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
“Rejoice in the Savior always! I say it again: Rejoice! Let everyone see your forbearing spirit. Our Savior is near. Dismiss all anxiety from your minds; instead, present your needs to God through prayer and petition, giving thanks for all circumstances. Then God’s own peace, which is beyond all understanding, will stand guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7, The Inclusive Bible)
Most of us know what it is to be consumed with fear and anxiety. Maybe it was only for a short time; a near miss while driving or a loss of footing while walking in the winter, or maybe it lasted for years; a child or parent who struggled or a medical condition that threatened your well-being. In either case, the worry and distress have the potential to displace virtually everything else in our lives. We lose sleep and can’t concentrate. We find it hard to make decisions or be creative. Nothing else seems to matter to us, and we can’t seem to find our way out of it.
The above Bible passage is a good counter to our bouts of anxiety. Sometimes we roll our eyes at well-meaning friends who tell us not to worry. They often don’t take the time to find out the root of our anxiety and seem to minimize what we are going through. Hearing “Don’t worry – Be happy!” isn’t going to help much. But Paul knows what he is talking about. He writes to Philippi from a jail cell. There was definitely reason to worry, but Paul chooses not to. He found ease for his anxiety by remembering that God was working in his life, even when it seemed unlikely. He kept up his prayer life and didn’t just ask God to fix things, but also remembered to express gratitude. This allowed him to rejoice, and to remember where this was all headed.
In systems theory, anxiety is the root of a lot of our dysfunction. Anxiety short-circuits our logic and throws our decision-making process into the primitive part of our brain (sometimes called the “lizard brain,” but I don’t think that’s particularly fair to lizards!). What’s stored there, below our consciousness, are all of the patterns of behavior and reactions that were modeled for us by others when we were just forming our awareness. And the more anxious the situation, the deeper it imprinted on us. Violent episodes, angry words and actions, fear and hate, all got stored and the patterns got established as a “default setting” for tense situations. It’s why many of us hear our parents’ words coming out of our mouths when someone “pushes our buttons.”
In the life of a congregation (which is, after all, a system), this can be especially destructive. We often don’t realize how important certain things are to us until someone tries to change them. We become anxious when someone wants to use guitars instead of the organ or replace the altar with a table or take the offering before the sermon. Our anxiety overrules our logic and reverts to imprinted stores of responses and we find ourselves saying and doing things that are out of character for us. The result is more anxiety in others and before we know it, the whole system is behaving in ways that inhibit good decisions and bad behavior is rewarded by stalled projects and nothing changes.
In an interim time, this can be compounded by worry over the future of the congregation. A new minister means change, and no one can be sure the things they care most about won’t be affected. One part of the Interim Minister’s job is to lower the over-all anxiety level of the group. Often, just having someone in the position is enough to keep people from being anxious, but most of the time, the Interim works to maintain a “non-anxious presence.” Much like a control rod in a nuclear reactor, we absorb the anxiety of the system without reflecting it back into the system. (It’s one of the reasons an interim cannot be considered for the settled position – that would impair the ability to resist anxiety.)
So I do understand that there is a lot riding on decisions that will be made in the near future, but in reality, that is always the case. What is different now is that we are more aware of it, and perhaps more anxious about it. And like Paul, I am going to encourage you to “dismiss anxiety from your minds.” We make good decisions when we focus on how decisions are made. We have healthy systems when we respect boundaries and encourage honest communication and expression. And like Paul, we have to pay attention to our prayer life and remember to be grateful (and laugh a lot! Laughter is a good remedy for anxiety!). We will reach the future we want when we make decisions that are thoughtful, not fearful. Amen.
Pastor Dave
Are You Thinking of Going on a Cruise? Think Again!!
Jay and I went on a cruise along the coast of Alaska several years ago. We enjoyed it, but we didn’t realize we were helping to destroy our oceans. According to my summer newsletter from Friends of the Earth, “the massive ships often the size of skyscrapers and carrying thousands of tourists – nearly 30 million passengers cruised in 2019 – created tremendous amounts of pollution and waste that are destroying our oceans and marine life and devastating coastal communities.”
Cruise ships dump enormous amounts of waste. Glass and plastic end up in the bellies of marine wildlife. Noise from the ships impact whales and interfere with their natural behaviors. Whales also suffer violent collisions with cruise ships.
Coral reefs are being pushed to extinction by these ships. They pump oily bilge water, scrubber wastewater, hazardous waste and sewage into our oceans. The waste can increase acid in the waters while decreasing oxygen levels. These are conditions for algae blooms that threaten coral reefs and the abundant wildlife they host.
Friends of the Earth puts out an annual cruise ship report card which grades cruise giants on their environmental practices and shines a light on their push for profits over the health of our communities and oceans. To view the report card just click on the link: foe.org/cruise-report-card
Leslie Cummings, for the Creation/Justice Team
Neighbors in Need Special Offering of the United Church of Christ
The Neighbors in Need offering, which we will receive on October 2, supports the UCC’s ministries of justice and compassion throughout the United States. Two-thirds of the offering is used by the UCC’s Justice and Witness Ministries to fund a wide array of local and national justice initiatives, advocacy efforts, and direct service projects. Through our national Justice and Local Church Ministries office. You can find resources, news updates, and action alerts on a broad spectrum of justice issues by clicking this link: Justice & Local . Working with members of the UCC Justice and Peace Action Network (a network of thousands of UCC justice and peace advocates), Justice and Witness continues its strong policy advocacy work on issues such as the federal budget, voting rights, immigration, health care, hate crimes, civil liberties, and environmental justice. Neighbors in Need also supports our American Indian neighbors in the UCC. One-third of the offering supports the UCC’s Council for American Indian Ministries (CAIM). Historically, forebears of the UCC established churches and worked with Lakota, Dakota, Nakota, Mandan, Hidatsa, Arickara, and Hocak in North and South Dakota, Wisconsin, and northern Nebraska. Today there are 20 UCC congregations on reservations and one urban, multi-tribal UCC congregation in Minneapolis, Minnesota. These churches and their pastors are supported by CAIM. CAIM is also an invaluable resource for more than 1,000 individuals from dozens of other tribes and nations who are members of other UCC congregations in the U.S. With your assistance, we together can help our Neighbors in Need Please give generously. And remember, contributions to Neighbors in Need can be made online at any time. Please visit www.peopleschurchofflint.org to donate. Designate your check or electronic contribution for "Neighbors in Need" or "NiN".
Pastor Dave
Upcoming Affiliate Activities
Informational Links:
Quarterly Council Meeting Environmental Justice is Racial Justice Installation Service or Edgewood UCC, Youtube
CLICK HERE for Zoom link: Heather Cox Richardson
GOOD THINGS are HAPPENING in and
AROUND US
Search Committee Update, The Search Committee is completing the Profile of Peoples Church (a document that gathers information about a church) and will be sending it out soon to our denominations. The Profile asks questions about our history, our current faith journey, our finances, and our demographics. Through the information we have provided, the Profile will give a description of who we are as Peoples Church. The Committee has taken great care to honestly portray who we are. Applicants will read this profile and ask themselves if they can envision joining us and if they can, they will send their application. We will read each application and as a team decide which applicants, we think would be a good fit for Peoples Church. The Search Committee is mindful of what we have been entrusted to do and what the congregation has shared with us through the surveys we sent out. We are looking forward to the next stage of the process and of course to our choice of the right person to be with us on our journey.
Thanks so much!
Linda Angus, Search Committee Member
IN THE CONGREGATION
Links are on the church calendar. Need more info? Just ask!
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!