Highlights of this issue include:
- Silent Witness against Racial Injustice on July 31st
- TFCE Open for Silent Prayer Thursdays & Saturdays
- Newcomers' Welcome on Zoom Thursday, August 6th
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Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
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Please join us for our
e
-service
on Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m, which includes Spiritual Communion. A Zoom or Facebook account is not required to view the service.
If you are missing a sense of community while participating in our online worship, we invite you to try out the Facebook Watch Party for our Sunday Services. The Watch Party can be found on our
Facebook Page
on
Sunday mornings at 10 a.m.
(though folks begin gathering and chatting around 9:50 a.m.). There you can watch the service with others in real time, greet each other and exchange the Peace,
and know that though we are in different places,
the Body of Christ continues to gather as
The Falls Church Episcopal.
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During the summer season, we will continue to gather for an informal digital coffee hour. We'll have gathering time as a large group, and then split up into smaller groups for conversations on where we saw God this past week, and how we are cultivating practices of sabbath rest and renewal during these strange times.
Join us on Zoom
at 11am.
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Sunday, August 2 - Saturday, August 8
Sunday, August 2:
Monday, August 3:
Tuesday, August 4:
Wednesday, August 5:
Thursday, August 6:
Friday, August 7:
Saturday, August 8:
- 9:00 – 11:00 am – Historic Church open for quiet prayer
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Find the weekly youth forum activity
here
Our Youth Groups meet again on Sunday, August 16th.
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We are taking a break from Children's Formation Lessons for the summer to have time to pray, plan and begin implementing programming for the Fall.
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Dear Falls Church Family:
I hope you and those you share life with are well. I know these days can be hard and the circumstances we face bring anxiety and worries. So, what do we do? How do we cope with all these hours of time at home? How do we care for and educate our children with the options our schools are giving us? How do we care for ourselves (remember what the airlines say, “put your oxygen mask on first before helping others!”). What do we do when we were hoping to be able to resume our lives as normal, but it seems that this pandemic will last longer than we ever imagined?
We stay focused on healthy and purposeful living and nurturing healthy relationships.
We strive to stay focused on what we need to focus most, the foundation of goodness and love:
God
.
Let me share something about our beloved Rat Terrier Gio
(Joe)
that we are learning. Perhaps we might call this “the Gospel According to St. Francis!”
More
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TFCE Sanctuaries Open for Private Prayer Thursdays & Saturdays
The Historic Church is open for silent prayer each Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. The Main Sanctuary will be open on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. starting July 30th. We ask everyone to maintain six feet distance, wear a mask, and use hand sanitizer when entering and leaving the sanctuary. Please click
here for rules and expectations. Questions?
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Flowers on the Altar: An Episcopal Tradition Worshiping in the Beauty of Holiness
In the Episcopal Church, we seek to worship “in the beauty of holiness,” through our senses by perceiving beauty in many forms, especially with flowers from creation placed on the altar. This also provides a way for parishioners to participate in our worship ministries by arranging flowers and by offering dedications, usually in memory of or in honor of someone. Now that we are recording more and more of our services in the church, flowers have been placed on the altar. Just last week, the flowers were given to the Glory of God and in honor of parishioner Jim Councilor who has served tirelessly in our building and grounds ministry and for the past seven months has led this ministry as our Interim Building and Grounds Supervisor. This week, we offer the flowers to God’s glory and in loving memory of parishioners, family and friends who have died of COVID-19. Look for information in later E-News editions on how you can get involved!
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TFCE Shares Stories of Hope
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During these difficult times, it's uplifting to hear stories about parishioners taking action to improve the lives of people in this community, this nation, and the world.
Click here
to visit the Stories of Hope web page. E-mail
Andy
,
Kelly
,
or
Casie
with stories that you'd like to share.
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Virtual Centering Prayer Support Group.
Log into Zoom at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesdays to sit in the silence of God's presence.
More info here.
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St. Michael’s Arlington opens up Fall Education for Ministry (EfM) Class to TFCE
EfM is a premier lay theological education class offered through The University of the South at Sewanee. This four-year class provides a solid understanding and grounding in scripture, history, and the theology of the church through small group learning.
