On The Table
The Weekly Announcement of Common Table ChurchThursday, September 25, 2008
September 22nd through 28th
Hi church,
Sorry for the late notice, but...here's what we're gonna be up to this weekend. It's the last weekend of the month, so as usual, we will not be gathering for a worship service at Jammin' Java on Sunday. Normally we would be gathering instead for a service-worship project, but we had the opportunity last weekend to help Neishia, Xander, and Nicholas with their move (many thanks to the folks who could help!) But it also seems like it's time to get together and talk about this core part of our church: Giving to Needs Unmet - the times when we gather, led by our GNU Team, to serve, help, and bless friends old and new. As this is an 'open-source' group, we're keen to see how to continue to see everyone involved in this effort.
So please join us at Tina's and my house (13337 Feldman Pl., Herndon, VA, 20170) at 2pm on Sunday. In Jackie's words, we'll engage in a "conversation reviewing the history of where we've come, what we've tried, and opening up for honest conversation about people's ideas and thoughts about what has worked well and what could be improved - and then move toward a focused heart about what it is that we together want to do with the GNU part of the heart of our church."
Thanks, all - looking forward to this conversation about the giving heart of our community!
Peace,
Mike Croghan
P.S. - Looking ahead, next Sunday (October 5th), we'll be gathering for our annual church anniversary picnic and labyrinth service. It's almost certain that we'll be gathering at (actually, outside) the Church of the Holy Comforter in Vienna in the early afternoon - watch this space for details!
Sorry for the late notice, but...here's what we're gonna be up to this weekend. It's the last weekend of the month, so as usual, we will not be gathering for a worship service at Jammin' Java on Sunday. Normally we would be gathering instead for a service-worship project, but we had the opportunity last weekend to help Neishia, Xander, and Nicholas with their move (many thanks to the folks who could help!) But it also seems like it's time to get together and talk about this core part of our church: Giving to Needs Unmet - the times when we gather, led by our GNU Team, to serve, help, and bless friends old and new. As this is an 'open-source' group, we're keen to see how to continue to see everyone involved in this effort.
So please join us at Tina's and my house (13337 Feldman Pl., Herndon, VA, 20170) at 2pm on Sunday. In Jackie's words, we'll engage in a "conversation reviewing the history of where we've come, what we've tried, and opening up for honest conversation about people's ideas and thoughts about what has worked well and what could be improved - and then move toward a focused heart about what it is that we together want to do with the GNU part of the heart of our church."
Thanks, all - looking forward to this conversation about the giving heart of our community!
Peace,
Mike Croghan
P.S. - Looking ahead, next Sunday (October 5th), we'll be gathering for our annual church anniversary picnic and labyrinth service. It's almost certain that we'll be gathering at (actually, outside) the Church of the Holy Comforter in Vienna in the early afternoon - watch this space for details!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
April 21 through 27
Dear Friends,
It is a somber week as we honor the life of Tom Croghan, who died on Monday. We're grieving with his wife and family, and especially with our dear friend Mike and his wife as they were caring for Tom and are now in North Carolina making arrangements for the funeral in Clinton, NY on Monday. Lord, have mercy.
It seems appropriate that our usual worship meeting will be dark this week, as we follow our normal schedule of forgoing a regular meeting in favor of service on the last weekend of the month. Many thanks to our GNU Team, who has given us a couple of important projects for this weekend. Here is their invitation:
---------------------------------
...we have two great opportunities for you to enter into worship, using your whole body and mind to honor God with your actions as well as your thoughts, desires and words.
Option #1 : Hang out at the Lamb Center for any portion of time from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 26th to meet and greet and sit and talk with the guests who come in that day. It is a great opportunity to begin the process of steadily building intentional relationships with those who come through the Lamb Center. Dave Larrabee (director of the Lamb Center) mentioned that he has a youth group helping with the laundry on that day, so our main goal is to connect with the guests.
Option #2: On Sunday, April 27th, a group of us will gather (rain or shine) to help plant a tree in honor of William Stavlund, and one for Tom Croghan. Sister Pat has also asked us to plant an additional tree, as one of the other memorial trees has died and we will have the honor of re-planting the tree for another family.
Plan to gather at the monastery at 10:45 a.m. on Sunday morning. The task should take about two hours to complete. All are welcome, but only a small group is needed to actually plant the trees. Our very own Sam Doan, arborist extraordinaire, will be heading up this project. Sam will bring all the necessary tools and materials.
