SERVICES

at HEAVENLY

REST

Sundays8:00 a.m.Rite I with

Holy Eucharist in the nave

9:15-10:15 a.m. Sunday School

10:30 a.m.Rite II with

Holy Eucharistin the nave

1:00 p.m.Morning Prayer in

Swahili

Weekdays8:00 a.m.

Morning Prayerin the chapel

Wednesdays5:30 p.m.

Healing Service, Holy Eucharistin the chapel

Service liturgy is from the Book of Common Prayer.

MISSION As a community of faith centered in God through liturgy and Christian Practice,

the Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest exists to:CARE for members of all ages and stages of life.

SHARE God’s inclusive and healing love with all people.CREATE opportunities to grow in Christ.

SERVE the church, the community, and the world.

Featured InsideParish Fellowship................................................2-3Youth in Action.........................................................2Birthdays & Anniversaries......................................4Property Update......................................................5Back Page ................................................................7

December 2014 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 12

We observe the Sea-son of Advent at Heavenly Rest by gathering for supper and a special pro-gram on Wednes-day nights begin-ning December 3rd and continuing on the 10th & 17th. Supper begins at 5:45pm. Afterward children go to the lower level of the

Filling the Heavenly Rest Food PantryHeavenly Rest feeds hundreds of families every year through your

generosity. This month we are � ll-ing the food pantry housed in the lower level of the Parish Hall at Heav-enly Rest. Please bring peanut butter, canned stew and soups to church on Sunday morning or bring a canned

food donation to the of� ce during the week. Thank you!

Parish Hall for instruction and adults remain upstairs for a three part study on prayer, scripture and the twelve days of Christmas. Father Luke and Mother Susanna will present these spiritual teachings to-gether and everyone is invited to participate. Suppers are catered at no cost, and donations are welcome.

The Nights before Christmas: Wednesday Advent Series

d d d d d

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Care. Share. Create. Serve. • December 2014

YouthInAction

Advent Programs for the ChildrenDuring Advent, the High school students will be helping with the younger children’s Advent program on Wednesday nights in the Par-ish Hall basement. We hope to learn, along with the children, about the waiting season of Advent. On Sundays at 5:15 the middle school students will be playing games and celebrating Advent.

Christmas PageantThe Pageant will be December 21 during the 10:30 service. During Sunday school we will give parts out to the children. On Wednesday nights we will rehearse the songs for pageant. If you would like your

child to participate in the Pageant, please come to Wednesday and Sunday practices.

EYC Lock-InDecember 12-13 the high school students will have a lock-in. We will go Christmas shopping for some families of Bowie Elementary, play games, and just have a great time! The evening will begin at 8pm and end the following morning at 8am. We can hardly wait for the fun to begin!

Youth Christmas PartyOn December 21, the youth will have a Christmas movie night complete with popcorn, cook-ies, and goodies. The party will be from 5-7pm. We hope y’all can make!

The Trunk or Treat was a great hit on

Halloween! Karen & James Boyd

won first place, Aimee & Robert

Powell won second place, and the youth received honorable mention with their

pirate ship! Thank you to every-one that came out.

ParishFellowship

Left: A scary Karen Boyd

Far left: Salome Black brought a group of friends in excellent costumes - including their toothy driver!

Above: The Mitchell family passing out candy to trick-or-treaters.

Left: the superheroes of the Goolsby family

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http://www.heavenlyrestabilene.org

Searching for THAT special Christmas gift?The deadline to sign up for Heavenly Rest’s trip to the Holy Land is December 7. Even with the approaching deadline to register for the March 2015 trip to the Holy Land, you still have time to make it one of the best gifts under your tree! If you’d like to go, registration is an easy online process and can be done on the tour company’s website: https://www.mejditours.com/open-tour/heavenly-rest-in-the-holy-land/ For some amazing information and photographs about their most recent tours, please visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MejdiTours. If you have any questions about this trip, please contact Mother Susanna.

Old English Christmas

Open HouseSunday, December14 4pm until 5:30pm

Heavenly Rest will open its doors to welcome the neighborhood into this magnifi cent space. We are inviting the entire Abilene community to an Old English Christ-

mas. We will have docents beginning in

the tower room with the many historic items, the main altar and choir, the chapel, and down both

sides of the nave. This is a time for ev-

eryone to see the glory and majesty of our God. The fragrance of was-sail, scones and Welsh cakes will be wafting

from the Bishop Garrett Room. The festivities will continue, follow-ing the Open House

everyone is invited to go caroling around the

neighborhood. With our voices we

spread the Good News of Jesus Christ!

If you want to partici-pate in this glorious day, call the church offi ce or

Amanda Watson, 370-5650.

Above, the youth group & their pirate ship...aaaargh!!

