We will meet next Friday, April 2, at 8 a.m. in Taylor 200 (the interfaith chapel) to join in a Holy Week observance on Good Friday. Here are details from Mike Deaton:

The Christian calendar has long referred to the week before Easter as “Holy Week.” This offers a wonderful time to pause briefly in God’s presence to remember the great sacrifice Jesus made by joining with us, sharing in our own brokenness and suffering, and taking on Himself the price for our own rejection of God…all so that we could experience new life…resurrection…in Him.

Hence, I’ve reserved JMU’s Interfaith Chapel (room 200 of Taylor Hall) every morning next week at 8 a.m. for a 15 minute period prayer, reading of scripture, and silent reflection on the work of Christ during the momentous week leading up to his death.

If you’d like to come, we’ll start promptly at 8 a.m. and finish by 8:15 (or 8:20). There will be no sermons, no editorializing…just a period of listening to scripture readings from the Revised common lectionary and a brief prayer led by different people each day.

Jesus said “Where two or more are gathered in My name, there I will be among them.” So, whether we have two or twenty present each morning does not matter. What matters is that we let God speak and that we silence our hearts to let the power of His story shape us during this week.

So, if you are willing to do a brief reading or lead a prayer, let me know which days you are available. I’ll provide the printed scripture text. None of these readings will be very long.

Hope you can join us for one or all five days.

Feel free to forward this to anyone that you think might be interested.

On Friday, March 5, at 7:30 a.m. at Mr. J’s Bagels on East Market Street, our fellowship’s topic will be “Christianity and the Sports Culture.” The resource article is at http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/february/3.20.html. The theme of this article is “Sports Fanatics: How Christians have succumbed to the sports culture—and what might be done about it.” With March Madness coming right up, the theme should generate timely discussion.

Meeting moved to February 12 because of winter weather

At our Feb. 12 meeting at 7:30 a.m. at Mr. J’s Bagels on East Market Street, we will be meeting with some of the students organizing the 24-hour prayer service set to start Feb. 27 at Grafton-Stovall. Their letter to our fellowship is posted below. The group’s mission statement is “to see the body of Christ at JMU unified and its community transformed by cultivating a heart of prayer.” Let’s give these students our enthusiastic support!

From our member Larry Roller comes this notice of an upcoming event of interest at the JMU Festival Conference & Student Center on Monday, May 24 at 6 p.m.: “The featured speaker will be David Barton, the author of numerous works on the original intent of America’s Founding Fathers. Barton speaks to hundreds of groups on our country’s religious roots and the role individuals can play in reclaiming America’s spiritual heritage. This should be of interest to all faculty and students alike. I will provide you with more details when the date gets closer.”

Dear Christian Faculty Fellowship,

We are a group of believers on JMU’s campus that have come together in prayer from different parts of the body of Christ. Our mission is to see the body of Christ at JMU unified and its community transformed by cultivating a heart of prayer. “Yet, prayer can often be overlooked or seem intimidating, but prayer is a vital part of our spiritual lives and something the Lord calls us to. Intercession is God’s brilliant strategy for including the saints in ruling with Him in power. But it also has a great impact on us as it draws us into intimacy with God, it protects with humility, transforms with holiness, anoints with power, unifies in community, releases revelation and increases our inheritance while it trains us to rule with His wisdom” (Mike Bickle, International House of Prayer). We want to encourage a heart of prayer and promote a prayer room on our campus. We are excited about the prayer that has already been happening on JMU’s campus! Agape prays on Tuesday nights, Campus Crusade prays on Friday nights, and there have been joint efforts by Intervarsity and Impact to pray on Sunday nights, Catholic Campus Ministry prays several times throughout the week, and Chi Alpha and Fellowship of Christian Athletes to pray together at different times of the week. And we’re sure there are many more we haven’t yet heard about! Because there are so many prayer efforts, we would love to see believers from all over campus gathering together in prayer. On February 27, 2010, we plan on doing just that. The goal of the event is to unite the campus to join in 24 hours of prayer. The kickoff will include worship, a speaker, and corporate prayer. We are also looking for individual leaders within your ministry who would be interested in leading a prayer. More information will be given and sent out four weeks prior to the event. Attached is a rough outline of the event with contact information. If you are interested or would like to get more involved please contact us by Friday, January 15, 2010.

Blessings,
JMU-HOP (JMU House of Prayer)

Prayer Outline (attachment)

We will kick of our spring meetings on Friday, January 15, at 7:30 a.m. at Mr. J’s Bagels on East Market St. Our session will be based on Charles Gilmer’s “Let’s Give the Dream New Life.” Gilmer writes in part: “Are you discouraged about the prospect of us never overcoming the racial divisiveness that permeates this nation? Or are you frustrated by your inability to genuinely love others who are different from you? Martin Luther King recommended faith in Jesus of Nazareth as antidotes for both maladies.” The article is located at http://www.everystudent.com/features/dream.html.

Other dates for spring meetings are:

• February 5, 7:30 a.m., Mr. J’s Bagels
• March 5, 7:30 a.m., Mr. J’s Bagels
• April 2, 8 a.m., Taylor Hall 200 (note change)

If you’d like to be on a list to get e-mail reminders during the semester, send a note to the webmaster.

Our final fellowship meeting of the semester is set for Friday, December 4, at 7:30 a.m. at Mr. J’s Bagels on East Market Street. Our discussion topic is “Keeping Christ in Christmas,” and the advance reading is by Mary Fairchild: “Ways to Keep Christ in Christmas.” Come join us as we approach this special season, as academics and as Christians!

This from Brian Augustine: Redeemer Classical School is hosting a seminar on the state of marriage and the family Friday, November 13, at 6:30 p.m. at the Keezletown United Methodist Church. Skip Burzumato has been doing extensive research on the subject and will be presenting an overview of the current statistics on marriage and the family. Skip used to be the executive director of the Center for Christian Studies in Charlottesville, so some folks here might know him from that context. Here’s a flier on the event.

(Server often busy, it seems)

At our next regularly scheduled meeting (Friday, October 2, 7:30 a.m., at Mr. J’s Bagels on East Market Street), our topic is “State of the Student 2009.” We can be more effective in our jobs and in helping students grow and mature if we understand them better. In this discussion, our starting point will be national and local student surveys. Among the findings from JMU surveys: Our student body has become slightly slightly less Protestant, slightly more Catholic, and slightly more “no religious preference” than in earlier years. Join us for a friendly and helpful discussion. Advance reading: The national survey and the JMU survey.