September 29, 2006
Dear Resurrection Family,
As I write this e-mail I am thinking about how much I love you, and how proud I am of the kind of Christians you are. No, none of us are perfect - but I see in you a generosity which demonstrates a deepening of your faith. We had an extended discussion this week among our executive staff about the markers of spiritual growth. We were asking, "How do we know if our people are growing and maturing in their faith?" There are several good answers to this question. One of the evidences of maturing in Christ is the fruit of the Spirit in our lives as described in Galatians 5:22-23, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." Among these is "generosity." This last weekend it was this fruit, along with kindness and love, that I saw at work in our congregation. I'll tell you a bit more about that in today's e-mail. Here's what I'll cover today:
1. Report from Compassion Weekend, Matthew's Ministry and HIV/AIDS Offering
2. Matthew's Ministry Update
3. Searching for the Center in Politics: Sen. Jack Danforth
4. Campground/Retreat Center Update
5. Not Been to Worship Lately? What have you been missing?
6. We listened: New Communion Bread
7. Leadership Institute Coming This Week - You've Got to Read This!
1. Report from Compassion Weekend and HIV/AIDS Offering.
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2. Matthew's Ministry Update
We also had a wonderful Matthew's Ministry weekend this last weekend - with a lot of encouragement and interest expressed in our Matthew's Ministry. Thank you United Methodist Men for your work in supporting this ministry in selling birdseed and feeding us at the annual Oktoberfest. A special thanks to our students in the Matthew's Ministry and their helpers - you did an awesome job reading scripture! If you were thinking about helping with Matthew's Ministry, please know we have a tremendous need for volunteers. We only had seven new volunteers sign up this weekend, though we will likely see dozens of new families interested in bringing children to our church and to Matthew's Ministry - so, if you were thinking about signing up, but thought "someone else will do it," think again - we need your help.
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3. Searching for the Center in Politics: Sen. Jack Danforth
Last night I went to hear former Senator and UN Ambassador Jack Danforth speak on the subject of his new book, Faith and Politics. Senator Danforth, a moderate Republican and an Episcopal priest, spoke on the polarization of American politics that results from the left and the right's attempts to "energize the base." He spoke of the noted decline in civil dialogue, replaced in recent years by the tendency of those on the right and left to demonize those with whom they disagree. He's been very vocal of late in calling for churches that stand in the center to speak up and to model how Christians both disagree, and how they take seriously the role of building bridges and searching for the truth on both sides of the political divide, and to challenge elected officials to do the same. I believe there is a growing discontent in our nation, both politically and religiously, with the positions staked out by the extremes or the poles, in the theological and political world. I believe we have a chance to foster dialogue and bridge building in our work as a church, and to seek to pursue the truth, recognizing that seldom is the entire truth on one side of the political and theological divide or the other. Among the strategic objectives set by your Church Council last week at our annual planning retreat was the development and implementation of a series of quarterly dialogues each year; inviting excellent speakers on both sides of the ethical, political and theological divide, to address the critical issues of our time. These forums will be offered both for you as members, and for the broader community. We will invite you, to suggest the issues you would like to see addressed in these dialogues, and the experts on either side who we might invite to share their ideas; more on this later this fall.
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4. Campground/Retreat Center Update
As you may know, for more than ten years we've talked about acquiring land for a future retreat center, ball fields, and camp both for our church and for the community. We've looked at a host of properties over the years. We are currently considering a piece of land about twenty minutes from the church that is beautiful. It includes a stream and two creeks, a bluff and 200 acres of dense woods, as well as open fields. If we are able to acquire this land we would not likely construct the camp until after our permanent sanctuary is built in 2012. But if we wait to acquire land until then we will have missed the chance to acquire land with 30 minutes of the church. The Church Council has been to the site and prayed over it, seeking God's direction. We've had others who have expressed an interest in supporting this effort. I'm wondering if there are some of you who have an interest in potentially helping make this project a reality. Some of you have indicated an interest in donating some of this land for the church. If you feel God may be calling you to help make this project a reality by buying an acre (about $5,000 per acre) or some portion of an acre, or multiple acres, and you would like to join me to go look at the land, would you e-mail my assistant, Sue Thompson, at and we'll set up a time to take interested persons to walk the land and pray about making a gift. We have had several significant commitments toward this project already, but in order to pursue this we would need additional persons to help. If the thought of having a place like this for you and the rest of the church to use for retreats, camps, and outdoor ministry gets you excited, and you think you would like to make this a reality, please contact me. This is a special opportunity for our church.
