organ to fall silent soon · if it’s a sunny evening, we’ll meet out in the courtyard. in case...

12
Organ to fall silent soon The Holy Comforter organ has been around for 53 years. It has had some repair over the years. Recently a major contributor to our organ’s care, James and Diane Forsyth and their foundation, contacted the Rector to see if our organ needed work. Music Director Ellen Johnson said that indeed it did. She worked with the organ builder who has cared for it in the past to get a recommendation on repairs. The Forsyth foundation offered to pay for most of the $30,000 cost. As described by organ builder Scott Hayes, “The largest part of the upcoming work to the organ replaces the ‘brains’ of the console with a modern computer. If you’ve ever wandered into the attic area behind the organ, the room where the organ blower contains the mechanical brain of the organ - and requires space comparable to a small bedroom. In this project, most of this equipment will be replaced with one computerized ‘brain’ in the console itself.” The console will be taken once the parts arrive, be gone, and the organ silent for up to two months. However, we have a really good piano, “one of the best in the city,” said Ellen. Denise Carl awarded for Rams in Recovery National Night Out - this one’s for everybody A Message from Hilary + • Connections Hosts Needed • Haitian Mission Status • Rachel Held Evans • Rain Garden transformation • Service of Lament, Reconciliation, & Commitment Book Club for August - The Broken Circle Men at the Movies Message • Ordinary Time is Anything but Ordinary! • Vacation Bible School August 11 • Review of The Damascus Road: A Novel Of St. Paul • Thank you • Preview of Coming Attractions in Adult Formation • Shrine Mont 2019 • People International • The Back Page News of The Church of the Holy Comforter in the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia Richmond, July - August 2019

Upload: others

Post on 06-Feb-2020

0 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Organ to fall silent soon · If it’s a sunny evening, we’ll meet out in the courtyard. In case of rain, we’ll meet inside. Please check in at the Monumental Street entrance,

Organ to fall silent soonThe Holy Comforter organ has been around for 53

years. It has had some repair over the years. Recently a major contributor to our organ’s care, James and Diane Forsyth and their foundation, contacted the Rector to see if our organ needed work. Music Director Ellen Johnson said that indeed it did. She worked with the organ builder who has cared for it in the past to get a recommendation

on repairs. The Forsyth foundation offered to pay for most of the $30,000 cost.

As described by organ builder Scott Hayes, “The largest part of the upcoming

work to the organ replaces the ‘brains’ of the console with a modern computer. If you’ve ever wandered

into the attic area behind the organ, the room where the organ

blower contains the mechanical brain of the organ - and requires space comparable to a small bedroom. In this

project, most of this equipment will be replaced with one computerized ‘brain’ in the console itself.”

The console will be taken once the parts arrive, be gone, and the organ silent for up to two months.

However, we have a really good piano, “one of the best in the city,” said Ellen.

• Denise Carl awarded for Rams in Recovery

• National Night Out - this one’s for everybody

• A Message from Hilary +

• Connections Hosts Needed

• Haitian Mission Status

• Rachel Held Evans

• Rain Garden transformation

• Service of Lament, Reconciliation, & Commitment

• Book Club for August - The Broken Circle

• Men at the Movies Message

• Ordinary Time is Anything but Ordinary!

• Vacation Bible School August 11

• Review of The Damascus Road: A Novel Of St. Paul

• Thank you

• Preview of Coming Attractions in Adult Formation

• Shrine Mont 2019

• People International

• The Back Page

News of The Church of the Holy Comforterin the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia

Richmond, July - August 2019

Page 2: Organ to fall silent soon · If it’s a sunny evening, we’ll meet out in the courtyard. In case of rain, we’ll meet inside. Please check in at the Monumental Street entrance,

News of the Church of the Holy Comforter - Richmond, Virginia - 2

Denise Carl awarded for Rams in RecoveryBy Bruce MacAlister, Editor

A few years ago parishioner Denise Carl came to the Outreach Ministry to request financial support for a ministry she was about to undertake, Rams in Recovery. Outreach provided the funds for the group’s activities while Denise provided the human support. For that she received an award as described in these website articles.

