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Pastor Amy's Thoughts...

10/31/2016

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Greetings –
During this election season I’ve been thinking a lot about respect. What is respect? How do we give it? How do we earn it?
The Apostle Paul talks about respect in his letter to the Romans, where Jesus says, (Romans 13:7-8)
“Pay to all what is due them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” 
Although Miriam-Webster lists “admiration” as a synonym and the first definition of the word “respect,” their second definition is what I am thinking of today: “a feeling or understanding that someone or something is important, serious, etc., and should be treated in an appropriate way.” As followers of Jesus, we are called to treat all people with respect because every person is important to God. Parents teach their sons and daughters to respect their elders, to respect their teachers, and to respect their boyfriend or girlfriend. Respect has always seemed to me to be a foundational truth of what it means to be Christian in our society. To respect one another is akin to Jesus words to ‘love one another” (John 13:34).
So it was with particular surprise ten years ago when I experienced disrespect directed personally at me, not for any qualities present in my life, but because I was initiating a discussion on a difficult issue. The setting was this: I was asked by my committee chair to present an issue for a vote. A colleague stood and spoke opposing our motion. Instead of attacking the committee or its work, his attack turned personal. He attacked me and my integrity, though he did not know me or the circumstances that had led to my presenting the motion. A mutual friend and colleague later called him on his behavior. And in my email the next day I received a short note, saying “I understand that what I said at the meeting may have upset you. My bad.”
 When I watch the presidential election coverage, I am reminded of my colleague’s “my bad” apology. It was not really an apology. As we teach our children, an apology has these distinct steps.
  1. You acknowledge your behavior, saying “I am sorry for …” “Upsetting you” does not describe behavior. “Making assumptions about your character and sharing those false assumptions with others” describes the behavior.
  2. You apologize for the effect your behavior had on the other person, saying “It was wrong because…” “It was wrong because my words were a lie, and that lie caused you harm.”
  3. You say what you will do differently in the future. “In the future I will not speak about a person’s character unless I know that person.”
  4. Finally, you ask for forgiveness “Will you forgive me?”
As we approach the presidential election, we will most likely need to apologize at least once for our words to one another. As we do, let’s attempt to keep our feelings about the issues and our feelings about persons who hold those issues separate. Let’s treat one another with the respect we each deserve as children of God. And let’s endeavor to live up to the words of Jesus and “love one another.”
With prayers for this election season,
Pastor Amy
 

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Women’s Association Speakers

10/31/2016

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Northwest Coast Presbytery recently sponsored a ministry trip to Korea with over 20 participants. Minna and Ross D. were among them, and they have agreed to come and present an overview of their trip to the Women’s Association at the November meeting. Come and join the women to learn more about their trip. All are welcome for the presentation, and all women are welcome for the lunch. Wednesday November 9th at 11:30AM for the meeting, noon for the luncheon, and 12:30PM for the presentation.

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VERGE 2.0: Multicultural & Multigenerational Ministry

10/31/2016

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Register now online at http://www.northwestcoast.org/ for VERGE 2.0 and see you November 5 at Community Church of Seattle in Bothell  3727 240th St. SE, Bothell, WA 98021-8975 .
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And Some Words About Finances

10/31/2016

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Thank-you for paying your portion of our per-capita payments that support the work of the presbytery, synod and General Assembly. This year 57% of the total fee came from contributions for that purpose! Usually we receive less than 50%, so 57% is a great number! Thanks for your support. It’s not too early to pay your per capita for next year. The amount will be $47.82 per member and will be due by September 2017. You have asked about our financial situation. We are on track for a year much like last year. Right now we are behind – income is not sufficient by itself to pay for all the expenses. For that reason we have reserves.
 
But if this is like most years, our income increases in the latter months of the year and we may well end the year in the black. So, if you are behind in your pledge, now is the time to catch up. If you have been thinking about a year-end gift, we’d appreciate your consideration of the church as a recipient for that giving.  During November you will have an opportunity to indicate your planned giving for 2017 in the form of a pledge. These pledges will help the session determine the appropriate budget for 2017. If you anticipate NOT being able to give at the same level as in the past, please submit a card so that we know that and take that into consideration for our budget. If your financial situation has changed and you will be giving more next year, we’d love to know that as well. There are many ways that we give to support the church – and only one of those is financial.
 
I’d like give thanks for all the gifts the church receives during the year. Gifts of gardening, lawn mowing and weed-whacking. Gifts of building repair and upkeep. Gifts of musical talent, choral singing, instrumentalists and solos. Gifts of leadership on the session or deacons. Gifts of time with the children in the nursery or Sunday school. Gifts of money counting and purchasing of supplies. Gifts of leading worship and praying for the congregation. We are truly blessed by the many ways you give to the church. The theme for our stewardship campaign is the hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness. There’s a line in the hymn that is worth remembering in this context: we give thanks to God for “strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow”. Great is God’s Faithfulness. Thank-you for your gifts.

