october 2015: the chronicles of canterbury

1

Chronicles of Canterbury

what’s inside

2 Walking Along ‘The Way’

3 Spooky Spaghetti

4 A Stitch in Time

5 A Gift of Grace

6 A Single Seed

8 Annual Fund

9 Martha Ministry

10 Briefly

11 Lifelong Disciple

See RECTOR on page 3

october 2015 From the Rector

Our Mystical Identity as the Body of Christ

St. Michael’s Operates on Faith and Finance

See ANNUAL FUND on page 8

I’ve read recent articles citing declining church membership across the country. Thankfully, as you look around St. Michael’s on a Sunday

morning, it’s clear we don’t fall into that category. But I wonder about people who are not members of a church: Where do they turn to experience community? For comfort and help in times of trouble? Surely, there will be rough patches in each of our lives.

How do people function without a church community to worship with, to celebrate with, to comfort one another in grief, and experience the fellowship and wonder of learning and studying the Good News?

Thankfully, we have St. Michael’s. But does St. Michael’s have you?

As our annual fund campaigns begin each year, I struggle with the message to convey about pledging. One is the practical – St. Michael’s needs your pledges in order to operate day to day. On the other hand, giving should be a spiritual practice, one in which we pledge to St. Michael’s in recognition and gratitude for the gifts God gives us every day. Our pledges are God’s gifts.

St. Michael’s is a church. Yet, similar to any organization, it requires funds to operate. Duke Progress Energy doesn’t cool our sanctuary for free. Nor do our communion wafers and wine come

People say it all the time to me: “The church is a business.” I know they mean well, even if they usually don’t always mean the same thing.

Sometimes they mean this in a negative way, as if businesses were bad things, and sometimes they mean it in a positive way, as if businesses were the only organizations that can, well, take care of business.

But the church is not a business. The church is the church, which is its own kind of thing in this world. The church is a human organization having identity and origin and future and purpose and problems, but it is not the same as other human organizations. The church is similar to all sorts of human organizations, be it a village, corporation, or school, but it is not the same. We have issues in common with all kinds of organizations, matters of identity, purpose and leadership, but we have our own unique nature. And this uniqueness stems entirely from who we say we are: a body of joined members who form the dwelling place of the eternal Word of God, Jesus Christ.

Our mystical identity as the Body of Christ is the key to our mission and purpose, and it also informs how we are organized. And we are organized, well, as an organism. We are a body, with a soul, and a mind, and limbs, and organs, and all that stuff. Since our earliest days when Jesus himself formed us, we have operated as His body, with each of our members fulfilling a necessary purpose. Some have been called

to lead as apostles and overseers, and others as elders, and pastors and teachers, and others as deacons, and others as prophets, readers, singers, servers, healers, scribes, carpenters, tentmakers, and on and on it goes.

In the Episcopal Church, the basic unit of the church is actually the diocese, not the congregation. This goes against what many experience in their daily life as members of congregations, but it is the essential unit of our life together. The diocese, under the bishop, consists of worshipping communities of various kinds, be they missions, parishes, chaplaincies or otherwise. These communities generally have their own place of worship and a priest in a leading role in partnership with a Vestry or committee of leading lay persons. Some of these communities have multiple clergy and other lay professionals on their staffs, as well as a host of committees organized to lead or oversee various ministries and programs.

St. Michael’s has more than 1,900 active baptized members. Our average Sunday attendance last year was just over 600 people, which includes the summer months where attendance is significantly lower than usual. Between September and May we usually see more than 700 people on Sunday. These numbers mean St. Michael’s is one of the very large parishes in the Diocese of North Carolina, alongside sister parishes Christ Church, Raleigh, Christ Church and St. John’s in Charlotte, St. Paul’s in Winston-Salem,

The People of St. Michael’s

OFFICE HOURSMonday-Thursday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Friday, 9 am.-1 p.m.

CANTERBURY SHOP HOURSMonday/Wednesday/Friday 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

Sundays 9-9:30 a.m. & 10:30 a.m.-noon

Church Phone: (919) 782-0731All area codes are 919 unless otherwise noted.

CLERGYThe Rev. Samuel GReGoRy JoneS, Rector

ext. 117 • [email protected] (c) 559-2004

The Rev. holly Gloff

Associate Rector ext. 127 • [email protected]

(c) 612-7228The Rev. ChRiSTopheR W. hoGin

aSSoCiaTe ReCToR

ext. 105 • [email protected](c) 999-6269

The Rev. meTa ellinGTon

[email protected]

(c) 210-9123The Rev. DaviD CRabTRee

Deacon(c) 614-2164

maRion b. “Chip” ChaSe, veRGeR (h) 851-9576

VESTRYFrances Penick, Senior Warden • 676-2757

David Coe , Jr. Warden • 741-3827 Chris Carson, Clerk •786-4210

Debbie Reed Treasurer • 783-8978Marilyn Budrow • 510-5080 Anthony Carlton • 395-4229 Mike Ferguson • 624-4048

LeeAnn Graham • 782-5919 | Jenny Haase • 460-1966 Jeff Hensley • 424-7951 | Todd Kasper • 784-8112

