Meeting September 1: Beginning Deuteronomy -- and new leadership!

Hi everyone - a note from Kathy

I'm looking forward to getting back with you all on September 1 to begin our fall study of the book of Deuteronomy -- I'll be posting more soon, but we'll be looking at this challenging and controversial book of the Bible primarily by asking the quesiton:  "What does it mean to be the people of God" and "How does this affect the way we live?"

I know the group has already been meeting all summer for a study of the book of James, under Joel's able leadership -- I've added his email to this website as the primary leader of the group. I'll be showing up once a month in the fall term because I really want to be part of this discussion of Deuteronomy, but after December Joel will be taking on the leadership of this group, which seems to be going strong already under his able leadership!

Watch this space (and perhaps a link to my blog) for more about September 1 - when we'll be meeting as usual at Rodman House at 7:00.  I look forward to seeing you all then -- KATHY

Some photos of the Empower the Homeless Walk - Meeting June 16, and plans for the Summer!

Jamila (with Kaya), Tyler, David & Micah, Joel 

Hi everyone - belatedly posting some photos from our participation in the Walk for the Homeless sponsored by Samaritan Ministry of Greater Washington last month.

The group is continuing to meet through the summer -- next meeting is Tuesday June 16, and then first and third Tuesdays in July and August.

Also mark your calendars for our Summer Potluck on June 30 - at Rodman House, where we'll be able to grill out, enjoy the patio and the light of a long summer evening (let's hope for good weather!)   Think about what you want to bring for the celebration of this past year together!

Topics for the summer will be determined by the group but people do want to keep on meeting and exploring the issues we've been talking about around Isaiah and the New Testament - and perhaps dipping into the study of Deuteronomy as background to the gospel of Matthew, two books of the Bible that  will be our focus during the program year 2015-16, starting in September.

Tyler, David and Micah

Kathy and Jamila

Walking to Empower the Homeless on May 30!

Some of us are participating in the Walk for the Homeless in Northern Virginia in support of the "Empower the Homeless" campaign at Samaritan Ministry of Greater Washington.  Info on the successful walk in DC earlier this month can be found here.  Here is the info for those of us who are walking - please join us even if you haven't said you're coming!

 

a.     ARRIVAL/TRANSPORTATION.  We gather at St. George’s Episcopal Church, 915 North Oakland St., Arlington @ 9 a.m. to launch our walk to St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 2609 North Glebe Rd., Arlington where we will land.  Coffee ‘n donuts or the like are available @ St. George’s – thank you St. George’s!  St. George’s is METRO accessible:  Virginia Square stop is the closest.  Encourage folks to car pool or take METRO.  Various Good Samaritan’s will be on hand to shuttle you back to St. George’s at the end of the walk (including but not limited to St. Mary’s van – thank you St. Mary’s!)   Staff and Organizers will be there by 8:30 for you early birds!      

b.     REGISTRATION & CONTRIBUTIONS.  No one has to pay to walk, though we encourage a contribution to Samaritan Ministry and want to register everyone we can.  If you contribute at least $50 you will receive a t-shirt!  Folks can register in advance off our website at www.samaritanministry.org or in person @ St. George’s.          

c.      PRAY for a good turnout and PLEASE,        

-        Forward the flyer attached or the e-blast that we sent last week (and will send again tonight) to your own networks . . . the more the merrier.  

-        Ensure that news of Saturday’s walk runs in your parish e-blast if one is going out today!  

-        As we have encouraged before, if your parish works with folks who include our homeless neighbors please encourage them to join us!   

d.     SIGNS and BANNERS!  Walking is great, but how effective will we be if we are not noticed?          

