As we turn the corner and enter into a new year and a new church season, it is a time to look at our journeys, both individually and corporately.  Ultimately, our journeys are into the mystery of God.  It is a road where there are no road maps or GPS’s.  Each of our journeys are unique and distinctive.

Most people journey in their faith tradition.  For us, on the larger scale that is the Episcopal Church, on the smaller scale it is All Saints’.  Together, we pass through the battlefields and the peaceful meadows.  It is a faith process of trial and error.  Our faith journey is that we will survive together.  In our survival comes the growth and knowledge that propel us into the mystery.

In a time of world uncertainty and pain, we tend to seek the answers.  In the spiritual realm, we don’t come to church for the answers, we come for the journey.  The church means different things to different people.  For some of us, the simple journey together is all that is needed, for others, it is constant obstacles that deter the journey.  When we allow ourselves to become defensive or angry with others who journey with us, then we miss out on the blessings along the way.  We become stuck in spiritual quicksand.  We need to learn to listen to those who don’t agree with us, for they are most likely our North Stars.  The only requirement for our faith is that God is present.  The journeys that we are used to require certain conditions, like the positive or negative forces to determine our faith in the world around us.  God’s presence bursts into every situation whether it be war, peace, unity, division, and birth or death.

The longer I do God’s ministry, the more it becomes clear that there are no accidents.  There’s no such thing as luck; it’s all grace.  It is not a matter of luck or accident that you are here.  You are here, and by the grace of God, I am here, and we are all here on the same journey.  We learn together, we cry together, we share together and we grow together.  The true meaning of the journey is not what lies at the end, but what we discover along the way.

I’m sure you have heard the saying, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going,” and that’s exactly what Peter did.  He got going; he ran away when the going got tough, he got out of the way as fast as he could.  When the going gets tough, then the tough should get down on their knees and thank God.

The truth is, the farther along I get on my journey; the less I know.  There are only many more questions.  The peace for me is that the answers are less important.

Let’s remember that on our spiritual journey there is no destination.  It is a journey.  It is what we discover along the way.  When we feel scared or alone on this journey into the mystery, all we have to do is remember is all that God has already done for the ancestors of our faith and each of us.  I am richly blessed to be sharing this journey with you.

Thanks be to God.

Warmest greetings to all of you in this the first month
of the New Year!

As my term on the Vestry comes to a close, I want to thank everyone with whom I have had the pleasure of working and those who have supported me the past three years.  This was my first experience as a vestry member and it was an honor and pleasure to serve the members of All Saints’ Church.

I would like to say a few words about the upcoming elections of four new vestry members on January 20^th during our annual church meeting.  It takes a dedicated person to sit on the vestry and make decisions that affect the direction the church is going.  However, some people may be under the impression that you have to have a business or public service background to be a vestry member.  I believe that anyone from any background can serve on the vestry.  Most decisions made are based on information that is presented to the vestry, then discussed, and then voted upon based on consensus of vestry members and solid Christian values. As a group, the Vestry tries to make the best decisions for all.  If your name has previously been placed in nomination and you were not elected please do not let that deter you from running again. I would recommend that if you have not served on the vestry or have served in the past and would like to serve again, that you place your name in nomination with any vestry member. There are four of us whose terms are ending:  Dole Baker, Frank Ralph, Tom Mebane, and myself.  Please prayerfully consider this ministry.

Every Member Canvass has been a great success. There are less than a dozen pledges that are still outstanding.  We thank all of you who have so generously submitted a pledge.  We are still short of our budget goal but do expect additional pledges in the next few weeks.  If you have not fulfilled your pledge for 2007 those funds are still needed & would be sincerely appreciated.

I am calling a meeting on Tuesday evening January 15^th at 7:00 pm in the Parish House of all chairpersons on our Committees to discuss each Committee’s budget and have a round table discussion on how each Committee can best serve the church as a whole.   This meeting will also be to clarify the responsibilities of each Committee and the relationships between committees.  If you are a Chairperson and cannot attend please send a representative from your Committee.

