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Purpose

 

To be a Community where all persons will encounter the power and 

love of the Living God, through His Son, Jesus Christ.

 

Vision

 

All Saints Episcopal Church is called by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to...

 

·     Worship Jesus Christ

·     Learn and Teach His Word

·     Minister in His Name

·     Proclaim Him and Share the Blessing of His Love

·     Welcome All in His Name

      

The All Saints Messenger
October 26, 2017
In This Issue
  

Gary
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

This Sunday we will gather together as a loving community of faith and we will hear from Matthew, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." Words that  should stick to us like glue, yet, we often discover our own weaknesses when we deal with others.

Many years ago two young men with long records of crime and delinquency robbed the YMCA on the lower east side of New York City. On their way out of the door they noticed a man at the telephone switchboard. Fearing that he would call the police, the young men grabbed him and beat him savagely with brass knuckles and a black jack. Thinking that he was dead, they then stuffed him behind a radiator near the swimming pool and left.

Later that evening Gertrude Ederle, the famous swimmer, was walking near the pool and stepped in some blood, slipped, screamed, and then found Donald Tippet's body. Tippet was rushed to the hospital where for days he lingered between life and death. Eventually he lived, but one eye had been so badly damaged that it could not be saved.

Meanwhile the two young men were caught and brought to trial. Their past record assured they would get a long sentence. At this point, Donald Tippet did an amazing thing. He asked that the two young men be put in his custody. He believed in them, believed they could be changed.

One of the boys refused to change and was soon caught for another crime. The other boy however was more receptive. He went on to college. Eventually he went to medical school and became a surgeon, an eye surgeon. The late Bishop Everett Palmer wrote of this surgeon, "I wonder if he ever performs one of those delicate operations without stopping to think of that night in the YMCA and of a young man, who later became Bishop Donald Tippet of the San Francisco area, whose confidence changed his life."

There is something life changing about that kind of love. Who couldn't help but be touched by it? What we need today is not a revival that would bring more people into church. What we need is a revival that would motivate us to take Christ's redemptive love out into the world.

We are called to go out into the world radiating the love of Jesus and transforming the world. The world needs our love, we need each others love. Thanks be to God!

See ya Sunday!

Fr. Gary+

Last Friday Get Together
* Tomorrow *
October 27th  
6:00pm - 8:00pm

Pot luck, bring any favorite games, bingo will be 
available if folks want it.

  This will be an evening for getting to know one another better, 
laughing together, and celebrating the fellowship that is All Saints!  
Please join us. 

PS:  If you have games hidden in your closet that you 
would like to donate to the church for future events,
please feel free.  
ANNOUNCEMENTS  

PARISH PICNIC:  DUE TO A FORECAST OF RAIN, COLD AND WIND, THE PARISH PICNIC AT RANKIN LAKE IS CANCELLED.  NORMAL 10:30 SERVICE AT ALL SAINTS WILL BE CELEBRATED.

*  Quarterly Statements:  Are available for pick up after both services on Sunday.

*  Bible Study:   The  Wednesday Bible Study Group will be starting a new book, Zealot, The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan on November 8th.  If you are interested and need to order a copy of the book, contact Jerry Wertz 704-577-9699 or jerrywertz@att.net.  The group meets at 10 AM in the Family Life Center.   We don't rush through a book and have excellent discussions during the meeting.  Afterwards, we usually go to lunch together.  We hope to see a lot of you there on Wednesday.

*  All Saints Walk: The first All Saints Walk will be held at  6:00 pm on  Wednesday, November 1.  We invite all to come and join in the fun!  We are in need of 5 adults or older teens who would like to pick a saint and dress up and tell the children and adults a story about the saint. Also, you get to pass out goodies. Nothing elaborate... a choir robe with fabric draped over it, so please don't let that stop you.   
After you decide which saint you want to portray and talk about, just google their name on the internet.  We are looking for a short 5 minute story from you, as your saint about their life. The rooms will be darkened except for a candle. People will be split into groups and rotate. This is a lot of fun for the adults as well - both the ones portraying saints and the ones listening. 
We are in need of donations of candy and small trinkets or raisins, etc..  Each saint will have a bucket filled and offer the children a few after their talk.  At the end we will meet back in the parish hall for popcorn and a prayer.  We know that it is a school/work night and hope to be done within an hour. We can't do this without the help of the parish.  We want to support our youth and this is a great way for them to learn and have some fun. 
There will be a sign up sheet on the bulletin board in the Life Center. Thank you for your help in advance!!

