Let's give the gift of hospitality.

Caldwell Family:

Please spread the word about the two upcoming volunteer workdays to prepare a warm and hospital space for the Emergency Overflow Shelter for Homeless Women. This morning’s Charlotte Observer ran an update on the community-wide effort and WBTV swung by today for its own story tonight.

The two workdays – Labor Day, Sept. 6 and Saturday, Sept. 11 – will be here before we know it so please consider groups or individuals you might invite to help. All hands are needed and welcomed. The workdays provide a wonderful opportunity for our congregation and our community to come together.  Here is more information you can pass on:

Those who fed the 400

Dear Caldwell,

Here is what happened. Last Sunday morning, Richard Harrison in our choir grabbed me seconds before worship to tell me a roof had caved in at the Urban Ministries Shelter, suspending its ability to feed homeless men and women. In worship, I briefly mentioned the Center’s need for help supplying meals until the repairs had been made. Moments after the benediction and Amen Chorus, Mike Watson offered to prepare enough Barbecue and Fixin’s if we could rally help and resources. Today, 400 men and women enjoyed Magic Mike’s declicious ‘cue, hand-made sandwiches that flowed out of an assembly line operation that would have impressed Henry Ford. 

Two things we hear in doing God’s work are: 1. You never know until you ask (thanks Richard Harrison for asking)  2. The act of giving does more for those who give than those who receive their gift. (Thanks to Mike, who said he could not think of a better way to celebrate his birthday today, and all the others who turned out today to help.)

In other “good news,” it’s a blessing to report that with more than half of the needed funds already committed, we are moving forward with the plan to open a Shelter for Homeless Women at Caldwell, to be staffed by the Salvation Army. If you are interested in helping, mark your calendars for Labor Day (Sept. 6) and Saturday, Sept. 11. We will offer volunteer opportunties to help prepare and decorate the living quarters in our Price Building on those days. More details to come.

This Sunday, we will gather to give thanks to God for all of these reminders of God’s abundant grace and call on our lives.  Luke 13:10-17 presents the story of Jesus and the “stooped woman.” Not only is this a text that raises questions about how “proper conduct” on the Sabbath, but it also highlights Jesus’ revoutionary ministry to women. All this and more on Sunday. See you then, I hope.

To our students, teachers, parents, volunteers and all others who touch education, congrats on week one.

John

In worship Sunday, we will hold up all of those who are connected to learning – teachers, students, parents and volunteers – and ask God’s blessings on them as a new school year begins. In scripture (Jeremiah 1:4-10) and sermon, we have a chance to explore an intriguing – and ultimately comforting notion – the “humanity of God.” (After the Tower of Power last Sunday, I have to say the bar looked high.) In Sunday school, we will look at the parable of the empty house (Matthew 12:38-50). 

An update on our proposed Emergency Overflow Shelter for Homeless Women: The Salvation Army, which would run the 30- to 50-bed shelter in our Price Building, has been busy with fund raising to find the needed $77,000 for a 90-day shelter. Early signs look promising but nothing is certain at this point. We have tentatively targeted the weekend of Sept. 17/18/19  as the opening date. If we stick to that, we would most likely have a work day to prepare the space a week earlier  on Sept. 11, in case you want to mark your calendars. Stay tuned for more as it comes in, and thanks to those elders and leaders who are working on this project.

Whether you are trying to salvage what’s left of your grass, shopping for back-to-school or just trying to rest this weekend, peace be with you. Come give thanks on Sunday.

John

I am here for a conference titled “Church Unbound,” which is being led by some of the top thinkers and writers focused on what has become the theme for us this summer: What, if anything, do we need to change about the church for it to be a vital force in this pluralistic century?

The keynote speaker is Brian McLaren, who has drawn great attention and some controversy to his ground-breaking ideas about how we understand the role of Christ and the kingdom of God (among other things). This afternoon, I also participated in a stimulating session focused on multicultural churches. I am here by your good graces and I will do my best to soak up as much as I can for your – and the church’s – use and benefit. (In case you’re worried about expenses, the conference I attended last spring was covered entirely by the Presbytery.)

A theme of the conference is the story of Lazarus, Christ’s friend, who died and was brought back to life by Jesus. As we know from scripture’s various accounts of resurrection as well as Paul’s writings, we must die, first, to be resurrected. To live in Christ, we must die to  what keeps us separated from God. It is a question worth pondering for everyone: To what should we die – what parts of ourselves need to die – for us to be transformed in Christ?

When Jesus resurrected Lazarus, he said, “Unbind him” because he had been bound in cloth and prepared for burial. At this conference, we are asking: what will it take to unbind the church? An equally good question, one we at Caldwell have a remarkable opportunity to explore as we continue to journey together.

See you Sunday.

John

With gratitude to God, we are happy to tell the Caldwell community some very good news. Veronica Rogers, whom so many of us came to know during her recent internship, has accepted the Session’s offer to join the Caldwell staff in a part-time role beginning on Sunday, September 12.  As Assistant to the Pastor, Veronica will focus on leading worship and providing congregational care, two areas where she is particularly gifted. Her hiring will create the only racially integrated worship team in the Charlotte Presbytery.

