Posted By Pastor Ray on June 9, 2009
11 members gathered, along with one more by telephone, on June 8 to pray and dicsuss ideas about how we as a church can better impact our immediate surrounding community (Biscayne Gardens) with the love of Christ and his gospel. Host Ilexene Alphonse served a wonderful Haitian cusine dinner, and then after a time of corporate prayer, we began the conversation.
We had prayed for guidance from the Holy Spirit, and we felt that the Spirit was leading us to indeed think about the community, but also about the wider community we are a part of, which is Miami-Dade and Broward Counties in South Florida.
Brad Ginter voiced the idea that we are not so much a “neighborhood church” (and not many exist anymore in our mobile society), but rather, a “niche” church, a group of folks from all over the area who have something unique to offer, such as our stands on peace, simplicity, service, and community. We noted that so far, almost all of our newer members and friends have come via invitation by church members they knew (and over 90% of new church attenders fit this category). Our basic connections are not with our neighborhood, but with our neighbors, co-workers, friends, famly members, and fellow students wherever we live in the area.
That being said, we did come up with some ideas for our neighborhood, including:
- Taking a small group to a meeting of the Biscayne Gardens Civic Association (BGCA) to hear their concerns and needs.
- Giving out “free coupons” for hot dogs and lemonade and having a time to eat together at our building.
- Having a neighborhood garage sale for a worthy cause, where neighbors can also bring unwanted items to sell, and work alongside us.
- Having a “donation” gospel concert.
- Buying a motel, where we could use a large main room for worship and use other rooms for a hospitality ministry (our folks do think big, and that’s good.)
We also disussed some specific wider areas where we could give more personal support, such as: cards and visits to cancer patients on our prayer list; support for SueZann Bosler’s ministry for death row inmates; support for positive immigration reform, and more.
Other suggestions incliuded getting some of our Sunday worship songs on video via YouTube and our web site; getting T-shirts made for everyone with the church’s name and logo on it; talking to BGCA about having some permament signage with our name added to their main sign; and ministering to each other through our mid-week home gatherings.
It was a productive evening. Now we invite others from our church who could not come to blog on this article and give your ideas to add to ours.
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Posted By Pastor Ray on May 22, 2009
Miami First Church doesn’t really slow down during the summer. Our attendance will drop a little bit, but that’s mostly because a number of our folks are out doing ministry. For example:
Michaela Alphonse will once again serve as Program Director for Camp Ithiel’s summer camping program up near Orlando. Others from our church will be volunteering for a week or more as counselors, kitchen help, and more.
Michael Camps and Matthew Harden are going to spend several weeks serving at Camp Harmony in our District of Western Pennsylvania. They will also help out for a time at Camp Ithiel.
Marcus Harden is doing Ministry Summer Service as a youth minister at the San Diego First Church of the Brethren. He will also be helping with youth activities at the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference in San Diego June 26-30.
Rick Davis is serving all over the place this summer. First he will volunteer for a week at the soup kitchen of the Washington City Church of the Brethren in Washington D.C. From there, he will go to Harrisonburg, VA to help with the National Junior High Conference, followed by a week of counseling fpor Junior Highs at Camp Bethel in the Shenandoah District. Then after a week at home, he will counsel for Junior High Camp at Camp Ithiel.
Mona Lou Teeter will spend two months in Haiti overseeing the work of the New American School there, at which she worked for 40 years. While she unable to be there full time anymore, she appreciates the opportunities she gets to reconnect with staff and teachers there and to be part of the ongoing work.
Ilexene Alphonse will be making at least one trip to Haiti to check in on the New Covenant School which he and wife Michaela started.
Wayne Sutton is hoping to go to Haiti for the leadership training they will be doing there for pastors in August. And Jessica Cadette is planning to take part in the Disaster Work Camp in Haiti August 7-16.
Pastor Ray Hileman will be making a trip to Puerto Rico on behalf of the Atlantic Southeast District from June 10-14. He will be visiting several of the new fellowships there as well as attending the Puerto Rico annual conference. Daniel Medina will be accompanying him as interpreter. Then Ray will be our delegate for the Annual Conference in San Diego just 10 days later.
We are likely missing people who have ministry plans, and as we get wind of them, we will add them in. Of course, folks will be taking some vacation time as well.
Ray will be speaking on Sundays, first, for several weeks, on our vision statement from Revelation 7:9, and then, for some more weeks, on the subject of “What Does a Healthy Church Member Look Like?” We hope soon to have the morning messages available for you to hear through pod
casting, as soon as we get what we need to begin recording.
It promises to be an exciting summer both here and wherever our members are serving.
