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life @ the crossing
5.4.11 |  |
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this week @
the crossing
more details? check
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Thursday @ 6pm
Worship at the Cathedral
Thursday after Worship
Community Dinner -- PLEASE BRING A DISH TO SHARE! And welcome guest speaker and Crossing sister Natalie Finstad of Be the Change-Kenya.
Small Groups
Real Faith for Real Life groups practice open hospitality. If you want to join, contact the conveners and come on in. See info block on small groups in right hand column ...
NEXT Thursday after WORSHIP
Everyone Does Theology
Looking ahead:
Stay tuned: Crossing 5th Birthday Party and Rule of Life commitment ritual
(May date TBA)
Saturday, June 4
Spiritual Retreat for LGBT Teens and Allies
Saturday, June 11
Boston's Pride Parade
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giving @
the crossing | |
It takes prayer, care, people and money ($30,000 from our own community, to be exact) to bring the ministries of The Crossing to life. If we pool our resources -- and invite others to share, too -- we can do this! Here's how:
GIVE NOW:
Click DONATE to give right now. And share the link with family, friends and others you think would love to help a ministry like The Crossing flourish.
PLEDGE FOR 2011:
Download and fill out this Giving @ The Crossing card to promise your support for the year to come. |
| our mission | | |
The Crossing is a community that seeks to walk in the life-changing, world-changing Way of Jesus, sharing the love, hope, beauty and justice of God in the city of Boston.
Everybody is welcome to join as we gather for transformative worship, spiritual practice and
authentic community; as we fuse the wisdom and mystery of ancient traditions with that of urban mystics, artists and activists; and as we move out to join God in healing, freeing and blessing all people, communities and the earth.
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| contact us | | |
The Crossing community has been blessed with passionate, gifted members who give a whole lot of themselves for love of God.
If you want to learn more, share more or engage in worship, community or action, please contact the conveners for each of our ministry areas:
WORSHIP: where we fall in love with God
Isaac Everett / isaac@thecrossingboston.org
CONTACT US BY PHONE: 617.482.4826, x318
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| how radical is your welcome? | |
Radical welcome is easy to talk about. It's easy to write about in your Rule of Life. Last Thursday, we got to the hard part: the practice of radical welcome.
A man - we'll call him Pete - took a seat in the pews, and I invited him to join us around the altar fo r worship. He seemed engaged enough, until I finished offering the reflection, a meditation on the first commitment in our Rule of Life, the commitment to practice Radical Welcome (embracing the gifts and voices and wisdom of The Other, such that we and our communities are changed). When we opened for comments, Pete spoke up, said he didn't understand how we could call ourselves Christians if the women were sitting with their heads uncovered. Then he questioned how faithful we could be to the Bible, considering we have a woman minister.
It could have degenerated into a shouting match. People could have ignored him, frozen him out or shut him down. Instead, throughout the rest of the evening - including during Open Space and later at Fajitas n Ritas - I saw person after person engage truthfully, lovingly and energetically with Pete. Folks offered their stories and their love of the Bible and of God, and welcomed him to share his passion for God and reverence for God's word, and how all that had led him to our door. It became a teaching moment, and yes, Pete did quite a lot of the teaching.
Will he be back this week? I hope so. Not because I want to slam his logic and convince him that "we" are right, not because I expect he'll convince me that women shouldn't be priests, but because walking together is bound to expand all of our hearts. And because - sigh - the only way we're gonna get to the kingdom is together. |
| one big community | | | THIS THURSDAY @ 6pm / Worship
Sue Spilecki preaches this week, as we continue the Easter series onThe Crossing's Rule for Real Life (click to read and practice with it). Kevin and Deejay lead the spiritual practice: singing spirituals!
For directions and more, go to www.thecrossingboston.org. 
THIS THURSDAY after WORSHIP / Community Dinner and Stories from Africa
Bring a dish and share the feast. Special guest Natalie Finstad -- former intern at The Crossing, now the founder and leader for a non-profit based in Kenya: Be the Change Kenya -- will share stories and inspire us all.
NEXT THURSDAY / Everyone Does Theology
Our monthly theology pile-on convenes every 2nd Thursday after worship. We start with some hard-core learning about the topic, and then switch into conversation in small groups and as a whole. No wrong answers, and great pizza. Whether you're a geek or just curious, stay for the fun.
CONTACT Keith / keith@thecrossingboston.org.
JUSTICE & ACTION
The Justice and Action Team is ready for spring action. Are you?
-- Saturday, June 4 / RETREAT: We host a spiritual retreat for LGBT teens and allies. Come and help as we share the love of God and the dream of liberation with LGBT teens and their allies. CONTACT Vicki / vicki@thecrossingboston.org or Penny / penny@thecrossingboston.org.
-- Saturday, June 11 / PRIDE!: Yes, Pride should be every day, but there is one day when everybody gets to say it loud and say it proud. Join The Crossing and the whole Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts as we march and pray our way through the streets of Boston. To help with the float, CONTACT Vicki / vicki@thecrossingboston.org. |
| meditate on this: easter | | |
This Easter season, we're departing from the Lectionary to focus on our community's Rule for Real Life. A Rule of Life is an ancient tradition, a way for a community to set out the commitments that mark the particular way they walk with Jesus. You'll see an introduction and the six commiments that make up our Rule here.
Read on for this week's focus:
Commitment #2 -- Prayer and Worship.
Two: Prayer and Worship
"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the breaking of bread and the prayers." (Acts 2:42)
We commit to deeply engage a personal spiritual practice, throughout the week; to worship on Thursday nights with The Crossing community; and to participate in one spiritual retreat a year, individually or as part of The Crossing or another community.
This commitment matters because spiritual practice is just that: a practice requiring intention, focus and consistency. Commitment to practice and worship is crucial to growing and deepening our relationship with God and honing our ability to hear God's call on our lives. It is where we most consistently meet and fall in love with God and discover God's love for us.
How can I live out this commitment in my own life? |
| small groups @ the crossing | |
These groups are intentionally kept open in order to welcome our whole community to grow in love for God, each other a nd ourselves via commitment to a small group.
REAL FAITH FOR REAL LIFE:
This will be the primary small group experience for the spring. Focus on how our faith impacts real life in several key areas: daily habits, family and friends, sexual/romantic life, money, politics, forgiveness and reconcilation, and finishing with vocation and calling. Groups use our Rule for Real Life as a rich resource to guide the journey. Open Groups, but with strong covenant and commitment.
Real Faith for Real Life: Boston
Every Tuesday at 6:30-8pm at The Cathedral: Feb. 8-May 31
CONTACT Keith / keith@thecrossingboston.org
Kevin / kvetiac@gmail.com
Real Faith for Real Life: Cambridge
Every other Wednesday at 6:30-8:30pm.
Central Square -- CONTACT Deejay for next date and location.
CONTACT Stephen / stephengire@mac.com
Deejay / deejrobinson@gmail.com
Real Faith for Real Life: People in Partnered Relationships
Every other Monday at 7-9pm: Home of Jason Long and Dani Morello, Brookline.
For next date and precise address, contact hosts below.
CONTACT Jason / jason@thecrossingboston.org
Leigh / leigh@thecrossingboston.org
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