40,000: ……..Number of people registered to run in the marathon
1.5 million: …Number of spectators expected to show up and view the race
6,800: ……….Number of international runners, representing 123 countries
56: ……………Percent of runners who are male
44: ……………Percent of runners who are female
33.3: …………Percent of runners participating for the first time
82: ……………Age of oldest runner
1,080: ……….Units of intravenous fluid available for dehydrated runners.
13,910: ……..Number of runners from Illinois.
Willow Creek A2 Conference - David Ireland, Christ Church October 28, 2006
Posted by Steve in : Weblog, Church, Methods & Strategies , add a commentWow — It only gets better!
Day Two started off with a tremendous message from Dr. David Ireland, Pastor of David Ireland is a pastor of Christ Church in Montclair, New Jersey that is 80% African American and 20% other, while the local community is about 70% caucasian. This compares to the national average where the majority of churches in America typically have no greater than 2-5% of diversity in their congregations. This is probably the most learned man on the issue of race in churches that I have heard. He told us he has a PhD in Organizational Management and his thesis was on the difference in racial issues in large churches, both black and white.
1. Discover each other — Be a learner. You can’t change your culture unless you are willing to understand the other person’s life, baggage etc.
2. Racial diversity is “accommodation” NOT tolerance — The mistake churches make is to communicate the idea of we will tolerate your race or your culture. We need to communicate that we will make room for you.
3. Intentionally create diversity in our worship AND our preaching — Dr Ireland made a very profound statement about ethnic diversity in the American church, as he told the story of a Puerto Rican couple who were bringing their family to church before a Sunday afternoon wedding in the church. “I asked the worship team to learn a couple of songs in Spanish and learn the correct pronunciations. When we sang the song in Spanish, the Spanish speaking grandmother cried as she felt that this church had PLANNED for their visit.”
I was impacted greatly by this statement. “We planned for them!” They had made a conscious decision to alter their current style of worhsip to accomodate those they knew to be in the congregation that day. He was quick to say — don’t just go out and hire an Asian Pastor, or a Hispanic pastor or an African American pastor. It means that the elders and leadership team must have a broken heart and a fire in their belly for the people that are NOT in your church. Your church ought to reflect the demographics in a 20 minutes radius of your church. If it doesn’t, you need to develop passion for the lost in your community and out of that passion we strategically accommodate for those people…even before they arrive.
Friday Fun Fact About Chicago October 27, 2006
Posted by Steve in : Weblog, Chicago Fact , add a commentI love this city! In fact, I have just celebrated my 20th anniversary of my move here last week. Chicago is the greatest large urban city in the world to live in (IMHO!) and I want to share each week a fun fact about Chicago from the Encyclopedia of Chicago by Janice L. Reiff Ann Durkin Keating,
James R. Grossman
As a Christfollower and member of Park Community Church, a church committed to the city, , we want to celebrate all the goodness and excitement of Chicago, the third largest city in the United States. Cities are a critical element in God’s redemptive plan, because they are places of size and population density, centers of influence and commerce, and the gateway for those who are broken, in transition or in need. Given its preeminence as a global business and transportation hub, we believe that Chicago is one of the most exciting and strategic places to live, work and live out the life that God has for us here. Today we will start this new Friday item by looking at the venerable Wrigley Field.
Wrigley Field
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A mecca for baseball fans, a Chicago landmark, and the heart of “Wrigleyville,” fabled Wrigley Field originated in 1914 as home of the Chicago Whales in the short-lived Federal League. When that league folded in 1916, owner Charles Weeghman bought the National League Chicago Cubs, moving them from the West Side to his new ballpark at Clark and Addison Streets. Following purchase of the team by William Wrigley, Jr., in 1920, the park became Wrigley Field in 1926. A second deck was added in 1927–28; bleachers, the famous manually operated scoreboard, and ivy-covered outfield walls in 1937; and lights in 1988, 40 years after they were standard elsewhere.
