Prayer List

Please keep these people in your healing prayers this week:   
Maggie, Ruth, John, Peggy, Ed, Ann, Jim, Renee, Lucy, Sandy, Debbie, Jeanie, Glenda, Monica, Jeff, Bob, Shawn, Diane, Helen, Pam, Kristin, Bill Taylor, Brady, Brandon, Maybelle, Kayden, Rachel, Tyrome, Noyes & Suzie    

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:    

The first ever Tri-Parish Potluck will gather Episcopalians from all three Watauga parishes THIS FRIDAY, May 18th, at 6 pm at St. Mary of the Hills Church on Main Street in Blowing Rock!  Bring yourselves and a dish to share - we'll get to know each other and perhaps talk a little about all the fabulous things we do….you'll be surprised at how many pies in the high country have Episcopal fingers in them!  But this will definitely be social…..not business, so come!  e-mail ridinhabit@gmail.com so we can have a rough idea of how many places to set - but we'll set extra, so come even without an r.s.v.p.!

Sunday's Offertory:  Gracious Thanks are expressed to Carolyn Travis and Pat Parks for singing the Offertory Duet.  Niccolo Zingarelli was an Italian Classical composer who was a contemporary of Mozart.  The musical style of today's piece is quite similar to that of Mozart; this is most likely due to influences in operatic music, a genre in which Zingarelli was very successful.

Handbell and Vocal CHOIRS:  Please note that your rehearsals Wednesday, May 23 will take place in the Choir room as usual.  This will be the final Wednesday rehearsal in Skiles Hall for this month.  Our rehearsal for May 30 will be at St. John's.

The Duchess of Traver Arms will be serving tea Sunday May 20, 2010 from 3:30-6:30PM At Traver Arms Hotel 399 Highland Circle at Sugar Mountain.  R.S.V.P. 898-5771.  Ladies AND gentlemen are welcome! Bring your friends, hats, spyglasses, and imaginations – clues will be in abundance. The Game is A-foot! TIME FOR FUN, FELLOWSHIP, AND FABULOUS FOOD!  All proceeds go to the “New Beginnings” Capital Campaign.

Please plan to attend the “Fifth Tuesday” Potluck Dinner on May 29 at 6:00 PM.  Bring your favorite dish and join us for food, fun and fellowship.Also, all women of the church are asked to bring finger foods for a reception to welcome Allan and Pan McCaslin on May 27th after the 11:00 service.  All are welcome!!

The Rt. Rev. G. Porter Taylor will be at Holy Cross on Sunday, June 24.  

Rummage Sale:  Please start saving your gently-used-but-no-longer-needed items for the
ECW Rummage Sale on July 19, 20, 21.  The profits from this sale go to many worthwhile causes
and your generosity is greatly appreciated.   No electronics, please!

Lake Logan second annual Family Camp is scheduled for July 30th until August 2nd.  This is a great opportunity for adults who are young at heart to gather with their children, grandchildren, best friends, best friends’ children… you name it… for a fun, happy time at Lake Logan.  For more information, click here .   

 

Bishop's Reflection 

Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in a lifetime-therefore we must be saved by hope;
Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in the immediate context of history-therefore we must be saved by faith; Nothing we do, however, virtuous, can be accomplished alone-therefore we must be saved by love.

No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint-therefore we must be saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness.
Reinhold Niebuhr 
 
On Sunday, May 20, 2012, I have the honor of celebrating 50 years of ministry with All Saint's Gastonia. It's a day of recognizing the debt we in the present owe to those who have come before because without their faithfulness and vision and courage, we wouldn't be here. We all stand on their shoulders-both on an individual and corporate level. At certain times I find that I have become my father-I can hear his voice coming from my mouth and I catch a glimpse of my holding my head at the same angle he held his. It's because the past lives in us. It shapes us; it gives a place to stand. In the deepest sense it is us. As William Faulkner said "The past is never dead. It's not even past." 
 
Faithful people are called to remember. We are called to give thanks for the saints we follow-not only to express our gratitude but also to learn the essential patterns of what it means to Walk in the Way. Our sacred story in scripture is our road map for this confusing time. In our lectionary we have been reading about Peter dealing with the Gentiles and that's us in the pluralism of 2012. We learn from the sacred story how to navigate in our day.

We celebrate the saints on whose shoulders we stand because they remind us of our calling here and now. The good people of All Saints, Gastonia are not confining themselves to turning Sunday into a museum day. They are being strengthened to make history in their day. We remember so we can act faithfully here and now in hopes that 50 years from now someone will remember us. As I age and as my tenure as bishop lengthens, I become more concerned about our timidity as a Church. We are called to do great things in the name of our Lord and not merely muddle through. This is but one reason we are focus on being Freed for Ministry: we as a diocese are called to move forward for God's purposes to change this world.  
 
So give thanks for All Saints Gastonia Sunday, Remember your saints. But most of all, remember that each us is called to be one too.    

+Porter

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