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The Gift of Hope
Posted on Wednesday December 15th 2010
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down into the zone
i have not had a better time playing
in memory. It was so relaxed for me
being with my friends, allowed me to
really drop down into the zone and play music
rather than reproduce it.
it did more for me that anyone knows..the calm
was glorious
thank you for being there with me
to know me a bit better when my
defenses are all the way down
they only come down for very special
people, and you are they.
b
This post is from Brian Gross, who played his guitar at the Connection Cafe on November 13. Thanks so much, Brian! We think you are very special too!
Posted on Thursday November 18th 2010
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Cafe Connections Colored Purple
Last Wednesday, Oct 20 was designated by the Facebook community as a day to “wear purple to support LGBT youth.” This was part of the larger “It Gets Better” campaign in response to the recent rash of suicides by young men who had been bullied because of their sexual orientation. What’s especially sad is that these suicides were probably not all that unusual.
My heart goes out to any person, especially any young person, who feels so isolated and hopeless. I believe that God loves all people, no matter their sexual orientation. I believe that sexual orientation is a gift from God, a birthright. I appreciate the people of faith who have made videos to say: It Gets Better. Indeed, it does. The least I could do on Oct 20, I felt, was wear my purple tee-shirt that says “LGBTerrific!” on the front.
That night our cafe had (only) two guests who were not from our church, a mother and a son. The son immediately noticed my shirt and asked me about it. I was able to tell him that our denomination was struggling over this issue (to the point of polarization) but that I, personally, was supportive of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered. He was a smart young man, well-spoken, with many interests. We had an interesting conversation about the role of the church in these kind of social situations. Once the ice was broken, he talked my ear off. We agreed that a community of faith is precious because it is one place that people from both ends of the political spectrum can come together in service of something larger than their own opinion.
It's dicey to be a religious leader and hold an opinion on a subject where people have a variety of opinions. However, I feel the call to be more vocal in my support of people who are LGBT. Whether or not I ever see him again, I hope this particuar young man knows that at least one religious leader is absolutely sure that it’s okay to be gay.
We say that God loves everybody. Today I want to color that purple.
My heart goes out to any person, especially any young person, who feels so isolated and hopeless. I believe that God loves all people, no matter their sexual orientation. I believe that sexual orientation is a gift from God, a birthright. I appreciate the people of faith who have made videos to say: It Gets Better. Indeed, it does. The least I could do on Oct 20, I felt, was wear my purple tee-shirt that says “LGBTerrific!” on the front.
That night our cafe had (only) two guests who were not from our church, a mother and a son. The son immediately noticed my shirt and asked me about it. I was able to tell him that our denomination was struggling over this issue (to the point of polarization) but that I, personally, was supportive of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered. He was a smart young man, well-spoken, with many interests. We had an interesting conversation about the role of the church in these kind of social situations. Once the ice was broken, he talked my ear off. We agreed that a community of faith is precious because it is one place that people from both ends of the political spectrum can come together in service of something larger than their own opinion.
It's dicey to be a religious leader and hold an opinion on a subject where people have a variety of opinions. However, I feel the call to be more vocal in my support of people who are LGBT. Whether or not I ever see him again, I hope this particuar young man knows that at least one religious leader is absolutely sure that it’s okay to be gay.
We say that God loves everybody. Today I want to color that purple.
Posted on Thursday October 28th 2010
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Feasting on the Word
Our presbytery, National Capital, has begun a “new way of being presbytery.” This Friday to Saturday we had a retreat at Meadowkirk, our Presbytery camp and conference center, for a feast of the Word. The speaker/leader was Frances Taylor Gench, a professor at Union/PSCE who spoke three times on the subject “Postmodern Panic & Missional Malaise.” How does the biblical text speak to us as leaders in churches attempting to be missional and connectional in a postmodern world?
The Friday evening session centered around texts from the gospel of John. I particularly loved the opportunity to immerse myself in two old favorites again: the woman at the well, and “Feed my sheep.” We dealt with both of these in a sense as “postscript”: the John 4 passage because we focused on the end of the story, where the woman carries on Jesus’ dialogical approach to their encounter. The John 21 passage is itself a postscript and is so rich in ecclesiology that you could swim about with those 153 fish for quite some time.
