tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49752337580654942322024-03-13T23:01:24.820-07:00Episcopal Church of All Saints, IndianapolisEpiscopal Church of All Saintshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05713189826562048594noreply@blogger.comBlogger122125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975233758065494232.post-69797476275403265382013-10-30T17:04:00.001-07:002013-10-30T17:04:47.016-07:00All Saints Preachers' Greatest Hits<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This week marks one full year of sermon recordings at All Saints. Turns out this has been a valuable ministry beyond anything we could have guessed. In the last year <a href="https://soundcloud.com/allsaintsindy">our posts on Soundcloud</a> have attracted nearly 2,000 listeners. Imagine our church 1/3 even more full on Sundays and you'll get a sense of our weekly reach. In addition to Indiana, we've had listeners from around the US and Canada, the UK, and Australia. And of course many of you have enjoyed the opportunity to listen to your favorites again and again.<br />
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In celebration of reaching this milestone, we're posting our three greatest hits over the last year.</div>
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<b>#1: It's Not About the Money - August 4, 2013</b></div>
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While observing that most people wish clergy would never talk about money, Mother Suzanne Wille reflects on accomplishment, idolatry, wealth, and the limits of self-reliance.</div>
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<b>#2: Be Still and Know that I am God - December 16, 2012</b></div>
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On the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood, Father Gordon Chastain declines to find words to describe the grief of the Newtown massacre, seeking instead the gift of silence and stillness.<br />
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<b>#3: The Tower of Siloam - March 3, 2013</b></div>
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Father Michael Stichweh, in inimitable style, meditates on building collapses, danger, and disaster; the inevitability of suffering, gratitude, and the love of God..</div>
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Brendan O'Sullivan-Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13774318152996563754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975233758065494232.post-90415878263102998712013-10-27T09:15:00.000-07:002013-10-30T14:45:43.045-07:00In My Power, On My Way<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b id="docs-internal-guid--22e1853-faab-79c0-c0d9-6f1970695d8e" style="line-height: 1.15; text-align: justify;"><b id="docs-internal-guid--22e1853-faab-79c0-c0d9-6f1970695d8e" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">October 27, 2013</span></span></b></b><br />
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<b id="docs-internal-guid--22e1853-faab-79c0-c0d9-6f1970695d8e"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Brendan O’Sullivan-Hale</span></span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid--22e1853-faab-79c0-c0d9-6f1970695d8e"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Readings: Joel 2:23-32; Psalm 65; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18; Luke 18:9-14</span></span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid--22e1853-faab-79c0-c0d9-6f1970695d8e"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/allsaintsindy/in-my-power-on-my-way">Audio Version</a></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">God, be merciful to me, a sinner.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In the name of the Father and of the Son, of the Holy Spirit, Amen.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">On a cold January morning in 2004, I was lying on the grimy concrete floor of the parking garage of the Continental Apartment building at the corner of Vermont and Meridian downtown. I was covered with my leather jacket, and I was trying not to whimper in pain. I heard the clack of high heels approaching.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo: Moyan Brenn, distributed under a CC BY 2.0 US<br />license (<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/aigle_dore/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/aigle_dore/</a>)</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Moments earlier, I was standing upright, striding in confidence to my car. This despite the thick layer of ice in the alley, the warning on the radio not to go outside unless you absolutely had to. It was just dawning on me that the same inch of ice in the alley was also layered on the windshield of my car when I crumpled to the ground and thought I heard a crack. I sat up, pushed my briefcase aside, and saw my left foot twisted in a way it should not twist. I started yelling for help.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The click of the high heels came closer.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Two men had responded to my yells, and helped me into the garage out of the cold. One called 911 and waited outside for the ambulance.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The high heels paused. Then they started moving away. A moment later I heard voices outside the door. A woman asked, "Do you know anything about the homeless guy sleeping in the garage?"</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A few years before this happened I had fallen away from the church. There’s no dramatic story here. It’s just that one Sunday morning, a Sunday I was scheduled for acolyte duty, if I remember correctly, I decided not to get out of bed. Or maybe I didn’t even decide - I just didn’t get out of bed. And then the next Sunday I didn’t. And then the next, and the next, and the next.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The All Saints community did everything right, by the way. For a few weeks people called to see if things were ok. But I never answered. I didn’t know how to explain myself. I was embarrassed for not showing up when I said I would, fearful of being judged if I came back through the doors. I missed church, for a while. But after a while, my membership at All Saints became one of those things I used to do. I never lost my faith, exactly. But it seemed my time as a serious Christian was just another phase, no different from my teenage years as a vegetarian, or my more recent flirtation with CrossFit. My spiritual life atrophied. I didn’t think about God much.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">But you know, it was fine. I was a young single man in the city, with a big downtown apartment, a good job, a kayak, and a car. I was going to school at night to get that next promotion. And even if I didn’t go to church I was an upright citizen, dutifully doing things like calling into the public radio pledge drive. I was having trouble quitting smoking, but I’d get around to it. It was in my power. I was on my way.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">So now I’m lying on the parking garage floor being mistaken for homeless. The ambulance comes. I spend hours in the ER, at some points moaning in pain between morphine injections. It’s a triple fracture in my ankle. It requires surgery. I’ll be in the hospital for days. It’s my left ankle and I drive a stick shift. I can’t drive to work. I can’t get groceries. I can’t get to school at night. I could really use a cigarette.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">And yet.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">For a couple nights when I come home from the hospital a friend checks in on me and brings dinner. We watch the Super Bowl together and I see Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction through a painkiller haze. Two coworkers who live not too far away take turns driving me to work and night school. Classmates drive me home every night. My family ships me some fancy frozen dinners. People at the office bring coffee to my desk. Friends bring me groceries. No one brings me cigarettes. I never smoke again.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">For that stump of my faith, neglected, dry and buried in the ground, all this is a long awaited rain, the scent of water trickling into dusty soil. I started to perceive God working in my life, calling me back into the relationship I had abandoned, reminding me that I had never been alone. Soon after I was off crutches, I was back in church.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Well, Christ Church Cathedral, anyway. After three years without entering a church, I limped into the back pew at an 8am service during Lent. I didn’t talk to anyone, but it was a step in the door. It took a while longer to find my way back to All Saints, but that’s another story.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Recently a series of videos launched online called the NALT Christians Project. NALT - N-A-L-T stands for “Not All Like That”. The project is inspired by the “It Gets Better” campaign from a few years ago, and it aims to show that Christians are not universally opposed to LGBT equality, and many are passionately engaged for it. Many of the videos are moving, and I commend them to you.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">But while I support the project and its aims, I gotta tell you, I cannot get comfortable with the name. “God, I thank you that I am not like other people,” says the Pharisee in today’s text. Not like the “thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even this tax collector.” The Pharisee, you see, is a good guy. He does what he’s supposed to. “I fast twice a week,” he says. “I give a tenth of all my income.” He’s doing the right thing. It’s in his power. He’s on his way, on the fast track to righteousness.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">And yet, Jesus tells us, he’s not. No, it is the tax collector, the one who beats his breast, who dares not look up into heaven, who probably had to work up some nerve to even come into the Temple, who says simply, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner!” - it is this man who goes home more justified. Jesus tells us that even though the tax collector is in the Temple, he is “standing far off”. That’s not all that unlike my first Sunday sitting in the back pew at the 8am service, barely looking at the altar, talking to no one. I was still a little embarrassed, still a little scared. I imagine the tax collector felt the same.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">But let’s be real. Let’s not fall into the trap of romanticizing the tax collector. We’re not talking about an unfairly maligned, but fundamentally ethical IRS employee here. We’re talking a guy whose day job probably involved a little extortion, the kind of guy that elsewhere in the Gospels Jesus has to remind to take only the taxes due, and no more.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Remember, the Pharisee is doing the right thing. He fasts, he prays, he gives a tenth of all his income. The Pharisee’s problem is not that he’s doing the wrong things. It’s that he views his relationship with God as transactional, that by doing enough right things, he will be good enough under his own power.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">He’s got the relationship wrong. He gives thanks to God that he is not like other people. He is confident that he is a good man because his good works make him good. But he is blind to the inevitability that he will eventually stumble, or blind to his current failings - it appears he could be falling a little short in the pride and mercy departments.