*  Parish Lunch :  Thanks to all who helped with the 3rd Sunday luncheon.  Between the cooks and clean-up crew we had 10 helpers.  We made $95.00 for Outreach from the October luncheon and $79.29 from the September luncheon.  (This is after expenses were removed.)  The 3rd  Sunday luncheon now has a committee to prepare and cook.  We can always use more help.  The proceeds from the luncheon goes to Outreach.  If this is something you would like to help with, please contact Jerry Wertz at  jerrywertz@att.net.

*  Needed:  Monetary donations for lettuce and carrots for the Salvation Army salads on Mondays.  Each week, we use up one large bag of sliced carrots and 6 heads of lettuce.  Cost is about $20 a week.  Donations are needed to offset this cost.  Anyone willing to donate cash or a gift card to the project, please see Linda Klocker, 704-827-3901.  Checks should be made out to All Saints, garden fund.  Thanks for your generosity.  The clients at the Salvation Army really enjoy a fresh salad.  UPDATE:  Our salad fund is in the black at $100.36. (October expenses have not been deducted.)  Thanks to the many people who continue to regularly contribute.  It is much appreciated.

*  Garden re-cycling of leaves and grass clippings:  If you bag your leaves or grass clippings, we would like to have them for organic mulch for the garden.  If you can haul them to the garden area, please do.  If you have bagged leaves or grass and cannot haul them, call Charlie Jenkins at 704-739-5332 or email:  jenkinscharlesl@bellsouth.net

*  Octoberfest:  Saturday, October 28th at 1pm.  St. Mark's Episcopal Church.  Free Food!!  Brats hot off the grill, German potato salad, purple cabbage, sauerkraut, German chocolate cake and apple crisp.  Come and join in the fun!

*  Church Treasurer: Our church treasurer, Jessica Woodward, has announced her resignation effective the end of 2017. We are sorry to lose her and want to thank her for her many years of service to All Saints. As such, we are now looking for a new treasurer. If you are aware of anyone who has financial experience and who needs a part-time job, please mention us to them or them to us. The Treasurer's duties include: reconciling bank accounts, preparing vestry financial reports, works with Finance Committee to develop budgets, payroll, retirement administration, prepare financial portion of parochial report, workers comp audit, etc. Please contact Fr. Gary or Debra if you know of anyone or have questions.

*  Pacesetters:  The Pacesetters will be touring JAARS in Waxhaw on Tuesday October 31st.  Our tour starts at  9:30 so we will leave here at 8.  JAARS translates the Bible into many languages and then transports the Bibles to regions not easily reached.  We will visit the different departments to see the role aircraft, boats, computers and media play in Bible translation.  We will eat lunch on-site and then tour the Alphabet Museum and Mexico Museum just across the road from the JAARS center. The Alphabet museum at JAARS is the only one in the US that presents the trace history of writing systems, from the ancient world to today. We plan to take the bus and were told the guide will get on the bus and take us through the area to minimize walking.  If you would like to attend this outing, please let Jerry Wertz know at  jerrywertz@att.net.  This trip is open to anyone who would like to go.

*  Zumba:  Now being offered 3 days a week in the Family Life Center!  $5/class
     - Tuesday & Thursday at 7:15PM:  Please join Dana Wolfe for a fun workout made for everyone.  The class that started the dance-fitness revolution and changed the way we look at a "workout" forever. It's fun, effective and best of all? Made for everyone!
     - Friday at 9AM:  Taught by certified instructor Barbara Mooradian who has been teaching for 6 years. Especially suited to older adults or those with mobility issues or restrictions, Zumba Gold has all of the liveliness and fun of Zumba while being low impact and easier on the body. It can even be done while sitting!  

*  Adult Christian Formation: The 9:30 formation class will be learning about Islam. Our guide on this journey is professor John Esposito of Georgetown University. Please join us in The Life Center for this tour into one of the Great World Religions.

*  Family Promise: Family Promise is a community program that provides housing and support to families that are less fortunate. All Saints is one of the original churches that helped establish this ministry more than ten years ago. We host families in this ministry four times a year at our parish facilities with assistance from the Redeemer Lutheran Church here in Gastonia. There are many ways to support this ministry. During hosting weeks we need parishioners to greet and engage guests, to provide homework and enrichment activities for the children, to prepare and serve dinner, and to spend the night. The other way that parishioners can assist these families is to donate items that our guests need. Suggested items to donate are clothes, detergent, toothbrushes and toothpaste, small first aid kits, hair products, soap and/or body wash, suitcases (both used or new), 10, 20, and 30 gallon storage tubs w/ lids, towels and washcloths (both used or new), bed linens (both used or new), family friendly movies or videos, board games, & craft supplies.  For more information, or to volunteer please contact Marc Dudley at 704-718-4044 or

*  First Sunday of the month Coffee Hour:  We need someone to set up and clean up only
for Coffee Hour on Parish Breakfast Sunday.  You do not have to provide any food, just set out the food left from breakfast.  Please sign up for this on the Coffee Hour sign-up sheet.

*  Cooking for the Army: Our next day to cook will be Saturday, November 4th.  Parishioners gather at  9AM to cook approximately 700 meals for The Salvation Army & Cornerstone Ministry. We are always in need of more hands to assist in this life-giving project since "more hands make light work." If you are interested in this ministry, please contact the church office and we will put your name on the monthly e-mail reminder.

*  Youth Christian Formation: Christian Formation for our young people begins at 9:30 sharp. Our new program is an Episcopal curriculum. We have 11 dedicated teachers and three dedicated musicians who will be guiding our young people. Please bring your children and let them experience God and Jesus with others.

*  Towel Ministry Coordinator :  All Saints Towel Ministry funds and builds handicap ramps and does other small building projects for those in Gaston County who have a need.  If you are a good organizer and understand basic building techniques All Saints could use your services as our new Towel Ministry Coordinator.  You are not expected to do all the work, just take requests, assemble the teams and help out the citizens in our community who need help.  If interested please speak to Fr. Gary.

*  Ministry Schedule:  The September through December Ministry Schedule is on the table in the Family Life Center.

* Choir Rehearsal:  Sunday mornings at 9:25 am

*  Handbell Rehearsal:  Rehearse on 11/1, 11/8, 11/15 - Ring on 11/19.

*  Food Pantry:  Please help us restock the shelves by bringing in the following items: canned meats only (chicken, ham, vienna sausages, spam, salmon, etc.). Through your generosity, we have been able to help many families and individuals. 

*  Preaching ROTA (rotation) at All Saints: We are blessed at All Saints to hear three different voices in preaching. Each one of our clergy; Gary, Cris and Martha, have experienced the world and see the world differently and through different lenses.  Because our community is made up of different people from different experiences we need to hear different voices. At All Saints, Deacon Cris preaches on the 3rd  Sunday of each month, Deacon Martha preaches on the 1st  Sunday of alternate months (next time is in September) and Fr. Gary preaches the other Sundays. We hope you find the different voices fulfilling in your spiritual journey.

* Parish Nurse Ministry will be taking blood pressures after the 8:00 and 10:30 services on the second Sunday of the month.  Nurses interested in the parish nurse ministry please contact Cheryl Saylor, MSN. 

* Cookbooks:  $10  If you don't need a cookbook, but would like to help our Outreach committee reach their budget goal, consider buying a cookbook to donate to our newcomers committee. Any donated cookbooks will be included in the welcome bag we hand out to newcomers. 

*  Sign Up Sheets for coffee hour, altar guild and altar flowers are on the bulletin board in the Family Life Center.  Coffee Hour hosting can be as simple as drinks and cookies.  Coffee hour is provided to have fellowship with our parish family.  Please sign up or call the church office to add your name to the list (704-864-7201).

*  Salvation Army Service Schedule:  Monday, October 30th - Team #2.  (George Sowersby, Nancy Byers & Alex Haymaker)

*  Church Financials: The Vestry wants to make sure that all parishioners are aware that the monthly financial reports are posted on the bulletin boards in The Family Life Center. If you have any concerns or questions please contact Phill Wertz or Fr. Gary.  Thank You!

*  Why Do You Love All Saints?  Who here loves All Saints?  Do you want to tell the world why you love being a part of the All Saints family?  Please help us spread the word about our congregation by telling your All Saints Story.  All Saints Stories will be published on our website:  AllSaintsGastonia.org as well as our facebook and twitter pages.  To submit your story, go to AllSaintsGastonia.org and click "All Saints Stories" under the Parish Life tab.  If you can, please submit a photo with your story.  

* Prayer List:  Our prayer list grows rapidly.  We ask all parishioners to keep the office informed so that our prayer list remains current and manageable.

*  Partnership: All Saints has entered into a relationship with the YMCA's Resource Connection Gateway.  This relationship enables us to help those in need more rapidly and efficiently while also addressing long-term needs versus only addressing immediate concerns.  If you would like more information please see Fr. Gary.

*  Salvation Army Serving:   If anyone is interested in serving at the Salvation Army on Mon. nights from 5:00 to 6:00, please contact Candy Albergine at 704-868-8691 or email calbergine@gmail.com. We have a couple of spots open and you will find this ministry is a true blessing to all involved. The schedule is on bulletin board in Family Life Center.

*  All Saints Sermons online: Thanks to John Woodward, our sermons are available in audio and video on our website at:  www.allsaintsgastonia.org/sermons
  
*  Free Mulch:  There are several piles of mulch in the upper parking lot that you are welcome to take.  We need to free up some parking spaces in that upper lot.  Please do not take the mulch by the shed as that is intended for the garden.  

*  Church Directory:  Available on the table in the Family Life Center.

*  Building Use Policy:  Our buildings are being used more and more and scheduling conflicts are occurring.  Effective immediately, all rooms/buildings will be scheduled by the Parish Administrator by the submission of a form which is available at the office and will soon be available on the web site.  We appreciate your understanding realizing that this will improve our ability to serve our parishioners and ministries.

* Planned Giving: Programs for Outreach Ministries are an important part of our parish. You can ensure the continuation of these programs by setting up an endowment or including a bequest in your will. The Episcopal Foundation of Western Carolina has set up "The Living Stones Society" to provide Education and training to all clergy and parishioners about setting up a program. For more information see Fr. Gary or call the foundation at 828-225-6656.
  
* Ministry Opportunities: There are a variety of Ministries available at All Saints including feeding at The Salvation Army, tending the Garden, Family Promise where we take care of those without a home for a week at a time, Altar Guild, Readers, Lectors, Acolytes, Chalicers, and many more. Everyone at All Saints is encouraged to serve in some way. Please let us know what you are interested in and we will put you in touch with the ministry coordinator. You can call the office (704-864-7201), email (secretaryallsaintsgastonianc@gmail.com) or speak to Fr. Gary.

 Upcoming Schedule  

 

October 27th:  Last Friday Get Together

October 28th:  Vestry Work Day

October 31st:  Pacesetters

October 31st:  Zumba Cancelled due to Halloween

November 1st:  All Saints Walk

November 2nd:  Zumba

November 3rd:  Zumba

November 4th:  Cooking for the Army

November 5th:  Parish Breakfast

This Sunday's Scripture Readings

The Collect

A lmighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

The First Lesson: Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18

The  Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the  Lord your God am holy.

You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am the  Lord.

You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the  Lord.

Psalm 1

1  Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked, *
nor lingered in the way of sinners,
nor sat in the seats of the scornful!
2 Their delight is in the law of the  Lord, *
and they meditate on his law day and night.
3 They are like trees planted by streams of water,
bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither; *
everything they do shall prosper.
4 It is not so with the wicked; *
they are like chaff which the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when judgment comes, *
nor the sinner in the council of the righteous.
6 For the  Lord knows the way of the righteous, *
but the way of the wicked is doomed.

