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?

It’s no secret that everything that’s living is either growing or it’s dying. Our spiritual lives are no exception.

The invitation to follow the way of Jesus is an invitation to growth.

Join us for a weekend away from the routines and stresses of daily life. God will be with us to plant seeds, nourish and nurture them, and provide a little fertilizer, too. A bountiful harvest awaits!

The weekend will include good food, engaging conversation, uplifting music, meaningful worship, fun games, plenty of laughter, quiet space for reflection, and free time to relax and enjoy one another in the beauty of God’s Creation.

The details...

Fri-Sun, October 10-12, 2008
- begins with dinner on Friday (6 pm)
- ends following lunch on Sunday

Rockcraft Retreat Center - Sebago Lake

Meredith Manning Brown, retreat leader
Shelley & Mike Tworoger, music leaders

$100 per person suggested contribution
- includes two nights’ accommodations and six meals
- Do not let financial concerns be a factor in whether to attend — assistance is available
- Reduced rates for children. Childcare provided.

Wanna come? Contact us.

Central American Lord's Prayer

Our Lord,
who is in us here on earth,
holy is your name
in the hungry
who share their bread and their song.
Your Kingdom come,
which is a generous land
that flows with milk and honey.
Let us do your will,
standing up when all are sitting down,
and raising our voice when all are silent.
You are giving us our daily bread
in the song of the bird and the miracle of the corn.
Forgive us
for keeping silent in the face of injustice,
and for burying our dreams,
for not sharing bread and wine,
love and the land,
among us, now.
Don’t let us fall into the temptation
of shutting the door through fear;
of resigning ourselves to hunger and injustice;
of taking up the same arms as the enemy.
But deliver us from evil.

Give us the perseverance and the solidarity
to look for love,
even if the path has not yet been trodden,
even if we fall;
so we shall have known your kingdom
which is being built for ever and ever.
Amen.

— Central American Lord’s Prayer

An apple for the teacher

Big Congratulations to Carlie, who's part of our Monday night LIFE Group. She's student teaching, and she got her first apple from a student this week! It's looking a little green from this angle, and maybe not perfectly symmetrical, but it's pretty clear that in Carlie's eyes, this is a precious gift.

We love you as much as your students, Carlie! No -- more! And we're all praying for you and cheering you on as you tackle this big, intense, stressful project...