Throughout the season of Eastertide we have been talking together in worship about the kind of community we are and that we seek to become.

We've talked about being a community gathered at table, a community formed in the waters of baptism, and, fundamentally, a community defined by love.

We are also a community called to a particular way of living, and this weekend we'll talk about the call of the community at Clarendon.

I hope that these conversations help us as we try to live out our faith in the daily living, and I also hope that they help us think together about living into a new model of common ministry at Clarendon.

Toward that end, it's good to remember that we are a community of prayer as well. Sunday following worship, session will meet to make the next decisions on the way to the congregational meeting called for June 3. Please hold us in prayer this weekend as we discern God's calling to the church at Clarendon.
peace,

David

Last week I received word from the Arlington Food Assistance Center that they are ending the grocery bagging program that Clarendon has supported and participated in for more than a decade.

AFAC experimented two weeks ago with having their clients bag their own groceries, and thus providing more food choice for clients. It was a huge success and led to an immediate service change.

Therefore, we will not bag groceries at AFAC on Monday, May 21, or on the third Monday evening of any subsequent month.

Cheryl and I would like to invite y'all over to the house this Monday (May 21) at 7:00 p.m. for what seems likely to be the final AFAC-baggers meal, and we propose that over the meal we have some conversation about both some of the options for volunteering proposed in the note below as well as other ways that we might focus our energy in service to our mission of feeding and sharing the fellowship of the table.

Puwen Lee, volunteer coordinator at AFAC, is planning to join us for dinner and conversation about ways CPC can continue to support and participate in the work that AFAC does.

If you have not already done so, please let me know if you can join us this Monday.

National Capital Presbytery meets Tuesday, May 22, at 4:00 p.m. at National Presbyterian Church in the District. CPC elder Travis Reindl will participate on a panel presenting a range of perspectives on marriage. The panel will be followed by a general discussion around tables.

There is no overture before the body this month. This conversation comes as the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) prepares for its late June gathering in Pittsburgh, where numerous marriage-related proposals will be considered.