June is Pride time and once again we will show our colors at several joyous events.

First, Thursday, June 10, at 7:00 p.m., People of Faith for Equality Virginia sponsors the fourth annual NoVA Pride Interfaith service. This year the Metropolitan Community Church of Fairfax is host and the theme is Faith Out Loud!

On Saturday, June 12, we'll join our More Light friends in walking in the DC Pride Parade. We gather at Church of the Pilgrims (22nd and P St. NW) at 5:30. This always a huge amount of fun, and is the one chance you will get this year to receive a 1.5-mile standing ovation simply for showing up and being a Christian.

Sunday, June 13, is the Pride Festival, and we will have a presence in the More Light booth. If you'd like to be part of that please let me know. The festival is a blast and this year we are going to try a "Story Corp" type interview project to capture the stories of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender person's experiences with church. Should be interesting!

Mark your calendars for these, and I will see you there.

Hi all,

No, Alex Ovechkin is not joining us for worship this week -- at least, not as far as I know.

But it is the Sunday of Pentecost, and the color of the season is red. So wear some red and come be filled with the Spirit Sunday morning.

The story of Pentecost is one of many languages, and we want to share that in worship, so if you speak a language other than English and would like to participate in worship this weekend please let Chuck Abbott know. Chuck is coordinating the liturgy this weekend and needs several readers. You can contact him at: chuck.abbott@thomsonreuters.com.

We have several additional needs for Sunday morning:

I hope this has at least made you curious! Come and see! It will be a spirit-filled Sunday morning at Clarendon and we will have a joyous time.

peace,

David

Debbie Chase

Thursday, June 3, at 6:00 p.m. CPC will host a dinner for Debbie Chase, a Presbyterian mission co-worker in Malawi. Debbie will share with us from her experiences in the mission field.

Debbie has been under appointment as a mission co-worker since 1999. She serves in Ekwendeni, Malawi, as an administrator and lecturer at the University of Livingstonia, College of Theology, a seminary of the Synod of Livingstonia, Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP).

The Synod of Livingstonia serves the northern region of Malawi through its 130 congregations, 500 primary schools, five secondary schools, and three hospitals, and through its development and relief work and evangelism programs. The Synod has only 105 ministers to serve the needs of 610,000 members and their communities. That's a ratio of church members to ministers of 5,800 to 1. And the need for more ministers is even greater than the numbers may suggest, since new churches are forming to meet the rapid growth in membership. The need for more ministers of the Word and Sacrament is crucial.

In April, 2003, the Synod of Livingstonia established the College of Theology to train ministers to meet this great need. Debbie was involved in the planning and inauguration of the college and now serves as dean of academic affairs and lecturer of Old Testament, systematic theology, and pastoral psychology. She also preaches and administers the sacraments at various churches of the Synod of Livingstonia.

Debbie's work with the Synod is born of the Mutual Ministry Covenant of Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery (of which Debbie is a minister member) with the Synod of Livingstonia. In 1998 the Synod of Livingstonia invited Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery to send a clergywoman to help open doors for the ordination of women in Malawi to the ministry of the Word and Sacrament. In September 1999 Debbie responded to this call.

From September 1999 to March 2003 Debbie served the Synod of Livingstonia as clergy advisor to the Synod on women's issues. In this capacity she was associate pastor of the Zolozolo CCAP congregation in Mzuzu and on staff at the Synod's Lay Training Center in Ekwendeni. Her work focused on teaching lay leaders and pastors, which led to her serving in her present position as dean and lecturer at University of Livingstonia, College of Theology.

Malawi is acclaimed at be the "warm heart of Africa." Its people are warm and gracious and, despite great adversity, they are filled with the spirit of the living God. Malawi has 11 million people. One million of them are orphaned children due to HIV/AIDS and malaria. The church plays a vital role in giving people reason to hope under such formidable circumstances.
Born in Appleton, Wisconsin, Debbie graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, with a bachelor's degree in sociology. She worked for eight years as a counselor and social worker before attending Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. She later transferred to Princeton Theological Seminary, from which she received a master of divinity degree.
Debbie has served churches in Michigan and Oklahoma and has been involved with her presbytery's partnership with the Synod of Livingstonia since its inception.