8473 South Howell Avenue Oak Creek, WI 53154-0288 - National ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Book Review A String of Remindings Riding along on a discoverer’s journey by Burk Cree Review of America’s Prophet: How the Story of Moses Shaped America by Bruce Feiler Harper Perennial, 384 pages, $14.99 I long have encountered, with glancing blows, books which I thought were not for me, only to find myself utterly wrong. In point of fact, my library is made up mostly of volumes like that. Add another to the list. We have need of a book such as this. For it is a reminder. Indeed, it is all reminding, remembering, recalling. And we continuing Congregationalists get early and high credit for our own Pilgrim forebears at Plymouth. Bruce Feiler makes a nice and much-needed argument for our heritage of freedom, and he does so by linking our nation all the way back to the very beginnings with the Mayflower Pilgrims, and from there back to Moses and that first Exodus. He reminds us of much; but, surely, is there not much that we need to be reminded of? Indeed this book—ten chapters in more than 350 pages—is simply a long “String of Pearls” of remindings: The Pilgrims and their great Exodus to the New World; the birth of our nation (with the Liberty Bell) and George Washington as an American Moses; slavery and the Civil War (with much about our Beechers) and Moses-like Father Lincoln; the Underground Railroad, the Statue of Liberty with its Masonic elements, the more recent civil rights struggles, the celluloid Mosaic creations of Hollywood—and in this latest edition, even a new chapter on the great evangelist George Whitefield. Was it not Winston Churchill who said that knowledge is of two kinds? The first is, simply, “knowing something”; the second, knowing where I can find the knowledge, which I don’t now have. This entire book is about that second kind of knowledge. Mr. Feiler allows us to tag along with him as he goes out in search of knowledge; the book is the story of his collecting, from here and there, the stuff which makes up the book. It is a clever way of going at things. It is not really a trick or a stunt, it is the way he has chosen to teach us. And with our journey along the author’s path, we discover what he discovers, we stumble on to what he stumbles on to, we learn what he learns, and we witness as knowledge jumps over from Mr. Churchill’s second category into the first. It is a warm feeling he causes us to feel, as we learn this new knowledge along with him through many searches. Bruce Feiler is a popular writer with a large following and is known to many through his PBS, NPR, CNN and Fox News appearances. He writes from the perspective of a believing and practicing Jew; and he tells how the Acts of Remembering are central to his faith, back to Moses, “America’s Prophet.” In doing so, he reminds us how essential is the very same for us and our own faith and belief. Thank you, Mr. Feiler. bu r k E r t cr E E is a Congregationalist living and working in Zurich, Switzerland. Web savvy ministry Center for Congregational leadership olivet, Michigan Workshop—Saturday, March 19, 2011, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. • Technology and its impact on ministry • Social media—forms of communication • Web sites that work • Ethics and policies • Build your own Web site • Set up a Facebook account • Meeting rooms and document sharing seminar Cost: $ 20, includes lunch Contact rev. dr. Betsey mauro bmauro@naccc.org; 800-262-1620, ext. 12 or 269-749-7228 23
Marie Bouchard Along the Way News of local churches, state and regional associations, and individual Congregationalists lasting legaCy—The Center for Congregational Leadership has received a gift of approximately 5,000 volumes from the professional library of rev. dr. arvel m. steece. The rev. mike Fales, rev. Jack Brown, Blake Walters, Jean Paul Cortes, and Frank Palacios traveled from Olivet College to pick up the collection, arriving Jan. 4 in Florence, Mass., where they stayed overnight and enjoyed fellowship with the Rev. Irv Gammon and his wife. The next morning the crew, augmented by Gammon, drove a U-Haul to the Steece home in Shelburne Falls, Mass., and spent the day packing books under the watchful eye of Dr. Steece, 89, a famously genial and erudite keeper of the Congregational Way. “We all learned a lot that day about history, hymnology, special authors, publishers, and Arvel’s vast knowledge of the NACCC,” said Gammon. A flat wooden roof crowns the newly restored belfry tower of Barkhamsted Center Church. 24 Mike Fales Arvel M. Steece with his books. The collection of pastoral, theological, and historical works, to be known as the Arvel M. and Kathleen Steece Theological Collection, is now owned by the Center but will be housed, catalogued and managed by the Burrage Library at Olivet College, according to the rev. dr. Betsey mauro, dean of the Center. Once catalogued, most volumes will be available for circulation, while others will be available at the Center for research purposes. CroWn oF glory—First Congregational Church, Barkhamsted, Conn., capped a long and painstaking restoration of its historic meetinghouse, known as Barkhamsted Center Church (see this issue’s front cover), by erecting the newlyrestored belfry tower on Dec. 29, 2010. The new belfry tower was built by Pierce Builders, Inc., of Granby, Conn. The church started the project more than 20 years ago. The meetinghouse was placed on the State Register of Historic Places in 1988 and became part of the Barkhamsted Center Historic District in 1999. The restoration of the belfry tower has been financed in part by the State of Connecticut utilizing State Bond Funds administered by the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism. All work is in conformance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Guidelines for Historic Buildings. The entire restoration project was also supported by two separate loans from the Fellowship of Connecticut Congregational Christian Churches. Members of the church’s Restoration Committee over the 22 years of the project were Bonnie Boyle, leslie Cosgrove, Harriet Winchenbaugh, and the late Pat Pasqualucci. The church’s interior was also repainted with historic colors, and that work, overseen by Janet Bailey and performed by Jim Parrott, was completed just before the erection of the tower. “First Congregational Church is the largest and most prominent building remaining in the village [part of which was lost in the creation of a reservoir early in the 20th century],” according to a note from Greg Farmer, circuit rider for the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation. “The church members are to be commended for continuing to preserve and utilize the historic 1844-45 building. The completion of the upper stage of the belfry returns a missing element and restores the balance and classical beauty of the Greek Revival-style building.” Pilgrim marCH—First Congregational Church of Naples, Fla., finds its own ways of holding the banner high in a region unaccustomed to Congregational churches. On Sunday, Nov. 21, 2010, the rev. les Wicker and about 30 members marched through town in traditional “Pilgrim” garb. Wicker and rick scott, beating a drum with a wooden spoon, led congregants down Immokalee Road, drawing the attention of passers-by. The Sunday sermon focused on the Pilgrims and included a dialogue with Wicker in the role of Governor William Bradford and Peter Tallman playing Miles
Page 1 and 2: 8473 South Howell Avenue Oak Creek,
Page 3 and 4: 2 From My Heart To Yours Too quick
Page 5 and 6: 4 Relation A more rational approach
Page 7 and 8: An early map of the Massachusetts B
Page 9 and 10: Gov. John Winthrop, guiding spirit
Page 11 and 12: CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION GOd GAV
Page 13 and 14: 12 The Power of the Resurrection A
Page 15 and 16: An EpicTale The The story of Wiscon
Page 17 and 18: National Association of Congregatio
Page 19 and 20: Desert Botanical Gardens 18 SPECIAL
Page 21 and 22: The Above: Using their famous Golde
Page 23: The idea of the church being a volu
Page 27 and 28: accepted in. It is important to und
Page 29 and 30: Morgan Scott Project volunteers pac
Page 31 and 32: 30 NetMending by Rob Brink Every mi

8473 South Howell Avenue Oak Creek, WI 53154-0288 - National ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?