THURSDAY MAILING
January 11, 2024
In this edition . . . . January Birthday Greetings Pastoral Concerns/Announcements Message from the General Presbyter John Molina-Moore From the Desk of Tara Spuhler McCabe, Dir. Of Congregational Dev. & Mission Letter from the Dismantling Racism Team of NCP Survey for sessions and clergy of NCP Dismantling Racism Training led by Service Never Sleeps February 6 & 7 – Zoom NCP’s Annual Continuing Ed and Gathering Retreat “Leading with Imagination: Flexing your Ordination Vows March 11-13, 2024 – Cambridge, Maryland NCP Presbyterian Women Prayer Gathering January 20 – Berwyn Presbyterian Church Harmony for Humanity Benefit Concert February 4 – Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church 2024 Inspiring Event – “the Chalk Guy” February 24 – Vienna Presbyterian Church
January Birthday Greetings
Denis Anderson
Mary Anne Collins-Stauffer
Hope Lee
Carol Barrett
MaryAnn McKibben Dana
Craig Meek
Anne Benefield, HR
Anne Ellestad
Charles Reinhold
Elizabeth Brookens-Sturman
Mark Harper
Young Chan Ro
Crawford Brubaker
Hilaire Henthorne
Blaine Smith, HR
Tim Cargal
Roy Howard, HR
Dewey Wallace, HR
Mary Boyd Click, HR
John Lee
David Williams
From the staff of National Capital Presbytery john, david, dina, heather, lajuan, tara and tempest
Pastoral Concerns: We lift the Rev. Adam Bowling, pastor, First United Dale City Pres. Church, and family in prayer. Adam’s father, Willam Sloan Bowling died on January 7, 2024. The Witness to the Resurrection and Service of Thanksgiving for the life of William Sloan Bowling, is Saturday, January 27, 2024, at King’s Grant Presbyterian Church, 745 Little Neck Rd, Virginia Beach, VA 23452 Announcements: National Capital Presbytery
and Vienna Presbyterian Church, Vienna, Va, invite you to the installation service of Rev. Connie Jordan-Haas on Sunday, January 21, 2024, at 3:00 p.m., at Vienna Presbyterian Church. Livestream link: https://livestream.com/accounts/10280716/events/3471138 and Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, Woodbridge, Va, invite you to the ordination/installation service of Samuel Sarpong on Saturday, February 10, 2024, at 1:00 p.m., at Ebenezer Presbyterian Church. Link to online service: https://www.youtube.com/live/Ph6LtRbjutc?si=VGEHe-b19FTpLC8K The Presbyterian Women of NCP invite all to their 2024 Prayer Gathering on Saturday January 20th 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. at Berwyn Presbyterian Church, 6301 Greenbelt Rd, Berwyn Heights, Maryland. There will be a light lunch to follow. The gathering will be broadcast via Facebook Livestream and a link will be emailed to all pre-registrants and available on Berwyn’s website. Register here: https://forms.gle/1z9FUeNfDskG9hmS7. The Gathering speaker will be Rev. Holly Ulmer on the topic of current interfaith issues facing campus life and campus ministry. The Wilhelmina and Stanley Jashemski Memorial Scholarship Fund - Wilhelmina and Stanley Jashemski, long-time members of Takoma Park Presbyterian Church, sponsored a Sunday school forum in which young adults could explore their faith in an intellectually challenging environment. Their shared commitment to encourage the development of people with potential for inspired, enlightened leadership is reflected in the goals and purposes of the Fund. The Stanley A. and Wilhelmina Jashemski Memorial Scholarship at Takoma Park Presbyterian Church provide financial assistance for students of outstanding intellectual ability as evidenced by prior academic performance, and significant religious commitment as evidenced by formal membership in a religious body, regular participation in its worship life, and active involvement in its service ministry. Information about the scholarship and the application can be found at https://www.takomaparkpc.org/jashemski-scholarship. Applications are due each year on February 15. For questions, please contact Jashemski@takomaparkpc.org SAVE THE DATE - NCP LEADERSHIP TRAINING – April 27, 2024
Confirmation Retreat - February 23-25 https://www.camphanover.org/confirmation-retreat/ Bring your confirmation class to Camp Hanover for a time of fellowship, fun, and faith at our Confirmation Retreat. Retreat leader Pastor Adam Bowling will guide participants in exploring the theme Imagine, based on Romans 12:9-21, during this exciting event.
