Fall Festival Scheduled for October 31
August 31, 2009
Mark your calendar for our second annual Fall Festival to be held here at All Saints on October 31, 11 AM – 5 PM. We will have great food, fun games, and a fabulous rummage sale.
Please begin digging in your closets to see what contributions you may have for the sale—remember one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Besides this will be a great start for a good fall house cleaning!
If you remember last year you will not want to miss this year, and if you were not there last year come see what you missed. What better way to celebrate All Saints Day than at All Saints Anglican Church.
Anyone wishing to volunteer should contact Carter Dreesman, events coordinator at All Saints, events@allsaintsanglican.net.
Liturgy Lesson for the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity: Sacrament of Unction
August 28, 2009
Anglican Christian practice includes seven Sacraments to build us up and empower our Christian Faith. Among these, Holy Unction, in Scripture in St. James 5:13-16 and St. Mark 6:13, is specifically intended to focus God’s healing power on our illnesses and infirmities. According to the prayer book, this is done at the minister’s discretion and parishioners are called on to give him notice that someone is sick. Accomplished in obedience to divine command as found in St. James 5:14-15, it’s also a Christian duty as described in St. Matthew 25:34-36. Plainly, any Christian has the authority to lay hands on the sick and expect their recovery, but application of the Unction (anointing) for the sick is specifically tasked to the presbyters (priests) of the Church, according to St. James. This begs the question, then, does everyone we anoint become well on the spot, by God’s power? Clearly not. God, after all, is God and He chooses where and when to heal. However, we are to be faithful to what Scripture tasks us—if there are sick among us, we are to call for the priests of the Church to anoint and pray for the sick. Scripture promises us, then, the prayer of the faithful saves the sick and the Lord raises them up. How God responds is up to Him. However, since God is sovereign and Scripture tells us to pray for the sick and they will recover, then, there’s no reason not to expect God to heal miraculously by Holy Unction or simply laying on of hands in prayer. We serve a caring, sovereign God who triumphs over our problems!
Liturgy Lesson for St. Bartholomew: Heart with No Guile
August 22, 2009
The Church has set aside saints’ days, (such as St. Bartholomew) in honor of the first martyrs and those mentioned in the Gospel as most nearly connected with our Blessed Lord in the work of establishing His Church and in honor of all those who surrender their lives for the Lord’s use. Saints’ days were established for us to study and emulate their virtues and thank God for their examples. It’s important to note—we don’t pray to the saints or address them directly in devotion, but we may ask our Heavenly Father for our share of their prayers in Heaven. The first record we have of a saints’ day traces to the second century, although it probably existed earlier and grew from ancient Christians meeting at martyrs’ graves on their death anniversaries to celebrate their Godly virtues and bless God for their pure and heroic lives. The great truth for us in observance of saints’ days is that the saints on Earth are fellow-citizens with the saints in paradise, and all, whether living or dead, are members of one great Heavenly parokia, (parish)—God’s family—the Communion of Saints. Like Christians we meet, our spirits can “bear witness” with the saints because we resonate on Christ’s spiritual frequency—one Faith and one Baptism for the remission of sin—rewired to our Lord’s specification. And, we can take joy that we’re empowered—just as St. Bartholomew was—to preach His Gospel, with hearts that have “no guile” as Jesus said of Bartholomew—regardless of the cost. And, like him, when our hearts have no other agenda, we have a great company with us to God’s purpose in our lives. For the Kingdom!
9/11 Memorial Service
August 21, 2009
All Saints will participate in Remembering 9/11… Honoring the memory of the victims with a special memorial service.
We will have Morning Prayer and Litany at 9 AM on September 11 in remembrance of the sacrifices made that day eight years ago.
Intercessory Prayer Training
August 20, 2009
If you are interested in joining All Saints Intercessory Prayer Ministry, need a refresher course, or want to learn more about this ministry, your chance is coming up soon!
A class is being formed for Saturday, September 12 from noon until approximately 4pm. The training will be held in Ballard Hall.
