Beating (down) the Bounds

Today we celebrate Rogation Sunday, a day traditionally used for asking God’s blessing on crops and fields.  The day takes its name from the Latin word, rogare, meaning “to ask,” or “to plead.”  We ask for God’s blessing upon the land and water that allow us to live and we also ask that we might treat our natural resources in such as ways as to show our worthiness of God’s blessing. 

Rogation Sunday in some places involves an outdoor procession that includes the “beating of the bounds” of the parish. The priest and parish wardens and officers would walk the boundaries of the parish. Sometimes they included children from the parish in the procession and using birch or willow branches they would “beat the bounds,” and pray that God might show favor to the land within that parish, but also remind the neighbors of the boundaries of the parish.

I’ve suggested elsewhere that if we were truly to “beat the bounds” of All Souls, we would have to make a very large trip.  In that our parish does not have strict boundaries, we overlap with a handful of other churches, people of other traditions, and neighbors with no faith tradition. Rather than proclaim our boundaries, our life and worship at All Souls often does everything it can to “beat down” the boundaries.

Though we retain traditional language in our worship and try to preserve what we regard as the best of Christian Tradition, we also do what we can to move across boundaries.  We reach out across boundaries of class and education and boundaries of gender or sexual orientation.  We cross boundaries of religious upbringing and theology.  We mix geographic, ethnic, and age boundaries and whenever we find that there are boundaries that are somehow keeping us separate, acknowledge them, move across them, and then try to beat them down.

 
Today as the children lead our procession through the church, they symbolize in so many ways the beating down of boundaries.  It doesn’t matter what family one comes from, or what country, or what income bracket—we are (all souls of us) children of God, blessed to be given this time and space in which to play and grow and live. May god bless us so that we might share that blessing with the world. John Beddingfield

Around the Parish . . . The Rector will be attending the Diocese of Washington Clergy Conference in Cambridge, MD from Tuesday, May 11, through Thursday, May 13 . . . A list of all eligible voters for the parish Annual Meeting on May 16 is posted in the narthex and in the undercroft.  If there are omissions, please see a member of the vestry or call the parish office . . . SAVE THE DATE: the annual parish picnic will be on Sunday, June 6 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Rock Creek Park, Grove 6 . . . Attendance on May 2, the Fifth Sunday of Easter at the 8:30 a.m. Mass: 34; at the 11 a.m. Mass: 141 . . . Total pledge offerings for the week were $8,263.00 and the plate offering was $1,348.03.

Updated Parish Directory . . . A new parish directory of addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses will be published in time for the Annual Meeting on May 16. An enlarged copy of the current directory is in the undercroft, for correction.  Also, changes may be submitted to the parish office no later than Monday, May 10.

Your prayers are asked for . . . Sam Baker, Gene Dunn, 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.

The Blessings and Prayers of the parish are extended to David Nathan Cooper and Timothy Evan Owens upon their marriage on May 6 at All Souls.  This celebration marks their twenty-first anniversary. 

Liturgical Notes . . . The Paschal Candle continues to burn throughout Eastertide, reminding us of our baptism and the light of Christ . . . The flowers at the High Altar are given in celebration of the birthday of Butch Bradburn, given by Barry . . . Flowers at the altar in the Mary Chapel are given to the glory of God and in loving memory of their mothers, Anne and Portia, given by Robert Long and Mark Hoffman . . . The sanctuary candle burns to the glory of God and in memory of Jay Turner on the 10^th anniversary of his death, given by Nancye Suggs . . . The last Sunday in which our choir is joined by the four professional section leaders will be Trinity Sunday, May 30.  On that day the choir will sing Palestrina’s Missa Brevis.

Foyer Dinner Groups . . . The new Foyer Dinner groups are posted on the kiosk in the undercroft.  Butch Bradburn has sent materials to Foyer Dinner captains.  It’s never too late to sign up to be a part of this program. 

Join us for the Adult Forum . . . The adult forum this Sunday, May 9 will feature Ms. Joelle Novey, director of Greater Washington Interfaith Power & Light, and the Rev. Jered Weber-Johnson, associate priest at St. Alban’s Church.  The forum is sponsored by All Souls are Green . . . On May 16, parishioner Joe Howell will offer an overview, summary and wrap-up of his series, “The Evolution of Belief.”

 
Cookies for Children . . . During the month of May it will be our turn to provide cookies for the children at the Episcopal Center for Children. Please bring homemade or store-bought cookies to the parish kitchen, make sure they are plainly marked, Episcopal Center for Children, and place them in the marked receptacle.

Bishop Walker School Dedication . . . On Sunday June 6 there will be a dedication service for the opening of the new campus of the Bishop John T. Walker School for Boys.  The dedication service is at 4 p.m., followed by a celebration with music, refreshments, and tours of the new campus at the Church of the Holy Communion, 3640 Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, SE, Washington, DC, 20032.  More information can be found at www. http://www.bishopwalkerschool.org/bws/

 
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