Pentecost...

...is upon us.  This coming Sunday, we will celebrate one of the great Feasts of the Church - the giving of the Holy Spirit.  We also are celebrating the arrival of our new church musician Mr. Gary Stegall.  In honor of both occasions, here is a rendition of one of the most well known hymns of Pentecost - Veni Creator Spiritus..(English tranlastion of the Latin text below)



Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest,
and in our hearts take up Thy rest;
come with Thy grace and heav'nly aid,
To fill the hearts which Thou hast made.

O Comforter, to Thee we cry,
Thou heav'nly gift of God most high,
Thou Fount of life, and Fire of love,
and sweet anointing from above.

O Finger of the hand divine,
the sevenfold gifts of grace are thine;
true promise of the Father thou,
who dost the tongue with power endow.

Thy light to every sense impart,
and shed thy love in every heart;
thine own unfailing might supply
to strengthen our infirmity.

Drive far away our ghostly foe,
and thine abiding peace bestow;
if thou be our preventing Guide,
no evil can our steps betide.

Praise we the Father and the Son
and Holy Spirit with them One;
and may the Son on us bestow
the gifts that from the Spirit flow.

Great Photos from Brick Church Sunday 2012

Dear Folks,

Walter Shockley has published a very nice set of photos from this year's Brick Church service.  The link is here. 

Brick Church 2012 Photos

Brick Church Sunday - April 15

...and we hope you can join us. It will be a great day. Our preacher will be The Rev. Dr. Ladson Mills, III.   The service will be RT I and Holy Baptism.

Service begins at 11:00 am. Bring a covered dish, your most joyful Easter spirits and join us.
The picnic will still be on even if it is raining. In the event of SEVERE weather (tornadoes), the picnic will be moved to the Morrison House (the parish house of the Chapel of Ease - directions to the right).

Happy Easter!!! Jesus is on the Loose!

Look at the vigor of the Risen Christ!  I love this painting by Titian with sunrise on the horizon --Who is the witness on the left?  Here are some thoughts from the Archbishop of York on Easter ..check out his website..

" Someone recently told me that their favourite verse in the bible was Philippians chapter 4 verse 13 which says ‘I can do all things through him who strengthens me’. She said, ‘This tells me that God can make the impossible, possible.’
The resurrection of Jesus that we celebrate today shows us that nothing is beyond God’s power to make a difference, not even death. Because He went to hell and back and that means that there is always hope.
My prayer is the same for all people. I pray that you will know that God loves you and has a purpose for you. I pray that you will be inspired to become all that God has created you to be. I pray that you will be enabled to change your environment and to make it the place that God wants it to become. The challenge starts now and it is a challenge for you and for me!
There is hope, and, whatever our past, together with God, suddenly anything is possible. This is truly fantastic news."

The rest is here     (Click and scroll down)

Good Friday 2012

“The Passion” by George Herbert

Since blood is fittest, Lord, to write
Thy sorrows in, and bloody fight;
My heart hath store; write there, where in
One box doth lie both ink and sin:

That when sin spies so many foes,
Thy whips, thy nails, thy wounds, thy woes,
All come to lodge there, sin may say,
No room for me, and fly away.

Sin being gone, oh fill the place,
And keep possession with thy grace;
Lest sin take courage and return,
And all the writings blot or burn.

 

“The Coming” by R.S. Thomas

And God held in his hand
A small globe. Look, he said.
The son looked. Far off,
As through water, he saw
A scorched land of fierce
Colour. The light burned
There; crusted buildings
Cast their shadows: a bright
Serpent, a river
Uncoiled itself, radiant
With slime.
On a bare
Hill a bare tree saddened
The sky. Many people
Held out their thin arms
To it, as though waiting
For a vanished April
To return to its crossed
Boughs. The son watched
Them. Let me go there, he said.

Almost Easter...

..but still Lent.  However, we turned the corner this past Sunday by switching the proper preface for the Eucharistic prayer.  The azaleas are blazing around here and the dogwoods are lighting up as well.  Hope there will be flowers for the flowering of the cross Easter Day - BUT we always wonder and there is always something.  God is good!  Palm Sunday is little less than two weeks away.  The GL Taber azaleas in my backyard are looking a little leggy (wish I could say the same thing about myself) so that means it will be time to do a big cutback.  In a way, this is what Lent can be for us - a chance to cut way back and to get down to the growing heart of our spirits.  It's not too late for this year for you because its still Lent.  Blessings one and all.

My backyard this week.

Shrove Tuesday Pancakes - Coming Right Up!

St. James Family and Friends are warmly invited to our annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper - February 21st - featuring pancakes, sausage, and all the trimmings.  Please plan to join us. 

The next day is Ash Wednesday -Feb. 22, service at 6:30 PM.