January 2003 Newsletter

 

THANK YOU…

from Helen Krickhan for the prayers, the cards, the phone calls, the house calls and the meals she received during her recent illness.  “It is one thing,” she says, “to be aware that your friends love you, but it is humbling to realize to what extent they will go to show that they care about you and want to cheer you and speed you to a quick recovery.  It is a warm feeling I will never forget.”

 

from Jo Larsen  for the monetary remembrance at Christ-mas from the Personnel Committee and the congregation.

 

 

TWO NEW CLASSES START FEBRUARY 23

Two new classes for adults will begin Sunday, February 23rd at 9:30am.

   Sensual Spirituality:  Encountering God Through the Senses.  This class, taught by Mary Ann Watjen and Pat Parker, will focus on ways we discover, encounter, and relate to God through the use of our five senses.  The class is discussion-oriented and experiential.  Come prepared to see, touch taste, smell, and hear!

   We Believe WHAT?  An Exploration of the UCC State-ment of faith.  Would you like to learn more about the UCC?  Or would you like an opportunity to review and discuss some basic theological beliefs about Jesus, salvation, the Spirit, and the church?  Then come to this six-week course, taught by Ted

Schoonmaker, Dorri Sherrill, Joe Hoffman, and Cindy Maddox.

 

Both classes will last six weeks, and both classes will meet in the Brooks-Howell Retirement Home behind the church.  Come and join us!

 

 

Doug Wingeier Shares a Chuckle…

  An elderly woman had just returned to her home from an evening of church services when she was startled by an intruder.  She caught the man in the act of robbing her home of its valuables and yelled, “Stop!  Acts 2:38!”  (Repent and be baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven.)

   The burglar stopped in his tracks.

   The woman calmly called the police and explained what she had done.

   As the officer cuffed the man to take him in, he asked the burglar, “Why did you just stand there?  All the lady did was yell a scripture at you.”

   “Scripture?” replied the burglar.  “She said she had an ax and two 38’s!”

 

CAPITAL CAMPAIGN UPDATE

Based on the vote from the church at the Annual Meeting the Capital Campaign Committee will continue to fill out the leadership positions for the full campaign team.  There will be lots of opportunities for people to be involved in ways both big and small.  We are excited about our next stage of work and will keep you informed on details as we know them.

                                                         …Beth Maczka, Co-chair

LAST MINUTE NEWS…

Kevin Wooley has moved to New England.  His address is  now 5 Bath Circle, Jaffrey, NH  03452-5802.

 

THE ANT AND THE CONTACT LENS

(A true Story by Josh & Karen Zarandona)

   Brenda was a young woman who was invited to go rock climbing.  Although she was very scared, she went with her group to a tremendous granite cliff.  In spite of her fear, she put on the gear, took a hold on the rope, and started up the face of that rock

   Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breather.  As she was hanging on there, the safety rope snapped against Branda’s eye and knocked out her contact lens.

Here she is, on a rock ledge, with hundreds of feet below herand hundreds of feet above her.  Of course, she looked and                                  looked and looked, hoping it had landed on the ledge, but it just wasn’t there.  Far from home, her sight now blurry, she was desperate and began to get upset, so she prayed to the Lord to help her find it.

   When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but there was no contact lens to be found.  She sat down, despondent, with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to make it up the face of the cliff.

   She looked out across range after range of mountains, think-ing of that verse that says, “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth.”  She thought, “Lord, You can see all these mountains.  You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is.  Please help me.”

   Finally, they walked down the trail to the bottom.  At the bottom there was a new party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff.  One of them shouted out, “Hey, you guys!

Anybody lose a contact lens?”

   Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it?  An ant was moving slowly across the face of the rock, carrying it on its back.

   Brenda told us that her father is a cartoonist.  When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he   drew a picture of an ant lugging that contact lens with the words, “Lord, I don’t know why You want me to carry this thing.  I can’t eat it, and it’s awfully heavy.  But if this is what You want me to do, I’ll carry it for You.”

