Give Water to School Children

“Over half of all schools worldwide lack safe water and sanitation, jeopardizing the health and education of millions of schoolchildren. Most of the 115 million children currently out of school are girls. Many are denied their place in the classroom by lack of access to decent toilets at school, or the daily chore of walking miles to collect water.” - UNICEF, 2005

In the next week we will be finishing up with the Advent Conspiracy and sending our donations off to the Humble United Methodist School in Uganda.

We are collecting money to help to install a water system at Humble United Methodist School in Uganda. This school provides food, shelter, and education to about 250 children, most of whom are orphans due to the AIDS crisis or civil war. Currently the school lacks a system that provides a consistent supply of clean water for sanitation and cooking.

Did you know?

• More than 150 million school-age children are severely affected by waterborne parasites like roundworm, whipworm, and hookworm. These children commonly carry up to 1000 parasites at a time, causing anemia, stunted growth, and other debilitating conditions.
• Children who suffer from constant water-related illnesses carry the disadvantages into school. Poor health directly reduces cognitive potential and indirectly undermines schooling through absenteeism, attention deficits, and early drop-out.
• Nearly 90 percent of all diseases in the world are caused by unsafe drinking water, inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene. Every year, there are 4 billion cases of diarrhea as a direct result of drinking contaminated water; this results in more than 2.2 million deaths each year—the equivalent of 20 jumbo jets crashing every day.

We can do a small part to help these kids get the safe, reliable water they need to stay healthy and get an education. To find out more visit Living Water International. Please give donations to Allen, Sara, or Erica by February 1st.

Souper Bowl of Caring

Allen and Sara will be hosting a super bowl party at their home on Sheffield Street on February 1st at 6pm. Come watch the big game on the big screen...and if you are not interested in football, come anyway, enjoy the food, company and some fun games.

We will be ordering pizza, bring your favorite Super Bowl snack or drink to share.

Also, we will be collecting food for the Sacred Heart food pantry, and money for the Wayside Soup Kitchen, as part of the Souper Bowl of Caring.

The Souper Bowl of Caring is national movement of thousands of congregations, schools, community organizations and compassionate individuals caring for others on Super Bowl weekend. Souper Bowl of Caring equips and mobilizes youth to positively impact their communities by collecting money or food on or near Super Bowl weekend. 100% of the collections are donated directly to the charity of each group's choice.

Last year 5.6 million dollars, and 4.7 million pounds of food were donated to local hunger relief agencies all over the country from this event.

Let's do our part to help this important mission!

We're the generation, we can't afford to wait

John Legend - New Music - More Music Videos

This is a wonderful song of challenge to us on this day before the inauguration. It's up to all of us to change the future of our country and the world. I celebrate the election of Barack Obama, but more than a dream of him being our savior, I hope that we can work together as a nation to make a better world. My prayer is that I would do my part today and in the days to come.

Celebrating Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The work is not finished.

So let us turn our thoughts today
to Martin Luther King
and recognize that there are ties between us,
all men and women
living on the earth --
ties of hope and love,
sister and brotherhood,
that we are bound together
in our desire to see the world become
a place in which our children
can grow free and strong...

The Seeker

I do not ride on camels
through a wind-swept desert.
I do not carry gifts
that are fit for a king.
I do not see the star
that guides the stalwart riders.

Yet I, too, am seeking.
I, too, am longing.
I go among busy days
yearning for the Unknown One.

In the breath of a prayer,
in the care of a friend,
in the beauty of a bird,
a star-like glimpse comes to me.

A flicker of hope arises,
enough to stay in the fray,
to keep searching for the One
who is slowly revealed
in tiny sparks of daily encounters.

Holy One, you who reveal,
make manifest your presence.
Open the eyes of my heart.
Awaken my unattuned spirit.

Bring me to full attention,
so that I come to know,
in my every moment,

your radiant star of guidance.

-Joyce Rupp
from Out of the Ordinary
prayers, poems and reflections
for every season

Community Worship Gathering in January

Community Worship Gathering

Sunday, January 25

6:00 pm

Location to be announced

Get it on your brand spankin' new 2009 calendar now!

Coming in January: new LIFE Group configuration

Starting the first week in January, this new schedule for LIFE Groups takes effect:

• Monday LIFE Group at 5:30 pm, generally meeting at Ashley & Eric's house
• Tuesday LIFE Group at 6:00 pm, meeting at Allen & Sara's house
• Wednesday LIFE Group meeting later (probably 7:30 pm, but wait for confirmation on this) at Paul & Carlie's house

We'll be offering more details about this new LIFE Group configuration in the coming days, but plan to stay connected by participating regularly in one of these weekly New Light gatherings.

Advent Conspiracy continues!

Now that the season of gift-buying and gift-giving is coming to an end, it's time to prayerfully consider how you will participate in the Advent Conspiracy project we've been talking about since early November. 

Some of you have already contributed to a local project -- buying coats or boots for children in the Parkside neighborhood and/or helping families who've recently adopted children from foster care.  We really appreciate these gifts, which are already making a difference for local families who can use a little extra help this time of year.

During the month of January, we will receive your gifts toward the global project:  helping to install a water system at Humble United Methodist School, a school in Uganda that provides food, shelter, and education to about 250 children, most of whom are orphans due to the AIDS crisis or civil war.  Currently the school lacks a system that provides a consistent suppy of clean water for sanitation and cooking.  We're working through the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, an agency that has developed strict accountability measures, to ensure that 100% of your gift goes directly to this specific project.

In November, we issued an ambitious challenge:  that each of us match our giving to family and friends, dollar for dollar, with giving to help people in need.  How you will respond to that challenge is your call.  We hope to be able, as a New Light community, to make a signficant gift to assist with this project, so let's work together to see how we can honor the Christ Child by helping God's children in need in an area of extreme poverty -- poverty most of us can not begin to imagine. 

Please give your Advent Conspiracy gifts to Erica, Sara, or Allen, by the end of January.  Checks can be made out to New Light, memo "Advent Conspiracy."  Let's see if we can make a world of difference.

New Light this week

Just one LIFE Group this week

Monday evening ~ 5:30 pm ~ O'Naturals

If you're around this week, we hope you'll join others from the New Light community for a single LIFE Group, meeting Monday, Dec. 29 at 5:30 pm at O'Naturals restaurant, 83 Exchange Street in Portland.  Grab your favorite meal from the O'Naturals yummy menu, and then head downstairs to the community room on the lower level.  Erica will be leading, first in catching up after all the Christmas festivities, and then in a time of reflection as we anticipate the arrival of a new year.

I will light Candles this Christmas; 

Candles of joy despite all sadness, 
Candles of hope where despair keeps watch, 
Candles of courage for fears ever present,
Candles of peace for tempest-tossed days, 
Candles of grace to ease heavy burdens, 
Candles of love to inspire all my living, 
Candles that will burn all the year long.

Christ is born!

Merry Christmas!  We are writing from the mountains of North Carolina, where we're visiting with Sara's family for a few days.  We hope that you are with people you love, and that the spirit of Christmas continues to be alive in you.

Christ is born, and that is profoundly good news for the world!  It's the reminder that God loved the world God created so much, that God chose to come among us, to become one with us... not with power and might but in the most vulnerable, humble way possible:  as a tiny baby, born to a poor, young woman in an obscure village in a remote corner of the world.  Jesus was born not amidst the luxury of a palace but surrounded by animals (and all the smells that accompany them) in a stable;  not among the wealthy or respected but among the working poor.  Jesus' birth reminds us that God knows everything there is to know about what it means to be human.  More importantly, Jesus' life serves as an example of how to live in and through the love of God.

Maybe your gifts are unwrapped under the tree, or packed in a box, or waiting to be returned for a different size, but the gift of a newborn Christ continues.  God's light still shines in the darkness.  Hope springs eternal!  Christmas changes everything.

So we hope you'll continue to claim the promise of Christ's birth here in these days after Christmas, and that the blessings of a newborn Savior will carry you forward into the new year that awaits us, just around the corner.

