The Messenger, April 2008

All Saints’ Bookshelf

A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose
By: Eckhart Tolle
Penguin Press, 2008

This is a great inspirational book that addresses the age old dynamics of egotism, anger, jealousy, fear, etc., that keep us from spiritual growth.  When we are able to fully let go of our baggage and experience our pain, then we are able to be transformed to our true selves.  With this transformation comes a renewed relationship with God.  A new heaven and a new earth is available to each of us, all we need to do is to let our egos go, and we will find that our transformation comes from an unlikely source: the human heart.

Review by Margie Holm

The Ten Year Nap
By: Meg Wolitzer

What happens when a woman takes maternity leave from a promising career and never returns?  This wonderfully written book explores just that through a special circle of four friends.  What makes a woman’s life meaningful?  These are questions that are surfacing in the lives of these women who were raised in the era of women’s liberation and equality.  Through a series of vignettes, the author shows us the significance of not only their lives, but the lives of their mothers and the lives of career women who have done it all.  These four women are wonderfully flawed, with all the hang-ups that we all struggle with.  This is a wonderful book that speaks to all of us (men, too) about where and how we find meaning in our lives.

Review by Margie Holm

Book Reviews are welcome.  Submit your review to Vickie by emailing it to her at allsaintsrr@embaqmail.com before the end of each month.

Safe Church Training
Monday, April 28

 Safe Church Training will take place on Monday, April 28, 2008 at 5:30 pm in the Parish House.  Chicken dinner will be provided, please bring a side dish.  This class is imperative for anyone who works with children of all ages in the Episcopal Church.  This is to be in compliance with the National Church Canons as well as our diocesan canons and the church insurance directives.  This class not only protects the church, but it protects all of us who work with children.

Who Should attend?
The pastor and staff
Sunday School Teachers and Assistants
Acolyte and EYC Leaders
Nursery Workers

Episcopal Church Women

Our own Rev. Margie Holm will be the guest speaker at the Rocky Mount Convocation spring meeting in Tarboro at St. Michael’s on the 15^th of April. I hope many of you will consider attending that meeting. Please let me know by Tuesday the 8^th of April for I need to let Tarboro know by that date. They are also asking for names and money in advance. It would be nice and helpful for the anticipated new board members as well as those who have been on the board and others to attend this meeting and support our Priest and learn more about what is going on in our convocation.

We will have our last noonday meeting of the year on Wednesday April 9^th and we hope to see many of you there. The board meeting will start at 10:15 with Holy Eucharist at 11:30 followed by lunch and our regular meeting and program. Those on the lunch list please let Margie Musgrove know by Sunday evening April 6^th if you will not be able to attend.  If you are interested in coming to the meeting and are not already included also let Margie know; we welcome you gladly.

Church Women United is sponsoring Friendship Day on May 2^nd at St. John’s Catholic Church and we have the program. This is taking the place of World Day of Prayer. We are asked to bring a bag lunch of our choice and beverage and desert will be furnished at the Catholic parish hall. The program itself starts at 11:30 in the church. It would be nice to have a good showing since we do have the program. Rev Margie Holm will give the invocation. This is the function that was originally in our yearbooks for March and was moved to May.

CPC Sunday is so early in May, the 4^th, that I thought I should mention it at this time for it certainly helps our seminarians and other requests.

I look forward to seeing you on the 9^th or possibly before.

Sisters in Christ,
Ruthie G.

St. Francis Guild News

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 Chairperson of this group and has asked that cards be sent to the following.   The committee for the month of April is Val and Tony Short.

· Any nursing home residents—see your ECW booklet.

· Pat Harris is now staying with her daughter Judy Hearp at 1725 Bolling Road— Her phone number stayed the same. Please send prayers, cards etc.. to this special lady.

· Ida Bowers request prayers and any home cooked meals.  Call her before going.

· Please keep Bill Heese in your prayers.

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.

Mr. Don Chartier, a former member of All Saints’ passed away Monday, March 24, 2008.  A memorial service was held on Friday, March 29, 2008 at St. Albans’ Episcopal Church in Littleton, NC.

Grant eternal rest to him, O Lord:
And let light perpetual shine upon him.
May his soul, and the souls of all the departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen

A Short History of Music and Liturgy
in the Episcopal Church
Part 2. In the Beginning
By: Jim Lee

The liturgy that Episcopalians use for the Eucharist—and the music we sing to accompany it—has come down to us over the last two centuries with many changes, but is still centered around the Last Supper that Christ shared with his disciples.  The disciples, following Jesus’ directions, celebrated the Eucharist with chanting derived from ancient Jewish rites, especially those used in the Seder, or the sharing of the Sabbath dinner.

