Dearly Beloved, This coming Sunday, the Fourth Sunday in Lent, popularly is called Rose Sunday. This is the mid-Lenten day when the rigors of the Lenten Fast are relaxed somewhat. It gets its “Rose” designation when the normal purple of Lent is set aside for the day and rose colored vestments bedeck the altar and the priest. There is also a note of joy in the scripture lessons of the day. The Gospel, St. John’s Feeding of the Multitude, gives the day another one of the names it is known by: Refreshment Sunday. In years gone by, the Pope at Rome would distribute bread to the poor on this day. The Epistle of the day, from St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians, gives the day another name, which is especially popular in England: Mothering Sunday. This name comes from “the medieval custom of visiting the mother church of the diocese with special offerings.” (American Prayer Book Commentary) In England, this was the day which would find “servants and apprentices making a special visit to their parents and taking with them a present, usually a simnel or ‘mothering’ cake.” (Ibid.) This is the day that is the model for our American holiday of Mother’s Day. Now on to the news for this week. The SurpriseOn Sunday, a week ago, we had the “big reveal” of the surprise we had been talking about. The interior of the church has been recarpeted and reupholstered in a new, warm, and beautiful red (as you can see in the picture above). The red color itself is called Cathedral Red. This is a very traditional look for the interior of a church. The cushions on the pews will also be replaced. They have to be manufactured separately. We anticipate them being in place by Easter. The vestry also took this opportunity to make a wheelchair accessible pew in the middle of church. Our members who need wheelchair access are very appreciative of this particular change. This was all made possible with a bequest we received from the estate of Betty Parkinson. I had many discussions with Betty over the years about her dislike of the green upholstery in the church. The vestry and I believe this enhancement of our worship space honors her memory and her commitment to this parish in a very practical way. We are truly blessed to have had Betty in our lives and now to have this new, constant remembrance of her. If you want to see more pictures, please click here to go to the post about it here on our website. Lenten Fish FryThe Fish Fry is this coming Friday, March 29. As you know, this is always a huge event for us here at All Saints and this one promises to be the biggest ever. Over 310 tickets have already gone out the door and we always have a significant walk up crowd. As a reminder, Take-out begins at 5 PM and Dine-in service begins at 6 PM. We look forward to using our opened up parish hall to provide more dining space. Be sure to come out and enjoy the madness! Tickets are $10 at the door and kids under 12 eat free. See you then. As usual, we will have a dessert table set up during the Fish Fry. Verna Shipman and Loretta Reynolds are coordinating. Contact them with any questions and be sure to have your desserts at the church no later than 3 PM on Friday. The Bells Have Been Cast!I received an email yesterday from Rick Watson, the co-owner of the bell manufacturing company and he let me know that our bells have been cast. Here is part of what he wrote to me:
- “I can report that all three bells are now cast. The tenor, C4, 650 lbs. was cast this past Thursday afternoon. It was broken out of the mold yesterday, and is over in the main shop today, awaiting being put up on the 42 inch boring mill to have its top machined flat. That is the first step in preliminary machining, and must be done before the bolt holes (which will be used to hold the bell on to its yoke) can be drilled. Its smaller sisters, the E4 and G4, are also in the main shop, and had their bolt holes drilled today. Each must be remounted on the vertical boring mill, mouth down, and spun, so that the exterior surface can be sanded smooth, giving the bell its final outer finish. Once that is done, I get them to tune.”
To say this is an exciting development would be a major understatement! Rick did not give me a timeline for completion. He is a bit reticent to do so because he does not like to disappoint. But just the fact that the bells have been cast means we are on the last leg of our year-long journey with our expansion project. Thanks be to God. Here is a picture of the tenor bell being poured, along with pictures of our actual bells.