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Color With Us!

10/31/2016

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De-Stress before the holidays with an evening of coloring! Bring your pencils, crayons or markers and join us for 90 minutes of fun and fellowship. 7PM Friday November 18th.

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A Day of Renewal in the Lord’sPrayer

10/31/2016

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SATURDAY NOVEMBER 12, 2016 9:00AM - 3:30PM A Day of Renewal in the Lord’s Prayer Speaker: Rev. Darrell Johnson “57 Words that Change the World” (includes Sunday  November 13 – Preaching at North Creek Presbyterian 9:00 and 11:00) Cost: $25 (lunch provided)
Co-sponsored with and located at North Creek Presbyterian Church in Mill Creek. To register see www.renewalminnw.org or call 425-361-7953.
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Congregational Life

10/31/2016

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Thanks to all of you that brought treats for our Fall desert social.  Thanks to all the many hands that helped clean up.
 
Thanksgiving Eve service - 7PM Wednesday November 23rd. This is a short thankful service to set the tone for our Thanksgiving celebrations. Come at 7 and we’ll finish by 7:30.
 
Hanging of the Greens/Deck the Halls- Join us for fellowship as we decorate the church for the Advent/Christmas season, followed by a soup and salad and supper on Saturday, Dec 3rd at 4PM.     

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Looking WAY Ahead Into December:

10/31/2016

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Christmas Day is a Sunday this year. Here’s the plan for the special worship services at Edmonds Presbyterian in December:

Sunday, December 18th - 10AM - A musical presentation of the message of Christmas by our Choir
Saturday, December 24th - 10PM Candlelight Christmas Eve service - Music will be provided by the choir and our talented soloists. There is also a 3PM Christmas Eve service at Maplewood Presbyterian Church. Please attend there if the 10PM service is too late for you. We are inviting Maplewood folks to join us if the 3PM service does not work for them.

Sunday, December 11th – 10AM - Advent Jazz with Gina and special guest musicians
Sunday, December 25th – 10AM - A Christmas Day celebration with lots of Carols to sing, and a Readers’ Theater presentation especially appropriate for Christmas Day, written by our own Gay H.

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Pastor Amy's Thoughts...

10/3/2016

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Greetings –
 
Autumn is here! The season is changing its colors and the leaves are starting to fall from the trees. The green of summer is giving way to brown. Even the air feels different, there’s a “nip in the air” as my grandmother would have said. October brings memories for me of other years when every weekend had at least one soccer game to attend. The boys or girls would run onto the field, eager to play. Afterwards they were usually pleased with the time spent with their team, win or lose. But sometimes in the midst of the match a player would go down. A trip to the ankle, a collision on the field, a rough landing onto an unforgiving goal post – and all the parents watching the match catch their breath. Is he ok? Will she be getting up on her own? Does he need medical assistance? I can remember many times waving for my husband, Mark (whose medical first aid certification exceeds my own) to go running onto the field or to the sidelines to check on our son or daughter. While the player is down a whisper starts among the players on the field. “Take a knee. Take a knee…” and they do. Kneeling with one knee on the field they respectfully wait and often pray silently as the injured player is treated and then escorted off the field.
 
When the recent controversy arose about the US women’s national team soccer player, Megan Rapinoe, “taking a knee” during the national anthem, I recalled those October days watching my children play soccer. My immediate thought was not “how disrespectful,” but “how appropriate.” Our nation is wounded by the tension in race relations, and she had the courage to “take a knee,” to respectfully honor our nation’s wounded team mates, our fellow citizens, who have been unjustly treated or even killed because of their race.

When I see her “take a knee” I am stirred to offer a prayer, just like I did on those cold October days on the neighborhood soccer field.
 
One of the readings for Sunday, October 2, is from the book of Lamentations (1:1-6, 3:21-26). The reading itself is six verses of sadness about the present condition of God’s people in exile, and six verses of hope. After describing the bleakness of his time, the prophet Jeremiah wrote these familiar verses,
 
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
 
We, as children of God, join Jeremiah in having hope in the future even in the bleakest of days. We know the God who holds that future, and trust that the future is in faithful hands. Because our God is a God of justice, we know that one day, perhaps in our lifetimes, justice will prevail. Until then, we take a knee in the face of injury of all kinds, and pray.
 
In Christ,
 
Pastor Amy


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School is back in session! Come and Study with us

10/3/2016

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Tuesday mornings at 10AM we will continue our reading through the New Testament letters with a study of 1 Timothy. All are welcome.
Wednesday Evenings, 6-7PM, we are viewing Dr. Dale Bruner’s , “A Short Course in the Christian Faith.” Each lesson lasts about 20 minutes, giving us lots of time for discussion together. All are welcome. Choir practice follows at 7PM, so come and do both!

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