Opportunity for Mission at Cambridge Rehab and Nursing Center: This Sunday afternoon Advent parishioners will participate in a service of Evening Prayer for residents of the Cambridge Rehabilitation & Nursing Center near Central Square in Cambridge. All are welcome! We'll depart from the Advent's Brimmer Street entrance at 2:30 PM. If you prefer, you can take your own transportation to 8 Dana Street, Cambridge, which is a 10 minute walk from the Central Square T station. The service begins at 3 PM. If you have any questions please contact Fr Wood or Drew Reese.

Kids Ride Codzilla August 28: Special event for "tweens" at the Advent - basically any kid between age 10 and 12. Join Fr Sammy and Renee for a cruise on Codzilla followed by pizza on the Greenway this Thursday August 28 at 4-6:30 PM. Please RSVP by Monday, August 25, so we can get tickets for everyone. The Advent will supply the pizza and buy the tickets - if you'd like to make a donation to cover the cost of the boat, you're welcome to. Email Fr Wood for more info or to RSVP.

The glass panels have been installed, and we hope to have a state inspection very soon. We're almost there! Thanks for your continued patience with this project.

Blessing of the Backpacks // Church School at the Church of the Advent kicks off Sunday, September 7, at 9:00 AM with the fifth annual Blessing of the Backpacks. Students from pre-school to grad school are invited to bring backpacks to be blessed by a priest. Don't worry if you're not old enough for a backpack - bring a lunchbox, pencil box, anything you'll carry to school with you every day. Registration for Church School follows in the parish library. Contact Fr Wood for more information.

The Rev'd Alan Gates will be consecrated as the 16th Bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts on Saturday, September 13, at 11:00 AM. The service will take place in Boston University's Agganis Arena, 925 Commonwealth Avenue. The service and reception are open to all, but everyone who plans to attend (including participants and volunteers) must have a ticket. Online ticket ordering closed on August 15. Tickets will be mailed on August 29 to those who registered online. Remaining tickets will be available for pick-up at the reception desk at the diocesan offices at 138 Tremont Street in Boston on September. 8, 9 and 10 between 10 AM and 3 PM. They also will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at a will-call table at the Agganis Arena on the morning of the consecration service.

Webcast: There will be a live webcast for those who cannot be at the celebration in person. A link will be provided on the consecration event page, where additional information about the day is available.

The choir season will begin shortly, with the first rehearsal of the Advent's famed Parish Choir taking place Wednesday evening, September 24, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM in the Choir Room. This ensemble provides music for the 9:00 Sung Mass on a regular basis and for several evening services throughout the year. The choir rehearses on most Sunday mornings from 8:00 to 8:45 AM, and has a once-a-month midweek rehearsal on a Wednesday evening from 6:30-8:30 PM. The schedule is flexible; if you can make the once monthly full rehearsal, you can sing for the following 4 Sundays to which it corresponds. And, there are occasional Sundays off. If you wish to join them to sing masterworks of the Renaissance and Anglican traditions, please contact Mark Dwyer or Ross Wood after Mass, or contact Mark Dwyer at 617-523-2377 extension 141 or by email for more information.

Praying This Month: Sarah Durfey - The Advent supports a number of people involved in mission in Boston and around the world, and we've committed to supporting them not only financially, but in our prayers. One of our missionaries is Sarah Durfey, a founder of Amirah, Inc. (she now serves on its Board) and the Director of the Abolitionist Network which runs out of the Emanuel Gospel Center in the South End. Please pray for Sarah and the people these ministries serve, and for more information or to get personally involved, visit www.egc.org/abolition.

Get involved and stay informed about Advent mission projects:

* Follow @AdventInMission on Twitter
* Contact Fr Wood to be added to an Advent In Mission email list
* Remember our missionaries in your prayers!

Grant, we beseech thee, merciful God, that thy Church, being gathered together in unity by thy Holy Spirit, may manifest thy power among all peoples, to the glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.