Central, you are fulfilling the call to love your neighbors and give to those in need. 

Our church pledged to give $9,087 toward the creation of clean water wells in impoverished countries during the Week of Solidarity. 

To date, we have collected $9,186. 

Thanks, Central. I'd put more excitement into this post (think lots of exclamation points!!!!!) , but honestly, I'm just humbled by your faithfulness and the work Christ is doing in you.

Check back in a few weeks to learn more about where "our" wells are being build.

Our Senior Pastor, Paul Risler, began his four-month sabbatical on Sunday, April 15 at 3 p.m. Over the past several weeks we’ve heard many questions about what this means for Paul himself and what it means for Central. We thought it would be helpful to post some of those questions here.

What in the world is a sabbatical?
Within the church, a sabbatical is tied to the God-ordained Sabbath. It’s a period of rest and renewal.   

Why is Paul going on sabbatical? Is he experiencing burnout?
We’ve been blessed to have Paul as our Senior Pastor for many years. He’s worked and worked and then worked some more. Our leadership offered Paul a time to rest from the demands of full-time ministry. No, Paul isn’t suffering from burnout. He is actually at a very healthy place in life right now and desires to reconnect with God and his family. 

What will Paul do while on sabbatical?
Let’s start with what he won’t be doing on sabbatical! Paul won’t be serving as our pastor in any capacity. You won’t see him at our worship services. Paul isn’t writing a book or planning the next amazing message series. He won’t preside over weddings or funerals. And those pressing theological questions you have? He won’t be answering them.

This time isn’t about what Paul is doing. This time is about who he is going to be. It’s about his identity. Paul plans to focus on being a disciple of Jesus, a husband, a father, and a friend. He seeks to discover what life looks like as a follower of Christ outside of ordained ministry. 

Is Paul going to be traveling?
We have no idea! Paul committed to NOT planning his time and he’s done an excellent job of it. He does anticipate a family vacation. Mostly though, he’ll be hanging out here with his wife and daughter.

Since Paul is going to be around, will he have time to hang out with us? We’d love to get together with him!
Thanks for asking this question. We’re glad to hear that you love Paul and want to connect with him while he’s “away.” Paul would love to do that, too. But...

No. 

That’s a tough thing to hear. Here’s the thing. Many of Paul’s close friends are part of our church. That’s great! But it’s sometimes difficult to know where his relationship as friend ends and his call to being our pastor begins. We want Paul to find who he is outside of Central and that means we need to give him the space to do so. If we’re around him the entire time he’s away, he can’t discover what it means to live outside his pastoral responsibilities. 

This doesn’t mean Paul won’t ever hang out with Central people, but we’re allowing him the opportunity to make those decisions and he’ll be the one initiating contact when and if he's ready.

How do I contact Paul if I need him?
Get ready for another tough answer... 

You don’t. 

Jim Jennings is an amazingly gifted guy and he’ll be our Senior Pastor while Paul is away. If you are planning a wedding, need a minister to conduct a funeral or have some other pastoral need, Jim is your man.  

Paul has turned off his e-mail and phone. He might be on Facebook every once in a while, but he won’t be responding to church-related posts. It’s not because he doesn’t love us. We’re pretty sure he does! These boundaries are in place to protect his time and allow him and his family the rest we want them to experience.

What happens next?
We carry on! Central’s identity is found in Christ. We are still the terrific community we have always been. Jim is going to be a fantastic leader. We plan to be the same dynamic, healthy church Paul left when he returns in August. Actually...we hope to be even better than what we were! We trust God will move in this local body and grow us over the next few months.

So, keep growing spiritually, serving regularly, loving graciously, and giving generously.

You’ll hear more from the church office around the time Paul is returning. We’re going to welcome him back in style and you’ll be invited to the party. 

I have a question not found in the FAQ.
I’d be happy to talk with you! E-mail me if you want more information. You may also want to download the podcast from April 15.

Central Avenue Church Uptown Location, Good Friday 2012

I'm often asked why I continue to live in Athens.

I look at this picture and believe that I would be crazy to leave such a place.

To clarify: it would certainly be easy enough to walk away from an old refurbished auto parts store. Walking away from the people and vision that brought it to life is another question entirely.

