DUST IN THE WIND: Ash Wednesday

At FAITH HOUSE, March 9, 2011

PROGRAM (90 minutes)

Opening – When The Night Becomes Dark – Taizé  (5 min)

When the night becomes dark, your love, O Lord, is a fire;

Your love, O Lord, is a fire.

PART I “Remember You Are Dust”

First Reading – Genesis 3:1-24 “for dust you are and to dust you will return” (5 min)

First Speaker – Share a personal anecdote, provide context for dust/creation/sin, instructions for next activity (5 min – ULA)

First Activity – Write confession on paper, burn in aluminum bowl  (10 min)

PART II “And to Dust You Shall Return”

Second Reading - Ecclesiastes 3 “all come from dust, and to dust all return” (3 min – Caleb)

Second Speaker – Personal anecdote, provide context for mortality and Ash Wednesday, instructions for stations (5 min –SARAH)

Second Activity – Stations –pour soap and ashes into tin foil molds, Savasana, imposition of ashes, read Obituaries in the NYTimes, recorded music TBD (15 min)

PART III “Lent, a Season of Preparation”

Third Reading – Matthew 6:1-6,16-21 (3 min – Elaine)

Third Speaker – Personal anecdote, provide context for season of lent/practices/giving things up, instructions for small groups (5 min – DAN)

Third Activity – get into groups of three, each person names something they can give up, something they can do regularly for charity, or a new prayer regiment they can practice regularly (10 minutes)

CLOSING – O Lord Hear My Prayer

Prayer w/ Taizé as opening, closing and antiphon between petitions (10 min – Bowie lead)

O Lord, hear my prayer   O Lord, hear my prayer   When I call answer me
O Lord, hear my prayer   O Lord, hear my prayer   Come and listen to me

Acknowledgements & Announcements – Bowie (5 min)

Tues Sept 7: host-Patrick, cook and ritual-Isaac
Tues Sept 21: host-Sarah, cook-Mabel, ritual-Johannes

Sat Oct 2: Michael Mass hike
Tues Oct 5: host and cook-Amber, ritual-Sarah
Tues Oct 19: host and cook-Caleb, ritual-Katie
Sat Oct 30: Planning meeting and Halloween Social hosted by Johannes

Tues Nov 2: All Saints Day! host-Amber, cook-Patrick, ritual-Ula and Isaac
Tues Nov 16: Math and Physics are Fun! host-Isaac, cook-Sarah, ritual-Johannes and Isaac
Sat Nov 27: Thanksgiving Social event in NYC, host-TBD
Tues Nov 30: Isaac and Katie host movie and games night

Tues Dec 7: Advent! host-Johannes, ritual-Patrick, cook needed
Tues Dec 21: Advent! host, cook, and ritual needed

Here is our list of upcoming Transmission events for the summer. We meet at 7pm on the first and third Wednesday of each month. Please click on Contact to join our email list and receive announcements with addresses and directions for our events.

Wed July 7: host-Isaac, cook-Isaac, Patrick, Violet, ritual-Dan and Amber – we will be blessing Katie, Issac, and Patrick’s new apartment
Wed July 21: host-Dan, cook-Dan, ritual-Bowie
Sat July 31: planning meeting, location TBD

Wed Aug 4: host-Mabel, cook-Isaac, ritual-Patrick
Wed Aug 18: host-Johannes, cook-Violet, ritual-Isaac
Sat Aug 28: planning meeting, location TBD

Wed Sept 1: host-Patrick, COOK AND RITUAL NEEDED
Wed Sept 15: host-Sarah, cook-Mabel, ritual-Johannes
Sat Sept 25: planning meeting, location TBD

Wed Feb 17: host-Caleb, cook-Caleb, ritual-Katie. This Ash Wednesday, we will be making ashy soap for use throughout Lent. See our post from last year for more details.
Sat Feb 27: Planning meeting at Caleb’s house

