ALL SAINTS' BULLETIN
The Monthly Newsletter of All Saints'
January, 2012
228 9242
www.allsaintsthomasville.org
"GOD, WHO AT SUNDRY TIMES AND DIVERS MANNERS SPAKE IN
TIMES PAST UNTO THE FATHERS BY THE PROPHETS, HATH IN THESE LAST DAYS SPOKEN
UNTO US BY HIS SON."
One of the blessings which came my way
during seminary was to do my "field work" at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in
Arlington where our good friend Fr. Kenneth Eade was the Rector. I'll never forget one of his sermons where he
told us that God was not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be adored. His
statement helped confirm for me so much of what I had thought about God --
especially during Christmastide -- from the time I was a child. That is, God's
mystique has never served to detract my interest from Him, but always served to
draw me closer into that endlessly fascinating entity we know as "the
Godhead".
Fr. Ralston had an equally wise
mentor. When asked: "What is the very least one must believe
in order to be considered a Christian?" His response: "To have the
idea that something 'out there' beyond us exists, upon which our own existence
depends (God the Father); which makes itself known to us (God the Son), in a
manner to which we might respond (God the Holy Ghost)." He had given a perfect definition of
Christianity's seminal doctrine, the Holy Trinity.
Christmas is that time year when the
ineffable makes itself known to mankind. That's a rather daunting idea,
especially if we take to heart this definition of God: "that which nothing
greater than can be conceived". As such, even though we give thanks for
the birth of the Lord Jesus, Christmas is supremely the feast of God the
Father. We celebrate His decision to be born as one of us, and to live and die
as one of us, in order to bring us to Himself.
There is a wonderful verse from the Book of
Wisdom in the Apocrypha, which in older Bibles is a section located (as well as
written) between the Old and New Testaments. These seventeen books comprised
part of the Greek translation of the Old Testament. They were read all over the
Greek world, and in Jerusalem and Egypt - and until the time of the Reformation
they were considered universally to be Holy Scripture and therefore part of the
Bible.
This wonderful verse has been interpreted
by the Church for centuries as a description of the Incarnation: God becoming
Man: "For while all things were in quiet silence, and that night was in
the midst of her swift course, Thine Almighty Word leaped down from
Heaven." Written several decades before the incarnation, St. John of
course tightened things up: The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us."
One wonders if in our generation, we make
the mistake of concentrating too much on the first part of that phrase: the
lovely quiet stillness and silence of the night which was quietly accomplishing
its course. We contemplate the humble setting of a child being born, and behave
commensurately by exchanging presents which have been bought far too early in
December - or even November.
I'm not sure we meditate enough on how
God's Almighty Word leaped down from
Heaven, literally out of he Cosmos - armed to attack the earth and battle
against the world, the flesh, and the devil. If we think about what God was
trying to do in the Incarnation, that is, to begin the destruction of sin and
death, then this warriorly imagery is very appropriate -- something which our culture generally seems
to ignore during "the Season", which frankly does not begin until
12:01 AM December 25, extending until midnight twelve days later.
Another aspect of this great mystery manifests
itself no less in the writing of Virgil thirty five years before the
Incarnation: a famous few lines from his Fourth Eclogue, which Dante placed
practically dead center in his Divine Comedy. Consider this fascinating
fragment:
"The
last great Age, foretold by sacred Rines renews its finished course,
A
Golden Progeny from Heaven descends.
The Son
shall lead the life of Gods and be by Gods and heroes seen.
The
jarring nations He in peace shall bind
And
with paternal virtues rule mankind."
To combine this with the verse from Virgil
with that from the Book of Wisdom, one hopefully begins to sense that Christmas
truly, is something far greater than what our earth- bound imaginations too
often seem to be tied. Here is some- thing of the picture I would want my
children and grandchildren to know and love as they commemorate the season.
That is, most if not all of us could do a better job of recapturing the mystery
of God becoming a human being - leaping to earth from His royal heavenly
throne: His Word, His Christ, Himself - through woman, born in human nature.
Born in time, born in us, and we in Him.
