Six months ago, Bishop Duncan Gray
visited All Saints’ to share his thoughts about issues coming out of General
Convention. He challenged us with this question: “With our disagreements
and divisions over these difficult issues, how do we continue being Christ’s
Church in our Diocese and in the world?”
Well, All Saints’ is trying, with great
intention, to continue being the Church – in our worship, in our care for
one another, and in our outreach ministries to the community and to the
world. Our attendance at Sunday worship is up! Attendance at the Wednesday
healing service has grown from about six to an average of fifteen. Our
Sunday School has begun the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd for
three-year-olds through kindergarten. Very shortly, Catechesis will be
offered to all children on Wednesday afternoons. Along with all this, our
members are taking increasingly active roles in the pastoral care of one
another.
Though the budgets of All Saints’ and
the Diocese have been reduced for 2004, we still provide financial support
to a record fifteen local charities, five charities in other parishes in the
Diocese, and two charities outside the Diocese. Recently, our outreach was
expanded to include two additional ministries: (1) building a Habitat for
Humanity home, which will involve about fifty parishioners before the home
is completed, and (2) providing tuition scholarships for nine chil-dren to
attend Camp Caritas, an ecumenical camp sponsored by our Diocese for
children with parents in prison. Our EYC, ECW, and a number of parishioners
have made gifts totaling $1,850 for this ministry to children.
All Saints’ also has sponsored the
Honduras Medical Mission in 2004 and will do so again in 2005. Several of
our members offer transportation to worship services, parish activities, and
doctors’ offices. We continue to make home and hospital visits, not only to
All Saints’ members but also to persons from other parishes in Oxford,
Aberdeen, Corinth, Starkville, and Columbus. We have formed a Community Life
focus group for the purpose of developing good relationships with people
living in the All Saints’ neighborhood. We still respond to emergency needs
of the poor, the sick, and the elderly in our community. We have special
arrangements with local grocers, pharmacists, and other merchants to assist
us in providing those needs. Along with all this, we have several
parishioners who serve on the boards of a variety of local charities.
Very shortly, we will kick-off a capital
campaign for building a new parish hall, a new Sunday School building, a
place for youth activities, and a new office complex. This project has been
the dream of a lot of members for a lot of years. It will be expensive, but
it seems that All Saints’ has a history of taking leaps of faith. With more
members on board than ever before, and with everyone shouldering their fair
share, the leap may not be as difficult as we think.
On a recent Sunday, one of our
five-year-old children brought the Communion bread to the altar. As he
handed it to me, a huge smile broke over his face, and he announced, “This
bread is for everyone.” How true – and in so many ways. Like the Communion
bread, All Saints’ is for everyone. But, perhaps more than anything else,
All Saints’ is here for you. All Saints’ is a strong parish doing
what churches are supposed to do. And we’re still in a wonderful Diocese!
And we’re still in the great Episcopal Church in the United States of
America. So, yes! We’re still being Christ’s Church – serving God by serving
others.
THANKS BE TO GOD!
Gene +
