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Gracias! Lots of Notes of Thanks that We Should Share
| Thanks to Cheryl Lederle for coffee time set up, Hannah for putting out cookies, and James Fisher for cleaning up.
Help Wanted!
We've come to the end of our summer coffee hour sign ups!
We'll be circulating a sign-up sheet for the fall the next several Sundays.
No coffee time this Sunday. "What's that?" you say.
We're having our annual fall kick off post-worship pot luck brunch. Bring a dish to share.
Also, if you can lend a hand setting up Sunday morning it will be much appreciated. (And it will get you kudos in this space next week!)
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| A-SPAN Servicep | We're feeding our neighbors in need with A-SPAN on Friday, September 30.
Join the crew that will gather at church at 5:45 p.m. to distribute food at two sites. Please let me know that you can help out.
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Milestones
| Birthday Bash!
Marty Rosensweig celebrates his 60th birthday this Friday, Sept. 9. Happy birthday, Marty!
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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Remembering Well
Progressive ... Inclusive ... Diverse |
September.2011
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Greetings!
 This Sunday marks a decade since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and we will remember in worship this Sunday morning. Indeed, for most of us, that bright Tuesday morning is one we cannot forget. The question is not whether we remember, but how we remember. Yale theologian Miroslav Volf insists (in The End of Memory) that followers of Jesus work toward a "remembering that is truthful and just, that heals individuals without injuring others, that allows the past to motivate a just struggle for justice and the grace-filled work of reconciliation." Worship is part of such remembering, and all the more so when we gather at table to share the sacrament of communion. So come this Sunday to remember. Come to share in the broken body of Christ. Come to worship. grace and peace, David PS: Mark your calendars for Sunday, September 18. Unchurch begins! PPS: It would be really helpful to get some RSVPs to indicate your intentions on several items here: Unchurch, A-SPAN feeding, exploring membership group. |
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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.
Click here to download an unchurch flyer to share with friends! 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.
In November we'll devote the unchurch to further explorations of the spiritual practice of hospitality. Picking up where we left off last winter during our Lenten soup series, Clark Chesser and Cheryl Lederle will guide us deeper into the art and practice of Christian hospitality.
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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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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