So, as we have encouraged before please make signs such as “Honk for the Homeless!” (as some of our more youthful citizens have coined) or “End Homelessness NOW!” Or “Housing FIRST!!” or whatever you think . . . and make them big.  Also, bring your church’s banner to process. 

e.     WALKING RAIN or SHINE!   After all, we’re walking for our homeless neighbors, who have to cope with the weather whatever it is . . . if it is a downpour we will gather inside the host church building, though the forecast is good.         

f.       BRING A WATER BOTTLE!  It is going to be hot, though we will not be walking in the worst heat of the day.

g.      BATHROOMS will be available at both St. George’s and St. Mary’s. 

h.     CALLING ALL SONG LEADERS!  If you have good recall of marching and/or protest songs, please make yourselves known!  I have some, but really need some help . . .   

    

We are grateful for whoever comes and for prayers from those who cannot.  True to the rich, regional nature of our Partnership, this walk is for all our partners – and I am aware of people and parishes from Maryland and the District already committed to crossing the Potomac Ocean for the Arlington Walk . . . thanks be to God.   

Any questions in advance of the walk, please contact me, David Wolf at dwolf@samaritanministry.org or 201-693-1764 © or our Development Director, Don McCrabb, dmccrabb@samaritanministry.org or 202-669-4997 ©.      

May we empower our homeless neighbors!  David+

Meeting Tuesday May 5 -- Isaiah 59

Hi everyone - I'm late posting but hoping you've all got it in mind to show up tomorrow for Bible study. Our focus will be Isaiah 59 -- and hope we can get into just what we do with these passages in the Bible that seem to be about judgement but also, wierdly, about mercy -- - what's the relationship between judgement and justice (this coming off of Isaiah 58, which we looked at awhile back (see post here).   How do issues about "who's an insider and who's an outsider" continue to haunt the people of God today?   What do these passages have to say to us if we want to be authentically faithful in our time?
If we have time, we may also look at where this passage gets quoted in the New Testament especially Romans 3 and 11 and Ephesians 6

Our Next Meeting April 21 7-9: Recap of themes in Isaiah so far - and onward

"Jesse Tree" icon

Hi Everyone

Welcome to spring, at last!  I'm looking forward to seeing you all at our meeting this Tuesday evening, 7-9 at Rodman House, on the campus of Holy Comforter Episcopal Church.  I'm told our meeting space is now back in order so it should be comfortable again.

We will be welcoming Austin Almaguer, the pastor of Vienna Baptist, and his wife Allison, as guests - and also I hope a newcomer, Sammy Dhaliwal, who found us online and is (I hope - Sammy?) planning to come.   I'll bring our usual light refreshments, and plan on doing a bit of "where have we been and where are we now?"  around our ongoing study of the book of Isaiah and where it turns up in the New Testament. This will help as we turn our attention to the last part of the Book of Isaiah, which reflects among other things about what it means to be the "people of God" -- and we'll see what New Testament writers have made of parts of this. This will be a kind of "re-entry" into our focus on Isaiah after last time's slight but appropriate  detour into Easter themes and the Road to Emmaus story.  We may also encounter some more Easter themes as we look back and forth between Old Testament and new - you never know! 

Hoping to see most of you on Tuesday! 

KATHY

Happy Easter - and meeting April 7

Alleluia! Christ is Risen! Greetings to all. 

 Just a reminder to all that the Young Adults group is  meeting tomorrow -- we will be back in Rodman House, though may need to meet on the upper floor as they say they haven't quite gotten around to moving the furniture back where it was downstairs -- I said we could help with that and they said that would be great if we can though the furniture is pretty heavy - but if you can help with that, great! 

We will be looking at the story of Jesus and the disciples on the Road to Emmaus and also some parts of Isaiah we've looked at before , Isaiah 49, and especially 13-20.   The story of how the risen Christ "opened their eyes to understand the Scriptures" seems especially relevant to our study of Isaiah and we can plan on taking seriously, this time, the idea of how these texts we have been reading were understood as prophecies of Jesus' death and resurrection and what they say to us today.  Also Isaiah 49:8 and 2 Corinthians 6:2 "Now is the acceptable time. Now is the day of our salvation!"  We'll focus this time on how it all comes together in the New Testament Easter stories.

