insideIntentional FaithDevelopment

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Risk-taking Missionand Service

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Pastor’s Message

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Extravagant Generosity

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Radical Hospitality

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Compassionate Care

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Passionate Worship

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February 2016 Edition www.grandrapidsfumc.org

February is a busy month around First United Methodist Church! Activities abound all the time in this congrega-tion, but because of

Easter being unusually early in 2016 (March 27), Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on February 10th. Conse-quently, with our Celebration of the Arts (February 12 – 24) PLUS the activ-ities of Lent, First Church will be bus-tling with incredible artistry, concerts, and spiritual growth opportunities.

Our Lenten focus is on prayer, namely “The Lord’s Prayer.” Most of us pray the Lord’s Prayer with regularity. Cer-tainly, we are familiar with it as part of our worship liturgy Sunday after Sun-day. For some, the Lord’s Prayer has become a part of our life liturgy that we pray in the morning before starting our day, or in the evening at the close of the day. When I served as a hospi-tal chaplain, it was not uncommon to hear a patient pray the Lord’s Prayer in times of crisis. Sometimes, familiar-ity is a hindrance. The words roll off our tongue without the careful atten-tion that the words deserve. When is the last time that you took the Lord’s Prayer apart, phrase by phrase, and ex-amined what Jesus was teaching about prayer?

Each Sunday beginning Feb-ruary 14, I will attempt to an-swer a question that is based on the phrases of the Lord’s Prayer. The journey begins with Ash Wednesday – when we will gather for worship and reflection with the imposition of ashes.

February 10: Ash Wednesday 7:00 pm in the sanctuary If we Live by the Spirit… Let us walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5:25

February 14: Lent I – Celebration of the Arts 1 Does it Really Matter How… When… or Where We Pray? Matthew 6:5 – 8, 16-18 3:00 pm — Grand Rapids Jazz Orchestra Concert

February 21: Lent II – Celebration Sunday - #2 How Do I Relate to God? Matthew 6:9 3:00 pm — Beaumont Brass Quin-tet Concert

February 28: Lent III – Potential bap-tism Sunday Is God Distant or Personal? Matthew 6:10

March 6: Lent IV – Communion Does God Really Care? Matthew 6:11

March 13: Lent V - Daylight Saving time What Can We Expect from God and What Does God Expect from Us? Matthew 6: 12, 14

March 20: Lent VI – Palm / Passion Sunday Does God Deliver Us from Evil? Matthew 6:13 and Ephesians 6:10

HOLY WEEKMarch 24: Holy Thursday

7:00 pm Communion 6:15 pm: meal in Wesley Hall The Fruit of Prayer

Matthew 6:25-34

March 25: Good Friday1) 12:00 pm: Community Service at

Central Reformed Church2) 7:00 pm: First Church Service in

our sanctuary. A beautiful service of music, readings and reflection.

MARCH 27: EASTER 8:15 and 10:45 am: Two Easter Worship celebrations, both in the sanctuary. We Have a “Glory” to Celebrate!

Matthew 6:9-13; John 17:20-26; John 20:1-9 9:15 am: Easter Breakfast

There will be class opportunities throughout Lent to learn, reflect or ex-perience some aspect of prayer. Please watch the Weekly Pulse for class de-tails.

I will also teach a Wednesday evening class at 6:00 pm called, “Praying the Hymns We Love to Sing.” (Class be-gins on February 17 – March 16; 5 ses-sions.)

AND – we will once again have our Men’s Lenten Breakfast that will be-gin on Friday, February 26 from 7:00-8:00 am.

February will prove to be memorable as we enter the Lenten journey AND the Celebration of the Arts. Please join us, and bring your friends and family.

Grace and peace.

Pastor Bob Hundley

When is the last time that you took the Lord’s Prayer apart, phrase by phrase, and examined what Jesus was teaching about prayer?

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Intentional Faith DevelopmentLent at First ChurchLent is the forty days preceding Easter. Lent excludes Sundays because we cel-ebrate the resurrection on each Sun-day, like a little Easter. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, a day when we com-mit to change our lives over the next forty days so that we might be more like Christ. This year Ash Wednesday is February 10.

So why “practice” Lent? Lent is a great time to retreat from the hectic nature of our lives. A time to reflect on our spiritual nature. A time to reconnect with God through our relationship with Christ. A time to engage the Holy Spirit through prayer, fasting, and ser-vice.

First Church’s Lenten 2016 focus will be prayer. Pastor Bob will be preach-ing on the Lord’s Prayer. We will have multiple classes and small group offer-ings on prayer. We will be focusing on prayer in our Lenten Devotional book-let and with weekly focused topics.

While recuperating from a virus last winter, I spent many hours playing sol-itaire on my iPad. Little did I know that the app was tracking the amount of time I played. In one week I had spent 16 hours playing solitaire! I admit that I still unwind almost every evening with this electronic game. Imagine if I prayed for even a fraction of this game time. My goal during Lent 2016 is to give up (fast) from some iPad time to be in Bible study and prayer.

How might you practice prayer during Lent?

Here are a few suggestions:

• Try an electronic “fast:” Give up all things electronic one day every week. Replace TV, email, facebook, texting with a time of scripture study and prayer.

• Add a prayer routine to each day: Say a prayer before you get out of bed each morning. Before you email or text someone, pray for them. Pray your way through the evening news.

• Attend Refresh services at First Church on Ash Wednesday, Febru-ary 10 and Wednesday, March 9.

• Create daily quiet time: spend time in silence and prayer. Start with 5 or 10 minutes. Increase to 30 minutes as you move through Lent.

• Pray 10-second prayers for others as you see them. Pray for the clerk in the store, people at work, the person in the car next to you.

• Read the Bible in an attitude of prayer. Choose a book, perhaps Matthew, and read through it slow-ly. Reflect on how the scripture im-pacts your life.

• Pray the Lord’s Prayer every day. Pray it slowly, noticing words that are particularly meaningful to you on that particular day.

Join me in prayer during Lent.

Laure MieskowskiExecutive Director of

Faith Development and Mission

Lent is a great time to retreat from the hectic nature of our lives. A time to reflect on our spiritual nature. A time to reconnect with God through our relationship with Christ. A time to engage the Holy Spirit through prayer, fasting, and service.

3

This February marks the 43rd Annual Celebration of the Arts, a juried show featuring art with a sacred or spiritual dimension. During the show, there are many opportunities to view the art, with the gallery open daily from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, various gallery walks, and two special concerts featuring The Grand Rapids Jazz Orchestra, with singer Edye Evans Hyde, and the Beau-mont Brass, the faculty brass quintet of Michigan State University. From the 250 to 300 pieces entered, the juror se-lects about 130 pieces for inclusion in the show. Somehow, not even knowing what art will come in, it turns into an amazing and powerful show.

I have said this of every show, and I never tire of seeing it happen: “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” The art show takes on an iden-tity all its own, and individual works become more powerful when placed in the context of the entire show. Some individual pieces seem to take on their full expression when strategically placed near another piece. Other pieces reveal new dimensions only when surrounded by particular other pieces that form the gallery. And here I have to thank Marion DeVinney, who is masterful at strategically placing the works in the gallery. I don’t know how this happens, but somehow it happens almost magi-cally every year.

However, an interesting thing about this concept that is perhaps overlooked is that the individual parts remain im-portant. This is the work of the juror, judging not only the individual piece, but how it will fit into a cohesive and powerful whole. It seems to me that in order to have this magical whole, the in-dividual pieces selected should be a di-verse collection of art, with a variety of media, craft, perspective, color, form, story, and purpose. A diverse collec-tion of pieces seem to make for a more powerful whole.

This concept of the whole being great-er than the sum of its parts can also apply to worship services. Worship ser-vices have various parts, and, how those

parts interact and relate to the whole shape how much of an impact it will have. It has become a part of my Christmas Eve tradition to tune in to the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols that is broadcast live from King’s College, Cam-bridge, England. There was the typical collec-tion of sweet carols this year, all beautifully performed… Lovely, sometimes “fluffy” stuff (i.e. “Ding! Dong! Mer-rily on High”). Howev-er, there was a moment when the whole was transformed instantly. The commissioned carol for this year’s service, The Flight, with text by George Szirtes and mu-sic by Richard Causton, fully encapsu-lated the contradictions of Christmas. The carol highlighted the current plight of refugees around the world, drawing a parallel to the flight of the Holy Fam-ily fleeing the wrath of Herod.

