Central St.

Matthew UCC New Orleans, LA 70118 (504) 861-8196

February 1, 2013

CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE

Rev. Sharon Temple. . . Potpourri of Info. . . 1 2

Can

Madam C J Walkers Villa Lewaro 3 Changing of the Guard For German Congregation

we talk? Lets chat a little more about our interim ministry together, as we begin our fourth month working through this transition time together. A question that I sometimes get: Why cant you be our permanent pastor? The very sweet and wonderful thing about that question is that it seems to mean that the asker would like for that to happen. It does feel good to know that my ministry has touched someone in a positive way. Whats not to like about that? And, lets celebrate the question, because . . .

Distinctions, Vocabulary, and What the Future Holds says that the interim pastor will not be a
you have been able to bond, in a positive way, with a new pastor. Thats also a sign of health in a congregation. 3. Whether it seems this way to you or not, the question likely says that, while pastoral leadership is important to a congregation, pastoral leadership is not everything about a congregation. Who you are as a congregation can only be enhanced by your professional church leader(s); we cant make you into something you arent already becoming, by the grace of God. So, way to go, Central St. Matthew UCC! Seeking the mind of Christ together, you are becoming ready to show who you are to a new pastor! The two-fold answer to the above question is: (1) Interim pastors do specific work with a congregation during the transition between settled pastors. Pastor and congregation can do that work more freely when we know our time together is limited. (2) To seal our agreement for me to come here, we signed a covenant that candidate for the settled pastor position. That is the usual agreement in an interim pastorate. In the United Church of Christ, covenant is sacred, and, as far as we are able, we keep them faithfully. A vocabulary distinction: Please anticipate the calling of your next settled pastor rather than referring to her/him as a permanent pastor. There is no such thing as a permanent pastor. Well, theres also probably no completely settled thing about a pastor, either! (And thats a good thing!) The better term, though, is settled pastor, which implies a clearly different expectation and a lighter burden than is found in permanence. What about the future? We dont know what the future holds; we know who holds the future. The fulfillment of this transition time is in Gods hands, as is the timing of when your next settled pastor is called. Meanwhile, God is here with us in each of our days together. Thanks be to God!

U R 2 SWET 2 B 4 GOTN 5 Special Sunday Programming in Feb. Recipe Did You Know? 6 7 8

. . . its a very good sign! It says something very good about you as a congregation! 1. The question probably means that you are looking forward to the end of this transition. Thats a good thing, because that day will come. We want to move toward that day when we can name and celebrate the fulfillment of the work weve done together. 2. The question may mean that

Sharon

GLAD TIDINGS

Potpourri of Information . . .
Of
interest to CSM members is a heartfelt letter of thanks from Rev. Matthew Crebbin, Senior Pastor of the Newtown Congregational Church UCC of Newton, CT. Rev. Crebbins letter was written on behalf of the Church, the community, and all

We know that after the initial wave of care and response, many will still need help and support to find healing and wholeness. To this end, we will be using this special fund for the longer term efforts of care and healing for the entire community. Your gift will help to make this vital ministry possible. We offer prayers of thanksgiving for your contribution to this effort and for your continued prayers for our entire Newtown Community.
CSM has also received a lovely note of thanks from our Interim Pastor, Rev. Sharon Temple. In her note, Rev Sharon thanks us for the generous Christmas gift and especially for

the thoughtful kindness it represents. Thank you for your good natured willingness to do our interim work together. God s blessing so many, including me, through you. Marie Weatherspoon

those affected by the Sandy Hook tragedy in any way.

CSM Plays Host to UCC Dignitaries

He thanked us for our donation to the Churchs Care for Newtown Fund. He continues, We are

especially grateful that you have reached out to us in our time of need and we praise God for your compassion and caring

MEET GAIL MINNICK. . . Gail Minnick, Interim Pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of New Orleans, will be ordained on March 10, 2013, at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax in Oakton, Virginia. Gail is originally from New Jersey and moved to Herndon, Virginia, in 1984. She graduated from Fairleigh Dickenson University with a degree in Business Administration and retired from Verizon Communications with 31 years of service. She was also the founding president of Verizons lesbian and gay employee coalition and fought for domestic partner benefits and changes to corporate policies. She has been an active lay minister at her home church, Metropolitan Community Church of Northern Virginia (MCC NOVA), for more than 19 years. During that time she served in various ministries including as a member of the Board of Directors, choir, Inclusion (a contemporary Christian band), the hospitality team, facilities maintenance committee and stewardship campaign committee. She also served as church Treasurer and Vice Moderator. From 2001 until 2008, she served as an interfaith hospital chaplain at Fairfax INOVA Hospital. In 2012, she graduated from Lancaster Theological Seminary in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with a Masters of Divinity. Gail will be serving MCC of New Orleans as its new Interim Pastor for the next 12 to 18 months. She is an extrovert, animal lover, golfer and recently learned how to play drums. Gail and her partner, Ginny, will be celebrating their 35th anniversary this year.