Then we had a Q&A session with Elder Cindy Bolbach, who stands for moderator of the General Assembly in less than a month’s time. She did a fine job of fielding questions, and people gave helpful suggestions. If you’re attending GA, I urge you to pay careful attention to Cindy’s words, and to give her your vote. She is an able leader, spiritually grounded, with the gifts, skills and passion to lead our church. Her vice moderator is an ideal complement to her, and I would feel very secure in their leadership. We closed with worship on Friday evening and opened with worship on Saturday morning. Then we spent some time in Acts 6:1-7, when the 12 responded to an early leadership crisis by appointing 7. We heard from three perspectives on this text, which had the effect of really breaking it open to my eyes. After a break we gathered again for another old favorite, Mark’s account of the feeding of the 5,000. We metaphorically sat upon some green grass and heard Jesus say, “YOU give them something to eat.” Amen.
The business portion of the meeting followed, in the context of worship, in which Frances preached from Matthew 28, the Great Commission. During the meeting, we approved a revision to our Sexual Misconduct policy and procedures, which requires all of us to undergo training every 3 years. Then we heard a report about Meadowkirk, which has had severe financial challenges for years now. The news was, on the whole, encouraging. What’s your reaction to this report of our ”new way of being presbytery”? The event was billed as a feast and I must say that I loved the menu, which included each of the four gospel writers.
The Friday evening session centered around texts from the gospel of John. I particularly loved the opportunity to immerse myself in two old favorites again: the woman at the well, and “Feed my sheep.” We dealt with both of these in a sense as “postscript”: the John 4 passage because we focused on the end of the story, where the woman carries on Jesus’ dialogical approach to their encounter. The John 21 passage is itself a postscript and is so rich in ecclesiology that you could swim about with those 153 fish for quite some time.
Then we had a Q&A session with Elder Cindy Bolbach, who stands for moderator of the General Assembly in less than a month’s time. She did a fine job of fielding questions, and people gave helpful suggestions. If you’re attending GA, I urge you to pay careful attention to Cindy’s words, and to give her your vote. She is an able leader, spiritually grounded, with the gifts, skills and passion to lead our church. Her vice moderator is an ideal complement to her, and I would feel very secure in their leadership. We closed with worship on Friday evening and opened with worship on Saturday morning. Then we spent some time in Acts 6:1-7, when the 12 responded to an early leadership crisis by appointing 7. We heard from three perspectives on this text, which had the effect of really breaking it open to my eyes. After a break we gathered again for another old favorite, Mark’s account of the feeding of the 5,000. We metaphorically sat upon some green grass and heard Jesus say, “YOU give them something to eat.” Amen.
The business portion of the meeting followed, in the context of worship, in which Frances preached from Matthew 28, the Great Commission. During the meeting, we approved a revision to our Sexual Misconduct policy and procedures, which requires all of us to undergo training every 3 years. Then we heard a report about Meadowkirk, which has had severe financial challenges for years now. The news was, on the whole, encouraging. What’s your reaction to this report of our ”new way of being presbytery”? The event was billed as a feast and I must say that I loved the menu, which included each of the four gospel writers.
Posted on Monday June 7th 2010
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Connection Cafe: How You Can Plug In
The logo has been chosen. Plans progress at full steam. Click on "Connection Cafe" and check out the webpage to see the latest info.
BUILDING: Many building changes have begun, and we are now at the point where there is need of labor, the kind that is not highly skilled. Can you spackle? Can you paint? We have need of you! Leave a comment here and we'll be in touch!
PEOPLE: We have begun the background work of hiring a Cafe Host. We will also need 3-4 volunteers to assist this person. Would you like to be one of those volunteers? Meanwhile, we have filled numerous key volunteer positions. The "hole" we currently have is in the area of Food & Beverage -- we need someone with creativity and start-up skills to get this organized for us. Could that person be you?
