On The Table

Hi church,

Well, it's a big weekend around the Table, and in wider circles too. Pumpkins and spooks and saints - oy vey!

First of all: This Saturday, we'll meet at Cox Farms at 10:30 a.m. for the anticipated "Pumpkin Chunkin" day and our monthly service-worship. Joining us will be some long time friends, and possibly some other new friends from FACETS. We'll set up a central meeting area/hang out spot at a group of picnic tables (in front of the stage) with some refreshments for our guests. If each of us could bring something to drink and/or a snack to share with everyone, we'll have an additional way to offer hospitality to our guests and make them feel welcome. It should be a fun day of rides, slides, and smashin' pumpkins - see you there!

No sooner will we be done with cider and hayrides than we'll head off to the Tennyson home for a Halloween costume party (costumes are mandatory!) Here are the deets:

5pm-6:30pm Kid oriented party, fun games, music, etc.
6:30pm-7:30pm Halloween potluck
7:30pm-? Adult oriented party

Please bring a dish for the potluck, either a main dish or a side. Optional items are snacks, desert or candy. It'll be a ghoulish good time!

But wait - after all that fun, there's more! The name "Halloween", of course, means "All Hallows' Eve", and November 1st is All Saints' Day. And we'll be celebrating (on All Saints' Sunday, the 2nd) in appropriate fashion with a motley collection of saints from around the DC area.

We will NOT be gathering at our regular venue, Jammin' Java. Instead, we're planning to join up with several local and like-minded Christian communities to celebrate the cloud of witnesses to the humble power of Jesus, of which we're a part. Church in Bethesda has graciously offered to host, so we'll be gathering there at 11am (we're hoping the later start time will allow for both Daylight Savings Time and the short drive to Bethesda). All of us saints will have a chance to share bits of our journey with God, and to catch a glimpse of how those rough and "random" bits form a greater whole in the communions of saints.

And that's it! It'll be a full weekend of celebration, as we thank God for the blessings of friends to share with, to be silly with, and to testify to the power of God in our lives.

Peace,
Mike Croghan

Labels: All Saints, service-worship, Tennysons

All right, people. Grab your daytimer or GoogleCal or iPhone or smart phone, or boot up the RAM that lives in your head. It's time for another session in the slightly unpredictable world of CT-Calendar.

Next weekend, we'll be shuffling a few events. On Saturday, November 1, we'll be getting together with some families (with whom we've connected at The Lamb Center and/or through our own friendships) at Cox Farms and the inspirational annual celebration of Pumpkin Madness. Come out to catch up and to enjoy the nirvanic pleasure of watching whole pumpkins launched from a trebuchet, and jack-o-lanterns dropped from a crane. We'll share the details when they're available.

Then on Sunday, November 2, we will NOT be at our regular venue. Instead, we're planning to join up with several local and like-minded Christian communities to celebrate All Saints Day. Church in Bethesda has graciously offered to host, so we'll be gathering there at 11am (we're hoping the later start time will allow for both Daylight Savings Time and the short drive to Bethesda).

So what about this weekend? Well, the calendar is empty, actually. Which isn't to say you should sit on your hands (unless you'd like to do just that). It is a weekend intentionally left with some space, and the hope that you (yes, you!) will cook up some excuse to connect with your neighbors or your fellow Common Tablers. So do it!

Embracing Flexibility,
Mike Stavlund

Labels: All Saints, open, service-worship

Hi church,

Here's what's goin' on:

Firstly: Thursday the 16th, from 6:30 -8pm, we'll gather at The Lamb Center for another blessed evening of pizza and karaoke. It's always Spirit- and fun-fulled as we let loose our inner ham and see the face of Christ in friends of every age and circumstance.

And then, on Sunday morning (10am at Jammin' Java), we'll have the first service from our newly formed musical worship team: a sort of right-brain sequel to last week's "What is Real?" What should you expect? Here are P3T3's words about these services:

an aural experience like no other. witness an artistic tour de force... a mind-blowing, reality-altering walk through the minds of some exceptional artists. Be prepared to engage your other brain - the other half of what it is that makes us human. Together we hope to more fully experience and love God with our heart, soul, strength and mind.

If that doesn't get you pumped, then I don't know what to tell you. Except perhaps: Dude, maybe you need to getcher self an infusion of joy, praise, song, and worship. What's that you say...a recommendation? Why yes, since you ask, I do have a recommendation! ;-)

See you soon, in a place of song!

Peace,
Mike Croghan

Labels: karaoke, lamb center, music

Dear Church--

This Sunday, we're back at Jammin' Java after several weeks away. We'll be hearing from one of our Ryans, who will be taking on us a journey toward "What is Real?" Through physics, physicality, God, and the thing that we call our consciousness, he'll be helping us to think about what 'real' is, what makes it that way, and how we interact with reality. Come at 10am, and prepare to be expanded.

If you'd like a head start, you're welcome to join a few of us on Saturday at lunchtime, as we connect with a friend who's in town to do some advocacy for Not For Sale. Email me at [my name@gmail] if you'd like details on some time learning about human trafficking and the modern-day abolitionist movement. A chance to be changed, and to bring change.

And if you'd like a practical exercise in becoming something more than you currently are, bring an appetite for pizza and your best singing voice to The Lamb Center next Thursday (October 16, from 6:30 to 8pm) for the next iteration of the ongoing connection point of Karaoke. You'll feel yourself expanding, and not just from the pizza!

See you soon,
Mike Stavlund

Labels: karaoke, lamb center, Not For Sale, reality