Happy New Year

Typically during this time of year we become very pensive, and reflect on the past year and make goals for the next one. If you’re like me, you’ve got lots of New Year’s resolutions and projects you’d like to see done by 2010. (I know I’d like to use my gym pass more…)

With the coming of the New Year and our resolution list in hand, it is important to keep in mind that change is a necessary part of life. It is how we grow as a person and as a community of faith. For First Central, 2009 brings an opportunity for us to reflect on who we are as a congregation and develop some resolutions for our own community. 2009 also brings a change of leadership as we welcome our Interim Senior Minister, Reverend Donald Hammond, who will lead us through this time of change, as we search for our “settled” pastor. (Hooray and Welcome!)

So, as you are thinking about your personal, professional or spiritual aspirations for 2009, I hope you take the time to think about some resolutions and goals for First Central, and how you can help us strengthen our progressive work in the community and in our congregation.

Finally, I thought I’d post some quotes and poems to inspire your resolutions and to remind us all that change is a good thing. Happy New Year!

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has." ~ Margaret Mead

“Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right.” ~ Oprah Winfrey

"Culture does not change because we desire to change it. Culture changes when the organization is transformed; the culture reflects the realities of people working together every day." ~Frances Hesselbein, The Key to Cultural Transformation, Leader to Leader (Spring 1999)

"How carefully was that word chosen! The word that allows yes, the word that makes no possible. The word that puts the free in freedom and takes the obligation out of love. The word that throws a window open after the final door is closed. The word upon which all adventure, all exhilaration all meaning, all honor depends. The word that fires evolution's motor of mud. The word that the cocoon whispers to the caterpillar. The word that molecules recite before bonding. The word that separates that which is dead from that is living. The word no mirror can turn around. In the beginning was the word and the word was CHOICE." ~ Tom Robbins

Old Man in the Window on Christmas Eve

I was given the following poem almost 8 years ago, and have held on to it ever since. For me, it highlights the true meaning of Christmas and the holiday season. I hope you find it an enjoyable read and just as meaningful. Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Old Man in the Window on Christmas Eve
By Ken McCandless

Old man in the window on Christmas Eve
Why do you stare at me?
As I pass beneath your tenement perch
With treasures ladenly

I’ve no time to stop and chat
Or share your loneliness
I must be off to kin and friend
To share some Christmas bliss

Old man in the window on Christmas Eve
I can barely see your face
With its wizened features, gnarled and waned,
Behind the cracked and dirty pane

And beneath that yellow and tattered shade
Your balding crown
With its wisps of white
Halos in the dingy light

Old man in the Window on Christmas Eve
What tales you must know
Of youthful days and wilder ways
When you wore a young man’s soul

Did pretty girls in Pinafores
Giggle at your wit?
And when you passed them on the beach
Did you flex a bit?

Did they curtsy when you bowed
And invited them to dance?
And afterward in the rumble seat
Did you steal a brief romance?

But most important, could you love?
Did you love? Was she beautiful?
Did you share such Christmas Eves
So many years ago?

But she went to sleep last summer
With the lilies blooming high
Now Christmas Eve is spent up there
Watching shoppers scurry by

Old man in the window on Christmas Eve
Why do you haunt me so?
Why am I so troubled
As I pause here in the snow?

Are you a stark prediction
Of what will come to be?
Will I stand where you stand now?
Are you a future me?

Old man in the window on Christmas Eve
I know now what I must know
That the joy in Christmas is in
Reaping for which we sow

That love once given is love returned
And brings the warmest lift
And the peace we share with those in
Need is the greatest Yuletide gift

So with mittened hand I raise a wave
And flash a hardy smile
Your toothless grin and twinkling
Eye have made my gift worthwhile

With lighter steps and peace of soul
I take my final leave
And thank the Babe in Bethlehem
For an old man in the window on Christmas Eve

UCC Mentioned As Only Church To Openly Support Gay Marriage

Newsweek Magazine writer, Lisa Miller, recently details various churches’ position on gay marriage. Here she points out the United Church of Christ’s progressive and often unique stance on the issue:

“Still, very few Jewish or Christian denominations do officially endorse gay marriage, even in the states where it is legal. The practice varies by region, by church or synagogue, even by cleric. More progressive denominations—the United Church of Christ, for example—have agreed to support gay marriage.” (December 6, 2008, Page 4, Newsweek)

To check out the complete article, please follow this link:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/172653/page/1

