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Help Wanted!
| We will begin worship Sunday with a joyous litany that needs many voices. If you'd like to read a small part (and play with a little bit of water) please send me a note, and I'll send you the reading. Thanks.
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Gracias! Lots of Notes of Thanks that We Should Share
| Thanks to each of you who signed up to host a coffee hour in the coming months. The sign up sheet is posted on the bulletin board outside of the church office, and there are plenty of dates remaining.
We look forward to the hospitality of James Fisher, who is hosting coffee time this week. (You can check the schedule each week on the calendar on the CPC web site.
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Pledge Drive Final Days
| We have received 28 thus far for the 2011 CPC budget, and the drive stands at $72,806. Our goal is $85,000.
We have some expansive plans for 2011, particularly concerning music and mission.
Session will be making the final 2011 budget, and making decisions regarding these plans at its annual planning retreat Saturday. These plans depend upon your generosity, and they depend upon pledges that we can count on for making an accurate budget.
Thanks so much to all those who have pledged already. It is tremendously helpful to the budget process. If you haven't offered your pledge yet, please do so now. You can simply send an e-mail to Reg Mitchell with your pledge amount. Also let Reg know if you plan to honor the pledge on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis or some other schedule that fits your own circumstance.
Give until giving makes a difference in your life. |
Come and Play
| The first Wii Kirk of 2011 is coming up Friday, Jan. 21, 6:300 p.m.
If you've never experienced the joyous gathering we call Wii Kirk, then mark your calendars and make it a date.
We get together on these evenings to share good food, good fun, and good fellowship.
Clark Chesser and Cheryl Lederle, AKA Mr. and Ms. Pizza, take over the church kitchen and fill the entire building with the beautiful scent of hand-crafted pizza. The rest of us bring other goodies to eat and drink. We roll of the big TV, hook up the Wii, and have an evening of fun for all ages.
It's a great time to build relationships, and it's a wonderful way to introduce new friends to the community at Clarendon.
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Happy Epiphay
Progressive ... Inclusive ... Diverse |
January.2011
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Greetings!
 Have you had an epiphany lately? Today is the day of Epiphany, the date on which some parts of the church have traditionally celebrated the appearance or manifestation of God in Jesus the Christ. It is the twelfth day of Christmas. So, first, happy Epiphany! Or, perhaps, one last time, Merry Christmas! But, more to the point, have you had an epiphany? Have you witnessed the presence of God in your own life of late? Have you encountered the light of the Holy in the life of a neighbor, friend, colleague, loved one? What difference has it made in your own life? What difference does it make to be looking for such moments? When, in John's gospel, Jesus encounters his first disciples, he asks them simply, "what are you looking for?" He follows up with the simple invitation, "Come and see." Come and see. That's the theme of our worship Sunday morning, so, come and see! peace, DavidPS: In case you were not with us last weekend, here's something new for New Year's -- we've herringboned most of the pews in the sanctuary. This furniture rearranging comes in response to suggestions from the small groups this fall, and aims to make our conversational style of worship work better. Come and see!
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Off to a Roaring Start in the New Year! This Weekend Holds Something for Everyone.
The holidays are over, and we are in full swing this weekend at CPC.
Session Retreats
Session holds its annual planning retreat Saturday from 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. in classroom A. Please hold us in the light as we finalize the budget and make plans for 2011. The congregation will receive the budget at our congregational meeting, Sunday, Jan. 30, following worship.
Worship: Come and See
Sunday morning's worship begins in the waters of baptism, and the story of Jesus' own baptism. In those waters, the Spirit commissioned Jesus whose next step was to call together followers. We'll explore his enigmatic invitation, "come and see," that is reported in John's gospel. The invitation still stands, to us, to come and see. In particular, the invitation is to come and be part of a community that is described well in Romans 12. Those texts for the basis for our worship this weekend. Come and See.
Family Circle
The family circle church school convenes after worship in classroom A. This week, Karen Kimmel will be leading us in some quilt making. All are welcome.
Exploring Membership
We begin a three-week exploring membership group this Sunday. We meet in the purple parlor/church library after worship to talk about our own faith journeys, and what it means to be part of a particular faith community. Come and see!
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Prayers of the People
Our Seasons of the Spirit prayers for the coming week include those who continue to struggle to find work in the midst of economic crisis; those in our community who will sleep on the streets this week; and these members of the CPC family: Cheryl Lederle, Bud, Martin and Hannah Lederle-Ensign, David Ensign. Please let them know that you are holding them in the light. In addition, please hold the family and friends of Elizabeth Ridgway in the light as they mourn her death. Elizabeth was Cheryl Lederle's supervisor at the Library of Congress. She died right before Christmas after suffering a brain aneurism following a fall. She will be remembered Saturday in a worship service at Capital Hill Presbyterian, where she was a member. Please hold the family and friends of Davon Cruz in the light as they mourn his death. Davon was a colleague of Carol DeFord. He died in a car accident last weekend. Mike Bagwell and Clark Chesser ask prayers for Betty Catherine Price, Bob Sizemore, Bob Polinski and Carol Ann Woolley who are all battling cancer, and for Linda Sue Fountain (who is Carol Ann's sister and caregiver).
Our texts for the week include Psalm 122; Psalm 29; Isaiah 66:18-23; Matthew 4:5-10; Acts 17:18-28; and Romans 12.
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Making Peace By Working to End Gun Violence in Metro DC
When Clarendon's session passed an overture (that was eventually endorsed by action of the 2010 General Assembly) calling for renewed work on nonviolence, we specifically included a call for local congregations to engage issues of violence in their own communities.
In response, a working group of clergy and laity in National Capital Presbytery is organizing a chapter of Heeding God's Call to address gun violence and illegal gun trafficking in our area.
Heeding God's Call is an interfaith initiative begun by an elder at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church on the Mainline in Philadelphia. Heeding God's Call works to encourage gun sellers to be responsible community members by agreeing to a simple 10-point voluntary code of conduct developed by Mayors Against Illegal Guns. The code has been adopted by Wall Mart, the largest gun seller in the country.
As detailed by the Washington Post in a stunning series on The Hidden Life of Guns, the vast majority of guns used in crimes in the United States can be traced back to a small minority of gun dealers who regularly sell hand guns to "straw purchasers" who stand in for criminal entrepreneurs who sell the guns to people who would not be able to purchase them legally.
Heeding God's Call was launched three years ago with a campaign that led to the eventual closure of a gun shop in Philadelphia that was the source of 20 percent of all guns recovered at crime scenes in that city. At the time, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence had named the shop the fifth-worst gun dealer in the United States.
Locally, Heeding God's Call is gathering data on dealers in the metro area, including in Northern Virginia, and will be contacting those whose business practices do not meet the standards of the code of contact. The first step is to ask dealers to comply, and to celebrate with the community should they do so. Subsequent steps aim to bring public pressure to bear.
Heeding God's Call is endorsed by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, and is supported by the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship.
If you would like to get involved in this local effort to reduce gun violence, please let me know.
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