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life @ the crossing
7.5.11
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this week @
the crossing
more details? check
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TONIGHT @ 8:30pm
Lizard Lounge, Cambridge
Jamie Hart performs with her soulful band
THIS Thursday
6pm at the Cathedral
Worship and community
Buy your Crossing t-shirt ($15-$20 sliding scale)
THIS Thursday
After Worship
Play on the Common
Join us for game night on Boston Common.
THIS SUMMER
Stay tuned for community fun throughout the summer, after worship and on other days and nights.
Take note: We take a break from our usual worship at the Cathedral in the month of August. Instead, we enjoy house gatherings ... and perhaps some air-conditioning :)
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giving @
the crossing
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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 special new Giving at The Crossing card to promise your support for the year to come.
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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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| 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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baby, you're a firework
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It was so much more than a fireworks display, and I think most
 | | Boston's Fireworks |
people knew it.
There we were, 500,000 of us staring up into the heavens, in complete awe at the miracle unfolding far above us. A collective "oooo" - rather like an "amen" -- erupted spontaneously from the crowds. Our necks hurt from craning to see the spectacle. Our faces hurt from the goofy grins plastered there for 20 solid minutes, the length of Boston's massive fireworks show.
It's hard not to think of God and church at a time like that, and that's true for me (the priest) as well as for the mostly non-religious, not-even-especially-spiritual people with whom I spent the 4th of July. As we walked back, Sam talked about the "beatific" smiles on everyone's faces (beatific, as in saintly, filled with light). Steph talked about how cool it was to feel so small next to something so huge, and how rarely we experience that, especially in the city. I chimed in, "Kinda like when you're in one of those huge, Gothic cathedrals." And they all said, "Yeah, like that!"
Why invite someone to church? Because part of living well as a human being is getting perspective on where we are in the grand scheme. We need moments when we feel utterly connected to each other and to the great transcendent reality just beyond our reach. We need moments to say "ooo" together, and moments to say "amen." We need to feel the sizzle that reminds us we're alive, and to look around and see bright, joy-filled faces around us, in spite of the crumbling world around us. We're children of God, each filled with the Spirit as bright as any firework. I don't know about you, but I need all the reminders I can get.
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| one big community | | |
TONIGHT @ 8:30pm /
 | | Jamie Lynn Hart -- our girl! |
Jamie Hart performs at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge
Support our Music Director, Jamie Lynn Hart (aka Jamie Urquhart), and hear some great music tonight at the Lizard Lounge, basement of Cambridge Common (1667 Mass Ave, about halfway between Harvard and Porter T stops).
Follow Jamie at www.jamielynnhart.com; check out Lizard Lounge (home of music and poetry slams galore) at www.lizardloungeclub.com.
THIS THURSDAY @ 6pm / Worship
Join us to reflect on Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 (read below for the passage -- the parable of the man who sowed seeds on rocky, thorny and good soil). Penny Larson leads the spiritual practice for July.
For directions and lots more, go to www.thecrossingboston.org.
AND: Bring $15-$20 and buy the first ever Crossing t-shirt. We got plenty, and they come in "fitted" and "loose" (formerly known as "women's" and "unisex," but this works so much better).
THIS THURSDAY after WORSHIP / Play on The Common
Who knew frisbee on the grass could be such fun? Let's do it again! Bring your games. Bring your ball. Bring a blanket. Bring your kids. Bring the little kid inside you who really needs to play. We'll grab cheap food at nearby restaurants and head out to the Common for an evening picnic and games.
CONTACT Vicki / vicki@thecrossingboston.org
GRATITUDE & GENEROSITY MINISTRY
The effort to raise funds and grow generosity @ The Crossing continues. We got a great response at our pledge-card party, but we need to raise more pledges and gifts to meet our $30,000 goal for 2011.
For info on Giving @ The Crossing,
CONTACT: Valerie / valerie@thecrossingboston.org.
(OR give now by clicking the word DONATE on the left!)
SUMMER HELP
Worship set-up is always better with a crew. Come around 4:30pm and help to move a few chairs, drape fabric, lay out icons and generally prepare the space to hold a vivid encounter with God (wow!). CONTACT Mary Beth at marybeth@thecrossingboston.org
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| meditate on this: the season of pentecost | | |
Welcome to Pentecost, the season of the Holy Spirit. Read on for Matthew's gospel and other resources for prayer and meditation.
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great
crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away.
"Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!"
"Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away.
"As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."
Collect for this Sunday (or thematic prayer, appointed to complement the reading) adapted from the Book of Common Prayer:
O God, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that we may know and understand what things we ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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