Thursday, September 8, 2011

CORe Quotes

Jesus call to himself
those who are overburdened and offers them rest,
but he does not blunt the cutting edge of his demands.

~Thaddee Matura (Franciscan scholar and theologian)

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

CORe Quotes

The person who despises another
will never be able to make anything of him.

Nothing that we despise in the other
is entirely absent from ourselves . . .

We must learn to regard people
less in the light of what they do or omit to do,
and more in the light of what they suffer.

The only profitable relationship to others i one of love,
and that means the will to hold fellowship with the.

~Dietrich Bonhoefer (Letters from Prison, 1945)

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Ask Yourself

With summer coming to a close, school starting and the holidays quickly approaching, things can easily seem to add up on our daily to-do lists. Recently, three questions were put forward at Brad Powell’s church which when heard at CORe gives us food for thought too. . . three daily questions that one could imagine Jesus asking us.

1. What are we really dreaming about today?

Do we dream about our church making us known so we can have more money? Or do we dream about this place making Jesus known? Do we dream about using this church for the opportunity for us to grow? Or do we dream that this place is about can work through other people’s lives. To do something great for God rather than for ourselves?

2. What are we really crying about?

Easy to say we care about the broken, hungry, need, the lost, those who don’t know God. But do we act on it? Do we cry about our needs or do we cry about the needs of others? Do we cry about other’s brokenness or cry only when we are feeling broken? Do we cry about other’s loss or just when we experience loss?

3. What are we really celebrating?

Are we celebrating history and tradition. God celebrates when lost people find God and hope on this side of eternity. God celebrates the folks who bring others to him. God celebrates his love being expressed through once loveless people. Heaven celebrates people who once needed forgiveness now revealing to others God’s forgiveness through them. That would be celebrating the fruit of this parish going OUT to make disciples.

What are we celebrating? Eternal abundance, hope and love shared out or temporal issues to argue over? Are we celebrating people or accumulated stuff that has lost it’s meaning for this time? Are we celebrating other people’s successes or just mine, yours? Celebrating what we are getting out of life or the generosity we are experiencing in life, by giving life.

Our life depends on our listening and studying outside of our comfort zones. God speaks. Read scripture, seek out commentary. Be aware of the company you keep. Do they encourage you to positive things that God celebrates? Be aware of what you dream for, the true tragedies you weep for, the things you celebrate. Pray, listen, ask, allow God to shape you. Move forward into God’s vision and find joy and peace – and companions in Christ with you on the journey.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Children's Garden


The children of the Sunday school harvested vegetables from their garden at the church this morning. The cucumbers, bell peppers, carrots, and tomatoes will be donated to Lighthouse for the food bank.


Thursday, May 19, 2011

CORe Quotes

Eternity is not something that begins after you are dead.
It is going on all the time.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

CORe Quotes

When it's over, I want to say:
All my life I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

Mary Oliver, 21st c poet

Monday, May 16, 2011

Session 3: Anglicanism 101: Christian Formation Continues


Did you know that there are 4 main branches of Christianity? Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, ...... and Anglican.

This coming Wednesday morning, we will look at the origins of our denomination, what formed us and makes us unique and faithful.

If you think Henry the 8th is the reason we exist, that we are just "Catholic-light", please come and find out a more complex story of who we are as Anglicans.

Wednesday, May 11 · 10:00 am - 12:00 pm in the conference room.

Thursday, May 12, 2011

CORe Quotes

Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life:
Such a Way, as gives us breath:
Such a Truth, as ends all strife:
Such a Life, as killeth death.

Come, my Light, my Feast, my Strength:
Such a Light, as shows a feast:
Such a Feast, as mends in length:
Such a Strength, as makes his guest.

Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart:
Such a Joy, as none can move:
Such a Love, as none can part:
Such a Heart, as joys in Love.

