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 |
| If you are new to the Bowie area, we invite you to worship with us at 11:00 a.m. on Sundays. We are affiliated with both the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). and the United Church of Christ. |
We were keeping our eye on 1984. When the year came and the prophecy didn't, thoughtful Americans sang softly in praise of themselves. The roots of liberal democracy had held. Wherever else the terror had happened, we, at least, had not been visited by Orwellian nightmares.
But we had forgotten that alongside Orwell's dark vision, there was another--slightly older, slightly less well known, equally chilling: Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Contrary to common belief even among the educated, Huxley and Orwell did not prophesy the same thing. Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in Huxley's vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.
What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny "failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions." In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us.
This book is about the possibility that Huxley, not Orwell, was right.
The Forward to Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
I cannot imagine my life without children. When I was young, I gave very attentive care to my stuffed-tummy dolls, Mary Lou and Betty. I was given all the little housekeeping toys--a broom, an iron, dishes, a sink, and a stove--a girl should practice using to prepare her for keeping house someday. Later, when I was working to pay for my college expenses, I found a sale on etched crystal goblets and crystal dessert pieces. I couldn't resist this extravagance--probably $3 or $4 apiece--so I bought them for my hope chest. My hope chest consisted of at least two other pieces I had acquired--a round hot pad I'd sewed on the machine in 4-H and a linen tea towel I had hemmed by hand. I wanted it all--a career, husband, a Better Homes and Gardens' kind of home, and four children. Later while attending seminary I met my husband-to-be.
Before we were married, we dedicated one of the books in my husband's library to the four children we visualized having some day. Early in our marriage when we were living in cramped corners and buying used furniture to paint or cover with slip covers that never really fit, I used to say there were two things I wanted to have some day--a fireplace and a baby grand piano. Ten years after we were married, we moved to a manse with a beautiful fireplace, and we bought a used grand piano. My material kind of fantasy had actually happened.
God's graciousness entered our home, and we were blessed with those four children to take care of and guide. Our house sometimes rocked with excitement from a real pitcher's mound in the front yard to strains of violin, piano, trumpet and sax floating into the street. Now the pitcher's mound is covered with dead grass, and two of the four children are pursuing their adult dreams away from our abode. I walk by my china closet glittering with antique pieces and shiny crystal goblets. Such a pretty sight holds so little meaning compared to all the treasured times, the frantic moments, the challenging experiences with our children.
When we can't wade through the laundry room without spilling the cat's water or trampling on the stacks of dirty laundry, we may wonder if we're really having the impact on our children we had anticipated. We need to be reminded that parents are not only our children's models but Mary Lamia, a San Francisco psychologist, has said, "parents are almost always the first heroes children have..." A national survey released by the Horatio Alger Association last week indicates that a majority of high school students selected mom and dad as their role models rather than politicians and sports figures.
We may not consider ourselves as heroes for our children, but we are very aware of the transparency of our lives as viewed by our kids. They don't always affirm what we're trying to communicate, but they're still growing and so are we. Personally, I can't say that I have any real heroes that I worship and spend hours following the activity of that hero. However, I do aspire to grow closer to God, and I hope my kids absorb that connection.
Shirley Klotz Bickel, c. 1999
Christian Education classes for children and youth begin the second Sunday of September, preceded by a breakfast at 9:30 a.m., for children, youth, and adults. Adults meet to talk about classes for the year; classes for adults begin September 19.
The adult choir rehearses Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. New singers are invited. For more information, call the Choir Director, Diane Eades (410-798-6240).
Beginning Wednesday, September 29, from 6:30-7:30 p.m., for six sessions, Carl Bickel will lead a Bible Study/Discussion Group. In each session, after a time of Bible study, we will discuss how the particular passage connects with our everyday lives. We will conclude with a time of prayer. Please sign up in the narthex or phone (301) 249-6411.
The Men's Group meets the first and third Tuesday for breakfast at 7:30 A.M. at the Dough Roller on Rt. 301 in Crofton. This group is for informal conversation and fellowship. All men are invited.
The Women's Bible Study and Fellowship Group will meet the second Thursday of each month. They will be studying and discussing many of the Psalms, and Nancy Snyder will lead the first study. Other leaders for the year will be Kay Eisinger, Nikki Hillary, and Shirley Bickel. If you have questions, please call Coordinators: Art Freudig (301-249-1873) or Becky De Meo (301-249-6184).
There will be a meeting for the parents of our 7-12 grade youth on Sunday, September 12th at 4:00 p.m. in the church library. We will discuss plans for this year's youth group and how parents may help. Call Brian Hunt if you cannot attend, but want the information (301/262-1731).
Two study/discussion groups in adult education will begin on Sunday, September 19th, at 10:00 a.m., and each will meet for 6 weeks.
I. A course on Augustine's confessions will be led by Merrill Hathaway. In this course, we will consider the life, times and thought of Augustine of Hippo, through reading his autobiographical work, Confessions (sometimes referred to as Testimony).
