January 11, 2008

Dear Resurrection Family,

I want to begin by thanking the 240 of you who sent responses to my request, earlier this week, for your recollections of the 1960's. I've read through about half of them so far. It is obvious that the 1960's were a very important time in the life of many of you. A November Newsweek cover story noted that, "The 60's are impossible to escape. They will define the 2008 presidential election, just as they have defined American politics and American culture, for the past 40 years."(1) I was struck, as I read your e-mails, how true this statement is; for many the sixties represented a time of great pain, disappointment or loss. For others it was a time when you turned away from faith. For many it was a time where you turned to your faith as an anchor. For some the sixties were filled with idealism and new possibilities. For others it felt as though "the wheels were coming off" of our country.

I invited your reflections on the sixties because in so many ways the culture wars that have defined the intersection of faith and politics in the last thirty years were a reaction to the sixties. This weekend I'll preach a sermon entitled, "Christ, Christians and the Culture Wars" as we continue in our series of sermons, Seeing Gray: Faith, Morality and Politics in a Black and White World. We'll spend a little time looking at the issue of abortion as it was the proverbial "straw that broke the camels back" that resulted in the formation of the groups that served as the driving forces of the religious right. We'll then look at the religious right and the religious left, and why so many find neither of these options entirely acceptable. Finally, we'll consider what we learn from Jesus and the apostles about how Christians were to live within the Roman Empire, and what that might teach us about how Christians live out their faith in what many call a "post-Christian" society.

I believe this is an important sermon and one that your non-Christian friends would find particularly interesting and inspiring. Invite a friend who is not part of the church - we'll give them a free copy of my book, Confronting the Controversies as a special gift.

Here's what I'll cover in this week's e-mail:

1. A Remarkable Book and Your Chance to Meet the Authors
2. Why I Hope You'll Attend the All Church Gathering Next Friday Night
3. You Met the Goal for Stewardship Effort - THANK YOU!
4. Join the Conversation with Your Fellow Members at My Blog

1. A Remarkable Book and Your Chance to Meet the Authors
This week I am reading a book entitled, Same Kind of Different as Me, a true story and inspiring read about a homeless man and a wealthy art dealer and how their lives came together and changed them both. I will tell part of this story in my sermon next weekend. The book is available in our bookstore this weekend. Next Saturday, January 19, the authors, Denver Moore, who grew up a poor sharecropper in Louisiana without an education and ended up homeless in Dallas, and Ron Hall a professional art dealer from Dallas, will be here together to share their story. This will be something very special - your children and youth would find this inspiring as well. Dallas and Ron will speak at 2:00 pm in the Narthex. I will also interview them and share part of this interview during my sermon on Martin Luther King weekend. For more information click on this link.

2. Why I Hope You'll Attend the Annual Church Gathering Next Friday Night
Friday evening, January 25, is our Annual Church Gathering. It will be a great evening and one I hope none of you will miss. We'll begin with a fellowship supper of chili and soup. Next we'll hold our annual business meeting where you vote on officers for the coming year, will be presented the budget for your approval, and vote on my salary while I am out of the room. Following the business part of the evening, we will worship together and then I'll share with you a summary of what God has done through our church in the last year, and where I believe God is calling us as a church in the year to come. The evening begins at 5:30 and will end at 9:30. So we can be assured that we will have enough food you must make a reservation for supper. To register for the Annual Church Gathering and make a reservation for supper please click on this link.

3. You Met the Goal for the Stewardship Effort - THANK YOU!
I want to commend you, our church family, for the commitments you made in the 2008 stewardship effort. We set a goal of 65% of our church family returning their commitment cards and you did it! Today we sit at 65.21% of our members having returned a card. There will still be a few more cards come in during the next few weeks and I hope that number reaches 66% - two out of three people returning their cards. I also want to commend Clayton Smith and the team of staff and laity that worked with him on the campaign. Two years ago 58% of our people returned their cards. Last year it was 62% and this year more than 65%. Why is this important? It helps the church accurately plan for ministries, and allows us to be good stewards of what you give to the church. In addition to that, studies have shown that those who commit are more likely to give regularly and consistently, and the discipline itself leads to greater commitment in other areas of the Christian life. It is good for the church, and it is good for your own sense of spiritual discipline. Whether you turned in a commitment card or not, thank you for your faithfulness in giving to God and God's work through the Church of the Resurrection. I am proud of you and your generosity. This will be my last stewardship update. If you have yet to make a commitment and would like to do so on line, click here.

4. Join the Conversation with Your Fellow Members at My Blog
As you may know, I recently started a blog site. I'm still getting the hang of blogging, but the idea is that on this site conversations can be held about the sermons and a whole host of other things. Each week I will post the weekly sermon as well as one or two other short articles. These will usually come with a question and in invitation for you to share your thoughts. John Wesley spoke of the value of Christian conferencing - Christians gathering for conversation and reflection on the Bible and the spiritual life. I see my blog as another form of Christian conferencing. I've enjoyed this week's conversations as people have bantered about thoughts related to my sermon last week. Don't just read my posts, the real fun is in reading the comments of others. A rich conversation this week was found in the comments responding to my post: Candidates Responses to Questions About the Bible. Here's my blog site: http://adamhamilton.cor.org/. You can subscribe to it and be automatically notified when a new post appears.

I have to run; I'm late for a meeting! I look forward to seeing you this weekend. Bring an unchurched friend - I believe they will find this message, and the next one, particularly interesting and inspiring.

In Christ's Love,

Adam Hamilton

(1)"1968: "The Year That Changed Everything" by Jonathan Darman, Newsweek, November 19, 2007, p. 43.