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Block Print by Mike Newman
Projects
Link to the reports from Jan 15 Annual Meeting
3-Minute Retreats invite you to take a short prayer break right at your computer. Spend some quiet time reflecting on a Scripture passage.
Knowing that not everyone prays at the same pace, you have control over the pace of the retreat. After each screen, a Continue button will appear. Click it when you are ready to move on. If you are new to online prayer, the basic timing of the screens will guide you through the experience.
Daily meditations in words and music.
Your daily prayer online, since 1999
"We invite you to make a ‘Sacred Space’ in your day, praying here and now, as you visit our website, with the help of scripture chosen every day and on-screen guidance."
Saints of the Week, July 30 – Aug. 6
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30
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William Wilberforce, 1833, [and Anthony Ashley Cooper, Lord Shaftesbury, 1885, Prophetic Witnesses] |
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31
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Ignatius of Loyola, Priest and Monastic, 1556 |
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1
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Joseph of Arimathaea |
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2
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[Samuel Ferguson, Bishop for West Africa, 1916] |
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3
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[George Freeman Bragg, Jr., Priest, 1940]; also [William Edward Burghardt DuBois, Sociologist, 1963] |
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4
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5
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[Albrecht Dürer, 1528, Matthias Grünewald, 1529, and Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1553, Artists] |
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6
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The Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ |
July 30, 2017 – Pentecost 8
The Rev. Amy Turner was our guest preacher this week on Romans. She was a classmate of Catherine’s in seminary and of course helped to develop "Godly Play" over a two year stay here.
July 30 was a beautiful Sunday with mild temperatures in abundant sunshine and a great Sunday to celebrate the Muhly’s 24th wedding anniversary!
We encouraged parishioners to take advantage of the Va. Sales Tax holiday, Aug.4-6 to buy school supplies for our August Village Harvest distribution.
A children’s sermon on the Mustard Seed from the Gospel reading with real mustard seeds from the Middle East. God’s Kingdom will grow from small beginnings as with the mustard seed to significant size.
The Week Ahead…
Aug. 2 – 10am – Ecumenical Bible Study
Aug. 2 – 5:00pm -6:30pm – Village Dinner
Aug. 4 – 6 Va. Sales Tax Holiday – gather school supplies for the Village Harvest in August
Aug. 6 – 11:00am – Holy Eucharist, Rite II
First Sunday Social is cancelled
Sunday, August 6, Readings and Servers
Ecumenical Bible Study will be meeting in August
Donate School Supplies for students – distributed with the Village Harvest on August 16
We are gathering school supplies this month in conjunction with the Virginia Sales Tax holiday which is from Friday, Aug. 4 through Sunday, Aug. 6. The supplies will be distributed with the Village Harvest on Wed., Aug 16.
What items are eligible?
• School supplies, clothing, and footwear
o Qualified school supplies – $20 or less per item
o Qualified clothing and footwear – $100 or less per item
“School supply,” means an item that is commonly used by a student in a course of study. For purposes of the sales tax holiday, the term does not include computers and such items may not be purchased exempt of the tax.
Caroline County School Lists -Each elementary school has a list
•Caroline Middle
•Bowling Green Elementary
•Lewis & Clark Elementary
•Madison Elementary
•Middle School
Here’s a more generic list:
| Agenda Book/ Planner | Pens – Blue |
|---|---|
| Binders 1" | Pens – Red |
| Broad Tip Markers | Pocket Dictionary |
| Crayons | Pocket Folders |
| Duo-Tangs | Ruler |
| Eraser – Pink | Scissors -Pair of Fiskar Scissors |
| Glue Sticks | Stapler /Stapler remover |
| Highlighter Pens | Subject Dividers |
| Lined Paper | Thesaurus |
| Paper – Plain | Tissues- Box |
| Pencil Case | Washable Felt Markers |
| Pencil Sharpener | Wide Ruled Loose Leaf Paper |
| Pencils #2 | Wide Ruled Spiral Bound Notebooks |
Please leave on the back row of the church. Thanks!
Food for the Village Harvest on August 16
Please choose between cereal, grits and oatmeal. Bring them to the church to the back pew. Thank you for your contributions. It brings everyone who contributes into this ministry whether you are at the distribution or not.
Art Day with Bishop Goff, Aug 26
Saturday, August 26
9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Roslyn Retreat Center, Richmond
Come enjoy the day with Bishop Goff and become co-creators with God!
