Showing posts with label #Dayhoff5EasyPieces. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #Dayhoff5EasyPieces. Show all posts

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Carroll Co. Times Dec. 9, 1977: Kevin E. Dayhoff and workman installed a memorial to the late W. H. Davis


Carroll County Times December 9, 1977: Kevin E. Dayhoff (kneeling - 2nd from right) and workman installed a memorial to the late W. H. Davis, a well-known Westminster city leader and philanthropist this week in a small park area on the corner of Bond and Main Street. The plantings and bronze plaque were donated to the city by Mr. and Mrs. Walter H. Davis.

Carroll County Times December 9, 1977: Kevin E. Dayhoff (kneeling - 2nd from right) and workman installed a memorial to the late W. H. Davis http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/1977/12/carroll-county-times-december-9-1977.html


Dayhoff press clippings, #Dayhoff5EasyPieces, Dayhoff self-portraits, History 1970s Westminster, History 1970s, History 1970s Carroll County, Westminster, Dayhoff Landscaping
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Baltimore Sun Carroll Eagle: 
Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:
Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com

My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/


See also - Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art www.kevindayhoff.com: Travel, art, artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalists and journalism, reporters and reporting, music, culture, opera... Ad maiorem Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem. “Deadline U.S.A.” 1952. Ed Hutcheson: “That's the press, baby. The press! And there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing!” - See more at: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/#sthash.4HNLwtfd.dpuf
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Sunday, November 29, 2015

Carroll County Times December 9, 1977: Kevin E. Dayhoff (kneeling - 2nd from right) and workman installed a memorial to the late W. H. Davis

Carroll County Times December 9, 1977: Kevin E. Dayhoff (kneeling - 2nd from right) and workman installed a memorial to the late W. H. Davis http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/1977/12/carroll-county-times-december-9-1977.html

Carroll County Times December 9, 1977: Kevin E. Dayhoff (kneeling - 2nd from right) and workman installed a memorial to the late W. H. Davis, a well-known Westminster city leader and philanthropist this week in a small park area on the corner of Bond and Main Street. The plantings and bronze plaque were donated to the city by Mr. and Mrs. Walter H. Davis.
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Dayhoff press clippings, #Dayhoff5EasyPieces, Dayhoff self-portraits, History 1970s Westminster, History 1970s, History 1970s Carroll County, Westminster, Dayhoff Landscaping

Baltimore Sun Carroll Eagle: 
Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:
Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com

My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/


See also - Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art www.kevindayhoff.com: Travel, art, artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalists and journalism, reporters and reporting, music, culture, opera... Ad maiorem Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem. “Deadline U.S.A.” 1952. Ed Hutcheson: “That's the press, baby. The press! And there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing!” - See more at: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/#sthash.4HNLwtfd.dpuf
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Thursday, August 13, 2015

Carroll H. Staggs, Jr., 75, of Westminster


Carroll H. Staggs, Jr., 75, of Westminster


Carroll H. Staggs, Jr., 75, of Westminster, died unexpectedly early Saturday morning, August 1, 2015 at Carroll Hospital Center.

Coach Staggs was my Westminster Junior High School basketball coach and my science teacher. He was wonderful in both positions.

As a science teacher he helped instill and reinforce what would become a life-long interest in botany – and later horticulture. I later made a meager living farming by raising nursery stock and often thought of Coach Stagg’s science classes…

He was friendly, kind and passionate about his work and it was infectious.

As for basketball; I loved to play basketball but alas, in the end I was such a horrible basketball player that I later turned to wrestling for a winter sport in high school.

But I will always remember that he once put me in a basketball game in the old Taneytown High School gym. I was thrilled. Bill Fourhman passed the ball to Mark Causey who passed the ball to me and I scored a bucket. The only two points I ever scored in competitive high school basketball in my entire life. Thanks to the kindness and passion of Coach Staggs who put me in the game even when it was obvious that I could not dribble a basketball and breathe at the same time.

