Originally Blessed!

an original blessing community


  March 27, 2014    
  eNewsletter from
  EVOLVEChesapeake

 

   Chesapeake Creation Spirituality Community

 

  Our Mission Statement   

We are a spiritual community following the radical inclusiveness of Jesus. We honor the wisdom of other spiritual teachers and leaders. We explore our faith questions and encourage  

personal growth through study, discussion, meditation and action.

 
IN THIS ISSUE
March 30th Sacred Gathering
Rescheduling of Open Arms & Painting the Stars
"Rabbi Jesus" Book Group Meeting
From Erine
Gospel Concerts
Interfaith Power & Light
Food Bank
"Thin Places & the Transforming Presence of Beauty"
March Covenant Dates
The Meaning of the Lord's Prayer
Try the iGive Button
More Ways to Support our Ministry
"Jesus in the 1st and 21st Centuries"
LGBT Wedding Expo
re-Source!
Creation Spirituality Communities
6th Point of Progressive Christianity
Find Us on Facebook
Our Business Sponsors
Chuck Riley
Chuck makes a donation  to Evolve Chesapeake from every commission received through our community!  For your real estate needs in Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia, or across the country contact:

   

 iGive Logo

iGive.com

Check out Evolve Chesapeake's online bookstore at:
CCCS Sphere  
Join our Sacred Gathering on Sundays normally at 6 PM at the Annapolis Friends Meeting House, 351 Dubois Rd., Annapolis, MD 21401. Click here for directions. 
Quick Links
Join Our Mailing List

 MARCH 30, 2014
 
  Second Sunday on the Path of Transformation 
Sacred Gathering at 6 PM
at Annapolis Friends Meeting House 
351 Dubois Road, Annapolis, MD

Reflection by the Rev. Dr. Wayne Schwandt
 
Gathering Leaders: 
Set-up/Put-away: Tom Good and Rick Dove 
Greeter/Usher: Suzie Robertson  
Reader/Communion Assistant: John Petrosillo  
Offering Invitation: Rick Dove  
Community Hour Hosts: Tim Mortimore and John Petrosillo 
      
Christianity Beyond Convention! 
 
Due to weather we rescheduled a

NEW DATE FOR OPEN ARMS AND PAINTING THE STARS:

TUESDAY, APRIL 1

At Open Arms we will have dinner at 6:30 PM and view Session 6 of Painting the Stars at the home of one of our Companions.  For more information contact Pastor Wayne at SchwandtW@aol.com.
Next Book Group Meeting is Sunday, April 13
This will be our second meeting with "Rabbi Jesus."  Join us at Annapolis Friends Meeting House from 4:00 to 5:30 PM.  It is especially interesting as some members of the United Church of Christ of Annapolis, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis and Annapolis Friends Meeting share in the 
                    discussion.
From Erine
Dearest Sun,
I look to the sky for answers but only see tiredness.  I am exhausted and in the
wake of Spring when I should be refreshing myself, I want to sleep.  I would love to sleep with the sun touching my skin.  The humor is I wake up refreshed after my sleep in the sun for even 30 minutes.  I look forward to these times and people may think I am escaping from them and they would be right.  So "Hello" sunny sky and thanks for letting me close my eyes and travel in a place where we can only go...only us - only us!
Love Always,
Erine

Erine's photos from our March 23, 2014 Sacred Gathering 


Beth's new banner for the Path of Transformation
Our Spring Equinox
"Bonfire"
Concert Sponsored by G.A.I.N.
Faith Groups 
SOUTHERN GOSPEL MUSIC:  
Skyline Boys Concert on Saturday, March 29 at 4 PM at St. Luke's Eastport in Annapolis, Maryland.
   Freewill offering.

DC & MD:  Let's make popcorn and view
Chasing Ice, Bidder 70 and some other
environmental films together.

Interfaith Power & Light (MD*DC*NoVA) works with hundreds of congregations of all faiths across Maryland, DC, and Northern Virginia to save energy, go green, and respond to climate change.  This organization is very active throughout DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia to educate on climate change and what we can do to counter it.  They lend DVDs on a variety of environmental issues, provide speakers on request, and offer many events in which we can participate to protect our Earth. Take a moment to view their website, http://www.gwipl.org.  Or click on it in the Resource Section in the left column of the newsletter.
null Please help the food bank if you can, by  
bringing along a food staple or personal care product such as soap, toothpaste, laundry detergent, etc. when you come to Sacred Gathering. It will be appreciated.

From On Being:
 "Thin Places & the Transforming Presence of Beauty"  
by Sarah Blanton 
 
South Holston Lake in the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee    

The concept of thin places comes from Celtic mythology.

Peter Gomes, a Harvard theologian, writes:

"There is in Celtic mythology the notion of 'thin places' in the universe where the visible and the invisible world come into their closest proximity. To seek such places is the vocation of the wise and the good - and for those that find them, the clearest communication between the temporal and eternal. Mountains and rivers are particularly favored as thin places marking invariably as they do, the horizontal and perpendicular frontiers. But perhaps the ultimate of these thin places in the human condition are the experiences people are likely to have as they encounter suffering, joy, and mystery."


March Covenant Dates
Birthdays, Anniversaries, Covenant Days 
 
March  1  Tom Good Birthday 
March  6  Gail Curry Birthday 
March  5  Jean M. Dove Birthday (d. 2012) 
March 12  Delores M. Van Steenburg Birthday (d. 2001) 
March 22  Jordan Michelle Riley Birthday 
March 24  Kim Hinken Birthday 
March 27  Joshua Braelon Lekberg Baptism (2011)       
From "A New Christianity for a New World"
An excerpt from Bishop John Shelby Spong's essay on his website
Part XVI Matthew: Did Jesus Teach Us to Pray the Lord's Prayer?

