Community of Hope, United Church of Christ

As you have hopefully heard by now, Rev. Lizette Merchan, our Minister of Justice and Witness, will be leaving us effective August 1, 2011. We have two major events planned to help us celebrate her years ministering among us and to wish her well on the next stage of her journey.

The first event is a Farewell Fiesta hosted by Rev. Lizette and her partner, Jenny. It is Thursday evening, July 28 from 6pm-8pm in the worship space at Community of Hope. Here’s a link to an announcement of that event.

The second event will be our formal ‘thank you’ and ‘good-bye’ commemorating Lizette’s ministry. That will happen during our regular worship service at 6pm on Sunday, July 31 (Lizette’s last day with us). There will be a reception following the service.

Please join us for these events as together we honor Lizette’s ministry.

Join us this Sunday, July 3rd, for a special “Interdependence Day Celebration” at 6pm. We will be sharing a community meal DURING worship starting at 6pm. Our theme for the potluck meal is “4th of July picnic” so bring your favorite summer-time picnic dish to share. (The main entree of pulled pork will be provided.) And, it will be indoors in bug-free air-conditioned space!

We will be moving the chairs to the side of the worship space and you are encouraged to bring lawn chairs, blankets, whatever to make your own “family picnic” spot on the floor of our worship space.

Once everyone gets some food, we’ll have about 20 minutes for an “open mic” time when you are welcome to share your talents with us. Play an instrument? Like to sing? Read poetry? Dance? Bring it and share it!

We’ll also have time for a “hymn-sing” using songs from our hymnal as well as some Community of Hope favorites that aren’t in the hymnal.

There will also be special activities for children! (The children will be staying in the worship space with us for the entire time.)

And, as we do every time we gather for worship, we’ll also be sharing an open communion in which everyone will be invited to share in the remnants of our community meal as we celebrate our interdependence.

Please come join us for the celebration!

As many of you already know, I was able to attend the Human Rights Campaign’s Clergy Call Conference May 22-24 in Washington, DC. This conference happens every other year and is a chance for clergy from across the USA to gather and lobby our federal legislators on issues of importance to the GLBTQ communities. I was able to attend because I received a scholarship from the HRC that covered my hotel expenses. (I paid for airfare, meals and incidentals myself—no funds from Community of Hope were used.)

The keynote speaker for the event was Melissa Harris-Perry, a frequent contributor to MSNBC and The Rachel Maddow Show. Dr Harris-Perry is a dynamic voice on the systems of power and privilege in the USA. Her speech was very informative and inspiring.

I also attended other gatherings and workshops designed to prepare us for our visits with our state’s congressional delegation, and I was able to connect with clergy colleagues from across the USA in our common goal of bringing about God’s kin-dom. (Clergy from all 50 states attended the conference.)

As you might expect, my lobbying efforts with the Oklahoma congressional delegation was not as exciting and empowering.

I lobbied our delegation with a clergy colleague from Norman, who is an active military chaplain. The four issues we were lobbying for were pre-selected by the Human Rights Campaign and were:
- Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA)
- Respect for Marriage Act (repeal of DOMA)
- Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA)
- Safe Schools Improvement Act (SSIA)

We were able to meet with legislative aides for five of the seven members of Oklahoma’s congressional delegation: Senators Inhofe and Coburn, and Representatives Sullivan, Lankford, and Cole. Although Representatives Boren and Lucas were not able to find time in their schedule to meet with us, I was able to stop by their offices and drop off information about the four issues we were addressing.

While meeting with the aides, I was able to share the stories of some of the companions at Community of Hope who have been personally impacted because the issues we were lobbying for have not yet been approved by our elected officials.

Although we were treated with respect in all of our meetings, one of the legislative aides made sure we understood that “The Senator does not support these issues.” Luckily, this was the first office we visited, so I was able to use my response to her comment in all of my subsequent meetings: “I realize the Senator (or Representative) may not support these issues. I am not here to debate them. I am here to let you and the Senator (or Representative) know that there are many religious leaders and other people of faith who do support these issues, and who would like our Senator (or Representative) to support them as well. “

It was a wonderful visit and I am so blessed to have been able to attend this conference. I was honored to be carrying the stories of the companions at Community of Hope with me as I traveled the halls of Congress. It was very humbling to, once again, be entrusted with the stories of this community as we attempt to “speak truth to power” in our goal of changing the world.

Please join us for the following Holy Week activities at Community of Hope:

Maundy Thursday, April 21, 6pm – “What Really Happened at the Last Supper?” We’ll discuss and experience the various rituals of “the Last Supper” and try to understand them in their original context of a shared Passover seder led by Jesus. Our time together will include a time for sacred washing, communion, and tenebrae. (“Tenebrae” is a ritual that embodies an understanding of Jesus as “the light of the world.” We will gradually extinguish all the candles and other lights in the worship space as we commemorate the arrest of Jesus. The ritual ends with the removal of our rainbow shalom candle from the worship space.)

Good Friday, April 22, 6pm – Memorial service for Jesus of Nazareth. In keeping with our Lenten “Road Trip with Jesus” and its goal of helping us live as if we didn’t know the end of the story, we will have a memorial service to commemorate the death of Jesus. Eulogies will be provided by the various people we encountered on our road trip, including Nicodemus, the woman at the well, the blind man, Lazarus, and Mary Magdalene.

Easter Sunrise, April 24, 6:30am – Join us in the Neighborhood Garden for an Easter Sunrise service shared with the Tulsa Center for Spiritual Living. Following the service there will be a FREE pancake breakfast in our community room.

Easter service, April 24, 6pm – “The Journey Continues” as we look at the story of a couple on the road to Emmaus; a couple of Jesus’ followers who had left Jerusalem dejected and grieving because of the death of Jesus and all the promise they felt. On the road, they encounter a stranger and share with him their stories of the impact Jesus had on their lives. As they all three stop to share a meal, the couple realize this stranger is…. (come and find out!)