Pulse

July 2008

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT PARKWAY THIS SUMMER FOR THE YOUTH!

Ø         July 8 – All Ages Skate Haven Party at 3:00 p.m.  Cost is $4 per person

Ø         July 14-15 – Youth Rafting trip

Ø         July 21 – Youth Mellow Mushroom Pizza Night at 7:00 p.m.

Ø         July 31 – Youth Ice Cream and Movie Night;  details TBA

Ø         August 5 – All Ages Emerald Point outing

Contact Conner with any questions, twopeas7@yahoo.com or 245-3949.   Please visit the Education bulletin board to sign up!  Have a great summer J

Upcoming Events – Mark Your Calendar

 

 

MISSIONS MUSINGS

Dear Parkway Friends,

The October Neighbors In Need Offering has an Emergency USA Fund that will help those affected in the Midwest by tornados and flooding which has reached record levels causing damage to homes, buildings, dams, and agricultural fields. Gifts to this fund enable the UCC to go the “extra mile” in alleviating disaster trauma. If you feel the need to respond before October, go to https://secure.ga3.org/03/usa_emergency or write a check to Parkway UCC and designate Neighbors in Need Emergency USA Fund as the recipient. 

The One Great Hour of Sharing Offering collected in March also supports disaster relief in over seventy countries including the United States and Canada.  You may write a check to Parkway UCC and designate it for the OGHS Spring 2008 Tornadoes and Floods in Central U.S. or go on-line to www.ucc.org/disaster and click on the site to give to that fund.                                                                      

The Missions Committee recently received an emergency request from the Center for Development in Central America (CDCA), an international, faith-based community which lives and works among a third of Nicaragua’s poor in Ciudad Sandina. Members of Parkway have been involved with their ministry for many of their fourteen years of operation.  Their cooperative was the initial source of our organic, free-trade coffee purchases. 

Their request is for four to six pledges of $25 a month from now through December 2008.  If you already contribute regularly to their cause, they are asking that you increase your pledge by $10 a month.  The request is in response to the increasing price of food and the desire of CDCA to help their staff cope.  In January CDCA will increase the charge for volunteers which should cover the wage increases.

If you would like to help, mail a check to CDCA, Jubilee House Community, Inc. c/o Peggy Murdock, 352 Carly Lane, Rock Hill, SC. They will send you monthly notice remembers and envelopes upon request. Or you may write a check to Parkway UCC with Missions Nicaragua in the memo line, so that it will go through the proper account.                                                                                                                                 The Missions Committee

Crisis Control ministry - Please donate macaroni & cheese dinners to Crisis Control this month.

CONCERNS

·          Rebecca Reel’s grandmother passed away.

·          Gene Derryberry’s 99 year old aunt was hospitalized with lung cancer.

·          Diane Jenkins brother died unexpectedly.

·          Nancy Vargas’ sister-in-law is suffering from a head injury.

·          Alan Rainey’s dog is declining.

 

Thank You Corner

Tom, Connie and Mary Liz Mann thank you for the numerous expressions of sympathy in the death of Tom’s mother; for cards and food, phone calls, emails, and some even made the trip to Durham for the service.  As with my father’s death a little more than two months apart, we continue to feel connected and supported by our spiritual community.        --  Tom Mann

Dear Parkway Family,  Thank you so much for the warm farewell and generous gift.  I continue to be overwhelmed by the appreciation you showed me during the service on June 1.  I am blessed to have shared 10 years with Parkway and will carry you with me throughout my life.   With deepest gratitude, Holly

JULY BIRTHDAYS

New page on website
The www.parkwayunited.org website will soon feature a page on our Open and Affirming (ONA) involvement. With links to the national UCC and the Coalition for Lesbians and Gays, the website will provide local as well as national events and resources. Anyone interested in our ONA position can get a better understanding of what it means on this page. The page was created by Ana Tampanna. (Tampanna@bellsouth.net). 

