April-May-June 2010 Newsletter & Events Calendar
Many thanks to Linda Starliperfor compiling our newsletter!
To send her an article for the next issue, email her at dlstarplier@frontier.net
Download a PDF file of the newsletter by clicking here.
Missive from Pastor Craig:
Last week I walked from the church office to the parsonage. It was a normal snowy and muddy spring day in Mancos. I just needed to run into the house, pick up some change for a Pepsi, and leave. The trip into the house and out would take me maybe fifteen or twenty seconds at the most. But, I had to make a decision about my boots which take some time to put on and off with all the laces. I looked around the house and didn’t see or hear Jennifer anywhere; I thought the sidewalk between the church and the parsonage seemed pretty mud free, and I was only going to be in the house for fifteen seconds, so… I walked in with my boots on.
I picked up my change from my desk drawer, walked back to the front door, opened it, and I had one foot on the porch when I heard a piercing sound. “Craig, what are you doing? You tracked mud all over the house! I just vacuumed!” I responded to my lovely bride with an equally loud and confrontive remark. Within the time it would have taken me to take off my boots, we had a full-scale donnybrook. To make matters worse, Jennifer and I had just had a meeting the previous night with the youth in the 68 Club about Love Fighting Fair.
In the book, The Love Dare, the authors say whether we like it or not, conflict in marriage/relationships is simply inevitable. “The deepest, most heartbreaking damage we will ever do (or ever have done) to our marriage/relationships will most likely occur in the thick of conflict.” Relationships that tend to be closer, more trusting, more intimate, and more joyful don’t have an absence of conflict; rather the people involved learn to work through conflict in a loving way.
As people of faith, we root ourselves in the love we find from Christ. Through faith, we know that Jesus loves us and we make a decision to love others because Jesus first loved us. As Paul prays in Ephesians 3:17, “May Christ dwell in our hearts through faith, as we are being rooted and grounded in love.”
To love someone doesn’t mean we don’t fight with him or her, but it does mean we learn through the grace of God to fight fair. The Love Dare gives a few guidelines (boundaries) for fighting fair.
Some “we” boundaries that both agree on beforehand:
1. We will not bring up old, unrelated items from the past.
2. We will not fight in public or in front of the children.
3. We will call time out if the conflict escalates to a damaging level.
4. We will never touch the other person in a harmful way.
Some “me” boundaries to practice on our own:
1. I will listen first before speaking. (James 1:19).
2. I will deal with my own issues up-front. (Matthew 7:3).
3. I will speak gently and keep my voice down. (Proverbs 15:1).
After Jennifer and I had our damaging fight about everything except mud on the carpet, it took a few days before tensions escalated again. I left the church office and went home, took off my muddy boots, and walked in the house. I said, “Jennifer, I’d like to have a fair fight with you. Love fights fair.” We agreed to follow the above boundaries and we had a difficult but wonderful conversation as we listened to each other for the first time. Now, I don’t think Jennifer and I will fight fair the rest of our lives (we are human), but I think the two of us want to make a commitment to learn to fight fair more and more. Love works. Love heals. The Love Dare says, “Fighting fair means changing your weapons. Disagreeing with dignity. It should result in building a bridge instead of burning one down. Remember, love is not a fight, but it is always worth fighting ‘fairly’ for.” Amen.
May God’s Love be with you as you work through conflicts.
News from Jennifer Paschal
The “68” Club
The "68" club has really been a wonderful youth group. As the name suggests it is comprised of young men and women who are in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. We have four adults who also participate in the Tuesday evening dinner, teaching/contemplation process, and game component. There is an additional Sunday activity once a month like bowling, sledding and snowmobiling at the Goodells,’ or pizza and sledding at Hesperus. Notice we have had some fun WINTER activities here in Mancos with all of the snow.
Craig attended a contemplative youth ministry course in Telluride last summer and many of the contemplative practices that we are using in our "68" club are based on what he learned in the course this summer. One of the most important pieces of this process is to just listen to our kids. They are so precious and valuable and have so much to share, and when you bring the love and teachings of Jesus into the midst of these wonderful kid's lives it is pretty exciting.
Dan and Doreen Jones and their son Chris have been helping out with the "68" club as well. They are wonderful and Chris, who is a student at Western, has an incredible gift with young people. Please keep him in your prayers as he is spending his spring semester studying in Costa Rica. We are excited for him, but miss him in the "68" club.
Mancos Methodist Food Distribution 2010
Every other month our church purchases up to $400 worth of food for anyone in the community who is in need. The Mancos United Methodist Church has made a year long commitment to this, and the funds will be taken out of our general offerings. There are no qualifications necessary for this program and people may come and take whatever food items they need. I know that in both December and January people in the church donated additional foods, and these cans and boxes were left on a table. Between the donations and purchases made by the church, we had a wonderful variety and amount to give away and yet every bit of food was taken both times. There is a REAL need in our community and we are excited that we can help people out a little bit.
