The Emmanuel Way
Ledford House work goes on to “polish the apple” for its use as an Education Building. See more pictures on Page 6.
A monthly publication of Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Greenwood, Virginia September
2014
Rector’s Reflections
The Rev. Christopher M. Garcia Rector
If you think that the past summer has been a sleepy time at Emmanuel, you are sadly mistaken! Yes, many of us have had times of rest and relaxation. Yes, there have been weeks when next to nobody has been in the office. But oh, my – what a busy, busy summer this has been, and what great things God has in store for us in the year ahead! We welcomed fifty energetic young children during June for Camp Emmanuel. During the morning, they learned about the love of God in a Vacation Bible School program called Aslan is on the Move, based on the allegorically Christian novel by C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. During the afternoons,
many of these young people stayed with us to enjoy local outings and other camp activities. Dozens of volunteers helped out, from young teens to adults – many, many more than the faithful few who turn out for our Sunday School and youth programs week in and week out. The buzz continued as we moved down the hill to Ledford House. You won’t recognize the place! For many years, we have used Ledford House for a variety of purposes. Most recently the upper floor has been a rental property, but our last tenants moved out in April 2013. Our youth group has been meeting in the basement, and last spring they began to clean up, haul out old furniture, paint, and bring their space back to life. Under the leadership of our wardens, we carried this transformation to the upper floor of
Ledford House. A steady parade of volunteers have ripped up old carpet, cleaned, hauled out old furniture and abandoned junk, cleaned, patched walls, scrubbed, sanded, cleaned, painted, installed new lights and fans, cleaned, trimmed bushes and shrubs, and planted new flowers and greenery, and cleaned some more. Hundreds of volunteer hours have made the place sparkle again. We will use Ledford House for adult education break out space, more youth programs, and small group meetings. This fresh, repurposed space in Ledford House frees us up room in Marston-LaRue house for more Sunday School classes for younger children. You will notice a few adjustments to our 9 a.m. Holy Eucharist services, after Labor Day when we go back to two worship services on Sunday mornings. These adjustments will help us end the 9 a.m.
2 service punctually before 10 a.m., so that we can use more of the 10 a.m. hour more predictably for Sunday School, youth group, and adult education offerings. Our Adult Education committee has been hard at work planning interesting, participative Christian formation offerings for adults. On most Sundays this year, adults will be able to select from several different offerings on Sundays at 10 a.m. – from discussion-based coffee house table groups, to Bible study, to mission, outreach, parenting and grand parenting classes, discipleship, and more. Many of these break-out sessions will be offered in Ledford House – come and be part of this! Your vestry and staff have been busy behind the scenes, too. Joe Schinstock had to step down from vestry and as Junior Warden due to his work travel schedule. We are grateful for Joe’s leadership and service and we will miss his infectious humor at vestry meetings. The vestry elected George Lindroth to serve as Junior Warden and Pete Aagaard to serve out the rest of Joe’s vestry term. The building and grounds committee is replacing the erratic, old boiler that has heated the church for the past several decades with a more reliable, efficient model. Kathleen Capshaw, Kris Bourque, and the communications committee have been busy, too: watch the Crozet Gazette for a new monthly print advertisement inviting our neighbors to join us at Emmanuel. You’ll notice new staff emails, such as the following example
[email protected]: a consistent pattern of e-mail addresses, on our own e-mail domain, makes it easier for both parishioners and others to reach us easily and predictably. All of this summer busyness serves but one end: to help us know Christ and live Christ: we live in Christ and seek to do His work from this place. Buildings, advertisements, and e-mails are simply the tools we use to do God’s work in this place. The true riches of Emmanuel are your voices raised in praise to God, Sunday after Sunday. The true riches of Emmanuel are the young people who learn why the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ are the
The Emmanuel Way Good News for them and for all the world. The true riches of Emmanuel are both the long-time members and the newcomers who hear God’s word clearly proclaimed here, feel the welcome and friendliness that is Emmanuel Church and taste and see God’s goodness.