Light and love,
Allen & Sara

Christmas Giving

A few months ago New Lighters were issued a challenge: to celebrate Christmas more simply this year by spending less on Christmas gifts for friends and family -- and then to match that amount, dollar for dollar, with a gifts to people who really need it. With a little help from Advent Conspiracy we are encouraged to spend the season worshiping fully, spending less, giving more, and loving all. We have pledged as a community to help in the following ways:

We are collecting coats and boots for children in Parkside Neighborhood who are without. If you have signed up for some, please bring them back as soon as possible as it is getting cold.

We are also collecting donations to help develop a water system for Humble United Methodist School in Uganda. Humble is a school that provides for the educational and spiritual needs of 250 children, most of them orphans to the AIDS virus and civil wars.

We are also receiving gifts of money to provide gift cards to two local families in need who have recently adopted children from foster care.

If you would like to make donations to any of these causes, please give the money to Erica. We would like to have the money for the gift cards by the middle of December so that the families can do shopping in time for Christmas.

This video is of a cool song familiar to most New Light folks called "Share the Well." It is a catchy and meaningful tune, give it a listen and think about ways you can celebrate a more Christ centered Christmas this year!

World AIDS Day

As I was spending a little time in quiet and reflection this morning, I found this testimony from a person living with AIDS in South Africa. I was impressed with the hopefulness in the midst of very difficult circumstances. We have a lot to learn from people like this. We also have a lot of work to do to irradicate AIDS and help those who are struggling as a result of the disease. One small way we are doing that is by giving money towards a well in Uganda at a school where many of the children are orphans because of the AIDS virus.

Here is one man's testimony of hope for the future:

The Community, friends, and family sometimes discriminate against and discourage us who are HIV-positive. Friends may avoid us because they think that people will assume they are also HIV-positive if they are seen with us. Family members may push us away because they believe our HIV status lowers the family’s dignity.

Yet I have hope. God saved South Africa during apartheid and the time of bloodshed among our people. We prayed for peace during elections, and there was peace. God is with us, and God’s presence can bring miracles. We who are HIV positive can forgive, forget, stop pointing fingers, and refuse to retaliate in anger toward those who discriminate and belittle. This is the way of Christ.

- Mathabo L. (South Africa)Prayers for Encouragement: Hope for Persons Living with HIV and AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis, and Other Serious Diseases

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks be to you, God, awesomely distant.
Thanks for the searing of shooting stars,
the colors of the planets in the night sky,
the space and power beyond our perceiving
that sparkles the sky of our lives with your caring.

Thanks be to you, God, uncomfortably close,
giving life to dead dry things
-- the dance of pure stillness,
the beat of our hearts,
is your doing.

Thanks be to you, God, known in a body
who blessed as he lived,
who raised up our life
to be gathered as one,
reaching out for the kingdom.

The Pattern of Our Days:
Worship in the Celtic Tradition
from the Iona Community
(Paulist Press, 1996)

Community Worship Gathering

Sunday, November 23 at 6:00pm at 185 High Street.

Join us for a night of worship centered around Thanksgiving. Worship will include singing, holy communion, and a time to share our gifts with God through an offering. As always, feel free to bring a friend

Bring along food or homemade pies to add to our Thanksgiving baskets for our neighbors in need of a little extra help this holiday season.

As we begin our transition toward public worship in our new space, we will not be having a potluck supper this month. However, coffee and snacks will be served starting at 5:30pm, and worship will begin at 6:00pm

Parking is available on the street, or in the parking garage. There is a charge to park in the garage. If you park in the garage you can enter the building from the back hallway.

Hope to see you all there!

The Lost Sheep, The Lost Teddy Bear

Today's Scripture reading is the story of the lost sheep and the story of the lost coin. I really like these stories. I have unfortunately or fortunately heard them enough times for me to not really pay attention to the full meaning. So I thought I would search online for a video illustration that might take me a little deaper.

This is what I found. It made me cry. Maybe because I have a little girl whe loves her cuddlies or maybe just because I want to be treasured and not ever forgotten just like that teddy bear.

The Lost Bear Video

What do you think?