Will Lingo • 833-1358 | Michael Painter • 821-0126 John Merritt • 783-8792 | Dale Roane • 791-0168

| Marilyn Stevens • 782-8670Valerie Jackson, Recorder • 917-5164

STAFFSTella aTTaWay, DiReCToR of ChRiSTian eDuCaTion

[email protected] • ext. 106ann GaRey, publiCaTionS

[email protected] • ext. 103ChaRloTTe GRiffin, DiReCToR of DevelopmenT

[email protected] • ext. 121lee hayDen, DiReCToR of opeRaTionS

& neWComeR miniSTRy

[email protected] • ext.108abby van noppen, DiReCToR of youTh miniSTRy

[email protected] • ext. 115 Kevin KeRSTeTTeR, DiReCToR of muSiC

[email protected] • ext. 101SuSan liTTle, finanCial aDminiSTRaToR

[email protected] • ext. 113Jean olSon, paRiSh SeCReTaRy

[email protected] • ext. 112SuSan RounTRee, DiReCToR of CommuniCaTionS

[email protected] • ext.122

FACILITIES STAFFBuddy Stegall, Facility Project Leader

Jesús Epigmenio, Groundskeeper Marcela de la Cruz, Housekeeper

PARISH DAY SCHOOL 782-6430

Mandy Annunziata, [email protected] • ext. 110

Jennifer Elam, Asst. [email protected] • ext. 144

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Chronicles of CanterburyFrom the Associate Rector

Walking Along ‘The Way’

In the liturgy for Evening Prayer Rite II, there is a collect at the end of the service entitled, A Collect for the Presence of Christ. It goes as follows:

Lord Jesus, stay with us, for evening is at hand and the day is past; be our companion in the way, kindle our hearts, and awaken hope, that we may know you as you are revealed in Scripture and the breaking of bread. Grant this for the sake of your love. Amen.

The collect draws from Luke’s Gospel (24:13-35) where Jesus appears among two of his disciples during their walk to Emmaus. It’s a wonderful incident. The disciples are struggling with their faith, trying to understand the reports given by some of the women who tell of Jesus’ resurrection. They don’t know what to think. Was Jesus just a prophet? Was his resurrection simply a vision or some kind of aberration?

During their journey, a strange man joins them. He walks with them. He asks them questions. The disciples feel comfortable with this man. They share with him their fears and doubts, as well as their grief about losing their Messiah. As evening approaches, they do not want this man to leave. They ask him to remain with them, to join them in a meal. The man accepts. When the man blesses the bread, the eyes of the disciples open immediately. They recognize Jesus, and from that moment on their lives are forever changed.

Like the disciples we, too, walk on a journey. We, too, walk along the way. On this journey we have many experiences, both joyous and sorrowful. Like the disciples we have questions, doubts, and fears that need discussing and exploring. Yet rarely do we realize that Jesus walks with us along the way. He listens, and sometimes even asks questions with the hope that we will recognize him.

This Gospel demonstrates that the disciples did not encounter Jesus alone. They encountered him within a community. A community that often had questions, doubts, and fears. Jesus was revealed through a community, and through a community that broke bread together. As the Gospel of Matthew (18:20) proclaims, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

This fall join, other disciples in your walk along the way by opening yourself up to encounters with Jesus within a community through the breaking of bread and discussion. “Journeys of Faith,” a six-week program has two purposes. First, it is meant to help you along your own faith journey by recognizing Jesus as a constant presence in your life. Second, it seeks to develop closer relationships within the St. Michael’s parish on a more intimate level that might not otherwise exist.

The evening begins with a meal. A 20-minute presentation takes place that profiles a person’s faith journey. Last year we explored the faith journeys of C.S. Lewis, Mother Theresa and the prophet Abraham, to name a few. Afterward, the gathering breaks up into designated small groups, which gives the participants a chance to discuss what was presented. It is also an opportunity for each person to reflect and share their own faith journey experiences.

“Journeys of Faith” takes place every Thursday (excluding Thanksgiving) from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. beginning Oct. 29, and concluding Dec. 10. Cost for the entire journey is $90, which covers six catered meals, as well as wine. Financial assistance is available for those in need. Unfortunately, due to the late hour, child care is not an option. Watch for signup information on holymichael.org soon.

Be a part of this unique gathering that is both reflective and communal. Let it be a time to uphold one another as we move forward together along the way in our journey with Christ.

— The Rev. Christopher Hogin

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RECTORcontinued from page 1and Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill.

Who cares? Well it only matters insofar as it is a piece of who we are and what we are called to do. The fact is, there are congregations of various sizes in the diocese and wider Episcopal Church, and it is clear that we are not all called to be the same kinds of communities, or share the exact same callings or expectations.

Since I was in seminary in the 1990s, the people who study congregations nationwide have come up with some basic concepts and categories for the different sizes and types of parishes. These terms are somewhat helpful, and are used in planning and analysis for the various issues faced by congregations today. The basic categories are: Family, Pastoral, Program, Resource. Typically, a Family size church has up to 50 people at Sunday worship; a Pastoral size church has up to 150; a Program up to 350; and a Resource has 500 or more. For years the last category was called “Corporate Church,” but the term has fallen out of favor because some people think that sounds too, well, corporate. As in Microsoft or General Motors. Again these categories are not particularly important except they offer some basic way of looking at the different ways congregations exist. Family and Pastoral size make up nearly three-quarters of all Episcopal congregations, yet only a third of all Episcopalians attend a small church. On the other hand, the biggest churches are relatively rare, but claim the largest percentage of Episcopalians.

It is seen that the trend among churchgoers in America is that folks are looking for communities where many needs may be fulfilled, and the larger congregations are better able to serve those needs. A larger parish has the resources to offer programs, activities, worship services, outreach opportunities, small groups, Sunday school classes and so forth. At our parish, we had 31 kids in Kindergarden alone on our first Sunday of the program year. We are blessed to be able to offer so much to so many different kinds of people of all ages, and it seems people are hungry for it.