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Where, in my opinion, the Not All Like That Project goes a little off course is not in the truth of its message, but in failing to recognize that in some measure, in some way, we are all like that, subject to myriad sins, failings, and blind spots. The tax collector recognizes this. He knows who he is in relationship to the perfect, the infinite, the almighty. He knows he falls short. But he trusts enough in God’s love to come into his courts and ask for mercy.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The Pharisee is not good because he does good things. No, the Pharisee is good, the tax collector is good, you are good because God created each of us in God’s own image, and God called us good. The Pharisee is good, the tax collector is good, you are good because God loves us all. We are not good because we do good things. No, we do good things in response to the love we receive from God and from each other.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In his forthcoming book, </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Restoration Project</span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Father Christopher Martin describes the church as a hospital for sinners and a school for saints. All of us are both, always, in some measure, simultaneously healing our wounds and growing in faithfulness to God.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The great thing about the church - the reason I suspect you are here - is that it is so much better than any one of us can be alone. Together you make up for each other’s failings (and for mine). You mourn each other’s sorrows, celebrate each other’s joys, and share your gifts in worship, music, prayer, and service.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You also do one more holy and loving thing. You give money. I don’t know if you feel holy when you write your checks, or do online billpay, or put your credit card number into PayPal, but you are. Your gifts make this place that sets our minds on God and our hearts on love possible. You make sacrifices week in and week out to run this hospital for sinners, this school for saints. Even when it is hard, you give. And for that you and I should be deeply thankful to each other. You do this not because giving makes you good, but because you know </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">whose</span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> you are. You know who loves you.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We are, it should be obvious by now, at the point in the year where we are thinking about what we will do in the next. What will we do more of? How will All Saints open its doors even wider? How will we make this the year of more mystery, more gratitude, more light, more art, more blessing? There are plans afoot to build on the momentum of the last year of growth in attendance and involvement, to expand our music programs, to unleash Mother Suzanne to be even more involved in our community, to open our building even more to the arts. As an example, we are exploring what it would take to turn our organist/choirmaster position into a true 20-hour a week job. This would allow us to expand our wonderful music program for more than supporting our worship to being a tool for outreach to people in our community who are not already connected to our church. How big we can go depends on this question: what resources will you provide?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I can’t tell you what your answer should be. Our good friend the Pharisee gives ten percent of all his income. Some members of our parish do give at that level, or have committed to working toward it. If we all aimed that high, Mother Suzanne, the finance committee, and the vestry would have to come up with even bigger dreams for next year than they already have.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">But let me suggest this. Expanding our programs requires an increase in pledge income of about ten or fifteen percent. Wherever you are today, try to take a step up. And if you worry the step you can take is so small it won’t make a difference, remember that it is not the size of the step that matters but the direction in which you set your face. This is not about guilt, failure, or shame, or embarrassment. This is a school for saints and we keep trying. What you give or don’t give isn’t what makes you good. You are good because God loves you. We give in gratitude.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Sometimes in the morning when I’m putting my socks on I run my finger up and down the scars in my ankle. Under the skin a pair of metal plates are screwed into my bones. At this point the scars are pretty faded, but I read in them, written on my body, the history of a journey back from wilderness. I see me, foolish in confidence, sprawled on the ice in an alley. I hear the click of the heels of a woman asking about the homeless guy sleeping in the garage. I see friends and strangers who cared for me. I see the hand of God, leading me back here, to this place, to the most important place in my life. I feel the open arms that enfolded me, a sinner returning home, when I came back through our red doors. I see hundreds of communions, hear hundreds of hymns. Maybe I remember a sermon or two. I see our old friends who worship silently with us in the walls. I feel the touch of hands and holy oil as you have prayed for me and I for you. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">There’s not much in my power. I am not on my way. But you and I are all here, at home, in this hospital for sinners, this school for saints. And for that I am so very, very grateful.</span></span></div>
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Brendan O'Sullivan-Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13774318152996563754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975233758065494232.post-91517022758004268272013-02-17T17:38:00.001-08:002013-02-17T17:38:28.490-08:00Getting ready for the Bible Challenge<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Monday, February 18, the Bible Challenge for the Diocese of Indianapolis gets under way. The Bible Challenge is a project that will have participants reading the entire Bible in one year. More than 70 people from 10 churches (including 12 from All Saints) attended an all day retreat at our church yesterday, co-hosted by Trinity Indianapolis. In case you weren't able to attend and pick up a copy of the reading plan at the retreat yesterday, here are links:</div>
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<a href="http://%20http//www.trinitychurchindy.org/mediafiles/bible-challenge-one-year-reading-plan.pdf">Full</a><a href="http://%20http//www.trinitychurchindy.org/mediafiles/bible-challenge-one-year-reading-plan.pdf"> plan </a><a href="http://%20http//www.trinitychurchindy.org/mediafiles/bible-challenge-one-year-reading-plan.pdf">-</a><a href="http://%20http//www.trinitychurchindy.org/mediafiles/bible-challenge-one-year-reading-plan.pdf"> </a><a href="http://%20http//www.trinitychurchindy.org/mediafiles/bible-challenge-one-year-reading-plan.pdf">read</a><a href="http://%20http//www.trinitychurchindy.org/mediafiles/bible-challenge-one-year-reading-plan.pdf"> </a><a href="http://%20http//www.trinitychurchindy.org/mediafiles/bible-challenge-one-year-reading-plan.pdf">the</a><a href="http://%20http//www.trinitychurchindy.org/mediafiles/bible-challenge-one-year-reading-plan.pdf"> </a><a href="http://%20http//www.trinitychurchindy.org/mediafiles/bible-challenge-one-year-reading-plan.pdf">Old</a><a href="http://%20http//www.trinitychurchindy.org/mediafiles/bible-challenge-one-year-reading-plan.pdf"> </a><a href="http://%20http//www.trinitychurchindy.org/mediafiles/bible-challenge-one-year-reading-plan.pdf">and</a><a href="http://%20http//www.trinitychurchindy.org/mediafiles/bible-challenge-one-year-reading-plan.pdf"> </a><a href="http://%20http//www.trinitychurchindy.org/mediafiles/bible-challenge-one-year-reading-plan.pdf">New</a><a href="http://%20http//www.trinitychurchindy.org/mediafiles/bible-challenge-one-year-reading-plan.pdf"> </a><a href="http://%20http//www.trinitychurchindy.org/mediafiles/bible-challenge-one-year-reading-plan.pdf">Testaments</a><a href="http://%20http//www.trinitychurchindy.org/mediafiles/bible-challenge-one-year-reading-plan.pdf"> </a><a href="http://%20http//www.trinitychurchindy.org/mediafiles/bible-challenge-one-year-reading-plan.pdf">in</a><a href="http://%20http//www.trinitychurchindy.org/mediafiles/bible-challenge-one-year-reading-plan.pdf"> </a><a href="http://%20http//www.trinitychurchindy.org/mediafiles/bible-challenge-one-year-reading-plan.pdf">one</a><a href="http://%20http//www.trinitychurchindy.org/mediafiles/bible-challenge-one-year-reading-plan.pdf"> year</a></div>
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<a href="http://%20http//www.trinitychurchindy.org/mediafiles/bible-challenge-condensed-reading-plan.pdf">New Testament Plan - read the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs in one year</a></div>
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To support each other as we take on this challenge, All Saints will be forming a group that will meet every other Thursday, starting February 21. Contact Mother Suzanne if you'd like to participate. Trinity will also be <a href="http://%20http//www.trinitychurchindy.org/the-bible-challenge/">maintaining a blog</a> that will be updated by people around the Diocese as they work through the year as a form of online community support </div>
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We get started tomorrow with Genesis, the Gospel of Matthew, and Psalm 1. How will engaging with scripture this way change you? We're about to find out.</div>
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Brendan O'Sullivan-Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13774318152996563754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975233758065494232.post-68939512906906077442013-02-03T10:17:00.001-08:002013-02-03T10:17:17.197-08:00Senior Warden's Report<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>Here is the transcript of (now-retired) Senior Warden Brendan O'Sullivan-Hale's remarks at the 2013 Annual Meeting.</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">When I was eight years old or thereabouts, my parents took a long weekend away from me and my brother, and deposited us at my Aunt Joan's apartment. During that weekend, I became acquainted with another kid my age who lived in the same complex. Over those few days, he and I played together every chance we could get.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Among the amazing things we did that weekend was run circles around a stretch limousine that appeared in the parking lot. We were astonished that a millionaire lived in the apartment complex, and watched for anyone going in or out of the building who might be him. It wasn't until years later that I realized the resident of the complex was obviously the driver of the limo, not the owner.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Still, the mysterious limo cast a spell over the weekend. It seemed as though my new friend and I might become best friends. But there was a problem. Though my aunt lived barely two miles from my parents' house, she lived in a different school district. Our friendship was doomed, and we knew it.