The food distributions will take place on the third Wednesday of March, May, July, September, and November. We have a "suggestion" list in the Fellowship Hall for anyone interested in adding to what we are already doing, but do not feel limited by the list. Perhaps during your own shopping trip you notice cans of chili on sale at 10 for $10.00 and would like to donate this to the food bank. You can just bring them in and we will store them in the back room, on a table, or in the deep freezer. It would be great if you could bring the food in by the Sunday before the give away so we can shop accordingly. For example, if we notice that extra cans of chili and ravioli have already been donated then we can use the money on spaghetti or green beans. We will still be shopping on the Tuesday before, or on the Wednesday of the give away so that we can purchase the $400 worth of non-perishables as well as fresh produce, but if you would like to embellish this endeavor in any way, please feel free to do so.
Please plan on buying non-perishables or frozen items unless it is within a couple of days of the give away. We have been able to provide fresh potatoes and bananas each time and we were especially blessed during our last give away when delicious red apples and farm fresh eggs were donated as well. The folks were so humbled, gracious and thankful!! This program really does make a difference.
If you have questions, please call 533-7460.
Connie Goodell’s Heavenly Fitness Class
Letter from Reverend Steve Goodier, District Superintendent
They say that opportunity only knocks once. But temptation seems to pound on my door forever. Even opening up and letting it in doesn’t seem to make it go away. More temptations come along and the beating goes on.
Those temptations that cause me the most problems are those that pull me away from being my best self. So I can relate to the Swiss woman who was served dinner on a domestic American flight. She opened up her dessert – a delicious looking piece of chocolate cake – and immediately sprinkled a generous layer of salt and pepper over it. A shocked flight attendant exclaimed, “Oh! It’s not necessary to do that!”
“But it is,” the woman replied, smiling. “It keeps me from eating it.”
She found a way to drive temptation away from her doorstep, at least for a while.
The most persistent temptations in my life are distractions that keep me from doing what is in my best interest.
I forgo some much-needed exercise because I “just don’t feel like it” today. Have you ever felt like that?
You may want to quit that reading group, that difficult class or those music lessons. It’s easy to become distracted and get discouraged.
Or maybe we say we just “can’t find the time” to spend with those closest to us, such as family. We may want to do these things; it’s just that sometimes we need a nudge.
Something baseball great Hank Aaron once said can help out here. “My motto was to keep swinging,” he said. “Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was to keep swinging.”
Sometimes we just need to keep swinging. And if we tell ourselves that all we need to do today is to take one more swing, that may be enough. We can always take one more swing. And who knows…today we might hit a home run.
I think that’s true in the church, too. As I travel the district I too-often sense that people are discouraged. Money is tight. Some churches feel as if they just can’t make one more cut in programs or staff. Others worry about the next dip in attendance.
Jesus must have felt discouragement when he fasted in the wilderness for forty days. He was sorely tried and tested.
But the answer for churches, too, is to keep on swinging. It takes as much effort to be the best church we can be as to be the best people we can be. Keep on swinging. That is the only way to hit a home run.
This Lenten season I hope you will keep your eyes on the hope of Easter as you strive to be your best self, and as you strive to make your church the very best it can be. Be faithful and keep on swinging. And don’t forget that God can make something wonderful happen.
Letter from Bishop Elaine Stanovsky, Submitted by Leonard Goodell, Treasurer
Birthdays and Anniversaries:
April May
19 - Alex Fleitz 8 - Zane Wright
19 - Logan Richard 10 – Gwen Hawkins
25 - Marsha Sperry 11 – Margie Russell
27 - Craig Paschal 12 – Mary Kay & Ron Lance (anniv)
28 - Andi Paschal 12 – Julie & Woody Ott (anniv)
28 - Dana Petersen 16 – Kelly Brown
30 - Dale & Zane Wright 16 – Rachel Russell
23 – Betty Alexander
June
4 – Linda & Philip Walters (anniv)
7 - Donna Lee & Steve Budd-Jack (anniv)
7 – Shar Thomas
8 – Betty & Noland Alexander (anniv)
9 – Phyllis & Bill Johnson (anniv)
10 – Shar & Tom Thomas (anniv)
12 – Amy Wise
14 – Esther Cook
15 – Holly & Pete Cruser (anniv)
15 – Phyllis Jackson
15 – Maggie Goodell
15 – Linda Starliper
16 – Betty Wolcott
21 – Dick Cover
22 – Kyle Cox
23 – Roma Ewing
26 – Vergie Edwards
29 – Tom Brown