iHOPE

Saying 'Good-bye' to Audrey McLeod

  Today was Audrey's last day on staff at New Hope.  Starting with part-time and moving to full-time, Audrey has served on staff as the Director of Lay Ministries for five years.  We are going to miss her.

  Audrey's passion as long as I have known her has been to help people find the mission in their life that is fruitful and fulfilling.  She has done that at New Hope since she joined the church.  She did it while she was an Elder and continued with that ministry while she was on staff.

  Now Audrey is taking that same passion to a new arena.  She is starting a new ministry that works with business people who are trying to bring Christ to work with them.  Her "Success Connections" group focused on independant business people, sole proprieters and those who spend a lot of their working day on their own.  There is a huge need there.  God and Audrey are trying to meet it.

  One of the questions I get is, "Who will we get to replace Audrey?"  My response is typically, "We aren't going to try to replace Audrey."  So much of Audrey's job description evolved around her gifts and talents, it would be silly to try to find the same thing in another person. Not only that, but Audrey's job description was in the process of some major changes even before the decision to start a new ministry.

  There is a great need in our congregation and area to help connect people to significant realtionships within the church.  Whether it is a Home Group, a Support Group, a Ministry Team or something else, we are looking for ways to connect folks into a places where they are known, encouraged, challenged and supported in their Christian life.  Our Personnel Committee is looking at ways to find someone who can help us do that, while at the same time maintain the efforts to connect people into a place of service and ministry.

  We'll hear more about that in the future.  For now, I want to say 'Thank you' to Audrey for the last five years at New Hope.  We are a better church because of her and her ministry. we are looking forward to what God is going to do next in her life and at New Hope.

Same Kind of Diffrent As Me

  We ran out of copies of our Pastor's Book Club selection, Same Kind of Different As Me on Sunday so we have ordered more.  You can pick up a copy of the book at local bookstore (it has been on the bestseller list).  You can click on the book cover on the left and it will take you directly to Amazon.com wher you can order it online. If you wait till Thursday, the books we ordered will have arrived and you can pick up a copy then.

  Its a great story.  Its a true story- and the story is still continuing!  The authors were here in Denver a couple months ago to talk about there book and update people on what has happened since its release.

Family Mission Trip- update

  The Family Mission Trip Team has arrived in New Mexico and is hard at work.  Check out the picture (you can enlarge it by clicking on it).

The group is at Sacred Mountain Camp in Laguna, New Mexico.  Everyone arrived safely and it looks like they are already hard at work.  Please keep them in your prayers.  They will be sharing a little bit of their trip next Sunday morning.

  As we get more news- and photos, we'll post them here.

Family Mission Trip

  Most people have heard about our annual Youth Mission Trip, but do you know about our Family Mission Trip?

   Here are two of our youngest 'missionaries', Olivia & Colette. They are going along with their families and several more to Mexico.  They meet up on Friday and return the next Friday (August 3).

  Trish Vachris is helping to organize this new venture.  Here is part of what she wrote earlier today:

The trailer is packed, the road is in front of us and we can't wait to see what God has in store for us. The Vachris family and the Oestman family will be leaving this (Thursday) evening and the Codys, Rechignacs and Schroeders will be leaving Friday around 8 am.  All of us will me at the camp site in New Mexico between 6 & 8 pm on Friday evening.

We have our digital cameras packed and will be ready to share our trip's experiences on Sunday, August 5th. We will be officially returning on Friday, August 3rd late in the evening...We ask that you keep all our families in your prayers this week as there is a lot of travel and a lot of hard work that needs to be accomplished.

New Hope History: pt. 2

Click on the picture to enlarge it.  When you do, you'll see some significant things.  These were taken from our roof about 8-9 years ago.   Actually, its the things you won't see that are most significant. 

  First, you won't see Prairie Hawk Drive.  The 'road' used to end with our driveway.

  Second, you won't see the Fire Station. There was no need for one back then, because there weren't that many houses.

  Third, there is no Fellowship Hall there.  The church facility ended with the back wall of the sanctuary.

  It is common to talk about how fast things change around here.  Sometimes it helps to have a picture so we can see the changes.

  In 2000, we dedicated the new Fellowship Hall, CE Area, Welcome area and Kitchen.  In the process, we doubled the square footage of the church.  We thought it would take a long time to 'fill-up' those spaces with people.  It took about a year.

  Not long after, the Fire Station and Prairie Hawk Drive showed up.  The population in our area needed more roads and a Fire Station close by. People keep coming and now the Town has plans to widen Prairie Hawk to four lanes. 

  On July 10, Session made the decision to approve the expansion project that will again almost double the square footage of the church.  It is a huge undertaking. It is easily the biggest change for New Hope since the decision was made to create New Hope less than 20 years ago.  It will affect us and our community for decades to come.

  We are taking pictures again from our roof top. I wonder how different this  community will look in another 8 years.  I'm sure it will be better because there is a church that exists to help people, Find a Home, Build a Life and Make a Difference.

