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February 2007

The Pastor’s Column
By Rodney Newman

The Ice Storm Cometh

      January 2007 will become the stuff of legends. A major ice storm sent us to stores to stock up on supplies, holed us up in our homes for days, and closed OKC public schools for a week. When a similar storm hit when I was a child, my sister and I thought it great fun to sleep in front of the fireplace and trudge through the snow. We couldn’t understand why our Dad was less than thrilled to miss work and hesitant to go outdoors to gather more firewood.

     The intervening years find me more sympathetic to his position. Accounts of falls on the ice, broken bones, and impossibly jumbled appointment calendars highlight the disruption and danger these storms create. Around here we debated whether to add our name to the long list of churches canceling services, ultimately deciding to open the doors to any who might venture out. Very few made it the first Sunday of the storm, and understandably so. The sound of sleet beginning to hit the stained glass midway through the 8:30 service caused more than a little anxiety.

      This unwelcome interruption to our routine did leave behind some valuable gifts. Some took the opportunity to catch up on items pushed aside for “later.” Others slowed down to play board games or join together on a jigsaw puzzle. Still others felt the support of friends who made sure they were okay. All of us gained renewed appreciation for the blessing of our gathered community of faith, made special by its loss. I’m not looking for these blessings under these circumstances again any time soon so let’s enjoy them even when no snowflakes fall.

Souper Bowl of Caring

Lunch and Canned Food Collection

February 4

Before the Colts and the Bears meet in Super Bowl XLI we will enjoy our own Souper Bowl potluck lunch. Cook up a pot of your favorite soup, stew, or chili and bring it for all to share. Or you may bring crackers, cheeses, or desserts. We will also be collecting money and canned food items for our food closet at the church. Everyone is welcome.

Ash Wednesday Service

February 21 at 6:00 p.m.

We will gather in the sanctuary for this special service as we mark the beginning of Lent. It will be a time of music, prayer, and the reading of Scripture to prepare our hearts for a time of repentance. We will include a service of burning where you may write your concerns and hopes on a slip of paper then commit it to the flames as a prayer. Everyone will be invited to come forward to receive the imposition of ashes in the sign of the cross on your forehead.

Crown Heights Café

February 28

Join us Wednesday, February 28, for a time of fellowship and food at the Crown Heights Café. This informal meal is served from 5:30 until 6:30 p.m. The cost is $3.00 - $4.00 for adults, $2.00 for children 3 -11, and children under 3 are free.

Subsequent dinner dates are March 28, April 25, and May 30.

Member News

New Members

Jacob & Julie Benedict joined by profession of faith on January 21.

Births

Samuel Ray Puffinbarger was born November 2, 2006 to Bill and Niki and welcomed by his brothers Aaron and Seth.

Carter Ray Webster was born January 22 to Jimmy Webster and Kacie Roessler. Proud grandparents are Richard and Anita Roessler.

Deaths

Jerry Wetmore, husband of Pat, passed away December 1, 2006 with services on December 6 at the church.

James Carver, husband of Jeanene, passed away December 4, 2006 with services on December 8 at the church.

Billye Bowman passed away January 19. Services were held January 26 at the church.

This Month in Worship

By Reverend Newman

The icy weather altered the announced sermon series on rites of passage so we will conclude the series this month. We end the month entering the season of Lent.

Sermon Titles & Texts

Feb 4 Marriage – Wedding Rituals

Genesis 2:18-24

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

Feb 11 Death – Rituals of Death and Resurrection

Revelation 21:1-5

Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany

Feb 18 Life with Christ – Confirmation & Conversion

2 Timothy 1:1-7

Transfiguration Sunday

Feb 25 Values Clarification – Temptation

Luke 4:1-13

First Sunday of Lent

Chancel Choir Dates

 By George Massey

Mark your calendars for Saturday, March 31, 2007, for our dress rehearsal for the Palm and Easter Sunday services with our instrumental ensembles. We will begin rehearsal at 10:00 a.m. and go no longer than noon.  

We appreciate the Chancel Choir participating in both services on Easter Sunday and we extend out thanks to the hand bell ringers who will be joining us for these joyous services.

In Our Prayers

Barry Niles, son of Rocky and Edna, now serving with the military in Iraq.

