Next Meeting February 7 - Meanwhile - some information about service, food, and sheep -

Hi all -- it was great to have so many people there last time -- 10 young adults around the table.  And I really enjoyed our conversation looking at the 4 different versions of the Feeding the 5000 story -- some great insights and good sharing -- please continue to hold your "prayer-partner" in prayer 'til next time.  And welcome to anyone checking this site for the first time. If you'd like to join us and need directions, please contact me at kathleen.staudt@gmail.com.

A reminder that a number of people in this group are also participating in the ministry to City Gate, a ministry to children and families in Southeast DC.  (see photo featured here)   Volunteers meet at Vienna Baptist one Saturday a month to carpool downtown - leave at 10, back by1:00.  The next time will be February 18.  Also volunteer slots are still available for next week's work at the hypothermia shelter sponsored by FACETS, the week of January 29.  Contact Ben Wagener for information about both opportunities for service.  He's at bwagener@vbc-va.org

Next time we'll be continuing our conversation about the various "I am" statements by Jesus in the gospel of John -- last time it was "I am the bread of life."  Next time "I am the good shepherd."  I think we've learned a lot by unpacking some of this familiar language together so I'm looking forward to this.  In the commentary some of you have (and I have more copies), it's chapter 6, on John 10: 1-18.  (This part of the gospel of John contains what may be my favorite single sentence from the gospels.  See if you can guess which line it is! )

Notice that we'll be meeting on Tuesdays in February, and then shifting back to Mondays in March.  Here are the dates, with info on who is cooking when:

TUESDAY 2/7: Kathy

TUESDAY 2/21:(mardi gras/shrove Tuesday --  Pancake supper-- Heidi and Kunal will bring griddle and batter: everyone bring a favorite topping or accompaniment for pancakes.

MONDAY March 5:  [Kathy]

MONDAY March 19:  Natalie

MONDAY April 2:  Cameron

MONDAY April 16:  Mary Beth

MONDAY May 7:  Joe and Carolanne and Eva

WEEKEND OF MAY 11-13: RETREAT at Lost River

MONDAY May 21:  Joel

There's always room for other cooks to sign up with those who have already picked a date. 

Next Meeting this Tuesday January 17

Hi everyone

Just to remind you that we meet this Tuesday, January 17. Carolanne and Joe are cooking. Please be thinking about when you can cook as I think we're at the end of the signup list.  And also whether continuing on Tuesdays seems like a good idea for spring.

We got so involved in the "Bread of Life" conversation that we never got to the Feeding of the 5000 so we'll go back to that, at the beginning of John 6, this week - and maybe also compare it to the telling of the same story in the other gospels. If you remember, bring your own Bible, whatever translation you like best.   We also will have some available.

See you Tuesday!
KATHY

TUESDAY January 3 -- Feeding the Five Thousand, the Bread of Life etc.

Hi again all, and Happy New Year! - just a look ahead to our meeting this Tuesday January 3.  We'll be looking at much of Chapter 6 of the Gospel of John -- as much as we get through with our usual questioning mode.  In particular I thought it would be interesting to pay attention to the way John tells the story of the feeding of the 5000 -- how it's different from other versions of the story in the other gospels and what that tells us about who Jesus is in this gospel, and what that might mean for us.  That is probably enough to keep us busy for one evening's discussion - or maybe more.

Also let's talk in a preliminary way this week about plans for a retreat in May -- we've been talking about SAVING THE DATE of May 11-13 for a weekend away.   And watch this space for more info.

See you Tuesday!
KATHY

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!). 

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

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.

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!