And lest we forget he became a refu-gee, we remember now the stranger and the lonely among us.

There, in the midst of all this loveli-ness, the boys’ voices were sounding sirens and eerie alarms, as the choir sings “The child on the dirt path finds the highway blocked. The dogs at the entrance snarl that doors are locked.” I encourage you to go online and listen to this remarkable piece.

It is interesting to note that in the past five years of “Celebration” the first prize pieces have played a similar role to this carol in the service. In 2012, the winning piece was “I.N.R.I. In Need of Rescue Immediately – A dif-ferent kind of crucifix.” This piece, by Nancy Wanha, brought attention to the poverty and poor health conditions of Native Americans living on reserva-tions. In the context of “Celebration” this piece brought relevance and action to the work of an artist. In 2013, the first prize was titled “Is This Really the Cost of Social Justice” by Donna F.

St. John, a matchstick portrait created of Mohamed Bouzzazi’s mother hold-ing a photo of her son after he has set himself on fire. He became the catalyst for the revolution of Tunisia. Last year, the peoples choice selection was Laura Rampersad’s textile work with a com-passionate message, titled “Migrants’ Story.”

Not all of the prizewinners in Celebra-tion have this social justice message, and that is not the point of this article. My point is that art shows, like worship services, like congregations, like faith, need a diversity of parts to make a pow-erful whole.

Paul said “Justification comes by faith apart from works or law. James said, “Faith without works is dead.” Both statements were made by apostles, both appear in the New Testament, and both seemingly contradictory to each other. And yet, the truth of one does not im-ply the falsity of the other.

Isn’t this the “Christmas” experience? Yes, God is no longer just Creator of all life, but now, a participant in that life, experiencing that life from the inside.

Eric StrandExecutive Director of

Worship, Music, and the Arts

Passionate Worship“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

2012 First Prize: Nancy Wanha, “I.N.R.I. In Need of Rescue Immediately – A different kind of crucifix”

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Wonderful, Rewarding, Humbling!I had the opportunity to join the medi-cal mission trip to Nicaragua in No-vember. I want to thank the long-time veterans of this team for a wonderful welcome to me and the other “new-bies.” This was my first mission trip. I hope there are many more to follow. I want to focus on what it meant to me to be involved in this medical mission, answering the question everyone asked me, “How was your trip?”

My short answer: “Wonderful! Re-warding! Humbling!” I think the best way for me to sum up my experience is “LAUGHTER!”

My task was to meet each adult and child who came to the clinic and ad-minister parasite medication. After they saw the doctor or were fitted for lentes (reading glasses), they came to my table just in front of our pharmacy. In my very limited Spanish, I made an effort to greet each person with “hola” and to pronounce their name correctly as I copied their name onto the coun-seling slip. I gave them direction for the next step before handing their pre-scriptions back to our hard-working

pharmacists.

It has been said that laughter is the best medicine. Well, I have no problem being the object of laughter as I strug-gled to pronounce some of the names and the phrases to give direction. I was greeted with a smile as they gen-tly corrected my initial pronunciation. The smiles and the laughter (even at my expense) were a relief for me and I hope for them also. I received many firm handshakes and expressions of gratitude from all of our patients.

I can’t pretend to understand the un-derlying struggles or aches and pains the wonderful people of these small villages experience. I only know that many of them came in not feeling well and when they left our clinic they at least had something to laugh or smile about. I know we helped many people in many different ways in those six days of clinics. No matter the struggles we all live with, health, the basic struggles of day-to-day life, or language barriers, it doesn’t hurt to laugh once in a while and not take ourselves so seriously.

I thank each and every person who was on this trip for their caring hearts and their ability to bring laughter and

joy to those they serve! I think I im-proved on some of my pronunciations by the end of the week. I also want to thank the wonderful translators from the local communities and the group’s long time friend and translator, Regan, for helping me improve. I especially want to thank the Nicara-guan people for reminding me there is more to life than the things we take for granted in the US! Laughter goes a long way!

Mark PreFontaine

In the photo is Kevin, 18 months old, on our last day of clinics. He was hav-ing a blast playing catch with me with the Beanie Baby I gave him for be-ing such a good patient. He greeted me with a very clear “Hola” and said goodbye with very clear “Adios.” PS: Maybe we will see him playing base-ball some day! Or maybe he will have a laugh teaching me Spanish!

