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2cc.org
January 1 5, 2020
Dear Friends of Second Church,
Do y ou know this one?
Question: How do y ou know that the Gospels cannot beliterally true? Answer: Because in the Gospels, Jesus is a m an ov er thirty ,and he still has twelv e friends.
(Ok, Bible scholars, I see y ou: eleven friends).
Leav ing the claim s about Scripture for another tim e, there’ssom ething to the joke that a lot of m en will quicklyrecognize.
Though the reasons — and the pretexts — are m any , m en’s social circles often shrinkdram atically as we hit m iddle age.
When I was y oung, I rem em ber m y m other occasionally bringing this up with m y dad. Hewould inv ariably reply : “I could hav e plenty of friends…[insert dram atic pause here] if Iwanted any.” Then he would sm ile. My m other alway s m ade it clear that she did notapprov e, ev en though she knew this was inv ariably com ing. (Her equally inv ariabledisapprov al serv ed only to encourage him , I am sorry to report.)
I’m old enough that I also rem em ber how com m only this used to get chalked up to the tim eand attention that m en gav e to their careers.
That theory doesn’t hold water for m e, particularly now that I share m y life with at least oneother adult who is in the m idst of a busy career, herself, and who still m akes tim e for a lot ofactiv e friendships. All throughout m y childhood, the sam e was true of m y m om .
Yet I struggle with it alm ost as m uch as m y father did back in those y ears.
Long retired now, he has transform ed dram atically and is social both to a degree and in way sI could nev er hav e im agined. “Gotta go,” he said to m e a few y ears ago on the phone as ourcall was winding down, “I’m late for doubles.” Then he hung up. “You’re late for what?!” Ireplied to a dial tone.
It’s hard to picture this, and ev en harder to picture it as m y own future.
Of course, friendship is m uch m ore than just doing things together. The deepest friendshipshav e a fair degree of m utual v ulnerability , not to m ention the honesty that v ulnerabilityrequires. That isn’t alway s easy for som e m en to talk about, but trust m e, all of us know it’strue.
Liz is alway s struck by how m y oldest friends and I seem to pick up where we left off, ev enwhen we hav en’t seen each other in a y ear. The talk between us is nev er “sm all.”
But as she insists, y ou can’t just bank the coals at the back of the fireplace forev er and expectthem to keep glowing. Ev en old friendships need the annual dinner in New York City , or thecertainty that y ou’ll be there for an im portant chapter in their fam ily ’s life. There are only
so m any of those y ou can m iss. Life is a series of m eetings and partings, and we m ust m eetfrom tim e to tim e, lest we part for good.
This Sunday in church, we’ll read the story of a v ery particular instance of m eeting, whenJesus calls the first disciples, the particular friends with whom he shared m inistry from thebeginning.
So m uch of the power of those relationships com es from the sense that they ’re workingalongside one another, building som ething truly im portant in the nam e of God.
Our friendships m ay look quite different than those do. Yet the sense that calling unfoldsthrough relationship, and that relationship itself is part of the calling, rem ains an im portantlesson.
Through so m uch that changes, there is m uch that still abides, and there are those whorem ain at the ready to hear news of us and how we are faring. Ev en Jesus counted on hisfriends.
May ours know they can count on us.
See y ou in church,
Max's Sermon this week isbased on Scripture from:
John 1:29-42
If you would like to hear pastSermons you can
find them on our website:2cc.org.
C o ffee Ho ur – C o ffee Ho ur – there is a sign-up sheet in Fletcher Hall for those who would like to bring bakedgoods for “Sunday Morning Coffee Hour.” We recommend that you bring approximately
four dozen bite-size items. The church will continue to supply fruit and beverage. Yo u can al so si gn-up vi a emai l Yo u can al so si gn-up vi a emai l [email protected] [email protected] rg .
Joe T. (Happy) Imm, Jr., 90, father of Mamie Lee, passed away on January 10, 2020. We extend ourprayers and sympathy to Mamie, Jim, Melanie, Caroline and family. Visitation will be held at Coxeand Graziano funeral home on Hamilton Avenue, on Wednesday, January 15, 3:00-7:00 p.m., andthe funeral will be held at 2cc on Thursday, January 16, 10:00 a.m. A reception will follow inFletcher Hall. Followed by burial in Nassau Knolls Cemetery, Port Washington, NY. In lieu offlowers, please consider memorials to The Mississippi Delta Chinese Heritage Museum(https://chineseheritagemuseum.org/), Susan D. Flynn Oncology Nursing Training andDevelopment Fund at Greenwich Hospital (https://giving.greenhosp.org/giving/honor-causes/flynn-fellowship/), or a charity of your choice.
Penny Allison died on Sunday, January 12, 2020. Penny is the wife of Rev.Ronald Allison who served as the Senior Minister here from 1992-1998. Pennyand Ron have been married since 1964. Penny was a wonderful pianist, andplayed at Second Congregational Church throughout their time in Greenwich.We extend our condolences to Rev. Allison and his family.
Mark your calendars...
RSVP to ShawnRSVP to Shawn
A Note from the Church Office...
We recently installed a new phone system, and the following will make itmuch easier for you to reach the church office or any staff member:
As soon as you hear the voice system, you can press 0 for the operator ordial the ext. number listed below and you will connect to the person you are
trying to reach.
Gloria LaDestro x120 or 0Pam Ferrel x123Julie Muratore x122Max Grant x121Shawn Garan x125
In addition, here is an updatedlist of the 2cc staff emails:
Alexander Constantine x129Heidi Haskins x128Jessica Stanciu x131Manny Fonseca x124Jean Thomson x132
[email protected]@[email protected]
[email protected]@[email protected]@2cc.org
[email protected] (jeanThomson)
Around Town...
January 236:30 – 8:00 pm
YWCA GreenwichEvent is FREE and open to the public to honor the legacy ofDr. Martin Luther King, Jr., YWCA Greenwich is proud to
co-sponsor and host a panel discussion with:
Sheryl Battles, Vice President, Global Diversity, Inclusion andEngagement, Pitney BowesGretchen Carlson, American television commentator, journalist, andauthorDenise W. Merrill, Connecticut Secretary of the StatePatti Russo, Executive Director, Women’s Campaign School at YaleUniversity
Click here for more information
Join Special Education Legal Fund & Project CASY at 2CCfor an evening of large screen video gaming!
On Saturday, February 1st from 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. join S.E.L.F. &PROJECT CASY (Community Autism Socials - YALE) for an evening of pizza and
LARGE SCREEN GAMING for kids, including your favorites -- Nintendo Switch, WiiU, Playstation, X-Box games like Fortnite, MLB, Star Wars, RockBand, and manymore! Also Virtual Reality and retro gaming systems - think Atari, Sega, and PS
Classic! Board games, corn hole & other activities available also!
Adults and children ages 6-16 welcome & the event is FREE andOPEN TO ALL.PREREGISTRATION IS REQUIRED:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mobile-video-game-arcade-event-tickets-89967315663?aff=2CC
Do you "Like" us?
Be sure to follow us on Facebook & Instagram& tag us in any of your#2CCGreenwich photos!
