All Souls Weekly                 
Volume 3, Number 21, April 18, 2010

NEXT SUNDAY, WE GO TO SOUTH AFRICA

Well, not really.  Actually, South Africa comes to us on Sunday, April 25 as the Venerable Reverend Sharron Dinnie visits us. [“Venerable” is a term of respect used for an archdeacon in the Anglican Church. Archdeacons continue as parish priests but also assist the bishop by shouldering responsibility for buildings in the diocese, the care of clergy and their families, and the carrying out of diocesan policy. The Episcopal Church (the Anglican church in the United States) does not have archdeacons.]

Mother Sharron is rector of St. Peter and St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Springs, South Africa, in the Gauteng province.  A primary ministry of that parish is the Kwasa Centre and pre-primary school, which serves children and families from the informal settlement of Vukuzenzele in South Africa.  A number of All Souls parishioners have been involved in this ministry over the years, and in 2009 All Souls sent mission  money from our endowment for the work of the school.  This grant was used to help pay the salaries of the eight Pre-Primary School teachers.

I hope that we can send a mission team from All Souls in the near future to visit the Kwasa Centre and discern how we might partner more closely with this ministry.

Mother Sharron’s parish tries to meet some of the educational needs of the community of Vukuzenzele, which is an "informal settlement" on the edge of the town, inhabited by about 15,000 people, most of whom are unemployed, many of whom are living with or affected by HIV/AIDS.

At Kwasa, they run a pre-primary school (in 2010 they have 120 children aged 3 to 6 years old). The parish and community are trying to break the cycle of poverty that has so many people stuck, and have found that education is the most important way to help people move forward.

I hope you will join me in greeting Mother Sharron.  She will be our preacher at both Masses and will lead the Adult Forum at 10 a.m.  As we continue to learn about what God is doing in other parts of the world, I hope you’ll also join me in continuing to discern what God may be calling us to do.  John Beddingfield

Around the Parish . . . Parishioner and postulant for Holy Orders, Lisa Zaina, has been admitted to Yale Divinity School and the Berkeley (Episcopal) Divinity School at Yale . . . This Sunday, April 18, St. Alban’s Church is celebrating Earth Day.  Join them for a block party with music, bicycle donations, and family activities from 2 p.m to 7 p.m.  [Let’s take good notes for an All Souls block party to celebrate our Centennial in 2011!] . . . Attendance on April 11, the Second Sunday of Easter at the 8:30 a.m. Mass 32; at the 11 a.m. Mass 139 . . . Total pledge offerings for the week were $7,501.00 and the plate offering was $1,131.00.

The Blessings and Prayers of the parish are extended to Chris Cobb and Janet Jones in celebration of their civil marriage on April 10 in Washington, D.C. This legal recognition comes almost ten years to the day after their commitment ceremony held at St. Margaret's Church.

Your prayers are asked for . . . Susan Johnson, Jim Wallace, Susan Kornacki, Frasier, MaryJane, John Matthews, Bob and Louise Osborne, Joan Shapiro, Ann Dixon, Lorenzo Martinez, Family of Tom Martin, Hugh Yeomans, Helen Horne, Erling Hansen, Tim Dill, Mona Bauer, Mary Backus, Sandy Jenkins Dixon, I. Kathryn McKewen, Thais Blanchard, Bruce MacDonald, Bob Colborn, Elizabeth McKee, Freddie Cameron, Robert Long, 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 and Sally Jason, Arthur Andrew Warren, Mary Beth McCutcheon, Bryan Powell, Regina Dading, Julia Gutierrez, and Ted Field . . . 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. . . 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 in celebration of the wedding anniversary of Stuart and Joanna Edwards . . . This Sunday, April 18, Mr. Seth Walley, our seminarian, will preach at both Masses.

Results of the Country Western Night Chili Cook-off . . . About 65 or 70 people come to our Country Western night. The winners of our Chili Cook off are Barry Huber (for white chili), Ben Chia (for vegetarian chili), Pete and Kate Harrison and Marie Moser (traditional chili), and Vicki Drell (turkey chili). Special thanks to Marcia Anderson for coordinating the event and for all those who helped in the kitchen and with the cleanup.  Rumor has it that the next dance night will be “disco!”

Join us for the Adult Forum . . . The series on “The Evolution of Belief,” led by Joe Howell, continues on Sunday, April 18, focusing on the arrival of Christianity. Why was the time right for Christianity? What did Christianity have to say about God that the other religions didn’t? Why did it catch on and flourish? Why are today one out of every three people on the planet Christians? Joe Howell will discuss these questions and others. Please join us. . . On Sunday, April 18, the Rev. Sharron Dinnie will discuss the work and ministries of the Kwasa Centre in South Africa.

A Trip to a Mosque . . . On Saturday April 24 we have been invited by Zeyneb Salim to tour the DaarAlNour Mosque in Manassas, Virginia. We will meet in front of the mosque at 12 p.m. or at church at 10:45 a.m. for those who need a ride to Manassas. We will be welcomed by Imam Jamal Gumus Taalibah Hassan, who also sits on the Board of Muslims in Virginia. We will have a sightseeing tour, listen to a Quran recitation and lecture, observe congregational prayer and then have lunch and time for questions and discussion. We will learn particularly about some of the differences between an indigenous African-American mosque and an immigrant mosque; the role of women in a mosque; and the training and leadership roles of the Imam. There is a sign up sheet on the welcome table in the undercroft, please do sign up if you intend to come, and indicate whether you intend to meet us in Manassas or whether you need a ride from church. A good way for us to honor the beliefs of our Muslim friends would be to dress modestly for the day, with the arms covered to the elbow and the legs covered past the knee. Women visitors are not obligated to cover their heads with a scarf, but again, it would be a nice way to show our respect if you feel able to do so. We will be taking our shoes off when we enter the Mosque, so bring socks if you anticipate needing to wear them. The Mosque is located at 5404 Hoadly Road, Manassas, VA  20112.  http://www.daralnoor.org/                    -- Laura Tomes

All Souls Memorial Episcopal Church

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

Mr. Seth Walley, seminarian; Mr. Isaac Borocz, parish administrator; Dr. Philip Cave, director of music and organist

2300 Cathedral Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008-1505;Voice: 202-232-4244, Fax: 202-232-8593

Email: allsouls1@aol.com; website: www.allsoulsdc.org

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All Souls are Green!