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A WORD FROM THE RECTOR
Greetings in the
Name of our Lord, Jesus Christ!
The Gospel lessons for the month include
the “Great Commandment” that we love God with “... all your heart, and with all
your soul, and with all your mind,' [and that we] ‘... love your neighbor as yourself'”
(Matt. 22.37-39). Despite our best
intentions, and our claim to in fact love God with heart and soul and mind, we
will always fall short absent God’s saving grace, but what we do to act on
the love to which we are called determines whether or not we behave as genuine
servants of God’s will.
One thing we do in seeking to
express our love of God is that we seek to have a relationship with Him. We do this in participating in His Body and
Blood in the Holy Eucharist. We do this
in gathering in His Name, knowing that He is in our midst. And we pray.
In prayer we relate to God both as members of His Body and as
individuals. As a Church we pray using
the words of The Book of Common Prayer, which can be in most cases be
traced back directly to Scripture, and to the extent that they are not scriptural
spring from the Tradition of the Church (how she has discerned the guidance of
the Holy Spirit when she has gathered in council to affirm the teachings of
individuals). But how do we pray as
individuals, when we are not engaged in “common” prayer (in prayer said
together)?
The first thing to recognize
is that in praying to God we are in dialogue; communication is two-way. And this means that prayer is dangerous. Dangerous? Yes, dangerous to all the accumulated pride
and assertiveness, the need for control and security, that
make up a good part of what constitutes the self, the same self which
Jesus calls us to deny, to lay aside that we may take up the cross to follow
Him.
The second thing we can
recognize about prayer is that when we do it regularly God changes us. As we come closer to God in prayer we
discover both that God is wholly Truth, Beauty, Being and Good, and that He is
wholly “other”. We discover the distance
that separates us from God, a distance dictated by our own failings, for God
always reaches out to us. Prayer allows
us to diminish the distance between ourselves and God; it means that we are
open to receive God, that we recognize that we are
under judgment but subject to mercy.
Be constant in prayer, however
you pray.
Yours in Christ Jesus,
2008–2009
Stewardship Luncheon and Campaign: The stewardship campaign will
kick-off on Sunday, 12 October, with a parish luncheon following Holy
Eucharist. Once again, Dwight Dyess will
chair the campaign. The parish has responded
generously to past stewardship and capital campaigns, and this generosity is
evinced in the improvements to our physical plant which are now near
completion, the fact that the parish has avoided any indebtedness for operating
costs, and the extent of our outreach ministries. Please make a point of attending the
luncheon, at which we’ll provide a preview snapshot of 2009 budget assumptions
and capital needs.
A note
about security: Security is a real issue at the church. In the past year we have had three incidents,
including two attempted burglaries and one theft. We have changed the locks and keys, but in
each case no forced entry was effected. This means that the malefactor has gotten in
the church through an open door or with an unauthorized key. This topic was discussed at the holy service
after the latest incident, and yet in the two weeks hence doors have bee found
unlocked at the church four times.
Security is everybody’s responsibility.
Please double check any door you use.
Don’t assume someone else will check security.
VESTRY
HIGHLIGHTS
Treasurer’s Report:
The Operating Account has a balance of $17,491.83; $8,247.64 in the
Capital Account.
Pledges for both accounts are on track.
Physical
plant: A light will be installed on the north entrance of
the parking lot. Assessment will be made
after it is in to determine if another is needed and whether we should install
directional lights on the Trulove House. Front and back porch lights will be installed
on the house. The re-striping on the
parking lot will be done soon.
Grace Notes
Music:
The month begins with the famous hymn Christ is made the sure
foundation (no. 518), sung to the tune “
Another prince of hymnodists
if found, of course, in Charles Wesley.
We will sing his Christ, whose glory fills the skies on 12
October, set to the sixteenth century Bavarian melody “Ratisbon”. The tune is metrically similar to no. 556, “
Finally, we encounter another
canticle, the Magnificat, paraphrased as hymn
in no. 437, Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord! We’re more used to the tune setting used in
437, but the same words appear in no. 438, to the tune “Woodlands” of Walter Greatorex (d. 1949).
Both versions were published in the
Holy Days:
Three apostles are celebrated in October: James of Jerusalem (the brother of our Lord)
on the 23rd, and Simon and Jude on the 28th. St. Luke the Evangelist is remembered on the
18th. St. Luke
is both the patron of
physicians and painters. He himself was
a physician (Col. 4.14), and tradition holds that he painted the first icon, of
the Virgin Mary.
The month begins with feast of
Remigius of Rheims.
Remigius was the apostle to the Germanic
Franks in the sixth century. The date is
also observed, as noted above, as the Feast of Dedication.
The feast of St. Francis of