Just a few of the notable persons Madam C.J. Walker (and later her daughter, Lelia) entertained at Villa Lewaro were Langston Hughes, Enrico Caruso [who named the Villa], Booker T. Washington, Isadore Duncan, and Countee Cullen. When daughter Lelia died in 1931, Rev. Adam Clayton Powell preached her funeral and Mary McLeod Bethune delivered the eulogy. Villa Lewaro was bought and restored in 1993 by New Orleans native Harold Doley, who served as Ambassador to the African Development Bank from 1983 to 1985, appointed by Pres. Ronald Reagan.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH FEATURE:

3

Madam C J Walkers Villa Lewaro

She

was born Sarah Breedlove in Delta, Louisiana, in 1867, to former slaves. She became an orphan at age 7 and moved across the Mississippi River to Vicksburg to escape a yellow fever epidemic. At age 14, she married and soon after gave birth to her only child. Sarah became a widow when her daughter was only two years old. She and her daughter left the South.

Sarah married Charles Joseph Walker in 1906. She and Mr. Walker toured throughout the US promoting her hair care products for Black women. Her company began to prosper and grow, and she became an entrepreneur. In addition to hair products, Madam Walker established beauty training schools to help other Black women learn a

trade and to earn a living. Madam C J Walker eventually became the richest, self-made woman in the US, Black or White. Madam Walker and her husband divorced in 1912, and she set up her business to be run by a group of handselected key principals. She built her opu-

lent 32-room mansion in the Hudson River Valley. Later, under her daughters owner-ship, both the Villa and the home in Harlem hosted popular salons for the greats of that era to meet and exchange ideas. Madam Walker was definitely on the cusp of what became known as

The Harlem Renaissance. Her

daughter, Lelia, became a vital part of this movement.

In 1919, Madam C J Walker died at her Villa Lewaro.

abw

GLAD TIDINGS

Changing of The Guard For German Congregation

After
40 years of activity as pastor of the former German Seamen's Mission and Director of the German Evangelical devotion in New Orleans, Pastor HEINZ NEUMANN retired on January 1, 2013. He plans to serve his Congregation as Pastor Emeritus, as well as to continue to direct the choir. Pastor Neumann has received many honors over the years, including a special recognition in 2010 with his being presented with the prestigious Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for 20 years of German Reunification. In November 2012, the Board of Directors of the German Evangelical Congregation appointed the Rev. Dr. Walter Baer as its new pastor. He assumed this new position on January 1, 2013, with the retirement of Pastor Heinz Neumann. The Rev. Dr. Baer has lived in New Orleans for the past ten years. He is originally from Wisconsin where he grew up in a Germanspeaking home with parents who had immigrated to the US from Switzerland and Austria. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the UWMadison, a Masters of Theology from Nashotah House Epis-

The Reverend Dr. Walter Baer

copal Theological Seminary in Wisconsin and a doctorate from Columbia Theological Seminary. He served parishes in Milwaukee, Shreveport, Monroe, Alexandria, and New Orleans. During his tenure in Monroe, he taught American religious history and the New Testament at the University of LouisianaMonroe. Currently, Dr. Baer serves as an interim pastor at the Church of the Annunciation in New Orleans, as well as serving as the Chaplain for St. Martins Episcopal School in Metairie. In addition to his duties as a pastor and a teacher, Dr. Baer is active in several local organizations. He serves on the Board of the Deutsches Haus. He also serves as Secretary of the Swiss-American Society of New Orleans.

The German Service continues to meet on the First Sunday of Each Month in the CSM Sanctuary at 2 p.m.

