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Join us for worship on Sundays normally at 6 PM at the Annapolis Friends Meeting at 351 Dubois Road, Annapolis, Maryland 21401.
Click here for directions.
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14th Anniversary Celebration
You won't want to miss this!
September 16, 2012 Twelfth Sunday of Via Positiva wonder...joy...trust...awe...cosmos...beauty...amazement hospitality...delight...blessing...creation Sacred Gathering at 6 PM Based on a reading of The Blessing Seed, reflections on the four spiritual paths
of Creation Spirituality
by four Companions
at Annapolis Friends Meeting 351 Dubois Road, Annapolis
GATHERING LEADERS:
Setup/Put Away: Rick Dove & Tom Good Greeter/Usher: Suzie Robertson
Readers: Beth Lanier, Suzie Robertson, Dave Miller and Pastor Wayne Offering Invitation: Kim Hinken
Community Hour: Anniversary Spaghetti Dinner
prepared by the Board of Directors All are welcome!
We continue our progressive spiritual journey!
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FOURTEEN YEARS
a reflective article
What a journey it has been! When I, with lots of help from Chuck, started this community we were looking to provide a church alternative to GLBTS people who were disenfranchised from mainstream Christianity but who wanted a spiritual home where they could grow, celebrate, love, and learn.
Over the past 14 years, we have gone through many moltings. We have left behind much of the pomp and ceremony which I carried from my Episcopal period, we have become less a pastor-centered church and more of a spiritual community in which leadership is shared among many. We have embarked upon creating a Creation Spirituality community, leaving our initial denomination and becoming an independent, progressive spiritual community.
While giving up some of Christianity, we have also pushed the limits of what one might usually expect from "church." We have maintained our commitment to community service and justice making. We have upheld our belief in giving individuals the tools to express their spiritual journey experience. We have sought to understand the Bible by reading and talking about it. We have embraced the teachings of Matthew Fox and Creation Spirituality. We listen to writings from many faith traditions, breaking away from Bible-only readings at our Sacred Gatherings. We celebrate the Divine in all things and that all things are in the Divine.
We are at the beginning of a great conversation focused on what we shall become. The work of the people in our community is clearly resting on the shoulders of too few. I and many members are worn out by our time of transition. Many of us need a break. So that is what I am encouraging us to do. Let's go deeper into our spiritual journeys. Let's go to the stream which flows beneath all of Creation. Let's help one another find and develop the well which helps us touch the Source. We are birthing a new form of spiritual community together. It is part of the Great Work which is unfolding.
I hope each of our Companions will keep their voice heard, their love shared, their spiritual journey grounded in this community as we continue our molting and growth in love! Blessed be!
Pastor Wayne Schwandt
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One evening fourteen years ago, in a small church in southern Anne Arundel County, "We Are God's People" was the first hymn sung in celebration of not only the inaugural service of Metropolitan Community Church of the Chesapeake but of the fruition, also, of the hopes and dreams of a safe spiritual haven for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community of Southern Maryland. One can only imagine the mix of anxiety and excitement that was being experienced that evening by the founding pastor, the Reverend Wayne Schwandt, as well as the attendees. Would folks really travel one and a half hours from St. Mary's County to attend? Would Annapolitans leave city limits and drive a half hour south? Would the denizens of the surrounding semi-rural communities calmly accept this new reality, a "gay" church, in their midst? Would this new church really succeed?
The simple answer to the above questions is YES. Yes, folks drove many miles each week to worship together, and to get together to laugh and socialize and find comfort in their own being. Yes, the citizens of South County not only took this new church in stride but some even passed the word to friends and neighbors they thought might be interested. And, yes, MCC of the Chesapeake not only survived but became a spiritual community open to all.
The more complex question is would the folks who attended the first service fourteen years ago recognize
the Community that exists today? Probably not.
The years subsequent to that first service can be compared to the Chesapeake Bay. It has experienced the normal high and low tides and the flooding and ebbing that occurs with each phase. It has had the higher than normal spring tides and the lower than normal neap tides. Much like a school of fish, the Community and its members have migrated, physically and spiritually, from the place of their beginning. Some have opted to stay in place, not willing to leave their comfort zone of the nursery grounds, while the school of young fry traveled on in search for sustenance and richer environment and, in the process, gladly greeting others swimming towards those goals. Much like a blue crab, it has repeatedly molted, shedding its shell in growth. And like the Canada geese that grace the Bay, too, its leader has deftly guided it through many days and nights, calms and tempests, to the fertile, nutrient rich stew that the Chesapeake represents.
