The Crossing community has been blessed with passionate, gifted members who give a whole lot of themselves for love of God.

I'm sitting in the kitchen with my friend Ian Mobsby, priest to the

Moot community, our sister church in London, and the big speaker for this

our friends @ moot

weekend's big ol' Episcopal Village conference at the Cathedral. Ian and I are co-editors for the slammin' book Ancient Faith, Future Mission: Fresh Expressions in the Sacramental Traditions. But we've just finished shopping at Trader Joe's (he's amazed at these American stores), and now we're eating soup and talking the future of church on our respective continents. I can't

wait to welcome everybody else into the conversation this weekend. It's gonna be good!

The Background: The Crossing is helping to throw a Spring Learning Event/Episcopal Village Mission Event on Saturday, March 5, from 9am to 4:30pm. Presenters are coming from all over the country (inc. Karen Ward, exec. director of Episcopal Village; Tom Brackett, staff officer for Church Planting and Fresh Expressions for the Episcopal Church) and around the corner (including Jack Jenkins on Social Media; Isaac Everett on Emergent Psalms; Rev. Steph Spellers on birthing a fresh expression in a conventional church; Jason Long and Arrington Chambliss on intentional Christian community; Nicholas Hayes and Marisa Egerstrom on organizing for the earth). Think of it as one big village gathering of practitioners and dreamers and activists and lovers of God's dream.

Many you are volunteering, providing homes for out-of-town guests, presenting on your own work and visions, and I'm so grateful for this outpouring! Even if you're just tuning in now, get registered and come. 'Cuz it takes a village to embody the dream of God.

• You can register for Saturday here.
• You can check out and print or share the flyer here.
• You can attend the Saturday event plus a pre-conference talk with Ian Mobsby in a cozier setting on Friday at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge (same registration site).
• You can experience worship Moot-style at EDS' Thursday 12:15pm Eucharist (no registration necessary).

one big community

The gospel for this Sunday (we hear it on Thursday) is the rest of the Sermon on the Mount. Read it here, plus some other food for prayer & reflection ... 

Roberta Karstetter's "God's Glory" at www.ecva.org

Matthew 17:1-9

Six days after Peter had acknowledged Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid." And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead." 

Collect (or thematic prayer) that accompanies the scripture -- from the Book of Common Prayer:

O God, who before the passion of your only­begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.