Rev. Heinz Neumann, Pastor Emeritus

U R 2 Swet 2 B 4 Gotn
Do
you remember writing that in school yearbooks to a friend when asked to sign his/her Annual? Of course you recognize it as You Are Too Sweet To Be Forgotten. Abbreviations have long been a very big part of our lives, whether we refer to AAA, TGIF, ASAP, IRS, PTA, NOLA, XOXOs, or CSM UCC. Even the US Armed Forces have their own abbreviations such as KP for Kitchen Police, PT for Physical Training, AWOL for Away Without Leave, and others I wont mention. However, today we are being bombarded by abbreviations and/or symbols replacing words of entire conversation via text messaging. Text messaging, or texting, is the act of typing and sending a brief, electronic message between two or more mobile phones or fixed or portable devices over a phone network. The term originally referred to messages sent using the Short Message Service (SMS); it has grown to

include messages containing image, video, and sound content. Most often the messages look like gibberish to the non-savy. Our children and grandchildren are communicating in a language many of us cant understand. However, instead of running away from the problem, lets face it full on and learn a little about whats being written behind our backs. First used in 1992, this fast, shorthand type of language is important because of the immediacy of the messages sent to our telephones, as well as the smallness of the screens. These, of course, are factors for the use of the SMS language. Texting is a major contributor to the industry's profitability," says David Barden, a senior research analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Among the Big Four national players, texting brings in an average of $8 per month per customer in revenue, he estimates, and generates about 25% of raw operating profit (excluding equipment subsidies).

A generation having developed a language of its own is not new. The Jazz Age introduced slang to our vocabulary with some expressions that are still used today, such as Baloney (Nonsense), Bees knees (Terrific), Bootleg (Illegal liquor), Cats Meow (Great), Cheaters (Eye glasses), Jalopy (a junky old car), Real McCoy (Genuine article), etc. My parents generation had WW II terms and that wonderful pig Latin. And now the experts talk about the slang or language of Generations X and Y. Personally, I dont consider changes in popular culture communication a language unless it passes the Whittemore-Test: the language must be translatable into American Sign Language; the language must be counted toward the language requirement for the Ph.D.; and there must be a Bible translation in the language.

As far as I know, Jazz Age Slang fails the test as does pig Latin and, so far, so do the languages of Generations X and Y. But, hold on! Although I am not aware that SMS Text Messaging is being taught in American Sign Language nor is it accepted for the Ph.D., there is now, however, a Text Messaging Bible! In da Bginnin God cre8d da heavens & da earth. Recognize it? What about these verses: da earth was barren, wit no 4m of life OR We luv coz God luvd us 1st. Certainly, you recognize John 3: 16: 4t mn ^stairs so luvD d wrld dat he giv hs 1 n 1ly boy, dat hu Blevz n him shll nt di bt av lyf 4ever. And 1 Chronicles 26:18: @ d opN cort 2 d west, 4 guards wr postD OTR n 2 @ d cort . The entire Bible has been translated into SMS format by the Bible Society in Australia. The verses [continued on Page 6]

GLAD TIDINGS

Special Sunday Programming for February

ATTENTION CSM Members of ALL Ages: During the month of February, in conjunction with Black History Month, CSM UCC will be having special messages during the children's time of the service. Various members of the congregation will be preparing these interactive moments which will include special first-hand memories of experiences from the Civil Rights Movement, learning of musical aspects of the movement, and some puppetry that is not to be missed! Please mark the Sundays in February on your calendar and plan on attending church for these exciting presentations. Phil Ricks

U R 2 Swet. . .
are available free of charge on the internet. But before you rush out and sign up for the tx bbl to be sent to your cell phone, heres some other information you probably need to know: to receive the entire Bible in SMS via your telephone will take over 30,000 messages at a total cost of more than 3,432 or $5,529.29. While many parents might think that texting the Bible to their children is a wonderful idea and a timely way to communicate the Scriptures in this texting society we find ourselves living in, that price is still very hefty. The production and distribution of bibles are issues that have engaged the attention of Christian leaders for centuries. In 331, Emperor Constantine requested fifty copies of the Old and New Testaments for use in the principal churches in Constantinople. Bible

