The Sunrise Newsletter

As I write this letter, I am preparing to head out of town for a few weeks, preparing for both business and pleasure. The session I direct at Camp Bratton-Green begins shortly, followed by several meetings and continuing education in Jackson, then a week of vacation, all before returning in the second week of the month. I look forward to the renewal that Bratton-Green offers each year, honoring for the first time since my ordinations some intentional time for continuing education, as well as spending a few days with friends out of state. My hope is that you, too, have found time for fun, relaxation and growth this summer! As the season (though not the heat) begins to wind its way down and the approaching school year gets even closer, I’d like to share a few thoughts with you as we continue together as a refreshed community of faith.

I find that there’s always a great deal of excitement and energy as school resumes, especially in our university setting. It’s an energy of new promise, of new beginnings, of newness in general. There’s almost a wide-eyed wonder about it—a magical time for me anyway—in which things almost seem to begin anew. I hope that as the summer time away begins to fade and we begin to reclaim some of our routines along with the hopeful expectation of what a new season holds for us, that this, too, will translate into something very special once again in this place for us, God’s Church of the Resurrection.

While we always start off a little slow, once the academic year is underway, things always pick up—and quickly at that! We’ll start seeing newer faces among us and familiar ones return. I encourage us all to continue as a welcoming and inviting community of faith. Don’t forget to bring one another up-to-speed on what’s been happening around this place while others have been away. A lot has happened since school let out only a few weeks ago! New students and faculty will be transitioning in—and other folks new to the community. Let them in on some of the “things we do” at Resurrection and the ways we do them. Share your bulletins if we happen to run out. Wear your name tag on first Sundays. Bring people with you into the Student Center for coffee hour, and show families to the nursery or the restrooms. Let them in on the bigger things, too.

There’s a great deal of energy buzzing as we prepare for the new Christian education/formation year. Classes are being restructured with curricula new to us, and a host of teachers are lined up. Thanks in advance to all who have volunteered of time and talents to make Christian formation a success this year. The prospect is very promising, indeed.

As other things change, there are some things that don’t—our common worship life as a community of faith, first and foremost. We continue to gather week after week to be formed by our corporate worship life. That said, you will notice (or already have noticed) some obvious differences in the ways in which we worship. I hope many of you will remember the words of the Very Rev. Shannon Johnston, who was with us for Bill and Diane’s leave-taking. To paraphrase, Shannon reminded us that “A congregation’s worship—the way it worships—says everything about what it’s about.” The way we worship puts to the fore just what it is that we believe and how we act out those same beliefs. Otherwise, our worship is just a series of actions to go through, mere movements. Worship (worth-ship)—giving worth to God—says everything about who we are as a people of God, as Church of the Resurrection, as a people of faith, and when we gather together, we celebrate the ministries to which we are called, readied for our work in the week ahead.

My hope is that you are in receipt of Babs Deas’ letter concerning our tentative liturgical schedule for the time being. It is “tentative” in that there will be some exceptions to the general schedule now and again, but, generally, as is the norm—not only of this congregation, but the one set for the whole Church by The Book of Common Prayer—the Holy Eucharist will be celebrated. Services of Holy Eucharist will be held on first and third Sundays, while services of Morning Prayer with Holy Eucharist will be celebrated on second and fourth Sundays. Morning Prayer will be reserved for fifth Sundays. Our Thursday noonday gatherings continue, as well: Holy Eucharist celebrated on the second through fourth Thursdays of the month; and Noonday Prayer on the first and fifth Thursdays.

Please continue to make our corporate worship life an important part of your formation and faith journey. The Holy Eucharist was reclaimed for us by The Book of Common Prayer (1979) as the norm for Christian gatherings on feasts of the Lord’s Day and other major feast days of the Church calendar. You’ll notice that there is a distinction made in the wording for services we celebrate on second and fourth Sundays—Morning Prayer with Holy Eucharist. Understand that this is one service—a single liturgy in two parts, just like our usual Eucharistic services. On these Sundays, Morning Prayer will be substituted for the Liturgy of the Word portion of the Eucharist; then we continue as usual with the Liturgy of the Table. Perhaps the only overt difference on most of these Sundays will be the absence of a sermon/homily. This allows us to maintain the Eucharist as our proscribed practice for worship in most any given week, while also allowing me to continue the usual preaching rotation that the chaplain/assistant rector’s role calls for. At Morning Prayer, you’ll recognize the familiar faces of those who officiate and deliver the sermon for the day. These are some of your fellow parishioners, who, as are you, ministers of the parish—all of us. From time to time, we will also have a number of supply priests, who will bring with them fresh eyes and voices. My hope is that you’ll welcome them and the perspectives from which they spread the Good News.