The Tupperware cupboard received great attention from our four boys as they passed through the toddler years. It seems that nearly every day we would have to spend time gather-ing all of the bowls, cups, and lids and putting them away at the end of the night. It seems that this col-lection of kitchen necessities was one of the greatest sources of play-time joy, as the bowls were stacked, knocked over, and carried about. Even with the collection of new toys that was accumulating, the Tupper-ware cupboard didn’t lose its allure during those years.

I suspect it is that way in most homes. We can get great joy from the simplest things.

Of course, our culture would have

Extravagant Generosity

Risk-Taking Mission and Service

I can’t pretend to understand the underlying struggles or aches and pains the wonderful people of these small vil-lages experience. I only know that many of them came in not feeling well and when they left our clinic they at least had something to laugh or smile about.

5

Extravagant Generosity

us believe quite the contrary. Happi-ness comes from a new car. A loving kiss cannot be yours without the in-tervention of a new diamond. And

this past Christmas, the hot gift was apparently a “hover board,” that as far as I can tell sells for about $500!! That seems like a whole neighborhood full of Tupperware! You get the picture. In such a culture, it’s pretty easy to get our priorities mixed up and be-come captured by the pursuit of more “stuff.”

God suggests another way. God pro-vides everything we need, so rather than become caught up in the never-ending pursuit of happiness through possessions, God suggests using our bounty to help the poor, to heal the sick, to feed the hungry. At First Church, we practice Extravagant Generosity every day by giving to and supporting a multitude of amazing ministries that reach those in great need. Our gifts of time and money demonstrate that many in our church family have discovered the joy and fulfillment that comes from service to

God rather than the relentless pursuit of other priorities.

We are planning another amazing year of impactful ministry at First Church. Have you found your place in one of these ministries? Does your giv-ing come from a joyful heart resulting from a growing faith?

I hope all of us can discover the sim-ple joys in life like the Tupperware cupboard, so that we can be more fo-cused on finding God’s direction for our lives. Fun times are ahead in min-istry at First Church!

Chris HawkinsFinance Committee

We can get great joy from the simplest things.

Christmas Packed Up One of my responsibilities for Christ-mas Eve was to help First Church warmly welcome over 1000 family, friends, and visitors into worship. We had more than 100 volunteers serve in hospitality and worship leadership. From greeting, to ushering, to serv-ing communion, to singing and more; we made a difference in the lives

of those who passed through our doors for an evening of worship! Thank you! But now it’s February. I’ve packed up all of my Christmas decorations and taken all of the lights down. (I hope you have, too.) The only remnant of Christmas left in my house is the peppermint

hand wash, and that’s about gone. I would guess you’ve put away Christ-mas, too. However, in the midst of cleaning up, did we pack away our Christmas spirit? During Christmas, we invite people to our homes, to parties, to concerts. Many of us invited family members to one of the candlelight services on Christmas Eve. That Christmas spirit of hospitality and invitation needs to continue throughout the year. If you packed it away with the ornaments, go unpack it today. I’ll wait. Invite your friends to join us for wor-ship, a class, or an event. When you enter the church parking lot, help others to the doors when it’s snowy. When you enter the sanctuary, greet people you don’t know and learn their names. If you see a new family, help them find the kids’ bags, children’s bulletins, bathrooms. Ask a student how their classes are going. Call those you haven’t seen in worship and let them know they are missed. Let your light shine.

Sami MarasiganDirector of Evangelism

Radical Hospitality

Michele & Rita Diarrassouba greetingon Christmas Eve.

Rhea Marasigan & Pat Shaffer greeting on Christmas Eve

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In You I am Well PleasedWhat if our health or mobility is failing? What if our relationships are strained or our loved ones have died? What if our possessions are stripped away or we dis-cover that they are meaningless? Is there anything—is there one thing—that can carry us through?

As a chaplain at First Church (as well as Spectrum Health and GIFT), I of-ten engage in heart-to-heart conversa-tions with people who are asking such questions. Perhaps right now your life is full of joy because of meaningful work, school, or activities with family and friends. Good! Enjoy these gifts, and give thanks. A time comes in every-one’s life, however, when we find that our losses lead us to ask some profound questions about life.

So what is the one thing we need to know when all else fades or fails? We can find it in the story of the baptism of Jesus, which is one of the lectionary passages every year on the Sunday after Epiphany (an ancient Christian holiday celebrated on January 6). Appropriately, this year we also renewed our baptism vows in church on this particular Sun-day, January 10.

The late Henri Nouwen, a Catho-lic priest who was one of the greatest

spiritual writers of the 20th Century, re-flected on Jesus’ baptism in his book Life of the Beloved. He focused on the words from God the Father at the baptism of Jesus, “You are my beloved son. In you I am well pleased.”

Nouwen believed that God says those words to us, too. Not in exactly the same way since we are not (as Christ is) fully human and fully divine. However, the Bible teaches us that we are beloved children of God and that God delights in us. As followers of Jesus our faith journey (like that of Jesus) is rooted in our baptism and in those affirming words of God the Father to Jesus.

Imagine going through life with these words from God resonating deep in your heart: “You are my child, and I love you. In you I am well pleased.” Or as the CEB version says, “In you I find happi-ness.” How do you respond when you reflect on this? I find myself thinking of John Wesley’s description of his own spiritual renewal, that his heart “was strangely warmed.”

When we go through life with the deep assurance that the Creator of the uni-verse loves us and is pleased with us, we can face life with joy, peace, and confi-dence. We can treat others with coura-geous love. We can face loss and suffer-ing with hope.

Sometimes, however, we forget who we are and whose we are. So we need to be reminded.

Since I joined the church staff in Sep-tember, I have enjoyed meeting many of our members in hospitals, nursing homes, senior living centers, homes, or church. I see my role as simple: to re-mind those I meet of God’s words to us in our baptism, “You are my beloved child. In you I am well pleased.” I don’t necessarily say these precise words; there are lots of ways to communicate God’s love. But that message undergirds all of my pastoral care.

I think that’s a good way to see all of our congregational care here at First Church—whether formal or informal. We remind each other about who we are as God’s beloved children. It’s a role we can all play, isn’t it?

Rev. Jim LucasChaplain

Compassionate Care

A time comes in everyone’s life, however, when we find that our losses lead us to ask some profound questions about life.

See the baptism-themed stained glass win-dows in the church’s chapel.

The church’s baptism font is at the front of the sanctuary to remind us of our baptism.

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firstchurch@grandrapidsfumc.org facebook.com/grandrapidsfumc twitter.com/FUMC_GR

First United Methodist Church227 Fulton St EGrand Rapids, MI 49503-3236

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

NON-PROFIT ORGU.S. POSTAGE

P A I DPERMIT #354

GRAND RAPIDS, MI

Wednesday, February 10at 7 pm in the sanctuary

Ash Wednesday

Service

Celebration of the Arts — Gallery Walk-Through• Sunday, February 14 from 9:15-10:15 am and 1:45-2:45 pm and Wednesday, February 17 from 12:00 - 1:00 pmAdults are invited to experience the show through the special insight of Nancy Clouse, artist and retired faculty member from Grand Rapids Community College.

“A Celebration of Jazz” — Concert by Grand Rapids Jazz Orchestra with vocalist, Edye Evans Hyde • Sunday, February 14 – 3:00 pm The Grand Rapids Jazz Orchestra is West Michigan’s premiere Big Band jazz ensemble. They have recently been featured with top jazz solo artists, Phil Woods and Randy Brecker. For this concert

they will join with jazz vocalist, Edye Evans Hyde. For more information on the Jazz Orchestra, see www.grjo.com. Free will offering.

“A Celebration of Brass” — Beaumont Brass Concert • Sunday February 21 – 3:00pmThe Beaumont Brass is a brass quintet whose members include faculty mem-bers and graduate students in the MSU College of Music. The Beaumont Brass has performed throughout Michigan, the Midwest, and has also appeared with the Empire Brass and the Canadian Brass. Free will offering.

One of the largest in the country!

art exhibit hours:Open to the public

February 13 - 23daily 10:00 am - 6:00 pm

February 24 - 10:00 am - 1:00 pm

CelebrationArtsof the

Please help us spread the word about this great event! For more information visit www.theCelebrationoftheArts.com