Special Gifts

In Memory of James Carver

William and Phyllis Henry

In Memory of Jerry Wetmore

Jeanette Posey, Robert & Janice Brown, and
A. J. Johnson

Youth News!

By Tyler Kirk

Important Dates:

February 4

We will meet for youth at 4:30 p.m. for confirmation. Then before 5:30 we will go to the Funk’s house for our annual Super Bowl party. Parents can pick-up their youth from the Funk’s house when the game is over.

February 9

We will meet at the church at 4:30 p.m. this Friday to visit St. George Greek Orthodox Church. After pizza there we will go to the Temple to join their worship service at 7:00 p.m. This significant event promises to be a rich experience. It is extremely important for all youth, but especially confirmands, to attend.

February 16

We will be leaving from the church this Friday around 5:30 p.m. for our retreat at Camp Canyon. Reservations have been made for every youth to attend. If you have a conflict with this date, please let me know as soon as possible.

We will return early Sunday afternoon and will not have youth group that Sunday the 18th.

February 25

This is a very important Sunday. At 4:30 p.m., mentors from the church will come to visit with the youth as part of our confirmation experience. Many church members have given their time to come and meet with us. I hope to see all the youth there. If it is not possible for your youth to attend please let me know.

Sunday March 4

The second Sunday service will most likely be our confirmation Sunday. If there is a conflict and your youth would not be able to attend this service please let me know so we can arrange the dates.

Thanks! I look forward to seeing everyone for Super Bowl Sunday.

Scout Sunday

February 11

All current and former scouts will be honored in both worship services on this Sunday. Leaders and scouts are invited to wear your uniforms as we celebrate the contributions of scouting ministries.

Children’s Ministry

Welcome Ryan

In mid-December we said a sad goodbye to Ryan Mobley, our Director of Children’s Ministries. The Disney company noticed the same enthusiasm, energy, and talent that we had enjoyed and offered him a position at their theme parks in Florida. Before leaving, Ryan introduced us to another Ryan who could continue the development and strength of our program.

Our new Children’s Minister, Ryan Steer, is a native of Norman and a current musical theatre major at the University of Central Oklahoma. He has appeared in roles at the OKC Reparatory Theatre, Discoverland! USA, and UCO. Ryan has also been actively involved in organizing youth events with the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma. We look forward to Ryan’s creative leadership in this important ministry of our church.

Children’s Area Clean Up Day

February 11 at Noon

Everyone is invited to stay after church as we make our children’s area more attractive and organized. Pizza and childcare will be provided. 

Missions 2007

by Bruce Pitts, Mission Committee Chair

A Ministry of Presence

One of may favorite passages in Transforming Ventures, A Spiritual Guide for Volunteers in Mission by Jane Ives reads, “John Wesley, noted that the word translated as “visit” in Matthew 25:36 more accurately means “look upon.” When Jesus states the importance of visiting the sick, he is in fact exhorting us to be “present with” and look upon those in need with our own eyes. Wesley broadened this teaching by including “all such as are in a state of affliction, whether in mind or body.”

The Crown Heights Rio Bravo mission team returned on New Year’s Eve filled with the spirit of having “looked upon” two afflicted families in need. Sixteen members of our church family shared our labor and gifts, but mostly we shared our hope and selfless Christian love with them.

Mission 2007 at Crown Heights is offering many opportunities for us to “look upon others” and share in ways to help us grow spiritually. Laboring together, sharing fellowship meals together, and responding together in ways that make a Christian difference will be our goals for 2007.

We will announce mission opportunities in the church bulletins with project summaries and a phone number for the contact person. No one will participate in every mission, but there will be a mission for everyone. On-going, long term missions like Whiz Kids, Mobile Meals, Skyline, day missions in the community like Not Alone Day and Habitat for Humanity, and even international mission experiences like Rio Bravo, Cuba, and Africa are being planned. What is your call to mission? Can our resources help? Together we will make a Christian difference in the world, our community, and ourselves.

The following is the mission opportunity list assembled so far. If you are interested in participating or would like more information, please call the contact person listed.  

*Not Alone Day

April 21

For the second year, our church will join with other churches in our neighborhood to reach out in service to those who live right here around us. We'll distribute flyers on April 14 to let people know of our mission. On April 21, we’ll meet in the morning for a time of worship then proceed with various projects such as a carnival, school or street cleanup, making baby blankets, or making food for shut-ins and our fellow workers. 

