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Gracias! Lots of Notes of Thanks that We Should Share
| Thanks to Molly DeMaret-Tahu for hosting coffee time Sunday.
We have a fine list of hosts for most of summer, but we do have a gap this Sunday. Can you fill it? Please let me know.
Coffee hour hosts are listed on the church calendar on our web site. There is a sign up sheet on the bulletin board outside of the church office.
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Something new: Milestones
| Beginning as soon as you let me know, we'll feature in this space celebrations, concerns, moments and milestones in the lives of members of the community. So, if you have a birthday, an anniversary, a graduation, a promotion, a retirement, or other milestone to celebrate send me a note and we'll shout it out right here.
Likewise, if you have a prayer concern that you'd like lifted up in the prayer lives of the the community, let me know and we'll list that here, as well.
Here are a couple of milestones to celebrate this week:
Samantha Rodriguez graduates from Bishop Ireton High School Tuesday.
Cheryl and David celebrate 29 years of married bliss on Monday.
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Mark Your
Calendars! | |
Coming soon to the wee kirk:
Choir practice, Thursday, May 26, 7:00 p.m.
Nominating committee, Sunday, June 5, following worship.
NoVA Pride Interfaith Celebration, Wednesday, June 8, 7:00 p.m.
Capital Pride parade, Saturday, June 11.
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Heeding God's Call
| Gun violence is a lot like the weather: everybody complains about it but nobody does anything about it.
Are you tired of the steady drumbeat of news about gun violence? There are ways to respond, and folks from National Capital Presbytery are leading the way in creating a new chapter of Heeding God's Call.
Join an interfaith coalition as it begins a campaign to change the business practices of Realco Guns in suburban Maryland.
According to a report in the Washington Post this spring, a year-long investigation revealed that "Since 1992, more than 2,500 guns recovered by police and tied to crimes in the Washington area have been traced to their original sale at Realco Guns in Forestville, Md. The total is four times that of the dealer with the next highest number of gun traces.
Heeding God's Call, a movement that began in Philadelphia, aims to bring public pressure to bear on gun dealers to encourage them to agree to a code of conduct drawn up by Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
Heeding God's Call is one of the ways that the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship is responding to the nonviolence overture that came out of our session last year.
If you'd like to be part of this effort, please contact David.
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End Times or New Beginnings?
Progressive ... Inclusive ... Diverse |
May.2011
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Greetings!
 If you are an unusually attentive reader you may have noticed that the "headline" above is the same this week as it was last. This time, however, it's not about the nonapocalypse of last weekend, it's about who we have been, who we are, and who we shall be at CPC. It may have occurred to you that, with the broader church's adoption of 10-A opening the way to the ordination of GLBT church officers, one of the organizing purposes of CPC's mission has been realized. While this is certainly cause for great celebration, it may also bring us pause to consider "what's next?" Obviously, GLBT ordination and the broader related justice issues have not been the sole work of Clarendon, but they have been defining work for us for a long time. For almost 20 years, many of us have worked tirelessly for this day. Now that it is come, for what do we work? We have been working out answers to that question together for a while, but the present moment of celebration also brings a renewed urgency to the question, so let's put it out there this summer. As we think together, pray together, study together, worship together and plan together this summer be mindful of our past, center the present in God's boundless love, and be open to what the spirit is saying to the church at Clarendon. First ThingsThe most important first step is the simplest one of all: show up. We think best when everyone is on hand to offer perspectives. We are entering the summer Sabbath season, and each of us will likely spend some time away. That is good and right, and I encourage each of you to take advantage of opportunities for rest and restoration. But, if you are in town on weekends this summer please make your best effort to be present for the community at Clarendon. God does not tire of our worship, and we need one another if we are to give our best to God. Come, let us worship God!grace and peace, David PS: We'll have a very special time with young people in worship this Sunday as the Rev. Peg True shares some memories of childhood during war time. Families with young ones will want to be in worship Sunday! |
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Presbyterians With Pride
 The annual Capital Pride celebration presents Presbyterians with several opportunities to join in the festivities in worship and witness.
The fifth annual NoVA Pride Interfaith Celebration, sponsored by People of Faith for Equality Virginia, gathers Wednesday, June 8, at 7:00 p.m. at the Celebration Center in Falls Church. Come out to Celebrate Progress with Pride!
The annual Pride parade kicks off around 6:00 p.m., Saturday, June 11. Open Doors/More Light Presbyterians will meet up at Church of the Pilgrims and walk together in the parade. Watch this space for further details.
The Pride festival will be Sunday, June 12. Open Doors/MLP will have a table at the festival. Stop by and visit.
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AFAC Volunteer Appreciation Party
 Over the past 12 months CPC members have given more than 1,000 hours to the work of the Arlington Food Assistance Center, and hundreds of pounds of groceries. Just this week, 20 of us showed up for the monthly grocery bagging and filled 500 bags to be distributed to clients this week.
All of that effort deserves a party, and AFAC is throwing one. Sunday, June 5, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. AFAC is hosting its annual volunteer appreciation picnic for all volunteers and family members. Good food, fun prizes and festive tunes will be the order of the day. Contact Amber Hodgen for further details.
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NoVA Pride Interfaith Celebration!
 People of Faith for Equality Virginia presents "Celebrating Progress With Pride," PoFEV's 5th annual Northern Virginia Interfaith Pride Worship Celebration, Wednesday, June 8, at 7:00 p.m. at the Celebration Center for Spiritual Living in Falls Church.
The past 12 months have brought great strides toward justice that we celebrate:
- The beginning of the end of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
- Marriage equality advances in DC, Delaware, and New Hampshire.
- Strides in faith communities including the Lutheran and Presbyterian church's changes in ordination rules.
- Public opinion shifts toward justice, including more than 50 percent of Virginians favoring same-sex marriage rights.
Join People of Faith to Celebrate!
People of Faith for Equality in Virginia is an interfaith network of people who all share one thing: a deep commitment to our faith traditions, which kindles our deep commitment to social justice. As rabbis, ministers, priests, and lay people, we are all dedicated to working for equal rights for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community in Virginia. God loves and sustains all of creation and we must act when any part of that creation is endangered - physically, emotionally, or spiritually - by misunderstanding, hate, and discrimination.
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Nominating Committee Begins Its Discerning
Sunday, June 5, following worship, the nominating committee will meet to begin its discernment for a slate of three people to fill the session class of 2014. We hold the election of officers as part of the October meeting of the congregation. All members of the congregation are eligible to stand for election to the office of elder. The term of service is three years, and it begins in January, 2012. If you are interested in exploring your own sense of call to serve in this vital ministry, or if you have suggestions for the committee to consider, please contact either of the elder members of the committee: Amber Hodgen or Marit Simenson.
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