 

   It would probably do some of us good to occasionally say, “God, I don’t know why You want me to carry this load.  I can see no good in it and it’s awfully heavy.  But, if You want me to carry it, I will.”

 

 

MORE ZANY HEADLINES

Iraqi Head Seeks Arms

Teacher Strikes Idle Kids

If Strike Isn’t Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile

Enfield (London) Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide

Man Struck by Lightning Faces Battery Charge

New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group

Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half

Hospitals Sued by 7 Foot Doctors

Prostitutes Appeal to Pope

 

 

Why the English Language Is
So Hard to Learn

(Submitted by Dorri Sherill)

 

1)       The bandage was wound around the wound.

2)       The farm was used to produce produce.

3)       The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4)       We must polish the Polish furniture.

5)       He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6)       The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7)       Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

8)       A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9)       When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10)    I did not object to the object.

11)    The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12)    There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

13)    They were too close to the door to close it.

14)    The buck does funny things when the does are present.

15)    A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16)    To help with planting the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17)    The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18)    After a number of injections my jaw got number.

19)    Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

20)    I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

21)    How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

 

Let’s face it, English is a crazy language!

There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger, neither apple nor pine in pineapple.

English  muffins weren’t invented in England or French fries in France.

Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet or bread, are meat.

 

We take English for granted but if we explore its paradoxes we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn’t the plural of booth, beeth?

One goose, two geese.  So, one moose, two meese?

If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

 

Sometimes I think all English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.

In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?

Ship by truck and send cargo by ship?

Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance by the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

 

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down.

In which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which an alarm goes off by going on.

 

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race—which, of course is not a race at all!

That is why, when the stars out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

And why doesn’t ‘Buick’ rhyme with ‘quick’?

 

Finally, the only way to stop this computer is to ‘click’ on the Start button.

 

And what is it that is still made in a still?  Whatever it is, my head feels like  I must have gotten into some!

 

Today is the fourth of February.  Tomorrow we go forth to new and wondrous adventures!

 

CAN ATTACK ON IRAQ

BE CALLED A “JUST WAR?”

     In all the talk about a possible war with Iraq, the “just war theory” in Christian tradition has sometimes been mentioned as providing possible justification for the U.S. launching a pre-emptive attack on the “evil” Saddam Hussein.  It is question-able whether any war in the nuclear age can be just—in the biblical sense of “justice” as involving compassion, fairness, and equal concern for the life and well-being of all parties.  However, for the record, let me review the just war principles.

     The just war theory, developed by medieval theologians like Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, replaced the pacifism of Christians in the first four centuries, and the subsequent accommodation to prevailing militaristic cultural values under Constantine, with a compromise that established the following conditions for resorting to war, ALL of which have to be met before war can be justified:

 

(1)     Just cause.  A decision for war must seek justice in re-sponse to a war of aggression.

(2)     Just intent.  The ends sought by war must be the restor-ation of peace with justice, and must not seek self-enrichment or devastation of another nation.

(3)     Last resort.  Every possibility for a peaceful settlement must be tried first.

(4)     Legitimate authority and formal declaration.  War may be declared only by properly constituted governmental authority and in a legally prescribed manner.

(5)     Reasonable hope of success.  There must be a prudent expectation that the ends sought can be achieved.

(6)     Proportionality.  The means used must be morally con-sistent with the ends sought.  The amount of damages inflicted to life and property must not outweigh the benefit gained.  Small-scale injuries should not be avenged by massive suffering, death and devastation.  The harm inflicted must not exceed the good achieved.

(7)     Discrimination.  Justice in the conduct of war requires respect for the rights of enemy peoples, which rules out atrocities, reprisals, looting, wanton violence, and indiscriminate slaughter.

 

      Three additional conditions must be met concerning conduct permissible in war:  (1) Noncombatants must be protected.  (2)  Prisoners must be treated humanely.  (3) Inter-national treaties and conventions [which would include those establishing the United Nations and prescribing its functions and prerogatives] must be honored.

     I will leave it to the reader to judge whether ALL of these criteria can be met to justify a war against Iraq—or any other war in the era of weapons of mass destruction.

                                                                        …Doug Wingeier

 

 

SOME OF 2002’s  BEST ACTUAL HEADLINES

Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says.

Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over

War Dims Hope for Peace

Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges

Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

     We welcome our newest members, Cindy Farthing ( and children Ben and Emily), Leslie Huntley,  Judy McClung, Sandra Wright, and the Clarksons, Tadd, Pam and Hannah.

     Cindy Farthing and her children moved to Asheville from Angola, New York, in April 2001 when Cindy’s company re-located to the area.  Cindy transferred her membership from First Congregational UCC where she was a member of the handbell choir for 16 years, a member of the Worship Com-mittee, and was involved in various facets of the church.  Her son Ben, is 11 years old, in the 6th grade, and enjoys making things, like his most recent invention, a go-cart that steers and brakes, made of scrap wood and wheels.  Cindy’s daughter, Emily is 5 years old and enjoys dance lessons (ballet and tap), as well as music, drawing, and spending time with her cat, “Binks.”

     We also welcome Leslie Huntley to our congregation.  Leslie joined First Congregational by reaffirmation of faith.  She grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, and was a member of the Presbyterian Church there.  Leslie recently accepted a job with Quality Forward, but enjoys mostly her free time when she gardens and takes pleasure in music and guitar, reading, and spending time with her dog, “Daisy.”

     Judy McClung, also from Florida, joined our congregation recently and is self-employed as a Consultant, Workshop Facilitator, and Therapist.  Judy notes that her hobbies include whitewater canoeing, reading, writing, traveling, hiking, dancing and music.   However, Judy says that one of her favorite pleasures is to “just hang out and talk,” and adds that eating only adds more pleasure to that combination!

    Sandra Wright, from Dearborn, Michigan, retired to Ashe-ville three years ago.  Sandra and her husband John make their home with Helen Halgren, Sandra’s mother who is also a member of our church.

    The Clarksons have been singing in our choir ever since their arrival in Asheville.  Pam was interim pastor at a church in Knoxville but her commutation back and forth did not keep her from immediate help in the Sunday School.  Tadd is an ar-chitect and has been named a member of the Building Committee.

 

     Again, we want to welcome each of you to our “spirit-filled home” and we look forward to getting to know each of you better as we grow in God’s midst.

                                                                          …Selena Coffey

                                                                            Membership Chair

 

 

 

 

 

CHOIR REHEARSALS FOR FEBRUARY

              Wed., 2/05 – 7:00 pm

                Wed., 2/12 – 7:00 pm

                Wed., 2/19 – 7:00 pm

                Wed., 2/26 – 7:00 pm at Deerfield, followed by des-sert at the Scott’s home.  Directions and details will be shared at earlier rehearsals.

                Sunday morning – 10:25am

 

Helen Krickhan wants to say a hearty and grateful

THANK YOU…

 

for the prayers, the cards, the phone calls, the house calls and the meals she received during her recent illness.  It is one thing, she says, to be aware that your friends love you, but it is humbling to  realize to what extent they will go to show that they care about you and want to cheer you and  speed  you to a quick recovery.   “It is a warm feeling I will never forget,” says Helen

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOIS!

      A number of our members have visited Lois Wilcox, a lifelong Congregationalist from New Jersey, who has been confined to her home at Deerfield for some time.  Legally blind, Lois keeps up with the world through NPR and books on tape.  She supports our church, makes sure someone reads her our newsletter, and always asks about the latest First Con-gregational doings.

