Dearly Beloved,We have come to Passiontide. The relentless march toward Good Friday and Easter Day now takes on a greater urgency. We will come into the church on Sunday and all the crosses will be veiled. In a significant way, the veiled crosses signify for us, as St. Paul says, that “we see through a glass, darkly” (1 Cor. 13:12). It gives us the time to ponder more completely what the Cross actually means. We know there is a profound truth about the Cross and yet something about it bothers us. Do we truly understand the great mystery the Cross holds for us? If we are honest, the answer must be “No.” Can we really comprehend what our Savior accomplished on that Tree? Again, we must answer, “No.” And so the crosses are veiled, to give visual emphasis to our ignorance of the true depth of the mystery contained there. And yet, there is something that shines forth from those veiled crosses. For it is there, as Isaac Watts wrote over 300 years ago, the “Prince of Glory died.” (Hymn 337) The Prince of Glory, the Light of the world, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Despite the veils, His Glory still shines forth. The divine Love, which gave everything for the redemption of mankind, still radiates through the veils. It is because of His divine Love we can at least glimpse the great truth the Cross holds for us in the redemption of mankind. So the veiled crosses remind us that, at present, “we see through a glass, darkly” while there is the promise of the divine Love that we shall see “face to face.” And that is the time we shall know fully the great wonder and mystery of the Cross. Thank YouMany thanks to all of you who participated in any way in our Lenten Fish last Friday. This is always a big event and lots of different pieces have to come together to make the night a success. There is the kitchen crew that prepares all the plates, the “front of the house” gang that makes everything happen in the parish hall, from drinks to desserts, and we always have the youth group doing their usual “bang up job” of serving. And, of course, there are the “Fry Guys” out back. I want to especially thank all of you who bought and sold tickets. Without your help in that way, our Fish Fry events would not be the incredible success that they are. This was without a doubt the smoothest running Fish Fry we have ever had and using the extra space in the parish hall allowed us to seat an extra 50 people and still have room to move around. Another Thank YouThanks to everyone who came out on Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday to finish up the work in the parish hall. All the walls and moldings were painted, the columns were wrapped in wood and moldings, and the area was prepped in order to be able to have the carpet installed. It is such a joy for me to watch all of you working together to make our vision come into reality. And your work saved us a bunch of money too! Here is a picture of Rebekah Byrd doing the “cutting in” and also a few of our parish hall ready for carpet.
No Workday TomorrowBecause we were able to get everything finished in the parish hall, and due to the reality that we all are pretty tired with all the activity around here, we will NOT have a workday this weekend. Construction UpdateWe reached a very big milestone yesterday in our expansion here at the church. The county building inspector came out and gave us the final approval on our office building! There are a few minor items that still need to be completed but we are, for all intents and purposes, done with that part of the project.
The installer for the parish hall carpeting arrived yesterday and he has been busy at work patching the concrete sub-floor and also removing all the glue from the old carpet. This afternoon, he will begin laying the carpet and plans to be finished by tomorrow. Lenten AppealMany thanks to all of you who are using your mite boxes and keeping the Lenten Appeal foremost in your minds. As you know, providing an education for the Dalit children in our Diocese of Andhra Pradesh in India is the best way the help them break out of the horrible cycle of the Hindu caste system in that country. If you are not using the mite boxes, won’t you consider a special gift to this worthy endeavor? If you do so, please note “Lenten Appeal” on the memo line of your check so it can be forwarded to our national church for this critical work. Notable NewsRick Hensley, Gloria’s husband, had open heart surgery yesterday at Duke University. He came through in great shape and the doctors have said that the surgery was completely successful. Gloria extends her thanks to all of you for your prayers for Rick. Please continue your prayers for him as he recovers and we hope to see him back home very soon. Claude Smith had to return to the hospital last week due to complications from the infection he had. He was moved to Aston Park Rehabilitation Center at the beginning of this week and his recovery is coming along nicely. He should be home soon and we can’t wait to see him here at church. Keep on praying for him. As many of know, Sara Briggs became sick a couple of weeks ago with the terrible virus that has been making its rounds in our area. Unfortunately, it developed into pneumonia. It seems that she is finally getting better and her doctor expect her get stronger over the next several days. Your prayers are still coveted for her and that we too will see her soon.Also, Pete Pietrandrea came down with the flu a couple weeks ago. His daughter tells us he is on the mend and he should be back in church soon. Pray we see him soon. As is always the case, much is happening around here so be sure to read the announcements below. And never forget, pray always!Blessings,Fr. Erich