As you may already know, Veronica was graduated from Union Presbyterian Seminary in Charlotte in April. She earned the school’s top award for preaching. While an intern in ministry at Caldwell, she built meaningful pastoral relationships with our members and friends, preached, led worship and helped develop our Congregational Care ministries. Veronica is currently a candidate for ministry with the Charlotte Presbytery and is scheduled to be eligible for ordination to the ministry of Word and Sacrament in the summer of 2011.

Caldwell strives to be a missional church, whose highest priority is on sharing the gospel through service in our city and in the world. That means we are careful about every dollar given to the church and how it is used. We are able to bring Veronica on board through two special grants the church has received.  We hope to extend our relationship with Veronica into 2011.  

Pastor Rev. John Cleghorn will continue to provide pastoral care for the congregation in addition to Veronica and will now be able to expand his focus on other areas. As the fastest growing church in the Presbytery for the last three years, we are humbled by what God is doing here. At this important point in the ongoing rebirth of this church, we re-dedicate ourselves to God’s purposes and the “new thing” that we are blessed to be a part of at Caldwell.

We hope you will take the opportunity to welcome Veronica in person on September 12 at worship service.  After that date you’ll be able to reach Veronica through the church office; we’ll provide her contact information as soon as we’re able.

On behalf of the Session,

Janet Blanchard

Elder, Personnel Committee

Rev. John Cleghorn                                        

Pastor

Like you, I am sure, I am looking forward to the forecasted break in the weather tomorrow. I hope you have some rest and renewal planned for the weekend.

I’ve continued to think this week about what it means to be a community “in Christ,” the subject of my blog earlier this week. Part of it, as I will say in my sermon, is being aware, open, attentive. About this, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote:

“If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship …. if on the contrary we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, so far from what we expected, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ.”

I hear many of you give thanks every week for our fellowship here at Caldwell. So it’s not that we fail necessarily in that regard. But how do we know if we are doing all we can do to be a community “in Christ” amid our hectic, distracted lives?

On Sunday, we will take a look at what the author of Colossians said about that admittedly abstract-sounding concept. We will also be fed for our journey as we celebrate communion and the session will meet immediately after worship to receive anyone who has been thinking about joining the congregation. Lots to look forward to. See you then, I hope. John

This week, many of the Caldwell 4×4 Groups will hold their first gathering, kicking off a season of listening deeply to each other’s stories and talking openly about our lives, what makes our journeys the same and what makes them different.  We do not come at this from a context of division, thanks be to God, but rather a commitment to enrich our life together as a diverse, multicultural community of believers and seekers.

Sometimes we preachers will say this kind of initiaive brings us closer together “in Christ.” Sometimes, we all get – or send – a letter or an email with the words “In Christ” above our signature. Those two little words get thrown around pretty casually at times. But what do they really mean?

Yesterday in worship, our guest preacher Insook Lee reminded us how distorted our relationship with our creator can get – including our attempts to reduce God to Santa Clause or to negotiate with God. To think about what it means to live “in Christ” is one way of keeping right relationships, with God and with each other.

As our 4×4 groups get started, I wanted to share one  author’s thoughts on what it means to be a “community in Christ.” I hope the excerpt attached in the link below by name at bottom, from Discovering Community by Stephen Doughty, provides some helpful preparation as these wonderful conversations begin. 

Yours “In Christ,”

John

Community in Christ excerpt

This morning’s Charlotte Observer presented two stories that, for me anyway, prompted the question: Where is the real goodwill?

In a business story that only an accountant could love, a reporter explained how Bank of America’s net income may decrease if it draws money from an account on its balance sheet known in finance circles as “goodwill.”  When one company buys another and pays more than the purchased company’s net worth, it puts the extra it paid (known as a ”premium”) in a “goodwill” account. Then, if later events diminish the value of the acquired company, the company that did the buying can draw money from its goodwill account to try to make up some its losses. Confused? I told you, details only business wonks could love.

Another, far more nationally visible story in today’s news concerns President Obama’s ill-informed firing of an African-American government official. It seems that the President did so after seeing a snippet of a speech the government official had made, a misleading snippet put together by the President’s opponents.  In her speech, the government official confessed to a long-ago personal episode  when she struggled with the race of a white man seeking help. The President was not informed that she was telling a story from years ago. Assuming she was talking about something she did in her current role, well, she was fired. Today, President Obama apologized to her and has offered her re-employment. By all accounts, she has handled herself with grace and composure. 

In the last few weeks, we have been talking about hard issues, including race. More than 60 people are participating in the Caldwell 4×4 dialogues, small group discussions where we can talk openly about our lives and our differences.  The government official made a courageous confession about a mistake she once made. Her point was she had learned from it. But our hard-edged, divided society has little goodwill left, it seems. Now her act of courage has blown up in everyone’s faces. We will hear the media chatter on about the state of race relations for the next several days, without, I expect, much goodwill of their own. Let us pray that God is in the midst of our 4×4 dialogues, so that they amount to a small step toward the day when we can have open, frank, constructive discussions about difference and race and sexuality without it become a media circus.