Wed Mar 3: host-Mabel, cook-Katie, ritual-Johannes
Wed Mar 17: host-Elaine, cook-Dan, ritual-Isaac. We will be blessing Elaine’s new home and celebrating St. Patrick’s Day.
Wed Mar 24: Planning meeting at Johannes’s home
Wed Mar 31: Planning meeting at Dan’s home

Holy Week
Sun Mar 28: Interfaith Seder at Church of St. Francis Xavier, Mary Chapel. If you are interested in attending, you must RSVP by Wed, March 24. Please contact us for more information.
???? ? ???????Fri Apr 2: Stations of the Cross around NYC?
Sat Apr 3 – Sun Apr 4: Easter Vigil? We had a very successful vigil last year, and we are searching for a space for our Easter ritual redux. We have also discussed doing a hike, heading up-state, or traveling to a church in New Jersey.

Wed Apr 7: game and movie night, host-Mabel, cook-local pizza place
Wed Apr 21: host-Johannes, cook-Isaac, ritual-Sarah

If you would like to come to any of these events, get on our mailing list by clicking on the Contact link. We hope to see you soon!

The warriors: Ula, Johannes, Isaac, Sarah, Paul, Mabel, and me.
Highlights from the trip: Friday night ritual at First Presbyterian Church of Matawan. We explored the different uses of the church space, the narthex and entryway, the nave, chancel and sanctuary, all spaces for different ingredients of worship. We rocked to some music around the piano, and shared a holy communion of a more blue collar style, cranberry juice and Stroehmann’s Multi-Grain bread. (Photos to come.)

2.Holmdel Park On a gorgeous Saturday afternoon, this place seemed like heaven. Between the arboretum, the open fields, the ponds, hills, trails and farm animals, I felt the presence of God. As well as of the Von Trapp family. Who are always welcome.

In all seriousness, though, this was a wonderfully organized retreat thanks to everyone’s contributions. I know we say we’re a leaderless group, but Isaac and Sarah really stepped up to the plate in coordinating our work together. Our reflections on 1 Thessalonians, on the opening praise and closing appeal of Paul to the Church at Thessalonica, made for stirring discussions. We talked about our anger about the tragedy in Haiti and God’s perceived inaction, and the readings led to a great closing ritual for us on Saturday night.

We each stepped up to the pulpit and delivered what we were grateful for in Transmission, and what we would appeal to each other to do to strengthen and maintain our community. Then we praised God for each member of the group and what they have brought to us as part of our church. Sarah’s quiet steadiness. Isaac’s love and honesty. Johannes’ joyful curiosity. Paul’s outspokenness. My anger and determination. Ula’s fearlessness. We thanked God for the gift of each other and went home grateful partners in faith.

Finally, on Sunday morning, we led the Children’s Chat at First Presbyterian Church, the talk with the kids, mostly under 10 years old. The scripture reading was Jesus’ miracle at the Wedding in Cana, where he turned water into wine. We re-enacted the miracle for the kids by giving them water and pouring in instant Crystal Light packets turning it rapidly into a dark pink lemonade. Then we told them that God in their lives could be just like that powder, turning what seems ordinary into something precious. I think the kids got the idea, although some said the Crystal Light lacked flavor. Hey, we ain’t Jesus, li’l guys. So drink it and LIKE it!

Our next meeting is this Wednesday at Johannes’ house for dinner and a movie night. I’m not sure how theological or completely ridiculous the film will be: however, if you come, you will have a vote! Call Johannes if you have any questions, and see you then.

Dear friends, Paul and I are planning a ritual around Jesus’ story of the sower, the seeds, and the good soil. Please see draft 1.0 below and post a comment… what do you notice? Email bowie@faithhousemanhattan.org for directions if you’d like to come on Friday, May 15th at 7 PM.

Opening
Paul awakens our wonder with a “fool’s mass” of garden items

Remembering
Someone reads Gospel story about sower, seeds and soil
Second Reading Genesis 1

Thinking
Group discussion

Doing
Bowie helps people put together bags of seeds and soil, offers ideas on sowing.

Departing
Group prayers and blessings on our bags