Visitation at the Myers Durboraw Funeral Home was quite hard. There were many pictures from the 1960s that caused a flood of memories of the Westminster I knew growing-up in the 1950s and 1960s. It was a friendly and affirming small town where we cared for each other and looked after each other. We were somewhat isolated and probably quite naive.

The war in Vietnam had not quite hit home and challenges of urban strife could only be found in the pages of the News American, or the Morning and Evening Sun – I was a Morning Sun person…

Westminster was a friendly and fun town unfettered by the hastiness of today’s day-to-day subsistence existence. This was long before the oustlanders– the newcomers - came to Westminster and Carroll County to call to our attention all our shortcomings and save us from ourselves. It was not a perfect town. There is no such thing. But my memories of growing-up in Westminster are perfect. And a legion of folks like Coach Staggs helped make it perfect.

According to Coach Staggs’ obituary:

Born December 6, 1939 in Cumberland, he was the son of the late Carroll H. Staggs, Sr. and Mary Fern Tressler Staggs.  He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Waltraut Flender Staggs.

Carroll was a graduate of Frostburg State Teachers College with a degree in Education and earned his Master’s Degree in Education from Frostburg. 

He loved teaching, and was a Science teacher at East and West Middle Schools for 38 years, where he coached middle school basketball. 

He was very passionate about his church and family and was a very active member of St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, serving as the Usher Coordinator, chair of the Worship and Witness Committee, Past President of the Consistory and rang the bell on Memorial Day.  

Carroll was very active in the Carroll County Education Association and was a representative of CCEA Retired Teachers.  He was a member of Carroll County Old Timers Baseball Association and was an avid sports fan of the Baltimore Orioles, Pittsburgh Pirates and attended many local high school and college basketball games. 

He was always looking out for others and was willing to lend a helping hand.  Other loves were spending time outdoors, tending to his garden, fishing and hunting.  He travelled on bus trips, attended dinner theatres, and enjoyed having breakfast with family and friends.

Surviving in addition to his wife is a daughter, Laura McClelland and husband, William, of Finksburg; son, Jeffrey Staggs and wife, Theresa, of Westminster; brother, David Staggs of Frostburg; nieces and nephews, and a great-niece.  He was predeceased by a brother, Roger Staggs.

A Funeral Service will be held at 11:00 AM on Wednesday, August 5th at St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, 17 Bond Street, Westminster, with his pastor, Reverend Marty Kuchma, officiating.  Burial will be private in Deer Park Methodist Cemetery.  The family will receive friends on Tuesday from 2-4 and 6-8 PM at the MYERS-DURBORAW FUNERAL HOME, 91 Willis St, Westminster, MD.  

Memorial contributions may be made in his name to the St. Paul's U.C.C., 17 Bond Street, Westminster, MD  21157, American Diabetes Association, P.O. Box 11454, Alexandria, VA 22312 or to the National Kidney Foundation  1301 York Road Suite 404, Lutherville, MD   21093.





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Baltimore Sun Carroll Eagle: 
Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:
Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com

My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/


See also - Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art www.kevindayhoff.com: Travel, art, artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalists and journalism, reporters and reporting, music, culture, opera... Ad maiorem Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem. “Deadline U.S.A.” 1952. Ed Hutcheson: “That's the press, baby. The press! And there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing!” - See more at: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/#sthash.4HNLwtfd.dpuf
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Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Changes




Kevin E. Dayhoff

Last night I covered the Westminster mayor and common council meeting for the newspaper: “Broad range of topics discussed at the Westminster mayor and common council meeting Monday night http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/2015/08/broad-range-of-topics-discussed-at.html. And I had spent almost all day in church at Grace Lutheran Church in Westminster. 

At the end of the day, as I was writing the article on the council meeting, I could help but to recall one of my all-time favorite sermons about change.

Both Westminster city government and Grace Lutheran Church need to continue to change in order to continue to relevant.

Fortunately, Grace Lutheran, under the leadership of Pastors Martha and Kevin Clementson, and church council – especially Council President Ron Fairchild are continuing in the correct direction of adapting with the times.

Along with my sister-in-law, United Methodist Church Pastor Sarah Babylon Dorrance, this simply must be some of the brightest and best church leadership around.

