Saving Jesus: A Wednesday night summer series

Ever feel Jesus has been kidnapped by the Christian Right? Then you will want to take part in the “Saving Jesus” series this summer. This is a hybrid worship and education experience sponsored by Light University.

“Saving Jesus” is a 12-week exploration of Jesus Christ for the Third Millennium. It is part of the “Living the Questions” curriculum. “Saving Jesus” will offer a video presentation each week followed by a group discussion. The video presentations will feature the leading religious voices of our day, such as Ethicist Emilie Townes; Theologians John S. Spong, Rebecca Ann Parker, Hans Kung, and Matthew Fox; Bible Scholars Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossan, and Walter Brueggemann; Preachers such as James Forbes; and others. This will be like Vacation Bible School for adults and it will last all summer long.

From June 4th through August 20th, our midweek worship service will begin with singing, prayer, and an offering, and then we will show a short video. After the video presentation, we will have an interactive group discussion and we will conclude each service with a closing prayer.

The topics that will be covered in the “Saving Jesus” series are: Jesus Through the Ages, Who Was Jesus?, What Can We Know About Jesus (and How)?, The World Into Which He Was Born, Jesus’ Birth: Incarnation, Teaching of Jesus: Wisdom Tradition, Jesus’ Program: The Kingdom of God, Jesus’ Life: Model for Discipleship, Killing Jesus — Part One: The Atonement, Killing Jesus — Part Two: Who Killed Jesus?, The Resurrection of Christ, and Why Jesus is Worth Saving. The facilitators for the course will rotate, and will be Rev. Durrell Watkins, Rev. Robert Griffin, and Mr. Michael Diaz. Join us this summer for an in-depth midweek worship and study experience where we will focus on the life, the ministry, and the meaning of Jesus.

E-Vangelism: thousands reached in April

By Pastor Durrell Watkins

“Jesus said… ‘Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer.’” — Matthew 28:18-19

Matthew 28:18-19 is often called the Great Commission. It calls for disciple making (helping people be “seekers and students of Truth…”) and for greater inclusion. To baptize is to ritually welcome someone into the community of faith. So, the text is really saying that agents of Christ are meant to communicate a message of inclusion and welcome to as many people as possible, inviting them into the sustaining relationship of community.

At Sunshine Cathedral, we are trying to honor this Great Commission in a variety of ways, including being very present in the electronic universe.

In April our audio sermon podcasts got 6,520 hits. The SunBurst RSS (“Really Simple Syndication”) received 6,340 hits and the video sermon podcasts received 1,641 hits. The home page of our website got 4,195 hits. That is all in addition to the more than 1800 homes each week that receive email communications from Sunshine Cathedral; and those numbers do not include the people who visit us at MySpace.com. Our website traffic is about three times greater than it was last September. Of course, hundreds worship with us on the campus each Sunday, over a hundred more worship as Sunshine Cathedral in Jamaica, about 500 copies of Spirit & Truth go out each month, and more than 20 groups call the Sunshine Cathedral campus their home. Our progressive, positive, practical message is literally reaching thousands of people each month!

Your support of Sunshine Cathedral is empowering all kinds of people to be students and seekers of Truth and is making them feel welcome in the many names of God.

Cathedral Board selects officers

Every seat on the Board of Directors is now filled with an elected member, and new officers of the board have been selected. The board and its officers are as follows:

Congratulations and best wishes go out to the Sunshine Cathedral Board of Directors!

Would you host a dine-around party?

Cocktails or dinner. Five guests or a hundred. The details are up to you! This is a fundraiser for the ministries of Sunshine Cathedral. You contribute the place and the food and drinks for the party. You charge your guests any amount you feel is appropriate ($10, $25, $100 — You decide!). You even decide which day or night your party takes place (between May 10th and May 16th). The money you raise is for Sunshine Cathedral, and the party host who raises the most money wins a prize. Then, on May 17th, everyone who attended any party will be invited to come together at the church for dessert and coffee (and to see who the wins the prize for most money raised). This is a fun and easy way to both raise money for ministry and to invite people from the community to a Sunshine Cathedral event in the comfort of your own home. For more information, contact Sunshine Cathedral Treasurer, Trevor Stewart at tvsinftl@aol.com, or to volunteer to host a party during the week of May 10th – May 16th, contact Pastoral Intern Michael Diaz at mdiaz@sunshinecathedral.org.

