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A WORD FROM THE RECTOR
Greetings in the
Name of our Lord, Jesus Christ!
Q: Through
whom does the Church carry out its mission?
A: The Church carries out its mission through
the ministry of all its members.
You may recall that in last
month’s newsletter this question and answer from the prayer book Catechism
appeared in the context of a discussion about how ministry involves much, much
more than what clergy do. This month
we’ll get a chance to celebrate all the ways in which we, as the Church, live
in mission and live into the words of the postcommunion
prayer in the service of Holy Eucharist, that we go “... to do the work [God]
has given us to do” (BCP 366).
Just as in the service of Holy Eucharist itself we pray that we may
offer ourselves as a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice to God (echoing
Paul’s exhortation at Roman 12.1), in doing the work God has given us to do we
are making an offering to God. We are His
hands to do His work; His ears to listen and voices to comfort. We offer praise and worship in His Name.
On Sunday, 7 September, we
will dedicate and bless the new playground, parking area, walkways, and the Trulove Parish House.
Not everything will be ready (for example, a plaque is on order), but
we’ll protect this date as a kick-off for the new parish year. We’ll gather at 9:45 (there will be no Sunday
school or coffee hour), to dedicate and bless the new facilities (rain or
shine). For those of you who may worry
that blessings can be “
Once we finish the dedication and blessing of
the new facilities, we’ll proceed to the church nave, with the remainder of the
service following an amended order (beginning at 10:30):
1) The Liturgy of the Word
will be abbreviated, with the Prayers of the People and the confession and
absolution omitted.
2) There will be no sermon
offered.
a) At the point in the
service where we would normally find these elements, we will:
i) Commission
our Lay Eucharistic Ministers, Sunday School teachers,
and the Verger [Vestry members are commissioned following the parish annual
meeting.]
ii) Offer
prayers of thanksgiving for our Acolytes, Lectors, the choir, the altar guild,
the E.C.W., the
Care Committee, ushers and nursery staff.
3) We then continue to the Holy Communion
as in any other weekly celebration.
4) Following the service, we’ll proceed
to the fellowship hall for a parish luncheon.
At the luncheon a representative of each ministry in the church will
briefly describe the work involved, and how you can get involved.
At the luncheon we will also honor those who have rendered faithful service
from which they have now retired.
Please mark your calendars for 7 September at 9:45, and join in our
celebration of the work
our Lord calls us to!
Hospital visits:
From time-to-time members of the parish are hospitalized. We may recall that in years past it was
common for the hospital to call a church, to inform the parish that a member
had been admitted. Indeed, it was common
for the newspaper to list hospital patients.
However, in 1996 the Health Information Privacy Protection Act (HIPPA)
became law. A hospital cannot provide
any information about a patient, or even acknowledge that someone is a patient,
absent explicit permission for this being granted by the patient. This means that it is not uncommon that the
parish finds out that someone is in the hospital by secondary sources only, and
sometimes after the fact.
If you are hospitalized you
need to inform the parish if you desire pastoral care from clergy and fellow
parishioners. If your loved one is hospitalized,
you need to inform the parish, if you have your loved one’s permission to do
so. If in visiting the hospital you find
that a parishioner is a patient, ask their permission to inform the parish.
Remember, some people do not
want the fact of their hospitalization publicized, so always ask if it
is OK to inform the parish. The same
goes when someone is homebound due to a health reason: ask permission. If you are homebound, don’t hesitate to call
the church office.
Christian Education:
Two adult education options will be offered starting on 14 September.
§ The Kerygma: The
Bible in Depth series meet from 9:15 until 10:00 in the Trulove
Parish House. The course will focus this
Fall on the Old Testament. I will facilitate this course.
§ An adult forum based on the books The Shack (a 2007 novel by William
Young) and The Jesus Way (a 2007 book on Christian discipleship by
Eugene Peterson) will be facilitated by Patricia Cantrell, in the choir room.
The materials for these courses are not
inexpensive. An offering of $20 to help
defray costs will be welcome.
Yours in Christ Jesus,
VESTRY
HIGHLIGHTS
Treasurer’s Report:: There is a balance of $14,928.69 in the
operating account, and $7428.00 in the capital account.
Organ: The
organ is beginning to fail, and options to repair it are not viable. It will be necessary in 2009 to consider
options to raise capital to replace the organ.
Lambeth Conference: The Bishop has reported back on the Lambeth Conference. His
remarks are available in hard copy at the parish office.
Ministry Fair:
(a) The 7 September dedication of the new parish facilities will include
a ministry fair, in which the ministries offered by all in the parish will be
celebrated. (b) The Trulove Parish House will be
furnished with furniture donated by Jim Byrd.
A plaque commemorating the dedication of the house will be placed,
although this is unlikely to be available by 7 September. (c) A security light
will be installed at the playground/parking area intersection, to provide light
at the back of the parish house and for the walkway leading from the parking
area to the back of the fellowship hall.
The light will also illuminate the playground.
Grace Notes
Music: The
Music Committee met for the first time on 20 August. The next meeting for the committee will be on
Thursday, 18 September, from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
Hymns in September include 376, Joyful, joyful, we adore thee
sung to the “Ode to Joy” theme from Beethoven’s ninth symphony. The words of the original ode (by Friedrich
Schiller) sing to “joy” itself as a “source of light immortal”. This is the sort of pagan reference common in
popular culture (witness the “liturgical” character of the opening and closing
ceremonies at the
A hymn generally sung in Lent,
no. 141, Wilt thou forgive that sin (words by John Donne, music by J. S.
Bach) appears with the lessons for Proper 19, in which a message of forgiveness
is found. The following week the old
favorite Praise, my soul, the King of heaven (410) is coupled with two
other hymns with very “singable” tunes, Lord of
all hopefulness, Lord of all joy (482) and O Jesus, I have promised (655).
The month closes out with
Proper 21, in which the Name of Jesus is extolled. The hymns which speak of this message are
familiar: All hail the power of
Jesus’ Name! (450) and At the Name of Jesus 435), coupled with the
less-familiar Lord Jesus think on me (641), this latter including words
from the fourth century.
Holy Days:
Sunday school and adult education start for the new
year on 14 September. This date
is Holy Cross Day on the calendar (transferred this year from a Sunday), and
what a good day this is to refocus on spiritual growth! Holy Cross Day commemorates the finding, in A.D.
335 of a relic of the Cross on which Jesus died on
The Church calendar begins
September with the remembrance of Bl. David Pendelton
Oakerhater, the first Native American canonized in
the Episcopal Church. Oakerhater was a
Finally, September ends with
the feast of
On 9 September Constance and
her companions are commemorated. This
company is recalled as “The Martyrs of Memphis,” for their sacrificial service
in 1878, when they nursed (and became) victims of the yellow fever epidemic in