Church of Our Saviour » In the Neighborhood

In the Neighborhood: Walk for Affordable Housing

sara — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:41:41 +0000

Every year COS participates in the Walk for Affordable Housing sponsored by the Housing Corporation of Arlington. Join us for the fun on Saturday, April 26th as volunteers from COS set up a table with face painting and other fun stuff for children and their families who participate in the walk. We will be working at the beginning/ending spot at the Jason Russell House (corner of Mass Ave and Jason St). Registration begins at 1 and the walkers leave about 1:30 and return at 3 pm for prize drawings. You can talk to Kevin Ward about helping with the table and look for sign up sheets to be part of a walking team or a sponsor.

In the Neighborhood: Arlington’s Eco-Fest

sara — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 02:22:36 +0000

Arlington’s first Eco-Fest is scheduled for Saturday, March 28 from 9 – 1 at the Town Hall. Learn about eco-friendly gardening, composting, and sustainable landscaping and look at products and ideas from a variety of “green” vendors. The day is jointly sponsored by the Arlington Garden Club, Arlington Department of Public Works, and Vision 2020. The Arlington Recycling Committee is providing discounts for compost bins purchased that day. David Epstein from Channel 5 will speak at 10 am on natural lawn alternatives and will sign copies of his new book. Admission is free. For more information email ecofest@town.arlington.ma.us or call Ruth 781-316-3108 or Patsy 781-858-8629 or just ask Juli in the COS office. She will be volunteering that day with the Recycling Committee and is more than happy to get the answers to your questions.

In the Neighborhood: Absalom Jones Lecture

katherine — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 22:25:24 +0000

Each year the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge schedules a lecture honoring Absalom Jones, the first African American priest in the Episcopal Church. This year’s lecture will be held on Wed., February 18, at 7:00 pm in St. John’s Memorial Chapel on the EDS campus.

The Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney will speak about the legacy of Absalom Jones in a post-colonial, neo-imperial world. Dr. Gafney serves as associate priest at the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas in Philadelphia, the first African American Episcopal Church in the United States. She is also an Associate Professor of Hebrew and Hebrew Scripture at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. Her book, Daughters of Miriam, an exploration of woman prophets in ancient Israel and Mesopotamia, was published in 2008.

Dr. Gafney will also preach at the Absalom Jones Eucharist in St. John’s Chapel on Thursday, February 19, at 8:30 am.

Thinking About Mission

katherine — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 00:13:17 +0000

As many of you know, I am finishing up my studies at the Episcopal Divinity School this spring and retiring from the vestry and Sunday School teaching. It has been a wonderful and challenging experience. The challenge comes especially from trying to understand and live into God’s call to me–and to all of us–to participate in God’s mission on earth. To me that sounds very serious and maybe even a bit intimidating. Perhaps it does to you as well.

The Rev. Steve Smith, from Trinity Wall Street in New York City, offers an understanding of mission to contrast with more popular notions:

For most people, the word “mission” conjures up two images. The first is from the bad old days of U.S. and European colonialism–a white missionary dressed in clericals, a Panama hat on his head, lecturing at the natives of any given country. The second is contemporary–the evangelical Protestant or Mormon going door to door to recruit. These images are part of the mission story. But they are not entirely of the mission story. Mission is much more than these two images.

Mission is our human participation in God’s on-going mission in the world. God’s mission, which we join, is a mission of justice and peace so that all of us are able to live fully flourishing, fully abundant, lives. Our joining in God’s mission is embodied in so many ways; the most are service with and for others (soup kitchens, school tutoring, Habitat for Humanity) and social transformation (actions that challenge the systems of oppression that keep so many of God’s children from fully flourishing). In service and social transformation, the missionary moves across boundaries of human experience to share in the lives of others in a meaningful way. Through mission we journey in companionship with others. In that journey, we hope to realize the goodness that God desires for the world– for our neighbors near and far, and for us.

Over the next few months, I would like to explore how we, at COS, might be called to engage in mission within our own local community – especially to service with and for others. I invite you to consider where there are areas of need within Arlington and where you feel the Spirit nagging us to pay attention. I hope that we may have conversations and identify opportunities to work together, journeying in companionship. Realizing that we are all busy people with many responsibilities, I envision us not trying to take on some major project but rather engaging in little ways that are meaningful–perhaps a collective work day here or there or small groups working informally.

Please let me know your thoughts and hopes. I look forward to what surprises lie ahead for us, as missionaries!

–Terry Hofmann