Maranatha Funds Distribution Proposal / Easter Sunday Reminder

Please find attached with this message, the proposal for distribution of our funds raised at the Christmas auction for needs within BAUMC and outside BAUMC but some recipients being within the Conference or denomination. From here, our process is two-fold, asking for your review of the proposal and letting us know if you have any further nominations. Then, on Sunday, April 11, we will have a final draft for your revisions and acceptance.

Sharon Earley has been heading up this process to date, assisted by Bill Gertsen, Shari Goodwin, Kevin Meehan, Meredith Davison, and others (whose names escape my memory at this time). We have had nominations and recommendations from others of you as well, and continue to ask for your feedback before April 8th. Contact Sharon (sharon.earley(at)williams.com) or me (richard.wansley(at)okstate.edu) with suggestions and other nominations. My thanks to Sharon for her leadership and others who have contributed to this important activity of our Sunday School Class.

Remember – Sunday School Class this Sunday, Easter, is a Brunch; bring whatever food you wish. And, the Class hour begins at 9:30am. Ed Payton will be leading us with a devotion. See you on Sunday to celebrate the Risen Christ!

Richard Wansley

[Note that the “attached file” has been changed to a page on this site. You may find the link on the right. If you need help with the password, please contact one of the class officers. – brm]

Published in: on April 3, 2010 at 7:54 am  Comments Off on Maranatha Funds Distribution Proposal / Easter Sunday Reminder  
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New Maranatha Class Website

This message is to announce the new website for the Maranatha Class and an online community for helping to organize care for class members in need. Karen Campbell and I gave a presentation in class on January 30. Because not every one was in class that day (and because it was confusing anyway), I am attaching the handout in two different formats, and I wanted to give you the links to the website, as well as to the presentation online at Vimeo.com.

The URL for the Maranatha Class Website is www.maranathaclass.org.

You can watch the class presentation on how the new website works. It is now available on Vimeo.com. The link to the video is http://vimeo.com/9547574. Or, you can reach it from the Welcome page on the Maranatha Class Website.

Please subscribe to the Maranatha Class Blog on any page of the site. We will be changing the way that we deliver emails within the next several months. The Maranatha Class Blog page will have the Class Newsletters and any CARE-anatha announcements regarding class members. If you have subscribed, you will receive emails of each post instead of through the Gmail account. You will need to be subscribed to get these emails.

There is a link to the Class Calendar, which you can use to find social activities, class mission projects, and Sunday School specifics, such as the names of each week’s speaker, prayer, and those greeting and bringing refreshments.

While most of the site is available to anyone, in order to keep certain class member information private there are two logins required. The Class Member Page link will take you to a password-protected page where you can find a link to the class member photos on Picasa (courtesy Pam Low), and downloadable copies of the roster and the email list (also the work of Pam Low). If you’d like to know the password to the Class Member Page, just contact any of the officers.

The CARE-anatha link (under Pages) leads to Lotsa Helping Hands, where you will find an online community for organizing care needs. This is the second place where a login will be required. Karen and I will coordinate our CARE-anatha scheduling there when the time comes, but we hope that you will register for the site now. See the instructions for registering on the CARE-anatha page.

As before, if you have any care needs, please contact Karen Campbell or me . For other questions or class-related business, contact Richard Wansley or Meredith Davison , or use the Class Officers link on the website for other officer names.

If you have any questions about the website, please let me know.

Barbara Meehan

Published in: on February 18, 2010 at 8:29 am  Comments Off on New Maranatha Class Website  
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Maranatha, February 14, 2010

“Life must be understood backwards; but … it must be lived forward.”
Soren Kierkegaard, Philosopher/Theologian

We had an inspiring lesson today from our resident “composer” and musician extraordinaire classmate, Rob Reck, about his trip to London during the Christmas holidays to the premier performance of his composition, “Close to Thee”. It was interesting to hear about his trip and understand more about Rob’s passion for composing music.

