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Agape' MCC News & Updates

March 23, 2021

View our 03/21/21 "All Means All"

experience by clicking on the image below:

Waking up to Love in Lent

Waking up from sleep, at whatever time, is a thin place. What we do with this liminal space will ripple throughout our entire day. Every morning during Lent at 6:30 a.m., Rev. David will be going live on Facebook to offer, daily brief quotes, thoughts, or practices, about love, to begin your day. You're invited to set your alarm and join in or check out the recording when you do wake. This is a special Lenten tool as we continue to learn to live the Love Project.

Join us for Sunday Morning Worship

at 10:30AM on Facebook Live.

Our theme for the Lenten Season is "The Love Project" and this Palm Sunday's topic is "You're going to need an anchor.."

"The Love Project - A definition:

A lifelong project of learning and unlearning, of giving and receiving, of valuable lessons and relationships. What a gift it is to spend our days living the Love Project together.

Click here to join us on FB Live.

Upcoming Events

Holy Week at Agape' MCC

Beginning Sunday, March 28 at 7:30 PM we will offer a series of "Engaging the Fire for Holy Week" reflections on Facebook Live. Please join us!

Sunday March 28 - "Engaging the Fire" on Facebook Live

Monday March 29 - "Engaging the Fire" on Facebook Live

Tuesday March 30 - "Engaging the Fire" on Facebook Live

Wednesday March 31 - "Engaging the Fire" on Facebook Live

Thursday April 01 - "Engaging the Fire" on Facebook Live

Friday April 02 - Good Friday Service on Facebook Live

Saturday April 03 - "Engaging the Fire" on Facebook Live

Sunday April 04 - Morning Easter Service in the Agape' parking lot at 8:30 AM

Sunday April 04 - Easter Celebration in the Agape' sanctuary at 10:30AM (masks and social distancing are required)

Spirit Cafe'

Are you feeling a little disconnected from our Agape' community or from community in general? COVID certainly has interfered with our social lives and has made staying connected much more challenging. If the answer is yes, we have a solution for you!

Join us for our

gathering this Wednesday. We will see where the conversation leads us!

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**We will not be meeting Wednesday March 31st**

Let's Zoom!

You can view the event on the Agape' Facebook page.

Click here to register in advance for our Wednesday Zoom Meet Up

Enter the meeting ID: 816-8960-6902

(You only need to register once and you will be set for all the Wednesday Zoom Sessions)

Sacred Saturdays

We will meet Saturday April 1st at 7:30 to "Engage the Fire" as part of our Lenten Ritual.

This is a time for:

setting intentions for the season
letting go of things that no longer serve you
discovering inner peace
quiet reflection
finding light in the dark places
simply being

If you would like, you may bring a piece of paper to put in the fire with intentions and/or things to let go of written on it to offer up. This meeting will have an organic feel with little verbal communication. You are encouraged to come with an open heart and mind.

Community Corner

Women Who Changed Aviation and Aeronautics

Bessie Coleman was the first African American (either gender) to earn a pilot's license, but she had to travel to France to do so, because none of the American schools would train blacks. She earned her pilot's license in France in 1921, returned to America and took up stunt flying to earn money. She died while test flying her newly delivered aircraft in 1926, the day prior to a flying event scheduled in Florida.

In 1928, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, as a passenger. She gained fame from this, but it was by no means her most significant contribution to aviation. She became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic solo in 1932. In 1935, she became the first person to fly solo across the Pacific from Honolulu to Oakland.

Katherine Cheung was the first Asian-American woman to earn a pilot's license in 1932. Three years later she obtained an international airline license and flew as a commercial pilot. She flew aerobatics in an open cockpit Fleet and regularly entered competitive air races. She had planned to return to China in 1937 to open a flying school, but a male friend was killed while flying her airplane. Her father, who had been extraordinarily supportive of her flying but was then on his deathbed, secured a promise from Katherine to give up flying.

Sally Ride was an American astronaut and physicist. Born in Los Angeles, she joined NASA in 1978, and in 1983 became the first American woman in space. Ride remains the youngest American astronaut to have traveled to space, having done so at the age of 32. After flying twice on the Orbiter Challenger, she left NASA in 1987.

Katherine G. Johnson, was an American mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. crewed spaceflights. Johnson's work included calculating trajectories, launch windows, and emergency return paths for Project Mercury spaceflights and rendezvous paths for the Apollo Lunar Module and command module on flights to the Moon. During her 33-year career at NASA she earned a reputation for mastering complex manual calculations and helped pioneer the use of computers to perform the tasks.

Sixth Sunday in Lent

Because all life is precious; because love is good; because surely the presence of goodness is in this place, we ask a blessing for the people. May our bodies be well, may our spirits be wide, may our words be clear and confident. Bless us as we withstand obstacles with and for one another across our many differences.

Bless the people who gather, divine breath. Bless our families, whether we have one partner, or many. Bless us who are searching for a significant other or others, bless our search, and bless us who are single and content. Bless our children, and bless our childless homes and families. Bless the creatures who are a part of our lives and spirits, who share our home, and who have a share of our love.

Fill the gaps between us, breath of heaven, and hold us together in this blessing. Bless our sacred objects. May they be illustrations of the divine that resides in us and reminders of our abundance in community.

Give us assurance as we turn our faces toward injustice and do not look away. Walk with us who lay down our cloaks and palms upon the level path. Bless our humble mounts and our stubborn passion. Hear our crying out -- in praise, in pain -- and please do not forsake us as we risk, and lose, and become last of all and servant of all.

Continue to protect and sustain us with this love and blessing, now and always. Amen.

Amen.

SUBMITTED BY:

REV. ELDER MILLER HOFFMAN

has pastored MCC churches in New York and Maryland. He is currently a student chaplain at Penn State Milton Hershey Medical Center and working with the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape to support sexual assault counselor-advocates and the survivors they serve.