Finally, there’s a phrase that helps describe the way we practice our faith: lex orandi, lex credendi. It roughly translates: praying shapes believing. This has everything to do with the way we gather for corporate worship—not just in the interim, but each and every time we gather to praise God. Praying shapes believing. The more and more we pray, the more we practice a prayer life (individual and corporate), the more we recite the words of the Creeds, recall the words of our Baptismal Covenant, hear the stories of our faith, recite the prayers, make confession and Eucharist—the more we do these things—the more we are shaped into the people of God we are still becoming. Our prayer life shapes what it is that we believe, and in turn, what we believe shapes just how it is that we live into that same prayer life and the lives to which we are called as the people of God. Liturgy, from the word litourgia—the work of the people—is exactly that. It is our duty, our job, to gather in worship, to perform the work that has been given us, set before us, the work that shapes us more and more into that which we yet may be. Together, let us worship God.

I look forward to seeing you upon my return and wish you a blessed remainder of the summer. Until then, I remain yours faithfully,

Our search for a new Rector has begun with energy and prayerfulness. It has been a busy month already, with a lot accomplished.

Leigh Jensen Crawford has been named to chair the Search Committee. The vestry has named The Reverend Canon David Johnson as the search consultant and has met with him to begin discussion of the search process for Resurrection.

The Search Committee has been named and has been approved by the vestry. In addition to the committee chair, Babs Deas as Senior Warden serves ex officio on the committee. Members of your search committee are Mary Lee Beal, Rae Brandon, David Christiansen, Glen Cook, Martha McAlpin, Dwayne Myers, Carey Price (Canterbury Representative, Ex officio), and Beatrice Tatem. Please keep all of us in your prayers.

Coming soon, there will be a webpage developed by Rick Noffsinger which will outline the process and keep everyone updated on where we are.

It is our intention to work diligently, deliberately, and prayerfully, listening to God’s call in the process. We hope to have the website available in early August…..stay tuned.

The following prayer is offered for our prayer lives as we search for a new rector for Resurrection. It was crafted by our chaplain from a number of sources, including The Book of Common Prayer (1979) and prayers used in episcopal searches within the dioceses of Hawai’i and California.

You will recognize the prayer as it is prayed weekly when we gather on Sundays and Thursdays for regular, corporate worship; and it is encouraged for daily family and individual devotions, as well, as we ready ourselves for the working of the Spirit throughout this process and open ourselves to receive a new rector.

What a grand celebration we all had! The Service of Leave-taking and the reception that followed was very meaningful to us -- our thanks to all who attended and participated. We also appreciate those who expressed their regrets indicating that out of town travel or other commitments kept them from attending.

As Episcopalians, we are a people who acknowledge the passages of our lives with liturgy. The Service of Leave-taking did that for us and for Resurrection. We celebrated the ministries we have shared together: acknowledging our successes and asking God to continue to bless them and asking God's and one another's forgiveness if we have come up short in any way. We gave thanks for God calling us together to seek to bring about God's kingdom on this earth and ask God's blessings as we are called to different ministries. Our thanks go to Shannon Johnston for celebrating the liturgy and for his sermon that invites each of us to honor one another by continuing the ministries we have shared, to Leanne and the choir for a musical tone that echoed the celebration and the passage through which we were embarking and to all who participated as acolytes, lectors, verger, ushers, oblationers, altar guild, and warden and parish representative accepting the symbols of our leave-taking.

The Service of Leave-taking was followed by an eloquent celebration in the Parish Hall. Our thanks go to Martha and Dolton for coordinating this and the many, many folks who helped in so many ways: food preparation, decorating, serving and cleanup. Such an event cannot occur without many assisting, and so we know many helping and gifted hands were involved in this celebration.

To the whole parish, we thank you for the monetary gift presented to us on your behalf by Babs Deas. We are truly humbled by your generosity. It reflects the love, support and abundance you have offered to us throughout our time among you.

Each of you will be in our thoughts and prayers as we seek to answer God's call to offer our gifts and experience in a time of special need.

P.S. Our new address is P. O. Box 148, Pass Christian, MS 39751, and our new telephone (cell) number is 228-265-1900. For now, we will use our old email addresses.

P.P.S. While taking a very brief sabbatical time in the Blue Ridge Mountains, we worshipped at a local Episcopal church. While we enjoyed the worship experience and had a positive conversation with the rector as we left, what stood out to us is that we were barely acknowledged during the Passing of the Peace and that no one spoke to us when the service was over, as we exited or as we waited near the door to speak to the rector as we were leaving. Resurrection, you have come so far in being a welcoming parish. You welcome the stranger among you. That is one of the callings of the Church.

