Spotlight on Church World Service, an Alternative Christmas Fair Charity

Learn more about one of Alternative Christmas Fair organizations, Church World Service!

Church World Service works with partners to eradicate hunger and poverty and to promote peace and justice around the world. Together they reach out to neighbors in need near and far--not with a hand out, but a hand up. So, if you’re looking to help build a better world – a world where there’s enough for all – you’ve come to the right place!

Around the world, Church World Service supports sustainable grassroots development, disaster relief, and refugee assistance, and they educate and advocate on hunger-related issues. In the U.S., they help communities respond to disasters, resettle refugees, promote fair national and international policies, and provide educational resources. They’re also working with partners in the U.S. and around the world to build interfaith and intercultural coalitions to eradicate hunger and poverty and promote peace and justice.

They:
• Respond to emergencies in the U.S. and around the world.
• Nurture development at the grassroots with seeds, tools and homegrown strategies.
• Assist refugees to return home when possible, and to find other viable options when it’s not.
• Speak out in partnership on issues that make a difference in the lives of hungry people.
• Offer food security so parents can reliably feed their families.
• Offer water for all so that families have water for drinking, household needs and farming.

Founded in 1946, Church World Service is a cooperative ministry of 37 Christian communions.

Mission Statement
...working together with partners to eradicate hunger and poverty and to promote peace and justice around the world.

Core Values
Church World Service seeks to express all of these values locally and globally throughout its life and work:
• Embodying the love of Jesus Christ
• Respecting all faiths and traditions
• Working with the most vulnerable
• Promoting the dignity and rights of all people
• Advocating a social, political and economic order based on peace and justice
• Working ecumenically
• Working in partnership
• Supporting the integrity of creation
• Being responsible stewards of resources

CWS - 60 Years of Help and Hope – video link

How you can give:
Food: Feed Families
• Micronutrients for children $12
• Wheelbarrow $35
• Seeds and tools $50
• Seed bank silo $110
• Household biogas system $150
Children: Protect & Nurture
• Educational toys $25
• Mosquito nets $50-$200
• CWS school kits $75-$150
• Improve a school $125-$4100
Women: Empower Women
• Birthing kit $35-$125
• Literacy classes and small business grants $50 - $100
• Sewing machine and supplies $50 - $250
Emergencies: Offer Relief & Recovery
• Blankets $5-$50
• CWS hygiene kit $10-$50
• CWS emergency cleanup buckets $56
• Emergency food package $110
• Emergency shelter $175-$3500
Ensure Water For All
• Jerry cans $15-$30
• Wells $30
• Trees $35
• Bio-sand filter $100
• Pump & maintenance training $1000-$10000
• Sand dam $1250-$6250

Please see link for further information about Church World Service!
http://www.churchworldservice.org/

Prepare to See the Mystery

As we enter Advent, and I prepare for Christmas, I am struck this year by how Christmas is about mystery. The mystery at the heart of the cosmos. The mystery at the heart of the everyday and the ordinary.
One of the lessons of Advent is that we must prepare ourselves to experience that mystery. It doesn’t come easily. We need to train ourselves to look for the mystery and moments of grace in our lives – or we may pass by the stable door and never see the miracle happening inside.
We’ve lost some of that – I think. It seems as though Christmas in our world begins at Halloween – I heard carols played as background music in stores on November 1st.  And in the media it seems as if Black Friday and Cyber Monday are bigger holidays. Not only does this dilute the power of Christmas, but it moves our focus away from the miracle and mystery of Christmas. Sure we need to prepare – prepare by rushing out and buying, or – as in one current commercial – getting hand cramps from ordering so much online. Where’s the mystery in that? Where is the hope? Where is the wonder?
As we wrap up our presents, trying to make ordinary things look special and mysterious – the wonder of Christmas is that something special and mysterious is given to us in the ordinary wrapping of a human baby in a manger. If holy mystery can come to us in such a form – where else might we find it if we are prepared to look?

Alternative Christmas

Alternative Christmas Fair 2011 is here!

This year we're supporting Church World Service, Heifer International, Global Ministries and Family Gateway.

Come see us at our informational table during Fellowship Hour directly after worship service. We'll be in the Fellowship Hall on November 27th and December 4th, 11th and 18th.
We can answer any questions you may have about the charities we're supporting this year.
We will help you with making your donations.
We can provide tribute cards that you can send to your family and friends to tell them about the wonderful donation you've made in their name.
Check out our church website!
CCC Outreach will be sponsoring the blog to do featurettes about our chosen charities.
We'll also have links direct to each charity's donation page if you prefer to donate online.
And don't miss our church quarterly meeting on December 11th! I've heard from up North that a special guest might drop by during lunch. I don't have all the details but I hear his dimples are merry, his cheek are like roses and his nose is like a cherry! Don't miss this amazing photo opportunity, for the young and the young-at-heart!

Kristi Willis, CCC Outreach Coordinator

Thanksgiving has been Robbed and Christmas is all Messed Up!

