If my own experience is to be trusted, then God does not call us once, but many times. There are calls to faith and calls to ordination, but in between there are calls to particular communities and calls to particular tasks within them – calls into and out of relationships as well as calls to seek God wherever God may be found. Sometimes those calls or words are clear as bells, and sometimes those words are barely audible, but in any case, we are not meant to hear them all by ourselves. It was part of God’s genius to incorporate us as one body, so that our ears have other ears, other eyes, minds, hearts, and voices to help us to interpret what we have heard. Together we can hear the word, and together we can respond to them, if only we will listen for the still, small voice that continues to speak to us in the language of our lives.

Once we hear and digest the word, then and only then can we proclaim the message of God. That is what we are here to do, to proclaim the Good News to our brothers and sisters and enable them to go out and proclaim some more: in their own way.

We are all called to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. Our calls come differently, but we are all called nevertheless. Christ spent more than half of his life with just twelve men, developing them into leaders and proclaimers of the word who would carry on His work after He ascended into heaven. Let us go forth into the world and be God’s creative agents, God’s messengers in the world and God’s teachers of the world.

Thank you all for who you are and all that you do…

If you enjoyed this author’s previous book, The Kite Runner, then you will love this one. The story covers a span of about thirty years of Afghanistan through the eyes of two women who are both the wives of the same abusive husband. Their lives are woven together through wars, love and fate. As their stories unfold, the reader becomes more and more a part of the oppressive tyranny and misogyny that still prevails in many countries. In spite of all this, Hosseini shows us what true love really is and how it affects not only the lives in the present, but also the lives of generations to come.
 

Pope Benedict XVI wrote this argument about our understanding of the historical Jesus and the divine Jesus. It is said that he chose to publish this book under his given name so that it would not appear as church doctrine and he wanted to encourage others to share diverse views. Ratzinger asserts that the heart of all faith is found in the mystical relationship with God through Christ. Since faith is an intensely private matter, he argues that politics and social order should be left to the State rather than the Church.

This is a different view it is a change from his usual view on the authority of the church. In any case it is a great book even though it gets off to a slow start.

 

I want to thank the ECW Board for taking care of the meal for our last meeting which was our annual ECW May Picnic at Anne Boyd Smith’s on the north side of the lake. The food was delicious, compliments were flying left and right, and the weather was delightful as well as her home. We had a very nice crowd and if you did not come you missed a most enjoyable evening. This was our last get together for the ECW year.

Next years officers will be installed at the first church service in June, the 3^rd, so please attend that 10AM service if you are taking a new position on the board. We will have a board meeting in August and you will be notified later of the exact time.

We did decide to have a Food Fair next fall at the same time of the year as 2006, November 17^th so put your thoughts together as to what you may be able to prepare for that event.

We do plan on having the meals served when we start back in September. We need at least 10 who will be there for lunch in order to have the catering. I have been calling to get conformation that certain individuals will participate in this meal plan. You can call in to Margie Musgrove by the Sunday before the meeting if you will not be able to attend. Margie will need to let Cynthia Parker know by Sunday night how many she will serve on Wednesday.

Betty Pearce and I attended a meeting in Tarboro on May 23^rd to get the annual ECW meeting moving forward. The annual meeting will be in Tarboro on November 9^th and 10^th. The next meeting of that type will be on Wednesday, August 15th and I would love to have company and input for that get together. The meetings start at 10 AM and I was home about 2 PM. At this time our part in the preparation for this meeting is to put together the packets that will be given out at registration. I also told Scotland Neck that we would help them get the Anglican Prayer beads together.

For the months of June and July please check to see if you are on the St. Frances Guild committee and then check with Vickie to receive the list for visitations.

Have a nice summer.

Ruthie G.

The St. Frances Guild is an out growth of Christian Social Relations which is an office in the ECW. It is a group of parishioners who visit, send cards or take food as needed. Peggy Barber is Chair of this group and has asked that cards be sent to the following. (Committee for June is: Peggy Robinson, Chair, Sally Hardison, and Inez and Julian Gardner. The Committee for July is Liz Thiele, Chair, Katie Green, Sally and Caitlin Thorpe).

If you know of someone who would like to be contacted or visited by this group, please call Peggy Barber at 537-6368 or Vickie in the parish office at 537-3610.