Originally Blessed!
an original blessing 
community

  November 16, 2014    
  eNewsletter from
  EVOLVEChesapeake

 

Chesapeake Creation Spirituality Community

  

Christianity Beyond Convention
IN THIS ISSUE
November 16th Sacred Gathering
From the Pastor's Keyboard
Singing our Faith with Scott and Dave
Weekly Food & Goods Collection
Scott Bowling Honored by Equality Maryland
Support our Ministries
November Covenant Dates
From Erine: Dixie Longate Tupperware Party
Creation Spirituality Communities
Find Us on Facebook
Our Business Sponsors
Chuck Riley
Chuck Riley
Chuck makes a
donation  to Evolve
Chesapeake from every commission received through our community!
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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 Road, Annapolis, MD 21401. Click here for directions. 
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November 16, 2014
 
Ninth Sunday on the Path of Emptying 
letting go... pain... emptying... uncertainty... 
nothingness... darkness... sinking... 
silence... loss... depth...
 
Reflection by The Rev. Dr. Wayne Schwandt
at 
Annapolis Friends Meeting House
351 Dubois Road, Annapolis

Gathering Leaders:
Set-up/Put away: Sylvia Oliva
Greeter/Usher: Sylvia Oliva
Reader/Communion Assistant: Chuck Riley
Offering Invitation: Beth Lanier
Community Hour Host: Chuck Riley and Wayne Schwandt

We continue our progressive spiritual journey! 
 
From the Pastor's Keyboard
The Rev. Dr. Wayne Schwandt
 
Within the past week, two major events have occurred in the life of our community. First, last Sunday our Fall Congregational Meeting unanimously accepted the invitation of the United Church of Christ of Annapolis ("UCCA") to become a ministry of that congregation!  Our current members now have the option of becoming a member of UCCA as well as maintaining their membership in Evolve Chesapeake.   

On Sunday, November 30, we will begin holding our weekly Sacred Gathering at UCCA, on Route 2 just south of the Aris T. Allen exit.  Our Gatherings will continue to be held at 6 PM.
 
This week I also became a licensed minister in the Chesapeake Association of the United Church of Christ.  This is the first step to having my ministerial credentials recognized by the UCC.  
 
This is an exciting time for our community as we embrace this invitation by the Spirit to join in ministry with the United Church of Christ.  
 
We bring a different voice, a different segment of the body of Christ joining together to bring Good News to the world. We bring a different expression of Christian Community through our radical hospitality and progressive theology grounded in Creation Spirituality.  
Our unified voice is a call to love, celebration of life, and commitment to justice-making in the world based on the inclusive love presented in the teachings and life of Jesus of Nazareth.    

Peace, Wayne

"Singing our Faith" with Scott and Dave  

 

We are invited to join together on Sunday, November 16, at 4 PM, to share in a Singing Our Faith with Scott Bowling at the Mandrin House of Chesapeake Hospice.  Scott's time is short and Dave and he asked us to consider doing this together.  We will sing for about 30-45 minutes before moving to our Sacred Gathering at 6 PM at Annapolis Friends Meeting.

 

Mandrin House is at 3675 Solomons Island Road, Harwood, MD 20776.  Call 410-987-2003 for directions.

 

Please RSVP to Sylvia so we have an idea of how many people are attending: saoliva44@comcast.net. 

WEEKLY COLLECTION FOR FOOD BANK
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Please help those in need 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.  
NOTE:  At this time the greatest need is for food staples. 
                        "It's impossible,"
     said pride.
"It's risky,"
     said experience.
"It's pointless,"
     said reason.
"Give it a try,"
     whispered the heart.

Scott Bowling Honored by Equality Maryland

M. Scott Bowling
Our Companion Scott Bowling, on November 11, 2014 became the first recipient of the M. Scott Bowling Award.  There was a nice gathering of people around him in the great room of Mandrin House to recognize  him and thank him for all his political work with Equality Maryland.  He was presented with the first "M. Scott Bowling Award," a beautiful trophy for his untiring and courageous work for Equality MD, often under very difficult circumstances due to serious health issues.  It was very moving to watch as each person went up to stand beside him and speak about his work, his passion for justice and equality, and how much he meant to each person there!

