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November 27, 2007
Pilgrims on the Journey:
 1. The season of Advent begins this Sunday, the four-week period leading up to Christmas. The new graphic to the left, created by our web-master and graphic artist extraordinaire, Kathy Keler, captures the spirit of the season: In Advent we wait, we long, we dream of a world made new, when, in the prophet Isaiah’s words, “they shall beat their swords into plowshares… nation shall not lift up sword against nation… the wolf shall live with the lamb… the wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom… the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped… the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with singing… they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away… and the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD”
Yet the season of Advent also tends to be the hardest time of year to avoid stress and tension in our lives as we add preparation for Christmas to our already full calendars. As a result, we frequently lose the focus of the season - God coming to live as a human, showing us how the Holy intended for life to be lived in this world. We get caught up in the shopping, the cleaning, the decorating, the entertaining and the special events of the season and forget about the values we want to live out in these holy days.
To get us started on this adventure toward Christmas, there are several things you can do to prepare your heart and mind: You are invited to participate in our Advent worship services each Sunday, which will focus on the dreaming and longing of the season, and provide an opportunity to “live in” to our Advent hope by receiving our special offerings. You are invited to participate in one of the two Adult Education classes being offered Sunday morning. And you are invited to attend the Advent Prayer Retreat on December 8. (See more details on all of these below.)
2. Each Sunday in Advent we will receive a Special Offering during worship. This Sunday, December 2, on the first Sunday in Advent, in honor of World AIDS Day we will gather items for sympathy baskets for Food & Friends. Food & Friends prepares, packages and delivers meals and groceries to more than 1,000 each day to people living with HIV/AIDS and other life-challenging illnesses such as breast cancer, lung and colon cancer. These meals are delivered throughout the Washington DC area, including 14 counties in Maryland and Virginia. Since 1988, Food & Friends has provided food and companionship to clients plus loved ones and caregivers of those who live with a life-challenging illness. Food & Friends is in need of items to put in sympathy baskets that are sent to families after the death of a loved one. The “wish list” of items includes: nice teas and instant coffee, hot chocolate, fine candies, candles, cracker, soups, etc.
3. Beginning this Sunday at 9:30 a.m. we will have two new Adult Education offerings. Each will run for three weeks:
Advent Reflections on Gratitude: Led by Ashley Goff in the upstairs education room. A recent Washington Post article cited a study that showed the more we name our gratitude’s, the more we can resist materialism. This three week class will focus on our gratitude’s during the Advent season, giving us the wisdom to resist the need to buy and focus more on the gift of giving ourselves to one another and beyond. This class will incorporate our daily experiences of gratitude, journaling, sharing and reflection.
Soprano Inspired: Led by Jerry McPike in the Bird Room. This three week class will focus on folk, opera and other inspirational melodies that cover the experiences of troubled women, transcendence, salvation and the crucifixion. [Note: If any one has a nice quality portable CD player-- such as the Bose Acoustic Wave System-- Jerry would like to borrow it for his class. Please let me know ASAP.]
4. Advent Retreat: Praying Out the Old Year, Praying in the New: Saturday, December 8, 10am-2pm, led by Margee Iddings. The retreat will run from 10-2, but you can come for an hour, or two, or four, to be reflective, to touch the center of our being, to remember who and whose we are. Gathering in community, we say by our presence that we want to be accountable for practicing a different kind of lifestyle and need the support and encouragement of others who also yearn for this, as well. Come join us for all or part of the day.
The sanctuary is the beginning place:
10-11 a.m. "Naming the Dark"
11-Noon "Anticipating the Light"
Noon-1 "Nourishment for Body/Mind/Heart/Spirit"
1-2 "An Adventure in Dreaming"
Each hour is self-contained and contains opportunity to be prayerful in a variety of ways. Child care provided upon request. RSVP to ashley.goff@verizon.net.
5. Put Your Faith Into Action: There will be a Washington Interfaith Network "Action Team" meeting Monday, December 3, at Beulah Baptist Church, 5820 Dix Street, NE Washington, DC 20019. The Purpose will be to discuss WIN’s Preliminary 2008 DC Council Elections Strategy and to Follow-up on Nov. 13th WIN/Fenty Action Victories. Car pools will leave from the church parking lot at 6:45. Contact Jean Stewart Stewartsj@starpower.net if you would like to attend.
6. Please keep Charlotte Floyd in your prayers. Charlotte's sister Nancy passed away this past week. She lived in San Antonio Texas. Charlotte was on her way to her winter home in Florida when she received the news, and will continue to Florida when she returns from Texas. You can send a note to: 333 N. Ocean Blvd., Apt. 1418, Deerfield Beach FL 33441.
Peace,
Jeff Krehbiel, Pastor
Church of the Pilgrims
Washington, DC
www.churchofthepilgrims.org <http://www.churchofthepilgrims.org>
November 19, 2007
Pilgrims on the Journey:
1. A short note this week as the church calendar slows down for the Holiday weekend. This Sunday marks the final week of our fall "Homecoming" season, meaning we will retire the beautiful graphic created by Kathy Keler, and unveil a new one next week as we begin the season of Advent. Ashley will preach and lead worship this Sunday, which is "Christ the King Sunday" on the liturgical calendar. There will be no Sunday school or Adult Education this week. Both will resume on December 2nd. For those of you who are traveling for the Holiday, I hope you have a safe and happy time with loved ones.
2. During Advent each week we received Special Offerings to help alleviate the word's suffering. I will share more about those offerings in future Updates. For those of you who wish to get a head start over Thanksgiving weekend, I am attaching a description of the Special Offerings to this email.
3. Speaking of Advent, during worship beginning December 2, the Old Testament text from the prophet Isaiah will be presented by "Choral Readers," who are being organized by Gerry Hendershot. He still needs more people to be readers, especially December 2 and December 23. Please send Gerry a note if you would be willing to share your voice:ghendershot@earthlink.net.
4. Put Your Faith into Action:
Winter Clothing Drive - The Georgetown Ministries Center http://www.georgetownministrycenter.org/ <http://www.georgetownministrycenter.org/> that Pilgrims has supported in many ways over the years, including the rotating homeless shelter, is in desperate need of warm winter clothing for their clients. They are interested in any donations of gently used jeans, sweaters and coats, or new socks and new underwear, for adult men and women. Pilgrims wishing to donate clothing can bring items to church and place them in the marked box in the office. We will accept donations through Sunday, December 9th and then deliver them to GMC.
Rotating Homeless Shelter - We will host the Georgetown Ministries Center rotating shelter in the Pilgrimage beginning Sunday, December 9th until Sunday morning, December 16th. If you would like to provide a meal for approximately 12-15 guests one evening, please contact Mary Lib Pate at pate38@boo.net <mailto:pate38@boo.net> . If you are available to assist in loading bedding and belongings into a truck for transportation to Dumbarton Church before worship on Sunday, December 16, please contact Jack Womeldorf at jwomeldo@verizon.net <mailto:jwomeldo@verizon.net> .
5. A Thanksgiving Prayer:
If you struggle to share a spontaneous prayer at the dinner table, perhaps you might use this prayer offered on the Presbyterian Church (USA) website:
We thank you, living God, for all your gifts ˜ for the vivid colors of an autumn landscape; for festive meals with family and friends; for opportunities to serve our neighbors; for shared struggle, laughter, and dreams; for the beautiful diversity of your people; for loved ones past and present, near and far; for your great faithfulness and providential care; for small glimpses of your new creation; above all, for the gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ.
Nourish us by your Word and fill us with your Spirit, so that we may share the abundance of your grace with all the world ˜ offering welcome to strangers; giving food to the hungry and hope to the poor; speaking truth in times of trouble and fear; caring tenderly for the very young and old; bringing healing to the sick; working to preserve the earth you have made; growing together in unity, faith and love.
We pray these things through Christ our Savior and in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
In peace,
Jeff Krehbiel, Pastor
Church of the Pilgrims
Washington, DC
www.churchofthepilgrims.org <http://www.churchofthepilgrims.org>
November 11 , 2007
Pilgrims on the Journey:
1. This was a great week for Pilgrims to put their faith into action. A dozen Pilgrims gathered with a couple dozen more Presbyterians on Saturday to participate in the DC Habitat for Humanity build in NE Washington. The weather turned nice, and we were amazed at how much progress we made in a day. Special thanks to Zach Wilks and Mary Lib Pate for organizing volunteers.
Last night more than fifteen of us gathered at First Rock Baptist Church with nearly five hundred members of the Washington Interfaith Network to celebrate Mayor Adrian Fenty's commitments to preserve and build 14,000 units of affordable housing, including 500 units of permanent supportive housing for the homeless in the downtown area. There is a great article on the front-page of the Metro section in today's Washington Post, which captures all of the details but not the full spirit of the evening, which reached "revival" pitch at the end.
Fenty Unveils Housing Plan For Low-Income, Homeless <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/13/AR2007111302597.html?referrer=emailarticle>
By Sylvia Moreno
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty announced last night a wide-ranging plan to provide permanent housing for the city's chronically homeless, to preserve affordable housing by making it harder for landlords to convert buildings into high-priced condos and to help fund 500 townhouses affordable to low- and moderate income people...
2. Last Sunday we received our Stewardship Commitments for 2008, challenging each member of the congregation to discern how they are called by God to participate in this community of faith that "swims against the tide" (see my sermon from last week, soon to be up on our website: http://www.churchofthepilgrims.org/sermons.html. If you were not with us in worship on Sunday, please bring your Stewardship Commitment card to worship this week (attached to this email), or mail it in to the church office as soon as possible.
3. At 9:30 a.m. this Sunday we will conclude our two Adult Education Classes:
Downstairs in the Bird Room, Pilgrim Bart Oosterveld will lead
"Income Inequalities in the U.S. and Abroad: The growing income gap in the United States."
Upstairs in the Youth Education Room Margee Iddings will lead
"Radical Texts Placing Unusual Women at the Table."
Week two will focus on Foreign Women in Jesus' Genealogy.
3. The Tuesday book group, Listening for God, also continues next week reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. The group meets in the small conference room at noon. Bring your own lunch. See Doris Hendershot for more details: dorishendershot@earthlink.net.
4. Rob Passow, our Director of Music, will lead a retreat for the choir this Saturday at 8:45 to noon. If you think you might like to join the choir, this would be a great opportunity to learn upcoming music for the Advent season. Send Rob a note: rob.passow@verizon.net
5. Put Your Faith Into Action Again: This Sunday following coffee hour is our "Third Sunday" Presbyterian vigil at the Sudanese Embassy on behalf of the people of Darfur. We will gather at Pilgrims with other Presbyterians at 12:45, then hold vigil at the Embassy from 1-2 p.m.
6. Finally, Pilgrims now has a page on Facebook and Myspace-- you are invited to join the Pilgrims' "Facebook Group" or become a "Friend" on Myspace (appartently, those of you young enough to know about it will already know how to do this; If, like me, you have no idea what this means, you may be too old to figure it out!). If you want to know more, send an email to Jonathan Mertz: kstodc@earthlink.net . He's just young enough to explain it!
In peace,
Jeff Krehbiel, Pastor
Church of the Pilgrims
Washington, DC
www.churchofthepilgrims.org <http://www.churchofthepilgrims.org>
November 3, 2007
Pilgrims on the Journey:
1. I'm sending out my Updates early this week because I will be away Tuesday and Wednesday for a quick trip to Milwaukee, where I will be hosted by former members Mark and Leigh Anne Fraley. Mark has invited me out to speak to leaders of the new IAF community organization he is working to start in the Milwaukee metropolitan area-- a sister organization to the Washington Interfaith Network (WIN). (Mark was formerly Lead Organizer for WIN's sister organization in Montgomery County, AIM-- "Action in Montgomery." For more information on the IAF, see http://www.industrialareasfoundation.org/ .)
2. This Sunday, November 11, is Stewardship Sunday, a day when we renew our commitments to be a part of this community of faith for the coming year. The commitments we make are not just financial, but about our time, our energy, our leadership, our passions. Stewardship Sunday is a day to reflect upon how God is calling us to be a part of the mission and ministry that we carry out together at Church of the Pilgrims. Following our Homecoming theme, "Finding Our Place at the Table," Stewardship begins by giving thanks that Christ has invited us to the table, and then discovering the role that Christ calls us to at the table to which we have been invited. You should receive this week a Stewardship Commitment card in the mail. Please bring it with you to worship (where additional cards will be available).
2. At 9:30 a.m. this Sunday we will our two new Adult Education Classes which began yesterday:
Downstairs in the Bird Room, Pilgrim Bart Oosterveld will lead
"Income Inequalities in the U.S. and Abroad: The growing income gap in the United States."
Upstairs in the Youth Education Room Margee Iddings will lead
"Radical Texts Placing Unusual Women at the Table."
Week two will focus on Foreign Women in Jesus' Genealogy.
3. The Tuesday book group, Listening for God, also continues next week reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (available at local bookstores, or at Amazon.com. The group meets in the small conference room at noon. Bring your own lunch. See Doris Hendershot for more details: dorishendershot@earthlink.net.
4. Note: Friday Club, our monthly gathering for seniors, will not meet this month, but will resume in December.
4. Put Your Faith into Action!
Tonight at 7:00 p.m. there will be a gathering of Ward 3 churches (and members who live in Ward 3) at Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church to discuss WIN's supportive housing agenda. Other agencies who work with the homeless, such as the Community Council on the Homeless at Friendship Place, will be part of this discussion. Pilgrim Pat Goeldner, a Ward 3 resident and current Chair of the Community Council board, will be attending and invites other pilgrims to join her.
Saturday, November 10, Pilgrims will join a couple of dozen other Presbyterians in a DC Habitat for Humanity build project in SE DC. Please keep the workers in your thoughts and prayers! Thanks to Zach Wilks and Mary Lib Pate for organizing the day!
Sunday, November 11, from 1-3, one of WIN's dialogue partners, Until We're Home, will lead a tour of the Franklin School Emergency Shelter, at 925 13th Street NW. This is an opportunity to see first-hand the conditions of one of the city's largest (and most vulnerable) emergency shelters.
WIN's next city-wide Action with Mayor Fenty will be held on Tuesday, November 13, 7-8:30 p.m. at First Rock Baptist Church, 4630 Alabama Ave SE. WIN will Hold Mayor Fenty accountable to Commitments Made During 2006 Elections, including a city-wide strategy to build 2,500 permanent supportive housing units for the chronically homeless as well as build/preserve 18,000 affordable rental units, and build 5,000 Nehemiah homeownership units for first time homebuyers earning $25,000--$75,000˜all over the next 4 years as well as implement the Neighborhood Investment Fund Plans.
In peace,
Jeff Krehbiel, Pastor
Church of the Pilgrims
Washington, DC
www.churchofthepilgrims.org <http://www.churchofthepilgrims.org>
October 2007 Pastor's Updates
September 2007 Pastor's Updates
August 2007 Pastor's Updates
July 2007 Pastor's Updates
Sabbatical 2007 Pastor's Updates
April 2007 Pastor's Updates
March 2007 Pastor's Updates
February 2007 Pastor's Updates
January 2007 Pastor's Updates
December 2006 Pastor's Updates
November 2006 Pastor's Updates
October 2006 Pastor's Updates
September 2006 Pastor's Updates
August 2006 Pastor's Updates
July 2006 Pastor's Updates
June 2006 Pastor's Updates
May 2006 Pastor's Updates
April 2006 Pastor's Updates
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