VIEWS AND REVIEWS “THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING THEOLOGIANS”

I grew up in a church that claimed to be

deeply devoted to a biblical faith. But at the mention of “theology” church members would wrinkle up their noses like they had just caught a

whiff of a bad odor. Theology, they imagined, was something “real” Christians didn’t care about. “Give me the Bible but keep that theology stuff to yourself.”

In fact every Christian is a Theologian in some fashion. The word “theology” means “the study of God.” All talk about God is theological

discussion. Worship is a theological action. In fact just to the extent that worship fails to be genuinely theological, it fails to be Christian worship. Good theology begins in worship.

The basic confession of the Christian faith, “Jesus is Lord,” is irreducibly theological. So, too, is the affirmation, “God is good.” The Bible cannot be placed over against theology, as

though you can choose either one or the other. Accepting the Bible as authoritative or viewing the Bible as a witness to the revelation of God

are theological judgments. Jesus said that the first commandment is, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind”

(Matthew 22:37). Theology is an indispensable way of loving God with our minds. In the early church, answering such questions as “Should

Gentiles who haven’t been circumcised be accepted into the church?” “Is Jesus the promised Messiah?” or “Should we worship Jesus as God?” were deeply theological exercises.

Theology is thinking our faith or “faith seeking understanding.” As Christians we need to be theologians. We need to ask what our faith means, what our convictions imply for the way

we live our lives. Yes, sometimes theology can get very complicated. But that is because important conversations about God have been

going on for a long, long time and the conversation partners don’t always agree. Sorting it out can get quite involved and be hard

work. But if we want to be truthful about God and faithful to God, the hard work is worth it.

Good Christian theology is Christ-centered and God-glorifying! It calls for clear thinking and faithful living.

Grace and Peace, Craig

PRESCHOOL NEWS FROM SUZANNE Everyone enjoyed the annual Scholastic Book Fair. Thanks to Ms. Jane, volunteers and

families for your generous support. Our school library will benefit with the addition of many great books. Fall Celebrations have begun! Lots of

decorations, games and songs create warm and happy feelings each day. Apple tasting, apple graphing, cooking with apples, pumpkin carving

and roasting pumpkin seeds have been some of the highlights this month. November brings a lot of cooking activities as we prepare for our annual Thanksgiving Feast

on Tuesday, November 24th, at 10:30 a.m. Each class prepares a dish to share, and we come together in the Fellowship Hall to enjoy the feast.

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving filled with love and peace.

PRESCHOOL HAPPENINGS

7th Infant Child CPR (2:00 – 5:00 p.m.)

11th Holiday – Preschool Closed Full Time Care Open 17th Children’s Sharing with Pastor Craig

18th Children’s Sharing with Pastor Craig 24th All School Thanksgiving Feast 26th Happy Thanksgiving – all closed 27th Holiday – all closed

Church Chatter November 2009

“Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.” (Psalm 62:5-6)

Roseanne Farino joined RPCC on October 18th. She has

been in Florida for 12 years, and lives with her husband, two sons, nephew (Michael)

and niece (Maryann). She works in the

Apprentice Department at the Atlantic Vocational Center. She was born and raised Catholic and has always attended Catholic churches, but of late she has not been very thrilled with the

impersonal nature of the church. She decided to try RPCC at the invitation of her friend, Maria Kavallas, who is already a member. During her

second visit she joined, because she "loved the friendly atmosphere of the church - as soon as I walked in I instantly felt at home." RPCC extends an embracing welcome to Roseanne.

NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS 2nd Joy Carter 4th Lea Gordy 5th Paola Ortiz

7th Jennifer Bramley David Espiritu 8th Chris Zahn 12th Charles Brown

14th Michael Wead 20th Sandy Alexander Cookie Anderson

24th Margaret Krolczyk Andrea Nembhard 25th Linda Taylor 26th Lucas Tocuyo

30th Pam Grasso Annette Robertson-Maragh

[We apologize if your name is not on the list. Please call the office to update your information!]

SWEETS & TREATS For the past four years our Christian

Women’s Fellowship has provided a way to help with the holiday frenzy by having a Sweets & Treats Open House. This year…due to the Women of Faith Conference, we won’t be having

the Open House. However, order forms will be available soon for those favorite items: King Ranch Chicken Casserole; Hash Brown, Ham &

Cheddar Bake; Tomato Pineapple Relish; Sugared Pecans; Dill Dip Mix; Cranberry Relish; and Sour Cream Pound Cake. If you haven’t experienced any of these

delightful treats…or if you’ve forgotten what they taste like…a taste test is scheduled for coffee fellowship on Sunday, November 15th. Yum!

FEELING OVERWHELMED,

HOPELESS, LONELY? Would you like to explore how to Trust More and Fear Less? Come to the discussion group on Wednesday mornings from !0:00-

11:30. We will be reading from the book Fearless by Max Lucado. The class will meet for six weeks and will be led by Betsy Medina. Bring

your friends and your Bible. All are welcome.

WISH LIST Item Approx. Cost

Pew Bibles (NRSV) (3 cases) $ 180.00 case Care for plants (live & artificial) - time –

Weeding in Courtyard area - time - Walk property for trash - time – Walk property for ants - time –

WISH LIST UPDATE Thanks to several generous donations, we

were able to get the new signs “An Embracing Church for a Wounded World” and order new Bibles for the Gateway clients. We have also received 23 orders for Bibles for the Sanctuary,

and we have contacted the contractor for the Video System for the Sanctuary. Blessings abound!

PRISON MINISTRY RPCC is entering into an exciting ministry starting with the Angel Tree program through

which we will give gifts to children whose parents are incarcerated. There will be a Christmas tree in the Narthex starting Sunday, November 1st,

and it will be decorated with angels that have the children’s names and gift requests. We ask that you select an angel from the tree, purchase the gift requested and bring it to the church by

December 13th. The gift should cost no more than $25.00 and should not be wrapped. We will be making up a bigger package to give each child that will include an article of clothing, a toy and a

Bible.

GOOD NEWS OF BLESSINGS Sybil Campbell put the following note in the

Appreciation Basket: “Thank you all for your love, encouragement and caring during my recent stay in the hospital. You inspired me

to look forward to good health and further opportunity to work with you for the Lord. God bless you all. Thanks for your prayers!”

“Thank you for helping feed my family when I

was out of work. Thank you for helping me not lose my home. Thank you for celebrating with me and sharing my joy when I became employed again. Thank you for your loving

embrace. Thank you for all the friendly faces. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your fellowship. Thank you for the

opportunity my family has to give back. Thank you for your teachings. Thank you for sanctuary – a safe haven in a stormy world…and so much more.” ~ anonymous

We were blessed to have Jane Dowling & Lin Zemliauskas with us this year; unfortunately, they had to move back to Connecticut. Their

new mailing address is: 1400 Meriden Road #3-3, Waterbury, CT 06705. We pray that God will continue to bless them, and we look forward to worshiping with them in the future.

Our thanks go out to Scott Rautbord and everyone who worked so diligently with him to make Fall Fiesta so much fun!!! Our 50/50 Raffle winner was Christine Maccagli…part of

the extended RPCC family – Frank & Marian Weber’s daughter. Congratulations Christine! A few pictures made it to the bulletin board;

check out some of our pictures.