On The Table
The Weekly Announcement of Common Table ChurchFriday, April 29, 2011
April 25- May 1
In celebration of the beautiful Spring weather we have to look forward to this weekend, we will come together on Sunday, May 1st for one of our quarterly congregational meetings (instead of our usual gathering for worship at Jammin' Java). Vince and Suzy have kindly offered to host the meeting at their home. (We'll send their address to the Core List, but if you're not on that list and need directions, please contact us - all who care about CT are welcome!) We will start at 11 a.m. and after the meeting we will grill out and enjoy the beautiful spring weather. We'll have child care available, so parents can participate fully in the meeting. Here's some more guidance from Suzy:
Next week, we look forward to another round of Lamb Center Karaoke a week from Friday (the 6th of May), starting at 6:30pm and wrapping up at 8pm (but you're welcome to help set up the music, pizza, and soda starting at 6). Join us for fun and fellowship! And, we'll be back at Jammin' Java on Sunday May 8th for one of our most beautiful traditions - a service of baptism/dedication for some of our littlest Commoners.
Enjoy the beautiful weekend!
Jackie
Bring your own meat to grill & either a side dish or dessert, drink of choice - we will provide hamburger & hot dog buns, condiments & lettuce, tomato etc.. also baked beans & some drinks. Also please remember to bring some type of a lawn chair or blanket to sit on.
Next week, we look forward to another round of Lamb Center Karaoke a week from Friday (the 6th of May), starting at 6:30pm and wrapping up at 8pm (but you're welcome to help set up the music, pizza, and soda starting at 6). Join us for fun and fellowship! And, we'll be back at Jammin' Java on Sunday May 8th for one of our most beautiful traditions - a service of baptism/dedication for some of our littlest Commoners.
Enjoy the beautiful weekend!
Jackie
Friday, April 22, 2011
for Easter Sunday, April 24!
Yes, that's right-- there's just too much Holy Week goodness to fit into one email/blog/website update this week. Many thanks to Mike Croghan for the stirring invitation into Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.
And as the day dawns on Sunday, we'll be putting the darkness and leanness of Lent behind us and moving forward into a bright celebration of new life. We'll be gathering at Jammin' Java at 10am to join our kids with the rest of us in a retelling of the ancient story of Jesus' triumph over death, and then exploring the ways in which the Resurrection is an invitation to a full and creative life. We hope you can join us and bring your own creativity to the party.
Mike Stavlund
And as the day dawns on Sunday, we'll be putting the darkness and leanness of Lent behind us and moving forward into a bright celebration of new life. We'll be gathering at Jammin' Java at 10am to join our kids with the rest of us in a retelling of the ancient story of Jesus' triumph over death, and then exploring the ways in which the Resurrection is an invitation to a full and creative life. We hope you can join us and bring your own creativity to the party.
Mike Stavlund
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Holy Week (April 18th through 24th)
Hi church,
It's Holy Week - the most sacred time of the church year. This is the week when we remember Jesus' final days on earth. It's the week of the Last Supper (on Holy or Maundy Thursday), the Crucifixion (on Good Friday), and the Resurrection (on Easter Sunday). So let's journey together, in true Common Table fashion...making it up as we go along. :-)
At the time of this writing, we have plans for gathering together on Maundy Thursday. There may be a plan for Good Friday, and there will be a plan for Easter - but at the moment, those plans are still up in the air. Watch this space for updates. But for now, Maundy Thursday:
We'll be gathering this Thursday evening at the Church of the Holy Comforter on Beulah Road in Vienna. Here's their schedule:
6:00 p.m. Agape Meal, McGill Hall
7:30 p.m. The "Mandatum" and Holy Eucharist, Sanctuary (With Incense)
8:30 p.m. Garden of Gethsemane Vigil, St. Mary's Chapel
If anyone can make it early and wants to join in for the Agape Meal, please bring "Middle-Eastern-style simple fare" (such as pita, hummus, cheese, olives, grapes, wine, etc.) (or whatever you want) and join the gathering in the parish hall. The meal should be going on until 7 or 7:15, so there's no need to get there by 6.
But most of us will probably just gather for the "Mandatum" service at 7:30. It includes foot-washing and lots of other moving liturgical goodness, and transitions from the deep community stuff of Maundy Thursday (the institution of the Lord's Supper; the foot-washing; the "new commandment" that we should love one another as Christ has loved us) to the awful darkness of Good Friday in a very powerful way.
