THE C IRCUIT WRITER 5

The Circuit Writer

State Street United Methodist Church 1101 State Street

P.O. Box 3340 Bowling Green, KY 42102-3340

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Permit Number 325 Bowling Green, KY

State Street Staff

Senior Pastor ~ Dr. Jay Smith

Associate Pastor for Faith Formation ~ Rev. Cindy Bright

Minister of Music, Worship, and Congregational Care ~ Lee Young

Minister of Student Formation ~ Jami Unland

Children’s Ministry Assistant ~Gina Bingham

Organist ~ Julie Pride

Office Manager ~ Tricia Hendrix

Church Hostess ~ Betty Lee

Housekeeping ~ Pam Fitzgerald

Maintenance ~ Dennis Jones

Return Service Requested

March 12th

Lenten Sermon Series

Beginning March 5th

March 5th - ”Bread of Life”

March 12th -”Light of the World”

March 19th-”The Gate”

March 26th-”The Good Shepherd”

April 2nd - ”The Vine”

MARCH 2017

Making disciples of Jesus Christ around the corner and around the world!

1101 State Street | Bowling Green, KY (270) 842-8171 | www.statestreetumc.org

March 28

12 p.m. Finance Committee Mtg.

March 21

5:30 p.m. Trustees Mtg.

March 23

12:00 p.m. Circuit Writer Deadline

March 19

5:00 p.m Faith Builders

Elizabeth Downing will be speaking

March 26

11:00 a.m. Ralphie’s Fun Center

March 26

Youth MT Sign Up Deadline

March 4

10:30 a.m. Local Leaders Church

Training

Christ UMC

March 12

Spring Clocks Forward

March 18

9:00 a.m. Chancel Choir

Rehearsal

“The Cross: Where Love Will Lead Us”

Not long ago I was finishing a book by Franciscan priest, Richard Rohr, entitled Every-

thing Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer. Near the end of the book, he wrote

these words that gave me a refreshing perspective on the cross of Christ and caused me to

write in the margin of the book, “Yes,” underlined three times for emphasis!

“Christianity is a religion of attachment. Jesus says to love and pay the price for it…

…when we fall in love, we risk pain and we will always suffer for it…The cross is not

the price that Jesus had to pay to talk God into loving us. It is simply where love

will lead us.”

During the season of Lent, the church shifts its focus to the cross of Christ and the price

God’s love paid in order to reconcile each of us to God. As a child, the way the message

of the cross was so often presented was that in order to appease God’s wrath and anger

towards a sinful and broken world, Jesus had to step in and pay the price for you and me.

Jesus’ dying on the cross, according to these often times loud preachers who seemed

angry themselves, appeased an angry and vengeful God, or as Richard Rohr puts it, “…

the price that Jesus had to pay to talk God into loving us.”

I no longer view the cross as a means to convince God to love us. The cross represents

the depth and breadth of an already heart-broken, loving God who pays the ultimate price

to provide forgiveness, reconciliation and salvation for the world. Yes, the world is

broken and sinful and in need of God’s grace. Yes, you and I are broken and sinful and in

need of God’s grace. But, the cross of Christ represents in the most profound way what

that grace looks like, what God’s love looks like and what God’s mission for each of us

looks like as we “take up our cross and follow Jesus.”

The cross, as Richard Rohr points out, reminds us “where love will lead us.” And “where

love will lead us” will be different for each of us, but it will always involve an element of

risk, challenge, heartache and pain. It does not matter if you are talking about the love

between a husband and wife, parents and children, friends or complete strangers. When

we risk enough to love others, we open ourselves up not just to the joy and bliss that

comes from love, but to the inevitable heartache and pain. As the title of Rohr’s book

suggests, “everything belongs.” Not just the good, but the bad. Not just the joy, but the

pain. God’s love revealed in the Cross is an invitation to see it all as a means of God’s

transforming, reconciling, forgiving love.

This season of Lent, I would ask us, Where do we sense God’s love leading us? What

broken parts of our families, community and world are waiting for people like you and

me to accept “where love will lead us”? To borrow Rohr’s words one last time, “The

cross is not the price that Jesus had to pay to talk God into loving us. It is simply where

love will lead us.” May God give you and me the grace and courage to go “where love

will lead us.”

Much Lenten grace and peace!

Dr. Jay

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Birthdays

Anniversaries!

