Hot as Haiti - God Squad Week 2

The temperature at Olivet this morning was already record highs as the cars began pulling up with women unloading their sewing machines, irons and fabric to begin a day of sewing cool sundresses for the children in Haiti.

Perfect weather to illustrate how cool and refreshing the simple dress will be  in a country of extreme poverty and heat.

The girls modeling the dress loved them, too. It's a joy to see them excited to wear them - because if our girls like them, the girls we send them are bound to like them, too.

Our "scriptural theme" at Olivet this week is based on Jesus' commandment to Love Your Neighbor as yourself. The Whole God Squad took the commandment into their own expression of what it means to love your neighbor. Over 30 people joined today to love neighbors in different ways near and far.
The Sundress Project was co-ordinated by Marian Underwood who stumbled across the idea several weeks ago. This project sends love to girls in Haiti - a far away neighbor.

Another portion of the God Squad loved a neighbor in the nearby town of St. Leonard with some much needed lawncare - and she responded in love by cooking a delicious lunch.

The youngest segment of the God Squad reminded us that neighbors are not just people - neighbors sometimes have fur. This group completed their clothing drive for The Spot Thrift Store that uses proceeds to spay and neuter dogs and cats to prevent over-population.

A full day of loving our neighbors far and wide! Good work God Squad.

Ministry to Mollusks?

When a pastor hears the word "sanctuary," the thought is of pews and an altar.
But today, when Len Zuza of the Southern Maryland Oyster Cultivation Society visited me at the church and spoke freely about Olivet's sanctuary, he wasn't referring to our centenial building. 

He was talking about two oyster reefs in the Olivet neighborhood that are a sanctuary for cultivating oysters.

It turns out, that our church is a sanctuary to more than just people. The Olivet Church is positioned between two creeks -St. Johns and Mill Creek.  Both of these creeks were identified by Len as a suitable spot for an oyster sanctuary. Len paddled around in his kayak and poked the creek bottom until he located spot that could be sanctuaries. Not every place in every creek is suitable - and our neighborhood has two spots that are doing remarkably well!

How uncommonly cool!  Olivet is not just a sanctuary for people to grow in God's grace, but it is also a place where oysters find sanctuary as well! 

Like people, oysters have a hard time find a safe place for growth in their most vulnerable times. Yet, like people, oysters need a sanctuary - a place for weathering the elements of life together with others.

What about a ministry to mollusks? I have begun to wonder. 

If we help oysters thrive, then the oysters will help the marine life thrive and improve the quality of the water. An oyster reef is a metropolis of sea life, a primary habitat for skilletfish, crabs and more.

We found that out when our youth group went with Rachel Dean and Jason Williams on the Roughwater boat last month. (picture on right) We met a very cute crab that Rachel told us loves to live on an oyster reef. Oysters clean the water through filter feeding.  A single adult oyster can filter 50 gallons of water per day - that is about the size of one of our new rain barrels. One little oyster can do a whole rain barrel of work in a single day.

A ministry to mollusks is a ministry of protecting the vulnerable and delighting in the way that God uses the least likely of creatures to do great things.

I pray that others will take interest in starting a new ministry to mollusks. They are  our neighbors and they are God's creation.

God Squad Introduction

Not Bored At All

Summer is no time to sit around. It is a great time for relaxing and resting - but by the middle of the summer (and we are just past that marking point) kids complain that they are bored.
Well, no one complained of that today as 15 of us jumped into serving God and neighbor.

After reviewing Genesis 1, we discussed how we might care for the world in our own backyard. Kim led the group to decide on local projects that we could start right away. Cleaning up the road, planting flowers, cleaning up our flower beds at church and decorating rain barrels was just the start.

The Earth is the Lord's and everything in it. Psalm 24: 1

 The kids even came up with ideas on how to re-use items they found in the church. An old ribbon was added to a mason jar to make a planter. Plastic planters were turned into a much nicer looking ash tray for outside the church hall. Recycling, repurposing and reducing our impact on the earth was a great way to care for God's creation.

T

On our road clean up, we found wild blackberries at the end of Olivet Road. They aren't all completely ripe yet, so keep your eyes out for them when you are taking a walk.

