A Mennonite liturgy this Sunday at the sol cafe!

On Sunday, February 25 (the first Sunday in Lent), we'll be meeting around 5ish at Cafe Dabar to take part in a Mennonite liturgy, and something to do with sand and ashes. Hey, don't ask me, I'm just the webguy. If you'd like to know more, you'll just have to join me on Sunday!

Our readings for this week from the Revised Common Lectionary are:
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16
Romans 10:8b-13
Luke 4:1-13

Ash Wednesday Field Trip

Let's start this posting by saying, no, we're not converting to Anglicanism -- not that there's anything wrong with that! But in the spirit of one church, and given the warm reception we received at Joe's key ceremony, the sol cafe is planning another field trip to St. Timothy's Anglican Church (located at 8420 - 145 Street -- click here for a map) for Ash Wednesday, February 21. The service starts at 7 pm, and sol cafe regulars be warned, they don't operate on Mexico time, so don't be late!

If you can't make it, you're invited to follow along from home. No, Joe's not live video blogging the service. But you can read over the verses for Ash Wednesday from the Revised Common Lectionary, knowing that you join much of the church in doing so:

February 21 - Ash Wednesday
Isaiah 58:1-12
Psalm 51:1-17
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Hope to see you there!

No official gathering on Sunday February 18!

Just a heads-up to everyone that the sol cafe won't be having any official gathering on Sunday February 18. Given the size of our group and a number of Family Day long weekend absences, we've opted to do "distributed churching" with our collective extended family.

Instead, we do plan on gathering mid-week for an Ash Wednesday field trip. And we will be gathering again at the usual time and place on Sunday February 25 to launch the season of Lent -- more details to come soon!

All that being said, the coffee shop where we usually meet will be open nonetheless on February 18. Feel free to stop in for a coffee if you should feel so moved. If two or three of you happen to gather...

And wherever you are, we hope you'll take a moment to say a little prayer for our little church, and join the larger church in a shared reading from the Revised Common Lectionary. The verses for February 18, the last Sunday after Epiphany (Transfiguration Sunday), are:
Exodus 34:29-35
Psalm 99
2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2
Luke 9:28-36 (37-43)

Valentine's means Love

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, on Sunday, February 11, the sol cafe met at Cafe Dabar for an evening on the theme of love. We read 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 as a backdrop to discussions on love, snacks and crafts, and the celebration of Communion, the Love Feast.

Ironically, we ended up looking at love only because, in a move rife with controversy hearkening back to the dark days of the Great Church Schism of 1054, we will be breaking away from the Revised Common Lectionary and going BACK to a verse we skipped two weeks ago -- the skipping of which was in itself a contentious move -- while helping out at the Salvation Army. This could lead to a real knock-down drag-out between the sol cafe lectionarians and the sol cafe free will players. Oh wait, did that verse say "Love is not sarcastic..."? Seriously speaking, here also are the RCL readings for this week:

February 11 - Sixth Sunday after Epiphany
Jeremiah 17:5-10
Psalm 1
1 Corinthians 15:12-20
Luke 6:17-26

They do communion with actual wine!

On Sunday, February 4, the sol cafe gathered an hour early -- at 4 pm -- and away from our usual gathering place. Instead of the coffee shop, we met at St Timothy's Anglican Church, located at 8420 - 145 Street (click here for a map), to help celebrate with one of our sol cafe regulars, Joe Walker, St Timothy's new Rector (that's Anglican for parish priest or senior pastor).

This special service is known as the Induction of the Rector, but Joe just called it getting the keys to the executive washroom. And after this Sunday, we are happy to report that Joe's Sunday evenings will once again be free, so that he might still be able to grace the sol cafe with his presence once in a while!

And since we couldn't sneak it into the Induction ceremony (didn't manage the airhorns or confetti either!), our verses from the Revised Common Lectionary for February 4 (fifth Sunday after Epiphany) are:
Isaiah 6:1-8, (9-13)
Psalm 138
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Luke 5:1-11