My husband is a Black Friday junkie. He's a Black Friday junkie primarily because he's an electronics addict, and the deals on electronics on Black Friday (so he assures me) can't be beat. The secondary reason my husband is a black friday addict is because he is an extrovert, so he gets a strange high off of waiting in lines for hours and making new friends. Every time a new iPhone comes out, Rob gets in line at about 2am and meets a new friend.

For me, however, Black Friday is just like it sounds -- black. Let me give you some background as to why: thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. First of all, I'm a foodie. I love food. I love cooking food, eating food, trying new types of food, reading about food, shopping for food -- I LOVE FOOD! So you can see why I would love a holiday that focuses on food.

I also just love that for Thanksgiving, there are no obligations but to sit around a table with the ones you love, spend some quality time, and just break bread together. There are no cards to send, presents to buy, yards to decorate, parties to attend, or things to wrap. Just eat.

Lastly, although it's not technically a religious holiday, as you know, I find the practice of giving thanks very meaningful. Between the breaking bread with those you love, the feasting, and the giving of thanks, Thanksgiving often feels more spiritual to me than Christmas.

Then the morning after this idyllic family love feast of delicious food and gratitude..... BAM! PEOPLE ARE LITERALLY TRAMPLING EACH OTHER AT 4AM IN THE COLD FOR NINTENDO WIIS!!!!! It's like going to get a relaxing massage, and at the end, the masseuse pulls out a jackhammer and starts ripping out the floor beneath you!

People won't even let my dear Thanksgiving have its one glorious, relaxing day! For years we have been putting out Christmas decorations and playing Christmas songs before we've even given Thanksgiving a chance to breathe! But now, we've really gone and done it: when I saw the latest Target commercial the other day, I almost had a conniption fit. This year, Target is now opening for Black Friday not at 6am, but at midnight on Thanksgiving Day! This means husbands like mine are tempted to leave the Thanksgiving table early and go stand in line. They've robbed Thanksgiving of its 24 hours, and friends, I'm taking it personally.

Thanksgiving is not the opening day of Christmas, whatever Macy's might suggest. It's a beautiful holiday of its own right about breaking bread with family and friends, feeding the hungry, and giving thanks for all that we have.

And Christmas -- I'm sorry people -- is not about presents, or holiday cheer, or family, or Santa, or parties, or beautiful decorations, or even giving for that matter (which holiday has the word "giving" in it? Remember, twelve days after Christmas, when the Magi arrived on the holiday we call Epiphany, gifts were given... to the Christ child, not to teach everyone to give gifts to everyone, but show that honor should be given to the Christ child, where honor is due.) Every Christmas movie I've seen has a moral at the end where they reveal the "true" meaning of Christmas, and although they might be warm and fuzzy meanings (like family or giving) they always miss the mark. Those meanings for Christmas might even be better suited for my dear old Thanksgiving!

Let's be clear: Advent is about waiting for Messiah, and Christmas is about the birth and arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ into this world. Thanksgiving is about gratitude, family, and giving; Christmas is about the birth of Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of the messianic promise. Both holidays carry very worthy messages that deserve their own air time, but I'm afraid neither message is getting through. Thanksgiving has been robbed and Christmas is all messed up!

Reign of Christ Sunday

This Sunday is Reign of Christ Sunday on the liturgical calendar. Never been one of my favorites -- since it seems to me Jesus didn't claim that title himself.

But in researching my sermon for this week, I came across this image. It is a stunning icon from Br. Robert Lentz, OFM. He has some other wonderful images of Jesus Christ, the Madonna, and others as well (you can see and purchase them at Trinity Stores). Also thanks to Carl Gregg's for leading me to this on his very good blog).

I love what Br. Robert says about this image:

"The icon does not make clear which side of the fence Christ is on. Is he imprisoned or are we? Through our cultural institutions and personal lives we all place barriers between ourselves and true happiness. We and our institutions also try to imprison Christ in various ways, to tame him and the dangerous memories he would bring us of our goals and ideals." —Br. Robert Lentz, OFM, September 11, 2002

I invite you to meditate on this image, and as we explore who Jesus Chris was, and is, and calls us to be as those who follow him. After all, the scripture for this Sunday is Matthew 25:31-46, which includes:

"Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’" (NRSV)

Many people like to focus on the first part -- and the words "who are members of my family" and use that to limit this to a particular group -- the "family" of Christ -- or Christians. But I'm seeing more the second part, where those who did not give food, or drink, or welcome, or clothing. And Jesus says: "Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me." No qualifier there -- no limits as to who is or is not "family." I've got to wonder if someone added in that qualifier in the early part -- to make this a little less threatening -- to limit and tame Jesus Christ's message.

So when I look at this image -- and I wonder which side of the barbed wire fence he is on -- I think -- both.

Hard Work or Heart Work?

At church, some of the normal rules of conversation are suspended. My mom always taught me to never talk about religion, politics, or money. But at church, it's pretty impossible not to talk about religion. And politics that have to do with respecting all people (Gen 1:27, Gal 3:28) or serving the oppressed or poor (insert 1,000,000 scripture references of support here), are also always up for discussion. But even if religion and politics are up for grabs at church, the last topic -- money -- seems to be even more taboo in the church than the outside world. But ironically, Jesus talked about money more than anything else, but he was quite an edgy guy! As we learned in church the other week, when people see a dollar bill, they often think of words like "dirty," "greed," and "materialism." There are many churches in this country that pastors aren't even allowed to hold the offering plate, because the image of a pastor touching money seems to sully their moral presence!

Personally, money makes me highly anxious. I get this from my mother, who got it from her father, who lived through the depression. I'm a saver, because I worry too much about tomorrow. I deny myself new clothes, haircuts, and other luxuries most women indulge in because I feel guilt that I don't contribute enough financially to our family to deserve it. In times of high stress, I channel all my anxiety towards our finances, obsessing over our budgets and fretting over pennies. I'm a notorious deal-hunter, and for a while I even got into coupons. And then there's the whole big issue of debt in our household; while I'm so money conscious that I've only let us carry a balance on our credit card a couple of times, our student loan debt payments are significantly larger than our mortgage! (Thanks Wash U and Harvard!) I so despise this burdensome yoke of student debt that I've become militant about quoting scripture to myself that warns against taking loans or taking on debt, and touting to Robby the wisdom of the Amish and the Duggars on TLC who live debt free! (Check out, for example, Deuteronomy 15:6, 28:12, Proverbs 22:7, 22:26-27, and Romans 13:18.)

All these factors coupled with my innate anxiousness can make me pretty a frantic lady, anxiously clinging onto every penny and hoarding all my worldly goods up into barns, as the Bible says (Matthew 6:19). But you know what my cure is -- what the only cure is? Giving. Every week, when the offering plate comes around, we all have to literally pry the money off of ourselves because our we've grown so attached to it. It's hard work, but it is also heart work. A buddhist monk once told me that each dollar or possession that belongs to us has an invisible string -- like fishing line -- that fetters our hearts down to the ground and prevents our spirits from soaring free. By giving, we snap those fetters. So the offering in church is a spiritual discipline we must do together before God and others every single week, not just during stewardship season, to break these bonds as a people. And for it to be a true spiritual discipline, something that literally builds us up in Spirit, we can't just, as Paul Nickerson says, tip the church. We must practice planned and proportional giving. We must give until the number we decide upon makes us uncomfortable; we must, as the prophet Mother Teresa commanded us, give until it hurts! That's how we know that we're growing in our discipleship and our walk with Christ.

But how can you be absolutely sure that you're growing, that you're not just a spiritual tipper -- someone who saves her first fruits for herself and throws the scraps and leftovers to God's Church and people? Let's throw away the 10% test and ask a few more spiritual questions:
1) Do I spend more on brunch after church on Sundays than I put in the offering plate?
2) Do I budget for clothes but not for Christ's Church?
3) Do I feel just fine and cozy about the amount I'm giving, but wouldn't feel fine and cozy if that same amount were made public?
4) Do I feel like God or my church "owes me" for something?
5) Does a voice in my head encourage me to not give or give less than I could, saying things like, "I'll give once I'm out of debt," or "I give my time instead of my money," or "I'll donate my old (insert item here) as my offering," or "I'm just starting out; I'm too young to give," or "I'm retired; I paid my dues," or "I've got kids to take care of," or "I only give 1% of my income because I make 400,000 a year, and that's a whopping $4,000 -- more than my share!" etc. etc. etc.

Well let me tell you something my brothers and sisters: everyone has a reason not to give, or to give less than they can or should. Now y'all know that I don't believe in a literal devil with a forked tail or anything like that, but I do believe that there's a seed of sin and evil inside each of us, whispering to us to not trust God to provide for us, calling to our hearts through a never ending wish list rather than through the faces of those in need, encouraging us to turn inwards on ourselves rather than to open our hands up and give.

But when I give, I forcefully break the bonds -- those tiny tethers of fishing line -- that money, debt, and possessions hold down on my heart. I banish anxiety and practice trust in God by affirming that God will provide for my needs. My heart grows glad through generosity. I experience good feelings about my money, instead of my habitual anxiety. I feel connected to God's Church and invested in its future. Unlike most places my money goes, I feel assured that when my money goes to God's Church, I know it's going to a good place, a place that blesses me and my community and equips the saints to go out into the world and do good. I feel like my little life has more meaning because I give back. And that little voice that was whispering to me that I neeeeeeeeeeed this or that, has been hushed for the moment. It's hard work to give, I admit, but it's heart work; it changes my heart for the better.

Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, you're heart will be also." So I ask you now, what does your budget, credit card statement, and bank accounts say about where your heart is?

Think about it. Pray about it. And check out this website for scripture quotes about money to start discerning how much God is calling you to pledge to Christ's Church this year. And check out some of the UCC's resources on stewardship. Last but not least, don't forget to make your pledge next Sunday!