Parish Hall ExpansionAs I mentioned above, we will be making full use of our expanded space at the Fish Fry this week. The drywall contractor came out last week and did the work of preparing the walls for paint by taping and applying the drywall compound. This past Saturday, several men of the parish removed all the old green carpeting and we were able to get all the molding up in the new section. Many thanks to all of you who have been giving up your Saturday mornings to help us bring this to conclusion. This coming Saturday, we still need some hands to come out to clean the walls to get them ready for paint and we might even get some primer up on the walls. Morning Prayer is at 8 AM, followed by breakfast that Kathy has promised to cook for us, as she always does. No matter what, we will be out of here by 11 AM. Sally Blackburn, our People’s Warden, is coordinating with a carpet company to schedule laying the new parish hall carpeting. Library RelocationThe ladies of the church will also be here on Saturday morning to continue their work at moving our library from the hallways and making the content of that library more consistent with our needs as a parish church. Same schedule as the parish hall work. See you on Saturday morning. Block WallThe block wall around the office building is nearly complete. Unfortunately, we ran just shy of the number of blocks necessary to finish that work. Once that is completed, a concrete pad will be poured in front of the basement doors. Church PaintingAll the exterior painting of all of our buildings was finished last week. Another item is checked off the list! Lenten Appeal ReminderI just want to keep the Lenten Appeal in the forefront of your minds. I know many of you are using your mite boxes, which will be returned to the church on Easter Sunday. You can always pick up another mite box in the church entryway. For those of you who are not using the mite boxes, you may (and should) still participate by writing a check and dropping it in the plate. Be sure to mark it for Lenten Appeal. Please read Bishop Grundorf’s Letter about the Lenten Appeal below. I encourage all of you to do your best to “hang in there” with us as we bring all of our construction to a conclusion by Easter. Every chance you get, be here to help, for it is only with all of you that we will be finished by the Great Feast of the Resurrection! Blessings to all of you and see you at the Fish Fry on Friday.Fr. Erich
This Week in the Parish
Wednesday, March 27· 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, March 28· 8:00 a.m., Morning Prayer· 5:30 p.m., Evening PrayerFriday, March 29· 8:00 a.m., Morning Prayer· 5:00 p.m., Fish FrySaturday, March 30· 8:00 a.m., Morning Prayer· 8:30 a.m., Breakfast· 9:00 a.m., Parish Workday· 5:30 p.m., Evening PrayerSunday, March 31,Fourth Sunday in Lent· 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 1· 8:00 a.m., Morning Prayer· 5:30 p.m., Evening PrayerTuesday, April 2· 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 3· 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 Practice
Other Announcements
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. 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. For more details, please see Dss. Cynthia Hensley or Allison Sewery. Food Bank· Western Carolina Rescue Mission of Buncombe County is this month’s recipient of our in-gathering of food stuffs. Along with the normal food offerings, WCRM is currently in need of regular laundry detergent, powder or liquid. 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! Adult Sunday School· Sunday school meets at 9:45 a.m. in the parish hall. Tuesday Book Study· The Tuesday Book Study is reading The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Please finish reading the last section of the book for this Tuesday’s class. 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.
Lenten Appeal
Dear APA Clergy and Lay Members,Last year our Lenten Appeal efforts were focused on providing funds for a second APA Good Shepherd School, for Dalit Children in India. We set an ambitious target of $150,000. I am happy to report that we achieved over half of that goal last year. Our focus this year will be to raise the balance of the funds needed to construct this second school.This second school will be constructed in the Kadapa District of the state of Andhra Pradesh, and its exact location will be determined by Bishop Jaya Rao, the Presiding Bishop of the Anglican Church of India. Children from several of our churches in the area will be able to benefit from the new school. The search for suitable land is making progress and we anticipate that the final selection of property will be made by July of this year. Once the land has been secured the school will begin in rented quarters.This school will change the lives of numerous Dalit children as well as provide numerous benefits to the surrounding village communities. Through the spread of the Gospel and an English-medium education, future generations of children will be able to escape the crippling poverty and oppression resulting from the Caste system and be able to lead full and productive lives in Indian society.Our Lenten Appeal Project 2019 challenge will be to raise the balance of the $150,000 for the APA Good Shepherd School near Jammalamadugu, Kadapa District, Andhra Pradesh in partnership with OM (USA) and Good Shepherd Ministries (India).I am asking each individual within our churches to make a sacrificial Lenten offering of a minimum of $1.50 per day for the 40 days of Lent (a total of $60 per person), or more as our Lord leads you. We will need one hundred percent participation in order to achieve this goal. Please make this a family project for Lent. Remember, your generous gifts will enable Dalit children to be liberated from the bondage of poverty and oppression.Please pray every day during Lent that God will use our offering to show His great mercy on the Dalit children of India.Faithfully yours in Christ,The Most Rev. Walter H. Grundorf, Presiding Bishop, Anglican Province of America
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