News From Around Centennial

Worship Service Information Our Sunday morning worship services are at 9:00 and 10:30 a.m., and we continue our 5:00 p.m. service at The Well Sunday evenings. Morning worship includes music by choirs and pipe organ with roots deep in the Christian faith with prayers and sermons that speak to today, all helping us live the Journey of Discipleship in Jesus Christ.  The Well at Centennial at 5:00 p.m. is a service for people who want something different.  It's highly interactive, with multimedia threaded throughout, informal preaching, and guitar-driven music that is sometimes meditative, sometimes hard-driving.

The Well at Centennial is a gathering place for all! Come to services on Sunday evenings at 5:00 PM, and stay for a FaithWalk educational experience at 6:00 PM. You can also stay for a meal after worship!

Office Hours Change

Monday through Thursday office hours are the same -- 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Fridays, the office closes at 3:00 p.m.

Dedication and Unveiling of Bronze Sculpture Commemorating CUMC Red Robin Preschool
1963-2008

CUMC Red Robin Preschool closed, after 45 years of serving children, as an outreach of the church to the community. Remaining Red Robin funds were used to commission Nickolas Legeros to create a bronze sculpture of children to commemorate the preschool. The unveiling and dedication (see photos) of the sculpture took place during the worship service on January 31, 2010. Many former Red Robin Preschool staff, parents and friends were in attendance. The sculpture of children reaching for a cluster of bubbles will be permanently located in the east entrance area of the church where the Red Robin children arrived for school each day.

Sunday Morning Sermons

Read all about Pastor Brian Hacklander's ruminations every Sunday and beyond! Pastor Brian's January's Sunday morning sermon series discusses "Learning from Atheists to Think About Faith: Where Religion Deserves to be Questioned." You can find copies of these sermons, along with Pastor Melanie's sermons, here and in the Narthex.

Today is the Day:
Church and Society gathering on Feb. 13

If you are nudged by your faith in God to advocate for those in need, you will want to attend “Today is the Day” on Feb. 13 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Hennepin Avenue UMC, 511 Groveland, Minneapolis. Bishop Sally Dyck is scheduled to preach and Jim Winkler, general secretary of the UM General Board of Church and Society, will offer a keynote address. Augment your important ministries of mercy with advocacy (working for change). Church and society teams from churches across Minnesota and Wisconsin in attendance will share some of their best ideas. Refugee resettlement, caring for the environment, and poverty abatement will be among the topics explored. Registration fee is $15.

Check out the Minnesota Annual Conference Twin Cities District Scene online newsletter! This is the February issue, written by Liz Lopez and Pam Pettit.

Centennial United Methodist Church
2010 Health Care Scholarship

The Centennial United Methodist Church (CUMC) Health and Wellness Committee is seeking applicants for scholarship awards. 

To be considered for this scholarship the applicants must:

• Be enrolled in an accredited health care program.

The health care programs may represent, but are not limited to: Chiropractor, Dental and Dental Health, Emergency Medical Technician, Licensed Practical Nurse, Medical Doctor, Medical Technologist, Occupational Therapist, Paramedic, Pharmacist, Physical Therapist, Radiology Technician, Registered Nurse, Respiratory Therapist, Speech/Language Pathologist

• Describe how they will use their health care training to extend the outreach of their Christian Faith.
  
• Have current or past association to Centennial United Methodist Church.

The scholarship will be awarded on Sunday, May 2, 2010, which is Golden Cross Sunday and the day of CUMC’s annual Health Fair.  In 1998 the scholarship was established with money from the Centennial Parish Nurse program and individual donations. Application forms will be available at the church Welcome Center or you may download here.

Applications are due by April 1, 2010 to the office at CUMC, marked ATTENTION: Health and Wellness Committee.  For questions, contact: Julia Nordling, Parish Nurse, 651-633-7644 or Mary Ann Schultz, Health and Wellness Co-chair, 651-647-9381.

Visioning Team Exercise

It's the year 2015--five years from today.  As you look back on the past five years at Centennial, you would describe your experience as excellent...one of the best periods in the history of this congregation.  You feel the church has become everything you could have wished it was, and you've been able to do everything within the church that you wished to do.

Now write a letter describing what has happened in the church over the last 5 years.  Use the past tense to report on the insights you gained during this time, your basic learning as part of the congregation that really helped you shift who you are and how you approach your spiritual life.

What ministries took place?  What life changes did you see in people?  What was it that made those years so spectacular?  Identify several specific goals that you reached and accomplishments that really required you to stretch as a person and as a congregation.

Now, using the present tense, describe the congregation as it is in 2015--the attitudes, feelings, and world view that you and your fellow congregants hold as you have collectively become the church you wish to be.

Send your letter to: pisham@ishamconsulting.com

Sing Dubois' Seven Last Words

You're invited to join with the Chancel Choir in singing Dubois' The Seven Last Words of Christ on Good Friday, April 2. All singers high school age and up are welcome. Rehearsals will are Wednesdays from 7:30 to about 8:00 p.m. Contact Bob Nienaber at the church for more information.

Spring Musical

Calling all 2nd through 5th graders! On April 25, the Rejoice Singers will perform their Spring Musical.  There are parts for everyone! Rehearsals are Wednesdays from 6:40–7:20 p.m. Contact Jennifer Cadwell at jcadwell@centennialumc.org.

UMCOR Haiti Emergency Relief:

From the office of Bishop Sally Dyck
Minnesota Annual Conference of the UMC

January 13, 2010

Dear Minnesota United Methodists:

Like me, you may have a heavy heart as you learn about the earthquake that hit the struggling nation of Haiti yesterday.

The Associated Press is reporting that the magnitude 7.0 earthquake has killed thousands. The country is still recovering from hurricanes of previous years. National Public Radio reports United Nations’ estimates that four out of five Haitians live below the poverty line, on less than $2 a day. More than half the population is considered to live in "abject poverty," or on less than a dollar a day.

United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) leaders were already in Haiti as part of an UMCOR team visit with the church in Haiti.  UMCOR is awaiting word on the safety of these leaders. The United Methodist Council of Bishops learned that the Michigan, Western North Carolina, and Dakotas conferences all had Volunteers in Mission in Haiti at the time of the earthquake, but all of their VIMs have reported in and are fine. 

The people of Haiti desperately need our prayers and assistance. United Methodists are well positioned to provide direct aid efficiently, as the United Methodist Church has a long-standing relationship with Haiti through the Methodist Church of Haiti. The strong ties between the Methodist Church of Haiti and UMCOR helped in facilitating the opening of the UMCOR Haiti field office in 2005.

Please take an offering in your church in the next few weeks. You can provide direct help by giving to the UMCOR Advance 418325, Haiti Emergency. Remember, one hundred percent of your donation will be used to assist those in Haiti who are in greatest need. Not all aid organizations can promise that. This is the safest way to ensure your donation will assist those in need. Further, UMCOR will remain in Haiti for a long time to come, well after other organizations have left.

To learn more about what the United Methodist Church is doing to respond to our Haitian neighbors in great, need, visit www.umc.org. You may also visit www.umcor.org. Please note that the UMCOR web site has been overloaded with concerned visitors and you may not be able to access the site immediately.

This year, we Minnesota United Methodists are exploring the question “Who is my neighbor?” The answer at this moment is clear. We have an urgent opportunity to be neighbor to the people of Haiti. I encourage you to give generously to this Advance.

And please keep the people of Haiti in your prayers.

In Christ’s love,

Bishop Sally Dyck
Minnesota Area, The United Methodist Church
bishop@minnesotaumc.org

100% of your donations to UMCOR Haiti Emergency Relief will go directly to Haiti.  Please make checks to CUMC, and write "UMCOR—Haiti Advance # 418325" in the memo. 

Centennial UMC is participating in the UMCOR Coffee Project.