Central St. Matthew UCC Newsletter February 2013

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Central St. Matthew UCCNew Orleans, LA 70118(504) 861-8196

February 1, 2013

Distinctions, Vocabulary, and What theFuture Holds

Can we talk? Letschat a little more about

our interim ministrytogether, as we beginour fourth month

working through thistransition time together.

A question that Isometimes get: Whycant you be ourpermanent pastor?The very sweet and

wonderful thing aboutthat question is that itseems to mean that theasker would like for thatto happen. It does feel

good to know that myministry has touchedsomeone in a positive

way. Whats not to likeabout that? And, lets

celebrate the question,because . . .

. . . its a very goodsign! It says somethingvery good about you asa congregation!

1. The question

probably means thatyou are looking forwardto the end of thistransition. Thats a good

thing, because that daywill come. We want tomove toward that daywhen we can name andcelebrate the fulfillmentof the work weve donetogether. 2. Thequestion may mean that

you have been able tobond, in a positive way,with a new pastor.Thats also a sign ofhealth in a congregation.

3. Whether it seems thisway to you or not, thequestion likely says that,while pastoral leadership

is important to acongregation, pastoral

leadership is noteverything about acongregation. Who you

are as a congregationcan only be enhanced by

your professional churchleader(s); we cant make

you into something youarent already becoming,by the grace of God. So,way to go, Central St.Matthew UCC! Seekingthe mind of Christtogether, you arebecoming ready to showwho you are to a newpastor!

The two-fold answer tothe above question is:

(1) Interim pastors dospecific work with acongregation during thetransition between

settled pastors. Pastorand congregation can do

that work more freelywhen we know our timetogether is limited. (2)

To seal our agreementfor me to come here, wesigned a covenant that

says that the interimpastor will not be a

candidate for the settledpastor position. That isthe usual agreement inan interim pastorate. In

the United Church ofChrist, covenant issacred, and, as far as we

are able, we keep themfaithfully.

A vocabulary distinction:Please anticipate thecalling of your nextsettled pastor ratherthan referring to her/himas a permanent pastor.There is no such thing asa permanent pastor.

Well, theres alsoprobably no completelysettled thing about apastor, either! (Andthats a good thing!) The

better term, though, issettled pastor, whichimplies a clearly different

expectation and a lighterburden than is found in

permanence.

What about the future?

We dont know what thefuture holds; we knowwho holds the future. Thefulfillment of thistransition time is in Godshands, as is the timing ofwhen your next settledpastor is called.

Meanwhile, God is here

with us in each of ourdays together. Thanks

be to God!

CONTENTS OF THISISSUE

Rev. Sharon Temple. . . 1

Potpourri of Info. . . 2

Madam C J Walkers VillaLewaro 3

Changing of the GuardFor GermanCongregation 4

U R 2 SWET 2 B 4 GOTN 5

Special SundayProgramming in Feb. 6

Recipe 7

Did You Know? 8


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2 GLAD TIDINGS

Potpourri of Information . . .

Of interest to CSM

members is aheartfelt letter ofthanks from Rev.Matthew Crebbin,Senior Pastor of theNewtown Congre-gational Church UCCof Newton, CT.

Rev. Crebbins letterwas written onbehalf of theChurch, thecommunity, and allthose affected bythe Sandy Hooktragedy in any way.He thanked us forour donation to theChurchs Care forNewtown Fund. Hecontinues, We areespecially grateful

that you havereached out to us inour time of needand we praise Godfor your compassionand caring

We know that after the

initial wave of care andresponse, many will stillneed help and supportto find healing andwholeness. To this end,we will be using thisspecial fund for thelonger term efforts ofcare and healing for theentire community. Yourgift will help to makethis vital ministrypossible.

We offer prayers ofthanksgiving for yourcontribution to this effortand for your con-tinued prayers for ourentire Newtown Com-munity.

CSM has also received a

lovely note of thanksfrom our Interim Pastor,Rev. Sharon Temple. Inher note, Rev Sharonthanks us for the

generous Christmasgift and especially for

the thoughtful kindness it

represents.