Join Bishop Goff for a day of creativity at Roslyn Retreat Center. No art experience required. Cost is $35 per person. Space is limited. Call 800.477.6296 to reserve your spot. Click here for additional information
Lectionary, August 6, 2017, The Transfiguration
I. Theme – How we can be empowered by our relationship with God
“ The Transfiguration ” – Fra Angelico (1440-1442)
“About eight days after Peter had acknowledged Jesus as the Christ of God, Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.” –Luke 9:28:29
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
Old Testament – Exodus 34:29-35
Psalm – Psalm 99
Epistle – 2 Peter 1:13-21
Gospel – Luke 9:28-36
Today’s readings help us see how we can be empowered by our relationship to God. The Gospels speak about experiences with God and Jesus. In Exodus, we witness the physical transformation of Moses after spending time in God’s presence. In the gospel, Jesus is transformed, his glory revealed and his mission affirmed by a voice from heaven. Ultimately the disciples will need transformation also.
This story comes at the center of Luke’s story, between Jesus’ baptism and his resurrection.
Luke’s account of the transfiguration points back to Old Testament parallels and forward to Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension. As is such it brings in a new dimension of Jesus and a new relationship that the disciples would have with him. Their experience so far has been of Jesus the teacher, the healer, the miracle-worker. Now they are seeing a new vision of Jesus, a new understanding of him as the Christ – as one who would venture to Jerusalem , be killed but then resurrected .
They are still not on board. Peter, however, still wants to avoid the difficulty of the journey to Jerusalem and its ultimate consequences. The mission of Jesus is not about worshipping at shrines or even the practice of religion. The mission of Jesus is about death and resurrection.
The disciples found the journey in the beginning was easier—they left everything to follow him, and to follow meant to learn his teachings and to live his ways. But now the journey will become much harder
Even faithful Christians wonder if God is absent at times, or busy somewhere else. Massive evil, brutal violence and rampant greed seem to smother any slight glimmers of spirituality. Luke’s audience may have had similar concerns, so he stresses for them the necessity of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem and eventual passion there. The transfiguration offers the disciples an experience of hope and confidence that will sustain them while they wait for Jesus to return.
As Christ laid down his life for us, so we are called to give of our life to him, to give up being first, to give up our wants and desires to serve others. And like Christ, we will be called to give all for the sake of God’s love of the world. How do we live this transfiguration in our lives? How do we share what our faith means to us? It is more than a conversation that can be controversial. This is our very lives. Do we let it shine, or do we hold it back? Do we still misunderstand? How will you live out your faith differently this Lenten season?
World War I Poetry- A Moveable Feast
We try to understand war through memorials, the written word and art among other mediums. In particular, poetry flourished in this war among young soldiers. World War I saw a number of fine poets on the battlefields emerge. Here are sites that discuss these contributions:
1. The Lost Poets
2. Hanover History Dept
3. War Poetry website
4. The Digital archive
5. British War Poetry
The most famous World War I poem is "In Flanders Fields"
In Flanders Fields
"In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
"We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
"Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields."
-John McCrae
McCrae was a Canadian physician and fought on the Western Front in 1914, but was then transferred to the medical corps and assigned to a hospital in France. He was asked to conduct the burial service for Alexis Helmer, a friend, because the chaplain had been called away somewhere else on duty that evening. It is believed that later that evening, after the burial, John began the draft for his now famous poem “In Flanders Fields”.
McCrae died of pneumonia while on active duty in 1918. His volume of poetry, In Flanders Fields and Other Poems, was published in 1919.
The influence of the war poets continued beyond their time.
In 1962, Benjamin Britten wrote his "War Requiem" for the consecration of the rebuilt Coventry Cathedral destroyed in World War II. However, it was dedicated to four friends he lost in World War I. For his text he used 9 poems of World War I poet Wilfred Owen interspersed with the Latin Mass for the Dead. Here is his use of an Owen poem "The Next War" :
"Out there, we’ve walked quite friendly up to Death, —
Sat down and eaten with him, cool and bland, —
Pardoned his spilling mess-tins in our hand.
We’ve sniffed the green thick odour of his breath, —
Our eyes wept, but our courage didn’t writhe.
He’s spat at us with bullets and he’s coughed
Shrapnel. We chorussed when he sang aloft,
We whistled while he shaved us with his scythe.
"Oh, Death was never enemy of ours!
We laughed at him, we leagued with him, old chum.
No soldier’s paid to kick against His powers.
We laughed, — knowing that better men would come,
And greater wars: when each proud fighter brags
He wars on Death, for lives; not men, for flags."
Owen died at just 25.
We are still looking back in this era. In 2009, Mark Knopfler, the former front man for the British Band Dire Straits, released a song called "Remembrance Day". Remembrance Day is the English equivalent of Veterans’ Day.
Here is a part of this moving song:
"Time has slipped away
The summer sky to autumn yields
A haze of smoke across the fields
Let’s sup and fight another round
And walk the stubbled ground
"When November brings
The poppies on remembrance day
When the vicar comes to say
Lest we forget our sons
"We will remember them
Remember them
Remember them"
Check out the video with pictures from the time. Here are the complete lyrics.