Report on Neighborhood House Churches Meetings, Sunday April 10, 11 am
As part of the Lenten Lifestyle for Creation emphasis, we seek to be in relationship with God and one another and with God’s creation. How well do we know our neighbors? Do we know who from the church lives nearby? By gathering in a more informal and intimate space with some 5-21 from the church family on Sunday April 10, the church was invited to be in deeper relationship with one another, and to experience God in community in a new way. Everyone was encouraged to go back to our Christian roots and participate in a house style worship service in a home near to where you live. May God continue to bless each house of worship!
Gatherings were in the following locations, along with reports from those locations.
Residents off of Airport Rd.
Host: Elizabeth Ortega-Ethelbal; Worship Leaders: Elizabeth and Keri and Michael Brinegar
Hi,
We had a total of 7 people. I will bring the offering on Sunday. It was a great experience for all of us. I read a meditation on Lent from my Dad. My mom helped me with the translation as did Keri. Michael and Keri brought their instruments, so we had great music. The fellowship was touching and intimate. At first, I didn't know if this was going to work, but it did. Your project turned out to be a success. Liz
Residents around Rodeo Rd/ Camino Carlos Rey;
Host: L.V. West; Worship Leader: Rev. Andrew Black
Sounds like some great experiences. We had a total of nine people in attendance and worked from a liturgy that included a prayer of examen and lectio divinia of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness. We had great participation and comments both following the lectio as well as where people had experienced God that week. It was great to hear how folks had encounted the Holy through the loving care of others as well as through nature and by the humble and continual realization of the long history of God at work in our world. A closing remark made was that we should do this quarterly as it offers an intimate and relaxing setting for worship and fellowship in community. Also LV played us Amazing Grace as well as an ancient negro spiritual. All in all, a good experience. Andrew
Residents of El Dorado and Pecos
Host: Barbara Medina; Worship Leaders: Grace Nadell and Gerzain Chavez
El Dorado had 13 people in attendance:
Chavez family - 4
Roghair family - 2
Brugger family - 3
Jackson family - 2
Theresa Garcia - 1
Barbara Medina -1
Good worship/discussion/music/fellowship also, offering was collected - Barbara
Frenchy’s Park Area/ along Agua Fria
Host/ Worship: Topples
We had a small gathering of 6, including the Holts, Suzanne Drieth, Trasie and Ruby Gene who was in rare form, first full of energy and dancing around while we were singing and praying; and who broke down at 12 just before we finished insisting on a nap. I debuted my guitar playing “Daniel in the Lion’s den”. Suzanne was not very impressed (!). Trasie and I enjoyed putting th service together once we made a few key decisions, and varied it up a bit from the usual. We had nice reflection on scriptures including sharing and Lectio Divina as well as good singing, particularly along with some Fernando Ortega songs. It was a very relaxing morning for this preacher, and maybe a glimpse of how Sunday could/should be in terms of peacefulness. We enjoyed a nice meal afterward at the house. Chester
Fort Marcy/ Cemetery
Host: Clyde Tomlin; Worship Leader: Rev. Richard Avery (983-8303)
Dear Chester:
For your evaluations It may be helpful for you to know who came to Clyde's home yesterday and a bit of what we did.
Fifteen people were present and participated with enthusiasm:
Clyde, our gracious and delighted host.
Cindy Piatt, who helped prepare the home and refreshments.
Me, Dick, who presided over the service.
Consuelo and
Dwight Walker.
Bill Taylor.
John and
Mary Beth Brient.
Elizabeth Reed, a friend and neighbor here at Plaza del Monte, currently rather estranged from the Church.
Steve and
Joan Spencer, currently bothered by developments in the Quaker meeting and friends of Clyde and me, and originally Presbyterians.
Sandra Oriel, who has started coming to WPC recently.
Bob Miles, who, in this very stressful time in his life, probably came with us rather than another group because of his familiarity with me and Clyde.
Hutch Hutchison.
Lois Morton.
We invited folks to come from 10:30 on, and we had brunchy-style refreshments, brought by 4 or 5 people, before the service and after, and that encouraged good socializing.