If there is interest, we could also begin an evening EfM class here at The Falls Church Episcopal for those who can’t take the morning class at St. Michael’s. Please e-mail
Casie DiSantis
if you are interested in a Falls Church evening EfM class! For information about EfM and registration for the St. Michael’s class,
click here
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New to The Falls Church Episcopal?
We are hosting a quick
Welcome to The Falls Church Episcopal
Zoom call on Thursday, August 6 at 7:30 p.m. During this call you can meet Andy and Kelly, ask questions about TFCE, and get to know us better. We will have a more formal class in the fall to welcome newcomers, but for now we hope you can pop in and say “hello”.To attend or learn more, email Casie Disantis at
[email protected]
. If you're new, click
here
to get connected with us! You may also e-mail Casie
with questions.
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Thursday Morning Fellowship Via Zoom!
The Men’s Monthly Bible Study has morphed into a weekly fellowship group gathering via Zoom on Thursday mornings at 8:30 am. This group is open to all, men and women, we are gender inclusive! Go to
Realm
for more information or contact Cleve Johnson. Hope you’ll join the group!
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PASTORAL CARE EMERGENCY NUMBER: 703-585-4410
Leave a message and the priest on call will respond to pastoral emergencies
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Parish Prayer List: Prayers & Transitions
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Please use the Prayer List below in your prayers for each other and the world. Praying for each other and the needs of the world is a powerful way to love our neighbors as ourselves!
CLICK HERE FOR THIS WEEK’S PRAYER LIST.
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Are you doing any online shopping these days?
If you’re buying more things from Amazon, please consider adding The Falls Church Episcopal to your AmazonSmile account. With every purchase you make, the church earns a small percentage. Simply
click here
to add us to your account!
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We ask that during this time you please continue to make an effort to contribute to the Church as you normally would. Although we are not having in-person services, the work of our parish, staff, and clergy continues.
Fulfilling our mission and our vision to be an enduring beacon of faith, hope, and love is crucial during these days
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There are 3 easy ways to give to the church:
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We are still checking the mail and depositing checks!
Please mail your check to:
115 E. Fairfax Street
Falls Church, VA 22046
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Donate safely and securely through our
website
.
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Text “TFCE” and the amount to 73256.
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Silent Witness Against Racial Injustice
Friday, July 31st,
5-6 p.m.
Members and friends of The Falls Church Episcopal are invited to join Falls Church Presbyterian
Church for the next Silent Witness protest. Participants are asked to wear masks and maintain social distancing. The protests are held every other Friday,rain or shine.
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Our ministry partners at FCS have seen a significant increase in their requests for grocery drop-offs at people’s homes. They are looking for drivers to pick-up groceries from their food bank and no-contact drop them off at people’s doors. If you are interested, please email
[email protected]
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Make sandwiches for those in need
Make sandwiches or bag lunches for drop-off at the Bailey's Crossroads
Shelter or New Hope Housing's Eleanor Kennedy Shelter near Fort Belvoir. Please see the
attached flyer
and contact Sami Smyth at 703-799-2293 x11 or
[email protected]
for more information.
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The Little Free Food Pantry
On Fairfax Street near the church’s Thrift Shop is a small “take some food, leave some food” pantry (like the “little libraries” where people can take or leave a book). We are definitely seeing people use that pantry to supplement their groceries, and you can drop off non-perishable food items there at any time.
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Our regular corporate worship opportunities have been suspended until further notice. But there are still lots of ways you can worship or reflect on God. Here are some suggestions of resources that might help.
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Weekly meditations by our Bishops
. This week's mediation is by Bishop Porter:
Open to the Spirit
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St. Phoebe's Virtual Chapel i
s a great resource to explore with musical resources, sermons and reflections, and digital opportunities to pray the Daily Office.
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This Sunday, livestream the worship service from the National Cathedral at 11:15 am -
more info here.
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Here
are some ways to enhance your spiritual journey at home as suggested by the Washington National Cathedral.
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