Mandrin House is a part of the Hospice of the Chesapeake.  Scott is presently welcoming visitors there.  The address is: 3675 Solomons Island Road, Harwood, MD 20776.  Phone:  410-987-2003.   
Go to the Limits of Your Longing

 

 

God speaks to each of us as he makes us,

then walks with us silently out of the night.

These are the words we dimly hear:

You, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.

Embody me.

Flare up like a flame

and make big shadows I can move in.

Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.

Don't let yourself lose me.

Nearby is the country they call life.

You will know it by its seriousness.

Give me your hand.

   

Rainer Maria Rilke, Book of Hours, I 59

Help Support Evolve Chesapeake's Ministries      

Shop or Search Online with the iGive Button. Join iGive and be a part of the first and largest online network of shoppers, online stores, and worthy causes dedicated to turning online shipping into much- needed donations.  iGive is totally free.
You can also raise a penny per search at iGive every time you search the web.  Try iGive's search engine and you'll see that fundraising for Evolve Chesapeake can be easy and free.  Click here for more information about iGive.

As of Nov. 14 Evolve Chesapeake has earned $1,664.66 through iGive.
         
Check out the books and photo cards. 
On 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.  One of his photos is at the bottom of this newsletter.  Rick's 5 x 7 photo cards are $3 and his matted photographs are $10.
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 Sacred Gathering with you.
November Covenant Dates         
Birthdays, Anniversaries, Covenant Dates 
Nov.  3 Chuck Riley & Wayne Schwandt Anniversary (1985)  
Nov.  9  Elizabeth Lanier Birthday 
Nov. 11 Yolanda Kresslein Birthday (d. 1999) 
Nov. 22 William E. Riley Death (1999) 
Nov. 26 Esther J. Hosley Birthday (d. 2006) 
 
From Erine
Dixie Longate Tupperware Party for Equality Maryland
Thank you to Scott Bowling for Dixie Longate coming to Maryland.  It was a joy to see and learn about Tupperware.  The comedy was over the top yet educational.  I never knew it was Tupperware that made the blue and red shape toy.  The comment about testing your mate got a big laugh.  The wine opener was awesome and no more broken corks a bonus.  The icing on the night was the lettuce crisper.  Dixie asked, "What's in a salad?"  Many of us including me said "Water."  Talk about the laughter... in her area, Alabama, it's lettuce.  She had no clue to what Water Salad was...(geeks in the room).  Overall, The Dixie Longate Tupperware Party was perfect for Equality Maryland and dreams of the LGBT community. Thank you to Scott Bowling again and Dixie Longate for an awesome experience.  I hope Dixie can use Scott's Grandmother's Tupperware case in the future.  Plus congratulations to Dixie for 13 years in Tupperware, please return to Maryland.

CSC banner
Creation Spirituality Communities is a network of communities ranging from intentional groups to alternative churches, which are grounded in the tenents of Creation Spirituality and revere the sacredness of all creation. Through study, ritual, celebration and action, these communities support justice, compassion, transforma- tion and sustainability for the Universe and for all living beings.  It is both tradition and movement, celebrated by mystics and agents of social change from every age and culture.  To join our online community, Chesapeake Creation Spirituality Community, click on:  http://originalblessing.ning.com 

Quiet friend who has come so far, 
feel how your breathing makes more space around you. 
Let this darkness be a bell tower 
and you the bell. As you ring,

what batters you becomes your strength.
Move back and forth into the change.
What is it like, such intensity of pain?
If the drink is bitter, turn yourself to wine.

In this uncontainable night,
be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses,
the meaning discovered there.

And if the world has ceased to hear you,
say to the silent earth: I flow.
To the rushing water, speak: I am.

Thanks to all who are reading our newsletter and all who send contributions that liven it up!  Send your poems, articles, photographs, news, announcements, etc. by Thursday night to: EvolveSylvia@gmail.com.  Your ideas on how we can improve Originally Blessed!! are also always very welcome. 
                              
                                          From Sociedad Argentina de Horticultura

JOIN  US  IN  SACRED  GATHERING  THIS  SUNDAY

 

Visit our website:  www.EvolveChesapeake.com