As the first disciples died out and the Church began to become organized and standardized under St. Paul in the First Century, the Sanctus (“Holy, Holy, Holy”) and Benedictus (“Blessed is he who comes…”) were added to the preface before the celebration of the Eucharist.  In the Eastern church, the Kyrie (“Lord, have mercy…”)—the only part of the mass that comes down to us in Greek, not Latin—was incorporated at the same time; in the Second Century, the Gloria (“Glory to God in the highest…”) came into common usage in the Roman church.

After the Creeds were approved by the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D., the ordinary of the Mass was canonized as the Kyrie, Gloria, and Sanctus.  But with the standardization of the Creed, it was added to the service over the next few hundred years as the Credo (“I believe in one God…”) and was chanted.  In the Sixth Century, Pope Gregory organized and cataloged plainsong chant settings of the Mass, and some of those settings are found in our hymnal.

Another more controversial addition came in the Dark Ages as the Roman church added the Agnus Dei (“Lamb of God”) at the breaking of the bread, or fraction.  The Byzantine emperors objected to Christ’s being depicted as an animal, and their edicts forbidding the Agnus Dei to be sung became one of the foundations for the Great Schism between the Eastern and Roman churches in the 11^th Century.  The ordinary of the Mass was then canonized by the Roman Church in the Middle Ages as the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Benedictus, and Agnus Dei.  With the development of standard harmony and polyphonic music, it became traditional for the choir—and later the congregation—to sing the ordinary of the Mass while the priest alone chanted the proper, most of which was the Eucharistic Prayer.

During the Protestant Reformation in the 16^th Century, the Catholic Church held a council to reaffirm its liturgical orthodoxy in Latin in opposition to the publication of the Bible and saying of the Mass in the language of the local people.  The resulting Tridentine Liturgy remained in use until the Vatican II reforms of the 1960’s, but, interestingly, the Roman Catholic Church has recently re-authorized the use of the Tridentine Mass as many Catholics attempt to re-connect with their heritage.

 (Next: Breaking Away)

Outreach

April is a very important Outreach month!  April 13th is Outreach Sunday, with the loose offering going toward the food packaging event for Stop Hunger Now.  It is planned for Sunday, April 27th at 4:00, but the money must be raised in advance.  We will inform their coordinator one week in advance of the amount of money raised and the number of volunteers so he can bring adequate supplies.  You may contribute without participating as a volunteer, but we need as many people as possible to attend and package food!  There are permission forms for volunteers located at the back of the church.  Turn them in at the church office or to Margie, Mary Wellman, Pat Barnes, Bill or Sue Hodge, Lyn Homewood, or Katie Green.  Note that children and EYC members who volunteer must attempt to get $25 from sponsors, while adult volunteers will contribute at least $25.  People of all ages can be a part of this outreach effort!  We will provide a simple supper after the food has been packaged. 

Saints’-On-Wheels  Launches Spring Tours

Saints’-On-Wheels is a new ministry at All Saints’ which provides opportunities for church members and friends to explore God’s creation….the interesting, the beautiful, the amazing world around us… with fun and fellowship.  Val and Tony Short are coordinating these trips in the church van.  To register, call Vickie in the church office at 537-3610. Cost per trip will be $5 to cover the cost of gas.  Meals, drinks, admission fees, and other personal purchases will cost extra.  Parents must accompany their children.

Thursday, April 24    Unhappy Hour at the Poe Museum in Richmond

Tour the Museum that commemorates America’s counterpart to William Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe.  See the newest exhibit, “Poe in Comics;” explore the facility’s many exhibits and see the enchanted garden; free admission and cash bar. Bring money for dinner on the way home.

To find out more, visit: www.poemuseum.org
*Departure time from All Saints’ parking lot: 4:30 p.m.  Return by 10 p.m. Please register by April 23.

Saturday, May 24   Picnic Lunch and Tour of the Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park and Ecocenter

Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park & Eco-Center, located in Scotland Neck, is home to the world’s largest collection of waterfowl, and is dedicated to conservation, education, research and wholesome outdoor fun.  We will have a guided tour of the facility and you’ll have a chance to view, up close, the colorful waterfowl that are native to North America, South America, Central America, Africa and Australia. Admission is $5 for children 12 and under and seniors 62 and over, and $7 for all others.

Visit their website at:  http://www.shwpark.com/
*Bring your own sandwich; drinks and chips will be provided.
*Departure time from All Saints’: 10 a.m.  Return by 3 p.m.

