Williston-West Church

PASTOR’S NOTES
Eric Kelley

We are all back again to face another exciting year that, like faith journeys, moves into a mysterious future. We can identify where we are right now and project where we would like to go but in God’s wisdom it isn’t that clear. You see, when we truly journey with God we must follow where God would lead which is often where we do not want to go. That is difficult for us elf directed types who would like to be in control of our destinies. The letting go part isn’t easy and some of us find it too big a risk to take.

You will see from this Newsletter that there is a lot going on here that challenges us to go beyond where we can go on our own. There are events designed to guide us, challenge us, feed us, and to call us into accountability with our resources of time and substance. We need this in the face of the seductions of this world that call us to kneel at the altar of the gods of selfishness and away from the God of love and compassion.

Like any faith community we are far from perfect. But I believe that most of what we do is directed toward nurturing our souls so we can live lives of fulfillment as such that when we place our heads on our pillows at night and the house is quiet we feel peace and drift off to sleep with the contentment that only the presence of God can bring.

Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote, "Alas for those who do not sing but die with all their music in them." I’ve seen too many people die with their music still in them. If you choose to enter into this faith community you can rest assured that Williston-West will set your "music" free.

Welcome back!

Grace and Peace,

Eric

Mission Committee Update

Church World Service – Blanket the World with LOVE held at Williston-West on September 17, 2000.

1999 Blanket Fund transfers for local purchase and production of blankets, tents, bedding and other emergency supplies:

** For the purchase of blankets and related items distributed from the United States.

$25,000 Challenge Grant – 44% of Goal and Counting!
Stewardship Committee

As of September 13, twenty-five members and friends of Williston-West have stepped forward with pledges or contributions to the $25,000 Challenge Grant to our endowment. The total to date is $11,170. The goal of the anonymous donor is to raise awareness of the endowment and its importance to the church. Contributions and pledges so far range from outright gifts of $20 to $500 and pledges over the three-year period of up to $1,000. In order to receive the full $25,000 of the challenge we need to raise another $13,830.

Inside the cover of this months newsletter is a Challenge Grant pledge form for your convenience. The pledge form can be returned to the office or placed in the Sunday offering.

Thank you to those listed below who have recognized this opportunity to increase our endowment.

Thanks to…

Are you aware of Williston-West’s international outreach program, The Olive Tree? The idea was conceived in Jerusalem last February when a group of us visited the Holy Land with Eric. We met a wonderful Palestinian man, Ibrahim Ahmad Abdu El Hawa, who lives on the Mount of Olives and volunteers his time to work with Bedouin children. He accompanies Rabbi Jeremy Milgrom into the field and supplies clothing and other needs of the children while Jeremy and his team provdie educational opportunities for them. In their small way, Ibrahim and Rabbi Milgrom are bridging the gap of centuries-old hostilities that exist between the Jewish and Palestinian peoples by working peacefully and productively on this outreach endeavor. The Bedouin people are being pushed into smaller and smaller living spaces which jeopardizes their free-range, sheep herding lifestyle. Therefore, education of their children is critical to their future success.

The Olive Tree’s current mission is to ship "gently used" and laundered clothing to Ibrahim as often as possible. It’s important that the clothing be "used" so the import taxes are levied against it. Please bring the clothing to the church office or call Betty Furman to discuss the possibility of it being picked up. Because of the high cost of freight, we need to limit the sizes of the clothing to range from infant to children’s size 16. Adult sized clothing is quite heavy and the children’s clothing is what’s most needed. To date we have shipped nine boxes, a total of 200 pounds of clothing! If you don’t have any clothing to donate and want to help, you can shop at thrift stores or donate funds to be used towards the shipping costs. Please see the Olive Tree poster on the bulletin board and thank you for supporting this cause!

The Card Tables Have Arrived!

Visitation Team looking for New Volunteers

Part of the ministerial responsibilities we provide as a church community is bringing friendship and enrichment to church members unable to attend church. The Visitation Team paris volunteers with church members in some type of need or with an older member who still does attend church. We want to value these folks who have given so much in the past, even thought they may not attend church regularly.

Some volunteers have been visiting with the same person for four or five years and have built up a very special rapport. All of the Visitors reap many benefits and hopefully this is reciprocal. There is no special schedule when one must do this work; there is no absolute way in which the visit be conducted. We will offer suggestions and are always available to hear of specific needs as they arise. If this quiet, caring, one on one type of communication appeals to you, please contact me. You will then be paired with an appropriate person to visit on occasion throughout the year.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss this, please call Diane Tyler.

The Deacons' Bench
Greg Fougere

Fall always seems to be the time of year when the business of living gets put into high gear. The summer season has come to a close. We are starting a new school year, thinking about winter projects, and maybe even re-evaluating directions and priorities in our lives. Churches come out of summer dormancy and are abuzz with activity. There is new business to attend to, Sunday school is in full swing again, and we have our choir back for worship services. The Sanctuary seems to fill up a bit more on Sunday mornings, and people renew old friendships and make new connections. We get a re-energized sense of community.

• The Myers-Briggs workshop presently being offered by the deacons is but one example of ways in which we can explore our faith journey as a community of believers. About two dozen of us have taken the question booklet home and filled in our answers, and for the next two Thursday nights will be talking about how each individual fits into one of sixteen personality types. The goal is to learn about the different ways that people behave and relate, and how personality plays such an important role. The purpose of this exercise is to discover ways to communicate better and relate more effectively with those who have different personality types.

• Our annual Rockcraft retreat is going to take place on Oct. 7 & 8 at this picturesque lodge on the shore of Sebago Lake. Ask a deacon for details. There is a sign up sheet in Fellowship Hall.