Augustine was born in 354 A.D. in the provincial town of Thagate in what is now Algeria, North Africa, a prosperous agricultural area that served as a "breadbasket" for the Roman Empire. He received a classical education, and as a young man he went first to Carthage and then to Rome and Milan in seeking his fortune as a rhetorician, teacher and writer. Although his mother was a pious Catholic, Augustine fell under the influence of a number of philosophies and religions in the turbulent final years of the Roman Empire, including Neo-Platonism (based on the Greek philosopher Plato) and Manichaeism (a Christian heresy that arose in Persia).
When in Milan, Augustine experienced an epiphany in a garden and was drawn back to the Christian life. He was instructed and baptized by Ambrose, the bishop of Milan, and returned to North Africa to found a monastery. After losing his mother, son and a close friend, he was recruited into the Catholic church at Hippo, serving first as a priest and then for decades as a bishop. When he died in 430 A.D., the Roman Empire was on the verge of collapse, Hippo was filled with refugees, and the ruthless Vandals were besieging the city.
Augustine was a profound thinker, a gifted, prolific and poetic writer, and an inspired speaker. He gave thousands of extemporaneous sermons during his long ecclesiastical career, and is generally credited with a critical role in laying the theological foundations of the Christian church in the West. Fortunately many of his writings, as well as transcriptions of his sermons, survive. He labored mightily to distinguish the church's beliefs from the pagans', while using some of their philosophical methods and concepts to support his theology. He vigorously defended the church from a host of heresies, while learning from his opponents.
Augustine was especially fond of Confessions, which he wrote in middle age, looking back on his youth and formative years and ahead to his unfinished business in the church. He enjoyed reading the book and sharing it with others. In this course we hope to share in Augustine's joy, grow in our understanding of the history of the church, and appreciate Augustine not only for his influence on his contemporaries but also for the impact he continues to have on church tradition and reform and on the everyday lives of Christians. &nsbp;
II. Entertainment Culture: Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman will be the focus of the second course led by Carl Bickel. Postman has written a highly insightful book on how television radically shapes politics, education, religion--in short all aspects of our life today. This book goes far beyond the usual diatribe against violence and sex on TV and discusses how the medium of television, aside from its content, powerfully affects our lives. Neil Postman is Professor of Communications at New York University.
Please sign up in the narthex if you wish to participate in one of these courses or phone (301) 249-6411.
| CHURCH SCHOOL STAFF | |
| The Sunday School children are extremely blessed to have such dedicated and capable teaching staff this year. The staff includes: | |
| 4 year olds - 1st Grade | Barbara Lazur |
| 2nd and 3rd Grades | Nan Hathaway |
| 4th & 5th Grades | Frieda McKay |
| Junior High (6, 7, and 8th Grades) | Brian Hunt |
| Senior High | Dick Freudig |
| As you will note, the grade groupings are different this year. This was necessitated by our space limitations. Because of the new grouping, we are offering a new curriculum this year geared to these new grade levels. All classes will meet at the church and begin promptly at 10 A.M. | |
| Christian Education Director, Linda Hutchinson | |
A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you, but first I'm going to do this." He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air. "Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. It was crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air. "My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value in God's eyes. To Him, dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to Him."
Psalm 17:8 states that God will keep us, "as the apple of His eye." THOUGHT: The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we are but by WHOSE WE ARE! You are special - Don't ever forget it!
The foregoing came from Robert Cozzolino's sister-in-law, whose husband is a youth minister and choir director in a church in Oklahoma City.
THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL IS COMING TO THE UNITED PARISH OF BOWIE ON SEPTEMBER 12TH!!!Spine tingling adventures, stories of true love, history, poetry, and much more will be presented on UPB's very own "Discovery Channel." Live performances will begin Sunday, September 12th at 10 A.M. Don't miss this great opportunity to learn the secrets of the universe........How was it created? ........What happened before us?.......Now that we are here, what do we do? Starring roles for this exciting series are open to children ages 4 and above. Don't miss this opportunity of a lifetime! Casting calls begin promptly at 10 A.M., Sunday, September 12. |
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UNITED PARISH OF BOWIE YOUTH GROUP NEWS |
Here is the calendar of events for the United Parish Youth Group.
SEPTEMBER
12 - Parent meeting at church -- 4:00 P.M.
18 - Hike at Cunningham Falls -- 9:00 A.M.-6:00 P.M.
26 - Youth Group Meeting (Y.G.M.) -- 7-8:30 P.M.
OCTOBER
3 - Y.G.M. -- 7-8:30 P.M. BRING A FRIEND!
10 - Y.G.M. -- 7-8:30 P.M.
17 - Bike Hike along Potomac River -- 9:00 A.M.-6:00 P.M.
24 - Y.G.M. -- 7-8:30 P.M.
31 - Halloween Party -- 7-8:30 P.M.
For more information, please contact Brian Hunt.
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