“Denise Carl, Richmond Area Healthy Futures Opioid Project

“AmeriCorps State Member of the Year (Robert E. Wone Award for Exemplary Service), Ms. Carl was practicing law when she changed the trajectory of her life and was inspired to help others have access to life saving and life changing information. As a second term full-time AmeriCorps member with the Richmond Area Healthy Futures Opioid Program, Denise serves at VCU Rams in Recovery as a mentor providing peer support services to students and other individuals. She also assists with the Family Education Programs which are held weekly for families and individuals that are seeking information and resources.

“The Wone Award was established in memory of Robert E. Wone, who served on the Governor’s Advisory Board on Service and Volunteerism from 2002-2006 and dedicated his life to volunteering for charitable organizations and offering pro bono legal service. The award recognizes an exemplary AmeriCorps member who has exhibited the same dedication to community service and civic engagement as did Mr. Wone.”

National Night Out - this one’s for everybodyBy Bonnie Atwood

Our church is fortunate to be situated in a pleasant and active neighborhood. Do you know your neighbors? A great way to do just that would be to attend the 2019 National Night Out. This yearly event is coming back to us on the evening of Tuesday, August 6.

Enjoy a fun night that is pet and child friendly. We encourage all Hoco parishioners to mix and mingle with all the wonderful folks who live here. We are truly a partnership: we watch out for each other on matters of safety, city services and various events offered by both the City of Richmond and the County of Henrico.

If it’s a sunny evening, we’ll meet out in the courtyard. In case of rain, we’ll meet inside. Please check in at the Monumental Street entrance, so you can get some freebies and register for one of our many door prizes. We’ll start just after 6 pm. Plan on a good meal, and bring a covered dish IF you want to.

We’ll have music, dignitaries, and prizes for adults and all children. National Night Out is co-sponsored by Hoco and by our Neighborhood Watch organizations, Monumental-Wythe Neighborhood Watch. This event enhances the relationship between neighbors and law enforcement while bringing back a true sense of community. Furthermore, it provides a great opportunity to bring police and neighbors together under positive circumstances.

We will see you there!

Page 3: Organ to fall silent soon · If it’s a sunny evening, we’ll meet out in the courtyard. In case of rain, we’ll meet inside. Please check in at the Monumental Street entrance,

News of the Church of the Holy Comforter - Richmond, Virginia - 3

A Message from Hilary +Dear Friends and Companions in

Ministry,

What is summer like for you? I hope that you are getting some time away, a vacation or even a “staycation.” Summer can be a time of open space for many; especially if we work in academia

or another seasonal sort of profession. For me, summer provides both downtime and time to think about the future. Sometimes I’m resting in the relative calm of the season and sometimes I’m planning for the Fall. In the Church calendar, we are in the season after Pentecost, called

Ordinary time. That word is taken from the word ordinal, meaning counting. We count the Sundays after Pentecost and name them as such—the 4th Sunday after Pentecost for example. But Ordinary time can also be thought of as liturgical scholar Leonel Mitchell does, as “the time in which we actually live—the period between the Pentecost and the Second Advent.” (See Laura Hunt’s article on Ordinary Time in this Messenger.)

For many Episcopalians, the seasons of the Church year guide our spiritual focus and most definitely guide our corporate prayers. This summer season can be a spiritually grounding time. We may wish to pray about how the Spirit is active in our lives. What does that or can that mean for us? We are not in a preparing mode as we are in Advent, and we are not in a penitential mode as we are in Lent. We are living every day as the people of God being guided by the Spirit. We are living as people who know the whole Christian story as it comes to us in the Bible and history, and we are people who are still contributing to our shared Christian story. How does your life express God’s love in the world? Perhaps a summer spirituality might be about such a question.

When I’m not living in the moment during the summer, I’m planning, with many of you, for the Fall and the months that follow. Our church cares about providing great programming for adults and

children. We care about our Fall parish retreat. We care about how we will be stewards of all that God has given us. We care about having joyful worship services that enable us to worship God and find our grounding from which to serve others. We are planning for all these important ways of being the Church together, for our joy and the benefit of others. Thanks for all that you contribute to our life together as members and friends of Holy Comforter.

Blessings for the rest of summer!

Hilary+

Connections Hosts NeededBy Kipley Herr

Everyone loves a bit of social time with our church members! Connections is our fellowship time after church on Sunday where we enjoy light refreshments and beverages.