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">As the hour approached when my parents would arrive to take my brother and me home, we comforted ourselves with a game. We stood at opposite ends of the limo. I observed that I was touching the back of the car, and he was touching the front, and through the car we were touching each other.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">He took a step away, and saw that he was touching the parking lot, which was touching the limo, which was touching me.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">And on it went - I'm hanging from a tree branch, which is touching the grass, which is touching the sidewalk, which is touching the parking lot, which is touching him. And so we knew that when I went home I would touch the doorknob, which then touched a great many things across the miles and got back to him.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">That's been nearly 30 years ago now. I don't remember my friend's name, but I suppose in a way we're still in touch.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">We Christians make the claim that our God entered into history at a particular place and time. Specifically, God showed up in the person of Jesus about 2000 years ago. He recruited disciples, taught crowds, and performed miracles of healing, feeding, exorcism, and keeping the open bar at a wedding from running dry. Then he was arrested and killed. Then he rose from the dead and hung out with his disciples a little while longer before slipping back through the veil, leaving his disciples as alone as they were before.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Or had he? Appearing to Moses in the burning bush, God says, "You cannot see my face, for no one shall see me and live." Can one who has lived with, and eaten with, and served with, and prayed with, and been touched by God living among us, then, go on unchanged?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">There is a mildly wonky concept in our church known as the apostolic succession. And really, the only reason it's wonky is because the only time we really talk about it is when we're doing things like negotiating ecumenical relationships with our Lutheran brothers and sisters. See what I mean?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">But it's really pretty visceral. After Jesus ascended, the disciples became leaders of the Christian movement. And they, in turn, laid hands on new followers to become leaders of the church, who then laid hands on a next generation of leaders, down through a line of what we know today as bishops.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Bishop Cate, then, was ordained while having hands laid upon her by other bishops, who had hands laid on them by other bishops, going back through time, wars, famines, and plagues, across oceans, plains and mountains, to the person of Jesus himself.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">But the continuity of Jesus's physical presence does not stop with Bishop Cate. She in turn laid hands on Cathy Scott when she was ordained a deacon this past year. It was not Bishop Cate but another bishop, also connected back to Jesus, who ordained Mother Suzanne, and Father Tom, and Father Dan, and Father Michael.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">And Jesus's touch came through Bishop Cate to me when she laid hands on me when I was confirmed, and the same is true of most of you when she, or another bishop laid hands on you. And if you have not been confirmed, fear not, for holy oil, blessed by a bishop, was rubbed on your forehead at your baptism. And if you were baptized in a tradition that just doesn't do that kind of thing, try this: after communion, go over to the Michael Chapel. Someone will be standing there, with a tiny container of oil, touched by the bishop and through her by Jesus himself, and in the hush of that holy moment will make the sign of the cross on your forehead and say, "I anoint you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit".</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">The physical presence of Jesus is all around us, imprinted on us through our bishops and other clergy, and through each other. We are all changed by Jesus's touch, despite being separated from his earthly ministry by vast distance in space and time.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="background-color: white;">While I cannot guarantee that this is the last time you will have to hear me pontificate, this is the last time I will be doing so in my capacity as </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="il" style="color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Senior</span><span style="color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span class="il" style="color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Warden</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">, or as Helene affectionately calls me, the Vestry King.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Many of you have been complimentary of what I've been up to over the last three years, and for that I am grateful. Many of you have kept your frustrations over the last three years to yourselves, or at least haven't expressed them to me, and for that I am also grateful. And many of you have shared your frustrations with me, but have always done so with the acknowledgment that we're in this together, and for that, yes, I am grateful.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">But I have accomplished nothing except through the grace of God and everyone sitting in this room. Look at all the ways All Saints is better off than it was three years ago.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">We have a rector! I had nothing to do with that. That was the search committee.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Our financial position is stronger than it's been in many years, and we exit 2012 in surplus and go into 2013 with a balanced budget. Maybe I had a little to do with that, since I'm on the stewardship committee, but ultimately it's all of you, through your generous contributions in pledge and plate, who made that happen.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Everyone who sits within earshot of me at worship knows that I have nothing whatsoever to do with our music program.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">When we welcomed our neighbors from Holy Life Missionary Baptist church into our space after their fire, it wasn't me who unlocked the doors.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I may swing the incense every once in a while, but I don't train acolytes.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I don't polish silver, or heaven forfend, the eagle lectern.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I don't prepare the altar.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I don't greet visitors as they come in the door.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I don't prepare amazing flower arrangements.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I don't put on amazing spreads during our parish celebrations.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I don't deliver our food offerings to the Damien Center.<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I'm not a lay eucharistic visitor.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I don't organize the yard sale.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I didn't set up the booth at pride.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I don't organize educational programs.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I don't administer grants from our endowment.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I don't count the collection plate.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I don't pay the bills.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I don't tend the garden or mow the grass.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I don't teach Sunday school.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I don't pray with people in the Michael Chapel.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I don't knit snuggle sacks for newborns, or scarves for young adults leaving foster care.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">And by the way, our new rector doesn't do those things, either. Ok, she actually does know how to knit.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Over the last three years, we the laypeople took over the Episcopal Church of All Saints. Not because we wanted to, but because we had to. And while those years at times felt like a journey through the wilderness, look who we are today.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Always remember what we have done together. There may be some temptation to think that now that we've got full time clergy, we can let go. But the same Holy Spirit that ordained Mother Suzanne, that ordained Cathy, and that will soon ordain Brantley, also ordained us, through the waters of baptism to a ministry of far more than sitting in the pews. We the laypeople are ministers of this church, called to different duties but equal in every way to Mother Suzanne, to our affiliate clergy, and to Bishop Cate, and let's pile on Rowan Williams and Justin Welby for good measure, through the eternal touch and companionship of Jesus.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">And as for me, how lucky am I? </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Look at this building, this beautiful old cathedral. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Look at everything you do for each other, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">and for the community around us. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">What millionaire parked this stretch limousine here? </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I'm just glad </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">that you trusted me enough to let me drive for a while.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-auto;">From the bottom of my heart, thank you.</span></span></div>
Brendan O'Sullivan-Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13774318152996563754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975233758065494232.post-30692768753457167682013-02-02T09:07:00.002-08:002013-02-02T09:07:18.076-08:00Report from the Master of Acolytes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>Our Annual Meeting is coming up on February 3, and we're publishing reports as we receive them. Here's the report from the Acolyte team, submitted by Mark Gastineau.</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">The members of the acolyte teams continue to provide reverent service at the altar. The remarkable loyalty of these persons to this ministry is pleasing to me and, I am sure, to the entire congregation of All Saints. The four teams of acolytes work as units and rotate responsibilities on Sundays. When a Principal Feast falls on a weekday, ad hoc teams work together and assist the rector in providing beautiful liturgies for Christmas, Epiphany, Ash Wednesday, the Triduum, Ascension Day, All Saints’ Day, and Solemn Evensong, among others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21px;">A highlight of 2012 was the Celebration of New Ministry for Mother Suzanne in November.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;">I am constantly indebted to the persons who assist at the Wednesday evening Masses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;">I hope that other members of the parish will consider joining us. Everyone's help is vital to the parish. And serving God at the altar will give you a spiritual satisfaction that is at once beautiful and intense.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;">Please contact me if you feel the call.</span></div>