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5. Not Been to Worship Lately? What Are You Missing?
If you've gotten out of the habit of being in worship, this weekend is the perfect time to get back to church. I was blessed this week by a letter from one of our members who had dropped out of the church and recently returned. She noted how much she had missed the church, though she hadn't realized what she was missing until she came back. If you are not attending worship, you are missing an important part of your spiritual life, and this begins to affect other parts of your life. In worship we experience the Holy Spirit's presence, we are reminded of who we are and have our "GPS" system re-set to true north, we hear God's word for our lives, we pray with and for one another, we offer ourselves to God, and we share in the Lord's Supper. We experience God's power and are reminded of God's purposes for our lives. This weekend we begin a new sermon series on the Parables of Jesus, starting with the best loved of all the parables - the Parable of the Prodigal Son. I hope to see you in worship.
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6. We listened: New Communion Bread
We have heard from many of you who dislike the communion "bread" we've been using over the last year. Our aim in switching was to minimize the chance for the spread of colds and flu during the Eucharist. The overwhelming response was, "We don't like the new bread!" So, we're trying something new this weekend that we hope is a compromise that minimizes the amount of handling of the bread while returning to the same kind of bread we've had in the past. I think you'll be pleased.
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7. Leadership Institute Coming This Week - You've Got to Read This!
Our annual Leadership Institute for the renewal of mainline churches is coming up this next week. We have a record attendance with 1,600 pastors and leaders from around the world in attendance (this is at maximum capacity - which is dictated by the number of workshops we can accommodate and the number of people we can feed). We have two other conferences happening in conjunction with and leading into our Leadership Institute. One is for Emerging Churches and the other is related to contemporary worship. The Institute will be translated into Spanish and Russian this year. We are offering 100 workshops and four plenary sessions. On Thursday night at 7:00 pm we have an awesome contemporary worship concert led by Lance and our own Daystar band (you are welcome to attend), and on Friday night Brian McLaren will speak on postmodern and emergent Christianity with special music provided by our traditional music ministry. Brian was named by Time as one of the most influential Christians in America today. Resurrection members may attend any of the plenary sessions and worship services in the sanctuary but the workshops are full (and please don't stay to eat! We've only got food and places to sit for 1,600!) Our aim in this Institute is to serve as a catalyst for the renewal and revitalization of mainline Christianity. In my plenary sessions I will use the Mustangs on the chancel, but this time to look at the restoration of churches. To see the complete schedule of events take a look at our website.
Okay, sorry for the longwinded e-mail. This is such an exciting time at the church. I hope to see you in worship as we begin our study of the parables of Jesus!
Adam Hamilton
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This last weekend we had several opportunities for you to change the world. This was our annual Compassion International Weekend, where we invite you to become a monthly sponsor of a child in a third world country. 170 more children were sponsored by members of our church (I think that we already have over 2,000 sponsored through various organizations). This is 170 children whose lives will be different because you sponsored them. How amazing is that! This last weekend, we also ended the sermon by receiving a special offering for HIV/AIDS in Africa - to provide an anti-retroviral treatment that keeps infected mothers from passing on the disease to their babies. The cost of this treatment is $10 according to the UNICEF website. Most of the children born with HIV die before the age of 5. I challenged you to give $10 per member of your household to save lives. I'll share with you the results of the special offering during the announcements this weekend in worship. I also want to say how excited I am by the fact that over 600 people are currently joining us in the walk/run for HIV/AIDS tomorrow morning. This is a wonderful event. If you didn't already sign-up, just show up - registration is $25 and which is a donation to support this cause. The walk begins at 8:00 am leaving from the parking lot just north of the church.