Join David Chávez, Music & Worship Minister, and choir members on Zoom. All ages are welcome, whether or not you sing in choir! We'll sing some upcoming music, share prayer requests, and socialize. In this season where we can’t gather for in-person rehearsals, we can still talk, sing and enjoy each other’s company! Zoom Meeting ID: 922-854-541.
Read MoreAbiding Presence staff members will be holding office hours throughout the week. Grab a cup of coffee or tea and stop by (virtually, of course) to say hello, share a prayer request, brainstorm about a ministry idea or just chat in the midst of these unexpected times. Dave’s Virtual Coffice (Coffee + Office = Coffice!) Hours are on Wednesdays from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. — drop by any time! Zoom Meeting ID: 921-2970-8774 (no password)
Read MoreIn the face of an anything but usual summer, Abiding Presence has launched a new internship ministry. We’re bringing on board this amazing group of college age young adults for eight weeks this summer. These stipend internships will provide meaningful resume building work experience and the opportunity to engage in intentional vocational discernment. Interns will work approximately eight hours a week remotely in a specific ministry area. They will also spend one and a half hours a week as part of a “discernment cohort” with Pastor Keseley exploring vocational discernment through the lens of scripture, prayer and faith. We are excited to welcome these interns and we look forward to the ways they will share their gifts with the congregation and community. Click here to meet our interns.
Read MoreThis article provides helpful information if you are a parent who is struggling to strike a balance with screen time for their kids. Michelle Galdames-Henry offers a summary for you…
Kids and adults depend on their screens now more than ever for communication and learning. We are at a crossroads because kids need screens, but we also know some of the negative affects of being on them too much…
Read MoreKaren Johnson, MSW, LCSW, and member of Abiding Presence, uses her expertise to summarize a video by a leading researcher in the effects of stress and trauma on the brain. Karen Johnson worked over 5 years as the director of trauma-informed services for the National Council for Behavioral Health in Washington D.C. and 19 years in behavioral health, community services, and child welfare at SaintA in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She currently provides consulting services through her business: Trauma-Informed Lens Consulting.
“…During this time of COVID-19, one of my go-to resources is Dr. Bruce Perry, a physician and neuroscientist who researches how our brain and body are impacted by stress, distress and trauma… In this blog I summarize a recent Dr. Perry recording: Understanding State-dependent Functioning… When we are threatened, we start to change the way we think, feel and behave. The more threatened we are, the more we shut down the thinking part of our brain, and default to our brainstem, or our survival brain… This explains why in our current circumstances we are often emotionally and physically exhausted.”
Read MoreDan Powell shares his thoughts as he mulls the story of Peter walking towards Jesus on the stormy waves…
I don’t know how many people are familiar with Casting Crowns and their song “Voice of Truth,” but the lyrics focus on the story from Matthew 14 where Jesus walks on water. He walks across the lake towards his disciples… Peter realizes he is seeing Jesus and not some apparition walking across the stormy lake… Peter asks to Jesus to command him to get out of the boat… After the first few steps, Peter stops looking towards Jesus and starts looking at the waves and feeling the strong wind. He immediately begins to sink…
Man, do I relate to Peter. I am afraid. I doubt. I am afflicted with anxiety and guilt. I want to have faith. I want to trust and be confident.
Read MoreMay is Mental Health Awareness Month. I think it’s almost like saying March was Virus Awareness Month. I feel like saying “I think we’re well aware, thanks!”
What do we need now? We are all acutely aware that our mental health requires more effort now.
Right now, we really need to focus on the most basic of needs: food, light, water, shelter. Humans are intrinsically relational, it’s a huge part of what makes us human. I would say our relational nature is a key aspect of the image of God in us. We are created to connect. So I would add to that basic list: connection.
Read MoreI can do all things through [Christ] who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13
We’re getting moving and becoming stronger…together…during this time of physical distancing. Join the Abiding Presence May Fitness Challenge. There are videos, the opportunities for conversation over Zoom and the chance to be #AbidingTogether in a healthy way. https://abidingpresence.net/fitness
Read MoreTuesday, May 5, has been designated “Giving Tuesday Now,” a global day of giving to respond to the COVID-19 crisis and Abiding Presence will be participating. This is where we need your help to enable us to now expand our Food Pantry ministry to include twice a month curbside pantry pick up and to now include fresh food in the bags we give. Here’s how you can help:
Give FoodWe continue to encourage you to donate non-perishable food. It is most helpful if you please only donate the items listed here as these are the items we are currently giving out. In addition to providing food for the Abiding Presence pantry, we send a carload of donations to our partners at ECHO each Monday to support their pantry.
