Yippee!  It’s time!  New pencils!  New markers!  New crayons!  New teachers!  Same merciful, gracious, compassionate God!

Children’s Ministry kicks off a new season on September 12 with joy and anticipation.  We are excited to have wonderful teachers who are committed to our vision of growing our children closer to God by building relationships and modeling what it is to be a follower of Jesus Christ.  Much of what our teachers do downstairs is get to know your kids.  Talk to them.  Pray for them.  Teach them.  Cheer for them.  Have fun with them.

Our babies and toddlers have begun their first Bible study.  It sounds silly, but it’s all about planting seeds.  Each week, those in the nursery gather together on a blanket to hear a Bible story and to pray.  It is amazing to watch.  The baby and toddler curriculum parallels that of the preschoolers.  And . . . this year, our preschoolers will continue with the Gospel Light preschool curriculum we used (and loved!) last year.  Our elementary students will tackle a new curriculum for us –  Children Desiring God.  K-2nd graders will study Jesus, What a Savior!  A study for children on redemption and our 3rd-5th graders will examine In the Beginning . . . Jesus.  A chronological study for children of redemptive history. This is a time where our elementary students will engage in more in-depth, hands-on Bible study.  It’s good stuff.

So, a new season also means new registration information, too.  Every child – nursery through elementary school – needs to register for this school year.  If your child is of nursery age (newborn to not yet 3), click here to register. If your child will be three by September 30, 2010, click here to register for preschool- and elementary-aged Sunday School .

We have the most fabulous team of new teachers for the year – Caitlin Staples, Patty Downie, Anne Galdo, Sophie Camp, Adam Lucas, Nadia Lucas, Brent Jones, Melody Jones, Laura Hassell, Rachel Hutchison, and middle-school helpers Graham Terry, Darcy Jones, and Abby Hassell.  Please pray for each of them by name as they prepare to commit their time and talent to growing our children.

Despite all the changes, we have the same God who is merciful, gracious, and compassionate.  His desire is for us to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. . . . Love your neighbor as yourself.”  (Mark 12:30-31)  THAT is what we are teaching our children at Restoration.

For the last 70 years, the people of Trinity Baptist Church have been faithfully worshiping God together here on North Quincy Street.. For the last 2 years, they have been gracious hosts to Restoration as we’ve undertaken the adventure of planting a new church. We are grateful for their generous partnership and for their faithful witness over the years in North Arlington.

This Sunday, August 29, the people of Trinity Baptist will worship together for the last time. We’re honored to get to join them in a special joint service. We’ll look back on and celebrate all that God has done in and through them over the last 70 years. And we’ll look forward to and celebrate what God will do in and through Restoration in the years to come.

Please join us for this special service at 10:00. And after we worship together, we’ll break bread together with lunch for everyone out back. There’ll be a big tent, lots of barbecue, even a moonbounce. And lots of fun and laughter and fellowship.  You’ll want to be there!

For you early morning folks, we’ll have a service of Morning Prayer at 8:30.  Our own Andrew Thompson will be preaching.  It will be great.  Even if you’re not an early morning person, it will still be great — and you may have a better chance of getting a seat than you will at 10:00!  Then come back and join us for lunch.

Worship. Celebration. Food. Fellowship. It doesn’t get much better than that.

See you Sunday!

Last year was Restoration’s first church-wide retreat, and I – one who often speaks at retreats but secretly never really likes going to them – well…I liked it!  It was, for lack of a more profound word:  good.  Seriously.   Fun, solid, real, good – showing up in basic stuff like this corn hole game at which I initially scoffed and which, honestly, turned out to be a corporate blast.  Or getting to play with some of the little kids who in turn became co-conspirators on many following Sundays, our turning blind eyes to one another’s extra doughnut holes snatched during refreshment times.  And then there were those three or four more-significant conversations I had with a three or four people I’d always thought seemed “nice” or “interesting” but with whom my path never meaningfully crossed on Sunday mornings.  Plus, since I like learning, talking, singing and communion, connecting more deeply with a group of people around corporate worship was a good thing.