Special Training in Winston Salem

The Institute for Welcoming Resources will be offering a training in Winston-Salem this September for lay or ordained leaders of congregations who are considering becoming welcoming to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgendered (LGBT) persons. Congregations such as Parkway United Church of Christ which are deeply committed to helping other congregations become more welcoming of LGBT people are also encouraged to participate.  Led by a UCC minister, Rev. Anita Bradshaw, PhD, the training will be held at WFU and will include progressive Baptist, Disciples of Christ and Mennonite churches from other areas as well as local churches. For more information, go to  www.welcomingresources.org/welcomingchurchtraining.htm.

BOOK REPRINT

TRANSITION TEAM MEMBERS:   The Transition Team members are Tim Binkley, Henrietta Fulton, Dan Holt, Anne Hopkins, Bill Huesman, Cranford Johnson, Margaret Morris, Tom Radulovic, and Peggy Taylor.

 

Communities Helping All Neighborhoods Gain Empowerment  (CHANGE)

Metro Council Minutes for CHANGE    May 22, 2008

The Metro Council meeting began with Gerald Taylor, IAF (Industrial Area Foundation) leader describing the work of CHANGE within our congregations.  The focus will always be building first our relationships within our congregations and expanding ownership within congregations.  Planning is under way for a 4 month training program concerning the culture of decision making, leadership and organizing in congregations.  This promises to be an informative, insightful and instructive training open to all members of member congregations and neighborhood associations/organizations.   PUCC  will be asked to pledge members to this training.

Action Teams reports were as follows:

The Nonpartisan School Board Team reported 9,116 signatures collected of the required 10,000 signatures for a state legislation process in 2009.  The remainder signatures will be collected by June 15 and that will conclude Phase One.  Phase Two will be relational meetings with those who can influence candidates (“tell our own story”).  By August we will have a list of endorsements.

Health Care and Wellness Team    (chair:  Mary Lynn Wigodsky)

CHANGE has proposed a massive testing of school-age children  K-2 and increased testing of younger children through day care centers and clinics, an approach utilized by Durham CAN (Communities and Neighbors). Our Forsyth County Health Department preferred testing targeted high risk areas where there is a high concentration of older (pre-1978) homes when lead paint was still utilized, poorly maintained homes and apartments.

There are 6,700 dwellings in Forsyth County that meet these criteria.  (In Forsyth County, 47,000 homes were built before 1978).   After much discussion, a decision was made for CHANGE and the Forsyth County Health Department to co-sponsor a Lead Summit in September or early October.  A half-day seminar on a Saturday was proposed.  The summit will bring together a broad base of constituents representing neighborhood associations, school personnel, medical practitioners, government agencies, elected officials, and property owners and renters.

The purpose would be to educate the community about the lead hazards in our community, the extent of the problem and the need for serious attention and cooperation from all the stakeholders. Dr. Monroe, Director of Forsyth County Health Department, has referred to this as “Lead 101”.  The medical risks, for children in particular, would be outlined and the lead sources would be identified.  The Health Department would be responsible for the content that would be presented.

CHANGE would be responsible for the logistics (securing a meeting site and for promoting  communication and commitments from the various constituents). 

The expectation is that increased education will set the stage for follow-up strategies that will include increased testing of children and dwellings and increased measures to facilitate lead abatement (such as financial support through grants and local ordinances mandating attention to the problem), and ultimately, to physically improved neighborhoods and a shared and strengthened sense of community.

The Education Action Team completed the audits for issues of equity with physical structures for 14 randomly selected schools in Forsyth County: 3 high schools, 2 middle schools and 9 elementary schools. The team was “generally pleased” with equity in the physical facilities.  Observations made at each school for repairs/improvements were given to WSFCS.  The base standards used for the audits were modeled from the newest schools in the WSFCS and some standards were from standards used in the Charlotte schools.  The recommendation was made to WSFCS to continue the process of evaluation for the remainder schools by the WSFCS building committee.  This has been a 5 year work in process with much relationship building.