Living with Our Deepest Differences: Religious Liberty in the Schools, A Community Conversation with First Amendment Center Scholar Dr. Charles Haynes

Religious Liberty in the Public Schools: Two Community Workshops with Dr. Charles Haynes, Senior Scholar at the First Amendment Center and Author of Finding Common Ground: A Guide to Religious Liberty in the Public Schools

Part of Project Interfaith's 2008-2009 Community Conversations Annual Speaker Series

Both workshops will be held on Thursday, December 11, 2008

Workshop 1: Creating Policies, Procedures and Practices for Religious Liberty and Inclusive Schools
A Luncheon Workshop for School Administrators, School Board Members, Curriculum Facilitators, and Educators
11:30 am- 1:00 pm, UNO Thompson Alumni Center
6705 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE 68182
Cost: $30 per person (Lunch and resources included)
**Registration is required as space is limited. For a registration form, email info@projectinterfaithusa.org .**

This workshop will explore the policy issues that schools face in terms of religious diversity and liberty issues and will provide an opportunity for participants to share and discuss some of the needs and concerns that they are seeing in their districts and schools. Dr. Haynes also will highlight some practices and policies with which other districts have found success and will review some of the legal parameters connected to religious liberty and religion in the public schools.


Workshop 2: Religious Liberty in the Public Schools and in the Public Square
A Community Conversation for Educators, Parents, Students, and all Community Members
7:00 pm, UNO Scott Conference Center
6450 Pine Street, Omaha, NE 68106
Cost: This program is offered at no charge thanks to the support of private donors.
This evening workshop is co-sponsored by: UNO College of Education, UNO College of Public Affairs and Community Service, Creighton University Department of Education and KIOS 91.5 FM Omaha Public Radio.
**Registration is required. Email info@projectinterfaithusa.org to register for this evening workshop.**

Dr. Haynes will explore some of the most pressing religious liberty issues facing schools and public institutions and offer suggestions for how schools, public institutions, and communities can be inclusive of religious diversity and honor religious liberty. Dr. Haynes talk will be followed a question and answer session.

About Dr. Charles Haynes
Dr. Charles Haynes is one of the country's leading scholars and experts on religious liberty and religion in American public life. He is best known for his work on First Amendment issues in the public schools. Over the past two decades, he has been the principal organizer and drafter of consensus guidelines on religious liberty in the schools, which has been endorsed by a broad range of religious and educational organizations. Haynes is the author/co-author of six books and his column, Inside the First Amendment, appears in newspapers nationwide. He is the founding board member of the Character Education Partnership and serves on the steering committee of the Campaign for the Mission of Schools and the American Bar Association Advisory Commission on Public Education.

About Project Interfaith
Founded in December 2005, Project Interfaith serves as a leader and resource on interfaith and religious diversity issues. We work with religious and community groups, educators, corporations, and all members of the community to promote a deeper understanding of and respect for religious diversity. We offer innovative, community-building programs that educate and engage audiences on issues of faith, religion, identity, and interfaith relations. For information about our programs, trainings, and services, please visit our website: www.projectinterfaithusa.org or contact us by calling (402) 933-4647 or emailing info@projectinterfaithusa.org.

First Central Family helps those hit by winter storm

I think it is quite a shame that in these days of purported mass media coverage of human needs and national and international crises that I must rely on internet bloggers (but thank goodness for them) to get some semblance of news about our Lakota Sioux brothers and sisters on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations. I have not heard back from CNN after I reported this as a newsworthy story last Sunday, other than immediately receiving a computer-generated reply that CNN would look into it. When I tried to follow up late Monday night I received another computer generated reply that the recipient (CNN) does not receive documents (an e-mail) from this sender (me). Dad watches CNN like an addict and had not seen a report as of this weekend about the situation.

The massive power outage caused by the early winter storm almost two weeks ago had not been fixed after 10 days but the good news is that donations from my First Central family and other like-minded folks around the country did reach the reservations. Thanks to bloggers, I have some idea of what may have been happening on the reservations last week. News is that the Red Cross had arrived about the middle of last week and has been busy trying to get food, fuel and warm clothes to those affected by the power outage. The blog I read about the Red Cross involvement indicated that volunteers were averaging 4 hours a night sleep and are using snow mobiles to reach homes isolated by snow drifts that may even reach 20 feet in some areas. Sadly, too, looting was reported on a second blog. It is reported that many families have put their elder and young in a school converted to a rescue center so the dads and older brothers can return to the dark cold houses, shacks and second hand mobile homes to try to protect what possessions are left. Until I can get better information, I hope that you will take the blog reports at face value. This is second-hand, third-hand or even more distant information since none of the local media or the national media sent journalists to the reservation to accurately report the situation.

