This weekend we celebrate several significant passages in the lives of community members.

Saturday afternoon we'll celebrate with joy the marriage of our friends Christina Danko and Sean Walsh, whose promises will be blessed in worship with friends and loved ones.

Sunday morning, following worship, we celebrate Evelyn Woodson's many decades of faithful service to the congregation. Evelyn, who turns 90 on Sunday, joined the congregation in 1955, when Woody finally convinced her that he was not, in fact, going to join the Anglican church. She was ordained as an elder in 1979, and served two terms on session. She also served on the pastor nominating committee that called me to Clarendon. Over the many years Evelyn sang in the choir, led women's groups, taught Sunday School, volunteered in the childcare center and served in countless other ways.

As she moves to Buffalo, NY, to be closer to her daughter's family, we gift thanks for her faithfulness and the innumerable gifts she has share with Clarendon, and ask God's richest blessings on the next steps of the journey.

Please plan to join us in Wilson Hall for a special lunch in Evelyn's honor following worship this Sunday. It's a catered affair, so bring your appetite and your appreciations of Evelyn as we celebrate and share our fond memories. 

Come and worship!

peace,
David

PS: if you can spare an hour late Saturday afternoon to help set up Wilson Hall for Sunday's luncheon, Don Hodgen and I would welcome you! We'll be doing that between 5:30 - 6:30.

Next month we will hold a series of "exploring membership" gatherings for anyone interested in learning more about Clarendon, about the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and about what it means to become a member of this congregation. Our meetings will provide a great opportunity for learning, growth and meeting other folks who are also exploring. Participation is open to anyone, and "exploring" does not mean "joining."

The first gathering will be Sunday, October 7, following coffee time, and will last no more than 45 minutes. During that time we'll schedule two additional meetings. It will help us prepare for you if you let David know if you intend to participate. Thanks!

Sunday, October 7, is World Communion Sunday, and we'll celebrate our connections to the church universal by sharing worship with our "daughter" congregation, the Church of the Covenant. Covenant was born out of Clarendon Presbyterian more than 50 years ago, and they, like we, are a small Presbyterian congregation in North Arlington. (Their building is on Military Road.) We'll worship at 10:30 on the 7th -- meeting in the middle-ish between our standard 10:00 and their 11:15 start time.

This is the first of two planned "worship exchanges." They will return the hosting on Christ the King Sunday, which this year falls on November 25, when we'll worship with them at their place.

World Communion Sunday is also when we receive the annual Peacemaking Offering, which supports peacemaking efforts locally, nationally and internationally both through our own work at Clarendon and through the work of the denomination's peacemaking program. The local portion of the offering will go to AFAC to promote food justice, without which peace is impossible.

We'll also receive a food offering that morning for AFAC, as we celebrate both the bounty of our Plot Against Hunger garden, and the bounty of our own pantries!