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Posted By Pastor Ray on April 26, 2009
The entire three-day Cross-Cultural Consultation and Celebration for the Church of the Brethren is over, but what a blessing it was for all who attended. There were 75 official registrants from around thr United States and Puerto Rico, plus all the local church folks who came out for evening worship and who helped behind the scenes.
Thursday night and Friday events were held at the Eglise de Frere (Haitian Church of the Brethren) with pastor Ludovic St. Fleur. The Miami Haitian Church along with our new Haitian Unify Fellowship in Miami provided the Thursday supper, with lots of Haitian cuisine and loads of fresh fruit.
The host church continued to care for us throughout the day on Friday.
Pastor Gilbert Romero from Los Angeles led a praise team made up of singers and instrumentalists from Miami, L.A., Philadelphia, Puerto Rico, and more. There was a lot of lively worship music and much joy.
During the day, there were group discussions, small group Bible studies, and workshops calling us on in our intent to see the Church of the Brethren become more multi-ethnic and intercultural in the 21st Century.
On Friday evening, there was an African-American emphasis, both in music and in the Scripture reading and message from Pastors James Washington and Thomas Dowdy from L.A. Plus the singers from Miami Haitian Church rocked the house.
Saturday was hosted by our church. How exciting to see so many of our members involved: Shirley Encarnacion and Sharon Ginter heading up the kitchgen detail with help from Rick and Renee Davis, Cindy Hileman, Karen Sutton, Karen Encarnacion, and Tanya-Marie McPherson; the beautiful plants provided by the Davis’; the morning worship led by our own praise team - Karen Encaracion, Tanya-Marie McPherson, Michaela Alphonse, with Matthew Harden, Michael Camps, Damian Izquierdo, and Wayne Sutton on the instruments; Marcus Harden leading a workshop on youth in the morning and serving as worship leader in the evening; Wayne, Michael, Matthew, Damian, along with Levi
Sutton “jamming” with the praise team at evening worship; Christine Nichols handling some impromptu child care; Michaela Alphonse leading the congregation in “I Want Jesus to Walk with Me”; and George Pacheco overseeing all of the physical set-up and tearing down in his usual well-organized manner. Many thanks to all of these and more who provided food and who attended.
The best news is: if you’d like to see some of the festivities on your computer, you can go to www.bethanyseminary.edu and follow the links. Everything was streamed live and recorded for future viewing.
We do ask for prayer for Brother Duane Grady, whose rental car was broken into and a laptop stolen during the late morning on Saturday. But with this one exception, it was a positive and uplifting weekend.
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Posted By Pastor Ray on April 18, 2009
23 persons, young and old, came out to get our current meeting place, the Biscayne Gardens Civic Association Hall, ready to host the final day of the Church of the Brethren’s Cross-Cultural Celebration and Consultation next week.
Many of the members worked inside, scrubbing down the bathrooms, the kitchen and applicances, the windows, and the floors. Others worked outside, planting new trees and shrubs, clearing out old leaves and making the setting neater in general.
Thanks to all who came and to those who wanted to, but could not for various reasons. And thanks to Michael Clark and Miss Krim from the BGCA who gave us direction. The BGCA, in return for this work day, will not charge rent for the use of the building all day next Saturday. We appreciate it!
Category: Special Projects |
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Posted By Pastor Ray on April 17, 2009
The Church of the Brethren’s annual Cross Cultural Celebration and Consultation is coming to Miami this year on April 23-25. The event begins with Thursday dinner at the Miami Haitian Church on NW 103rd St. and MW 5th Ave. just east of I-95. The evening service and all Friday sessions will be held at the Haitian Church. Our church will host the Saturday events, including breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
If you’ve never been to Cross-Cultural, you’ve gotta come! We worship, we laugh, we fellowship, we share, we learn, we study, we make new friends, and much more! This year, well over 100 persons are expected from many cultures and from all over the country and from Puerto Rico.
The Thursday night worship will focus on the Haitian culture. The Friday night worship will focus on African-American culture. The Saturday night service at our building will focus on youth. Marcus Harden and Founa Augustin will share, among others. In addition, our own Praise Team will lead singing on Saturday morning after breakfast.
There will also be Bible studies, sharing sessions, free time on Saturday for some Miami tours, and much more.
We want to see you there!
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Posted By Tamara on April 6, 2009
Almost half of the world’s population lives on less than $2 a day. The $2 Challenge was designed to help us take a glimpse into the world of hunger and poverty as experienced many people. Though this challenge will not exactly duplicate the dire circumstances faced by nearly 3 billion people every day, it will allow those who participate to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by people all around the world and even right here in the United States.
Category: Special Projects |
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