The Signature of a Soul
September 30, 2011
“This signature on each soul may be a product of heredity and environment, but that only means that heredity and environment are among the instruments whereby God creates a soul. I am considering now how, but why, He makes each soul unique. If He had no use for all these differences, I do not see why He should have created more souls than one. Be sure that the ins and outs of your individuality are no mystery to Him; and one day they will no longer be a mystery to you. The mould in which a key is made would be a strange thing, if you had never seen a key: and the key itself a strange thing if you had never seen a lock. Your soul has a curious shape because it is a hollow made to fit a particular swelling in the infinite contours of the Divine substance, or a key to unlock one of the doors in the house with many mansions. For it is not humanity in the abstract that is to be saved, but you—you, the individual reader, John Stubbs or Janet Smith. Blessed and fortunate creature, your eyes shall behold Him and not another’s. All that you are, sins apart, is destined, if you will let God have His good way, to utter satisfaction. The Brocken spectre ‘looked to every man like his first love’, because she was a cheat. But God will look to every soul like its first love because He is its first love. Your place in heaven will seem to be made for you and you alone, because you were made for it—made for it stitch by stitch as a glove is made for a hand.” ~ C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
Rector’s Devotional: Liturgy – the Work of the People
September 28, 2011
“There is some loss in the use of printed words; but there is a greater gain. We have in them the accumulated wisdom and beauty of the Christian Church, the garnered excellence of the saints. We are by them released from the accidents of time and place. Above all we are preserved against the worst dangers of selfishness: in the common prayer we join together in a great fellowship that is as wide as the world; and we are guided, not by the limited notions of our own priest, nor by the narrow impulses of our own desires, but by the mighty voice that rises from the general heart of Christendom.” — Percy Dearmer, Everyman’s History of the Prayer Book, 1912.
I’m a high churchman, and an Anglo-Catholic...believing and holding to what has “been taught semper et ubique (always and everywhere). My heart of hearts is in the stone chapels and ancient tones of the Church Catholic. And, in that expression, John Wesley captured, in 1784, what resonates with me. “I believe there is no liturgy in the world, either in ancient or modern language, which breathes more of a solid, scriptural, rational piety, than the Common Prayer of the Church of England: and the main of it was compiled considerably more than two hundred years ago, yet is the language of it not only pure, but strong and elegant in the highest degree.” That describes our liturgy. Ancient and Scriptural. And, characteristic to here, full of the Holy Ghost.
Centuries have passed, and Wesley’s observation still rings true. And the breath of “solid, scriptural, rational piety” is couched, for me in the Person of God the Holy Ghost…the Spirit of Truth. Like God to Adam in Genesis, He breathes the Breath (Spirit) of Life into this ancient, reliable avenue of approach to the Heavenlies. He brings the Shekinah down as we worship in “spirit and truth.” And, after centuries of use, there’s a lot of residual glory in our prayerbook…if we invoke and release the Holy Ghost to inhabit those praises and prayers.
This is not to say I don’t love every other expression of Christian worship…I find Him easily in an evangelical tent meeting or a free-wheeling Holy Ghost prayer and praise gathering. In fact, anyone who has attended All Saints’ Sunday night Koinonia can tell you that we have elements of both there, in trumps, but, even there, when we have our concluding Spirit-led prayer time, we will have some liturgical prayer to punctuate that move of the Paraclete.
That’s the thing…we need all the expressions, but the liturgical expression, to me, is like the bedrock of the Spirit’s river. His currents eddy and ripple in its course. If we will allow our own spirits to predominate over our intellect, emotions and body, the flow of the Holy Ghost in liturgy, as in all worship, will take us to places we wouldn’t go to on our own. It’s transcendent. And, it’s unifying in ways you may not suspect.