Do you have an idea of how we can serve our community that day? Let me know! We’ll start gathering the materials we need to make a difference. Look for sign up sheets and more information on how you can participate. Call Greg Jorgensen at 840-1878 to discuss this mission further.  

Mission Opportunities

Saturday, February 3

Saturday Night Alive in Christ at Skyline Urban Ministry.

We will prepare and serve a meal to 150 homeless persons after a joyous and spirit-filled worship service led by Rev. Dale Tremper. Contact Bruce Pitts at 412-2963 or bruce@pels.state.ok.us.

Sunday, February 4 

Souper Bowl Sunday

Everyone is invited to bring their favorite soup, stew, chili, and/or dessert to Fellowship Hall after the 11:00 service to share in what has become a real favorite celebration at Crown Heights.

Saturday, March 17

Habitat for Humanity Day

Contact Cindy Krone at 613-7562.

Saturday, April 21 

* Not Alone Community Service Day

We will join with other churches on North Western Avenue in several projects from lawn cleanup to a carnival to making baby blankets for the Infant Crisis Center. See the article in this newsletter or contact Greg Jorgensen at 708-9832 for more information.

Thursdays through May 15

Whiz Kids

This ministry seeks tutors for at-risk elementary children. Structured tutoring happens right here at Crown Heights with some of the neatest kids around. We have room for more tutors. Contact Janet Kingsolver at 524-3895 or jlkokc@cox.net to find out how you can help.

We are working on several other projects such as preparing and serving meals for our community, providing and serving lunches to seniors at McKee Center, projects at our neighborhood elementary schools, and projects with other churches.

And we will continue our strong relationship with the United Methodist Volunteers in Mission. We are assembling teams for international missions to Rio Bravo, Cuba, and Liberia for late 2007 and 2008. VIM has missions all over the United States and the world. I encourage you to visit their website at okumc.org/VIM and view all the opportunities that can be done individually and as a congregation.

Repatriation and Reconciliation

An Update on Ministry with Liberian Refugees

by Evelyn Phyffer

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. – 1 Peter 2:9-10

     Due to the improved social, humanitarian, and political developments in Liberia, since December, 2003, Liberian refugees have been returning home. For several months, this process was slow because the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) would allow refugees to return only to Liberian counties that had been disarmed and that were declared safe for return. Neither the UNHCR nor the Liberian transitional government wanted a large influx of refugees into Monrovia, Liberia’s capital, where resources were not available to support this large group. Finally, in 2004, all of Liberia’s counties were declared safe and repatriation to these counties began.

     Although the Buduburam Liberian Refugee Camp near Accra, Ghana, has been open since 1989, it is scheduled to close with the end of the U.N.’s repatriation efforts in June, 2007. In 2003-2005, volunteers-in-mission teams, including members of Crown Heights, have been in mission with Liberian refugees and our GBGM (General Board of Global Ministries) Missionary, Rev. Priscilla Legay Jaiah. On February 7, 2007, at the invitation of Rev. Dr. John G. Innis, Resident Bishop of the Liberia Area of the United Methodist Church, I will leave for Ghana to meet Priscilla and travel with her to Monrovia to attend the 174th Session of the Liberian Annual Conference being held February 11-18 in Ganta, Gompa District, Liberia. 

     The purpose of this mission is to renew and begin making spiritual and physical contact with members of the Liberian Conference and returning refugees for future mission teams. As the referenced passage from I Peter states, once the refugees were strangers but now as they are returning home they are no longer strangers and should receive mercy as people of God. Many of them are estranged from family and friends who remained in Liberia during the war years and are struggling to be reconciled with those they fought and those who fled to other countries. A lot of healing is needed.

     Please continue to pray for the refugees still at Buduburam who are uncertain about their future, pray for those returning refugees who are trying to rebuild their lives, and for the Liberian Annual Conference. In November 2005, the Liberian people elected Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as President. President Johnson-Sirleaf is the first democratically elected woman president on the continent of Africa and she just happens to be United Methodist. I will return on February 22, so please ask me about this future mission opportunity in Liberia.

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