Pastor Charles’ Reflection

Josef Walker is choir master and organist of Heidelberg United Church of Christ in Thomasville, N.C. He has written the following Ten Commandments for Church Choir Members.
I. Thou shalt at all time remember that God has called you as a church choir singer to lead in corporate worship. As thou hast accepted this responsibility, the Lord asketh nothing less than complete commitment to this sacred duty. The Lord also rewards thee with the unspeakable joy of contributing immeasurably to the lives of those thou servest through the gift of music.
II. Thou shalt pay attention to the director at all times and do thy best to sing as he doth direct, even when thou thinkest the choice of anthems, interpretation and tempos are not what you would have chosen.
III. Thou shalt remember that only thy best effort is good enough; after all, the Lord thy God has perfect pitch, even if thy pastor can’t hear a door slam.
IV. Thou shalt remember that being on time is not good enough. The Lord rewards His faithful servants who arrive early. In like manner; fear the wrath of God if thou art habitually late.
V. When thou enterest the sanctuary, thou art in a holy place. Remember that some worshipers arrive early to meditate in silence. Do not disturb their silence. Even if some of them doth talk, thou must be reverent in thine own attitude, setting a good example. This means no talking, laughing or waving to friends. The Lord inspired the Psalmist to write, “Be still, and know that I am God.”
VI. The choir loft is the closest place in the sanctuary to the ancient Holy of Holies. Whilst there in worship, thou shalt not eat or drink of any liquid except the grape juice in communion. (If thou hast a solo to sing, and thy throat is completely dry, at least keep thy water bottle discretely out of view.
VIII. The Lord thy God enjoys lively conversation, even a good, clean joke, but remember there is a time and place, and it is not during sacred worship. Furthermore, if thou must sleep during the sermon, (heaven forbid) at least follow the example of one of the wonders of the Lord’s creation, the jackass, and sleep bolt upright with thine eyes open so as not to detract in any way from the congregation’s worship.
IX. When thou singest the hymns, remember that thy job is to lead the congregation to participate in the experience of the holy. Turn toward the congregation and sing lustily, but with reverence. If not clear whether to sing parts of melody, ask thy director, he is the appointed servant of your Lord, and knows all things.
X. Yea, verily, it is true that Jesus loves thee unconditionally, even when thou singest out of tune. But when thou singest accurately, with spirit, and with a sense of the sacredness of thy calling to serve others through music, it gives great joy to all members of the Holy Trinity.

Speaking of joy, when is the last time you told your choir director, or organist, or choir members how much you enjoy their musical offerings each Sunday? Remember these people are volunteers who dedicate one evening weekly to rehearsing the music for our worship service each Sunday. A kind word means a great deal to volunteers. If you enjoy the music, by all means tell them so. Keep a song in your heart.” From Pastor Charles: I am grateful for our great choir and for the faithfulness they show in being present for worship every Sunday. I am grateful for Jason stepping up to lead our choir. Our Deacon Council will recommend him as our permanent choir director. I am grateful to Eleanor for her beautiful music and sweet spirt. I am grateful for Doug and others in the sound booth for helping our worshipers hear. I am grateful to Terry Saverance for filling in for Eleanor from time to time. May I also say I am delighted that we have two new choir members: Jane Turney and Eddie Graves. May their tribe increase. In other words, we still have some empty chairs in the choir area. Come and join the choir and fill one of those chairs. See you Sunday, if Jesus delays His coming back as King of King and Lord of Lords. In His Grip, Pastor Charles

ATTENTION VOLUNTEERS FOR NEW BUILDING FOOD COMMITTEE—Everyone helping with the New Building Food Committee is asked to meet at the church on Monday, June 28th at 10:00 to discuss and appoint various tasks and/or duties that will need to be done the week of July 11th.

We will purge our Prayer List soon, so be looking at those you wish to remain on the list and let us know of your desire.

We will be interviewing Shannon Parrish for our potential youth minister on June 28th at 6:30. Youth council, youth, and parents of youth are invited to attend. Please be in prayer as we search for our youth minister. God is truly blessing Newkirk. Thank you Donna Daniels

PLEASE CONTINUE DONATING—TIME IS DRAWING NEAR. From The Food Committee for our building project. As you are aware, we are responsible for feeding the 250 volunteers coming in to build our new facility for eight days and a group of 50 who will arrive early for three days. Many of you will be asked to donate your time during July 8-17 to help us prepare these meals. If you are available, please contact Linda Tanner (817-1818), Bill Gordon or Ann Gordon (329-2657), the Food Committee for this project.
The items we would like you to donate are as follows: 8 oz. Styrofoam cups, Divided Plates, Salt, Pepper, Napkins, gallon cans of Chocolate Pudding, gallon cans of Peaches and Pears. Other items will be needed later. If you are unable to shop yourself, please feel free to donate money to the Food Fund.
Please let Linda Tanner know of any donations being brought so she can inventory them and keep you posted on our need list. If you have questions concerning donations, please call her at 817-1818.

Faith, Family and Freedom Celebration with Steven Curtis Chapman, Superchick and Newworldson will be held on Saturday, June 26th at 6:00 P.M. at the Z MAX Dragway at Charlotte Motor Speedway, 5555 Concord Parkway, South in Concord. See Michelle Goodman or Christie Adams if interested.