How about hosting our Connections from time to time? Teams of two set up and clean up about 1 time every 2.5 months. The more folks that participate the less often participants would be on the Rota. Providing refreshments can be your donation to this Hospitality event, but reimbursement is always available!

Those interested in helping make that happen can contact Brian Davis, Kathy Hayfield, or me. Our contact info is in the church directory.

Page 4: Organ to fall silent soon · If it’s a sunny evening, we’ll meet out in the courtyard. In case of rain, we’ll meet inside. Please check in at the Monumental Street entrance,

News of the Church of the Holy Comforter - Richmond, Virginia - 4

Haitian Mission StatusBy Dawn Colapietro, Missionary[We seldom see Dawn since she lives

in Haiti much of the time. Holy Comforter was a launch point for to Haiti and a continued touch point for her; Editor.]

It has been a difficult year in Haiti. I am very sorry to say that the government corruption, 15% inflation, 25% devaluation of its currency, and increasing violence continues to plague this beleaguered country. And, our ministry has not been spared either. We have to move again as well as shut down our medical clinic because of security threats.

Unfortunately, the only mainstream media in the US that covers the news in Haiti is the Miami Herald because it has such a large Haitian population. Therefore, I am sending you the latest report from the Institute of Justice and Democracy in Haiti. It gives a good overview of the political crisis currently facing the country. [The report is at www.ijdh.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/IJDH-Report-Haiti-at-a-Crossroads-May-2019.pdf.]

But, there is good news as well. Our school is finally getting built for 250 of some of Haiti’s poorest children. We are building houses # 6 & 7 in an area that has been devastated by hurricanes and floods. We are expanding our microloan

program into City of Soleil, the poorest slum in Haiti. And, our Water Women are purifying over 30,000 gallons of water a month. We have a couple of small projects going on too with some of our partners in building latrines and trying to provide emergency assistance for those needing food and medical care. As you can imagine, the needs are endless and we do the best we can with the funds that we have.

Since I am responsible for the administrative piece of our ministry, I have officially moved back to New Jersey to live near the headquarters of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth. I actually live in the Convent when not in Haiti since I work closely with the staff and SOC Sisters and Leadership when I am home.

I am also sending you a picture from the poster of a Women’s March held this past Sunday which was Mother’s Day in Haiti. I will let it speak for itself.

Rachel Held EvansBy Chris Hall

I was late to the party.

When I got the news that Rachel Held Evans had died on May 4th, I was surprised. I had only recently discovered her: started following her on Twitter, read through some of the past entries on her blog, and became interested in her story. Raised evangelical (in Alabama, no less), she grew into an articulate, thoughtful progressive Episcopalian, who dedicated her career to challenging the formal church establishment of her youth, and giving voice to the millennial point of view in all things religious. She wrote columns for national newspapers, had a thriving motivational speaking career, published four books, and built an admirable online presence. She married her college sweetheart and had two children, who are still quite young. She paid it forward, giving voice to less well known writers,

Page 5: Organ to fall silent soon · If it’s a sunny evening, we’ll meet out in the courtyard. In case of rain, we’ll meet inside. Please check in at the Monumental Street entrance,

News of the Church of the Holy Comforter - Richmond, Virginia - 5

heal, you will always find the balm.

“What I love about the ministry of Jesus is that he identified the poor as blessed and the rich as needy...and then he went and ministered to them both. This, I think, is the difference between charity and justice. Justice means moving beyond the dichotomy between those who need and those who supply and confronting the frightening and beautiful reality that we desperately need one another.”

Rain Garden transformationBy Bruce MacAlister

The rain garden has been looking a bit shabby. Since it’s right there on Monument Ave, that’s not so nice. So Darryl Smith and Rodney Ickes got to work on it cleaning out the dead parts and getting plantings in place. We still have a water-saving rain garden but a nice looking one that complements the church.

who were just starting out. She accomplished a great deal in her time on earth, and then died suddenly, at just 37 years of age, leaving her husband to pick up the pieces and move forward in faith. She had a lot to say, and her voice will be missed.

“I have come to regard with some suspicion those who claim that the Bible never troubles them. I can only assume this means they haven’t

actually read it.

“A church can have a sleek logo and Web site, but if it’s judgmental and exclusive, if it fails to show the love of Jesus to all, millennials will sniff it out. Our reasons for leaving have less to do with style and image and more to do with substantive questions about life, faith and

community. We’re not as shallow as you might think.

“If you are looking for verses with which to support slavery, you will find them. If you are looking for verses with which to abolish slavery, you will find them. If you are looking for verses with which to oppress women, you will find them. If you are looking for for verses with which to liberate or honor women, you will find them. If you are looking for reasons to wage war, you will find them. If you are looking for reasons to promote peace, you will find them. If you are looking for an out-dated, irrelevant ancient text, you will find it. If you are looking for truth, believe me, you will find it. This is why there are times when the most instructive question to bring to the text is not ‘what does it say?’, but ‘what am I looking for?’ I suspect Jesus knew this when he said, ‘ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened.’ If you want to do violence in this world, you will always find the weapons. If you want to

Page 6: Organ to fall silent soon · If it’s a sunny evening, we’ll meet out in the courtyard. In case of rain, we’ll meet inside. Please check in at the Monumental Street entrance,

News of the Church of the Holy Comforter - Richmond, Virginia - 6

Service of Lament, Reconciliation, & Commitment

Reported by the Very Rev Hilary Smith, Rector & Central Richmond Region Dean

The Central Richmond Region will be gathering for a Service of Lament, Reconciliation, and Commitment on Saturday, August 17th, at 5 pm, at St. John’s Church (2401 E Broad Street). Bishop Susan Goff will preside, and members of the Central Richmond Region will participate in the service. The event is one of several being

offered throughout the dioceses in Virginia in response to the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in Virginia.

Book Club for August - The Broken CircleBy Laura Hunt

A sweeping, heart-stopping memoir of a girl shaken by the brutality of war, The Broken Circle: A Memoir of Escaping Afghanistan by Enjeela Ahmadi-Miller, tells the story of a desperate family uprooted and divided by violent changes in Afghanistan. In a beautifully-written account, filled with vivid detail and pathos, Enjeela Ahmadi recalls her privileged childhood in the

peaceful and prosperous city of Kabul before the Soviet invasion of 1980. Her mother leaves for medical treatment in India, while her father arranges for a guide to smuggle his children to Pakistan. What ensues is an epic, terrifying five-year journey, as Enjeela

and her siblings trek miles through deserts and mountains, then wait months in Pakistan for their father to join them, and eventually reconnect with their mother.

“Full of vivid detail and emotion, this compelling memoir captures the ache of a young child desperate for safety and security.” - Kirkus Reviews

“With clear-eyed recollection and emotional insight, Ahmadi-Miller tells the remarkable tale of one family’s tenacious will to survive.” - Booklist

“In navigating the dangers ahead of them, and in looking back at the wilderness of her homeland, Enjeela discovers the spiritual and physical strength to find hope in the most desperate of circumstances” - From the publisher

Men at the Movies MessageBy Steve Van Voorhees

Somewhere back in pre-history, I found myself in a darkened theater,

watching films and being transported to other worlds, literally and figuratively. It was Saturday matinée at the Riviera Theatre. I became a film buff even though I didn’t know the term. I once went to see the same movie five days in a row, and I took Peggy to a series of foreign language films when we were dating. (They were ‘samurai’ movies, and she married me anyway!) This “movie thing” led me to appear in a “B” movie about a Seminole Indian hero when I was 17 years old. My fascination with this art form (it is certainly art) continued through bit parts in a handful of movies over the years.

Page 7: Organ to fall silent soon · If it’s a sunny evening, we’ll meet out in the courtyard. In case of rain, we’ll meet inside. Please check in at the Monumental Street entrance,

News of the Church of the Holy Comforter - Richmond, Virginia - 7

This “movie thing” brings us up to the present at Holy Comforter. Since we started “Men at the Movies,” I have chosen movies that matter to our culture and faith for this monthly event. I don’t expect others to be as “mad about the movies” as I am. I’m simply inviting my male friends and brothers in Christ to join me for a needed break from our daily labors, to wander and wonder in ‘movie land. This summer and the last two summers we have taken July and August off, resuming in September.

This September 24th, we will watch a movie that contains mysteries, puzzles, and dream-like suspensions of realities that take place in a very real mid-20th century place—San Francisco. The story is about a retiring police detective, Scottie, who has a ghost or two playing with his head. The film is Vertigo, which just displaced Citizen Kane as the #1 American movie in a major ranking system. Last season we watched Casablanca, the much loved and adored American movie, in which, by the way, 90% of the credited actors were foreign born.

And so we begin again. The 2019 - 2020 season will be a rich and entertaining program as before. I sincerely invite those of you of the male persuasion and your friends to these events. Please talk to me about the movie program and tell me what you want to see—my contact info is in the directory. Ask others about their experiences at other movie nights. Some attendees say that, even though they have seen a movie before, seeing it again in this group had an impact on them like never before.

See you in church and at the movies!

Ordinary Time is Anything but Ordinary!By Laura Hunt

The Liturgical Calendar of the Episcopal Church year is divided into six seasons: Advent, Christmas, a short spell of Ordinary Time (the Season after Epiphany), Lent, Easter, and finally, a long period of Ordinary Time (the Season after Pentecost).

We are now in that longer Ordinary Time, which began with Trinity Sunday (the first Sunday after Pentecost, June 16th) and will end with Christ the King Sunday (the last Sunday before Advent, November 24th).

Rather than meaning “common” or “mundane,” the term ordinary comes from the word “ordinal,” which means “counted” or “numbered” (eg., Third Sunday after Pentecost.). The numbered weeks of Ordinary Time, in fact, represent the ordered life of the Church—the period in which we live most of our lives, neither in celebration as at Easter, nor in penance, as in Lent.

Ordinary Time stresses God as the Eternal Now: we are most with God when we are in the present moment. We explore everyday sacredness and the meaning of Christ’s resurrection in our lives.

Through the readings we accompany Jesus in his earthly ministry and focus on the mission of the church in the world. We examine what it means to live daily as Christians. We are offered an invitation to slow the pace of our lives and evaluate our personal convictions. Reviewing the essential teachings of Jesus challenges us to live our faith, to focus on social justice, and to serve as instruments of healing and peace.

Green, the liturgical color of Ordinary Time, is the color of rebirth, hope, and growth. Green symbolizes the growth of the church following Pentecost, as well as our own growth into the hope of new life in the resurrection.

Page 8: Organ to fall silent soon · If it’s a sunny evening, we’ll meet out in the courtyard. In case of rain, we’ll meet inside. Please check in at the Monumental Street entrance,

News of the Church of the Holy Comforter - Richmond, Virginia - 8

Vacation Bible School August 11By Martha Richardson

Vacation Bible School is right around the corner! The dates are August 11-15, Sunday night through Thursday night. On Sunday night, we will meet from 4:30 to 6:30, and Monday through Thursday nights from 5:30 through 7:30. Each evening begins with dinner provided by the church. Vacation Bible School is open to children ages 4-12, but children 3 and under are also welcome and should be accompanied by an adult. Nursery care is available for children of volunteers.

Our Harry Potter themed Vacation Bible School is titled “Wizards and Wonders.” Each night we will trace Harry Potter’s hero’s journey, learning a Bible story that ties in to Harry’s story. There will be Owl mail, the Sorting Hat, classes in Spells and

Potions, and lessons in how to fly a broomstick. Bring your friends! Bring your neighbors!

Register for VBS online at www.myvbs.org/Hoco2019.

Want to be a part? The website has a link to a volunteer sign-up sheet in a Google document. We still need volunteers for meals, activities, nursery workers and decorations. There’s also a wish list of things we don’t have yet, and some things you could make if you are crafty.

If you have any questions or ideas please contact me at [email protected].

Review of The Damascus Road: A Novel Of St. PaulBy Bruce MacAlister, Editor

“Why does a prominent poet, teacher, and literary biographer turn his attention to the life of the first traveling salesman of Christianity, a wandering Jew whose significance has been reduced to proof texts for contradictory claims, and whose outdated opinions are lampooned and reviled?”

So begins Richard Rose’s five-page review of The Damascus Road: A Novel Of St. Paul by Jay Parini. Too long to fit in the Messenger it is posted on the parish website here http://www.hoco.org/pdf/damascus_road.pdf.

Thank youTo my HoCo family,

I wanted to thank you for the overwhelming love and support I have received since my breast cancer diagnosis. This diagnosis was the last thing I ever expected and rocked me to the core. However, your support continues to uplift me and gives me the strength to fight the fight.

Lastly, thank you for supporting my husband, Joe; he is also touched and grateful.