In the service, we briefly honored the house church as the start of it all, introduced ourselves around the circle with bits of information, shared experiences of nature, lined out a "nature psalm", shared considerable silence, looked ahead to Holy Week through the eyes of the blind man Jesus healed on the way to Jerusalem, considered the connection of creation and crucifixion—as both being dramatic signs of God's goodness and love we are called to share in our church and beyond.
Bill Taylor was quite helpful with his flugelhorn on the 3 hymns we sang—with good singers in the group. We also offered "prayers of the people" in the usual way.
Clyde, the Walkers and Cindy all shared leadership, along with the group's conversation in the service.
A good experience, and newcomers and visitors appreciated the event a lot.
Thanks for the idea. I hope other groups had as good a time as we did.
Dick
Rancho Viejo/ Community College Area
Host: Jan and Bob Chesnut
We had a great morning at our house--only six of us, but very significant. We had Cat and Doug, Sherl and Kevin. We used resources from Philip Newell and started off with a little explanation of Celtic spirituality. We followed the simple outline of his Celtic Treasures for daily devotion. We played a chant from his latest CD, "My heart says, 'Seek the Face of God.'" Jan read the scripture from John about Jesus' raising of Lazarus and led us through a lectio devina exercise. Nearly everyone was in tears by the time we finished! Very meaningful morning. Bob and Jan
Gathering in the Church Social Hall -
841 W. Manhattan Ave.; Santa Fe 87501
For those who:
1. live nearby (including East Side near Museums) or very far away from the church;
2. are visiting for the first time;
3. didn’t know or forgot;
Host: Mason/ Sandoval/Naranjos in Social Hall
Worship Leader: Rev. Georgia Ortiz and Gaspar Naranjo
Hey Chester and the WPC family,
We that met in the social hall had a remarkable 21 in attendance. There were at least 4 visitors – 2 others who maybe had been to WPC before, 1 visiting preacher, a wonderful musician helpout with hymns in a delightful young woman named, Faith Amour. We followed the usual WPC format except for a Gaspar led hymn sing as a prelude and everyone introducing themselves and a sort of dialog sermon. Mary brought wonderful breakfast casseroles, Erik brought chicken and other stuff, the Ortiz’s brought soup. All in all we finally cleared the place about 1:30--- visitors hanging around!! We all want to know what went on elsewhere!.
Georgia
All went very well at the church. We had 21 people in attendance which included 4 first time visitors. Libby
We had total of 21 at the church Sunday--5 of them first time or almost first time visitors. Offering was taken and 2 counters put it together and put it in counter's box in the office.
Erik
Resources:
A Sample Worship Order adapted by each leader, or each leader used their own liturgy.
At 11 the host welcomes those gathered and may use the following or similar language:
A message from Paul to the Corinthians from the 1st Century year of our Lord. “Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, greet you warmly in the Lord.” Many early churches were gatherings of believers in people’s homes. And today in the 21st century, house church gatherings are among the most popular for Christians.
You are welcome in this home, and I am glad you are here. Let us welcome one another as we open our hearts and minds to experiencing God in this home. We will sing the welcome song:
Gathering - Bienvenidos Song
Bienvenido! Bienvenido! Los hermanos hoy aquí, Nos gozamos en decir:
Welcoming/ Sharing/ Check in (suggested topic for sharing) - How have you experienced God this week?
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Praise (Unison)
Risen and redeeming God, you came into this world to live among us in your son Jesus. His life, his, death, and his rising have taught us to love. We are bound together with a gift of unity into one Body of Christ. We thank you for teaching us what it means to live in right relationship with all Creation. We praise you for the gift of this community gathered today, growing together in your love. Amen.
Singing Together:
Simple songs that many may be familiar with; you may want the office to run off copies (this is legal) of familiar hymns you would like to sing.
Rev. Avery may make some suggestions for us.
