May 12, 2022 Holy Comforter | Newsletter | |
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God has done marvelous things. I, too, will praise him with a new song! Dearest Holy Comforter family, I think it was on the 2nd Sunday of Easter that together we sang the hymn, “Earth and all stars,” with that wonderful refrain that ends “I, too, will praise him with a new song.” I am sitting at the Atlanta airport, waiting to catch my flight to Fort Lauderdale to celebrate Luz María’s 26th Birthday. My trip actually began yesterday when I made my way just outside of Athens to visit Marty Kyker. Y’all…I wanted to fold her beautiful self into my bag and bring her with me—and I found myself feeling nostalgia for a season I didn’t get to live through with you when so many remarkable people joined in worship, service, and laughter. Over and over, God has done marvelous things through the good people of Holy Comforter, and what an honor it is to get to walk this part of the journey with this band of brave and faithful folks! I love spreadsheets and timetables and action plans. Earlier in my vocation, I found a certain elegance in carefully thought through strategic plans that stretched as far as possible into the future. There is, obviously, a place for planning and being proactive. And I also grow more and more aware that the risk with that approach to finding our way on God’s path is that we are tempted to make our own need for control somehow displace the work of God that turns out to be quite messy and work in fits and starts. Don’t get me wrong—we must pay attention to our financial situation. We have to try to discern how we are to be faithful to God and to those who have not yet found their way to Holy Comforter who would be blessed and bless us. But somehow, it is when I visit with Jacqueline, or Charlie and Claudene, or Mac and Douglass that I find a quiet assurance that I am doing the work of God. On Sunday, Will, Adair and Durham joined me at the altar and helped me hold up the elements as I said, “the gifts of God for the people of God”—and of course, in that simple disk of bread, that small dip of red wine, our Good Shepherd is present with us in a very special way. I think Rains, David, Ruth, whom we have recently baptized, and I think Will, Adair, and Durham, who stood with such reverence and happiness at that altar, are every bit as much the gifts of God for the people of God at Holy Comforter. In this edition, you will find some pictures of our first “Make One, Take One” that tells stories of other Holy Comforters. They too are such marvelous gifts, right there with Marty and every single one of you is. It is enough to make this priest croak out, “I too will praise him with a new song.” With prayers for blessings of joy and peace, Rosa+ |
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JOIN US SUNDAYS Holy Eucharist |10AM also streamed live on Facebook ✠ |
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WORSHIP ON WEDNESDAY Facebook Live Morning Prayer | 10:30AM Randy Woodland is the officiant Compline | 7PM |
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Preparing for Pentecost We are nailing down the specifics so mark your calendar for Pentecost Sunday, June 5th! Stay tuned! |
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Feeding Ministries the Food Pantry is reopening on June 7th, please help restock our shelves. Canned vegetables, fruit, and packs of cans (for example, a 12-pack of peas). Also, be thinking if this is a ministry you would be willing to volunteer for. We will make a call for volunteers after we open--please prayerfully consider saying yes to that call! Drop-off containers with yellow lids are outside McMaster Hall. the Community Garden could use your help! If you have a talent for weeding, tending, or harvesting, we need you. For information or to sign up, contact Jean Murray or the office. Please leave a message if there is no answer and Jean will get back to you. Many thanks! the Backpack Ministry is in need of canned fruit for the children. There is a drop-off location in front of the chapel. |
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Thank you A special thank you to Scott Lollar for all of his hard work pressure washing - looks great! |
