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October 1 - 31, 2001 St. John’s Episcopal Church 404-761-8402 SPECIAL EVENTS
EACH WEEK WE OFFER
FROM THE OUTREACH COMMITTEE Many thanks to Chad Henson for giving us grocery bags for our "Bag the Car Program." "When you practice kindness you simply try to bring happiness and joy to those you meet on your daily path." FALL FESTIVAL & BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS On October 6 our Fall Festival begins at 9:00 a.m. with a bake sale, flea market and many other interesting and fun things. At 11:00 we will have our Annual Blessing of the Animals. At 12:00, we will have a visit from the Zoomobile. Food will be served all day. Invite your friends and neighbors! GIVE US A BAKE! Put on your apron and get out your recipes! We are having a bake sale at the Fall Festival, so bring your favorite pies, cakes, cookies, etc. for the bakery booth. Let me know, if possible, what you can bring. Of course, any last-minute items will be appreciated. Thanks to all. Melissa Brady,404/761-6588.TRANSITIONS Udine Lowrey’s new address is: 2812 Kimmeridge Dr., East Point, GA 30344 Sandra and Jimmy Gardner’s new phone # is 770-389-8679. Love and sympathy to the family of Roberta Moore who died on Sept. 9. May the souls of the faithful departed rest in God’s nearer presence. AFTER THE ATTACKS: HOW YOU CAN HELP After the attacks of September 11, there are important things you can do. Please pray for peace, for those killed and injured in the attacks and for their families, for those traumatized by the attacks, for those clearing the debris, for our military personnel (BCP p. 823), for the President and those in authority (BCP p. 820), and for our enemies (BCP p. 816). You can send financial assistance to the Episcopal Relief and Development Fund, c/o September 11 Disaster, Box 12043, Newark, NJ 07101. THANKS FROM THE CCMA We recently received a plaque and a letter from the Christian Council of Metropolitan Atlanta. The plaque will hang in Bott Hall, and the letter reads as follows:
Debbie did a great job, and so did lots of other people who worked on this wonderful, successful endeavor. SOUTHWEST CHRISTIAN HOSPICE BENEFIT The Ninth Annual Benefit Dinner & Award Banquet is scheduled for Friday, December 7, 2001 at the Cobb Galleria Centre. The guest speaker at the dinner will be Former First Lady of the United States, and the mother of our President, Mrs. Barbara Bush. For more information please call Southwest Christian Hospice at 770/969-8354. PRAY FOR OUR TRIP TO HAITI From October 21-27, eleven members of St. John’s will be on a mission trip to Haiti. The purpose of the trip is to see first-hand the operations of Bethlehem Ministries, headed by Fr. Bruno. Our missioners will not build schools or churches (when asked about that at a meeting, one of the organizers responded, "Fr. Bruno says that one thing they have lots of in Haiti is access to manual labor.") Our folks will, however, be there to learn of the plight of this poor country and build relationships that can result in our providing effective help. Please keep in your prayers the purpose of the trip and those scheduled to carry it out. They are: Jeanne Condrey, Calvin Fields, Scott Fields, Donn Blosser, Robbin Iddins, Katie Aboul-Khair, Jane Escalera, Jim Pritchett, Mike & Martha Spring, and Lenora Griffin. And thanks to Jeanne and Gale Mull for organizing the trip and handling the details.
FROM THE RECTOR Critical Mass In physics (according to Tommy Ehrensperger, our resident physicist), "critical mass" is the amount of radioactive material necessary to trigger a nuclear explosion. If you’re around radioactive material, you don’t want to stick around if critical mass is attained (or you won’t be around for long!). Church has a critical mass, too. (Yes, the pun is intended.) Jesus told us that he would be in our midst whenever two or more are gathered in his name. He is. Two people gathered in Christ’s name can unleash an explosion of the Holy Spirit, and that’s the kind of explosion you want to be around. But probably all of us have had the experience that the more people gathered in Christ’s name, the greater the potential for us to feel the Spirit as powerful. Martha McLeod wrote last month about the power of two thousand Episcopalians saying the Nicene Creed (as if they meant it!) at the Bishop’s ordination. When more people sing together, say the responses together, pray together, share the Lord’s Supper together, there is a synergistic effect — the power of the Holy Spirit seems somehow to be greater than the sum of the parts. And, for me at least, it’s more fun! I hope you’ve been feeling that power at St. John’s lately. The parish is doing well. Something intangible, something I can’t put my finger on, has changed, and I sense that we are achieving a new critical mass. I am heartened by how many committees are seizing the initiative, deciding what needs to be done and doing it, and functioning with creativity and dedication. It warms my soul to realize that instead of pushing, as I have sometimes felt I was doing in the past, now I am often running to keep up. New folks are coming to St. John’s, and they tell me they feel welcome here. You should congratulate yourselves about that — you are a warm, welcoming community, and it makes a difference. That difference is being felt at our worship services. The Wednesday service has gone from about 10 to often over 20. (And since the Wednesday folks all sit near the front, they sound like they number over a hundred). If you haven’t tried the Wednesday service, you’ve been missing a powerful outpouring of the Spirit (which is both reflected and encouraged by the wonderful music Jon Marc Rutherford and Mike Spring lead us in). Average Sunday attendance (a statistic we have to keep for the national Church) was 113 in 1999 and 111 in 2000. As of September 23, it is 137 for 2001! I can feel it; more people respond, more people pray, more people sing, more people pass the peace, more people share their lives. The Spirit is able to be more powerful, and, you know what?, church is more fun! In this dark time in history, when the word "explosion" conjures up images of terror and death, I am grateful that we seem to be hitting a new critical mass of peace, worship, fellowship, commitment, excitement, and life. I have a strong sense that God is showing St. John’s a new explosion of the Holy Spirit’s life and power. Thanks be to God!
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Eagle Notes