Love, Darlene Klenzmann

Page 9: Organ to fall silent soon · If it’s a sunny evening, we’ll meet out in the courtyard. In case of rain, we’ll meet inside. Please check in at the Monumental Street entrance,

News of the Church of the Holy Comforter - Richmond, Virginia - 9

Preview of Coming Attractions in Adult FormationBy Peggy Hombs

Sunday Morning Class will meet in the Parlor from 8:45 - 9:45am, beginning September 8th. The class format entails optional read-ahead

material, a short video lecture, and group discussion, using a DVD-based curriculum entitled ‘The Old Testament’

with presenter Dr. Amy-Jill Levine.

Monday Evening Bible Study will meet in the Parlor from 7:00 - 8:00pm, beginning September 9th. This group has decided to rotate leadership among themselves. They have chosen to use the same format and curriculum as the Sunday Morning Class.

Wednesday Morning Bible Study will meet in the Parlor from 11:00am -12 noon, beginning September 4th. The Rev. John Maxwell Kerr will lead the group in an exploration and discussion on “The Seven Creation Stories of the Old Testament.”

Several Sunday Adult Forums are in the planning stages. These sessions are held in the Parlor from 11:30am -12:30pm. More details coming!

For more information about Adult Formation offerings, please contact me. My contact information in the directory.

Shrine Mont 2019By Lisa Lettau

Even though it’s still summer, it’s time to start planning for our Fall Weekend at Shrine Mont. There are thirty-five spots reserved for October 18-20, and a signup list was placed in the Narthex in late June.

Many thanks to Chris Hall for his leadership of the Shrine Mont Retreat these last several years. You may have noted that I referred

to it as our Fall Weekend, because we may change things

up a bit - who knows! I have promised to make sure everyone has a bed in which to sleep and meals to eat, but it will take the proverbial village to do the rest.

For anyone who may be interested, we will have a planning meeting after church on Sunday, August 11th. A couple of folks have started discussing options for the retreat portion of the weekend, but more input is always appreciated. We will also need to plan youth activities and other aspects of the weekend and will need to divide and conquer to make this a success. If you are unable to attend on August 11th but still wish to help, please let me know.

Page 10: Organ to fall silent soon · If it’s a sunny evening, we’ll meet out in the courtyard. In case of rain, we’ll meet inside. Please check in at the Monumental Street entrance,

News of the Church of the Holy Comforter - Richmond, Virginia - 10

People International Incorporated (PII)by Chris Hall

As you may know, if you get the weekly e-mail version of our newsletter, the cast

of People International Incorporated (PII) will be arriving from all over the country on Sunday, July 21st, and will be spending the week at Holy

Comforter. We’ll be rehearsing, meeting, and preparing for our show “Love Can Change the World,” which will be presented on Thursday, July 25th at 7pm, at Hill City Church on Maywill St. Holy Comforter will serve as our home base for the week, as it has

done every few years since 2001, when Ellen and I first brought the cast to HoCo. So what is People International, you ask?

PII has its roots in the Up With People movement of the 1960’s, which in turn has its roots in the Moral ReArmament (MRA)

movement of the 1930’s. Up With People was formed in 1965, as a

peaceful alternative to the youth unrest of the time, promoting love, understanding and unselfishness through the medium of music. As Up With People traveled around the country, putting on shows, they distributed materials encouraging local folks to create their own casts, to put on similar shows, and spread a similar message, in their towns. These groups were called “Sing Outs” - there were hundreds early on, including Sing Out Kent, Sing Out Dearborn, Sing Out St. Louis, and Sing Out Richmond. In fact,

there was enough interest in the Richmond area to result in two groups, one of which was Sing Out South - Ellen got involved with that group in the 1970’s, and I joined up in the 1980’s, met her, and the rest is history.

Page 11: Organ to fall silent soon · If it’s a sunny evening, we’ll meet out in the courtyard. In case of rain, we’ll meet inside. Please check in at the Monumental Street entrance,

News of the Church of the Holy Comforter - Richmond, Virginia - 11

Over the years, all of the local Sing Outs have folded, but the group that was formed to keep the local casts in communication with each other, share ideas and put on combined-cast

shows, lives on. That’s PII. A lot of time has passed, and some of us are significantly older and less wide-eyed than we once were, but we still believe that it’s worth taking the time, and incurring the expense, to spread a positive message through music once a year - raising money for a

local charity, seeing old (and making new) friends, and trying to make a difference.