Same goes with the Westminster city government.

As I sat last night in the Westminster council chambers beside city attorney Elissa Levan, I reflected upon the fact that I have now been going to Westminster City Hall since the late 1950s and have always been impressed with the level of care, diligence and expertise exhibited by our government at work.

But the current administration simply must be one of the best in the state of Maryland – and the current mayor and common council are going some great things. We should all be proud and help in any way we can.


So, anyway, this one of my all-time favorite sermons…. June 14, 2001: "Sharing Faith in a New Century” By Lutheran Bishop H. Gerard Knoche

"Sharing Faith in a New Century”
By Lutheran Bishop H. Gerard Knoche

** Here is the text of the sermon by Lutheran Synod Bishop H. Gerard Knoche at Synod Assembly Opening Worship, June 14, 2001, based on Acts 17:16-34; given at Western Maryland College in Westminster, MD.

Permission is given for congregations to reproduce it for their own use.

This one of my all-time favorite sermons…. June 14, 2001: "Sharing Faith in a New Century” By Lutheran Bishop H. Gerard Knoche http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/2001/06/thisone-of-my-all-time-favorite-sermons.html

Labels: #Dayhoff5EasyPieces, Change, History This Day in History 0614, Religion Grace Lutheran Church, Religion Lutheran, Religion Lutheran Bishop H. Gerard Knoche, Religion Shrinking Church - See more at: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/2001/06/thisone-of-my-all-time-favorite-sermons.html#sthash.MTtrx3fN.dpuf
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If we do not share faith in the new century many of the congregations in the Delaware-Maryland Synod will die.  I am sorry that my first words as a preacher at Synod Assembly carry bad news.  But in my travels around the synod in these last nine months, I have come across too many congregations where the largest demographic group in the congregation is over 55.  Two urban churches have closed since I took office, both being sold to other denominations that expect to make a go of it.  If they can do it, why can’t we?  It was almost shocking last Sunday to be in a congregation where there were more teenagers worshiping than in any other church I have attended (20 or 25 at least).  “If this church can do it, why can’t others?”  I asked myself.  Churches that will survive, that will grow, are churches that have, as our assembly theme suggests, learned how to share the faith in a new century.

The lesson from Acts tells the story of Paul sharing the faith with a group of people who are new to him.  Paul has been left in Athens and is depressed to see the city is full of idols.  Apparently there were beautiful statues to every imaginable Greek god or goddess throughout the city.  He is waiting for Silas and Timothy and so decides to argue for the faith with the Jews in the synagogue and with the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers.  Like other Athenians, the text says, they “spent their time in nothing but telling or hearing something new.”
This evening I would like to look at Paul’s speech to see what it might tell us about Sharing Faith in a New Century.  First, Paul went out to the Areopagus, the public square where folks gathered to talk.  Unlike times past, we cannot expect folks to come to church looking for us.  Those who do that are largely those who have had some experience with the church in their background.  Increasingly, there are many Americans who have had no contact with Christianity, know nothing about it—and may even feel it is irrelevant or may be hostile to it.  A telling commentary on our culture is the fact that ”spell check” in Windows 95 does not have all the books of the Bible in its list, much less many of the Biblical names.  They are not part of the general basic knowledge base.  In campus ministry it was not unusual to have a student come in timidly saying, “I’m dating a Christian.  I have no idea what that means.  Can you tell me?”  To share faith in the new century we will need to go to the unchurched where they are.

Secondly, Paul knew the world-view of those with whom he wanted to communicate.  He had discovered their altar to an unknown God and he knew that they shared his belief that God had created all things.  He spoke the gospel to them in a form they were most likely to understand and accept.  We need to be more attentive to our audience.  Leonard Sweet is one of the writers who has researched what the postmodern culture is like. I don’t have time to share all the characteristics, but I will say that it is a culture more interested in spiritual experience than spiritual arguments.  They want to feel God more than they want to understand God.  Stories of personal belief are more convincing than explanations of doctrine.
Today’s culture also seems to be able to hold two contradictory notions at the same time.  F. Scott Fitzgerald said that the test of a first-class mind is the ability to be able to hold two opposing ideas in the head at the same time and still be able to function.  Book titles catch the doublespeak with ”Ordinary Miracles” or “Open Secrets” and movies with “True Lies.”  More significantly, it is true that new houses are bigger while families are smaller; more farmers are making big bucks and more farmers are facing financial catastrophe; more people are becoming rich than ever before and more people are becoming poor than ever before.  The postmodern is able to handle paradox, which in other days we have called dialectics.  We need to understand the worldview of the unchurched if we are to share the faith in a new century.