This Week in the Parish
Friday, April 5· 5:30 p.m., Evening Prayer· 7:00 p.m., Stations of the CrossSaturday, April 6· 8:00 a.m., Morning Prayer· 5:30 p.m., Evening PrayerSunday, April 7, Passion Sunday· 8:00 a.m., Morning Prayer· 8:30 a.m., Holy Communion· 9:45 a.m., Sunday School· 11:00 a.m., Holy Communion· 12:15 p.m., Fellowship Lunch· 5:30 p.m., Evening PrayerMonday, April 8· 8:00 a.m., Morning Prayer· 5:30 p.m., Evening Prayer· 6:30 p.m., Vestry MeetingTuesday, April 9· 8:00 a.m., Morning Prayer· 11:00 a.m., Book Study· 12:00 p.m., Stations of the Cross· 5:30 p.m., Evening PrayerWednesday, April 10· 8:00 a.m., Morning Prayer· 5:30 p.m., Evening Prayer· 6:00 p.m., Holy Communion· 6:30 p.m., Meatless Supper· 7:00 p.m., Bible Study· 7:00 p.m., Choir PracticeThursday, April 11· 8:00 a.m., Morning Prayer· 5:30 p.m., Evening PrayerFriday, April 12· 8:00 a.m., Morning Prayer· 5:30 p.m., Evening Prayer· 7:00 p.m., Stations of the CrossSaturday, April 13· 8:00 a.m., Morning Prayer· 9:00 a.m., Making of Palm Crosses· 5:30 p.m., Evening Prayer
Announcements
Vestry Meeting· The vestry meets Monday night, April 8, at 6:30 p.m. in the conference room. New Parish Directory· Work on the new parish directory is nearing completion. We expect to have copies available by next Sunday, April 14. Easter Flowers· Envelopes have been placed in the pews for Easter Flowers. Your gift in memory of a loved one or in thanksgiving for a blessing will be noted in the Easter Day bulletin, April 21. The suggested donation is $25.00 and allows us to purchase lilies and special flower arrays for Easter Day, the Queen of all celebrations for Christian people. Palm Crosses· Mark your calendars! Next Saturday, April 13, 2019, the All Saints Altar Guild will host a morning of making palm crosses. No experience necessary and ALL are welcome! We will gather for Morning Prayer at 8:00 a.m. and begin making the crosses for Palm Sunday at 9:30 a.m. Breakfast will be provided that morning. Please join us! Holy Week & Easter· Sunday, April 14 is Palm Sunday, which begins Holy Week, the most solemn week of the church year. The schedule for the week, as well as the Easter schedule, will be in the bulletin this weekend and will be posted on the parish web site. Be sure to make your plans to make that week “Holy,” which will prepare us all for the great Feast of the Resurrection, Easter Day. Maundy Thursday Watch· One of the most hallowed traditions of Holy Week is the keeping of a Watch by the Blessed Sacrament as we remember Christ’s Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. This Watch begins directly after (about 8:30 p.m.) the Altar is stripped after the Holy Communion on Thursday evening. A sign-up sheet is available to commit yourself to one hour of “Watch time,” following our Lord’s question to Peter, “Couldest not thou watch one hour?” The Watch will last until Midnight. Annual Easter Dinner· It is our tradition to have an Easter Dinner after our 11:00 a.m. celebration of the Holy Communion on Easter Day. There is a sign-up sheet on the bulletin board. See what we need, sign-up, and then show up! Annual Parish Easter Egg Hunt· We will have our annual parish Easter Egg Hunt on Easter morning at 10:00 a.m. All children are welcome! Be sure to invite family and friends! VBS 2019 – We need you!· We are already looking towards and planning our 2019 Vacation Bible School here at All Saints. The dates for this year’s event is June 17—21, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. We need every member of this congregation to join us in making this a successful ministry to the children of our church and community. How can you help? We need volunteers (no experience necessary), support, and prayer. There is a sign-up sheet on the bulletin board in the parish hall for volunteers. For financial donations, please put VBS on the memo line of your check and place in offering plate. Any other questions, please see Dss. Cynthia Hensley or Allison Sewery. Meatless Wednesday Fellowship Meal· Our weekly Wednesday fellowship meals will be meatless during the Lenten season as part of our fasting and abstinence. Wednesday Night Bible Study· The Bible study group continues to work their way through St. Matthew’s Gospel. If you are not already attending our Wednesday night activities, we bid you come join us! Tuesday Book Study· This coming Tuesday, the book study group will complete The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Please review the last two chapters for this week’s class. Adult Sunday School· Sunday school meets at 9:45 a.m. in the parish hall. Ministry Opportunities· Neat Niks—We are looking for a few folks to join our new Neat Niks team. This group keeps the pews tidy by straightening books, replacing offering envelopes, and other small tasks. Please contact Cynthia Hensley if you are interested being a part of this ministry team.· Ushers and Greeters—There is always a need for help in this important ministry of our church. Please see Loretta Reynolds today to become a part of the ushers and greeters team. Prayer Request Sheet· Please note, the prayer request sheet will be purged monthly. Make sure you add the names of those you wish to be prayed for in April to the new sheet posted on the bulletin board in the parish hall.Food Bank· Interfaith Assistance Ministry of Henderson County is this month’s recipient of our in-gathering of food stuffs.
Please follow and like us:
