Around Our Network / June 11, 2014

Dear friends,

This note is about how God has been moving in our Network. It doesn’t include all of the things that are happening, but hopefully it is a good compilation. Read it like a newspaper.

What’s happening in the Network? June 11, 2014

 

• We heard how people were filled with the Spirit in our Pentecost PMs

It was Pentecost this Sunday! Our congregations were on fire! The Spirit has descended and we were celebrating the church’s birthday. We creatively worshiped God at our public meetings.

At Broad & Washington -- Everything looks happy with the rainbow tongues of fire descending. Rod, Sarah, and the team sang to us and we sang back. Lots of sharing and fire. Listen to BW’s public meeting here.

At Frankford & Norris -- Elements of Mariko’s talk were evident throughout our meeting: unity was expressed through diversity; the message was clear about the wonders of God; it was an efficient work of our living temple; and it was wild and risky with love at the center. The highlight was the kids leading us in a creative action under their glittery tongues of fire installation! Listen to FN’s public meeting here.

At Marlton & Crescent -- Scott gave us a Pentecost shock when he did the entire welcome in Japanese. He helped us wrestle with the unfamiliar, and as we sang, we prayed through the words we gave and the words we received. We finished out the book of Colossians in step with Acts 2 as we pondered prayer, action, and openness (all Pentecost themes)!

At Broad & Dauphin -- Beth led us to light candles together, Jonny helped us consider the six streams of faith that have influenced us throughout the ages. Megan led us to sing the Newsboys, circa 2006, and she sounded way better than Peter Furler! Listen to BD’s public meeting here.

• The love of Circle of Hope spilled onto Frankford Ave when we celebrated Circle Thrift

The party last Friday on Frankford Ave. was a great incarnation of the success and blessing that our network of thrift stores have enjoyed over the last decade. They have blessed people locally, and globally, as well as our Network. Thank God!

• Our Design Teams discerned the languages that our region understands

Last Monday, our Design Team leaders were trained about languages that our region speaks. We want to lead people to worship God in a way they understand. This is a direct response to one of the goals we have for our Map this year. Nearly 40 of us gathered at Frankford & Norris for a very stimulating time.

• We started praying with voices from Europe and Northern Asia @ Circle of Hope Daily Prayer

In honor of Pentecost and the movement started in that one room in Jerusalem, we are remembering all of the places that the Spirit has moved across the world. Look forward to hearing from voices both past and present on our blog: cohdailyprayer2014.wordpress.com. This week is all about Eastern Europe and Northern Asia.

• Philly gathered at PrideDay, and so did we

Ben, Anthony, and Michael had a table at the PhillyPride event at Penn’s landing. We just want to be where Philly gathers. Our love and hope are felt just by our presence. Contact Ben White to find out where the Circle of Hope Summer Tour stops next.

• BD folks asked and learned about Circle of Hope

Some people interested in connecting to BD gathered in north Brewerytown for dinner and a dialogue session about Circle of Hope. The pastors sometimes host congregational times that are specifically intended to help people learn about our Network.

• Several of our pastors challenged us to be the media:

From Rod’s blog: Someone said, “Why don’t we just desert [Facebook] and stop using the medium and focus on being the medium? We already have a great communication system. It is called living in community. Let’s focus on being the media, not on conforming to some other rubric. Let’s be face to face, not Facebook.”

From Jonny’s blog: I’ll admit, it took me about a day to think about getting off social media, but I’ve decided to be the media instead of bend my knee to it. For the summer I’m going to stop posting on Facebook, stop Tweeting (and receiving push notifications every time Seinfeld tweets), and stop taking pictures of the food I’m making and posting them to Instagram.

From Nate’s weekly email to cell leaders: What social media like Facebook really does to me is that it draws me into an endless loop of meaningless information without my conscious realization. I consume it, I like it, I have my say... but I don't create anything. When I get to that place, I move from being proactive to being reactive. And I think I'm far more reactive these days than I am proactive. I realized that I'd rather create. I realized that I'd rather take you out for coffee than like your status (being face to face is far a better use of my time than being in front of a screen). I realized that I'd rather pray than check my device to see if anyone liked me enough today.

• And while you’re over at the blogs…

Did you see Rod’s post about his embarrassment of riches? Or Jonny’s about the best scene he’s seen on TV all year? The two of them also riffed on the trending Al Jazeera article about hipster gentrification and the new Amtrak mural. Jonny said he’s not waiting for economic justice. Rod wrote, “The hipsters I know are much more likely to be a good neighbor than Amtrak.”

MLK Day of Service at Circle Thrift

On Monday, more than 30 people came out to Circle Thrift Broad to do some serious cleaning, organizing, and repairing. It was an ant farm of activity. There were children, teenagers, and adults of all ages and from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, some of who grew up in Philadelphia and others who were transplants. There were volunteers who had connected to the thrift store through our various Circle of Hope congregations, as well as many new faces who had discovered the event on the MLK365 website.

This holiday, we were making one small attempt, around our city, to channel MLK as he once channeled the work of Jesus. It was a busy group that hopefully looked a lot like the beloved community that Dr. King described in his speeches and writings. It was a beautiful expression of how it is when brothers and sisters, following in the way of Jesus, live together in unity and work for the better good (Psalm 133). Not to mention all the fun that was had. Pizza Brain, a local business owned and operated by Circle of Hope partners, even donated pizza for the lunch pizza party (pictured above).

To shop, donate, or volunteer at Circle Thrift Broad, visit circlethrift.com or stop by the store. We also have a store located in the Fishtown/East Kensington area. More information can be found at the website.

Circle Thrift shares nearly triple so far in 2013!

Last year by the end of April Circle Thrift had shared $12,750 with the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). This year they have already shared $33,700 with MCC! That is nearly a tripling in giving!

The money donated to the Mennonite Central Committee is used to support peace, education, health, food, and water programs around the globe. Here are a few real ways that Circle Thrift's donations to MCC are impacting people:

Syria: MCC's work with Syrian partner organizations to respond to the basic human needs of Syrians by distributing food, blankets and kits, and supporting peacebuilding and education in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.

HIV AIDS Prevention: MCC supports volunteers, churches and organizations who are courageously speaking out to prevent the spread of HIV, caring for their neighbors and supporting those orphaned by the pandemic.

Clean Drinking Water: folks in Zambian villages are trained by Brethren in Christ Churches to maintain hand water pumps in their communities to provide access to clean drinking water.

Free Baby & Kids Goods Exchange

This past Saturday was the Free Baby & Kids Goods Exchange at our Broad & Dauphin congregation. Moms, dads, grandparents, and caregivers all came out and swapped clothing, toys, and other necessities for their smaller loved ones. The previous night was a smooth set-up thanks to the help of several Circle of Hope volunteers. Some of the clothing also came from Circle Thrift which provided an extra boost in the number of items people could choose from.

Interested in the Free Baby & Kids Goods Exchange? Go here!

Fun with Redistribution

One of our Compassion Teams, the Free Baby (and kids) Goods eXchange or "BGX" Team held another profound time for redistribution last Saturday at Frankford & Norris.  Each month at one of our sites we begin with a base of Circle Thrift-donated items for youngsters.  Team members set the space with snacks and organize according to age and size.  Well over 100 people came through this time to bring stuff, take stuff, and make some friends.

Different kinds of people come together on these occasions and this time we had regular Circle Thrift customers, recent political refugees, people getting out of homelessness, Spanish-only speakers, people who showed up just to drive people home, expecting moms in crisis, neighbors, people looking for cute things for their infants, moms, dads, caregivers, and dozens of folks referred by our allied agencies.  To witness or be part of these events is joyful and rewarding.  We are grateful for all the donations - if you want to keep making these possible, you can make a donation to either Circle Thrift location.