On The Table

Hi church,

Labels: lent, retreat

Hi church,

Labels: lent, winter

Hi church,

It's Holy Week. In this, the most sacred time of the Church year, we remember our Lord's last days on this earth. We recall his final acts and teachings. His sharing of bread and wine and the tender service of foot-washing. His betrayal, arrest, Passion, and death. And, on Easter Sunday, his Resurrection: death overcome, Love triumphant.

Just as we've journeyed through Lent together, we'll be sharing the celebration of Easter with our brothers and sisters at New Hope Fellowship, Sunday at 10:50am. You can join us for breakfast at 9am, and stay for a celebratory feast after the service. If you don't mind the short walk, we can relieve some parking burdens by leaving our cars at the ball fields just north of the community center where New Hope meets.

But before that celebration, it would be good to spend some time walking through this last, dark week with Jesus. There are many ways to do that, including moving liturgies of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday in the area - please contact us and we can let you know of some.

One powerful way to encounter Holy Week would be to journey through the creative, participatory Stations of the Cross that have been crafted by folks at our sister congregation, Holy Grounds, on the lower level of Fairlington Presbyterian Church. Some Common Table folks also contributed to these stations, which have been designed to arrest, challenge, and even accuse the one who journeys through them, in a deeply personal way. They'll be available for pilgrimage at the following times:

Wednesday 3:30-4:30pm and 8:30-9:30pm
Thursday 6:30-7:30pm & 8:30-9:30pm
Friday 7-9pm
Saturday 10am-12pm

And that's all, for this holiest of weeks. May the remainder of your Lenten journey be transformative, and on Easter, may you share the joy of abundant life - sprung wondrously, gloriously, impossibly, from evil and death.

Peace,
Mike Croghan

Labels: Easter, Holy Week, lent, New Hope

Our Lenten experiment-- giving up church for Lent-- continues to be a stretching, rewarding, productive, and engaging time. We're developing some great relationships and thinking some new thoughts (some of which are posted at our Lenten blog), and moving quickly toward an Easter celebration with some people who know a thing or two about redemption and resurrection!

This week, we'll be watching the kids waving their palm fronds at New Hope Fellowship, as we remember Jesus' triumphal and tragic entry into Jerusalem to begin Holy Week. If you're able to join us, please remember that breakfast is available at 9am, but the worship service doesn't start until 10:50. If you don't mind the short walk, we can relieve some parking burdens by leaving our cars at the ball fields just north of the community center where New Hope Fellowship meets. As always, lunch is a high point of the day, and is provided for everyone in attendance.

Hope you can make it!
Mike Stavlund

Labels: lent, New Hope

Hi church,

Sorry for the lateness of this update! We're in this unusual Lenten space of just "being" with another congregation, and not so much "doing" - so it's easy to lose track of regular admin stuff. That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it. ;-)

At the same time, it's hard to come up with new stuff to say, so I'm going to mostly quote from Mike's update last week:

Lent continues in an unusual and fruitful way for us this year, as we fold our normal tent at Jammin' Java and join our friends at New Hope Fellowship. What might have been a bit of an awkward arrangement has been wonderful and completely comfortable, thanks to the staggering hospitality and genuine friendship of the folks there. Even if you've never been to a 'normal' CT service, you should come on out to New Hope and feel the love.

To facilitate the sharing of our thoughts and experiences, we've started a group blog. Check it out, and if you want to find out how to contribute to it, contact us. We'd be grateful for your perspective.

The church service starts promptly at 10:50, and lunch is served afterward before we put everything away to clear out of the community center by 1pm.

Finally, parking at New Hope meets is very limited. So if we could park at the ballfields just north of there, that'd be swell.

And that's all I've got! Peace and blessings to you and yours this Lenten season!

Peace,
Mike Croghan

Labels: lent, New Hope

Dear Church--

Lent continues in an unusual and fruitful way for us this year, as we fold our normal tent at Jammin' Java and join our friends at New Hope Fellowship. What might have been a bit of an awkward arrangement has been wonderful and completely comfortable, thanks to the staggering hospitality and genuine friendship of the folks there. Even if you've never been to a 'normal' CT service, you should come on out to New Hope and feel the love.

To facilitate the sharing of our thoughts and experiences, we've started a group blog. Check it out, and if you want to find out how to contribute to it, contact us. We'd be grateful for your perspective.

The church service starts promptly at 10:50, and lunch is served afterward before we put everything away to clear out of the community center by 1pm.

Finally, parking at New Hope meets is very limited. So if we could park at the ballfields just north of there, that'd be swell.

