Fellowship
Chronologically Advantaged
Contact: Duane Atkinson
The Chronologically Advantaged is a group of so-called Senior Citizens/AARP types (they would not like that part of the description!) who get together (almost!) every fifth Sunday after worship for a potluck lunch and a time of fellowship. We have actually never set age limits on it, and anyone who wants to call himself or herself Chronologically Advantaged is invited to join with us. Guests are always welcome, even if they do not bring food, as we have never found food lacking, but generally most families bring a suitable dish or dishes enough to feed a couple of other others as well as themselves.
Moms' Group
Contact: Kathy Foglia
This group of parents is to all who like to share parenting experiences and explore ways to engage with their children in outreach efforts. This group meets each month at Pullen or elsewhere for social events. Please watch for meeting dates and times in the Pullen Update, or contact Kathy Foglia.
Pullen Stitchers
Contact: Julia Williams or Annette Epps
Circle members and others meet once a month at Pullen to knit infant caps, prayer shawls, and children’s sweaters to provide to others needing warmth and comfort. It’s a great social time and chance to share knitting tips. The group welcomes people with plenty or no knitting experience.
What are foyers?
Foyer is a French word that means “hearth” or “fireside,” suggesting a group that is relaxed, receptive, and open to each other. A foyer is a caring, sharing, and loving community where casual acquaintances can develop into deeper and more meaningful relationships. A foyer enables the members to become a community through the spirit of love. Foyers is one aspect of Pullen’s ministry of reconciliation in conjunction with the Community of the Cross of Nails.
Pullen’s Foyer groups generally form in October and February. Watch for information in PullenNews. Click here for a registration form.
Resting places for mutual awareness...
The objective is to enable all members to be themselves. The host or hostess is usually the person who helps this to happen.
Porches of welcome...
Foyers may be a way of welcoming new members of the congregation and regularly attending visitors who might feel “on the fringe,” and making them feel at home. It is a small model of our larger church community.
Clinics for healing of hurt...
Often those who have been hurt by divorce, damaging publicity, death, or alienation of one sort or another, feel isolated and alone. To welcome such persons into a foyer helps to heal and assure them of acceptance and love.
Models of Christian community...
Foyers are a means of acting out in the community that which we ritualize through Holy Communion: sharing a meal, in common, with others who are equally in need of the grace of God.
Ends in themselves...
Foyers are not intended to do anything, but simply to be what Christians are—groups of people who love one another. This deepened love may lead to action, but that is not the aim of foyers. Their “end” is love.
How does it work?
1. Basically, a foyer consists of six to eight adults—or approximately three family units, in the case of family foyers—who meet in each household once for a simple meal.
2. Any person can become a member of a foyer. Membership in Pullen or the Community of the Cross of Nails is not a requirement.
3. Each household takes a turn as host, preparing and serving the meal. The meal is “in the style of the house.”
4. In the foyer there is no agenda. It is not a prayer group or a Bible study group.
5. The only structured element is time. The foyer meal usually lasts 2 hours.
6. It is a relaxed, informal gathering for food, fun, and fellowship that nurtures and builds community through the spirit of love.
7. New foyers are formed approximately every six months with the reshuffling of old members and the addition of new ones.
8. Foyer meeting dates and times are decided by group consensus. Bring your calendar on assignment day! Some groups have found it helpful to set all their meeting dates at their first gathering.
9. The host calls all the guests 2 to 3 days in advance as a reminder of the date, time, and place.