The most noticeable change occurred a year and a half ago. It was that of a name change. The name adopted, Evolve Chesapeake/Chesapeake Creation Spirituality Community, has embedded within it many meanings. It was a strike for freedom from the perceived bureaucracy of a denomination. It announced an ongoing commitment to Creation Spirituality and the wonders and rhythms of the cosmos. It acknowledged the intention that the members of the Community, as well as the Community itself, were committed to steady, sometimes imperceptible, growth and change as Christians and inhabitants of Earth.
Under the continued guidance of the Reverend Doctor Wayne Schwandt, Evolve Chesapeake welcomes and embraces all who seek a relationship with the Divine, as it has always done and will continue to do.
Suzie Robertson |
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Food/Goods Collection at Evolve Chesapeake
Food Banks throughout the countryave been hard hit for the last few years. Please help those in need in Anne Arundel County by donating pantry staples (tinned meat and fish, boxed pasta products, infant formula, etc.) as well as personal care products such as laundry detergent, toilet paper, disposable razors, bath/shower soap, dish soap, deodorant, toothpaste, and feminine hygiene products. Collection is ongoing every Sunday evening at Evolve Chesapeake.
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September Covenant Dates
birthdays, anniversaries, covenant dates
Sept 4 Karl D. Walker death (2008)
Sept 11 Marvin Roger Woods death (2001)
Sept 11 In Memory of September 11, 2001
Sept 13 Janice Creamer & Cherly Lanore Civil Union in CT
Sept 17 Rick Stewart Birthday
Sept 19 Dennis L. Myers death (2011)
Sept 20 Justin Michael Abell Birthday (2001)
Sept 23 William E. Riley Birthday (d. 1999)
Sept 28 Glen O. Van Steenburg death (1999)
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Communities in Concert
A Benefit for Annapolis Service Organizations
Sponsored by
the Greater Annapolis Interfaith Network (GAIN)
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Sunday, October 14, 3:00-5:30 pm
Unitarian Universalist Church; 333 DuBois Road, Annapolis, MD 21401
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Featured Entertainment:
The Rob Levit Jazz Trio: Rob Levit--guitar, Amy Shook--bass, Frank Russo--drums
Moshe P. Weisblum, tenor and Shouvik Mondle, baritone: selections from "Man of La Mancha" and "Les Miserables"
Max Ochs and Anita Burkam
Annapolis Drum and Bugle Corps
Enjoy an afternoon of entertainment while supporting the following community service organizations (all proceeds go to the sponsored organizations):
Food Link: distributing vital resources to Anne Arundel families in crisis through local service agencies;
The Center of Help (Centro de Ayuda): promoting self-sufficiency and integration of immigrant families through case-working and classroom training; Creating Communities: harnessing the power of the arts for the community through innovative partner-ships;
Annapolis Drum and Bugle Corps: challenging youth to high levels of performance and personal achievement.
Advance tickets available at www.annapolistickets.com for $15 ($1.60 service fee) or contact Steve Weiner at spweiner1@aol.com. $20 at the door.
NB: See Pastor Wayne first.
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Spong Reading Group on
October 6, 2012
The group reading Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World will meet at PANERA, FESTIVAL AT RIVA at 11 AM on Saturday, October 6. We are reading Chapter 37 ( Romans, The Gospel of Paul) through Chapter 41 ( Post-Pauline Epistles: II Thessalonians, Colossians and Ephesians.) There is still time to join the group. If you need a copy of the book, contact Pastor Wayne at SchwandtW@aol.com. |
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Seventh Principle of Creation Spirituality:
Every one of us is an artist.
Whatever the expression of our creativity,
it is our prayer and praise (Via Creativa).
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Open Arms
will welcome you: Tuesday, September 25
Come and experience a friendly, interesting small group get-together. We begin with dinner at 6:30, followed by a short educational video and lively discussion. All are welcome!
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A Chronological New TestamentA chronological New Testament is different from and yet the same as the New Testament familiar to Christians. It contains the same 27 documents, but sequences them in the chronological order in which they were written. Read about it on the following website:
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September 29, 2012
Interfaith Day of Service in Maryland
Governor Martin O'Malley just declared September 29th an interfaith day of service, calling on all Marylanders to engage in community service projects focused on ending hunger and protecting the environment.
Businesses, nonprofits, and faith communities will partner in many different ways in efforts to restore health to the Chesapeake Bay and to help eradicate childhood hunger. Volunteers are needed to plant small tubed trees at the Clagett Farm in Upper Marlboro, to harvest crops on the farm to donate to area food banks, to help with other native plantings or stream clean-ups, etc.
Grants of up to $500 will be offered by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation for some of this work.
The website to locate a service project nearby and to sign up to participate is:
www.daytoserve.org
More information can also be found at:
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FUNDRAISING FOR MINISTRY
USE iSEARCH AND HELP CCSC!
one cent per search!
Do you search the web? If so, you could be raising a penny for Chesapeake Creation Spirituality Community every time you search! iSearchiGive.com is a search engine powered by Yahoo! Search and iGive.com, the internet's first online shopping mall where a portion of each purchase is donated to your favorite cause. Try it today - it's free! To try iSearch, click here. After you click on the previous link, in the upper right corner will be CLICK HERE TO ADD ISEARCHIGIVE TO YOUR BROWSER. Make it your default search engine and earn a penny for every search. Every penny counts!
YOUR USED CELL PHONES AND EMPTY INK JET AND TONER CARTRIDGES CAN HELP FUND OUR MINISTRY. BRING THEM TO WORSHIP WITH YOU! These items fit nicely in the offering basket along with remembrance of time and talent you have offered through our ministries AND your financial gifts.
When shopping online always go through www.iGive.com! Register Chesapeake Creation Spirituality Community as your charity and shop away! As of 9-13-2012 we have earned $1,412.10. Thank you for shopping through iGive.com and using iSearch.com for online searches!
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Books for Sale at our Welcome Table
Titles by Matthew Fox, John Shelby Spong,
Marcus Borg, and more.
Beautiful Note Cards also for Sale
Photography by Rick Dove
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Fertility Options for the LGBT Community
A seminar presented by Grubb's NW Specialty Pharmacy
1517 17th St. NW, Washington, DC 20036
Located 2 blocks from the Dupont Circle Metro on
Saturday, September 22, 2012 at 12 PM
This free seminar at Grubb's NW Specialty Pharmacy will deal with how you can achieve your goal of parenthood. Topics will range from psychosocial issues related to IVF in the LGBT Community and legal implications of the process. Speakers are: Dr. Rafat Abbasi, M.D., F.A.C.O.G. Reproductive Endocrinologist Jennifer Fairfx, Esq., Attorney at Law Adoption and ART Law Joyce C. Migdal, Ph.D. Clinical Psychologist RSVP by September 14 by calling Emily or Daphne
at 202-503-2644.
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Become an individual member of Creation Spirituality Communities by clicking here, or sign up as a participant in the online community for FREE! Join our community, Chesapeake Creation Spirituality Community, and participate in the discussion. Go to www.CreationSpirituality.info for more information and to sign up! Join the online group, Chesapeake Creation Spirituality.
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United Nations International Day of Peace
Friday, September 21, 2012
An Evening with Annapolis Peacemakers
This is an opportunity to hear from people who work for peace, and to share with them our own endeavors and hopes for peace in the world, in our communities, in our hearts, and in our homes.
Join the Quakers at Annapolis Friends Meeting, 351 DuBois Road, on Friday, September 21 at 7:30 pm to honor the 10th Annual International Day of Peace by learning about peace efforts and supporting one another. Light refreshments served at 7:30. Program ends at 10 pm. For more information, call Lee Lougee at 410 647 7012.
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Our website is www.EvolveChesapeake.com
More sites which may be of interest to you:
www.onbeing.org
www.GAINonline.org
(Greater Annapolis InterfaithNetwork)
*See description below
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Human Rights Campaign
Founded in 1980, HRC advocates on behalf of LGBT Americans, mobilizes grassroots actions in diverse communities, invests strategically to elect fair-minded individuals to office and educates the public about LGBT issues. The Human Rights Campaign fights for LGBT equality in Maryland alongside state and local groups and lawmakers. HRC is a founding member and leader of Marylanders for Marriage Equality, the coalition campaign working to defend marriage in the Free State. The coalition is now working to defend the state's new civil marriage equality law. You can volunteer with HRC to help mobilize supporters of marriage equality in Maryland. |
Note from Editor
Originally Blessed!! is sent out every Thursday. News, notices of events, articles, poetry, etc. are welcome and needed from You! Please send them to EvolveSylvia@gmail.com by the previous Wednesday night for publication in the upcoming newsletter, or at any time if the material is not time-sensitive. Thank you!
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