Confession
If you choose, take time to explain why we have confession, then all may pray together:
Confession and Silent Prayer (Unison)
God, in all your Creation you have revealed to us the fragile interdependence of life. We confess, at times, we have rebelled against you with ideas of self-sufficiency and extreme individualism. We reap without sowing and do harm without knowing. Open our eyes and hearts to your Creation and all who labor to offer us daily with food, water, energy, and sanitation. Help us to build a just, sustainable community of equitable sharing, solidarity, and gratitude. Amen
Silent Meditation
All may sing together: Señor Ten Piedad; Cristo Ten Piedad; Señor Ten Piedad
Assurance of Pardon
Leader: As sure as we have gathered here in God’s name, God is here among us. Even as we try and go astray like a sheep who wanders from the flock, God draws us back into life together. May the power of God’s love ever be constant with us, renewing our families, our schools, our workplaces, our churches, our neighborhoods, and all God’s Creation.
All: En el nombre de Jesus, somos perdonados; Gloria a Dios. Amen
Gloria Patria
Gloria demos al Padre, al Hijo, y al Santo Espíritu; Como eran al principio, son hoy y habrán de ser eternamente. Amén.
Scripture Readings - you may choose other scriptures if you would like
1. Shared Reading
Proverbs 8:22-31 - Notice Creation Theme, and Wisdom being from the beginning.
Matthew 4:1-11 - Temptation is a reality in our lives- what are some of the ways we are tempted to not be in better relationship with God and neighbor
Meditation/ Reflection
Consider the following ways to engage the scripture as a small group:
1. Lectio Divina; and/or
2. Corporate Sharing; or
3. Worship Leader shares a brief meditation
Affirmation of Faith - Prayer of Oscar Romero
It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation
in realizing that. This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well. It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen.
Sharing of joys and concerns
Prayers of the People
Offering
1. Basket or Jar at the house, or
2. passing a hat
Doxology
Closing songs/ Hymns
Sharing of announcements or upcoming events which will be included in the weekly email. Especially invite people to come to the holy week events:
Sunday April 17 - Palm Sunday and celebration of April Birthdays
Maundy Thurs April 21 - Tenebrae service with special guest musicians - 7:30
Good Friday April 22 - 8 am Worship at WPC, and pilgrimage to Chimayo
Easter Sunday April 24.
Blessing and Peace
As part of the Lenten Lifestyle for Creation emphasis, we seek to be in relationship with God and one another and with God’s creation. How well do we know our neighbors? Do we know who from the church lives nearby? By gathering in a more informal and intimate space with some 5-21 from the church family on Sunday April 10, the church was invited to be in deeper relationship with one another, and to experience God in community in a new way. Everyone was encouraged to go back to our Christian roots and participate in a house style worship service in a home near to where you live. May God continue to bless each house of worship!
Gatherings were in the following locations, along with reports from those locations.
Residents off of Airport Rd.
Host: Elizabeth Ortega-Ethelbal; Worship Leaders: Elizabeth and Keri and Michael Brinegar
Hi,
We had a total of 7 people. I will bring the offering on Sunday. It was a great experience for all of us. I read a meditation on Lent from my Dad. My mom helped me with the translation as did Keri. Michael and Keri brought their instruments, so we had great music. The fellowship was touching and intimate. At first, I didn't know if this was going to work, but it did. Your project turned out to be a success. Liz
Residents around Rodeo Rd/ Camino Carlos Rey;
Host: L.V. West; Worship Leader: Rev. Andrew Black
Sounds like some great experiences. We had a total of nine people in attendance and worked from a liturgy that included a prayer of examen and lectio divinia of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness. We had great participation and comments both following the lectio as well as where people had experienced God that week. It was great to hear how folks had encounted the Holy through the loving care of others as well as through nature and by the humble and continual realization of the long history of God at work in our world. A closing remark made was that we should do this quarterly as it offers an intimate and relaxing setting for worship and fellowship in community. Also LV played us Amazing Grace as well as an ancient negro spiritual. All in all, a good experience. Andrew
Residents of El Dorado and Pecos
Host: Barbara Medina; Worship Leaders: Grace Nadell and Gerzain Chavez
El Dorado had 13 people in attendance:
Chavez family - 4
Roghair family - 2
Brugger family - 3
Jackson family - 2
Theresa Garcia - 1
Barbara Medina -1
Good worship/discussion/music/fellowship also, offering was collected - Barbara
Frenchy’s Park Area/ along Agua Fria
Host/ Worship: Topples
We had a small gathering of 6, including the Holts, Suzanne Drieth, Trasie and Ruby Gene who was in rare form, first full of energy and dancing around while we were singing and praying; and who broke down at 12 just before we finished insisting on a nap. I debuted my guitar playing “Daniel in the Lion’s den”. Suzanne was not very impressed (!). Trasie and I enjoyed putting th service together once we made a few key decisions, and varied it up a bit from the usual. We had nice reflection on scriptures including sharing and Lectio Divina as well as good singing, particularly along with some Fernando Ortega songs. It was a very relaxing morning for this preacher, and maybe a glimpse of how Sunday could/should be in terms of peacefulness. We enjoyed a nice meal afterward at the house. Chester
Fort Marcy/ Cemetery
Host: Clyde Tomlin; Worship Leader: Rev. Richard Avery (983-8303)
Dear Chester:
For your evaluations It may be helpful for you to know who came to Clyde's home yesterday and a bit of what we did.
