"TAKE BACK YOUR TIME"
 

"Take Back Your Time" is a collaboration between the Massachusetts Council of Churches and the national "Take Back Your Time Day" organization.   The aim of Take Back Your Time  is to draw attention to imbalances in work and leisure in American cultural life.   It offers a special opportunity for MCC congregations to engage in theological reflection and personal practice relating to Sabbath observance. 

TAKE BACK YOUR TIME…October 24^th , 2009

“So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work”    Genesis 2:3

Creation Care…  Begins with self care.  The Genesis’ narrative of the creation story concludes with Gods resting on the Sabbath, the only day out of seven that God blessed.  Could it be that resting for God was an occasion to behold creations beauty and goodness?  As we lift up the Fall 2009 issue of Intersect our understanding of creation care as an act of biblical stewardship, we, too, need to pause and wonder what Sabbath keeping might have to do with creation care.

 Unique in the Fall '09 issue of Intersect is the intersection of creation care and Sabbath.  The question is which is more challenging, our consumer oriented lifestyle that mandates a 24/7 pattern of behavior, or the havoc that such life styles play with our environment.

 There are environmental limits.  We burn through non-renewable resources without concern for their eventual disappearance, draw down renewal resources faster than they can be replenished and produce more waste products than our environment can absorb.  It is what Brian McLaren calls “prosperity dysfunction.”

 Could not one argue that not until we stop, rest and reclaim Sabbath, that we like God, might better appreciate the creation.  Might it not be that such appreciation would compel us to be more responsible for its care?

 So as we seek to join countless others, whose sensitivity to environmental care is sweeping our world, that part of our Christian witness in caring for the creation is caring for the centerpiece of creation, human kind.

 Yes, this Intersect, lifting up a day of International Climate Awareness (October 24^th) intersected by the day that marks the beginning of the Take Back Your Time period, reminds us that creation care begins with Sabbath.  It is in pausing, resting, and reflecting on the creation that we experience the goodness of God’s creative order and in so doing motivated all the more to care for the creation.

 This fall plan appropriate ways as year ends to affirm the occasion of “Take Back Your Time.”  The period of October 24^th through December 31^st provides a time period for intentional planning in your church to set creative ways affirming Sabbath keeping.

 Pace the poster in your church, which is included in the Fall 2009 edition of Intersect, or download from our web site, plan appropriate workshop occasions centering on Sabbath keeping and create a Take Back Your Time occasion in your congregation.

Sabbath, Sunday and Discovering the Weekend
by Rev. Dr. Rodney Petersen, Executive Director of the Boston Theological Institute

Lord’s Day Alliance Sermon Competition…

Here is another way for pastors to affirm Sabbath and who knows win affirmation and recognition from the Lord’s Day Alliance with monetary compensation.  The deadline for the 2009 Lowndes Sermon Competition is November 30^th.  Why not preach a sermon addressing Sabbath keeping in the Take Back Your Time designated time (October 24^th through December 31^st.) and submit the sermon to the Lord’s Day Alliance.  For more information go to www.ldausa.org

An ecumenical witness making a difference…   

As we lift up the theme “Take Back Your Time”, a program of the Council, we note how one man is making a difference.  Father Luke Veronis, pastor of St. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Webster, became concerned about Sunday morning sports when it hit home.  Father Luke told his son he couldn’t play football because the games were held on Sunday morning.  “Why don’t you do something about it?” challenged the ten year old.  Father Luke did. 

Father Luke began a letter writing campaign and coordinated a public statement in the Webster area signed by seventeen clergy.  The statement “Reclaiming the Sabbath: Sunday Morning Youth  Activities and a time of Rest” was signed by clergy from the United Methodist, American Baptist, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, Roman Catholic, Episcopal and Assembly of God congregations.

The campaign received area media coverage as well as editorial affirmation from the “Catholic Free Press” newspaper of the Diocese of Worcester.  Sermons were preached in area churches, as well as conversations with parents, coaches, and civic leaders.  The results have been a greater awareness of the need for Sabbath observance as both an occasion of worship and rest.

 Many in our faith communities believe that the observance of Sabbath is a lost cause.  The witness of Father Luke and his ecumenical colleagues tell a different story.  We commend Father Luke for his leadership in reminding others to take back your time.  For more of the story, sermons, the statement, the MCC’s policy statement on youth sports on Sunday, and related articles, visit our web page www.masscouncilofchurches.org/CurrentNews.htm

Choose four windows of time between October 24, Take Back Your Time Day, and December 31, 2009 to:

• rest body and mind

• reflect on life's deeper meaning

• reconnect with family, friends, and community

• reclaim time

• revive energy for life

• renew your relationship with Jesus Christ

• recreate balance

The materials below will help in planning four windows of time.
 

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Materials will enclosed in our Fall "Intersect" and will l be mailed to local churches in ample time to make good use of them during Take Back Your Time Day on October 24 through the end of December, 2009.  

Please give us your feedback  by completing this survey.

   Please use this bulletin insert for your congregation.  It includes spiritual reflections, social justice analysis, bibliography and ideas for follow-up.

Display this poster in your church to inspire you congregation to participate in "Take Back Your Time" day on October 24.

These are additional materials from 2005 and a handout from 2006 that may also be of use for your congregations.

Sample Press Release for churches, clergy associations and councils of churches.

Read a report on the ways some of your colleagues have implemented this program.

If you want to give increased visibility to Take Back Your Time/Take Four Windows of Time, here is a proclamation you can invite your mayor and/or local government officials to endorse.

Time Poverty Fact Sheet

Ideas for families to take back your time offered by the Massachusetts Council of Churches

Sermons and Meditations

For additional posters and information visit http://www.timeday.org/four_windows.asp

                For additional information visit www.timeday.org