Next Meeting: Tuesday March 3, 7-9 : Isaiah 58

Here's part of the text from Isaiah, Chapter 58 that we'll be looking at this week, and relating it to some of the sayings of Jesus in Matthew 25.   It comes up just as we're being given an opportunity to participate in a service project, so it should be an appropriate time an way to study and pray with this chapter.  We have also been invited to join members of Holy Comforter in collecting groceries for families in need in the Fairfax area through an organization called "Our Daily Bread." Most needed items include:

Canned fruits, Juice/juice boxes, Pasta sauce (plastic jars or cans), Rice, Dinner kits, Macaroni and cheese

Crackers/cookies, Toilet paper, Shampoo/conditioner, Toothpaste, Coffee/tea.

Please do some shopping and bring what you can Tuesday night.  There are also opportunities to help with packing and delivering food to families this weekend. Let me know if you're interested-  and we'll have more info on Tuesday.

Hope to see many of you at our gathering this Tuesday evening! 

. . . . . . 

Pancakes for Mardi Gras! -Tuesday Feb 17, 7:30 at IHOP

So the consensus seems to be that the group will meet for pancakes at IHOP, on Blake Lane in Fairfax --     At 7:30 Tuesday evening, February 17.

Why pancakes?  Why "Shrove Tuesday?" As we discussed last time, this is an old custom in northern European Christian churches, especially (the southern celebration being "Mardi Gras" or "Fat Tuesday") -- the old custom was that during Lent  people would fast from meat, fat, eggs and dairy products -- so the night before Ash Wednesday, when Lent began,  was a time to have a great feast to use up all those ingredients that would not be consumed during Lent.  Hence pancake suppers on Shrove Tuesday. (It's called Shrove Tuesday after the word "shrive/shriven" -- meaning to be given forgiveness and absolution from one's sins, referring to the Catholic custom of making a confession the day before Lent begins in preparation for the season of penitence.  

Meeting this Tuesday February 3 7-9PM

Hi everyone - hoping to see many of you  this Tuesday evening, 7-9 as usual, for light refreshments, Bible study, prayer, and good time together.   At Rodman House on the grounds of Holy Comforter Episcopal Church (see earlier post for directions in case you've forgotten).  We'll be continuing our study of conversations between the book of Isaiah and the New Testament, looking at what's known as the "First Servant Song" in Isaiah 42 and where that takes us (I like to read all of Isaiah 42-43 for context  and recommend this if you have time to read ahead a little!)  We'll see what this passage has to say to us, both about the experience of Israel as the "people of God," trying to work out what that meant after a time of great struggle,  and also what it has to say to us as Christians 

For the New Year - continuing with Isaiah, the gospels, and the "servant songs"

Hi again everyone.  We had a great experience visiting with the participants in the FACETS hypothermia shelter at Holy Comforter last time (if you look closely at the photo you'll see Tyler & David working with some of the youth from Holy Comforter, helping to serve.  

1/20/15  Isaiah’s “light to the Gentiles” and Christian interpretation (celebration of Epiphany and the coming of the Wise Men)

2/3  Isaiah 42:  1^st “servant song” and shifting understandings of what it means to be “God’s people”

2/17:  Shrove Tuesday/ “Mardi Gras” – Social event TBA????

3/3  The “servant songs” in Isaiah 52-55– how NT writers understood these in telling the story of Jesus.  Isaiah. We’ll be working through these, and New Testament parallels, throughout the season of Lent

3/17:  Servant songs 

4/7  Isaiah 55 and God’s promises

4/21  The end of Isaiah, reflected in the book of Acts and in Revelation.  New understandings of who God wants to be for God’s people

In May and early June could shift focus to a bigger theme, e.g. what does it mean to be “God’s people?” looking at key passages in Old and New Testament – or we may find we have more to say about Isaiah. 

After a summer break,  for fall of 2015 I’m thinking maybe a New Testament focus again – maybe a thematic approach:  the parables?  The miracles?  Think about it. . .

