|
From the Pastor's Study On Being Successful Eric Kelley For my space in this newsletter I’m sharing my annual report presented to the church last Sunday. It sums up my journey and gives a preview of where I hope we will go this New Year. The year 2002 will go down in history for me as a year of tremendous personal growth. I also believe that it will go down in history as a year of great spiritual growth for our church. We have realized that our church is fragile, like us, but that God’s grace does watch over us and calls us to wholeness. We continue to grow and attract people who are serious about their spiritual journey and who are bringing enthusiasm and joy to our common life. The larger statistical picture for UCC churches and related seminaries is not a positive picture. All mainline denominations are in decline while the conservative Christian right is gaining in numbers. There are reasons for this as well as a plethora of opinions but that is not important here. I just hope that our liberal protestant testimony will not gradually fade away in favor of a more acculturated message that measures success by popularity and blind patriotism. We have much to do if that is not to happen and we can only do this work if we take our witness seriously. Conference Minister David Gaewski, in addressing the Annual Meeting of the Maine Conference said, "We can go where we want to go or we can go where God is calling us." I used this quote in a recent sermon and I share it again as I believe it carries an important message for each of us individually and for us collectively as a church as we seek to bring the message of Jesus to a world that teeters on the brink of multiple wars. Obviously, there are times when where we want to go and where God is calling us are synonymous but generally that is not the case for "God’s ways are not our ways". So I hope that with the strength of the lessons of the past and the threatening world condition we may direct much of our energy in the coming year on the question, "Where is God calling us?" We usually try to deal with this question on the first person singular, "Where is God calling me?" That is an appropriate question but more importantly it is a communal question for we are a community of faith – a community that we are called into through Christ where we ask together, "Where is God calling us?"
There are several ways we will explore this question in 2003. First of all we are going to take a fresh look at how we WORSHIP. We will explore our historical structures to see why we do things the way we do. In this we will seek new light in present day leadings of God’s Spirit to bring deeper meaning to our worship experience. Secondly, we will continue our STUDY of contemporary writers who lead us to a deeper faith and understanding of the ancient texts of our Bible. There are two books planned that I am sure will lead to others before year’s end. Thirdly, we are planning a GATHERING this spring at church where, with a facilitator structuring our time, we will do an inventory of where we are to set directions for where we want to go. This too, I am sure, will lead us into other areas of fresh insight and blessing of our church. I’m not much for a lot of religious talk that has remained unchanged from our pilgrim forebears except for the dropping of the thees and thous. Quite frankly it leaves me cold. But we are a religious community seeking our voice in the present day. I hope we can take the best of the past as a foundation that leads us into the freshness of a new day where our words are chosen for meaning and not tradition, where our lives are lived serendipitously and not by a form of rigidity that the generations following us have already rejected. Grace and Peace, Eric
 Grateful Acknowledgements David Shedd Chair, Trustees of Williston-West "A friend in need is a friend in deed." We’ve all heard, and said, these words so many times that I think most of us forget what they really mean. It’s easy to be a friend when times are easy, but when things get tough, those who step up to help us are the true friends. The church got to see in the last month how many true friends it has in the membership as we went through a (luckily) short-term budget crisis. After the Board of Trustees had prepared the prospective budget for 2003 and we received the pledge numbers from the Stewardship Committee, we found that, even with the budget pared everywhere we could, we still had a deficit of over $15,000. I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that we all felt a bit of panic at that point. That large a deficit could have been covered by a special withdrawal from the endowment, but only a few years of withdrawals like that would leave us on the brink of financial disaster. We went back to the Stewards, and a letter went out to the entire membership outlining the problem and asking everyone to dig deeper if possible. At the same time, the Trustees went through another round of budget cuts, trying to find anything that could come out of the budget without crippling the operations and mission of the Church. When the final numbers came back from the Stewardship Committee, we found that the entire deficit had been made up! We are now in the position of having a balanced budget for 2003, with no special withdrawal from the endowment. I will never know who changed their pledges, as that information is confidential, but I do know that the members showed how deeply they care about our church, and what true friends they are when we are in need. To all of you goes my most sincere gratitude, as well as to all the others who had already pledged what they could. We often think of the church as a beautiful building