July 25, 2006
Pilgrims on the Journey:
1. What a great job Emily did Sunday for her first sermon! Come this week to see if she can pull off two in a row (no pressure!). What a privilege it is for us to be a part of the formative stages of these young interns' lives over the past three summers. Thanks to all of you who have given Emily so much support this summer. It was a treat to have Emily's parents here last weekend. This Sunday we will welcome back former intern (and Emily's boyfriend), Evans McGowan, who has spent the past year in Nairobi.
2. Nancy Lee Head continues to make slow improvement at Inova Fairfax Hospital. However, she is still in ICU and has restricted visitors. Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated, and I share them with Nancy Lee every time I visit.
3. Washington Interfaith Network "Vote Neighborhoods First" Accountability Night with DC Council Chair and At-Large Candidates Vincent Gray, Kathy Patterson, Scott Bolden, and Phil Mendelssohn is Monday night, July 31 at 7:00 PM. at Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church, New Jersey Avenue just north of New York Avenue. We will carpool from the church parking lot at 6:30 p.m. Let me know if you plan to join us.
4. Join Rob Passow and me for Worship Planning next Thursday night, August 4, at 7 p.m., when we will plan our Fall worship schedule, including Homecoming Sunday, September 10. This is your chance to help shape our liturgy (liturgy means, literally, "the work of the people"). We will review our recent worship experiences, look ahead at the lectionary for the coming months, and plan our worship for the first few weeks of the Fall. Come and join us!
4. Cuba Advent Mission Sign-Up Deadline August 30!!! Share a week of Advent worship with our Cuban brothers and sisters at First Presbyterian-Reformed Church of Havana, December 4-11, 2006. We are planning a joint mission with New York Avenue and Westminster Presbyterian Church United (Gainesville, FL). We will stay in First Havana's church dormitory and will fly a charter out of Miami. Total cost for air fare, room and board, staff tips and gifts, etc., is under $1500. We need your commitment to travel with passport information only --no money-- by Wednesday, August 30 in order to send visa information to Cuba. The trip will depend on renewal of our travel license by the US Department of the Treasury. If you wish to sign up or have questions about the trip, contact Marilyn Seiber, 703-893-1559, mjs1wan2@bellatlantic.net.
5. Attached is a flyer from Rob Passow about an upcoming concert at the National Cathedral on August 6 by young organ prodigy Jay Parrotta, the who has performed in concert at Pilgrims. As Rob says, you will be able to say "I heard him before he became famous."
Peace,
Jeff Krehbiel, Pastor
Church of the Pilgrims
Washington, DC
July 18, 2006
Pilgrims on the Journey:
1. Continued prayers for Nancy Lee Head, still in the Trauma ICU at Inova Fairfax Hospital. She is stable and intermittently awake, but visitors are restricted. Check with me before attempting to make a visit. She has a long road ahead. Her brother, Jim, has been with her regularly, along with church member Jackie Smith.
Please also keep Gerry Hendershot in your prayers, who suffered a detached retina causing temporary blindness in his right eye. He has to take it easy for several days, but the doctors expect a complete recovery.
2. This Sunday our summer intern Emily Presley will preach her debut sermon-- come to worship to give her your support (along with all the other usual reasons-- such as giving thanks to God!).
3. Tomorrow night (Thursday, July 20) the women's group Circle 4 will meet at Pat Goeldner's house, at 6:30 pm for a potluck supper. All women of the church are welcome to attend. Pat's address is 4435 Albemarle Street, NW. Her home is close to the Tenleytown Metro.
Please let Pat know if you plan to attend - 202.362.0813.
4. This Sunday after coffee hour, the WIN Team will meet to discuss the next phase of the "Voter Education" work this summer, and the possibility of neighborhood walk. All members of the church are invited to join us!
Note also that WIN will hold a second "Vote Neighborhoods First Accountability Action," on Monday, July 31st from 7:30-9 PM at Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church, 1219 New Jersey Avenue, NW, to secure public commitments from the DC Council Chair and At-Large Candidates to WIN’s Vote Neighborhoods First Agenda: (e.g. $1 Billion for Neighborhoods, 14,000 Affordable Homes, and $350 Million for Youth: Rec. Centers, Libraries, and School Athletics & Extra-curricular Activities). Let me know if you can attend. We will car pool over from the church at 6:45.
