First Sunday Worship, September 4

First Sunday Worship will be a special Taize worship experience. It was such a powerful experience in the Spring, that we decided to do one every quarter throughout the year! In case you aren't familiar with it, here are some thoughts about Taize: Instead of coming together to talk to God, the community gathers to listen. Instead of talking about Scripture, the Scripture is read and left to speak for itself in silence. By singing simple songs of prayer over and over again, the mind calms and the soul opens up: God speaks and the heart hears. We will light candles, we will gather to pray, to be silent, to be simple, to be faithful. Bob Shoenhals will lead us. Please join us for fellowship at 6:00 and worship at 6:30

A report from Sing a New Song

I have a detailed report of my experiences at Sing a New Song. I posted it on my other blog, the one I write to share gay-related news with family. I am providing a link instead of posting it here as well so that, I hope, you can explore the other topics I write about.

I don't have an exact tally of those from Michigan who attended. It is about 15 people from the Detroit Annual Conference (Adrian to Caro!) and 25 from the West Michigan Annual Conference.

I will be glad to post the experiences of anyone who wishes to write it up and send it to me. I can be reached at bellist (at) comcast (dot) net.

The date and location of the Love Your Neighbor training session (explained in the post) will be posted here as soon as I know.

Paul Kinney

Upcoming DRUM fall and winter events

These are the events on the DRUM calendar for the fall and on into the winter.

August 25-28, several DRUM members will be attending the Sing a New Song Convo in Huron, Ohio. This event is put on by Reconciling Ministries Network (see their link in the side column) and the Methodist Federation for Social Action. For all of you who attend I would be glad to post your thoughts of the event. Please send them to me.

Sunday, September 4, our First Sunday Worship will be a Taizé service of sung meditation and scripture, without Holy Communion. See the side column for the schedule of the evening.

Sunday, October 2, our First Sunday Worship will be led by Rev. Monica William, one of the pastors at Birmingham FUMC and a daughter of the Nardin Park congregation. There will also be a DRUM Leadership Team Meeting that evening at 5:00.

Sunday, October 23, the annual Fall Potluck and Program. The speaker will be Rev. Tom McCauley and his sister Rev. Elizabeth McCauley will be our guest musician.

Sunday, November 6, our First Sunday Worship will be led by Rev. Rony Veska, pastor at Ferndale FUMC; an excellent preacher who will lead us in an All Saints service of remembrance.

Sunday, December 4, our First Sunday Worship will be a Taizé service of sung meditation and scripture, with an Advent-Christmas theme

Sunday, January 1, what better way to start a new year than with our First Sunday Worship! It will be led by Rev. Weatherly Burkhead Verhelst, Associate Pastor at Utica FUMC.

Sunday, February 5, our First Sunday Worship will be led by Rev. Bob Roth, Campus Minister at U of M & on the pastoral staff at FUMC of Ann Arbor.

I will be glad to post stories of interest. Please tell me about your encounters with reconciliation. Send your thoughts to bellist (at) comcast (dot) net.

Finding welcome

I recently traveled by train to Minneapolis for the National Handbell Seminar. A large percentage of handbell choirs are in churches and we're always looking for fresh ideas of how to use bells in worship. One of our concerts was a hymn sing in a nearby church, the Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church. It was a wonderful hour of singing. The music was led by Bells of the Lakes along with the church's handbell choir, vocal choir, and organist, all directed by William Mathis, Minister of Music at the church. And when the congregation is full of musicians the singing is enthusiastic and in four-part harmony.

Halfway through the program I noticed the cloths on the pulpit and lectern were red (as appropriate for the season after Pentecost) with a rainbow pattern running through it. After the program I went looking -- and found a small banner in the narthex proclaiming the church to be a Reconciling Congregation. That felt good. I was able to talk to Bill Mathis for a few moments, hoping to gain insight that might help my own congregation. He said the decision to become reconciling was easy because there were so many gays and lesbians already in the congregation. They were one of the first churches to do so.

If you have similar stories of encounters with welcoming (or, alas, not) churches please write them down and send them to me. I'll include them on this blog. I am also interested in your stories about the Sing a New Song conference coming up later this month. You may send them to my email address: bellist (at) comcast (dot) net.

First Sunday worship, August 7

Bob Schoenhals will direct our thoughts on the topic "Stepping Through Storms" as guided by Matthew 14:22-23. We'll do some singing and discussion to round out the service. George Jonte will lead the music. Please join us for fellowship at 6:00
and worship at 6:30.