This building isn't about us. It isn't about an additional space to hold baby showers or committee meetings or fundraisers. It isn't about being hip or cool or relevant. It may or may not be all of these things, but that isn't what it's about.

This building isn't about dragging people to church. It isn't about inviting unsuspecting people to a religious function in disguise. It isn't about an "if you like Thing X, you'll love our Thing Y," sort of Christian bait-and-switch. That isn't what it's about.

This building represents growth. Central's beautiful one hundred year old stonework building on the west side of Athens was growing too small for our needs. We discovered that despite offering Saturday services, lots of people just really, really like showing up on Sunday mornings. And then we found this old building on Carpenter Street. The structure itself also needed to grow – we're clocking in at over a year's worth of renovations and still not quite done – but, oh, how we've all grown.

This building will allow for congregational growth. Unhindered by capacity issues, another service can be added here on Sundays; perhaps two, perhaps more, in the great unknown of the future. It is within walking distance of campus and of several neighborhoods close to uptown. All of these things fulfill the needs we intended to fulfill.

This building will also allow for community growth, both within Central and without and, ultimately, together. Athens [as well as Central itself] is a community of musicians, of artists, of multi-talents. Carefully crafted with this in mind, we have created a sanctuary of freedom and movement and creativity. It is a place of invitation. And it fulfills desires we may not ever have dreamed about otherwise.

That's what this is about. It is about creating a venue where people can be who they were made to be, and giving them the opportunity to do so. That might mean a dance performance, that might mean a magic show, that might mean poetry or literature, that might mean Sunday morning worship; it might mean any number of things. What it will always mean is that regardless of what day of the week or time of day or nature of the activity, this space is sacred.

This building is holy - set aside for the Maker to delight in what He has made, whether the participants realize, or care, or disagree, or have perhaps never given thought or voice to such an idea. No amount of ceremony or vestments or sprinkling of water makes this space, or any other space, holy. It is a choice. And we, the people of Central, have chosen to transform an old automotive supply store into a place set aside for unhindered, unpredictable growth. May it ever be so.

Confession: when I was asked to guest-blog during this week of solidarity, I said yes without much thought. The week hadn’t begun yet, I was in a happy place, and I thought it would be no problem to find something to write about. Yet here I am, day three, and this week of solidarity has sent my (already) scattered thoughts into even greater disarray. Trying to eat on less than two dollars a day has reminded me of things I had forgotten, and prompted me to consider what truly sustains me in this life. I suppose it would be safe to say that I am a very hungry girl. I use “hungry” in the broadest sense of the word—I’m hungry for food, success, acceptance, and love, among many other things. This week, I’m especially hungry for a latte, but at $3.25 a girl can only dream. So, to find some scriptural sustenance, I delved into the Good Book and stumbled upon a verse I had highlighted once upon a time ago, but had long forgotten:

To the hungry, even what is bitter tastes sweet. -Proverbs 27:7

If I may backtrack slightly: I spent this past summer living in rural Kenya, working for a Christian non-profit called RUSH. Hunger was all around me. I would see young children sniffing glue on the side of the road to dull their hunger pains. I attended prayer services for widows and women with HIV/AIDS, women who had lost nearly everything but still held their palms pressed heavenward in worship and awe of God’s sovereignty. Before I went to Kenya, I thought I loved Jesus. But being there rattled me on the inside of my soul. I found myself thinking that maybe my faith is strong because my life is stable, because I am blessed to have plenty, because my future is boundless. I want to have the kind of faith that doesn’t waver because of circumstance. The kind of faith I witnessed this summer.

In this week of solidarity, and as the season of Lent comes to an end, consider: is your faith a comfortable one? Often, I know mine is. I make a cup of coffee with expensive vanilla creamer and curl up with my Bible and think Look at me, making time in my day for the Lord! This is what it must mean to be a Woman Of Faith!

Yet.

When we strip everything away from our lives—the food, the noise, the world clamoring for our attention—are we satisfied with just God’s presence to sustain us? For me, this week of solidarity has not only served as a sharp reminder of how blessed I am to rarely, if ever, know physical hunger, but also reminded me how often I misplace my desires. I think of the proverb I came across and I wonder:  if I am hungry to know God, hungry for His presence in my life, will the bitterness and jagged edges of life be easier to swallow? Will we be able to look at the shattered remains of relationships past, for example, and consider them sweet? I’m not sure, but I think the answer may be yes. So, in the next few days as I scramble to put together meals for cheap and toy with thoughts of deactivating my Facebook account, I will continue to strive for the real purpose in this week of solidarity: to connect with the world around me, and the One who breathed it into life.

