Special Announcement
It's Christmas in July!
The children's ministry is seeking someone to make us three dozen Christmas cookies for our Sunday School classes on Sunday, July 19. Also, if you have some old Christmas cards that you no longer need (they can be ones sent you), we're recycling and they will be used for a service project for the homeless. Please drop them off to Anita Seline in the church office. Questions? please email Anita at amseline@aol.com or Aseline@mmumc-dc.org, or call the office at 202.363.4900.
Last Call on Bibles for Rising Third-Graders
We have the following signed up to receive personalized Bibles:
Brody, Imperial, Mah/Greene, Rider. If you have a rising third-grader in your family who would like to receive a Bible at a special ceremony this fall, please contact Anita Seline, director of children's ministries or by calling the church office at 202.363.4900.
Crossroads: A Weekly Worship Experience
5 p.m. Worship at St. Luke's United Methodist Church
An Outreach Ministry of Metropolitan Memorial
Join us at the Crossroads, where life and faith meet!
Crossroads is a weekly worship experience that features a high energy band as well as creative uses of visuals and multimedia. A nursery is provided, and we follow the gathering with a time to build community over refreshments. Come explore musically, visually and through the Word how God calls us to hold in tension seemingly contradictory issues involving faith.
Celebrate July 4th with Crossroads
Worship and Picnic on the Lawn
The worship and music are awesome and it’s a friendly crowd. Come for worship, stay for dinner and then take the family to the fireworks! The Crossroads Band members will provide music during dinner and our feast will be catered by the neighboring Rocklands Barbecue. What better way to kick off the summer! For more information, contact Jimmy Sherrod and check out our blog at www.xroadsdc.blogspot.com. For more information, contact Jimmy Sherrod and check out our blog at www.xroadsdc.blogspot.com.
Discussion Forum on Congregational Diversity
Begins Sunday, July 5 at 10:10 a.m., Terrace Room
Next Sunday, join in a discussion forum in the Terrace Room as the Advocacy Team launches a new initiative to consider issues related to racial and ethnic diversity in congregational life. This discussion will continue during July and August. At the same time, we will be beginning a series of visits to worship with some of our sister congregations in the Metro area on the third Sunday of each month, continuing through the fall. The first visit will be Sunday, July 19 to Asbury United Methodist Church at 11th and K Streets, NW. Gather in the MMUMC foyer to depart at 9:45 for their 10:30 service. For more information, contact Ann Michel or David Young
Exploring Faith Sunday School Class
Sundays, 10:10 a.m.,
Fireplace Room (No Class on Sunday, July 5)
Join us Sunday mornings as we continue our series focused on the 5 major world religions - Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Upcoming class topics include: July 5: No Class this Sunday; July 12: The Way of Faith and the Way of Devotion; July 19: The Way of Action and the Way of Mediation; July 26: The Way of the Mystics; August 2: The Evolution of Religious Institutions; August 9: Religious Diversity in the 21st Century.
Science & Religion Class
Sundays, 10:10 a.m., Parlor
During July and August our class will continue each week at 10:10 a.m. in the Parlor. On Sunday, July 5, the topic will be "The Biology of the Brain and Consciousness as the Seat of Spirituality." All are welcome Comments and questions? Contact Coordinator Don Smith, donnnancy@verizon.net or Maynard Moore, maynardmoore@onebox.com.
Children's Sunday School
Sundays, 10:10 a.m.
Sunday School for Children in July will be Sundays of Service. Each week, we'll learn about a different ministry at Metropolitan and do a service project in support of that ministry. See this space for updates every week. Here's what's on tap for us:
July 5 – Grand Oaks Monthly Worship Service.
Annette Fletchall will visit tell children what it’s like to hold a worship service at Sibley nursing home every month. Kids will make wall hangings to be given to worshippers.
July 12 – Visitor Corps
July 19 – Community Council on the Homeless
July 26 -- AU Campus Ministries
Summer Sundays at St. Luke’s
“Rethinking Church for Today “
Sundays at 11:30 a.m.
Led by Rev. Sandy Rector
What does it mean to be the church today? To be a person of faith, or to be a person seeking faith? To love God and to serve others? To be relevant in and for our community?
Each Summer Sunday we’ll use a different video clip from Rob Bell’s NOOMA series to focus our time. Where’s God when life isn’t going like we want it to? What do we do when our past catches up with us? Why is it that so often when we get what we want, we still feel empty? What does God see in us? Do we get so hung up on debating our faith, so wrapped up in “religion” that we miss out on the point of it? Do we try so hard to live the perfect life that we miss out on how to truly live? Can we really love God without loving others?
A lot of questions (those are just a few), a lot of conversation. A lot of dreaming and planning for the future. Join us as we spend the Summer in a time of creative reflection, prayer and praise...join us as we rethink how we live as a people of God in the 21st century.
Youth "Tuesdays on the Town"
Tuesdays, July 7- August 25, 6 p.m.
Tuesdays on the Town return this July and August. Each week we will head to a different place in the city for fun and fellowship. We’ll return to the National Mall, go to a Nats game, have fun in the pool, and attempt to improve our bowling score. Generally, Tuesdays on the Town will begin at 6 PM, and we will return to the church no later than 9 PM (except when otherwise noted). Weekly updates will inform you of time and event.
Tuesday on the Town Calendar
July 7: The National Mall
July 14: To Be Determined
July 21: Washington Nationals game versus Mets
(1st pitch - 7:05 p.m. We will leave approximately 5:30 p.m.)
