October 12, 18th Sunday after Pentecost
Thursday, October 9, 2014 at 11:12AM Annual Giving for 2015
As we come off our 125th Anniversary year of celebration, we turn out attention from our past toward our future. The celebration of our heritage represents a faith that we also have a future as the presence in the world of the Risen Christ in and through our belief and our living out the Christian life.
One thing that stands out so sharply during our 125th year are all the acts of generosity on the part of our fellow parishioners for the benefit of us all. We’ve beheld, acknowledged, celebrated, and blessed the large and visible gifts of the Organ and Lytch Gate restorations and Catechist’s International Retreat.
There have also been numerous acts of generosity that are somewhat hidden, but go a long way to making our parish life as good as it is. Some of these includes paying for the “extras” that just appear, like decorations, table coverings, flowers, wine, equipment, etc. It also includes the gifts of people’s talents (of which we are blessed with an embarrassment of riches), put to work on such things as the Land Use Committee, the Finance Committee, the Choir, Building and Grounds, and Outreach.
Of course there are also the gifts of time that go into all the tasks necessary that the parish can function.
Most of the time, people who have a generous spirit, don’t think of themselves as such. It just flows naturally. But if a generous person does stop and think about it for a moment, they become aware that the most pronounced experience of generosity is that it is fun. It is fun to see good things happen as a result of one’s efforts. It is fun when we are able to give a person just the right gift that brings them joy. It is also blessing to realize the blessing it is that one is able to do this.
Christian generosity flows from an awareness of God’s generosity to all that is. Christian generosity is our responding to God’s invitation to participate in the life that makes God, God. God’s life is one of self giving, both within God (We call that the Trinity) and beyond God (We call that the Plan of Salvation and the Kingdom of God).
The practical application of all this comes in what we call the Four Fields of Christian Giving. The Four Fields of Christian giving refers specifically to the making of financial gifts. They are:
Annual Giving: Financial Support for the life and work of the local parish.
Mission Giving: Financial Support for the spread of the Gospel and the relief for human need For us this usually means sponsored by the Outreach Committee, funded by 10% of income from movie locations
Capital Giving Occasional Financial Support for building new or upkeep of Church infrastructure. This is funded by income realized from the Church being used as a movie location, and endowment income from gifts left by the Campbell Johnston family and other benefactors. Which leads to…
Legacy Giving: Making a provision for the Church out of your estate so that your support continues beyond your lifetime so that future generations may enjoy what we’ve all come to value.
We will soon commence our Annual Giving Drive for 2015. We will ask you to make a pledge of financial support to the parish for it’s life and work. Please give our asking your serious consideration and join in that is really a source of joy.
The Feast of All Saints:
Sunday, November 2
Stories of the Saints, Prayers for deceased loved ones.
We will celebrate the Feast of All Saints on Sunday, November 2. Once again we will have two “Saint Stories, and we will 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.
Annual Parish Retreat:
October 17-19 Camp Thousand Pines, Crestline.
What are God's hopes for my life? What would God enjoy seeing me become? What kind of fulfillment would God like to see me experience? How can I come to know this?
These questions can be summed up under the heading of "vocation." Vocation literally means "call." While we might first hear this word in terms of God's will, God's command, God's direction, what if instead it was really about invitation? Instead of "I command you to do this, this is my will for you," it was, "I'd like to invite you to consider this path, see if you feel drawn to it, and if so, begin to walk on it"?
Who am I in the sight of God, and what does God hope for me and the life he has bestowed?
This will be the topic for this year's Annual Parish Retreat. Fr. Bob will make use of various parts of The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola as guides for how we might reflect on these questions for ourselves and how we can begin to hear God's invitation and respond to it. The goal is for each of us to acquire a frame of reference from which we think about, understand, pray over, and then decide how to go about finding and fulfilling the end for which we are created
This will be our fourth year at this site. We’ve had wonderful times here. Participation can happen in several ways. One can stay the weekend at Camp Thousand Pines. This is especially good for families with children. There is lodging in nearby Crestline as well, and people can come on the site for the program and activities. Third, the Crestline is only an hour and a half away and people can easily drive up for the day on Saturday. The Retreat is especially good for new people to get to know parishioners better.
