June 2006
Happenings
A publication of Emmaus United Church of Christ,
Vienna, Virginia
Perhaps a good summer theme
for each of us is to “ponder our well-being”. God creates us so that we may
ripen as the best possible and tangible expression of the Divine Love that is
at our core.
Here are some questions for
you to experience over these summer months:
-- How do you feed your soul?
--What nourishes you? What sustains you?
--What hinders you from ripening?
--What is the practice that grounds you with a sense of God?
--How does that practice relate to your
everyday hopes and fears?
Emmaus is a good space to
explore these questions for the journey. This summer, in addition to worship, I
encourage you to experience Prayer
Space/Spiritual Renewal, now meeting twice monthly and OASIS, a weekly
gathering around the upcoming sermon text.
I pray for your well being
in body, mind and spirit this summer. Be filled with Joy!
Blessing
and Peace,
Rev. Bill
All Sunday Services
begin at 10:30 a.m.
6/74 “Accent
on the Wrong Syllable: Part One”
Holy
Communion
6/11 “Accent
on the Wrong Syllable: Part Two”
6/18 Youth Sunday
Father’s Day
6/25 Mary
Barrino Smith Preaching
Volunteer sextons fill a
little noticed but important role in the operation of Emmaus. They perform their duties for a two-week
period about twice a year. Mainly they
check on the status of the consumables and ensure that there are sufficient
supplies on hand for the custodian and people to use. They also check on cleanliness and look for maintenance
problems. This usually involves an
hour or two a week during their duty period.
We need three or four
additional people to fill out the roster so that volunteer sextons only work
twice a year. We will be having a
training class for both new and old volunteer sextons later this year. Please contact Lynn Higgs if you are interested
in helping.
Christian
Education Notes
Thank you to all of the teachers, children, and parents who
helped to make Children’s Day so wonderful.
Special thanks go to Nancy Osbourne for directing the musical.
Our regular Sunday school classes have resumed. We
studied the Early Church this past month and in June we will be studying The
Kingdom Parables. Our regular Sunday
School will conclude on June 18th and we will begin our Summer
Sunday School program on June 25th.
Look for sign up sheets in the Narthex to help out with the Summer
Sunday School program.
The Christian Education Board is busy planning a teacher
appreciation luncheon. Following the
service on the 11th of June, we invite everyone who has served as a
teacher in the Sunday school program over the past year to join us for a
luncheon.
Thank you to the Senior
High group for the carwash that they held in May. It was a big
success. They raised $583, which they will donate to the Hunter
School. On the June 4, we will recognize our graduating senior high
students during the regular church service. The Senior High group is also
busy preparing for Youth Sunday, which will be held on the June 18.
The Bagels Playgroup will
meet during the month of June on Wednesday the 14th at 1:30 in the
afternoon and Thursday the 29th at 9:30 in the morning. If you are interested in adding your name to
the e-mail reminder list for the bagels playgroup, please see Julie Holec.
Doug Norell’s series on the Abrahamic faiths finished up in May. Thank you to Doug for providing us with this
learning opportunity.
Reverend Bill has once
again started up the OASIS Group. They
meet every Tuesday night at 7:30 in the parlor to discuss the upcoming sermon
text.
Christian Education
Health and Wellness Corner
Blood Donor Contributions
Because of the changes
regarding notification of blood donor sites through Inova Blood Donor Services,
I do hope that those of you that have been contributing your precious blood for
the past many years are remembering to check www.inova.org/donateblood for
designated dates of contributing sites.
Donor recognition dinners
are given every year for those who have reached significant goals during the
year or years they have been contributing blood. Some of our own Emmaus members have been recognized through the
years, and this time was no exception. Tony
Clark was honored at Inova’s Spring Recognition Dinner on April 11 for
the three gallons he has contributed during his blood donor “career.” Think of the number of people who have
benefited from his contributions and multiply that by the couple hundred donors
that were being recognized that night.
What a wonderful feeling!
If any of you who are not
yet contributors would like information as to how to get involved, please call
or e-mail me.
Women's Red Tent Group
The group will be meeting
again on Sunday, July 9, at 7 p.m. at Sue Clark’s home to discuss the book Waiting for Snow in Havana by
Carlos Eire. Ruthie Moe and Sharon
Lynn will be co-facilitators. We
welcome newcomers to the group for a fun evening of refreshments and lively
discussion of an always-stimulating book. For any new folks that would like to
join us, please call or e-mail me and I will add you to my electronic mailing
list.
Marsha Komandt
Health and Wellness
Coordinator
Memories of Emmaus
The following is the
text of Britt Weaver’s comments at the celebration of Emmaus’ fortieth
anniversary.
My
firstborn, Kristin, was married on April 29, just a few weeks ago, in this
church. A cousin of mine from Norway remarked how special it was that the
wedding took place here. She knew that Emmaus has been like manna to my family
and me.
Now let’s reel back time 40 years. My father, Austin Goodrich, heard of a church starting in
McLean; he signed on as a charter member of Emmaus. I was 12 and Emmaus at the
time was housed temporarily at St. Thomas Episcopal on Lewinsville Rd. in
McLean. Attending a church was a new
experience for me. I felt the pull right away the first time I stepped into the
sanctuary. On some level I knew this worshipping together was something
altogether greater than anything else I had experienced and held a gift
infinitely special.
Knowing
that meant a lot to a confused, scared, shy 12-year-old girl. I’d already lived
in five countries by the time we found Emmaus. I felt drawn to the mystery of
God, and I knew this church would be important in my life.
But
I didn’t have any inkling then, how great, how deep, and how amazing this
covenant community would be over the next 40 years. I didn’t know then that a few years later I would be one of a
half dozen confirmands, the first group to undergo this beautiful rite of
passage into a life graced by the Holy Spirit. I didn’t know that ten years later I would join my life with
Gary’s, in what is now the fellowship hall.
Little did I know, much less imagine, that we would have two daughters
and they would be baptized into the Emmaus family, too. How could I have
anticipated the great honor of acting as the Holy Family for the White Gift
service in 1979? I’ll never forget the loving gazes of Emmaus sisters and
brothers as they came up to lay their gifts at our feet!
The
little 12 yr. old that I was in 1966 didn’t have any inkling what fun and
adventure she was in for, either. For
many years, Emmaus held a Columbus Day Weekend Family Overnight at Prince
William Forest Park, an event I rarely missed unless I was out of the country.
The first time our family went, Susan Dahlstrom and I got lost in the
woods. It was like déjà vu when
daughter Kristin and Vesla experienced the same nightmare some 20 years later.
Bob Swensson found them and brought them back to camp, crying but safe.
Some
folks here will recall other good times we had in the ‘80s and ‘90s –
Could
I have known all those decades ago that daughter Vesla, now 26, would join
Emmaus as a confirmand just like I had, and be active in the Senior High youth
group? Now she is finishing her
doctoral thesis, an in-depth study of
justice
as it relates to Americans of color. I know now that Emmaus has everything to
do with her passion for truth and justice.
Could I have known as a girl what unbelievable support our family would
receive from our Emmaus community when Gary had a heart attack? Or all the
support we received when my mother died? I shall never forget her memorial
service.
My
father’s greatest gift to me was joining Emmaus. The love, fellowship, lessons,
and growth that were inconceivable to me as a sixth-grader have been mine to
know in Emmaus. May God’s grace be with Emmaus always!
With
this issue, Happenings goes on its traditional summer hiatus. Please send your contributions for the first
fall issues to Carmen Sanchez.