Rich in legends, redolent with nostalgia, and superbly maintained, Wrigley Field is known nationwide as a site for baseball as it once was and as many would like it still to be: a game played on natural grass, chiefly in the daytime, in intimate surroundings that link players and fans, in a residential neighborhood rather than a sea of parking lots. Rumbling by the right-field stands, “L” trains link baseball with its yesterdays and the Cubs with their legions of North Side fans.
Successfully marketing “Beautiful Wrigley Field” and “The Friendly Confines” as an attractive place to spend a carefree afternoon in the sun, the Wrigleys and the Tribune Company (owners since 1981) have found it unnecessary in the modern era to mount a consistently good team. Built for baseball, the park proved an unsuitable home for football’s Chicago Bears, who played there until 1970. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, about to become the oldest ballpark in baseball, Wrigley Field had become a model for a new generation of baseball-only parks in other cities.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Chicago
Lionsgate Says Yes To Movies Burned to DVD October 27, 2006
Posted by Steve in : Weblog , add a commentI am a big film fan and the reality of first run movies being burned right to DVD is one step closer to reality. Yesterday, independent film studio Lionsgate agreed to have its movies available for burning to DVD the same day the titles are released in stores.
Online movie service CinemaNow on Wednesday said independent film studio Lionsgate had agreed to have its movies available for burning to DVD the same day the titles are released in stores. CinemaNow is the first movie service to provide a burn-to-DVD service for Hollywood movies, although rival Movielink has announced plans for a similar service. CinemaNow offers films from major studios for burning, but the selection remains very limited at about 100.
The first Lionsgate movie to be available on CinemaNow and in retailers at the same time will be “An American Haunting,” which is set for release this week. Older Lionsgate titles that will be available include “Reservoir Dogs” and “National Lampoon’s Van Wilder.” (more…)
No Perfect People Allowed Here October 27, 2006
Posted by Steve in : Weblog , add a commentAlthough I haven’t posted my thoughts on yesterday’s conference speakers at the Willow Creek A2 conference, I am excited to hear John Burke from Gateway Community Church in Austin Texas speak this morning on “creating a come as you are” culture.
Located in Austin, Texas, Gateway Church has a “no perfect people allowed” policy because there are no perfect people. Founding Pastor John Burke started the church eight years ago with a passion to create a church culture that authentically and openly welcomed postmoderns wherever they were spiritually. Most of the congregation was unchurched before coming to Gateway; 40 percent are under 30 years of age; and over half are single.
We have the same demographics and reach the same post-modern 20-40 years olds in Chicago so this willl be an excellent case study for our team.
Park Service Day is This Saturday October 26, 2006
Posted by Steve in : Weblog, The City, Church , add a comment
Park Service Day is this Saturday, October 28, 2006. We are expecting more than 700 volunteers from Park Community Church who will be painting, gardening, building, and cleaning – lending a helping hand to our community. This is a fantastic opportunity to invite your friends and co-workers to help renew the city. There is still time to grab your friends and join us at 8:30 a.m. at Walt Disney School at 4140 N Marine Drive. Don’t know where to go? Here is a map.
We plan gather at Disney School at 8:30 a.m. for bagels, coffee, some worship and instructions, before more than 700 people will fan out across this world class city to 32 building / cleanup sites in the city for a day of “serving our neighbors” and “serving the city”.
Park Service Day is a chance for Parkers to invest in the wellness of this great city – an opportunity to turn our words into actions. Come with old friends and make new friends as we go out across Chicago to share Christ’s love in tangible ways. We will be painting, gardening, building, and cleaning – lending a helping hand to our community. We invite everyone to join us and be blessed by deepened friendships, surprised by different neighborhoods, and warmed by good old-fashioned hard work.
Often, people ask us “why do we do this?” In Jeremiah 29, God’s people were and are encouraged to build homes, to plant gardens, to establish families, to settle down and stay in the city and as well to seek and pray for the peace and prosperity of the city. Park is committed to encouraging and enabling people stay in the city, to establishing and redeeming Christian marriages and families within the city, being role models to our neighbors, and passing on the Gospel to future generations —thus impacting the city of Chicago: one life, one family, one block and one neighborhood at a time.