Happy New Year! Meeting this Tuesday January 6 - FACETS hypothermia shelter at Holy Comforter

Hi everyone - as we agreed, we will be spending this week's meeting with the homeless folks who are sheltering this week at Holy Comforter as part of the FACETS hypothermia shelter program. (Read more about it here  and here.

Tuesday is the feast of the "Epiphany" -- celebrating the coming of the Wise Men to see the child who is born to be King.  We will talk perhaps this time, definitely next time, about how this story of the kings coming to visit the newborn Christ child is connected to prophecies in Isaiah.  This week we'll look at the story if we have a chance.

But it will be, mainly, an evening to improvise and welcome new people and experiences. Here's how it will go:

We will gather for dinner at 6:30 in the main parish hall building at Holy Comforter -- i.e. NOT at our usual meeting place in Rodman House.  I've signed us up to eat with the guests.  There will be a service to celebrate the feast of Epiphany from 7:30-8:30  in the church, and we may want to plan on attending it with the guests. If there's time afterward, I will come prepared to lead an informal Bible study that guests can also participate in with us in case that looks like a good idea.  Mostly, though, this will be a chance to offer hospitality and join in a good ministry to folks who need shelter and good company while they're going through a rough time.

Please confirm with me if you can whether you're planning to come so I can make sure I've given them about the right numbers for dinner -- come any time between 4 and 8:30 to join in our part of the "shift" if you want.

Looking forward to a special experience.  Hope to see you all on Tuesday night!

Next Meeting Tuesday December 2, 7-9 -- the voicein the wilderness and the root of Jesse

Hi everyone  - I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.
I'm Looking forward to seeing you all Tuesday night for our next meeting.  We'll be looking at two New Testament images that come from Isaiah -- the "voice crying in the Wilderness,"  in Isaiah 40, which New Testament writers understood to be fulfilled in John the Baptist, and the shoot that comes out from the "root" or "stump" of Jesse -- a prophecy in Isaiah 11 that Paul interprets as bringing hope to "all the nations".  So we'll be dipping into all 4 gospels (they all have John the Baptist at the beginning of the story) , Isaiah, and perhaps even Romans 15, in our ongoing adventure of  looking at this conversation between Old Testament and New Testament.

See you Tuesday!

Rabbi Ita Paskind coming on November 4

Hi everyone -- Just want you to remember that we have a special guest on Tuesday November 4, Rabbi Ita Paskind of Congregation Olam Tikvahl.  Isaiah is a big book but Rabbi Ita has agreed to share with us some insights on how the Jewish tradition understands the prophecies and themes in Isaiah that we've been talking about.  It is always a great treat to have her with us so if you're coming for the first time or have been coming and want to bring a friend this would be a good time!  Looking forward to seeing everyone on November 4!

Next meeting Tuesday October 21, 7-9

Hi all - just a reminder that the group is meeting this Tuesday October 21 (first and third Tuesdays and going forward). Ginny is leading and Joel will be taking care of food this week so please come and bring yourselves for good discussion, fellowship and prayer.  - I am traveling, but will look forward to seeing you all next time.  As usual we will be meeting at Rodman House - see post and directions here

 ALSO remember  Registration  is now open for our  retreat  at the  Lost River . Cost is $ 149 per person for the weekend, Including 2 nights and all meals - not a bad deal, but I know it may still be a stretch for some of you. However, the folks at the VBC has told me to make sure that no one is deterred by finances - there is a scholarship fund available so please  register  if you'd like to come and than let me know how much you'll need from the scholarship fund . I'l bleading the  retreat , possibly with a co-leader-- I'm playing with and the topic is "What it means to live in hope."   

Registration  link is here:  https://secure.accessacs.com/ access/eventlogin.aspx?id= 4k0HaVoFucs9sddMjF+UxA==&site= 90698&ReturnUrl=events%2fwz_ people.aspx&ChurchID=5612& EventID=72547&sn=90698 

Please excuse any wierdness in this post as my computer seems to want to translate it into Turkish and then back into English. Anyway I am having an amazing time in Istanbul and am looking forward to seeing you all on November 4 when Rabbi Ita will be with us to talk about interpreting Isaiah.  

