This Week's Announcements
June 10, 2019
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Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs--in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power."
Acts 2:5-11
The Day of Pentecost represents the final manifestation of the fullness of God in God's three natures. Christ's presence on earth gave to humanity a renewed understanding of what our relationship is between us and God the Creator, and how that translates into our relationships with each other. God's manifestation in Christ is about relationship, but God's manifestation by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is about experience.
It is through our experience of God that God is made real to us.
We experience the presence of the Holy Spirit in a variety of ways. Some Christians like to show lively, outward bodily expression: the lifting up of hands, speaking in tongues, shouting, energetic music, clapping, and the like. Others enjoy feeling the fire of the Holy Spirit burning inside in more quiet and subdued ways. In Episcopal/Anglican tradition and in other Catholic traditions like ours, we share our experience of the Holy Spirit in the ways that the Holy Spirit changes and transforms ordinary things and people. That is the essence of our sacramental life. When the Holy Spirit comes among us, ordinary bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ in the Holy Eucharist, and we are spiritually renewed and regenerated. When the Holy Spirit comes among us, ordinary women and men are ontologically changed at Ordination into vessels for God, proclaimers of the gospel, and stewards of the sacraments. When the Holy Spirit comes among us, we are inspired to renew our commitment to God at Confirmation. When the Holy Spirit comes among us, our mistakes are forgiven in the Sacrament of Confession and our relationship with God is restored. When the Holy Spirit comes among us, two persons who love each other become one in marriage and together manifest the love of God. When the Holy Spirit comes among us, ordinary oil is transformed into a balm that brings healing to our sick, broken, and battered bodies, minds, and spirits. And when the Holy Spirit comes among us, ordinary water is transformed into the wellspring of life, which is poured over us at Baptism, makes us members of the body of Christ, gives us a new identity as children of God, and guarantees us the inheritance of eternal salvation. This past Sunday, we got to experience the Holy Spirit of God moving across the waters of baptism as we welcomed 8-month-old Caleb Seiji Persaud into our Christian family.
Pentecost marks the end of the Great Fifty Days of Easter, but Pentecost isn't the end of the story. It is, in fact, the beginning. It is the beginning of the Christian story that we have been commanded by Jesus Christ himself to tell and share the experience of the transcendent God among us and to share the message of love, respect, and renewal that he brought to us. Life is so full of uncertainty, change, and chaos. Sometimes we may think we have it all in control, but we really don't. Sometimes we may think that others are in control, and they may be for a time, but in the end, they aren't. Ultimately, God is in control and he wants his creation to live in the beauty of his kingdom and to trust him in his faithfulness and love. Pentecost is about an experience-how we experience God in our lives, how he moves us and transforms us. Paul said in his First Letter to the Corinthians that there are varieties of gifts given to us by the Spirit. We all have gifts that we are supposed to use to share our experience of God. Pentecost is about how we can use our gifts and share our experience of God to go out and transform the world.
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We were delighted to welcome Bishop Geralyn Wolf
as our celebrant and preacher!
Bishop Wolf blesses new vessels for the sacred oils.
Bishop Wolf and Father Whitmire bless each other in celebration of the anniversaries of their ordination to the diaconate on St. Barnabas' Day (June 11).
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On Whitsunday
"They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread,
and in prayers."
Acts 2:42
Pentecost (or, as it has anciently been known in the English Church: Whitsun Day) was an
ancient Jewish festival of harvest. Spring comes very early to Mediterranean lands, and on this
day, fifty days after Passover, the first produce of the new year was ready to be offered to the
Lord. You can find the regulations for the festival set out in the 23rd chapter of Leviticus. It was
one of the great festivals of the year, and Jewish pilgrims from all over the world gathered in
Jerusalem to observe it: "there were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews, devout men, out of every nation
under heaven," says our Epistle lesson.
The offerings of Pentecost were material offerings, of course: lambs, and kids, and loaves of
bread: and those who offered them knew that God had no need of such things. But these
material gifts were signs and tokens of the spiritual offering of the gratitude and faithfulness of
God's people; they were signs of obedience to God's commandments. It was a festival in which
God was worshiped as the author of "every good and perfect gift" -- above all, the gift of his
Spirit, inspiring and enlightening the prophet and the sage, filling the human spirit with
expectation and hope in the divine promise: "I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your
sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men
shall see visions: And upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out
my spirit."
In this setting of thankfulness and expectation on the Festival of Pentecost, the Christian
Church was born. In an upper room, at Jerusalem, surrounded by all the preparations for the
ancient feast day, the small band of disciples awaited the fulfilment of Jesus' promise of the
Comforter. The scene is wonderfully described by St. Luke in the 2nd chapter of the Acts of the
Apostles: "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one
place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled
all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of
fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to
speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."