Each year, PII chooses a local charity to partner with - over the years, we’ve worked with the Red Cross, the Boy Scouts, Habitat for Humanity, the Peter Paul Development Center, and L’Arche, among many others. This

year’s charity is L’Arche Metro Richmond, which is probably familiar to most folks at Holy Comforter: we have worked with them for several years now, and they have attended some of our 4:30 services. L’Arche (French for “The Ark”)

provides communities for adults with intellectual disabilities, building homes and workplaces where those with and without disabilities live and work together as peers. There are L’Arche homes all over the world, and L’Arche Metro Richmond is working to build one in the Richmond area. Proceeds from this year’s PII show will go towards that effort.

PII partnered with L’Arche Metro Richmond for the first time in 2015, and it was such a success that we have created an ongoing

relationship. Members of the L’Arche community have presented a couple shows of their own, under the name “Gold Chicken Players”, with Ellen at the helm, and local PII members in the cast. Several of the Gold Chicken Players will be on stage for this year’s PII show, as we continue to learn from and collaborate with each other, and grow our community. The wheel keeps on turning - 35 years after my first PII Conference, and we’re still doing this thing. Please join us for the show on the 25th, or pop into one of our rehearsals or meals, during the week. There is great joy there, and who knows? It might inspire you to get involved, and start your own journey!

For more information, ask me, Ellen Hall, or visit these two sites:

http://www.peopleinternational.org/

and

http://www.larchemetrorichmond.org/.

Page 12: Organ to fall silent soon · If it’s a sunny evening, we’ll meet out in the courtyard. In case of rain, we’ll meet inside. Please check in at the Monumental Street entrance,

News of the Church of the Holy Comforter - Richmond, Virginia - 12

Church of the Holy Comforter, Richmonda parish in the Diocese of Virginia under the Episcopal Church in the USA

which is part of the worldwide Anglican CommunionMonument Avenue at Staples Mill Road

web - www.hoco.org; e-mail - [email protected]; phone 804-355-3251; fax 804-355-0049

• Sundays, 8:45am, Adult Formation, Hayward Parlor • Sundays, 10am, Choral Eucharist• Sundays, about 10:15am, Children’s Chapel, starts in the Church, moves to Parish House Children’s Chapel• Third Sunday of the monthly, 4:30pm, Story Time

Food Pantry Hours:• First and third Saturdays, 11:00am to noon • First and third Tuesdays, 5:30 to 6:30pm

Side By Side Meal Preparation• Fourth Thursdays, Side by Side, prep at 4pm, deliver about 5pm• Fourth Thursdays, Vet Shelter prep at 5pm, carpool to the shelter at about 6pm, and dinner served at 6:30.

Editing of the Messenger is done by Bruce MacAlister, the layout by George Collier.The September Messenger will be available Sunday September 1, 2019.

The deadline for that edition is Friday, August 23, 2019, (but earlier submission is encouraged). If you feel that you have something you’d like to contribute, please contact Bruce MacAlister.

Please send your submissions to [email protected]

Coming Events at the Church of the Holy ComforterSee the Hoco web site calendar page for detailed calendar and rota

Hoco Birthdays for the month of July / August:July:

Evan Herr, 2nd; Darlene Klenzmann, 2nd; Mary Davis, 5th; Robert Hanayik, 5th; Judith O’Brien, 6th; Kathleen Rose, 7th; Joani Hayman, 10th; George Lowry, 10th;

Marie McGranahan-Turner, 13th; Helena Geipel, 17th; David James, 17th; Julie Edwards, 18th; Courtenay Schwartz, 18th; Roberta Cline, 19th; Joan Vaughan, 19th; Richard Rose, 23rd;

Mrs. Garnett Christoph, 25th; Dorcas Douthit, 27th; Joan Prest, 27th; Benjamin Raymond, 27th; Casey Falterman, 28th; Angela Palmer, 30th; Jimmy Ogle, 31st

August:Maria Gullickson, 4th; Cameron Hunt, 6th; Prudence Milligan, 6th; Nancy Deane, 8th; Gayle Turner, 11th; Mary Thorpe, 12th; Anderson Schwartz, 15th; Robert Evans, 16th;

Helen Reese, 26th