Join the Advent Conspiracy!

This week in LIFE Groups, we're continuing the conversation we started a few weeks ago about Advent Conspiracy. With the Season of Advent just around the corner and Christmas only about six weeks away, now is the time to be making those decisions about how to celebrate Christmas differently, in a way that truly honors Jesus' birth. For starters, how about this...?

• Worship fully.
• Spend less.
• Give more.
• Love all.

We've issued a challenge: to celebrate Christmas more simply this year by spending less on Christmas gifts for friends and family -- and then to match that amount, dollar for dollar, with a gift to help provide clean, safe, reliable drinking water to people in a developing country. It looks like we're going to help build a well for a school for orphaned children in Uganda... more about that project coming soon.

In addition, we're talking about ways to be in service right here in Portland in the month of December. It's going to be fun, we promise.

So here's our Christmas pledge:

Believing in the true spirit of Christmas, I commit myself to:

• remember those people who truly need my gifts
• express my love in more direct ways than gifts
• examine my holiday activities in the light of my deepest values
• be a peacemaker within my circle of family and friends
• rededicate myself to my spiritual growth

Join the Advent Conspiracy!

Love is a Good Thing

This week, as part of the Walk to Emmaus, I had an overwhelming experience with love. Without giving too much of the magic away for those of you who may want to do the walk, let's just say that I was hit pretty hard by how much God loves me, and how God shows his love through the people around me. However, even after being surrounded by all of this love, I woke up Monday morning feeling like I had been hit by a bus. My facebook status turned from "Erica is loved", to "Erica is blech." I was a mess, and that fact drove me crazy.

As I was recovering from this experience I had my iTunes on shuffle and heard a song from Andrew Peterson's new album "Resurrection Letter's Volume 2, called "Love is a Good Thing." I wasn't really hearing the songs that were playing until I got to this song, which seemed to portray just what I was feeling. I played several times over and over, as a reminder to myself. I found an interview with Andrew Peterson about this album where he says; "Yes,Love is hard and love stinks, but love is not bad. Love is good, and if it does stink it's only because it's on it's way to making you into something that you needed to become."

It made me realize that sometimes love hits you in a weird way, and sometimes it hurts, but at the end of the day all experiences of love are bringing us closer to who we are meant to be. God uses love as a transforming power in our lives, so that we may never be the same.

You can listen to the song by scrolling to the player and clicking "Love is a Good Thing."

Lyrics:

It knocked me down, it dragged me out, it left me there for dead. It took all the freedom I wanted and gave me something else instead. It blew my mind, it bled me dry, it hit me like a long goodbye, and nobody here knows better than I that it’s a good thing.Love is a good thing.

It’ll fall like rain on your parade, laugh at the plans that you tried to make, it’ll wear you down till your heart just breaks and it’s a good thing. Love is a good thing.

It’ll wake you up in the middle of the night, it’ll take just a little too much. It’ll burn you like a cinder till you’re tender to the touch. It’ll chase you down, swallow you whole, it’ll make your blood run hot and cold. Like a thief in the night it’ll steal your soul, and that’s a good thing. Love is a good thing.

It’ll follow you down to the ruin of your great divide, and open the wounds that you tried to hide. And there in the rubble of the heart that died you’ll find a good thing. Love is a good thing.

Take cover, the end is near. Take cover, but do not fear. It’ll break your will, it’ll change your mind, it’ll loose all the chains of the ties that bind. If you’re lucky you’ll never make it out alive, and that’s a good thing. Love is a good thing.

It can hurt like a blast from a hand grenade when all that used to matter is blown away. There in the middle of the mess it made you’ll find a good thing.Yes, it’s worth every penny of the price you paid. It’s a good thing.

Love is a good thing.
Do not fear.

Meet the Pastors

Allen Ewing-Merrill grew up in Searsport – two hours up the coast from Portland – and graduated from the University of Maine, Orono. After teaching high school English for four years – one at Bangor High School and three at Searsport District High School – he answered the call to ministry, graduating from Boston University School of Theology in 2000. He has served churches in Patten, Maine; Wilmington, MA; and Hudson, MA. Allen's special interests in ministry include preaching, creative worship, leadership and visioning, worship arts, and teaching.