Thanks,
Mike Stavlund

Labels: lent, New Hope

Hi church,

This Sunday, we'll continue the Lenten practice we're adopting this year: walking with another congregation, New Hope Fellowship, and "giving up church as we know it" in favor of serving and building friendships with the people of New Hope, many of whom are homeless. Last week, although their pastor was away leading a retreat and most of the folks who were there didn't expect a whole bunch of new people (including lots of kids!) to show up for worship, I heard story after story of how welcoming and hospitable the New Hope folks were. We're off to a good start, I think.

This Sunday, Pastor Pat is back, and she's asked us to help provide worship music. If you have musical talent and would like to help with that, let us know and we'll hook you up. We also might have the opportunity to do something for/with kids during worship. And we're always welcome to bring some food to share in the group meal that follows every worship service (but there's always abundance at New Hope, so there is no need to bring food - all are invited to partake).

By the way, we've started a group blog as a place to share about our experiences this Lent. Check it out, and if you want to find out how to contribute to it, contact us. We'd be grateful for your perspective.

Finally, here are two important things to know when joining us at New Hope (besides the location; we are not meeting at Jammin' Java):

Time. New Hope starts their service promptly at 10:50am. However, there's ample fellowship time both before and after the service; you're welcome to arrive early.

Parking. New Hope meets in a community center which has very limited parking. So if we could park at the ballfields just north of there, we won't cramp their style too much.

I think that's it! I hope you're finding time this Lenten season to allow God to shape you. If so, perhaps you could teach me how to do that? :-\

Peace,
Mike Croghan

Labels: lent, New Hope

At a church as young as Common Table, we can hardly claim many 'traditions,' but we have developed some general practices over the past few Lenten seasons. We tend to do things that are simple and service-oriented, and in that great Lenten tradition of sacrifice, we try to challenge ourselves by forgoing our weekly Eucharistic meal at Chipotle in favor of a simple (read 'cheap') meal in someone's home.

So it's no surprise that the idea which came out of our team planning session for Lent takes all of these small traditions and expand them a bit: we'll be giving up church as we know it for Lent. Every Sunday through Easter, we'll be meeting with our friends at New Hope Fellowship, a church oriented toward homeless people. We'll be there to learn from them and their practices, and to serve them in whatever way we can. It's something we're very excited about.

Now if you're reading this and are a bit nervous or uncertain, or feel as though you'll be pushed out of your comfort zone, then welcome to Lent! But if you're worried that visiting a church like this might be awkward, then fear not: the people of New Hope are among the most hospitable and welcoming on the planet. You'll be greeted like an old friend, and compelled to stay after the worship service for lunch-- something they do each week.

So come one and all, and as you do, please remember two things:

Time. New Hope starts their service promptly at 10:50am. Factor that later start with the happy news that Daylight Savings Time starts this week, and you should make it right on time.

Parking. New Hope meets in a community center which has very limited parking. So if we could park at the ballfields just north of there, we won't cramp their style too much.

Hope to see you soon, and with best wishes for a significant Lenten season,
Mike Stavlund

Labels: lent, New Hope

Hi church,

Welcome to Lent. In the Christian year, Lent is a time of self-examination, of turning an appraising eye inward and asking God's help in seeing - and working on - those parts of ourselves that are in need of further transformation. Often this takes the form of simplification ("giving something up"), or the adoption of a new spiritual practice, or just a simple inventory of our habits and patterns to examine where we're living as we believe God would have us live, and where we aren't.

In Common Table's short history, we've developed a few traditions that help us, as a community, approach Lent in much the same way. So we've often simplified our worship services and our shared meals, given up Chipotle (giving the money to somebody who needs it), or adopted a new daily practice of reflection on Lenten art or devotions (thanks, Ben!) We've often hearkened back to our church's "Plowing Under" period - a time of simplicity and discernment in the context of an open-ended leap of faith.

This year, we've been talking with folks at New Hope Fellowship, a wonderful congregation made up of over 50% homeless folks, about a plan for partnership between our two communities - a partnership that might allow Common Table to do all of these things, and more, together with New Hope, as we journey jointly through Lent to Easter.

Please join us at Jammin' Java at 10am on Sunday, March 1st, as we begin to explore what that journey might look like.

And may God bless us all during this season of repentance, forgiveness, and grace.

Peace,
Mike Croghan

Labels: lent, New Hope

Hey church!

Firstly! The cat's out of the bag on a joyful little (big!) news item. Welcome, Anna Lucia Katherine Stavlund!

Secondly! Like that awesome moment when the five robotic lions combine to form Voltron, representatives of the sundry Common Table Design Teams (who envision and create our Creative, Musical, All-Ages, and Simple worship services) will be coming together this Saturday at 11am at Casa de Maisel to talk about our plans for Lent. If you have thoughts on this topic, you are cordially invited to show up and share them, or drop us a line if you can't make it but have some ideas.

