Flanny's Name Blessing - Now 12/3

Updated: Flanny’s Blessing will now be held on 12/3.

During worship on Sunday, Nov. 19th Dec. 3rd we’ll celebrate and affirm Flanny’s legal name change! We’ll remember Flanny’s baptism, pray together, and share a blessing over them and their new legal name. It’s such a joy to get to surround Flanny with God’s love and the church’s support in this big moment on their journey! Hope to see you there!

The Installation of Rev. Erin Counihan - 10/28

Our presbytery is trying a new thing - and you're invited! Our own Erin will be officially installed as Pastor of Church of the Pilgrims at this new Presbytery-Wide installation service on 10/28. Together, 7 congregations and 7 pastors will all formalize their relationships with one another, with the newly elected president of Princeton Theological Seminary, the Rev. Dr. Jonathan Lee Walton preaching.

Here's your official invitation:

National Capital Presbytery and the congregations of Christian Community Church, Darnestown Presbyterian Church, Leesburg Presbyterian Church, Rockville Presbyterian Church, Church of the Pilgrims, Emmanuel Indonesian Presbyterian Church, and Manassas Presbyterian Church, invite you to the installation service of Rev. Dr. Kori Phillips McMurtry, Rev. Blake Collins, Rev. Katie Strednak Singer, Rev. Susan Graceson, Rev. Erin Counihan, Rev. Cynthia Kekung, and Rev. Laura Fitzgibbon on Saturday, October 28 at 3:00 p.m. at Gaithersburg Presbyterian Church (610 Frederick Road, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20877).

You can find more info on the Presbytery’s website and also let Erin know if you plan on attending. (It’s possible we’ll have some special Pilgrims way of showing up to the big event!)

If you’re not able to make it in person, but would like to watch the livestream, click here to join us virtually on 10/28 at 3pm.

We’ll celebrate Erin’s installation together during our regular worship service on Sunday 10/29 here at Pilgrims.




Pilgrims Chili Cook-Off - 10/29


Break out your recipes and dust off your spices, because it's time for a chili cook-off!

After worship on Sunday, Oct 29th, you're invited to set up your favorite chili in a pot or crockpot or instant pot or whatever you got out in front of the church. Then church folks and kind strangers passing by will all be invited to taste some chili and vote for their favorites! There will be, of course, a few fabulous prizes for winners and participants and full bellies for all!

Let’s see who can bring the heat!

October Issues Among Us - 10/21

Let’s meet at the National Museum of Natural History on Saturday, October 21st at 11am to see the exhibit, Lights Out: Recovering Our Night Sky. We’ll learn about light pollution and what we can do to help bring back the darkness!

We’ll meet outside on the Mall-side of the museum and go in together. Be sure to pack a bag lunch so we can sit and have a discussion afterwards.

You can learn more about the exhibit here.

Here’s the link for more info on the National Museum of Natural History.

What's this Narrative Lectionary?

This year, we’re trying something new (to us) in worship - the Narrative Lectionary. It’s a collection of scripture readings we’ll explore in both worship and Bible Study on the Fly each week. Starting in September, we’ll spend the Fall with stories from the Hebrew Scriptures, moving to the Gospels just before Christmas, spending the winter with Mark, then just after Easter switching to stories from the Epistles. Each week, the Narrative Lectionary focuses on just one text (unlike the Revised Common Lectionary which has 4 readings every week). It has a four year cycle, so each Gospel gets a year (the Revised Common Lectionary is a 3 year cycle).

Throughout the year, our Pop-up Worship Committee and Pastor Erin will work together to come up with creative ways to engage with the Narrative Lectionary in worship.

You can click here to learn more about the Narrative Lectionary.

You can click here to download the list of Narrative Lectionary readings for 2023-2024.

Issues Among Us- 9/30

We're kicking off year two of our learning and discussing the Issues Among Us with a group outing to the Anacostia Community Museum on Saturday, September 30th. Meet at the museum at 11:00am (or let Erin know if you need a ride, it's kinda far from the metro station). We're going to see their exhibit called, "To Live and Breathe: Women and Environmental Justice in Washington, DC."

Oh, and don't forget to bring a bag lunch with you so we can find a lovely place outside to eat and discuss after touring the exhibit.

You can read on about all the places we went together in 2022-2023 with Issues Among Us by clicking here.

Homecoming and a Congregational Meeting - 9/10

Homecoming 2023 at Church of the Pilgrims will be Sunday, September 10th at 11am. With special music and liturgy, tasty snacks, a communion meal, and a little bit of business, too!

We are hoping you will bring a snack to share. We want to cover the communion table with snacks and treats and a feast of abundance. So start thinking now about what you might contribute to our table, and then plan to stay and snack after worship!

Homecoming Sunday will also be our first Sunday kicking off the year using the Narrative Lectionary. This year we’ll follow a series of readings in worship designed to give us a wide-story perspective of the whole bible in one program year - starting with readings in the Fall from the Hebrew Scriptures, spending time with the Gospels just before Christmas and through Easter, and then turning to the Epistles for Spring. Come and learn about this new approach for the 2023-2024 year!

And if that wasn’t enough….

The Session of Church of the Pilgrims has called a Congregational Meeting for Sunday, September 10th at 12:00pm (immediately following worship) for the purpose of acting upon the Session's recommendation to call Designated Pastor the Rev. Erin Counihan as the installed pastor of Church of the Pilgrims, and to act on the Officer Nominating Committee's report, which will include nominations for church officers for 2024.

When Erin was called as our Designated Pastor in the Fall of 2021, it was for a two-year term. With that term nearing its end, the Personnel Committee met and made a recommendation to the Session to call Erin as our installed pastor, the Session agreed and voted to call a Congregational Meeting for a vote to call Erin as our installed pastor. National Capital Presbytery's Committee on Ministry has approved Erin's current terms of call (which remain the same as set by vote of the congregation at our Jan. 29, 2023 Congregational Meeting) and our work in this process.

So it will be a big day, with big music, big business, and big fun, worshiping our big God who is still up to big things! We can’t wait to see you there!