FAB
OFFICE
CLOSINGS
The office will be closed Monday, January 2
in observance of New Years, Friday, January 6 in observance of The Epiphany,
and January 16 for Martin Luther King Day. FAB
THE FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY
The Parish will
observe this Major Feast with the Celebration of Holy Communion in the Church
on Friday, January 6 at 12:10 p.m.
Our Epiphany Festival
of Lights service will be on Sunday, January 8 at 10:30 a.m.
ATTENTION VESTRYMEN
Our January meeting
will be Sunday morning January 15 at 8:30 a.m. in the parish hall library.
CHRISTMAS DINNERS
On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day the All Saints family prepared over 160
meals for the residents of Providence Plaza and Halcyon Home as well as those
seeking meals at the Rescue Mission. Our
thanks go to all those who helped. This
Christmas the dinners were made possible with the assistance of Dr. Chip
Hancock, his family and Granddaddy's Barbecue, as well as the Flowers Food
Employees.
EDUCATION
December was a busy
month for All Saints' students. Three of
our 6th graders were confirmed by Bishop Benhase and our weekly
Advent programs were wonderfully well-attended! Throughout the season we made Advent
wreaths, decorated nativity stables, celebrated Deacon Louise's 90th birthday,
sang for the residents of Camellia Gardens and 'Greened the Church'. Many thanks to all of the parishioners who
helped and participated - It was a great joy to behold!
Happy 1st
birthday to All Saints' 1st and 3rd Wednesday nights 'Eat
& Educate' program! Currently we
have over 65 students registered and 13 teachers. We continue to use the lectionary-based
'Living the Good News' curriculum.
Thanks to all of the parents who keep those kids coming on Wednesday
nights. If you would like to volunteer
for 'Eat & Educate' or EYC, please call 224-1262 or email me (mbrinson@rose.net). See you all on Wednesday, January 4th at
which time Fr. Buechner will begin a synopsis of the Letters of St. Paul.
EYC
NEWS
January
2012! EYC get ready for a great month!
January 1 - HAPPY NEW YEAR! No EYC
January 7 & 8 - Christmas Tree Memorial Fundraiser; see below for details*
January 8 - 5:00 EYC Christmas Tree Bonfire and Dinner at the
Sanders
January 15 - MLK Weekend; No EYC
January 22 - 5:30 EYC Inward
January 29 - 5:00 Instructed Eucharist and Dinner (Dinner angel needed please)
*The EYC is raising funds to purchase a beautiful bench in memory of Savannah
Singletary. We would love to help you
with your Christmas tree by picking it up on January 7th or 8th. Please email Savannah Spivey or Margret
Brinson if you would like us to pick up your tree. We are asking $20 or a donation and we truly
appreciate your support.
Looking ahead - Please mark your calendars for serving at the ECW Auction on
February 14. Also, I will be on a mission trip to the
Dominican Republic 2/14-21.
As always, please contact Savannah
Spivey (478-795-0268, savaspi@hotmail.com) if you have any
questions or suggestions for your youth!
EPISCOPAL
CHURCH WOMEN
The ECW book club met on Wednesday,
December 14. We had a nice turnout and a
very good meeting. Everyone did a brief
book report on a favorite Christmas story. Needless to say the reports were varied and
all interesting. Two very interesting
books, possibly out of print, were "How Come Christmas" by Roark
Bradford and "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" by Barbara
Robinson. Hannah's collection of Russian
ornaments, Father Snow figures, were unique. We will meet again on Wednesday, January 11 at
11:50 a.m. Our book will be "In the
Garden of Beasts" by Erik Larson. Father
Buechner will be our discussion leader. This
sounds like a book that should appeal to many, particularly those with an
interest in history. Please come join
us. We will serve a light lunch. Reservations appreciated. See you there.
The ECW met for the last time in 2011 at 5 p.m. Wednesday, December 14. We had
a great update on the Auction: February 14 and the bazaar: March
3. These committees are hard at work and
full of enthusiasm. Listen out for more
information from them. Please help in
any way you can. Remember these are the way we make money to support our
community wide outreach. The group
wrapped small gifts for the Refuge House in addition to our main Christmas
project, The Food Bank. We will meet
again on Wednesday, January 11 at 5:00 p.m. Watch the Sunday bulletin for speaker
announcement. All are welcome. Come meet some of the others in our
church family.
Lee Chubb Lee Mitchell
EPISCOPAL CHURCH
WOMEN BAZAAR NEWS
Our 31st annual bazaar will take
place on Saturday, March 3, 2012. After
January 3rd you may bring your unwanted items to church. We would like to receive donations of
clothes, toys, linens, "white elephants", jewelry, books, furniture, and
working appliances/electronics. All
clothing should be clean and on hangers and items should be separated by
categories. We are not accepting
t-shirts, socks, underwear, or swim suits.
You should not bring anything in plastic bags. Your cooperation will make things easier for
our volunteer workers.
On Friday, March 2 we will host a wine and
cheese bazaar preview party to give our church members an opportunity to
buy our " treasures" before the big
event and will also have gourmet food made by our parishioners available for
purchase that evening.
On the day of the bazaar, our EYC will be
preparing and selling lunches for our patrons.
All of the money that we raise is used for
community outreach programs so we hope that you will be generous with your
donations so that we can have another successful bazaar.
Our workdays in the warehouse will begin in
February. If you can volunteer some time
before or during the sale, we'd love to have your help. Please call me at 226-3394 or email me at vfm@rose.net if you can work or if you have any
questions. Thank you!
Gini Miller, Bazaar Chairman
USHERS
FOR JANUARY
January
1 January
8
Robert
Lynde Buck
Mitchell
Paul
McCollum Rick
Nudd
January
15 January 22 January 29
Charles Olson Clayton Penhallegon Charles Sanders
Al Park Raleigh
Rollins Mike Shea
TRANSITIONS:
Happy birthday in January to:
Henry Todd 1-3-01
Margaret Hancock 1-8-93
Wyatt Jackson Davis 1-8-08
Harrison Parvey 1-13-97
Tom Muller 1-13-90
Charles W. Weissinger 1-14-04
Curry Brinson 1-18-00
Jackson Leverett 1-18-00
Will Carico 1-18-98
Chris Alexander 1-28-94
Lewis Richardson Todd 1-31-04
Happy birthday in February to:
Maryam Norajean Sibley 2-11-02
Neel Gurley 2-12-98
Will Ladson 2-13-99
Virginia E. Jackson 2-19-99
Jonathan Douglas Harper 2-19-96
John B. Brinson, V (Jack) 2-24-97
Colleen Elizabeth Nudd 2-24-06
John Penhallegon 2-29-96
From the Parish Register
Requiescat in Pace
Ronald Scott
departed this life on December 18, 2011.
May
his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed through
the
mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.
CHRISTMAS DINNER
OUTREACH
We would like to thank everyone for their
help in making the 2011 All Saints' Christmas Outreach Dinner Program a
success. 164 people who may not have had
a real Christmas dinner were served. The
brightness and joy those dinners gave them also were given to us.
The list of helpers and deliverers is long,
but we wanted to thank each one by name.
God bless you in the year to come.
Rozzie and Eddie
2011 Christmas
Dinner Helpers
(43 people in all.)
Christmas Eve
Carvers, Bread and Cakes:
Tony Jonklaas
John Glenn
Walker Davis
Warren Bicknell
Jonathan Young
Connie Middleton
Gerald Wolsfelt
Randell, Trip, and Luther Chastain
Vann, Kelly, Peyton and Taylor Middleton
Rebecca Sanford
Christmas Day
Boxing and Delivering:
Geoffrey, Preston, Elizabeth and Wilson
Young
Gerald Wolsfelt
Walker, Lauren and Wyatt Davis
Jonathan Young
Tony Jonklaas
Bill, Jenny, Simms and Will Ladson
Lib Lanigan
Diane Parker
Tom, Hayley, Page, Will and Justin Parker
Stephen, Kathy, Katlyn and Elijah Parker
Alston, Philip, Christopher and Parker Watt
Clayton, Caroline and John Penhallegon