Please Remember Our Special Friends in Prayer:

Fred Carter 01

Hunter Hanks 01

Anthony Martin 01

Brady Riedel 02

Karen Summers 02

John Lasater 03

Andrea Burrell 04

Becky Leavy 04

Keith Skiles 04

Ben Lawson 04

Jim Bullington Jr. 06

Carrie Gilreath 07

Austin Ring 07

Alice Barnes 08

Lucinda Anderson 10

Mike Burrell 11

Wilburn Jones 11

Ethan Burrell 12

Iris Dotson 12

Stephen Riedel 12

Andrew Speakman 12

Lauren Wester 14

Annee Lasley 15

Hayden Lasley 15

Mike Gardner 16

Chance Calton 17

Joan Burrell 19

Barrett Barnes 20

Alice Nicely 21

Nicholas Westray 21

Marv Leavy 22

Diane Greer 23

Heather Lasley 23

Logan Turner 23

Remi Mays 25

Vernon Martin 25

Judith Knee 26

Parker Cummings 27

Juanita Denham 28

Jackson Stahl 31

Emily Burrell 31

Gale Combs 31

George & Judith Knee 19

Ken & Shellie Allen 26

Adam & Brittany Butler 31

Stephen & Phyllis Schnacke 31 SSUMC Food Pantry Needs:

Remember to check the bulletin each week for items needed

for the food pantry! Groceries are distributed to those in the

community who come in and ask for food assistance.

Donated items should be placed in the white bins located

near the church office and near fellowship hall.

Please Note: The names of persons for whom prayer has been requested will remain on our prayer list for one month unless we are notified otherwise.

The names of the homebound and ill of our church family as well as our church leaders and military will be kept on our list indefinitely.

Prayer Requests

Keep praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To

that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the

saints. Ephesians 6:18

Retirement Village

Lovell Parsons

Jackie Mathison

Ken Whitfield

Dick Cooper

Magnolia Village

Nancy Napier

Village Manor Frederica Williamson

Sarah Watson

Barbara Neale

Colonial Manor

Sue Bullington

Homebound Bridgepointe

Madge Bailey Carolyn Brake

Geneva Duff

Ina Ree Wright

Massey Springs Sally Mayfield

Recent Requests:

Debbie Drake Davis

Dan Riley

Anna Vincent

Debbie Campbell

Phillip Rogers

Charles &

Margaret Swaty

Irma Beck

Robert Lyon

Pierce Ford

Bernie Cox

Brenda Wheeler

Hal Rogers

Tom Lett

Jennifer Wallace

Wanda & Jay Faulkner

Quinn Holland

Kenneth Allen

Katheryn Loy

Becky Leavy

Ken Whitfield

Kammy &

Cory Carpenter

Recent Requests:

Kelly Steen

Norman Greenwald

Charles Morris

Lauren Hester

Regina Priddy

Richard Cook

Teresa Wilson

Glenna Burton

Anne Newton

James Dies

Victor Padilla

Arthur Carman

Gary Ritchie

Mindy Winningham

Will Conley

Rose Carlton

Gloria Lyles

LuLu Hochstetler

Jonathan Barnes

On Going Requests: (Church Family)

Betty Satterfield

Jenks Britt

Evan Rudolph

Carrie Gilreath

Tom Cannon

Lavinia Rogers

Virginia Fullen

Joyce Robertson

Bob Rice

Bob & Jane Gillaspie

Suzanne Vitale

Bill Franklin

Marilyn Laney

Juanita Denham

Elizabeth Honeycutt

Matthew Nelson

Our Military:

Schuyler Purdue

(Marines)

In Memory of Don Lawhorn

Given to the Kentucky United Methodist Children’s Home by Mr.

and Mrs. Daniel Modlin

In Honor of Don Sergent

Given to the Endowment Fund by Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Westray

In Memory of Mrs. Tabar

Given to the Endowment Fundy by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Canter

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Gifts Given to the Church

Faith Builders

March 19th

5:00 p.m.

Elizabeth Downing will be

speaking and refreshments

will be served. We will meet

in the Fellowship Hall.

April 23rd

3:00 p.m.

We will meet with Rick

Shreve at the church for a

presentation on the BG Air

Park. Following the

presentation, we will take

the church bus to the Air

Park.

May 21st

5:00 p.m.

Potluck at The Crossings for

fellowship and election of

Officers for the next year.

Mondays of March Lenten Bible Study

March 6th, 13th, 20th & 27th

Taylor Chapel AME Church 503 Clay Street

Rev. Joshua Hale

Should be a great time of learning and fellowship for us all!

New Member Sunday - March 12th

Have you been

thinking about

joining our church

family? In the

United Methodist

Church, people join

in two ways:

1) by baptism and profession of faith 2) by

transfer of membership from another church.

Is God leading you to follow Christ through

State Street UMC? We would love to speak

with you about this important decision.

Please contact Dr. Jay or Lee Young at 270-

842-8171.

“A Word of Thanks from

Our Finance Chair”

I want to thank all of you for your ongoing

generosity. Because of your love for

Christ and State Street, our ministry

continues to be vital and alive. In our

January Finance meeting, we learned that

we finished the year very strong and it

was our best year ever. We budgeted for

$717,000 in contributions and we ended

up receiving $738,716 in contributions.

Please know that complete financial

statements are available in the church

office for anyone who would like to see

them. On behalf of the Finance

Committee, again, thank you for your

generosity!

Steve Sutton, Finance Chair

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