Sara Ewing-Merrill grew up on the prairie in South Dakota, the daughter of two preachers’ kids (her grandfathers are both retired pastors). Sara is a graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska. She moved to our nation’s capital to pursue seminary studies at Wesley Theological Seminary, from which she graduated with a Masters of Divinity in 2003. She has served churches in Old Orchard Beach & Saco, Maine and Sudbury, MA. Her special interests in ministry include sacred dance, worship arts, and exploring new forms of worship.

Allen & Sara are the parents of Rachel, born in July 2006. They moved to Portland from Hudson, MA in July 2007 to begin their ministry as co-pastors of New Light, and they are so excited to be on this adventure together!

Scattering New Blessings

Often we anxiously seek the will of God,
as if God had gleefully hidden dreams for us
deep in unfathomable places.
As if it were God's intention
that our whole lives be spent
in endless searching for signs and directions
buried in obscurity.
The will of God is that which brings us
peace and fullness of life.
The will of God is the seed of our dreams
ever gestating with possibility
and longing to leap forward
scattering new and surprising blessings
in our gray reality.

-- Edwina Gateley, from A Mystical Heart
with a nod to inward/outward, Church of the Saviour

Principles and Policies for Christian Voters

I have been reading the latest edition of Sojourners Magazine this week. I found in it a voters guide which I thought was broad and deep about the issues that I think Christians should be concerned about.

Sojourners' subtitle is "Faith, Politics, and Culture." I find that most of the time I agree with their perspective on issues. Jim Wallis of Sojourners wrote the book God's Politics a few years ago. He now shares a blog with others by the same name. It has lots of interesting articles about issues in this year's election.

Check it out. What do you think?

Jesus is a friend of mine.

So word's getting out that we're searching for a lead musician, as we take steps toward developing a new worship gathering (monthly, and then weekly in March).

Check out this video for a little inspiration. That's what we're going for, right? Or not.

New Light in the news!

This week, New Light and our partner church, Chestnut United Methodist Church, are making news!

A reporter from The United Methodist Reporter, a newspaper with nation-wide circulation, recently interviewed several people from Chestnut and New Light and wrote an article highlighting our ministry. The article is already posted online, through their blog, The United Methodist Portal, and will appear in the print verion of the newspaper on the front page of their October 31 issue. (We're hoping to get some copies of the print version to pass around.)

You can read the article online by clicking here.

In other news, read about a facebook conversation Allen recently had with a former student who read this article, who's probalby expressing pretty typically the way young adults think about the church...

Beverage Tax and Health Care

I don't know everything about taxes or the Dirigo Health Care program, but it seems to me that it is a good thing for a program to exist to cover the uninsured. There certainly isn't a federal program to give coverage to those who don't have any, so some states have stepped up and offered various programs.

The Maine Public Broadcasting Network did a great overview of the issue and the ad of the Vote No on One Campaign.

Allen had a Free Medical Clinic at his old church. While he was there we both became aware of the crisis of the uninsured in the United States. We got to know organizations like Cover the Uninsured. The numbers at now up to 46 Million Americans, including 9 Million children are without health care coverage in the United States. This means that people either do not seek medical treatment when they need it or they pay the enormous costs themselves or their costs are covered by some combination of hospital and government agencies (taxpayers).

It seems reasonable to me that the Maine State Government would want to find a way to fund health care coverage for those who don't have any. So for myself, I have to say, I am more than willing to pay $0.04 more when I chose to buy a soda. If that money goes towards giving a child health care coverage that is one tax I am willing to pay. There are lots of taxes I pay that I am not so thrilled about paying, but health care coverage, that one, I would willingly pay.

Community Gathering on Sunday

Join us this Sunday, October 26, at 5:00 pm.

We will gather for our Monthly Potluck and Worship Gathering. After meetings in homes, at the beach, in the apple orchard.... this time we will meet at our new base for ministry, 185 High Street, Portland.