The Epistle: 

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8



You yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our coming to you was not in vain, but though we had already suffered and been shamefully mistreated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition. For our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts. As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed; nor did we seek praise from mortals, whether from you or from others, though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.

The Gospel:  Matthew 22:34-46

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: "What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?" They said to him, "The son of David." He said to them, "How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying,

'The Lord said to my Lord,
"Sit at my right hand, 
until I put your enemies under your feet"'?

If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?" No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
Saint Day / Feast of the Week

All Saints

It is believed by many scholars that the commemoration of all the
saints on November first originated in Ireland, spread from there to
England, and then to the continent of Europe. That it had reached
Rome and had been adopted there early in the ninth century is attested
by a letter of Pope Gregory IV, who reigned from 828 to 844, to
Emperor Louis "the Pious," urging that such a festival be observed
throughout the Holy Roman Empire.

However, the desire of Christian people to express the
intercommunion of the living and the dead in the Body of Christ by
a commemoration of those who, having professed faith in the living
Christ in days past, had entered into the nearer presence of their
Lord, and especially of those who had crowned their profession with
heroic deaths, was far older than the early Middle Ages. Gregory
Thaumaturgus (the "Wonder Worker"), writing before the year 270,
refers to the observance of a festival of all martyrs, though he does not
date it. A hundred years later, Ephrem the Deacon mentions such an
observance in Edessa on May 13; and the patriarch John Chrysostom,
who died in 407, says that a festival of All Saints was observed on
the first Sunday after Pentecost in Constantinople at the time of his
episcopate. The contemporary lectionary of the East Syrians set a
commemoration of all the saints on Friday in Easter week. On May
13, in the year 610, the Pantheon in Rome-originally a pagan temple
dedicated to "all the gods"-was dedicated as the Church of St. Mary
and All Martyrs.

All Saints' Day is classed, in the Prayer Book of 1979, as a Principal
Feast, taking precedence of any other day or observance. Among
the seven so classified, All Saints' Day alone may be observed on the
following Sunday, in addition to its observance on its fixed date. It is
one of the four days recommended in the Prayer Book (page 312) for
the administration of Holy Baptism.


October 27th - Robert Weeks
October 31st - Mark Ballenger
November 1st - Dan Birk
November 10th - Art Saile
November 16th - Anita Ware
November 19th - Steve Bostian
November 20th - Jim Martin
November 23rd - Hayden Kish
November 23rd - Linda Boyd
November 26th - Mary Neil
November 28th - Candy Albergine
November 28th - Dennis Bolin
November 29th - Alex Haymaker

Please let the office know if we have missed your birthday!
MINISTRY SCHEDULE  

2017
October 29
November 5
CHALICE/LECTOR
8:00 AM
Jim McCarthy
Brad Frazier
CHALICE 
10:30 AM
Lee Wells
Kyle Tilly
Cheryl Richard
Adam Nygren
LECTOR
Adam Nygren
Marsha Ellison
ACOLYTES
Cheryl Richard
Autumn Jager
Randy Mullins
Lee Wells
McNeal Miller
Lindsey Wells
GREETER/USHER
8:00 AM
Tony Fugate
Bruce Kiser
Linda Boyd
GREETERS/USHERS
10:30 AM
William & Priscilla Graham
Candy Albergine
Marc Dudley
ALTAR GUILD
Marc Dudley
Adam Nygren
Glenda Carpenter
BREAD
October
Gay Lindsey
November
Cheryl Saylor
ALTAR FLOWERS
Picnic
Joyce Hartung
COFFEE HOUR
Coffee Hour
Parish Breakfast
MORNINGSIDE
10:30 AM
George Sowersby
C.B. Barr
Morningside Resident
SOUND TECH
William Graham
John Woodward
LAY EUCHARISTIC
VISITORS
Jim & Flo
McCarthy
Jerry Wertz
Chong Saile
YOUTH 
FORMATION
No Christian Formation
Phill Wertz
Eileen Klimkowski
VPOD 8:00
10:30

William Graham
John Woodward
Marc Dudley

Blessings & Peace,
Fr. Gary+

phone: 704-864-7201
e-mail: secretaryallsaintsgastonianc@gmail.com
Fr. Gary's blog: