Rock Spring Congregational United Church of Christ (UCC)

Covering April 5 to April 18, 2009

Have a Minute?

By Janet L. Parker

When I was in college, my favorite philosophy professor gave me a graduation present: a tome containing the collected writings of Simone Weil. I took the book with me to Taiwan for my year of missionary service following college, and had plenty of time to read through it! I became fascinated and deeply moved by the religious philosophy of this Jewish woman and member of the French resistance who had come to faith in Jesus Christ but chose never to join a church.

As we enter Holy Week, I would like to share with you a passage from her essay, “The Love of God and Affliction.” I have never found a better reflection on the meaning of the passion and crucifixion of Christ.

God created through love and for love. God did not create anything except love itself, and the means to love. He created love in all its forms. He created beings capable of love from all possible distances. He himself traveled, because no other could do it, from the greatest possible distance, the infinite distance. This infinite distance between God and God, this supreme tearing apart, whose pain no one else approaches, this marvel of love, is the crucifixion. Nothing can be further from God than that which has been made a curse.

This tearing apart, on top of which supreme love places the bond of supreme union, echoes perpetually across the universe beneath the silence, like two notes, separate yet fused into one, like pure and heart-rending harmony. This is the Word of God. The totality of creation is nothing but its vibration. When human music in its greatest purity pierces our soul, this is what we hear through it. When we have learned to hear the silence, this is what we grasp more distinctly through it. Those who persevere in love hear this note from the very lowest depths into which affliction can thrust them.

Church Calendar

Please click here to view the current Rock Spring calendar.

News and Notes

Joys and Concerns

Babies! Babies! Babies! Congratulations to Kristine Lucius and Tom Perrelli, on the birth of their second son, Alexander Emanuele Perrelli, on February 16! Congratulations also to Julie and Matt Nolan on the birth of their second son, Oliver Nolan, on March 12. And congratulations to Amy and Badu Mireku on the birth of Audrey Akosua Mereku, on March 29.
Let’s keep all of these families in our prayers as they experience the joys and challenges of new little ones at home.

Prayers are requested at this time for Mary Schwarzwalder and Carol Bigler. Mary’s close friend Carol is extremely ill with lung cancer and pneumonia. Condolences are requested for Ann Rosser, for the death of her father, Evan “Bodie” Rosser, and for Richard Peabody, for the death of his uncle. Our prayers are with all who have lost loved ones recently.

Ellen Bozman Memorial Service available online

If you missed Ellen’s service, or want to view it again, use this link: http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/Communications/PressReleases/67764.aspx

If you click on the link for the Video of Memorial Service on this page, you can watch the entire 73 minute service.

Fill the Red Barrel for AFAC

Cereal is the ‘Food of the Month’ for the Arlington Food Assistance Center.
It takes nearly 1200 boxes a week to give one to each family receiving food. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of families requesting assistance.

There is a red barrel in the corner outside the office to collect non-perishable foods for AFAC. Preferred foods: cereal, canned fruit; canned vegetables, canned beans; canned tuna or chicken; canned tomato products & peanut butter. There is a chronic shortage of all of the above food types.

Keep up the good work – last week the Red barrels sent 146 pounds of food to AFAC.

AFAC also welcomes monetary donations to buy eggs, milk, meat and to fill in other foods when needed.

Arlington Food Assistance Center

2708 South Nelson Street Arlington

Virginia 22206

Contact: Robin Overholt

Janet Parker’s address at Ecumenical Advocacy Days now available:

On March 14, Janet Parker delivered an address to the delegates gathered for the Ecumenical Advocacy Days conference in Alexandria. The theme for the conference was “Enough for All Creation” and the focus of Janet’s address was on climate change. Delegates at the conference learned about climate change and a host of other issues ranging from hunger and poverty to global peace and security. On Monday, they went to Capitol Hill to lobby their Congresspersons on these issues, with a particular “ask” focused on adequate legislation around climate change policy. If you would like to read Janet’s address, entitled “Perfect Love Casts Out Fear? Faith, Fear and the Global Climate Catastrophe,” you may access it on the Rock Spring website at http://www.rockspringcongucc.org/html/eco-justice.html. If you would like to see the news article about the address on the National Council of Churches website, click here http://www.ncccusa.org/news/09031ead2.html.

Women’s Fellowship News

Food Safety Manager Opportunity

The Women’s Fellowship has the study guide and will pay for testing and the certificate, if you are willing to become a Food Safety Manager for our Rock Spring kitchen. We need several members to be certified in order to comply with county regulations. Your obligation is to be available a couple of times a year to oversee kitchen food storage, cooking, and cleanup procedures. If you were certified less than five years ago and have your original certificate, you can easily be recertified without the test. Please contact Peggy Greenwood for the study guide or to inquire about an extension of your certification.

Scholarships Available for Women’s Spirituality Retreat

This year, in light of tough economic times and the heightened need for opportunities like the Women’s Spirituality Retreat, there are scholarship funds available to help you meet the $155 cost. But, you must apply by Sunday April 5th. Contact Rev. Janet Parker in person, by email, or phone. Just tell her how much you can afford and she will work it out with you. Privacy is insured.

Women’s Fellowship Retreat: May 15-16, 2009

3 p.m. Friday to 5 p.m. Saturday. Twenty-six hours of fellowship and enrichment.

Our own Rev Janet Parker will lead us in Enlarging the Sacred Circle: Connecting to Earth, Each Other and God. In a world characterized by dislocation, disconnection, and exhaustion, how do we find the path back to spiritual and emotional sanity, to reconnection with the Sacred, to healing in our relationships with one another, with God, with our bodies, and with the body of the Earth?

Come and join with the women of Rock Spring to explore what we need to unlearn and relearn about God, the soul, and our relationship with the Earth in order to become whole persons again. Drawing upon wisdom both ancient and modern, from Hildegard of Bingen through Native American and eco-feminist sources, the retreat will help participants enlarge their own circle of life and develop practices to maintain healthier relationships with God, the Earth, and one another.

The retreat will take place at Shepherd’s Spring Retreat Center, a Church of the Brethren facility, located adjacent to the C&O Canal Towpath near Sharpsburg, MD, and Antietam Battlefield Park http://www.shepherdsspring.org/. Registration forms are available in the Saegmuller Room and online. The deadline for registration is April 18, but space is limited so get yours in soon.

Join us for this wonderful opportunity for getting to know the women of Rock Spring better. It will be springtime—come walk, talk and break bread with women of all ages.
Contact Judy McDowell with any questions.

Rock Spring Changes the Bus Routes

Because Yorktown High School is about to go through a massive rebuilding and the normal pick up spots have already been fenced off, we have revamped our bus routes. We will now pick up and drop off at the East Falls Church Metro stop. Parking in the Kiss and Ride lot is free on Sunday and our bus will begin pick ups and drop offs only at this location on March 22. We will provide pick up and drop off service for both our 9 and 11 am services. Anyone who wants to ride the bus is welcome to use it. Therefore we invite you to:

Come and Park to ride the bus
Ride the Metro and Use the bus
Toddle over from the Neighborhood and Ride the bus

Our bus program supports our goal to reduce the impact of the crush of cars that park on the neighborhood streets. We encourage everyone to try us out. Our driver, Rico, is friendly and professional. Get to know others by riding the bus.

Progressive Dinner Saturday, April 25th

Come join us for one of the social highlights of the Rock Spring year. JFFAL is sponsoring this annual event on Saturday April 25th.
What is a progressive dinner?
A fun adult social event
Social hour at one home
Dinner at another house – each person contributes to the dinner
Everyone gathers at Carpenter Hall for dessert and further socializing.
Cost: $5 / person
Evening begins at 5:30 pm and ends by 9:30pm.
Sign-ups will be taken after church on April 5th, 12nd & 19th.
Don’t be left out, April 19 at church is the last day to sign up.
Hosts needed for Social hours and Dinners.

The New Rock Spring Website Launch Is Near and We Need Your Help!

The Web Development Team is seeking five to ten volunteers to help move text from the current website to the new website under development. No coding skills necessary — this is a simple copying, pasting and formatting job that can be done at your convenience on your own computer. We’re aiming to launch the new site on May 1. There are a lot of pages, sermons and newsletter issues to move over to the new site before then. Many hands make light work! If interested, please email webteam@rockspringucc.org. And thanks for your patience and for your help!

Toilet Rolls for Habitat for Humanity

This spring the Senior High youth are collecting money for Habitat for Humanity, an amazing organization which builds simple houses for low-income families across the globe. The youth will be working with Habitat during this years’ mission trip and would like to collect enough money to symbolically build a bathroom. A toilet at $225, a sink at $150, and faucets at $75 are required as well as tile, plumbing, drywall, and light fixtures. A price of $15,000 is easily reached. To make the money collection a little more fun, the youth will be collecting empty toilet rolls, packaging them and distributing them to the Sunday School classes and to the congregation to use as “banks”. Starting April 5, please deposit your empty toilet rolls in the basket in the Saegmuller Room. “Toilet roll banks” will be distributed on April 26th and money collected thru June 21. Thank you!

Taking a Closer Look at the Bible

Have you ever heard Bible passages that seem confusing, obscure, maybe even wrong? Have you ever been tempted to take a minister aside after a service and ask: “Okay, just what were those Bible readings all about?” If you’ve ever felt this way, Rock Spring’s Lectionary Bible Study group was probably made for you! The “lectionary” is the schedule of scripture readings, tied to the liturgical year, which is shared by Christians across many denominational lines, including Catholics and most mainline Protestants. Typically led by the minister who will preach on the following Sunday, each Tuesday morning in the Saegmuller Room from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. the designated scripture readings are given a respectful but no-holds-barred examination. No preparation or homework is required, coffee and snacks are provided, and folks attend as their schedules and other interests permit. Please consider modifying your work (or retirement) schedule, and try out Bible Study soon. You may not get all the answers you want, but you’re sure to enjoy asking your questions, and meeting other people who share your desire to explore scripture!

Sunday School News and Notes

During the 9:00 hour, we offer professional care in our Infant and Toddler Nurseries, and a multi-age classes for Pre-K-2nd Grade . At 11:00, we offer professional care in our Infant and Toddler Nurseries, and classes for Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten-1st Grades, 2nd-3rd Grades, and 4th-5th Grades. Classes for the upper grades will meet during the 11:00 hour for 6th-8th Grades and 9th-12th Grades. The goal is to provide a more age-relevant encounter with the Bible and faith, and provide an experiential time for all of our youth to examine their faith.

Special information for Palm Sunday and Easter:
On Palm Sunday (4/5), we will have a special activity in Saegmuller Room for our PreK-5th Grade classes.
On Easter (4/12), all grades will gather in Carpenter Hall for an Easter Celebration, with Egg Hunt and crafts, 9:00 & 11:00. We will return to regular classes on 4/19

Interested in sharing your gifts?
As the seasons change, several of our volunteer teachers and leaders in Sunday School will be cycling out of classes. We do have substitutes for the short term, but are in need of regular teachers for the remaining weeks of regular programming. Most notably, we need teachers for our Middle High class at 11:00. Thank you to Deborah Duffy for leading this class for the first semester!

Also, thanks to Suzanne Boothby for her leadership with the 2nd-3rd Grade class, and to Meghan Radelet for coming on to help teach that class.

Our Sunday School uses the Seasons of the Spirit curriculum. For more information on the scope and sequence, the foundations, and the specifics of the curriculum, please visit www.spiritseasons.com.

Youth of Rock Spring (YoRS)

Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday
Our local school districts take the week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday for their Spring Break. In our walk of faith, this time is called Holy Week. In light of the sacred break (and the family holiday!), we will not meet on April 5 and April 12.

Middle High YoRS

4/5/2009 Spring Break—No Regular Meeting
4/12/2009 Easter Sunday—No Regular Meeting

Senior High YoRS

4/5/2009 Spring Break—No Regular Meeting
4/12/2009 Easter Sunday—No Regular Meeting

Confirmation Class

The Confirmation Class of 2009 met for their organizational meeting on December 4. This year’s class will again meet on Sunday mornings, 9:00-10:30. We are using the latest UCC curriculum, Affirming Faith. For those who would like to see what we’re studying (or refresh on your church history, theology, and polity!) copies of the texts are available for your review. In addition to the “usual” classes, we also took part in the Spring New Members classes (since we are joining the church!).

We’ll regroup on 4/19 to start the walk to Confirmation Sunday!

Class Schedule:

4/19 Jesus, the Christ, and beginning our Affirmations
4/26 The Holy Spirit, continuing on our Affirmations
5/3 Finalizing our Affirmations
5/16 Confirmation Class Celebration Dinner
5/17 Confirmation Sunday

Eco-Justice News

Mark your calendars: Earth Sunday is April 26

According to tradition (recent tradition that is!), the Eco-Justice Committee will once again offer an Earth Sunday worship service, in coordination with the pastors. This year, Doug Griffin will be preaching. Plan to stay after the 11:00 service for food, fun, and eco-activities for all ages at the Earth Sunday Fair in Carpenter Hall.

Green Tip:

This week, there is no separate Green Tip — instead, we encourage you to try the Carbon Fast for Lent. The calendar can be found on Rock Spring’s website, or in the Saegmuller Room. If you haven’t tried it yet, it’s not too late — just begin with today’s date. Try it! Brought to you by Rock Spring’s Eco-Justice Committee.

Church Staff

Rock Spring News is published bi-weekly by
Rock Spring Congregational United Church of Christ
5010 Little Falls Road, Arlington, Virginia 22207-1810
tel: 703-538-4886

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