As we are individually transformed, our new lives in Christ will touch and reach our communities: family, friends, neighbors, coworkers and others within our spheres of influence. “When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices –Through the blessing of the upright, a city is exalted” (Proverbs 11:10-11).
At Park, we want to be the kind of church that causes the City of Chicago to rejoice. So we will use our time, gifts and resources to meet the needs of others in our community and will also partner with ministries that are making an impact in the city. Park Service Day is one of those opportunities to put feet to our faith — please join us!
The Power of a Short Term Missions Trip October 26, 2006
Posted by Steve in : Weblog , add a commentI love to read stories of how a short term mission trip causes life change for the people on that trip. Read this story about how a weekend mission trip to Honduras sponsored by his church in Bedford Hills in 2002 opened Brock Barrett’s eyes to a new way of reaching out to the needy.
Barrett, founder of Air Calvary, a Mount Kisco-based Christian mission aviation charity, is now building a full-time air ambulance program for the central African country of Gabon. Although his 2002 trip with seven other parishioners from the Bedford Community Church only included “light construction work” to help build a reservoir, he met a doctor at a local missionary hospital who alerted him to a great need for an air ambulance program in the region. But he was hooked. On his return, he founded Air Calvary to assist Christian missionaries with their work in remote areas.
This is the kind of exposure trip that helps us to see the needs in a community so different that our own urban situation. Back when I first started attending Park Community Church in the early 90’s, Park started a twice-annual trip called Vacation With A Purpose that still goes to today. This trip would take a group of people, generally people who had been regular attenders and were ready for a different kind of vacation.
In our case, we were led by an excellent ST missions director at Park, Mary Coleman (Mary Mayo now), to an orphanage about 200 miles south of San Diego run by a Christian non-profit called Foundation For His Ministry. We spent a week seeing God at work in the lives of missionaries, as well as migrant workers as we went into the migrant worker camps each day to help the children.
The stories of life change were awesome as people got out of the city routine, got a chance to let down the walls and share how this sort of trip was impacting them, and a chance to see people who had nothing (workers) worshiping God and thanking Him for all His blessings. It is a powerful week and usually ends up with some people making a change in their life.
Who Is This Jesus? October 26, 2006
Posted by Steve in : Weblog , add a commentPark Community Church is about to start its next series called “Who is this Jesus?,” where we will explore that question using the book of Luke as the basis for our Sunday message series. In preparation, I have been listening to a series by one of my favorite pastors, Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill church in Seattle, in a series they called “Vintage Jesus”. I love his blog, where he chronicles what many famous folks think of Jesus:
It seems that everyone has an opinion of Jesus. The following quotes are a smattering of what great figures in human history have said about Jesus:
- Mahatma Gandhi: “I cannot say that Jesus was uniquely divine. He was as much God as Krishna, or Rama, or Mohammed, or Zoroaster.”
- Adolf Hitler: “In boundless love as a Christian and as a man I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord at last rose in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the Temple the brood of vipers and adders. How terrific was His fight for the world against the Jewish poison.”
- Larry King: “was once asked who he would most want to interview if he could choose anyone from all of history. He said, ‘Jesus Christ.’ The questioner said, ‘And what would you like to ask Him?’ King replied, I would like to ask Him if He was indeed virgin-born. The answer to that question would define history for me.’”
- John Lennon: “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue with that; I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first—rock and roll or Christianity.”
- Carlos Mencia: “You know what, I became more Christian after I saw the movie [The Da Vinci Code] because, I, you know, as a Christian, I was like, you know, Jesus died for our sins he suffered. But now that I know that he’s married, I’m like, wow, did he really suffer. Poor guy.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche: “Jesus died too soon. If he had lived to my age he would have repudiated his doctrine.”
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau: “Socrates died like a philosopher; Jesus Christ died like a God.”
- Joseph Smith: “Mormonism is the pure doctrine of Jesus Christ; of which I myself am not ashamed.”
- Mark Twain: “If Christ were here now there is one thing he would not be—a Christian.”
