Together! Volume One
Number One
October 2013
A Journal about the Ministry of New Millennium Church
Affirmation Affirming Our Oneness and Purpose We praise and worship God together. We petition God, together.
We live for God, in every breath and heartbeat,
We proclaim God, together.
by the power of the Holy Spirit,
We welcome all persons in God’s love, together.
as followers of Jesus Christ, together.
Inspiration Thoughts from the Pastor . . . What New Millennium Church Is and Why It Is Here New Millennium Church has been meeting in the sanctuary of Lakeshore Drive Baptist Church (21 Lakeshore Drive) and working with people in the Broadmoor neighborhood since May 2009. I serve as pastor of the congregation. Here is what I think we are and why we are here. We are followers of Jesus. We come from various places. Some of us have devoted our entire lives to church service. Others have gotten involved or reinvolved in the past few years. Like everyone else, we struggle with family, financial, work, and health issues. We are working people and retirees, parents and grandparents, workers and unemployed people, professionals and students. Each of us somehow thinks that Jesus is God's statement about how people should treat others. Jesus is our example about how love truly looks, sounds, and acts. Jesus is our example for welcoming and forgiving, sharing and healing, suffering and caring for people who suffer. We want to act like Jesus.
We are determined to live for God and be "good neighbors" in an unfriendly world. We know that people can be hurtful, hateful, and uncaring. But God has us in the world to be "good neighbors" with anyone and everyone. So every Sunday, we share this statement during worship. We praise and worship God, together. We petition God, together. We proclaim God, together. We welcome all persons in God's love, together. We live for God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, as followers of Jesus Christ, together. We are New Millennium Church. We're on a mission from God to be "good neighbors." Because we hope to be good neighbors with you, this newsletter is named "Together." Grace and Peace! Wendell Griffen
Together!
October 2013
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Intention Partners in Education is only one of the intentional ministries of New Millennium Church. New Millennium’s involvement is a partnership started three years ago with Bale Elementary School, a nearby school with students from financially struggling families. Through Partners in Education, a program of the Little Rock School District, New Millennium began this partnership with Bale Elementary because of a desire to help the community and the families and children in it in ministry that goes beyond Sunday morning worship. The partnership began with a school uniform funding drive, providing uniforms to students whose families could not afford them. Over the past three summers, New Millennium members led an enrichment program for families and children, teaching life skills like managing time wisely, dealing with pressure, anger management and finding a moral basis for decision making. The children and their parents come to New Millennium every evening for two weeks during the summer for a meal and learning sessions led by church members. “We interact with the children through stories and help them see how the decisions made by the characters apply to their own lives. Sometimes it takes us two or three days to get the meaning of the story across to the kids, so it’s a learning process for us and for the children,” said Joyce Williams, a New Millennium member who helped start the summer enrichment program. While the children are learning decisionmaking skills, their parents also take a class to learn skills that will help them better support their families, including role
modeling, developing family traditions and managing parenting responsibilities. “One lady I worked with was able to find a job, because she realized that she had more to offer to her child and could do more for her self. We really try to teach the parents the value of self-empowerment and understanding your worth as a person so that you can be a better parent, said Regina Hunt, another enrichment program worker. Now that the enrichment program’s summer meetings are over, New Millennium is working on ways to maintain these relationships with the families and the children. “Every Sunday, Pastor Griffen says that we should be working to correct the wrongs that have been done in our community. I’ve always been very proud of our church, because we go outside of our four walls and interact with our community. I’m proud of how we take action and the depth of action we take,” New Millennium member Ken Greenwood said. The Partners in Education Program within the Little Rock School District is sponsored by the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce and operates on the premise that quality education is the responsibility of the entire community. New Millennium members are a part of this community-wide effort and are committed to being intentional about the education of the community’s children and the well-being of families. New Millennium’s long-standing partnership with Bale Elementary School fleshes out this intentional ministry. - Excerpts of this article are taken from the CBF Fellowship! Magazine, October/November 2013 issue.
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October 2013
Together!
Conviction New Millennium Delegation Met at Representative Tim Griffin’s Office to Appeal for Re-Opening of the Government
Thomas Carlyle said that “Conviction is worthless unless it is converted into conduct.” Pastor Wendell Griffen and members of New Millennium Church lived out a conviction in a meeting at Congressman Tim Griffin's office on Tuesday, October 15, 2013. In the hour-long meeting, the group discussed the injustices caused by the shutting down of the government. Representing New Millennium were Reverend Griffen, Reverend Leroy James, Grif Stockley, Joyce Williams, Mary Lee and Paul Fray, Ken Greenwood, and Reverend Kathy Findley.
