Rock Spring Congregational United Church of Christ (UCC)

Covering June 14, 2009 to June 27, 2009

Have a Minute

by Janet Parker

The UCC responds to the murder of Dr. George Tiller

Along with people from all walks of life throughout the country, I was horrified and deeply disturbed by the news of the killing of Dr. George Tiller at his church on Sunday, May 31.  Dr. Tiller was a courageous, Christian man who had continued his mission to provide full, legal reproductive services to women in spite of having already been shot in both arms and coping with multiple death threats.  Tiller was one of only two abortion providers in Kansas.

I invite you to pray for Dr. Tiller’s family, his staff and patients, and for the parishioners and pastors at Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, where Tiller was a member.  I hope you will join me in praying, as well, for Tiller’s murderer and for all who believe that hatred and violence is a solution for deep-seated moral, social and political conflicts.  My deepest prayer is that this shocking event will bring together reasonable and loving people on all sides of the abortion issue to find common ground and democratic, peaceful solutions to this thorny issue.

I wish to share with you a portion of the statement issued by Rev. Sandy Sorenson in response to this tragic crime.  Sorenson is the head of the Washington Office of the UCC.

“We are shocked and deeply saddened over the murder of Dr. George Tiller, gunned down in his church on Sunday morning in Wichita, Kansas. Our heartfelt prayers, thoughts and deepest sympathies are with Dr. Tiller’s family and friends.

Dr. Tiller was a man of conscience and faith, dedicated to the health and healing of women. That he was murdered during Sunday services in his church, a sanctuary of worship and prayer, is an affront to people of faith everywhere. This act of extreme violence in a religious space is extremely troubling and reminds us of the potential for religion to be used as a basis for acts of hatred and violence.

While the motive of Dr. Tiller’s killer is not yet completely clear, there is no doubt that it sends a message of fear to health care providers and the women they serve. They stand in need of our prayers and support in this challenging time. As people of faith, we cannot remain silent in the midst of words and acts of violence.

The United Church of Christ General Synod has repeatedly affirmed the right of women to the full range of reproductive health care services regardless of their circumstances. In the context of several Synod resolutions, it has encouraged individual members and congregations to support women in following their moral discernment and religious convictions related to their lives and decisions about the completion or termination of a pregnancy.”

News and Notes

Joys and Concerns

Godspeed and traveling mercies to Jim and Shirley Meehan, who have just left for their year and a half long sojourn/pilgrimage/retirement extravaganza!  May God bless them and keep them safe and healthy and happy.

Prayers of thanksgiving are offered for all of the people of faith, including the contingent from Rock Spring, who are offering their presence and their witness of support to the Capital Pride events this year and every year.  The impact of their witness upon a population who has been routinely accused, abused, and denigrated by religious communities is incalculable.  If even one life is saved from suicide or other self-destructive acts because someone heard for the first time that God loves them, then every effort by open and affirming faith communities like Rock Spring is worthwhile.

Staff notes:

Janet Parker will be taking a week of study leave followed by  a week of vacation from June 22 through July 6, returning to the office on July 7.

Do you chair or lead a Board, Committee or Fellowship Group at Rock Spring?

Please ensure that your group’s events make it onto the master calendar, even if your event is being held off-site. It will enable all Boards, Committees and Groups to do better planning and reduce the number of scheduling conflicts if all church-sponsored events appear on the master calendar. To get your event on the master calendar, choose one of these two methods: send an all church email to publish@rockspringucc.org, or fill out the calendar request sheet available in the church office. If your event is not taking place at the church, you can simply note the location as “off-site.” Thank you!

Bead Workshops

Don’t forget our bead workshop. The workshop resumes Monday evening June 15 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Questions? Call Florence Otstot or Patricia Marx.

Council Notes

On 1 June, the Council Meeting focused on a presentation from the sub-committee examining the volunteer needs and board structures of the Church.  As you may recall, this effort was mandated by the Congregation at our Annual Meeting.  The sub-committee has produced an excellent report (soon to be posted on the web site) and they shared some possible paths forward with Council.  Over the next month the Boards of the Council will be reviewing the report and feedback will be shared with Council at its next meeting.  We will be seeking feedback also from the Congregation over the summer and are aiming for a discussion and decision session with the Congregation in the fall.  This will allow us to start the recruitment and nomination process for next year.  We have been blessed to have an extraordinary array of talent in this subcommittee with experience in nominating committees, the Council, many boards of the Church, and with the wider UCC.  Please thank the members of this committee – Donna Moss, Sara Fitzgerald, Gina Dale and Peggy Greenword – when you see them next for their dedication over the last three months to a tough assignment.

–Gail Howell

Centennial Notes

This is one in an occasional series of items about the history of Rock Spring Church as we lead up to the celebration of the church’s 100th anniversary in 2012.

On May 16, 2009, the USS Gravely, a state-of-the-art guided missile destroyer, was christened at the Northrop Grumman shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. It was named for Samuel L. Gravely Jr., a one-time member of Rock Spring Church who became the Navy’s first African-American admiral in 1971. (Gravely and his wife, Alma, left Rock Spring in 1982, when they retired to Haymarket; the vice admiral died in 2004.)