Glad to say that we hardly found ANY trash on Olivet after the bridge - our neighborhood really cares and keeps the environment clean. What a blessed place.

God Made It - We Care For It

"God Made It -We Care For it " Isn't this essentially the starting point of our biblical understanding of what the world is and how we are to live in it? All the earth is the Lord's - God calls it all Good - and we are to care for it. Last month, we took a ride out on the Roughwater with Captain Rachel to learn about the environment and the nautical life that exists right outside of our church, on the creeks behind and around Olivet. We examined the Oyster reefs, emptied eel pots, crab pots and even got to see a toad fish up close. God's creation is amazing.

 This week, our church began a multi-generational lesson on God's love for God's creation involves the whole community. On Tuesday, the children's chapel participants went on a nature hike before worship and then gathered in church for a kid-friendly worship service on Genesis 1. They concluded their time with arts and crafts and prayer. The toddlers (and even us old people) got much joy from singing "He's Got the Whole World In His Hands" - a crowd pleaser, for sure.

The God Squad is prepared to make a difference in the environment in our own neighborhood. We will install a rain barrel later this week and  hit the road for a neighborhood road clean up. Be on the look out for the God Squad - and if you don't see them in action, you will certainly get to hear about it on Sunday morning at church.

To Church by Boat

In 1912,  Rev. Heavener served as pastor of both Solomons & Olivet Methodist Episcopal Churches. He and his family would travel by boat from Solomons to Olivet in order to deliver the sermon in our then brand new sanctuary.

This year, the sanctuary turns 100 years old and to commemorate the occasion, the pastors took a boat to church as a reenactment of our past.

Thanks to the Calvert Marine Museum for the gift of a complimentary ride on the Tennyson - Thanks to Bunky's for allowing us to dock near Solomon's Church - and thanks to the Wilsons for allowing us to dock at their home in Olivet, where we concluded our trip with a breakfast and worship service on their back deck.

The history of our churches really came to life as we approached each church from the water, seeing our steeple while out on the river. Indeed, it brought great meaning to one of Olivet's favorite hymns "Let's go down to the river to pray"!

God Squad this Summer

Our churches mission statement “From Olivet, We Follow” allows for diverse freedom of expressions in how each of us can be the hands and feet of Christ in the world. I am delighted to see how God has inspired a small group of teens to follow Jesus into the world as the God Squad. The God Squad project is one that helps all of us pattern our daily lives after Jesus by serving God and neighbor.

The God Squad was developed out of the small group of teen girls who meet, under the leadership of Andrea Saglimbene, every Tuesday evening for Bible Study, worship, prayer and spiritual encouragement. In April, they met with me and shared a desire to widen their impact on the community and make a difference in their world. The girls designed t- shirts and called themselves The God Squad and will begin advertising their services of housecleaning, simple gardening and a neighborhood beach clean-up.

I see these girls dispelling cultural stereotypes that teen agers are lazy or uninterested in making a difference in the community. I was impressed at how they want to get to know the older people in their church and neighborhood. This summer, our whole church will launching their project that draws together multiple generations as God’s hands and feet in mission.

Once announced in church, adults stepped up and wanted to join the God Squad. Carl Zimmermann, Kit Jones, Kim Blackistone, Marge Browning, Jason Williams and Rachel Dean all have terrific talents and skills that they will be bringing to the summer mission efforts. Rachel Dean and her brother Jason Williams offered to take groups out on the water for a lesson on ecology as well as prayer and Bible Study. Marge

Browning and Kim Blackistone have been coordinating local mission teams that will help out neighbors in ways yet to be determined (talk about being led by the Spirit!) Carl Zimmermann has agreed to help with the more skilled areas of need. Kit Jones will be coordinating a mid-week, mid- morning playgroup that introduces Christian teaching through worship, song and bible stories. Several young moms and grandparents are looking forward to bringing their babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kindergarteners to the Children’s Chapel that will start Tuesday morning, July 10, 2012.

The God Squad Project has been the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that descended upon a small group of teen girls. Their vision has inspired Olivet to take a big step in initiating a ministry to serve others locally. May this summer be a blessing to our community, the people we serve, and a blessing to the witness of God’s love in the world!