Looking forward to hearing how this week goes, and to hearing all about it next time.  

KATHY

Next Meeting Tuesday October 7

Hi everyone - looking forward to seeing you this Tuesday, October 7 -- now we're on track for first and third Tuesdays going forward. We will be looking this week at the predictions in Isaiah of the birth of a child who will be the Messiah and Redeemer -- how those predictions were understood in Isaiah's time and how they inform the stories of Jesus' birth in Matthew 1 and in Luke 1 and 2.  The Isaiah texts we'll be focusing on are in Chapters 7 and 9 of Isaiah, where the prophet is dealing with a time in Israel's history when everything seems to be falling apart and no one knows what is going to happen.  So there are words of assurance in Isaiah 9 which begins, famously, "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. . . . "  Let's look together at these classic texts from Scripture and see what they have had to say to people then and now - and what they have to say to us.

If you're new, you can find directions to Rodman House, our meeting place, here  -- or just by scrolling back through a couple of posts on this blog.  Feel free to be in touch with me if you have any questions!  Looking forward to seeing everyone at 7 on Tuesday night.

Next Meeting Tuesday September 23 at Rodman House

Hi everyone - I'm looking forward to seeing you all this Tuesday 9/23, 7-9 

This week we'll be looking at Isaiah, chapter 6, the vision and call of Isaiah and the message he's told to carry which can be challenging. This is the passage referred to in all 4 gospels and Acts so we're going to have to wrestle with it a bit.  

Light refreshments will be available for all our meetings and you can feel free to bring something that you'd like to eat or share, as you wish - but there will always be food to start our meetings.  We gather at 7 for food & conversation, then move to Bible study and close with prayer, on our way by 9. Looking forward to seeing you on Tuesday.  

Our meetings this year are at Rodman House, on the campus of Holy Comforter Episcopal Church, it's easy to miss because it just looks like a house along Beulah Road though it is on the campus of Holy Comforter. It is right opposite MacArthur Rd. - right before you get to the driveway into Holy Comforter if you're coming from Chain Bridge Rd.  If you're using a GPS you can put in 543 Beulah Rd. SE but know that the house is right on Beulah Rd (not back by the church).  There's a photo of the house with a previous post here.

1st Day on Isaiah - "They shall beat their swords into plowshares" -Next Meeting Sept 23

(Please read this whole post as it contains retreat info in the next para)
I really enjoyed our first meeting - great to see those gathered again, and hope to see the rest of you next time!   We talked about the many ways to read the Bible as "Scripture" - i.e. as a word from God, and how that sometimes takes us to places we hadn't expected.  I do hope that as we continue this study of the conversation between the book of Isaiah and the New Testament, you will keep in mind 2 of my favorite passages:  Isaiah 2 (illustrated by this photo of the statue at the UN of a man "beating a sword into a plowshare), and Isaiah 40 -- a poem of comfort for people returning from a long exile.   There are a lot of dark places in the books of the prophets, especially in the first part of Isaiah, but there are also these poems of promise, which are always important to keep in mind as we read.

Our next meeting will be at Rodman House on the campus of Holy Comforter Episcopal Church on September 23 (see previous post with a photo of the house so you don't get lost). Feel free to be in touch in the meantime!

ALSO remember Registration is now open for our retreat at Lost River.  Cost is $149 per person for the weekend, including 2 nights and all meals -- not a bad deal, but I know it may still be a stretch for some of you.   However, folks at VBC have told me to make sure that NO ONE is deterred by finances - there is a scholarship fund available so please register if you'd like to come and then let me know how much you'll need from the scholarship fund.   I'l be leading the retreat, possibly with a co-leader-- and the topic I'm playing with is "What it means to live in hope".   

Registration link is here:  https://secure.accessacs.com/access/eventlogin.aspx?id=4k0HaVoFucs9sddMjF+UxA==&site=90698&ReturnUrl=events%2fwz_people.aspx&ChurchID=5612&EventID=72547&sn=90698

Rodman House - our new meeting place

Hi again everyone.