Gravely was the first African-American commissioned to be a naval officer, the first to command a naval ship, and the first to rise to the ranks of commander and captain. After his retirement from the military, he served as director of the Defense Communications Agency. In an interview published in The Washington Post on May 25, 2009, Alma Gravely recalled that “as an officer, Sam was not always allowed into Naval officers’ clubs because of his race. Once, when he was in full uniform at a civilian club in Key West, just before being shipped off to war, he was arrested and jailed for ‘impersonating an officer.’ But he never gave up.” Gravely joined the Navy in 1942 and during World War II, he served on a submarine chaser manned by a mostly black crew.

The Post noted that between 1949 and 1968, only 0.02 percent of Naval Academy graduates were black. Last year, they made up 8 percent of the naval officer corps.

“He was on a mission,” Alma Gravely recalled of her husband. “He wanted to be in the Navy; he wanted to do his best and he wanted to help others do the same.”

–Sara Fitzgerald

Into the Spirit

This informal discussion talks about Christian spiritual practices and the role those practices could play at Rock Spring. Topics include the uneasy relationship between spiritual devotions and the Reformed tradition (particularly for men), and neuroscience’s recent discoveries concerning meditation. Participants will also learn about and join in an ancient form of Christian meditation, the Lectio Divina. Dick Metzger and Barbara Kinney will facilitate the discussion from 11:30 to 1:30 pm on Sunday, June 14th, in the Peace Room following the first 10:00 am service of the Summer schedule.

Sunday School News and Notes

“The Big Move”

Because of the HVAC renovation project, the Hunter Education Building will be “offline” from June 22-August 31.  This means that our Child Care and Sunday School programs will be moving for the summer to Agnes Carpenter Hall.  Parents of infants and toddlers, please drop your child off with Fern and Janine at the “Green Room.”  All Adult Ed and Sunday School programs will meet in Carpenter Hall.

Welcome to Summer Sunday School

Summer Sunday School runs from June 1 to August 30.  Classes take place during the 10 AM service, after the children’s moment. Two multi-age classes will be offered, Pre K-1^st Grade and 2^nd-5^th grade.

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)

2009 CAC Youth Event (featuring 40 Days!)

Sadly, the CAC Youth Event has been cancelled for this Summer.  More information on future Youth Events for the Potomac Association and Central Atlantic Conference will be coming in the fall.

YoRS Dates

6-28-7/4         SH YoRS Summer Mission Experience @ Almost Heaven HFH-Franklin, WV
7/17-19         Rock-in the Woods Church Camping Trip

Rock Spring Parents:  Look for the OWL Survey!

By now, all Rock Spring families with children should have received an e-mail message with a link to a VERY BRIEF survey about the Our Whole Lives/Sexuality and Our Faith program.  Whether your children are in diapers or dating, or somewhere in between, we need your feedback to help determine when and what OWL courses Rock Spring will offer.

Not familiar with OWL? Our Whole Lives (OWL) is a series of comprehensive human sexuality curricula for six age-groups:  K-1, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, and young adults and adults.  OWL was created through a joint effort of the United Church of Christ (UCC) and the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA).

Comprehensive human sexuality education programs are intended to provide more than just facts about anatomy and human development. They are intended to help participants to clarify values, improve their interpersonal skills, and better understand the social aspects of human sexuality.  The Our Whole Lives curriculum is designed to provide age-appropriate information for participants in several areas:  human development, relationships, personal skills, sexual health, sexual behavior, and society and culture.  It provides information that participants can use to make responsible decisions about their behavior and their sexual health.  Our Whole Lives is based upon the United Church of Christ’s belief that each person is a reflection of God.  As such, the program is designed to be inclusive of all people.

Rock Spring currently plans to offer the program for grades 6 & 7 in Fall 2009 (using the grades 4-6 curriculum), and for grades 5 & 6 and 10-12 in Spring 2010.  We hope to expand our program offerings over time, and the feedback received from this survey will help determine future directions.  Please respond!  If you have any questions or comments–or if you didn’t receive the survey– please contact the OWL Team at owl@rockspringucc.org.

Family Experience with the Dinner Program for Homeless Women (Now “Thrive DC”)

My 14-year-old son Max and I helped out at the Dinner Program for Homeless Women (now called Thrive DC) in DC on January 11. After we were done, we talked to Bill, a cook for the program, about the possibility of Max coming back and adding to the time we put in that night to achieve his eight hours of community service for the Boy Scouts. Bill said yes, and Max went back for the next 3 nights.

On his last day, Max needed only 45 more minutes. But he wanted to stay for the whole shift, so he ended up with 10 hours. He enjoyed helping out, and also liked taking the subway there by himself. Every day after school, Max would be dropped off at the East Falls Church Metro station and got to the First Trinity Lutheran Church in town on his own, even changing trains at Metro Center to transfer to the red line. (They were fortunately across the street from each other.) I picked him up at the church each day when he was done.

Through his years of volunteering at this program (he was six the first time we went) and because of Rock Spring’s on-going support, Max has learned to appreciate the importance of getting involved and helping out. Thrive DC provides a great opportunity for families to help out in our community in a tangible way. Rock Spring provides volunteers on the second Sunday of every month. Please consider signing up on the sign-up sheets on the Social Action Board bulletin board next to Janet’s office.

Submitted by Vicki Lindsay

Church Staff

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