The expectations of a larger congregation tend to be different from a smaller one. There are more clergy, more full time church professionals, more committees, more volunteers, and no one group of people can claim to really be in control. The leadership is shared very widely, and of course, there are many people needed to do what is done. With so many people, it is not at all likely that everyone will know everyone at a big church, or even that the clergy or Vestry leadership will. We try, but it is hard.

At our large parish, which has been large for decades now, we strive to create a community of fellowship and worship and ministry to the world, and we do so through a blend of volunteer and staff time. I feel very blessed to have been called to lead as rector of this fantastic congregation for more than 11 years now. I am grateful to our clergy and lay staff who give so much ministry, and especially to our Vestry, committee people, teachers, choristers, cooks, gardeners, guild folk, and the many of you who make this place the church God wants it to be.

The church is not a business. It is the Body of Christ. And you are part of it!

— The Rev. Samuel Gregory Jones

Please plan to attend the Parish Day School’s Spooky Spaghetti Supper on Thursday, Oct. 22, at 5:30 p.m. in the Parish Hall. All are welcome—your child does not need to be a Day School student to attend. Proceeds will benefit the Day School’s Hortense Wishon Scholarship Fund.

This candy-free event will feature yummy spaghetti, games, prizes and a raffle. Children are encouraged to wear a costume (adults too!). Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for children ages 2 - 12 with a $30 maximum per family.

This year’s event offers an amazing raffle with several opportunities to win great prizes. The raffle tickets will be available for purchase prior to the event or upon arrival. You do not have to be present to win. The raffle tickets are $5 per ticket or 5 tickets for $20.

The Spooky Spaghetti event raises money to support our scholarship fund. The scholarship allows several children to attend St. Michael’s Day School who would not otherwise have this opportunity. Each year, the Day School provides a limited number of partial scholarships to assist families who are experiencing financial difficulties.

If you are unable to attend the Spooky Spaghetti Supper, you can contribute to our scholarship fund by purchasing raffle tickets. We hope to see you there!

Spooky Spaghetti Supper Supports Wishon Scholarship Fund

Your support at the Spooky Spaghetti Supper funds scholarships for students in need.

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by Jane BassI hemmed two pairs of men’s pants last night. It has been almost 50 years since I hemmed a pair of men’s pants. I do not even hem my own pants. But this was for a cause, a chance to serve.

Most any book or article about how to make your life more meaningful prescribes service to others as a way to get there. I was active at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Raleigh for 30 years and served there in many ways. I was a part of a ministry called Serve One Another. We took care of others by driving people to the doctor, cooking meals for the sick, visiting the homebound and hosting receptions after funerals.

I left Good Shepherd almost three years ago and joined St. Michael’s, and I have been looking for a way to serve in the church. I am on the Friends Committee, and I work at the front desk once a month. I occasionally read the appointed Scriptures during church services. But I have not found the niche where I feel like I am truly serving others.

A few weeks ago there was a notice in the Sunday bulletin that StepUp Ministry needed people to sew. StepUp is supported by St. Michael’s and is a ministry that helps people to get on their feet after they have stumbled or fallen in life. Their mission statement says they promote “stable lives through jobs and life skills training.”

I have a degree in home economics and I even taught sewing. This sounded like just the thing for me. So I sent an email to the director and was told to show up in two weeks to learn the ropes.

When StepUp participants complete “job week,” they are outfitted with clothes appropriate for a job interview. The women go to a program called Dress for Success, where they get a suit, blouse, shoes and accessories.

For a time there was no organized program for the men. Then a woman and her husband started a clothes closet for the men and have collected a large assortment of suits, pants, sport coats, dress shirts, ties, shoes and

socks. In the middle of Job Week, participants visit the clothes closet and choose the perfect outfit to find that job. The office space is donated, the clothes are donated, and volunteers take care of the rest.

As a seamstress volunteer, I helped Michael choose his clothes. He is in his twenties, small for a man, trim, sandy hair, blue eyes, quite good looking. Reminds me of Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie Titanic. He was shy about picking out clothes and relied on me to tell him what looked good and if it fit well or not. He and the other eight men went into private dressing rooms to try on the clothes and emerged to be critiqued. When clothes needed to be altered, our team went to work.

Michael got a blue sports coat; two pairs of pants, one khaki and one charcoal; two shirts, one white and one blue; three ties; a nice pair of dress shoes and socks. There was not a belt small enough for him but he promised me he would get a black belt. My heart was bursting. I felt like I was dressing my grandson.

I was supposed to just be observing, but I came home with two pairs of pants to hem, one for Michael and one for Tim, who is much older and a lot taller. Altered clothes have to be delivered to a specific location the next day. That is a quick turnaround, and it may not always work for me.

I must say that I loved my first day with StepUp. This kind of sewing suits me right now. I like the other volunteers and the chance to see immediate results of my efforts. Plus it is definitely for a good cause.

I had the pants all pressed and on hangers for delivery the next afternoon. I thought it was probably against the rules, but I tucked some money into Michael’s pants pocket with a note reminding him to buy a nice black belt.

Isn’t that just like a Grandma.

Donations of interview appropriate men’s clothing and accessories (clean and on hangers) are welcomed and can be delivered during business hours to StepUp Ministry, 1701 Oberlin Road, Raleigh, NC. 27608. Questions may be directed to [email protected] or 919-387-6391.

