Chi Rho Press eNewsletter
Volume 25 (10/4/00)

Welcome once again to the Chi Rho Press eNewsletter. Please pass this eNewsletter on to your friends and colleagues.

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Contents:
1. New Staff Hours
2. Director Preaches in Harrisburg
3. Media Booksigning and Discussion, Nov. 5
4. "Steps to Recovery from Bible Abuse" in Spanish?
5. Mid-Atlantic District Conference, Oct. 20-21, Hagerstown, MD
6. Three Models of Church
7. Adam's Last Word

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1. New Staff Hours

Kevin Stone Fries will begin work as our new Editor/Office Manager on
Wednesday, Oct. 18. He will be working each week on Wednesday, Thursday,
and Friday, from 10 am until 6:30 pm.

The Friday of Kevin's first week of work, however, he will be at the
Mid-Atlantic District Conference (see article number 6).

We are very excited about Kevin coming to work at the Chi Rho Press office
in a paid position. Our old friends will remember that Kevin has served as
Assistant Editor and now Editor of the Press for almost three years. We kid
him about his prodigious editorial skills, calling him "The Butcher of
Gaithersburg," but we are confident his slashing blue pencil will not do too
much damage in the Press offices! He is an editor and writer of great skill
and expertise and he will bring a lot of marketing skills to us at the
Press as well.

Please join us in welcoming Kevin to the paid staff of Chi Rho Press.

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2. Director Preaches in Harrisburg

Chi Rho Press Director Adam DeBaugh was invited to preach in Harrisburg on
Sept. 24. Here's his report:

MCC of the Spirit (Harrisburg, PA) is a wonderful worshiping community,
filled with music, prayer, praise, and steadfast, faithful people. The pastor, the
Rev. Eva O'Diam, is on sabbatical through the end of October and I was one
of many guest preachers who filled the pulpit in Pastor Eva's absence,
preaching at the 10:30 am and the 7 pm services on Sunday, Sept. 24.

MCC of the Spirit owns an office building, which they have converted into a
beautiful church space with a lovely sanctuary, offices, meeting space,
fellowship hall, kitchen, and church bookstore. The music program is truly
excellent, with a 11-piece orchestra playing the Sunday I was there at the
10:30 am service, the largest of the three Sunday worship services. Music
Director Dave Lambert has been able to recruit young people from families in
the church to play in the church orchestra (some play at MCC in addition to
their school bands). Some of the musicians I heard were 11 and 12 years
old!
And the music was amazing and beautiful!

It was good to see one of our authors playing the organ. David Glasgow is
now a student at Lancaster Theological Seminary and also plays with the music
department at MCC of the Spirit. David is one of the authors in the
anthology "From Wounded Hearts: Faith Stories of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgendered People and Those Who Love Them". His parents also wrote a
chapter in this excellent anthology.

One of the best things about the building is the bookstore (of course, as a
publisher, I may be biased!). Ginny Rogers supervises the bookstore, in a
room of its own directly to the left as you enter the main doors of the church
building. We were pleased to see a number of our titles prominently
featured on their well-stocked shelves, and Ginny and her assistant Audrey ordered more copies of "Steps to Recovery from Bible Abuse" and "The Bible and Homosexuality" while I was there. Ginny reports that these two books are
especially good sellers in her church bookstore.

I was able to spend a long afternoon with Ginny, her partner Josie, and
their daughter Dawn (who had just turned 10, happy birthday Dawn!), and we
brainstormed about marketing ideas for the Press. They had lots of great
ideas, which I am passing on to Kevin Stone Fries, our new Office Manager.

I also got to spend some time with two remarkable transgendered women, Susan
and Alberta Hamm. Alberta runs the bookstore at the Mid-Atlantic District
Conferences and she is a valued friend and trusted advisor. And it was
great to reconnect with some old friends who have stayed with MCC in Harrisburg through some bad times and good times, Fern Gaffey, David Farney, Judy Ruppert, Manny Constantine, and many others.

Many thanks to Pastor Eva O'Diam, the assistant pastors Bob Life and Steve
Filizzi, and all the people who helped make my visit to Harrisburg a joyous
blessing!

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3. Media Booksigning and Discussion, Nov. 5

Roberta Showalter Kreider will be speaking at Imago Dei MCC in Media, PA, on
Sunday, Nov. 5, at 1 pm. Roberta is the editor of the anthology "From
Wounded Hearts: Faith Stories of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered People and Those Who Love Them".

Roberta's husband, Rev. Harold Kreider, a retired Mennonite minister, will
be sharing his story as well. Kevin and Adam will be going up to Media to
assist Roberta and other authors of "From Wounded Hearts" in signing copies of this wonderful anthology.

Five authors of "From Wounded Hearts" will be there to share their stories,
Douglas Alderfer, Robin Austin, Dr. Helen Rawson Early, Sherry Franklin, and
Jacquelin Marish.

