Jonathan's Journals - Lenten News
There are a number of items I want to mention to you this month in Jonathan’s Journals. Unlike most editions of Jonathan’s Journals, this edition will not be on some topic, but rather will be a collection of “newsy” items I want to mention.
First, we are offering a series of weekly Lenten small group opportunities, using Maxie Dunnam’s Workbook on Living Prayer. This book is simply the ABC’s of Christian prayer. If you’ve ever wanted to deepen your prayer life, or to embark on a more intentional pattern of prayer, or simply to explore the meaning of prayer, this book is for you. It is for the seasoned prayer warrior, or the beginner who is just getting his or her toes wet. Call the church office and let us know whether you would like to be in a morning small group or an evening small group. The morning group will meet in someone’s home, and the evening group will meet in someone’s home, too, if someone volunteers their home! It will meet once each week for an hour during the six weeks of Lent. Call the church office soon, so we can order your book!
The Witness Committee met a few weeks ago. Did you know that on Feb. 5 we had 160 people in church? We were so overwhelmed with joy to have so many people present, but we realized that we have a lot of new folks whose name we have not yet learned, and whom we would like to know better! The Witness Committee discussed several options of showing hospitality to our visitors. We decided to give everyone a job: If you are in church one Sunday and you see a visitor sitting in close proximity to you, please do the following three things:
1. Speak to them and welcome them to Shiloh (before or after the service, or during the passing of the peace)
2. Encourage them to sign the pew pad and register their attendance and their address and phone number
3. Introduce your new friend to some other Shiloh members and to the pastor after the service
I will give them a gift (a Shiloh Church mug) after the service, and contact them during the week, if I have their address.
The other thing we discussed was nametags; lots of folks don’t know each other’s names! We considered several options for using nametags. We finally decided to try the following during Lent. We will have self-adhesive nametags printed from the computer each week during Lent. People can pick theirs up before church, or before Sunday School. They will be on a table in the back of the church in alphabetical order. There will be extra nametags for others who don’t have a computer-generated nametag.
The witness committee also discussed our practice of doing mailings to all new residents in our zip code. We have tried this for almost a year, to no avail. So far as we know, no one in the past year has visited the church because they have received one of these mailings. So, we decided to suspend this practice.
The Church Council discussed back in November the possibility of celebrating Communion more often in our Sunday services. We decided to try celebrating Communion once per month, not necessarily on the first Sunday of the month. There will be some months during 2006 when Communion is not celebrated, but for most months during 2006, there will be one Sunday where we will celebrate the sacrament. Recently, we have shared Communion by allowing people either to dip their piece of bread in a large chalice (intinction), or receive their grape juice in a small individual cup. Persons can choose either method.
Special services during Lent include: Ash Wednesday service, March 1, at 7:30. April 13: Maundy Thursday service. April 14 Good Friday Service. April 16: Easter Sunrise Service.
All of my sermons during Epiphany and Lent have been and will continue to be based on Mark’s gospel. I am asking everyone to read the gospel of Mark before Easter. Even if you have not been reading Mark’s gospel so far, you can still finish reading Mark before Easter by reading two chapters each week, starting now!
Peace,
Jonathan
First, we are offering a series of weekly Lenten small group opportunities, using Maxie Dunnam’s Workbook on Living Prayer. This book is simply the ABC’s of Christian prayer. If you’ve ever wanted to deepen your prayer life, or to embark on a more intentional pattern of prayer, or simply to explore the meaning of prayer, this book is for you. It is for the seasoned prayer warrior, or the beginner who is just getting his or her toes wet. Call the church office and let us know whether you would like to be in a morning small group or an evening small group. The morning group will meet in someone’s home, and the evening group will meet in someone’s home, too, if someone volunteers their home! It will meet once each week for an hour during the six weeks of Lent. Call the church office soon, so we can order your book!
The Witness Committee met a few weeks ago. Did you know that on Feb. 5 we had 160 people in church? We were so overwhelmed with joy to have so many people present, but we realized that we have a lot of new folks whose name we have not yet learned, and whom we would like to know better! The Witness Committee discussed several options of showing hospitality to our visitors. We decided to give everyone a job: If you are in church one Sunday and you see a visitor sitting in close proximity to you, please do the following three things:
1. Speak to them and welcome them to Shiloh (before or after the service, or during the passing of the peace)
2. Encourage them to sign the pew pad and register their attendance and their address and phone number
3. Introduce your new friend to some other Shiloh members and to the pastor after the service
I will give them a gift (a Shiloh Church mug) after the service, and contact them during the week, if I have their address.
The other thing we discussed was nametags; lots of folks don’t know each other’s names! We considered several options for using nametags. We finally decided to try the following during Lent. We will have self-adhesive nametags printed from the computer each week during Lent. People can pick theirs up before church, or before Sunday School. They will be on a table in the back of the church in alphabetical order. There will be extra nametags for others who don’t have a computer-generated nametag.
The witness committee also discussed our practice of doing mailings to all new residents in our zip code. We have tried this for almost a year, to no avail. So far as we know, no one in the past year has visited the church because they have received one of these mailings. So, we decided to suspend this practice.
The Church Council discussed back in November the possibility of celebrating Communion more often in our Sunday services. We decided to try celebrating Communion once per month, not necessarily on the first Sunday of the month. There will be some months during 2006 when Communion is not celebrated, but for most months during 2006, there will be one Sunday where we will celebrate the sacrament. Recently, we have shared Communion by allowing people either to dip their piece of bread in a large chalice (intinction), or receive their grape juice in a small individual cup. Persons can choose either method.
Special services during Lent include: Ash Wednesday service, March 1, at 7:30. April 13: Maundy Thursday service. April 14 Good Friday Service. April 16: Easter Sunrise Service.
All of my sermons during Epiphany and Lent have been and will continue to be based on Mark’s gospel. I am asking everyone to read the gospel of Mark before Easter. Even if you have not been reading Mark’s gospel so far, you can still finish reading Mark before Easter by reading two chapters each week, starting now!
Peace,
Jonathan
posted by Jonathan Marlowe | 2:31 PM
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