January 11, 2024 Greetings People, The College Conference at Montreat has me PRAYING and PAYING a lot of attention in an Energetic, Intelligent, Imaginative, and LOVING NEW way! NCP did have a few congregations attending with their Young Adults Burke and Warner Memorial. The total conference had over 500 Young Adults attending from all over the country really! At the conference, Rev. Terri Ott and writer Cole Arthur Riley laid the steppingstones for all of us to be loved as we needed to have the energy for Necessary Risks with intelligence and imagination. We were of course prophetically loved and sent out from Rev. Theresa Cho as the preacher for three nights! How our faith grounds us as Risk-Takers was an impactful conversation through ecumenical relationships all the way into cross-cultural and dismantling discipleship. A particular topic on fear and loss was voiced by young adults attending in every small group conversation I was a part of over the three days: “session members and pastors are so afraid of losing members, so they won’t change or say what really needs to be said.” I then asked an imaginative question, “what could this conversation look like if fear and loss were not part of the equation? What would you actually want to see or do as your church?” Their energy shifted. Not completely excited though. Before, their energy was dullish. Then, after my question, their energy was cautious and intelligent! The young adults at this conference are majority ones who are already coming or would want to come to church. They are grateful to their parents and others for the faith. I call this “low hanging fruit”. This also means they are the ones I need to continue as (Presbyterian) leaders in our communities and churches. BUT they have low expectations of the current state of US and their churches. Can we rebuild their trust in us that we are working and risking for imaginative ministry? This topic is not new to any of us. Any generation in leadership has been in these kinds of moments and on the other side of the fence. BUT here we are NOW. Our ordination vows as ministers and elders invite us to lead with Energy, Intelligence, Imagination, and LOVE. I can think and feel that I am doing this all the time. But when doing imagination alone or by myself, nothing will change. The imagination needed will include necessary risks of holding tension, listening to odd or hard ideas, protecting the people who voice them, and centering around rituals of prayer and praise that gather us all together. One of our worship rituals was a song, Honey in the Rock by Brooke Fraser. Thank the Lord for Rev. Jasmine Evans and Chris Clay and the music ministry they provided for us. “There is honey in the rock, Water in the stone, Manna on the ground, No matter where I go, I don’t need to worry…” With our Energy, Intelligence, Imagination and Love we can lead and collaborate with the assurance there is honey in the rock. Young Adults already leading need us to FLEX into this truth for their churches! Come to the Con-Ed Event in March so we can live into this together! Peace and Courage, Rev. Tara Spuhler McCabe
January 10, 2023
Dear sessions and clergy of National Capital Presbytery, The peace of Christ be with you! I’m writing on behalf of NCP’s Dismantling Racism Team (DRT). We are conducting a survey of the sessions and clergy of all NCP congregations to help gauge where congregations are in their antiracism efforts and what assistance they may need to further advance racial justice and healing. Responses to this survey will inform how the DRT will seek to support congregations in the coming year, including fulfilling the new Book of Order requirement (G-3.0106) that all sessions adopt an antiracism policy. We appreciate that each congregation has its own unique context and makeup and invite each session and each clergy member on staff to respond to these questions as appropriate to your setting. We ask that each session and each clergy member submit their responses by January 30th. You can access the survey through this link: https://forms.office.com/r/a8KDi5ayg2 . If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me (patjackson@interwovencongregations.org or 301-658-4457), DRT co-chair Miriam Dewhurst (miriam.dewhurst@gmail.com or 571-228-9551) or NCP staff LaJuan Quander or Tara Spuhler McCabe. Thank you for your participation in this survey and the steps you are taking to promote racial justice and healing across our Presbytery. Peace,
