February 8th, 2012

If you have noticed the banner in the church foyer as you’ve entered, you will remember that it talks about the “rebirth” of Emmanuel.  Have you ever stopped to think that Emmanuel really has been born anew?  No, not like the legend of the Greek Goddess Venus who was born fully formed, but almost literally.  Some of us need to remember that the church doors were closed not too long ago.

We are probably in the “just into toddler” stage if you want to continue the analogy.  We’ve had to form a new organizational structure even though there are structural outlines on paper; we have had to enlist inexperienced people to grow up quickly in leadership positions; we have had to research and stumble to build or begin rebuilding resource networks.  We, as a church, are still a very young body.

However, we are also sort of a hybrid in that we are in older facilities that give us an appearance of maturity and wisdom.  Just think of the invitation you can give someone, “come along and invest your capital of energy and enthusiasm in a fantastic venture.  Join us in building a strong foundation for an exciting future”.

norm d. | church elder

January 27, 2012

It should have been spelled “weakly” last week, probably because I was trying to do too many things at the same time.  Let’s see…I had my head into cleanup of my home office (that’s what  happens when you use the table as a file cabinet), the church’s 82^nd birthday party and displays, , planning a slide show and editing the slides…ahhh, you know the routine, things that should get done, but don’t.

With all of that in mind, and especially the clean up, I noticed Fellowship Hall.  Often when we look at things for a long time they have become so familiar that we don’t see them.   It could do with a bit of clean up and repainting and I thought of the late Carl Hubbard.  He was an elder who loved Emmanuel, but he was an elder with a paint brush in his hand.  I think the navy taught him that if it didn’t move paint it.  Oh, back to FH…a fresh coat of paint (new color) on the support posts, perhaps.  A carpet cleaning job of course, or if someone wants make a gift of a new carpet, that would be truly outstanding.  Maybe some bright curtains for the windows?  It’s one of many places to start thinking about.

(reminded me of the story of Josiah in 2 Chronicles 34)

norm d. | church elder