Donate Money - CLICK HERE to give onlineWe’ve determined that each set of bags – pantry stables, snacks and fresh food – costs approximately $50 for a family of four. We are hoping to serve about 125 households a month through our food ministry.
This Tuesday, on “Giving Tuesday Now,” we are looking for 125 people to make $50 donations (or more) to support the Abiding Presence Food Pantry. Additionally, we hope many of those people will automate their donation to $50/month through the end of the year. Give online at AbidingPresence.net/giveonline.
Read MoreTLDR (Too Long Didn’t Read) Version
In the coming weeks on Thursdays, we will publish TLDR (too long, didn’t read) summaries. These will reference books, articles, and other resources that are great- but too long! I know I have a hard time focusing for a long time on anything these days, and I thought perhaps this community could use some help in getting great information, but have someone else do the work of sifting out the good stuff! Enjoy, and let us know what you are interested in having shortened for you! -Sarah Snow
This week’s TLDR is brought to you by Pastor Joe
“The human capacity for burden is like bamboo, far more flexible than you’d ever believe at first glance.” - Jodi Picoult
Tips on Resiliency and Health in Tough Times
Read MoreThese past few weeks I have found myself coming back to The Book of Concord, specifically Article VII of the Augsburg Confession, which teaches us about the church. As Abiding Presence has moved into the unchartered territory of exclusively livestream worship and has had to transition the primary place of our relationship building into virtual platforms, I have kept going back to the basic question, “What is the church?” I have wrestled with what it means to be faithful to the timeless understanding of what the church is in the midst of the current challenges we face.
Article VII begins, “They teach that one holy Church is to continue forever.” The current challenges we are facing are not a threat to the church’s survival. Livestream worship and virtual relational platforms for a season will not be the end of the church. The church will continue forever not because of us, but because of Christ. We may need to get a bit creative at times, but it is Christ who will keep forming us into his body, which is the church.
Article VII then continues, “The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.” The church needs three things to be the church:
1. Saints (that’s people like us, even in our least saintly moments)
2. The Gospel (that’s the Word of God) rightly taught
3. The Sacraments (Holy Baptism and Holy Communion) rightly administered
As I look at Abiding Presence right now, we’ve got it – saints, gospel and sacraments! I am confident that we are teaching and administering faithfully, to the best of our abilities, given the limits we face in this season. We are the church that is both timeless in its understanding of what it means to be the body of Christ for the sake of the world and creative in its response to the challenges that are before us in this moment.
Read MoreA member of Abiding Presence, Mary Grace, is currently experiencing her second time of quarantine in her life. The first time was when she was 14 years old. She spent nine months in her room, with the exception of Christmas Eve when her father carried her downstairs to see the Christmas tree.
Read MoreClick here to learn more about “Eucharist in Extraordinary Times” and how to prepare at home to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion during our Sunday livestream service.
Read MoreAugsburg Fortress (publisher) is offering 40% the ebook of the Evangelical Lutheran Worship Hymnal, making it only $13.50. This is the lowest price I’ve ever seen for this hymnal, so it’s a great time to pick up a copy! If you want your own copy to follow along with worship, tap here to go to the online store and use the discount code ATHOME at checkout.
Augsburg is also offering discounts on print editions of the ELW hymnal, Spark Story Bibles, and more!
Read MoreWe're looking for short essays, poetry, diary entries, your response to worship, moments of gratitude, moments when you just about lost it, anything!
Read MoreClick here for more information about how to access the livestream service on a variety of platforms
Text a prayer during the service to 703-829-5143
Give online
Virtual Easter Petting Zoo of the pets of our congregation on our Facebook Page and Virtual Egg Hunt featuring pictures from Abiding Presence and scripture verses.
Abiding Presence is sponsoring a FREE online interactive seminar: Parenting in Northern Virginia-- BIG Emotions Edition, to discuss how to manage parenting when our families' lives have been turned upside down. Join us on Sunday, April 5th, 4-5pm. Click here for the Zoom link.
Meeting ID: 113 696 337
Password: 909819