I am delighted that Insook Lee, a very present and close friend of Caldwell and a professor at Hood Theological Seminary, has accepted my invitation to preach this Sunday. Insook has been a wise and steady voice in our Adult Sunday School class for the last several year. We are grateful that she considers Caldwell her church home. I look forward to her message.

Our prayers go with Maggie Dougherty and Bo Jordan, who are to be married this weekend, a joyous event for us all. Our prayers also remain with others experiencing difficulty and illness. God’s strong arms lift up you all.

Peace,

John

 The question in the title above is disarmingly familiar. In church life, we hear it addressed frequently and in many ways by preachers and teachers. We watch our children form – and be formed – in the pursuit of an answer. We see it reduced to bumper stickers and rubber bands around wrists.

But have you come to you own, personal conclusion – an answer, for now at least, that is based on serious thought and prayer and study and experience, an answer you can own?

The author of the New Testament book of Colossians took that not-so-easy question on by the proverbial horns. Colossians 1:15-20 is considered one of the clearest, purest, highest accounts of Christ’s identity in all of scripture. We will drink in the beautiful words of this “Christ hymn” on Sunday. Another packed issue of our newsletter will be hot off the presses as well, thanks to its wonderful, dutiful editor Dave Bradley.

More immediately, keep two families in your thoughts and prayers: Madison Williams, granddaughter of member Carol Williams, is due for surgery today at 3:30 at Levine Children’s Hospital to put in a stint that will drain fluid that has built up on her brain. Jessica Pistole Polk lost her aunt this week and has traveled to her service this weekend.

A number of you followed the deliberations and decisions of the PCUSA General Assembly at its recent meeting. As with all General Assembly gatherings, this one was packed with issues. I commend for your reading this wrap-up letter from several leaders, along with the links that are embedded in it that look at specific issues.

 http://ga219.pcusa.org/news/2010/7/10/post-general-assembly-pastoral-letter-moderator-an/

Finally, thanks to all who made last Sunday’s worship so meaningful, by all accounts, Danny Trapp and Susan Pierson, along with our amazing choir and its leaders. It’s been a busy week but I am glad to be back in this company of believers.

Peace,

John

A memorial service for longtime Caldwell member Martha Cooper will be held in our sanctuary tomorrow, Wednesday, July 14, at 2 p.m.

Mrs. Cooper had been unable to attend in recent years, though she was an avid supporter of Caldwell and took joy in its resurrection.  In recent visits with her and her family, I’ve heard wonderful stories of how their family’s history is intertwined with Caldwell’s. Mrs. Cooper’s grandparents were the first couple married here, when it was still Knox Presbyterian Church, in 1914, only days after the church opened. The family shared priceless photos of that event, held in what is now the Shelby Room, which was the original sanctuary of the church.

When I visited Mrs. Cooper at her home, she and her daughter, Anne Schout, shared many wonderful stories of their years at Caldwell. We give great thanks for her life and the support of three generations of her family. Below is the obituary.

Peace be with you.  John

Martha Wilma Petteway Cooper
Mrs. Cooper, 94, of Charlotte passed away peacefully on July 11, 2010 at her home.
Services in celebration of her life will be held on 2PM, Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at Caldwell Memorial Presbyterian Church in Charlotte. Interment will be private at Oaklawn Cemetery where she will be laid to rest beside her beloved late husband of over 50 years, P. H. Cooper, who passed in 1997.
Mrs. Cooper was a lifelong Charlotte resident, born on April 30, 1916, daughter of the late Dr. George H. and Bonnie Austin Petteway. Martha was a direct descendant of the Polks, some of the original settlers of Mecklenburg County. She was a 1933 graduate of Central High School and graduated from Queens University in 1937, where she was May Queen in 1937 and was a member of Phi Mu Fraternity, where she was president for three years. She continued supporting Queens University by becoming an Advisor to the Queens University chapter of Phi Mu Fraternity. Mrs. Cooper was a lifelong member of Caldwell Memorial Presbyterian Church in Charlotte. She was a member of Halifax Convention chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution where she served as Regent of the chapter. Martha gave tirelessly of her time and talents with the YWCA, where she served on several committees; Queens University, where she was a past president of the Alumnae Association; The Mint Museum of Art Auxiliary, where she volunteered in the gift shop for many years; and at the Hezekiah Alexander Homesite, where she was active in fundraising to save and restore the homesite, first president of its auxiliary and on its Board of Directors.
Survivors include her daughter, Anne Cooper Schout and son-in-law, James W. Schout, both of Charlotte, and by one granddaughter, Hillary Schout of Atlanta.
In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to Hospice and Palliative Care, Charlotte Region, 1420 E. 7th St., Charlotte, NC 28204 or to Caldwell Memorial Presbyterian Church, 1609 E. 5th St., Charlotte, NC 28204.
Arrangements are in the care of Heritage Funeral Home, Weddington Chapel. Online guestbook available at www.heritagefuneral.net.

Published in Charlotte Observer on July 13, 2010