On the meaning of the Lord's Prayer: 
 
"'Our Father who art in heaven' means that God cannot be limited by human creeds, doctrines or dogmas. It means that we must seek to define the holy beyond the theistic definitions we have for so long used uncritically. "Hallowed be thy name" means that the ultimate, the holy, the mystical, the ineffable can never be captured in human words. "Thy Kingdom come" means that our eyes must be trained to see the divine inside the human. It means that the kingdom of God comes when we are empowered to live fully, to love waste- fully and to be all that we are capable of being. It means that the work of the kingdom of God is the work of enhancing human wholeness that occurs when the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame leap and the mute sing and when all demeaning human prejudices die. That is when the kingdom of God dawns and when God's righteousness is revealed. So we pray - Come, Lord Jesus, establish the realm of God in each one of us. Show us what it means to be human and what it means to be Christian for they are one and the same."
~ John Shelby Spong

Try the iGive Button                       

Through iGive we have earned $1,628.26   

as of March 27th.

Helping Evolve Chesapeake is automatic.  Join for free and shop or search online for a great cause.

Good Karma: Just Shop or Search Online!  Be a part of the first and largest online network of shoppers, online stores, and worthy causes dedicated to turning everyday online shopping and searching into much-needed donations.

FREE Membership. Great Deals.  iGive.com is totally free. Plus, you get access to free shipping deals
and exclusive coupons, on top of the great deals you'll find every day through our network of 1,000+stores. Shop at 1,000+ Top-Notch Online Stores, and Maybe Save on Your Taxes Too.
             
Our mall includes: Amazon.com, Pottery Barn, REI, Staples, Petco, Expedia, Best Buy, QVC and many more.  Best of all, up to 26% of your purchase at each store is donated to Evolve Chesapeake!  Many of these contributions could even be considered tax-deductible.  Raise a Penny Per Search at www.iGive.com!  Why not raise money every time you search the web? Try iGive's search engine and enjoy free, easy fundraising for a good cause. Click here to get the iGive Button.

It's as easy as ABC:
A. The iGive Button: This tiny addition to your browser automatically tells stores that you want your shopping to support Evolve Chesapeake.

B. Positive Confirmation: Feel good knowing that you're helping by seeing "iGive On" at participating sites.

C.  It adds up quickly: iGive members have donated $7,290.939.31 to their favorite causes.  In 2014 they have already raised $123,705.83.  

 

More Ways to Support our Ministry  
Check out our Welcome Table in the lobby. There are books for sale by Bruce Chilton, Matthew Fox, John Shelby Spong, Marcus Borg, and others.  You'll also find Rick Dove's large selection of nature photography:  5x7 photocards @$3 and matted photographs @$10.  Buying these will help support Evolve Chesapeake's ministry.  See Rick's beautiful lotus flower at the bottom of the newsletter. 
 
And remember, your used cell phones and empty ink jet and toner cartridges can also help fund our ministry.  These items fit nicely in the offering basket along with remembrance of time and talent you have offered to our ministries and your financial gifts.  Bring them to Gathering with you.  

Jesus in the First and Twenty-First Centuries

April 4 -5, 2014
 

                                  

At Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church

3401 Nebraska Avenue NW Washington, DC

 

What does the rediscovery of the historical Jesus and his vision of the reign of God mean for the heirs of the Christian tradition? Does this Jesus have any relevance for people who claim no allegiance to Christianity? The presenters offer their insights and engage participants in a discussion about the relationship of Christianity to contemporary politics, economics, and global power.  For more information or to register, click here.  

 

            
 'SAME LOVE, SAME RIGHTS' LGBT WEDDING EXPO  

Sunday May 4th, 2014

from 12:30 to 3:30 PM  

 

 

 

Crowne Plaza Rockville, 3 Research Ct, Rockville, MD 20850

 

You & your partner are invited to the 'Same Love, Same Rights' LGBT Wedding Expo in Rockville on Sunday, May 4th! Dozens of gay-friendly exhibitors will participate, eager to help you and your fiancee plan the ceremony of your dreams!  Photographers, DJs, Officiants, Wedding Planners, Venues, Jewelers, Invitations & more...  FREE Raffle Giveaways, LGBT-Planning Tips & Trends!

FREE TO ATTEND - Couples, singles, and allies interested in marriage rights are all invited.  Please RSVP through the website! www.SameLoveSameRights.com 


Rainbow Wedding Network, PO Box 2434, Weaverville, NC 28787; phone 828-645-8750    

You can become an individual member of Creation Spirituality Communities or sign up  as a participant in the online CSC logo smallcommunity for free. Join our online community, Chesapeake Creation Spirituality Community and take part in the discussion.  You can get more information and/or sign up by clicking on the following link: http://originalblessing.ning.com.  NOTE: This website is well worth checking out, with its interesting videos of Matthew Fox and others on different facets of Creation Spirituality.  You'll also find news of upcoming conferences and much more.
FROM THE 8 POINTS OF PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY:

Point 6.  By calling ourselves progressive, we mean that we are Christians who find more grace in the search for understanding than we do in dogmatic certainty--more value in questioning than in absolutes.

Lotus Flower in Moundsville, West Virginia, photographed by Rick Dove
Thank you to all who read this newsletter and to all who send contributions that liven it up!  Please send your poems, articles, news, photographs, announcements, etc. to:  EvolveSylvia@gmail.com.  And let us know how we can improve our newsletter.    

Find us on Facebook 

If you have a profile on Facebook, become a fan of CCSC (Evolve Chesapeake) 
by clicking here.Upload pictures, start a discussion, invite friends.
 
Visit our website:www.EvolveChesapeake.com
  and other great websites under Quick Links in the top left column. 
And join us for Sacred Gathering this Sunday.