We Are Part of Something Bigger

Dearest Holy Comforter Family,

Two weeks ago, I got some junk mail announcing Pumpkin Bread mix is already available for purchase. Today, I stopped in at a store that was already decorated to its teeth with Fall and Halloween stuff. It’s a little hard to get in the spirit of the autumn when one is ‘sweating like a stuck pig,’ as the saying goes. The thing is, there are some wonderful things unfolding at Holy Comforter that invite us to slow down enough to savor them.

Many Colors is up and running, renovations are underway that will give us four studio spaces for the fall term of our program. We are working on two grant proposals that would significantly build the capacity of Many Colors to serve our community and we are imagining new, creative ways to staff our program. We need to make sure we are flexible and responsive to emerging needs and opportunities.

On the 9th of this month, Bishop Glenda came in for the annual Bishop’s visitation. At the end of the service, she let me know that her mic had not been working very well at all. The diocese has unexpectedly launched a grant program for up to $5000 for small parishes like ours and she challenged me to apply to improve the quality of sound in the church. Last week, someone from the company we work with for sound system equipment met with Haynes Kelley and Michael Paul; the three of them spent almost an hour going through the system carefully and came up with a proposal well within the limits of the diocesan grant program. The grant application was filed on Thursday and yesterday during a called meeting, your Vestry approved the purchase of the equipment. Your vestry also agreed this is important and we have enough money in the restricted Maintenance and Repairs account to cover this expense if, by any chance, the grant falls through. That means either this Sunday or the next, Lee and I will have new mics that will work significantly better.

Perhaps you've noticed: we have had a fairly steady stream of visitors that have come to worship with us in the last couple of months. I hope some of them will decide to make our beloved Holy Comforter their church home; I also hold that hope lightly. Even if we don’t see results immediately, I believe the warmth and graciousness with which you have greeted and welcomed our visitors are seeds that will grow in surprising ways in unexpected moments.

I have learned to trust that when people don’t hesitate to step up to get tasks done, when a leadership team understands how important all aspects of hospitality are and goes the extra step to respond to an unexpected opportunity; when a parish is busy doing everything it can to serve the community, we are part of something far bigger than ourselves. We have made ourselves available to the Spirit of love and service that delights in finding places where the living waters of goodness and grace flow freely and abundantly.

In so many ways, this is what the fruits of the spirit look like. This is the way seeds that had been previously watered and cared for grow and flourish. This is what it means to be the Body of Christ in the world. Of course, I will welcome the relief of cooler weather before too long but right now, I simply marvel at how far we have come together since I came on board in October of 2018.

To God be the glory!

With prayers for the blessing of cool and gentle breezes, visits on the back porch with iced tea and good company, and above all for the blessing of true gratitude, Rosa+

AUGUST

Birthdays & Anniversaries 

Watch over thy children O Lord, as their days increase; bless and guide them wherever they may be. Strengthen them when they stand; comfort them when discouraged or sorrowful; raise them up if they fall; and in their heart may thy peace which passeth understanding abide all the days of their life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 Birthdays

Trip Carlton, Rose Lollar, Jan Pope, Lamar Higgins, Rains Via, C. J. Hodges, Thomas Speaks, Joy Patterson, Caitlin Davis

Anniversaries

John & Emmi Harrell, Joe & Ami Simpson, Joe & Kathy Albree

Dates to remember in August

Aug. 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 Food Pantry 10 AM

Aug. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 Morning Prayer 10:30 AM (Facebook live-stream)

Aug. 27 Vestry meeting 11:00 AM