A MISSION TRIP TO KOINONIA FARM ... PAGES 6, 7 AND 10 CGN! Caldwell Good News! November 2014 Our Adult Christian Cold nights mean the Las Posada is a New members break One of our members Education (ACE) homeless need to be chance for Caldwell bread - well, actually as a ‘moo-ving’ class studies what we safely housed and to celebrate the birth it was pizza - together experience during her can learn from other cared for. Our Room of Christ and walk at Hawthorne’s. trek to Koinonia religions. in the Inn team could with our Latino Page 9 Farm. Page 2 use your help to bring brothers and sisters. Page 12 comfort to others in Mark Dec. 19 on your need. calendar for this Page 3 solemn but festive occasion. Pages 4 - 5 CALDWELL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA CALDWELL GOOD NEWS! CALDWELLPRESBY.ORG$ NOVEMBER 2014 Pastor John What can we learn from other religions? Cleghorn’s column will This series encourages understanding. return in December. There’s considerable misunderstanding about other faiths but our ACE class is doing something about it by studying What Christians Can Learn fom Other Religions. Islam Few religions are as misunderstood as Islam. But an open dialogue can bridge the knowledge gap that tends to isolate one religion from another. “A lot of what you accept is the Imam Wogaman said “When we look at things from a standpoint of culture you grew up in and we reject what God wants ... we could engage about what he has given us.” cultures we don’t know,” Muslim Imam J. Philip Wogaman told 18 Hinduism Adult Christian Education (ACE) attendees. “We have to have a more India is the seventh largest country in the world and more than 80% of its sober minded approach to Islam and population is Hindu. we have to be more inclusive.” Mavin Chhablani said the country “has a strong belief in Indian culture Wogaman said Muslims give more as a way of life,” but the spread of technology has pressured that way of credit to what God has created than life. Still, “It’s where diversity is very accepted.” Hindus hold “a strong how man adapts to that creation. belief in God and the Holy One,” he said. Hindus observe their faith with “Creation is God’s extended will ... many festivals, including to elephant-headed God Ganehsa Chaturthi. when we see nature, we see what man has made out of what God created. We shouldn’t think of it in that context. We subtlety shift away from God to man.” Caldwell Good News! A monthly publication of Caldwell Presbyterian Church 1609 East Fifth Street Charlotte, NC 28204 704-334-0825 Rev. John M. Cleghorn, Pastor [email protected] Rev. Evie Landrau, Assoc. Pastor Anne Hunter Eidson, Music Director Sally Herlong, Bus. & Oper. Mgr. [email protected] Contributing editors: John Cleghorn, Dave With 22 o&cial languages, India is, said Bradley ([email protected]) Mavin, “... where diversity is very accepted.” $ 2 CALDWELL GOOD NEWS! CALDWELLPRESBY.ORG$ NOVEMBER 2014 As the weather turns colder and leaves drop from the trees, my mind turns to homeless neighbors and Room in the Inn (RITI). RITI offers congregations the opportunity to share their warmth and hospitality by providing shelter and food to the homeless during the winter months. Caldwell partners with St .John’s Baptist to host 12 neighbors on five Fridays. Our dates are Dec. 5, Jan. 2 and 23, Feb. 13 and March 6. The basic goal is to keep homeless people from freezing on cold winter nights. A greater goal is to provide a more personal relationship to the homeless, at least for a night, and to foster a deeper understanding of the depth and complexity of the issue. How can you participate? There are many ways (the number of volunteers needed in parenthesis): SET UP (2) You would set up and make the beds with sheets, blankets, pillows. You would set out toiletries. Someone from St. John’s will meet you to show you where the items are to be set out. You would arrive at 5 p.m. and finish by 5:45 p.m. OVERNIGHT HOSTS (3) Hosts arrive at 5:30 p.m. to greet neighbors, share dinner with them, play cards or watch TV. You spend the night in the family room. You rise by 6 a.m. to awaken the neighbors at 6:15 a.m. You and the neighbors clean up. You finish at 7:30. Lead cook (1)* You work with the other cooks to plan a menu and coordinate cooking. The lead cook helps with cooking, serving and clean up. Dinner is served around 6:15 p.m. Dinner includes drinks, meat, 3 side