Fifteen people were present and participated with enthusiasm:
Clyde, our gracious and delighted host.
Cindy Piatt, who helped prepare the home and refreshments.
Me, Dick, who presided over the service.
Consuelo and
Dwight Walker.
Bill Taylor.
John and
Mary Beth Brient.
Elizabeth Reed, a friend and neighbor here at Plaza del Monte, currently rather estranged from the Church.
Steve and
Joan Spencer, currently bothered by developments in the Quaker meeting and friends of Clyde and me, and originally Presbyterians.
Sandra Oriel, who has started coming to WPC recently.
Bob Miles, who, in this very stressful time in his life, probably came with us rather than another group because of his familiarity with me and Clyde.
Hutch Hutchison.
Lois Morton.
We invited folks to come from 10:30 on, and we had brunchy-style refreshments, brought by 4 or 5 people, before the service and after, and that encouraged good socializing.
In the service, we briefly honored the house church as the start of it all, introduced ourselves around the circle with bits of information, shared experiences of nature, lined out a "nature psalm", shared considerable silence, looked ahead to Holy Week through the eyes of the blind man Jesus healed on the way to Jerusalem, considered the connection of creation and crucifixion—as both being dramatic signs of God's goodness and love we are called to share in our church and beyond.
Bill Taylor was quite helpful with his flugelhorn on the 3 hymns we sang—with good singers in the group. We also offered "prayers of the people" in the usual way.
Clyde, the Walkers and Cindy all shared leadership, along with the group's conversation in the service.
A good experience, and newcomers and visitors appreciated the event a lot.
Thanks for the idea. I hope other groups had as good a time as we did.
Dick
Rancho Viejo/ Community College Area
Host: Jan and Bob Chesnut
We had a great morning at our house--only six of us, but very significant. We had Cat and Doug, Sherl and Kevin. We used resources from Philip Newell and started off with a little explanation of Celtic spirituality. We followed the simple outline of his Celtic Treasures for daily devotion. We played a chant from his latest CD, "My heart says, 'Seek the Face of God.'" Jan read the scripture from John about Jesus' raising of Lazarus and led us through a lectio devina exercise. Nearly everyone was in tears by the time we finished! Very meaningful morning. Bob and Jan
Gathering in the Church Social Hall -
841 W. Manhattan Ave.; Santa Fe 87501
For those who:
1. live nearby (including East Side near Museums) or very far away from the church;
2. are visiting for the first time;
3. didn’t know or forgot;
Host: Mason/ Sandoval/Naranjos in Social Hall
Worship Leader: Rev. Georgia Ortiz and Gaspar Naranjo
Hey Chester and the WPC family,
We that met in the social hall had a remarkable 21 in attendance. There were at least 4 visitors – 2 others who maybe had been to WPC before, 1 visiting preacher, a wonderful musician helpout with hymns in a delightful young woman named, Faith Amour. We followed the usual WPC format except for a Gaspar led hymn sing as a prelude and everyone introducing themselves and a sort of dialog sermon. Mary brought wonderful breakfast casseroles, Erik brought chicken and other stuff, the Ortiz’s brought soup. All in all we finally cleared the place about 1:30--- visitors hanging around!! We all want to know what went on elsewhere!.