The Pentecost picnic was a wonderful success. Events don’t happen without lots of behind the scenes effort.

Our gratitude is expressed for the hard work and dedication of James McCormick and his family, who ensured that the pool was not only in the best shape ever, but open for business in time for the picnic. Thanks also to Nancy and David Christiansen, Helen Polk, Beth Batson, Gavin Olsen, Leanne and Michael Fazio, Lois Connington, Meloney Linder, Martha McAlpin, Douglas Crawford and Brian Ponder for their assistance.

EFM is a program of theological education-at-a-distance of the School of Theology of the University of the South. Students sign up one year at a time for this four-year program. It covers the basics of a theological education in the Old and New Testaments, church history, liturgy, and theology. Students meet regularly, usually once a week, in seminars under the guidance of trained mentors.

There is a formation meeting on Tuesday, August 3, at 6:30 p.m. in the Canterbury Lodge. If you are interested in this program or if you want to enroll for this fall, please contact our mentor, Bob Collins, as soon as possible.

The May 20th St. Joseph’s Guild workday accomplished much with a few hard workers. The flower beds by the pool were weeded by Debbie Nettles and Leanne Fazio and mulched by Michael Fazio. Leanne Fazio put the final coats of paint on the bell tower cap. James McCormick continued his efforts to fix the leaking pool and Pam Collins finished pruning the shrubbery on the grounds. Bill Batson cleared out a significant amount of bamboo, freeing up the walkway at the back of the church. Douglas Crawford mowed down the brush on the north end of the property.

Workdays for these and other, more minor projects will be announced at a future date. If you would like to volunteer your talents to assist with any of these projects please contact Clarissa Balbalian 662-615-1291 or cbalbali@ext.msstate.edu for more information.

The Servant Committee meets next on Wednesday, August 9 (second Wednesday, August only). In September we resume meeting on the third Wednesday of the month. As usual, we will meet at 12:00 noon for a brown bag lunch in the Student Center.

The August meeting is devoted to back to school issues for our adopted families. Bring a lunch and join us in planning for the children of our adopted families as they go back to school. Watch for other ways to help with this project, too.

The Caregivers Committee is developing a pool of volunteers who can help take our parishioners who need assistance to a doctor’s appointment or to run other errands.

If you are a driver who can help, or if you would like more information about the Caregivers Ministry, please contact Martha McAlpin at 323-7206.

Interested in being an acolyte? Youth who will be in the 4th grade this fall or older can acolyte. A training session is being planned for late August, and youth in this age group are encouraged to consider becoming acolytes.

For more information, please contact John Beal at jabeal1@bellsouth.net or at 323-8748.

Children’s Choir: Rehearsals will begin on Wednesday, September 13, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.. All children entering grades 1-6 are invited to join.

Adult Choir: Rehearsals, beginning on August 23, will be on Wednesdays, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. in the Choir Loft. On Sundays the choir will have morning rehearsals at 9:45 a.m., vested and ready to sing, beginning on August 19.

Come sit with us for a rehearsal or two if you are wondering if this ministry is for you. We welcome your questions and your participation!

The Choir was joined by guests who have been touched by Bill and Diane’s ministries: Bob Damm, percussion, Laura Damm, Milo Burnham, Ellen Goodman, and William Pepper. As the Choir sang “Wade in the Water” for the Postlude anthem, they were joined by Bob Damm on the percussion instrument which the El Salvador mission team gave to the choir.

The Choir is grateful for the commitment both Bill and Diane have to the marriage of music with the liturgy, and for that, the choir presented them each with an E.L.V.I.S. (Episcopal Liturgical Vocal Inspiration Society) certificate which James McCormick designed and penned.

The “bell” which has been used to signal the “entrance of the ministers” at the beginning of the services, was a Tibetan singing bowl which belonged to Bill. In its place is a new Tibetan singing bowl which is actually approximately 100 years old, a gift to the church.

Fruit-basket-turn-over : Many of the “regular” choir are standing among you in the pews on Sundays, supporting and joining your worship. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience singing and worship in the choir loft.

Only a few Sundays remain before the “regular” choir returns to the loft on August 20.

The Lottery continues . . .Although the fish bowl in the Narthex is filling up, it isn’t stuffed. So stuff the bowl full of your requests for hymns that will show up as the Prelude each week.

Thanks to Nancy Christiansen for working with the bell ringers on Sunday mornings at the 10:30 service. If you want to be a bell ringer, sign up on the sheet in the Narthex. Bell ringers must be at least entering first grade, but can’t be too old for this experience!