Thirdly, and perhaps most obviously, we need to know the gospel ourselves. 
Paul makes his connection to their thought world and then moves on to talk of
God’s judgment, of their need to repent, and of the resurrection.  It pains me to read that pollsters have determined that four out of ten folks who call themselves Christians are unable to name the four Gospels.  If the way that
Jesus speaks to us and guides us in our life is through the Scriptures, then
if we don’t know the Scriptures we don’t know Jesus very well either.  There
is no question in my mind that the key factor in churches that are reaching
out to share the faith is the rostered and lay leadership.  Folks who know Jesus, know the Bible, and are excited about sharing that relationship with
others do it best.  To share faith in the new century, we need to deepen our
Biblical knowledge and our love of Jesus, so that we will have something
fresh and dynamic to share.

One of the fears about changing the way things have always been with new
music or the use of the Internet or coffee house churches is that what is most precious to us will be lost.  The story is told that in the early days of the Tennessee Valley project, a dilapidated homestead was going to be torn down.  They were damming the river and the valley would be flooded out.  A new split-level ranch house was built for the Appalachian family on a hillside nearby.

The day of the flooding arrived and the bulldozers were there to tear down the old house.  The family refused to move out of the homestead.  Finally, out of desperation, a social worker was called to find out what the problem was.  “We ain’t goin’ anywhere” was the reply.  The social worker pleaded with them to tell her what the problem was and why they would not move into their beautiful new home.

”See that fire over there?” the man asked, pointing to a blazing fire in the
primitive hearth of the log cabin.  “My grandpa built that fire over a hundred years ago,” the man explained.  “He never let it go out, for he had no matches and it was a long way to the neighbors’.  Then my pa tended the fire, and since he died, I tended it. None of us let it die, and I ain’t goin’ to move away and let grandpa’s fire go out.”

The social worker got an idea.  She arranged for a large apple butter kettle
to be delivered to the home.  The hot coals would be scooped up and transported to the new home, kindling would be added, and the grandfather’s
fire would never go out.  The Appalachian family accepted and moved up to the
split-level rancher on the hillside after they knew that they would have the
fire of their ancestors.

As we share faith in the new century, we will keep the fire—of water, of bread and wine, of the book that is a love letter from God, but we will move to new places, where we do things differently, lest the flood of modernity wipe us out.  Paul and Jesus would want it that way.  Then, just like with Paul, some will scoff; others will hear us again; and some will become believers.
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Baltimore Sun Carroll Eagle: 
Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:
Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com

My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/


See also - Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art www.kevindayhoff.com: Travel, art, artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalists and journalism, reporters and reporting, music, culture, opera... Ad maiorem Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem. “Deadline U.S.A.” 1952. Ed Hutcheson: “That's the press, baby. The press! And there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing!” - See more at: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/#sthash.4HNLwtfd.dpuf
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Sunday, June 16, 2002

My Conservative Values Statement

My Conservative Values Statement

Kevin E. Dayhoff 
March 22, 2001 / April 17, 2001 / June 16, 2002

http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/2015/01/my-conservative-values-statement.html

“The difference between Cannibals and Liberals is that Cannibals eat only their enemies.” - attributed to LYNDON B. JOHNSON, in the 1960’s

I recently received a phone message from a good friend and colleague at the leadership table, who shared with me, that at dinner the other night, one of his guests had speculated that there's a chance I'm too liberal.  Yes, you read that correctly.  It's the "L" word - in print, no less.  And yes, there's that immediate question…'too liberal' for what?  Too liberal for Westminster?  And who really cares?

Who in Westminster overwhelmingly cares about political ideology - except for a couple political ideologues, whose constituency lies well beyond the scope of Westminster's world? 

Westminster citizens care about real day-to-day issues.  They care about quality of life, taxes, police and fire protection, trash pick up, schools and local employment opportunities…  George Will, Bill Clinton, Dick Morris, and George W. Bush and their accompanying ideologies, are great dinner conversations - but they really aren't in any real trouble here locally until they don't pick up the trash one morning, fix the street light at the corner or catch the neighborhood kid who likes to drive through the development at twice the posted speed limit.  I have always felt that local government is too important for partisan politics.

I immediately reminisced that (true story, one of my favorites) I once had a constituent, who didn't know me from Adam, but one day accosted me suggesting that I was a liberal because I had holes in my farm work pants. Okay! - let's take a look at this situation.

Last time I checked - holes in my work jeans are not quite the key and critical informational ingredients that are often used for interpretive and truly intellectual analytical assessments.  Everyone involved had a good laugh.

But back to the phone message - I was calm. 'Gee - Thank you very much for your tape message.  Your message made Caroline and I smile. It is very rare that our conservative and faith values are ever questioned, but hey - stuff happens. I'm good for it. I'm up for the challenge.'

Caroline and I are often the target of criticism for our conservative approach to Community Leadership. But all that aside - neither one of us really cares about labels. We are first and foremost - soldiers of God.  We care about faith based and values-oriented efficacy.  We are constantly pre-occupied with issues of leadership and effective government. 

There really is no overwhelmingly conservative or left-wing way to collect the garbage, keep the street lights on or provide basic health, safety and welfare services for a small municipality.  One either provides leadership that facilitates a quality of life or one doesn't.  That being said - I firmly believe in better government not bigger government.

I mean - It's not rocket science ~ it’s Community Leadership that is the real discussion. I believe that leadership is all about Families and that Quality of Life is our Currency.  It's Service. It's: Water and Sewer Service, Trash Collection, Police and Fire Protection, Roads and Snow Removal, Education, Recreation, Cost Effective Taxes, - - and, as an elected official- it all begins with me!

I often find these conversations unrewarding. (Wow, you should have read the first draft of this essay - my word choice was different.) For example - towards the end of the Ellen Sauerbrey (R) Campaign for Maryland Governor in 1994 - the hard right wing of the Republican Party decided that Ellen Sauerbrey was moderating on some core conservative values.

That series of events was quite an awakening for me.  No one will ever know for sure - but I have determined that it was the hard, uncompromising and inflexible elements of the right wing of the Republican Party that elected Governor Glendening (D) for the last eight years. Whether you are a republican or a democrat - you have to admit that this is quite a paradox.

That experience provided me with some discerning - applied political science - insights about this issue.  It taught me some lessons about maintaining uncompromising, inflexible and absolute approaches to leadership.  Lessons which I will maintain for the rest of my leadership life.  As community leaders, I feel that we must always maintain an open mind and facilitate a dialogue - especially with those, with whom we may disagree - or the foot we shoot, may very well be our own. I fully understand that we need to stand for something and therefore not fall for anything.  But we must always be fair and remember that ultimately we are elected to serve the best interests of all of our constituency - not to promulgate an uncompromising dogmatic political ideology. There is quite a difference between a political leader and a community leader.

I again remind one of David Horowitz's latest books, "The Art of Political War and other Radical Pursuits."   It is a wonderful read.  I wholeheartedly recommend it.  It begins by saying: "Politics is war, but in America the left is doing all the shooting.  Shell-shocked conservatives blame their failures on the media or unscrupulous opponents, but they refuse to name the real culprit – themselves.  In a book that will shatter the complacency of establishment conservatives, David Horowitz shows how Bill Clinton's generation, having mastered the art of political war, has spent the last ten years clobbering conservatives in and out of government."

I also studied very carefully the last campaign of George W. Bush and wholeheartedly endorse his big tent (inclusive and unity oriented) concept of conservative politics.  Indeed, there is always room at my leadership table for a well intended leader to disagree with me.

