Happenings || Emmaus United Church of Christ

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Happenings, January 2007

A Message from Reverend Bill

Dear Friends,

What will you do with this New Year? Perhaps the deeper question is what will God do with you? How can your “one wild and precious life” be consecrated in ever deeper, more loving ways to the One who creates and sustains you?

I believe that the will of God—so often disparaged as a remnant of a harsher theological tone—is congruent with our deepest desires, visions, intentions and resolutions. The sacrifices, the pains, the choices we experience as we become more aware of our unique purpose in life are a natural part of the process. Rather than avoiding what might be stretching and uncomfortable, we might plunge into this process, catalyzed and blessed by the Divine.

Can 2007 be a time of intimacy with God and a discovery of a peace beyond what we could ever ask or imagine?

May the Beauty, Joy and Love of God follow you and yours all the days of this New Year.

Worship Schedule

1/7: "The Prince's Rose," Holy Communion
1/14: "A Truer Truth: Part One"
1/21: "A Truer Truth: Part Two," 2007 ANNUAL MEETING
1/28: Guest Preacher

Board of Deacons

As this article goes to press, the 40 th Anniversary year draws to a close with another joyous Advent season. The Deacons had a great time hosting the Emmaus Christmas potluck supper, which drew a sizeable crowd. The culinary contributions were delicious, varied and, as always, reflected the diversity of our congregation, from barbeque to Asian noodles. The evening’s highlight was, of course, the long-awaited debut of the Senior High play, “Train Trip to Cancun or the Prodigal Son’s Brother.” Many thanks to our creative and talented youth and their dedicated advisors: Patrick Andrews, Mary Barrino-Smith, Kate and Luke Linden, and Mike Roach.

We enjoyed another treasured Emmaus Advent tradition with glorious and inspiring Christmas music at our December 17 worship service. Under the direction of Paul Patton, our choir and guest flautist and trumpeter from the U.S. Army Band performed choral and instrumental works spanning the centuries from Baroque to contemporary. Our church’s vibrant music program gives one more reason to celebrate in this 40 th anniversary year.

The Washington Emmanuel Church, whose congregation worships at our church on Sunday afternoons, has hung up a lovely framed Korean calligraphy. The text is the passage from Acts 1:8 that speaks of the power of the Holy Spirit to make us witnesses to our faith-- “in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”. Look for this calligraphy in the Narthex.

At long last, our church photo directory has arrived. We thank the entire congregation for the success of this project. Families who sat for photographs or submitted photographs with a $10.00 fee may pick up their directory after church. Other members may purchase a directory for $10.00. New members and visitors since June may have a free copy.

Happy New Year to all!

Laurie Forbes

Road to Emmaus Sunday School Update

In our Road to Emmaus Workshop Sunday School, the children have been learning about how the birth of Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies of a Messiah. In the Divinity Diner workshop, the children loved making (and eating!) ice cream parfaits whose ingredients symbolized the many layers of the Christmas story. Our children met Elizabeth in our Caravan Camp and created angels as reminders of the role of angels in the Christmas message. In our Creation Station, the children studied the Bible for scriptures about light as a symbol of Christ’s presence in our world and created luminaries as a symbolic representation of Christ’s light in the world. Our wonderful workshop leaders this month were Nancy Scott, Jessica Clements & Anita Bruck.

Don’t forget to check the Christian Ed bulletin board outside the Parlor for updates about our program. Coming soon will be information about our annual Spring Children’s Day and opportunities for you to help create a great service.

Julie Holec and Heidi Warrington

Letter from Pakistan

Several people have written with their concerns about my safety here in Pakistan, and I thought I would reflect on just that topic. There certainly is a lot of press that could make Americans extraordinarily fearful of setting foot in this country: the State Department has warned that all non-essential travel of Americans should be curtailed; I get daily warnings from USAID/Pakistan about the possibility of protests and the condition of the roads; and I live among Americans working in the Embassy and at USAID who are not allowed to have family members live with them or even visit them here.