Thank you for your goodnatured willingness to doour interim work together.God s blessing so many,including me, throughyou.

Marie Weatherspoon

MEET GAIL MINNICK. . . Gail Minnick, Interim Pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of New Orleans, willbe ordained on March 10, 2013, at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax in Oakton, Virginia.

Gail is originally from New Jersey and moved to Herndon, Virginia, in 1984. She graduated from Fairleigh DickensonUniversity with a degree in Business Administration and retired from Verizon Communications with 31 years ofservice. She was also the founding president of Verizons lesbian and gay employee coalition and fought for domesticpartner benefits and changes to corporate policies.

She has been an active lay minister at her home church, Metropolitan Community Church of Northern Virginia (MCCNOVA), for more than 19 years. During that time she served in various ministries including as a member of the Boardof Directors, choir, Inclusion (a contemporary Christian band), the hospitality team, facilities maintenance committeeand stewardship campaign committee. She also served as church Treasurer and Vice Moderator. From 2001 until2008, she served as an interfaith hospital chaplain at Fairfax INOVA Hospital. In 2012, she graduated from LancasterTheological Seminary in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with a Masters of Divinity.

Gail will be serving MCC of New Orleans as its new Interim Pastor for the next 12 to 18 months. She is an extrovert,animal lover, golfer and recently learned how to play drums. Gail and her partner, Ginny, willbe celebrating their 35thanniversary this year.

CSM Plays Host to UCCDignitaries


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BLACK HISTORY MONTH FEATURE:

Madam C J Walkers Villa Lewaro

She was born SarahBreedlove in Delta,

Louisiana, in 1867, toformer slaves. Shebecame an orphan atage 7 and movedacross the MississippiRiver to Vicksburg toescape a yellow feverepidemic. At age 14,she married and soonafter gave birth to heronly child. Sarah be-came a widow whenher daughter was onlytwo years old. She and

her daughter left theSouth.

Sarah married CharlesJoseph Walker in

1906. She and Mr.Walker touredthroughout the USpromoting her haircare products for Blackwomen.

Her company began toprosper and grow, andshe became anentrepreneur. Inaddition to hairproducts, MadamWalker establishedbeauty training

schools to help otherBlack women learn a

trade and to earn aliving. Madam C J

Walker eventuallybecame the richest,self-made womanin the US, Black orWhite.

Madam Walker andher husband di-vorced in 1912, andshe set up herbusiness to be runby a group of hand-selected keyprincipals.

She built her opu-

lent 32-roommansion in the

Hudson River Val-ley. Later, underher daughtersowner-ship, boththe Villa and thehome in Harlemhosted popularsalons for thegreats of that erato meet andexchange ideas.Madam Walker wasdefinitely on thecusp of whatbecame known asThe HarlemRenaissance. Herdaughter, Lelia,became a vital partof this movement.

In 1919, Madam CJ Walker died ather Villa Lewaro.

abw

Just a few ofthenotable personsMadam C.J.Walker (andlater herdaughter, Lelia)entertained at

Villa Lewarowere LangstonHughes, EnricoCaruso [who

named theVilla], Booker T.Washington,Isadore Duncan,and CounteeCullen.

When daughterLelia died in1931, Rev.

Adam ClaytonPowellpreached herfuneral and

Mary McLeodBethunedelivered theeulogy.

Villa Lewarowas bought andrestored in1993 by NewOrleans nativeHarold Doley,who served as

Ambassador tothe African

DevelopmentBank from 1983to 1985,appointed byPres. RonaldReagan.


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4 GLAD TIDINGS

The Reverend Dr. Walter Baer

Changing of The Guard For GermanCongregation

After 40 years of

activity as pastor ofthe former GermanSeamen's Mission andDirector of theGerman Evangelicaldevotion in NewOrleans, Pastor HEINZNEUMANN retired onJanuary 1, 2013. Heplans to serve hisCongregation asPastor Emeritus, as

well as to continue todirect the choir.