July 26: Pool party at the Parker’s 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.
(please note that this is a Sunday event)
July 28: Bowling at Strike Bethesda
August 4: To Be Determined
August 11: Laser Tag
August 18: To Be Determined
August 25: Pool party at Palisades Pool
There will be service opportunities throughout the summer. Please look for those details in weekly e-mail and text updates. Keep up with Youth Connection at www.metropolitanyouth.blogspot.com. If you would like to receive text updates, please send Jimmy a text at 865.805.5373. (Jimmy Sherrod, Minister of Youth and New Worship, 202.363.4900, ext. 24).
Let There Be Light!
Tuesdays Evenings in July
Tuesdays, July 7 - 28, 7 p.m., Christie Room
Must we reject belief in God to accept the findings of science? How might religion and science coexist and even complement one another in the 21st Century? Join us on Tuesday evenings this July as we use the Wesley Seminary Ministry Network DVD Series on Religion and Science, facilitated by Dr. E. Maynard Moore, to explore these questions and more. Classes meet from 7-9:00 p.m. and registration is required (limited to the first 15 registrants – contact Rev. Sandy Rector) so that pre-session reading material may be distributed.
July 7 “Reflections”: A presentation by Nobel Laureate Dr. Charles Townes, University of California at Berkeley, who invented the laser, as he reflects on his career as a cosmologist. Townes discusses quantum theory, complexity, and even the possibility of extraterrestrial life.
July 14 “The Search for God”: Dr. Alister McGrath, Oxford University, Great Britain, colleague of Richard Dawkins and author of “The Dawkins Delusion,” a critical review of Dawkins’ best-selling “The God Delusion.” McGrath speaks forcefully from a Christian perspective, but to date, Dawkins has declined to debate McGrath in any public forum. Come decide for yourself.
July 21 “Natural Selection & the Economy of Grace”: In the “Year of Darwin,” it is important to discuss the implications of the “evolution idea” and to learn how to talk coherently as Christians who also embrace the theory and its power to interpret the natural order of things. Dr. Amy Laura Hall, Duke University Divinity School, discusses a few of the ethical implications in provocative ways.
July 28 “Beyond Conflict: Christianity & Science”: Dr. David A. Wilkinson, Principal of St. John’s College, Durham, Great Britain, member World Methodist Council, and our guest last August, will be with us again. Renowned internationally as an astrophysicist, Dr. Wilkinson shows how the so-called “conflict” between science and religion oversimplifies reality. He staunchly claims that science should be embraced as a gift from God, and if we are created in God’s image, we should be able to understand God’s creation. His in-person presentation to us on July 28th should be another stimulating occasion for us all.
Sermon on the Mount
Led by Rabbi Joshua Siegel – Sunday afternoons this July
Sundays,
July 12 - August 2, 12:30 p.m., Christie Room
Explore the culture, context, and rabbinical thinking and meaning behind one of Jesus’ most well-known discourses. Bring a brown-bag lunch and enjoy the afternoon Sundays, July 12, 19, 26, and August 2, 12:30 p.m. – 2 p.m. Please contact Rev. Sandy Rector to register (registration required).
Jazz Enthusiasts and Others!
Save the Date!
Thursday, July 16 at 7:30 p.m.,
Sanctuary
Featuring Swiss artists:
Sam Burckhardt, tenor saxophone
and Stephan Grieder, organ
The Swiss embassy invites you to hear the music of Swiss artists Sam Burckhardt and Stephan Grieder who first played together at a concert in Basel Cathedral in 2002 and since then have performed together on an annual basis. Each player brings to the concerts his own musical background and ideas: Stephan Grieder is a classically trained pianist and organist who also plays contemporary music - from rock to improvised tunes. Sam Burckhardt, who grew up in Basel, Switzerland, and settled in Chicago, became a blues and jazz musician. Their concerts, thus, include a varied mix, with classical works like “introduktion” by G.F. Handel, their own original compositions, and improvised pieces. Burckhardt usually plays at least one of his solo pieces by walking through the concert space. Since their performance spaces are churches, their concerts have a particularly interesting acoustic.
New Member Sunday
Sunday, July 19 at 9 a.m. & 11:15 a.m.
Have you been thinking of joining Metropolitan Memorial?! The next opportunity to join our growing congregation is on Sunday, July 19 at either the 9 a.m. or the 11:15 a.m. worship service. If you are interested in joining or want more information, contact Jeffrey L. Clouser, Director of Communications and Outreach.
Sermon Ideas
One of the great ideas that I heard on our trip to the Church of the Resurrection was that Adam Hamilton periodically asks the congregation for their thoughts on what subjects he should preach. He takes those thoughts on retreat, prays about them, and starts to develop sermon outlines for the coming two years. I loved this idea, and hoped that you could share with me your thoughts on the following questions:
1. What life situations would you like to see addressed in the
sermons?
2. Are there parts of the Bible or theological questions you
would like to explore?
3. Are there places in your life where you’re hurting and
need guidance?
4. What do you feel are your spiritual deficiencies?
5. Are there subjects that your non-churchgoing friends would
come to listen to?
Please send your thoughts to me at sermons@mmumc-dc.org, or drop them in the box in the Narthex marked “Sermon Ideas.” I’m looking forward to hearing from you!
Blessings,
Rev. Dr. Charles Parker
-Click Here For This Month's Calendar-
Our Clergy Staff:
Dr. Charles Parker / Rev. Sandy Rector / Rev. Jimmy Sherrod
For more information, go to our main website http://www.nationalchurch.org.
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