CONGREGATION + COMMUNITY NEWS
PEOPLES PRESS
Joyfully Defiant for the Sake of a Just World
a congregation of the United Church of Christ, the Alliance of Baptists & the American Baptist Churches
INTERIM INSIGHTS
If you insist on remaining silent at this time, vindication and liberation will come to our people through another source, but both you and your family will surely die. Who’s to say? – you may have come into the royal court for just this moment. (Esther 4:14, The Inclusive Bible)
The words above (written in Hebrew originally) were sent in a note by Mordecai, a Jew living in Susa, the capitol of the Persian Empire and working for the government, to his adopted daughter, who was a member of the royal harem who had been elevated to Queen of the Empire. An edict had been issued that all Jews remaining in the Empire were to be killed in the most barbaric and cruel way. (No one in authority knew that their queen was a Jew!) So in the face of genocide, Mordecai is asking Esther to consider how and why she came to be Queen.
It is often in retrospect that we figure out the “why” of the events of our lives. What seems random and unimportant to us suddenly seems to have been part of a greater scheme or plan that as events were unfolding, made no sense to us. Maybe we only changed a well-worn routine in a very minor way, but in so doing we avoided a catastrophe. Maybe a particularly trying time in our life gave us the strength we needed to face something even worse. Maybe we were in the right place at the right time to make a major difference in someone’s life. What I like about Mordecai’s note is that it recognizes the sovereignty of God. If we say no to what God wants, God will make it happen through someone else. But at the same time, it does not let Esther off the hook. “You may have come into the royal court for just this moment.” God had a hand in positioning her for the work that needed to be done.
Maybe it’s because I have thought long and hard about my own call to ministry over the years, but I am in awe of this whole idea. Before we even know there will be a need for something, God is working to put the right people and resources into place. I normally don’t think of God as the Cosmic Puppeteer, pulling the strings that make people behave in certain ways, but over and over again, people of faith, myself included, have discerned a pattern to how God works. We look back at the events of our communities and see that God provides what is needed.
In an interim time, it is important to remember that. Before a pastor even decides to leave a congregation, God has already been working to bring the next pastor into the void. Our whole understanding of “ordination” is based on the spiritual understanding that God “ordains” people to serve. So, even now, God is working to equip and call people to serve Peoples Church of Flint, even after your next pastor is long gone!
If that sounds too deterministic to your ears, don’t worry; it sounds that way to me, too! I don’t like the idea that my career has been one long string of pre-ordained jobs. I like to think I had some say in the events of my life. But, even so, if I had said no to anything, “vindication” would have come from another source. (I sometimes imagine that there is a slight pause where God puts up a screen-saver and says, “recalculating,” before the new plan goes into effect!) And I think we can take comfort in the knowledge that this is how God works, inviting and persuading, equipping and calling, until we say “yes” to God’s work. So even now, as our search committee puts together a profile, our finance team comes up with a package of salary and benefits, and our members and friends build on the ministries we do together, God is putting into place the right person for just this moment. Amen.
Pastor Dave
It’s Not Just The Turtles
Did You Know? Single-use plastics account for 40 percent of the plastic produced every year. Did you know plastic bags and food wrappers have a lifespan of mere minutes to hours, yet they may persist in the environment for hundreds of years?
The chips that were in the bag might have been tasty but the bag… not so much.
“Once in the ocean, it is difficult—if not impossible—to retrieve plastic waste. Mechanical systems, such as Mr. Trash Wheel, a litter interceptor in Maryland’s Baltimore Harbor, can be effective at picking up large pieces of plastic, such as foam cups and food containers, from inland waters. But once plastics break down into micro-plastics and drift throughout the water column in the open ocean, they are virtually impossible to recover.”
“Millions of animals are killed by plastics every year, from birds to fish to other marine organisms. Nearly 700 species, including endangered ones, are known to have been affected by plastics. Nearly every species of seabird eats plastics.”
“Most of the deaths to animals are caused by entanglement or starvation. Seals, whales, turtles, and other animals are strangled by abandoned fishing gear or discarded six-pack rings. Micro-plastics have been found in more than 100 aquatic species, including fish, shrimp, and mussels destined for our dinner plates. In many cases, these tiny bits pass through the digestive system and are expelled without consequence. But plastics have also been found to have blocked digestive tracts or pierced organs, causing death. Stomachs so packed with plastics reduce the urge to eat, causing starvation.”
“Plastics have been consumed by land-based animals, including elephants, hyenas, zebras, tigers, camels, cattle, and other large mammals, in some cases causing death. Tests have also confirmed liver and cell damage and disruptions to reproductive systems, prompting some species, such as oysters, to produce fewer eggs. New research shows that larval fish are eating nanofibers in the first days of life, raising new questions about the effects of plastics on fish populations.”
Above is from: Plastic bag bans are spreading. But are they truly effective? (nationalgeographic.com)
Kendall Brown, for the Creation/Justice Team
GOOD THINGS are HAPPENING in and AROUND US
Transition Update, Hello Peoples People! With great strength and connectedness, we are completing the first season as a church moving through the preparation stages of finding our new pastor. We have worshiped together, prayed together, worked together, eaten together, celebrated together, and looked to our future together. The Board of Directors is communicating about the business of the church. Pastor Dave is leading and guiding us as needed. Jay, with all his discernment and love, continues to help those who have needs within our community. Carla and the Search Committee invest their time and spirit in finding our next leader. Jerry and Karla continue to help the needs of our church and office run smoothly. We have seen new faces. We have seen the reemergence of friendly faces. Together we will enter each season stronger than the one before, more dedicated to our mission, more engaged to “be the change”, and more reverent of each other.
In that vein, remember that our September 18th service will be dedicated to RIP Medical Debt Relief. There is a letter attached to the last edition of Peoples Press that details this program. Please plan to help in whatever way you can, using the link provided in that letter. You can donate on the 18th, or at any time through the link in the letter.
RIP Medical Debt link:, click here.
And as always, the board and I are here to help you as you need.
FYI: for weekly sermon information, please refer to the calendar on our church webpage:
https://peopleschurchofflint.org/
Blessings,
Jamie Schmidt, Moderator
Search Committee Update, If each of us wrote down what we anticipate our next pastor to 'look' like, I suspect we'd have 75 different responses, and that is no surprise. To be sure, as evidenced by the feedback from the surveys the search committee sent out, there is also much agreement! With each discussion by the search committee on this matter, we have affirmed that our desire is to first and foremost seek a pastor that aligns with Peoples Church's vision and mission statements as well as our Garland Declaration and defining documents. We are determined to be open to whomever aligns with our statement to live 'Jesus' way of social justice'. That person may not initially 'look' like what we individually envision or imagine, but that is part of the joy (and the challenge) of living Jesus' way, and we are often surprised by where that leads us! We strive therefore, to be open to every applicant, to listen to the Spirit's leading, to be prepared for something new, for something we didn't anticipate; or perhaps, for exactly what we imagined. As always, please continue to pray for the search committee and the applicants. Our hope is that we honor all that Peoples Church stands for.
Thanks so much!
Carla Pierik, Chair Search Committee
Upcoming Affiliate Activities
Excavating Our Roots: Baptist History and the Origins of White Supremacy in the United States
November 10-12, 2022
The Equal Justice Initiative, Montgomery, Alabama
Ticket Price: $50/person
The Alliance of Baptists Invites you to join us November 10-12 in Montgomery, Alabama for a pilgrimage to the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum as part of our ongoing efforts to become an antiracist organization. The National Peace and Justice Memorial is the nation’s first memorial dedicated to the legacy of enslavement, lynching, racial segregation, Jim Crow, and police brutality. The Legacy Museum tells the story of how our nation went from enslavement to mass incarceration. Together they provide a more full context of the history of racial violence in the United States and the contemporary manifestations of that violence. Additionally, they help to show how racial violence was and is common in our society. The hope of the museum and the memorial is that if people know what happened and is happening we will be moved to act differently and chart a different course.
The museum and the memorial are the perfect place for us, as a group of progressive and liberation-oriented Baptists, to go as we go deeper into our antiracist work. While we rightfully seek to stand on the right side of history through our actions today, the history of Baptists is one that is intimately involved in our country’s history of racial violence and white supremacy. As Baptists we must reckon with our role in a violent past that continues to shape our future. By visiting the memorial and the museum together we will get the opportunity to sit with that history and imagine new possibilities.
Conference Annual Meeting October 22 (via Zoom)
Installation of The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel, October 23 (Hybrid service)
In-person at Edgewood UCC, East Lansing, online via Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/EdgewoodUnitedChurch
COVENANT ASSOCIATION
The Covenant Association Committee on Ministry invites you to attend
“Ceremony for Blessing a New Ministry”
for Rev. Jenn Tafel
Haslett Community Church
1427 Haslett Rd.
Haslett, MI 48840
3:00 p.m. Sunday, September 25th
Clergy are invited to robe and wear red stoles.
A light reception to follow.
Quarterly Council Meeting, which gathers pastors and representatives from the churches for community building, worship, and business. It will occur Saturday morning October 15, and will be held Hybrid — in person and online both. Go to www.abcmc.org.
Informational Links:
IN THE CONGREGATION
Links are on the church calendar. Need more info? Just ask!
Thursday Book Group, is reading The History of the Bible is Black by Dr. Theron D. Williams. This book is described as, “An unveiling of truth captivating, thorough, and culturally liberating!” For more information please contact Jay Cummings at 517-392-0209.
Adult Forum, 9:30 am Sundays, is presently in-between books. We will be reading various works of poetry until our next book has been chosen. Join us either in person at church or via Zoom .
Vigil for Racial Justice is still gathering 1-2 pm Thursdays on the Genesee Courthouse lawn.
New Text Alert System. We have shifted to a new text messaging service. If you're in our church directory, you're all set. If you're not, go here to sign up!