Pastor Neumann hasreceived many honorsover the years,including a specialrecognition in 2010with his beingpresented with theprestigious Cross of

the Order of Meritof the FederalRepublic ofGermany for 20years of GermanReunification.

In November 2012,the Board of Directorsof the GermanEvangelical Con-gregation appointedthe Rev. Dr. WalterBaer as its newpastor. He assumedthis new position onJanuary 1, 2013, withthe retirement ofPastor HeinzNeumann.

The Rev. Dr. Baer haslived in New Orleansfor the past ten years.He is originally fromWisconsin where hegrew up in a German-speaking home withparents who hadimmigrated to the USfrom Switzerland and

Austria. He earned a

Bachelor of Sciencedegree from the UW-Madison, a Masters ofTheology fromNashotah House Epis-

Rev. Heinz Neumann, Pastor

copal Theological Seminaryin Wisconsin and adoctorate from ColumbiaTheological Seminary.

He served parishes inMilwaukee, Shreveport,Monroe, Alexandria, andNew Orleans. During histenure in Monroe, hetaught American religioushistory and the NewTestament at theUniversity of Louisiana-Monroe.

Currently, Dr. Baer serves

as an interim pastor at theChurch of the Annunciationin New Orleans, as well asserving as the Chaplain forSt. Martins EpiscopalSchool in Metairie.

In addition to his duties asa pastor and a teacher, Dr.Baer is active in severallocal organizations. Heserves on the Board of the

Deutsches Haus.He also serves asSecretary of theSwiss-AmericanSociety of New

Orleans.

The GermanService

continues tomeet on theFirst Sunday

of Each

Month in theCSM

Sanctuary at2 p.m.


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Do you rememberwriting that in schoolyearbooks to a friendwhen asked to signhis/her Annual? Ofcourse you recognize itas You Are Too SweetTo Be Forgotten. Ab-breviations have longbeen a very big part ofour lives, whether werefer to AAA, TGIF,

ASAP, IRS, PTA,NOLA, XOXOs, orCSM UCC. Even theUS Armed Forces havetheir own abbreviationssuch as KP for KitchenPolice, PT for PhysicalTraining, AWOL forAway Without Leave,and others I wontmention. However,today we are being

bombarded byabbreviations and/orsymbols replacingwords of entire con-versation via textmessaging.

Text messaging, ortexting, is the act oftyping and sending abrief, electronicmessage between two

or more mobile phonesor fixed or portabledevices over a phonenetwork. The termoriginally referred tomessages sent using theShort Message Service(SMS); it has grown to

U R 2 Swet2

B 4Gotn

include messages con-taining image, video, andsound content. Most oftenthe messages look likegibberish to the non-savy.Our children and grand-children are com-municating in a languagemany of us cant

understand. However,instead of running awayfrom the problem, letsface it full on and learn alittle about whats beingwritten behind our backs.

First used in 1992, thisfast, shorthand type oflanguage is importantbecause of the immediacyof the messages sent toour telephones, as well as

the smallness of thescreens. These, of course,are factors for the use ofthe SMS language.Texting is a majorcontributor to theindustry's profitability,"says David Barden, asenior research analyst atBank of America MerrillLynch. Among the BigFour national players,

texting brings in anaverage of $8 per monthper customer in revenue,he estimates, and gen-erates about 25% of rawoperating profit(excluding equipmentsubsidies).

A generation havingdeveloped a languageof its own is not new.The Jazz Ageintroduced slang to ourvocabulary with someexpressions that are stillused today, such asBaloney (Nonsense),

Bees knees (Terrific),Bootleg (Illegal liquor),Cats Meow (Great),Cheaters (Eye glasses),Jalopy(a junky old car), RealMcCoy (Genuinearticle), etc. My

parents generation hadWW II terms and thatwonderful pig Latin.And now the experts

talk about the slang orlanguage of Gen-erations X and Y.

