by John Collins on April 6, 2012
As many of you already know, I started the Ninety-Day Lent and Easter New Testament reading plan early. And so, the reading I had today was Ephesians. Not the first and second chapters of Ephesians, nor the third, forth, and fifth chapters, but instead all six chapters. That’s a large chunk of readings, especially coming after all six chapters of Galatians the day before. Back in the Gospels, Acts, and the larger Epistles the daily readings had been only two or three chapters. Why the change? Why not split these up as well? Why not balance things out so we’re reading the same number of chapters every one of the 90 days?
The most compelling possible reason I can think of is that the smaller Epistles were left together because they are small enough to be read in one sitting and splitting them into smaller chunks would make it difficult to follow the tightly woven line of reasoning they often follow. The longer books of the New Testament are also tightly woven together, but it’s harder to avoid splitting them up. Reading the six chapters of Ephesians all at once is one thing, the 28 chapters of Matthew is another.
A second, complementary reason is that by the time we get to the longer readings in Galatians, we’ve been reading the New Testament for 68 days, which means (hopefully) that our ability to focus on scripture has grown and we can better handle six straight chapters.
by John Collins on April 5, 2012
You may have noticed some paint pealing close to the wall on the ceiling in the sanctuary, on the external walls of the sanctuary or in the back stairwell going upstairs. These are all signs that some weatherproofing and restoration work needs to be done. The trustees obtained a bid from Mid-Continental Restoration (MCR), the company that repaired the southeast tower after it was struck by lightning. MCR bid for $58,185 for the work. Thinking this was high, the trustees solicited a bid from another company that came in at $131,900. At which point the original bid was readily accepted. If you would like to be a part of the preservation of our historic building, your second mile contribution would be more than welcome. Contributing is as easy as making a note on the offering envelope, or in the memo line of your check.
by John Collins on April 5, 2012
The Easter lilies that will be around the altar this Sunday were given in memory of Tracy Alban, Nolan Dean Carnes, Gates Harreld, Bill Hatfield, French Hey, James and Mary Lee Hiner, Nolan Luhn, Harold McCoy, Betty Merriman, Gary Misch, Rubye Rauch, Willard Scott, C. A. Strom, Melvin and Sarah Tibbetts, Lawrence and Mildred Wright and Marvin Zenge.
by John Collins on April 4, 2012
The Bible Gateway has an excerpt from Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Mountain Top” speech, in which he interprets the parable of the Good Samaritan. It is well worth your time.
by John Collins on April 3, 2012
A Good Friday of Tenebrae will be held at this Friday (April 6, 2012) at 7:30 pm (this is a change in the previously announced schedule). According to The United Methodist Book of Worship, “A Service of Tenebrae, or “Darkness,” is is based on a twelfth-century late night/early morning service and is an extended mediation on the passion of Christ.” This meditation includes sixteen scripture readings from the passion story according to the Gospel of John 18.1-19.42, during which time fifteen lit candles are extinguished. This service does not include a sermon.
by John Collins on April 3, 2012
The church office will be closed for Good Friday (April 6, 2012).
by John Collins on April 1, 2012
This afternoon, the youth put up the Stations of the Cross in the north end of Fellowship Hall. We’ll leave them up through next Sunday morning. Everyone is invited to participate in this devotional activity anytime the church is open.
by John Collins on March 31, 2012
The youth will be setting up the Stations of the Cross tomorrow evening. If you want to loan the church a cross for this project, you can bring it in tomorrow morning. You can put your name on your cross or we can take your picture with it. We want to make sure everyone gets their cross back.
by John Collins on March 31, 2012
Received from the Kansas East Conference office:
General Conference, April 24 – May 4
The General Conference is the top legislative body in The United Methodist Church. It meets every four years to set policy and direction for the church. It will meet April 24 – May 4 in Tampa, Fla.
The Kansas East Conference clergy delegates to General Conference are Revs. Adam Hamilton and Rena Yocom and the lay delegates are Luke Wetzel and Oliver Green.
Jenny and I would encourage you to pray for the General Conference. You can learn more about General Conference here.
by John Collins on March 31, 2012
We’ve received some questions about when a permanent Administrative Assistant will be hired. The PPR Committee is meeting this Monday, April 2, 2012 to look at the resumes that have been submitted and proceed from there.
This is the professional blog of John and Jennifer Collins. We are ordained clergy members of the Kansas East Conference of the United Methodist Church and are currently appointed as pastors of Coffeyville First.
The views and opinions expressed here are our own.