-----------------------
Looking ahead, on May 4, we'll be reading the last four chapters of Romans at Jammin' Java as we bring this great series to a close, and as we thank our friends Jay and Amy for bringing such amazing music each week.
On Pentecost Sunday, May 11, we won't be meeting at Jammin' Java in the morning, as we'll be joining with our friends from Convergence and Holy Grounds at the worship lab at Convergence in Alexandria. It promises to be a great time of mass collaboration as we celebrate the somewhat chaotic coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 2.
See you soon,
Mike Stavlund
It is a somber week as we honor the life of Tom Croghan, who died on Monday. We're grieving with his wife and family, and especially with our dear friend Mike and his wife as they were caring for Tom and are now in North Carolina making arrangements for the funeral in Clinton, NY on Monday. Lord, have mercy.
It seems appropriate that our usual worship meeting will be dark this week, as we follow our normal schedule of forgoing a regular meeting in favor of service on the last weekend of the month. Many thanks to our GNU Team, who has given us a couple of important projects for this weekend. Here is their invitation:
---------------------------------
...we have two great opportunities for you to enter into worship, using your whole body and mind to honor God with your actions as well as your thoughts, desires and words.
Option #1 : Hang out at the Lamb Center for any portion of time from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 26th to meet and greet and sit and talk with the guests who come in that day. It is a great opportunity to begin the process of steadily building intentional relationships with those who come through the Lamb Center. Dave Larrabee (director of the Lamb Center) mentioned that he has a youth group helping with the laundry on that day, so our main goal is to connect with the guests.
Option #2: On Sunday, April 27th, a group of us will gather (rain or shine) to help plant a tree in honor of William Stavlund, and one for Tom Croghan. Sister Pat has also asked us to plant an additional tree, as one of the other memorial trees has died and we will have the honor of re-planting the tree for another family.
Plan to gather at the monastery at 10:45 a.m. on Sunday morning. The task should take about two hours to complete. All are welcome, but only a small group is needed to actually plant the trees. Our very own Sam Doan, arborist extraordinaire, will be heading up this project. Sam will bring all the necessary tools and materials.
-----------------------
Looking ahead, on May 4, we'll be reading the last four chapters of Romans at Jammin' Java as we bring this great series to a close, and as we thank our friends Jay and Amy for bringing such amazing music each week.
On Pentecost Sunday, May 11, we won't be meeting at Jammin' Java in the morning, as we'll be joining with our friends from Convergence and Holy Grounds at the worship lab at Convergence in Alexandria. It promises to be a great time of mass collaboration as we celebrate the somewhat chaotic coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 2.
See you soon,
Mike Stavlund
Labels: GNU Team, lamb center, memorial, Pentecost, Romans
Monday, October 15, 2007
(*UPDATE*) October 15 through 21
**UPDATE: please note change of venue for Congregational Meeting
Hi, church--
After being away from home for several weeks (where I've heard plenty of praise for our small church!), I'm pleased to see so much fruit borne by our GNU team and others as we continue our effort to push ourselves outside our smaller circle to know and love and serve those in our wider community. One example of this is happening this Wednesday, when a bunch of us will be getting together at The Lamb Center to host a celebration of the rich cultural artifact known as Karaoke between 7:30 and 9pm. If you'd like to lend your applause or (better yet) your voice, be sure to stop by.
This Sunday, October 21, our own bona-fide expert on religious movements, John Bozeman will be leading us in a look at the Jesus People. This is a group which was founded in the early 1970's, and one that's found a way to develop a strong core (members actually live together in a high-rise in Chicago) and an expansive engagement with their community (both in outreach and in the operation of several businesses staffed by members). It promises to be a rich morning, as John shares from his wealth of knowledge and experience with this pioneering community.
**After first church, we'll repair to Jack and Pete's place to hold a Congregational Meeting, where we're planning to hear a financial update, talk about plans for Sunday mornings, get an update from our GNU Team, and anything else you'd like to discuss. Please plan to grab your Chipotle at the spot a block from their house, or dare to try a place which Pete hesitatingly describes as 'even better than Chipotle'. Take your food 'to go', and let's meet up to start our meeting at 1 or 1:30. Also, note that while their place is very kid-friendly, we don't yet have any formal child care plan organized.
Our friends Ryan and Holly Sharp (aka, The Cobalt Season) are currently touring the country in their Prius (with their one-year-old!). They'll be doing a house show in DC on Friday, November 2. It promises to be a fun night of great music, and a chance to connect with interesting people from around the Metro area.
