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Spring Forward!
| Daylight Savings Time begins this weekend. Don't forget to set your clocks ahead one hour before you hit the hay Saturday night. If you do forget, I promise a baffo benediction for the one-hour late arrivals.
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Gracias! Lots of Notes of Thanks that We Should Share
| Thanks to Jeannette Regetz for leading the Family Circle Sunday School last week, and sharing her passion about water conservation.
Thanks to Travis for hosting a delicious coffee time.
Help Wanted!
If we are to have coffee time this Sunday, we need a host. Please let me know if you can take this one. Thanks.
(You can check the coffee hour schedule each week on the calendar on the CPC web site.)
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Worship and Mission Discernment and Planning Groups Gathers Next Sunday
| | Sunday, March 20, following coffee time both the worship planning group and the mission discernment groups will meet. The worship planning group will gather in classroom A downstairs. Mission will meet in the purple parlor/library on the main floor. Watch this space next week for details and background materials. |
| Mark Your March Calendars! | |
Coming soon to the wee kirk:
Lenten Soup Series begins Thursday, March 17, 6:30 p.m.
Mission discernment group and worship planning team, March 20, 11:30 a.m.
Bullied! A special showing of a powerful documentary film, March 20, 3:00 p.m. at Church of the Pilgrims.
AFAC grocery bagging, Monday, March 21, 7:00 p.m.
Lenten Soup Series Thursday, March 24, 6:30 p.m.
Bryan McFarland in concert, March 26, 7:00 p.m.
Spring clean up day is Saturday, April 2.
Maundy Thursday worship, April 21.
Good Friday worship, April 22.
Rebuilding Together, April 30.
Music Sunday, May 1.
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| MLP at the Movies | |
Open Doors/More Light Presbyterians is sponsoring a special showing of the documentary Bullied at Church of the Pilgrims, Sunday, March 20, 3:00 p.m.
Bullied is a documentary film that chronicles one student's ordeal at the hands of anti-gay bullies and offers an inspiring message of hope to those fighting harassment today. It can become a cornerstone of anti-bullying efforts in middle and high schools.
The showing will be followed by a discussion featuring Diana Bruce, director of Health, Education and Wellness, District of Columbia Public Schools.
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Walking Through Lent
Progressive ... Inclusive ... Diverse |
March.2011
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Greetings!
 First off, a happy St. Patrick's Day to you all. My great, great grandfather came over from the Old Sod in the middle of the 19th century during a potato famine, and provides the Irish link in my Scots-Irish heritage. St. Patty's Day always falls during Lent, and the day always reminds me of the journey of my great, great grandfather from hunger and poverty toward hope for something better. Lent is a journey that can take us deeply into our own hunger and poverty toward the hope of the cross, the promise that we are beloved no matter what our circumstance. In our hunger, there is a place set for us at the table of our Lord. That is the foundation of Christian hospitality: because there is a place set for us, we set a place for one another. This year, we will explore the depths of Christian hospitality together, as Clark Chesser and Cheryl Lederle lead us on a month-long journey toward a deeper, fuller understanding of table fellowship. Come and see! Come and eat! We'll begin tonight at 6:30, gathering around tables set up in classroom A, on the ground floor. Come in through the glass door off the parking lot. Sunday morning we continue our Lenten journey in worship. Throughout Lent, members of the community will be sharing stories from their own faith journeys. Dave Norman will share some reflections this week. Come and worship! peace, David PS: Two of our discerning groups meet this Sunday following worship and coffee time: the mission discernment group meets in the purple parlor/library, and the worship planning team meets in classroom A. |
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 Lent Soup Series Begins Tonight
The season of Lent offers a time for paring down and refocusing our lives. We'll work on that this year with a series of soup suppers and conversations beginning tonight at 6:30.
Clark Chesser and Cheryl Lederle will guide us as we consider insights from Naomi Remen's Kitchen Table Wisdom, and from our own lives. We will continue our focus on the Christian spiritual practice of hospitality during this series, and we'll talk about some of the practical ways that we participate in this spiritual practice as well as the ways that it shapes our lives in community.
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Come and Sing!
Bryan McFarland In Concert at CPC
 Singer-songwriter-Presbyterian pastor Bryan McFarland is coming to CPC! Bryan will be in concert at Clarendon on Saturday, March 26, at 7:00 p.m. Bryan combines spirituality and emotional storytelling into a sentimental yet lighthearted style. He tours listening rooms, theaters and coffeehouses and leads workshops and retreats at colleges & universities, churches, conference centers, and private venues. As Salem Presbytery's Hunger Action Advocate, Bryan staffs two committees who collect & distribute the presbytery's Pennies for Hunger offering and he speaks, sings and lobbies on issues of hunger and social justice. Bryan has served local PCUSA congregations in Kentucky and Indiana and as campus minister at Maryville College, the University of Louisville, and the University of North Carolina Greensboro. He lives in Greensboro, NC with his wife, daughter and their pets. |
Prayers of the People
Our Seasons of the Spirit prayers for the coming week include the debt slaves in south Asia; the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in Florida; and these members of the CPC family: Carl Layno, Wes MacAdam, Suzanne Matula. Please let them know that you are holding them in the light.
Our texts for the week include Genesis 2, Psalm 139, Psalm 133, Matthew 18:1-7, Luke 6:37-42, Philemon .
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A-10 Update as of March 16
As of yesterday, the presbyteries vote on proposed amendment 10-A stood at 67 presbyteries in favor and 48 opposed (including one tie that counts as a "no" vote).
Earlier this week another Presbytery (West Jersey) had a tie vote, but their standing rules require a re-vote at a subsequent meeting. The closeness of the voting underscore the urgency of getting out the vote, so if you have friends in Presbyterian congregations in other parts of the country make sure they are aware of the voting in their own presbytery. National Capital Presbytery will vote on the amendment at a special meeting, Saturday, April 30.
The voting thus far includes a 14 presbyteries that "flipped" from "no" votes two years ago to "yes" votes this time, and one that went the other way. That makes a net gain of 13 presbyteries thus far. A net gain of nine presbyteries is necessary to "flip" the final result.
Clarendon's session drafted one of the overtures to last summer's General Assembly that formed the basis for the present 10-A. If adopted, the amendment would remove the current language of section G-6.106b in our Book of Order and insert this wording:
Standards for ordained service reflect the church's desire to submit joyfully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life (G-1.0000). The governing body responsible for ordination and/or installation (G.14.0240; G-14.0450) shall examine each candidate's calling, gifts, preparation, and suitability for the responsibilities of office. The examination shall include, but not be limited to, a determination of the candidate's ability and commitment to fulfill all requirements as expressed in the constitutional questions for ordination and installation (W-4.4003). Governing bodies shall be guided by Scripture and the confessions in applying standards to individual candidates.
It takes 87 presbyteries (a simple marjority) voting in the affirmative to change the constitution.
In terms of raw vote totals, 55 percent of votes cast at presbytery meetings thus far have favored the change. This does not include six affirmative voice votes and one voice vote to disapprove.
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