I take enormous pride in being accessible and available for dissent, criticism, discussion and dialogue.  Should there be any specific issue that is on the horizon which speaks directly to my vision for local leadership - I look forward to addressing that concern.

Meanwhile - Always take care to not wear work pants in public that have holes in them. They may be a dead giveaway that you actually work for a living. And we can all draw conclusions about that sort of work ethic values, now can't we?
God Bless, Kevin
03/22/2001 - R2 04/15/2001 - 04/17/2001 – 06/16/2002

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” FRIEDRICH WILHELM NIETZSCHE 1844-1900


Kevin Dayhoff, a slave to the masters of the page - the little soldiers in my life - words
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Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com
My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/
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Friday, June 15, 2001

This one of my all-time favorite sermons…. June 14, 2001: "Sharing Faith in a New Century” By Lutheran Bishop H. Gerard Knoche

This one of my all-time favorite sermons….

"Sharing Faith in a New Century”
By Lutheran Bishop H. Gerard Knoche

** Here is the text of the sermon by Lutheran Synod Bishop H. Gerard Knoche at Synod Assembly Opening Worship, June 14, 2001, based on Acts 17:16-34; given at Western Maryland College in Westminster, MD.

______________________________
If we do not share faith in the new century many of the congregations in the Delaware-Maryland Synod will die.  I am sorry that my first words as a preacher at Synod Assembly carry bad news.  But in my travels around the synod in these last nine months, I have come across too many congregations where the largest demographic group in the congregation is over 55.  Two urban churches have closed since I took office, both being sold to other denominations that expect to make a go of it.  If they can do it, why can’t we?  It was almost shocking last Sunday to be in a congregation where there were more teenagers worshiping than in any other church I have attended (20 or 25 at least).  “If this church can do it, why can’t others?”  I asked myself.  Churches that will survive, that will grow, are churches that have, as our assembly theme suggests, learned how to share the faith in a new century.

The lesson from Acts tells the story of Paul sharing the faith with a group of people who are new to him.  Paul has been left in Athens and is depressed to see the city is full of idols.  Apparently there were beautiful statues to every imaginable Greek god or goddess throughout the city.  He is waiting for Silas and Timothy and so decides to argue for the faith with the Jews in the synagogue and with the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers.  Like other Athenians, the text says, they “spent their time in nothing but telling or hearing something new.”
This evening I would like to look at Paul’s speech to see what it might tell us about Sharing Faith in a New Century.  First, Paul went out to the Areopagus, the public square where folks gathered to talk.  Unlike times past, we cannot expect folks to come to church looking for us.  Those who do that are largely those who have had some experience with the church in their background.  Increasingly, there are many Americans who have had no contact with Christianity, know nothing about it—and may even feel it is irrelevant or may be hostile to it.  A telling commentary on our culture is the fact that ”spell check” in Windows 95 does not have all the books of the Bible in its list, much less many of the Biblical names.  They are not part of the general basic knowledge base.  In campus ministry it was not unusual to have a student come in timidly saying, “I’m dating a Christian.  I have no idea what that means.  Can you tell me?”  To share faith in the new century we will need to go to the unchurched where they are.

Secondly, Paul knew the world-view of those with whom he wanted to communicate.  He had discovered their altar to an unknown God and he knew that they shared his belief that God had created all things.  He spoke the gospel to them in a form they were most likely to understand and accept.  We need to be more attentive to our audience.  Leonard Sweet is one of the writers who has researched what the postmodern culture is like. I don’t have time to share all the characteristics, but I will say that it is a culture more interested in spiritual experience than spiritual arguments.  They want to feel God more than they want to understand God.  Stories of personal belief are more convincing than explanations of doctrine.
Today’s culture also seems to be able to hold two contradictory notions at the same time.  F. Scott Fitzgerald said that the test of a first-class mind is the ability to be able to hold two opposing ideas in the head at the same time and still be able to function.  Book titles catch the doublespeak with ”Ordinary Miracles” or “Open Secrets” and movies with “True Lies.”  More significantly, it is true that new houses are bigger while families are smaller; more farmers are making big bucks and more farmers are facing financial catastrophe; more people are becoming rich than ever before and more people are becoming poor than ever before.  The postmodern is able to handle paradox, which in other days we have called dialectics.  We need to understand the worldview of the unchurched if we are to share the faith in a new century.