I think this is where God wants us: In the fullness of His Spirit, we love the diversity of joy and interaction in all our forms of worship. Like movements in a great symphony, full worship has various moods, movements, and tempos that, like a symphony, characterize the piece and convey the intention of the Composer, provided via the interpretation of the musicians. And worship, like music, is usually better in the company of other lovers of it and with live musicians. We share the music together and benefit from the each other’s participation in the experience. We literally are, in the words of Hebrews, encouraging each other to “good works” in common worship of all kinds–but most especially when we worship in glow of the Holy Ghost. So, it’s a call to community, as well as worship.
So, liturgical worship–something we inherited from our Hebrews antecedents–is indeed the best of all. Ultimately, God wants His people to be open to His SPIRIT and to be willing to find Him regardless of the way His people minister their love to Him. Of course, that’s gonna mean some work on our part because we all have our preferences.
That’s the point…and the real translation of the term “liturgy”…the work of the people. If we really are doing business with God, our worship, whatever form it takes, requires us work at it through His real, present, and personal Holy Ghost. And so…everyone who really worships, then, in the purest sense, worships in liturgy…whether it’s written down or not. So, we really are together…One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism. So…let’s get to work, People of God.
It’s good to have unity, isn’t it?
Pray about it:
“How do I worship in Spirit and Truth?”
Fourteenth Sunday After Trinity: Study To Show Thyself Approved
September 25, 2011
All Saints Movie Night: Courageous
September 23, 2011
Come join your All Saints family to see the new movie Courageous. We plan to attend the Friday, Oct 7, 2011, showing at 7:10 pm at AMC Huebner Oaks 24 located at 11075 IH-10 West, San Antonio, TX 78230. The tickets are $10.00 for adults. Children are welcome.
We will meet at the theater and sit together. Please RSVP by September 30th to Bill Wimp, outreach@allsaintsanglican.net.
Four men, one calling: To serve and protect. As law enforcement officers, Adam Mitchell, Nathan Hayes, David Thomson, and Shane Fuller are confident and focused. Yet at the end of the day, they face a challenge that none of them are truly prepared to tackle: fatherhood. While they consistently give their best on the job, good enough seems to be all they can muster as dads. But they’re quickly discovering that their standard is missing the mark. When tragedy hits home, these men are left wrestling with their hopes, their fears, their faith, and their fathering. Can a new found urgency help these dads draw closer to God and to their children?
Filled with action-packed police drama, COURAGEOUS is the fourth film from Sherwood Pictures, the movie-making ministry of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia. Riveted movie goers will once again find themselves laughing, crying, and cheering as they are challenged and inspired by everyday heroes who long to be the kinds of dads that make a lifelong impact on their children. Protecting the streets is second nature to these men. Raising their children in a God-honoring way? That’s courageous.
http://www.courageousthemovie.com/
For more information, contact Bill Wimp at outreach@allsaintsanglican.net
Missionary to the Least Reached at All Saints, October 2nd
September 22, 2011
All Saints will host an Anglican missioner to speak about his mission for Christ in World’s toughest and least-reached mission field Sunday, October 2nd. He will speak at both morning Holy Communion services as well as the more informal Koinonia service Sunday evening.
The Reverend Jerry Kramer, and his family travel in a number of middle-eastern countries known to be hostile to the Gospel, preaching and loving the people there. Although they have ministered in east Africa and areas in the middle east, their exact locations are held secret to protect their safety.
Their primary ministry is to a population of 1.2 million, 98 percent of whom are Muslim, who have little or no exposure to the Gospel and a miniscule indigenous Church. They are the only missionary family in this particular area.
The Rev Kramer is an Anglican priest in the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA). Their website: http://www.kramermission.org/KramerMission/Welcome.html .
Fall Festival Volunteers Needed
September 21, 2011
Saturday, October 29, 2011
10 AM – 5 PM
It takes a lot of volunteers to make this day of fun, food, and fellowship a success.
The following volunteers are needed:
- Setup and breakdown:
- Twelve people to help with setup, from 7:00 – 9:00 AM
- Twelve people to help with breakdown, from 5:00 – 7:00 PM
- Those who don’t plan to remain for the event may split their time between both setup and breakdown.