He is in his twenties, small for a man, trim, sandy hair, blue eyes, quite good looking. Reminds me of Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie Titanic.

Michael got a blue sports coat; two pairs of pants, one khaki and one charcoal; two shirts, one white and one blue; three ties; a nice pair of dress shoes and socks. My heart was bursting. I felt like I was dressing my grandson.

StepUp Volunteer Seamstress Finds Her Stitch, In Time

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“See that you also excel in this grace of giving.” 2 Corinthians 8:7

At its core, the Christian faith is about giving. If we think about our faith like a three-act play where God creates, redeems and completes us, giving is central to the entire story. God’s nature is to give.

God gives creation its being. God didn’t create us out of some need or longing within God, as if God were lonely or wanted us around for amusement or companionship. God is complete and in relationship already (the doctrine of the Trinity) and thus has no needs. Rather God creates, as the 12th century theologian Richard of St. Victor argued, “out of the outpouring and overabundance of his love” (Book III of his On the Trinity). Creation then is an unmerited, non-obligated gift of God, or what we might call grace.

God gives us redemption in Christ by taking on our human nature so that in him, human beings might be adopted as children of God and made heirs of God’s kingdom. God in Christ takes on our human nature even to the point of death where God the Son gives his own life for us. In the words of our Catechism, in his death “we are freed from the power of sin and reconciled to God” (BCP, p. 850).

God gives us the hope of eternal life by raising Christ from the dead and thereby overcoming death and opening for us the way of eternal life. Thus God’s purpose for the world is completed, for we are made, as Paul states in 2 Corinthians 5, “new creatures in Christ.” As new creatures, we are united with all the people of God, in the joy of fully knowing and loving God and each other.

If God’s nature is to give, what does that entail about us if we are made in the image of God? To give is to participate in God’s work, in God’s giving. Bearing God’s imprint, we are created to give, and perhaps this is one of the reasons why we often feel good when we give, like we have done something we were made to do. Such a feeling seems counterintuitive at first glance—the more we give, the less we have, right? Surely giving diminishes what we have and who we are. But if we realize that giving is part of our nature, as bearers of God’s image, then giving isn’t a loss or diminishment of ourselves. Rather it is becoming who we are intended to be, giving as we have been given. “A generous person will prosper; the one who refreshes others will be refreshed” (Proverbs 11:25.)

If we are meant to give, what should be our motivation in giving? Guilt? Obligation? Sometimes we do feel shamed or compelled in our giving. But if our giving is ultimately an expression of God’s unmerited, non-obligated giving towards us—in other words, if our giving is an expression of grace — then our best motivation in giving of ourselves is

gratitude. Gratitude releases us from the bonds of obligation and prepares us to offer ourselves freely and fully for the work of God’s kingdom.

So in these coming weeks as we think through our giving to this community of faith, I challenge you to frame your thoughts within the context of God’s three acts of gracious giving—creating us, redeeming us in Christ, and completing us as new creatures destined to be heirs of God’s kingdom. God has given to us so that we might give to the world, not out of guilt or obligation, but out of gratitude for what God graciously has given.

Jeff Hensley is our theologian in residence.

The Grace of Giving

If God’s nature is to give, what does that entail for us if we are made in the image of God? To give is to participate in God’s work, in God’s giving. Bearing God’s imprint, we are created to give, and perhaps this is one of the reasons why we often feel good when we give, like we have done something we were made to do.

by Je f f Hens ley

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More than 900 people attended his funeral — lifelong Raleigh friends, church friends, business associates, teens and young adults who had experienced his ministry first hand. It’s not surprising that in the weeks since his death, Bill’s ministry continues. And grows.

It didn’t take long after his Aug. 17 death to know exactly how the Duff famly wanted Bill remembered. When their daughter, Claire, was in high school, she created a college scholarship for St. Michael’s high school seniors as a class project and raised money to fund it. Through the years, the $500-scholarship has been awarded to a dozen seniors. But two years ago, the fund ran dry.

“Bill’s going to fund the scholarship!“ Sally told herself And fund it, he has. By late September, the fund balance had reached more than $13,000, enough to keep the scholarship giving for years to come.

A Single Seed . . .

Very truly I tell

you, unless a

kernel of wheat

falls to the

ground and dies,

it remains only

a single seed.

But if it dies, it

produces

many seeds.

— John 12: 24

story by Susan Byrum Rountree

William P. “Bill” Duff III, died Aug. 17.

Walk into church on Sunday mornings over the past few years, and you’d find a man with salt and pepper hair, standing in the aisle toward the back, left side, with his

hand on the shoulder of a teenager. Or a sixth grader. A college student home for break. An elderly friend. He would be asking questions, nodding, himself deep in story or in mid-chuckle, as he nudged the sixth grader/teen/friend toward a pew.

After the service, he’d head downstairs to the sixth grade classroom, maybe to challenge the confirmation class in a game of Bible trivia, a game he’d been playing with the kids of St. Michael’s since his own children, now young adults, had been in grade school.

That man was Bill Duff III, and when he died in August after an 18-month battle with cancer, St. Michael’s was left with a massive void in the pew.

Bill was among those rare in our parish these days: born in Raleigh, baptized and confirmed at St. Michael’s, his Christian education beginning in the small pews of All Angel’s Chapel. When he married, he and his wife, Sally, raised their family here. A master storyteller, when Bill took newcomers on an historical tour of the building, he’d point out nostalgic features he remembered from his childhood, like the nails above the Narthex doors hammered there to keep the pigeons from roosting. Someone always had to retrieve his group when it was time for the Newcomer dinner.

His was a lifelong ministry,, started as a boy in Beckwith Chapel, and continuing as a Sunday School teacher, chapel leader, Newcomer small group leader, Vestry member — just last year he served as Senior Warden — and friend to all. Particularly young people.

“He was just a big kid,” says Bo Bromhal, who taught the Confirmation class with Bill the last few years. “Even when he was sick, if he was at church, he’d come down to class to rest and sit in the corner with the boys.”

“The week before he died,” his wife Sally says, “he asked me to go to church and find Lizzie (King) and give her a hug, because she was leaving for college the next day. “ ‘That’s what I would do if I were there,’” he said, she recalls.

Bill’s ministry was like that. Loving. Intentional. Personal.

“You would never hear Bill preaching to you,” Sally adds. “He was much more effective living it (a life in Christ).”

continued on the next page

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And the Duffs were ministered to. All during his cancer, their mailbox stayed full, with cards and letters from people who were praying for his recovery. “To have your DAILY routine supported by words of encouragement and expressions of love is to have another medicine injected into your system,” Bill wrote in an essay, “My First Year,” for family and friends. “Folks care enough to do SOMETHING. I guess that’s the bottom line lesson . . . do SOMETHING. It ALL matters and it ALL helps.”

To Bill, ministry mattered, whether it was in Sunday School, on the golf course or in the workplace. Michael Painter, who served on the Vestry last year when Bill was senior warden, remembers just after Greg Jones’ heart attack, how Bill knew he would be called on to help out at church. But to do that, he told Michael, “I have to cancel 100 meetings.”

Michael was skeptical, wondering how one person could have so many meetings over a short time, but Bill explained.

“He was headed to Richmond to meet with his clients,” Michael says, “over 100 blue collar workers for whom he managed retirement plans. No one else in his industry did this anymore because the market had changed — you couldn’t afford to. But Bill knew they deserved his time — deserved to sit down with him face-to-face and hear directly from him how their nest egg for retirement was performing and how it would impact their lives. One by one, he’d meet with each of his clients — city by city, because he knew they were worthy of his time, even at a financial cost to himself. To me, that IS Bill Duff — making a difference through individual relationships. I kept telling him he needed to write about his job because it was a ministry in and of itself (which as I write this makes me realize how tone deaf I can be, he’d obviously NEVER write about this!). So I’m glad I can.”

Stephanie Jeffers remembers Bill and the impact he had on her family. When the call went out for Sunday School leaders, she stepped up, telling Children’s Ministry Director Stella Attaway that her willingness to volunteer was because of Bill Duff.

“It is not news to anyone that Bill was really the head greeter at church, even if he never handed me a bulletin. He had a smile and a conversation for my family every time we saw him, but his special knack was in talking with my two teens.

“Bill was always genuinely interested in Brittany’s and Ryan’s lives,” Stephanie adds, “driving, school, dating, and who knows what else!, which always put big smiles on their faces. He made them feel connected and loved at St. Michael’s. Brittany can’t tell you what the formal confirmation curriculum was, but she very clearly remembers “Mr. Duff ” listening and guiding her through challenging middle school times.

“It is Bill’s love for my kids that nudged me to ‘pay it forward,’ “ Stephanie says. She is teaching second graders this year. “I will need to ask God to keep me focused on being the hands and heart of God (and Bill). I am

up to the task, but of course Bill set the bar pretty high!”

Stella Attaway shared the story with her daughter, Elizabeth, who is away at college. “She said, ‘Mom, he’s still working for you (and for God.)’”

When youth director Abby Van Noppen began planning an outing for her fall Jr. EYC lock-in participants, she called Jellybeans Skate Park in Cary. After telling the owners her group was from St. Michael’s, Jellybean’s owner Kim Rose spoke up.

“We’ve decided to give your group a complimentary pass,” Kim said. “We were great friends with Bill. “ The Roses have been river neighbors with the Duffs on the Pamilco for years, she said. “Bill was a special man,” Kim adds. “I never saw him when he wasn’t smiling. It wasn’t until we went to the funeral that we realized the impact he had on so many people. When Abby called and I realized that St. Michael’s was his church, it was just something we wanted to do.”

Bill got people,” says Michael, “humanness and all. He wasn’t better or worse, he was just there for each of us — as children of God. Sharing his story, being vulnerable, and in the process, spreading God’s love in a way that if measured by social media standards would have been a ‘worldwide trending topic’ without him ever intending it to be!”

Sally, seeking some peace in the weeks since his death, wakes up with hymns and Bible verses running through her head. “The night after the funeral,” she says, “I was not sad, but I kept thinking about a verse that is about a kernel of wheat. I didn’t know the whole verse, but I looked it up.”

What she found was John 12:24: “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

Bill Duff’’s Ministry Plants Seeds in the Minds of Many

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Important annual Fund dates

Pledge SundayS

Bring your pledge card to church and place it in the

alms basin.Sunday, Oct. 11

& Sunday, Oct. 18

gratis. And, the Diocese does not provide us funds to operate. In fact, running the business of St. Michael’s costs an average $4,401 per day. As expenses in our lives increase, we can expect St. Michael’s expenses to increase. Rest assured, St. Michael’s budget is balanced. The Vestry, staff and clergy take great care to ensure we are fiscally responsible. The pledge you entrust to St. Michael’s is used wisely.