items, salad, and dessert for 20 to 24. It would be wonderful if you provided flowers/candles/or decoration for the tables. Another St. John’s Baptist provides idea appreciated by the neighbors: appetizers (cheese and crackers) shelter, Caldwell provides to welcome them as they arrive. volunteers to help the Assistant cooks (3-4) homeless. You assist the lead cook by preparing menu items plus serving and clean up. Not all cooks need to stay, but all are welcome to stay and eat dinner with the neighbors. Lunch (1)* You prepare 12 bag lunches; 2 sandwiches, chips, fruit, dessert and a bottle of water. Plastic grocery bags work as great lunch bags (it’s a nice touch to add a bible verse to each bag). Drop lunches off at St Johns between 5 and 8 p.m. Breakfast (2-3)* You prepare hot breakfast for 12 neighbors and 3 innkeepers. The neighbor’s favorite breakfast is usually eggs, bacon or sausage, grits, and biscuits. You can make other food but it should be something warm. Breakfast is served at 6:45 a.m. You will purchase food, prepare and serve it and clean up. *If you would like reimbursement for your food purchases, turn your receipts - labeled RITI - into the church office. Saturday night (1) You help with cleanup of gymnasium/bathroom and serve/cleanup breakfast. You arrive by 6:30 a.m. You help the neighbors put away mattresses. You assist overnight hosts with kitchen cleanup; gather laundry, and clean bathrooms. Laundry (1) You pick up laundry at 7:30 a.m. from the St. John’s gym and deliver to Holiday Cleaners any time from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. A few years ago I was the coordinator for another church that hosted every Wednesday night during the season. Even though we always had plenty of volunteers, I would be there each and every Wednesday. People asked me why I would go each Wednesday night. I told them I was sure to meet God if I went and my eyes were open. Sometimes I see Him in the loving care given my church family, sometimes I see Him in the neighbors. Maybe if I share this story you will understand why I return each night. He was a big bear of a man who wore an old torn and tattered wool plaid jacket. She was a tiny 6 week-old baby girl dwarfed in a soft pink blanket. Her big brown eyes eagerly studied and searched his face as he tenderly fed her a bottle. He was holding her as if she were a fragile glass doll, a prized possession. And as he gently rocked her he gazed into her eyes, I heard him whisper lovingly ‘You are the best part of my day.’ He was not her grandfather or father or uncle. He was simply a homeless guy who randomly came to our church. But he was there to love, to cherish and to hold her for just a short while and I knew in that moment God was present. A wave of love washed over me and I was blessed to be in His presence. I invite you to come and be part of RITI and to witness the miracle of His love and grace. By Mary Ann Idol (704-280-7956) Sign up at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b084aaba629a57-room or call Mary Ann or Lynn Watson (704-819-9795). $ 3 CALDWELL GOOD NEWS! CALDWELLPRESBY.ORG$ NOVEMBER 2014 Las Posada is Near… Come and Share Casita de Amor, “The Little House of Love,” has been given the awesome opportunity to coordinate the Las posada, a tradition from Mexico and several countries in South America. “The word posada Rev. Evie Landrau means "inn" or "shelter" in Spanish, and these celebrations recreate Mary and Joseph's search for a place to stay in Bethlehem.” This This is where one traditional event leads many Latino/communities to Christmas and Advent in tangible ways. This is where one witnesses the incarnate witnesses the nature of Christian beliefs. It is a reenactment of the “the word incarnate nature made flesh,” Jesus Christ walking with the people (John 1:14). Jesus is made flesh in our mists through the action of walking together of Christian and singing spiritual hymns. Jesus is known to appear by our side beliefs ... It is a as we hold a candle symbolizing that he is the light of the world. reenactment of Jesus is made real in the walk, in the aroma of the bread that we break together; Jesus is made like us in the laughter of the children. “the word made The ordinary nature of the act makes it sacred and compels us to flesh ...” welcome brothers and sisters from diverse traditions and languages yet again to Caldwell! Therefore, on Saturday, Dec.