- H. G. Wells: “I am a historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history.”
- Oprah Winfrey: “There couldn’t possibly be just one way . . .” [Lady in the audience: “What about Jesus?”] “What about Jesus? . . . Does God care about your heart or does God care about if you call his son Jesus?”
- Malcolm X: “All white people who have studied history and geography know that Christ was a black man. Only the poor, brainwashed American Negro has been made to believe that Christ was white, to maneuver him into worshiping the white man.”
Jesus is the central character in the history of the world and this series is going to challenging and enlightening as we explore who Jesus says he was. Please join us by subscribing to our podcast here or downloading message from our Sunday Messages download page here.
Willow Creek A2 Conference - Day One Summary October 25, 2006
Posted by Steve in : Weblog, Methods & Strategies , add a commentWow! What a day of team-building and mind-stretching by some of the best ministry minds in the land. Got to Willow and into the 7,200 seat auditorium in time for some great cross-cultural worship to open up the conference. Then Bill Hybels came out and began to talk about key events in his life that have shaped him as a leader (other than his profession of faith). These are not small things but events where God touched your life, rocked your world, and caused you to dive into ministry.
My Personal Key Takeaways from Bill Hybels:
- What would the world be like if every pastor raised their game 5%…just 5%. This had me thinking about incremental gains that could be made and time-hog projects that could be jettisoned to get 5% more effective in our ministry at Park Community Church in the city of Chicago.
- He was impacted because a Godly man asked him a couple of simple questions: “What are you going to do with your life that will last forever? Are you going to just keep accumulating stuff and experiences as the signature of your life or are you going to leave an eternal legacy?” Also, his youth pastor told him “the only thing that will move on after the fervent heat of Christ’s return melts the earth is people, so why would you invest your one and only life in anything other than people?”
Man, can this guy tell personal stories that get you motivated or what?
Then Craig Groeschel from Life Church in Oklahoma came out to address their strategy of multii-site church. Life Church is one church, meeting in nine locations through the use of video and satellite technology. This enables all of the locations to be connected as one, no matter how far apart they are physically. Each LifeChurch.tv location has the same dynamic worship experience, with its own “personal touches”, including its own live band and campus pastor to lead worship. People who attend LifeChurch.tv find the quality of a large church with the intimacy and personal interaction of a smaller church. The Mission of LifeChurch.tv is to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ.
My Personal Key Takeaways from Craig Groeschel:
- They have taken an “evangelism as our priority” view and therefore have been on the forefront of multi-site church.
- He was quick to say — don’t follow us — ask your own questions and figure our what God is doing in your backyard.
- He did give us some great questions to ponder as he taught out of Acts 2:
- What is we invited peopel to surrender their lives to Christ’s headship EVERY Sunday?
- What if we gave to everyone who had need?
- What if we promoted other churches in the area and people left Craig’s church but got plugged in at their new church?
- What if you preached to people on video?
- What if a church was no longer bound by walls and buildings?
- What if we could redeem technology for Kingdom expansion?
This has promoted team discussion on the viability of multi-site in our young urbanite setting and its potential. Very interesting to ponder…..
We then got to hear from Matthew Barnett of the LA Dream Center, who gave a riveting message based on Nehemiah 2:10 — promoting the welfare of the Israelites. This was a good day to sharpen iron against iron — it also allows us to focus as a team on some of the issues raised and how we would deal with them.
Acts 2 Conference - Day 1 Preview October 25, 2006
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We are headed out to the first day of Willow Creek Association’s A2 conference. Designed to be different than the leadership summit, its goal is to change the typical conference learning experience by exploring case studies of five innovative church models — first introduced by their leaders then followed by a lively Q&A by the “bullpen” — questioned by a panel of church experts which includes Bill Hybels, Erwin McManus, David Anderson, William Vanderbloemen, Jim Mellado, and Greg Hawkins.The goal of this conference is to help church leaders and staff learn how to anticipate and avoid common ministry pitfalls and apply breakthrough thinking and principles to the mission of each individual church. The church models on the docket are:
Wednesday (today)
- LifeChurch.tv (Edmond, OK) :: Craig Groeschel :: Multi-site Phenomenon
- Los Angeles Dream Center (Los Angeles, CA) :: Matthew Barnett :: Community Impact
Thursday
- Christ Church (Montclair, NJ) :: David Ireland :: Multicultural Outreach
- CityLife Church (Australia) :: Mark & Nicole Conner :: Leading Through Change
Friday
- Gateway Church (Austin, TX) :: John Burke :: Come-As-You-Are Culture
And to top it off, Gene Appel - now the Senior Pastor of Willow Creek Community Church (South Barrington campus) will share his latest transition strategies and leadership challenges for their next era of ministry.