Personally, I dontconsider changes inpopular culture com-munication a languageunless it passes theWhittemore-Test: thelanguage must be trans-latable into American

Sign Language; thelanguage must becounted toward thelanguage requirementfor the Ph.D.; and theremust be a Bibletranslation in thelanguage.

As far as I know, JazzAge Slang fails thetest as does pig Latinand, so far, so do thelanguages of Gen-erations X and Y.But, hold on!Although I am notaware that SMS Text

Messaging is beingtaught in AmericanSign Language nor isit accepted for thePh.D., there is now,however, a TextMessaging Bible!

In da Bginnin God

cre8d da heavens &

da earth. Recognizeit? What about these

verses: da earth wasbarren, wit no 4m of

life OR We luv cozGod luvd us 1

st. Cer-

tainly, you recognizeJohn 3: 16: 4t mn^stairs so luvD d wrld

dat he giv hs 1 n 1ly

boy, dat hu Blevz n

him shll nt di bt av lyf

4ever. And 1Chronicles 26:18: @ d

opN cort 2 d west, 4guards wr postD OTR

n 2 @ d cort .

The entire Bible hasbeen translated intoSMS format by theBible Society inAustralia. The verses

[continued on Page 6]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Message_Servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Message_Service


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6 GLAD TIDINGS

Special Sunday Programming for February

are available free of

charge on the internet.But before you rush outand sign up for the tx bblto be sent to your cell

phone, heres some otherinformation you probablyneed to know: to receivethe entire Bible in SMSvia your telephone willtake over 30,000messages at a total cost ofmore than 3,432 or$5,529.29. While manyparents might think thattexting the Bible to theirchildren is a wonderfulidea and a timely way tocommunicate the Scrip-tures in this textingsociety we find ourselvesliving in, that price is stillvery hefty.

The production anddistribution of bibles areissues that have engagedthe attention of Christianleaders for centuries. In331, Emperor Constantinerequested fifty copies ofthe Old and NewTestaments for use in theprincipal churches inConstantinople. Bible

younger than the city

itself.Today, The United BibleSocieties (UBS) is aworldwide association ofBible societies. As of afew years ago, the UBShad 141 membersocieties, working inmore than 200 countriesand territories. Whilemost of these work ontranslating the Bible, as

well as distributing it,there are someorganizations whose mainobjective is thedistribution of bibles suchas Gideons International,begun in 1899.

Who knows? As lonelytravelers on the road ofhigh technology, perhapssomeday, instead of

paying upward of $5,000for atx bbl, we can find afree one in a hotel room,compliments of theGideons!

abw

U R 2 Swet. . .Continued from Page 5

Societies are an

attractive form ofcommon action forChristians who take theBible seriously. The firstorganization called TheBible Society wasformed in England in1779 to distribute Biblesto soldiers and seamen.

In the US, Biblesocieties flourished inthe first half of the 19th

century. In addition tothe American BibleSociety, a number ofstate and regional BibleSocieties wereestablished prior to theCivil War and remainactive to this daydistributing Bibles andother literature toprisons, hospitals andshelters.

The oldest Bible Societyin the United States isthe Pennsylvania BibleSociety, founded in1808. The ChicagoBible Society wasfounded in 1840,making it only five years

Some Basic SMS Words

and Symbols:

U, UR you, your, youreLOL laugh out loudURNF you are not funnyGTG got to gotom. tomorrowIL2E I like to eatIDK I dont knowILY I love you:-) Smiling:-( Frowning:-D Grinning:-@ Shouting

:-( Crying:-! Foot in mouthNEthing Anything

AFAIR As far as I recallAML All my love

ATTENTION CSM Members of ALL Ages: During the month of February,in conjunction with Black History Month, CSM UCC will be having specialmessages during the children's time of the service.

Various members of the congregation will be preparing these interactivemoments which will include special first-hand memories of experiences fromthe Civil Rights Movement, learning of musical aspects of the movement, andsome puppetry that is not to be missed! Please mark the Sundays inFebruary on your calendar and plan on attending church for these excitingpresentations.