So, was my life changed forever by that retreat?  Not exactly.  But I returned to DC woven a bit more deeply into the community that continues to emerge at Restoration. And the Jesus-centric corporate life, which so many others and I have been increasingly experiencing, has slowly but surely been showing itself to be life-changing.

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What’s so great about it?  For one thing, it’s funny.  (“Jonah went ahead with his not-very-good plan. ‘One ticket to NOT Ninevah, please!’”)  If your kids — or you — tend to think the Bible is dry and boring, this book is a great reminder of what a good sense of humor God has and of how ridiculous we humans can sometimes be!

The illustrations are gorgeous.  Full of color and expression, they bring new dimension to familiar (and not-so-familiar) stories.  I also appreciate that the people in these illustrations actually look like they could come from Palestine: no blond-haired, blue-eyed Jesuses here.

Most of all, I like that this Bible really traces the story of God’s redemption of his people throughout all the many different stories that are included.  As the introduction says,

There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them. It takes the whole Bible to tell this Story. And at the center of the Story, there is a baby. Every Story in the Bible whispers his name. He is like the missing piece in a puzzle — the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together, and suddenly you can see a beautiful picture.

That’s a reminder that we all need from time to time, as it really is the key to how we study and understand scripture. Even as I read through it, I had a few “aha” moments where I saw connections between Old Testament stories and Jesus’ story that I hadn’t considered before.  So The Jesus Storybook Bible doesn’t just get kids (or grownups) to read the Bible; it also teaches us how to read the Bible.  And that’s a pretty valuable thing, no matter how old you are.

On September 15, 2010 at 7:30pm, Erin Bair will be made a transitional Deacon in the Anglican Communion by Bishop John Guernsey at Restoration Anglican Church.

That is a mouthful!

I am so excited for Erin and so proud of the way she has walked this journey.  It has been a long road from The Falls Church to Harvard to Iowa for clinical pastoral training to Restoration.  God has clearly had his hand on her every step of the way.  She has completed a Masters of Divinity.  She has completed an additional year of pastoral care training in a rigorous hospital environment.  And she has spent the last 2 years giving her sweat, blood, and tears to planting Restoration!

Everyone who follows Jesus is given the calling of building His Kingdom.  Every vocation matters. Yet, the church has always set aside some of its members for the task of leading the church.  The New Testament affirms 3 offices of church leadership:  deacon, presbyter (elder), and bishop/overseer (episcopos).  Erin will be ordained a transitional deacon, which means she will be recognized as a member of the clergy, a set apart leader of the church.  But she is on her way to being ordained a presbyter (sometimes called priests).

The next months are a special time of self-evaluation, reflection, and listening to God for Erin.  She is preparing to take significant vows to serve Christ and His bride, the church.  I invite us all to pray regularly for Erin over the next 8 months.  This is an exciting and sober season.

This is what Bishop Guernsey will pray on Sept. 15

Make her, O Lord, modest and humble, strong and constant, to observe the discipline of Christ.  Let her life and teaching so reflect your commandments, that through her many may come to know you and love you.  As your Son came not to be served but to serve, may this deacon share in Christ’s service, and come to the unending glory of Him who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever.

AMEN!!

Powerful words.  I hope you will join us on Sept 15 at 7:30 as we celebrate what God is doing in and through our dear sister in Christ.

And frankly, I think sometimes these kinds of snags are good for us.  They’re reminders that God doesn’t need any of our stuff to be glorified — just our broken spirits and contrite hearts (Psalm 51).

We dove in to our 4-week study of Jonah yesterday (bad pun intended).  I talked about the ways that all of us sometimes share in Jonah’s tendency to run away from Ninevah — the hard or offensive-seeming thing that God is calling us to — and to run for Tarshish — that thing that we’re sure will be much better for us than whatever God has called us to. I encouraged all of us to ponder two questions this week: Where’s your Ninevah?  And what’s your Tarshish?