     On Wednesday, February 26, our choir will rehearse from 7:00 to 8:30 pm in Deerfield Community Center’s Blue Ridge Room.  Everyone will then go to Lois’s house to sing for her.  Child care will be provided and refreshments will be served at Diane and Vic Scott’s home.

     On March 1st Lois will celebrate her 100th birthday.  If you’d like to make a note on your calendar to remember her that day, her address is 25 Sheffield Circle, Asheville, NC 28803. 

 

CHURCH BATHROOMS NEED TO BE KIDS FRIENDLY

 

Our wonderful extended session leader, Suzanne Brooks is on the hunt for donations to make it easier for our small children to use the bathrooms safely and easily.  The following items are needed:

                         Potty chairs (2 or 3)

                         Step stools (2)

Easy-to-use soap dispensers (2)

 

Also needed,

   Washable toys appropriate for preschoolers;

   Bouncy balls (the kind that are so light that it makes you giggle when they hit you in the head;

   Bubble wands and bubbled stuff (the non-spill bucket kind would be great!);

   Sidewalk chalk

 

If you are able to donate any of these items, please contact Catherine Gibson at 259-9232 to cblair211@cs.com.  Thanks!

 

E-MAIL CHANGES

Melissa Robinson:  melissa @Madison.main.nc.us

Matt & Smitty Dotson-Smith:  Dotson-smith@worldnet.att.net

Bob Wells & Darilyn Dealy:  rswellsnc@earthlink.net

MORE ZANY HEADLINES

Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers

Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant

If Strike Isn’t Settled Quickly, It May Last A While

Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures

Kids Make Nutritious Snacks

 

FEBRUARY BIRTHDAYS

 

                Feb   1 – Catherine Snyder

                         3 – Sherry Kelley

                         5 – Emily Easterday; Sarah Fostoff

                         7 – Joe Hoffman, Sandra Hoskin

                                Kevin Wooley

                         9 - Jerry McKinney

                       10 – Jo Larsen

                       11 – Cindy Maddox

                       12 – Tona Faircloth

                       13 - Linda Burke

                       15 – Syl Huning

                       18 – Rob Robinson

                       19 – Donna Zorn

                       20 – Cindy Farthing

                       23 – Helen Krickhan, Trevor Scales

                       24 – Carol Downey

                       25 – Nino Bangonan

(Editor’s Note:  Our abject apologies to those whose birthdays

fell in the early part of the month before we were able to get the Newsletter out.  But don’t worry!  We ate a piece of cake for you!)

 

ADDRESS CHANGES

Puhleeze!  Drop everything, get your church directory and jot down these address changes:

 

                                Genevieve Folger

                                c/o Sarah Thomas

                                2866 Crescent

                                Warren, OH   44483

 

                                David Nash

                                183 Barnard Avenue

                                Asheville  NC   28804

 

                                Allen & Ruth Tarbell

                                200 Tabernacle Road, #C-26

                                Black Mountain, NC   28711

                                Phone – 664-0347

 

                                Ed Clark 433-091

                                MCI

                                PO Box 788

                                Mansfield  OH   44901-0788

                                 

Terri Bowers (formerly Hoffman)

`                               55 Blackwood Road

                                Asheville  NC   28805

                                                (Next Page)

                                Sandra Hoskin

                                9 Stonebridge Drive

                                Asheville   NC   28805

(Sandra moved to the above address several months ago; we have reported, but some of us have missed it.  Her mail is de-layed for quite awhile until the post office gets around to re-directing it – and they won’t continue that forever.  So please make a note of the change.)

 

********

 

The Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina

Task Force On Educating For Non-Violence

Presents

 

“A FORCE MORE POWERFUL”

 

A Six Week Study Course on Alternatives

To Violence and War

 

Grace Episcopal Church

871 Merrimon Avenue, Asheville

Tuesday Evenings Feb 4 to Mar 11, 2003

6:45pm – 8:30pm

 

This public television documentary series shows how non-violent power overcame oppression and authoritarian rule in conflict after conflict during the past 100 years.  The purpose of this course is to explore what is meant by non-violent action.

