T h e N e w O l y m p i a n January 2013The Monthly Newsletter of the Olympic View Community Church of the Brethren

tel. 206.525.8900 • olympicchurch.org • email: ovsecretary@gmail.com

T h e N e w O l y m p i a nOlympic View Community Church of the Brethren425 NE 95th StreetSeattle WA 98115

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage PaidSeattle, WAPermit #01259

On these pages:

2. Board Review

3. Snow Camp

4-5. Peter Stein-brueck at OV; Gua-temala Immersion and International Sunday & Potluck

The Epiphany Challenge:It’s a new year and new reality...if we’re game.by Ken Miller Rieman

Friends, I need to come clean about New Year’s resolutions. I don’t like them. I try to avoid making them. It’s not that I don’t think they’re a good thing for people to do, I would just personally prefer to feel a little badly for not making any, than to feel worse for making them and not keeping them.

That said, a recent combination of life events and liturgical themes has me taking a second look at the role such resolutions can play in our journeys of faith.

On January 6th, we celebrate Epiphany, the ‘appearance’ of the infant Jesus to the Magi. More than a single event, Epiphany is actually a liturgical season that extends from January 6th (The twelfth day of Christmas) until Lent. As such, the scriptural themes convey the manifestation of Christ in the world.

Many Christians around the world begin Epiphany, like the Magi of old, with gift-giving. Though we have tended to make gift-giving a Christmas Day tradition, we could surely agree that the greatest gift of the season is the one we have all received as Divine love takes human form.So the pastor in me must grudgingly ob-

serve that Epiphany presents the faithful with a challenge--namely to make space in our own lives for the living Christ to appear anew. Isn’t this the real fulfillment of Imman-uel, God-with-us? Isn’t this the whole point of following Jesus in the first place? God’s love is meant to be revealed within each of us. This is the new reality!

Well, that will preach, but how do we put it into practice? How about New year’s reso-lutions, with a twist? Instead of making a private commitment, what about making a public one? For that matter, what about making a few?

In case you’re thinking of putting this news-letter down about now, please bear with me.

Page 2 • The New Olympian • January 2013

The Epiphany Challenge:It’s a new year and new reality...if we’re game.by Ken Miller Rieman

Friends, I need to come clean about New Year’s resolutions. I don’t like them. I try to avoid making them. It’s not that I don’t think they’re a good thing for people to do, I would just personally prefer to feel a little badly for not making any, than to feel worse for making them and not keeping them.

That said, a recent combination of life events and liturgical themes has me taking a second look at the role such resolutions can play in our journeys of faith.

On January 6th, we celebrate Epiphany, the ‘appearance’ of the infant Jesus to the Magi. More than a single event, Epiphany is actually a liturgical season that extends from January 6th (The twelfth day of Christmas) until Lent. As such, the scriptural themes convey the manifestation of Christ in the world.

Many Christians around the world begin Epiphany, like the Magi of old, with gift-giving. Though we have tended to make gift-giving a Christmas Day tradition, we could surely agree that the greatest gift of the season is the one we have all received as Divine love takes human form.So the pastor in me must grudgingly ob-serve that Epiphany presents the faithful with a challenge--namely to make space in our own lives for the living Christ to appear anew. Isn’t this the real fulfillment of Imman-uel, God-with-us? Isn’t this the whole point of following Jesus in the first place? God’s love is meant to be revealed within each of us. This is the new reality!

Well, that will preach, but how do we put it into practice? How about New year’s reso-lutions, with a twist? Instead of making a private commitment, what about making a public one? For that matter, what about making a few?

In case you’re thinking of putting this news-letter down about now, please bear with me. I don’t like the idea either. Truly, I don’t. But as followers of Jesus who was himself bap-tized in public, consecrating his life to God

before all to see, so have we made public confessions of our faith at our own baptisms. Those of us who have married in the church have pledged our faithfulness publicly.

Aside from the biblical precedents, there are practical reasons for doing so. When our commitments are made in a community, we are more deeply accountable to them. Isn’t that why we often resist making them?

jr

Board ReviewDecember meeting recap

The board de-briefed the November General Assembly, noting that the worship and Sun-day School schedule remains contentious. Obstacles to finding agreement appear to include the varying levels of awareness about current Sunday School participation, different understandings of what we’ve tried in the past and the results, and differing interests in even attending Sunday School, and possibly different assumptions about whether Sunday School is a vital part of church growth.

The board reconsidered possible uses for the 2012 Jubilee earnings. Given Nate’s and Angela’s interest in Volunteer Service in Guatemala and the possibility of recruiting new people to deepen our ongoing connec-tion to Unión Victoria, the Board reaffirmed its earlier proposal to help defray expenses for the OV members seeking to visit Guate-mala this Spring. The Board encouraged Ken to leverage this investment by planning far enough out to publicize the trip well. Since this meeting, the trip has been scheduled for April 2-12.