Mark your calendars! On Saturday, September 23 at 10:00 a.m. in the Student Center there will be a meeting to learn about Prayer Shawl Ministry. Patterns, yarn and instruction on how to knit will be available, as well as prayers to use while knitting the shawls.

ECW members Rae Brandon and Beth Batson have already made several prayer shawls, had them blessed, and taken them to folks who are hurting or may need a special blessing. If you have questions, please contact Beth Batson or Rae Brandon.

3 EFM Formation Meeting
6 Bishop Gray III at the closing of the Music Conference, 10:00 a.m., St. Andrew’s, Jackson
6 End of the Summer Pool Party
9 Servant Ministry Meets (see p. 5)
9-12 Commission on Ministry, Gray Ctr
10-11 Transition Conference, Gray Center
11 Standing Committee, Gray Center
17 Cooking Divas
17 Finance Committee, St. Andrew’s and General Convention Conversations, St.Andrew’s, Jackson, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
18-20 Annual AWWY Conference, CBG
24 General Convention Conversations, St. Peter’s, Oxford, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
25-27 “A Weekend of Spiritual Renewal” with Bishop Steven Charleston, presented by the Committee on Ministry with Gay and Lesbian Persons and the Diocese of Mississippi, Gray Ctr; for information contact the Rev. Janet Ott, 601-214-0700
27 Observations of Katrina in the churches of the diocese
31 General Convention Conversations, St. Mark’s, Gulfport, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

4 Resurrection and Allin House closed observing Labor Day
6 Trustees, Allin House
9 Gray Center Board, Allin House, and Safe Church Training, St. Peter’s, Oxford, For information, contact Liza Mallette, 662-234-1269.
9-17 Bishop Gray’s extended visit to the Northern Convocation
10 Parish Opportunites Day
10 EYC Resumes
10-12 Secretaries & Newsletter editors’ workshop & retreat, Gray Center
17 Sunday School Resumes
21 Executive Committee, St. Andrew’s, Jackson
22-24 SR High DOY Weekend, Gray Center
29-30 A Crozier Look At The Bishop – A Way Cool Bishop Day for ages 4-11 with The Rt. Rev. Duncan M. Gray, III at Gray Center

1-3 POC & Fresh Start, Gray Center
5 Standing Committee, 10:30 a.m. Allin House
6-7 Finding Place, Finding Peace: a conference for former wardens, Gray Center
10-12 Sewanee Trustees
13-14 Safe Church Committee Overnight at Gray Center
16-19 Annual Conference for Presbyters, Gray Center
21-29 Bishop Gray's extended visit to the Delta Convocation
26-29 Cursillo, Gray Center
27-29 Junior High DOY Weekend, Gray Center

Christian Sympathy is Extended to:
Julia Silverman, on the death of her father Jim Watson in early July
Charles Little, on the death of his brother, Jim Little on July 22

Your Prayers Are Asked for...
those with child, especially Alice Bennett, Stephanie Nettles....those who suffer in mind, body or spirit, especially Jeanne, Lorenzo, Edna, Don, Oma Lee, Ophelia, Donald Mosley, Madeline, Jim Little, Brooke Schnitman, Bridget Burdan, Hunter Maye, Lisa Dickey, Frances Finane, Chad Green, Marianne, Chris Pearce, Johnny Hennessey, Walt Hillen, George Hester, Richard Christiansen, Melinda Jones, Warnie Kennington, Rhonda Bond, Joan Hill, Dorothy Anderson, Beth Hester, Louise, Murray Bullock, Sally Hester, Betty Woods, Lori Sneed, Cecelia Robson, Jan Handy, Marsha Williams, Claire Crawford, William Duckworth, David Cook, Larry Heath....those who serve in the military, especially Steve, David, Chris, Fran, Tim McKay, Justin, John Burdan, Rob Kennington.... and those in harm’s way.

Everyone is invited to meet at the church Sunday, August 6, around 6:00 p.m. to socialize and swim!

Bring a lawn chair and a covered dish…and join us in the Parish Hall, outside on the lawn, or at the pool!

Please contact Emily Schuster at 662-341-9699 if you can help with set up, clean up, or in some other way. There is a sign-up sheet in the STUDENT CENTER (in the vicinity of the Sunday morning refreshments) for people to put their names and what they are bringing.

John Switzer 1
Merrick Wiedrich 4
Jeanne Ferris 8
Gabrielle Linder 17
Sue Bell 18

Lindy Rawlings 21
Joey Hansford 26
Melinda Myers 26
Dorothy Anderson 27
Tom Bell 30