Reverend Griffen Speaking with Carl Vogelpohl
In a sincere and spirited conversation with Deputy Chief of Staff and District Director, Carl Vogelpohl, Reverend Griffen pointed out that elected members of congress are those “who set rules that govern our lives.” He added, “If you're not rulers, then please stop taking a check. Rulers have an obligation to protect vulnerable people . . . It is a moral obligation for those in power to use their power to protect the least of these. And what the shutdown has affected is the least of these. This is a manufactured mess. This is not an accident.” Reverend Griffen Continued, “The problem I have as a pastor is that when people hurt folks
that I serve - intentionally - then it is very hard for me to be patient with them saying, 'I'm working on it.' As a pastor, I am pleading before I begin to protest . . . If you will not feel my pain, then you will see my face.” Reverend Griffen also presented a letter and a manuscript of a sermon, “A Biblical Perspective on Our Situation,” which he delivered at New Millennium. New Millennium member, Joyce Williams also spoke of mounting frustration with the current situation. “I met with some people this weekend whose babies and children will not get their formula, will not get food,” she said. “ They don't know how the children are going to eat. I looked at the tears . . . To tell these babies that ‘we're working on a solution and maybe by next week is not enough . . . ‘ This is critical. You can spin it any way you want, it is a sin, it's cruel, it's hateful, it's mean, and no political explanation is good enough.” Once again, New Millennium Church lived out their deep conviction of a committed faith community proclaiming justice for those who are oppressed. In a related faith community action sponsored by Sojourners, hundreds of people since last Wednesday have been standing across the street from the Capitol reading the 2,000+ verses in scripture that talk about God’s concern for the poor and vulnerable in our society. Faith leaders, furloughed federal workers, and even interested passersby have added their voices to our faithful vigil for those most affected by the political gridlock in Congress. Congress passed a bill to re-0pen the U.S. Government and extend the debt ceiling in the late evening of October 16. The 36-page bill also contained additional provisions.
Together!
Invitation
October 2013
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Contemplation
The Prophet Isaiah proclaims these words: “Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.” (Isaiah 1:17) I have heard the community of faith called New Millennium Church proclaim their commitment to justice weekly. But I have also watched as they lived out that conviction with hearts and hands. For New Millennium people, social justice is more than a lofty Biblical ideal. It is more than words. It is more than a prophetic sermon from the pulpit. For them seeking justice, correcting oppression, bringing justice to the fatherless and pleading for the widow is a radical notion that calls for feet on the ground! When I think of New Millennium Church, I think of the words of Joseph B. Clower in the final sentence of his book, The Church in the Thought of Jesus: “If the indwelling Christ is not confined, the Church’s eyes will flow with His tears, her heart will be moved with His compassion, her hands are coarsened with His labor, her feet are wearied with His walking among people.” This is what I love about New Millennium church, and I want to invite you to join with us. You will be warmly welcomed and embraced. You will find genuine faith and a people who live out that faith every day. I hope you worship with us on Sundays at 9:00 am. - Kathy Manis Findley
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How many times a day do I say, "Why am I here? What can stir my gifts to growth? What tasks of greatness await me that I have long neglected? Have I missed Your voice, O God? Here I am: send me! Please!” "I have prepared a place you," said the Lord, "that is for you, and only you, to fill. First of all, come to My table, and ask that you might serve, looking for even the lowest tasks. When the work of service is done, then you may look for your own place at table. But do not seek the most important place in case it is reserved for someone else. The place I have appointed is where you will be happiest." - From Celtic Daily Prayer, September 26, page 510.
Volume 1, Number 1 New Millennium Church 21 Lakeshore Drive Little Rock, Arkansas 72204 (501) 562-9244 WEB SITE . www.NewMillenniumChurch.us E-MAIL . Together@NewMillenniumChurch.us PASTOR . Rev. Wendell Griffen EDITOR . Rev. Kathy Manis Findley Sunday Worship Service . 9:00am Sunday School . 10:45 Thursday Evening Bible Study . 6:30pm