It’s been a long time coming — but it’s finally here!  The hopes and dreams of many people are being realized with the grand opening of the Jesus MCC Church Library!

Much of the initial collection was donated by Dennis and Sammy Wellman, and many others have donated books, hard work, and many hours to make this worthy project happen.

We’ll be open for the first time on Sunday, May 17, between the morning services and after the 11:00 am service, and at 5:00 pm, before the evening service.  Join us in celebration!

Watch your bulletin for opportunities for service in the library, and a list of needed books and resources.

Sunday February 24, at all 3 worship services — A Celebration of Black History!

• Gospel Choir
• Praise Dance Team
• Deacon Robert Ferguson will be preaching.
• Soulfood Potluck after the 11:00 am service (bring a side dish to share).
• Catered Fried Chicken Dinner after the 6:00 pm service.

Invite your friends!

You are cordially invited to a dinner to be held at our Church on Thursday evening, January 24, at 7:00 pm. The dinner is free and will provide a wonderful opportunity for getting acquainted and building friendships. The menu will feature homemade Ravioli (both meat and cheese). After dinner, Pastor Jeff will share:

• An assessment of our strengths and weaknesses as a Church;
• Proposed church-wide goals for 2008; and
• Existing and proposed church staff structure.

After the briefing, Pastor Jeff and the Board will ask for feedback, questions, and comments. The information shared at the dinner will help us prepare fully for our Annual Congregational Meeting on Sunday, January 27, at 12:30 pm. Make sure you’re in the loop! You must RSVP if you plan to attend the dinner — either fill out the form in Sunday’s bulletin, or email the church office.

Last week we launched our national search for a Worship Arts Minister! You can download a complete job description and posting . Please share this with anyone you think may be interested.

Our search will be aggressively proactive. We will post throughout our denomination, in all regional music schools, and on web sites for church musicians and worship leaders. We will also actively network through musicians and worship leaders who are known to us personally. If you have a good lead, please email pastorjeff@jesusmcc.org.

Applications will be accepted through January 31 and interviews conducted in February, with a view toward making a selection in March. In the interim, our worship music program and choirs will be led by our accompanist, Jason Saylor. Jason is a gifted, formally trained musician who is generously taking on these extra duties despite working a very demanding full-time job.

We are searching for someone who can help us take our already wonderful worship services to a new level of impact, building on the foundation laid over the past decade. Let’s each of us begin now to lift prayers that God will bring us exactly the right person!

Great news! Our sermon webcast is now up and running! Each Sunday’s sermon is now posted by Wednesday of that week.

Many thanks go to everyone who has contributed to make this happen, including our Media Team, which does incredible work each week! Please lift this endeavor in prayer — may it reach out to those who are seeking a message of God’s love.

Still to come:

• Television-style intro and exit segments.
• a software upgrade that will improve several functions.
• same-day access: soon, we’ll have a team in place that will make the video and audio sermons available on Sunday afternoon. If you’d like to be part of this technical, behind-the-scenes team, please email the web manager.

Check out the webcast here: JesusMCC.org/listen/

We welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions — please email or call the office.

Mark your calendar! If you have questions, please email the church office or call (317) 722-0000.

Our traditional Giving Tree items are available for you to take from the tree in the social hall. We’ll buy gifts for Indiana Youth Group and clients of the Damien Center.

Couples’ social event: Holiday Progressive Dinner on Saturday, December 1, at 6:00 pm. As of November 18, this event has sold out!

First Sunday of Advent is December 2.

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A week of hard work — housing repairs and working with adults and children with developmental disabilities — and building friendships and sharing the love of Christ. Jesus MCC’s first-ever missions trip is summarized in the photos below.

Click a thumbnail for larger images and more information.

There’s nothing more important to our church than your spiritual growth. Whether you’re just starting to explore the Christian faith, or you’re a long-time follower of Jesus, we want to do everything we can to help you on your spiritual journey.

That’s why we need your help.

We’re asking you to go to the link given below to take the REVEAL Spiritual Life Survey, which asks questions about your spiritual life and the role Jesus MCC plays in it. This survey is a unique research effort that involves hundreds of churches around the country.

The survey touches on a wide range of thought-provoking issues, and will take about 20 minutes to complete.

• This survey is completely anonymous. An expert third-party research organization will aggregate your input with responses from thousands of other people, so your survey will not be viewed individually.
• You will not be solicited for any products or services as a result of taking this survey.
• Your email address will not be distributed to another party.

We’ll close the survey on November 26 and begin crunching and interpreting the information. Take the survey here.