The vestry would like to again wish you a very happy, healthy, and prosperous 2008.

 Bob
Robert J. Burke
Senior Warden

Living the Questions (LtQ2) is an open-minded alternative to studies that attempt to give participants all the answers and instead strives to create an environment where participants can interact with one another in exploring what's next for Christianity.  Comprised of 21 sessions, LtQ2 may be offered in sequence or as three independent flights of seven units each:  Invitation to Journey, Reclaiming the World and Call to Covenant.  Join Margie for this exciting bible study on Thursday evenings in the parish house, beginning on Thursday, January 10 at 6:30 pm.  Dinner will be included so please contact the parish office if you plan to attend or if you are in need of child care.

Episcopal Church Women

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed bringing in the New Year and all is well with your family.  Our next meeting will be on January 9th. The executive board will meet at 10:15 am followed by Holy Eucharist at 11:30 am in the parish house.  Lunch will be at 12 noon followed by our program.

I hope everyone who took the poinsettias enjoyed their visits as much as I did.  Those visits were real joys.  I hope the shut-ins are saying the same thing.

Thompson Child and Family Focus really appreciate the bar code and child graduate cutouts that we send them.  I have started writing the size of the can and the product inside the back of the cutout to help them with the code point identification.  Example:  10 3/4 oz. Tom. Soup.  These go toward the purchase of additional equipment for the facility that Campbell enables them to have.

We will have our all women lunch on February 17th after the 11 am service.  I hope many of you will come and maybe invite a friend.  We will discuss this meeting in detail at our January meeting.

I am really enjoying items that I purchased at the Food Fair.  Thanks to all who helped to make that function such a success.

Sisters in Christ,
Ruthie G.

SPECIAL THANKS TO THE MEMBERS OF
ALL SAINTS’

 · Thank you so much for your support!  Wishes do come true!! Amber enjoyed coming to All Saints’ on the day Isaac Helms Christening.  She also bought two wigs and a camera.  God Bless all of you.  Love the Keeter Family.

· Thanks for being a part of our mission. Many thanks for your support of the Episcopal Diocese of NC Honduras Health Mission.  Your prayers, time, talent, and financial contributions are gratefully acknowledge.  The gifts you have given, as noted below, will contribute to the physical and spiritual well-being of our brothers and sisters in the United Communities, Choluteca, Honduras.  Thank you for the gift of: suitcases, medicines, medical supplies and all the personal care items.  GRACIAS!

· You will never know how much your prayers, love, support and generosity have touched our family over the past few weeks.  We praise God and are very thankful for you!  Love, Mike and Michelle Adams & family (Ryan, Emily, Maggie and Abigail)

· Thanks for all the wonderful gifts for Christmas that your church gave to me and my kids.  Fonda Butler

 The St. Francis Guild is an outgrowth 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.   The committee for the month of January is Ruthie Gregory, Betty Pearce and Paige Cutchin.

· SPECIAL PRAYERS for: Pat Harris,  Ida Bowers, Amber Keeter and Betty Mooring.

· Any nursing home residents—see your ECW booklet.

 Special Note:  If anyone has hospital items, such as portable toilets, wheelchairs, canes, etc… please let Vickie know in the office so we can share these items.  As well, if you are in need of any items contact Vickie so she can help locate items in need.

 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

Joys…….

&

Concerns…... Our sympathy to Inez Gardner on the recent death of her brother, John Willey.  To Tia Alfonso on the recent death of her mother, and also to the family of Pauline Smoot who passed away during the holidays.

The Outreach Committee, with your help, has been active this year.  We have supported the Union Mission, Good Samaritan, Thompson Child and Family Focus, and St. Michael’s Honduras Mission trip.  We adopted two seminarians and paid the hotel bill for a woman whose house burned.  We made a donation to the Millennium Development Goal campaign.  We gave a small need-based scholarship.  We helped two families during the Christmas season and sent  New Year/Valentines Day gifts to servicemen and women.

