Nexus Newsletter- January 31, 2009

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Dear Friends of Nexus Church,

As I eagerly wait for the snow and ice to melt, I'm already anticipating some favorite words from the Song of Songs (2:11-12):

for now the winter is past,

the rain is over and gone.

The flowers appear on the earth;

the time of singing has come,

and the voice of the turtle-dove

is heard in our land.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Now, I know that winter is not truly past, and I hope that the flowers do not appear yet. But in all honesty, I tell you, it's beginning to feel like spring to me.

There so much new life "budding" at Nexus Church these days. Have you noticed? New members joining, new programs being planned, newly designed websites unveiled, new bulletin boards created, new marriages blessed, and new visitors at worship - see what I mean about springtime?

Below you'll find details about all this "new" stuff. I encourage you to read it through to the end. Let yourself find some activity or some event with which you "connect." And then let your own springtime gently begin.

Always with joy,

Mike

Mike Underhill

Pastor

What a day! --Sunday, Feb. 1. ! We will receive new members, be inspired with the music of Dave Jarman and PS 150, have communion, share potluck lunch together, and hear Frank Wray talk about his experiences and show pictures of Costa Rica

· Eleven new folk will be welcomed as covenant members of Nexus Church. The group includes 6 individuals who have "long" histories with Nexus and 5 individuals who have recently become active with Nexus.

· "A New Kind of Authority" is the title of Mike's reflection on Jesus' encountering a demonic spirit when he teaches in his home-town synagogue (Mark 1:21-28). Katie Kool will lead the New Explorer program. Suzanne Jarman will assist with communion.

· "The Beauty and Culture of Costa Rica" - As part of our monthly potluck lunch, Frank Wray will share his slides and stories about his experiences in Costa Rica this past fall. (We'll adjourn in plenty of time for you to get home for the Super Bowl.)

UPCOMING EVENTS
You are invited -- Sunday afternoon, Feb 8, 1:30-4:30 p.m. -- Mike Underhill and Vince Benabese cordially invite you to stop by anytime from 1:30 to 4:30 for their Open House. There will be appetizers, drinks, and birthday cake (Vince is 50!). Bring your children for special games and crafts in the basement. Around 3:00 there will be a blessing of their home. Mike and Vince live at 6983 Willowood Drive, east of the Union Centre exit on I-75.

Nexus Governing Council - Monday, Feb 9, at 7:00 p.m.at the Panera Restaurant in Bridgewater Falls Shopping Center. Please contact Karl Ulrich if you have ideas or concerns for the Council.

Installation of Mike as Pastor - Sunday afternoon, Feb 22 at 3:00 p.m. at the East Butler YMCA. It's a time for the folks at Nexus, the pastor, and other UCC churches in the area to make Mike's ministry "official." It's also Mardi Gras season. If you are interested in helping plan the worship or the party, please see Karl Ulrich. Childcare will be available.

Ash Wednesday - Wednesday, Feb 25 - Ash Wednesday is the first day of the 40 day period before Easter called Lent. It's often a time of reflection and prayer. If you are interested in helping plan a creative Ash Wednesday "event," please let Mike know.

Children's Clothing Sale - Saturday, March 28 - East Butler Y is holding a consignment sale of children's clothing (newborn to size 16) and maternity clothing. It's a great way to clear out your closets of those clothes your kids will never again wear - and make it available to other families. Sellers keep 80% of the selling price for their items.

GOOD STUFF

Bulletin Board sparkles - When you come in the Y, look at the Nexus bulletin board by the front door. Isn't it great! Thanks to Beth McClary, the bulletin board is now much more inviting to folks - and last Sunday, at least one couple and their kids came to church because of the bulletin board. Thank you, Beth!

Sharing Soup Wednesday nights during Lent - Due to overwhelming positive response from last year, Nexus Church will once again provide soup every Wednesday late afternoon/evening for anyone and everyone at the Y. It's a great way for us to meet our neighbors and to do something that is really appreciated. Leslie Baum is coordinating the event and soon will be asking for volunteer soup makers and soup servers.

Running with God? -- Well, many Nexus folk report that running is an important time of spiritual reflection. With that in mind, Emily Closson and others are organizing a Nexus running "team:" The first event may be a 5K Frog Job sponsored by the East Butler Y on April 25.

Like to read and discuss? - Several Nexus folk are eager to host book discussions, either at the Y or in their homes. Does this sound interesting to you? Let Mike know if you'd like an invitation to participate - or if you have a hot book you want others to read.

FAITH & LIFE

Sharing YOUR story - Thanks to Brian Smith, Nexus Church now has a great, newly designed website. (www.nexusucc.org). It's a fresh look which is already being well received by folks who are looking for something "more" in their lives. And that's where you can help. Would you consider writing a paragraph or two about why you are at Nexus and what does faith mean to you? Sharing your story is a powerful way to reach out to others and help them connect their faith and life. If you are willing to write a paragraph or two, just let Brian know.

Progressive Christianity - Nexus Church is an organizational affiliate of The Center for Progressive Christianity. Their website is a great resource for articles, music, book review, and news.

https://www396.ssldomain.com/tcpc/template/index.cfm

Praying for the President -- As many of you know, the Right Rev. Gene Robinson, the openly Gay Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire, gave the opening prayer at the recent Lincoln Memorial concert. It was the first event in the inaugural festivities. HBO, which had paid for exclusive rights to the event, chose not to broadcast Bishop Robinson's prayer. NPR didn't air it either. There's no record of it in images placed on the sites of Getty Images, New York Times and the Washington Post. It's a complete erasure of his ever having delivered the prayer. Such is the continuing policy of silence and erasure we have to live with from people who should know better.

Here's a link to the full text of Bishop Robinson's prayer.

https://www396.ssldomain.com/tcpc/library/article.cfm?library_id=574

GIVING

Thank you -- The Pension Boards, and the United Church Board for Ministerial Assistance, write to THANK YOU and the members of your congregation for your support of the Annual United Church of Christ Christmas Fund Offering.

Gifts received by the Christmas Fund during calendar year 2008 totaled $1,597,000. This sum represents the largest number of dollars ever raised for the ministry underwritten by the Fund in its 106 year history!

Approximately ninety-four cents of every dollar raised will become a direct gift to more than 1,500 retired and active clergy and lay employees in the United Church of Christ. The Christmas Fund provides for supplementation of small pensions, help in paying health benefit premiums, emergency grants and gifts at Christmas time to about 900 low-income retired clergy and lay employees.

Electronic giving You can use your debit/credit card or a bank transfer to make on-line charitable contributions to Nexus Church. Contributions can be made via the Web Site or by sending funds directly to the Nexus Church PayPal account: paypal@nexusucc.org.

Spotlight on... Jeff Davis

I grew up in a vaguely Christian household.  A lot of emphasis was placed on believing in Jesus as one's savior but we never really attended church for some reason.  We didn't even attend services on Easter and Christmas for the most part.  I grew up in a broken home, living with my mother, whose beliefs were pretty fundamentalist.  I heard second-hand my father was a Catholic, but his beliefs obvious weren't too involved as he never even mentioned religion in my presence from birth until his death in 2002. 

Like a lot of people, a fundamentalist upbringing instilled in me a deep and abounding fear of going to Hell forever.  As a child I would frequently lay awake at night, sometimes crying silently at the mere thought that I, or someone from my family, might not make it into heaven.  What few experiences I had in church reinforced this way of thinking.

Around the age of 16 I started to listening to a lot of heavy metal (which I still enjoy) and started discovering that a lot of people had been negatively affected by the beliefs they grew up with.  I became quite reactionary and opposed to Christianity in general, because I had little exposure to the positive side of it.

As I grew older and teen angst subsided, I eventually started viewing religion as irrelevant superstition and stopped thinking about it altogether.  It was something for "other people" that I had little interest in.

Around 2002 in the aftermath of a serious medical diagnosis, I started thinking about engaging with religion again.  My reasoning was that since things seemed to be going poorly in my mortal life, maybe I should start looking elsewhere for hope.  Probably not the best reasoning, but not an uncommon motivation either.

Since I really had no idea what was involved in choosing a church, or even the difference between denominations, I latched onto the first Church I saw, one which may be familiar to many of you from their TV commercials.  I dragged my wife to services there one Sunday evening.  The opulence of the church was astounding, and frankly, a little off-putting.  Services took place in a very large amphitheater with a state of the art sound system and giant TV screens for those that were sitting in the back.  What we experienced there was frankly pretty frightening to the both of, never having been exposed to the charismatic movement before.  There was a lot of movement, screaming and shouting about Satan, and a very big deal was made about the offering.  It was basically a more extreme version of the televangelism you see on religious channels.  We never returned.