Today, we recognized birthdays: Keith Madden (2/14), Sam Smith (2/17), and Ginny Walker (2/23) and anniversaries: Mary and Randy Elliott (2/15) and Suzy and Rob Morgan (2/16).  Celebrate!  Valentine refreshments and greetings were provided by Michelle and Kirk Place as well as Barbara and Paul Loyd.  There were announcements about the Chili Supper on February 22st (contact Suzy or Denny Meredith-Orr) and the March social, stuffing Easter Eggs on Friday evening, March 26, for the children’s Easter egg hunt.  Upcoming mission opportunities include an Exodus House project in March and working on the Habitat for Humanity house in April. Joys and Concerns were expressed by members.  Concerns were shared for Terry, Pam Sherman’s friend, who has been put in hospice; Lynn’s friend Larry who was diagnosed with cancer, Allen Briggs brother-in-law who has prostate cancer; Patricia Ketter who has been diagnosed with breast cancer; and a friend who lost her grandfather and grandmother soon after the birth of her child. Ginny Walker expressed joy over her upcoming trip to California to celebrate her birthday with her daughter.  We also expressed sympathy to Joe Harris whose mother Margaret died last week; it was a joy to hear Joe talk about his wonderful memories of his mother and the influence she had on his life.

We welcomed several visitors: Jim and Sarah Young, former members who were visiting from Colorado Springs, Samantha Luks, and Lauren Tallent. We also welcomed a new member, Laurie Spencer to the class. Laurie is an artist whose pottery chalices are used in our communion services.

Next week, Debbie Petersen, BAUMC Mid-High Youth Director,  will discuss her work with the church youth programs.  Join us; invite others!

Have a great week!

Meredith Davison and Richard Wansley
Presidents

P.S., See this informative note from Allene and Rex Donley:
Hopefully you will never need this service but it is good information for everyone to have.
Cleaning for a Reason
If you know any woman currently undergoing Chemo, please pass the word to her that there is a cleaning service that provides FREE housecleaning – 1 time per month for 4 months while she is in treatment.

All she has to do is sign up and have her doctor fax a note confirming the treatment. Cleaning for a Reason will have a participating maid service in her zip code area arrange for the service.  http://www.cleaningforareason.org
Please pass this information on to bless a woman going through Breast Cancer treatment. This organization serves the entire USA and currently has 547 partners to help these women. It’s our job to pass the word and let them know that there are people out there that care. Be a blessing to someone and pass this information along.

Published in: on February 15, 2010 at 8:38 pm  Comments Off on Maranatha, February 14, 2010  
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Question re: Cataract surgery, need response today!

Friends,

Alan Smith, a fellow Class member, has submitted the following question (see below) regarding his need in making a decision regarding cataract surgery. Can you help? If you wish to provide a response, contact Alan directly at: als19511973(at)gmail.com. Thanks.

________________________________________________________________________________________
“My question would be to ask which members have had cataract surgery
in order to share information and make a decision on which type of lens implant to get. There’s a difference in cost involved here also.
I have to make a decision today, so I guess this is a little late.
Alan Smith”

*Note that you will need to type email addresses into an email program substituting “@” for “(at).” I have edited email addresses so that recipients will not pick up additional spam from autobots that might be searching our posts. Also, for contact information, you can find our newest roster on the Class Member Page. -brm

Published in: on February 9, 2010 at 11:20 pm  Comments Off on Question re: Cataract surgery, need response today!  
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Maranatha Class – Urgent Request Being Met

I want to give you an update on the request sent to you yesterday (see below).

Within hours, there were a number of offers to assist our classmate with this problem.  While many of you who responded weren’t certain that you could do precisely what was needed to be done, you were willing to give your own level of expertise.  However, among those who answered the call, there was one class member who has arranged for a computer specialist to define and recommend how to best meet the needs of our classmate.  This avenue is being pursued at present.  Should, for whatever reason, this approach require additional assistance, I’ve kept the names of those of you who have volunteered and may be back in touch with you.

It’s gratifying to know that there truly are “angels” in our midst!

Richard

Previous email:
From: Wansley, Richard
Sent: Thursday, February 04, 2010 3:07 PM
Subject: Maranatha Class – Urgent Request

One of our Class members has contacted me to ask for help with the repair of a computer.  What appears to be needed is finding an inexpensive CPU replacement and transferring files and programs to the revamped system.  Since the computer is not currently in good working order and it is used for the Class member’s small business, it is urgent that this work be accomplished as soon as possible.  The Class member is looking for “pro bono” assistance since their business is not in a position to outlay funds (for labor/expert consultation) due to circumstances associated with the slowed local economy.

Can you help?

If so, please contact me, and I will connect you with our fellow Class member who is in-need.  God bless you for considering this opportunity to assist a neighbor.

