Ancient Church Fathers & Devotion to Scripture
One of the communities I’m a part of in Pittsburgh is devoted to learning about Christianity from the Ancient Church Fathers (writers during the first few centuries of Christianity). It’s been an incredible time for me reading and discussing the implications of what they teach for our understanding of our faith.
We are having a conference in January that I thought you all would enjoy coming to! I will arrange for a place for you guys to stay in Pittsburgh of course, if you want to come. Just let me know.
Here are the details:
The House of St. Michael the Archangel Devotional Conference:
Come and be led into greater awe and reverence for Holy Scripture
We will gather for worship and reflections on what it means to strive for and desire greater devotion to Scripture. Our worship will be guided by the Psalms, silence and contemplation.
Friday, January 14th, 6:30pm-9:30pm**
Saturday, January 15th: 9:00am-4:00pm (lunch served on-site)
** Friday, 10pm through Saturday, 8am: an elective vigil, where the Psalms will be read publicly in the Church.
Location:
Oakmont Presbyterian Church
415 Pennsylvania Ave
Oakmont, PA 15139-1562
www.oakmontpresbyterianchurch.org
Cost:
$20 thru 2010, $30 in 2011
To register e-mail: devotionalconference@gmail.com
Speakers:
Rev. Dr. Richard Ray
He has spent a lifetime meditating on spiritual masters of the Christian faith. He has served as a parish minister, seminary professor, editor of the Presbyterian Outlook, and managing Director and Senior Editor of John Knox Press. He currently serves as the Consultant for Theological Enrichment of Presbyterians for Renewal (www.pfrenewal.org) and as the Director of the Children’s Trust Society of The Grandfather Home for Children (www.grandfatherhome.org). He is blessed with numerous grandchildren and lives with his lovely wife, Lila, in Montreat, NC.
Matthew T. Bell
He is currently a PhD student at Durham University (www.dur.ac.uk) in the area of early church interpretation of Scripture. Matt holds an MDiv from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and a Masters in Computer Science from the University of Pittsburgh. He originally hails from El Paso, TX and currently resides in Pittsburgh with his wife, Alyssa./
Lunch Tomorrow
I’m in town. 
Anyone up for meeting me for lunch tomorrow about 12:30 at Busboys & Poets in Shirlington? Send a text or e-mail me and let me know.
Encouragement for Brian
Jan and I are at a conference in Durham where Brian is speaking (not using his last name so this doesn’t show up in searches). Apparently things have been hard recently with the new book and everyone angry about what he’s been saying.
I know many of us have been deeply transformed by his thinking. If this is the case for you, would you send me a message of encouragement about how you’ve been impacted by his work that I can forward along to him? I know it would mean a lot to him right now.
Can’t wait to see you guys on Sunday!
Need a car Sunday & Monday
Would anyone be willing to let me (Matt Pritchard) borrow their car Sunday and/or Monday? Looking forward to being at Holy Grounds and burgers. Let me know if you’d like to meet up while I’m in town.
Hospitality Request
My friends Joe, Vladi, and Vicki (Vladi and Vicki are Russian exchange students) are doing some east coast travel and are in need of a place to stay this Friday and Saturday night. Anyone up for hosting them? They are planning to do a bunch of site seeing in DC and are happy with couches or air mattresses or whatever makes sense.
Love and miss you all so much!!!
Visiting Matt in Pittsburgh
I’m trying to get a headcount for the HG road trip to Pittsburgh: August 13-15. Would you send me an e-mail and let me know if you’re planning to come (and still planning to come if you’ve already let me know)? Can’t wait!
Converge Mid-Atlantic Community Gathering
This gathering brings together people from communities all over the Mid-Atlantic region to teach, conspire, and dream for God’s beautiful kingdom on Earth. A combination of seminars, practical skill shares, concerts, and plenary sessions will make this a great time together.
Join us at Eden Valley Center (edenvalleycenter.org), a beautiful 100 acre farmland just 45 minutes north of D.C. We’ll be camping out, so bring tents, stoves, rain gear…more info to come on what to bring.
We hope to draw co-conspirators from around the region to share in this wonderful event. We’ll gather at 7 pm on Friday, look for more details about arrival, set up, and departure.
We will have to close the registration at 100, so register today! Last day to register is July 23!
New Date for Visit to Pittsburgh Aug 13-15
Ok, after talking to many of you, I’ve changed the Pittsburgh trip date to August 13-15. Can’t wait to have a bunch of you here. We’ll hang out. I’ll introduce you to the many great people I work with here. We’ll have a party and it would be a complete blast. Let me know if the dates work for you guys and if you’re planning to come so I can arrange sufficient accommodations.
Visit to Pittsburgh
I heard that many of you have been contemplating a visit to Pittsburgh. Wondering if you all would be interested in vising August 6-8? We’d hang out. I’d introduce you to the many great people I work with here. We’d have a party and it would be a complete blast. Let me know if the dates work for you guys and if you’re interested!