If you run into problems while taking the survey, please email lori@revealnow.com.

f you have questions about Jesus MCC’s participation in this survey, email dsquire@jesusmcc.org, or call the church office.

October 23, 2007
Day Four
Our team has limited internet access, but they are trying to see what they can do to send updates.

One of the team members, in a brief phone call, indicated that today went very well at the two homes where they are working, and three people will start helping with the disabled tomorrow.

The Missions Team on location — day one.

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Over the summer, our Church has been searching for a new Minister of Congregational Care. We have now completed a methodical, detailed search process — and are ready to make an exciting announcement.

Pastor Jeff and the Board of Directors have reached an enthusiastic and unanimous decision to hire Melody Merida as our new Minister of Congregational Care!

Read on to get to know Melody and understand why we are so excited.

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World Missions Day 2007!

September 23 is Jesus MCC’s first-ever World Missions Day! Our morning services will feature Pastor Nan Erbaugh from Lower Miami Church of the Brethren, Dayton, Ohio. Nan will give us an overview of the critical situation in Sudan, based on her travels with the New Community Project. The evening service will feature the Director of the New Community Project, David Radcliff, who will talk about how we can connect with a community in Sudan and show the love of Christ by meeting practical needs. After the evening service, David will share dinner in the Social Hall and answer questions.

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Today marks the ten-year service anniversary for our Minister of Worship, Julie Benson. As we look back over those ten years of faithful service, we give thanks!

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Jesus MCC’s first-ever World Missions Day is coming September 23! We will hear from two special guest speakers about the needs of communities in Sudan and about the New Community Project, an exciting global outreach organization that helps churches partner with communities in need, to offer the love of Christ by meeting practical needs. Our church is considering working with the New Community Project, so you won’t want to miss this special service!

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On Sunday evening, August 26, members of Jesus MCC’s Homeless Ministry and their guests attended Horizon House’s annual fundraiser, “Tackling Homelessness,” sponsored in part by Colts player Hunter Smith. The event was held at the Colt’s training facility, and featured a performance by the Christian rock group, Connersvine, Hunter Smith’s band. Several other Colts players, including Jeff Saturday and Dallas Clark were on hand to take pictures with people and to sign autographs.

But one of the highlights of the evening came when Joe Slaughter of Herff Jones got up to speak and present the Community Partner Award, which was given to Jesus MCC’s Homeless Ministry. (Herff Jones received the award in 2006.)

Homeless Ministry leader Charlotte Egler receives the Community Partner Award from Joe Slaughter of Herff Jones.

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1. Where are we in the search process?

We posted the position of Minister of Congregational Care on May 27 and the application period closed July 8. Applications are now being evaluated and interviews conducted. Nine applications were received from a wonderful array of candidates, some from our church, but most from across MCC and other denominations.

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The Missions Board has scheduled our first-ever Missions Trip! Volunteers from Jesus MCC will be traveling to the Navajo Nation in New Mexico October 20-27, 2007 to share the love of Christ through completion of service projects. Clear your calendars for this monumental event!

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Nuvo Newsweekly readers have voted Jesus MCC as “best place of worship” in Nuvo’s annual Best of Indy poll.

Many thanks to everyone who voted, and way to go, church!

If you are a GLBT Christian, where do you turn to find spiritual books and resources to support your life journey? The truth is, you have very few options. At Jesus MCC, we’re determined to change that. We’re committed to a long-term goal of generating resources that can support GLBT Christians across the globe.

To that end, several years ago, we formed a publishing house known as Found Pearl Press that is staffed by volunteers from our congregation The first big project was publication of The Children Are Free: Reexamining the Biblical Evidence on Same-sex Relationships, which has become one of the best-selling books on homosexuality and the Bible. In fact, demand is so high, we’re now in our fourth printing, and within a couple months the book will also be available in Spanish!

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Would Jesus Discriminate? Round 3

People have heard it preached for years that homosexuals are condemned as wicked and perverse people but for many there’s a quiet voice that asks a nagging question — how does such a hateful message square with religious teachings that stress love and full acceptance?

Rev. Jeff Miner, Senior Pastor of Jesus Metropolitan Community Church, Indianapolis, believes that quiet voice in our hearts and minds is trying to tell us something about the difference between bigotry and religious truth.

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Do you feel called to share Jesus’ love with the world in a more tangible way? Our Church has begun to develop a strategy that will enable us to do just that.

Last fall, many of us participated in a Prayer Vigil for Darfur. Our hearts were moved, but we also sensed that we needed to get much better organized to respond on a practical level. Prayer is not enough; action is required.

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