|
|
Gracias! Lots of Notes of Thanks that We Should Share
| Thanks to Jeannette for hosting a delicious coffee time that sustained us through the congregational meeting.
Thanks also to Carol DeFord and Jackson Tahu for putting away the chairs and tables following the meeting.
Help Wanted!
We have officially run to the end of the current sign ups for hosting coffee time. If you can host any of the coming weeks, please let me know and I will put your name on the list. Thanks.
(You can check the coffee hour schedule each week on the calendar on the CPC web site.)
|
| Join the Family Circle this Sunday | |
We've been holding a once-a-month, one-room schoolhouse Sunday School, and the doors are open for you to join us this Sunday!
Family Circle will be exploring ways we make peace in our homes, schools, neighborhoods, workplaces and the wider world.
In 45 action-packed minutes we'll touch on some of the challenges to following the nonviolent Jesus in a violent world.
We promise a joyous, thought-provoking time for children of God of all ages and all family configurations.
|
| Mark Your March Calendars! | |
Coming soon to the wee kirk:
Family Circle Sunday School, April 10, after coffee time.
Session meets Wednesday, April 20, at 7:30 p.m.
Maundy Thursday, April 21, soup supper in Wilson Hall at 6:30 p.m. followed by worship in the sanctuary.
Good Friday worship, April 22, 7:00 p.m.
Wii Kirk, Friday, April 29, 6:30 p.m.
Rebuilding Together, April 30, all day.
Music Sunday, May 1.
Christian Ed/Spiritual Formation discernment team, Sunday, May 1, 11:30.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Still On the Journey
Progressive ... Inclusive ... Diverse |
April.2011
|
Greetings!
 This week I am literally on the journey, and thus I bring you greetings from Stony Point, NY, where I am for a couple of days for the Presbyterian Peacemaking Fellowship's annual Convocation of Peacemakers. It is always challenging to find the blessing in peacemaking in a time of war, but surely a substantial part of the blessing comes simply in sharing the fellowship of faithful followers of the way of the nonviolent Jesus. The journey of Lent is similarly challenging: following the way of the nonviolent Jesus toward Jerusalem and the violence of the cross. We concluded a wonderful Lenten study of hospitality in which about 15 folks from CPC participated. Through it all, I was reminded that the God we worship is the One whose creative act was first an act of gracious hospitality -- creating a home place for us all. As we journey through the waning days of Lent, marking the worshipful highs of Holy Week on Palm Sunday and the desolate lows of betrayal and crucifixion, let us remember that the One who comes to make his home among us points us always to the One who made our home. We'll continue the journey in worship Sunday morning as we explore the question of trust. Throughout Lent, members of the community will be sharing stories from their own faith journeys. Gordon Hawthorne will share some reflections this week. peace, David |
|
CPC Is Teaming With Discernment:
We Need Your Discerning Mind
Following up the input from the congregation received during small-group gatherings last fall we are in the midst of a season of discerning our congregational callings around mission, education, spiritual formation, worship, and the use of our space.
About 20 members of the congregation have participated in prayerful gatherings to talk about worship, mission, education and spiritual formation, and next month we'll hold the first gathering of a group whose focus will be how we use, decorate, arrange and care for our space, including the sanctuary.
Each of the meetings has followed a pattern of prayer, reading and discussing scripture, and actively listening for what the Spirit is saying to the church about the concerns in front of us. Every voice is important, and we need you to participate.
The Christian education and spiritual formation team meets again Sunday, May 1, following worship. The sacred space team holds its first meeting Sunday, May 15, following worship.
If you have questions and the process or purposes of these teams, please let me know.
|
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance in Japan
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, working with partner churches through Church World Service, is providing relief in Japan in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami that struck March 11.
The initial $100,000 from One Great Hour of Sharing funds provided to CWS has gone towards an immediate response to 5,000 households, about 25,000 individuals, now living at 100 evacuation sites in the northeastern area of Japan - the prefectures of Miyagi, Fukushima, Iwate, Ibaragi and Tochigi.
The focus of the response is on evacuation sites where basic needs of food, water, sanitation, electricity and fuel are not being met. To contribute to the relief efforts through Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, click here for a link to PDA's secure giving site.
|
Prayers of the People
Our Seasons of the Spirit prayers for the coming week include public servants - the teachers, firefighter and police officers, the social service workers, and all of the people who take care of the many public buildings in our city; and these members of CPC: David Pitts and Travis Reindl, Samantha Rodriguez, Ben Saperstein.
Our texts for the week include Matthew 22:15-22, Deuteronomy 14:22-29, Psalm 146, Isaiah 40, Luke 6:17-26, Luke 6:43-49 .
|
A-10 Update as of March 30
The presbyteries' vote on proposed amendment 10-A stands at 76 presbyteries in favor and 58 opposed (including one tie that counts as a "no" vote).
It takes 87 presbyteries (a simple majority) voting in the affirmative to change the constitution.
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.
|
|
|
|
|