Wind and fire: ancient symbols of divine power and presence -- The Breath of God, moving over
the waters of chaos, producing the forms of life; breathing into lifeless clay, bringing forth a
living soul; the breath of God in the Valley of Dry Bones, making those dry bones live. The fire
of God: the refining and consuming fire of God's wrath and God's love. "A rushing mighty
wind and cloven tongues, like as of fire" -- these are the mystical symbols of God's coming in
power. "And they were filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as
the Spirit gave them utterance." Overwhelmed by the divine presence, they spoke the language
of religious ecstasy, the language of dreams and visions. Some bystanders mocked and said they
were drunk, with wine, but drunk with the spirit of the Lord.
Thus, in the experience of ecstasy, the Christian Church was born; and there have been some
in every age who would regard this ecstatic experience as the normal and necessary mark of
Christian Life. In our own time, for instance, there are certain "Pentecostals" and
"Charismatics" of various persuasions, who would regard the ability to "speak with tongues" as
the touchstone of authentic Christianity; and there are a great many others too, who suppose
that real Christianity must be a matter of ecstatic experience, a matter of overwhelming
emotional fervor.
For such people, the subtleties of Christian doctrine, and the settled forms of Christian
institutions seem to be impediments to true religion. Against all that, they claim the "freedom
of the spirit;" by which they often seem to mean the absolute authority of one's personal
feelings and opinions.
But Pentecost is not just ecstasy of spirit, not just dreams and visions. The Spirit of God is
the spirit of order, and not of chaos; and the spiritual life must be formed and
shaped in the precise clarity of doctrine, and must be nurtured in the settled forms of
institutions, in fixed patterns of worship and forms of prayer. Thus, as St. Luke records,
the disciples, baptized by the wind and fire of the Spirit, "continued steadfastly in the apostles'
doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers."
Our own age is one which tends to be very impatient with formal definition, with subtleties of
doctrine and settled institutional forms. We tend to exalt rather the virtues of individual
opinion and personal feeling, and it seems difficult to recognize any objective truth or any
objective good against which to measure those feelings and opinions. The message seems to be:
if you like it, believe it; if it feels good, do it!
But today's Gospel reminds us that the Spirit of Pentecost is the Spirit of Truth -- the truth
revealed in God's commandments; and that those commandments are the real measure of our
opinions and our feelings: "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that
loveth me."
Pentecost is a festival of religious ecstasy, certainly, a time of dreams and visions;
but the Spirit of Pentecost is also the spirit of "right judgements". The Spirit is expressed and
comes to fruition in us by our obedience to God's commandments, "in the apostles' doctrine
and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers."
Pentecost is for us, as for the ancient Jews, a kind of harvest festival, an offering of the first
fruits: The word of God, sown in our hearts and minds, by the inspiration and guidance of
the Holy Spirit, is brought to fruition, and we offer up to God the first fruits of the grace
which he has given us.
The Rev. Dr. Robert Crouse
Whitsunday, June 7th, 1981, St. James', Armdale, NS
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Events this Week
(Proper 5)
Monday, June 10
(St. Ephrem of Edessa)
7:00 PM - Monthly Vestry Meeting
Tuesday, June 11
(St. Barnabas, Apostle)
7:00 PM - Tuesday Evening Forum
Inwardly Digest: The Psalms
Wednesday, June 12
(Ember Day)
7:00 PM - Low Mass
7:45 PM - Choir Rehearsal
Friday, June 14
(St. Basil the Great, Bishop)
9:30 AM - Low Mass
7:30 PM - Enseñanzas para la Vida Diaria
Saturday, June 15
12:15 PM - Senior Lunch Program
Sunday, June 16
(Trinity Sunday)
7:45 AM - Said Mass & Te Deum
9:15 AM - La Misa en Español
11:00 AM - Sung High Mass & Te Deum
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Tuesdays in Eastertide!
May 14 - June 18
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During Eastertide,
come explore the treasure that is our Book of Common Prayer,
and discover how it can shape your daily life!
Daily spiritual practice takes dedication and discipline, and we often wonder where to start and how to keep it from feeling like yet another task on our to-do list. In this grounded, practical book, author Derek Olsen uses The Book of Common Prayer for a template to a deeper spiritual life. Olsen explains the purpose and intention of the prayer book with fresh insight, offering practical applications for daily living.
Tuesday Evenings
7 - 9:30 PM
in the Rectory
Join us for a potluck dinner and discussion.
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Important Upcoming Events
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(Trinity Sunday)
Regular Mass Schedule
Breakfasts/Luncheons honoring Fathers following.
Sunday, June 23
(The Solemnity of Corpus Christi)
11:00 AM - High Mass & Street Procession of the Blessed Sacrament,
followed by Benediction
(Regular masses will be celebrated at 7:45 & 9:15)
Sunday, June 30
(Third Sunday after Pentecost)
11:00 AM - Annual Women's Day Celebration
(Regular masses will be celebrated at 7:45 & 9:15)
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GRAD SUNDAY
Sunday, July 7, 2019
To all members of All Saints who are graduating this May or June:
Please tell us who you are so we can include you in the celebration of your great achievement!
We will honor all of our members who are progressing from one level of school to the next (elementary school and higher).
(Simply passing from one grade to the next does not count.)
Click here to notify the church office with
- your name & best phone number
- where you are graduating from
- major (if applicable)
- the next school you will be attending, or
- what you will be doing after graduation
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Family Movie Night
is coming soon!
Tuesday Evenings
in
July & August
beginning July 2
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- Would you like to commemorate a birthday or anniversary?
- Would you like to offer a memorial on behalf of a loved one?
- Would you like to simply thank God for his amazing blessings in your life?
Consider donating a vase of flowers, making a contribution toward the bread and wine we use at mass, or contributing toward the cost of the candles we light at the altar, the Blessed
Sacrament candle beside the tabernacle, or the candles in the Shrine of Our
Lady of Walsingham. The breakdown of donations is as follows:
$10 (each)
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Bread, wine, Blessed Sacrament Candle, Shrine candles
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$30
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One vase of flowers for the High Altar, Shrine, or in front of Our Lady of Guadalupe (OLG)
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$75
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Three vases of flowers for the High Altar
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$100
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Full church (three vases of flowers at the High Altar, one vase in
the Shrine, and one vase in front of OLG)
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Donations must be placed in one of the white envelopes from the back table
in the nave (ushers or altar guild members can assist you in finding one).
Please indicate what your donation is going toward and write your name or
put your pledge envelope number at the top, so it can be recorded for your
giving statements. Envelopes should be given to Rena Chetram (7:45), Aura
Troché (9:15), or Hazra Whitney (11:00). The funds are given to the Altar
Guild for the purchase of these items.
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Do you like planting flowers?
Are you interested in helping beautify the church grounds?
Consider being part of the Garden Guild. If you're interested in participating, please speak to Claudette Wharton.
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LIVING OUT OUR MISSION
Articles, photos, and videos about how All Saints is living out its mission.
The mission of All Saints Church is to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord by our participation in the Eucharist, our fellowship in oneness and diversity, by respect for each other, and through outreach into the community.
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| Youth Gardening Day last Saturday. |
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If you have an interesting story, photo, or video that features an example of living out All Saints' mission, please e-mail it to Fr. Whitmire by 6 PM on Sunday.
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Parish Hall Renovation Update
The electrical upgrade has been completed. Installation of the elevator is complete. We are awaiting final inspection and clearance for use. Completion of documentation to hook up kitchen equipment downstairs is in progress. Your prayers and patience are greatly appreciated.
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Your support is CRITICAL. Please keep up with your pledges.
Our financial situation is extremely tight at present. For All Saints Church to do its ministry and mission, we require an average weekly pledge of $4,000. This week we received $2,260 in pledge support.
You can pay your regular pledge and make other contributions to the General Church Fund online, or you can check the status of your contributions. Go to our church management page, called OnRealm. Contributions can be made by e-check (preferred) or by credit/debit card, and are automatically credited to your church record within one or two business days.
Click here
to be directed to OnRealm to sign in or create a password. If you have any questions or trouble signing in, please send us an
e-mail
or call the church for assistance.
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Second Offering Report
Sunday, June 2, 2019
$550
On the first Sunday of each month we will take up a second collection at the Offertory to help our parish community with expenses in our immediate future, which includes replacing money we borrowed from our own investments, helping with the present needs of furnishing our new parish hall, taking care of trees that that are threatening our buildings and planting new ones, hiring a parish administrator and sexton, getting adequate and necessary signage for outside the church, getting our bells in working order again, getting a permanent sound system, and allowing us to maintain or high level of worship, music, and ministry to each other and the community. Thank you for your additional support.
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Update your information.
Actualiza tu información.
Please click below to be directed to our website where you can download the Demographic Information Form. You may attach it to an e-mail and send it back to the church, or place it in the designated box on the table in the rear of the church.
Por favor, haz clic abajo para dirigirte a nuestro sitio web donde puedes descargar la forma demográfica. Puedes adjuntarla a un correo electrónico y enviarla a la iglesia, o ponerla en la caja designada en la parte de atrás de la iglesia.
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Job Opportunity, 12-15 hrs/wk
An older resident of Woodhaven is looking for a personal assistant to help him with various tasks around his home that he is unable to do easily, such as gathering and opening mail, moving boxes of papers and books, and other odd jobs around the house. He lives in a multi-level house, so ability to go up and down stairs is required. Compensation: approximately $12/hr. If you are interested in helping, please call or e-mail Fr. Whitmire.
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