The Board of Trustees held its regular meeting on January 10, 2009.  A number of changes were instituted to try to combat the lack of adequate financial support the corporation has been struggling with for a while.  Some of these measures will directly affect you. 

Who Will Receive Newsletters

The most obvious change which may affect you is we can no longer afford to send paper newsletters to those who are not members.  You have received this edition, as soon as we could free up funds to print and send it, in order to inform you of the change in this policy. 

We will continue to email both members and the poet’s circle when a newsletter is released if you are on our email list.  So, if you are now on our regular mailing list (the poet’s circle) and you have email, please be sure we have your current email address in our system by emailing us right away at TSCenters@comcast.net, before it slips your mind. 

One of the cost cutting measures passed at the board meeting was to give up the multi-purpose room and kitchen work areas to the building owner, who will use them as an apartment along with the shared use of the library and prayer room areas.  Over the years, the multi-purpose room has seen a variety of uses, from classes to book and Bible studies, to worship services, and even as an overnight shelter for the homeless and a guest room for other visitors. 

Even though none of these activities happened often, this change will leave us without a space for any classes, groups, or meetings.  Any such involvements in connection with the T&SC, or on its behalf, will now need to be held offsite. 

These areas are in the process of being cleared out, which should be done by June.  Once the transition is completed, the back part of the building will no longer be accessible. 

The library and prayer room will remain physically the same, but will have restricted access.  From approximately 8:00 p.m. until 8:00 a.m. they will be closed off and locked for exclusive use as part of the apartment.  From roughly eight each morning until eight each evening the double doors will be reopened allowing normal access to the library and prayer rooms for keyholders, or for others during any open hours. 

OK, that is sort of the bad news, although it is best to avoid bad or good judgments on such. Basically, it is just change.  Only time will show it to be either a benefit or a detraction.  Next, is a piece of good news coming from the change. 

Up until now the WPP has been available to those members who serve in volunteer positions, or contribute "above and beyond" financially.  The board has changed the guidelines to allow all members to participate in the WPP. 

So what is the Wholesale Purchasing Program?  Quite simply, it lets any member of the T&SC place a special pre-paid order, for items available through Cherokee Bill’s Trade Center, and pay only the wholesale cost, plus shipping and any applicable sales tax (if it is not a food item).  Savings can range anywhere from 30% to 50% depending on the items.  Companies usually have minimum wholesale order requirements, which is the reason a WPP coordinator would be helpful.  When someone places an order, the coordinator could advise others who have an interest in the product line that an order is soon to be made, to see who else might want to piggy-back on the current order, instead of having to meet a new minimum down the road. 

While we currently have the minimum number of trustees stated in our by-laws, we would like to add two trustees.  Terms are three years.  The board meets twice a year (January and June) to review and determine the T&SC policies and procedures.  Contact us if interested. 

Executive Director

With william’s move back to fill the vacant position of treasurer, we have an opening for the Executive Director role.  While in our current financial situation this is a volunteer position, and we would certainly like to talk with you if you wish to fill it as a volunteer, there is no reason that a person possessing the right fund raising and/or grant writing skills could not transition this it into an income earning status. 

An Executive Director makes sure corporate responsibilities, as determined by the board and the laws under which we operate, are being fulfilled.  Also, the right person in this role could very well guide us to a new level in the future. 

It is important to note that the T&SC Executive Director opening is not about running the Teaching & Sharing Center of Grand Ledge. 

For quite some time we have had a backlog of new materials for the library, waiting for someone to process them into the system.  Our lending library is actually a combination of the christian life programs library, which is corporate owned, and the a touch of william (IAM) library.  However, getting the new items onto the shelves is frequently at the bottom of the priorities list.  The procedures are not difficult to learn, they simply take time.  Having someone who would like to oversee the library, and a few volunteers to process in materials, would be very helpful.  The library contains books, audio-tapes, CDs, VHS videos, and DVDs.  If you are interested in the library, and would be willing to participate, we would appreciate hearing from you. 

Mentioned earlier in this newsletter, the WPP is underutilized primarily because no one stays on top of it.  A WPP coordinator would not even have to necessarily be local.  Simply touching base, mostly with a courtesy phone call (or could be text messaging for those comfortable with that technology) to those who have indicated a desire to be contacted when an order might be going out, would likely be the primary activity.  If you like to talk on the phone (or send text messages) this might be for you. 

Newsletter & Correspondence

Having someone to oversee the newsletter and correspondence could allow for communications more often. Primarily, basic typing skills are all that is needed.  The rest we can teach you. 

From a Board Member
by Rev. Richard D. McKenzie

I am suggesting how you can contribute to our Center.  Make a quarterly donation.  Start small. I suggest $10.00 per quarter as an amount you will not miss very much over 3 months.  Do this for one year.  Next year, increase your quarterly gift a small amount, again that you won't miss much.  This is how I have done it since before the Center was a 501C3 corporation.  Now it is a habit. 

I am asking you to contribute to our Center.  I sense we are near the end of its existence [without your assistance] as a place and a resource for God to use.  I believe that the Center serves a purpose for seeking and exploring, for retreating and learning, for peace and outreach.  It has a unique way.  I don't want to see it fade away. 

So, if you are not contributing and you have a similar sense about this place, I am asking you to contribute and suggesting how you might continue to contribute regularly.  And please start now! 

(Rick McKenzie is pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church here in Grand Ledge.
He is one of the original incorporators, and is in his fifth year on the T&SC Board of Trustees) 

- william

The standard membership fee is $24 annually.  There is also a lifetime option for those with more substantial resources.  However, of most importance, is the "nobody left behind" options we instituted when going to the single level membership a while back.  This allows those in tight financial situations to be a member for as little as $5 per year (and even nothing for extreme conditions).  You should not hesitate to use this provision, if your circumstance dictates it. It is more encouraging to us that you belong, than the amount shared.  Besides, if you hold off on membership because you feel you do not want to send less, then we end up with nothing, plus the nagging question of whether you care about what we do.  Become a member today.  Membership Form 

June Membership Meeting

Psalm 146:5-6 (NIV)

Although I have no idea when we will have another newsletter come out, I began writing this in December 2008, finishing it in January 2009.  Donna and I had returned from vacation on Monday during the week of Thanksgiving.  On Friday morning, the shopping day now referred to as Black Friday, there was a new reason for that title.  In the news was a story of a Walmart employee in New York who got trampled to death by surging shoppers when the store opened its doors.  Now mind you, this was not a crowd of two thousand people, whose families were starving, rushing to see who would get one of five hundred loaves of bread in some third world country.  This was Americans, stampeding to get the best deals on cheap stuff.  Things that, in truth, they did not likely even need.  I was appalled. 

As if that were not bad enough, several other employees were injured trying to get to, and help, the worker who was killed.  And then, the shoppers apparently gave police and staff a hard time when Walmart tried to close the store. 

Like just any other piece of news, this story stuck around for a couple of days, then disappeared. Many of the questions centered around whether Walmart had provided adequate security. But nobody seemed interested in asking the more basic and obvious question for me.  Why would there be a need for any security, in a "civilized society" where 80% of the population claims to be Christian, for people to simply go shopping.  The answer is not something newscasters are particularly keen on talking about.  When greed and lust for things, and unbridled competitiveness bring down Wall Street, we can all feel self-righteous pointing fingers.  But, when it is us, everyday ordinary citizens, mobbing someone to death at a Walmart, we prefer to look the other way until the story disappears quickly within the news cycle.  Why?  Why are we not outraged and appalled with how far we have sunk as a culture?  Yes, us! – middle class Americans – not just big shots or big business.  We should be ashamed.  Ashamed that such a thing could occur.  And, just as ashamed, that it was no more than simply another piece of news to be acknowledged, then ignored.  You want to know why things are such a mess in the economy right now?  This story is why.  We have become so morally bankrupt (but not the usual suspects) in the everyday basics, that a person can lose their life at an entrance of a Walmart.  Not to a robber, or a terrorist, or because the store was in a war zone, but to a crowd of "sales" shoppers.  I shake my head in disgust every time I think about it.  Which brings me to the economy part of this perspective. 

I have been saying for years that a "compete and compare" economy, based on convincing people to continually buy more stuff, the majority of which are things they do not really need, must eventually come crashing down under its own weight.  To me it seemed inevitable.  Such a way of life is destructive on so many fronts, it would be hard to know where to begin listing them.  It is bad economics.  It is morally wrong.  And, for those of us who call ourselves Christian, it is spiritually wrong.  Wealth, as we define it, is a complete illusion.  It is an artificial score keeping system we have created to measure ourselves against each other in our "compete and compare" society.  Our whole economic system and measure of wealth is a fairy tale, a man-made sham which has nothing to do with the ways, or dictates, of God.  It makes no sense at all, with even the slightest broadening of your viewpoint of life.  And, it can change in a moment on the whims of emotion, primarily fear.  I still remember a news item about Argentina years ago when the inflation rate had become outrageously high.  People were putting their money into stockpiling toilet paper, and other daily necessities.  That was their new wealth. 

The good news (beyond that of Jesus Christ) is if we have created something, it is a system we can alter.  But fundamental change is a slow process.  One thing we Americans have never been very good at is connecting the dots.  Nevertheless, it is time we start.  Yesterday’s choices created today’s consequences.  Today’s choices will create tomorrow’s consequences.  This is true for every one of us individually, and for us as a culture.  The worst thing that could happen right now is for the government to dump enough money onto the problem to get us back to the false security game we have been playing for decades.  Until the day arrives when it is an embarrassment and disgrace to have an outrageous amount of anything, while others in the world have virtually nothing, things cannot change.  When we finally figure out our work really is to house the homeless, feed the hungry, clothe the naked (sound familiar Christians?), etc. — that is when we begin to see the true light.  When it is no longer an argument over Spotted Owls and jobs, because our jobs have become saving Spotted Owls, and the rest of creation we have been arrogantly abusing — that is when we begin to see more light.  When we stop trying to fill the emptiness of our souls with more and cheaper stuff — that is when we will be ready for ultimate light.  Fundamental change — you cannot fix what truly ails us with a surface washing or money dump. 

