Posts by tablemanna (Page 35)

We continue to wonder about worship with the question:  Why does the church need to evolve – because people do?  Does God? Let us consider this poem from Anne Broyles book “Meeting God Through Worship.” Companion of the lonely, Binder of wounds, Seeker of lost souls, Friend of the poor, Source of all that is, Forgiver of sins, Voice of the voiceless, Counselor of the confused, Shelter from the storm, Creator of heaven and earth, we in our ways worship…

Yesterday we made the second “stop” on our summer series and shared a Holy Meal in house churches.  We learned about the Didache (The Teaching of the Apostles) which was likely written in the late 1st or early 2nd Century as an instruction manual of sorts for the earliest followers of Jesus. Our series, Evolution of Church, will continue for 6 more weeks with a focus on the shifts in music, prayer, gender roles, and location (as in architecture) of the Christian community.  …

During our series “The Evolution of Church” we have provided the opportunity to wonder about the development of Christian Worship and the origins of our rituals, customs and traditions.  We will answer some of these questions here each week.  We begin this week with this question:   What made them want to make church on Sundays?  The Biblical Scholar Eugene Laverdiere observed:  “Trying to find the origins of Sunday is like trying to find the source of a great river. …

Liturgy comes from the Greek leitourgia which is composed from words for work (ergon) and people (laos).  In ancient Greece, a liturgy was a public work performed for the benefit of the city or state.  Its principle was the same as the one for paying taxes, but it could involve donated service as well as taxes. Paul speaks of the Roman authorities literally as “liturgists of God” (Romans 13:6) and of himself as “a liturgist of Christ Jesus to the…

Yesterday we made the first “stop” on our summer series, The Evolution of Church. Children danced, women sang as they tapped out rhythms and listened to the story shared by the voices of men. This week we will experience the basic form of Christian Worship.   We see how the Jewish understanding of the way to give thanks taught Christians to do likewise by reading the early communion prayers. Psalm 118:26 records the sentiment of a gathering that honored God.  Set in…

Is this really where it all began?  Can we imagine a group of people, so overjoyed that they have been delivered from a life of captivity to a life of freedom that they break into a victory song? What did the earliest gatherings of worship look like? Is this closer to your image of church? Describe church for yourself.  What does it feel like?  What does it look like?  What do you expect to hear in church?  What makes church…

The Beatitude Society is “a national progressive Christian leadership development organization that equips emerging entrepreneurial faith leaders.  The Beatitude Society is committed to creating new models for vibrant church life and the pursuit of social justice…to the welcoming and inclusive love of God expressed in the words and actions of Jesus; we are Christian at our roots and multi-faith in our reach.” We’re thrilled that one of our pastors, Matt Smith, was selected as one of the seven inaugural Beatitude…

On Sunday May 20, 60 folks from The Table gathered at Feeding Crane Farms to celebrate our life together.  The story of our time together at Feeding Crane Farms is told through pictures by local photographer Debbie Cunningham. You may enjoy them here:  The Table visits Feeding Crane Farms.  We are grateful to everyone who helped us create a wonderful event.

We begin The Evolution of Church this week.  This will be an 8 week worship series which will trace the unfolding of worship through the centuries.  WIth a focus on the shifts in music, prayer, gender roles, and location (as in architecture), we will “walk the paths” of those who came before us.  Beginning with the way the people of God worshipped following Exodus in the Hebrew Bible, we will stop each week to explore how our worship of God…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAzcSkXhttw] Tomorrow we will share this song by David Scherer (AGAPE) as we imagine what it might be like to experience a visit by the Holy Spirit.  We appreciate his interpretation and translation of the Acts 2:1-21 story and we will hear this piece in worship as our own music team sings Tongues of Fire. Sak pa se N’ap Boule (What’s up? I’m managing) Ki Ki ki kote bondye (Where is God?) Rele Yele Tande (Call freedom.  Listen) Jezi Jezi  …

  We will be joined in worship Sunday by the musical group Sankofa. Anthony Coleman II, our musical director, named his group with intention.  The word Sankofa comes to us from the Akan language of Ghana and may be translated in english to mean “go back and get it”.  It is also represented by the Asante Adinkra symbol of a bird with its head turned backwards taking an egg of the future off its back or holding an egg of…

The Jewish day of Pentecost celebrated the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai.  The story in the book of Exodus of the giving of the law is marked by vivid imagery:  God appears on the top of a mountain, with thunder, lightning, cloud, and earthquake.  Exodus 10:19 says that when Moses talked with God, “God would answer him in thunder.”  So in Acts 2 God arrives in “a sound like the rush of a violent wind,” and fire appears,…