Monthly Common Meal and Eucharist Gathering on Exodus Themes ("God For Us")

http://photos4.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/2/9/a/6/event_242110662.jpegAs a follow-up to our James Cone talk in May, we are having a common meal, Eucharist, and discussion on the themes from the book of Exodus, including the theme that Henri Nouwen identifies as "God for us." Not everyone was able to come to the James Cone talk, so our gathering will focus on Exodus and allow everyone to either share their observations from James Cone's talk or share observations on the key topics found in Exodus (calling of Moses, the burning bush (see the icon to the left!), God's call for Moses to help free the Israelites in Egyptian slavery). The main themes of the evening will come from Exodus, chapter 3. During the discussion, we'll see how the James Cone talk and the Exodus experience are joined at the hip. Our monthly Common Meal and Eucharist Gathering is a part of our attempt to put emerging ideas into practice as a Christian community, not just talk about interesting ideas at an abstract level with no practical component or real-life significance (as many have complained about). Stay-tuned as we keep working on a community service/justice group also


At our last monthly Common Meal and Eucharist Gathering we talked about Pentecost, the icons of Pentecost, and shared how the acclaimed spiritual writer Henri Nouwen divides up the Bible into three parts: 1) God-for-us (Moses and the Exodus); 2) God-with-us (Jesus and the Gospels), and 3) God-Within-us (Pentecost and the Holy Spirit). We will do much of the same thing this time, drawing from different perspectives on Exodus found in different traditions of art (ancient icons, African-American (see the painting on the right), and contemporary (see the painting below)) as we discuss the calling of Moses by God in the burning bush to free the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. The James Cone talk connects with this theme/event in obvious ways.

Schedule: For those who want to participate in the common meal, we'll start that at 7PM. For those who just want to come to the gathering, we'll start the singing at 7:30PM. If you are late, you can still pick up some dinner and join us in the discussion. We are very casual about that sort of thing.

http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/a/9/9/4/event_247123412.jpegParticipation: People are always free to just come and enjoy the spontaneous conversation and singing, but it you want to contribute something we want you to know that you are free to share anything on the theme. If you have any suggestions about poems, prayers from the Book of Common Prayer and other prayer books, scriptures, paintings, stories, songs, etc. let me know.

Music: As usual, our house musicians will help us pick out appropriate hymns for our theme of the month and lead us with song.

Food and Donations: We'll have some kind of combination with chicken and salad to keep it simple. If you can bring something to spice up the salad offerings, please put that in your RSVP line. If you can help with the expense of the evening (food, copies, etc.), we'll have a cup near the food to help us cover our basic expenses.

Location: Going forward, we're hoping to have our gathering in the "community/fireplace room" space of the Church of the Pilgrims.

Directions from Metro: Church of the Pilgrims is about 2 blocks west of the Q Street Exit (that's the north one) of the Dupont Circle Metro Station. Once you hit 22nd street, go south a block to the sanctuary entrance at P St and 22nd.

About Parking: Church of the Pilgrims has a parking lot entrance on 22nd Street near the corner of Q St. and 22nd St.