Amy Edding and her friend as Snow White and Dorothy’s Scarecrow.

Kids loved it when Claude took a turn at passing out candy.

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Care. Share. Create. Serve. • December 2014

Happy Anniversary

Happy Birthday

If your birthday or anniversary is not listed, please contact the offi ce. Blessings are given at both the morning services:

Birthday Blessings: December 7 • Anniversary Blessings: December 14 • Children’s Blessing: December 21

December 10Kathy & Duke Huston

December 12Elsie & Billie Norwood

December 17Suzie & Bud Ramsey

December 1Margaret Ann Brandon

Will LindleyJessalyn Woods

December 3Peter Kent

December 4John Estes

December 5Julie-Anne Stoner

December 6Sam Roberts

Cole Thompson

December 8Helen Andrews

December 9Carie HamptonDecember 10Joy Fincher

Rolanda Fulham

December 11MarthA Ferguson

December 12Robyn Morris

December 13Judy Matthews

December 15Ray Boggess

December 16Chesley Martin

December 19Vicki Lessing

December 20Ben Bredemeyer

Wes GomerLaura Perry

Carroll Powell

December 21Pat Arth

LeMoyne OdellCyndi Stockstill

Jane Yost

December 22Robert Miers

December 23Kathryn AndersonKolby AndersonCharles GilliardJacquelin PayneLindsay Perry

December 24Becky Brame

Dolores Lovvorn

December 25Betsy Bryant

December 26Dan BrannanCarolene DuffTyler Munson

Cindy Taliaferro

December 27Karen Boyd

Cameron CookBrett MunsonJohn Walton

December 28Stan Brown

A.J. DuffLinda Scarborough

December 29Tom ChoateTroy Long

December 30Tom Boyd

Geanna CutbirthRachel Headstream

Maggy MorfordParker Willis

December 31Kyle Morris

Jeanenne Nichols

December 18Becky & Donald McDonald

December 19Deanna & Douglas Thomas

December 20Kathy & David Diamond

December 21Amanda & Tom Watson

December 22Diane & Aubrey Irwin

December 23Carolyn & Jim Watson

December 26Maureen & Herschel

McCormick

DecemberCelebrations

December 27Jan & Glen Funkey

December 28Joy & Perry Fincher

Jean & Riley Seymore

ECW Adopts Bowie Elementary Fourth Graders Mr. Greg Rake, Bowie Elementary counselor, met with the Episcopal Church Women to explain the needs of the stu-dent population at Bowie Elementary. Aldersgate Methodist is currently mentoring and providing support to the fi fth grade students at Bowie. The ECW wanted to explore the possibility of implementing a similar program for fourth graders. Amanda Watson, Suzie Ramsey and Gay Ann Walts met with Aldersgate members to learn more about what they provide to Bowie. Currently, Aldersgate provides a “reward” celebration at the end of each six weeks. Bowie teachers determine the criteria for the students to participate. A group at Aldersgate (Sarah’s Circle) writes notes to students to support the mentoring program.In the near future, details will be available about dates, times and ways you can help. All Heavenly Rest members are welcome

ParishStewardship

to participate. This is a won-derful opportunity to bring God’s love to the youth of Bowie Elementary. If you have any questions, please contact Suzie Ramsey (su-zieramsey@yahoo.com) or Gay Ann Walts (gayann.walts@gmail.com).

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http://www.heavenlyrestabilene.org

Church of the Heavenly Rest Property UpdateAs junior warden this year, I’ve had the privilege to work with the church staff on

several maintenance and repair projects for our gorgeous facility. Allow me to provide you an update on upcoming projects and items that are in progress or have been recently repaired. Please feel free to contact me if you have questions on any of these activities.

At the first of the year, you will see much activity in our chapel! After many de-cades of use, our beautifully crafted wooden chapel pews, kneelers and cush-ions, which came from the original church located downtown, are in need of major refurbishment to return them to pristine condition. All the pews will be removed at one time and gently stripped, sanded, repaired and restained by a local company. Removing all pews at once will allow for thorough cleaning of the floor, as well. Cushions will be replaced as needed and reupholstered. We will continue to use the chapel during this time by setting folding chairs in place until the pews are reinstalled. This process will most likely take about 2 months. We will also have a new cover created for the piano to provide protection.

Additionally, we are currently working with an electrical company to replace the burned out candle lights in the chapel and sanctuary chandeliers. With the height of these fixtures, this is a project that requires professional attention.

If you’ve been in the kitchen in the parish hall in the last two weeks, you have probably noticed a lack of hot water. Our hot water heater in that area has gone out and will be replaced in the near future. To the delight of all those who help

hostess events in the church, our dishwasher was repaired during the summer and is now functioning well. Unfortunately, our ice machine was not repairable. With the upcoming plans for a new parish hall with new appliances, we have chosen to use bagged ice in the short term.