And yet I feel very safe. I suppose one could argue that I should be safe; after all, I have 24-hour guard service at my house and my office. Two gentlemen sit in a small house that I built at the end of my driveway, complete with space heater. They each alternate on a 12-hour shift, making sure no one comes through or over my gate without clearance. I had the option of having these gentlemen armed with AK-47s, an option that I turned down. I can't imagine sleeping soundly with machine guns a few feet from my pillow. Just about every house near me has guards, and we all wave as I drive in and out. I know the guards better than the people inside the houses. Really, the guards are for show. Everyone has them, so it would be clear to anyone driving by if I didn't. Besides, the contract I am on specified I had to have guards.

The feeling around here is very peaceful and calm. The people I work with and see every day care very deeply about God. My staff all have prayer rugs in the office, and each person stops to kneel down multiple times each day. We have lunch about 1 p.m. as a group, and then most people go into their offices to take the time to wash, collect their thoughts, and pray. When we resume a meeting, there is a sense of rejuvenation in the discussion. Then we stop again around 4 for prayer.

Every meeting opens with a prayer. One of my staff has a lovely tenor voice, and he often does a chant of a Koranic verse. When it's my turn, I have taken to reading a poem of Rumi or Hafiz and talking about its meaning. I'm even putting Hafiz into the English course we're developing for primary teachers, as he has some interesting things to say to victims of the earthquake who lost many family members (as well as so much else about life, as we've all heard).

In addition to this feeling, I am surrounded by caring staff. My driver thinks of me as his responsibility in life: he must get me safely wherever I want to go. He is available day or night, and his English has now passed the place where he has cracked a joke. My cook, similarly, hovers to make sure I have all I need. This business of being cared for in quite this way takes some getting used to, but the basic feeling it engenders is one of being safe and tended to by people who will move mountains to ensure my life is peaceful. And it is.

Just one more anecdote. Last night I went to a Christmas party at the International School of Islamabad, held at the house of the Principal who sings in the Islamabad Chorale as I do. The Chorale sang, ending with Here Comes Santa Claus, and then the gates opened and Santa came riding in on a decorated camel that was huge. The kids loved it -- and so did all of us adults.

Thank you all for your emails -- know that they are always welcome. I read Bill's weekly messages and feel that I still am a part of the Emmaus community. Happy New Year to all!

Lorie Brush

Health and Wellness Corner

Blood Contributions

If you did not give the precious gift of your blood over the Christmas holidays, you will have an opportunity to do so on Sunday, January 28, in partnership with Lewinsville Presbyterian Church (LPC) at 1724 Chain Bridge Rd, McLean, from 7:45 AM to 12:45 PM. Through my Faith Community Nurse Network, one of my fellow parish nurses at LPC and their Blood Donor Coordinator have invited us to join them in their quarterly church blood drive since we at Emmaus are not able to produce the numbers needed for our own blood drive through Inova Blood Donor Services. Starting January 7, they will start taking reservations for every 15 minute time slots. Please visit their website, www.lewinsville.org. Click on the blood drive option and choose your time. Go to the comment section and indicate that you are from Emmaus Church. Their webmaster will notify Connie Schafer, the Blood Donor Coordinator who will then notify me to follow-up with you. I am told that the 7:45AM time slot is usually booked solid and they do have 12 people out of 48 that have permanent time slots. Their worship services are 8:30 and 11, thus my recommendation is to try around the 8:30/9:00 AM time slot so that you would be done in time to return to Emmaus for our 10:30 worship service. I plan on being there, so I hope others of you will join me.

Women's Red Tent Book Group

I hope that Santa brought you the book, Gene Cheek’s The Color of Love, A Mother’s Choice in the Jim Crow South , for our next book gathering, Sunday, after church, January 14. The discussion will be facilitated by Jayne McLaughlin and Laurie Forbes. The home for our potluck brunch and discussion is still undetermined even though we have had an offer from a regular hostess. If anyone who has not hosted before would be willing to open her home for about 15 fun loving women for our enlightening and energizing gathering, please let me know. We welcome newcomers to the group. I would be glad to add you to my electronic reminder mailing list; just let me know.

Marsha Komandt

Health and Wellness Coordinator

News from the Financial Secretary

The Fall is a great time of the year.