Richard Wansley

Published in: on February 6, 2010 at 9:23 am  Comments Off on Maranatha Class – Urgent Request Being Met  
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Death of Dr. Biggs’ mother

Please see the notice below from Brenda Reed regarding the death of Dr. Biggs’ mother.  I will ask the Maranatha Funds Committee to make a donation to the Allison Biggs Scholarship Fund on behalf of the Class.

Richard Wansley

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

From: brendareed(at)bostonavenue.org
Subject: Death
Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 08:46:41 -0600

Dr. Biggs’s mother died last night.  Dr. Biggs is headed to Carthage, TX, for her funeral at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday).  He will be back here on Sunday morning to preach.  We will send flowers from the staff and thought contributing to Allison Biggs Scholarship Fund for a memorial would be appropriate if you are interested.  I’ll keep you informed.

Thanks.

Sheri

Published in: on February 6, 2010 at 9:19 am  Comments Off on Death of Dr. Biggs’ mother  
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Maranatha – Sunday, February 7th, Professor Brandon Scott

Please be reminded that this coming Sunday, February 7th, B. Brandon Scott, PhD, Darbeth Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Phillips Theological Seminary, will be our teacher, speaker.

Professor Scott, who has written or co-written nine (9) books, is internationally noted for his work concerning hermeneutics and the historical Jesus.  His is a Charter Member of the Jesus Seminar, an organization of about 100 scholars such as Professor Scott; the Jesus Seminar is known worldwide for its efforts to define those parts of the Gospels that reflect the true historical Jesus as well as the likely intent of his words and actions.

Professor Scott’s title for his presentation to us is “Resurrection: A Quiz”.

Be there for this lesson, and bring friends!

See you Sunday.

Richard Wansley

Published in: on February 6, 2010 at 9:16 am  Comments Off on Maranatha – Sunday, February 7th, Professor Brandon Scott  
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Maranatha Class, January 31st and beyond

I am writing to remind you that this Sunday, January 31st, will be a “Brunch”.  That means, you should bring a dish of food as a “potluck” meal to share with everyone; bring as little or as much as you like.  If, for whatever reason, you are not able to bring a food item, then please don’t let this stop you from being there with us for informal social conversation.  The room will be arranged in rounds of tables rather than in the classroom style.

We will have one formal item on the schedule for this Sunday, that is a 15 to 20 minute, live demonstration of our new website by our “webmaster”, Barbara Meehan.  I think you will find this one-stop site for our Class to be a valuable resource should you decided to subscribe to its use.

I also want to give you an idea of how the year is stacking up with regards to Christian education for our Class.  Meredith and I have been working on a schedule that has quality teachers who will lead us in topics that reflect the theological diversity of our class’ membership.  In your evaluation responses, many of you suggested that we invite teachers from within our own Church but also beyond our own walls, especially taking advantage of such resources as Phillips Theological Seminary (PTS).  To that end, we have been moving forward with your suggestions.

Ginny Walker, a fellow Class member, has been instrumental in working to engage PTS faculty members to come to our class.  Thank you, Ginny!  Thus far, we have secured agreements from the following faculty to teach our class: Professors Bernard Brandon Scott, John L. Thomas, and Sandra Costen Kunz.  Phillips President Gary Peluso has also committed to teach for us.  We are negotiating one or more dates for their presentations in future months as well as seeking others from PTS to lead in our education series.

Dr. Scott, the Darbeth Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Phillips, will be teaching on Sunday, February 7th, and we are discussing his topic currently.  When we have defined that subject matter, we will forward more information to you.

Also, we have arranged for ministers at our own Church to teach in our Class including, at present, Debbie Petersen and Bill Crowell.

Finally, we invite those of you who wish to share your faith story or teach in our class to let us know so that we can add you into the year.  We are blessed in our class to have fine teachers who present not only at Boston Avenue but other churches and faith-related venues; we will be asking these folks to teach us as well.  Let us know if you have favorites who we can consider for the year.  Rob Reck will be teaching/reporting to us regarding his trip to England on February 14th, a Valentine’s gift for us all.

See you on Sunday at Maranatha!

Richard Wansley and Meredith Davison
Presidents

Published in: on January 28, 2010 at 4:34 am  Comments Off on Maranatha Class, January 31st and beyond  
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Hello world!

Welcome to the first web-based home of the Maranatha Class of Boston Avenue United Methodist Church.

Published in: on January 3, 2010 at 6:27 am  Comments Off on Hello world!  
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