Download - December LayReader 2014
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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 ([email protected]) or Gay Ann Walts ([email protected]).
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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, [email protected]
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.
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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.
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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
[email protected]://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.