I am looking forweard to hearing the Life Church multi-site strategy as well as John Burke from Gateway Community Church, whom I met at a conference last year — he and his staff were very helpful as we underwent our capital campaign in sharing “lessons learned” and “if I could have done it differently’s”. I am also hoping to get some breakout time with Greg Hawkins, Willows Executive Pastor who has been a great blessing over the last year.
Off to the Willow Creek A2 Conference October 24, 2006
Posted by Steve in : Weblog, Urban Church, Technology, Methods & Strategies , add a commentTomorrow a few of the Park Community Church team is headed to the Willow Creek Acts 2 conference, including Jackson Crum, Scott Clifton, Jen Cousino and Franklin Woodland, one of our elders. It is so exciting to do ministry with these folks and the rest of the team. Each of them has a passion to see people come to know the eternal salvation offered through Jesus Christ, and we have such an opportunity in the city of Chicago!
Some of the speakers include Bill Hybels, Craig Groeschel, Erwin McManus, David Ireland, John Burke, Mark and Nicole Connor, Matthew Barnett and Gene Appel. We are hoping to get a better undestanding of the role multi-site plays in a church’s life, as we continue to expand in the city.
Plotz says “Let’s See What the Bible Says” October 22, 2006
Posted by Steve in : Weblog , add a commentGot wind of this a while ago and think it is an excellent exercise in understanding 2/3’s of our culture. David PLotz is going to be Blogging the Bible. For those of you who have not discovered it, Slate.com is a very popular news and culture webzine, which leans left on most things. David Plotz, deputy editor of Slate, is proud of his religion but calls himself a “lax Jew”, and he acknowledges that he knows very little about its foundational scripture. Therefore, the essence of this project is that he proposes to read through the Bible, blogging as he goes along, to see what it says.
“I want to find out what happens when an ignorant person actually reads the book on which his religion is based. I think I’m in the same position as many other lazy but faithful people (Christians, Jews, Moslems, Hindus). I love Judaism; I love (most of) the lessons it has taught me about how to live in the world; and yet I realized I am fundamentally ignorant about its foundation, its essential document. So, what will happen if I approach my Bible empty, unmediated by teachers or rabbis or parents? What will delight and horrify me? How will the Bible relate to the religion I practice, and the lessons I thought I learned in synagogue and Hebrew School?”
This should provide an excellent window into the heart of a bible “outsider” Plotz does not have preconceptions and baggage that many Christians have. He vows to do blog through the Bible respectfully.
“I don’t intend any kind of insult. My goal is not to find contradictions, mock impossible events, or scoff at hypocrisy. Nor am I quite stupid enough to pretend that Judaism (or Christianity) is just the Bible.” I could not hope to read the Bible in any better way.
Get ready for a great dia-blog! Here is where it starts.
Family Caregiving 101 October 22, 2006
Posted by Steve in : Weblog, Family , add a commentWith aging parents and in-laws, this is an issue near and dear to me. I am so thankful to come across this post in The Outbox:
Many families in America are caught in the double bind of caring for aging parents while still raising children at home. I see the scenario of caregiving needs playing out all the time in our congregation, and congregations across the country. There are lots of great programs out there for equipping us to be caregivers (such as Stephen Ministry).