Sunday, June 22   Picnic Lunch and Tour of Blandford Church in Petersburg

Blandford Church, built in 1735, features 15 exquisite Tiffany stained glass windows honoring the states that provided soldiers for the Confederate army.    The Ladies Memorial Association of Petersburg organized the church’s restoration campaign, soliciting funds from each former Confederate state for the creation and installation of a stained glass window in memory of the Confederate soldiers from that state. Louis Comfort Tiffany's studio was commissioned to design the fifteen memorial compass windows.   Each of the large windows contains the image of a Saint and symbols associated with the Saint. The four smaller windows were designed to complement the larger ones. The Ladies Association will provide a guide for our tour of the church and the surrounding cemetery. Admission is $5 for adults and $4 for children under 12 and seniors 60 and older.

For more information, visit the website: http://www.virginia.org/site/description.asp?attrID=11988

*Bring a sandwich; drinks and chips will be provided.
*Departure time from All Saints’: 11 a.m. or immediately following the 10 a.m. service.
 Return by 3 p.m.

Future trips may include visits to:  a  NC winery, a sandhills peach orchard, Seagrove Pottery, the Virginia mountains to see the fall foliage,  Duke Chapel and gardens,  lighthouses on the Outer Banks, and much more!  Have a suggestion?  Call or email Tony or Val!  Remember to register for these trips by calling or emailing Vickie in the church office  (537-3610 or allsaintsrr@embarqmail.com).

STOP HUNGER NOW
Goldsboro, NC

Stop Hunger Now does not share, rent, sell or distribute our database to others.  Personal information gathered by our organization is kept in confidence.  Our personnel, volunteers and vendors are authorized to access personal information based only on their need to deal with the information for the reason(s) for which it was obtained.  Please visit http://www.stophungernow.org/privacy.html  to view our complete policy.

We appreciate the opportunity to keep you informed of our activities.  You may contact us at anytime in the future to be immediately removed from our contact list.

FAMILY VOLUNTEER REGISTRATION
(PLEASE PRINT)

 Address Stop Hunger Now Info. To:_______________________________________________________

(Ex:  John Smith, or Mr./Mrs. Ted Brown, or Jane Jones)

Volunteers Packing Today:

Adult 1 _____________________________      Adult 2 ______________________________­­_

(Ex: John Smith) (Example: Jane Smith)

Child 1 ______________________________      Child 2 ________________________________

(Katherine) (Bill)

Child 3 ______________________________      Child 4 ________________________________

Street Address _______________________________________________________________________

City, State, Zip _______________________________________________________________________

E-mail ______________________________________________________________________________

Phone: _____________________________________________________________________________

I am with ___________________________________________________________________________

                                                                    (Name of Church or Group)

Number of Hours Worked ______________________________________________________________

I WAIVE, RELEASE, AND DISCHARGE from any and all liability, including but not limited to, liability arising from the negligence or fault of the entities or persons released, for my death, disability, personal injury, property damage, property theft, or actions of any kind which may hereafter occur to me including my traveling to and from this event. THE FOLLOWING ENTITIES OR PERSONS: STOP HUNGER NOW and/or its directors, officers, employees, volunteers, representatives, and agents, the activity or event holders, the activity or event sponsors, or activity or event volunteers.

Adult Signature _________________________________________  Date _______________________

Knitting into the Mystery: A Guide to the Shawl-Knitting Ministry
By Susan S. Jorgensen and Susan S. Izard

We heard at convention about a parish that has a prayer shawl ministry. This could be a personal outreach effort or that of a group. Knitting into the Mystery: A Guide to the Shawl-Knitting Ministry by Susan S. Jorgensen and Susan S. Izard is a good how-to book. Here are a couple of passages:

"As we shop for the yarn, we think about what color might be best for the person. As we cast on the first stitches, we can begin to pray specifically for this person, naming them before God and asking God to wrap them in God's compassionate love. As we finish the shawl and add the fringe, we are still holding the person we are knitting for in our prayers. We are praying for God's embracing love to encompass the person. By the time the person receives it, the shawl is filled with prayers for that individual. When they wrap themselves in it, they can feel the warmth and love that the prayers and yarn have become."

"It is important to understand that, even though you might be knitting for an unknown person, the love and prayers that you knit into the shawl are just as powerful and important as they are for the shawls knit for specific individuals. This is a wonderful opportunity to pray for a stranger and to open your heart to God's love for the greater community and world."

The authors offer basic knitting instructions:

1. Choose what size needle you will use. For a denser shawl, use 11; for a looser shawl, use 13. Size 11 will create a finished size 26" X 60". Size 13 will create a finished size 30" X 64".