- One more floater to assist where needed throughout the day of the event
- One person to staff the jewelry table
- Moon bounce:
- Two shifts of two people each.
- These workers must be Ministry Safe trained and approved for children’s ministry.
- Three volunteers to operate the bake sale.
Please volunteer to help make this event successful. Many hands make light the labor.
Contact Barry Kowald at events@allsaintsanglican.net to sign up for these events.
And don’t forget to stick around and enjoy the festival before or after your volunteer time!
Food Pantry Donation Sunday October 2
September 20, 2011
Our first All Saints “Food Pantry Donation Sunday” on September 4 was a blessing for our food pantry. We collected 67 jars of peanut butter. Praise the Lord! Thank you to everyone who donated to support our food pantry needs.
Our next “Food Pantry Donation Sunday” will be on Sunday, October 2. Our All Saints Food Pantry is asking for donations of boxes of cereal. Donations can be placed in the donation bin in Ballard Hall. Any donation of cereal will be appreciated. HEB does have a good cereal value—their Hill Country Fare Corn Flakes (18 oz) for $1.36.
For more information, contact Bill Wimp, outreach@allsaintsanglican.net.
Strong Foundation Ministries: come serve on September 29th
September 19, 2011
Please join our All Saints Men’s Group (the Order of St. Timothy) and our wives on Thursday September 29, 2011 from 7:00 pm-9:00 pm, as we provide child care to the kids of Strong Foundation Ministries at 414 N. Hackberry Street, San Antonio, TX 78202, while their parents are in recovery class. Come serve the Lord, while serving others.
For more information, watch the video below, visit the Strong Foundation Ministries’ website, or contact Bill Wimp, outreach@allsaintsanglican.net.
Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity; God looks on our hearts.
September 18, 2011
Blessings From the Barrio by Carter Dreesman
September 17, 2011
I was blessed to have an amazing experience in our own backyard, the Larkspur neighborhood. As you know, Bill and Arlene Wimp have devoted themselves to ministry to the least of us doing so, in part, by coordinating with Our Daily Bread to provide food to those who are truly in need. We were challenged to reach out to, not only our All Saints family, but also our extended family outside the parish doors. The problem was how exactly do we do this? Carolyn Mayclin and I worked the Food Bank on a recent Saturday, and God spoke to us telling us to go out to His people. So having packed Carolyn’s trunk with food, off we went into the neighborhood, braced with prayer and faith that God would show us where to go. As always, He did not disappoint. We decided to go to the heart of the Larkspur area and let God show us how to proceed. It was not long before we found a lady in the front yard of her house. We stopped, told her who we were, and offered food. After some skepticism, possibly from the broken Spanish Carolyn and I were able to piece together, she was thrilled to receive food for herself and her family. Off we went, feeling good that we had begun God’s work, and to find our next recipient. We found not only several others, but ended up with a lady who asked us to visit her son who lived across the street. When we arrived, he came out of the house with his two children, ages 6 and 11, and was ready not only to receive the food we had to offer, but also the Word we had to offer. He was so happy to be told of a place where his children could learn the word of God, not only in worship, but in Sunday School and VBS. The only caveat is that he and the children’s mother both work all day Sundays. The mother is reportedly anti-religion, but willing for the children to go to church if they do not come home and discuss it with her. I am pleased to report that they will be given transportation to Sunday School to begin their Christian education. Others who came to the Food Bank inquired about Sunday services, indicating a willingness and eagerness to come to services. We do not need to travel to Africa or China to spread the Gospel. Our missionary opportunities are within a mile of the parish. I cannot begin to tell you the blessings we receive when we do this and encourage anyone who feels called to come and help. Volunteer opportunities are varied, including picking up food from Our Daily Bread, preparing it for distribution, and finally giving food out to those in need, this being done in our newly renovated garage at Elisha House. Please do not hesitate to contact me or anyone on the team or email outreach@allsaintsanglican.net with any questions.
