Thursday, June 26, 2025

ON SUNDAY WE CELEBRATE

OUR CUBAN PARTNERSHIP!

On Sunday in worship, we will celebrate the 31^st anniversary of our beautiful partnership with our sisters and brothers at Iglesia Bautista Enmanuel in Ciego de Avila, Cuba. It was in June of 1994 that four of us from Northminster traveled to Cuba in search of a church with which to partner. Our effort was part of the larger effort encouraged by the Alliance of Baptists with which we are affiliated. When we arrived in Ciego de Avila, about a six-hour drive east of Havana, we met some of the founding members of Enmanuel, and we “fell in love”. The rest is a remarkable history of worship, sharing, prayer and material support, laughing, singing, hugging, and eating, and, yes, crying and grieving. Over these 31 years more than 30 of us from Northminster have visited our partner church on our mostly yearly visits, some of us multiple times. Several from Enmanuel have also been able to travel to the United States to visit with us at Northminster. It has truly been a wonderful partnership.

As we are all aware the current economic situation in Cuba is quite dire. There are many reasons for this including our 60+ year embargo that has failed to achieve regime change and only serves to cause hardship on ordinary Cuban folk such as our family there. Food, medicine and fuel are in short supply. Electricity is available for only a few hours each day. Inflation is significantly eating into the meager incomes of most of the people. Because so many have lost hope, in the last couple of years tens of thousands, mostly young people, have sought to emigrate to the United States. Obviously, this is having a significantly negative effect upon the Cuban society.

Our friend Stan Dotson from North Carolina has been teaching at the Ecumenical Seminary in Matanzas, Cuba for the past few years. For some time, he has been organizing a weekly devotional time via WhatsApp where Cubans and North Americans can share prayers and thoughts. Each week Stan sends an email announcing the evening’s agenda, and he always shares thoughts about life in Cuba. Here is an excerpt from last week’s email which speaks to some Cubans who have not lost hope.

“Today I finished up a week at the seminary, offering a course on Spiritual Formation for the hospital chaplaincy program. It is an amazing cohort of 16 people, almost all laypeople, ranging in age from 25 to 65, from across the island and from several denominations. It was delightful to hear their stories and witness their formation as chaplains. One of the more inspiring things to witness is their fierce commitment to stay in Cuba and serve the vulnerable here, in spite of a constant and growing clamor from friends and family abroad for them to jump ship and escape the suffering. To a person, they had stories of this kind of pressure they receive, and their determination to stay the course, to embody as much as anything I've ever seen the biblical concept of steadfast love.

This week, one of the young members of Ebenezer church and a leader in the MLK Center, Yuliet, wrote a moving reflection on this very theme, explaining to her friends on social media why she is committed to staying. Here's an excerpt from her statement, that reads like a manifesto. 

I'm not leaving, because my roots don't have a passport. Because the memory of my ancestors, their quiet strength, their daily resilience, is part of what sustains me. They live within me like a compass that always points to hope.

I believe that utopias are not a naive luxury, but an urgent necessity. That happiness can also be a form of activism. That there is hope in connection, in community, in the small gesture that never gives up. I see myself as part of that history, of that impulse.

I'm not leaving, because my life is anchored in a revolutionary spirituality: in a radical faith in the dignity of the human being, in the mystique of those who believe that the best in us can still blossom.

I stay because I am a patriot. Because I wish to be a founder of life in the homeland for the everyday, with the tenderness of one who believes and does not renounce. I stay because my non-heteronormative gender identity is also part of this soil, and from it I live, fight, and love with pride.

I stay because, as Silvio sings, "I die as I lived." With my heart set on this land. With the conviction that staying is another act of love.

If ever someone needs to leave, it won't be me. It won't be those who believe in the beauty, virtue, dignity, and emancipation of this land. 

We, those who dream and act, stay. Because Cuba is not abandoned: it is transformed in its radicality.

Note: I'm not disparaging or judging the decision or obligation of many dear people I know to leave. I'm speaking about my personal decision so far.”

This Sunday’s worship will be focused on singing the hymns so loved by the Cubans just as they love their homeland and heritage. Despite the diaspora created by the current situation and its devastating effects on family life, music and fellowship still enliven the spirits of Cubans at home and abroad. Let us celebrate this amazing partnership.

La paz de Diós,

D. H. and Craig

Music For Cuba Sunday

June 29, 2025

All of the music for Sunday will focus on our partnership with Iglesia Enmanuel in Ciego de Avila, Cuba. We will celebrate their vibrant culture with some of the favorite melodies and rhythms.