A reliable contact of mine called the Bureau of Indian Affairs Friday morning for current information but the BIA rep was not sure what the bureau knows or doesn’t know and would be sure to call her back. She also spoke with someone in the know who tells her that the state of South Dakota now formally recognizes that there is a problem on the reservations. His feelings are that the situation is resolving. I spoke with the office that the BIA suggested I call that is on the reservation this afternoon. All but a very few of the furthest remote homes are back online with electricity. The small propane and kerosene heaters were very much appreciated, some folks were heating their homes with candles. I cannot imagine that. Posted by Rick B.

Thanksgiving Musings

With Thanksgiving right around the corner and the December holidays coming up fast, I wanted to pause and reflect on what this church means to me, and how thankful I am to be apart of such a progressive and open community.

As I walk to the church doors to volunteer for the annual Thanksgiving Dinner on Friday, a smile comes across my face. Only in certain parking lots would you find that half the cars have Obama ’08, GLBT rights or pro-choice bumper stickers. As I see these signs my step lightens, because I know the moment I walk in the doors, my past, my faith journey and my views will be welcomed. There is a sense of pride that comes with this knowledge because I know many who walk through our doors are in my shoes too.

I have been a life time member of First Central (all 23 years). I still remember following a colored ribbon from the Sanctuary to the first floor classrooms for my very first Sunday morning church school visit. First Central became my home away from home. Yet, I have struggled with my “faith” for many years; I still question and doubt. During college I stopped going completely. Now, several years after graduating, I found myself needing my “second family.” So I woke up one Sunday morning in the spring of 2008 and went to church; I was welcomed as if I had been attending the whole time. No questions, no judgments, just hugs and smiles.

As I’m working in the kitchen sorting dishes and running food out to our guests, I feel grateful for the opportunity to give back to the community who helped shape who I am today. After things began to slow down and I was working in the back of kitchen, I could hear the workers doing dishes laughing and telling stories; as their laughter waved my way I could feel the stress of the work week dissolving. There is something therapeutic about hearing others laugh and connect, just like when I smell that one- of- a- kind Sanctuary church smell (you know what I’m talking about), I feel at ease and at home. When I was driving home tonight I could not help but think to myself how lucky I am to have this. So, for this Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my church family, for hearts that open, minds that understand and lives that serve. Posted by Hanna W.

Ode to Winston

The following is an excerpt from a speech Liz Sharpe made at Pastor Winston Baldwin’s going away party. After which there was not a dry eye in the audience…

“When I think of Winston, there are a lot of things that come to mind … I think of confirmation class in seventh grade, when everything was confusing enough at 13 and it seemed like all of us were out of place no matter what. I never said the right things and I was always too loud and I look back and wonder how I even stood myself. I had glasses as big as my face and bangs that covered my eyes and I towered over everyone awkwardly because I didn’t know how to handle my newly acquired height. But on Wednesday nights, when I would come to confirmation class, I belonged. In the fireplace room on the third floor, sitting in the rolly chairs in one big circle, I belonged. Winston let me know that I was wanted, that what I had to say meant something, no matter how loudly it came out of my mouth. He taught us that faith was not, as much I had wanted it to be, black and white. Faith and religion was not some category we could just passively toss ourselves into, but something to be explored. Winston assured us that questioning and even being confused about it meant that we were thinking and beginning to carve a new little place for ourselves in the church family. And at that age, that was all we really wanted- to finally start finding a place somewhere … Thank you for making all of us feel a sense of belonging and community that everyone should experience at some point in their lives, and for being such a wonderful friend and teacher. I love you to the moon, and am so excited to see what other wonderful things you will do for these new churches. Thank you for everything.”

An Invitation to Dialogue

First Central invites you to the table to talk, share, and express your thoughts. As an open community, we want to hear your feedback and comments regarding our faith community and the issues facing our world today. The goals of this blog are to:

• To inform the local community about events happening at First Central and in the community;

• To highlight the wonderful, inviting, and neat people (and the great work they do) who make up our church family;

• To be a place to voice our concerns and offer solutions to the issues effecting the community;

• To be a bridge between all generations by encouraging intergenerational discussions;

• To have fun and take advantage of the technology of the day!