The Tide Turns as the Organ Parts Return
A shift has occurred in the Organ Restoration Project. Instead of having parts of the Organ carried off from the Church, The tide is coming back in as now organ parts are returning. Soon the reassembling will begin. The restored parts look fabulous and there is no doubt they will serve the Church for another 125 years. One of the parts that needed to be rebuilt was the bellows. It was originally a double bellows, but somewhere along the line it had been made into a single one. It has now been rebuilt to its original function all with precise hand work. Attached to By Way of Reminder is a small video file of the bellows operating in Manuel Rosales’s shop.
Back By Popular Demand! Mid-Week Eucharist Returns: Wednesday mornings 7:00 a.m.
Several people have requested resuming the mid-week Eucharist on Wednesday mornings. So we will do that. The service begins at 7:00 a.m. It is brief and to the point. We use the small portable altar and after the Peace gather around it as the Eucharistic Prayer is said. The mid-week Eucharist gives us a chance to observe the Holy Days, both the major ones, and also what are called “Lesser Feasts and Fasts.” There is a set of readings for these holy days, and brief biography of the people commemorated. So normally we will have two readings and a psalm, omit the Creed and Confession, and the service concludes in about 20 minutes. Anyone is welcome to attend.
Bible Walk Through: Sundays at 9:00 a.m.
This Weeks’ sections from the Children’s Bible are: The Good Samaritan St. Luke 10:29-37, St. Matthew 25:31-46, Eye of the Needle St. Luke 13:31-33; 16:19-31;18:18-30, St. Matthew 8:20, 19:16-30, St. Mark 10:17-31. Mary & Martha St. Luke 10:38-42, The Prodigal Son St. Matthew 11:28-30; 18:12-14; St. Luke 7:36-50, 15:11-32
Emmaus Road Mondays 7:00 p.m.
Beginning Monday, October 21 the Emmaus Road Group begins a new book, The Book of Common Prayer: A Biography, by Alan Jacobs This book will look at the composition of the first Book of Common Prayer 1549 and trace its development down through the centuries. For Monday’s meeting we’ll discuss the Introduction and first chapter.
Food For Thought
On the Food For Thought Table this Sunday an article from a recent edition of The New Yorker, Dear God: A Young Writer’s Prayers. Several weeks ago we had an article from The Christian Century on the theological vision of the writer Flannery O’Connor entitled, Grace Hurts. This new article is a collection of journal entries that O’Connor made while at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop. St. Thomas Aquinas says that the most important prayer Christians do is petition, that is asking God for things. That might seem surprising. One might have thought at adoration, praise, or thanksgiving should be a the top of the list. But Aquinas says that it is in our asking that we discover the true nature of what we desire. The more we engage in asking, the more refined our desires become. So we can learn a lot about praying our desires by reading the prayer of desire by this very devout Christian woman. It may very well be a guide to your own personal prayer.
Annual Parish Retreat: A Good Time had by All
As always, the Annual Parish Retreat was a good experience for everyone who attended. Our numbers were smaller than last year, but those who came found the time well spent. Chitra Rao gave the presentations on dealing with our anxiety and they were very well received. Everyone said they got a lot out of them. The food was good, the weather was nice, and the fellowship was stimulating. New parishioners John Henning and Eric Jones attended and Eric proved himself a master fire builder and marshmallow roaster. After the Eucharist on Sunday everyone returned home very happy and with no worries. Tim Down summed it up, “I need to make going to the Parish Retreat each year a habit, something I just always do.”
The Feast of All Saints:
Stories of the Saints, Prayers for deceased loved ones. Sunday, November 3
We will celebrate the Feast of All Saints on Sunday, November 3. Once again we will have two “Saints Stories,” one presented by Roger Law and the other by Melissa Stanley.
We will also recite the names of those who have been buried from our parish since last All Saints Day, and as is our tradition, we will recite the names of our loved ones who have gone before us, all within the context of the Eucharistic Prayer. In the reciting of the names embedded in the Eucharistic Prayer, we not only remember those we love who’ve gone before us, but affirm our hope in their living in our Lord’s Risen life which the Eucharist makes present to us. All Saints is a profound event, of the most moving liturgies of the Church Year.
There will be a sign up sheet for you to list those you’d like to be included in the prayers for All Saints, on the table outside the next several Sundays.
You can also email names in to the Church Office. Please specify whether you want them read at the 7:45 or 10:15 a.m. service.
Coffee Hour: October 2013 Need More People to Help
Coffee hour is an important aspect of our parish life. It’s been called “The Eighth Sacrament of the Episcopal Church.” At coffee hour we have the chance to see and talk with our fellow parishioners and welcome new people to our parish.
Doing Coffee Hour is quite simple. All that one needs to do is bring some snacks for people to share. The Coffee is already made in the Church basement. Supplies such as cream, sweetner, stirrers, napkins, and plates are already provided.
For 7:45 a.m. You simply bring a snack of some kind. The congregation is small doesn’t need help in serving. There is also no clean up because the set up will remain for the 10:15 service,
For 10:15 a.m. Again the coffee is already made and the set up is already in place. All that is needed is for the coffee hour host to set up their snack and help people, particularly the children get their’s, ( and leave some for everyone else!) The coffee hour host does help with the clean up which is taking the coffee pots and supplies down to the basement, rising them out and letting them dry. Fr. Bob and other parishioners are there to help take down and store the tables.
Like any organization, the same people tend to volunteer for the same task many times. We’d like more people to help as well. We have a sign up sheet outside that covers a period of two months. Those who’ve signed up are listed in the Church calendar so they can remember their date.
As with everything at Church of the Angels, we try to make volunteer tasks easy and accessible to all. If you’ve not thought of signing up for Coffee hour before, please consider doing so. It adds a lot to our parish life.
Altar Guild: Need More People to Help
We are blessed with a Church building that contains wonders to behold. Whether one has been a parishioner for a long time or one is relatively new, whenever anyone enters Church of the Angels, there is always some thing new to see. Another aspect of the Church that always changes is the movement of light at various times of day and in different seasons of the year. Add to that a sense of calm and quiet, even though cars pass by, and you have a true sanctuary, a place apart that nourishes and renews one’s soul. There are some parishioners in the parish who know this experience well. They are members of the Altar Guild. Altar Guild members set up the Church for the Sunday Eucharist. They come into the building and close the door behind them. Then peaceful and undisturbed they handle the sacred things and set them up and prepare them so that all of us may “make present that great and saving deed whereby Christ has forever conquered sin and death.” It is not just a task done for others, but a profound gift to oneself as well.
We’d like to invite others into this experience. Anyone is welcome to participate. Though traditionally Altar Guild members have been women, there is no reason why men can’t share in this, and in fact some Altar Guild members have their husbands come and assist them.
Setting up the Altar is very easy. Think of it as setting the table for a meal. Everything is kept essential and no one’s time is wasted. It is easy to learn. The Altar Guild members take turns on a rotation. Usually a team of two does it for a month at a time, and this results in people rotating twice per year, sometimes three.
It is far more than one more thing. The combination of tactile activity, quiet, and surrounded by beauty can actually be a respite from the normal experience of harried busyness. The Altar Guild understands that it’s hard to believe this could be true, but talk to one of them and see for yourself. Come aboard, you’ll really like it.