Thirdly, and perhaps most obviously, we need to know the gospel ourselves. 
Paul makes his connection to their thought world and then moves on to talk of
God’s judgment, of their need to repent, and of the resurrection.  It pains me to read that pollsters have determined that four out of ten folks who call themselves Christians are unable to name the four Gospels.  If the way that
Jesus speaks to us and guides us in our life is through the Scriptures, then
if we don’t know the Scriptures we don’t know Jesus very well either.  There
is no question in my mind that the key factor in churches that are reaching
out to share the faith is the rostered and lay leadership.  Folks who know Jesus, know the Bible, and are excited about sharing that relationship with
others do it best.  To share faith in the new century, we need to deepen our
Biblical knowledge and our love of Jesus, so that we will have something
fresh and dynamic to share.

One of the fears about changing the way things have always been with new
music or the use of the Internet or coffee house churches is that what is most precious to us will be lost.  The story is told that in the early days of the Tennessee Valley project, a dilapidated homestead was going to be torn down.  They were damming the river and the valley would be flooded out.  A new split-level ranch house was built for the Appalachian family on a hillside nearby.

The day of the flooding arrived and the bulldozers were there to tear down the old house.  The family refused to move out of the homestead.  Finally, out of desperation, a social worker was called to find out what the problem was.  “We ain’t goin’ anywhere” was the reply.  The social worker pleaded with them to tell her what the problem was and why they would not move into their beautiful new home.

”See that fire over there?” the man asked, pointing to a blazing fire in the
primitive hearth of the log cabin.  “My grandpa built that fire over a hundred years ago,” the man explained.  “He never let it go out, for he had no matches and it was a long way to the neighbors’.  Then my pa tended the fire, and since he died, I tended it. None of us let it die, and I ain’t goin’ to move away and let grandpa’s fire go out.”

The social worker got an idea.  She arranged for a large apple butter kettle
to be delivered to the home.  The hot coals would be scooped up and transported to the new home, kindling would be added, and the grandfather’s
fire would never go out.  The Appalachian family accepted and moved up to the
split-level rancher on the hillside after they knew that they would have the
fire of their ancestors.

As we share faith in the new century, we will keep the fire—of water, of bread and wine, of the book that is a love letter from God, but we will move to new places, where we do things differently, lest the flood of modernity wipe us out.  Paul and Jesus would want it that way.  Then, just like with Paul, some will scoff; others will hear us again; and some will become believers.
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Baltimore Sun Carroll Eagle: 
Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:
Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com

My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/


See also - Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art www.kevindayhoff.com: Travel, art, artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalists and journalism, reporters and reporting, music, culture, opera... Ad maiorem Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem. “Deadline U.S.A.” 1952. Ed Hutcheson: “That's the press, baby. The press! And there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing!” - See more at: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/#sthash.4HNLwtfd.dpuf
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Friday, December 9, 1977

Carroll County Times December 9, 1977: Kevin E. Dayhoff (kneeling - 2nd from right) and workman installed a memorial to the late W. H. Davis


Carroll County Times December 9, 1977: Kevin E. Dayhoff (kneeling - 2nd from right) and workman installed a memorial to the late W. H. Davis, a well-known Westminster city leader and philanthropist this week in a small park area on the corner of Bond and Main Street. The plantings and bronze plaque were donated to the city by Mr. and Mrs. Walter H. Davis.
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Baltimore Sun Carroll Eagle: 
Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:
Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com

My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/


See also - Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art www.kevindayhoff.com: Travel, art, artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalists and journalism, reporters and reporting, music, culture, opera... Ad maiorem Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem. “Deadline U.S.A.” 1952. Ed Hutcheson: “That's the press, baby. The press! And there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing!” - See more at: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/#sthash.4HNLwtfd.dpuf
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