All Souls Weekly                 
Volume 2, Number 37, August 9, 2009

PLACES OF PRAYER: THE CLOSET, THE HOUSE, AND THE SANCTUARY

This summer I’ve been reading for a program on spirituality and leadership that begins formally next week.  The program begins and ends with an eight-day “residency” or retreat, and involves small group work, readings, reflection, and prayerful practice over sixteen months.  My own increased discipline in prayer coincides with the renewal of the All Souls centering prayer group on Wednesday nights, which will begin on September 16 at 7 p.m. (Come at 6:50 p.m. if you’d like an introduction to centering prayer.)

One of the most thought-provoking articles I’ve read is by Charles M. Olsen.  He suggests that a balanced life of prayer and worship takes place not just in church on Sundays, but almost like the beloved three-legged stool of Anglicanism (tradition, reason, and scripture), the place or locus of prayer is also threefold, consisting of what he describes as the closet, the house, and the sanctuary. 

The closet for prayer is not a negative hiding space, but rather the kind of private, quiet place spoken of in scripture, “When you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret.”  The “closet” of prayer is the space where we pray alone, whether we’re in the car, on the Metro, or walking in a park. 

The “house” for prayer is probably the place where our parish could most grow.  The “house” has to do with small groups in which prayer is shared.  At All Souls we do pretty well forming small groups for tasks or socializing, but we don’t often gather for intentional prayer.  The sanctuary is, of course, the public place of worship and prayer.

Olsen observes that if we are not involved in private prayer, or “house prayer,” we can sometimes bring expectations to public prayer that simply can’t be met.  Silence and intimacy can sometimes be felt in Sunday worship, but more often, these are the stuff of the other two legs of the prayer stool. 

I offer Rev. Olsen’s images as ideas for your reflection, prayer, and conversation.  Wherever you pray, please join me in praying for the ministry, mission, and membership of All Souls Parish. John Beddingfield

Around the Parish . . . The Rector will be on retreat in New Windsor, Maryland from August 11 through 
August 18.  He will check messages on his cell phone, which incidentally, has a new 
number: 202-510-7454 . . . Attendance on Sunday, August 2 at the 8:30 a.m. Mass, 26; 
attendance at 11:00 a.m. Mass, 83 . . . Total pledge offerings for the week were $6,830.00. 
The plate offering last Sunday was $1,353.50.

Your prayers are asked for . . . Helen Horne who is hospitalized, Pat Latin, Erling Hansen, Tim Dill, Nick Aherne, Mark Hoffman, Mona Bauer, Sarah Calder and her family, Mary Backus, Sandy Jenkins Dixon, Robert Konefal, Steve Collins, I. Kathryn McKewen, Lexi Ball, Thais Blanchard, Bruce MacDonald, Bob Colburn, Elizabeth McKee, Freddie Cameron, Robert Long, Frank Karel, Barb Chaffee, Harriet Martin, Chris Cobb, Landis Vance, Vickie Drell, Stephanie Russell, Ruth & Fred Huber, Jim St. George, Mark Henderson, Martha Holdgate, Chip Meyers, Walter Jason, Arthur Andrew Warren, Robert Osborne, Mary Beth McCutcheon, Bryan Powell, Regina Dading, Julia Gutierrez, Ted Field, and for the repose of the soul of Elizabeth . . . Pray for members of the parish in the foreign service and others who are working overseas, especially Chuck Hunter, Steve Kerchoff, Brad Moore, and Michael Pate . . . Pray also for the members of our Armed Forces on active duty, especially Jack Severson, and Timothy Zlatich . . . If you wish to participate in our ongoing Internet Prayer Circle please contact Vicki Lowe at lowevg1@verizon.net.

The love and sympathy of the parish are extended to Knight Champion upon the death of his grandmother, Elizabeth Dabney Gerber, who died in Alabama on August 3 at the age of 94.  Pray for the repose of the soul of Elizabeth, for Knight and his family, and for all who mourn. 

Liturgical Notes . . . A reminder:  All Souls continues to offer both the 8:30 a.m. Low Mass and the 11 a.m. High Mass throughout the summer months . . . Flowers at the High Altar are given to the glory of God and loving memory of the Rev. Frank Blackwelder, who died in 1974, given by All Souls Church.

All Souls Eco-Shopping Bags . . . We have khaki colored, cloth, eco-friendly shopping bags for sale in the undercroft.  The bags have a new design featuring a sketch of the church with various animals around it.  The words say, “All Souls by the Zoo.”  The bags are for sale at $3 per bag, or two bags for $5.  Use them yourself, give them to family and neighbors, and help raise the profile of our parish in the neighborhood and around the city.

Biannual Financial Statements Have Been Mailed . . .  Parishioner and friends of the parish who designate their financial gifts as “pledges” should have received a Second Quarter Statement of gifts.  Though, in the past, it has been the custom at All Souls to send Third Quarter Statements, the finance committee thought that many people might appreciate having a reminder and update during the summer, at the half-way mark.  If you have questions or concerns about your statement, please contact the parish office.

An ordination in August . . . The Rev. Dewayne James Messenger, former seminarian at All Souls, will be ordained to the priesthood on Saturday, August 15, 2009 at 3 p.m., at Calvary United Church of Christ, 640 Centre Avenue, Reading, PA 19601.  He is being ordained through the Ecumenical Anglican Church, and is serving as pastor of All Souls Ecumenical Episcopal Church in Reading, PA.  More about Dewayne’s ministry can be found at http://www.allsoulsecumenical.org/. 

A place to pray your questions . . . The next Vocational Ministry Retreat sponsored by the Diocesan Commission on Ministry will take place of September 18-19, 2009 at the St. Mary’s Seminary Continuing Education Center in Baltimore, Maryland. This retreat will be led by Marjory Zoet Bankson, writer, teacher and former executive director of Faith at Work. While these retreats are required of all who are discerning a call to holy orders, the retreat is designed to explore God’s call to ALL persons through their baptism. A number of lay leaders have participated in these retreats as they have explored God’s call at critical moments of transition in their lives. I want to encourage you to send not only those who are in conversation with you about holy orders, but others seeking guidance in times of life transition. Registration for this September’s retreat is now open and you can go to www.edow.org/events to register. Retreats for 2010 have also been scheduled for next May and October.

All Souls Memorial Episcopal Church

The Reverend John Beddingfield, rector; The Reverend Christopher Worthley, adjunct clergy;

Mr. Isaac Borocz, parish administrator; Dr. Philip Cave, director of music and organist;
Mr. Oscar Prado, sexton

2300 Cathedral Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008-1505

Voice: 202-232-4244, Fax: 202-232-8593

Email: allsouls1@aol.com

www.allsoulsdc.org

To receive this by email, sign up at http://lists.allsoulsdc.org/mailman/listinfo/asc_update