By David

it was a room
banners of peace and welcome hung on the white-washed walls
the clock was two and a half hours behind
plastic tables and chairs cluttered the floor and stored against the wall
eclectic bulletin boards
soda, coffee, a rose
blue stained carpet
eight of us
two of them children
eight of us desiring to change the world
a ship of eight

a ship of fools

May the Holy Spirit blow our sails
May He determine our course
Though the water be rough
Though storms arise
May we not falter
May we not turn back
For what has been explored and dissected and understood is behind us

But like Saint Brendan
You beckon us to the open sea
Dangers and dragons await
But you have been before
And you are present
You always will be
So we sail into the great expanse
Into the great unknown

We finally have a schedule for our community gatherings!

We are at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (On Elizabeth just west of Shields in Fort Collins) in the Fellowship Hall (if you turn west onto Elizabeth off of Shields, turn into the lot east of the church building and park on the side closest to the building) the FIRST and THIRD SUNDAY of each month at 1:30 pm.  for a Communion Service.  Starting in June, we will also share a meal on the first Sunday of each month.

We are at the Alley Cat (120 1/2 W Laurel St in Fort Collins) on the SECOND AND FOURTH SUNDAY of each month at 1:30 pm for a time of more in-depth discussion and sharing of stories.

We will either have an outreach or share a meal on the months that have a fifth Sunday – we’ll let you know in advance what the plan is as it comes.

This week we will be “scouting” pubs for our “pub theology” spiritual discussions and the following opportunities are possibilities coming soon:

preparing and serving food with St. Paul’s at the Mission here in Fort Collins

frequenting the open mic circuit with Michael

regular times of conversation and service at the Old Town Square to connect with the youth who hang out there

volunteer opportunities with the Northern Colorado AIDS Project

We’re trying to find a good eNewsletter option for a mailing list, in the meantime, please email us at nakedchurch@gmail.com if you want to receive our email updates. Also be sure to subscribe to the feed for this blog if you use a feed reader and check our calendars regularly.

We look forward to sailing with you as we journey beyond the shore.

Earth Day at City Park – this Sunday – meet at our house at 1 and we’ll walk to City Park for some earth day stuff…we’re super formal aren’t we?

wed. april 25 ladies night  — gals meet at the fishbowl at 6pm where we’ll head out for who knows what sort of mayhem

C3 gathering of our core.  Next Thurs (april 26)

Worship Service on the CSU west lawn – Next Saturday (april 28) at 6pm. Timberline’s Lighthouse is doing a bunch of fun stuff that day starting at 2 but our official calendar event will be the worship svc. at 6

Sunday april 29 – prayer at the fishbowl at 1pm

See the complete calendar here

**you can also discuss this passage on our facebook discussion group, join up here

The Collect

Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Acts 5:27-32

When the temple police had brought the apostles, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, saying, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than any human authority. The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

** Being a follower of Christ, is in its very nature subversive. (undermine the power and authority of an established institution or system) We subvert the natural order of life and death when we declare God’s “order” of eternal life in Christ. But we also subvert the established order of a culture that thrives on consumerism, selfishness and the self serving nature of the “American way” when we sacrifice time and money in order to serve the poor, listen to someone who is hurting and live peaceably even in the face of the most violent opposition. May we be wise and discerning as we live subversionary lives that are filled with love, compassion and the power of the Holy Spirit.

As we begin (again) we’d like to encourage you to be a part of the vision if you wish.  This is your revolution!

So feel free to contact us with ideas, thoughts, and any vision you might have of where this ship will take us.

And if you just want to come along for the ride… that’s okay too!

Viva La!

Revolution will be officially (re)launching in May. We will start by meeting twice a month on Sunday for a communion service with singing, worship stations, teaching etc. (probably at 1) and then meet twice a month for study and discussion at a public place (yet to be determined). Any fifth Sundays with be devoted to service projects. We also have public community spiritual conversation dialogs in the works.

We’ll be sending out an email about this week but we will likely be hanging out at City Park for Earth Day goings-on.

If you’re not on our email list and would like to be, please email us at nakedchurch@gmail.com or betherevolution@comcast.net

Thanks!

Make sure you sign up for the facebook discussion group and check out the most recent discussions.

If you tried to join the facebook group before, with no success, my apologies, I had set something up funky. So I created a new group here.

We are not gathering on Sunday. We will let you know soon what our plans are for the following week. Have a glorious weekend remembering Christ’s suffering and celebrating his Resurrection.

Resurrection Day is coming soon and the time of Easter is upon us (I prefer the Eastern Orthodox term Pascha for this time but Easter is more recognizable).  I think this is an important article to read since atonement is a vital “issue” to understand as Christians.

Enjoy

** as always, a reference to one article or person is not a blanket endorsement of everything.