The preludes will include a medley of favorite hymns that those of us who have worshiped in person there have sung. Justin will play the stunningly difficult and brilliant showpiece of Cuban piano music, Malagueña by Ernesto Lacuona, one of the most famous composers of the 20^th century. We will conclude with a singing of the “Second Cuban National Anthem,” Guantanamera, based on a poem by Jose Martí, beloved by his people for his ability to express authentic Cuban emotion as well as his bravery in the struggles for independence. (He was killed in battle in the late 19^th century.) The music was composed by Pete Seeger, famous North American folk and jazz composer. The congregation will join in the chorus. “Guantanamera, Juajira, Guantanamera.” (Country girl from Guantanamo)

The hymns will be sung in English and reflect loose translations of the original Spanish as well as expressing emotions relevant to the current difficult situations. Their melodies, while possibly new to most of us, are catchy and infectious. You will leave humming them!!

The anthem is an arrangement of a hymn which begins “As morning breaks over the hills of Cuba, the countryside fills with joy.” This joy becomes an expression of praise to God.

The Communion Anthem was composed by D. H. last year in commemoration of our then 30-year partnership, now 31! Justice, Peace, and Love are the elements that strengthen and maintain our strong bond with our family there. The Spanish version was sung by the City Choir of Ciego de Avila and is on the sound-track of the video of our 2025 visit.

The Closing Hymn is a Carl Daw text (first 2 verses) that speaks of the dream of a Day of Peace in which love wins over war and conflict. The last verse, added by D. H. is a prayer for vision of the North American people to  see and understand the needless suffering that the current situation incurs. It is set to the iconic C. Hubert H. Parry tune JERUSALEM.

We will conclude with a simple chorus that is used in almost every service at Enmanuel, possibly with the exception of during Lent, Alle, Alle,Alleluia! The congregation will join in this easy, fun chorus as the choir recesses.

¡Cuba, si!

Tiffany Smith (26th)

Larry Prather (27th)

Sherri Free (30th)

Patti Morris (1st)

Connie Smallwood (1st)

Lola Wheeler (1st)

Megan Proffer (4th)

Northminster welcomes new members Cheri and Danelle Leger and

G Livingston and Traci Stephens

SAVE THE DATES!

Northminster's Vacation Bible School will be held Sunday, July 20 through Thursday, July 24.

Registration will be online and a link will be provided here soon. Also there is a sign-up sheet in the hall for volunteers.

ATTENTION:

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

From time to time through the years Renee arrives at the church to find that the front door is either unlocked or not pushed closed hard enough to latch (but the alarm is usually set). Saturday morning and Monday morning the church was found to be unlocked and or unlatched, but the alarm was set. IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU CHECK THE THUMB DEPRESSOR AND PULL THE DOOR TOWARDS YOU EACH TIME YOU LEAVE to ensure the thumb latch is in the locked position and that the door has actually latched shut!

Right now with the hot weather, the wood doors swell causing them to not "slam" and latch securely. The door closes and sounds like it has shut properly but it DOES NOT LATCH shut.

If you have been entrusted with a key to this church it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to check the door each and every time you are the last one leaving. It is easy to ascertain who was the last person on site by reviewing our security cameras. We do not want to start doing this to monitor key holders because we realize this is not intentional and is simply an oversight. However, it is entirely too important to continue to ignore. In order to retain your key, you must be willing to double check every entrance/exit that anyone in your group has used. You can no longer assume the door is locked! You should be as conscientious in leaving the church secure as you would your own home. Thank You!

Renee is also asking that those coming and going from her office on Sunday mornings please refrain from bringing in coffee and other drink items. The "fairly" new carpet in the office has begun to be stained with dripped coffee and other drinks which she has been spot cleaning weekly. Also, her desk and office is so cluttered on Monday mornings with left over bottles, coffee cups, trash, etc...that she has to clean up and sort through before she can even sit down to start work. Please be mindful and respectful of her work space. Thank you!



Renee would also like to remind greeters to retrieve the attendance sheets from the sanctuary following worship and place the books back in the hymnal holder for the following Sunday. The sheets should be placed stacked on her desk.

Thank you, everyone, for your attention in these matters. It will be greatly appreciated!

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NO WEDNESDAY CHOIR PRACTICE

IN JULY

The choir will be on "vacation" during the month of July but will continue to meet on Sunday mornings at 9am. Notice will be given when Wednesday choir rehearsals resume.

NORTHMINSTER SOFTBALL SCHEDULE!

PUB THEOLOGY WILL MEET IN JULY

No meeting this Month!

Northminster's Pub Theology TAKES PLACE 7pm at the Fat Pelican on the 3rd Thursday of each month, except in June this year.

"Different Brews, Different Views. All are welcome!"

This Sunday

9:00 am - Choir Rehearsal

10:00 am - Sunday School

10:45 am - Preludes

11:00 am - Worship Service



Noon - After Church Fellowship

5:00 pm - Youth

Wednesdays

Choir will take a "vacation" during the month of July but will continue to meet on Sunday mornings at 9am.

Upcoming Events

Sunday, June 29: 5th Sunday Lunch

Sunday, June 29 - July 4: Youth Camp

Arrangement by Ellen Prather