Dearly Beloved,
We have a few very important events coming up in the next two weeks. Please put these events “on your calendar” so you won’t miss anything.
St. John the Baptist Day
Today is the Feast Day of St. John Baptist. Holy Communion is at 12:00 p.m. and will be live-streamed on our website and Facebook page. The usual Wednesday evening Holy Communion has been canceled this week.
Youth Ziplining Adventure
This Saturday, June 27, our youth group, youth leaders, and Fr. Erich will go on a zipline adventure down in the Green River Gorge outside of Saluda, NC. We will be taking a lot of pictures and hopefully get some videos to share with all of you.
Charlie Chamberlin Baptism
This coming Sunday, June 28, Charlie Chamberlin will be baptized at the 8:30 a.m. Holy Communion. We will have a breakfast reception immediately following.
Bells, Bells, Bells!
Our bells are complete and installation will begin on Monday, June 29. The bell makers will be here at 8:00 a.m. Installing the bells will take two to three days. Be sure and stop by to witness this historic event for All Saints. We will be live-streaming the action on Facebook and the church website. My plan is to live-stream hourly updates (“on the hour”) so you can keep up with what is happening and so you can know when the bells themselves will be lifted up so you can get here to watch the action in person.
Independence Day
On Saturday, July 4, we will celebrate our nation’s Independence Day with Holy Communion at 10:00 a.m. There is no more fitting way to begin your holiday than to give thanks to Almighty God “through whose mighty power our fathers won their liberties.”
Blessing of the Bells
We will bless our newly installed bells on Sunday, July 5, at the beginning of the 11:00 A.M. Holy Communion. This will be when we officially ring them for the first time! Be sure to be here for that as we give thanks to Almighty God and praise Him with our bells pealing across our little valley and community.
Your Continued Support
On behalf of the Vestry, I would like to thank all of you for your continued support, both financially and spiritually, during this very difficult time. As of the end of May, we are right on target (budget) for what committed by all of you. That is outstanding! Many other churches are having financial difficulties due to the COVID crisis but you all have not let that happen to our beloved parish. Thanks again so very much. You can see the latest financial report on the vestry bulletin board in the parish hall.
As a reminder, you have several different options to help support us other than dropping your offering in the plate. The simplest is to use your bank account’s online bill pay system. You can also go to our website (www.allsaintsmillsriver.org) and click on the “Donate” button” in the upper right corner. That will take you to our PayPal payment gateway, where you can use your debit or credit card like you would for any other online purchase. Keep in mind that credit card processing costs us 3% of what you give. And lastly, you can pay directly from your PayPal account by using the “Send Money” function. Our PayPal account is under the email address: office@allsaintsmillsriver.org. This is how I send my offering and there are no processing fees.
Attendance at Holy Communion
Attendance at Holy Communion on Sunday mornings had been wonderful. Between both services, about 65 folks are showing up each Sunday. That is right at 60% of our “pre-COVID” attendance. I know many of you are still staying at home and I encourage you to make use of our live-stream services Sundays at 11:00 a.m. and Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. (but not tonight). We also live-stream all of the prayer book holy days (usually at 12 noon).
Our Tuesday “small group” Holy Communion of less than 10 people at 11:00 a.m. now has more space available because some folks have decided to come on Sunday morning. If this smaller setting would be more comfortable for you, please contact Dss. Cynthia at the office and sign-up.
Use Our Website
Please make use of our website: www.allsaintsmillsriver.org. We went through a major overhaul just before the COVID crisis began and it is always the most up-to-date channel of information about everything happening here. You can read the news, watch videos of services you have missed, check out the Calendar of Events, and see so much more.
Blessings to all of you and I look forward to seeing you all in church!
Fr. Erich