Sunshine Cathedral in Miami

To all of our members and visitors from Miami-Dade County: we want to invite you to our first Community Gathering event to be held on Thursday, May 29th, at 7:00 pm. The social gathering will take place at the Miami Light Project theatre located at 3000 Biscayne Blvd., near the Design District in Miami. This will be a great opportunity to meet and get to know other Miami folks who attend the Cathedral, as well as people who are interested in the mission and vision of Sunshine Cathedral but who cannot make it to Fort Lauderdale every Sunday to worship with us. Come be a part of an exciting night of fellowship and conversation, and learn more about our outreach and vision for Sunshine Cathedral in Miami. Refreshments and hors d’oeuvre will be served. Contact Michael Diaz for more information. Email: mdiaz@sunshinecathedral.org or phone: 954-462-2004 ext. 208.

Oh snap!

By Marc Dickerman, Cathedral Photographer

It is always such a treat to me when The Rev. Elder Troy Perry speaks. As many of you were greeting Rev. Perry, I was right there snapping away photographs. I may not have captured everyone, but perhaps I did capture you and Rev. Troy. These photographs are on display in contact sheet form in the social hall at the Welcome Table. As always for a small offering to the Sunshine Cathedral, I will be more than happy to produce a print for you by simply filling out the order form. The photos are also on display on the Cathedral’s Flickr site.

Let’s stay strong this summer

Summer is a time for travel and many of us will be away for part or most of the summer. And yet, Sunshine Cathedral will remain a seven day a week / 12 month a year worshiping community. If you are away this summer, you can remain connected to Sunshine Cathedral by reading the electronic version of the SunBurst, watching our streaming video sermons on the website, praying for the people on our prayer list (which can be found on the website), and by contributing to the Cathedral through the summer. Whether you mail in your contributions or sign up for “Giving with Ease”, your generosity will help us stay strong in the summer and will ensure that we begin the fall in a healthy, vibrant way. And for those of us who are in the area this summer, let’s continue to worship together week after week (and let’s invite friends to join us, too).

Whether you are here all year long or for only part of the year, we are proud to be your Sunshine Cathedral. Help us remain healthy and strong all year long.

AIDS Walk team says “Thanks”

Robert Faust and Eric Petrusha would like to personally thank everyone who donated to the Taking Steps for New Friends team for the third annual Florida AIDS Walk that was held on April 27th. The walk was a huge success; with 37 people on our team we had the biggest turnout for Sunshine Cathedral, raising $6,367! Thank you to all who participated and donated!

The winners of our raffle are: David Rouse — two-night stay at Ronny Dee’s Resort Motel, Al Lamorges — private dessert tasting at Stork’s, CJ Ashton — collection of fragrances, and Tom Gifford — men’s haircut at Grum Salon for Men. If you have not picked up your prizes, please see Marcie Fox in the church office from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm (Monday thru Thursday) to claim your prizes.

This team is very important to the Sunshine Cathedral and helps us continue our involvement with raising money to advance the fight against HIV / AIDS. The Cathedral is grateful for the efforts that Robert and Eric have made over the last few years and would like to have one or two more congregants who would be willing to take on the roles of co-captains in the future to expand our team and involvement with the AIDS Walk. If you would be interested in working on this team in the future, please contact Michael Diaz at the church office at mdiaz@sunshinecathedral.org or 954-462-2004 x 208.

Rt. Rev. Grant Lynn Ford to receive award

Our very own Right Reverend Grant Lynn Ford has been selected to be honored with the Dr. Nan S. Hutchinson Broward Senior Hall of Fame Award! The award will be presented at a breakfast ceremony on May 15th, from 9:00 – 11:30 am at Diamante’s Banquet Center, 6501 West Commercial Boulevard. SunServe, the Cathedral, and the Foundation will be putting together tables of our friends who want to come join us in celebrating in Grant’s honor. Tickets for the event are limited and cost only $25. To join our group or for more information, please call SunServe’s Mark Adler at 954-764-5150.