• The deacons will continue with the alternate worship services on Tuesday nights at 6:30PM in Memorial Hall.

• We will be offering Bible study classes in January for anyone interested. Also in the works are plans for an Advent program and Lenten services.

• Visitation continues to be an important piece of the deacons’ responsibilities, and you don’t have to be a deacon to have a role in this vital calling. Diane Tyler heads our visitation team.

• Bill Whelan is always looking for people to be liturgists for Sunday worship. Chris Berry continues to keep it all together as our able leader.

The following is excerpted from a Dear Abby column, attributed to the 1999 Old Farmers’ Almanac:

The Golden Rule is found in every faith:

Brahmanism- This is the sum of duty: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you. (Mahabharata 5:1517)

Buddhism-Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful. (Udana-Varga 5:18)

Confucianism- Surely it is the maxim of human kindness: do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you. (Analects 15:23)

Taoism- Regard your neighbor’s gain as your own gain and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss. (T’ai Shang Kan Ying P’ien)

Zoroastrianism- That nature alone is good which refrains from doing unto another whatsoever is not good for itself. (Dadistan-I-dinik 94:5)

Judaism-What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. That is the entire law; all the rest is commentary. (Talmud, Shabbat 31a)

Christianity- All things whatsoever ye would that man should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law of the prophets. (Matthew 7:12)

Islam- No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself. (Sunnah)

Just a Thought…

Health Club/Gym memberships have become one of the fastest growing industries in the country. Walk into one at certain times of the day and you would be amazed at all the activity. You would see rows of equipment: treadmills, cycles, stairmasters, rowing and skiing, and weight lifting stations designed to exercise every muscle group. There is kickboxing, aerobics, spinning, dance, massage, saunas, steam rooms, and day spas, healthy shakes, sport bars, vitamins, clothing, and the list goes on. To many people, it has become a daily ritual, and it’s not always an easy thing to commit to. People who work out all the time say you have to spend energy to get energy. I think the same applies to the spiritual side of us. Imagine if just a fraction of the time we spend on our physical being was directed towards matters of God and faith. Have you done your spiritual exercises today?

From the files…

When the 18^th century began, only the First Congregational Church existed in Portland, and that was tending towards Unitarianism. In September 1787, the Second Parish, mother of Congregationalism in Portland, seceded and organized into a society in March 1788 and into a church later that year. From this church (Second Parish) came successive congregations, including, the Third Church in 1808, which soon expired, the Chapel Church in 1811, which died in 1824, the Third Church born in 1825 which survived until the fire of 1866, then High Street in 1831, Fourth in 1835, Bethel in 1840, and St. Lawrence in 1858. All are 'children' of the Second Parish. Next came the 'grandchildren': State Street Church in 1852, West Church in 1862, and Plymouth in 1869, which was disbanded in 1885. Williston was the name given to a chapel on the corner of Danforth and May Streets. It was named in honor of Maria Williston Walker, the then recently deceased wife of George Leon Walker D.D., the pastor of State St. Church. Seven years of growth made the formation of a church necessary. The name of the chapel was bequeathed to its successor. Early in 1877 it was decided to build this new edifice on a lot on the corner of Thomas and Carroll Streets. The new church was occupied for the first time on September 1, 1878, and a sermon appropriate to the occasion was preached by the pastor from Kings IX:3.

------Portland Sunday Telegram, February 4, 1923

I recently had a conversation with Bill Whelan, one of our deacons. He and his other half, Christina Lyons, have lived across the street from Williston-West for many years. Bill not only gets the lituragists to sign up every week, he has also been upgrading our web site, which is an ongoing process.

Q. What appealed to you originally about becoming members of this particular church.

A. I guess we were on "the path", you know. There were a lot of things that we’ve been curious about for a long time. We had come over here (to Williston-West) a couple of times even before Eric was pastor, but nothing seemed to connect with us at the time. Christina and I got married in 1991 and decided we would try church again, so we went to a few Sunday worship services and the messages we heard made sense. I think what it comes down to is this: we could have gone anywhere, but this place felt real to us. The way Eric personalized the Gospel really hit home. I grew up as a Catholic, but as an adult I disagreed with some of the things I was hearing from my church and drifted away. My brother Ed keeps telling me that the church I walked away is not the same. So, I was always a believer, it’s just that here at Williston-West I heard the message the way I needed to hear it.

Q. What’s it like living across the street?

A. We love this neighborhood. We’ve debated moving in the past and even put our house on the market, but ultimately we sit down and ask what do we really want. The architecture of the West End is great, and the diversity of people is amazing. We always seem to meet other dog owners, because those are the people who are always out when we are. Christina loves to plant flower gardens around the trees in the yard. And here, we’ll always hear the church bell ringing whether we go to church or not.

Q. Let’s talk about the web site.

A. We’ve had a web site for a couple of years. In my opinion, it’s a great tool for the church. If someone wanted to read all the newsletters from last April on, they could, easily. All the documents of the church from the by-laws and the history of the church to committee information, photos of the church and a pictorial history of Israel, are all there at your fingertips. And if you want to connect with Williston-West, a button at the bottom of the page will connect you with the church office e-mail. We are currently building an e-mail list so that we might eventually send one e-mail to everyone instead of 200 separate envelopes. We can also offer office notes and other information that wouldn’t have to wait for the monthly newsletter.

Q. Would you say the possibilities are limitless?

A. LL Bean might be able to use all kinds of tools to sell stuff, but we’re not trying to sell people on God, we are just trying to connect with them, so there are some limitations. I would encourage anyone with access to the internet to visit our site, though. The pictures of Israel alone are worth it!