Phil Ricks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_I_(emperor)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Testamenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Testamenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Testamenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_(building)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Bible_Societieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Bible_Societieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Bible_Societyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Bible_Societyhttp://www.pabible.org/http://www.pabible.org/http://chicagobiblesociety.net/http://chicagobiblesociety.net/http://chicagobiblesociety.net/http://chicagobiblesociety.net/http://www.pabible.org/http://www.pabible.org/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Bible_Societyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Bible_Societyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Bible_Societieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Bible_Societieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_(building)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Testamenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Testamenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Testamenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_I_(emperor)


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BE MINE!

llen Bentz has found us another wonderful recipe. All I need for Valentines Day is this, a fork, and seven friends!Makes 8 individual cakes.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together first five ingredients. In a smaller bow

whisk together the next five ingredients. Slowly combine the wet ingredients with the dry ones until

incorporated and batter is smooth.

2. Beat egg whites on medium until foamy. Slowly add 2 Tbsp granulated sugar and continue beating on high

soft peaks form, 2 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, fold of the egg whites into the batter to lighten it. Fo

remaining whites.

3. Divide batter evenly among 8 6-0z. ungreased ramekins and bake 15 minutes. Let cakes cool completely be

unmolding. Serve.

Serving Recommendation: Serve with Greek Yogurt and Fruit for a well-balanced dessert.

Cup plus 1 Tbsp. Flour

3 Tbsp plus tsp

unsweetened CocoaPowder

Cup raw or granulatedSugar

1 tsp Baking Powder

tsp salt

3 Tbsp Canola Oil

2 large Egg Yolks

2 Tbsp fresh Orange Juice

tsp grated Orange Zest

3 Tbsp plus one tsp Wate

4 large Egg Whites

2 Tbsp granulated Sugar

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY TO ALL AND HAPPY FEBRUARY BIRTHDAY TO THE FOLLOWING:

Edith Jones (2nd); Marion Ramirez (13th); Vanessa Etter (15th); John Etter (16th);Dale Bonds (19th); Fred Ramirez (19th); Lucien Zidaru (25th).


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8 GLAD TIDINGS Did You Know?The Australians seems to beahead of others in producingpopular culture translations ofThe Bible (as noted in articleon pg. 5). In addition to

publishing atx bbl

, anAustralian has also publishedthe Aussie Bible. Here is anexample of a popular Bibleverse, translated by KelRichards intoAussie:

God is the station owner, and

I am just one of the sheep. He

musters me down to the

lucerne flats, And feeds me

there all week. When I'm

eeling poorly, And atsomething less than my peak,

He leads me to the restfulness,

Of a coolabah shaded creek.

He teaches me not to

break away, Not to be a

loner; He teaches me to

stick with His mob, And

acknowledge Him as my

Owner. Even when the

droughts are bad, And I

cross the Desert of

Death, God is close

beside me, So close I can

feel His breath. God is

the one who holds the

map, That gives me my

direction, And God is the

one who guarantees,

Provision for my

Protection. Although

there are dingos in the

hills, And the paddocksare full of snakes, God

serves up a barbeque,

Of beautiful T-bone

steaks! His patience

and compassion, And

forgiveness fail me

never; And I'll live

with Him in theHomestead, Beyond

the end of forever.

Of course, yourecognize the above asPsalms 23. The entiretranslation is just ascolorful. Check outthe following:http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/200

3155040_aussiebible27.html

February, 2013GLAD TIDINGS

Newsletter of TheCentral St.

Matthew UnitedChurch of Christ

1333 S. CarrolltonAvenue

New Orleans, LA70118

Central St. Matthew UnitedChurch of Christ

1333 South Carrollton AvenueNew Orleans, LA 70118

Web Address:www.centralstmatthewucc.com

Email:[email protected]

Phone: (504) 861-8196

Fax: (504) 861-8197

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Central St. MatthewUnited Church of Christ

New Orleans
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Central St. Matthew UCC Newsletter February 2013