SCHEDULE: Our schedule looks ambitious -- open two times each week -- on Monday evenings for Genealogy research -- and on Wednesday afternoons and evenings for general cafe purposes, especially high school youth. We also plan monthly Technology Workshops, Music Nights, and Gaming Tournaments. What do you look forward to?
PLEASE PRAY for this ministry of hospitality. Pray that everything we do will advance the purpose of connecting people, ultimately, to God. We mean to open and operate this cafe in a welcoming way, accepting whoever comes, and meeting their stated need, but also being open to their deeper needs. Jesus is our model, as he called all people to himself, regardless of race, status, gender, age. Like the apostle Paul, we are willing to be all things so that some might hear the gospel.
GRAND OPENING on Oct 2!
BUILDING: Many building changes have begun, and we are now at the point where there is need of labor, the kind that is not highly skilled. Can you spackle? Can you paint? We have need of you! Leave a comment here and we'll be in touch!
PEOPLE: We have begun the background work of hiring a Cafe Host. We will also need 3-4 volunteers to assist this person. Would you like to be one of those volunteers? Meanwhile, we have filled numerous key volunteer positions. The "hole" we currently have is in the area of Food & Beverage -- we need someone with creativity and start-up skills to get this organized for us. Could that person be you?
SCHEDULE: Our schedule looks ambitious -- open two times each week -- on Monday evenings for Genealogy research -- and on Wednesday afternoons and evenings for general cafe purposes, especially high school youth. We also plan monthly Technology Workshops, Music Nights, and Gaming Tournaments. What do you look forward to?
PLEASE PRAY for this ministry of hospitality. Pray that everything we do will advance the purpose of connecting people, ultimately, to God. We mean to open and operate this cafe in a welcoming way, accepting whoever comes, and meeting their stated need, but also being open to their deeper needs. Jesus is our model, as he called all people to himself, regardless of race, status, gender, age. Like the apostle Paul, we are willing to be all things so that some might hear the gospel.
GRAND OPENING on Oct 2!
Posted on Tuesday May 25th 2010
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Every year, Church Women United prepare a Christmas program and party for the women in the Frederick County Detention Center. This party happens on Dec. 24. In preparation, Carolyn McFall and Ann Niblock joined women from other churches on Monday, Dec 13 to prepare by wrapping gifts.
This year the women are receiving long-sleeved sweatshirts (which were decorated by members of many churches), Word Find books, jigsaw puzzles, a devotional booklet and homemade cookies. On the morning of Christmas Eve, all the women will come to the gymnasium at the Detention Center to receive these gifts, as well as enjoy a dramatic program, sing Christmas carols, play games, and enjoy punch and homemade cookies.
But the most important gift they will receive is hope, the hope incarnated in the birth of Jesus.
Why do you do this every year? I asked Ann and Carolyn.
I had to type fast to record some of their responses . . .
Carolyn said: "People who make mistakes need to know that they can start making good decisions now. They don't have to stay on a bad path, they can instead choose what will better their lives and start healthy habits. And the women need to know that they're not forgotten. Just because they made one bad decision doesn't mean that they have to give up. They have second chances every day. They can choose to create a different future for themselves and their families. Sometimes they just need a little encouragement to remember that."
Ann added: "Some of the women haven't heard the story of Jesus. We take it for granted that they have, but some of them haven't. But they need to hear it -- because they are so filled with guilt and shame and wrongdoing -- they see no hope for themselves -- they don't understand what a God of Love could look like. They need to get to know Jesus, not so much when he was a baby, but later on in his life."
Carolyn agreed. "The fact that Jesus was a baby doesn't really impact them, it's what he did later that mattered. Jesus had to wrestle with decisions too. It makes him relatable to the women. Everybody wrestles with decisions."
What a great ministry! Our thanks to Ann and Carolyn for being the loving hands and feet of Jesus at this Christmastime. If you're interested in joining on Dec 24 at 10:00 am at the Detention Center, contact Ann or Carolyn directly, or leave a comment here.
~ written by Rev. Ruth in the Connection Cafe, as Ann and Carolyn talked about their experiences.