sitting on the West End, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth; our church is a community of people who care about each other, and about others, and by our donations we allow ourselves to have a home for that community, as well as to allow the mission of the church to help others less fortunate than ourselves to continue. Just like the words at the beginning of this column, the words "thank you" are heard every day—but I hope you all realize just how deeply I mean them this time. While I’m on the subject of "thank you’s, I’d like to recognize and thank some people who have given so much to the Church over the past year and more. These are the outgoing members of the Board of Trustees; Cindy Stewart, who was Chairman and has handed me an infinitely better organized set of files to work with than she started with; Gore Flynn, who has been a Trustee for something like 9 years, and whose institutional memory has been of unbelievable help; Denise Johnson, who stepped in as Treasurer and saw us through an incredibly rocky time; and Les Hodgdon, whose careful, measured thoughts kept us on track during some difficult decisions. All of you have been true friends to the church, and to me, and I will miss seeing you at the meetings.  Treasurer's Report Denise Johnson I am happy to report that as of 12/31/02 the pledges are at @ 84% prorated collected. Thank you to all of you who have responded to our request to fulfill your pledges. If for some reason you were not able to fulfill your pledge for the year 2002 IN the year 2002, the church will gladly accept those pledges in the year 2003. Please be sure to mark your check or envelope accordingly. The net proceeds of the Christmas Fair was $7713.00. Wow!! Thank you to everyone who participated in this huge fundraiser. Those of you who pledged in the year 2001 for the year 2002 will be receiving your pledge statements for activity through 12/31/02. If you are a new member and made your 2002 pledge in the year 2002, you will not be receiving one of these statements. Your pledge amount is set up as an "Account Receivable" and all amounts paid throughout the year are posted to that account. If you make a written request to the Treasurer, we will gladly provide you with a statement which outlines all that you have given to the Church in the year 2002, including those amounts donated above and beyond the pledged amount, Challenge Grant, Deacons Fund, One Great Hour of Sharing, etc. Our new bookkeeper, Ellie Chatto is working on a new system for 2003 to make sure that everyone automatically gets a statement on a quarterly basis outlining all of their giving activity. The Church closed out the year with $5600.00 in our Operating Account. Thank you again to all who brought their pledges up to date and who contributed to the success of the Christmas Fair. I am pleased to report that the new Treasurer for 2003 is Becky Gratwick, who is an accountant. She and I will be working together in the first weeks of 2003 as we make this transition. Desparately Seeking ... by Sidney Hodgdon A volunteer... A digital camera owner... A technically competent person... A Good Samaritan... Well, maybe not desperately seeking, but if you meet any or all of these qualifications, read on! You may have noticed the lack of an updated church directory or any at all. Those of us who have the old one find it invaluable whether to match a face with a name, find an address in order to mail a note, or a number for a phone call. The Membership Committee (Deb Alpern, Gloria Tewhey, Sidney Hodgdon and Barbara Loughlin) would like to put together a new directory this coming year. The last directory, produced by a professional company, is a shiny book of colored pictures but put together so that no additions can be made. It is static, frozen in time (about spring, 2000). The directory before that one was much more flexible – it was in a binder so new pages and new photos could be added as people joined. It is this last type of directory we want to produce, a listing of members and all folks who regularly attend Williston-West – names, addresses and phone numbers, plus a few pages of pictures in black and white. Pictures are worth 1000 words.  ------------>>>>>>>>>>>>
We have the basic information. All we need is a Good Samaritan who has some time and energy to take the photos. If this is something you would like to do, please contact any member of the committee or call Chris in the church office for further information. Thank you. Book Corner Sumner Moulton Welcome to what will be at least an occasional column on a book of some religious interest recently read. Any member of the congregation is encouraged to submit his/her choice. As a starter, those who enjoy mysteries might like The High Flyer by Susan Howatch. Carter Graham is a successful, financially secure London lawyer in her mid-thirties whose life is perfectly on the track she has planned, including the carefully timed, recent marriage…except that reality is about to change her course. Husband Kim is not what he seems, she slowly learns; a family connection with the Nazis, a relationship with a psychic healer, and a suspicious accident in which his first wife died. Carter’s world shatters and she plunges into darkness and terror. In desperation, she pushes past her long-held skepticism of things religious and seeks help from several members of the church…but there is the problem; conflicting bits of advice. It is a long psychological and spiritual journey to the understanding of her own life. The author obtained a law degree from London University, emigrated to the United States where she wrote eight novels, and then returned to England, where she began to study church history. She later funded a lectureship in theology and natural science at Cambridge University. It’s an easy read, with the mystery portion (first two-thirds), a real page-turner.  