Carl O. Bickel, Ph.D.
Pastor
Office phone & fax (301)249-6411
Home phone (301)249-5885
Church School 10:00 a.m.
Worship 11:00 a.m.
web page http://www.unitedparishbowie.org
| United Church of Christ | Presbyterian |
|---|---|
|
Carl O. Bickel, Ph.D. Pastor Office phone & fax (301)249-6411 Home phone (301)249-5885 |
| MITCHELLVILLE
AND MT. OAK ROADS Church School 10:00 a.m. Worship 11:00 a.m. |
email pastor@unitedparishbowie.org web page http://www.unitedparishbowie.org |
Webmaster's Note: The print edition of this newsletter was published before the passing of Rev. Carl Bickel on February 11. A brief biographical sketch and Rev. Bickel's obituary are available online.
| If you are new to the Bowie area, we invite you to worship with us at 11:00 a.m. on Sundays. A nursery is provided. Christian education for children, youth and adults is Sunday at 10 a.m. We are affiliated with both the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the United Church of Christ |
So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life — your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life — and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.
Romans 12:1 (Eugene Peterson's The Message)
Thank you all for the warm welcome you've given me here at the United Parish of Bowie. As we start a new year together, I'm eager to meet more of you and learn more about the church. My contract with the church is only for a few hours each week, with two Sundays a month in worship. I have commitments at other churches on many of the Sundays I'm not with you and try to worship with my son and husband at their church (they attend Adelphi Quaker Meeting) at least once each month. So if you don't see me around much, this is why.
I hope to make the most of the few hours I do have with you. I don't have an office at the church, so please feel free to call me. I plan to work with the outreach committee of the church and have a special interest in young adults and young families in the church. Please send me your ideas, hopes, concerns and questions, so that we can ponder them together.
It's all over! Too soon some say. If those players had not committed so many penalties and turnovers; if they hadn't lost those three games earlier in the season; if they hadn't had to play their toughest games at the end of the season; if they could have played their last game in their home stadium, those Skins could be heading for the Super Bowl. How could the Redskins have missed so many opportunities and blown it so badly?
You can't blame it on those roaring and screaming fans who planned their weekends around the Skins' schedule. They strutted when they wore the burgundy and gold. They made a path in the carpet limp with all of their pacing. Some Sundays they didn't stop cheering 'til they croaked like frogs. They may have even maxed out their credit cards for air fare and tickets from a scalper so they could see that final contest out in Seattle. They were and still are such loyal Skins' fans!
As I was sitting in Panera's sipping hot chocolate, I couldn't help but wonder whether we have enough enthusiasm for our leader as Christians. Not that we should, but we don't go places advertising with our shirts and hats that we belong to the Jesus crowd. If Jesus Christ in the flesh came to the Bowie High football field, would there be a Standing Room Only crowd there?
Sometimes I'll go to a fast food restaurant, buy some iced tea to sip and then sit there reading the Bible. But when I'm standing in line to pay for my drink, I find myself conflicted as to whether to turn my Bible over so no one sees it's a Bible or just plop the Bible on the counter like any other book with the title on top. Have you ever had a similar experience?
What constraints do you feel in the business world? Would your job be jeopardized if you mentioned your participation in a Bible study or worshiping on Sundays as a priority for you and your family? You and I take our faith seriously and want to be loyal to Christ, but how do we let our faith glow without being regarded as religious fanatics?
I believe this is my challenge, and perhaps your summons also, for 2006, to find ways to point to the best Life Coach there is, Jesus Christ, and to take seriously however our Coach guides us. Life is not a game, but it's a daily contest to triumph over whatever separates us from our teacher and follow His instructions for us. Through biblical searching, multi-faceted prayer, serving with others on the team, and corporate worship, we can be empowered to live with commitment to our Life Coach. He offered his life for us on the cross. What a Coach! Sundays — those extra special days — with our Coach — really are something to anticipate!
Shirley Klotz Bickel © 2006
The fellowship committee is excited to invite you to several events in the upcoming months:
Jan Barbato
Our Lenten dinner series will begin on Wednesday, March 1, 2006 and continue for six weeks, through April 5. Each Wednesday night at 6:00 PM we will have dinner together (provided by those who sign up). This is followed by a brief time of worship, led by members of the congregation and ending by 7:30 PM. This is a good way to participate in the Lenten season, an opportunity for fellowship, and a time to extend an invitation to those looking for a church home.
On February 26 (or March 5), we will begin an adult education
course based on the book Home Alone America by Mary
Eberstadt. This book addresses The hidden toll of day care,
behavioral drugs, and other parent substitutes.
Eberstadt offers
hard data (although often too politically incorrect to say out
loud) proving that absent parents are the common denominator of many
recent epidemics including obesity, STDs, behavioral problems such
as attention deficit disorder, and the use of psychiatric medication
in even very young children. Eberstadt also grants that any
particular family might be fine with Mom at work, Dad remarried,
and/or the kids in day care.
This course should be of interest to parents, grandparents, and anyone who works with children and their families to explore together what's really best for America's children. We invite those who support or oppose the point of view of the author to participate and give evidence.
Adult education courses are from 10:00 to 10:45 AM on Sunday mornings, and run for approximately six weeks.
I would like to invite the young adults of the church to a brunch after the Sunday morning service on February 12. We will be going to Jaspars. Please contact me for more information and/or to RSVP.
Laura Collins
The Women's Bible Study Group is in its ninth year. The group meets on the second Thursday of each month from 7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. at the church library. The focus of the group is Bible study, prayer, and fellowship.
We extend a warm welcome to all women of the Parish. All are invited to come on a regular or "ad-hoc" basis and to bring friends/neighbors to the study. Please contact Becky DeMeo or Nikki Hillary if you need more information.
The adult choir meets in the sanctuary at 7:15 on Wednesday evenings. We sing a variety of music. Come join in the fun!! Contact Diane Eades.
Mark Your Calendar for Saturday April 29th!
If you're handy with a paint brush, hammer, or a rake please plan on joining others from UPB for our annual trek into PG County for a one day fix up of a needy home in the county. This has been an annual outreach event for our church for over ten years. Please plan on devoting your Saturday on April the 29th to help a fellow resident.
Sign ups will be passed around in church in late February.
Herb Sheppard , Coordinator
Please be sure to pick up your name tag in the Narthex each Sunday morning. It's a great way to get to know other members as well as welcoming our visitors with a name to go with the smile!
Hopefully we will never make this list! :-) Helen & Patty
Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.
Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10 AM. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B.S. is done.
Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
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