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January 9, 2008                                                                                                                  VOLUME 60, NO. 2

The Community Blood Center of the Ozarks will be conducting a Blood Drive here at National Avenue on Sunday January 20^th. The drive will take place in Fellowship Hall from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Please consider participating in this worthy activity. It only takes about 30 minutes and your donation truly can save lives. If you have any questions about blood donation, call the CBC at 227-5000.

Do you ever feel like your life is like a giant puzzle? Putting together the pieces of life’s puzzle can be a daunting task. But by surrounding yourself with fellow Disciples all trying to figure it out together, you will find the picture coming into focus. Sessions 2008 in Oklahoma City is going to be a huge event for all Disciples men from around the country. The event is going to be held July 17-20 at First Christian Church in Edmond, Oklahoma. To find out more about this important gathering of Disciples men and how your life can come into focus, go to http://sessions2008.org/ .

LeaderTreks exists to help churches and adults serving in youth ministry inspire and develop youth leaders. There will be a training for adult volunteers in youth ministry and youth ministers at the Rickman Center in Jefferson City on Saturday, February 9 (9:00 a.m. - 5:15 p.m.). The cost is $85 per person and includes lunch, snacks, and training materials. The day’s training will include concepts and tools to identify and develop youth leadership gifts, resources to help you and others mentor youth in your church, adult leadership skills needed to inspire youth to grow, orientation and experience with one of the LeaderTreks curriculum (the facilitator guide and a student handbook for this curriculum is included in the fee), and a free copy of "Discovering Your Spiritual Gifts" student guide. For more information on this event or to register, call Leslie at 573/442-5815 or go to http://www.leadertreks.org .

A Report From Week of Compassion

INTERIM STEERING COMMITTEE REPORT

Our Interim Steering Committee met on Thursday, January 3, at 5:30 p.m. It was freezing cold outside and the holidays were barely over, but everyone in the room was ready to get back to business. Our transition as a church is going to be a lengthy process, but there always comes a point where you have to stop talking about what you are going to do and just do. We started to get to that point at this meeting.

We began by studying some scripture on healing, Luke 6: 17-26. We also sang an old hymn, Balm in Gilead. It is one of Herb’s favorites. One of the verses says, "Sometimes I feel discouraged and think my work’s in vain, but then the Holy Spirit revives my soul again." I think everyone at NACC can take that to heart as we work our way through this transitional period.

Then something a little strange happened. Herb pulled out a box of hats and passed them around. We each put on our pith helmets and most of us looked pretty silly. We were going "elephant hunting," specifically the elephant in the middle of the room that we’ve been hesitant to call by name. It is essential, if we are ever to move beyond developmental task one (coming to terms with our history), that we can honestly name the issues with which we are dealing. We have to be able to name them and to discuss them in a non anxious way. Only then will we be able to move ahead.

Hunting elephants for us means discussing some uncomfortable topics. We talked about things like clergy ethics, betrayal of trust, abuse of power, and sexual misconduct. Not all of the conversation was easy, but it all felt very productive, like we were getting somewhere. We were greatly helped by articles we had read (our homework). We are looking into possibilities for making these two articles available to the congregation. As a group, we were struck over and over again by how well these articles articulated our very situation at National Avenue.

The reality is Roger Ray is no longer the pastor of our church. The reasons for his departure are complicated and unpleasant. Many of the emotions surrounding the departure are still raw, no matter how one feels about what happened. But we can’t bury it and move on. If we try to do that, our church will bog down and never rise up to be the church we both remember and envision. We have to come to terms with it. Then we can move on and rise above it.

This was the meeting where things started to get done. During our elephant hunt we stomped around in the weeds for a good portion of the time, but we also started to find our way, just a little bit. And it felt really good. I’m sure we’ll wear the hats again and next time, and I’ll let you know who looks the silliest.                                              Jennifer Klein

I thought you might like to know what happens after you write a check for one of our worthwhile projects. In 2005, NACC sponsored the Habitat for Humanity home for Ron and Linda Burough. It was my privilege to be their family supporter, although they helped me much more than I helped them! They put in hundreds of sweat equity (volunteer hours) building their home and have been paying steadily on a home they are proud to call their own.

IMPORTANT TAX INFORMATION

To ensure your church contributions are tax deductible, do not file your 2007 income tax return until you have picked up your written acknowledgment of your contribution to the church. They are on a table in the hallway outside the church office. Some of your contributions may not be tax deductible if you file your tax return before receiving this written acknowledgment. If you are not able to pick yours up, let the church office know and we can mail it to you.

. . . to Annette Genung and her family in the passing of her brother, Bob Laughlin, on December 20.