A hard Ninevah for many of us can be sharing — vocally, with words! — about our faith in Jesus, who he is and why we choose to follow him.  If you’ve sensed God calling you to more boldness in sharing about your faith, then you’ll definitely want to come this Wednesday to “Stories That Matter:  Articulating Our Hope in a Culture of ‘Whatever.’” Connally Gilliam will lead us in an exploratory conversation about how we can find honest words, in the course of regular life, for what we’ve encountered & know about the reality, goodness, and divinity of Jesus.  We’ll trade our stories & past experiences with the “talking” part of outreach as we discover together how we might individually and collectively grow in our ability to give reasons for the hope that is within us.

You won’t want to miss it! RSVP below, and join us from 7:30 – 9:00 on Wednesday, August 4 at 2915 N. Dinwiddie St. in Arlington.

That’s our Retreat speaker riding a ‘fixie’ around his neighborhood in Austin.

Gideon is a good friend from my days in Austin, TX.  He and I were both leading ministries that focused on students at the University of Texas. We also cared about the local body of Christ, multi-ethnicity, and partnership in God’s Kingdom.  He is one of the best speakers I have ever heard. In fact I brought him in one day to teach my staff how to give messages.

These days he has planted a church in the heart of Austin called Vox Veniae. I love their mission:

We believe the church was designed to accomplish Christ’s mission and revolution of grace on earth. We strive to take the same missional approach that is usually applied to globalization and apply it to our city.

They are doing this through some really creative ideas like space 12–  a community space that is facilitated by folks from the church, but caters to artists, musicians, the poor, and folks who want to office somewhere else…  Really creative.

They also have global partnerships with folks in Afghanistan and India.

They are living as a community in a community with the purpose of seeing that community made better by being good neighbors.

I asked him to come speak because I want him to inspire us, to push our creativity envelope, and to make us dream about what a church in Arlington could do to make Arlington a better place to live.

Seriously, you don’t want to miss it.  Oct. 22-24.  There are no services on Quincy Street that weekend.  Come rest in the mountains and imagine what the Kingdom could look like.

I can’t wait.

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Bishop Minns looked at Hebrews 12:28 – 13:14 as a description of that kind of church.  You can read the full text of his talk here, but I wanted to share one passage that really grabbed my attention:

THEY LIVE BY FAITH – Leaders are people of faith living in such a way that if God fails to come through they are through! They are the people that I want to follow!

Notice also that the text assumes that there will always be a plurality of leaders. Biblical leadership is always shared leadership. The Bible knows nothing of the solitary clergy leader that is so prevalent in our churches today.

We should also remember that in addition to bishops, priests and deacons the New Testament makes clear that the church needs some to be “apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”22

I look forward to the day when CANA has many more of these kinds of leaders.

As someone who has the privilege to be one of the leaders of Restoration, I feel totally convicted, challenged, and humbled by that first sentence.  To live in such a way that if God doesn’t come through, I am through…  Wow.  I would love to live that way (I think!) but acknowledge that so often I don’t.  I am wrestling and praying through what that looks like.  I would love your prayers as I do!

I also find this passage hugely encouraging.  Because I look around Restoration and, in so many ways, see exactly the kind of church that Bishop Minns is talking about. Restoration is a place blessed with so many gifted leaders.  Not just the staff, but the vestry, small group leaders, our outreach team, children’s small group leaders… So many of you are sharing the gifts that God has given you in so many creative ways.  Our church is enormously blessed by it, and God is using you to build his kingdom!  So be encouraged — I am!

And I am so grateful to be on this adventure with you…

Recently Patrick wrote this reflection, The Strong Bones of Anglicanism. I asked if I could share an excerpt with you.  I think these characteristics of Anglicanism do a great job capturing the elements that I cherish.  I hope this encourages you while you pray for our Restoration team at CANA council.

1. Committed to the authority of the Bible and to the sharing of the Gospel.
   In recent years, Episcopalianism has moved away from holding this as a central tenet of its fellowship to preferring instead an individual’s own assessment of truth. Contrastingly, historic Anglicanism has been known for trusting the Bible as the sole basis for truth and faith. As new Anglican churches are being planted and established churches are being revitalized, especially by those who have left The Episcopal Church, the authority of the Bible is the starting place for fellowship and mission.

