Events

We’ll hold our Annual Blue Christmas Service of Grief on Wednesday, December 13th at 7pm.  If you or anyone you know for whom Christmas brings memories of sadness and loss, please join us and invite them to attend.

Once again, we are partnering with Volunteer Alexandria and the City of Alexandria Department of Community and Human Services to collect new, unwrapped toys for children aged 0-12 years.  We will place them in the bin near the stage during our worship services.  The last day of our collection will be Sunday, December 9th.

Daylight Savings Time 2018 ends on Sunday, Nov. 4 @ 2a.m. local time.  Be sure to set your clocks and watches back  (if they don’t do it themselves)…so that we can see you on time at church.

Our ministry partner, ALIVE!, is holding their 4th annual Empty Bowls Fundraiser on Saturday, November 10th at the Durant Center in Old Town.  For more information, or to register, please visit alive-inc.org.  Because of your offerings, CBC is able to support this initiative with a generous sponsorship.

Austin Channing Brown, the author of “I’m Still Here” will be the guest speaker at the National Cathedral on November 8th.  at 7 pm.  If you are interested in attending and maybe carpooling please contact Pastor Robin @ robin.anderson.cbc@gmail.com or 703-548-8000.

In recent months, Church Council has discussed practical steps to create and implement a church security plan. If you’re interested in brainstorming and volunteering in this area, we’ll have our first meeting on February 25th at 12:30 PM.

Believe it or not, Lent begins on Valentine’s Day (and Easter lands on April Fool’s Day this year)! Next week, we’ll print in the bulletin several options for how people may want to intentionally walk through the season of Lent. For now, here are some options:

• Celebrate Fat Tuesday at our Shrove Tuesday Pancake Dinner at 6PM on February 13. There will be pancake races for the kids and kid-like adults.
• Join us for an Ash Wednesday Worship Service at 7PM on February 14.
• Consider participating in Atheism for Lent with a group from church. This is a 6 week online course that explores the intersection between belief and disbelief. Participants are not asked to become atheists! Rather, the group will read texts by theologians and famous atheists in conversation to “de-center” prior to the catharsis of Easter and the resurrection. For more info, email Hadyn.
• Read the Lenten Devotional being put together by people in our church. We will have hard copies at church, or you can read them online on the Commonwealth Baptist Church Facebook page.

The Poor People’s Campaign will be holding a mass meeting at All Souls Unitarian Church (1500 Harvard St. NW, Washington, DC) at 7 PM on Monday, February 5th. The program will be led by Rev. Dr. William Barber and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis. While we haven’t heard Dr. Theoharis before, we can say that everyone should jump at the chance to hear Rev. Dr. Barber preach!

Next Sunday we’ll have our Super Bowl Party and Chili Cook-Off! You’re invited to make your favorite homemade chili and enter it into our cook-off competition. Be warned: we have some great cooks at CBC! The competition is stiff, but there’s a good prize for the winner. We’ll have the game showing on a big tv for those interested. We’ll also have games for those not so interested in watching the Patriots play yet again! There will also be games and movies for kids in the Dorcas Classroom across the hall from the Fellowship Hall. If you don’t bring a chili, you’re invited to bring a side dish, dessert, or beverage to share.