George Herbert

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

CORe Quotes

God's love sets me free to enter in community with other people
-even when the community is a very limited one
and is not the total communion that my heart desires.



Only when I live in communion with God
can I live in a community that is not perfect.



Only then can I love the other person
and create a space in which we might be
quite distant or very close,



But we can still allow something new to be born
-a child, friendship, joy, community,
a space where strangers and guests and be received.












Henri Nouwen
20th century priest and mystic

Monday, May 9, 2011

Meijer Community Rewards





Another program that can benefit CORe with $$$ is the Meijer Rewards Program.

Supporters can join in the store when they apply for a Meijer Credit Card. If you are approved for instant credit, you can earn rewards the same day!

You may also apply online at Meijer.com/creditcard. (The Meijer 1 Card is Meijer's customer card and not a credit/debit card). Cards/key tags are usually received within two weeks.


If you have already have a Meijer Credit Cards, you can join simply by calling 1 (800) 962-7011.

Or join by mail by mailing in an application (available at the Customer Service counter). Allow three weeks for processing.

Kroger Rewards Program





CORe is part of the Kroger Community Rewards Program. As you know, these programs are designed to provide our church with additional funds by simply purchasing items. NOTE: You must have a Kroger Plus Card already to participate. If you don't have a Kroger Plus Card, they are available at the customer service desk at any Kroger store.

To register go online at krogercommunityrewards.com. Be sure to have your Kroger Plus Card handy and register your card card with CORe after you sign up.

Select Michigan for your location, then click on "Enroll".

Click on Sign In/Register. Most participants are new online customers, so you must click on sign up today in the "New Customer" box.

Enter your zip code, click on your favorite store, enter your email address and create a password, agreeing to the terms and conditions.

You will then receive a confirmation message in your email in-box. Click on the link within the body of the email.

Click on My Account and use your email address/password to proceed to the next step.

Click on Edit Kroger Community Rewards information and input your Kroger Plus card number.

Update or confirm your information.

Enter NPO number 90636 or Church of the Resurrection (select organization from list) and click confirm.

To verify you are enrolled correctly, you will see Church of the Resurrection on the right side of the page.


REMEMBER, purchases will not count until after you have registered your card.

You can swipe your Kroger Plus Card or use your phone number (number related to the Kroger Plus Card) when shopping for each purchase to count.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask Card Czar Larry Campagna!

Session 2 - Anglicanism 101: Christian Formation Continues


Did you know that there are 4 main branches of Christianity? Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, ...... and Anglican.

For the next two Wednesday mornings in May we will look at the origins of our denomination, what formed us and makes us unique and faithful.

If you think Henry the 8th is the reason we exist, that we are just "Catholic-light", please come and find out a more complex story of who we are as Anglicans.

Wednesday, May 11 · 10:00 am - 12:00 pm in the conference room.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Anglicanism 101: Christian Formation Continues



Did you know that there are 4 main branches of Christianity? Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, ...... and Anglican.

For three May Wednesday mornings we will look at the origins of our denomination, what formed us and makes us unique and faithful.

If you think Henry the 8th is the reason we exist, that we are just "Catholic-light", please come and find out a more complex story of who we are as Anglicans.

Wednesdays, May 4th, 11th and 18th from 10 am to noon in the conference room.


Saturday, April 23, 2011

Holy Saturday

It is a day of waiting. The worst has happened. The best has not yet arrived. Nailed to the cross just yesterday, Jesus is dead, and his death seems to make all that he has done at best irrelevant—and at worst, a cruel joke. The disciples are scattered, acutely aware of the loss and unable to imagine the new life that would destroy death forever.

In the work that the church is called to do among the battered and broken, it is so hard to see the fullest manifestation of the new life and renewed hope that is the fruit of our faithfulness. So we must live every day in hope, believing that the seeds given to the farmer in Sudan will one day feed his family, and the well that is being drilled will bring the water to a Salvadoran village in need.