Just came across a website called Family Caregiving 101. It is a resource particularly for families who are in the situation of caregiving — but it should also be a great equipping resource for missional Christians who have opportunities to reach out to caregivers around them. A quote from the site
No one wants to think about adversity. No one wants to see it staring them in the face. And yet that is what people need to do if they are going to be our friends. They will have to put their fears aside and learn how to maneuver a wheelchair and possibly learn how to communicate with us in a new way. That’s why they are friends, and we will cherish them all the more for sticking by us because we know that so many others have a hard time dealing with our changed situation and will drift away.
It’s a secular site — our challenge is learning to extend the care in Christ’s name.
Adaptive Reuse of a Church October 22, 2006
Posted by Steve in : Weblog, Church, Adaptive Reuse, Church Construction , add a commentMany buildings and other commercial and organization structures are being made into churches and churches are also being made into residential homes. In Chicago, our church, Park Community Church, is providing an adaptive reuse for a 70,000 square foot warehouse, which will become our permanent church home. See here for the building plans.
In Santa Monica, architect and educator Anne Troutman had just about given up on finding a home with character when her prayers were answered–an 1875 Carpenter Gothic church had appeared on a multiple listing service. She and her husband went the other direction, taking a church and creating an adaptive reuse into a residence. Read the whole article here.
The humble church–Santa Monica’s oldest remaining wood structure and a landmark since 1977–has had four owners and three locations in its 130-year life. When the building was threatened with demolition in 1971, local artist Helen Taylor Sheats saved it from the wrecking ball by converting it into her atelier. The predicament for Troutman and her husband, architect Aleks Istanbullu, was how to retain the architectural integrity of the church, yet have it reflect their modern sensibilities. Their solution: a free-standing cabinet-like structure set within the 40-foot-square sanctuary. “The walls don’t touch the old church,” explains Troutman. “We essentially built a building within a building.”
Wolverines are 8-0! October 21, 2006
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Jesus and Expresso? October 21, 2006
Posted by Steve in : Weblog , 1 comment so farEagle Brook Church in Lino Lakes, Minnesota has designed their new auditorium with theater-style cup holders. “Coffee is such a part of our church culture,” director of operations Scott Anderson said. “If they’re gonna bring it in, they need a place to put it. It was a logistical decision.” However, not everyone is excited about the new convenience. Anderson admits that to some in the local press “it doesn’t seem very spiritual.” Their rational is that people are going to drink coffee and want a safe place to ensure they don’t make a mess:
But church leaders figured it was difficult to stand, sit or praise the Lord with your hands in the air while worrying about dumping a hot latte onto fellow Christians. So they decided to add cup holders — anything to boost their reputation for putting people at ease.
So what do you think? Is it a good thing or a bad thing? We will post your comments.
Chicago Marathon Weekend October 20, 2006
Posted by Steve in : Weblog , add a commentChicago is a sport town and no bigger sports spectacle that the marathon this weekend. With $650,000 in prize money plus the carrot of a $1 million payoff in the new World Marathon Majors series, the 29th Chicago Marathon will be the epicenter of global running this weekend. Top contenders from Kenya, Ethiopia, Japan, Tanzania, Romania, Russia, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and even the United States will give Chicago’s fall sports landscape a healthy shot of adrenaline on what could be a chilly, rainy day. The race is now part of the World Marathon Majors, a two-year competition in which runners earn points based on how they perform in Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York. The top man and woman in the standings earns $500,000.
The forecast says the conditions will be less than ideal, with temperatures around 40, gusting winds and the possibility of snow. We have a bunch of people from Park Community Church running this year and it should be a great spectacle as it runs right by the church’s location at Francis Parker School. Let’s go runners!
TECHNOLOGY MEETS THE RUNNERS AND FRIENDS
Have you wondered how people find their friend, family member, or colleague that is running in the Chicago Marathon? It’s like finding a needle in a haystack.
Luckily there are a few tools that will help folks track runners throughout the 26.2-mile course. Each runner will have a chip on his or her shoe that allows their time to be tracked as they run through any of the split time booths. Updates on runners can be sent to you via e-mail or phone (text message) thanks to the Runner Update Network by Active.com. Simply search for your favorite runner, and select your preferred method of contact. Isn’t that crazy? I will be able to sit in church and check my Treo and see how my friends are doing (oops, maybe the Pastor is reading this!).