The numbers are in! revised!!!

Over the weekend, 185 301 individuals committed to participating in the Week of Solidarity with many choosing to participate in two or more of the four challenges. For our readers who live for statistics...

49%  45% participating in "What's in Your Cup?"
27%  31% participating in "What's on Your Plate?"
17%  15% participating in "Unplug"
7% 9% participating in "Family in Solidarity"

If you are participating from afar or couldn't make it this past weekend to "officially" commit to one of our solidarity challenges, we'd love to hear from you. Tell us what you are up to this week or share your experiences by commenting below. You can also talk with other Centralites on our Facebook wall or chime in the conversation on Twitter (#CentralWoS). 

We are looking forward to hearing your stories!

And onto our final option for the week...Family in Solidarity

There are moments in life that we look back on that still make us laugh out loud…and perhaps make those around us question our sanity. For me, one of these moments involves my 4-year-old niece, Claire. On her second birthday, she asked my mom (her Grammy), if she could have another cookie. Knowing that it was getting close to her bedtime, my mom told her she would have to ask her mommy. Claire said okay and turned away, seeming to forget about the cookie. But little did we know that the wheels in her seemingly innocent head were turning.  After waiting for a few moments, she walks up to her mom, puts on the sweetest smile you could imagine and says, “Mommy, you are beauuuuutiful. Can I have a cookie?” The whole room started cracking up. How could it be possible that a sweet little girl that literally just turned 2 could have so perfectly mastered the art of manipulation?

While this made for night full of belly laughter, there is a rather serious implication to funny stories like these. Children are sponges. They absorb so much from the world around them. There is no doubt in my mind that Claire learned how to butter her mom up from watching someone else do it, either on TV or in real life. So we should ask ourselves, what messages are we sending to the children in our lives? Would we want them to model our behaviors for the rest of the world to see? What behaviors should we be exhibiting that would be positive behaviors for children to copy? In particular, what do our behaviors say about us as Christians to our children?

This week may be a good week to start thinking about these questions and how we can walk the walk as Christians for the benefit of both our children and ourselves. We have already discussed three ways to participate in the Week of Solidarity: giving up all liquid but tap water, eating on $2 a day or less and limiting the use of electronics and electricity throughout the week. But we also understand that for families with young children, these may not be very practical, so we are proposing one final option. This option is called “Family in Solidarity.” Basically, the idea behind the week is to spend each night participating in simplified versions of the challenges as a family and having discussions with your kids about what it means to be in poverty and what we can do to help those that are less fortunate.  A sample schedule for the week is as follows:

Monday night: Drink only tap water.
Tuesday night: Eat a simple meal together.
Wednesday night: Unplug your electronics.
Thursday night: Give back to your community.
Friday night: Discuss poverty. 

You are welcome to participate in whatever way you see fit for you and your family, but here are some suggestions if you are unsure what you could do as a family.

Monday evening is obviously the first night of the challenge, so you could start by explaining to your children why they will be sacrificing things for the week. You could show them pictures from Operation Blessing’s website of children their age that do not have immediate access to water and how excited they are to get a well that will provide them with clean water. Let your children know that by giving up fruit juices, soda and milk on this night (and food/electricity on the following nights), they will be saving money that will go towards making these other children happy and healthy.

On Tuesday, prepare a simple meal that is either meatless or has a small portion of meat. You could cut back the portions (but make sure everyone is still getting the proper nutrition needed), eliminate snacks and processed food, or cut out dessert. Explain to your children that many people live off of only beans and rice and the food that they raise or grow themselves. Ask them what foods they would miss most if they couldn’t get food from a grocery store or store food in a refrigerator. You could also ask them how they feel when they are hungry and what they would do if they felt hungry all the time. To wrap up the conversation, you might want to remind them why they are limiting their food for the night. Explain to them again that they will be donating the money you save as a family to help other children that are less fortunate. Poverty and hunger are hard issue to discuss, and you obviously know your children best, so structure the night and the conversation in the best way that you see fit.

