Joseph Melkonian, a Ph.D. student at Harvard, is looking for a male housemate to join a year's lease in Allston, starting in September. The rent for the room is currently $873 per month plus utilities. The room is in a 4 bedroom shared house. The roommates are all male, the current roommates are a young professional and another Ph.D. student. The house is close to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods and near the Green Line, 86, 70, 66, and 64 buses. It’s a 5-minute walk to the Harvard School of Engineering and to the Harvard Business School. For more details, please reach out to Joseph at jmelkonian@g.harvard.edu.
Confession of Faith
Leader: Christian, what do you believe?
All: I believe in God, the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried:
he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sits on the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit;
the holy catholic* church; the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body;
and the life everlasting. Amen. – Apostles’ Creed
Boston Faves
The Pastoral Welcome Team is looking for a few more Boston favorites for a book they’re making for the Drakes. They are especially looking for favorite parks and family-friendly activities and festivals in the greater Boston area. If you have any suggestions, please send them to Sarah Goodman (ssgoodman617@gmail.com) in the next two weeks and they’ll put the book together.
Content Note
Parents of Grades 3-5: We wanted to give you advance notice that this Sunday’s sermon passage deals with a sensitive subject, namely the beheading of John the Baptist (Mark 6:14-29 ESV). As usual, younger children aged 4 years to Grade 2 will be dismissed prior to the Scripture reading and so will not be present. For children in Grades 3-5 who might find this account unsettling or disturbing, parents are encouraged to talk with them about the passage in advance. For guidance, you might refer to the passage in the ICB translation (International Children’s Bible) with language targeted to the Grade 3 level.
Roommate Needed
CTK member Morgan Crago is looking for a roommate to join her and 3 other women in a year-long lease in their lovely Cambridge (Riverside) apartment, beginning Sept 1. The spot available is a shared bedroom, and rent is under $800 a month, utilities included. Free, on-site laundry included. Email mcrago@bu.edu if you or someone you know is interested!
Rick & Martha Party
Rick and Martha Olson are hosting a birthday & retirement BBQ for CTKers, friends, family and neighbors from 1-3 pm at Dana Park on Sunday, March 22 (Magazine St., about 10 minutes walk from CTK). An email to Martha (marthabwolson@gmail.com) by Thursday, May 19 including the number of adults and children attending would be helpful for planning! Please bring chairs/blankets. If the weather is inclement, the party will be held in the function room of their condo building at 20 Corporal McTernan, Cambridge (adjacent to Dana Park).
VBS
City on a Hill Church and Seven Hills Church (formerly CTK Somerville) are collaborating on a VBS-like program this summer called Kids Summer Adventure from July 18-22 for kids ages 3 through (completed) 5th grade. For more information and to register, visit sevenhillschurch.org/summerkids.
housing
A family friend of Matt Owens has recently graduated high school and is moving to Boston to attend North Bennett School in the North End in August for nine months. He is hoping to rent a room from a family for this relatively short time in Boston, ideally near the T, as he won’t have a vehicle. If you have a room you’d be willing to rent for nine months or have any questions, please contact Charlie Ingram (charlie@continuumhr.com).
Housing
Room Needed: Ivy Gonçalves, a young professional woman coming from Brazil to work at the Cambridge Health Alliance, needs a place to live from Sept 9-Oct 8, ideally within commuting distance from Cambridge. (Ivy's mother is an acquaintance of Leandro Pinheiro, pastor of the Brazilian congregation that formerly was part of CTK.) Please email Ivy (ivyrsgoncalves@gmail.com) if you have any suggestions for places she could stay during this month.
Memorial Day
Please note, there will be no children / youth Sunday School classes on Sunday, May 29 (Memorial Day weekend). Classes will meet again on June 5 and 12 before taking a break for the summer months. There will be adult education on Memorial Day.
Confession of Sin
All: Almighty and merciful God, we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against your holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done. O Lord, have mercy upon us. Spare those who confess their faults. Restore those who are penitent, according to your promises declared to the world in Christ Jesus, our Lord. And grant, O merciful God, for his sake, that we may live a holy, just, and humble life to the glory of your holy name. Amen.
— from the Book of Common Prayer
Flute Recital
Eva Skanse, a accomplished flautist who works in CTK’s nursery, is presenting her graduation recital on May 16, 2022 at 11am at Longy School of Music. All are welcome to join either in person or virtual for this magical and fantastical program of Scandinavian music inspired by Kay Neilsen's illustrations of the beloved collection of Nordic fairytales, East of the Sun and West of the Moon. Note, to attend in-person, Longy requires that you register for free tickets for contact tracing reasons and present a vaccine card at the door. You may access concert details and register to attend or watch the concert online (note link will be available once the livestream starts).