(I later learned that the reason megachurches run so many TV commercials is that the turnover in the congregation is higher than usual.  A recent poll of megachurch attendees found that over 60% of them would describe themselves as spiritually unfulfilled.  Not only are megachurches run like businesses, their turnover is just as high.)

My next church was chosen in a method nearly as random...flipping through the phonebook looking for nearby churches that had hours listed on a Sunday afternoon.  I found a local Baptist church that had services that evening, so once again I dragged my wife along for moral support and got in the car.  This ended up being a very big mistake.  Nowadays you hear about "sick buildings" that make people who work in them ill.  I strongly feel this church was an example of a "sick church" that makes everyone in it spiritually ill.  Their fundamentalist beliefs were pushed very strongly on everyone that attended.  They adhered to the usual list of groups that are demonized on a regular basis by fundamentalists: liberals, feminists, people that belong to other religions, gays, and so forth.  Neither of us really agreed with this but we kept our mouths shut about it except at home.  In a discussion with the pastor, I happened to mention my now-wife and I were living together but had not yet married, a fact that I was encouraged to keep as quiet as possible.  Later on I was strongly discouraged from baptism and communion for this reason.  Other people seemed to have their own problems with the church...attendance was always a constant struggle.  The only time you could get most members in a room together was when free dinner was provided by the church women.  Some people were actually upset the church wasn't fundamentalist enough and there was a brief, angry exchange during a sermon one night that ended with someone storming out.  My wife quit attending long before I did.  Eventually I hit my breaking point too, since I realized I was basically being treated like a black sheep while at the same time having heavy church obligations laid on me.  I wasn't a young earth creationist, my wife was the head of the household, I was a liberal, I didn't look down on GLBT folks or many of the other groups they disliked.  I resolved to quit attending and stopped responding to their missives for me to return.  Eventually they quit trying.

A few months later I decided to try again, this time trying to find a church that matched me, instead of finding a church that wanted me to become like them.  I discovered Universalist-Unitarianism and started attending a local congregation occasionally.  The people were friendlier and their beliefs in general were a pretty good match for mine.  Over time I decided that perhaps UUism was a bit too diverse for me.  I don't find anything wrong with the idea of communal worship between people of different beliefs, but I felt there were too many concessions to be made in the sermons.  When you're trying to cook for 50 people that all have different allergies, you end up serving oatmeal.

I looked for something similar to UUism and discovered the Quakers.  I was encouraged by the fact that they seemed to be on the side of peace and justice on any social issue you could name.  I attended a local meeting for a great long while but over the course of time I realized that like UUism, I wasn't getting anything out of the worship style.  I've never been able to meditate so sitting silently for an hour alone with my thoughts was a great struggle for me.  I found myself peeking at the clock, or wishing someone would feel led to speak out of the silence in the Quaker tradition.

The last church I attended before finding Nexus was a local new-age type congregation.  Everyone was friendly, but I found some of their beliefs a bit incredulous.  I was once asked what I thought about crystals, and had an awkward moment where I had to think of something nice to say without treading on anyone's beliefs.  I basically demurred that I thought they were nice-looking rocks but not much else.  Eventually I came to suspect that the entire church may have been a vehicle to provide the leadership with interested clientele for their side-businesses.  The leadership was very much involved with selling related services...mediumship services, psychic readings, spirit portraits, reiki, therapeutic massage.  These people wore many hats, and were charging a pretty fair amount for these services.

At this point I just kind of quit looking...I had already visited pretty much every nearby progressive congregation.  All of the others were either too far to drive to on a weekly basis, or just variations on what I had already experienced.  I frequently wished someone would start a progressive Christian church in Butler County.  A church where "misfits" and those cast out of other churches could feel welcome.  A church with a commitment to peace and social justice.  A church that at least tolerated some degree of skepticism.  A church that embraced technology in its outreach.

Eventually I read an article about a church in Seattle that met a few of these criteria (while missing others entirely...this church was Calvinist).  On a lark I decided to Google for 'Hamilton Ohio Churches."  On the second page of results, I discovered there was a small church on the outskirts of Hamilton that met in a gym, that fulfilled every one of these criteria.  That church, was of course, Nexus UCC, and I'm delighted to have found it.

