Cokesbury Digest – 7/7/2021

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, regular in-person worship remains canceled until further notice. Drive-in and Lawn services are planned and plans regarding the return to in-person worship are being developed.

Please continue your mitigation efforts as the coronavirus Delta strain is gaining traction. Infection rates of the Delta variant have risen dramatically in the last few weeks and this trend is expected to continue, particularly among those not yet fully vaccinated. It is estimated to be up to 60% more transmissible than the original, Alpha, strain and currently accounts for about 50% of new cases.
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A devotion for today
Blessed Assurance – Silent Voice TV
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Worship Services (weather permitting – inclement weather will move worship to online only):
 – This Sunday, July 11th, 10am: Drive-In and Online,
 – Sunday, July 18th, 10am: Drive-In, Lawn, and Online (bring lawn chairs),
 – Sunday, July 25th, 10am: Drive-In, Lawn, and Online (bring lawn chairs)
We will begin expanded outdoor worship on July 18th. Those who wish to do so may bring lawn chairs for the area by the main parking lot under the trees (above the pavilion), and those who wish to remain in their cars may do so. Online worship via Facebook will also be available.
Tentative planning is currently underway to safely return to in-person worship in the Sanctuary sometime in August. A lot of work must be done before that can happen, and a lot of health related rules must be followed. Stay tuned for more info!
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Greetings! 
Peace be with you.  I am excited to be joining you in ministry at Cokesbury and in the community of Woodbridge.  The words of Psalm 133 come to mind: “How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!  It is like the precious oil on the head, running down the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down over the collar of his robes.  It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion.  For there the Lord ordained his blessing, life forevermore.”  This past year has been a very challenging, painful and sorrowful time for us that we have experienced in various ways and to different degrees.  Our faith in God of provision, presence, mercy, and salvation has led us through and will continue to lead us as we immerse ourselves and the ministry of Cokesbury in prayer.  I look forward to meeting each one of you and hearing your story as well as sharing my own story.  
Blessings,
Gayle Porias
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Prayer Requests and Hospitality:
July Birthdays:
Roshier Bailey (7/02),
Linda Irby (7/15),
Edna Plancon (7/18),
Alexander Berry (7/25),
Bruce Magruder (7/26),
Mary Jewell (7/30)

July Anniversary:
Walter & Melanie Blair (7/4)

Continuing prayers and concerns for: Eunice Bonner, Deirdre Dorsey, Mary Jane and Harry Fizer, Kyle Keen, Marian Benson Ivy, Mary Jewell, Rev and Mrs Taylor Mertins and Elijah, Cheryl Petitt, Rev Gayle Porias, Mark Young
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Faith Moment:
 – Christianity is the largest religion in the world, with around 2.4 billion adherents. The next largest are Islam (1.8 billion), Hinduism (1.2 billion), Buddhism (520 million), and Shintoism (104 million),
– The Old Testament is a primary religious text in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. These are the Abrahamic religions, whose common patriarch is Abraham, originally Abram,
 – The oldest biblical manuscript found so far are the Silver Scrolls. These are two small silver amulets that contain the priestly blessing from Numbers 6:24-26, “May you be blessed by Yahweh; the Warrior/helper and rebuker of evil; May Yahweh bless you and keep you; May Yahweh cause his face to shine upon you and grant you peace”.  The Silver Scrolls are dated from the 7th century B.C., during the First Temple time period, and pre-date the Dead Sea Scrolls by some 400 years,
 – Christianity is broadly split among three main denominations: Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox. Among these are thousands of sub-denominations of their own, primarily determined by their authority and doctrine for issues such as the nature of Jesus, Trinitarianism, salvation, authority of apostolic succession, papal primacy, interpretation of specific Bible passages, etc. But they all love God,
 – The Romans called early Christians “Atheists” because they did not worship and pay tribute to the Roman gods,
 – Because of a misunderstanding of the Eucharist ritual, many Romans believed early Christians to be cannibals,
 – It is estimated there are some 234 million Christians in China. Most worship underground and must work to avoid the persecution of the State,
 – Over 40 authors contributed to the Bible. Among them prophets, kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, statesmen, and scholars,
 – The first authorized English language Bible was the “Great Bible” of 1539. This was followed by the “Geneva Bible” in 1560 which was the first English Bible to use verse numbers. The “King James Bible” was first published in 1611,
 – The Bible has been translated into over 1,200 languages, including Klingon.
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COVID-19:
All of Virginia is now in Open Season vaccine eligibility. Every Virginian 12 and older is eligible for vaccination and pre-registration is no longer required.

Community Vaccination Center (CVC) offers Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson vaccines.
Clinic Hours: Monday through Saturday (8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.)
Location: 14041 Worth Ave., Woodbridge, VA 22192 (in the former Gander Mountain store)

PWHD Manassas Mall clinic offers Moderna vaccine.
Clinic Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday (9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) Thursday (1 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.) and Sunday (closed)
Location: 8300 Sudley Road, Manassas, VA 20109