 

Each of the six sessions will include a 30-minute video on how ordinary people in six countries used non-violent strategies to prevail against almost overwhelming odds—and won.  To quote the New York Times, “A Force More Powerful” is eloquent testimony to the power of people’s de-sire to be free.”

 

Small group discussions will follow each video.  Bill Jamieson, Director of the Institute for Servant Leadership, will be the facilitator.

 

There is no charge for this course, but please sign up by calling Beth Turner at 225-6656.  Child care will be avail-able.

 

 

A FORCE MORE POWERFUL:  A CENTURY OF

NONVIOLENT CONFLICT

 

New Documentary Film and Companion Book

 

A Force More Powerful:  A Century of Nonviolent Conflict,  a new two-part documentary, premiered on PBS stations on Mondays, September 18 and 25.

    The riveting three-hour documentary – narrated by Academy Award winning actor Ben Kingsley – explores how, during a century of extreme violence, millions around the world chose to battle the forces of oppression and brutality with nonviolent weapons – and won.

    A co-production for PBS by York Zimmerman Inc. and WETA of Washington, DC, A Force More Powerful  is writ-ten and produced by award-winning filmmaker Steve York.  Einstein Institution Board member Peter Ackerman is the series editor and its principal content advisor, Jack DuVall is the executive producer for the documentary, Miriam Zimmerman its managing producer, Dalton Delan its execu-tive in charge of production.

    Acclaimed filmmaker Steve York bypasses the clichés that commonly surround nonviolent movements and skillfully por-trays the hard-edged planning, strategy, and discipline that often determine success or failure.  The film also gives voice to several pioneering, though lesser known, leaders of these powerful nonviolent campaigns.

    The idea for the film emerged from several of the themes and case studies that Einstein Institution Board member Peter Ackerman and former President Christopher Kruegler developed in their book Strategic Nonviolent Conflict (1994).

    The Einstein Institution is one of a number of underwriters for the television series.  In addition, the Institution  con-tributed extensive research materials and comments to the filmmakers during the film’s research phase.  In 1997 the Institution received a grant from the U.S. Institute of Peace to coordinate preliminary archival film research by the filmmakers.

    The new PBS series is the centerpiece of a global media and educational project intended to elevate understanding of how nonviolent action can succeed in overturning dictators and securing democracy and human rights.  St. Martin’s Press has just published a companion book of the same name by Peter Ackerman and Jack DuVall.

     A Force More Powerful uses stunning archival footage to present six stories of successful movements around the world. Each includes interviews with witnesses, survivors and unsung heroes who contributed to these century-changing events.  The stories include:

·         The 1960 Nashville, Tennessee campaign to desegregate the city’s downtown business district, which profiles the Rev. James Lawson Jr., who studied Gandhi’s techniques in India and later joined forces with Martin Luther King, Jr.  His intensive workshops on nonviolent resistance drove the sit-ins and boycotts and became what King called “the model of the movement.”

·         Mohandas Gandhi’s famous Salt March of 1930, during which he enjoined Indians to protest the Brit-ish salt monopoly – a turning point that paved the way for India’s independence from Britain.  Gandhi steered a shrewdly strategic, ever-escalating course of “noncooperation” with British rule.

·         The consumer boycott campaigns against apartheid in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa in the mid 1980s, led by the young Mkhuseli Jack – radicalized at the age of 18 by laws that kept him from enrolling in school.  These and other campaigns proved instrumental  in defeating apartheid and freeing Nel-son Mandela.

·         The courage and endurance of Denmark’s citizens during the Nazi occupation of World War II.  Their noncooperation undermined Nazi attempts to exploit Denmark for food and war material.  In addition to committing sabotage and staging general strikes, the Danes’ underground resistance rescued all but a few hundred of Denmark’s seven thousand Jews from the Holocaust.

