Honoring Gordon Cosby
On Saturday, April 6th, about 800 of us gathered at Foundry United Methodist Church to honor the life and ministry and witness of Gordon Cosby, co-founder and pastor of The Church of the Saviour. Gordon was a catalyst for ministries of prophetic witness and compassionate service throughout the spectrum of human need. He also nurtured the birth of a generation of small, committed churches where personal commitment to Christ is carried by the marriage of an outer journey of ministry to those in need with the inner journey of spiritual growth. (Members of the Church of the Saviour include Bread of Life, Dayspring Church, Eighth Day, Festival Church, Friends of Jesus Church, Lazarus Church, New Community, Potter’s House Church, and Seekers Church.)
DOMESTIC GIVING
2013
Seekers Church supports many missions and ministries in the United States and other countries. The amount budgeted for domestic giving, is usually about 20% of what we expect to receive in offerings over the course of the year. Once our budget is approved each year and the overall amount available for domestic giving has been determined by the Stewards of Seekers Church, all members of the faith community are invited to request support for missions or ministries where they are personally involved.
For 2013 the community has affirmed support for 29 domestic missions and ministries. For easy access to more information, the name ofeach organization is linked to its web site.
HOUSING
Interfaith Works / Community Vision
EDUCATION/CULTURE
Guatemala Pilgrimage Scholarships
Luce Center for Arts and Religion
Veteran's Initiative at Common Ground
CHURCH OF THE SAVIOUR
OTHER
AMEN (Arlingtonians Ministering to Emergency Needs)
ADVOCACY
International Foundation for Gender Education
Learning Disabilities Association of Montgomery County
National Alliance on Mental Illness
Muslim Women's Ramadan Basket Project
INTERNATIONAL GIVING
2013
Seekers Church supports many missions and ministries in the United States and other countries. The amount budgeted for international giving this year is 20% of what we expect to receive in offerings over the course of the year. Once our budget for the year was approved, and the overall amount available for international giving had been determined by the Stewards of Seekers Church, all members of the faith community were invited to request support for missions or ministries where they are personally involved.
After worship on February 17th the community affirmed support for eight international missions and ministries:
DIRECT SERVICES
Bokamoso Youth Foundation – Winterveldt, South Africa
Othandweni Day Care and Guest House – Winterveldt, South Africa
PAVA (Programa de Ayuda a los Vecinos del Altiplano) – Chimaltenango, Guatemala
Collegio Miguel Angel Asturias – Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
Pueblo a Pueblo - Guatemala
Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL) - Kabul, Afghanistan
New Story Leadership - Israel/Palestine
Muslim Women’s Coalition “Turabi Manzil” - Mysore, India
Recommitment 2012
Fifty-Four Members
Part of our spiritual practice in Seekers Church is to journey together as a community, working together to nurture a place where we can all learn to trust God and each other more deeply while we share the road with the Risen Christ.
Each year we renew our commitment to Christ and to the Seekers Church in a conscious and intentional way. In Seekers, God’s call and our commitments are linked together. As our faith and trust deepen, every choice each of us makes, changes all of us and affects the way we are present to the world around us. Annual recommitment is a key element in the life of Seekers Church, maintaining a tradition of the Church of the Saviour begun with the initial commitment of founding members in 1947. This year "Recommitment Sunday" was the third Sunday of October, the 21st. This year 54 of us renewed our commitment. Of those, 17 made the commitment as Stewards.
As we prepared for that day each of us - recent arrivals, attenders, Members, and Stewards – was encouraged to reflect on the call of Seekers Church, our commitment statements and these questions:
† What is God’s emerging call on Seekers Church as one small part of the Body of Christ?
† What am I being called to offer to God and God’s creation?
† How can being a part of Seekers Church support my response to God’s call in all dimensions of my life?
† What do I need from and through this community in order to deepen my commitment to Christ?
Part of our traditional preparation includes a silent hour of prayer and reflection in the sanctuary before signing the Seekers membership log, the record of all Seekers members since our beginning in 1976.
On Recommitment Sunday all those who attend worship and other Seekers community activities regularly and who identify themselves as Seekers, named their commitment as Members of Seekers Church using the Member’s statement. Members who serve as Stewards commit to supporting the missions and ministries of Seekers Church using the Stewards commitment.
This year those who were making or renewing their commitment were invited to come to the altar table, sign the membership log if they had not yet done that, and pick up a small lapel pin as a reminder that we are all in this community together, on the way with the risen Christ..
