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The Body Politic: Daring to Talk About Politics and Faith Part II What happens when you mix politics and faith?

In a worst case scenario, we have seen people lift the culture of competition to impose one’s will on others from politics and combine it with the inflexible internal assurance of faith. The combination of certainty with a will that seeks to dominate has done terrible damage in our world. Jesus directly rebuked this combination when he spoke to his disciples, “It is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must become your servant” (Mark 10:43). This model of servanthood leadership raises a critical question for us: what happens when Jesus mixes faith and politics? Paul meditated deeply on this and other issues before writing to the Christians in Corinth. These are insights taken from 1 Corinthians.

“The members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable” (12:22). From Leviticus to the Letter of James, the Bible stresses that God does not respect the power of human status or wealth to grant certain lives more value than others. How society learns to care for, empower, and even privilege the poor is a question that becomes a quest for those who value Scripture as the Word of God.

“The less respectable members are treated with greater respect” (12:24). Sometimes having the “correct” relational posture in a particular environment can lead us to a sense of arrogance. Paul warns against the culture of political correctness that has left so many feeling excluded and judged. Jesus too warns us to take the log from our own eye before attempting to correct another. People holding the “wrong” attitude or opinion are worthy of your love and respect; if it is your role to show them a better way, do so with all gentleness.

“I will show you a still more excellent way” (12:31). Love one another. What, you ask, does love look like in politics? “Love is patient; love is kind…” (13:4). Let us pray that we discover and can give thanks together as we strive for an answer to this question.

Faith cannot be compartmentalized away from politics because God wants every part of our lives. Neither can we allow the world to determine for us the way we mix our faith and politics. Jesus is Lord. His followers are called to be involved, to strive together, and announce to the world the things that make for peace.

Yours in Christ,

Harold

PASTOR’S THOUGHTS P. 1 WHAT’S HAPPENING P. 2-4

June Birthdays P. 2 Dairy Day P. 2 Coffee Hours P. 2 Summer Office Hours P. 2 Hospitality Training P. 2 Worship In the Park P. 2 Hosting a Picnic P. 3 Grads & Dads P. 3 Church Directory P. 3 Community Art Project P. 3 Something New P. 3 PA Folk Festival P. 3 There ’s a Method... P. 4

CALENDAR P. 5

Pastor’s Thoughts June 2016

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For the months of July & August the office hours will be:

Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday 12 Noon—3:00pm

COFFEE HOURS Volunteers are needed to provide & serve refreshments following the 10:30 am Sunday service.

If you have never served, or it has been a while, we invite you to help out by volunteering on the "sign-up" sheet posted on the Membership, Nurture & Care board in the Fellowship Hall. If you have any questions, please contact Carol Chase @ 607-844-4386 or send an e-mail to cchase1971@ aol.com.

J U N E B I R T H D AY S

Letha Sutton 6-1 Harvey Ashworth 6-3 Larry Liddington 6-3 Steve Kirsch 6-4 Pat Liddington 6-5 Dave Farmer 6-5 Asher Faben-Wade 6-6 Kendra Walkuski 6-7 Beverly Pattison 6-8 Nancy Hart 6-9 Shannon Merrill 6-11 Lorraine Balmer 6-12 Walter Havington 6-16 Edie Ayer 6-17 Mike Kirsch 6-17 Charlie Hart 6-20

June 11 @ Montgomery Park Come down and buy some chicken BBQ and a pie!

In addition: We can always use more pies! Please NO cream pies or any pie

that needs refrigeration!

WORSHIP IN THE PARK June 26th at 10:30 am we will hold our last regular worship service before we head into the summer worship schedule of 9:30 am service.

Come join us for a Dryden Park lakeside service followed by a picnic! Bring your own table service and chairs! What a great opportunity for fellowship with our church family. Other area UMC churches will be invited as well.

HOSPITALITY SERVANT TRAINING is scheduled for those who are answering the call to be part of our church's hospitality team. We will re-think the way we care for the initial experiences of our guests and watch over those who are giving all their attention to worship. June 5th and 19th at 9:30.