Months ago, we planned to have a Church Wide Picnic on Sunday, July 4th. When we were blessed with 200 volunteers to build a Family Life Center, the Church Council changed our July 4th event to July 11th to kick off our week of construction, evangelism, sports camp and welcoming our volunteers. NOW! We will have around 200 volunteers, plus our Sunday normal crowd to feed. We need to cook enough for our family AND fifteen or twenty more. Please go overboard for this Sunday and lets have enough food for everyone. The Social/Kitchen Committee is coordinating this event and we thank them for their work.

Pastor Charles and Mrs. Linda are traveling to Muskegon, Michigan to perform the wedding ceremony for our own Kallie Chauvez and Trent Cromer on June 19, 2010. They left Rock Hill on Monday, June 14 and will return to Rock Hill on the evening of June 22. The Rev. Charles F. Hodges will bring the morning message on June 20th. Bucky King will lead Prayer Meeting June 16th.

If you have borrowed our Ladders, please return them! We need them for all the projects we are doing!!!

Regular mission programs will go on hiatus for the summer. Child care will be available on 06/09 and 06/16. Beginning on Wednesday, June 23rd, our children and youth will begin a special mission project called NewKirk Build: MISSION Impossible ACHIEVEABLE. They will be making posters and flyers advertising our Sports Camp, stuffing witnessing bags for the Evangelism Team, making welcome notes for the visiting mission team from Barnwell, leading a prayer walk for the build team, for the revival of NewKirk’s mission to reach our community, and the community itself where we will be witnessing, As the title states, it is achievable if we follow God’s plan and work together.

“Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow”
The vote to approve the purchase of the carpet and pews for the sanctuary renovation was 99% in favor of the recommendation of the New Facility Committee. We thank you and praise God for this phase in our plans for the sanctuary. Now, let me tell you how you can help to purchase a pew. We have two different sized pews. According to Travis Jackson’s figures, a six foot pew will cost $500.00. We need 24 six foot pews. A nine foot pew will cost $750.00. We need 30 nine foot pews. The cost includes a brass plate with the donor’s name and the name of the person to be honored or memorialized. Please put a check in an envelope and mark clearly that it is for a pew, giving size and amount included. Thank you for your help.

Summer Video Series Begins June 27th at 5pm
We will begin our summer video series on Sunday, June 27th at 5 pm. This 3 month series is designed to help us understand the differences between our beliefs and those of other religions in our community. All church members (young and old) are encouraged to attend. We will begin our video series with “The Mormon Puzzle”. This 90 minute video contrasts their beliefs with ours and equips us to serve as better witnesses to the Mormon population. We all know someone who may practice the Mormon faith. On the 4th Sundays of July and August, we will study the beliefs of the Jehovah Witnesses and the Muslims. We need to equip ourselves to better represent our beliefs when we get that knock at our door. Would it not be grand if we could be sure enough of our beliefs to be the ones going out doing the knocking? Please come learn about these faiths in order to better share your faith with others.

Honor thy father My father had never lost his temper with us, never beaten us, but we had for him that feeling often described as fear, which is something quite different and far deeper than alarm. It was that sense which, without irreverence, I have thought to find expressed by the great evangelists when they speak of the fear of God. One does not fear God because he is terrible, but because he is literally the soul of goodness and truth, because to do him wrong is to do wrong to some mysterious part of oneself, and one does not know exactly what the consequences may be. —Joyce Cary in Except the Lord

Youth Weekend Retreat - The youth will have a summer retreat in Maggie Valley, NC the weekend of Friday, July 30 through Sunday, August 1. The cost will be $20 per participant and is due to the Trotters by July 15th. Potential activities include going to Ghost Town or a water park, putt-putt, trout fishing, shopping in Cherokee, and go-cart racing. A youth / youth parents meeting will be held closer to the retreat date to get the details regarding departure time, what to pack, activity list and accommodation info. We will have evening Bible study and church on Sunday so your Bible is a must pack. As a prerequisite, all youth wishing to attend the retreat are expected to assist with NewKirk’s building project July 11th -17th You can work at the sports camp, go out with the evangelism team, work construction, construction cleanup, or deliver snacks and drinks to the builders. There is a task for you.

Our Christian Love and Sympathy is extended to the Family of Patsy McSwain upon her Homegoing on Monday, the 14th of June. The times for all services are in The Herald and the Charlotte Observer.

OTHER MINISTERS FOR SUNDAY, June 20, 2010
Children's Church: Donna Daniels & Nancy Frump
Infants’ Nursery— Sherry & Erica Tucker
Usher/Greeter Teams– Chipper Smith, Tim Seay, Austin Seay, Daniel McCallum
TELLER: Tuesday, June 21—Jerry Raxter

CHURCH CALENDAR
June 20 9:45-S.S., 10:45-Worship, No Youth, Happy Father’s Day
June 21—7:00-Church Council
June 22—7:00-GROW “O”
June 23—6:45-Adult Bible Study, Children & Youth (Mission Project, 7:30-Choir Practice