2. Select yarn. A standard shawl requires three six-oz. skeins of yarn, 185 yards each.

3. Cast on 57 stitches for size 13 or 63 for size 11. The pattern is K3, P3 every row, a modified seed or moss stitch. If you decide to knit every row, this is called a garter stitch. Before you begin your third skein, make your fringe. If you wish to make a lap blanket instead of a shawl for a man, cast on 87 stitches on size 13. Four skeins will give you a blanket 45" wide. Rather than fringe, consider creating a selvage edge by crocheting a single crochet around the entire blanket. Reserve some yarn for that.

4. An alternative to tying a knot and weaving the ends into the shawl when you attach the next skein is to weave the new end into the old with a darning needle. Clip both ends and thread the needle with the end of the new skein. Begin at the end of the skein you are finishing, hold the end taut, and insert the needle. Take tiny spiral stitches, maintaining tension. Weave through about three inches and pull gently to test.

5. To create a selvage, or a smoother finish, slip the first stitch at the beginning of each row purlwise. The yarn will be in front of your work. Carry the yarn to the back, K2, and continue with the pattern to the end of the row.

6. You can put fringe in every stitch or skip several stitches. You can sew beads into the fringe. Cut the fringe twice the desired length, 12" for 6" fringe, 24" for 12 inch fringe, etc. A stiff piece of cardboard cut to the finished length of the fringe is used to wrap the yarn as many times as you want pieces of fringe. Cut one end. For standard fringe, cut 57 lengths for each end, or 114 total. Save until you have finished knitting the shawl. Tie and store in a ziplock bag.

7. Attach the third skein and finish knitting the shawl.

8. Attach the fringe. Double the yarn and pull the loop through the stitch with a crochet hook. Insert the ends of the fringe through the loop and pull tight, creating a knot. Some people knot the ends of the fringe to keep it from fraying.

9. Wrap the shawl in tissue and include a sachet and a blessing or prayer.

Jorgensen and Izard suggest printing a prayer or blessing on card stock (4 to an 8.5" x 11" sheet), punching a hole in the corner, tying it with a ribbon, and attaching it to the shawl with a safety pin.

Example:

This shawl was knitted for: __________________________________by: ___________________________

We pray for him or her: __________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

This shawl was blessed on this date: ___________________________.

Their habit is to pass the finished shawl around the circle of knitters.  Each person blesses the shawl and prays over it.  A shawl may even be passed from person to person so each person can knit a row or two.

The authors include prayers to be used when knitting with others as part of a knitting group as well as prayers for situations and seasons of life when a shawl may be given. One prayer is as follows:

 Prayer of Blessing for a Completed Shawl
May God's grace be upon this shawl . . . warming, comforting, enfolding and embracing.
May this mantle be a safe haven . . . a sacred place of security and well-being . ..
 sustaining and embracing in good times as well as difficult ones.
May the one who receives this shawl be cradled in hope,
kept in joy, graced with peace, and wrapped in love.
Blessed be!

The Great Fifty Days

Alleluia, Christ is risen!

The Great 50 Days, also called Eastertide is a church season that is full of joy for the people of God.  This is a time of celebration after the resurrection of Christ.  The Great Fifty Days begins on Easter and continues to the Day of Pentecost.  It lasts seven weeks and as the church celebrates the resurrection of Christ, our Bible lessons will focus on the post-resurrection appearances to the disciples, his post resurrection teachings, Christ’s ascension to heaven, and the disciple’s enthusiasm for the coming of the Holy Spirit. There are some things that you might notice during this season: the presence of the Paschal Candle, the use of alleluias, the liturgical color has changed from purple to white and our Scripture readings all come from the New Testament.

The Paschal Candle is an ancient symbol of the risen Christ.  The Paschal Candle is adorned with a cross along with the Greek letters, alpha and omega which signifies that Christ is present now and forever. The candle symbolizes the spreading of the light of Christ into the world.  The Paschal Candle will stay out until Ascension Day.  We also use thePaschal Candle during baptisms and funerals.

Someone asked me about The Paschal mystery and what it means.  There is not an easy answer to this question.  The Paschal mystery is the redemptive death and glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ.  In the Old Testament, the Hebrew Passover gave the promise of redemption and freedom at the Red Sea.  In the New Testament, the Paschal concept includes Jesus’ resurrection and death, the ascension and gift of the Holy Spirit, baptism, the calling of a new people from every nation and language, as well as participation in the mystery through eating and drinking with our Risen Lord.1  We recite the mystery of faith in our Eucharist: Christ has died.  Christ is risen.  Christ will come again. We remember his death, we proclaim his resurrection and we await his coming in glory.2  One way for us to begin to understand this mystery is to remember that we celebrate the Paschal mystery in the Eucharist each Sunday

1. D. Armentrout, R. Slocum: An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church: Church Publishing, 2000.
2. The Book of Common Prayer, pages 363, 368, 371 & 374 respectively