Matt’s Musings: Spreading the Good News

Those of us who strive to follow Jesus are tasked with not only continuing his work, but spreading the gospel, AKA the “good news.” Still, I'll be the first to confess that I'm much more comfortable trying to show someone, through my life and actions, who Jesus is and what his promise of life abundant is all about than I am trying to tell them some kind of good news. Read full newsletter

Updating Church Communications

Communicating well is a crucial part of our life together and our shared ministry. As the Ministry Team continues to lead us into our 2013 goals of strengthening our core community, deepening relationships, and inviting others to join us, it's clear that good communication patterns and tools play key roles in advancing these goals. Read full newsletter

Celebrating Our Licensed Ministers

We're excited to be licensing Travis Poling and Dan Finkbiner on their journeys toward set-apart, ordained ministry. Travis was licensed on April 28th and Dan will be licensed Sunday, May 5th. Read full newsletter

Annual Conference 2013: Move In Our Midst

Our 2013 Church of the Brethren Annual Conference will be taking place June 29th through July 3rd in Charlotte, North Carolina. We typically have several folks from our congregation in attendance at Annual Conference and this year is sure to carry on that tradition. Read full newsletter

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Matt’s Musings: In the Shadow of Resurrection

Easter is here! Christ is Risen! The darkness has passed, the light has returned, and hope springs to life anew. Read full newsletter

Arts & Crafts Space Project Underway

One March 24th, a group of brave souls laughed in the face of a Palm Sunday snowstorm and showed up to paint the new Arts & Crafts Space. The transformation is now well underway and plans have already been made to apply the final coat of paint on Tuesday, April 2nd at 5pm. Read full newsletter

Coming Soon: Tapestry Groups

ver the last several months our church’s leaders have been working on an exciting new project that will help us to stay connected, deepen our relationships, and strengthen our shared ministry. We’re calling the program “Tapestry Groups” and deacons are currently in the process of contacting folks with more details and invitations to participate. Read full newsletter

Travis Poling Licensing Service

Our congregation has a rich history of calling out individuals to explore and engage in varied forms of set-apart ministry in the church and in the world. On April 28th, during our morning worship, we will join with representatives from the South/Central Indiana District to license Travis Poling to such ministry. Read full newsletter

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My apologies. Earlier you may have received a notification of the newsletter for March being available with a broken link due to a space in the file name. That link should work now. Also, you can go to http://www.richmondcob.org/files/Newsletter_%20March_2013.pdf

Matt’s Musings: Aspirations

I always find it fascinating when books I’m reading start talking to each other. Does this ever happen to you? Right now I’m about half-way into The Idolatry of God, the latest from Peter Rollins, and I’ve just started working through a draft copy of Mark Scandrette’s latest book on radical simplicity that he was kind enough to share. Though they’re dramatically different reads I have found they both resonate with the subject of aspiration. Read full newsletter

Holy Week Happenings

Holy Week, the days leading up to Easter, is always a special time filled with unique opportunities to worship God and embody our faith. This year we’ll be holding a variety of meaningful gatherings on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday morning. Read full newsletter

Lent worship series--“Why…?”

Lent is traditionally a season to dwell with some of the challenging, less comfortable parts of our faith as we travel with Jesus toward what was arguably the most difficult part of his journey - the crucifixion.  Read full newsletter

Free Home Energy Assessments

Cope Environmental Center, one of our congregation’s outreach partners, is promoting free Energy Assessments from Energizing Indiana, a statewide program working to improve the comfort and efficiency of our homes. Home Energy Assessments can help you raise your home's performance, lower energy bills, improve in-home air quality and increase your home's value. Read full newsletter

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Matt’s Musings: Woven Together

For the past few months I've been dreaming and discerning about what could help our congregation to grow. I've been praying and pondering a lot about how God might be speaking to us in our current state. Read full newsletter

2012 Preliminary Financial Results

While we’re still reconciling final financial reports from 2012 the initial news is very good. Despite some anxiety in the closing months of the year, strong end-of-year giving helped boost our general fund offerings to nearly $81,000, exceeding our goal. Thank you to everyone who helped support our congregation’s ministry financially last year, especially those who were able to respond to the request to give an “extra month.” Read full newsletter

Lent worship series--“Why…?”

Do you ever find yourself sitting in worship or pondering your faith and wondering “why?” Why do we do the things we do, as individuals or as a church? Why do we believe what we believe? Why worship? Why pray? Why practice nonviolence? During the season of Lent, which begins with Ash Wednesday on February 13th, we will devote our time together to exploring some of these questions. Read full newsletter

Vital Pastors Program Concludes

This month marks the conclusion of Pastor Matt’s participation in the 2-year Sustaining Pastoral Excellence, Vital Pastors program. Over the past two years Matt has met monthly with three other pastors to study and reflect upon how church and culture are undergoing massive shifts, how hospitality is a key component in embodying faith and leading others, how even in our congregations death can lead to new life, and how sacred space serves as a grounding point amidst these changing times. Read full newsletter

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