The major hailstorm we experienced in June caused some damage to our church structure, though nothing like was experienced on the north side of town. We had several broken window panes that have been replaced, and some damage to the roof. Because our roof is slate and the pitch is extremely sharp, repairs must be handled carefully, by a qualified company, and taken care of in favorable weather conditions. Barr Roofing is on schedule to handle these repairs as soon as weather permits. Roof and glass repairs together will amount to about $10,000. Seeing the damage to the roofs on the First Baptist facilities, we realize how very fortunate we were!

Several years ago, we suffered lightening damage to two of the four pinnacles on the top of the bell tower. Yvonne Batts and Mike Denny worked for several months to locate a company that was able to replicate the design of the original pieces. Those pieces have now been recreated and are ready for installation. Scheduling that instal-lation, which involves large cranes, good weather, etc., is in progress. Many thanks to Yvonne and Mike for taking on this somewhat formidable task!

Several other maintenance issues will be discussed as we move into our planning phase for the capital improvements and renovations. Some of the items that we hope to address are needed electrical updates, a new elevator for the parish house, and re-pointing (recaulking) all windows throughout the property. If you have other items that you feel need to be discussed, please email Mike Denny, Yvonne Batts, or me. Kim Snyder, kimsnyder3@gmail.com

Blessed by Faithful Stewards

There is still time to help Heavenly Rest prepare for the year to come by pledging now. Every day we come closer to the reaching the goals of the

“10/10: What are the possibili-ties?” stewardship campaign. We give great thanks to every-one who has participated al-

ready. So far we have received 167 pledges totaling $698,000. Pledge cards are available in

the entry ways or you may con-tact the office, visit us online at www.heavenlyrestabilene.org. Questions? Please feel free to

contact John D. Stowe, Rachel Anderson, Kim Snyder or

Peter Kent.

Burned out candle lights in the cha-pel and sanctuary chandeliers are

scheduled to be replaced.

Care. Share. Create. Serve. • December 2014

DecemberCalendar

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY Weekly Events at Heavenly Rest

8:00am Rite I Holy Eucharist

9:15am Sunday School

10:15am Adult Choir*

10:30amRite II Holy Eucharist*

1:00pm Morning Prayerin Swahili

5:00pm Change Ringers

5:15-7:00pm EYC grades 6-8

5:30am B.O.B.S

8:00am Morning Prayer

6:30pm Curate’s Study

8:00am Morning Prayer

9:30-11:30amHands-onOutreach

10am Staff mtg

6:00pm Change Ringers

6:15pm - EFM

8:00am Morning Prayer

SJES Chapel

9:30-11:30am Hands-on Outreach

5:30pmHealing Service Holy Eucharist*

6:15-8:00pm EYC grades 9-12

7:30pm Adult Choir

8:00am Morning Prayer

9:30amBible Study

withMother Susanna

9:30-11:30am Hands-on Outreach

7:00pm Bagpipes

8:00am Morning Prayer

Childcare is available every Sunday, 7:30 a.m-Noon, unless otherwise noted. *childcare will be available for this event **childcare can be arranged upon request

Alternating Events

Tuesday, November 4 & 18 - 4pmCentering Prayer (Bishop Mayer Room)

First & Third Tuesday of November - 6:30pm St. Margaret’s Guild

Sunday ServersPlease take time to thank your Sunday Servers. They work hard to make each service run smoothly. The server schedule can be found on the website at www.heavenlyrestabilene.org, where it will be updated with changes over the course of the month and e-mailed to the servers at the beginning of each month. If you would like a hard copy of the server schedule, please call the offi ce at 325.677-2091.

Looking for the monthly schedule for Sunday duties? Go to the website, and click on this:

For an up-to-date calendar of events, please visit the church website at www.heavenlyrestabilene.org.

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Have a pick-up? We need you! The members of Heavenly Rest have been very generous in welcoming the families of our Congolese congregation by donating much needed goods and furniture items. That has resulted in our current need: people to pick up and deliver the goods and furniture to the Congolese families’ homes. Many, many thanks to Bill Young for offering his giant, new pick-up and his muscle to move the offerings, but the task has defi nitely surpassed what Bill can ac-complish on his own. So if you have a pick-up or a trailer, and could dedicate some time to help with delivering these items, we need you. Even if you don’t

have a pick up but you would be willing to volunteer assistance with loading and un-loading, we also need you. If you could spare some time to assist with these deliveries please contact Amanda

Watson, 325.370-5650.