Still, all that we have — our brains, the love of our family and friends, our very lives — comes from God. How can we not be grateful, and demonstrate our gratitude by returning a portion of what God has bestowed on each of us to Him, to His church, to do the kingdom’s business? I wonder if we wring our hands more over our pledge amount than the interest rate paid on a credit bill. Surely, we can joyfully return a portion of what he has given us for the support of St. Michael’s programs and ministries.

Please support our church with your pledge this month so our church home remains strong to serve one another and our community.

I thank him who has given me strength for this, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful by appointing me to his service. - 1 Timothy 1:12

— Charlotte GriffinDirector of Development

We Are Strong to Serve, At Home, In Our Community, and In the World

The Spanish language has three simple words about location. They are aquí, allí, and allá.

“Aquí” means “here,” our immediate location, right where we are standing. “Allí” refers to “over there,” our general vicinity but a distance away. Finally, “allá” means “far away”, a more significant distance from where we are located.

I submit to you that we are called to serve in the name of Jesus Christ in all three of these locations: aquí, allí, and allá.

As we launch our Annual Fund Campaign for 2016 at St. Michael’s, we have chosen the theme, Strong to Serve and I want to share with you how your annual pledge of financial support provides that strength for service in all three locations of our world.

Our first responsibility to service is to ensure a strong church foundation for all of the work we do for Jesus Christ. Without a strong platform, without a strong parish, our present will be more difficult and our future will be unsure. A secure, well-maintained church facility that provides adequate space to meet the needs of the parish is a primary responsibility of us all. Space for worship, education, celebration, and the daily work required to manage a corporate-sized parish is where it starts. It is the “here” in our strength to serve.

That church foundation includes a well-supported clergy and staff to serve Jesus and the people of St. Michael’s in this place. We can never take for granted that resource, and a large and appropriate portion of our annual pledge goes to support the professionals who do the work of this parish seven days a week.

Our strength in this place includes supplies, printing, phone, utilities, technology, and all of the routine cleaning and maintenance needs of any enterprise. Individually they might not reflect the face of Christ, but together they ensure that the staff of the parish can do God’s work in this place and in the world.

As we all leave the parking lot each Sunday, we drive into the second circle of our important service to the world, that next place where St. Michael’s strength is vital to God’s work. Our community would be a very different place were it not for our support for Wake Relief, Stop Hunger Now, Urban Ministries, Diaper Train, Meals-on-Wheels, Backpack Buddies, StepUp Ministry, Wake Interfaith Hospitality Network, and the Raleigh police. Through collections, grants, direct participation, and in-kind donations, this parish shows its strength in service to Raleigh, Wake County, and the Triangle.

And finally, Christ sent his disciples into the world to spread the good news and to work for all mankind. Our support for disaster relief in the four corners of the world, our long-term commitment to the mission work at the Holy Cross Anglican School in Belize, our youth’s service through REACH work camps, and our financial support for all Episcopal world services through our diocesan pledge carries Christ’s message and strong service to the world.

My closing message today is a thank you, an invitation, and a heartfelt hope. For those of you who have faithfully ensured that St. Michael’s is Strong to Serve through an annual pledge, I thank you for your support. For those new to our parish or those who have chosen not to pledge in the past, I invite you to make a prayerful and meaningful pledge in this year’s campaign. Your help is vitally needed to continue God’s work. And my heartfelt hope is that all will consider what they can do in this year’s cycle to do a little bit more, to increase their pledge to ensure that St. Michael’s remains Strong to Serve in 2016 and into the future.

— John ConstanceCampaign Chair

Annual FundContinued from Page 1

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On Thursday, Oct.. 8 at 2 p.m., Brigitte Harrington, owner of The Antique Emporium in Cameron Village, will visit us with associate Julie Irving to speak to the Owls on “What’s Hot/What’s Not” in the antique world. Brigitte will speak about china, silver and collectables, and Julie will discuss jewely and downsizing. Just how much are our treasures worth? Learn the real value of your collectibles and treasures. Our guests are not appraisers, so please leave your antiques at home. Join us in the Convocation Room.

For several years, I have headed off to Winston-Salem for clergy retreats, conferences and Diocesan conventions, but I never had the opportunity to visit Reynolda House. But on Thursday, Oct. 22, we’ll all get that chance.

Once the 60-room estate home of R.J. Reynolds, founder of Reynolds Tobacco Company, Reynolda House became a non-profit in1965, dedicated to the arts and education. It llater became a public museum housing a premier collection of American art, including works by Frederic Church, Gilbert Stuart, Albert Bierstadt, William Harnett and William Merritt Chase.

The house was recreated by R.J. Reynolds’ wife, Katherine, who also designed formal and informal gardens, a lake and other facilities for recreation, a school, a model farm for demonstrating the

most current farming and dairying practices, and a village to house workers. The estate was home to members of the Reynolds family until the mid-1960s.

Reynolda Village, which once supported the 1,067-acre estate, included dairy barns, a cattle shed, school, post office, smokehouse, blacksmith shop, carriage house, central power and heating plant, as well as cottages to house the family’s chauffeur and stenographer, the village’s school master and the farm’s head dairyman and horticulturist. Today the village is home to shops, offices and restaurants.

When we visit Reynolda House, we’ll see a traveling exhibit entitled, “The Artist’s Garden” – paintings by American Impressionist artists. We will have time to tour the house, explore the garden area, and we will eat at the Village Tavern. The tour is $12 and lunch will be on your own.