Saturday, November 3: The GNU team is working out the details of hosting several families on a trip to Cox Farms from 10am to 2pm. It'll be the annual weekend of post-Halloween Pumpkin Madness (my favorite methods of destruction being the trebuchet and the crane-drop), so you won't want to miss the big, splattery mess. Fun for the kids and the young-at-heart.
Later,
Mike Stavlund
Hi, church--
After being away from home for several weeks (where I've heard plenty of praise for our small church!), I'm pleased to see so much fruit borne by our GNU team and others as we continue our effort to push ourselves outside our smaller circle to know and love and serve those in our wider community. One example of this is happening this Wednesday, when a bunch of us will be getting together at The Lamb Center to host a celebration of the rich cultural artifact known as Karaoke between 7:30 and 9pm. If you'd like to lend your applause or (better yet) your voice, be sure to stop by.
This Sunday, October 21, our own bona-fide expert on religious movements, John Bozeman will be leading us in a look at the Jesus People. This is a group which was founded in the early 1970's, and one that's found a way to develop a strong core (members actually live together in a high-rise in Chicago) and an expansive engagement with their community (both in outreach and in the operation of several businesses staffed by members). It promises to be a rich morning, as John shares from his wealth of knowledge and experience with this pioneering community.
**After first church, we'll repair to Jack and Pete's place to hold a Congregational Meeting, where we're planning to hear a financial update, talk about plans for Sunday mornings, get an update from our GNU Team, and anything else you'd like to discuss. Please plan to grab your Chipotle at the spot a block from their house, or dare to try a place which Pete hesitatingly describes as 'even better than Chipotle'. Take your food 'to go', and let's meet up to start our meeting at 1 or 1:30. Also, note that while their place is very kid-friendly, we don't yet have any formal child care plan organized.
Here are some other dates to keep in mind:
October 27/28: because of our service worship activity scheduled for the following weekend, we'll not be meeting at Jammin' Java or anywhere else this weekend (at least not officially-- anyone want to plan a party?).
October 27/28: because of our service worship activity scheduled for the following weekend, we'll not be meeting at Jammin' Java or anywhere else this weekend (at least not officially-- anyone want to plan a party?).
Our friends Ryan and Holly Sharp (aka, The Cobalt Season) are currently touring the country in their Prius (with their one-year-old!). They'll be doing a house show in DC on Friday, November 2. It promises to be a fun night of great music, and a chance to connect with interesting people from around the Metro area.
Saturday, November 3: The GNU team is working out the details of hosting several families on a trip to Cox Farms from 10am to 2pm. It'll be the annual weekend of post-Halloween Pumpkin Madness (my favorite methods of destruction being the trebuchet and the crane-drop), so you won't want to miss the big, splattery mess. Fun for the kids and the young-at-heart.
November 16-18 - Common Table Retreat: Cost will be $50/adult, payable to the church (please write a separate check, as the retreat will not be tax-deductible).
Later,
Mike Stavlund
Labels: congregational meeting, context, GNU Team, service-worship
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
August 20 through 26
Hi church,
We've got a couple of things going on this week, and both of them involve our GNU Team. The GNU Team (formerly known as the New Team) are the members of our community that are especially charged with envisioning and enabling our Giving to Needs Unmet - the things we do to try to bring a little bit of God's kingdom to folks we're connected with in our wider community.
Firstly, the GNU Team, along with the Leadership Team, will be meeting this Thursday evening at the home of Sam and Dee Doan, starting at 7pm. We'll be talking about future horizons for this team, so if you haven't been involved before and think you might like to be, you're welcome to come be a part of that vision. We'll start by sharing a meal together, so if you're new to the team, please let the GNU Team know you're coming, so we can be sure to have enough grub.
Secondly, this is the fourth weekend of the month, so instead of a worship service at Jammin' Java, we'll be meeting on Saturday the 25th at 10am at a Benedictine monastery in Bristow, VA to help the sisters there with some grounds work. These sisters have maintained an ancient way of life for well over 100 years in Bristow, as suburbia has grown up around their home, and their community has been a blessing to ours in the past. So, come help us try to return a little of that blessing!
That's all for this week, but here are some reminders of upcoming events:
On Labor Day weekend (Sunday, September 2nd), we'll return to the monastery to have our annual anniversary celebration of the church, and to spend some time in prayer and meditation at their permanent labyrinth.
We're planning a baptism celebration for September 9th. If you'd like be baptized - or if you're considering it - please let us know.
Finally, we're currently working on dates and locations for a fall retreat, sometime in October or November.
Enjoy your week!
Peace,
Mike Croghan
Labels: baptism, GNU Team, service-worship
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