Sacred Gathering
February 22, 2015 at 6 p.m.

10th Sunday on the Path of Creativity

art as meditation...
discipline... birthing... possibility... aesthetic... ... play...cosmogenesis...

seed planting...co-creativity...

imagination...

United Church of Christ of Annapolis

8 Carvel Circle

Edgewater, Maryland 21037

"THE SEASON OF re"

Reflection by the Rev.Dr. Wayne Schwandt

Gathering Leaders:

Set-up/Put away: Rick Dove and Tom Good

Greeter/Usher: Dave Miller
Reader/Communion Assistant: Tom Good

Community Hour: Suzie Robertson

Weekly Food/Goods Collection

The need for food is urgent at this time. Please bring a donation with you this Sunday to put by our
Community Table and it will be delivered to the Food Bank.

From the Minister's Keyboard

The Rev. Dr. Wayne Schwandt

reLent, reBoot, reMind, reTire, reSide, reForm

reVive, reLax, reFresh,

reStart,    reUnite, reInvent,
reCreate, reBirth,    reCycle, reDeem,    reBound,     reClaim, reCreate,
reLieve,    reWard,    reFlect, reBuild,

reDraw, reOpen, reNew, reNewal

The season of "re" is upon us! This part of our Path of Creativity is a time to look for new ways of being in the world. It is a journey inward to do our "interior work," the hardest task any human can undertake. And it is a journey outward to see how our inner work might become the outer work in the world--the work of love and justice making! We bump into the wilderness everyday inside us and around us.

During this season of "re" we are invited to consider taking a different direction in our lives-- or at least making some minor adjustments on our path.

We will gather in the front of the sanctuary this Sunday, up on the platform behind the pulpit and lectern in a circle with a Community Table in the middle. We will begin our "re" with a time of quiet, reFlection, song, chant, and communion.

COME join us for a season of reNewal!

Sunday at 6 PM at the United Church of Christ of Annapolis, 8 Carvel Circle, Edgewater, Maryland!

Peace, Wayne

Our Chant Circle meets Sunday, February 22

in Caton Hall from 4:00-5:30 p.m.

Come, be refreshed and rejuvenated as you allow the meditative chant and simple movements of body prayer to gently weave your spirit, mind and body into one. May it be a lovely and holy experience of our God with us, in us, and among us. Absolutely everyone is welcome; absolutely no experience is necessary!

FROM: Chesapeake Climate Action Network

Lobby Night and Rally in Annapolis
February 23rd from 5-8 PM

Move Maryland

Forward with Clean Energy

Join us in Annapolis on February 23rd to tell Maryland lawmakers: DOUBLE wind and solar now. Pass the Clean Energy Advancement Act! We'll make this message heard loud and clear: "Clean energy, not fracking!" "Clean energy, NOT toxic smokestacks!" "Clean energy, NOT Cove Point!"

Doubling the amount of energy we get from clean, renewable sources--to 40% by 2025--is the biggest single way we can make sure more solar panels and wind turbines come to our state, not toxic fracking wells, smokestacks, and pipelines. For more information and/or sign up for this event please click here.

OPEN ARMS, our small discussion group, will meet Tuesday, February 24 at 6:30 for supper and viewing the first session of Neil deGrasse Tyson's Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. We will meet in a member's home. Contact Rev. Wayne for location and more information: schwandtw@aol.com

IN CELEBRATION OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH

U.S.P.S. Honors Robert Robinson Taylor in Stamp

"Remembered for his calm determination and quiet dignity, Robert Robinson Taylor (1868-1942) is believed to have been both the first black graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the country's first academically trained black architect - accomplishments that helped open a new profession to African Americans." . . . . .
"Taylor was admired for his decades of leadership at Tuskegee [Institute]" and spoke, in his lasting legacy, of "the love of doing things correctly, of putting logical ways of thinking into the humblest task... and in this way increasing the power and grandeur of the nation."
The United States Postal Service, 2014

Book Groups reading The New Jim Crow to start Feb. 23 / March 1

This Lenten Season Asbury United Methodist Church has invited UCC Annapolis to read and then discuss with them The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. It is an in-depth study of the sources and causes of racism in our society, with a particular focus on the mass incarceration of African Americans.

Two groups are forming to meet weekly during Lent: one on Sunday at 1:00 pm (begins March 1), the other on a Tuesday at 6:30 pm (begins February 23). Contact UCCA at office@uccannapolis.org or by phone at 410-266-8596 to indicate which group you'd like to join.

*** GET YOUR FREE COUPON HERE ***

Newcomers to our Sacred Gatherings, this coupon is for you! It entitles you to a fresh loaf of home-baked bread, usually with raisins and honey, made by our Minister, the Rev. Dr. Wayne Schwandt. Just clip this coupon, place it in the offering plate on Sunday, and at the close of our Sacred Gathering you will receive along our welcome, this delicious loaf of bread.

From Erine:

Reflection from "The Dancer Arises" and "Two Wolves."

February Covenant Dates

Birthdays, Anniversaries, Covenant Dates

February 3 Karl D. Walker Birthday (d. 2008)
February 8    Shane Matthew Riley Birthday (2005)
February 15   Wayne E. Schwandt Tenth Ordinatiion Anniversary (1997)
February 17   Regina Rawlings Birthday

Congratulations, Erine!

From Interfaith Power & Light:

Observe Lent with the Carbon Fast Calendar

May this season serve as a wake-up call to be mindful of the ways that our daily choices impact everyone, especially people living in poverty. Download the calendar.

Attorney Roberta Kaplan

This April the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a landmark marriage equality case. Human Rights Campaign has engaged renowned attorney Roberta Kaplan, who represented Edie Windsor in United States v. Windsor, to represent HRC in submitting an amicus brief outlining our reasons for supporting marriage equality. We want to show a critical mass of support in every state across the country. Read the brief, and if you agree with its contents, click on: sign here (HRC website) and
your name will be included in The People's Brief. Signatures must be in by March 1st.

Fundraising for Evolve's Ministry

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 can be easy and free. Click here for more information about iGive.

As of February 20th, we have earned $1,741.77 through iGive.

Photo by Rick Dove

CHECK OUT THE BOOKS, PHOTO CARDS AND COASTERS

On our Welcome Table in Caton Hall 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. Rick's 5 x 7 photo cards are $3 and his matted photographs are $10. Rick is also selling his beautifully crafted tile coasters with nature photographs for $5 each.

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.

It requires no special talent or effort to look at our world and point out the things that numb us, or dumb us down, or depress us. In fact, it's a no-brainer! But becoming keenly and consistently aware of what's good, true, beautiful, and life-giving around us and within us demands a discipline: we must open our eyes, minds, and hearts. And we must keep them open.

- Parker Palmer

Creation Spirituality Communities

is a network of communities ranging from intentional groups to alternative churches, which are grounded in the tenants of Creation Spirituality and revere the sacredness of all creation. Through study, ritual, celebration and action, these communities support justice, compassion, transformation 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. Our online community, Chesapeake Creation Spirituality Community, is waiting for you to join. Click: http://originalblessing.ning.com.

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

Sunrise over the Severn River Bridge

Photo by Rick Dove, February 18, 2015

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Visit our website: www.EvolveChesapeake.com

Evolve has closed the post office box, so please update your records
to show our address as:

8 Carvel Circle, Edgewater, MD 21037