·          The 1980 Gdansk Shipyard strike that won Poles the right to organize free trade unions launched the Solidarity  movement and  catapulted Lech Walesa, a

·                         (Continued on next page)

·                 (Continued from Preceding Page)

        shipyard electrician, on a path of leadership – and led

        to the fall of communism in Poland and the election     

        of Walesa to the presidency of the country.        

·         The national protest days led by Chilean copper miners in 1983 showed that public opposition to the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet was possible.  Brutally suppressed, opposition forces persisted and eventually removed Pinochet’s military government in a 1988 referendum.

 

 

A THANK YOU TO OUR YOUTH

At the Alternative Gift Market last December our youth pur-chased two gifts in honor of First Congregational Church, as follows:

A Gift of Support for One Child through Romania’s Preserve a Family program.  As Romania emerges from dictatorship and a planned economy, families are struggling to find enough work, food and health care.  Just staying together as a family can be a challenge.  And when a parent or child is ill, the chal-lenge can be overwhelming, often leading to child abandon-ment.

   Holt International Children’s Services, a child welfare and adoption agency, believes every child deserves to grow up in a loving home, and if possible, with their own birth parents.  Since 1950 Holt has been working in Romania offering family reunification and advocacy services for children.  In 1998 Holt began an intensive family preservation program which to date has assisted 3,395 families in crisis.  Holt’s ‘Welcome Baby’ program provides new mothers with baby supplies, clothing and resource referrals while mother and child are still in the hospital.  Follow-up home visits and parenting education ensure good child care and development.

   The Nutritional and Economic Assistance Program assists families in crisis.  With food and short-term economic assist-ance along with counseling and parenting education, helping families stay together.  SUPPORT for Children with HIV/AIDS – provides families with dairy products, vegetables and grains to help meet the increased nutritional needs of their HIV infected children.  This program benefits more than 400 HIV-positive children each year so an infected child can remain at home.

A Gift of One Month of Counseling through Youth Trauma Counseling in Bethlehem.  Ibdaa means ‘creativity’ in Arabic.  It is also the name of the Cultural Center in the Deheishe Refugee Camp near Bethlehem which was started by Palestinian refugees in 1995.  Today, its programs include dance, art, creative writing, international exchanges, leader-ship training for girls, language courses, a women’s center and the camp’s only mixed-gender kindergarten.  Beneficiaries of these programs include more than 1,200 young people each week.

   MADRE, an international women’s human rights organiza-tion, works in partnership with community based women’s groups around the world on health, education and economic developmental issues.  At Deheishe, their peace education project adds a counseling component to the curriculum of Ibdaa’s ongoing cultural and educational projects. In the upris-ing between September 2000 and 2002, Israeli soldiers and settlers killed more than 200 Palestinian young people and several thousand children under 18 were wounded.  Potentially more destructive than these physical injuries, the psycholog-ical wounds resulting from the violence may lead to long-last-ing trauma for scores of children.

   MADRE believes that peace in the region depends on ad-dressing the children’s emotional and psychological needs with comprehensive and holistic counseling services.  Ibdaa’s social workers, teachers and community volunteers are helping young people address their fears, tension, and anger in group and individual counseling sessions.

 

What a great bunch of young people you are.  We are hon-ored – and fortunate! –and grateful to have such caring people as part of our church family!

