The Church in DC

An excerpt from "The Gift of Honey and the Promise of God" by Ashley Goff of Church of the Pilgrims, in Dupont Circle. Published in Faith & Leadership . ...By that fall, we had expanded to our current three hives and wanted to integrate our garden more intentionally into the life of worship at Pilgrims. One of our first ideas came easily. In the ancient church, the first meal the newly baptized received was milk and honey. It was to remind them of the sweetness of life in Christ and the “promised land” they were now entering because of their baptism. Drawing on this ancient tradition and the biblical stories, we began sharing milk and honey with our newly baptized, along with these words, added to our liturgy:  With the living waters, may the justice and mercy of God flow from you like the sweetness of milk and honey. ... We badly need reminders of the new that Jesus Christ gives. But our need is not out of a lack of such reminders. Lord, grant us the eyes to se...

Passing along the invite : You're invited to the official world premiere of The Line on Tuesday , October 2 in Washington,DC ! From Emmy award-winning producer Linda Midgett, The Line is a groundbreaking documentary chronicling the new face of poverty in America. Immediately following the screening, a panel of experts—featuring Jim Wallis , president and CEO of Sojourners, and producer Linda Midgett —will discuss the film and its impact. The event is free and open to the public ; however an RSVP is required as space is limited. Please click here to RSVP. Guests must plan to arrive at The Gwendolyn and Morris Cafritz Theatre no later than 7:30 p.m. Since this event will be filmed, guests who arrive after 7:30 p.m. will be denied entry. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. With over 1,000 simultaneous screenings across the country, we hope that you will join us for this very special premiere in DC! October 2, 2012 World Premiere of The Lin...

There are 373 kids waiting for adoptive families in the foster care system in DC. there are about 800 churches in DC. that means if ONE famly in every 2 or 3 churches in DC adopted ONE kid, there would be NO kids in the foster care system. and if every family in every church was involved in supporting families in need in some way (helping provide food, job resources, counseling, parenting classes, etc), the Church would PREVENT the situations that cause kids to enter the foster care system in the first place. The Church can literally make sure there are no more fatherless children. This is our calling as the Church - God tells us to "seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; defend the cause of the needy." (Isaiah 1:17) And just as He adopted us through Christ into His family (Ephesians 1:4-5), He desires us to show His love to the world in the way we adopt others into our family. Fostering and adoption is one of the biggest ways we can ta...

Human trafficking is referred to as modern day slavery. Today, more children, women and men are held in slavery than over the course of the entire trans-Atlantic slave trade. And some of these people are enslaved right here in the U.S. - and right here in DC. Human trafficking is one of the worst injustices imaginable: buying, selling, and using people's bodies, taking something from them against their will. God's Word makes it clear we are to fight for the cause of the oppressed, and this is undoubtedly one of the clearest situations of oppresion in our world today. To learn more about human trafficking, as well as what some faith groups are doing to combat this injustice, check our FAAST's website . There are also a group of churches here in the DC area meeting to talk about working together to fight human trafficking, so if you're interested in learning more about that send me an email. There are two upcoming opportu...

On September 24, The John Leland Center for Theological Studies will host the 40th Annual Faculties' Convocation for the Washington Theological Consortium beginning at 3:30 p.m. with a prayer service, and a public lecture and discussion at 4:00pm.   The title of the Lecture could not be more fitting for Leland's sponsorship: Theology and the Public Square .  Our commitment to equip transformational leaders for the global ministry of Jesus Christ demands theological reflection, not only for congregational life, but for all the vocations God gives his people inside and outside the church.  So important is this aspect of ministry preparation that our newest degree program focuses one of two possible tracks directly on the question of leadership outside the congregational setting.  And theology is at the heart of all Christian leadership.  So the WTC Lecture this year is a very timely opportunity for our students, faculty, and alums. The lecture w...

Christian unity is so important to our witness for Christ in this world - especially in the world today, as the political sphere is intensely vicious and Christians are particularly vulnerable to being used by all sides. It is so important that now, in a time of such uncertainty and ugliness, the Church shows the selflessness and love of Christ in our unity and in our love for others. And one of the ways we can do this is by working together to bring God's redemption to our city, partnering with each other in various joint initiatives, and supporting and advancing each other's work - and in doing so making the Gospel's message stronger. There are always many opportunities for partnership among churches in DC, but I've recently had several great meetings with leaders from some other churches that have gotten me especially excited! Below are some opportunities for partnership I wanted to share with you all, in the hope that through working together on initiatives like ...