Georgia
All went very well at the church. We had 21 people in attendance which included 4 first time visitors. Libby
We had total of 21 at the church Sunday--5 of them first time or almost first time visitors. Offering was taken and 2 counters put it together and put it in counter's box in the office.
Erik
Resources:
A Sample Worship Order adapted by each leader, or each leader used their own liturgy.
At 11 the host welcomes those gathered and may use the following or similar language:
A message from Paul to the Corinthians from the 1st Century year of our Lord. “Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, greet you warmly in the Lord.” Many early churches were gatherings of believers in people’s homes. And today in the 21st century, house church gatherings are among the most popular for Christians.
You are welcome in this home, and I am glad you are here. Let us welcome one another as we open our hearts and minds to experiencing God in this home. We will sing the welcome song:
Gathering - Bienvenidos Song
Bienvenido! Bienvenido! Los hermanos hoy aquí, Nos gozamos en decir:
¡Bienvenido! ¡Bienvenido! Al volvernos a reunir, ¡Bienvenido!
Welcoming/ Sharing/ Check in (suggested topic for sharing) - How have you experienced God this week?
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Praise (Unison)
Risen and redeeming God, you came into this world to live among us in your son Jesus. His life, his, death, and his rising have taught us to love. We are bound together with a gift of unity into one Body of Christ. We thank you for teaching us what it means to live in right relationship with all Creation. We praise you for the gift of this community gathered today, growing together in your love. Amen.
Singing Together:
Simple songs that many may be familiar with; you may want the office to run off copies (this is legal) of familiar hymns you would like to sing.
Rev. Avery may make some suggestions for us.
Confession
If you choose, take time to explain why we have confession, then all may pray together:
Confession and Silent Prayer (Unison)
God, in all your Creation you have revealed to us the fragile interdependence of life. We confess, at times, we have rebelled against you with ideas of self-sufficiency and extreme individualism. We reap without sowing and do harm without knowing. Open our eyes and hearts to your Creation and all who labor to offer us daily with food, water, energy, and sanitation. Help us to build a just, sustainable community of equitable sharing, solidarity, and gratitude. Amen
Silent Meditation
All may sing together: Señor Ten Piedad; Cristo Ten Piedad; Señor Ten Piedad
Assurance of Pardon
Leader: As sure as we have gathered here in God’s name, God is here among us. Even as we try and go astray like a sheep who wanders from the flock, God draws us back into life together. May the power of God’s love ever be constant with us, renewing our families, our schools, our workplaces, our churches, our neighborhoods, and all God’s Creation.
All: En el nombre de Jesus, somos perdonados; Gloria a Dios. Amen
Gloria Patria
Gloria demos al Padre, al Hijo, y al Santo Espíritu; Como eran al principio, son hoy y habrán de ser eternamente. Amén.
Scripture Readings - you may choose other scriptures if you would like
1. Shared Reading
Proverbs 8:22-31 - Notice Creation Theme, and Wisdom being from the beginning.
Matthew 4:1-11 - Temptation is a reality in our lives- what are some of the ways we are tempted to not be in better relationship with God and neighbor
Meditation/ Reflection
Consider the following ways to engage the scripture as a small group:
1. Lectio Divina; and/or
2. Corporate Sharing; or
3. Worship Leader shares a brief meditation
Affirmation of Faith - Prayer of Oscar Romero
It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation
in realizing that. This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well. It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen.
Sharing of joys and concerns
Prayers of the People
Offering
1. Basket or Jar at the house, or
2. passing a hat
Doxology
A Dios el Padre celestial, Al Hijo nuestro Redentor, Y al eternal Consolador, Unidos todos alabad, Amén.
Closing songs/ Hymns
Sharing of announcements or upcoming events which will be included in the weekly email. Especially invite people to come to the holy week events:
Sunday April 17 - Palm Sunday and celebration of April Birthdays
Maundy Thurs April 21 - Tenebrae service with special guest musicians - 7:30
Good Friday April 22 - 8 am Worship at WPC, and pilgrimage to Chimayo
Easter Sunday April 24.
Blessing and Peace
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