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A weekly email blast written by Daniel Vigilante to members and friends.
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WHERE IN THE WORLD IS DAN VIGILANTE?
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I write to you from Miami, Florida (yes, there are worse places I could be right now), where the Covenant Network board is meeting this week. The weather is delightful and the mood around the table is hopeful. We are gearing up for a General Assembly (the biannual gathering of the denomination) where we have the fortunate position of playing defense, rather than offense. As many of you know, last May a majority of the presbyteries approved overture 10-A, which lifted the restrictions against gay and lesbian folks from serving in ordained ministries of the church. This was one of the founding goals of the Covenant Network and it feels good to have prevailed in a cause about which so many of us care so deeply.
The other founding goal of the Covenant Network is to hold the church together. Our commitment to the unity of the church remains strong. And so while we are thinking creatively about how to embed 10-A into the life of the PC(USA) - and celebrating the ordinations of LGBT folks that have already taken place - we are also working to reach out to those with whom we disagree and to maintain our witness to a whole church that is as generous and just as God's grace.
I do not understand the mystery of grace -- only that it meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us.
-Anne Lamott
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WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY
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I'll be preaching this Sunday, using the lectionary text from Mark. Last week we heard the story of Jesus' first healing miracle in Mark's gospel. This week, we hear about what happens next (here's a hint: it's another healing miracle story). Our text this week is Mark 1: 29 - 39. To hear the scriptures please click on the corresponding reading Mark 1:29-39 and Isaiah 40:21-31.
As we always do on the first Sunday of the month, we'll receive the sacrament of Holy Communion during worship. We also invite you to contribute to the Meals of the Month (as we always do on the first Sunday), another sacramental act of God's people, when we share some of what we have and what we can offer, to a world in need.
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A FINAL WORD FROM GARY COLLINS
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Dear Friends,
Denise, Jennifer and I want to express our deepest thanks to you for an evening that we will never, ever forget. Our hearts are warm, our souls are satisfied. What a night it was. Thank you to each one who came to share the evening. Thank you for the many generous gifts you presented to us. I played a round with my new driver on Monday - it's marvelous how technology can make up for human futility. We're grateful too for the many kind words from dear friends and colleagues and for the time so many of you took to speak so sweetly to us on video.
Of course, we owe special thanks to Deborah Mayhew for her leadership and the many, many hours she spent to make it a perfect party. You could plan anything, Deborah, and make it perfect. We don't even know the names of all the sponsors who made such an elegant affair possible or of the many others who gave of their time, but please, dear friends, accept our heartfelt thanks.
With our love and gratitude,
Denise, Gary and Jennifer
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YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS!
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This Sunday and February 12, & 19, from 8:30-9:30 a.m.
Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi, Islamic scholar, theologian and chairman of the Fiqh Council of North America will be with us to lead a series on Islam. Topics covered will include:
What do Muslims believe? What is Qur'an? Who was Prophet Muhammad?
What are Muslim practices, rituals, laws and ethical principles?
Muslim groups, religious and cultural diversity among Muslims
Islam and Muslims today, responses to modernity, American Muslims, and relations between Muslims and Christians
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IT'S A BOY!
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Just last Sunday we welcomed Bonnie and Dave Stachowiak into our church family as new members. And just last night, the Stachowiaks welcomed Luke David Stachowiak into their family -
as Dave writes, "just edging out the clock (at 11:56 p.m.) for his February 2nd Groundhog Day birthday." Mom and baby are doing "wonderfully well" and passing all tests with flying colors. Congratulations Stachowiaks!
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A FANTASTIC PIECE ABOUT "GRACE"
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A fantastic piece about "grace," passed along by Leslie Brockman (via Gary Collins and Mark Hoover):
After centuries of handing and mishandling, most religious words have become so shopworn nobody's much interested any more. Not so with grace, for some reason. Mysteriously, even derivatives like gracious and gracefulstill have some of the bloom left.
Grace is something you can never get but only be given. There's no way to earn it or deserve it or bring it about any more than you can deserve the taste of raspberries and cream or earn good looks or bring about your own birth.
A good sleep is grace and so are good dreams. Most tears are grace. The smell of rain is grace. Somebody loving you is grace. Loving somebody is grace. Have you ever tried to love somebody?
A crucial eccentricity of the Christian faith is the assertion that people are saved by grace. There's nothing you have to do. There's nothing you have to do. There's nothing you have to do.
The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you I created the universe. I love you.
There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you'll reach out and take it.
Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift, too.
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See you at church,
- Dan
Share your thoughts on our Facebook Fan Page and check our website: www.stmarkpresbyterian.org
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