Thirdly! On Sunday morning, 10am, we'll gather at Jammin' Java for our February Simple Service, "Love Songs". It's a bit of a takeoff on the themes of this past Sunday's epic musical service, Love's Divine (which we'll be repeating at Convergence's Artist Lab at 5pm Sunday the 22nd of February - don't miss it!)

Here's the idea for this coming Sunday: Think of a love song that is meaningful to you. Doesn't matter what kind: secular or sacred, any genre - pick a song which speaks to you and helps you understand something about love. (As you may have heard, God is Love; and also, Love's Divine.) Bring your song on a CD, or on an MP3 player. We'll play each person's track, and then give you a chance to tell us what it means to you (if you want to). That's it! Bring tracks! Or we'll have to come up with something else to do! :-)

And that's all I know. May your winter days be blessed, as we look forward to spring, and Lent, and Easter.

Peace,
Mike Croghan

Labels: lent, simple

This week, we'll continue with the Lenten practices we began last month. On Sunday morning, we'll meet at Jammin' Java for another go at repenting of our lame and tame ideas about Jesus through listening freshly to his words. This time we'll look at what many call the parable of the unjust judge - but I like to think of it as a story of one reLENTless widow. Don't miss meeting her at 10am.
Afterward, we'll once again give up our customary Chipotle burritos (donating what we would have spent to a friend who can use it) and gather at Tina's and my house for simple fare - or possibly not-so-simple fare, depending on the success of our...uh...(sub)urban gleaning. (There will be non-gleaned options for the squeamish.)


Finally, please note that a wonderfully full and busy weekend is just a week away:


That same evening, some of us will be gathering in Vienna to experience some Deep Shift with Brian McLaren and friends. This event will continue on Saturday, March 8, as well.


And that's all, as far as I know. Seems like plenty to me!

Mike Croghan

Labels: Cobalt Season, Deep Shift, Doan, lent, peace, service-worship

Dear Church:

We'll be meeting at Jammin' Java at 10am this week, to continue our Lenten look at Jesus and his confounding teachings. This week, we'll dive into the collection of parables in Matthew 13, and see how they might upend our view of the world, and our lives, and even of Jesus. So bring your Bible, and your seatbelt.

Too, please mark you calendar for a wonderfully busy weekend in March:

On Friday, March 7, people from all over the country will be converging on Washington, DC to advocate for peace as we remember the anniversary of the War in Iraq. Some of us will be a part of a gathering of some friends of emergent at historic New York Avenue Presbyterian Church at noon, followed by a processional as we gather with other faith communities at the Capitol at 2:30. More information on the larger event can be found here.

That same evening, some of us will be gathering in Vienna to experience some Deep Shift with Brian McLaren and friends. This event will continue on Saturday, March 8, as well.

And since they'll be in town for both of the above events, our friends The Cobalt Season asked if they could join us for our gathering on Sunday morning, March 9. Their music and message should make a wonderful complement to our Lenten series, and we're honored to have them aboard.

Mike Stavlund

Labels: Cobalt Season, Deep Shift, lent, peace

Dear Friends:

As Lent begins today and we remember afresh our frailty and sinfulness, we look forward to the Sundays to come and their new theme. For the next few weeks, we'll be engaging in repentance and reconsideration of ourselves and our lives by taking a fresh look at Jesus. But we won't do this by exploring some innovative idea, or revealing some new theological or historical insight. Instead, we'll do it by looking in plain sight; by exposing ourselves to the very familiar teachings of Jesus. Each week, we'll look at some of his words which for 2000 years have been venerated but often not deeply considered. By reminding ourselves of how much we don't understand about Jesus, and the many ways we neglect to follow his teachings, we hope to embody the penitential season ahead. And, at the same time, we want to gather together in mutual encouragement, to remind ourselves of Jesus' great patience, acceptance and love for everyone, even and especially those who don't 'get it'.

And the embodiment doesn't stop when our meeting is over, oh no! A couple of years ago, The Great Maggie (who is currently CEO of CT's satellite office in suburban Detroit) suggested an idea that stuck: to honor the traditional call of Lent by sacrificing our beloved post-church Chipotle. As in the last couple of years, we'll instead be gathering at the home of one of our members to share some very simple (which is to say, very, very cheap!) food each week. If you're visiting with us, we'd be happy to add you to the caravan, or to give you a ride!

Hope to see you this Sunday, starting at 10am at Jammin' Java.

Mike Stavlund

Labels: Jesus, lent