Bring your picnic (something to share) and blanket, or just plan to sit on the floor -- we don't have enough tables and chairs yet. We'll eat and then share some time of reflection, singing, and worship.

It is sure to be a good time for new and established New Light folks. We hope to see you there!

Retreat Fun!

We had an awesome retreat last weekend at Rockcraft, a beautiful retreat center on Sebago Lake. Here are some highlights:

• great times of conversation and sharing with Meredith, our retreat leader
• really meaningful times of worship
• awesome music with Shelley & Mike
• amazing and abundant food!
• perfect weather and beautiful fall colors
• a great experience making mosaics with Priscilla from SPIRAL Arts
• late-night silly games inolving writing sentences, drawing pictures, and folding paper
• laughing until it hurt
• discovering the secret passageways!
• deepening our sense of community

If you missed out on the fun, don't despair -- we're already planning to do it again next year!

Election Guide

In a few short weeks the 2008 elections will be complete. This is an important time in our country, state, and city, when we make decisions about who will be our future leaders and how our state will be governed. I came across this Election Guide put together by the United Methodist Church. It clearly states the values that our denomination proclaims on everything from Energy to Social Security to Health Care. I found it informative to read through this as I consider how I will vote in the various elections and questions in the next few weeks. Take a look and see what you think.

Contemplative Practices

Tonight we spent some time reflecting on our own Contemplative Practices. We used this tree from The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society to imagine where the practices we currently engage in fit in the larger scheme. We also enjoyed seeing all the options there are for what contemplative practices look like. Thanks to Wanda for sharing this image with us.

What practices do you enjoy? What on this tree surprises you?

Join the Advent Conspiracy!

As a continuation of our discussions of wealth and poverty, as a community we've decided to respond by making changes in the way we celebrate Christmas this year.

We're joining the Advent conspiracy.

Check out this video we watched in last week's LIFE Groups...



Can you believe that in the United States alone, we spend $450 billion a year on Christmas? As a community, we've committed to the four principles of the Advent Conspiracy:

• worship fully
• spend less
• give more
• love all

As part of our preparations for Christmas this year, we're going to support a project that provides access to clean water for people who have none. Specifically, the challenge we're undertaking is to give to this cause the same amount we spend on gifts for family and friends -- that is, to match our spending dollar for dollar. Most likely, that means spending less on gifts, since few of us can afford to double our typical Christmas spending, but it also means being more generous. We may also support a local cause as well -- that's a conversation we've just begun.

What do you think? Wanna conspire with us? Join the Advent Conspiracy!

The face of poverty

Over the last couple of weeks, we've been exploring issues of wealth and poverty in our LIFE Groups, and thinking about how, as followers of Jesus living in the richest country in the world, we have a reponsibility to care for our sisters and brothers who live in poverty.

In a world where someone dies of hunger or hunger-related causes every 3 1/2 seconds -- 25,000 people a day! -- can we simply go on with our lives as usual?

The situation is enormous, but it's not hopeless. The resources exist to end the suffering. In fact, in September 2000, the 189 countries of the United Nations came up with a plan and unanimously agreed to a solution. As you'll see in this chart, some of the countries are already doing their part. Sadly, the United States has no plan in place to fulfill its commitment.

I think it's important to learn as much as we can and to wrestle with the realities of poverty -- to think about how our own actions, habits, lifestyles, and behaviors impact others, as well as how changes in our own actions, habits, lifestyles, and behaviors might make a positive difference -- rather than simply looking for quick and easy answers or dismissing the problem altogether.

I own a car and a refrigerator, and I'm not wondering if there will be food on my table tonight. That puts me in the wealthiest 5% of the world's population. By the world's standards, I am rich. I have to acknowledge, that's nothing I accomplished on my own. I got the luck of the draw.

I can no longer look upon those who are suffering as faceless commodities. They are real people, our sisters and brothers, with all the same hopes and dreams, needs, and emotions that we have. And they are children of God, loved by God as deeply and passionately and completely as you and I are. If my life has been impacted by Christ, shouldn't my heart break over the things that break the heart of God?

And so I'm praying: What can I do? What can we do together?