We will depart from St. Michael’s at 9:30 a.m., so please arrive by 9:15 a.m. At 11:30 a.m., we will arrive at the Village Tavern and have an early lunch. The restaurant does not take reservations. Our tour will be from 1:15 p.m.- 2:45 p.m. We’ll return to St Michael’s by 5 p.m.

— The Rev. Holly M. Gloff

Owls To Visit Winston’s Reynolda House

Martha MinistryTo Begin Again!Do you remember Martha? Both Luke and John mention her in their Gospels. She was Mary’s sister, the sister who was always in the kitchen, preparing food and being the perfect hostess. When it was time for dinner, she was on it. Unexpected company? Covered. Dishes to wash? Done.

Martha gets chastized because Jesus told her to stop whining, and that listening to him was actually more important than was her kitchen ministry. But let’s face it, one cannot live by sermons alone! Somebody has to keep hearth and home together. Martha was the nuts and bolts gal who kept everyone fed and clean. Martha was a “do-er.”

At St. Michael’s, we have plenty of need for do-ers. Are you looking for an opportunity to lend a hand to a fellow parishioner who can no longer drive to the doctor? Perhaps you could serve our Lord through your free time and your car! Or if cooking is your ministry, why not make a chicken casserole for a mom who just had twins?

On the flip side, perhaps you’ve had surgery recently and need someone to bring meals for a week or two, but you don’t know whom to call.

Well, you can call on Martha. She is up to the task.

We’re re-forming our Martha Ministry, a group of people whose ministry is to help wherever needed for a couple hours a month. The previous

organizer moved away, but the need remains. Won’t you help?

Here is what we currently need:

A chairperson person who can keep a list of volunteers according to their abilities to help.

Volunteers who would be willing to provide any of the following anticipated needs:• Drivers (for going to doctor appointments or

church)• Errands

• Meals (more than once, but not long term

Ideally, the typical Martha Ministry volunteer will only be asked to help a few times per year, but we hope that you will be willing to help more often.

St. Michael’s is a community, and while we are very good at outreach, we also need to be able to help our immediate parish family members. Won’t you prayerfully consider how you can help? Please contact me, if you’re ready to be a Martha.

— The Rev. Holly Gloff

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Save the Date!

Phantom of the Opera

Organ Concert

Nov. 6

br

ief

ly

Men’s Prayer Breakfast

Tuesday Oct.15

7 a.m.

Nominate for VestryThe Vestry is now accepting nominations for anyone wishing to serve on the Vestry, beginning in January 2016. Members of the congregation who are over 16 and “known to the treasurer” — regular givers, such as those who pledge in the Annual Fund Campaign — may be nominated. Ten will be chosen to run, and five will be elected on Sunday, Dec. 6, at the Annual Meeting. Nominations must be submitted by Monday, Oct. 12, via the web address [email protected]. Nominations require permission of the nominee.

Join Us for an Alternative Giving Event!St. Michael’s will be hosting Gifts of Grace, an alternative giving event that will be held Nov. 15, from 8:30 a.m.- 1 p.m. in the Parish Hall.

You can start preparing early to think about those on your Christmas list who have everything and don’t need one more thing! This is a unique opportunity to give a gift that is instrumental in changing people’s lives by making donations to these non-profit agencies in

the name of your loved one or friends. What a great stocking stuffer.

Twenty-four local, national and international non-profit agencies as well as St. Michael’s service groups, will be participating and

this event. Monetary donations to these Gifts of Grace agencies help provide needed food, clothing, shelter, medical care, women and child protection and opportunities for recovery and a more independent lifestyle. Come and visit the agencies and give to make a difference in people’s lives. For each donation, you will receive a lovely gift card.

We are pleased to announce that credit cards, as well as cash and checks, will be accepted as payment. Also 100 percent of all money donated will be given to the agencies you have chosen to support. Gifts of Grace will cover any credit card expenses.

You can enjoy an a la carte breakfast, too! It will be offered between 8:30 am – p.m. Coffee, juice, muffins, bagels with cream cheese, Danish pastries, yogurt and fresh fruit salad will be available, and most items will be priced at $1.

Remember to stop by the information table in the lobby prior to entering the Parish Hall to start your shopping.

Please prayerfully consider helping for a few hours. Contact Carol Braunhardt at (919) 469-0241 or by email at [email protected] to volunteer your time.

— Carol Braunhardt, Gifts of Grace Committee

Who’s Coming?

Local/Regional/InternationalAlliance Medical Ministry Community Music School Episcopal Campus Ministry Episcopal Farmworker MinistryFIGS Global MissionsHealing Place - Women’s Facility Heifer Project International Hilltop Home Interact Inter-Faith Food Shuttle Loaves and Fishes Match of NCMeals on Wheels of Wake CountyOak RanchPLM Families TogetherSAFEchildSt. Saviour’sStepUp MinistryUrban Ministries

St. Michael’s GroupsCanterbury ShopCommunity MissionsEYCDohme’s Own DressingSt. ClareSt. ElizabethSt. MadelineSt. MargaretSt. Mary

Organ Concert: Timothy OlsenTimothy Olsen, Kenan Professor of Organ at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, will be in concert at St. Michael’s, Friday, Oct. 9 at 7:30 p.m. At the School of the Arts, he teaches a studio of high school, undergraduate and graduate organ majors. Olsen was the first-prize winner of the 2002 National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance sponsored by the American Guild of Organists. He has performed solo organ recitals in twenty-three states.This concert is co-sponsored by the Central NC Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Admission is free. He will teach an organ masterclass on the morning of October 10.