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During this season post-Easter, we have encountered some really wonderful music during our services. I am focusing this musing on folk tunes and folk-like tunes that we have sung, Today’s opening organ voluntary is based on the hymn “I Danced in the Morning.’ This hymn has a text by Sydney Carter written in 1963. Carter was inspired partly by Jesus, but expected that his people wouldn’t embrace the song and they might even see it as heretical. However. Carter wrote: I see Christ as the incarnation of the piper who is calling us. He dances that shape and pattern which is at the heart of our reality. By Christ I mean not only Jesus; in other times and places, other planets, there may be other Lords of the Dance. But Jesus is the one I know of first and best. I sing of the dancing pattern in the life and words of Jesus. Whether Jesus ever leaped in Galilee to the rhythm of a pipe or drum I do not know. We are told that David danced (and as an act of worship too), so it is not impossible. The fact that many Christians have regarded dancing as a bit ungodly (in a church, at any rate) does not mean that Jesus did. The Shakers didn't. This sect flourished in the United States in the nineteenth century, but the first Shakers came from Manchester in England, where they were sometimes called the "Shaking Quakers". They hived off to America in 1774, under the leadership of Mother Anne. They established celibate communities - men at one end, women at the other; though they met for work and worship. Dancing, for them, was a spiritual activity. They also made furniture of a functional, lyrical simplicity. Even the cloaks and bonnets that the women wore were distinctly stylish, in a sober and forbidding way…. Sometimes, for a change I sing the whole song in the present tense. 'I dance in the morning when the world is begun...'. It's worth a try.”— Sydney Carter, Green Print for Dance He chose the Shaker hymn tune “Simple Gifts” as the music for his text. The tune which most people mistakenly think is a folk tune was written in 1848. There are two conflicting narratives of Shaker origin as to the composer of the song. One account attributes the song to a spirit heard at Canterbury, New Hampshire, which would make the song a "gift song" received by a Shaker from the spirit world. Alternatively, and more widely accepted, the song's composer is said to be Joseph Brackett (1797–1882) of Alfred, Maine. A lifelong resident of the state, he first joined the Shakers at Gorham when his father's farm helped to form the nucleus of a new Shaker settlement. The song was largely unknown outside the Shaker community until Aaron Copland used the tune for a set of variations in his score for Martha Graham’s dance Appalachian Spring. Here is a link to a performance at Plymouth Church in Lincoln, Nebraska. |
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The concluding organ voluntary is based on the hymn tune “Noël nouvelet.” The evocative text is by John MacLeod Campbell Crum (1872-1858), an English pastor and children’s writer. This text exhibits Crum's ability to capture one's imagination for those in the northern hemisphere who live in areas where springtime usually coincides with Easter, the image of growing plants and vegetation speaks clearly. The connection to Jesus’ resurrection is plain and direct. Paired with a popular French Christmas carol melody, (Steve Winwood - "Now The Green Blade Riseth" (2020) - YouTube), |
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may - 14ᵗʰ Come and See, Go and Do Revival w Presiding Bishop M. Curry Read more:https://www.revival2022.com june - 5ᵗʰ Pentecost! 7ᵗʰ Reopening of Food Pantry. |
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Vestry Senior Warden Steven Speaks Junior Warden Randy Bryan Treasurer Mary Lois Monroe Clerk Jeri Tippit Members: Kathy Albree Haynes Kelley Rand Neeley Amy Seanor |
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Please Pray For Parishioners Nancy Boston, Ann Carlton, Rob Dailey, Fred Earle, Sidney Hennessey, Jason Hicks, Lamar Higgins, Mac & Douglass Porter, Lea Russell, Claudene Thomas, Terri Via, Judith Granger Ward Friends Tracey Bailey, Eileen Black, Cindi Colley, John Conway, Gay & Harry Curlin, Jo-Ann Currie, Todd Daniels, Jayce Davidson, Casey Dodd, T. J. Esco, Nan Fairley, Julie Gantt, Linda Garrett, Judy Glanzer, Rosine Hall, Alison Hill, Jay Hornsby, Tom Hyde, JoAnn Ivey, Brenda Jones & family, Dorothy King, John Nelson, Sharon M. Nelson, Michelle Northsworthy, Nanette Olson, Patricia, Dianne Pinkston, Dusty Pouncey, Samuel Purcell & family, Dave Seanor, Arthur Segal, Joe Soliday, Riley Soliday, Taylor Scroggins, Caroline Simpson, Michal Slovic, Isaiah Taylor, Christina Waite, Joe Wilkins, Patsy Wilkins, Ben Winbury Students Emma Franklin, Will Franklin, Addie Hoffman, Caroline Lee, Aiken Via, Will Lee, Taylor McLemore, Michael Moore, Rachel Moore, Charles Speaks, Thomas Speaks, Connie Tapia, Braxton Trest |
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