Blog — Church of the Pilgrims

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Easter Flowers - Order Yours Today!

If you would like to order flowers this year to share in the sanctuary on Easter morning and to take home with you later, now is the time to make your easter order!

You can order lilies, hyacinths, and/or tulips, at $16 each.

Click here to make your payment online and in the memo line write the kind of flowers and if they are in honor or in memory of someone.

Or you can fill out this form and bring it to worship on Sunday with your check or cash.

Please submit your order and payment by April 6th.

Issues Among Us - March 29

We’re going to the Renwick!

On Saturday, March 29th at 2pm, meet at the Renwick Gallery (Pennsylvania and 17th, NW) to see their new exhibit “We Gather at the Edge: Contemporary Quilts by Black Women Artists.”

The artists featured in We Gather at the Edge honor the Black story quilt tradition with work that envisions a more just and connected world. The exhibition highlights SAAM’s recent acquisition of quilts from the collection of Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi and celebrates her legacy as the founder of the Women of Color Quilters Network. 

Click here to learn more about the exhibit.

Prayers and Public Witness (Updated 3/28)


We know that when we turn on the news every day there are new orders, new policies, new situations for people of faith to grapple with. We're going to try and share a few resources and updates, as we can. And as actions are identified, we’ll share them here as well. And of course, we’re going to pray together, a whole lot. Come for worship on Sundays at 11am, in person or online. We’ll pray.

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Sensitive Locations, Sacred Spaces Prayer Vigil - 4/3 at 6:30pm




Join us for an interfaith prayer vigil on the eve of the first hearing of our historic our historic lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security's rescission of the sensitive locations memo. The vigil will take place on Thursday, April 3rd, at 6:30pm at National City Christian Church in Washington, DC. Together, we will gather in solidarity, lifting prayers for justice, compassion, and the protection of immigrant communities. All are welcome to stand with us in this moment of faith and resolve.

RSVP to attend here and invite others to join!

Thursday, April 3rd

6:30pm

National City Christian Church

5 Thomas Circle NW WDC 20005




PC(USA) joins religious freedom lawsuit challenging ICE enforcement actions in churches

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Trans Day of Visibility Rally - 3/31 at 2:30pm

Join us March 31st for a faith community meetup ahead of the Trans Day of Visibility rally!

The Interfaith Alliance and partners will gather as an interfaith community at 2:30 pm in the United Methodist Building for initial speeches before joining our partners on the National Mall between 3rd & 4th Street at 4pm for the rally.

Because it is our moral obligation to join in solidarity with our trans siblings and rebuke attacks on their very right to exist!

Click here for details and to RSVP.

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Contact Congress to Protect the DC Budget - Thursday 3/27 at 10am

(Or make phone calls anytime this week!)

The House is back in session and we want to make sure the #DCLocalFundsAct is one of their top priorities. Join us on Tuesday and/or Thursday this week to visit Members of the House and make sure they know what this bill is, why it matters, and how much support it has. Sign up to join us on either day at freedcproject.org/house.

Not able to join us for visits? Get a call script and phone numbers for our priority members at that same link above. We're working to call every single Member of the House this week before Friday and you can help us make it happen.

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National Capital Presbytery is hosting bi-monthly zoom gatherings, In Times Such as Now. The series is intended to provide valued time for information sharing and colleague-to-colleague care. 

The first Thursday of each month will be Listen and Pray with facilitation guided through scripture and prayer. The third Thursday of the month will be Listen and Learn sessions featuring real time updates and chances to share resources.  

The Listen and Learn series is in partnership with Listen and Pray. The next zoom gathering will be with Listen and Pray on April 3 with NCP Clergy Care Team.  

The schedule is as follows, always 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm with this zoom link: 
Listen and Pray: 4/3; 5/1; 6/5 

Listen and Learn: 3/20; 4/17; 5/15; 6/19 

https://thepresbytery.zoom.us/j/83480642468?pwd=L4xDuESCY23YG8oHYOWEcDwdQCULTf.1

Meeting ID: 834 8064 2468

Passcode: 091764

If you have any questions, reach out to Rev. Tara Spuhler McCabe tspuhlermccabe@thepresbytery.org 

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Come take a walk with us on Sunday 2/9 at 1pm (Meeting at Western Pres) and we’ll pray while we walk. Come and join a Mid-Week Morning Zoom Prayer Moment on Wednesday 2/12 at 7:30am (email Erin for zoom meeting info) and we’ll pray a lot. Let’s pray and take action together.

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Presbyterian Church (USA)'s Office of Public Witness Signs Letter Urging Congress to work to preserve USAID.



Stated Clerk and Executive Director joins other national faith leaders in public support of sanctuary movement



Action Alert

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Washington Office has issued an Action Alert regarding Project 2025. The implementation of Project 2025 presents dangerous measures that harm the nation’s well-being. Its proposals align with several executive orders on numerous issues. Presbyterians, and all people of faith, must respond with an onslaught of pushback to ensure our voices are heard in Congress, the administration, and among the members of the President’s cabinet and staff.

Learn more: https://hubs.ly/Q035jWFf0



A Day of Prayer and Action for Immigrant Families with CAN

Participate in an in-person action to support immigrant families facing violence and the threat of mass deportations. The event is being organized by the Congregation Action Network (CAN) in partnership with Faith in Action and will be held at St. Mark's (Capitol Hill) Episcopal Church (301 A Street, SE) in Washington on Tuesday, February 11 at 10:30 AM.

You can register for the in-person event here.

Prominent faith leaders from many traditions, including Bishop Mark Seitz of the Diocese of El Paso, will lead an interfaith Day of Prayer and Action in Support of Immigrant Families. Its purpose is to lift up immigrant families in prayer and show public support from faith leaders for the need to protect families and communities from being torn apart by mass deportations. 


The 90-minute action will consist of 3 parts:

  • a public dialogue between undocumented immigrants (or their family members) who are cherished members of our communities and faith leaders, with faith leaders listening and responding, from a pastoral and th here eological frame, to the stories shared by immigrants who are at risk. A message of welcome and solidarity to counter their demonization in so many outlets these days.

  • an interfaith prayer service

  • a call to action for faith communities

Some statements released by PC(USA) and partner agencies on recent executive orders:

Church World Service: Statement on Executive Actions Targeting Refugees




Advocacy Committee for LGBTQIA+ equity lambasts a Trump executive order




More Light Presbyterian's Statement in response to Donald Trump's executive orders attacking gender diversity



Repeal of key immigration policy holds weighty implications for churches, including PC(USA) congregations



PC(USA) Advocacy Committee issues statement supporting Bishop Budde




General Assembly Committee on Representation has issued a statement on recent fear-based provocations about Diversity and Inclusion:

Lent with Pilgrims and Western

This Lent, together with our friends at Western Presbyterian Church, we will be working our way through Jesus' parables in the Gospel of Luke each week. But here's the twist, we're going to put those parables in conversation with stories from our own time - from poetry, literature, art, our own lived experiences, or any other way we can imagine to tell and re-tell the story. The worship planning team would love to invite YOU to share. Sign up to be a liturgist on one of the Sundays during Lent and Erin will be glad to work with you to prepare a parable of your own to go with the lectionary-assigned parable of the day. Or, come to one of our scheduled Wednesday supper and discussion gatherings over at Western Pres (2401 Virginia Ave NW) where we'll really dig into the tales, as we dig into a fine meal, too!

Now is the time to start reading the parables, and imagining new ways to share them. Take a look at the assigned readings and consider how you might contribute this Lent! Erin would love to talk with you about it when she's back from Cuba!

Mar 9 - Luke 10:25-42 - Parable of the Good Samaritan

Mar 16 - Luke 13:1-9, 31-35 - parable of fig tree that bore no fruit

Mar 23 - Luke 15:1-32 Parables of lost sheep, coin, prodigal son.

Mar 30 - Luke 16:19-31 Parable of the rich man and Lazarus.

April 6 - Luke 18:31—19:10 Healing a blind man, meeting Zacchaeus. Jesus came to seek and save the lost.

Looking forward to spending an engaging Lent together this year.

Bruce Blanchard Memorial Service - 3/8 at 2pm

Pilgrims,

Mary Josie and the whole Blanchard family invite you to A Service of Witness to the Resurrection and a Celebration of the Life of Bruce Blanchard on Saturday, March 8, 2025 at 2pm at Church of the Pilgrims. There will be a reception in the Fellowship Hall after the service. You can also watch the service online, using this link.

(Meeting ID: 821 9562 8218, Passcode: 838034)

A visitation will be held on Friday, March 7th from 4pm - 6:30pm at Joseph Gawler's Son's Funeral home, located at 5130 Wisconsin Ave, NW, Washington, DC, 20016.

Click here to read Bruce's obituary.

Please continue to hold all of Bruce's family and friends in your prayers.