Allen Woolery has some pictures that people can see to get a sense of things. Check the link below.
Photos:
https://churchoftheangelsretreat.shutterfly.com/pictures/5
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd
CGS Level I Atrium
October 12, 2014
Preparing the Cruets
“By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.”
We will continue to explore the altar over the next few weeks in the Level I atrium. As mentioned a few weeks ago, the purpose of introducing this material is to help prepare the child for fuller participation in the Liturgy. This Sunday we will look at preparing the cruets of wine and water which, in turn, will be used to prepare the chalice for the Eucharist. Have you ever wondered why we use wine and water?
The children take prepared decanters of wine and water to a table. They will bring over a tray holding two cruets, and a tray holding a funnel and sponge. The cruets have a small opening, so it can be a challenge to pour the liquid into it without spilling. If there is a miss, the sponge comes to the rescue.
There are a few things going on here. The material is meant for one person (to use) at a time. The gross motor skills needed for this activity help settle the body. Concentration is needed to pour just the right amount of liquid up to the line marker that is on each cruet. There is deep sense of satisfaction in doing the work. This reminds me of my preparation for prayer. I am at one with my work; my body is still; concentration in the quietness becomes paramount; and there is joy in my work.
Preparation of the cruets is important for the main church. The next step is transferring the water and wine into the chalice for the Eucharist. We will do this the following week. For now, children of Level I are learning how to enter into their sacred space, through the filling of the cruets with water and wine.
Ms. Georgie
Food For Thought
On the Food For Thought table this Sunday, two articles that explore the polar opposite of generosity, that being greed. It is a word that gets thrown around a lot especially since the financial crisis and Great Recession. It’s a word that get’s used a lot, but exactly is it? Are we sure we know?
The first article is called is from the current issue of The American Scholar, and is titled, Instant Gratification. It is written by Paul Roberts and is an adaptation from his new book, The Impulse Society: America in the Age of Instant Gratification. The article explores the issue of our living in an economic environment that can and does often provide everything we want almost instantaneously. It asks, what happens to a person when they can always get whatever they want?
The second article is from the current issue of The Anglican Theological Review and is titled, The Secret Life of Greed. This is a bit more theological, but dovetails nicely with the first article. It asks why Christian theologians have reflected so deeply on greed and avarice at a time when compared with now, people had almost nothing. What did they understand about human motivation that we may have forgotten?
Both articles are a bit lengthy, but they are worth the time.
Hands of the Angels October 11, 10:00 a.m.
The Hands of the Angels Knitting & Handicrafts group meets on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays 10:00 a.m. in the Parish Hall Living Room. Everyone is welcome to join and if you’d like, learn how to knit. The next meeting will be Saturday September 27 10:00 a.m. Parish Hall Living Room
Food For Thought: Video Version
Sundays, 9:00 a.m. Science & Religion DVD
This week we explore something everyone has heard about, but might not completely understand. That is the case of Galileo. Come and see. You will be surprised!
Music with the Angels: Con Goia Concert
Sunday, October 12, 4:00 p.m.
Con Gioia, directed by Preethi de Silva, acclaimed expert on the performance of the keyboard music of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788) will present a concert of chamber music and solo keyboard and orchestral works by the composer from the 1760s in Berlin until his death in Hamburg in 1788. The title of this concert is Focus on Hamburg: Music for “Connoisseurs and Amateurs.”
Ticket Prices: General Admission: $25.00
Seniors $20.00
Students with ID $15.00
Emmaus Road Monday, October 13, 7:00 p.m.
We continue our reading of the book Jesus, with Chapters 22 & 23