Christmas Video

Here's our Christmas video. Take a look!

The Worst White Elephant Ever

So...we had our annual Christmas party last night.  As usual, it was a white elephant gift exchange. We had the usual junk that always shows up at these things. Near the end of it all, Lauren opened a gift that Mark brought.  It was small, soft, and wrapped in construction paper. She slowly opened it to reveal a three week old turkey sandwich that Mark found in his car!

Are you kidding me?!? That's got to be the work white elephant gift ever.

Anyway, we had a good time and I came away with some "Believe in God" Breath Spray.

Decorating for Christmas

On Sunday after worship, we decorated the PSC. Hayley made cider and we had a fire in the fireplace. We got out all of the old decorations but we couldn't find the tree. I thought that we had an artificial tree because I had see artificial tree branches. Turns out that we only had branches. The students got creative with a cardboard tube and some garland and we ended up with the funniest tree you've ever seen. But it's our tree and we love it.

Fall Retreat

Last weekend, we went to Cherokee Retreat Center on Lake Alatoona for our fall retreat. We spent time relaxing, engaging in ancient spiritual practices, and (of course) watching the UGA v. Kentucky game. The weather was beautiful and the leaves were amazing. We had the whole camp to ourselves, so that was cool.

One thing that we did that I particularly enjoyed was a time of Lectio Divina in which we did some painting with oil on canvas. I'm still waiting on my painting to dry, but I'm happy with how it turned out.

There was also a great Prayer Labyrinth there. We did that together on Sunday morning.

Poverty Simulation

On Oct. 27, we held a poverty simulation at the PSC in cooperation with the College of Family and Consumer Sciences. We invited some other campus ministries too. It was a very meaningful event. The night before, we had a "Broken Bread Poverty Meal" before worship at the PSC in which we served a corn soy blend porridge instead of our normal home-cooked meal. During worship, Betsy gave us a message about poverty and how we are called to respond to it as Christians.

Mary Frances Early

October 19 was a great night at the PSC. Mary Frances Early, the first African-American to graduate from the University of Georgia, was our guest. She shared with us about what it was like coming to UGA in 1961. It was especially moving to hear her read a letter that Dr. Martin Luther King wrote her during that time. She told us about coming to the Presbyterian Student Center for a surprise birthday party after arriving on campus in that summer of 1961. I was glad to have her back to tell that story and to hear her say what it meant to her. I was proud that we could be a part of that history.

I received a letter from Dr. Early this week. In it, she wrote "Words are inadequate to express my appreciation for the warm welcome and uplifting service on last Sunday...Thank you for the invitation to come and talk to the students. They were so inspiring. The cake was not only lovely, but also the best chocolate cake I've ever eaten! I had to fight the tears as I remembered a similar occasion in June of 1961. God is so good; He reminds us daily that we do not walk alone. The beauty of fellowship was once again emblazoned in my heart. I was humbled and grateful!" She goes on to write, "Please give my regards to your lovely family, and to the great students; they are awesome! Convey to them my sincere gratitude for their warm reception."

God is so good.

Karen Low Phillips Exhibit

We had an exhibit of Karen Low Phillip's photography last week. Karen (UGA '02, '07) was involved here a few years back and she painted a beautiful mural in the dining hall that tells the whole story from creation to resurrection.

When we decided to start displaying art at the PSC, she was the first person that we called. The exhibit is entitled EKARO: Good Morning Nigeria. Several students, board members, alums, and people from the community gathered together last week at the PSC to see the exhibit and hear Karen tell of her time in Nigeria. I don't have any pics from that night--I always forget to take pictures--but I do have some pics of the pics.

Darius Goes West

Last night, we hosted a free screening of Darius Goes West at the PSC. This was a last minute opportunity for us to see the film and meet the crew before they went on the road. The documentary was amazing. If you haven't seen it, you should. Better yet, you should buy a DVD. I'll sell you one at the PSC or you can order one at www.dariusgoeswest.org.

In a nutshell, the guys are trying to raise awareness of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and raise money to find a cure ($17 of the $20 price of the DVD goes to research). They'll be traveling around the country trying to sell one million DVDs this year. Several members of the crew came by the PSC last night, including Darius. It was a very meaningful events--and I was glad for us to host it.

Kickoff

Had a great time last night at the kickoff. Worship was especially good. We had a new guy named Jason Peckham playing some djembes/congos/bongos (I don't know what's what). It sounded really good with Mark's guitar. We also had several song leaders.

Dinner was great too. Thanks for Sam Stephens for running the grill and to Sam and Jeremy for cleaning up!

I Scream You Scream

Here's a pic from "Ice Cream for Old Timers" on Thursday. We had chocolate ice cream that tasted like Frosty and we had orange ice cream that tasted like Frosted Orange at the Varsity. And Nicole brought me a kazoo which I'm learning to play so that we can have a duet some Sunday (Nicole plays the flute).

Pray. Love. Serve.

This past weekend, we had our student ministers' retreat. Betsy, Mark, Brent, Meaghan, and I worked on some things for the coming year. We talked about what it means to be involved at the PSC and what it could mean. We divided our work into four teams: Encounter, Worship, Community, and Service. Some people will only be interested in the encounter (dinner, etc.). Others will want to worship. Still others will want to build a strong community. Finally, some will be sent to serve. We want to respect where everyone is on that line while encouraging them to seek the next step toward the Mission of God.

Anyway, this led us to adopt the slogan "Pray. Love. Serve." as a kind of linear motto for what we are doing this year. I hope that you'll join us on this journey.