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http://www.heavenlyrestabilene.org

BackPage†

Dear Friends,

Whatwasthefirstthingyoueversaw?Ifyouwereborninahospital,yourfirstsightwasanoverwhelming,glaring,light.Youhadbeenninemonthsindeepdarkness,withmuffledawarenessofsoundandmotion—whensuddenlythereisgreattraumaandamazingbrightness.

Thenewborncannotseeany‘image’inthemidstofoverwhelmingbrightness.Theeye-brainvisiontakesawhiletogetorganizedforthenew,largerworld.This‘organization’andimagemakingprocessdoesnotstartwiththeindividual,buthasbeenindevelopmentsincethebeginningoforganiclife,likelybillionsofyearsincomingtofruition.

Thislightprocessingwillnotonlybecomeameansofseeingthedetailsofwhatisbeforeoureyes,butisrefinedbythebraintopicturethingsthatarepast(weremember)orfaraway(wecanseeinourmindplacesthatarenothere).Itwillevengiveusthecapabilityto‘lookahead’,toanticipate,toenvision,thefuture.“WillChristmasevercome!”,Ihearinmyownhouseholdasyoungchildrenstrugglewiththelaborpainsofgreatexpectations.

Ourhumanmindsmaybecomefactoriescreatingweird,fearfulimages,likeghoulies,ghostiesandlong-leggettybeasties.Orourmindscancreategreatholyicons.St.FrancisbuiltacrechesceneoftheHolyFamily,surroundedbyfarmanimalsandshepherds.ClementClarkeMoorewasaprofessoratanEpiscopalseminarywhenhewroteT’wastheNightBeforeChristmastocomfortasicklittlegirl.Artandpoetryarewaysinwhichthegivennessoflifeandlovemightbemoreprofoundlyseen.

Weeasilygetourmind’seyefilledwithself-centeredmemories,ideasandplans.

Adventisanopportunitytocleanseourtrivialsight,enhancingourspiritualvision.AtHeavenlyRestwewillgatheronWednesdaynightsforsupperandprogram.ChildrenwillbepreparingtobringSt.Francis’crechetolifeagainattheSundaymorningservicebeforeChristmas.

Adventprogramsforadultswillhelpustoabideinpregnantdarkness,stillnessandquietude,pre-paringforourwonderingeyestoreceiveadivinesurprise.Thebabyisultimatelydelightedtofindthattheunseeable,mysteri-ouspresence,thatsurroundedandnourisheditinthewomb,is‘Mommy!”.Sowilloursouldelight,torealizethattheself,likemom,dad,brother,sister,friend,stranger,arealiveinthedeep,mysterious,not-yet-visible,presenceofGod. Faithfully,

Father Luke joined the fun at Trunk or Treat last month - here with Joshua,

Michael and Louisa.

ReturnServiceRequested

Non-ProfitOrganizationU.S. Postage

PAIDAbilene, TX

Permit #249

VISIONThe Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest is a Christian community of faith rooted in the Anglican

tradition. Empowered by the Holy Spirit through Word

and Sacrament, we seek

to know the reconciling love of God and to share

that love with others.

Church of the Heavenly Rest602 Meander StreetAbilene, Texas 79602-1009

Telephone (325) 677-2091

Office Hours Monday-Thursday: 8:30a.m.-12 noon; 1-4:30p.m.

Friday: 8:30a.m. - 12 noon(325) 677-2091

chrepis@heavenlyrestabilene.orghttp://www.heavenlyrestabilene.org

Care. Share. Create. Serve.

Heavenly Rest Celebrates the Epiphany with Confirmations and Banquet

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCHThe Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts-Schori, Presiding Bishop

THE DIOCESE OF NORTHWEST TEXASThe Right Reverend J. Scott Mayer, Bishop

PARISH STAFFThe Reverend N. Luke Back, Rector

The Reverend Susanna Cates, CurateThe Reverend Amanda Watson, DeaconDr. Wes Gomer, Organist and Choirmaster

Peter Kent, Church AdministratorBikole Mulanda, Swahili Minister

Mary J. Renfro, Director of FinanceLaura Wright, Communications Coordinator

Lynsi Musselman, Communications CoordinatorBelinda Shepherd, Christian Education Coordinator

Courtney Bryant, Christian Education AssistantKatie Young, Youth Ministry InternSusetta Rockett, Music Assistant

Barbradon Brooks, HarpistArnold Guerra, Sexton

Dorothy Guerra, Housekeeper

NURSERY PERSONNELJoan Fulton, Ann Lobdell, Lucy Marak, Anne Mornell,

Monica Sherman, Rae Ann Rindhage, Camille Martinez

Make plans now to join us for the Feast of the Epiphany, Wednesday evening January 7th. The Right Reverend Scott Mayer will be present to

confirm new members of the church and we will host a celebration banquet. Stay tuned for more information.