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Gracias! Notes of Thanks that We Should Share ...
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Thanks to
James for setting up coffee hour Sunday morning!
SIGN UP SHEET IN THE NARTHEX.
If you would like to host coffee time or serve as a liturgical leadership volunteer on an upcoming Sunday, add your name to the sign up sheet in the narthex.
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Mark Your
Calendars! |
Wednesday, April 1, 7:00 p.m. choir rehearsal.
Maundy Thursday, April 2, we gather for a simple soup supper at 6:30 p.m. and worship at 7:15 p.m.
Sunday, April 12, 5:30 - our 1st Sunday event ... on the 2nd Sunday of April.
Saturday, April 24, Rebuilding Together.
Sunday, April 26, we plant the garden following worship
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Prayer Concerns:
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| Kristine and Mark Schnarr offer prayers of thanksgiving that Kristine's sister's surgery to remove a cancerous tumor went well. Karin has received further pathology results and thanks you for your compassionate words and prayers. We hold Barbara Allen and her family in the light. Barbara's mother, Mildred, joined the church triumphant in death last week. Please let the office know of any concerns you would like to have included here with as much or little detail as you care to share. |
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Progressive ... Inclusive ... Diverse
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On Tuesday, March 17, with the vote of Palisades Presbytery in New Jersey, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) embraced marriage equality. One week later, National Capital Presbytery added its affirmation to the vote total that now stands at 97 presbyteries in favor, 42 opposed, and one tie vote. The vote in NCP was 217 in favor, 55 opposed, and 6 abstentions. Constitutional amendments passed by an assembly must be affirmed by a majority of the 171 presbyteries.
The amendment, which becomes official in June when all of the presbyteries will have cast votes, changes language in the Book of Order that currently defines marriage as "between a man and a woman." The first two paragraphs of the new description of marriage read: "Marriage is a gift God has given to all humankind for the well-being of the entire human family. Marriage involves a unique commitment between two people, traditionally a man and a woman, to love and support each other for the rest of their lives. The sacrificial love that unites the couple sustains them as faithful and responsible members of the church and the wider community.
"In civil law, marriage is a contract that recognizes the rights and obligations of the married couple in society. In the Reformed tradition, marriage is also a covenant in which God has an active part, and which the community of faith publicly witnesses and acknowledges."
The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward holy ground. When we do the work of love, it bends the whole world round
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Peace,
David
PS: Special music guest Troy Paolantonio will be joining us this Sunday. He and Justin are cooking up something special for the prelude, so you'll want to be in the sanctuary a few minutes before 10:00 this time!
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Wii Kirk Night!
 Come out this Friday evening for great pizza and a wonderful time of community fellowship. The big TV will be out with games on the Wii, and we'll gather around large tables to share a meal, a drink, and some good conversation. Feel free to bring salads or desserts to share, or any item you'd like Mr. & Mrs. Pizza to incorporate into one of their divine creations. Doors open at 6:30, and the first of many delicious pizzas will roll out of the ovens around 7:00.
Wii Kirk is one of the many ways we are church, and it's a particularly fine opportunity to bring a friend!
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Join the Parade! Worship in Gladness in All Kinds of Ways!
This Sunday is Palm Sunday, and we'll mark the day with a parade of palms during the opening hymn. We're inviting the children of the church to meet up with Susan and David at 9:50 to "organize" the parade.
The season of Lent is drawing to a close, and this Sunday in worship we also turn toward Gethsemane as we move from waving palms and loud "hosannas!" toward the passion and cross.
 On Thursday, April 2, we gather at 7:00 p.m. for a Maundy Thursday worship and communion service as we recall Jesus' new commandment that we love one another just as he loved his friends.  We leave the table remembering Good Friday and the cross, and then gather again on Easter Sunday (April 5) the hope of new life and rising up again in the face of our own brokenness and humanity. If you would like to share in leading the liturgy on Maundy Thursday or Easter Sunday, please let David know. There are many opportunities, and we need many voices. ALL ARE WELCOME! We will be celebrating resurrection throughout the season of Easter. The New Testament Greek word that we translate as resurrection was not nearly as "churchy" a word as resurrection has become for us. The Greek word simply means "to rise up" or "to be raised up," depending on voice and context. It could be used to describe rising up out of bed in the morning. Resurrection, thus, is an ordinary part of life, but it is also an extraordinary part for many of us rise up from incredibly trying circumstances. We do that rising up best in the company of others. We don't rise up alone or all by ourselves. We are raised up by the helping hands and loving hearts of friends and loved ones. Throughout Easter we'll share stories of such rising up. We'll also have a couple of special worship opportunities that you'll want to put on your calendars:  Sunday, April 12, we gather at 11:00 at Church of the Covenant on Military Rd. to join our sisters and brothers there in a music and spoken word service commemorating the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's assassination. Music that morning will be led by the University of Miami Collegium Musicum, the school's community chamber choir. The Collegium, conducted by Dr. Donald Oglesby, will present music that Abraham Lincoln knew and loved, using resources from the Library of Congress and Civil War scholars, as well as music written in tribute to Lincoln after his death. Sunday, April 19, the Rev. Peg True will be preaching. Sunday, April 26, we worship with our hands in the dirt as we plant our Plot Against Hunger following a less messy gathering in the sanctuary! Also on Sunday, April 26, at 4:00 p.m., at Congregation Etz Hayim (2920 Arlington Blvd.), People of Faith for Equality in Virginia invites us to share in an interfaith prayer service the Sunday prior to oral arguments on marriage equality before the U.S. Supreme Court. The court will hear arguments on April 28. 
Sunday, May 17, roll to worship on two wheels and join us for a post-worship "blessing of the bikes" as we celebrate creation and the gift of our bodies in motion!
Sunday, May 24, our friends from Covenant will join us (at 10:30 a.m.) for a special Pentecost worship in music and spoken word. We'll begin gathering contributions for that next month, so if you've got a piece of music, a poem, an excerpt from a novel or short story or essay related to the broadly interpreted them of "the movement of the spirit in our lives," please let David know.
In addition to these special worship opportunities, plans are in the works for a youth Sunday and kids kirk. Stayed tuned for further details!
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Decorating for Easter
 We will be decorating the sanctuary with plants and flowers for Easter Sunday. If you would like to dedicate one or more to honor or remember a loved one, please see Toni Bissessar following worship this Sunday. We ask you to contribute $10 for each "honoree." The funds will be used to purchase a mix of flowers and vegetable sprouts for the Plot Against Hunger garden. All the plants will decorate the sanctuary for Easter.
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Rebuilding Together!
Saturday, April 25, is Rebuilding Together! For 25 years, on the last Saturday of April, thousands of folks have gathered at work sites around the country to help restore hope and rebuild dreams by helping a neighbor in need with essential home repairs. The work can range from painting to plumbing and most things in between.
For half a dozen years, CPC has participated, and we will again next month. Over the coming weeks, on Sunday mornings, Tom Hull will offer more details and eagerly sign up volunteers. You don't need any special skills or experience, just energy and a goodly supply of joy
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Here's What's Happening in:
Mosaic Crosses: We hope that you have enjoyed coloring in your mosaic crosses throughout the days of lent. Please return them to church this coming Sunday. We plan to use them in a special way during the Easter Sunday service.
March 29 - Palm Sunday: "Journey to the Cross." We will study the final days of Jesus' ministry, and explore the meanings of the Holy Week services leading up to Easter.
April 5: Happy Easter! No Sunday School.
For more information about Sunday School, please contact Susan.
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Preschool Scholarship Opportunity Available
 The Clarendon Child Care Center (CCCC), located on the grounds of CPC, is accepting applications for the fall of 2015 for families who demonstrate financial need. There are a limited number of scholarship opportunities still available for the
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Sacred Space Update
Last Sunday, session approved contracts for the construction phase of the sanctuary project including lighting and sound improvements as well as new furnishings. Depending upon contractor schedules, we anticipate the bulk of the work happening in July. We'll keep you posted as the work draws closer.
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Opportunities Galore
We've just about run to the end of current sign-ups for hosting coffee hour and sharing in worship leadership. We will circulate a sign-up sheet this Sunday, and, in the meanwhile, if you would like to seize the day, contact Clancy in the church office and she'll put you at the top of the list.
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Sir Richard Bishop Comes to CPC
 Sir Richard Bishop will play a solo guitar concert in an intimate setting at CPC on Saturday, April 11 at 8 p.m. All are welcome. Opening act, Robert Millis & Kahoutek. $10 cover charge at the door. Sir Richard Bishop was a founding member (along with brother Alan) of the Sun City Girls, a legendary band who maintained a 26-year reign and released 50 full length albums, plus over 20 one-hour cassettes and a dozen 7" records.
Sir Richard's guitar explorations often reflect the shadow worlds of India, North Africa and the Middle East, and other points along the Gypsy trail, though many strange and experimental forms have crept into the live shows as of late. One can usually recognize the influences of Omar Khorshid, Django Reinhardt, Ali Akbar Khan and Ravi Shankar in his playing, though he has fused these and many other influential elements into his own unique style (sample below).
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| Sir Richard Bishop - Bound In Morocco |
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Way Down the Road
 Church of the Covenant on Military Rd. is hosting a week of day camp August 3-7. The program is provided by the traveling day camp of Camp Hanover, the outdoor ministry of the Presbytery of the James. Hanover is one of the crown jewels of church camping, and day camp is a nice taste. For information, call Church of the Covenant at 703-524-4115, or visit Camp Hanover on the web.
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About Clarendon
Our Mission: Feeding & the Fellowship of the Table We welcome all* to gather at table at Clarendon Presbyterian, to be richly nourished in breaking bread and sharing cup, and to be sent into the world following the way of Jesus to nourish all* our neighbors in body, mind and spirit. *All means all: all races, ages, genders, gender-identities, orientations, classes, convictions and questions.
We are at 1305 N. Jackson St. in Arlington, two blocks north of the Clarendon stop on the Orange Line.
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saving grace
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Trust a crowd to look at the wrong end of a miracle every time."
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