In His Own Words

by Father Casey

This weekend is the only time all year when our nation and our church both invite us to remember the same person. The Episcopal Church added Martin Luther King, Jr. to our calendar of saints in 1985, and a year later the United States began honoring him with a federal holiday. I’m not sure how Dr. King would feel about either. He was a great admirer of Dorothy Day, and he likely shared her sentiment, “Don’t make me a saint. I don’t want to be dismissed so easily.”

Sure enough, the mountain of Dr. King has been chiseled down to a handful of famous sayings – “I have a dream,” and “the arc of the moral universe is long,” among them. We all-too-easily forget that by the time of his death, he had become extremely unpopular due to his outspoken opposition to the Vietnam War. He had broadened his efforts from racial injustice and civil rights to economic reform and the eradication of poverty, and had, as a result, been deemed a radical. But “the radical King,” as Cornel West writes in ...

In this E-news:

Epiphany Formation Underway
Church Offices Closed Monday
Food Pantry Monday
Outreach Opportunities for You
Newcomers Workshop
Be a Kneeler Installer
Meet the Vestry Coming Up
Fig Youth Baking for Books

Transfigured Nights Concert
Be A HeRO
Open Door at the Hockey Game
Ministry Focus on Fellowship
Annual Meeting - Save the Date
Dana Jean Ordination
Looking Ahead to VBS
Children's and Youth Formation

This Weekend & Week

Epiphany Formation Underway

Even if you missed the start of these enlightening Sunday formation classes last week there is still time to join in.

Reading John for

Dear Life

with Mother Rebecca

Vestry Room

Episcopal Church History, Considered

with Father Ted

Roper Hall

Figs With Kids:

Pray Big Things

Classroom S202

The Way

with Father Casey

Parlor

View Full Details Here

Week Ahead

Church Offices Closed Monday

The Church Offices will be closed this Monday, January 20, in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King's Birthday. The offices will reopen Tuesday, January 21 for normal office hours.

During this time if you have an urgent Pastoral need you can contact our clergy by clicking here or calling 972-233-1898 and pressing option 9.

Fig Food Pantry Monday

This Monday, January 20, is Dr. Martin Luther King's Birthday and it is Food Distribution day for our Food Pantry. We invite you to join us in a spirit of service and our efforts to provide food for those in need. We will setup in the Gathering Space. Join us as little or as much as you like:

10:30am to 11:00am – Setup

11:00am to Noon – Unloading

Noon to 3:30pm – Sorting/Bagging

3:30pm to 6:00pm – Distribution

For more info contact

Jodi Dalton or Alan Justice

Outreach Needs Your Help

We have two new outreach opportunities in January, both on January 21.

St. Jude Center

We need volunteers to join us at St. Jude Center, a supportive housing center located at the southeast corner of Coit and 635, where we will serve dinner to the residents. You can provide lasagna or sides such as green beans and fruit salad and/or help serve at 5:00pm.

Volunteer for St. Jude Here

Food Packing Session

We will package food at Feed My Starving Children, located at 1680 Glenville in Richardson. Folks there will help package food to be sent to communities across the world. Our shift is 5:00pm to 6:45pm and we can have up to 20 volunteers.

Volunteer for FMSC Here

Additional dates of service for these outreach opportunities are available.

See the Events list in Realm.

Dana Jean Ordination

This Friday, January 24, Dana Jean will be ordained to the sacred priesthood in Christ's one, holy, and apostolic Church at Trinity Episcopal Church in Marshall, Texas. Register as soon as possible to let us know if you would be interested in carpooling to the ordination in Marshall.

Newcomers Workshop

Our visitors and newcomers are invited to attend a workshop specifically for our those who want to learn more about Transfiguration. Mark your calendars for Saturday, January 25.

Topics include: what is an Episcopalian, what are the Sacraments, the history of Transfiguration, expectations as a new member, and much more!

Come early at 8:45am for meet and greet. Program will begin promptly at 9:00am

Contact Gabby Guion to reserve your spot.

Coffee and Light refreshments will be served.

RSVP to Attend

Looking Ahead

Be a Kneeler Installation Volunteer

Our beautiful needlepoint kneelers are ready to be installed! We're excited to bring them to life and need your help to make it happen.

The time is finally here to begin upholstering our preserved needlepoint onto the new chairs kneelers. For anyone interested, we will have a mandatory one hour training session on the following days:

Saturday, January 25 at 10 am in the Vestry room (register below)
Sunday, January 26 at 12:30 pm (immediately following the service) in the Parlor (register below)

For more information contact

Marcy Mignardi or call 214-629-4147 or Rob Johnson or call 214-796-1810.

Come Meet The Vestry

Quarterly, members of the Vestry host the opportunity for you to meet with them to learn what's new and share your questions, insights, and ideas. Mark your calendar so you don't miss the next opportunity which will be Saturday, January 25 and Sunday, January 26. Please look for your vestry members in the Gathering Space and take a moment to hear what's new. To learn more about your current and incoming Vestry members and the Vestry Committee leadership, click here.

Baking for

Books

Support the Fig Youth who are baking to raise money to provide books to Children's Medical Center in Plano. There will be individual cookies, brownies, and cupcakes, as well as pies and cakes to take home.