Look at the following numbers from the Redeye:
By the numbers
Of those, 42.4% are from Chicago and 49.7 percent are from the suburbs.
41,780: ……..Gallons of Gatorade. The marathon also will have 51,984 gallons of Hinckley
41,780: ……..Gallons of Gatorade. The marathon also will have 51,984 gallons of Hinckley
spring water, 1,462,500 paper cups and 40,000 PowerBar goodie bags.
1977: …………Year that the 1st Chicago Marathon took place.
1977: …………Year that the 1st Chicago Marathon took place.
Bo’s Boys Cry the Blues October 20, 2006
Posted by Steve in : Weblog, Breaking News , add a commentWhen I was in college, I had the privilege of serving as a manager for the University of Michigan football team under the coaching of Bo Schembechler. We were all concerned to hear that Bo has been admitted to an Ann Arbor hospital’s cardiac-care unit for observation today after he felt ill at the taping of a weekly television show. “He is in good condition,” spokesman Bruce Madej said, relaying a statement from the University of Michigan health system. “No more information will be released this evening, and the Schembechlers will not be giving interviews.”
Schembechler had a heart attack on the eve of his first Rose Bowl in 1970, and another one in 1987. He has had two quadruple heart bypass operations. The 77-year-old Schembechler was at WXYZ-TV studios in Southfield and wasn’t feeling well at about 10 a.m., before the taping of the Big Ten Ticket, which previews Michigan and Michigan State football games. Don Shane, the station’s sports director and host of the show, said station employees called 911 and attended to Schembechler before paramedics arrived. The former coach soon was feeling better, however, and decided to go on with the taping before leaving to see a doctor. “He was being Bo and extremely adamant about taping the show,” Shane said. I can concur — Bo was a demanding fellow who put a lot of pressure on himself — which resulted in an unbelieveable winning percentage. He was named Big Ten Coach of the Year seven times and compiled a 194-48-5 record at Michigan from 1969-89 — a 78.5% winning percentage over 20 years.
Park Service Day October 19, 2006
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In addition to the 12 ministries that we serve at each week, each year Park Community Church mobilizes its congregation to serve the city on a day we call Park Service Day. We gather in the early morning for worship and instructions, then more than 600 people fanned out last year to 40 building / cleanup sites in the city for a day of “serving our neighbors” and “serving the city”.
Park Service Day is a chance for Parkers to invest in the wellness of this great city – an opportunity to turn our words into actions. Come with old friends and make new friends as we go out across Chicago to share Christ’s love in tangible ways. Hundreds of volunteers will be painting, gardening, building, and cleaning – lending a helping hand to our community. We invite everyone to join us and be blessed by deepened friendships, surprised by different neighborhoods, and warmed by good old-fashioned hard work.
This year Park Service Day is on Saturday, October 28, 2006. We are expecting more than 700 volunteers who will be painting, gardening, building, and cleaning – lending a helping hand to our community. This is a fantastic opportunity to invite your friends and co-workers to help renew the city.
Why do we do this? In Jeremiah 29, God’s people were and are encouraged to build homes, to plant gardens, to establish families, to settle down and stay in the city and as well to seek and pray for the peace and prosperity of the city. Park is committed to encouraging and enabling people stay in the city, to establishing and redeeming Christian marriages and families within the city, being role models to our neighbors, and passing on the Gospel to future generations —thus impacting the city of Chicago: one life, one family, one block and one neighborhood at a time.
As we are individually transformed, our new lives in Christ will touch and reach our communities: family, friends, neighbors, coworkers and others within our spheres of influence. “When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices –Through the blessing of the upright, a city is exalted” (Proverbs 11:10-11).
At Park, we want to be the kind of church that causes the City of Chicago to rejoice. So we will use our time, gifts and resources to meet the needs of others in our community and will also partner with ministries that are making an impact in the city. Park Service Day is one of those opportunities to put feet to our faith — please join us!