Because we do not always see the fruit, we must always believe in the promise that nothing is lost, and that life, not death, is God’s final word.

—Duncan Gray III

Friday, April 22, 2011

The Way of the Cross

The devotion known as the Way of the Cross is an adaption to local usage of a custom widely observed by pilgrims to Jerusalem for hundreds of years: the offering of prayer at a serious of places in that city traditionally associated with our Lord's passion and death.

As the sun sets and dark descends, The Way of the Cross in our parish will be a quiet contemplative "come as your are" experience of listening, praying, and simple Taize changes. The chants are only one line long and are easy to repeat. Participants can volunteer to come forward to hold the wooden cross during one of the "stations" and feel the weight of the burden, alone or shared with a family member or friend. Like the young people visiting Taize, if so moved, participants are welcome to sit on the floor, at the altar rail, or against the wall-the special spot of their own choosing to end the Way of the Cross.

On this Good Friday night, when we recall the great sacrifice that occurred tow millennia ago, we do not so much seek to offer perfect prayers as we desire to be willing to fully enter into the Passion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with our hearts, minds, souls, and voices. By our Baptism, Jesus' journey to the Cross is the same journey we live today as we seek to do the will of God with the fabric of our entire life. Being Christians calls us to journey on our own Way of the Cross, where great sacrifice may be necessary to be daily ministers of justice, mercy, and peace.

John 19:38-42 (Good Friday)

They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen
cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews…And so, because
it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they
laid Jesus there. (19:40, 42)

Throughout my adult life as a Christian I have cherished my
friendships with skeptics, whether they call themselves agnostics or
atheists. One such friend, who was jolly except when talking about
God and the problem of evil, referred to this holy day as Bad Friday.
While his word choices troubled me, I respected that they reflected
what he really thought: That Christians glorify the savage death
of Jesus as a good thing—a response my friend decidedly did not
consider a good thing.

I, too, would call this day Bad Friday if I thought the burial recorded
at John 19:38-42 were the end of the story. While they are not the
conclusion, the death and burial of Jesus mark the turning point of
salvation history. Behold the holy Lamb, provided by God, who takes
away the sins of the world.

—Douglas LeBlanc

Thursday, April 21, 2011

1 Corinthians 10:14-17, 11:27-32 (Maundy Thursday)

Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we
all partake of the one bread. (10:17)

Jesus spends his last hours with his friends. The cross looms over
the meal. Jesus takes the role of a servant, washing their feet.

With this action, he epitomizes his life and ministry. He redefines
the conventions of this world. Greatness is defined by servanthood.
Loving God means loving each other. He is willing to die for this.

We gather at a meal in one place. There is one bread. We share.
We break it in many pieces. Our bodies are fed. That is life. At this
same table, our souls are fed.

In the same way the bread is broken, the world is broken. Jesus will
be broken. Yet there is hope. He leaves us with each other and his
Spirit to guide us.

In this last hour, how will we sit at the table together? How will we
share the one bread so that all may be fed?

—Karen Montagno

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Philippians 4:1-13 (Wednesday of Holy Week)

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses
all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus. (4:4-7)

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

John 12:20-26 (Tuesday of Holy Week)

Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be
glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the
earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears
much fruit…” (12:23-24)

In Agua Prieta, by the side of a busy street, there is a large cross
fixed to the bars that form the barrier between the United States and
Mexico. Attached to this cross are hundreds and hundreds of white
and purple ribbons fluttering in the wind, each having the name of
someone who has died in the desert written on it. At the center of
the cross is a wreath of flowers.

It is an Easter cross. And like Easter itself, it is layered with
meaning. At the commendation of the departed in the funeral liturgy,
the Book of Common Prayer gives us these words: “Even at the
grave we make our song, Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.”

Jesus said, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it
remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Death
and resurrection are two aspects of a single reality.

How am I helping to bring life out of death?

—Jeffrey Lee