The second Sunday in each month continues to be Outreach Sunday.  Response has not been consistently strong.  If you have ideas for outreach, please feel free to join our committee or write down your thoughts and give them to Lyn Homewood, Katie Green, Sue or Bill Hodge, Mary Wellman, Pat Barnes, or Margie Holm.  Our plans for the next several months are as follows:

January 13^th – collection for Thompson Child and Family Focus
February 10^th – collection for Food for the Poor
March 9^th – Millennium Development Goal activities
April 13^th – hot dog lunch to raise money for the mission trip
May – CPC and UTO Sundays

You will hear more about a mission trip in the coming months!  Also, we are planning to package food for Stop Hunger Now, and as the plans are finalized, we will keep you informed.

We are trying to  update our prayer list, which is used during the Sunday services.  This list contains Thanksgivings for healings, birthdays, service people and other requests.  Unfortunately, we don’t know or recognize some of the names, especially the service people.  If you have placed someone on this prayer list, please contact Vickie and give her any information that may help her keep track of all mentioned. Call or email Vickie at 537-3610 or allsaintsrr@embarqmail.com.   Thanks for your help.

With the help of Bob Pearce we will be updating our Website, which can be found by going to www.allsaintsrr.org.  We plan to post The Messenger as well as events or pictures that occur within our parish.  Special Thanks to Betty Harris for some great pictures already.

Gather with knitter and quilters from across the southeast for this unique opportunity to be creative, unwind and reflect in the beautiful blue ridge mountains.  Choose from the knitting or the quilting track:

· For knitters, classes will be offered for all skill levels.  Topics include beginning knitting, color work, introduction to sweater design, knits and purls, knitting with beads, lacework and making socks using circular needles

· For quilters, there will be a Saw tooth Star quilt workshop for advanced beginners and beyond.  A sewing machine is required.

In addition to classes, there will be Relax and Stitch get-togethers by the fireplace, daily worship services, afternoon hikes to scenic mountain overlooks and time to visit to area yarn and quilting shops.

Cost Per Person
(includes program and meals)
$425 Double occupancy lodging
$515 Single occupancy lodging
$315 Participating spouse
$240 Nonparticipating spouse
$235 Commuter (for residents of Henderson County and bordering NC or SC counties)

For many of us, present-day living feels fast, stressful, and filled with too many activities and responsibilities.

At times we may feel overwhelmed and vulnerable in the landscape of life. We may even experience a sense of loneliness and sadness in a world that seems confusing and rushes by too quickly.

We yearn to raise our spirits and feel more connected to the Divine. We want to have a more whole way of being in the world, and we know that our beliefs and practices do have an impact on our health, our living, our wholeness.

At this year's annual Raising Spirits retreat, Joy Carol--author, counselor, and spiritual director--will lead us in spiritual exercises, rituals, meditations, and prayers that will help us to live our lives more authentically and peacefully.

Join Christ Church on February 1 and 2, 2008 for this Valuable and Timely Retreat!

For more information, contact Mollie Brice at 919-834-4595 or via email. Or stop by the parish office for more information or a registration form.

On January 6^th, 2008, we will enter a new church season, that of Epiphany.  It occurs 12 days after Christmas.  Some churches celebrate this season honoring the Magi’s visit to the infant Jesus.  Some recall the baptism of Jesus as an adult.  We remember that our new church year started in December with Advent.  In Advent our theological focus was on preparedness and anticipation.  In Epiphany we focus on God coming to us in human form.  Epiphany literally means appearance or manifestation.

I’m sure you have heard the expression, “I just had an Epiphany!  I just figured out how to access my voice mail!”  Often for us personally, an epiphany means that some new meaning has been revealed.  The secular world uses the term epiphany to represent many different things such as: computers, Ipods, and even traffic snarls.  Theologically, an epiphany means that somehow, someway, grace has erupted in our lives and we are forever changed.  It is like a ray of light beaming down from heaven that only we can feel.