Healing Power of Forgiveness

How many times should we forgive? The Bible says something like 70 times 7 times. That’s a lot. It’s easy to forgive people for things like saying something mean, or giving a dirty look, or even cutting you off in traffic. But what about the BIG stuff. Can we forgive someone who has stolen from us, violated us, killed someone we love, or has cheated on us? 

There’s no easy answer to that question. And there is no quick fix. Forgiveness is a process. But I believe that the only way can start the road to forgiveness is by either experiencing such forgiveness ourselves or by hearing other people’s stories of forgiveness. 

Check out the short essay recounted on NPR’s This I Believe. Jennifer Thompson-Cannino was raped by a man she thought was Ronald Cotton. She picked him out of a line-up in order to get justice. Cotton served 11 years for this crime until DNA evidence was found that he was innocent.

God calls each of us to reconciliation. How can these two ever hope to reconcile? Click here and listen. 

Spring Forward!

 

It’s that time of year again! Don’t forget to set your clocks ahead one hour before you go to bed Saturday night…unless you usually stay up until 2:00am, then just wait until then.

If you don’t, you’ll be late for church. You’ll think it’s 10:30am when it’s really 11:30am! I know, that’s extremely confusing, but it’s the way it works. But look on the bright side, now it won’t get dark until 7:00!

Youth Group Hockey Game!

 

Join us on Saturday, March 7 at 6:00pm in the parking lot of St. Nicholas as we head down to Columbus to see the Cottonmouths play! No money is needed, as the tickets are free, unless you want to buy food or a souvenir. It will be a fun-filled night, so if you want to go, let Fr. Jeff, Heather Roper, or Lacy Razor know by Thursday so they can get enough tickets!

Lenten Series-Take Up Your Cross-Starts Tuesday

Please join us for our journey through Lent for our series entitled Take Up Your Cross. We will gather on the Tuesdays of March (3, 10, 17, 24, 31) at 6:00pm for dinner (cost $5.00 per person, $15 tops for families, children under 6 are free and have a special children’s menu) and explore Mission Theology, addressing questions like “Why do we do mission?” “How does our theology influence our actions?” “What is a missional church?” and “Where are we called to do mission?”  This Tuesday, we’ll be joined by Mr. Gary Levi. Here’s a little bit about Gary:

Gary Levi has been a church planter all over the world. He went to high school in Columbus at Hardaway and graduated from the University of Georgia in Agriculture Economics.  While at UGA, he became a Christian, then worked in the timber business in Harris County for eight years. God then called him to sell his timber business and attend Columbia Bible College.  Afterwards, he lived in Costa Rica for a year to learn Spanish, then lived in Spain for 6 years, in Sarajevo 2 years, and in Macedonia and Kosovo for 2 years planting churches. Since 2004, he has done 3 to 4 month’s trips into Afghanistan.

Also, our dinner, which will be catered by Christeen Taylor of Good Taste in Pine Mountain, will be Chicken Tetrazzini, Squash, Bread, and Dessert.

Nine St. Nicholas members attend the Ministry Fair in Atlanta with over 500 other Episcopalians

On Saturday morning, February 28th, nine members of St. Nicholas took off in  the pouring rain to attend The Diocese of Atlanta Ministry Fair in Atlanta.

We joined over 500 Episcopalians at the beautiful Cathedral of St. Philip on Peachtree Road in Atlanta. Being able to tour that wonderful cathedral and visit their bookstore were added bonuses for me.

Over 50 workshop leaders presented a total 63 workshops covering a multitude of ministry areas. The excitement of the crowd was evident from the moment we arrived. We witnessed lots of reunions and the atmosphere was joyous. The fair was well organized down to the last detail. Upon arrival at 8:30 a.m., we enjoyed hot coffee and a casual continental breakfast. A wonderful lunch with great variety was served at noon. Our hosts definitely thought of everything to make us feel welcome.

Time flew by as we each attended three workshops of our choice. Being a new vestry member and St. Nicholas’ Communications person, I attended these three classes:

1. “Vestry: What they didn’t tell you when you were asked to run.” By Rev. Canon Rick Callaway
2. “New Ideas for New Challenges: Leadership for New Wardens and Vestry” by Rev. Canon Alicia Shuster Weltner
3. “Telling the Good News: Parish Communications” by Nan Ross and Bill Monk

I enjoyed all of the classes and almost missed my ride home because I stayed so late talking with all the people I met! If you ever get a chance, try to attend this Ministry Fair in the future. You’ll love it.

Drucye

The Blizzard of Aught-9

Yesterday was the first Sunday of the season of Lent, but according to 5-year-old Marcus Dixon, the real season we celebrated yesterday was WINTER!

Weather in Georgia is unpredictable to say the least. On Saturday, I was taking my newborn baby outside and across the street to visit a friend. The temperature was a very pleasant 67 degrees. 

Then Sunday hit. I’m not necessarily one of those weather-watchers, so I had no idea there was a cold front coming through. On Sunday morning, my son Tai and I delightfully went to church in the snow, catching snowflakes on our tongues. I was apprehensive about the snow sticking, but the more it snowed, the more it stuck, and before we knew it, the ground was covered. 

One of the wonderful things about being a country pastor is that you get to see God’s creation in nature. It rarely snows in Georgia, so for it to snow on a Sunday morning was a real treat. At St. Nicholas, we don’t have stained glass windows, so we get to see God’s creation every time we look out the window. It was glorious to see the snow fall behind our glass cross behind the altar.

Granted, snow in Georgia also means that everything shuts down and folks stay home. Attendance was very low, but those who did brave the storm experienced something special that is not likely to happen at St. Nicholas for a while. As parishioner John Brent noted, “It’s the blizzard of aught-9!”

Sing Your Little Hearts Out!

Choir rehearsals begin this Thursday, March 5, to prepare for Easter.  The time to begin rehearsal has been changed to 6:30pm.  We will rehearse until 8:00 and again on Sunday mornings 9:00-9:30.  Call Pat Newton for more information at 706 660-8177.  New singers are welcome.  Please call to let me know you are coming.

See you then,
Pat Newton

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