Friday, December 30, 2011

Next Meeting TUESDAY January 3!

Hi everyone - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  We are on to meet this Tuesday, January 3 2012!!!   Getting back on track, we'll be looking again at the gospel of John, focusing on Chapter 6, 22-71 - the first of several passages in John where Jesus is somewhat cryptic, but also offers some fresh ways of thinking about what it means to "believe" - Maybe not what we think.  (For some reflections on that Greek word for "believe" -- which we talked about early in the year, see a post on my blog from awhile back on this.

Meanwhile, here are some good photos of our Christmas party - plus you'll see I've included one of them as the new photo for the websit.  Enjoy!  And I hope to see you on Tuesday . (I'm making, I think, Jambalaya-- reminded by our scattergories game that that's good holiday fare!). 


Monday, December 19, 2011

Moving to Tuesdays for January -next meeting January 3.

Hi everyone --
With Monday holidays the first and third weeks in January I think the consensus is that we should move our gatherings to TUESDAY nights, at least for January - and we can figure out whether we want to stay with Tuesdays going forward.  So our next meetings will be JANUARY 3,  and JANUARY 17.

Hoping this will work for most of you and perhaps be good for some folks who haven't been able to make it on Mondays.

Watch this space for some photos of our Christmas party soon - it was really fun tonight -- my first experience of "Scattergories" -- and Christmas carols with banjo by Joe.  

Wishing you all a very Marry Christmas -- Kathy

Monday, December 12, 2011

Next meeting December 19, 2011 - Christmas Potluck and party

Hi Everyone
 Wow - this past week really sped by -- it was great to be with everyone last Monday.  I was really moved, actually, by the way that reading the story of the woman at the well as a "drama" brought the story to life.  And it felt to me as if the discussion led to some fresh insights about what an "encounter with Jesus" is all about in the Gospel of John.

We'll come back to the gospel of John at our meeting on January 2, but our NEXT meeting will be a Christmas potluck:  So far, here's who's bringingwhat;  Joe and Carolanne -main dish; Heidi - green bean casserole; Joel- bread; Cameron - fruit & cheese, Kathy -homemade Christmas cookies; Mary Beth - salad;  Ben - drinks.  If you didn't get to sign up just bring yourself and whatever you'd like to contribute in the way of food - or just bring yourself - and bring a friend.  Heidi will bring some games.  Joe & I will bring our guitars and I'll bring some carol books so we can do some Christmas singing -- perhaps with a bit of theological commentary on a couple of my favorites!

7:00 on Monday December 19 at the Johnsons -- come back if you haven't been in awhile; Come for the first time if you're new.  Feel free to be in touch with me at kathleen.staudt@gmail.com if you need directions to the Johnsons' home.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Our next meeting - December 5

Hi everyone --Hope everyone has had a great Thanksgiving!   Our next meeting is Monday December 5.  The Bible study part will focus on the gospel of John, Chapter 4,  the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. If you have a chance to look at this story ahead of time, pay attention to the "drama" of it -- who would you be, if you were in the story?  What about this woman - she's a pretty fully drawn character.  What does she find out about Jesus in the course of the conversation? What do we find out about him, watching him interact with her and the others in the story?  I'm looking forward to our convesration about this chapter -- as well as our conversations over dinner- - and hope we'll be welcoming back some of you who haven't been able to come in awhile!


Meanwhile - 3 other things to think about looking ahead

1. December 19 we said we'd have a Christmas potluck, maybe with some carol-singing and other party activities for the season.  Do plan on coming, bringing food and friends to this evening.

2.  Some of you are already signed up to help out at the Hypothermia shelter at Fairfax UMC January 29-February 1.  We'll share more information about this at dinner Monday night but you can check out he signup sheet atwww.signupgenius.com/go/fairfax8 and enter the password Winter. They also have info about needs for monetary donations, gift cards etc.   Let's think about working some of this into the "gift-giving" part of our Christmas party. 

3.  SAVE THE DATE:  We're hoping to have a retreat at Lost River Retreat Center May 11-13, 2012.  Plans are still evolving but it's important to make sure people can come -- so do mark your calendars now!


See you Monday night, I hope!