The book signing and discussion will be held at the Unitarian Universalist
Church of Delaware County, 145 West Rose Tree Road, Media, PA. For more
information or directions, contact Imago Dei MCC at 610/724-2146, or visit
their web site at www.ImagoDeiMCC.org.

If you are in the Philadelphia/Delaware County area, please join us for this
event!

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4. "Steps to Recovery from Bible Abuse" in Spanish?

Integrity/Virginia and the remarkably energetic Tom Rouland started the ball
rolling for Dr. Rembert Truluck's very successful two-week book tour this
last July and August. Our visit to the Integrity/Virginia mass and potluck
supper was a highlight of the tour.

At that event, Tom began another initiative by giving Chi Rho Press a check
to launch a fund for the translation and publication of Dr. Truluck's book,
"Steps to Recovery from Bible Abuse" into Spanish. The Integrity/Virginia chapter has followed up this initiative with a second check. So we have a fund set aside for the translation of "Steps to Recovery from Bible Abuse" into Spanish.

People in Mexico are already working on the translation but we need a lot
more money if we are to help get the translation finished, proof-read, and
published in a Spanish edition. Can you help?

If you would like to be part of this initiative, please send your checks or
money order, made out to Chi Rho Press, to us at P.O. Box 7864,
Gaithersburg, MD 20898. Note that it is for "Steps in Spanish" in the memo line of your check.

Thank you, Tom and Integrity, for your vision!

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5. Mid-Atlantic District Conference, Oct. 20-21, Hagerstown, MD

Kevin Fries and Adam DeBaugh will be attending the UFMCC Mid-Atlantic
District Conference, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 20 and 21, at the Ramada Inn and Conference Center in Hagerstown, MD. The theme of the conference is
"Discipleship 2000: Beyond the Walls."

The Conference brochures says the conference will focus on key words such as
social justice, ecumenism, interfaith, healing, hope, heaven, making
ministry relevant, restoration, claiming, meeting people where they are, expanding ministry, living out the vision, and doing ministry with quality. The
scriptural theme is from Isaiah 58, "I want you to share your bread with the
hungry, open your homes to the homeless and poor, remove the yoke of
injustice, let the oppressed go free."

Kevin and I will be staffing a Chi Rho Press bookstore at the conference all
day Friday and Saturday, as well as attending the worship services and the
awards banquet Friday evening. If you are in the Hagerstown area, please
join us and don't forget to stop by at the conference bookstore! Call the
District Office at 717/898-3713 for more information.

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6. Three Models of Church
by Adam DeBaugh

In discussing their churches with a number of people recently, most of whom
are part of MCC congregations, I was asked to reflect on models of church,
relating a local church to some other institutions. It occurred to me that on one
level churches fall into one of three models that have some things in common with
the health care industry. I would like to chat with you a little about these
three models and invite your response.

The first model is that of Church as Hospice. In the Church as Hospice,
people who are "sick" emotionally, spiritually, sometimes mentally, and sometimes
even physically come to the church. But they don't really come for
healing, and the church doesn't proactively seek to heal them. Rather they come with their comfortable illness, and stay there until they die.

The second model is that of Church as Hospital. In the Church as Hospital
model, the church has an active ministry of healing those who are sick
emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and even physically. People come to the
church for spiritual or emotional healing, which the church works hard to
help provide. But because there isn't much else going on, when the people are
healed, they leave the church.

The third model (and the one which I advocate) is a more holistic model of
Church as Community. In the Church as Community, people come in many
stages of health and wholeness, and parts of the church are very good as hospicing dying people, and healing those who want healing. But there are other ministries, other programs, other calls on the life of the Church as Community, so that when people are healed, they are encouraged to stay because they are part of a community of faith.

The Church as Community contains hospital and hospice, just like any
successful community, but there is much more going on there.

What kind of church is yours?

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7. Adam's Last Word.

Hi folks! Happy autumn! I am working hard to clean up the office for
Kevin's start as our new office manager. We are very excited about this, though it means a real leap of faith and a risk for the Press. I remain convinced
that this is a good move and the right thing to do.

More and more of you are going to our Web site and taking advantage of our
shopping cart and paying for your purchases with your credit cards for
which I am very grateful. Dotti Berry and her crew at D3 Innovations are doing a wonderful job on our Web site. Watch for continued improvements to the Web
site at www.ChiRhoPress.com.

Our eNewsletter subscription list topped 800 recently! We do seem to get a
lot of bounces each time we send out an eNews. It is amazing how often people
change their e-mail accounts. Please remember to tell us if you change your
e-mail, so we can keep you on the list!

I hope that October is filled with wonderful things for you all. It is an
incredibly exciting month for us, with Kevin starting, the Mid-Atlantic
District Conference in Hagerstown, and leading up to the book signing in
Media on Nov. 5.

Have a great month!

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We are glad you are partners with us here at Chi Rho Press. We are eager
for your comments, your suggestions, your assistance with selling our books, and
your own purchases! And of course, we covet your prayers for this ministry.

Grace and peace,

Adam DeBaugh, Director
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P.O. Box 7864
Gaithersburg, MD 20898

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