Saturday, October 25, 2008

October 25th Gathering

WELCOME

Welcome to The Pub Church! We are a church in a pub and the Spirit is with us. In this space you are free to move about, order drinks/food, doodle, and express your ideas openly!

We come together with diversity of thoughts, stories, talents, hopes and hurts. Our prayer is that in coming together with all our differences and with Spirit we participate in a new divine reality. This is sacred space.


SILENT MEDITATION

Be still and aware of the Divine Presence within and all around us…


OPENING PRAYER

Divine presence within and all around us, lure us out, so that the best of ourselves, the divine that is within us, can sing out loud!


PEACE – TOAST

In this place we creatively express;

Some of us are focused, some are a mess!


We participate during the sermon

And people do connect, we are learnin’


Greet all with a handshake, toast or a wave

At all times feel free to yell, rant or rave


Fake not friends, we can arrive as we are.

Cheers! Here’s to sacred space in a bar!


TELLING OUR STORY

Coming Out – to Hope!


CONVERSATIONAL SERMON

The Content of our Hope

Last week we talked about coming out…

A Reading from Is It Too Late? John B. Cobb, Jr.
It is the belief in this Spirit, the giver of life and love, that is the basis of hope. In spite of all the destructive forces we let loose against life on this planet, the Spirit of Life is at work in ever new and unforeseeable ways, countering and circumventing the obstacles we put in its path. In spite of my strong tendencies to complacency and despair, I experience the Spirit in myself as calling forth the realistic hope apart from which there is no hope, and I am confident that what I find in myself is occurring in others also.

Since what makes for life and love and hope is not simply the decision of one individual or another, but a Spirit that moves us all, I do not have to suppose that my own efforts are of great consequence in order to believe them to be worthwhile. I can recognize that they may even be futile or misdirected and still persist in them as long as no clearer light is given, for I see what I do as part of something much greater, something in which all persons participate to whatever extent they sensitively respond to the insights and opportunities that come their way. Belief in the Spirit is belief that I am not alone, that in working for life and love in hope, I am working with something much greater than myself, that there are possibilities for the future that cannot be simply projected out of the past, that even my mistakes and failures may be woven into a healing pattern of which I am not now aware.

Belief in the Spirit is no ground for complacency. There is no guarantee that people will respond to the Spirit’s prompting in sufficient numbers and with sufficient sensitivity to begin the healing of the planet. But there is the possibility. The future can be different from the past. Therefore there is hope. Where there is life, there is hope."

ENACTED HOPE

~~~~~~~~~~

- Does the Spirit Cobb speaks of resonate with us?

- Do we believe in a Spirit that moves us all?

- What is the character of that Spirit? How did we come to know it? How do we recognize it?


SHARING RESOURCES AT THE TABLE


COMMUNION

Led by Xochitl


FEEDBACK AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Updates on thepubchurch.blogspot.com

November 1, 2008 gathering.


CLOSING

Radiant Source of Life,

You Are Who You Are and we have been created in your Divine image, alike, yet diverse. Birthed in your image, we are born into possibility, each of us a mystery ever unfolding. Help us to honor the rich complexities of who we are; deepen and unite us in you, so that we may know ourselves and others to be bearers of creativity and of your transforming love.

Let us go forth then knowing our place, answering the call, and living in Spirit.

*Inspired by, Transgendering Faith, (p. 129-130)

Friday, October 24, 2008

October 18th Gathering - Posted Late!



PRELUDE
Music by Maggie Keelan

WELCOME

Welcome to The Pub Church! We are a church in a pub and the Spirit is with us. In this space you are free to move about, order drinks/food, doodle, and express your ideas openly!

We come together with diversity of thoughts, stories, talents, hopes and hurts. Our prayer is that in coming together with all our differences and with Spirit we participate in a new divine reality. This is sacred space.

OPENING PRAYER

Trapped by expectations, I kept the best of me hidden and shushed her when she spoke – Divine presence within and all around us, call us out, so that the best of ourselves, the divine that is within us, can sing out loud!

PEACE – TOAST
Followed with music by Maggie

In this place we creatively express;
Some of us are focused, some are a mess!

We participate during the sermon
And people do connect, we are learnin’

Greet all with a handshake, toast or a wave
At all times feel free to yell, rant or rave

Fake not friends, we can arrive as we are.
Cheers! Here’s to sacred space in a bar!

TELLING OUR STORY
Coming Out!

CONVERSATIONAL SERMON
National Coming Out day was October 11th
“The word ‘out’ seems to suggest opening a door and walking through a portal and suddenly the world changes. It’s really not like that. I use the metaphor of a long, narrow corridor which is dark at first, then there are little glimmers of light coming in, then it starts to widen, and then there’s a window opening. And you peek out, and you see some possibilities. And then there are doors ajar, and you might step out briefly and then come back in. So, it is a long process. It’s not as the word “out” suggests – a sudden decision and you step into another world.”
From an interview with George Takei, as quoted in God Comes Out: A Queer Homiletic.
~~~~~~~~~~
- What process of coming out have we found ourselves in? Do we find ourselves in now?
- In what ways have we found the strength to keep walking through the dimness?
- What have been our glimmers of light?

SHARING OF RESOURCES

COMMUNION
Led by Xochitl

FEEDBACK AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Updates on thepubchurch.blogspot.com
November 1, 2008 gathering?

CLOSING
Followed with music by Maggie

Radiant Source of Life,
You Are Who You Are , and we have been created in your Divine image, alike, yet diverse. Birthed in your image, we are born into possibility, each of us a mystery ever unfolding. Help us to honor the rich complexities of who we are; deepen and unite us in you, so that we may know ourselves and others to be bearers of creative power and channels of your transforming love.
Let us now go, called out to be who we are, and to sing out loud!
*Inspired by, Transgendering Faith, (p. 129-130)

Friday, October 3, 2008

Fun with Wordle

This was just a fun thing to do: On the Wordle site, you can create a "word cloud" that is generated from a text one provides, in this case The Pub Church blog. The sizes of the words correspond to their frequency

Use this link below to see ours in their gallery - cool huh? :-)
title="Wordle: The Pub Church"> src="http://wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/227980/The_Pub_Church"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">


Thanks http://wordle.net/ for your creativity!