Please visit the Virginia Department of Health System at Vaccinate Virginia, and see the Prince William County Vaccine Update Information page for the latest state and local vaccination information.
Prince William County offers free COVID-19 testing opportunities for people living or working in Prince William County.
For more information, please visit:
Prince William County COVID-19 Testing Site
Prince William County Coronavirus Site
Virginia Coronavirus Site
CDC Coronavirus Site
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ACTS (Action in Community Through Service) has many volunteer opportunities available. Please visit their website for more information.
Prince William Conservation Alliance (PWCA) is looking for dedicated volunteers who can join them most Saturdays from 9:30am to 12 noon for weeding, pruning, and watering plants to make sure the Wildlife Garden at Merrimac Farm in Nokesville looks great and continues to flourish! This is a family friendly outdoor opportunity. See the web page for more info and contact the alliance for questions and to RSVP.
Prince William Food Rescue (PWFR) needs Food Rescue Heroes as the program is super busy delivering food to both ACTS and SERVE homebound senior citizens. Volunteers are urgently needed countywide!  Home food deliveries are no contact and follow social distancing guidelines.  PWFR is an app-based program enabling volunteers to pick up viable, close to expiration food from supermarkets, restaurants, food pantries, etc., and then deliver it to a program that can immediately use the food. Just an hour of your time will do much to provide relief for food insecure families in our community!  More info on PWFR may be found at https://pwfoodrescue.org/.  Please contact Shirley or call 703.441.8606 ext. 212 for more information.
Visit Volunteer Prince William and Prince William Living for local volunteer opportunities.
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Book Review: “How To Hug A Porcupine. Easy ways to Love The Difficult People In Your Life”
by Sean K. Smith, June Eding, Debbie Joffe Ellis
Porcupines , the prickliest of all rodents, sport coats of sharp spines or quills that protect them against predation. When they feel  threatened, agitated, or annoyed, they use an aposematic strategy of defense including quill erection, teeth clattering, emitting odor, and finally attack in that sequence. People porcupines use their voices and their behavior as quills for similar reasons.
I am a people person as well as an animal person, so I thought it to be quite clever for the author to use the Porcupine as an analogy to tackle the complex subject of human relationships.
Just as the animal itself is cute and adorable, this book physically is cute, adorable, hand size, and a quick read even though it attempts to teach us nonprickly human beings how to get along with our prickly friends, teachers, coworkers, neighbors, spouses, and other significant folks in our lives.
Ideally, most of us would rather not hug anyone whose interaction or attack mode mimics that of a porcupine so most of us welcome a strategy to find a way to connect without incurring major collateral physical and emotional damage. This book does just that using, for the most part, simple strategies.
This book lays out specific and doable approaches that can help us humans deal effectively with people who are challenging to embrace, or get along with, or just plain and simple, love.
This 131-page book is divided into 4 parts with a last word and resources for porcupines at the end of the book. I particularly enjoyed digesting Part II entitled “A Basic Guide to Understanding Porcupines and Part IV entitled “The Porcupine Within Us All”.
Part II lays out “back pocket” strategies for coping with human prickly porcupines with humor, wisdom, and practicality. The author starts by suggesting that you first learn their warning signs, keep your quills in, respect their boundaries, consider your porcupine’s real needs and fears, find that soft spot, stay in control, and use your porcupine’s name. Using his/her name in a soothing tone suggests that things will be okay. You will find your own favorite coping strategy.
Part IV, which is entitled “The porcupine Within Us All”, presents the reality that we all have an inner porcupine that jumps out and rears its ugly head when our own vulnerabilities are addressed, attacked, criticized, or challenged. So, Sean suggests that if we are to be successful in our interactions with the porcupines in our lives, it is best to identify our own. Our success starts with us being brutally honest with ourselves, recognize our defensiveness, acknowledge our shortcomings (hard to do),and don’t cut corners.
If you have read any of my reviews, you know that I love to identify quotable quotes that I can live by and those of which I can use to sustain my truth and dignity. For a book so compressed, I was amazed and uplifted by quotes that would further my growth and development. Here are a few of my favorites:
 – “Confronting yourself is the hardest, most essential challenge you will ever face”.
 – “Openness trumps defensiveness. Care beats mistrust. Attention cures fears”.
 – “A verbal exchange in which one person speaks more than they listen is not called a conversation; it’s called a monologue”.
 – “Don’t let your own quills get the best of you.”
 – “Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit”.
 – “Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own”.
So….on your next one hour chauffeured trip, bring along this book. As you read it, you will not resist sharing it with your companion. By the time you reach your destination, both of you will be dimensionally smarter.
Eunice Bonner, an active member of Cokesbury UMC, is co-editor of the Cokesbury Digest.
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Please consider these 5 different ways that you can support the church right now: 
 1) Support Cokesbury with Your Financial Gifts,
 2) Share Information About Cokesbury,
 3) Contact Someone from Cokesbury,
 4) Share Your Ideas with The Pastor,
 5) Pray. Pray. Pray.
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Reminders and Links:
Keep an eye on Cokesbury UMC’s Facebook page and website for periodic updates and items of interest.
  – The worship message is streamed online every Sunday at 10am on Facebook. You can find previous worship messages there as well.
Cokesbury UMC Facebook Page
Cokesbury UMC Web Site
Crackers and Grape Juice Podcast
Strangely Warmed Weekly Lectionary Podcast

For Tithes and Offerings:
 – Online via the Cokesbury web site,
 – Via mail to Cokesbury UMC, 14806 Blackburn Road, Woodbridge, VA 22191,
 – Via the mail slot next to the upstairs door at the church.

If you shop at Amazon, please use our AmazonSmile access link to direct a portion (0.5%) of the price of eligible sales to Cokesbury UMC (it will not change the prices you pay):
https://smile.amazon.com/ch/54-1255430 
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Bird Feeder and Wildlife Cameras – Live bird feeder and wildlife cameras from Argyll, Scotland.
What a Friend We Have in Jesus – EpicYouthWatsonville
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God be with you til we meet again,
Walter and Eunice
Cokesbury UMC Church Council Co-Chairs
Volume 2.13 – 7/7/2021