All Souls Weekly                 
Volume 2, Number 39, August 23, 2009

THE PRAYERS OF LATE SUMMER

As most of you know, I spent last week on a retreat around contemplative prayer and leadership.  We were thirteen ministers from various backgrounds who heard presentations, exchanged stories of our congregations, worshipped together, and prayed.  We prayed a lot.

 
I think each of us left the retreat with a refreshed memory of, and a renewed sense of our initial calling to ordained ministry.  We brought away renewed commitments to our own personal prayer, and we are bringing into our congregations some of the ideas that we have explored.  Later in the fall, I’ll be asking your help in forming a small group to meet with me regularly in prayer, a “listening group,” that has no agenda other than to pray together and try to listen to what the Holy Spirit may be doing in our parish.  (More about this in the coming weeks.)  In addition to large, overarching prayers for you and our parish, I also have some very specific prayers this late-summer, prayers in which I ask you to join me.

I am praying for Sunday school teachers and for our children’s Sunday school.  Everyone seems to want a thriving and vibrant Sunday school, but there is very little energy around actually teaching, helping, and volunteering.  And so, I’m praying that God would raise up leaders.  Especially with regard to Sunday school teachers, I’m very aware that God often calls people first, and then gives them the gifts and abilities they need.   The very best way to learn about your faith is to teach a child.

 
Secondly, though our church is doing fairly well financially, I’m praying for our beliefs and practices around giving to church. We (all of us) tend to invest in things we believe in, and so, I’m praying for more people to believe in all the good that God is stirring up at All Souls.

 
Finally, I’m praying for more leadership.  There are many dreams and visions among us (for building renovation and construction, for mission projects, and for new programs) but there is too little initiative to get these things done.  I pray that God would hear our prayers and that God would increase our faith as we enter into the excitement and challenge of a new program year together. John Beddingfield

Around the Parish . . . Attendance on Sunday, August 16 at the 8:30 a.m. Mass, 32; attendance at 11:00 a.m. Mass, 83 . . . Total pledge offerings for the week were $5,458.00. The plate offering last Sunday was $636.50.

Your prayers are asked for . . . Helen Horne, 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.

Liturgical Notes . . . The flowers at the high altar are given to the glory of God and in loving memory of her husband, Gale Garvin, given by Marcia Anderson . . . If you would like to donate flowers in celebration of someone or some event, or in memory of someone, please contact the parish office. 

From the Parish Treasurer . . . Through the end of July, All Souls income has exceeded expenses by 4%.  As treasurer, I want to thank the giving parishioners for continuing their financial support during the usual slack summer months.  If we continue this way, I shall be able to wear my green and black tie at next year’s annual meeting. Larry Sturgeon

Choir of King’s College, London to sing at All Souls . . . On Ingathering Sunday, September 13, the Choir of King’s College will sing at our 11 a.m. Mass.  The choir is one of the leading university choirs in England. Consisting of twenty-five choral scholars and two organ scholars, it is directed by the College Organist, David Trendell, (who is also a friend of several All Souls parishioners). The choir performs a large and varied repertoire ranging from the fourteenth century to the present day and has made many celebrated recordings of sixteenth-century English and Spanish music.  More information is at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/about/structure/dean/choir/about.html

Healing Ministry Meeting. . . Please join us this afternoon, Sunday, August 23, after Coffee Hour following the 11 a.m. Mass for a light lunch and a meeting about being a healing minister at All Souls.  We will gather in the conference room.  Additional copies of the book, “Healing in the Landscape of Prayer” are available in the church vesting room.

Lay Eucharistic Minister Meeting . . . Please join us on Sunday, August 30, after Coffee Hour following the 11 a.m. Mass for a light lunch and a meeting about being a lay Eucharistic minister at All Souls.  We will gather in the conference room.

A Special Recital in Ft. Hunt, Mt. Vernon Area . . . This afternoon, Sunday, August 23, Kate Campbell, a singer-songwriter from Nashville, will be giving a concert at St. Aiden’s Episcopal Church at 3:00 pm.  St. Aiden’s is located at 8531 Riverside Rd., Alexandria, Virginia.  This is in the Ft. Hunt area between the beltway and Mt. Vernon.  The suggested donation is $15.00.  Most of Kate’s music comes from her experiences growing up in the South in the 60s & 70s and as the child of a Baptist preacher.  She has an international following and her lyrics have been compared to the writing of Eudora Welty.  Kate is the niece of Larry Sturgeon, a parishioner of All Souls and she has visited All Souls in the past.  For more information, please see Larry.

Ana Hernandez to lead workshop . . . Ana Hernandez, known throughout the Episcopal Church for her creative exploration of how singing builds community, will lead a workshop, “The Sacred Art of Chant: Preparing to Practice” with other musicians from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. September 26 at St. Alban’s Church. This day of singing, learning and praying is open to all. Lunch is provided. To register, contact Sonya Sutton at 202-363-8286. For more information about Hernandez, visit www.anahermusic.com. Hernandez also will lead the worship at All Saints’ in Frederick (106 West Church Street) on September 27.

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

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