The non-Christian 20% of you can listen or not, but your choices will create your consequences too. For the other 80% of you, I guarantee there is nowhere in the many Scriptural "good things to do" lists where you will find trampling someone to death trying to get cheap stuff.  No place in Scripture does it say to borrow extensively to leverage your money, or use [the equivalent of] credit cards, even if you can pay the bill off at the end of the month.  In fact, there are many passages denouncing, or warning against greed, materialism, and using credit (borrowing).  If you do not have the money — do not buy it.  Start discerning the difference between that which you need and that which you simply want.  And, more importantly, come to understand and recognize whether you really want something, or Madison Avenue sold you on the idea you want it, or it is just the latest distraction you are running toward to avoid dealing with the truths of your life.  As Jesus was so fond of saying, "let him who has ears hear."  But you do not have to listen to just me.  The writing is all over the wall. You can see it for yourself.  You can hear it.  Perhaps, you are even feeling it personally.  Whether our economy is up, or whether our economy is down, real wealth, that which God put here to sustain us and the rest of creation, has not changed.  How we use, distribute, and care for that real wealth will determine what awaits us down the road.  Someone once said, "we become willing to change when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of change."  Are you there yet?  I hope to God we all are. 

God's peace,

"No one ever chooses to starve.  Yet while you read this, severe hunger will destroy the lives of three fellow human beings . . . We don’t know their names.  We only know that their deaths were wasteful, unnecessary, and in most cases preventable . . . It is not because we can’t produce enough food around the world. It’s just the distribution is not equal." 

– Action Against Hunger
www.actionagainsthunger.org

In our slogan, "The way of the world is compete and compare, but the way of Truth is teach and share," you will notice the "T" in truth is capitalized.  As a Christian organization, the word Truth represents Christ (see John 14:6), whose ways were teaching and sharing. 

The Independent Affiliated Ministry (Mission, Merchant, or Mentor) program has been around since incorporation, yet we continue to flesh out the details.  If you are independently teaching or sharing your gifts, you should chat with us about whether this program might make sense for you.  IAMs do not need to be doing everything for free to affiliate.  Your work can be fee based. We ask only that there is some option for those truly unable to afford a fee.  In fact, our 501c3 public charity status might very well help to accomplish that.  Come, talk to us about sharing the journey together. 

Graduation - CBTC - Peace Pilgrim
by william

I once wrote a poem that referred to this life as Earth School, which is preparing us for the rest of real life, eternal life.  Much like graduating from elementary, to junior high, to high school, and from college to the work world here, Earth School has its times of transition, individually, and for us as a species.  Unfortunately, many people remain stuck in the Kindergarten ways of this world.  But, you can graduate — even if it is just into the first grade of spiritual growth.  We all start somewhere. One of the best materials I have ever run across to help in that process is Steps Toward Inner Peace by Peace Pilgrim.  It is a free booklet available at CBTC (or will be sent free, upon request, if you do not live close enough to visit).  CBTC also provides free Bibles, In His Steps books, and Peace Pilgrim books to anyone who stops by requesting one. 

Many people are out there offering spiritual truth or programs for a fee (or maybe just a "suggested donation").  But, they do not have what they are offering to you.  For, if they truly possessed spiritual truth, they would not be selling it.  They would be freely sharing it. 

Take time to pick up, or request, a copy of Peace Pilgrim’s booklet, Steps Toward Inner Peace.  It might just amaze you – and it really is free. 

FBI Reading Club
by Robert S Buckley

Thank you for all your prayers for the FBI Reading Club.  It is going very well.  Right now I go to school three times a week to read to the kids, from preschool to the middle school.  I have thirteen classes that I read to each month.  That includes five schools in the Grand Ledge school district.  I am hoping for more. 

This is very important to all of us to understand how important it is to be able to read in today’s world.  Plus how much fun reading really is.  I do know how much fun I receive from doing the FBI Reading Club.  I thank God each and every day for this talent that I received so late in life. 

Someday I hope to expand into more places, like homes of different types, retirement homes, private homes, any place that people need help reading.  This would take more than one person. 

Designated Contributions
by william

You will notice that several items have had by-lines, indicating who wrote the article.  The T&SC corporation includes other individuals, and independent ministries, like mine, and Bob Buckley’s FBI Reading Club.  IAM perspectives, content, and activities, remain controlled and expressed by the person(s) whose ministry it is. 

Real answers — Right here — Right now

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