These yummy goodies will be available in the Tower Cloister before and after each service next Sunday, January 26.

Transfigured Nights Concert:

Music for Woodwind Quintet

On Sunday, January 26 at 7:00pm, Transfigured Nights presents oboist Willa Henigman and friends from the Dallas Symphony, Dallas Opera, and other area orchestras in a program of music for woodwind quintet. You will not want to miss this rare opportunity to hear the full complement of these five instruments – flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon – in works by Samuel Barber, Valerie Coleman, and Paul Hindemith. The concert is free of admission and will be in the intimate setting and vibrant acoustics of the Performance Hall.

Be a HeRO

Men of the Church are invited to join Fr. Casey for the HeROs Breakfast on January 30 from 8:00am - 9:15am at Royal Oaks Country Club in support of the work of Genesis Women's Shelter. Genesis Women's Shelter was one of the two recipients of the plate offering collected at our Christmas services this year.

HeROs support the work of Genesis Women’s Shelter (it stands for "He Respects Others") and consists of men who realize that domestic violence is not a "women’s problem." The truth is that abuse of women and children will only end when honorable men say enough is enough - that even though the women in our lives may be safe, it’s not okay if ANY woman or child is being hurt.

This is a breakfast to celebrate the work of HeROs and invite new members. There is no cost to attend, and we hope that you will not only join us at the breakfast but also choose to become a HeRO.

Please RSVP to Father Casey's assistant, Shalu Abraham, by clicking the button below. We thank you for being good men, good friends, and the kind who stand up for others.

RSVP to Attend

Open Door Invites You

Open Door, our LGBTQ+ ministry has arranged a block of 40 seats to watch the Allen Americans vs. Rapid City Rush hockey game Wednesday, January 31 at 7:00pm. All are welcome to attend and get to know one another. For more information and to purchase tickets click here.

Ministry Focus on Fellowship

The Fig has a long reputation for friendliness and inclusion. Throughout the month of January we will shine a spotlight on the many Fellowship Ministries here at Transfiguration. These ministry groups provide support, friendship, and connections that deepen your spiritual growth in a world that has become increasingly isolating. Look for our Ministry Table in the Tower Cloister and checkout our Fellowship ministries here.

Annual Meeting – Save the Date

Sunday, February 2

Plan to attend the Annual Parish Meeting on Sunday, February 2 at 10:00am. We will review our ministries from 2024, learn about our vision for 2025, and celebrate this year’s recipients of the Tau Cross and Crown Award. For those who are unable to attend in person, the meeting will be live-streamed on YouTube. The link will be be made available through E-news and the website closer to the meeting date.

During the Annual Parish Meeting, our Children’s and Youth Ministries will host Toni Simmons, African Storyteller, in Roper Hall.

Looking Ahead to VBS

Mark your calendars and make your plans for this summer's Vacation Bible School June 2 - 6, 2025. This year a half-day and a full-day option will be offered.

Our theme will be a Road Trip VBS, based on Joshua 1:9. Join us in a fun-filled adventure on the open road, taking all the kids (Travelers) on thrilling journeys to exciting destinations. Led by the Navigator and an adventurous pup named Scout, kids will learn that God is always with them.

We are looking for participants and for volunteers who will help facilitate our intrepid Travelers on their Road Trip. Sign-up today!

Youth Sunday Funday - Karaoke

Youth of the church are invited to join the Fig Youth this Sunday, January 19 from 5:00pm - 8:00pm for a Karaoke Party in the Youth Center!

Dinner will be provided!

Contact

Delynda Moravec

Helping Our Children Grow

Children's Chapel is available for our little ones ages 4 years through 1st Grade.

Godly Play is offered for ages Pre-K through 5th Grade.

Wee Wonder for those ages 2 and 3.

For more details and to register see our Children's Formation Pages.

Contact

Allison Blalock

Diving Deeper with Out Youth

Our Youth Faith Formation (and Crossover) theme for this year is “Diving Deeper… Formation kickoff again on Sunday, January 12. We will be exploring themes of community, love, friendship, forgiveness, wisdom, humility, joy, peace, courage, generosity, and patience at Crossover and during Faith Formation each Sunday in the Youth Center. For more information and details see our Youth Formation Pages.

Contact

Delynda Moravec

St. Hilda's Guild

The Clothes Horse now accepts credit and debit cards.

Shop Our

Bookstore

The Kay Andrews Bookstore and Gift Shop, located in the hallway near the Memorial Garden and the Children's wing offer a selection of gifts and books for purchase.

Our hours are 10am - 2pm:

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Sundays: 8am - 1pm

The Clothes

Horse

Working at the Clothes Horse gives the opportunity to meet new friends, work to sustain grants to support ministries outside the church and inside the church. All donated clothes are either sold or given to the Transfiguration Food Bank, Austin Street Shelter, New Friends New Life, and many other groups in need of clothing.

Our hours are 10am - 2pm:

Tuesdays

Thursdays

Saturday

or whenever the Blue & Yellow Signs are displayed

Need more information? Contact Cassie Bledsoe or call at 214-536-2416.