LaDonna Taylor Concert Photos
August 16, 2009
LaDonna Taylor Concert
August 16, 2009
All Saints was blessed to host Dr. LaDonna Taylor in a violin concert at Koinonia on Sunday, August 9. Dr. Taylor’s music has brought healing to many.
Parishioner Dawn Andrade expressed the reaction of many in attendance in this note to Father Chip:
I thoroughly enjoyed Koinonia. Dr. LaDonna was wonderful. You could really feel God come down and join us as she played. It was wonderful. The song she played about “Dance like David Danced”. We used to sing that song all the time. It really took every part of me to stay sitting. It is just amazing how God moves on everyone. He is so amazing. I am glad I went and was a part of Koinonia Sunday night.
Also, the Koinonia band praise team was awesome. God really blessed ya’ll and us. All of ya’ll did a wonderful job. Everyone was full of the Holy Ghost and in one mind and one accord. Praise Jesus. Service was awesome!!!! I did not want to leave I just wanted to bask in His presence. She is so right—we praise Him and then it turns into Worship and we need to bask in His Presence. To be in the presence of the God Most High is all there is to be. We were created to worship Him and we did that on Sunday night. Thank you Fr. Chip for allowing this time of worship and praise.
Blessed be the name of the Lord,
Dawn
Liturgy Lesson for the Tenth Sunday after Trinity: Sanctus Bells
August 14, 2009
Sanctus bells are chimes rung during the Sanctus [Holy, Holy, Holy] and have been part of worship in the Holy Eucharist for over 800 years. At All Saints, we ring them just before the consecration, signaling we’re about to enter the holiest portions of the service-tasking us to devotion to the Lord’s Presence as the priest elevates the consecrated host and chalice. It’s also a joyful noise to the Lord, obedient to Scripture, and heralds the supernatural at the Holy Table, when we call the Holy Spirit down into the elements at the Epiclesis, transforming them from mere wine and bread to containing the Real Presence of the Lord! Bells are mentioned in the Old Testament-notably in Exodus 28:33-35, describing Aaron’s vestments to enter the Holy of Holies: “On its skirts you shall make pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet, around its skirts, with bells of gold between them, a golden bell and a pomegranate, round about on the skirts of the robe.” They were likely used for two reasons. First, worshipping with a joyful noise to God, (Psalm 98:4) and, secondly, apotropaic-warding off unclean spirits-to protect Aaron as he entered God’s Presence. They also signified adoration to God during early times, according to Zechariah 14:20. Ancient cymbals in Psalm 150:5-6 resembled modern bells and led to using bells in the Church as early as the fifth century, when Saint Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, rang them to call monks to worship. Sounding bells during Communion derives from the tintinnabula (tiny bells) in ancient Judaic worship and were brought indoors by English churches, who originated our custom here. They are, then, both joyful and reverent, tasking us to devotion and attention to an act of our supernatural God-granting us His Presence in the Communion, so we can have His life in us by partaking. Consequently, we are very orthodox (rightly glorifying) when we join the psalmist in saying, “Praise Him with sounding cymbals; praise Him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!”
Intercessory Prayer Training
August 12, 2009
8/20/09: This training has been re-scheduled to September 12.
If you are interested in joining All Saints Intercessory Prayer Ministry, need a refresher course, or want to learn more about this ministry, your chance is coming up soon!
A class is being formed for Saturday, August 22 from noon until approximately 4pm.
Please call the church office at 210-344-1920 to register.
Video: Dr. LaDonna Taylor, coming to All Saints August 9th
August 7, 2009
All Saints will host a concert by Dove Award nominee Dr. LaDonna Taylor, who has an amazing ministry with her Vincenza violin and her new violad’amore, where the Lord heals and delivers by her anointed music.
Please join us for a very special Koinonia (fellowship) Sunday night, August 9th at 6 PM.
Hear a preview of LaDonna’s music and listen to testimonies of healing miracles:
