May 6, 2020
Parish Book Store Partners with Dos Santos for New Book Drive 
By The Rev. Cameron Randle, Rector
 
Like other branches of Eastern Shore Chapel’s ministry network, the Parish Book Store has entered a challenging new era. The Book Store was closed on March 12 (and remains shuttered nearly eight weeks later) in compliance with ecclesial and governmental restrictions. However, an opportunity to reenter the marketplace through service and compassion has arisen.
 
Beginning tomorrow, Thursday, May 7, the Parish Book Store will conduct a Spring & Summer Book Drive for Latino children and youth on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The campaign will extend through June 15. Many selections will be bilingual. We are seeking sponsorship of individual books, ranging in cost from $4.00-$15.00, for young readers of all ages up through 12 th grade. With monies collected from our sponsors, the Shore-based nonprofit Dos Santos will distribute books to families in need via the organization’s three food pantry distribution sites in Eastville, Pungoteague and Parksley, VA.
 
Donors are asked to contribute financially by making checks payable to Parish Book Store with Dos Santos on the memo line. Please send financial donations to: Parish Book Store, 2020 Laskin Rd, Virginia Beach, VA 23451. Due to limitations imposed by COVID-19 precautions, the Book Store staff will select all titles to be purchased for distribution to the children of migrant workers, agricultural workers, poultry workers and other members of the ESVA Latino immigrant community.
 
Questions? Contact Susan Buchanan or Marty LaGiglia at msbuchanan@verizon.net or martylag@hotmail.com .
 
By contributing to the Spring & Summer Book Drive, you are enriching the literary and academic lives of underserved students while supporting our Parish Book Store during difficult times. This sort of multi-tasking is second nature to ESC members. It is representative of ‘best practices’ in our outreach-oriented faith community. Thank you for your open hearts and generous spirits, always mindful of opportunities to be the face of Christ for those in need.
 
“Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.” (Proverbs 3:3)
Chapel Pantry update during the pandemic
 
Blessings abound at the Chapel Pantry! Because of your generous support we provided abundant groceries to 263 families this past Saturday. Many hands are involved and every donation of food, time, and money is gratefully accepted.

Here are some highlights from the week:
  • The Chapel Pantry received a grant of $5,500 from a Food Lion COVID-19 emergency response fund.
  • The Pantry will receive a grant from the Priority Toyota Charity Bowl this weekend. Although the Charity Bowl was canceled this year, Priority Toyota is committed to giving smaller grants to all the charities who were chosen for this year’s event (amount being given unknown until presentation).
  • A generous donation of perishable food was given by Commonwealth Challenge School at Camp Pendleton.
  • Numerous food donations have come in from Galilee and ESC parishioners and their friends and neighbors. Strangers have found us through Next Door posts and Facebook posts, bringing many food donations our way.
  • The City of Virginia Beach donated 1,200 sturdy shopping bags for our use.
  • Several kind souls have donated bags of homemade masks.
  • Monetary donations have been very generous.
  • Several thank you cards have been passed to volunteers by people in the car line for food. They offer heartfelt blessings and gratitude to all who have made this possible.
  • Chaplain Debbie Quam and Deacon Marguerite Alley, have donated their time to walk through the line of cars and speak with all the guests waiting for food. What a blessing they are!

Our current needs:
It is still not possible to order cases of food through the Foodbank. There is hope that this will improve soon. Until then, we still need many shoppers to provide regular sizes of:
  • Peanut Butter
  • Canned Veggies
  • Pasta Sauce (preferably canned or plastic bottles)
  • Cereal or other breakfast foods
  • Soup, Chili, Ravioli, etc.
  • Boxed Mac n Cheese
  • Canned Tuna, Chicken or other canned protein
  • Fresh or Frozen Meat of any kind
  • Fresh Eggs
 
For shopping, you can shop for us and donate the food, you can shop and be reimbursed, or you can use a grocery pickup or delivery service if you’re not comfortable going to the market. Donations are accepted at the Barton House/Pantry from 10 am to 2 pm Monday through Friday. For questions, call Kay O’Reilly at 757-323-7495.

Thank you for helping!
Saints and Themes: Cinco de Mayo

Join Rev. Julia this week for Saints & Themes tomorrow at 1pm. In honor of Cinco de Mayo we will be talking about the Patron Saints of Beer (Sts. Arnold and Brigid)

We meet for Saints & Themes on Zoom at 1pm every Thursday. We will record the session and post it to YouTube and Facebook later. Join us live so you can ask questions and share your thoughts.

Saints and Themes with Rev. Julia - Every Thursday at 1 pm on ZOOM
Click here to join us each week OR go to www.zoom.us and enter:
Meeting ID: 953 655 1806
Password: ESC
Intentional Time
 
During this Intentional Time, we will continue with our journey but with different expectations and different ways to Walk to Jerusalem. It is after all, it is just one step at a time. We will continue this until we are all back at work or have reached Jerusalem. 

Click here for a weekly tally sheet. It should print easily. No need to send it in, it is just an aid to help you keep track of your weekly steps. At the end of each week, please email Lee Davis with your total, cleedavis3@gmail.com .
Virtual Sunday School

Your child can connect online with Sunday School! Please email the teacher and she will send you a ZOOM invitation.

Join us on ZOOM for daily Morning Prayer

Need more steps? Join us for Daily Morning Prayer, the first of the daily offices each day. Everything you need is provided, simply join us on ZOOM each morning (except Sunday) at 7:30 AM. It takes about thirty minutes and offers a way to get together for spiritual exercise. A very good way indeed to start the day.

Go to  www.zoom.us
Meeting ID:  562 715 368
Password:  John1513

Join us won't you? We will all be made richer by your presence. You are not expected but welcomed indeed! Email Lee Davis  cleedavis3@gmail.com  if you have questions.
Music for the Fifth Sunday of Easter

In this week’s Gospel lesson, John 14:1-14, for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Jesus tells us that “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” Ralph Vaughan Williams selects this text for his setting of The Call from Five Mystical Songs. Some of you may remember that William Culverhouse, son of Bettie Allen, an ESC parish member, sang this beautifully at ESC several years ago.

Our hymn for the day, #525 “ The Church’s one foundation,” reflects the text found in 1 Peter 2:2-10. This hymn concertato, based on Hymn 525, is written by Dan Forest and was premiered at Duke Chapel.

Blessings to all,
Martin
Cemetery Expansion Update

Our contractor, Premier Earth Shaping, is hard at work with tree removal in the expansion area of the cemetery. Again, rain and wet weather over the last few days has kept the site wet and muddy. 
 
On Tuesday, May 5, Father Cameron and Reverend Julia performed a Blessing Ceremony in lieu of an official Groundbreaking Ceremony. Those present included our clergy, Cameron and Julia, our Senior Warden, Sally Cox, our Cemetery Committee Chair, Linda Todd, our Engineer, Bruce Gallup, the Contractor, Derrick Howell and the Cemetery Manager, Mike Brown. Also in attendance helping with pictures and filming, Haley Brown and Elizabeth Brown.
 
If you have any questions, please reach out to me, Mike Brown, at esccemetery@verzion.net or 757-422-1287.
Parish Day School: Teacher Appreciation Week!

Happy National Teacher Appreciation Week! We will be celebrating our AMAZING teachers and staff virtually this year. We are so thankful for all they do!

This week, the classes are studying life cycles, bugs, worms, gardens, and plants. Students will also be participating in special Mother's Day activities. Teachers are connecting with their students through Zoom, weekly videos and games families can do at home. As we stay safe at home, we love seeing photos of all the fun they are having through our weekly lessons. 

We are so proud of our Parish Day School and church families! Thank you for your generous donations which allowed us to raise over $3000 for CHKD. This is the most we have ever raised for such a worthy cause. We are full of joy knowing the tremendous impact this will have on children of Hampton Roads.  https://www.teamchkd.org/parishdayschooltrikers

We wish all of the Parish Day School and Eastern Shore Chapel families a Happy Mother's Day!


Members of The Parish Day School Board met via Zoom this past week to discuss plans and preview contingencies for coming months. The physical campus remains closed through June 12 but PDS administrative staff is prepping for any number of eventual reopening scenarios.
My Friend Mook
By Lee Davis

Prison ministry is chock full of happy stories. I have written here often of being witness to residents having life changing encounters with Christ, of men changed forever through God’s grace, and of love returned in the simplest and most meaningful ways. KAIROS team members always say that we are the ones who get the blessing. But it’s not always roses. Sometimes we have to listen to the hard stuff, the broken dreams and crushed hearts. We have to live through the dark night of suffering with residents doing hard time for poor choices to get to the resurrection light of the morning, of the rebirth.

I met “Mook” (his prison name) in April, 2013 at KAIROS 5 in Sussex II State Prison. I’d guess he was in his mid-forties, wheelchair bound because of multiple sclerosis. He had a bright shining face and an infectious smile; you could not help but smile back when he looked at you. He had heavy tremors; his hands shook so relentlessly that he could not write. It took serious effort to grab a cookie and direct it into his mouth. The effort was mostly a swiping motion resulting in cookie crumbs across his precious face. Because his head shook one way and his hands another it was sad to watch. But Mook loved those cookies and smiled like a Cheshire cat with each bite. Other residents, those rough, tough prison inmates sitting beside him, would gently wipe his face with a paper towel as necessary.

He had amazing faith in his redemption, salvation and the unending grace of God. Mook made an impression on me as I am certain he did the other team members. By the end of the Four Day Weekend, Mook had established himself as a very, very special person to me.

After the weekend, Mook attended a monthly reunion every now and then. We didn’t see him much because just getting from point A to point B required such an effort. Other residents would pass along his good wishes and we’d send them back to him. I wrote to him a number of times over the years, never expecting a letter in return, just wanting him to know that he was not forgotten and that he was loved in deed!

He was moved to a geriatric institution last year. I can only guess that his physical condition had deteriorated to a point he could not be cared for adequately at Sussex II. He was added to my every morning prayer list with a big intentional heart by his name!
What a thrill it was this past December to receive a Christmas card from him. It was obviously written by a female but oh my, it’s the thought that counts. What a blessing that someone was there willing to take the time to write the card for my friend Mook. I treasured that Christmas card!

Then comes the corona virus. I looked for Mook in the “Inmate Locator” provided by the Virginia Department of Corrections to confirm his address so I could write to him. No Mook. All it said was “No offender match is found”. Oh my gosh, what has happened to my friend Mook? Were my prayers answered? How? Did he rise up from that chair and walk out of prison?  How God, how did you answer them? Oh my gosh.

I started contacting everyone I could that I thought may have the “pull” to answer my question to no avail. The answer I got, if I got an answer, was “Inmate information is confidential.”

Today I received this from a friend with connections: “XX was granted discretionary parole on 4/17/2020 from State Farm Enterprise Unit Infirmary and released to supervision in the Tidewater Virginia area.”

Sometimes it is all roses. Thanks be to God. I ask your prayers for my friend Mook.
As a 'thank you' to your donors for their time and blood donation, those who come to give blood May 15-31 will receive a special Red Cross T-shirt by mail. (Instead of T-shirts being at your drive and handed to each donor, they will now be claimed electronically by donors who have a valid email address on file. Donors will receive an email approximately 14 days after donation from the Red Cross with instructions on how to claim and receive their preferred T-shirt size by mail.)
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