Pat Jackson Rev. Pat Jackson Dismantling Racism Team Co-Chair
THE DISMANTLING RACISM TEAM OF NCP INVITE YOU TO
ALLY TRAIN INC 2024
.... NITY RECONC LIATIO"I JUSTICE
Dismantling Racism
TRAINING OPPORTUNITY (Training consists of TWO sessions. Your registration confirms you will attend both)
Tuesday, Feb. 6 & Wednesday, Feb. 7 (5:30 pm to 9:00 pm) via Zoom Open to CLERGY and members of NCP congregations, communities and friends
Register HERE
ADING WITH IMAGINATION: FLEXING YOUR ION VOWS
NCP'S ANNUAL CONTINUING ED GATHERING & RETREAT
Keynote Speaker: LAKISHA R. LOCKHART
e
Assistant Professor of Christian Education, Union Presbyterian Seminary
.• g·• -.i .•
National Capital Pr E vf
Lakisha R. Lockhart's research interests are in the areas of religious education; practical, liberation, and Womanist theologies; ethics and society; multiple intelligences; embodied faith and pedagogies; theological aesthetics' theopoetics; creativity, imagination, and play. Her teaching takes seriously the benefits and necessity of play, movement, aesthetics, creative arts, and embodiment. For Lockhart, the body is a locus for doing theology and theological reflection. Boston College, Ph.D. Vanderbilt University, M.A. Wesley Theological Seminary, M.Div. Claflin University, B.A. Cost: $350 per person (single occupancy) $225 per person (double occupancy) Register HERE (Registration closes on February 13, 2024)
NCP'S ANNUAL CONTINUING ED GATHERING & RETREAT lL@@©l�ITTI�
w��[}u IlITim@��ITi)@��@ITi)� ��@��ITi)� Y/@[ill[f (Q)[f@]�ITi)@��@ITi) W@w�
St,�Jtl/t�
Monday, March 11
4:00PM
Official Check-in (welcome to use facility prior to check-in)
6:30PM
Welcome Reception Heavy Hors d'oeuvres
8:00PM
Fireside Chats - Led by Staff
Tuesday, March 12 7:30AM
Morning Vespers
8:00AM
Breakfast Buffet
9:00-12:00PM Program w/Lakisha Lockhart 12:00PM
Lunch - Sponsored by the Board of Pensions
1:00-3:00PM
Free Time
3:30PM
Afternoon Snack
3:30-5:30PM
Program w/Lakisha Lockhart w/breakout rooms
6:30PM
Dinner - Sponsored by Presbyterian Foundation
8:00PM
Fireside Chats - Led by Staff
Wednesday, March 13 8:00AM
9:00AM
Breakfast (on your own)
Presbyterian Women National Capital Presbytery Prayer Gathering January 20, 2024 10 A M – followed by a light lunch At Berwyn Presbyterian Church 6301 Greenbelt Road, College Park, MD 20740
Speaker – Rev. Holly Ulmer Topic- Current Interfaith Issues Facing Campus Life and Campus Ministry Currently at Berwyn, past chaplain for University of Maryland To register use this link: http://tinyurl.com/92tbhusb Our Facebook page link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/861902675481189
FEB
Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church
1 Chevy Chase Cir, Washington, DC 20015
4
4:00
PM
Habitat for Humanity Metro Maryland is proud to host “Harmony for Humanity,” an interfaith concert at Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church. Special performances by Jeremy Winston Chorale International and Gesher Chorale from Congregation Beth El. For more information and sponsorship opportunities, please contact Tim Warner, Director of Faith Relations, at timothy.warner@habitatmm.org.
Free-will offerings welcome. Net proceeds raised will help support HFHMM’s Emory Grove project.
CLICK HERE OR SCAN QR CODE TO REGISTER
24 FEB
START AT 6PM
Vienna Presbyterian Church 124 Park St NE, Vienna Scan To Sign Up Vienna Presbyterian Church is hosting Ben Glenn and Youth Conference Ministries for an inspiring event. Come hear The Chalk Guy’s testimony and see his incredible art performance. You will also have an opportunity to partner with YCM by making a donation to support their mission to share the gospel with middle and high school students.