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Brendan O'Sullivan-Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13774318152996563754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975233758065494232.post-3327001881987533982013-02-02T08:50:00.003-08:002013-02-02T08:50:27.128-08:00Stewardship Report<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>Our Annual Meeting is coming up on February 3, and we're posting reports as we receive them. Here's the Stewardship Report, submitted by Brendan O'Sullivan-Hale.</i><br />
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The Stewardship Committee, composed of Amy Bailey, Rose Lane, Brendan O'Sullivan-Hale, and Mother Suzanne, is grateful to all the people who opened their homes for our season of parties. It was a great way for people to get to know each other and our new rector in an intimate setting, and is probably the most fun anyone has ever had on a pledge campaign.</div>
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We are stunned by the generous response of the congregation in supporting our church. Your faithful giving will allow All Saints to balance our budget in 2013 while expanding programs.</div>
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Brendan O'Sullivan-Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13774318152996563754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975233758065494232.post-50280788593439855942013-02-02T08:02:00.002-08:002013-02-02T08:02:20.130-08:00Junior Warden's Report<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Our Annual Meeting is coming up on February 3, and we're publishing reports as we receive them. Here's the report from the Junior Warden, submitted by Jim Tomlinson.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;">What a great year to have been your Junior warden</b><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><b>! </b><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Together we worked on the <b>"12-L</b><b>enten gifts back to the facility"</b>, a project which a number of us participated in and we were thus able to adopt various tasks. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">This project found us not only cleaning up and refurbishing different areas of the church and parish hall, but also working on new tasks such as painting, extra clean-up in the gardens, resurfacing the stair treads,</span></span></span></span> and the addition of new art work by Tim Jensen and various donors. These endeavors have met with great success and a wonderful opportunity for all of us to give back to our parish home and our beloved All Saints. It is my hope that this concept and in-house ministry will continue into 2013 and be adapted to the future needs and circumstances of the parish property.<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>We have revitalized the buildings and grounds committee; </b> please contact Robb Biddinger if you would like to contribute and/ or participate in this ministry. </span>The committee has been addressing various issues such as our heating and assisting with the repair of the wrought iron fence which surrounds the church property on 16th and Central Ave. Thank you to Robb Biddinger for his diligent assistance with these property issues. <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>We will have a few things on the horizon for 2013 to investigate and research: </b></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The windows in the parish hall on the west side of the building are in questionable condition, and need to be evaluated for repairs. </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">T</span>he signage for the church has had a number of repair band-aids over the years. It is clearly long past time to think seriously about a replacement. Signage--its appearance and ability to grab one's attention with basic information for the public is very significant in terms of evangelism and not just advertising. The condition of exterior signage as well as its design communicates to the public how an organization sees itself. The time has come for us to think beyond applying the usual 'band-aids.' Yes indeed, web sites are crucial today but the condition of signage in terms of communicating basic information of worship times, speaks volumes to the public as to who we are as a church community. </li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I am very much aware of pews that are loose and kneelers that must be tightened back up.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">If you have any thoughts or ideas you would like to share with me please feel free to contact me. </span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It has been my privilege to serve the parish community of All Saints as your Junior Warden in 2012.</span><br />
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Brendan O'Sullivan-Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13774318152996563754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975233758065494232.post-77186735999790898702013-01-29T03:30:00.000-08:002013-01-29T03:30:04.147-08:00Report from the Lectors' Guild<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>Our Annual Meeting is coming up on February 3. Continuing last year's tradition, we're publishing reports as we receive them. Here's the report from the Lectors' Guild, submitted by Brantley Alexander.</i><br />
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The ministry of the Guild is to provide lay members of our Parish the opportunity to proclaim the WORD by reading the First Lesson at Sunday Mass and Seasonal holidays such as Christmas and Easter as set aside in the Revised Common Lectionary. This is an important lay ministry that not only provides opportunities for folks from the pews to declare God’s Word to us, but also to provide us with a diverse set of voices to share God’s Word as selected from Genesis to Malachi along with texts from the Apocrypha.<br />
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<b>Current Readers:</b><br />
Brantley Alexander<br />
Don Bryant<br />
Amy Bailey<br />
Sister Ellen Carney<br />
Kristin Edmundson<br />
Mark Gastineau<br />
Barbara Geer<br />
Don Harris<br />
Brad King<br />
David Kubley<br />
Rose Lane<br />
Desiree Law<br />
Brendan O’Sullivan-Hale<br />
Helene Russell<br />
Drew Schirtzinger<br />
Herb Schlotterbeck<br />
John Thompson<br />
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Brendan O'Sullivan-Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13774318152996563754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975233758065494232.post-89505574057457102102013-01-28T17:04:00.000-08:002013-01-28T17:04:00.447-08:00Report from the Altar Guild<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>The Annual Meeting is coming up on February 3. Continuing last year's tradition, we're publishing reports as we receive them. Here's the report from the Altar Guild, submitted by Duane Palmer.</i><br />
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In 2012 the St. Catherine of Siena Altar Guild of The Episcopal Church of All Saints experienced another year of dedicated service and faithfulness by its members. An altar guild, described by some as those persons who take care of the "holy hardware", is probably a least-noticed ministry, and this is intentional. We work behind the scenes in order to provide support to the sacred ministers and in doing so create a time of worship that is seamless and well thought out. Perhaps these are lofty words, especially when it sometimes comes down to "how in the world did wax get there?" or "how did that linen end up over here?" But one of the joys that I have found over the years working on altar guilds is learning the spiritual significance of various articles, the order in which they are arranged, and how to care for them properly once they have been used in a service.<br />
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In 2013 we are looking for volunteers to join our teams. We have five teams, which means you would be serving every 5th Sunday, and of course there are always volunteer opportunities for special days that fall outside of a normal Sunday routine. If you've ever read the story of Martha and Mary in Luke 10:38-42, and felt that Martha got the raw end of the deal, perhaps you are a good fit for the altar guild.<br />
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Two things that I would ask of the general congregation, and by this I mean members, is that you return any unwanted bulletins to the west end of the nave where they can be gathered for recycling. As we at All Saints want to show our best possible appearance to visitors, I know you would like to help by returning your hymnals and BCPs to their proper slots, spine facing up. The altar guild workers have a great deal to do after Mass, and your efforts to help them mean your brothers and sisters in Christ won't have to stay longer than necessary.<br />
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On behalf of all the Altar Guild, I would like to thank the Church for all the opportunities to serve that continue to be presented to us. We hope and pray that we will continue to serve with joy and dedication in 2013 and in the years to come.<br />
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Brendan O'Sullivan-Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13774318152996563754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975233758065494232.post-9005086977851668502013-01-26T04:00:00.000-08:002013-01-26T04:00:07.196-08:00Report from the Parish Events Committee<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>The Annual Meeting is coming up on February 3. Continuing last year's tradition, we're publishing reports as we receive them. Here's the report from the Parish Events committee, submitted by Ginger Biddinger.</i><div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s2">Well 2012 was certainly a BUSY year for us! We started the year with our Mardi </span><span class="s2">Gras</span><span class="s2"> celebration in </span></span></div>
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<span class="s2">February. </span><span class="s2">Coby</span><span class="s2"> really provided us with some beautiful decorations and the parish hall looked great. Frank managed to find some little babies to be baked into the king cakes.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s2">Next was our </span><span class="s2">Maunday</span><span class="s2"> Thursday dinner during Lent. Fr. Tom and Jane </span><span class="s2">Billman</span><span class="s2"> provided lentil soup while the rest of the committee provided the olives, dates, pita etc.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We provided a” Welcome” coffee hour for Mo. Suzanne during September, and then the next weekend we had our Church picnic, with our invited guests from Holy Life.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s2">In November we assisted Jane </span><span class="s2">Billman</span><span class="s2"> with set up for Cathy Scott's Ordination. Following this we hosted a reception for Mo. </span><span class="s2">Suzanne's</span><span class="s2"> installation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s2">For December, our wonderful organist Mason came up with the idea to have caroling at the church, so cookies, cocoa and caroling were enjoyed by all who came!</span><span class="s2"> We also assisted Pat & Lance in a small celebration of Fr. </span><span class="s2">Chastain's</span><span class="s2"> 50 years of ordination.</span><a href="" name="_GoBack"></a></span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I am sure I probably managed to miss something, but 2012 was a busy year for us!</span></div>
