July 3, 2007
Updates and Invitations: The Sabbatical Version
Throughout the sabbatical period, we will be hearing stories in worship and in our Updates and Invitations from Pilgrims based on our sabbatical themes of “connections and clarity.” Each Pilgrim “storyteller” was given a reflection exercise to help name and articulate a story of connection and clarity from their experiences at church. This story of connection and clarity comes from Rob Heppenstall, our summer intern.
My first moment of clarity surrounding Pilgrims came before I arrived in DC. During my spring semester at Davidson, as I was trying to decide what I would to do with my summer, I found myself completely uncertain. The only thing I was sure about was that I didn’t think I would participate in the Lilly Ministry Fellows Program. Well, if there’s one thing I’m beginning to learn, it’s that telling God what you won’t do always yields surprising results.
Tim Beach-Verhey, the Lilly Director at Davidson, emailed the 8 of us “might-be” Lilly Scholars to tell us that there would be a representative from The Church of the Pilgrims tomorrow for interviews. To get a better idea of what I would be dealing with in the interview, I decided to poke around on the website (a common theme that I’ve noticed among many of the congregants here…). My skepticism began to turn into anticipation as I read about the Pilgrimage, More Light, Open Table, and Theology on Tap. If I were going to consider a call to the ministry anywhere, Pilgrims seemed to be just the place. So, I decided to give the interview a shot.
Coming out of a 15 minute conversation with Ashley, I had a moment of clarity—if I were offered the spot at Pilgrims, I was going to take it. I distinctly remember getting back on my bike after the interview and thanking God for making me excited about something for the summer. Later that evening, it got better. I stopped by my good friend Philip’s room and we began to talk about the summer. I asked him where he’d be and he told me that he’d be working at the National Coalition for the Homeless, which was housed in “some church at Dupont Circle.” At this point, I was getting my hopes up, but as I found out a week later, those hopes were not unfounded.
That initial moment of clarity has developed into many amazing connections here this summer as I’ve gotten opportunities to meet with members both one-on-one and in group settings. Your openness, encouragement, and examples mean more to me than you could possibly know. I don’t know if I’ll end up in ordained ministry, but I do know that the connections I’ve made with members and staff at Pilgrims have affirmed my confidence in the church and my Christian faith. It is becoming clearer by the day that it was God who connected me with Pilgrims and that it is God who will continue to guide me through life’s tough decisions.
Sabbatical Updates:
- Where is Jeff? Jeff is in Sonoma Valley <http://www.sonomavalley.com/> , CA. Jeff will be back in the office on July 11th.
- Jeff’s a Blogger! Check out Jeff’s Sabbatical Blog <http://www.jeffkrehbiel.blogspot.com/>
July 8th: Rev. Louise Green, All Souls UU <http://www.all-souls.org/> —our final guest preacher for the sabbatical.
July 15th: Jeff back in the pulpit.
Connections at Pilgrims
Christian Education--9:30-10:30 in the Bird Room
· July 8th: Connection and Clarity with Rev. Louise Green, our guest preacher for worship. As Gerry Hendershot and Anne Womeldorf put it---the gatherings with our guest preachers have been some of the best moments for them during our sabbatical period. Come and connect with Louise before we enter into a time of worship together on our final sabbatical Sunday.
Memorial for Jeannette Pike: On Sunday, I announced that Jeannette Pike, mother of Greta and Jonathan Pike, a child of God, died early Sunday morning. A memorial service celebrating the life and resurrection of Jeannette will be held on July 26th at 11am.
Greta and Jonathan are both at Oakland School for the summer. They can be reached at this mailing address:
Greta or Jonathan Pike
Oakland School
Boyd Tavern
Keswick, Virginia 22947
“Mayor Fenty, What Have You Done for Us Lately?”
The Washington Interfaith Network <http://www.windc-iaf.org/> , a nonpartisan, interfaith organization of 50 congregations of which Pilgrims is a member, organizes people and money to fight for peace with justice in low income DC neighborhoods by putting pressure on DC politicians and agencies. In the 2006 Democratic Primary Election, WIN demonstrated its power by increasing voter turn out in targeted precincts by 15%.
Newly-elected DC Mayor Adrian Fenty got the message. He publicly promised to meet regularly with WIN leaders. He publicly promised to work for all of WIN’s “Neighborhoods First” priorities, including affordable housing. He publicly promised to find more than $500 million to fund WIN’s “Neighborhoods First” projects.
Promises, promises, promises! WIN says that in politics there are no permanent enemies and no permanent allies. So on July 16 WIN will ask Mayor Fenty, publicly, “What have you done for us lately!?” About 500 WIN leaders will gather at Covenant Baptist Church in Southwest DC, from 7 to 8:30 PM to hear Mayor Fenty answer that question.
Pilgrims has pledged 10 members for the July16 meeting, but we think we can do better than that! Free transportation will be provided from All Souls Unitarian Church at 16th and Harvard NW, departing at 6:30. You can get a ride to All Souls from Pilgrims at 6:15. WIN Actions give us glimpses into what God dreams for us. They are full of Spirit, inclusive, joyous! Be there!
For more information contact Gerry Hendershot at ghendershot@earthlink.net or Betty Rudolph at vstbeehive@verizon.net.
Peace,
Ashley
Sabbatical 2007 Pastor's Updates
February 2007 Pastor's Updates
December 2006 Pastor's Updates
November 2006 Pastor's Updates
September 2006 Pastor's Updates