Homecoming and a Congregational Meeting - 9/10

Homecoming 2023 at Church of the Pilgrims will be Sunday, September 10th at 11am. With special music and liturgy, tasty snacks, a communion meal, and a little bit of business, too!

We are hoping you will bring a snack to share. We want to cover the communion table with snacks and treats and a feast of abundance. So start thinking now about what you might contribute to our table, and then plan to stay and snack after worship!

Homecoming Sunday will also be our first Sunday kicking off the year using the Narrative Lectionary. This year we’ll follow a series of readings in worship designed to give us a wide-story perspective of the whole bible in one program year - starting with readings in the Fall from the Hebrew Scriptures, spending time with the Gospels just before Christmas and through Easter, and then turning to the Epistles for Spring. Come and learn about this new approach for the 2023-2024 year!

And if that wasn’t enough….

The Session of Church of the Pilgrims has called a Congregational Meeting for Sunday, September 10th at 12:00pm (immediately following worship) for the purpose of acting upon the Session's recommendation to call Designated Pastor the Rev. Erin Counihan as the installed pastor of Church of the Pilgrims, and to act on the Officer Nominating Committee's report, which will include nominations for church officers for 2024.

When Erin was called as our Designated Pastor in the Fall of 2021, it was for a two-year term. With that term nearing its end, the Personnel Committee met and made a recommendation to the Session to call Erin as our installed pastor, the Session agreed and voted to call a Congregational Meeting for a vote to call Erin as our installed pastor. National Capital Presbytery's Committee on Ministry has approved Erin's current terms of call (which remain the same as set by vote of the congregation at our Jan. 29, 2023 Congregational Meeting) and our work in this process.

So it will be a big day, with big music, big business, and big fun, worshiping our big God who is still up to big things! We can’t wait to see you there!

Fall Worship Planning Meeting -8/23

What did you think of worship around the tables? Did you like having discussion time? Have you disliked every hymn we've sung since March? Now is your time to tell all.

Meet in the Bird Room on Wednesday, August 23rd at 6:30pm for our Fall Worship Planning Meeting. We'll read some scripture, share ideas and stories, and dream up how we might spend this next season in worship together.

All are invited. Hope to see you there!

Backpacks for Friendship Place

Help us support some Friendship Place students again this year!

This month we're collecting a special offering so that we can purchase and prepare 10 fulled loaded backpacks for local high school students. We're inviting you to chip in a little financial donation, then we'll buy all the supplies from their lists, and together in worship we will fill those packs!

You can make a donation online by clicking here or by writing "backpacks" on your check or on an envelope with a little cash in it to leave in the basket at worship on Sunday. We're hoping that together we can come up with the $600 for this special way to support local students in the new school year!

Summer of Questions Worship Series

Are you ready for some questions?

We're going to spend this summer exploring some big questions together. In a new worship series, we'll gather around tables, and use our very own Church of the Pilgrims Mission Statement as a guide to discuss what we really mean when we say, "we are pilgrims on a spiritual journey" and that we are "trusting God to show us the way."

Using a psalm and a story each week, we'll look at part of our Mission Statement and consider what it might really mean to us and to our faith journey.

You're invited to come - wonder, worship, and share!

Issues Among Us - DATE CHANGE - July 25

Update: New Date! Tuesday, July 25 - meet at 10:15am at church to carpool to the event.

We're getting an inside look at Friendship Place's newest short-term housing program and facility, Valley Place!

Join us on Wednesday, July 12, Tuesday July 25th, meeting at church at 10:15am to carpool over to Valley Place together.

Please RSVP to Erin at erin@churchofthepilgrims.org.

Click here to learn more about Friendship Place.

Click here to learn more about our Issues Among Us Series.

 

Church of the Pilgrims is a congregation in the Presbyterian Church (USA).

We are also a member of More Light Presbyterians, welcoming the full participation of LGBTQ persons in the life and leadership of the congregation.