On The Table

Hello, church,

Just a few notes to keep you posted on the comings and goings at Common Table:

Service Worship. The old carpet is gone and behold, the new floor has come at the Chapman's house. Many thanks to all who offered their hard work and good humor to the flooring project, and special thanks to Becky and Ryan for their warm hospitality and first-class food and beverage. Once the dust finally settles, we expect that Ryan's sinuses will be much more comfortable now.

Design Team Planning. Tomorrow night, we're launching DT 4.0, which is similar to Web 2.0, except twice as good. The Design Team, who plan our Sunday morning meetings, will be looking to include your thoughts, ideas, inspiration, and art in the upcoming series. So come on out for a fun and creative night:

THIS Thursday evening, 26 April,
7 PM,
at the Bulanow Estate:
1001 Elden Street, Herndon, VA 20170


Seder Supper on Sunday Evening. This ancient Passover celebration is everything it should be: sober, reflective, joyful, and hopeful. I've been to several, and have always appreciated its beautiful holism (it engages and honors all of our senses) and its radical inclusiveness (this meal is designed to involve everyone, most especially children!). We'll be having this extended dinner from 5 to 8pm at The Fairfax Railroad Museum (site of our famous Christmas Chili Cook-Off).

May Flowers, and corn salsa. Though we've stirred up the schedule and will not be meeting at Jammin' Java again this week, we'll return there next week (May 6) to begin a Springy experience of the Blooms series, and a much, much anticipated return to Chipotle (it's been so long, I think I'll need help ordering!).

Mike

Labels: DT4.0, Passover

Friends,

Saturday, April 21, is our monthly service-worship project, our regular opportunity to worship through serving our neighbors. This week we're finally going to be able to help meet a need we've been aware of for some time. The Chapman family has been putting up with the aging carpet in their home for a while, despite Ryan's asthma and allergies and the fact that a fully carpeted home is just not practical with two young kids. The project was cost-prohibitive for a long time, but now, thanks to a generous donation of flooring materials by a Chapman family member, we are finally getting our chance to do the work. This will also be a great chance to welcome baby Grant by helping his family in a very practical way. In fact, this is the second large construction project we've undertaken to welcome a new baby -- I hope the tradition sticks!

So, our construction site is the Chapman family home (14305 Grape Holly Grove, Unit 14, Centreville). We'll be getting started at 9:00, with coffee and bagels provided. Our support/childcare location will be the Doan home (15207 Sovereign Place, Chantilly). We'll probably be working all day, so come whenever you can and stay as long as you can -- it should be a fun day and a great chance to spend time together.

Don't forget, next week Sunday (April 29) our service will be a Passover Seder Dinner at the Fairfax Station Railroad Museum from 5:00 to 8:00.

See you Saturday,

Deanna

Labels: Chapman, service-worship

Christ is Risen; He is Risen Indeed!

Happy Easter everyone. As our resident Anglican has rightly pointed out, Easter is not just a day, it's a season. And that feels somehow right this year; that Easter is not so much a punctuation mark, as an emergence of renewal, redemption and life. I like the idea of beginning an Easter journey.

And I can't think of any better way to begin that journey than by formally welcoming Kieran Tennyson and Ella Stavlund to our church, and the Church, through baptism. This Sunday at Jammin Java, we have the opportunity to gather around the Tennysons and the Stavlunds to celebrate the lives of their children, to symbolize our hopes and prayers for Kieran and Ella, and to recommit ourselves towards modeling lives of grace and love. Plan to join us for this special celebration at 10:00 AM.

As we look forward to the coming weeks, here are a couple other dates to put on your calendar:

April 21 Service-Worship: We'll be serving one of our own families next week, as we install new floors at the Chapman's home. Ryan has been quite allergic to the carpet in their house for a while, so this will be a neat chance to minister to him, as well as to gather around Ryan, Becky and Sophie to celebrate the addition of Grant to their family. We're planning for a 9:00 AM start time but come help whenever you can that day -- there will be plenty of work to go around!

April 29 Passover Seder: As we continue our journey through the Jewish Calendar this year, we'll be celebrating passover (a bit late) with a dinner at the Fairfax Station Railroad Museum. Dinner will be from 5:00 to 8:00 -- look for more details next week.

Feel free to check out the new Common Table calendar to see what else is going on. In fact, when you're there, spend a little bit of time browsing around the new church web site. It's pretty snazzy - with more features on the way! The new design is meant to be an interactive hub for our community and to give visitors a better sense of who we are. Many thanks to the iTeam for all their cool ideas in spinning it up!

See you on Sunday,

Deanna

Labels: baptism, Ella, Kieran

April 2 through 8

Dear Church--

As we journey through this Holy Week, I hope you're finding some time to reflect on the story of this week: of the growing darkness and death and defeat that precedes the unexpected triumph of the Resurrection. If you'd like to commemorate collectively, Mike Croghan has invited us to join him at The Church of the Holy Comforter in their services all week , most especially the special Tenebrae service tonight.

On Sunday, we'll be having our own special Easter celebration at 10am at Jammin' Java, complete with home-grown music, art, and words to tune in to the message of that new life that resonates and grows even now. It promises to be a great fulfillment of the waiting and scarcity of Lent, too, as we return to our beloved Chipotle for lunch (He is risen, indeed!).

Two save the dates:

We'll be having a Baptism for Kieran Tennyson and Eleanor Stavlund next Sunday, April 15, at Jammin' Java.

Service Worship: we're switching up some dates to do our monthly project on Saturday, April 21, beginning at 9am. We'll be installing a new laminate wood floor at the Chapmans, and hopefully relieving Ryan of his serious allergies to their carpeting. We'll need everyone we can get to move furniture, rip out carpeting, clean up the concrete subfloor, install the new flooring, and put everything back. Oh, and we'll probably eat lunch, too, and we'll have the kids just up the road at the Doan's place. So please plan to strap on your toolbelt for a day of hard work and constructiony fun.

Mike

Labels: Easter