Treasurer Bill Hershberger reported that the cash-flow remains critically tight. He and the office will collaborate to keep the congregation appraised of efforts to match the challenge pledges. The immediate goal is to meet our 2012 expenses. Given the concerns expressed in G. Assembly, Bill and Nancy are ensuring that all outreach contributions are correctly dispersed and that our members retain confidence that their gifts will serve their intended purpose. In the new year, we will turn our focus to (continued on page 6)

jr

January 2013 • The New Olympian • Page 3

2013 Pacific Northwest Dist. Snow Camp at Camp KoinoniaFriday, Jan. 25 to Sunday, Jan. 27

All ages are welcome to our retreat in the Cascade foothills outside sunny Cle Elum, WA.

Relax around the fireplace.

Play in the snow.

Hike the new trails around the camp.

Bring your cross-country skis, sleds, snow shoes, board games or other hobbies, and don’t forget your camera!

Quiet time, social time, indoors or out, it’s all for you to choose.

The full retreat runs from Friday night through Sunday breakfast.

Friday night will include a light supper of soup and snacks ready whenever you roll in.

Registrations are due January 15.After that, please add $10 to your fee.

The registration costs are itemized below. Customize the cost according to your sched-ule. Want a sack lunch on Sunday? Just add another lunch to your fee.

Adults: (13+) Juniors: (9-12) Children: (3-8)

Full event:$70.50

Full event: $46.00

Full event: $38.00

Soup & snacks $5.00

Soup & snacks $3.00

Soup & snacks $2.00

Breakfast $6.75 Breakfast $4.25 Breakfast $3.25

Lunch $6.75 Lunch $4.25 Lunch $3.50

Dinner $7.75 Dinner $5.00 Dinner $4.00

Lodging @ $18.75

Lodging @ $13.00

Lodging @ $11.00

To register, contact the office of the Olym-pic View Community Church of the Brethren. Please include your full contact information so we can send you confirmation.

ovsecretary@gmail.com or 206.525.8900

Registration fees are due upon arrival at the retreat. Some scholarships are available. Check with your church office.

Bobbi’s Spirituality Workshop (Saturday morning at Snow Camp)

Reading Scripture with Mind and Heart:

Exploring the Monastic Practice of Lectio Divina

The Herkelrath’s hosted a lively bunch Dec. 9 for their Caring Circle luncheon.

Sam catches some air on his sled at Snow Camp.

Page 4 • The New Olympian • January 2013

It’s not all about density!Thursday, Jan. 24, 7:00 pmPeter Steinbrueck: designing community on a human scale...

Olympic View Church is proud to welcome Seattle native Peter Steinbrueck on Thurs-day, January 24th. The former city council member and recently announced candi-date for mayor will host a public forum at the church to present his ideas on smart and sustainable community planning and design.

For nearly a decade, Mr. Steinbrueck led the City of Seattle’s legislative efforts to develop and advance cutting edge sustainable prac-tices in areas of public policy and planning for transportation, land use, building codes and development regulations.

Steinbrueck has been a visiting instructor at the University of Washington’s College of the Built Environments, and is a frequent speaker, writer, and thought leader on an emerging Framework for Advancing Sustain-able Cities in the U.S. and globally.

In 2010, Steinbrueck was a Harvard Loeb Fellow, where his research focused on urban environmental policy in the U.S. He is a Core Member of the Harvard Working Group for Sustainable Cities, serves on the U.S. Con-gress Livable Communities Advisory Board and is a founding member of the AIA Center for Civic Leadership.Sponsored by the Olympic View Peace & Justice Fellowship.

Peter Steinbrueck in front of the Pike Place

Market.

Guatemala Immersion Unión Victoria Learning TourApril 2 - 12, 2013We’ve been taught ‘God helps those who help themselves.’ But what if the way we ‘help ourselves’ actually makes things harder for others?

The globalization of economies and cultures creates both danger and opportunity at home and abroad. For some of us, the issues feel academic. To those on the edge of eco-nomic survival they are anything but.

Our learning tour will give participants the chance to live with and learn from those who experience globalization from the bot-tom up.

The conventional western models of de-velopment were part of what sparked and fueled thirty years of Guatemalan civil war. Out of desperation, the indigenous people of Guatemala’s hill country came together to survive and resist the forces dividing their people.

Guatemalan women from Unión Victoria dressed in the traditional clothing of their region.

January 2013 • The New Olympian • Page 5

International Sunday Celebration and PotluckSunday, January 13Come celebrate the diversity of our world through worship, shared experiences, and exciting flavors from around the globe!