Rev. Stacy’s Message
September, 2014 that is found in intellectual, liturgical, and historical ethos of the Episcopal Church. People of all ages have existential questions. Christian Formation is Life-long – there is no graduation or terminal degree. Christian Formation should be lifewide – offering many entry points that connect life events to the Christian journey. I challenge everyone to attend at least one of these new offerings. They will give you an opportunity to be in closer relationship with God, your fellow parishioners, and yourself.
Sunday Morning Offerings for Adults
The Rev. Stacy Williams-Duncan I am pleased to report in the next few articles, some of our intergenerational and adult Christian Formation offerings for this fall. Our church is committed to supporting Christians of all ages as they learn to love God with all their heart, mind, and soul and to love and serve others. These principles are the foundation of the programs we offer. The opportunity to be part of a community that will support your relationship with God – Creator, Christ, Sustainer – is the Church’s most valuable offering. Christian Formation, which is more than education, happens through learning, worship, service, and fellowship. We are committed to sharing the unique approach to Christianity 2
Most Sundays, we will be offering more than one adult formation class and Café Emmanuel. These three BIG questions guide the courses offered on Sundays: Why should you read the Bible? What does it mean to be a Church? How do we live as Christians? Each class will last 2-4 weeks and focus on the different ways we can answer these questions. The classes coming soon are: October 5, 12, 19, & 26: Reading the Bible for first time (or again): Various approaches to reading scripture The Episcopal Way: An Introduction to our Church’s beliefs, traditions, and practices November 9, 16, 23: Emmanuel’s Outreach Commitment: Our Mission Partners A Spiritual Approach to Parenting and Grand parenting December 7 & 14: Understanding our Sunday readings: An Introduction to the Gospel of Mark Simple Spiritual practices for this Holy Season
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Welcome to Cafe Emmanuel! No more will coffee drinkers be crammed into the kitchen. No more will they be told to keep their voices down. Starting September 7th, at 10 a.m., the Parish Hall will be transformed between the two services into a coffee house, where parishioners can have meaningful conversations, relax, read the Sunday paper, and of course drink coffee. A bonus: on the small tables that will be set up in the Parish Hall will be Cafe Emmanuel cards, different ones each week, with questions which parishioners are invited to discuss. Though all are church-related, the topics vary considerably… though all will help participants give some thought to their faith and will give adult formation planners some idea of what parishioners might want to learn more about. Each week’s topic will also be posted on the bulletin board, along with whatever responses parishioners care to post. The adult formation team will be using the ideas generated during Café Emmanuel as the basis for future programs. Parishioners are also welcome to suggest topics for future Cafe Emmanuel discussion.
F.I.R.E. (Fellowship Intergenerational Religious Education) This is an opportunity for people of all ages and households of every configuration to come together to laugh, learn, and share in the joy that comes when people of many generations gather together. We are moving FIRE to Saturday nights from 5-7 pm complete with meal, program and the Holy Eucharist. September 20 – We are the Church October 18 – Light in the Darkness – Halloween & Chili Dinner
The Emmanuel Way
Our Senior Warden’s Report
September, 2014
Father Don’s Message
By Doug Connell Who Are We? Who Are Our Neighbors? What is God Calling Us to Do? September is a transition month for our parish. We have returned from our energizing Shrine Mont retreat, and are re-entering the business of mission, of striving to do the Lord's work from this place. We return to the business of living out our baptismal vows, seeking and serving Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves. The opening line of Hymn 562: “Onward, Christian Soldiers” summons us to action, and the program year which begins this month offers opportunity for all of us to respond. We have searchers to welcome and newcomers to embrace, children to teach, adults to engage in mission, facilities to maintain, the sick and shut-in to visit, a joyful noise to make, praise and prayer to offer, the poor to clothe and the hungry to feed. And all of this is wrapped in the inspiring Greenwood countryside and the amazing fellowship of God’s holy table. We are richly blessed. What a wonderful menu of opportunity! September is more than just a time of re-entry into a busier season of activity; it’s also a time of spiritual enrichment. I invite you make September a time of new engagement in the life of our parish. Try something new; sample something you’ve wanted to do. Dig deeper into your faith, teach a class, join a bible study, bring your voice to the choir, and begin a new ministry to those in need. There’s a definite buzz about our beautiful campus this year, something both heard and felt. The view from the center pew is most encouraging. Let’s make the most of it! Many blessings, Doug
