March 20, 2022 Season of Lent
“When Jesus again and again says things like the last shall be first, and the first shall be last, and the poor are blessed, and the rich are cursed, and that prostitutes make great dinner guests, it makes me wonder if our need for pure black-and-white categories is not true religion but maybe, actually a sin.” – Nadia Bolz-Weber
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Rev. Kara has announced her resignation.
Our minister, Rev. Kara Courtney, has announced her resignation, effective May 16, 2022. She expressed in her resignation letter to the congregation, “…my last day in the pulpit will be April 17, 2022. Beginning April 18, 2022, I will be on vacation through May 16, 2022. As your minister, I am called to listen and watch for the Spirit for our community and for my own calling. I promised in my interviews that I would stay and serve faithfully as long as I was called here. As I have listened and discerned these last few months, I hear the Spirit and see it moving me, and our community, to a new place in ministry.”
What comes next for our church? We take a deep breath. Change brings all emotions into play, but we are not incapacitated. Our presence and work in the world continues.
Already Mission Council and I are actively working toward moving us together to a new place in ministry. The Kansas Disciples of Christ Regional Office has been contacted and processes are in place that will work us toward calling a minister trained in transitioning congregations through conflict resolution, celebration of strengths, visioning, and restructuring.
Our vibrant Sunday morning worship services will continue. The Worship, Artistry, Music (WAM) Spirit Team is working on securing speakers for pulpit supply which will start Sunday, April 24. Any suggestions you might have for speakers, please tell Connie Dietz or me.
From April 18, through May 16, Rev. Dr. David Hansen will be on-call for emergencies such as deaths and funerals.
Pine Valley paid staff will be supervised by WAM facilitator, Connie Dietz, beginning April 18.
A Pine Valley sending forth for Kara and family will be on Easter Sunday.
You can help by continuing your support. As we progress toward a new relationship in a called ministry, news will be shared here.
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You’re invited to join the 9am Sunday morning adult class.
The adult Sunday morning class had 19 this past Sunday. All are welcome to join us, even if you don’t have the book, “If God Is Love, Don’t Be A Jerk” by John Pavlovitz.
The class was asked, what are the causes of nationalistic religion?
This week note for yourself an example of who is being a jerk. This week provide a random act of kindness. Maybe, even to jerks.
You are welcome to join the class even if you don’t have a copy of the book. David and Sally Hansen are leading the class.
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News from the greater Disciples of Christ, Week of Compassion
Partnering to Respond in Ukraine
3/15/2022
For us, like for many others, every day Ukraine is on our hearts.
So begins a letter from Pieter and Nora Kalkan, missionaries to the Czech Republic, writing to their church family in the (American Baptist) International Ministries. Through IM, and the European Baptist Federation, Week of Compassion is on the ground in Ukraine and surrounding nations, responding to the emergent needs of those fleeing the country, and those who remain internally displaced by the war.
As stories of devastation and terror fill the international news, stories of compassion, generosity, and life-giving help flow in from our ecumenical partners as well.
In the port city of Mariupol, the basements of at least two central churches shelter several hundred Ukrainian people. In Lviv, EBF-connected volunteers have helped establish mobile hospitals, where local pastors provide spiritual and psychological support to patients and staff, and train others to do the same. Churches in every region are serving as centers of refuge, helping those in transit to other locations, as well as any needing overnight care.
Logistics centers in bordering nations receive and distribute aid, and churches have mobilized to take thousands of refugees. Winter weather has stranded many trying to cross borders, including several hundred Indian students. Even hundreds of miles from the Ukrainian border, rides are being organized to pick up refugees at border stops and carry them further into other nations, to relieve the crowding and pressure at the major crossings.
EBF contacts are trying especially to connect with African and Asian refugees from Ukraine who have been refused at some borders, but are finding refuge and access in other places. All refugees are being fed as soon as they arrive and are offered free transport and accommodation.
Even while the needs are dire and seem insurmountable, we remain a people of Gospel hope, a living witness to the goodness of Christ, alive in the world. Alongside you and all our ecumenical partners, Week of Compassion holds fast to the vision of a world where God’s people transform suffering into hope.
We ask that you pray, prepare, and give.
PRAY – Missionaries Pieter and Nora invite others to pray with them: Pray that peace will reign in Ukraine. Pray for those who are stuck, or have to stay in the cities surrounded by the fighting. Pray for those traveling – for safe travels, welcoming arms and hot food.
Pray that Churches will be able to minister to all. Pray that the leaders will know the guidance and wisdom of the Holy Spirit.
PREPARE – In these moments, we are working and responding to appeals from our ecumenical partners for immediate aid. We also know there will be refugee, displacement, and relief needs for a very long time to come. We are in close conversation with our partners, and we know that as the needs arise you will join us in response and welcome.
GIVE – Contributions to Week of Compassion can be made online at weekofcompassion.org or by check made out to Pine Valley Christian Church, with the note designation for Week of Compassion, Ukraine. 100% of your gift will serve those impacted by this crisis.
With gratitude and hope, together we PRAY, PREPARE, and GIVE.
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From the PVCC newsletter archives, this week in 1973: House Churches to Consider the Possibility of Four Fantastic Lifetimes. Youth often image themselves as “getting ready to live” and old people as “having already lived.” Young adults see themselves as “on the verge of arriving” and mature adults as “beginning to lose it.” What would it mean to be fully engaged in every phase of life? “Life Phases” will be the subject for research at our house church meetings…
— Melanie Naden, PVCC Moderator