky place - "The Shed". Also joining us this week are
Penny and Dean from the national UCC office and David- a pastor
as well from eastern PA for a portion of his sabbatical; and former
classmate of Rev. Charles.
This is a working group, a laughing group, a serious and faith-seeking...
God seeking group; one that rises quickly to the occasion to bring
in 28 bags of groceries from the car and realizes they / we are
participating in something far greater than ourselves. It is humbling,
it is exhausting, it is exhilerating..... and it is time for bed!
Monday, January 16 - Today
began early with meet our site leaders, safety orientation then
to the worksite. However, with Martin Luther King, Jr holiday, we
took a couple hours off to join the wider community to attend a
parade of honor and celebration of this great leader. With 110 units
participating (schools, bands, civic organizations, churches and
more) we were touched and awed by being a witness - to say nothing
of the festive spirit including beads and candies tossed from the
parade participants.
We watched and wondered and later reflected how novel this experience
was for nearly all of us, given either our age or early years of
youth or place of our schooling.
It was then to Keller Street work site for our bag lunches and
rolling up our sleeves. Half our crew worked indoors, scraping plaster
and mud off the plywood floors in prepartion for laying flooring
in a couple days. On the exterior, four folks worked off scaffolding
25 feet up finishing some painting and the remainder underneath
caulking, filling holes and later starting to paint. Sound like
backbreaking work down there? Not. For this rebuild is raised up
eight to ten feet on elevated stilts, to comply with new codes of
highwater flood levels of FEMA and local ordinances.
We befriended four young children of next door, and later an ice
cream truck rolled down Keller. (A first for some of our youth!)
Dinner was home-made chili with corn bread (Maine Diner mix!) Evening
reflections and down time. God is in our being connected upstairs/downstairs
in a common work site, humbling realizing we are working on someone's
home (not simply a house), reminding us of the call to service on
this Martin Luther King, Jr. day of recognition.
Sunday, Jan. 15 - We attended
First Missionary Baptist Church of Gulfport this morning….
And did we ever go to church !! We still have goosebumps of love
and the Spirit. An hour and 45 minute service with singing and prayer
and preaching and welcoming spirit , the Afro-American church as
rich as anything we have ever experienced!! We couldn't stop talking
when evening came. A celebration of our Bible story of heroes on
this Martin Luther King weekend, reminding us we are to be the 'next
heroes' that God is calling.
We had called the church two weeks ago saying we'd like to attend
services, and upon arriving we were welcomed in to three pews marked
'reserved' and settled in for ride of the Spirit. Rev. Charles had
a heads up during announcements that a spokesperson for the group
might bring greetings. When Pastor Sonny Adolf said, 'you're a preacher,
right?', up to the pulpit went Rev. Charles simply saying who we
were as an extension of Back Bay Mission for the week. We were touched
and proud.
The service then found is rhythm and energy as organ and percussion
and the stories of Abramham and Sarah, Isaac, Jacob and Moses all
came alive in the charismatic message of Pastor Sonny. As we move
toward closing, we were reminded of Martin King's service and history
of our brothers and sisters, a call to accountability for one and
all, and as he spoke of life of Jesus who was struck down himself,
Pastor Sonny said, "Help me, here...help me now... how do I
knnnnoooowwwww he got up again? - because he walks with me.... and
he talks to me.... and I know I am his own." But we weren't
done.
With the closing music of a choir of 40-50 of all ages, Pastor
came down as if to greet the folks at the back of the church....
he came by our pews, slowed his step and motioned to Rev. Charles
(actually twice, as the preacher from Maine was a bit hesitant it
seemed) and asked, "Will you give the closing prayer, my friend;
come right up front to the pulpit, offering the closing word?"
With a continuing chorus of 'Amen' and 'Tell us more' and 'We're
listening', Rev. Charles reminded one and all that it is a long
ways between Maine and Mississippi, a long ways between our homes
but- not so far anymore. We were reminded that we are the paint
but God is the artist, revealing yet a picture of what is to come.
And might there be peace
amongst us, within us, surround us, beneath us. "Amen"
was all we could say, as we were greeted once again in the aisles
as we exited and heard more from Pastor Sonny outside the front
doors, thanking us again and again for coming to help, of how Katrina
becomes a blessing for it is bringing us friends, saying to Rev.
Charles to friend him on Facebook ('You are on Facebook, Charles
yes?'.......'Actually no,' he said) and then to our youth said 'You
are...you must be... then hit me up, kids!'
We were still talking as we made up sandwiches back at the mission
building, together headed down the road a couple miles to the Katrina
Memorial where we met a woman who rode out the storm in her home
five miles inland, how she couldn't tell her elderly mother she
had survived for another three days because even the police and
rescue personel had no cell phone connections to anywhere.
We went different directions for the rest of the afternoon before
having dinner of mighty fine chicken, mashed potatoes, and salad
done up by Jane, Joe, Hannah, Sue, Dayton, Nancy, and Caroline.
Warm brownies (another food group) led us into a leisurely and spirited
time of reflecting upon the day and final words of prepping for
our first day of work tomorrow.
As Pastor Sonny reminded us, 'You got a story to tell.' And so
we shall.
Preamble - Twenty one of the
South Church community head out January 14 for a week of service
to Back Bay Mission in Biloxi MS. We are a diverse group ranging
in age from 14 to nearly 80 and includes nine high school students.
While we have ventured to the Gulf Coast for five years now, all
those trips have been based in New Orleans. As funding in that program
is now depleted, we join the well established effort of Back Bay
Mission (www.thebackbaymission.org)
a United Church of Christ specialized ministry which was founded
over eighty years ago to serve the poor and marginalized of that
area. Since the 1970's, they have included work camps at the core
of their housing recovery effort and have a well organized program.
We encourage you to take a look at their website to learn more of
where we will be, carrying your support in our hearts and living
it out with our labor.
We will strive to send updates during the week to be posted here
on our South Church website. For your support in fund-raising these
recent months and that of our Outreach Board, we are grateful.
Rev. Charles
Dayton, Susan, Joe, Jane, Hannah, Jeanne, Chris, Caroline, Nancy,
Grace, Teddy, Kristen, Cam, Heather, Will, Don, Denise, Olivia,
Linda and Miriah.
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