Here's a photo of Rodman House - our meeting place starting September 9.  As you can see it's easy to miss because it just looks like a house along Beulah Road though it is on the campus of Holy Comforter. It is right opposite MacArthur Rd. - right before you get to the driveway into Holy Comforter if you're coming from Chain Bridge Rd.  Probably you'll be able to find it on GPS using - it's right next to 543 Beulah Rd. SE Vienna, on the grounds of Holy Comforter Episcopal Church --  but just wanted you to know what it looks like.  We'll be meeting on the lower level - you can go down the driveway next to the house and park there.

If you're new and need more in the way of directions/info about the group, please feel free to email me at kathleen.staudt@gmail.com   I'd love to hear from you!   I'm also on facebook.

See previous post for a little about what's ahead in our study of Isaiah.

Also SAVE THE DATE: November 14-16 for our retreat at Lost River retreat center in West VA.  More info about this at our first two meetings!

Countdown to our first meeting September 9 - Rodman House at Holy Comforter Episcopal Church.

Hi everyone
I'm really starting to look forward to seeing everyone when we gather again on September 9 to pick up another season of Bible Study.   We will be meeting at "Rodman House," a house on the campus of Holy Comforter Episcopal Church,  543 Beulah Rd., Vienna.  More on this soon.

As agreed, this year's topic will be the book of Isaiah, focusing mainly on passages that appear in the New Testament.  I'm finding that as I remembered, this book of the Bible in some ways tells the "core story" of the whole Bible, coming out of the way that the people of Israel understood God's action when they found their temple destroyed and a large part of the population exiled into Babylon in the sixth century BCE.  It contains some of the most beautiful poetry about the mercy of God in the whole Bible, especially in the later chapters that celebrate the return of the people to Jerusalem,  where they came to understand in a new way their identity and role in the world.   I'm hoping that by looking closely at some of these passages in Isaiah we'll find some new insights into what it means to think of ourselves as the "people of God" in any era, and how that deepens and challenges our sense of identity and our opennesss to hope and to growth in the spiritual life.

 I found a handy list of quotations from Isaiah in the New Testament at this website: http://www.simplybible.com.au/f591.htm   -  a good guide to some of the passages we'll be talking about. I'm also hoping to be able to invite a rabbi and perhaps other readers of Isaiah to talk to us about all this over the course of the year.  Lots of questions. Lots to learn.

We will be meeting SEPTEMBER 9,  SEPTEMBER 23, and then, beginning OCTOBER 7, we'll meet on the first and third Tuesdays of each month. We start at 7PM with food and conversation, followed by Bible Study and ending by 9 with shared prayers.

Also please save the date for our fall retreat, November 14-16 at Lost River retreat center.  I'll be sharing some further info about that at our first meeting!

Looking forward to seeing everyone on September 9!

KATHY

Summer Plans and looking ahead

Hi everyone

We had our last "official" study meeting of the spring last week, and people seemed to like Rodman House, so I'll be working with folks at Holy Comforter to see if we can make that our venue in the fall.  We agreed that beginning in September we will meet on TUESDAY nights -- In September it will be the second and fourth Tuesdays, so September 9 and 23, and then going to first and third Tuesdays starting in October to avoid the holidays - so October 7 and 21, November 4 and 18, December 1 and 15.  We will be looking at passages from the prophets, especially the book of Isaiah, that also turn up in the New Testament, using that as a way in to this important and interesting tradition in Hebrew Scripture.

To start out summer plans:  You are all invited to my house for a cookout on June 28, starting at 5 PM.  I will email directions soon and if you don't get them please feel free to email me to ask.

We also have other ideas in the works for get togethers over the summer- peach-picking, rafting, getting together for dinner out at local restaurants. Watch for emails and feel free to propose something -- everyone seems to be up for staying in touch in fun ways over the summer, with a break from study but continuing to have time together.