 

 

CYNTHIA HILL FAMILY

Just before Christmas Mary and MaryEtta requested help for a homeless family relocating to the West Asheville public hous-ing.  The response has been wonderful!  Cynthia, a mentally challenged single mom and her children, 15-year old Tyneshia, 13-year-old Charles and 10-year old Tyree, are extremely thankful for our help.  Cynthia expressed gratitude for “the Pastor’s visits” and the many supplies and kitchenware.  The boys love the TV and VCR; Tyneshia was especially thankful for her dresser and journal book.  Last Sunday, several of us from the church, went over and hung donated mirrors in each room.  MaryEtta overheard the boys remarking about their good looks to each other.  This is the first time they have had their own bedrooms, and with mirrors!  We have known them for ten years and it is wonderful to feel their sense of pride and hopefulness.  Shy, quiet Tyneshia asked Mary if there might be someone from the church who could give her a ride home from school after driver’s ed classes.  Barb Guffy and Mary Quirk are working that out with her.   Cynthia is trying to learn the bus transportation system and the kids are attending new schools and hoping to make new friends.  They still need dressers or shelves to store their clothes, living room furniture, and food and clothing are always appreciated. If you can help, call Mary Cowal at 884-5077 or Cynthia Hill at 350-1470.

                                          …Mary Cowal and MaryEtta Perry

 

DID YOU KNOW…

Earthworms have five hearts.

A common housefly’s life span is only two weeks.

Swans live up to seventy years.

Canada’s official animal is the beaver.

Elephants are the only animals with four knees.

A giraffe can kill a lion with one kick.

Napoleon was afraid of cats.

It’s against the law to stare at the mayor of Paris.

It used to be illegal in North Carolina to drink milk on a train

   and to sing out of tune.

A bactrian camel is the only land animal that can survive on    

   salt water.

(Courtesy Cougar Clause, Asheville Middle School’s paper)

 

 

REPORT FROM YOUR MODERATOR

LET’S KEEP TALKING

Our Annual Meeting on January  26th was both productive and frustrating.

   Productive.  By a vote of 83-17, we approved the following motion: “The Building Committee and the Capital Committee move the approval of the approximate conceptual design for our new building (the size, characteristics, approximate look, and estimated cost presented in the January 11th meeting and in the mailing to persons not at that meeting) and the commencement of a capital campaign in February.”  (The original motion was amended in three ways:  changing “recommend” to “move,” adding “approximate” before “conceptual design,” and adding “estimated” before “cost.”

    Frustrating.  Many of us left the meeting feeling frustrated.  The reasons were varied.  Some felt we had already had ample time for discussion and were frustrated that we were taking too long.  Others were frustrated that we did not take more time to discuss the decision.  Many, many people -- some who voted yes, some who voted no – had thoughts and feelings they wanted to speak to the congregation as a whole (not just in one of the small-group meetings).  Many others wanted to hear what others are thinking and feeling about the project.

   So what can we do about it?  We can keep talking and lis-tening to one another.  Some will do this privately, in one-on-one conversations.  But some will want to do this publicly, in a corporate gathering.  To this end, I invite you to a time of conversation with one another on Sunday afternoon, February 16th,  from 4:00 to 5:45pm, in the church sanctuary.  There will be no vote at this meeting.  There will be no Robert’s Rules of Order.  We will structure the time so that everyone who wants to speak gets the opportunity to do so at least once.

   I realize this is a lot of meetings.  Some of you are tired of all this talking and need a rest.  That’s OK.  Many of you have asked for an opportunity to speak and listen.  This meeting is for you.

   There is another way you can speak and listen, too.  On Sunday, February 9th, and on Sunday the 16th, feedback sheets

will be available in the narthex.  We will be asking three open-ended questions on these sheets:  (1)  What is good (or hopeful, or exciting) to you about where we are right now in our building process?  (2)  What do you see our challenges to be right now?  What concerns do you have?  (3)  What ques-tions do you have?  What needs to be addressed that has not been addressed?  You can return your responses to those questions, or anything else you’d like to say, by dropping it in a designated box in the narthex or by mailing it to the church office.  We will then compile these responses and make them available to you as quickly as we can.  (You would have the option to have your responses printed with your name, to have them printed without your name, or to have them kept entirely confidential.)

   We are not called to be efficient.  We are called to be community.  I remind you that many couples have a hard time talking about money, and most couples find building a house together to be very stressful.