"As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord,  continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving." (Colossians 2:6)  

When we are not experiencing COVID-19 restrictions, the Adult Spiritual Growth Classes meet on Sundays at 9:45 am from September thru May

Watch this space for further updates.

 For Now ... Ordinary Time in the Liturgical Year

This year June brings us back into Ordinary Time, which begins in January each year. It starts immediately after Christmastide, which ends with Epiphany. In 2020, the first weeks of Ordinary Time were in January and February. Then we moved into the liturgical season of Lent. After Lent, Easter, Eastertide, and Pentecost, we go back to Ordinary Time. Most of the weeks in the Christian liturgical calendar are in Ordinary Time.

Why do we call it Ordinary Time? There seem to be two related explanations. In neither case does the name indicate that it is a boring, standard, typical, or uninteresting time of the year.

Like many Christian church terms, the name comes from a Latin root word. One possible root is “ordinalis” which means "showing order, denoting an order of succession." You may be familiar with the modern term “ordinal numbers:” first, second, third, etc. They tell the position of something in a list –  or a sequence. We use them in numbering the weeks of the liturgical year, such as the first week, second week, third week, etc.   (This is in comparison to the cardinal numbers: one, two, three, etc., which denote the quantity of something.)

A related explanation is that the name comes from a similar Latin root word “ordo,” which means “order” in English.  This may go back to the idea of setting an order to the weeks in the liturgical year. It may also be that Ordinary Time can be viewed as a “time of order” in the Church’s year.  In comparison to times of celebration, such as Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost or times of contemplation, such as Lent or Advent.

 Green is the color associated with Ordinary Time. Historically, green represents a time of hope, as represented by healthy, growing plants and trees. This may be the hope of new life in the resurrection following Pentecost. It is also used, to indicate our growth in faith as we follow the teachings and ministry of Christ.

First Presbyterian Church is a Sponsor of The Reformed Institute of Metropolitan Washington

In 2013, First Presbyterian Church became a sponsoring member of the Reformed Institute of Metropolitan Washington (RI). The RI is an organization that was established in 2003 "to promote understanding and awareness of the Reformed Tradition among the staff and members of Presbyterian churches located in the Washington area."  Its purpose is to help the churches in this presbytery live up to one of the basic principles of the Reformed Tradition – to ensure an educated laity. 

FPC Arlington has benefitted from many of the RI programs – the Confirmation Retreat, many of its classes, the annual convocation, and its Company of Teachers. As a sponsoring church of the Reformed Institute, First Presbyterian members are invited to participate in all of the RI adult education programs.  RI offers half-day, one day or short series adult education formats during the year for sponsoring church members. 

One member of our staff and a member of our congregation serve on the Board of Directors.  As members of the Board of Directors, we are involved in determining the programs that are offered, development activities, staffing decisions, etc.  We are expected to actively support the programs of the Institute by encouraging our members, friends, and community to participate in their offerings, and to take the things we learn and put them to use in our own congregation. For more information on the Reformed Institute, visit their website at: www.reformedinstitute.org