2. Committed to authority in pastoral leadership.
   If you’re an Anglican pastor, you should always know to whom you are responsible. Every ordained pastor has another experienced, and usually older, pastor supporting him or her in the background.  These are people to whom they can report to and seek counsel. We call these seasoned leaders Bishops.

3. Committed to being a global church with global fellowship and accountability.
   Anglican Bishops share in their own community not only through domestic fellowship, but by joining together with Anglican Christians all around the world, who together help each other to discern the will of God for the church. The body of Christ, in its most faithful form, should be representative of all tribes, tongues and nations to which we are called to take the good news of Jesus’ resurrection. God speaks uniquely to each church, but His messages can never stand in conflict with His Word. We need each other, across cultures, to ensure that we are faithfully hearing the will of God, especially when our hearing may be impaired by our own sin.

4. Committed to shared-leadership in the local church.
   Anglican churches are always led by an ordained pastor as well as a small group of church members [called the vestry] who work together to lead the church and steward its resources.

5. Committed to interdependence of churches, and not independence.
   Anglican churches believe it’s better (more biblical, safer, and more enjoyable) to be a part of an association of churches under authority than to be independent.

6. Committed to the use of the Book of Common Prayer as an aid to private and corporate worship.
   Anglican Christians use this wonderful little book that’s filled with prayers and worship aids to help them structure their time with the Lord, both in private and together in corporate worship. The purpose of structure in worship is to ensure that they are not concentrating on merely one area of life with the Lord. Worship in an Anglican church will almost always include: singing, readings from the Bible, a teaching on the Bible, prayers, confession of sin and the assurance of God’s forgiveness, and a celebration of the Lord’s supper also called Communion or Eucharist. The prayer book also contains Anglicanism’s historical documents and creeds (statements of belief) to which it holds.

7. Committed to coming together for special services of worship during special times of year.
   Anglicans, especially during Christmas and Easter, have lots of worship services! When Anglicans remember the birth of Jesus and his death and resurrection, they hold services during the week so that they can walk together through these great events in the life of Jesus. Anglicans love to grow closer to each other, and to the Lord, during these times.

8. Committed to valuing all three streams of the Christian faith: Anglo-Catholic (with an emphasis on liturgy and sacrament) Charismatic (with emphasis on the sanctifying and empowering work of the Holy Spirit), and Evangelical (with emphasis on the authority of the Bible to lead people to the saving work of Jesus’ death and resurrection).
   Imagine the church as a great river that runs in three parallel streams fed from the same spring, each flowing with power to eventually empty into the same ocean. This is the church, given by God, flowing from his heart through time towards the same place: the return of Christ and the glorious inauguration of the kingdom of God in full at the end of history. Anglican Christians think that all three streams of the church bring equal glory to God and each have unique value for drawing men and women closer to the Lord.

by The Rev. Patrick Ware

“May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”   Romans 15: 5-6

This is what I have been praying for myself this week as I get ready to head in to 3 days of meetings with our ‘denomination.’  This annual gathering in Herndon, VA is an opportunity for us to hear teaching on being a missional church, for us to meet the Primate of all Nigeria (Archbishop Nicholas Okoh), and to be encouraged by our bishop, Martyn Minns.  I am looking forward to seeing colleagues from around the country who are faithfully leading congregations that want to be salt and light in this world.  And, to be honest, I like attending the sessions on ‘key HR policies for CANA parishes’ and ‘what’s in the constitution and canons…’  It’s the nerd in me.

Restoration has a team of 3 delegates:  Ramsey Wilson, Richard Hines, and Erin Bair. They represent us in various seminars and discussions.  They get to tell our story as an encouragement to others.  And they will help us think about our on-going relationship to the wider Anglican Communion.  I am so grateful to not have to attend by myself!!

Andrew Thompson will bring a team of middle-schoolers on Friday to help set-up and serve in the background.  I am proud of them for jumping in to meet this need.

I ask for your prayers over the next 3 days.  Pray for Restoration to be a voice in our local community that attracts those who are curious about Christianity.  Pray for the Anglican church in North America as we seek to hear God’s voice and discern new structures.  Pray for humble faithfulness to the Scriptures for the world-wide Communion.

See you on Sunday.