Wednesday night heads a slightly different direction from the previous night. On both Monday and Tuesday, you will have limited consumption of essentials for survival, food and liquid. But on Wednesday, as a family you will be giving up something extraneous--electronics, whether they are toys, broadcast devices or computers. Tonight you might want to ask your children what their favorite toys are. Ask them how they would entertain themselves if they didn’t have toys. You might even want to take a walk outside and see if they can use their imaginations to make sticks and rocks into playthings. Another issue you could discuss would be how poverty impacts happiness. Do we need electronics and toys to make ourselves happy? Is a family without these things unhappy because they don't have them? For families with older children, you could discuss how much each of the electronics in your house cost to purchase and how much the electricity costs to use them. Again, finish the discussion for the night by reminding your children that you are asking them to give things up in order to save money and donate that money to children that do not have fancy toys to play with.

On Thursday, we are suggesting that as a family, you go through your closets or old toy bins, or even your food pantry and find things that you could donate to local charities. Or if you would rather donate your time and know of a local charity where you could do so, feel free to participate that way as well. However you want to participate is fine. Continue your conversations from the previous nights about what it is like to live without and how as Christians, God expects us to help those that are not as fortunate, just as Christ would have. You might even want to visit the Bible passage from the sermon this past Sunday (Matthew 25:31-46) and discuss how you can try to be more Christ-like on a daily basis.

On Friday, you can wrap up the night by continuing the discussion on poverty. Ask your kids what they have learned this week, and if there is anything that they would like to continue to do throughout the year. If you would like materials to help the discussion, here are some suggested readings that cover issues of poverty:

If the World Were a Village: A Book about the World’s People by David J. Smith available from amazon.com or locally by special order at The Little Professor.

Whoever You Are by Mem Fox available from amazon.com or locally by special order at The Little Professor. (This one is also available as a board book for the little ones!)

Cups Held Out by Judith L. Roth. This book is not as easy to get in print, but you can order a kindle version from amazon.com. 

I want to Carry Apples by Judith L. Roth. This reading does not need to purchased as it is available on the authors blog. This may be more geared towards older children since it is a poem instead of a story.

Hopefully some of these suggestions will help you with your family discussions. We would like to encourage you to share any insights or profound moments you have as a family with the rest of church on Central’s Facebook page, Twitter feed (@centralavenue) or here on the blog. The more conversation we generate, the greater are our chances for continuing the behaviors we exhibit this week throughout the year. So happy discussing, and we can’t wait to hear from you!

 The thought of becoming “Unplugged” scares the bejeebers out of me. (I definitely just had to google that to make sure I spelled it right.) Right now, I am typing on a computer that is plugged into the wall and making plans with friends/coworkers using a phone that runs on battery power/electricity. The room I am working in is being lit and heated by electricity, and the clothes I am wearing were cleaned in a laundry machine and dried in a dryer, In a few moments, I am going to go downstairs and heat up a meal that is being kept cool and safe in a refrigerator using a microwave. My world and daily habits are molded by the fact that I have access to electricity, and it is hard to imagine how I would restructure my life if electricity were not part of it.

And if you plan on participating in the “Unplugged” challenge for the Week of Solidarity, this is something we want you to think about during the week. To some extent, electricity is a form of convenience. I have no doubt that anyone who really wanted to could successfully survive without electricity, but the fact of the matter is that in our society, your life would probably be consumed with figuring out how to avoid relying upon electricity.

For example, you could wash your clothes by hand and hang them out to dry. And it wouldn’t be physically hard to write out letters and schoolwork using pen and paper. You could also purchase and prepare food daily for meals, but these tasks would require a lot more time and planning without the use of electricity. We would have to allow time for Mother Nature to dry the cloths, and letters would have to be written far enough in advance to allow time for them to be mailed to their recipients (although I am sure this process still uses some sort of electricity along the way). In order to eliminate the use of refrigeration, all meals would have to be consumed immediately after preparation—meaning no leftovers.  These and many other lifestyle changes we would have to make would require us to add hours of time and preparation to our daily routine, and therefore taking away from our productivity.

