Personal — Passionate — Progressive
Welcome
7611 Clarendon Road
Bethesda, MD 20814
Directions & Google Map
Charles Booker-Hirsch
- Our Pastor
301-986-1137
301-986-1230 (fax)
bpc7611@aol.com
Welcome! As we roll out our new website, you may encounter a few gaps in content. In the meantime, I encourage you to explore a further welcome from the pastor under "Personal-Our Hospitality", plus Why We Worship, Music, & recent Sermons under "Passionate-Our Worship."
We at BPC gather with hearts, minds, and souls open to cross-sections of Christ and culture discussed only in church -- and, in all honesty, you may not hear discussed in many other churches!
From one another and a diversity of spiritual traditions, we learn how to walk together in the ways of love, building a radically inclusive faith home and working for social justice in the neighborhood and the world. In our education ministries, youth and adults alike are inspired to think for themselves, and live into the discipleship questions they ask.
Join us for Worship on Sundays @ 11a, and Christian Education at 9:45a!
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Who we are...
What's Happening
FEBRUARY 7 CHURCH SERVICE & ACTIVITIES CANCELLED due to the "Bizzard of '10"
All beautiful the march of days, as seasons come and go;
The hand that shaped the rose hath wrought the crystal of the snow.
Hath sent the hoary frost of Heav'n, the flowing waters sealed,
And laid a silent loveliness on hill and wood and field.
-- "All Beautiful the March of Days" -- verse 1
hymn by Frances W. Wile & Ralph Vaughn Williams
TEN NEW MEMBERS WELCOMED TO BETHESDA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH !!!
Behold, God is doing a new thing in our midst! On Sunday, January 24, during a moving Reaffirmation of their Baptismal Covenants, our congregation formally welcomed the following into our fold:
-- Rev. Amy Booker-Hirsch (as affiliate member)
-- James Finlay (by reaffirmation of faith)
-- Anne Dorrit Konig (by reaffirmation of faith)
-- Patrick O'Brien (fr. Noe Valley Ministry, SF, CA)
-- Kathleen O'Hare (fr. Marble Collegiate Church, New York City)
-- Thomas Peterson (fr. Westminster Presbyterian Church, West Hartford, CT)
-- Linda Steadman (fr. Village Presbyterian Church, Prairie Village, KS)
-- Fred Sylvester (fr. Noe Valley Ministry, SF, CA)
These eight join recent new members Laura & Bill Dunlap (fr. First Presby, Eau Claire, WI - joined November 15) as the latest witnesses to Jesus' radical ministry of hospitality found at Bethesda Presbyterian Church.
COME -- DISCOVER FOR YOURSELF WHAT THESE TEN HAVE ALREADY DISCOVERED AT BPC !!!
EPIPHANY SEASON (Jan 3-Feb 7) at BPC: "LISTENING TO GOD'S CALL"
Epiphany is the season when we celebrate Christ's epiphany, or revelation, to the world entire. Not just to a nation. Not just to a denomination. Not just to straight folks, white folks, able-bodied folks, or unpierced folks. But to all of humanity -- no exceptions.
Revealed as God incarnate is to all creatures and the cosmos, this begs the question: What, exactly, is our call in it all? Where, in other words, is "the place where your deep gladness meets the world's deep need"? (Frederick Buechner)
Here's the breakdown of our God's Call focus during Epiphany -- based wholly on the lectionary Gospel passage heard worldwide on a given Sunday:
Jan 3 -- Dreams -- Matthew 2, Joseph & the magi follow their dreams
Jan 10 -- Be-Loved (accepting ourselves as such by God -- based on our baptisms) -- Luke 3:15-23, Jesus' baptism
Jan 17 -- Intimacy -- John 2:1-12, the wedding at Cana, where only the servants knew the source of the water-into-wine miracle
Jan 24 -- Outreach: Justice -- Luke 4:14-21, Jesus' "inaugural address"
Jan 31 -- Outreach: Peacemaking -- Luke 4:21-30, Jesus' life is threatened, he walks "through them" peacefully
Feb 7 -- That "E" Word -- Luke 5:1-11, Evangelism as it was *meant* to be (see blog entry on this much-abused matter!)
Notes
God's Call: "Peace Is the Way"
Sermon, 1/31/10. Unless peace becomes the means of our discipleship call as well as the ends, the insidious myth that violence can somehow redeem violence (to wit: Jesus had to die that bloody death on the cross) will always win in the end.
… ContinueCreated by Chuck Booker-Hirsch Jan 31, 2010 at 5:13pm. Last updated by Bethesda Presbyterian Feb 6.
God's Call: Do Justice
Sermon, 1/24/10. The twin biblical pillars of our discipleship call are love and justice. How often is the second pillar neglected -- in our walk as well as our talk! How difficult it is to move ourselves beyond charity -- ministry "to" and "for" -- to social justice -- ministry "with" and "among" ...
… ContinueCreated by Chuck Booker-Hirsch Jan 31, 2010 at 4:28pm. Last updated by Bethesda Presbyterian Feb 6.
God's Call: Intimacy
Sermon, 1/17/10. Our visual age fabricates a universal sense of intimacy from the "miracle" of special effects. So perhaps turning water into wine -- as dramatic as it may seem -- was one of Jesus' most authentically intimate miracles. For when he did so, only the servants in the kitchen understood ...
… ContinueCreated by Chuck Booker-Hirsch Jan 31, 2010 at 6:13pm. Last updated by Bethesda Presbyterian Feb 6.
God's Call: Be-Loved (Baptism)
Sermon, 1/10/10. Shortly after entering federal prison to serve a 90-day sentence for a nonviolent civil resistance vigil, the pastor learns a valuable lesson about remembering God's original, baptismal call ...
… Continue
Created by Chuck Booker-Hirsch Jan 31, 2010 at 5:21pm. Last updated by Bethesda Presbyterian Feb 6.
Warned in a Dream
Sermon, 1/3/10. As Joseph and the magi discovered, Our dreams can warn us quite clearly about our anxieties – as well lead us into our deepest longings ...
Scripture Matthew 2:1-23
Prayer: As we are glad, Creating and Creative God, when the dawn reveals the world to us, innocent and fresh, so let… Continue
Created by Chuck Booker-Hirsch Jan 21, 2010 at 3:34pm. Last updated by Bethesda Presbyterian Feb 6.
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Blog Posts
The Mystical, Communal Heart of God: Notes to the Church on a church-less Sunday
Sometimes, God's call of us is simply to make a phone call or two.
To connect with those on the margins of our consciousness and perhaps our consciences. Those who may particularly need -- or at the very least appreciate -- a listening ear midst snowbound isolation. To remind ourselves, on this church-less Sunday, that, while a community gathered to praise God can be a radical act in today's get-mine, got-yours world, this blizzard's aftermath can draw our ears into individuals' hearts
… ContinuePosted by Chuck Booker-Hirsch on February 7, 2010 at 2:00pm
Next Sunday, February 7: "God's Call: That E-Word"
Posted by Chuck Booker-Hirsch on February 3, 2010 at 4:38pm
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