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May
2008 Calendar
Click
here for the
Current Smyrna
Calendar.
Summer Worship Schedule
 Beginning
Sunday, June 1, we will be moving to our summer
schedule. Worship will begin at 10 a.m. Youth Sunday
school will continue to meet during the worship hour for the summer.
Adult classes will be on hiatus during the summer and resume in the
fall.
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2008
Graduates If you or
someone in your family is graduating from 8th grade, high
school, college, grad school, trade school, etc. please fill out
the following PDF form and return it to Angie Stierle, Board of
Christian Education, no later than Sunday, May 11th.Graduates
will be honored on Sunday, May 18.
Click
here to open the application
form (You will need the Acrobat Reader.) |
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May Church Events-
special reasons to attend
May 4- New Member
reception- Please come and support our new members.
May 11- 9 AM Mother’s Day
breakfast- prepared by the men of our church. Strengthen the
Church offering- This special offering that helps to fund
leadership for new churches, and supports renewal programs for
congregations.
May 18- Rev. Jack
Takayanagi will led worship while Pastor Dave is back in
Wisconsin attending his son’s PhD. Graduation ceremony. Smyrna
honors its own graduates.
May 25- Memorial Day
weekend |
Lenten Church Banks
Our Lenten projects helped us to remember that
there is more to a church than just a building — even as we got closer
to breaking ground on our building addition.
Supported by the Oregon City High School Key club donation of $75, we
raised almost $300 to buy books for the boys at the Maclaren Youth
Detention Facility. So far we have contributed 47 books to the library.
We also continued to support the Molalla Service Center both with food
and with money during Lent. Our monetary collection for the season was
$134.41. Remember the Service Center as often as you can — Chuck doesn’t
mind making extra trips to deliver the food.
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 Share
your memories and pictures
Did you grow up with Smyrna? Or did you find
Smyrna as an adult? If you have pictures or anecdotes about
Smyrna’s church life in years gone past, the Behold!! would be a
great place to share them.
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Camp Adams
Deadlines!
If you are interested in
attending Camp Adams during the summer of 2008, please see
Levonne Gano, or call her(503)651-2044, to pick-up registration
forms. Camp fees are reduced by $10.00 for those who meet the
early registration deadline.
Forms from Smyrna folk are sent
together to the conference office and must be turned in to
Levonne by May 10 in order to arrive in time for the discount.
Levonne will be happy to assist you in completing the forms and
answering any questions.
The final Registration deadline
is June 8. An exciting new way to save another $15, is to bring
a friend who has never attended Camp Adams before. Both you and
your friend get the discount.
If you are over 16,
consider volunteering at Camp Adams to earn credit towards a
camp session for you, a friend or relative. Camp fees cover:
Program materials
All meals and lodging
A camp t-shirt
A camp picture
A week of fun and fellowship
The theme for 2008 is “the care
of God’s creation . . . the land, the plants, the animals, the
fish, ourselves, other people . . . everything.” |
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Bob Kyrk
Blanche Lindland
Linda Melcher
Norton Nicholson
Arlene Peterson
Larry Sano
Josette Waitman
Evelyn Wormdahl
Eleanor Eyman
Beverly Yoder
Mark Hall
Laurie Chilcote
Mickey Hester
Jack & Willa Kieling
Gale Blatchford
Dick Cheadle
Kent Fisher
Helen Kappler
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No matter who you are,
or where you are on life’s journey,
you are welcome here.
Mission Statement
Smyrna United Church of Christ is striving to be:
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A place of peace where we teach the word of God and the story of God’s
love. |
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A spiritual haven where we accept and care for all humanity in an
outreach of grace. |
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A lighthouse of God’s light, where worship, teaching, learning and
spiritual growth take place in community powered by thought and action. |
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A Christian people, working for God’s realm in ecumenical
harmony with other people of faith and conviction.
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Please let us know if you want to
be removed from the Behold!! mailing list.
You may also choose to view a very
colorful version at our church website,
www.smyrna-ucc.org . If you would prefer it to
the printed edition, we can arrange that too. You will be
reminded each month when a new Behold!! is available.
Contact
smyrnaucc@canby.com
or
behold-email@smyrna-ucc.org
Announcements are available on our
website each week as well.
In order to avoid an interruption,
let us know if you have a change of address. |
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I Don’t
Agree?
The United Church of Christ has been in the news more than usual lately.
Barack Obama attends a large UCC church on the south side of Chicago,
and some of his minister’s statements have made national headlines. Mr.
Obama has indicated that he didn’t always agree with his minister. The
whole controversy has me thinking about sermons, and how to react when
you don’t agree with the preacher.
First, I am reminded of the time about 20 years ago when my family was
church shopping. My son, Ben, wanted us to attend a very conservative
church because he had several good friends who attended the church. When
I told Ben I didn’t think the same way as the people in that church he
replied, “What difference does that make? I never believe what they say.
I just want to go where my friends go.”
The UCC comes out of a tradition of emphasizing independent, autonomous
congregations. We also believe in independent thought for the
individual, and do not make any creed a requirement for membership. We
are supposed to think for ourselves.
As protestant Christians, we also believe that each of us has a direct
relationship with God. No priest is an intermediary for us with God. I
like to say we are all the same distance from God.
The pastor stands in the pulpit every Sunday, and shares his or her
faith. In our tradition, the pastor is well educated, and has spent at
least 3 years studying the scriptures, and many more years praying and
reading about God’s Word. Of course, trained pastors often don’t agree
with each other, so it shouldn’t be too surprising if our members don’t
always agree with the pastor.
So what do we do when we don’t agree with the pastor? In my case, I
would love to hear from you. We are all pilgrims, trying to find our way
in the world. I have tremendous respect for all of the opinions in our
congregation- and I know I am not always right. I also agree with John
Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church, who said, “We don’t all
have to think the same, to love the same.”
So when we don’t agree with each other, let’s search for God’s will
together, rejoicing in the blessings of each others faith and
remembering that life is not black and white, but a rainbow of different
colors.
Peace,
--- Pastor Dave
DavidAkers@smyrna-ucc.org
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MaY
Lectionary Readings
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May 4
Acts 1:6-14
1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11
John 17:1-11 |
May 11
Acts 2:1-21
1 Corinthians 12:3-13
John 20:19-23 |
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May 18
Genesis 1:1-2:4
2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Matthew 28:16-20 |
May 25
Isaiah 49:8-16
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Matthew 6:24-34 |
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Opportunities
to SERRV
I’ve heard many remark, “I don’t
need any more stuff!” as they pass the “Greater Gift” table
after worship. Of course I think we have lots of gift ideas when
we display them on the last Sunday of the month.
Now you can bring hope back to
Kenya! SERRV is asking for donations to help the people there.
The violence has ended but millions of people have lost their
homes, possessions and jobs. Tourism is the foundation of the
Kenyan economy but who would want to visit there right now? They
need our help in rebuilding homes, workshops and replacing tools
to keep people working until life returns to normal. Your
donation will be sent immediately as received.
We do have a new catalog you can
order from throughout May. The shipment should be back in the
middle of June. Now is your chance to choose exactly what you’d
like!
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UCY
NEWS:
On March 23rd - The UCY provided a
delicious Easter Breakfast and served approximately 70 people. They had
a mush bar, some baked ham, muffins, fruit, and some juice, milk, and
coffee. Much thanks goes out to the UCY, the people that donated some
food, Fred and Kay Parish (Tonnee's parents), Rod and Pat Bullard, and
my sister - Angie Stierle. Thank you very much for all of your wonderful
help. It was really appreciated.
Five UCY kids & five Adults went to
Rosse Posse Acres Elk Ranch in Molalla on April 20, ‘08. We all had a
really good time listening to a informative talk about Elk Ranching by
Alan Ross, looking at the pretty Elk, petting the animals in the Petting
Zoo and browsing thru their Gift Shop. The weather worked out perfectly
for us, although it was a bit chilly. While we listened to the talk, it
hailed, and when we were ready to go look at the Elk, it was a beautiful
sunny sky. 
Treasurer’s Report
Gen Fund Balance 01/01/2008 $13,422.16
Receipts 21,949.67
Expenses (16,925.74)
Balance 03/31/2008
$18,446.09
— Irene Schriever
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