Life @ The Crossing: Back-to-Church w/ Bishop Shaw in the House!

Everybody's gone back to school, back to work, back to the fall. Hmm … maybe now it's time to get BACK TO CHURCH! Join us @ The Crossing this Thursday to give God praise + get centered for the year to come. Bishop Tom Shaw, SSJE, will bless us (literally), and the Joya Band will return with spirit-filled, neosoul grooves. But the most special people there will be YOU and the friends you hustle along. 'Cuz if you've been looking for a night to introduce your crew to The Crossing, this is the night!

Here's more info on what's unfolding @ The Crossing this month:

What's Going On @ The Crossing ...
EVERY THURSDAY / Spiritual practice & Worship: Come at 6pm to practice Lectio Divina … with songs as texts (thanks to Jason Long for leading us in this creative, ancient/future practice). Worship at 6:30pm, with music, prayer, communion around God's always-open table, and Ben Garren offering reflections on the Gospel of Luke (see Good News for October @ bottom of this post -- offer up your comments!).

SUNDAY, 10/7 @ 3-5pm/ Faith-Sharing Group STARTS: Want to join the new Faith-Sharing small group? They've switched to Sunday afternoons, 1x a month, and the door is open! Jason Long and Kendra McLaughlin co-lead gathering @ Kendra's home in The Fenway. Readings from Simpler Living, Compassionate Life (just 15 pp. per session) will ground the conversation about how God moves in our lives and how faith shapes our choices -- how we eat, how we rest, how we organize our days. If you'd like to join, please come to the first gathering and plan to attend the whole series. To join the group, contact Jason at jason.long.1@googlemail.com or 617.519.1538. For directions to Kendra's home in the Fenway, email her at kendra.mclaughlin@gmail.com or call 857.939.0353.

2nd and 4th MONDAYS - 10/8 & 10/22 @ 6:30pm / Harvard Square Scripture Chat: Join us 2nd and 4th Mondays at 6:30 pm for our Harvard Square Scripture Chat. Bring your deep thoughts AND big questions to Grendel's Den (JFK St. at Winthrop, toward the river, same strip as Peet's Coffee, just before Staples) as we share Bible study over brews & 1/2 price dinner. Contact Chris Ashley at chris.ashley@gmail.com or 312.451.5124 to get connected.

BONUS POINTS / Webmaster/mistress: We're hunting for a web guru to take over care of our website, even to do a redesign if they're so inclined! Contact Rev. Steph at sspellers@diomass.org or 617.482.4826, x318 if you're game or know someone who might be. Modest stipend available …

PLUGGING INTO MINISTRY @ THE CROSSING
There's room for everybody's gifts, questions and hopes @ The Crossing (okay, esp. if you've got some web savvy, 'cuz we coud use a hand on that front!). Use this contact list to get plugged into ministry and life in our community:

Stephanie Spellers, sspellers@diomass.org, 617.482.4826, x318
(Priest @ The Crossing; Communications)
Chris Ashley, chris.ashley@gmail.com, 312.451.5124
(Scripture Chat Group)
Ed Broms, ebroms@diomass.org, 617.482.4826, x1103
(Music Ministry)
Edith Bross, edith.bross@gmail.com, 610.248.1734
(Justice & Service Opportunities)
Lynn Campbell, lynnmcam@aol.com, 617.230.5272
(Newcomer Connections)
Ben Garren, bgarren@alumni.unc.edu, 919.691.5585
(Worship/Creative Input)
Jason Long , jason.long.1@googlemail.com, 617.519.1538
(Faith-Sharing Small Group)
Kendra McLaughlin, kendra.mclaughlin@gmail.com, 857.939.0353
(Greeters & Hospitality)

And now, here are the scriptures for the month of October. If you've got ideas, stories, reflections you'd like to pass along, feel free to share them with Ben Garren, the month's reflection leader: bgarren@alumni.unc.edu.

October 4: Luke 17:5-10
The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" The Lord replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, `Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.
"Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, `Come here at once and take your place at the table'? Would you not rather say to him, `Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink'? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, `We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'

October 11: Luke 17:11-19
On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" When he saw them, he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well."

October 18: Luke 18:1-8
Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, `Grant me justice against my opponent.' For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, `Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'" And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

October 25: Luke 18:9-14
Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, `God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, `God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted."