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Pentecostal Call and Vocation

 

“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called….”

 

Ephesians 4:1

 

 

“Sooner or later something seems to call us onto a particular path. You may remember this ‘something’ as a signal moment in childhood when an urge out of nowhere, a fascination, a particular turn of events struck like an annunciation: This is what I must do, this is what I’ve got to have. This is who I am.

If not this vivid or sure, the call may have been more like gentle pushings in the stream in which you drifted unknowingly to a particular spot on the bank. Looking back, you sense that fate had a hand in it.”

 

James Hillman. The Soul’s Code

 

 

OSCAR ROMERO of El Salvador, the Church’s very ordinary priest who became God’s very extraordinary Monsenor, knew both of Hillman’s “calls”. Let us listen to Carmen Chacon’s retelling of Romero’s earliest call: “’The bishop is coming!’ San Miguel’s very first bishop, Juan Antonio Duenas ye Argumendo, was coming to visit Ciudad Barrios. Nina Guadalupe de Jesus got new clothes ready so her son would be neat and presentable. So the boy went about, here, there and everywhere, accompanying the bishop on all his rounds. The bishop was quite impressed with him. ‘Oscar, come over here!’ the bishop called to him in front of his townspeople. ‘Tell me, boy, what do you want to be when you grow up?’ ‘Well, I…I would like to be a priest!’ Then the bishop raised his hefty finger and pointed it straight at Oscar’s forehead. ‘You are going to be a bishop.’ After marking the destiny of the boy, he went back to his mansion in San Miguel. And Ciudad Barrios went back to its drowsy sleep. Fifty years later, Monsenor Romero touched that place on his forehead and told me, ‘I can still feel the touch of his finger right here.’” *

 

Baptism by water, people, and blood. By virtue of our baptism the whole people of God share in the ministry of the church. We are in this sense all “ordained” to ministry to the world. If baptized as an infant, the call to the Christian life is confirmed or rejected at the Confirmation Service. There is also the act of setting aside some baptized Christians for public ministry to the Church. The function of this ordained ministry is the public proclamation of the Word of God in its many forms to the community of faith in Word and Sacrament. This office of ministry is the faithful transmission of the Word which has been entrusted to that office – from text to translation to interpretation to proclamation and embodiment, from calling to vocation which may include a baptism by blood for the sake of the people of God.

 

     In May 1979, Romero presented the pope with seven dossiers filled with reports and documents describing assassinations, disappearances, and human rights abuses in El Salvador. On 24 March 1980, Romero was shot dead while celebrating mass in the chapel of the hospital where he lived.

 

     Oscar Romero was baptized into the Christian Church; he was ordained into the priesthood; he was baptized by the people into his vocation; he faithfully proclaimed and embodied the Word of God in his “particular spot” on earth by a baptism of blood. The mystery of call and vocation intertwined with the development of his maturity, sensitivity, and courage produced a witness to the worth of human life in the midst of violence, injustice and death. Here was a person who, by the grace of God, was able finally “to lead a life worthy of the calling to which he had been called….”

 

On Sunday, 11 May 2008, we will celebrate the festival of Pentecost – the birthday of the Church when “all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit…And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’” (Acts 2).

 

One of the things that it must mean is that all so anointed are called to a ministry out of which three questions will inevitably arise:

 

What am I to do with my life?

What have I been called to do?

Am I doing it?

 

 

Rev. Don Smith

 

 

*Memories of Archbishop Oscar Romero are from Oscar Romero: Memories in Mosaic by Maria Lopez Vigil, 1993, as presented in the article, “The Reluctant Conversion of Oscar Romero”, in Sojourners (March-April 2000).

 

Sundays and Scriptures

 

Sunday, 4 May 2008

Communion Sunday

Psalm 67:1-7

Acts 1: 6-14

John 17: 1-11

Sermon                                            Rev. Richar

 

Sunday, 11 May

Pentecost Sunday

Acts 2: 1-21

John 7: 37-39a

Sermon – “A Living Language”    Rev. Smith

 

Sunday, 18 May

Trinity Sunday

Genesis 1:1 – 2:4a

Psalm 8

Matthew 28: 16 – 20

Sermon                                             Rev. Richar

 

Sunday, 25 May

Psalm 131: 1-3

I Corinthians 4:1-5

Matthew 6:24-34

Sermon ~ “Living in the Present”     Rev. Smith

 

 

Bethel News and Notes:

     We want to thank our Bethel Family for all the prayers, love, and support for Erica and our families over the 14 months Erica fought the melanoma with such a positive attitude and courage.  We thank all of you who helped with the Memorial Service celebrating Erica's life on Sunday, April 13th.  It was a beautiful day outside and inside Bethel.  To all of you who brought food for the reception, directed traffic, handed out programs (250 was not enough), set up chairs in the sanctuary, directed people to seats, did child care, worked in the kitchen, set up chairs and tables in Fellowship Hall, Choir Room, and Community Room, set up projectors and screens, made signs and posted them around the neighborhood, established parking and provided directions to parking at Red Cross, Masonic Temple, Unitarian Church and made special arrangements with Arlington Oaks, planned the event and made calls asking for help to do all of these things, we say thank you.
     Thank you to Carolyn and Don for officiating at the service.  Erica asked for a celebration of her life and all of you made that celebration possible and special.  Thank you also for the many cards and notes to our families.  Knowing all of you are there offering your support eases the pain of losing our daughter, wife, sister and aunt.

With Love,
Judy, Art, Christian, Cory, Janna, Todd, Deborah, Mason, Riley, Corinne, and Brooke

 

 

 

News From Joan . . .

Thanks to all who worked on Sunday the 20^th; I love to hear the word 'yes' and see and hear happy working voices.  Because of your support, we were able to care for about 400+ people.  If anyone feels so inclined to take over coffee hour, please let me know. I need a change but will train you well.

 

Property Committee

Most of the plumbing and key/locks are completed.  Our next  project is the front yard, where we’ll have our drainage company grate then sod the entire front yard. Once this job is completed, I’ll need volunteers to water each and every day – please!  The flower beds also need to be replanted – we’ll schedule another work day in early May.  Work on the AC units also needs to be done. David D. is checking on some possibilities; if that falls through then we have to purchase two new units for the sanctuary.

 

These projects should keep us busy for the next month.  Let’s pray for lots of rain!!

Please call me if you want to donate time or funds for these projects.

-Joan

 

 

Search Committee Being Formed

The Ad Hoc Committee is in the process of forming a search committee to develop a profile of our congregation and to interview candidates for a permanent senior minister.  This Committee will have 5-7 people who are representative of the congregation as a whole.  The committee is scheduled to meet in the library at 11:45 am on Sunday, May 18.  If you have questions or suggestions regarding the search process, please contact Art Lipman at 703-920-6423.

 

 

Donations Still Needed

The Vision of God Clinic continues to welcome your donations of money ( additional $20/month donors are especially needed!), first-aid supplies, over-the-counter pain relievers and cold medicines, gently used or new summer-weight clothing, and new underwear/socks.  We also need people who will be willing to serve on a board to help further the mission of the clinic through publicity, fundraising, arranging for shipping and other activities.  Please see Rev. Carolyn Richar or e-mail her at www.crichar@capitalhospice.org for questions or to volunteer/donate. 

 

 

 

Strawberry Festival Scheduled

The Bethel Annual Strawberry Festival will take place on Saturday, June 7, 4-7 pm, and will include hot dogs, Bethel Specials and more.   For more information, or to volunteer, contact Judy Lipman.

 

Next AFAC Bagging Scheduled

AFAC (Arlington Food Assistance Center) bagging night scheduled Friday, June 6.  We’ll meet for dinner at 6pm at Boston Market (corner of Columbia Pike and Glebe Road), and bag at 7:15 at AFAC  (2708 S. Nelson St.).  Join us for an evening of fun that helps others in our community.  For more information, call Judy Lipman.

 

 

PRAYER LIST

The Middle East - for a path of peace to develop and prevail

The people of Lebanon, Israel, and Palestine

The people of Iraq and Afghanistan and military personnel located there

For we, the people of the United States, as we walk the path of empire in the world

Phillip Good - cousin of Peter Rich serving in Kuwait with the Army Reserves

Major John Graver serving in the US Air Force

Justin Wallace, son of Dorotha and Bob Schnebly serving in the Marines

Wally and Gaza Katona at home

Krista Walochik Lubriano, as her broken leg heals

Gregario Lubiano, Pat Walochik’s son-in-law, healing from surgery

For the family of Norman Rappaport, as they mourn his passing

The Lipman and Lopez families, in their time of grief

Jennifer Rivard, Judy Norton’s cousin, recovering from a stroke

Sidney Bruce, in her time of grief