Dearly Beloved,
It has been a busy and exciting week around here at All Saints. As most of you know the bells for our bell tower finally arrived this past Monday, June 29. The men from Meeks, Watson, and Company got straight work at 7:30 a.m. On hand from the company were Bill Meeks, the co-owner of the company, his son Josh, who is the plant manager, and their install technician Cody. Tim from Jim’s Crane Company was the crane operator and Gerald from Mechanical Building Systems was the onsite electrician. All three bells were hung on Monday. We live-streamed the action most of the day and I have not yet been able to edit that video down to a manageable size. I have, however, posted an 8 minute video of the bells being hoisted up that I recorded on my phone. Here it is. Down below are a myriad of pictures from the installation.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were spent installing all the wiring, motors, relays, etc. required to make the bells work. On Thursday afternoon, the bells were tested and adjusted. I captured the first rings live on camera. Here is that video.
One side benefit of having Gerald the electrician onsite was that, on Tuesday, he installed the lights around our cross, as you can see in this picture.
Blessing and Dedication of the Bells
This coming Sunday, July 5, at 11:00 a.m. we will dedicate and bless the bells. We will be in the parking lot around the tower, which, of course, will give everyone the ability to spread out and enjoy the festivities. At the end of the ceremony, the bells will be rung for the first time in their service to Almighty God and His Holy Church. This will also be live-streamed. Once the bells ring, we will move into the church to celebrate the Holy Communion on this momentous day. The Holy Communion will not be live-streamed on Sunday because all the video equipment will be in the parking lot!
Independence Day
Tomorrow, July 4, is our country’s birthday. As is our custom, we will celebrate the Holy Communion at 10:00 a.m. and then we can be off to whatever celebrations may be happening with our families. Lorraine Seger will be here to play the organ for us so we can sing a couple of hymns appropriate to Independence Day. No better way to start the holiday than giving thanks to Almighty God for the liberties we enjoy in our country.
Youth Group Zipline Adventure
The youth of the parish, along with their leaders, and I went on a zip-lining adventure in the Green River Gorge last Saturday, June 27, in Saluda, NC. We had an absolute blast! The fifteen that went were split into 2 groups. The second group anchored by the videographer (who was me) had some great video footage from the day. Here is the Zipline video.
Office Closed
The church office will be closed on Monday, July 6, for the Independence Day weekend.
Synod Cancellation
We were looking forward to hosting our fellow Anglicans from across the country next month. However, the current situation in our country has made large gatherings impossible. The hotel would not be able to accommodate our meetings due to the numerous attendees and we also would not be able to host nearly 100 people in our church. The decision was made that synod is cancelled for this year. It is hoped that All Saints, in the future, may be able to host once again.
That is just about it this week and I look forward to seeing you on Sunday…in the parking lot!
Blessings,
Fr. Erich