Be Ruthless in the Living of Call (House of St Michael the Archangel)
I thought you all might be interested in knowing that I’ll be blogging regularly at the House of St Michael the Archangel. My first post is now available. Here’s a preview:
I have many friends who work in areas where life and death are truly in the balance. There’s always a sense that if I work a little more, one more street child will be safe, one less person will die of aids or starvation, or one more slave will be set free. Even in my pastoral work, there’s a sense that if I just spend a little more time with people it will make a difference. These thoughts are evil! They are a proclamation that you are the one holding the world together, that you love them more than God does. Only when we are confident in our call and the character of our God, can we say no with the peace that God doesn’t need us to save the world, he needs us to do and be exactly that which he has built and called us to do and be, nothing more and nothing less. The Kingdom of God comes when we each, with reckless abandon, fall into submission to God, not when we each pursue that which we think will maximize the work of our hands.
“Could Your Church Survive if There Were no Sermons?”
Don Miller made a post today about. Thought you all would enjoy it!!!
Looking for Summer Housing
One of my sister’s best friends from UVA (Meikle Paschal) is looking for a place to stay for 1-2 months this summer. He will be working for the Dept. of Homeland Security in Crystal City. He starts work on June 7th and will work til the first of July or end of July depending on what housing arrangement is available; so he is flexible. He will not be able to pay full rent because he will still be paying rent in Charlottesville, VA – anyone want to swap for the summer!!?? lol But he could contribute some on rent; things are negotiable. He is a super fun guy, originally from Boston, very outgoing, runs for the track team and will be a 4th year in the fall. Let me know if you have any suggestions or anything availble for those dates.
If you have space or any ideas, e-mail him at mpaschaljr@gmail.com.
$9 Tickets to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum
Hey guys, just got an e-mail about $9 tickets to Madame Tussauds (usually it’s $20). I want to go sometime in the future, so I’m getting a couple. Thought it might be a fun group activity.
They are only on sale today through this thing called a Groupon which I’ve been using a bunch lately. Essentially you buy a gift certificate for a lot less than the face value.
Take a look at the Madame Tussauds deal.
Dinner Wednesday Night with Matt
I’ll 
be back in town for a couple of days this week and would love to grab dinner with you all! I miss you all so much!!!!
Here’s the plan:
Guapos in Shirlington
6:30pm
Wednesday, April 7
Shoot me a text and let me know you’re coming so I can get an appropriately sized table: 434.962.4927. Can’t wait!!!
Buy and Review Brian McLaren’s Latest Book “A New Kind of Christianity”
We got to share dinner with Brian McLaren last spring. Brian graciously gave his time to us along with a bunch of books and CDs. We asked if there was anything we could do for him and, after thinking about it a little while, he asked us to read and review his new book “A New Kind of Christianity” when it comes out.
I’m reminding everyone of this request as the book has been out for a couple of months. Jan has a copy and so do I and we’re happy to allow you to borrow it if you want. It’s good stuff!
Once you’ve read it, review it on Amazon.com, your blog, or anywhere else you can.
Love and miss you all so much!
Wendell Berry Speaking in Arlington May 4th
Arlington Reads 2010: Literary Legend, Farmer Wendell Berry
- “The Memory of Old Jack” is featured title
- Berry, urban farmer Novella Carpenter to speak
- Book club kits available
ARLINGTON, Va. — Our food takes center plate this spring as Arlington Reads 2010 looks at the movement away from industrial mass production back to safer, healthier meals grown through local, sustainable means.
Arlington Reads is Arlington Public Library’s annual one-book, one-community initiative to promote discussion and the joy of reading throughout the County. It is made possible through the generous support of the Friends of the Arlington Public Library.
This year’s featured Arlington Reads author—literary legend, essayist, poet and Kentucky farmer Wendell Berry, who declared that “eating is an agricultural act,” — is widely credited with inspiring the “food movement.” Making a rare public appearance, Berry will discuss his life’s work and vision of people honoring and reconnecting with the soil at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 4 at Central Library, 1015 N. Quincy St., Arlington. This special event is free and open to the public.
“Wendell Berry actually began the national conversation about food, agriculture, the environment and health decades ago,” Library Director Diane Kresh said. “Without him, we probably wouldn’t have a vegetable garden on the White House lawn or Wal-Mart selling organic produce.”
This year’s Arlington Reads celebrates not only Berry’s “remarkable career as a writer of more than 30 novels, essays and collections of
poetry, but his prescience in encouraging readers to ‘think globally and eat locally,’’ Kresh said.
Matt’s in Town, Crystal City Sports Pub Tonight at 6pm
I’m here for a couple of days and was hoping to hang out with some folks tonight at the Crystal City Sports Pub. Hope to see you there. Shoot me a text and let me know so I can get a head count.
Matt
HI!
Pray for Joanna
Christmas Party Time
Our community will be gathering together to celebrate the season on Saturday, December 12th at 7:00pm in the Lower Level of FPC. Please bring a snack to share.
We’ll be having our traditional White Elephant gift exchange, so bring an inexpensive (possibly something you already own), wrapped gift to include in the festivities. Additionally, this year, we will be collecting gift cards (to anywhere, for any amount) that will be donated to families that could use some help this season. If you would like to contribute to that, please feel free