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Gracias! Lots of Notes of Thanks that We Should Share
| Thanks to John Green for preaching and to James Fisher and Ron Bookbinder for leading worship earlier this month.
Thanks to Carol DeFord for coordinating Wilson Hall repairs.
Thanks to Don Hodgen for lots of food for the AFAC baggers, and for being on hand to help the door repair guy.
Help Wanted!
We've come to the end of our summer coffee hour sign ups! We have an unanticipated coffee time this Sunday. If you can host it, please let me know!
We'll be circulating a sign-up sheet for the fall the next several Sundays.
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A-SPAN Sign Up
| The Arlington Street Peoples Assistance Network has a couple of dates open for their evening meal distribution: Friday, September 30, and Thursday, November 24 (Thanksgiving Day). CPC has committed to serving on those days. Can you join the crew that will gather at church on those dates at 5:45 p.m. and distribute food at two sites? Please let me know if you can help out.
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Milestones
| Birthday Bash!
Dar Davis' birthday is August 31.
We celebrate with you!
Cheryl Lederle asks prayers for her colleague, Uhuru Goss, who is facing surgery and is the primary caregiver for her mother, who is being treated for cancer. Wes MacAdam asks prayers for the family of his colleague Annie Cannole, who died earlier this month.
Barbara Allen asks continued prayers for her mother, Mildred, who is struggling through recovery from recent surgery.
We hold Toni Bissessar, her daughter Emily, and the rest of the family in the light as the grieve the death of Emily's mother-in-law.
In this space we celebrate 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.
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Mark Your
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Coming soon to the wee kirk:
Kick-off Sunday worship and potluck brunch, Sunday, Sept. 11, 10:00 a.m.
Unchurch! Sunday, Sept. 18, 6:00 p.m.
AFAC grocery bagging, Monday, Sept. 19, 7:00 p.m.
A-SPAN meal serving, Friday, Sept. 30, 5:45 p.m.
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Irene Cancels Our Picnic
Progressive ... Inclusive ... Diverse |
August.2011
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Greetings!
 The annual end-of-summer church picnic in the park has been canceled due to the threat of Hurricane Irene. Mason Neck State Park has been closed by state officials. Instead, we'll hold an ordinary time of worship this Sunday (10:00 a.m.) in the sanctuary. Come and worship the God of the storm and the earthquake. What a crazy several days it's been in our part of the world. Within minutes of the quake this week, folks working on Capitol Hill were treated to the pamphleteering of cross-bearing prophets of the end times. I prefer to trust that the God of all times -- beginnings and endings and each moment in between -- continues to hold the whole of creation in loving hands. We will worship that God this Sunday. grace and peace, David PS: Mark your calendars for Sunday, September 18. Unchurch begins! |
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Come to the Unchurch! And Bring a Friend.
Sunday, September 18, at 6:00 p.m. CPC kicks off an intergenerational experiment in community formation, education and spiritual development for all.
The Unchurch opens its doors that evening with an art show and a conversation with artist Rusty Lynn. Rusty is a long-time friend of More Light Presbyterians, and is retired from a career as a pastoral counselor with the Center for Pastoral Counseling. In his retirement, Rusty has returned to his for love: visual arts, painting and sculpture.
Long practiced in the art of centering prayer, Rusty will share with us some of his insights and experience in and through the spiritual practice of creativity. A show of his work will be hanging in Wilson Hall.
Sunday, September 25, singer-songwriter and peacemaker Blair Pettyjohn will come to the Unchurch and to share his music and his thoughts about the nonviolent way of Jesus.
October 2, Cindy Bolbach, current moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will drop by to share from her experience as moderator.
Future visitors to the unchurch include DC poet Rose Berger (a longtime staff writer for Sojourners), and the Rev. J. Herbert Nelson, director of the denomination's Washington Office). Rose will be joined by poet Joseph Ross for a joint reading. J. Herbert will talk with us about the spiritual practice of public witness.
Unchurch will feed your body and your soul.
The evening will begin with a community meal at 6:00, followed by about 45 minutes of program time, and a brief prayerful closing time of worship in the style of the Taize community in France -- lots of candles, simple songs, the evening psalm and community prayers. There will be childcare available for the youngest members of the community during the program time, and there will be programs for the elementary-middle school children as well.
Unchurch is for everyone, but it's especially for folks for whom the traditional Sunday morning worship time (even as nontraditionally as we do it at CPC) does not work. All of which means, it's a great time to invite friends who might otherwise shy away from church. Unchurch will be an open space to build community, share ideas and experiences, learn from each other and from artists, poets, activists, musicians, theologians and leaders in the larger church. If you have an idea for a leader, or if you've a topic you'd like to lead, please let me or Marit Simenson know.
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Exploring Membership at CPC this Fall
Sundays in October we will convene our next "exploring membership" gatherings. We'll be meeting in the church library/purple parlor following coffee time beginning Sunday, Oct. 2.
The gatherings will give folks who are new to the community an opportunity to learn about Clarendon, about the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and about each other.
All are welcome! If you'd like to be part of this fall's exploration, please contact David.
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Plot Against Hunger Is Now in the Ground!
 Thanks to the hard work of Gillian Burgess, James Fisher, Sam Foulke, Don Hodgen, and Yvonne Thelwell (who coordinate the akido group) Clarendon has an AFAC Plot Against Hunger.
(Thanks also to Martin and Hannah, whose parents did not get them to the plot on time, for weeding around other parts of the grounds Sunday evening.)
The good people of Sam's Farm donated quite a few mature seedlings that are now in the ground on the Jackson Street side of church.
The kids (and teachers) of the Clarendon Child Care Center have volunteered to water the garden during the week, making our Plot Against Hunger and true community project.
As with every garden, this one will need lots of work to keep down weeds and, later on, to harvest! The fresh food from our "farm" will go to AFAC to feed our neighbors in need.
If you'd like to get involved in the plot, contact Gillian.
Meanwhile, if you've got extra produce from your own garden and would like to share with the church community, please feel free to bring it in on Sundays. We have a gleaning table in the sanctuary. |
New Form of Government Takes Effect in PC(USA)
This summer the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) entered a new era as the new form of government approved by last summer's General Assembly (and ratified by a majority of presbyteries in voting since the assembly) to effect. The effective date, July 10, coincided with the 501st anniversary of the birth of John Calvin. If anyone knew where his body was buried the grave could be checked for signs of rolling over or not. NFOG includes the new ordination standard (the now ratified amendment 10-A) which makes the way clear for ordaining gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons to church office. The new form of government also changes the titles of two of those offices: elders are now ruling elders and ministers of word and sacrament are now teaching elders. It remains to be seen what practical changes will result for Clarendon, but at the very least you can anticipate voting on a few clerical changes to our congregational by-laws at the October congregational meeting as we move to align those by-laws with the new numbering system in the revised denominational constitution. |
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About Clarendon
All are welcome at Clarendon Presbyterian Church. We are a community that tries to reflect the love and justice of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We invite all those with faith and with doubts to join us as seekers of God's amazing and inclusive grace and truth. We are at 1305 N. Jackson St. in Arlington, two blocks north of the Clarendon stop on the Orange Line.
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| Saving graces |
"A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship. But though to the outer ear these trees are now silent, their songs never cease."
~ John Muir
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