Parents get to see the kids take on another school year; trees turn to their beautiful reds and yellows; Halloween and Thanksgiving lead into the Christmas Season; and everyone begins to look at next year’s needs.

These needs come in different forms – plans for college, marriages, vacations, new homes, and moves. The Church begins building its dreams and missions for the new year. The financial side of these dreams and missions are built on the pledges we receive from our members.

Some have asked “Why do we need to pledge – why not make weekly or monthly collection plate contributions?” The answer is that a church budget is no different from our personal budgets. Steady and expected pledges, like paychecks, allow us to make plans based on our wants, needs and desires. If your paycheck depended on what amount your employer feels you’re worth each week, it would be very hard to make the purchases and mortgage payments that you need to make.

The Church operates the same way. We have basic obligations for the mortgage, utilities, staff salaries and benefits. In addition, we all want to help our community and those in need through the church. Pledges allow the church to make plans based on our collective dreams and missions. These dreams and missions are as limited or as expansive as our pledges.

We ask that our members pledge according to their consciences. The decision is only between you and God. Every pledge helps us attain our dreams and missions. It is never too late to pledge – Either call me at or send me an e-mail. Thank you.

Chuck Irons

Back to School in Rural England

(An excerpt from an article that ran in the Bull Run Observer.)

Back to school in England does not mean streams of yellow buses rolling toward large, sprawling, regional schools. Rather it is groups of gray and navy uniformed school children walking or riding with mums and dads to small, local village schools.

As I watched my seven-year-old English granddaughter, Alana,, in her school skirt and sweater and English book bag enter the small, 19th century building that is her school, I was reminded of a school system of 50 years ago. The 125 students in Alana’s school work in a red brick building constructed in 1871. It has had some additions over the years and boasts a new play area bought—as in the U.S.—with the profits of many PTA moneymaking schemes and school fetes. The physical structure is clearly inferior to similar schools in Northern Virginia: the main hall is used for daily assemblies and indoor PE classes, as well as lunch, and a library is housed in a hallway. But the school has a computer lab, interactive white boards and other technological innovations of the 21st century, and the educational aspirations and standards of learning are ideas that would be familiar to Virginia families.

Sutton Courtenay, the English village 10 miles from Oxford where Alana lives, is a very old village; the church bell tower dates from the 12 th century and several of the 17 th and 18 th century houses that line the mile-long High Street have thatched roofs and ancient stone walls. A row of giant chestnut trees line the public playground and two pubs flank the church with its moss-covered tombstones in the churchyard.

One of the most visible differences betweeb American and English school children is the universal use of uniforms. The other major difference from U.S. schools is the role of religion. England does not have a separation of church and state; in earlier times all schools were connected to the Church of England. Today, many village schools continue this tie in name, and the curriculum includes religious studies. At St. Michael’s Primary School, the local vicar is a frequent speaker at the daily assembly, and school Christmas and Easter celebrations are held at the nearby church. Moral values and church and bible studies are a basic part of the curriculum. Islam and other religions are also studied and Islamic religious schools are available in some areas. The St. Michael’s curriculum guide explains: “Pupils spiritual development is promoted in religious education classes. ... In a daily collective act of worship the school has an opportunity to come together to talk, listen and pray.” This is in a country where state churches are sparsely attended. With the increasing immigrant population in the larger cities, the role of religion in the school system and the separation of church and state are increasingly being debated.

Nancy Johnson

February Happenings Deadline: January 20, Noon

Learn more about Happenings and how to contribute.

Calendar of Emmaus Events

Sunday, January 7 - 10:30 am Worship Service; 5 pm Senior High; 7 pm Spiritual Renewal

Tuesday, January 9 - 1 pm Bagels Group in the Parlor

Wednesday, January 10 - 7:30 pm Deacons and Boards meetings

Sunday January 14 - 10:30 am Worship Service; 12 pm Red Tent Book Club

Wednesday, January 17 - 7:30 pm Council Meeting

Sunday January 21 - 10:30 am Worship Service; 11:45 am Annual Meeting; 5 pm Senior High; 7 pm Spiritual Renewal

Sunday January 28 - 10:30 am Worship Service