Past my bedtime

We're in the midst of finals. I was told that we had to have a study break at the PSC at 10pm b/c it was a tradition. I thought it might be a joke that they were playing on me when I was the only person there at 10. But by 10:15, there were 15 people or so and we played ping pong, talked, ate pizza, watched TV, etc. I didn't leave 'til midnight and then I couldn't get to sleep b/c I was jacked up on Cherry Coke. I love Campus Ministry. Can't wait for next fall.

Senior Night

We had "Senior Night" on Sunday and recognized our graduating seniors. Here's the goofy picture. We gave them balloons, bibles, and the opportunity to speak during worship. I felt that it was important to give them the opportunity to speak in worship and I'm glad that I did. For the most part, they spoke about how open, friendly, welcoming, and loving this community has been to them. Some of them experienced that for the first time several years ago and some only a few weeks ago. Either way, it's a testament to what this community of faith means to those who are in it.

Narnia

The retreat was fun, but the weather was...interesting. We hiked up the mountain on Saturday and stumbled upon Narnia--at least that's what everyone told me. It reminded me of Sleepy Hollow.

Anyway, it was beautiful in the mountains. We did some work on personality, spirituality, etc. We ate well. We had a campfire. We sang. We worshipped at the outdoor chapel. We played cards. We rested. And we played Guitar Hero.

This is a picture of Mark and Brent throwing the frisbee just before we left. The weather was nice on Sunday (wish we could have stayed longer).

R.I.P. Sponge Bob Square Pants

Sponge Bob Square Pants had an unfortunate accident involving the coffee table this past week. Actually, his demise had more to do with a baseball bat and a hungry mob of students. All that's left of him are the legs, and they keep moving around the PSC to different places.

The Sponge Bob pinata was a gift to me from the students on my birthday a few weeks back. We had a good time smashing him up after worship.

In other news, we have some new bulletin boards around the PSC thanks to our friends Julie and Jerris. Betsy K. put some quotes up on them--including this one.

That's one that would serve me well to remember. Thanks for Julie and Jerris for the other improvements that you will notice around the place too: bathrooms, landscaping, etc.

Holy Week Redux

I had a great Holy Week at the PSC. We did a footwashing service on Maundy Thursday. We held the service in the dining hall and used John 13 as an outline for our service (sans the betrayal). It was a very meaningful service for me. On Good Friday, we had the community service at First Pres. After Good Friday service, I like to go home and pretend that the church doesn't exist anymore--at least until Sunday. I went home on Friday afternoon and worked on a fence around my garden. I found myself cutting off the top of the green vinyl welded wire fence and rolling it up into little coils. I soon realized that I was making little crowns of thorns. Even though I left the church for the weekend, I still could not get away from the sin that put Christ on the cross. Like Peter, I wasn't even aware of what I was doing. It all seemed oddly appropriate.

On Sunday morning, I worshipped away from the PSC since we don't have a Sunday morning service. On Sunday evening, we all gathered informally, reaffirmed that "Christ is Risen Indeed!," and we read the Emmaus story together.

All in all, it was a very meaningful week for me.

St. Patrick's Day and Holy Week

I did some research and found out that this Easter (on March 23) will be the earliest Easter in my lifetime. It won't be on March 23 again until 2160. The earliest date on which Easter ever occurs is March 22. This happened in 1818 and won't happen again until 2285.

One byproduct of an early Easter is that St. Patrick's Day occurs during Holy Week. St. Patrick's Day is not really much of a religious holiday anymore as much as it is an excuse to have a party and pretend that you're Irish.

Some might see this as a blemish on Holy Week this year. I prefer to say "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." When you think about it, everyone was celebrating when Jesus came to Jerusalem at the beginning of Holy Week. Why not join in and do the same today? In one way, St. Patrick's Day celebrations give us a better opportunity to be in a happy and joyous mindset early in Holy Week just like those people were 2000 years ago.

This brings up a big soapbox of mine. I am a big advocate of making Holy Week have some of the same rhythms for Christians today that it did the first time it occurred. I am not a fan of bundling the Passion into Palm Sunday. I can't stand the designation "Passion/Palm Sunday." I think that enables Christians to not participate in a Holy Week and not feel the rhythms of that week as it actually happened.

As such, I don't like to make reference to the crucifixion on Palm Sunday and I don't like to celebrate Communion on Palm Sunday. I prefer to celebrate Communion on Maundy Thursday and talk about the crucifixion on Good Friday. I like to wash feet on Maundy Thursday after the supper just as Christ did. I like to pretend that Christ is dead on Saturday and be surprised on Sunday when he is risen.

Because of this, I think that Christians should take one week out of the year and really live according to the rhythms of Holy Week. I think that we should all be in worship on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday--and not just the two Sundays on either end of Holy Week. If you miss the week in between, then you may have missed the impact of Easter.

This week, we will have communion and foot/handwashing on Thursday at the PSC at 5:30p and a community Good Friday service at First Presbyterian at noon. Hope to see you there!

Past Tents

You know how they make a tent/tabernacle when they talk to God in the Old Testament? Well, that's what I'm hoping we'll do at the PSC--make a tent of sorts so that people can talk to God. I guess that's what church buildings are: tents for people to enter as they look for God. Some are brick, some are made of wood, some are ugly, and some are pretty.


Check out this picture that someone sent me the other day. Presbyterian Student Center ca. 1947. Pretty crazy, right? Since I'm new, I've been doing my homework to learn more about the PSC. Our current building was built in 1959. It was a statewide effort by a lot of churches and individuals. It's not the best looking building today, but it's solid and it serves us well. Most Presbyterian campus ministries across the country aren't so fortunate--so I'm very grateful.

Anyway, it's a tent of sorts for us to use to find God. It was for me when I was a student here (1997-2001). I hope that it can be for you too.