Jeff is a Hamilton native.  His wife, Roxanne, is from Southeast Ohio, near Athens. 

Spotlight on... Chip Bramlage

During my first 20 years of life I had no clue who, what, where, and why God is. I was too busy surviving the streets and eating out of garbage cans along with all the sad things a street kid has to live with.  I can say I was a living television drama back then.  It is only by the grace of God I am alive and able to write what I am writing now.

God to me was a fairytale from the Brothers Grimm stories. God was some big dude with supernatural powers that either gave peace or God would blow the world up when things didn’t go his/her/its way. Greek mythology comes to mind when I think of it. I did not really think God existed.  Though I did pray nightly and constantly for a compassionate God that could save me from what was given to me at birth. Hell and death is what I remember during that time of my life.

In my early twenties a concept was brought to my attention.  That concept was called Christianity.  I went through many theologies and found it all scary, thought numbing, and controlling. There were so many rules that seem to only oppress the spirit that was claimed to be a gift from God. So, I went out and researched the one practice all the theologies seem to have in common, prayer and meditation.  I knew a God existed, but I didn’t understand what that meant beyond the fact I knew a God of some sort created the world around me that I wanted to be a part of.

Through many years of reading, studying, and listening I grabbed on to what seemed compassionate and realistic to me at the time. I wouldn’t allow myself to be part of a church or a religion, because I simply thought they all had it wrong. I kept praying and asking questions constantly.  Some engaged and others blew the conversation off. My fight with myself wasn’t that God didn’t exist. I knew that simply because I was alive, with a job, a roof over my head and dreams I could live for.  Remember I prayed for many years for the opportunity to live. My obstacle was Jesus being a savior, after all wasn’t he just a man that had great conviction for humanities wellness?

I believed in a man named Jesus, who lived and taught wonderful ideas and concepts. In fact I began learning to live Christ’s example the best I could. The one fact that kept me from being a Christian and accepting Christ as my savior was how he came to earth, the Immaculate Conception.  There was a local church who tried to deny my family of my daughter’s baptism because I wouldn’t or couldn’t believe in the Immaculate Conception. That was very embarrassing but, a growth period for me personally.

I came to Nexus to play music. I have been playing, studying music for many years in many levels of its profession.  I have a family that I wanted to be part of Gods existence and we were not there, individually maybe but, not as a family. I called Nexus and offered to help with their music program. They accepted and a new life began.

It took me a few months to comprehend their openness and value of being all affirming. I thought it was a scam and absolutely impossible that a Church could be so open. All those rules and traditions one had to claim in order to be part of something. Where did those rules and traditions go?  The conversations during the sermons were mind blowing. It felt like I was in a room with a bunch of friends discussing God instead of being told what God is and if you don’t follow, Hell is on the way. It was refreshing and confusing but, at the same time this place called Nexus has  given me reason and intrigue to keep soul searching.

My growth and my families growth spiritually, emotionally, physically (well, that’s my fault for slow growth or fast growth however you want to look at it), and mentally has been a journey of joy when I think of it in hindsight.  My daughter at the age of 7 reads the Bible now and is always inquiring about God and Jesus. My family and I now have discussions about God and Jesus. We are learning how to live as a family with God. I am glad Nexus and I got to play a song together. The melody has been fresh every since.  Peace is always the best alternative. We are finding it through Nexus.

Chip teaches guitar (and other instruments) and helps bands learn to play together.  You can find out more about what Chip does at his website  www.ampsrock.com.  Chip is married to Krista and has a 7 year old daughter, Brooke.

Spotlight on....Frank Wray

I was born and raised in the Catholic church. I went to Catholic school and for many years endured the repetition that is endeared to the Catholic service. I have mostly fond memories of the Church and the education I received prepared me well as I went to on to college. In college and graduate school though, my eyes were opened in many respects I started to question my religion openly and of all people who encouraged me to take a spiritual journey, it was my mother; an ardent Catholic and strong Christian. "I just want you to know Christ and I want you to be in heaven with me," is what I remember her saying time and time again so, for the most part, I left the Catholic Church and searched for a church where I saw inclusion whether than exclusion, where I saw more put into the message rather than then the presentation and one where I could share a spiritual journey with the one I love.

Fast forward to 14 months ago. I was just two months into my relationship with my present wife Katie. She, too, was searching for a church and we both knew were going to most likely get married so we started to "shop" for a church we called our own. Katie had actually been to a service at Nexus before I met her and she had mentioned it but we decided to see what some other services were like. But one after another just didn't feel quite right. There was something missing in each one. Katie finally suggested we try Nexus to see what I thought. I was initially skeptical since it was a start up church but I thought I would give it a chance. Well, one time was all it took. The warmth, the love, and the mission and message of Nexus was exactly what I wanted. In spite of their size, they were truly a melting pot of all the ideas I had thought a church should be. Katie and I agreed that this was the church were our family would grow spiritually and take away the values we both hold dear to ourselves. I am very excited about Nexus and look forward to its continued growth!

Frank is a professor of biology at the University of Cincinnati's branch campus in Blue Ash. He is married to Katie Kool and is the proud stepfather to A.J and Maya Kool.

Spotlight on...Brian Smith

I was taught about hell from the time I was five years old. My Sunday school teachers used to scare us with stories of the rapture and what would happen if we weren't ready. Left Behind (the novel series) was our regular Sunday School fare. Not being ready meant being in the wrong place when Jesus returned (like a movie theater) or in a bar (why they taught this to five year olds I don't know), or a skating rink. Also not being ready meant having any unconfessed sin. We were only "saved" as long as we repented for every sin. I asked to be baptized at a very young age simply to escape the fate of being sent to hell. But, my parents wouldn't let me. So, I suffered severe anxiety wondering what my fate would be if Jesus did return or I died before I could be baptized and speak in tongues. I used to freak out if I couldn't find my mother or father in the house, thinking they had been raptured away and I was Left Behind.

I never really loved God (I loved Jesus). But, I feared God. To me, He was big old man who wanted nothing more than to catch me in some sin, kill me before I could repent and torture me eternally. Fortunately, I could hide behind Jesus. But, would He really protect me when the time came for judgment?

When I got out on my own, I stopped attending church. I never lost faith. But, I didn't see the point in going to be tortured every week. I really wanted to love God. But, it was hard. I can't say I really got a lot out of church in those days. When I got married, my wife finally got me to go back to church. But, it wasn't great. I did it mostly for her. I began exploring other faiths, not seriously, as in converting to them. But, mostly out of curiosity. I did some reading on Kaballah (Jewish Mysticism), Paganism, Buddhism, Gnosticism, read the Tao Te Ching and I can't remember what else. I knew I was a deeply spiritual person and couldn't abandon that. But, this image I had of God and my relation to Him was literally killing me. I saw beauty and truth in other religions. But, I couldn't bring myself to dump my Christian roots- as much as I wanted to at times.

Fast forward about some years and the panic attacks I began experience in in church, as a teenager, became overwhelming. I finally let people know I was having them and began to see a Christian counselor who helped me work through them. I had several issues. But the biggest one was that I never felt that I measured up. I never felt I had earned God's love. I knew that theologically our churches spoke of "relationship not religion" and "grace". But, I didn't see those things practiced. What I saw was judgment. And, I saw people worshiping a monster. Anyone who could torture anyone for any reason, for an eternity was someone to be feared, in my eyes.

Sometime around the beginning of 2004, I discovered Universal Reconciliation (UR). This is the belief that God, will eventually reconcile everyone to Himself. Wow! This made so much sense to me. I began reading everything I could on the subject and was blessed enough to find a Yahoo group where that was the central theme. Finally, someone had a picture of a God that I could both love and respect and yes, even admire. I set off on a journey of rediscovering Christianity. But, I did this largely alone. I didn't have a local community of people I could share this with. I did have a group on-line that I could talk to about it.

Around the time I discovered UR, I started looking into meditation. Christian meditation is sometimes called "contemplative prayer". I've been practicing for about 2 years now and it has made a major difference in my mental state as well as the way I view the world. When I heard about emergent or the emerging church, I had some hope for Christian fellowship again. I began attending a "cohort" where I met Chuck Wiggins who told me about Nexus. Until I found Nexus, my interaction with anyone with a theology similar to mine was limited to the Internet. I was a closet Universalist and Liberal when I was around church people. What brought me to Nexus is the opportunity to be myself and to be with people who are willing to explore what the good news really is.

Brian owns and operates an internet hair and skin care company with his wife Tywana. They have two children, Kayla (10) and Shayna (7). He's been attending Nexus since December 2006.