5. With our unseasonably hot weather, we would like to hand out water bottles at Open Table. Bring a six or twelve pack, and drop them off at Open Table after worship. We can also use more of the hotel-sized toiletries, including but not limited to:
soap
razors
deodorant
toothpaste
tooth brushes
6. Cuba Advent Mission!!! Would you like to go to Cuba? So far ten Pilgrims have made the sojourn, which they described as life-changing. Mark your calendars for December 4-11, 2006 and celebrate Advent with First Presbyterian-Reformed Church of Havana, on a mission trip together with New York Avenue Presbyterian Church and Westminster Presbyterian Church United in Gainesville, FL. We will celebrate First Havana’s 100th anniversary. Westminster’s music director and choir members will join the group with their pastor, Rev. Glenn Dickson, so singers and choir members are especially encouraged to join this mission! If you have questions or want to reserve a place on the delegation, contact Marilyn J. Seiber, 703-893-1559, mjs1wan2@bellatlantic.net. (Send me a note too if you are interested. I would like to know who is thinking about going.)
7. Attached are two files from The Reformed Institute of Washington, a training institute organized by several area Presbyterian churches with former Pilgrim Bruce Douglas. The first is a Summer Reading List, which includes one of the recent books on my list, Simply Christian, by N. T. Wright. Like all books, there are a couple of areas where I take exception with Wright, but on balance it is an excellent introduction to the Christian faith and the Christian life. Written in the style of C. S. Lewis's classic Mere Christianity, it offers a compelling and winsome case for a Christian worldview.
The second attachment is the Reformed Institute's Fall class schedule. Most of these are on Saturday mornings. If you would like to delve more deeply into our Reformed heritage (that larger body of Christian thought originating in John Calvin, of which the Presbyterian church is a part) I can think of no better place.
Stay cool!
Peace,
Jeff Krehbiel, Pastor
Church of the Pilgrims
Washington, DC
July 10, 2006
Pilgrims on the Journey:
I'm sending this out early for two reasons:
1. Because of a scheduling conflict at the Brickskeller, we have moved Theology on Tap up one day: We will meet tomorrow night, Tuesday July 11, instead of Wednesday as had been announced Sunday. I apologize for the mix-up. Planned with young adults in mind, all Pilgrims are invited to attend. This will be an especially good time to meet our summer intern, Emily Presley. We will gather in the downstairs back room at 6:30 p.m. for dinner, followed by Bible study on the Gospel of Mark, at 7:30.
2. This Thursday night the Officer Nominating Committee is meeting for the first time to begin their task for bringing forward nominees for the Session, class of 2009. This year, that includes elders for Administration, Building, and Membership Development. If you have persons you would like to suggest (including yourself!) you can send a note to the ONC Chair, Melissa Rosenblatt mrosenblatt@familiesusa.org .
Other items:
3. A date has been set for a Fall mission trip to the Gulf Coast: October 15-21 (which exact date we will leave and which date we will return is yet to be determined). If you were not at the meeting yesterday, and are interested in participating, please send a note to Anne Womdeldorf adwomeldorf@speakeasy.net. [Note: If you would like to go, but cannot go that week, let Anne know that as well. There may be other groups from our Presbytery going down.]
4. Please keep Nancy Lee Head in your prayers. Nancy was in a serious car accident last Thursday. Her condition is stable but guarded. She is in the Trauma ICU at Inova Fairfax Hospital. Her brother, Jim, is with her. She is receiving only very limited visitors, so it might be best to send a note for now and wait to visit. I imagine someone is going by to pick up mail at her house, or you can send a note to me at the church and I will bring it to her.
July and August, for the most part, are rather slow moments at the church. Not so much happening week by week. This makes for a great time to catch up with all of you in a non-crisis mode. So: Do you have time in the next few weeks for breakfast before work, lunch, mid-morning coffee, or a drink after work? I would love to get together, and catch up on your life, and hear your thoughts about our ministry together at Church of the Pilgrims. Send me a note about when you are available, and let's see what we can schedule!
Peace,
Jeff Krehbiel, Pastor
Church of the Pilgrims
Washington, DC
July 3, 2006
Pilgrims:
1. I'm writing early this week because I will be away Wednesday through Saturday (back for worship on Sunday), attending a conference at the Montreat Center, near Ashville, North Carolina. Montreat is a PC(USA) conference center, long associated with the southern church.
The focus of the conference, entitled "The Hope of the Church," is to debrief recent actions of the General Assembly, especially the adoption of recommendations from the Task Force on the Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church. (More on that below). While I'm there I will also be meeting with several former Pilgrims, hopefully cultivating their support for our Capital Campaign.
2. After worship this Sunday, those of you who are interested in participating in a possible mission trip to the Gulf Coast in the fall (we are tentatively looking at the first or second week in October) are invited to join me and Anne Womeldorf for a brief meeting. We hope to accomplish two things: 1). Gauge interest. 2) Set a firm date. If you are interested, but can't attend, please send a note to me or Anne adwomeldorf@speakeasy.net.
3. There haven't been enough consecutive weeks in a row to have a series of Theology on Tap this summer. So we're going to have a one night gathering, next week Wednesday, July 12, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Brickskeller. This will be a special opportunity to gather with our summer intern, Emily Presley. While we will plan with young adults in mind, all ages are welcome to join us. We will meet in the downstairs back room, share a meal from 6:30-7:30, and Bible study from 7:30 to 8:30. Come join us!
4. One of the most controversial components of the recommendations of the Peace, Unity and Purity Task Force adopted by last week's General Assembly is a new "Authoritative Interpretation" of the church's constitution which would allow the practice of "scrupling." While not changing the church's policy regarding the ordination of gays and lesbians (something we have long fought for), it might allow a Presbytery some lee-way in accepting a GLBT candidate despite this prohibition. For obvious reasons, progressives in the church think this is a good thing that does not go far enough, and conservatives are aghast that is seems to create a "loop hole" allowing "local option" for a practice the church has banned. The intent of the Task Force recommendation is to provide a modest means beyond the current impasse.
I will speak more about this in my sermon this Sunday. Below is a helpful summary prepared by Kirsten Kingdon, a member of New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, and a board member of the Covenant Network:
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Much has been and is being written and said about the action the GA took last week to adopt the seven recommendations of the Theological Task Force Report on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the Church. Every one of us is likely to be impacted in one way or another over the coming years -- whether we are a pastor, educator, elder, deacon and/or member of a PC(USA) congregation. What follows is a very brief summary, including a listing of the resources I have found most helpful, and some personal reflections.
Brief Overview. The Task Force Report is a powerful witness to the way we can -- but often do not -- work together as church. The ability of this diverse body to reach an unanimous decision surprised many. Often overlooked in the coverage of the Report is that the first four recommendations were adopted almost unanimously by the GA. They call us to be one and to study together, engage in processes of intensive discernment and explore using alternative forms of discernment, especially before making decisions on divisive issues.
The major controversy arose with respect to Recommendation 5, which rests on four basic, and very clear, principles:
1. There are denomination-wide ordination standards.
2. Those standards are applied rigorously, on a case-by-case basis, by sessions and presbyteries.
3. Where possible, the church is committed to protection of individual conscience under the lordship of Jesus Christ.
4. Essential denomination-wide standards are protected through judicial review.
Even more briefly, Recommendation 5 is about national standards locally applied. Examinations of candidates are to be rigorous, but flexible, recognizing that all of us fall short.
In keeping with Recommendation 6, GA turned down efforts to change our current standards (including G6-0106b). Recommendation 6 also urges all to institute administrative or judicial proceedings only after attempts to "conciliate, mediate, and adjust differences without strife."
That's it in a nutshell.
Resources. The best resource is the Task Force Report itself, which can be downloaded or purchased. In addition the Task Force has developed and made available a number of helpful resources, including a very thoughtful paper by Task Force member Stacey Johnson, "Same Sex Relationships in the Church: Seven Theological Viewpoints." This includes a study guide as do several of the other resources. Each congregation has been mailed a CD with all of these resources.
In addition, the Moderator and Stated Clerk have issued a pastoral letter and the Office of the General Assembly has issued a very helpful Frequently Asked Questions document. The Covenant Network website, www.covenantnetwork.org, is the easiest place I have found to get quick access to these resources.
Personal Reflections. The main mechanism lifted up in the Report for asserting individual conscience as to a belief or practice is the practice of scrupling. This is a not a new mechanism, and it is in fact practiced in the Association of Reformed Presbyterian Church (and other conservative Presbyterian denominations) I learned this in our small group discussion at the NCP meeting. The experience mentioned there was the injunction in the Westminster Confession to honor the Sabbath on Sunday, and a scruple brought in the context whose vocation require people to work on Sunday. Once a scruple has been declared, the candidate has the responsibility to show what in Scripture supports his scruple.
It is ironic indeed that those who have been most upset about the restoration of our scrupling heritage are those who consider themselves conservatives. To me it illustrates just how emotional people are about treating gays and lesbians equally within our churches. I have been observing this for a long time now, but it still is something I find difficult to comprehend. I am not very optimistic that this will change in the near future.
I am hopeful, however, that the report will open up the possibility of more conversations and will show us the way to have such discussions in a new way. Some of those conversations will be in the context of evaluating the call of specific people to ministry -- and that is a context that I think will make a significant difference to many. I do believe that we all have something to gain from this Report.
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In Peace,
Jeff Krehbiel, Pastor
Church of the Pilgrims
Washington, DC
June 2006 Pastor's Updates
May 2006 Pastor's Updates
April 2006 Pastor's Updates