Also, get your Nov. 6 concert tickets at holymichaelmusic.org.

Timothy Olsen

mailto:[email protected]

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lif

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isc

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eo c t o b e r

through nov. 1Writing aS a SPiritual Practice

With SuSan rountree & Melanie JoneS In the Wall ConFerenCe room

Many of us continually look for ways to feel closer to God. Join the writers of St. Michael’s as we explore, through personal writing, new ways to connect our stories with the story God is writing for us.

every Sunday

centering Prayer

in the convocation rooM

oct. 4: centering prayer oct. 11: Welcoming prayer oct. 18: labyrinth oct. 25: prayer beads nov. 1: icons nov. 8: guided meditation (scripture) nov. 15: breath nov. 22: candlelight

neWComer Classes

Wednesdays outlIne oF the FaIth

6:15 p.m.four sessions

for all new to theEpiscopal Church and for

parents seeking baptism for children

6:15 p.m.-7:30 p.m., Oct. 14, 21 & 28 and Nov. 4

neWComer dInner

Tuesday, Nov. 10

6-8 p.m.

SundaySOctOber 4, 11, 18

you Say you Want a revelation

With the rev. greg JoneS, the rev. chriStoPher hogin & Jeff henSley

The Book of Revelation is one of the most complicated books in the Bible. Its gross misinterpretation has caused fear, panic and often violence within the last millennia. Even today, popular books and movies tap in to human anxiety regarding end times scenarios extracted from this book.

What exactly is The Book of Revelation addressing? Is it solely about predicting the future, or is it a commentary on the political and social issues happening at the time of its writing? Join the Rev. Greg Jones, the Rev. Christopher Hogin and Resident Theologian Jeff Hensley as they approach this complex work of prophecy that still speaks to us today.

october 25

Journey to the holy land

With the rev. david crabtree

Share in David’s travel experiences as he reflects on his journey to the Holy Land this past year, exploring the complicated relationships between Israelis and Palestinians. He writes, “Why do we build walls when we can build a bigger table? Relations between Israelis and Palestinians have been problematic for centuries. While those problems continue, I talked with Jews and Arabs

who are seeking to live together in the same space . . . who are simply seeking to live a decent life. The stories are moving, insightful and above all real.”

nov. 1— all Saint’S day: MiracleS

With Jeff henSley

Our Gospel reading for All Saint’s Day this year is the famous account of the raising of Lazarus from the dead found in John 11—one of Jesus’ most amazing miracles. Since the 17th century, however, especially with the rise of modern science, many readers of the Bible have downplayed, ignored, or even rejected the Bible’s account of so-called miracles. The Bible, they argue, reflects a pre-scientific worldview where people attribute to God all manner of activities — floating ax heads, talking donkeys, seeing blind men. With the rise of modern science, however, such activities either have a natural explanation or could not have happened as the text describes them. So do you believe in miracles? We will examine the central modern criticisms of belief in miracles and ask what role, if any, miracles can play in our faith.

Journeys of FaithA six-week program

examining the faith lives of the famous

and not-so-famousThursdays at 6 p.m.

Oct. 29, Nov. 5, 12 &19, Dec. 3 &10

$90 per person includes all meals.

Reservations required.Watch for signup information

on holymichael.org. (see story, page 2)

St. Michael’s Episcopal Church

1520 Canterbury Rd.Raleigh NC 27608-1106Phone: 919-782-0731

Fax: 919-782-5085www.holymichael.org

Chronicles of Canterbury is a monthly publication of St. Michael’s Episcopal ChurchEditor: Susan B. RountreePhone: 919-782-0731, ext. 122Email: [email protected]

QueStiOnS? StOry ideaS? Susan Rountree, Director of Communications [email protected] • 919-782-0731, ext. 122 www.holymichael.org, Chronicles of Canterbury, ThisWeek@St. Michael’s & Rector’s Weekly Epistle: Susan Rountree, Editor [email protected]

Canterbury Tales/brochures/bulletins: Ann Garey, Publications Coordinator [email protected] Deadlines:• Canterbury Tales: noon Wednesday before Sunday publication• Chronicles of Canterbury: Wednesday, Oct. 14

NON-PROFIT ORG.US POSTAGE

PAIDRaleigh, NC

PERMIT NO. 696

Wednesday Words & Wisdom

Being Mortal Topic of DiscussionJoin our readers in October as we discuss Being Mortal by Atul Gawande.

According to ITunes Preview, “Best selling author Atul Gawande tackles the hardest challenge of his profession: how medicine can not only improve life but also the process of its ending.

“Medicine has triumphed in modern times, transforming birth, injury, and infectious disease from harrowing to manageable. But in the inevitable condition of aging and death, the goals of medicine seem too frequently to run counter to the interest of the human spirit.”

Be part of this important discussion, at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 14, at the home of Lisa Williamson, 1701 McDonald Lane, Raleigh, 27607.

For more information on the Words and Wisdom Book Club or to join us, please contact Lisa Williamson at [email protected].

Fall Mission To AppalachiaIt’s not too late to join our Global Missions team in Jonesville, Va., the weekend of October 22-25. Participants – anyone 13 years old or older, who has completed the 8th grade. Those under 18 must be accompanied by a responsible adult.

•Cost–about$175perperson,whichincludesmealsand lodging at the ASP Jonesville Year Round Center (bunk bed accommodations with a full kitchen).

Contact: Vaughn Wagoner (919-601-2880).

october 2015: the chronicles of canterbury

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