The 8th Deadly Sin- More Nominations

  I'm still getting more nominations  for "The 8th Deadly Sin: the one that didn't make the list, but should have."

  Nominations in the past included:

• Waste
• Indifference
• Rudeness
• Hurry
• Blame
• Arrogance
• Apathy
• War

  I have received several more including:

• Judgmentalism
• Self-Righteousness (personal & religious)

  What would you add to this list?  Time is running out for nominations- Sunday is the last day.  The 'winner' will be revealed on August 5th.

Quotables: On Greed

  The sermon on Sunday covered Greed and how it gets in the way of God's abundant life.  Here are a few more thoughts and quotes that didn't make it in the sermon but are worth noting:

Avarice, greed, concupiscence and so forth are all based on the mathmatetical truism that the more you get, the more you have.  The remark of Jesus that it is more blessed to give than receive is based on the human truth that the more you give away in love, the more you are.  It is not just for the sake of other people that Jesus tells us to give rather than to get, but for our own sakes too. (Frederick Buechner)

If money be not thy servant, it will be thy master.  The covetous man cannot so properly be said to possess wealth, as that may be said to possess him. (Francis Bacon)

He is poor who does not feel content.  (Japanese proverb)

  The first defense against Greed is to practice Contentment. The challenge is to refrain from purchasing anything unless it is necessary- for one week.  The point is not to attack possessions as something bad, but to reveal the inner voices that keep trying to convince us that happiness and satisfaction are just one purchase away. Try it for a week and then listen to the voices  that try to justify accumulating more 'stuff'. So the question remains, "How much is enough?"

 

  The second defense against Greed is the practice of Charity- using your stuff for the benefit of others.  Since the idea is build a habit of Charity, I suggest you look for lots of small ways to be charitable.  For the purpose of this week , it would be better to give 10 gifts of $10 than one gift of $100. The idea is to practice looking for and noticing where there is need and then respond with charity.

  Contentment and Charity are two habits that do more than just harness Greed, they help heal the heart and make it stronger.

 

Bill Weir: A Life Well-Lived

  Bill Weir passed away last week.   Before there was New Hope, there were congregations in Sedalia and Louviers, who shared a pastor.  Bill was one of those pastors and served at a critical time in their history.

  The previous pastor had committed suicide and parishioners were informed via a note on the door that services were canceled for the day.  As they began the hard and unwelcome task of regrouping, they found it difficult to find a new pastor.  Bill Weir was on the Committee on Ministry (COM) at the time and observing their problems remarked that he didn't understand why they were having such a hard time finding a new pastor.  One thing led to another and he became their new pastor and served them well for eight years in the late 70's and early 80's.

  When I met Bill, he was long retired but far from inactive. He would drop by from time to time and our conversations spanned from the latest books he had read to filling me in on old church history. The years had not dimmed his intellect, his heart or his spirit.

  Bill and Ruth moved north and we saw each other less and less. His final years were not kind to Bill and Alzheimer's took its toll. It always seems especially cruel when it attacks someone whose mind has always been so keen.  The last time I saw Bill was a couple years ago at Ruth's funeral. While Alzheimer's had already advanced, his spirit was as bright as ever. In some ways, that was always the essence of Bill- a buoyant spirit and a servant heart.

  Funeral services will be at New Hope this Saturday (July 14) at 10:00 am.  Even though most of the people who now attend New Hope won't remember Bill, his fingerprints are on this congregation.  More than that, his heart is part of our soul.

New Hope History: Pt.1

  I mentioned yesterday the decision to proceed with the expansion of New Hope.  We talk about how the community and the church has changed in the 18 years since it was chartered, but nothing makes the point like a picture. 

I took a series of pictures when I first arrived 11+ years ago in order to document some of the changes we all knew were coming.  This picture is looking West where the new Sanctuary and CE Area will be built.  Once upon a time it was the playground that kids played on after (during?) Sunday School.  You can also see what the area looked like before Meadows Blvd. was constructed.

  When I tell new people that New Hope has always been a church built for others- including the people who haven't moved here yet, it is hard to explain what a radical move it was to plant a church out in the middle of nothing with just the promise of people coming who would need a church when they arrived.  This picture may help.

Session Says "Go!"

  Last night (7/10), Session gave the 'green light' for the new expansion project. The Expansion Implementation Team (EIT) was directed to proceed with submitting the permits and working with Ponderosa Construction to hire the sub-contractors.  Pending the approvals by the Town and the Finance Committee, construction can begin- perhaps in September.  The Finance Committee was directed to secure the appropriate financing with the total debt not to exceed $3.8 million.  The vote was unanimous.

  There were years of preparation and decisions that led up to last night's decision. In some ways, this decision was huge (certainly the implications for our congregation and community are huge), but in other ways, it seemed like just one more step of trying to follow where God is leading.  There is a long way to go, of course.  Many steps still remain.  But we will get there the same way we got here, one step at a time.