A Note from Father Brown

Dear Friends,

Firstly, thank you, very, very much, to those who participated in the listening sessions this week, and those who came to the presentation on Wednesday evening by our partners at Ministry Architects. It was a very helpful start to our strategic planning process. Thanks especially to the committee members who were instrumental in making it happen (and who remain very much involved in leading the process): Stuart Brunson, Haile McCollum, Vann Middleton, and Alston Watt. Please stay tuned for more on this process in due course.

This coming Sunday is the feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King. I hope you can make it to church. It is, fittingly, the penultimate Sunday before election day, so it is a particularly opportune time to meditate on these particular verities. (And one way to understand what we do at All Saints on Sundays is as corporate meditation, of a kind that engages the whole person, body, soul, and spirit, all the senses, etc.) The title of my sermon is Christ’s Sovereignty and the Treaty of Versailles.

It was such a treat to have Susie Shin from Hands and Hearts for Horses with us at Body & Soul last week. Tomorrow, Saturday, October 26, the ECW will be joining HH4H at their site on the Lower Cairo Road, for a tailgate. It sounds like fun. If you would like to come along, please speak with Irene Gleason, or call the office for more details.

After the Holy Communion at 5:00 this Sunday (Oct. 27), there will be the Blessing of the Costumes and “trunk-r-treat” in the parking lot. Thank you to those of you who have donated candy and signed up for the event. There will be a fire engine, the sheriff’s department will be represented, and there will be several goats and chickens (oh my!). In short, it should be a lot of fun. Bring your children and grandchildren. And given that this is meant to be an event especially for younger children, please note that we ask that you not wear any scary or gory costumes. Costumes, yes; fear and gore, no. Further details below.

This coming Monday (October 28th) is the feast of Ss. Simon and Jude, Apostles of our Lord. I will celebrate Holy Communion at noon in St. David’s Chapel. Come! The propers for the feast are in the Prayer Book on p. 254, or at this link.

Next week at Body & Soul I will be presenting on Witches, Demons, and Ghosts—our Halloween B&S program. Note that the bar opens at 5:30 now. Presentation at 6:00.

Next Saturday, November 2, we will observe All Souls’ Day, aka the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed. This was a lovely service last year, a quiet celebration of Holy Communion, followed by brief devotions in the Memorial Garden. We will read the names of all the departed members of All Saints, and of those interred or memorialized in the Memorial Garden. If you would like to add the names of your departed loved ones to the list of those to be commemorated, you can send those names to the office. I do hope you can come for this. Holy Communion will begin at noon in the church.

Sunday, November 3, we will celebrate All Saints, our church’s feast of title. It will also be the first Sunday of the month, which means Sensory Sunday in the nursery, and a covered dish luncheon in the parish hall following the Holy Communion at 10:30. The luncheon will have a particularly festive character, suitable for the occasion. 

I’m very pleased to say that our adult Scripture study recommences in the parish hall this coming Sunday at 9:00 AM. Bring a cup of coffee, and let Putt Wetherbee and Dr. Jackson be your guide to the lessons for the day. See below for further details.

A lagniappe. Today is the feast of Ss. Crispin and Crispinian, two early Christian martyrs, known traditionally in England as St. Crispin’s Day, and the occasion for the eponymous speech in Act 4 of Shakespeare’s “Henry V,” named for the feast day because King Henry made the speech at the Battle of Agincourt, which was fought on October 25, 1415. Laurence Olivier famously dramatized it during World War II, and the television serial “Band of Brothers” took its name from a phrase in the speech. You can read it here. Or watch Kenneth Branagh perform it in the 1989 film version of Henry V here. 

I’m very much looking forward to seeing you soon!

Pax,

Will +