On The Table

The Weekly Announcement of Common Table Church

Thursday, January 27, 2011

January 24 through 30

Common Table's ongoing game of cat-and-mouse is enacted at the end of (most) every month, as we endeavor to leave the comforts of routine and self-service and to try to force ourselves out into our community. This month, we'll be joining our old friends at New Hope Fellowship, an amazing and vibrant and (indeed!) hopeful place filled with wonderful people. Jen and Craig continue in their regular monthly ministry of leading worship there, and have invited any other CT musicians to join in their efforts. Worship starts at 10:40am at the Greenbriar Community Center, though you can come a bit early to join in some informal musical worship, and you should definitely stay afterward to enjoy lunch and conversation with some folks who can teach us quite a bit about their unique lives in Fairfax County. Hope to see you there.

Mike Stavlund

posted by Mike Stavlund # 5:33 PM 0 Comments

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

January 10 through 16

Prophets are much easier to take at a comfortable distance.

This year, Martin Luther King Day falls on January 17. This Federal Holiday marks MLK Jr.'s birthday (which is actually January 15), but it also marks a fact in the collective consciousness of those living in the United States: that we are honoring a man who was killed while advocating tirelessly for the equality of the African-American race in this country.

But there's more than that. This happened in 1968, not even 43 years ago, and the holiday itself has only been around since 1983 (when then-President Reagan signed it into law). The events of MLK's life are *recent history*, which means the brutality of racism is *recent history*, which means we still live with the remnants of it, whether we think about it very often or not.

MLK believed that he, like Gandhi, was preaching the message of Christ when he demanded that his followers show non-violent resistance to injustice. Gandhi, however, is easier for most of us to take. He was in India, and he was protesting British rule. Most Americans are by definition pretty comfortable with protesting British rule, and at any rate, Gandhi wasn't pointing his long, bony finger and smiling benevolently at any of us.

MLK was looking directly at us... and if he was a prophet, his message lives beyond his life on this earth.

This Sunday (10am at Jammin' Java) we'll explore what MLK does and doesn't mean to those of us who are involved in the life of Common Table. This Sunday isn't necessarily about guilt, or an extended discussion of white privilege or an opportunity for us to have a good old-fashioned fight about whether slave reparations are justifiable. It's simply an opportunity to acknowledge that the story of racism is in our collective American history, and in this sense it is part of our story... even if we don't see how it's part of our lives at all.

- Amy Moffitt

posted by Moff # 4:39 PM 0 Comments

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

January 3 through 9

As the new year unfurls before us and we head into the (delightfully named) liturgical season called Ordinary Time, our own Craig is stepping up to offer some provocation and conversation:

In this tumultuous time of passive aggressive bumper sticker warfare, I often find myself wondering what it is these passionate drivers are trying to communicate and what has so inspired them to display their opinions in such a way. If I am not mistaken, I believe I have even noticed bumper stickers that are responses to responses to other bumper stickers like some kind of commuter conversation.

There is one sticker I have noticed quite frequently these days that has "Coexist" spelled out in the symbols of various religions and other modes of knowledge. What is this trying to say? Is it a response to something? How are these ideas informed or not by scripture? Come join us this Sunday to explore what these good bumper sticker folks are trying to tell us and how it relates to our own questions of faith and truth.

So drive your Ordinary or bumper-sticker-adorned car to Jammin' Java this Sunday at 10am. Or if you want to get into a musical groove first, plan to arrive early for another interactive performance by the eponymous 9:30 Club.

Mike Stavlund

PS. Have you any inklings for some ideas for our Sunday gatherings? If so, let me know. And remember: inspiration might be as close as the nearest bumper.

posted by Mike Stavlund # 9:43 AM 0 Comments