The Garden of Gethsemane Vigil is an all-night prayer vigil in the chapel (which they decorate with plants and earthenware and bubbling water to recall the garden). People sign up to cover a given half-hour through the night. I sign up nearly every year, praying and reading the Gospel accounts of Jesus' agony in the garden, and it's typically just about the most spiritually moving half-hour of my year.
So please join us for any or all of the above, and like I said, stay tuned for more Holy Week plans!
Peace,
Mike Croghan
Friday, April 15, 2011
April 11th through Palm Sunday, April 17th
Hi church,
The Olive Garden
Get The Tour of Italy
Angel Hair Pasta
Before we enter into Holy Week and get all serious, I'd like to begin this week's On the Table by reprinting (without permission) a haiku from the pen of Jym Boucher:
The Olive Garden
Get The Tour of Italy
Angel Hair Pasta
There, my friends, is an appropriate and poetic sentiment for this burgeoning, beautiful Spring. Bottomless salad, and unlimited bread sticks, y'all. Word. (There's more where that came from, but you have to be Facebook friends with both Jym and Moffit to see it.)
In other news, I'm still having a hard time believing that this coming Sunday is Palm Sunday. It's kind of a big deal. So we're treating it that way. So this Sunday, please join us for all this stuff:
- At 9:30am at Jammin' Java, our 9:30am Club will be gathering for some free and open worship music. You're welcome as a player, singer, hummer, toe-tapper, or swayer-back-and-forth-er. It's all good.
- At 10:00am (still at JJ) join us for our Palm Sunday worship service! Both the adults and the Big Kids will be building our entire gathering around the celebration known as Communion, the Lord's Supper, or the Eucharist. (And for the actual celebration of Communion, we'll be all together, all-ages, for an instructed Eucharist.) Also, there will be palm fronds! :-D
- After the service, at around noon, please join us at Kate and Matt and Lizzy and Maddie's house for our Lenten simple meal. The Maisels will provide soup and salad, and mac & cheese for the kiddos; we're welcome to bring other things at add to the meal (beverages, snacks, etc.) and we are also welcome to just show up for food and fellowship!
- After that, Matt has invited all the musically-inclined for another 9:30am-Club-led jam session at his house!
And looking ahead to Holy Week and beyond:
- There's been some talk of an observance of Maundy Thursday (the Thursday of the Last Supper; this year it's next Thursday, the 21st). We may visit a local church for their worship service, or we may roll our own, like we did for this year's Ash Wednesday or last year's foot washing at the church retreat. The Midweek Group will likely take the lead on a plan - stay tuned.
- Please join us for our Easter celebration, which will be at 10am on Sunday the 24th at Jammin' Java (even though it's a fourth Sunday). It'll be another collaboration between the adults and the Big Kids!
- The Sunday after that, May 1st, we will not be gathering at Jammin' Java (even thought it's a first Sunday), but will instead get together for a congregational meeting. Look for more details on that soon. All are welcome!
And I think that's it for now. As we begin our Holy Week journey together, please let us know if you have other suggestions for living into this most sacred time of the Christian year.
Peace,
Mike Croghan
Thursday, April 7, 2011
April 4th through 10th
Hi church,
As we continue our Lenten journey this week, we have a few chances to get together:
- Our Midweek Group will meet at 7pm this (Thursday) evening at Vince and Suzy's, and we'll continue discussing the book What Every Church Member Should Know About Poverty (we're on chapter 5). I mention this not so much because I think you'll decide on such short notice to join us tonight, but more to remind you that we have a Midweek Group and that you're welcome to join us any time you want. We usually meet on Thursday evenings, but venue and topic are subject to change. In any event, contact us if you need directions to Vinny and Suzy's or want to get in the loop on Midweek stuff.
- Please join us on Sunday morning at 10am at Jammin' Java for our next Lenten service, in which we'll take an approach derived from the geniuses behind the NPR series called Radiolab (or possibly from the geniuses behind the faith tradition called Rabbinic Judaism) to examine a story from this week's lectionary readings: John 11:1-45, the death and raising of Lazarus. We'll look at this story from a variety of perspectives, from the theological to the sociological to the biological to the artistic - and your perspective, whatever it might be, is most welcome in the conversation - in any medium, from words to art to music to video. So please join us!
- After worship, we should be gathering at someone's house for a simple Lenten meal this week. Please keep an eye on the Core List email group for details on that, or contact us if you want to join us for lunch but aren't on the Core List.
I think it's really spring now. Lots of blossoms to be thankful for. :-) God bless!
Peace,
Mike Croghan
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