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Tis' the season for warmer weather, barbeques and picnics. We are looking for a family to host a picnic at their home on Sunday, July 17. You get to pick time. People bring chairs, plates, eating utensils, and a dish to pass. You just need to

provide the space, some beverages, and perhaps a grill. Harold has volunteered to host a picnic at the parsonage on Sunday, August 14. There is a sign-up sheet on the bulletin board in fellowship hall. You can also contact Karen to let her know if you are interested in hosting.

Submitted by Membership, Nurture & Care

KUTZTOWN, PA FOLK FESTIVAL Do you like to visit the Amish area in PA? A few of us from our church plan to visit the Kutztown, PA area and go to the Kutztown Folk Festival July 9-10 this summer. The festival features a variety of Pennsylvania German and other traditional crafts to include wood carving, pottery, art, sculpture, glassblowing, jewelry, baskets, blacksmithing, metal work, great Amish food, music and more. This festival also houses the largest quilt show and sale in America. If you are interested in joining us for a fun weekend call Janice Downey at 844-9529 for more details and lodging information.

CHURCH DIRECTORY IS HERE!

Please remember to pick up your directory in the church office. Let Karen know if you

find any typos or a need for any corrections in your entry. Pictures will be taken again in the Fall, or you can submit your own, if you did not have a chance to get one taken for this directory.

Submitted by Membership, Nurture & Care

COMMUNITY ART PROJECT TO VISIT DRYDEN UMC on June 12th we will be hosting Cathy Wakeman and Ray Crognale for an after church luncheon, a little story-telling and the presentation of a piece of art designed to help different groups of people make a shared contribution to the life of the Dryden community. This is a change in plans from the evening program of worship/dish to pass we had initially planned and hope to bring forward at some time in the future.

Come celebrate

Grads & Dads

with us on

Sunday, June 19th

at the 10:30

service!

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Prayer Cards

Prayer Chain Men’s Breakfast

Visitation Ministry

After Church

Discussion Group

There’s a Method in our… Holiness

From the beginning, followers of Christ guided by John Wesley’s teachings have believed that our response to God’s abundant grace matters. As our church seeks to gain momentum and prepare ourselves to provide more powerful spiritual leadership for our community we will be engaging with

the tried and true strategies of the early Wesleyan movement: Invest in Relationship with God

Invest in Relationship with Each Other Invest in Relationship with our Community

Initially, we will moving our focus between these three investments. From January to May we maintained a spiritual intention to grow in our relationships with God. Here are some of the initia-

tives that focus produced. As we shift into a focus on being the body of Christ and drawing near to each other in Christ it’s important to celebrate some of the fruit we’ve seen!

Once a month gatherings with great food, conversation, and prayer.

A team of people dedicated to providing spiritual friendship to those in our church family who are housebound.

Deepening the prayer life of our congregation by drawing us together for those in need.

Pursuing the mystery of God’s love by asking and pursuing our questions together. (on hold till after the Membership Class concludes)

Coming this summer… Your leaders will be seeking some creative ways for us to invest in our relationships with one another as our focus shifts to being the church together.

P.S. Don’t be too concerned if some of the initiatives seem to overlap in focus. So long as they bring glory to God, it’s all good. :)

Our Lenten Discipline in 2016 was to come together in daily prayer to focus the

church’s growing trust in God.

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S U N M O N T U E W E D T H U F R I S AT

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Community Dinner (HC) 5:30-6:30pm

Choir 7pm

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AA/ Al Anon 7pm

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9am Adult Ed

9am Hospitality Servant Training

10:30am Worship

10:30am SS

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7 Visitation Team 6pm Program Teams 7pm

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Community Dinner (UMC) 5:30-6:30pm

Choir 7pm

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10

AA/ Al Anon 7pm

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9am Adult Ed

10:30am Worship

10:30am SS

Community Art Pro-ject

13 14 Trustee Mtg. 6pm AD Board Mtg. 7pm

15 Community Dinner (CL) 5:30-6:30pm Choir 7pm

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17 Deadline for Newsletter

AA/ Al Anon 7pm

18 8am Men’s Breakfast

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9am Adult Ed

9am Hospitality Servant Training 10:30am Worship Dads & Grads

10:30am SS

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21 SPPRC Mtg. 7pm

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Community Dinner (UMC) 5:30-6:30pm Choir 7pm

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AA/ Al Anon 7pm

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10:30am Dryden Lake Worship/Picnic

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28 29 No Dinner

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