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Brendan O'Sullivan-Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13774318152996563754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975233758065494232.post-20059999536207353152013-01-25T15:00:00.000-08:002013-01-25T15:00:04.022-08:00Report from the Endowment Committee<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>The Annual Meeting is coming up on February 3. Continuing last year's tradition, we're publishing reports as we receive them. Here is the report from the Endowment Committee, submitted by Freida Thompson.</i><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s6">The Episcopal Church of All Saints has an Endowment Fund that has reached $</span><span class="s6">384,000</span><span class="s6">. These donations are from estate planning gifts and bequeathments t</span><span class="s6">o the church. Any bequeathment </span><span class="s6">from a will that is not otherwise des</span><span class="s6">ignated for a particular fund, e.g., organ fund, building fund,</span><span class="s6"> is then placed in the All Saints Endowment Fund. The Vestry approved the The Episcopal Church of All Saints Endowment Fund Agreement on Dec. 12, 2010. This document establishes guidelines for the management of the Endowment Fund. The Diocese of Indianapolis manages and administers </span><span class="s6">the fund</span><span class="s6"> </span><span class="s6">(which also includes </span><span class="s6">other churches</span><span class="s6"> in the diocese.</span><span class="s6">)</span><span class="s6"> Financial reports on our portion come from the Diocese to the church treasurer.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s6" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The All Saints Endowment Committee will oversee the Endowment Fund.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s6">There are three parishioners on the committee. </span><span class="s6">Denton Raubenolt rotates off this year. A new member will be appointed at the Annual Meeting. </span><span class="s6">The agreement mandates that </span><span class="s6">approximately one</span><span class="s6"> half of the dividends and interest accrued for the previous year be dispersed during the current year for religious, charitable, and educational activities of the Church. The principle will remain intact until it reaches $500,000.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s7">The Endowment Committee met </span><span class="s7">Feb 12,2012</span><span class="s7"> and made the decision to</span><span class="s7">d</span><span class="s7">istribute</span><span class="s7"> $</span><span class="s7">2,500</span><span class="s7"> </span><span class="s7">from 201</span><span class="s7">1 Endowment Fund earnings.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s7">We granted: 1) Diocesan Convention - $1000</span><span class="s7"> 2)</span><span class="s7"> IYG writing program - $500</span><span class="s7"> 3) </span><span class="s7">Imagio Deo - $200</span><span class="s7"> </span><span class="s7">(not used) </span><span class="s7">4)</span><span class="s7"> Renovation of the Church Sign - $800</span><span class="s7"> </span><span class="s7">(not used). </span><span class="s7">No other committees submitted grant requests.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s7">At the </span><span class="s7">end of February 2013</span><span class="s7">, </span><span class="s7">the committee</span><span class="s7"> will </span><span class="s7">meet to distribute approximately $5,000 </span><span class="s7">from </span><span class="s7">t</span><span class="s7">he earnings </span><span class="s7">from 2012</span><span class="s7">.</span></span></div>
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Brendan O'Sullivan-Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13774318152996563754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975233758065494232.post-43069610211977298472013-01-25T04:00:00.000-08:002013-01-25T04:00:00.800-08:00Report from the Prayer Ministry<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>The Annual Meeting is coming up on February 3, and continuing the tradition established last year, we're publishing reports as we receive them. Here's the report from the Prayer Ministry, submitted by Don Bryant.</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Prayer Ministry for All Saints Episcopal Church has seen some change this year, exciting change. This group that may have been best described as successfully under organized has taken on a bit different appearance. While the ministry worked well, after some tweeking, growth has already happened. The group has nearly doubled in size since a mini workshop that was held in November. This not only involves more people but it broadens opportunity for many at All Saints to serve Christ and the church.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">With this growth there is also agreement among the prayer ministers that occasional meetings to share with one another and to pray for one another will strengthen the group and encourage growth in the spiritual practice of prayer. </span></div>
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Brendan O'Sullivan-Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13774318152996563754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975233758065494232.post-81139469738844334752013-01-24T17:34:00.001-08:002013-01-28T17:07:34.708-08:00Report from the Outreach Committee<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>The All Saints Annual Meeting is coming up, and continuing last year's tradition, we'll be posting reports as we receive them. Here's what the Outreach Committee has been up to, submitted by Patricia Griffin.</i><br />
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Significant accomplishments:<br />
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- Remaining mindful of the purpose of the committee and the Millennium goals<br />
- Great support and enthusiasm from clergy and vestry for activities<br />
- Received Endowment Funds from AS for three Outreach Projects<br />
- Promoting outreach opportunities to parishioners<br />
- Participation with several community based organizations<br />
- Raising money by organizing a yard sale that provided funding for two monetary contributions to charitable organizations, Dayspring Center, and St. Philip’s Food Pantry, and $ 600.00 to the AS Parish Events Committee<br />
- Collecting items in bins for distribution to various entities, including food and non-consumables, school supplies, socks and underwear, blankets, eyeglasses, pill bottles<br />
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Challenges in 2012:<br />
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- Selecting entities as recipients of donations due to vast needs within the community<br />
- Committing to work with other churches and organizations without over- committing<br />
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Goals for 2013:<br />
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- Continue to promote outreach activities already organized<br />
- Look to start-up something new if a gap in services is evident<br />
- Involve the entire congregation in initiating new projects, and announcing opportunities for participation<br />
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Members include: Bethel Bose, James Underwood, Jeff Hostetter, Joshua Siege, Cathy Scott, Joan Head, Jane Billman, Jesse Clark, Lance Ratliff, Mary Elise-Haug, Patricia Griffin<br />
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Brendan O'Sullivan-Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13774318152996563754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975233758065494232.post-37066901410003492812013-01-23T17:51:00.001-08:002013-01-23T17:51:33.882-08:00Report from the Knitting Committee<i>The All Saints Annual Meeting is coming up, and continuing last year's tradition, we'll be posting reports as we receive them. Here's what the Knitting Commitee has been up to, submitted by Rose Lane.</i><br /><br />The All Saints knitting group had another busy year. In addition to continuing to contribute to our supply of prayer shawls, the group agreed to knit scarves for the Red Scarf Project which is part of the Foster Care to Success program. FC2S provides assistance to college students who have grown up in the foster care system. In addition to help with school expenses, rent, clothing and other necessities, FC2S sends a Valentine’s Day care package to each student. Every care package contains a red scarf that has been knitted and donated to the project. While we neglected to count how many scarves we sent, it was a large box that filled with our work. We invited the parish to participate by donating other “goodies” for the care packages and you were very generous.<br /><br />This year’s project is to make newborn snuggle sacks for babies seen at the Rafael Health Center at 34th & Central Avenue. The clinic sends a welcome bag with each new mother when she returns for post-natal care. We are pleased that we can provide something of use for an organization that is nearly a neighbor. There are many patterns available and anyone may contribute. We would like to have our finished products blessed in November so they can be given to the Rafael Center before the end of the year. Our group’s numbers have fluctuated a lot this past year as folks have moved or become involved in other activities. Anyone is welcome to come as your are able -- you don’t have to be an experienced knitter to join us at 5:30 on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month. <br />Brendan O'Sullivan-Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13774318152996563754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975233758065494232.post-28910210571856371282012-10-01T17:21:00.002-07:002012-10-01T17:21:43.152-07:00Mother Suzanne's Sermons are Now Posted on the Website<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We're now posting Mother Suzanne's sermons on the All Saints web site. Find the most recent sermons on <a href="http://www.allsaintsindy.org/">the front page</a>, and we'll be storing the older ones in the <a href="http://www.allsaintsindy.org/archives.html">archives section</a>. We've only got two up so far, but we look forward to growing the list.<br />
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<a href="http://www.allsaintsindy.org/resources/Sermons/ProperXIX2012.doc">Proper XIX - Take up your cross and follow me</a><br />
Mother Suzanne's first Sunday sermon at All Saints reflects on the cost of discipleship and what it means to follow Jesus.<br />
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<a href="http://www.allsaintsindy.org/resources/Sermons/ProperXX2012.doc">Proper XX - Whoever wants to be great</a><br />
On the relationship between prayer and being servant of all.</div>
Brendan O'Sullivan-Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13774318152996563754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975233758065494232.post-20316892785741881082012-09-22T07:05:00.000-07:002012-09-22T07:05:16.545-07:00Parish Picnic Tomorrow, September 23<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Our parish picnic is tomorrow, September 23, immediately after Mass. Our friends from Holy Life Missionary Baptist Church will be joining us. Holy Life has recently regained access to their building for worship, and we're excited to celebrate their return to their space and our period of partnership together.<br />