Music Notes Judy Malette On January 19th the Williston-West Choir participated in the annual Gospel Extravaganza. There were 10 local choirs including the Green Memorial AME Zion Children’s Choir, Green Memorial Mass Choir, Holy Cross of South Portland, First Congregational Church of South Portland, and several others. It was a wonderful and very uplifting evening. The choir wishes to thank those who supported us at the Extravaganza. We look forward to participating again next year. Several people in the congregation have mentioned that they are interested in joining the choir, and we are always looking for new voices. Our rehearsals are Wednesday at 6:30 PM in the second floor nursery, and Sunday morning at 9 AM before church. If you become a member of the choir we don’t expect you to be there every single Sunday. That would be great, but we know that’s not always possible. The choir does not sing during the summer. Our last Sunday is the third Sunday in June, and we begin again the first Sunday after Labor Day. If you are interested in joining please speak to our director, Becky Michals Rinaldi, or just show up at one of our rehearsals. We work hard, but we also have lots of fun. Although the date has not been finalized, the choir is planning to have a Sunday afternoon concert in late April or early May. Seeds Of Peace Betty Kelley An Invitation… Seeds of Peace Documentary & Middle Eastern-Style Buffet! The Missions Committee would like to invite you to join us Sunday, February 9, 2003, right after coffee fellowship time to view the Seeds of Peace documentary, Peace of Mind, and to enjoy a Middle Eastern-style buffet while you watch the film. Representatives from the camp and former campers - better known as "Seeds"- will be here for a discussion time after the film. Peace of Mind: Seven Israeli and Palestinian teenagers filmed, produced, and edited this powerful documentary. It is the only youth-produced Israeli/Palestinian documentary ever made. The film follows the lives of several campers who return home after their camp experience and shows in a very personal way the obstacles they encounter in their efforts at maintaining friendships and applying the philosophies of peaceful coexistence learned at the camp to their everyday lives. Rather than charge an admission to this event, we will ask for donations. All proceeds will be donated to the Seeds of Peace Jerusalem Center for Coexistence. This drop-in center was opened in October of 1999 and is the focal point for follow-up activities of Seeds of Peace in the region. 
Workshops, presentations, seminars, sports, music and art activities and festivals are organized at the Center and Seeds of Peace youth are using it as a meeting space to maintain their friendships. Despite the horrors and turmoil seen on TV, camp graduates are still meeting and working together in the region to make peaceful coexistence a reality. The Center also has a Video Dialogue Project that has become an essential tool for Israeli and Palestinian Seeds to maintain contact and dialogue with each other over the internet. To date, nearly 100 Israeli and Palestinian Seeds have participated in the Video Dialogue project provided by the Jerusalem Center for Coexistence.
In his sermon on January 19 Eric asked us, "Where do you hear the voice of God?". The Missions Committee believes you will hear the voice of God in the documentary Peace of Mind and in the voices of the Seeds who share their vision of peace as they return to their war-torn homelands. Please mark February 9 on your calendar and join us for this event! Olivewood Betty Kelley As many of you know, during the Christmas season the Missions Committee joined with several other U.S. churches to partner with the www.pimas.org web site that markets Palestinian crafts. We received shipments of earrings and carved olivewood products from our friend, Ali Jabar, a shopkeeper in the old city of Jerusalem. Because of the political controls forced on the Palestinian people over the past two years and the violence in the area, the Palestinian economy has virtually shut down. Selling the craft items that were shipped to us enabled many craftspeople to make a living and feed their families. The total collaborative sales effort raised $21,000 and we are proud to report that we were responsible for just over $2,000 of that total! (Special recognition and thanks go to our friend, Nancy Mawhinney, a member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, who helped with our sales effort.) One of the items we received in our shipment was a beautiful, but quite large and expensive, nativity set. We pondered how to sell it since it retailed at over $500. Our answer was to organize a raffle and to have the drawing at our Christmas Fair. Notices went out to area churches and sales of tickets were made during fellowship hour each week. At the start of the Williston-West Christmas Fair we still had 16 tickets left to sell to cover the cost of the nativity set. Thanks to the great sales efforts of Allie Fagan Shedd, every ticket was sold—she’s an incredible sales person! The winner of the set was Gordon Campbell, Williston-West member Bob Campbell’s brother. Gordon, however, really didn’t have room in his home to display it each year, so he sold his ticket back to David Shedd who then donated the nativity set to Williston-West! In this round-about way our church has acquired an exquisite 15-piece hand-carved olivewood nativity set from the Holy Land that we will enjoy each Christmas. 
Thanks to all of you who purchased these goods. You really did make a difference in the lives of many people. Miss A Day, Miss A Lot Bill Whelan I went to a wedding in New Jersey on the first weekend in January. My brother Ed's youngest son, Jeff was married. It was a beautiful wedding and reception, which took place in a renovated old movie theater in the center of Jersey City, where the bride and groom live and work. I was thrilled to see so many of my family. We are now spread out over too many states and only get together for such events as weddings and funerals. What I was not so thrilled about was the weather, which turned our normal six-hour trip into about ten and a half slow, exhausting hours. The snow started shortly after we entered Massachusetts and continued for the remainder of the trip. For much of the time the slush and the traffic slowed the driving to 20 miles per hour or so. This gave me a lot of time to think since Christina bravely clung to the steering wheel the entire way (perhaps not wanting me to drive her car in bad weather!). One of the things I thought about is that I was missing the first Sunday worship service of 2003. It's true! You think about a lot of things in ten and a half hours (Christina and I tend to get a little edgy when the driving is so stressful and silence was a good thing at times!). I knew it was Communion Sunday and I worried that everything would be prepared and the Deacons would make it on time - okay, perhaps I'm a little too controlling, but at least I am aware of the fact! I thought of how often I would listen to a sermon and hear that one 'stand-out line,' the comment I would think about for the rest of the week and perhaps would even quote to others. A good example of such a line came from the Rev. Phil Shearman the week before. It is easy to miss a week when Eric is away but I always enjoy Phil. He spoke of relationships and referred to the "continued beginning of our lives together" (I underline it so such a wonderful line will stand out again). It made me think of the struggles we can all go through in our day-to-day lives and how each day, each moment, we have the opportunity to start over. I know what struggle is about and the line struck a chord within me. I thought of how many experiences I have gone through with Williston-West. When Christina's mother died a few years ago we had a very moving memorial service in our sanctuary. Helene was Catholic and there was also a service in her church in Rhode Island, but those who attended both events spoke of the impact our service had on them, from the words Eric spoke to the wonderful voice of Jim McGirr. I thought of greeting Eric in the morning before worship, as he would grin, shake my hand and say, "Bill Whelan, It's good to see you. My friend!" Perhaps that greeting goes to everyone he meets as he walks through the church looking over the preparations, but that is just fine. And it's not just Eric. The greeters, the ushers, Dick Aylwood, Sumner Moulton, each has a smile and a handshake. I even thought of Grace Fribley Pennell. Who is Grace Fribley Pennell, you may ask? Well so do I! I often sit in the back of the church during worship to monitor the sound system; the stained glass window directly to my left is dedicated to Ms. Pennell. I often look at the name on the window and wonder about her, who she was and what about her was special enough that her loved ones dedicated this window to her. There were many other things that went through my mind. Believe me, the trips to and from New Jersey were not filled entirely with thoughts of Williston-West! The trip back to Maine was also snowy and slower than usual, and there was an enormous sense of relief when we, once again, passed over the bridge and entered Maine. The following Sunday I was back looking at the setup of the microphones and the tapes, returning smiles and handshakes, chatting with Peter and Deb Murray and saying hello to Millie Perkins and just being glad to be back. Miss a Sunday at Williston-West, you miss a lot. A Must-See at: an exhibit by: HUMANITY IN TRANSITION and THE CHILDREN Asia: The World’s New Urban Face January 23 through March 23, 2003 Sebastião Salgado is one of today’s leading documentary photographers. In 1993 he began a monumental photographic investigation into the phenomenon of mass migration at the end of the 20th century. His compelling photographs provide a dramatic record of the worldwide movement of hundreds of thousands of people forced to abandon once stable communities in search of destinations that promise a more secure life. Tragically, however, these mass movements of peoples have often generated even more appalling living conditions. Salgado’s extensive photographic essay conveys the sense of the scope, diversity, and origins of these contemporary migrations. Recommendation from Eric: Betty and I saw this and were deeply moved so we hold it up for your attention. We suggest that you view the exhibit at Portland Museum of Art and then walk to Maine College of Art for a free viewing of more photographs of Africa. This is not appropriate for children, but has much to say about the world they will inherit. |