So should we feel guilty for having access to electricity when 20% of the world (30% of the rural world) does not? I don’t think so, but we need to regularly take the time and effort to appreciate what life would be like without electricity. This is what the Week of Solidarity is all about—putting yourself in situations that are uncomfortable for you in order to gain insight into the lives of those that are less fortunate. Now, depriving ourselves of creature comforts will not change the world, but if we participate in the Week of Solidarity with deliberate intention to give the money we save from limiting ourselves this week to those that are less fortunate, then that is a small change that could actually make a difference.

Obviously, it is impractical to give up electricity completely, especially when many of our jobs and/or coursework rely upon the use of electronics, but there are ways to cut back that don’t affect necessary productivity. For example, you could turn off the lights and all electronic devices after sunset and either stop working or work by candlelight. Again, this will require planning to make sure that you can accomplish everything you need to get done during daylight. If this is still not for you, you could cut out extraneous electronics like televisions, radios, gaming devices, mp3 players, electronic readers, iPads, etc. At the very least, you could turn off lights when not in the room and unplug every appliance/gadget when not in use.

Now this brings us to the next issue. With the “What’s in your cup?” and the “What’s on your plate?” challenges, we have a tangible idea of the amount of money we are saving by cutting back on our food and liquid consumptions. We see the breakdown of costs by looking at our receipts or the menus of our favorite dining establishments. With electricity, there is no breakdown per item of how we consume our electricity on our electric bill. So how are we to know how much money we saved by turning off the lights at sundown or unplugging all of our electronics?

Well, if you are a busy person and don’t feel like calculating it to the penny, here’s one way that we could come up with a monetary value to our efforts. The average American household’s electric bill is $110.55. Now I know that this is an average and electric bills vary widely depending on where you live and how much electricity you consume, but I’m trying to keep it simple here. So let’s assume that you were able to avoid using electricity all 5 days of the challenge, you would divide the monthly average by the days of the month and multiply by five. If you were consuming about the national average, you would save about $18 if you gave up electricity completely. (Again, I know you won’t likely give up all electricity, but I’m going for simplicity.)

If we wanted to be more exact with the breakdown of how much money you saved, you would need to calculate the wattage of every appliance in your household (here are some charts that you could use as guides at American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy and the U.S. Energy Information Administration) both during usage and during standby, then determine how many hours you typically use them and how many hours they are in standby. Follow the directions at energysaver.gov to calculate the kWh per item and then add up all the kWh you would typically use. Now multiply that by the cost of electricity per kWh for your area to calculate how much money you save by not using them. (Ohio’s average is 9.14 cents/kWh.) For the five days of the challenge, this is likely under $18, so I don’t know about you, but I am good with sticking to $18.

But there is still one more thought to consider. Even though we don’t spend much on the electricity alone for the 5 days of the challenge, shouldn’t we consider the physical cost of every appliance in our households? You may have spent $400-$1,000 on a laptop, $600 on an iPad, $200 on an e-reader, $20-$100 on an mp3 player, etc. So extend those prices over the lifetime of the product and think about how much it costs daily to use it. For example, I have had my computer for about 4 years and originally spent about $1,000 for it. If I assume I use it daily, that comes to about $0.70 a day, or $3.50 for the 5 days of the challenge. Now do this for every appliance you give up in combination with the cost of the electricity, and you might see some significant numbers.

In conclusion, however you determine the cost of your sacrifice for this challenge, the point is that you think about how electricity and appliances give you the ability to be more productive and all you to expend your energy doing things other than thinking about the basic functions of survival. Think about the cost of this convenience and let it move you to make an effort to improve the lives of those who live without conveniences.

Whew…that was a long one. Stick with me here, I’ve got one more to go.

Coming up—Family in Solidarity.

You know the word association game? The one where someone gives you a word/phrase and you are supposed to respond with the first thing that comes to your mind? Well, I have a feeling that If I were to say “Week of Solidarity,” to anyone at Central, there’s a good chance that they might respond with “eat on $2 a day or less.” This has been the choice method of participation in years past, and most members of Central are familiar with how to participate through restricting their diets. But just in case there are some people new to the Week of Solidarity (or you just want a refresher), here are some tips/suggestions that I have pulled from the Week of Solidarity newsletter from 2009:

The American diet is vastly different than much of the world. Half the world’s population lives on $2 a day or less. As an act of solidarity with our brothers and sisters around the globe, we want to encourage you to eat as they would eat during the Week of Solidarity.

Many people have asked, “So what does this week of solidarity look like? What am I supposed to do? What should I buy? What should I eat? Give me details!”

Relax. Let me let you in on a little secret: you have options...

 

Some Meal Options
 
Plain oatmeal or Cream of Wheat
Eggs
A tortilla, rice and beans
Bread
Rice with bits of fish or chicken and a vegetable
Potatoes
Vegetables
Simple soups

 

Portion sizes are much smaller than a typical American meal. One cup or eight ounces is a generous portion. Meat is a luxury, with the average African consuming about ¾ ounce per day -- the size of a small chicken nugget. Fresh fruit is rare, available only if locally grown and in season. While these meals seem meager by American standards, they actually represent diets in the broad middle of the world’s population.

Part of the experience of the week of solidarity is the experience of what is called “food insecurity.” When you are poor, not only do you not have food, but you must expend a lot of time and energy figuring out what to do about that condition. Whereas most of us don’t have to give a lot of thought to what we will eat, beyond “What sounds good to me?,” the poor do.

So these feelings you are having—“What do I do this week? What do I eat? What do I do if I’m really hungry when I’m at work or have an important meeting?”—these are the questions the poor deal with day in and day out. What would it be like to live your life with this same kind of constant worry?

So, just as with the “What’s in your cup” challenge, take a little time to prepare yourself for the week. Make your meals the night before so you won’t be tempted to buy something on the go or grab expensive, processed food just because it’s there. Work together with others by preparing meals in bulk and sharing the portions. Do what you can within your power to make your week as successful as possible. Feel free to share any tips, comments or recipes that have worked for you in the comments section so that others can benefit from your past experiences.

One last word of caution, this challenge is not for everyone. Anyone that has to watch their calorie and nutritional intake very carefully to ensure that they maintain their health might want to consider selecting one of the other challenges for the week. This includes children, the elderly, pregnant women, anyone who has struggled with eating disorders, anyone with any sort of illness that requires very specific dietary needs, etc. Basically, if you think that participating in this challenge could negatively affect your health in any way, this is probably not the challenge for you. 

Coming up--"Unplugged"

If someone gave you the choice of two gifts, one containing a glass of tap water and the other a diamond ring, which gift would you choose? Before you roll your eyes, and discard the question as obvious and ridiculous, take a moment to consider what it would be like to be in a situation where you might desire a finite glass of tap water over a rock that has great value to the rest of the world. For people without access to clean water, the gift of a glass of tap water could be the equivalent to the gift of life.

Humans are composed of up to 60% water, depending on age, gender, etc.  Without it, a human may not survive more than a few days in ideal temperatures.  And even when humans do have access to water, if it is from a dangerous water source, it can lead to a wide variety of water related diseases, such as cholera or malaria. Clearly, every human being needs access to a clean water source, but that is not always the case.

This year, Central hopes to improve the lives of those that do not have access to clean water by helping to build wells through the organization Operation Blessing. You can help by participating in the Week of Solidarity and donating the money you save to Central’s contributions to Operation Blessing.

For one of the challenges, “What’s in your cup?,” we are encouraging the members of Central to only drink tap water from April 2 to April 6. Every time you have a glass of tap water, think about what other form of liquid you may have been consuming. How many morning cups of coffee did you replace with tap water? How many sodas at lunch did you not consume? And how many bottles of water did you avoid using by drinking from the tap? Now think about how much money you did not spend because you were drinking tap water that is almost free. If everyone took the money they saved and contributed it to Central’s donation to Operation Blessing, think about the difference we could make in a community that does not have access to clean water. Think about how much more productive that community could be if they did not have to spend so much physical and mental energy worrying about how they will provide water for their families. By making a small change in our lives, we could potentially make a huge difference in the lives of others that are less fortunate.

In theory, this is simple. Don’t drink anything but tap water. But logistically, this may take a little planning. Many mornings involve a rush to get out the door. Often times, we spend money on things like coffee and soda because we were in a hurry and forgot to grab our reusable mug or water bottle on the way out the door. So for the week of April 2 through April 6, if you choose to participate in the "What's in your cup?" challenge, plan on having a cup or water bottle on you at all times. With a little bit of effort and planning, your actions in combination with the actions of other members of Central can make a huge difference.

Next up—“What’s on your plate?”