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Burgers, hot dogs, and drinks will be provided by the Parish Events Committee. Here's what you should bring:<br />
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Last name A-I: Salad<br />
Last name J-R: Dessert<br />
Last name S-Z: Vegetable<br />
EVERYONE: Please bring a source of canned protein (SPAM, tuna, chicken, turkey, chili, etc) to support the food pantry at St. Philip's Episcopal Church.</div>
Brendan O'Sullivan-Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13774318152996563754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975233758065494232.post-77409990673342751332012-09-14T05:32:00.004-07:002012-09-14T05:32:39.881-07:00Bringing back the Red Letter Days<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="text-align: left;">Today is Holy Cross Day, the day our church celebrates the cross itself. Celebrating the instrument of Christ's execution is a strange thing. But we do this for the same reason we call Good Friday "good". The event is simultaneously tragic and the means by which God implements the plan of salvation.</span></div>
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It's traditional on Holy Cross Day to bring a cross or crucifix to the service to receive a blessing. Today is also Mother Suzanne's first worship service with us. We hope you can join us at 6pm tonight.</div>
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One of the things we're doing at All Saints is bringing back the observation of the r<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_letter_day">ed letter days</a>. These are the major holy days <a href="http://www.bcponline.org/General/calendar.html">identified in the Book of Common Prayer</a>, and are called red letter days because they used to be marked on calendars in red ink.</div>
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Some of these dates are familiar, some less so. Their role in the life of the church is twofold. First, it is an opportunity for us to pay special attention to the events in Christ's life and the role of those figures in the early church who perpetuated Jesus' message. Second - and this is a more modern development - they are a way that the life of the spirit breaks into the world, a reminder that God is calling to us not just on Sundays, but any day of the week. Or, as the Pet Shop Boys put it in their 1997 single, "Red Letter Day", "I'm always waiting...for something special, somehow new, someone saying, 'I love you'." The red letter days are just that.</div>
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So join us tonight, or, failing that, join us next Friday, September 21, at 6pm as we celebrate the life and work of St. Matthew, author of the Gospel bearing his name.</div>
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Brendan O'Sullivan-Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13774318152996563754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975233758065494232.post-25866074141611940142012-08-26T14:56:00.001-07:002012-08-26T14:56:20.583-07:00Giving Thanks for Our Affiliate Clergy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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From this morning's service celebrating the ministry of our affiliate clergy:</div>
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Toward the end of his Gospel, St. John the Evangelist recounts the following exchange between Jesus and Peter:</div>
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When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs." A second time he said to him, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep." He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, Feed my sheep."</blockquote>
For many years and especially the last three years, Father Tom Honderich, Father Dan Billman, and Father Michael Stichweh have embodied the Christian service Jesus lays upon Peter. As Christian people, we require spiritual sustenance in the form of regular worship and receiving Holy Communion. these three men, tirelessly and without complaint, have served at mass on Sundays and Wednesday, have faithfully preached the Gospel, and have been with many of us individually during our time of need. Truly they have fed Jesus' flock, and they are an example to us of our own calling to selfless service to God.<br />
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Now seems an appropriate time to recognize the gifts Tom, Dan and Michael have given us. We now eagerly anticipate the arrival of our new rector in a few short weeks. Tom, Dan, and Michael will then take a well-deserved break for a few months. This is not a goodbye, just an acknowledgment for a hard job well done. Let's stand up and show Tom, Dan and Michael how much we appreciate them with a round of applause.<br />
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Tom, Dan, and Michael, you have generously given this congregation great gifts of time, love, and service. We hope in some small way to repay your generosity with our gift to you. We celebrate the holy days of this church by using a special wine, Six Grapes Port. From this congregation, I present to each of you a bottle of this port. Whenever you drink it, remember the love the congregation of All Saints has for each of you.<br />
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<i>- Brendan O'Sullivan-Hale, August 26, 2012</i><br />
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<b>Prayer:</b> Almighty God, we praise and bless you for the ministry of Father Dan, Father Tom, and Father Michael, whom you have sent in the power of the Spirit to lead our worship and to preach the Gospel in this place. We thank you that a community of love has been gathered together by their prayers and labors, and we ask your blessing on them today and always; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be all glory and honor, world without end. Amen.</div>
Brendan O'Sullivan-Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13774318152996563754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975233758065494232.post-49619519326134136742012-08-06T15:39:00.000-07:002012-08-06T15:39:10.919-07:00A Letter from Mother Suzanne Wille<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>The letter below from Mother Suzanne Wille, who will soon be joining us as our rector, was sent to the all people on the All Saints mailing list today.</i><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The Feast of the Transfiguration 2012</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Dear Friends,</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Today we celebrate the moment when Jesus revealed his divine nature to Peter, John, and James; his face shining like the sun, his clothes dazzling white, Jesus was joined by Moses and Elijah on the mountaintop, as the voice of God the Father declared, “This is my Beloved Son; listen to him.” In that moment, the earthly veil was drawn aside, allowing the disciples a glimpse of the divine. Peter declares they ought to build tents so that Jesus, Moses, and Elijah can stay put; when the Father speaks, they are terrified. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The disciples’ reactions are understandable. It is tempting to try to domesticate our wild, surprising God, and it is understandable to feel terror when standing on holy ground, but, friends, I believe God is on the move in our lives and that we are about to enter some holy territory together. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">What All Saints has been up to and continues to live inspires me; from the moment my spouse Tracey found your profile online and told me I “had” to take a look, I knew that God was calling me to join you so that, together, we could worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness and further grow your amazing tradition of radical welcome. Not only am I eager to join you, but I am also eager to share with you my love of Anglo-Catholic liturgy, experience in developing programs of Gospel-based outreach and radical welcome, and passion and skills in church growth—in numbers, in spiritual depth, and as disciples of Christ. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In many ways this is a return for me. When I left IU Bloomington with a master’s degree in 1996, I never imagined that I would return to Indiana, at least not until your search committee and vestry bowled me over with their warmth, faithfulness, and honesty. All that you have done and are doing made me believe that All Saints is a parish where I would “fit” as a priest; my sense was confirmed in the last half hour of our two-day interview. As the last dinner was ending, one of the search committee members looked at me earnestly and said, “I have one more question.” I held my breath because I could tell it was important, and I hoped to have enough brain power left to answer well. He then asked, “Do you think you could love us?” Tears filled my eyes, the molecules in the room shifted, the faces around the table shone like the sun, and I was standing on holy ground. I took a deep breath and answered: “Yes.”</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We are entering holy ground, friends, as we get to know one another while we worship and pray, serve and play together. I dream that we will grow in many ways together—that more people will join us, we will deepen in our relationship with God, and we will engage with the neighborhood and the city as a holy place of hope and welcome. But before any of that, during all of it, my greatest hope is that we allow ourselves to be transformed by our wild God, that we allow ourselves to shine like the sun, and that we love God and one another. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I can hardly wait until we get started together in September!</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Faithfully, Mother Suzanne+</span></span><br />
</div>Brendan O'Sullivan-Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13774318152996563754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975233758065494232.post-35846151470726367942012-07-17T19:27:00.001-07:002012-07-17T19:27:10.306-07:00Results from the All Saints Yard Sale<br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=12/07/17/4110.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/12/07/17/s_4110.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />Saturday's yard sale was a big success. We raised approximately $1200, which will be divided among the Parish Events Committee, the Dayspring Center, the Tinker Street Initiative, and Holy Life Missionary Baptist Church (the congregation worshipping in our parish hall while they recover from the recent fire).<br /><br />Thanks to all the volunteers who came out on Saturday and to the donors who provided inventory. And special thanks to our fearless coordinators, Patricia Griffin and Lance Ratliff.<br />Brendan O'Sullivan-Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13774318152996563754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975233758065494232.post-72163953606536236472012-07-16T16:07:00.003-07:002012-07-16T16:07:47.769-07:00Amy Bailey Preaches on the Beheading of John the Baptist<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yesterday Amy Bailey did a wonderful job taking the story of the beheading of John the Baptist and finding the resurrection narrative in it. If you missed it, or just wanted to read it again, Amy has graciously allowed us to reproduce her sermon below.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">The readings for this Sunday were: Amos 7:7-15, Ps. 85:8-13, Eph. 1:3-14, Mark 6:14-29</span></i></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.006751163396984339" style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A few weeks ago I got an e-mail from Mark and Father Tom inviting me to choose one of several available Sundays in the preaching rotation here at All Saints. They knew I was looking forward to an opportunity to preach, and I have been, and so I chose this Sunday, and then I looked up the Gospel reading for today, and realized that it was about a Baptist preacher who preached an unwelcome message and was subsequently imprisoned and (gulp) beheaded. </span></span></b></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.006751163396984339" style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This story of a birthday dinner party for the rich, famous and powerful, featuring entertainment by the host’s “princess” of a daughter, concluding with a vengeance plot against the personal enemy of the host’s wife – sound like nothing so much as an episode of 21st century reality TV. The marriage of Herod and Herodias, his half-brother’s wife, comes to you courtesy of Jerry Springer. Herodias’ plan to do away with the man who dissed her husband is straight out of “Real Housewives of Ancient Galilee.” And the lurid finish to the evening (and to John the Baptist), following on the heels of some delightful choreography by the house’s young daughter, may be the next episode of “Dance Moms.” </span></span></b></div>
