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 te 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 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!

Lent has begun. This Sunday we consider “Simple & Sacred: The Practice of Saying No: Sabbath.” I’m basically stealing the title from Barbara Brown Taylor who wrote a wonderful book called “Altar in the World” which explores some of the ordinary things that people do to be in touch with the holy. My sermons will explore six of these practices over the next few weeks, and we’re starting with “Saying No: Sabbath.” After all, are any of us good at saying No? Especially us nice Christian folk? I’ll be reflecting on the Sabbath law in dialogue with the story of Jesus’ temptation, which is always the scripture for the first Sunday of Lent. What are you saying No to these days, so that you can say Yes to Sabbath?

This is from the website of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. I treasure our denominational connectedness especially in times of crisis — after we pray, we can contribute, and so be of help. May PDA be the hands and feet of Jesus in a broken world. We pray for Haiti Brothers and Sisters in Christ, As the eyes of the world turn to Haiti, let us join our hearts in prayer: God of compassion Please watch over the people of Haiti, And weave out of these terrible happenings wonders of goodness and grace. Surround those who have been affected by tragedy With a sense of your present love, And hold them in faith. Though they are lost in grief, May they find you and be comforted; Guide us as a church To find ways of providing assistance that heals wounds and provides hope Help us to remember that when one of your children suffer We all suffer Through Jesus Christ who was dead, but lives and rules this world with you. Amen. (Adapted from Book of Common Worship) — Bruce Reyes-Chow, Gradye Parsons and Linda Valentine The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is responding to this earthquake through Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and its partners. Presbyterian World Mission is gathering information on the safety and status of our mission personnel and ecumenical partners in the area. For updates on the earthquake and the church’s response, please continue to visit PDA. Initial reports indicate a large number of casualties and widespread damage especially in the capital city of Port-au-Prince. You, too, can be part of God’s answer to prayer for those affected by this disaster. Information on the situation and prayers and worship resources will soon be available. Funds from One Great Hour of Sharing are already helping with the initial response. You can give to the ongoing relief through PDA account number DR000064

After two Sundays away, it was great to be back in the pulpit today. I say “back in the pulpit” likes it's a climb, but honestly, that’s how it feels. There’s something about stepping into that pulpit that humbles me to my soul. It’s a battered pulpit in a small-sized church, but who am I to stand there? Getting to church was slow this morning — the ferry had to chop its way through the ice on the Potomac and it took a long time. The church was cold. I had lots of details on my desk, and everyone greeted me warmly. All of it made me a bit scattered at the start of the early service, but by the time we got our sins confessed and pardoned and were on to the scripture, I had my feet under me again. The text was Isaiah 43, and I talked a bit about “deep water” and God’s presence during that. Then I considered who “Israel and Judah” are. What does it mean to be claimed by God, and to respond to that claim? After the sermon, I asked the constitutional questions of the elders, and then ordained and installed them. It’s always a powerful moment, and I’m grateful for the gift of call, both mine and others. Thank you to Jerome, Suzanne, Lisa and Ken, for your faithfulness. And a special thank you to the Holy Spirit. Just couldn’t do it without you. -- Rev. Ruth Everhart (cross-posted from my personal blog)