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The Rev. Deacon Donald Cady
Dear Friends in Christ, I am writing this letter in late August as Deede and I get ready to leave for vacation. Since we return just a couple of days before Sunday, September 7, the opening Sunday of our program year, I decided to read Matthew’s Gospel for that Sunday. The passage is Chapter 18, verses 1520. What struck me after reading the passage was the final sentence. It is a familiar line we are all know: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” These words are also found in the Prayer of St. Chrysostom. As I think about these words, it seems to me that they are particularly meaningful as we begin our new year of programs and activities. The Sunday School year is starting, Adult Forum with new formats is set to commence and the many and important committees of Emmanuel will reactivate. After a period of summer quiet, the energy and love that is our parish is ready to move forward. Whatever the activity, committee or service, it is my prayer that when two or three or more gather, we are reminded that our Lord Jesus is among
4 us. We can remind ourselves silently or perhaps we can begin our activity thanking our Lord for being with us. It will remind us that we are, indeed, serving in the name of the Lord. Yes, let us seek to remember this simple means of thankfulness on Sunday, September 7. But most particularly, let us remember and be thankful throughout the year that when two or three of us are gathered, our Lord Jesus is always there with us. This is why we serve. Faithfully, Don+
Bread Fund needs help The Bread Fund is in need of someone who is familiar with the Microsoft Access program to help maintain our database. This would be about twice each year to update. Training is available! Please contact Cindy Kirchner at 434-962-9692 or via email at
[email protected].
Youth Group activities By Amy Blundin We are very excited to begin planning our new academic year for Youth Group. Emmanuel Youth Group (EYG) is comprised of 6th to 12th grade students. We have a threeprong plan this year: a Sunday discussion group, monthly social events, and various outreach opportunities. Our Sunday discussions at 10 a.m. promise to be lively and relevant based on a new, engaging curriculum called Sparkhouse. Beginning Sunday, September 7, middle school students please join your facilitators, Matt and Amy Blundin in the basement of Ledford House, high school students please join your facilitators Maureen Graham, Cathy Boyd, and Steve Hawkes in the upstairs, red room at Ledford for weekly discussions.
The Emmanuel Way We are collaborating with the Youth Formation Steering Committee, which meets this Sunday, to solidify our calendar and to generate ideas about how we can know Christ and live Christ at Emmanuel and in the larger community. Stay tuned for an exciting calendar of events to come.
Christian Education News By Cathy Boyd Director of Christian Education During this Year A lectionary cycle, the second lesson for Proper 16 (Sunday, August 24 this year) is Romans 12:1-8. Paul’s words in verses 4-8 might be quite familiar: For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness. This passage reminds me of the South African concept of Ubuntu, described well by Archbishop Desmond Tutu: It means that we are people through other people. We cannot be fully human alone. We are made for interdependence, we are made for family. When you have ubuntu, you embrace others. You are generous, compassionate. None of us comes into the world fully formed. We would not know how to think, or walk, or speak, or behave as human beings unless we learned it from other human beings. We need other human beings in order to be human. I am because other people are. A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are 4
September, 2014 humiliated or diminished... My hunch is that if you talked to some of the people who have attended Emmanuel for a long time, they might similarly say, “I am because Emmanuel is.” Through the years, people at Emmanuel have given their many gifts of the spirit to help form others. This year will be no exception. Our differing gifts will come together again to create a community that gives our young people a sense that they belong to Emmanuel and the body of Christ. Specifically, we will offer Sunday School at 10am on Sundays, starting on September 7th, which will be an Open House for students and parents. Instruction will begin on September 14th. We will divide into groups (preK/K/1, 2/3 grade, 4/5 grade, middle school, and high school) most of the time; sometimes we will join together as a group sessions to honor a special occasion, and join the rest of the congregation in a festival celebrating the church seasons. Four teachers, many returning and some new, will lead each grade level. We will use thematic curricula that was recommended to us by Dorothy Linthicum, the award-winning program director of the Center for Ministry of Teaching at Virginia Theological Seminary. Our classrooms have been lovingly reorganized and reappointed by members of the Rejuvenate Ledford House team. We are ready to use our differing spiritual gifts to affirm our Emmanuel community and the developing gifts in our Emmanuel youth.
Eldering Workshop: October 25 & 26 Eldering is a term coined by Rabbi Zalman Schacter-Shalomi to describe the process of growing into wisdom and spiritual maturity as we advance in years. Our culture has become very youth-oriented, leading many of us to fear getting older, slowing down, losing our place in the workings of the world. On Sat, Oct.
5 25 and Sun, Oct 26 a group of “women of a certain age” (in this case, over 60) will gather at St. Paul’s, Ivy for a workshop to address the challenges and the possibilities of Eldering with Grace. The registration fee is $15 and includes lunch and snacks. This workshop/retreat is being jointly hosted by St. Paul’s in Ivy and Emmanuel Church in Greenwood, and is being led by Dona Wylie and a committee of women from both parishes. Donna Wylie is a certified spiritual director, having graduated from the Stillpoint Center for Christian Spirituality. He background is in pediatric nursing and counseling and she has led workshop and trainings in a variety of settings. She is a member of St. Paul’s Ivy. We are very excited about this opportunity for fellowship, sharing and learning and we hope that this experience will lead to an ongoing source of spiritual and social support for those experiencing the challenges and exploring the possibilities of their senior years. We are still in the planning stages for this workshop, so we encourage you to watch your emails and/or church bulletins for details in the coming weeks. If you have questions or would like to participate in the planning of this workshop, please contact Dona Wylie at 434-9536185 (
[email protected] ) or BeBe Vaughn at
[email protected].
The Emmanuel Way joy you give to everyone attending Emmanuel, as well as for a week afterwards. If you have questions, call Karin Bonding at 434 293 4626.
The Emmanuel Way Published on or before the first day of each month, with the single exception of the month of July, The deadline is the 20th of the month preceding the month of issue.
7599 Rockfish Gap Turnpike Post Office Box 38 Greenwood, Virginia 22943 Email:
[email protected] Website: emmanuelgreenwood.org Phone: 540-456-6334 James E. Crosby………….. Editor Email:
[email protected]
Greenwood Grapevine
The Book Corner
Charlotte Minor Cheape Marston
The Sunday Altar Flowers Have You given lately? Have You admired the gorgeous displays of flowers each Sunday? Have You ever had the opportunity or been given the opportunity to take them home and enjoy them for a week, or maybe taken them to a nursing home for the residents to enjoy? Why not spend $50 on a Sunday of your choice by signing up on the flower chart, found on the door into the sanctuary, and then you can enjoy the flowers at home or give them to someone special. It is only $50. Think of the
September, 2014 is the book for them. I highly recommend it. It is written by Pastor John Ortberg; it is funny yet serious, clear and to the point, gives us questions to ponder at the end of each chapter, only 200 pages.” It is available in print and on DVD in most book stores and on line.
On August 10, Fr. Christopher preached on Matthew 14:22-33. In that passage, Jesus comes to the disciples, walking on the water. Peter gtets out of the boat at Jesus’ command, and then Peter is suddenly caught by fear. Karin B. Bonding reports, "I bought it. It is so great, and for anyone who is pondering ‘what’s next?’, ‘my next step’, ‘agonizing over a decision’, ‘taking a bit of risk’; this 5
John Marston is working on a book entitled “John Marston’s Book on his Mother” to follow his book: Remembrances of The Reverend H. Lee Marston. Charlotte Marston was the wife of the Rev. Lee Marston, a past rector of Emmanuel Church, Greenwood Parish. John is looking for memories, reflections or short stories of his mother that might be held by members of our church. If you have anything to share with him, send your input to:
[email protected].
The Emmanuel Way
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September, 2014
Installation and dedication pictures.
The Installation of new leadership for the Altar Guild and Disciples Kitchen (above) included Mary Ann Carman to lead the Altar Guild and CoChairs Steve Walsworth and Kaye Pietrowicz to lead the Disciples Kitchen program. Amanda Poor and Patsy Crosby (top right) accept thanks for their past service.
The
Emmanuel Way May
The Dedication Ceremony at the Ledford House drew a very large crowd to test the facilities capacity which more than measured up.
First Class Mail
2014
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