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<a name='more'></a><b id="internal-source-marker_0.006751163396984339" style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b><br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John the Baptist was a larger-than-life character from before his birth. Luke’s Gospel tells the story of Mary, the mother of Jesus paying a visit to her cousin Elizabeth, John’s mother. Both women were pregnant at the time, and when they met face to face, John leapt in his mother’s womb, recognizing the Messiah in utero. The next time we see John, he’s wearing his wilderness prophet garb and eating his prophetic diet of locusts and honey. He fills the role of prophet well, calling the people of ancient Palestine to repent of their sins and undergo baptism as a sign of their cleansing. John attracted a fair number of followers as he preached, enough that Herod was worried about the group fomenting a rebellion, which would have gotten him in big trouble with his puppet masters, the Roman Empire. The first-century historian Josephus writes that this is probably why Herod ordered John’s execution. </span></span></b></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No matter whether Josephus’ account or Mark’s account of John’s death was true, it sets our 21st century teeth on edge to read about an innocent (not to mention righteous and holy) man assassinated for political reasons. As a prophet of Yahweh, however, John probably didn’t expect an easy life. The whole tradition of Hebrew prophets told of men and women called and empowered by God to raise their voices and speak God’s Word. And in nearly every case, there were powerful people who were threatened, angered, and upset by God’s Word. </span></span></b></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This morning’s Old Testament reading is a case in point. The prophet Amos lived during the time of the Divided Kingdom – after the death of King Solomon, when Israel’s power and glory under King David were just a memory. Amos lived in the southern kingdom of Judah, but was called by God to prophesy in the northern kingdom of Israel. Jeroboam was the king in Israel, and he was not ruling the people in a way that honored Yahweh. Amos preached against Jeroboam, and against the people and priests of Israel. This irked the “priest-in-charge” in Israel, Amaziah, so he made up a story about Amos, that he was “conspiring against the king,” and took it to King Jeroboam. Then he turned his anger on Amos himself. I love Amos’ response. He basically says, “Look, no one in my family is a prophet. I’m not claiming to be a prophet. But God told me to prophesy, so I’m gonna prophesy!” </span></span></b></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Prophets were one of the ways that God sought to draw Israel back into their covenant relationship with him. And while the Old Testament prophets often spoke of God’s wrath and vengeance, they also described God’s love and tenderness for Israel, God’s yearning for them to be in right relationship with him once again. John the Baptist was a card-carrying member of the prophet’s union, and God had given him a very special Word to speak. John’s father Zechariah explained his job description like this: “You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, to give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.” </span></span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John took his job seriously, even preaching to King Herod himself. Overall, Herod was favorably impressed with the prophet, and considered him a righteous and holy man. The Galilean ruler fit well into the long line of rulers that did not rule God’s people according to God’s ways. He was fascinated by John’s preaching, but found it “perplexing,” as well. Perhaps he was drawn in by John’s directness and passion for the message he preached, but puzzled when it came to thinking of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">himself </span><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as someone who needed to repent. “He doesn’t mean me, does he?” When Herod returned from a visit to his half-brother with his half-brother’s wife, the Baptist’s message became pointedly personal: “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” Herod’s new wife Herodias was neither fascinated nor perplexed. She was enraged and wanted to kill John. But Herod protected John, even though he had spoken directly against Herod in a way that could be very damaging to his image among the Jews. Maybe Herod was still on the fence – trying to decide if he would allow God’s Word, spoken by God’s prophet, to have authority in his life. </span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mark’s narrative about the death of John the Baptist purposely calls up the story of another prophet, the “Superman” of Jewish prophets, Elijah. Elijah also found himself in hot water with a temperamental queen, and many of Mark’s readers would recognize this allusion. If this morning’s gospel isn’t enough dysfunction for you, you can read the story of Elijah, King Ahab and Jezebel in I Kings when you get home. Jewish tradition held that Elijah was the forerunner of the Messiah – God’s chosen king who would rescue Israel from all her military and political enemies. In fact, earlier in Mark’s story, we learn that some people were saying that </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jesus </span><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">was Elijah. But by evoking this tradition in his story of John the Baptist’s death, Mark was signaling his readers that Jesus was the real deal -- the long-awaited Messiah. And in narrating John the Baptist’s imprisonment and execution by the political powers of the day, he also signaled what was in store for Jesus at the hands of those powers. </span></b></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mark also purposely places the story of John’s death in the midst of stories of Jesus’ growing ministry in Galilee, and by doing so, tells his readers something about the nature of God’s kingdom, and something about the nature of human kingdoms. Jesus’ ministry is itself a foreshadowing – an embodied and enacted prophecy of God’s reign. The contrast between the kingdom of Herod and the kingdom of God is a vivid one: In Mark 5, a woman turns to Jesus, is healed of her hemorrhage, and regains her place in community; a father, crazed with grief, watches in awe as Jesus restores his young daughter to him from her deathbed. In the story of John’s death, a woman uses her daughter to manipulate the political power she needs to commit murder. In chapter 6, Jesus gathers his working class disciples and sends them out to continue his work of healing and anointing the sick and casting out demons. He instructs them to take no provisions of food, money, or even a change of clothes, instead relying on </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">God’s</span><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> provision. In the palace, Herod gathers the wealthy and powerful, seeking their support to prop up his tenuous rule, currying favor with an invitation to witness the riches and splendor of his rule. When the disciples return from their mission, Jesus tries to take them away for a quiet retreat, but ends up instead hosting a picnic for several thousand of Galilee’s least and poorest and powerless. He gives thanks for the simple meal, breaks the bread and fish, and feeds everyone there, nourishing their bodies and spirits. In the palace, the celebration banquet features tables groaning with savory dishes and cups overflowing with wine, and for dessert, a platter bearing revenge, corruption, and death.</span></span></b></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thus ends the larger-than-life life of John the Baptist. The call of God to speak God’s Word of righteousness and repentance upset the balance of power in John’s world. John did not seek out conflict, did not measure his faithfulness by how many people he had offended. Neither did he shrink from speaking truth to power when the Spirit led him to do so. The call to prophesy is a tricky thing, and often involves telling people and institutions things they don’t want to hear. But underlying this difficult speech is the impulse behind it – God’s desire to draw humanity into right relationship.</span></span></b></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This week the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Indianapolis raised a prophetic voice, speaking God’s radical Word of inclusive love into a society of division and incivility and fear. I was following a couple of Convention blogs, and read some “blowback” by one Episcopalian which was probably echoed by more: “That’s just what we need to draw young families into our churches. I can’t wait to get home and throw the doors open and wait for the crowds to arrive.” One way we could understand this response and responses like it is that it’s a response like Herodias’ when the Word of God threatened her status quo. A response of fear and anger. Prophetic speech and actions almost always get blowback, and it’s unpleasant and hurtful and sometimes ev<span style="font-family: inherit;">en hostile. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the face of this reality, let us remember that God </span><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">calls prophets to speak God’s Word to prepare the Way for the Living Word, Jesus Christ. Each person who hears the Word must wrestle with how much authority they will allow it to have in their life. </span></span></b></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now I invite you to join me in a reading from the Book of Common Prayer, p. 93. As we read these words that link us to John the Baptist, think about the prophets God has raised up in your life, and give thanks. We’ll begin with the words, “You, my child.”</span></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style'; text-align: -webkit-auto;">You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, * </span><br style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style'; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style'; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, </span><br style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style'; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style'; text-align: -webkit-auto;">To give his people knowledge of salvation * </span><br style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style'; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style'; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> by the forgiveness of their sins. </span><br style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style'; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style'; text-align: -webkit-auto;">In the tender compassion of our God * </span><br style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style'; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style'; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> the dawn from on high shall break upon us, </span><br style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style'; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style'; text-align: -webkit-auto;">To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the </span><br style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style'; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style'; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> shadow of death, * </span><br style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style'; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style'; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> and to guide our feet into the way of peace.</span>
</div>Brendan O'Sullivan-Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13774318152996563754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975233758065494232.post-31605057102814332252012-07-03T16:44:00.003-07:002012-07-03T16:44:48.997-07:00Fun things to do at General Convention<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So General Convention, the triennial gathering of the entire Episcopal Church is in town. Preliminary work is already under way, but things really get going Thursday, July 5, and run through July 12. Most events take place at the convention center or the JW Marriott. What's an All Saints member without an official role to do?<br />
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<li><strong>Worship</strong>. Starting Thursday, there will be a community mass every day at 9:30am in the JW Marriott. On July 12, mass will be at 11:30. Note that on Sunday All Saints will cancel its 10am mass; we encourage you to go to the General Convention mass instead. You do not need to register as a visitor to attend any worship service.</li>
<li><strong>Celebrate: </strong>The mass on Sunday, July 8 is a huge festive gathering. We are excited that All Saints will be participating as a host to the delegations from our diocesan partners, Bor and Brasilia, thanks to a grant from the All Saints endowment. Contact Patricia Griffin for details on how to be seated with our guests at the Sunday mass. Also, at the Indiana Day celebration at Victory Field immediately following the mass, stop by the hospitality suite for our guests between 3-5pm. All Saints is sponsoring refreshments for the reception.</li>
<li><strong>Observe the legislative sessions. </strong>All sessions of the House of Deputies and most sessions of the House of Bishops are open to visitors. You can find the legislative calendar on the <a href="http://www.generalconvention.org/">General Convention website.</a></li>
<li><strong>Check out the exhibit hall. </strong>Exhibitors from dozens of organizations within the Episcopal Church and other religious organizations will be at the convention. Our own Brother Francis Jonathan Bullock and his compatriots will be there -- stop by and say hi!</li>
<li>A daypass for visitors costs $20. But volunteers get in free on the day of their shift. <strong>Volunteering </strong>is a great way to meet others in the diocese and around the country. <a href="https://2012gcec.theregistrationsystem.com/en/949">Volunteer here.</a></li>
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There are some unofficial events worth mentioning. This is by no means an exhaustive list. You do not need to register as a visitor to attend any of these events.<br />
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<li><a href="http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/faith_and_politics/solidarity_rally_with_hyatt_wo.html">Solidarity rally and march with Hyatt workers.</a> The Hyatt and other hotels in Indianapolis routinely hire temporary workers to clean rooms to avoid paying benefits. But maids who work as temporary workers are then blacklisted by the Hyatt as ineligible to be hired on full time. Whatever the human resources merits of the policy, the policy violates Christian ethics. <strong>The rally will begin on the steps of the State House on Thursday, July 5 at 4pm,</strong> and will march to the Hyatt from there. The rally will conclude at 6pm. E-mail Dianne Aid at <a href="mailto:sanmateo921@yahoo.com">sanmateo921@yahoo.com</a> for more information.</li>
<li> <a href="http://goodandjoyfulthing.blogspot.com/2012/06/acts-8-moment-call-to-prayer-and-action.html">Acts 8 Gathering for Prayer and Action.</a> Bloggers Susan Brown Snook, Scott Gunn, and Tom Ferguson are hosting a visioning gathering for anyone who cares to attend. The budget and church structure are very hot topics at this year's convention. This gets into very wonky territory. But these folks are trying to do some visioning for what the future structure of the church might look like, understanding that how a church spends its money tells you a lot about its theology. Young people are especially encouraged to attend. <strong>Thursday, July 5 at 9:30pm. Capitol II Room at the Westin.</strong></li>
<li><a href="https://www.google.com/calendar/render?eid=Z21zYmZhcjNhZjBqb21ybXF2cWxmdmkxbHMgMnU1Zms2bDl1b29tN2Q0OGRobXZrMjNoODBAZw&pli=1&sf=true&output=xml">Integrity Reception and Mass.</a> For many participants at General Convention, the Integrity mass is one of the most inspiring and memorable events. Bishop Mary Glasspool will preside; Bishop Gene Robinson will preach. <strong>Monday, July 9 at 8:30pm, Sagamore Ballroom at the Indiana Convention Center</strong>. The mass will be preceded by a reception honoring Louie Crew, Integrity's founder, starting at 7pm, outside the Sagamore Ballroom.</li>
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</div>Brendan O'Sullivan-Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13774318152996563754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975233758065494232.post-65696443044290316902012-07-02T17:05:00.003-07:002012-07-02T17:05:29.001-07:00Upcoming Service Cancellations<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Due to the Independence Day holiday, there will be no 6:00 mass on Wednesday, July 4. Have a safe and happy holiday!<br />
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All Saints will cancel its 10am mass on Sunday, July 8. Please attend mass at the General Convention instead. It is located at the JW Marriott at 9:30am. Members are encouraged to carpool - arrive at All Saints by 8:30 on Sunday morning and we'll arrange rides down.<br />
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The 8am mass on Sunday will proceed as usual.</div>Brendan O'Sullivan-Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13774318152996563754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975233758065494232.post-88446158379144094992012-07-02T05:00:00.000-07:002012-07-02T07:11:35.902-07:00All Saints Calls Mother Suzanne Wille as Rector<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A joint message from the Vestry and the Search Committee:
Earlier this month, after a year of deliberation, the Search Committee unanimously recommended to the Vestry a candidate for our open rector position. The Vestry voted unanimously to issue a call. We are pleased, proud and excited to announce that the Reverend E. Suzanne Wille (pronounced 'Willy') has accepted the call and will become the next Rector of All Saints.
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Mother Suzanne was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She graduated <i>summa cum laude</i> and Phi Beta Kappa from Raldolph-Macon Woman's College in 1992. She received a Master of Arts in English degree from Indiana University in 1996. She taught English in a Catholic high school for girls in Chicago for ten years before discerning her call to the ordained ministry.
She received her Master of Divinity degree and the E. William Muehl Prize in Preaching from the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University in 2009. While a seminarian intern at St. Paul’s, Norwalk, famous for its “smells and bells” and its theology of Radical Welcome, she came to love Anglo-Catholic liturgy, to long for worship that was timeless, steeped in beauty and mystery. Mother Suzanne is currently serving as an Interim Pastor at <a href="http://www.christchurch.org/">Christ Church in Warwick, New York</a>.
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When we met Mother Suzanne, we had the opportunity to share a Solemn Mass with her as Presider and Preacher. The Search Committee and Vestry were all impressed with her attention to the liturgy and her preaching, and we are confident that you will be as well. She subscribes to the progressive Anglo-Catholicism that we try to exercise at All Saints. She is passionate about social justice, outreach and stewardship. Mother Suzanne enjoys knitting, running, and reading novels (often Victorian or 20th century British).
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Mother Suzanne and Tracey Lemon, her partner of twelve years, were married in New York state earlier this year. They will be relocating to Indianapolis later this summer, and Mother Suzanne will assume her duties as Rector on or about September 12. Her first mass will be a celebration of the Feast of the Holy Cross on Friday, September 14 at 6pm, and her first Sunday mass will be on Sunday, September 16 at 10am.
</div>Brendan O'Sullivan-Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13774318152996563754noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4975233758065494232.post-23841409471563840642012-06-30T06:35:00.000-07:002012-06-30T06:35:05.729-07:00A Prayer for RainDespite the occasional thunderstorm, much of Indiana remains in drought. Page 828 of the Book of Common Prayer includes a prayer for rain:
<blockquote>O God, heavenly Father, who by your Son Jesus Christ has promised to all those who seek your kingdom and it's righteousness all things necessary to sustain their life: send us, we entreat you, in this time of need, such moderate rain and showers, that we may receive the fruits of the earth, to our comfort and your honor; through Jesus Christ our Lord. <i>Amen.</i></blockquote>
Today's Psalm for Morning Prayer illustrates God's practice of desertification and renewal.
<blockquote>The Lord changed the rivers into deserts, and water-springs into thirsty ground, a fruitful land into salt flats, because of the wickedness of those who dwell there.
He changed deserts into pools of water and dry land into water-springs.
He settled the hungry there, and they founded a city to dwell in.
<i>Ps. 107:33-36</i></blockquote>
We interpret weather patterns as a message from God at our peril. But we see here a promise of water for those who thirst. A spiritual interpretation may be easier to swallow than a literal one. Still, we say that God can do "infinitely more than we can ask or imagine" (<i>Eph. 3:20</i>). We could do worse than to ask and imagine rain.Brendan O'Sullivan-Halehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13774318152996563754noreply@blogger.com0