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life @ the crossing
5.11.11 |  |
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this week @
the crossing
more details? check
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Thursday @ 6pm
Worship at the Cathedral
Thursday after Worship
3rd Thursdays = Fajitas n Ritas AND Episco-Disco
Wednesday, 5/25 @ 6-7:30pm
Conversation about Rule of Life, commitment and membership at The Crossing (prep for June 2 commitment ritual)
Next Thursday after worship
4th Thursdays = Education for Action, led by the Action Team
Memorial Day Weekend
Pride float decorating party
Thursday, June 2
Rule of Life commitment ritual and Annual Meeting
Saturday, June 4
Spiritual Retreat for LGBT Teens and Allies
Saturday, June 11
Boston's Pride Parade, gather downtown at 11am, parade finishes by 2pm
Thursday, June 23
Crossing 5th Birthday Party w/ Worship, Concert + Fundraiser
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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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| you belong here | |
What does it mean to belong to The Crossing? What does it mean to be a member? On Thursday, June 2, we'll have a Ritual of Commitment for people who want to join. But what does joining even mean?
That's a question we've mulled intensely for the last three years. The leaders of our Community Circle met over fried chicken and waffles Monday night, and Michael Zahniser, who is establishing our new Crossing house in Jamaica Plain, broke the whole idea of belonging wide open for me. He said, "We're a community that tries to hold people loosely, but membership is about wanting the community to hold me tighter."
Right. We focus so much on how transient our community is, but the fact is that everybody needs to be held, to have people love you enough to expect more of you. We worry about making heavy demands on busy people and asking too much; but maybe I want someone to ask me to stick, want to be held more tightly. You can only roam and skim the surface but so long.
Our Rule for Real Life is the primary way that we hold one another as we seek to live the Jesus Way more intentionally in our everyday, messy, mucky lives, and now we've surrounded it with more relational structures so it's got some power. Details are below, but just plan to come out next Wednesday, May 25, to learn about membership and commitment at The Crossing. Then, on June 2, you're invited to take on the Rule and to take up practices that bind us to one another and to God.
Moving away soon? Member of another Sunday church? You still need to know there is a community sending you with blessing and continuing to pray for and hold you. It's what we all need to thrive ... not just as Christians but as human beings.
You belong here. |
| one big community | | |
THIS THURSDAY @ 6pm / Worship
Crossing Minister for Liturgical Arts Isaac Everett takes his turn preaching this week, as we continue the Easter season series onThe Crossing's Rule for Real Life (click to read and practice with it). Kevin Vetiac and Deejay Robinson lead the spiritual practice: singing spirituals!
For directions and more, go to www.thecrossingboston.org.
THIS THURSDAY after WORSHIP /
Every 3rd Thursday, we shake the dust off our feet -- share a relaxed and wicked cheap meal at Fajitas n Ritas. Then, if the Spirit moves, we take over the dancefloor at nearby Estate nightclub (free before 10pm, 21+).
NEXT WEDNESDAY @ 6-7:30pm at the Cathedral/ Conversation on Belonging
Join this conversation about joining The Crossing. We'll discuss the Rule for Real Life, membership and commitment, in preparation for the Ritual for Commitment on Thursday, June 2 at worship.
CONTACT Jason / jason@thecrossingboston.org or
Keith / keith@thecrossingboston.org
NEXT THURSDAY after WORSHIP / Education for Action
The Justice and Action Team has been busy this spring, and you can come learn how to get involved next week. One hint: Pride!
JUSTICE & ACTION
The Justice and Action Team is ready for spring action. Are you?
-- Memorial Day Weekend / PRIDE FLOAT: We've scored a slot for an Episcopal Diocesan float, but somebody's got to decorate it. Come help! CONTACT Vicki at vicki@thecrossingboston.org for location and times, especially if you're artsy or tech-savvy or just want some fun on a holiday weekend.
-- 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 Penny / penny@thecrossingboston.org or Vicki / vicki@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.
SAVE THE DATE: Thursday, June 23 @ 6-8:30pm / Crossing 5th Birthday Party
An amazing team is organizing our 5th Birthday Party, a combination worship gathering + fundraiser + concert at a club walking distance from the Cathedral. Block the night and tell your friends.
CONTACT Valerie / VYarashus@meehanboyle.com.
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| 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 #4 -- Relationships.
Four: Relationships
"You shall love your Abba God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:37-39)
We commit to live in responsible, loving relationship with self and others. We will pay prayerful attention to our bodies, seeking a variety of ways to nurture our own emotional and physical health. As God's beloved, we also commit to bear the love of God in our friendships, in our dating, with our partners and spouses, with our children, and in our working lives. We affirm our sexuality as God's precious gift, always to be expressed with care and discernment.
This commitment matters because relationships are how we learn to see and receive all - including ourselves - as Christ. We need each other's support and challenge, in all our relationships, for they are the context where we learn to listen, offer compassion, develop patience, become partners in ministry and slowly grow into the fullness of Christ.
How can I live out this commitment in my own life?
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| 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 7-9pm at the home of Stephen Gire in Central Sq
For precise dates, CONTACT Stephen / stephengire@mac.com
Deejay / deejrobinson@gmail.com
Real Faith for Real Life: People in Partnered Relationships
Every other Monday at 7-9pm at Dani Morello and Jason Long's home in Brookline
For precise dates, CONTACT Jason / jason@thecrossingboston.org
Leigh / leigh@thecrossingboston.org
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