Letter from Elders
Dear CTK family,
We continue to rejoice and marvel at what the Lord has done over these months as we have awaited his provision for a new pastor. God has been extraordinarily good, and the church has been incredibly patient as we have moved forward from Rick's faithful leadership into a new season of ministry. By his strength we’ve endured, especially in light of the challenges of the pandemic, and the church continues to grow and strengthen. We benefited greatly from pastors Nathan and Omar who filled the pulpit early in this season, we enjoyed the fruitful ministry of our interim pastor Clyde, and we’ve been encouraged by our pastor friends from RUF and sister churches in the area who came to our help along the way.
Now we’re about to welcome our new pastor, Travis Drake. Pastor Travis starts this week. Travis’s arrival marks a fresh new season in the life of the church, full of anticipation and promise.
As we enter this new era, let’s be mindful of our expectations. Travis’s work schedule, leadership style, and pastoral approach will look different than Rick’s, Nathan’s or Clyde’s. We will want to give him the freedom and flexibility, with patience and grace, to develop and express his own ministry among us.
For this reason, the elders have begun a relationship with a pastoral transition consultant. We recognize that we have a certain culture – patterns of decision making and ways of interacting and so forth – that Travis will be stepping into. We want to identify those things and understand how best to serve alongside each other for our new pastor’s well-being and for the benefit of the congregation. This is a process that will take time as we learn how best to support Travis and he learns more about how best to adjust to our culture.
Above all, let’s be praying. Pray for Travis as he enters this new call as our pastor. Pray for the elders, deacons, staff, and ourselves as we start this new relationship. And pray for Travis, Esther and their sons as they navigate this big change.
Just a reminder, Travis will be commuting up from Philadelphia weekly until his family can relocate to the area this summer. You’ll begin to see him preaching starting this Sunday. Welcome Pastor Travis!
CTK Softball
Do you want to spend time enjoying the summer sun and activities with your CTK family? Join the CTK softball team! No experience or skill required - just a willingness to have fun representing CTK Cambridge in the Boston Metro Church Softball League. Games are Saturday mornings or afternoons from June to August (you choose which games you want to play in). Anyone 18+ is welcome to play. We are also looking for non-players to come along and help cheer everyone on! Please contact Rachel rprice@mit.edu or Kimberly (kbowal@gmail.com) to sign up or ask any questions!
Boston Fellows
The Boston Fellows program is accepting applications for 2022-2023. God has a province for you to oversee. Whether your career is soaring or stuck in traffic, you need to know deep down what your work is about, beyond a paycheck, a good career move, or even that dream job. The Boston Fellows is a nine-month program for professionals seeking to cultivate the insights and spiritual habits necessary for meaningful vocation within a cohort of peers, spiritual leaders, and professional mentors. See here, here, and here for what past participants have said. Info and apply here. Please feel free to reach out to CTK member Rosemary Boyle with any questions (romaryboyle@gmail.com)
Volunteer Appreciation
Every May, the staff at CTK likes to take some time to acknowledge and appreciate the many volunteers who serve the church on Sundays and throughout the week. This week, we’d like to give thanks for our volunteers who serve outside of Sundays.
This includes our Community Group leaders; our Meals Ministry leader, Erin Ward; our Missions Liaison, Morgan Crago; our Men’s and Women’s ministry and Bible study leaders; as well as our finance committee and — this year especially — our building committee. And of course, let’s not forget our valiant and faithful snow team.
We are Christ’s body Monday thru Saturday just as we are on Sunday, so thank you to all the volunteers who serve throughout the week!
Getaway Save the Date
Save the Date for the 2023 Winter Getaway, January 27th-29th at Brookwoods in Alton, NH. Our speaker will be Glenn Hoburg, Lead Pastor of Grace Downtown Church and Senior Pastor of the Grace DC Network, a cross-cultural church network based in Washington, D.C. More information at ctkcambridge.org/getaway-save-the-date, and registration will be opening soon!
Missions Update
This week, former CTK member Hannah Nation, managing director for the Center for House Church Theology and content director for China Partnership, is launching a new book! Faith in the Wilderness: Words of Exhortation from the Chinese Church is a volume of sermons from Chinese house churches, co-edited by Hannah and Simon Liu. These sermons, which were preached online in China during the pandemic, include a series of meditations on brokenness, redemption, and hope. As Hannah says in the introduction, “in these dark times, let us set aside our relentless efforts to forget death and ignore suffering, and let us hear something about walking with Jesus that we have been missing. We descendants of Christendom fear cultural marginalization, but let us remember that those on the margins often preach the gospel more boldly, fearlessly, and humbly than those at the center…” (p. 5). The book is just now available through Amazon and Christianbook.com!
High School Events
Attention High School Youth! Join us for a Lock-in (overnight) event at the church with food, games and late-night ridiculousness from 5:30 PM Friday, May 6 to 10:30 AM Saturday, May 7. More details, along with forms for registration can be found at ctkcambridge.org/lock-in. Contact Andrea Bootsma (andrea.n.bootsma@gmail.com) for more information.