After worship, we are pleased to welcome Michael Schober as he and Ken share their experiences through OV’s Guatemala Immer-sion trip last year.

Following Michael’s presentation, we will kick off our annual International Potluck. Please bring an international dish to share -- one that reflects your heritage, or one that just adds extra spice to your life -- and wear your best international attire, too!

After the war, the challenge turned to build-ing a just and sustainable future in Unión Victoria, a village designed from scratch on an old coffee plantation up in the hills.

Ninety families, with support from the gov-ernment, the church, and non-governmental partners have built homes, schools, and health clinics. Together they maintain and operate their coffee cooperative, hydro-power system, bridge, roads, botanical nursery and community center. Families earn income from both private and collec-tive economic pursuits.

But it’s not utopia. Climate change, defor-estation, poor access to increasingly volatile markets, and limited capital keep the people of Unión Victoria living on the edge. They know short-term solutions can create longer term problems so they continue seeking new knowledge and methods.

Our small delegation will give you the chance to build friendships with warm, open, courageous, and determined people.

You will join them in their study and practice of building sustainable community.

You will return home with a deeper under-standing of how your lifestyle and our public policies affect those living on the edge.

And if you are willing, you will have enlarged the circle of your concern, commitment and creativity with new partners and a common pursuit.

Participants must be 16 or older.

Cost: $700 plus about $700 in airfare.

Register your interest with:

Ken Miller RiemanPastor, Olympic View Community Church206.920.4893 (mobile)kenrieman@gmail.com

Images below:

Ken’s host family in front of their humble home in Unión Victoria, Guatemala.

Michael Schober con-nects with the locals.

We erased the 2012 deficit!Thanks to you, we’re back in black!Who can raise over $14,000 in less than 3 months? Olympic View Community Church!

Thanks for your support, and here’s to a won-derful 2013, both spiritually and financially.

Page 6 • The New Olympian • January 2013

Sharing Together in PrayerIn Our Community:• For the Thill family, mourning the death of

Marvin Thill on Dec. 19.• For Geraldine Campbell, hospitalized at

Virginia Mason and undergoing treatment of enlarged lymph nodes.

• Thanks that Jessica & Victor Quiroz have a healthy newborn niece!

In Our State, Nation, and World:• For the people of Newtown, CT, and of our

whole country, mourning the victims of the tragic elementary school shooting Dec. 14.

• For the people of Portland, OR, mourning the victims of a shooting in a mall Dec. 11.

• For the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria, where on Dec. 1 gunmen attacked the EYN Kwaple Church, killing pastor Michael Peter Yakwa and 10 others.

• For peace and freedom in Syria.• For the people of Egypt, struggling to secure

democratic reforms in their government.

Deacon Prayer FocusFor the week of January 6:Read John 1.1-9. This day of Epiphany calls us to ‘shine forth’, to join the narrative and take the light of Advent and Christmas to each other and out into the world...pray for all the people who are part of your life, for any concerns that you know and for those you might not know. Ask for courage and strength in carrying the light of Christ to all those who need it.

For the week of January 13:Prayerfully consider your commitment to our church in this new year, not only of your tithes and offerings, but also of your time and talents as a member of this congrega-tion. How can you share, pray, love, and serve?

For the week of January 20:As we honor Martin Luther King, Jr. tomor-row, reflect on some of the words of his speech of August 28, 1963 - ‘I have a dream!’

‘...And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we

will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catho-lics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!’

For the week of January 27:Prayerfully consider attending Annual Con-ference June 29 - July 3, 2013, in Charlotte, NC, under the theme Move in our Midst. The verses of this hymn are words of urgent peti-tion and heartfelt prayer:

Move in our midst, thou Spirit of God...Touch thou our hands to lead us aright...Strike from our feet the fetters that bind...Kindle our hearts to burn with thy flame...Spirit of God, O send us thy pow’r!

(Board Review continued from Page 2)

recovering the revenue short-fall incurred in 2011. This will include consideration of allocating Jubilee Fund growth to replenish the money depleted from our designated reserves.

Pastor Ken reintroduced ‘The Six Thinking Hats,’ a group discernment model designed to enhance creativity and collaboration in thinking that is less adversarial and more critically constructive.

Chair Rob Miller led a vision-casting exercise that identified our congregation’s assets (Board review continued) and explored ways of harnessing them to serve our common purposes.

Moderator Sylvia Hershberger has received just a few completed OV Ministry Evalua-tions and is hoping to receive more in the last weeks of the year.

As always, Board meetings are open to the congregation. If you have questions or concerns, please bring them to the attention of Board Chair Rob Miller. The next meeting will be January 9 at 7 pm.