Continued from Page 5

Societies are an attractive form of common action for Christians who take the Bible seriously. The first organization called The Bible Society was formed in England in 1779 to distribute Bibles to soldiers and seamen. In the US, Bible societies flourished in the first half of the 19th century. In addition to the American Bible Society, a number of state and regional Bible Societies were established prior to the Civil War and remain active to this day distributing Bibles and other literature to prisons, hospitals and shelters. The oldest Bible Society in the United States is the Pennsylvania Bible Society, founded in 1808. The Chicago Bible Society was founded in 1840, making it only five years younger than the city itself. Today, The United Bible Societies (UBS) is a worldwide association of Bible societies. As of a few years ago, the UBS had 141 member societies, working in more than 200 countries and territories. While most of these work on translating the Bible, as well as distributing it, there are some organizations whose main objective is the distribution of bibles such as Gideons International, begun in 1899. Who knows? As lonely travelers on the road of high technology, perhaps someday, instead of paying upward of $5,000 for a tx bbl, we can find a free one in a hotel room, compliments of the Gideons! abw

Some Basic SMS Words and Symbols: U, UR LOL URNF GTG tom. IL2E IDK ILY :-) :-( :-D :-@ :-( :-! NEthing AFAIR AML

you, your, youre laugh out loud you are not funny got to go tomorrow I like to eat I dont know I love you Smiling Frowning Grinning Shouting Crying Foot in mouth Anything As far as I recall All my love

BE MINE!

Cup plus 1 Tbsp. Flour 3 Tbsp plus tsp unsweetened Cocoa Powder Cup raw or granulated Sugar 1 tsp Baking Powder tsp salt 3 Tbsp Canola Oil 2 large Egg Yolks 2 Tbsp fresh Orange Juice tsp grated Orange Zest 3 Tbsp plus one tsp Water 4 large Egg Whites 2 Tbsp granulated Sugar

Ellen Bentz has found us another wonderful recipe. All I need for Valentines Day is this, a fork, and seven friends!!!

Makes 8 individual cakes.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together first five ingredients. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the next five ingredients. Slowly combine the wet ingredients with the dry ones until incorporated and batter is smooth. 2. Beat egg whites on medium until foamy. Slowly add 2 Tbsp granulated sugar and continue beating on high until soft peaks form, 2 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, fold of the egg whites into the batter to lighten it. Fold in remaining whites. 3. Divide batter evenly among 8 6-0z. ungreased ramekins and bake 15 minutes. Let cakes cool completely before unmolding. Serve. Serving Recommendation: Serve with Greek Yogurt and Fruit for a well-balanced dessert.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY TO ALL AND HAPPY FEBRUARY BIRTHDAY TO THE FOLLOWING:
Edith Jones (2nd); Marion Ramirez (13th); Vanessa Etter (15th); John Etter (16th); Dale Bonds (19th); Fred Ramirez (19th); Lucien Zidaru (25th).

GLAD TIDINGS February, 2013 GLAD TIDINGS Newsletter of The Central St. Matthew United Church of Christ 1333 S. Carrollton Avenue New Orleans, LA 70118

Did You Know? The Australians seems to

be ahead of others in producing popular culture translations of The Bible (as noted in article on pg. 5). In addition to publishing a tx bbl, an Australian has also published the Aussie Bible. Here is an example of a popular Bible verse, translated by Kel Richards into Aussie: God is the station owner, and I am just one of the sheep. He musters me down to the lucerne flats, And feeds me there all week. When I'm feeling poorly, And at something less than my peak, He leads me to the restfulness, Of a coolabah shaded creek.

Web Address: www.centralstmatthewucc. com Email: office@csmucc.com Phone: (504) 861-8196 Fax: (504) 861-8197 Follow Us On Face book Central St. Matthew United Church of Christ New Orleans

He teaches me not to break away, Not to be a loner; He teaches me to stick with His mob, And acknowledge Him as my Owner. Even when the droughts are bad, And I cross the Desert of Death, God is close beside me, So close I can feel His breath. God is the one who holds the map, That gives me my direction, And God is the one who guarantees, Provision for my Protection. Although there are dingos in the hills, And the paddocks are full of snakes, God

serves up a barbeque, Of beautiful T-bone steaks! His patience and compassion, And forgiveness fail me never; And I'll live with Him in the Homestead, Beyond the end of forever. Of course, you recognize the above as Psalms 23. The entire translation is just as colorful. Check out the following: http://seattletimes.com /html/nationworld/200 3155040_aussiebible2 7.html

Central St. Matthew United Church of Christ 1333 South Carrollton Avenue New Orleans, LA 70118