Joyful News Notes #328 the Episcopal Church in Wichita Falls All Saints @ the Arc, 3115 Buchanan St Stephen’S & Good Shepherd, 5023 Lindale

Joyful News Notes #328 THE Episcopal Church in Wichita Falls All Saints @ the Arc, 3115 Buchanan St Stephen’s & Good Shepherd, 5023 Lindale

Recognize the JOY you are finding here today” ++ Katharine Jefferts Schori, February 2009 February 9, 2014 Volume 6, Number 11

Procopius the Righteous is praying of unknown navigating

Nicholas Roerich (1874-1947)

Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

Lessons for the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

Year A

Revised Common Lectionary

February 9, First reading Psalm Second reading GOSPEL 2014 OLD TESTAMENT EPISTLE

Appointed Isaiah 58:1-9a Psalm 112:1-9 1 Corinthians Matthew 5:13-20

Readings (9b-12) (10) 2:1-12 (13-16)

ART APPRECIATION 101

I often find the art for JOYFUL’s covers in the vast collection of Vanderbilt’s Divinity Library “Art in the Christian Tradition.” This week’s Gospel lesson is that Matthew chapter on not hiding the light under a bushel and about salt. Yes, salt. The Divinity Library was of scant help . . . except for a fascinating work by the Russian Nicholas Roerich, painted in 1914. There is light! Lots of light on blue mountains and a yellowish river that sparkles in the distance. There’s a little known saint, Procopious the Righteous, sitting on the top of a cliff looking down on the incredible yellow river and one supposes the saint is blessing the fleet.

Who the heck is this Procopious the Righteous, I asked. With a quick click I learned more about Saint Procopious than I ever really wanted to know. I was not told when he was born but I learned that he died in 1303 as a very old man. He was a Roman Catholic German merchant who became captivated by the beauty of the Orthodox Divine service. He distributed his wealth and entered a monastery near Novgorod. Later, he reportedly went barefoot about the countryside year after year making many miracles.

And the artist: Nicholas Roerich (October 9, 1874 – December 13, 1947) was a Russian painter, writer, archaeologist, theosophist, enlightener, philosopher and public figure. Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia to the family of a well-to-do notary public, he lived in various places around the world until his death in Naggar, Himachal Pradesh, India. Trained as an artist and a lawyer, his main interests were literature, philosophy, archaeology, and especially art. Roerich was a dedicated activist for the cause of preserving art and architecture during times of war. He earned several nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. The so-called Roerich Pact was signed into law by the United States and most nations of the Pan-American Union during April 1935. – − Owanah Anderson.

Anent: those who claim they are “Anglican”

The Rt. Rev. C. Christopher Epting

Historically, the term “Anglican” developed relatively recently in church history. At the Reformation, the Church IN England became the Church OF England, but the adjective “Anglican” was not used until well after the first C of E churches were formed outside the British Isles. And that BISHOP CHRIS EPTING would have been The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, otherwise known as The Episcopal Church (to quote the Constitution and Canons of said church).

Unfortunately, neither the word “Anglican” (meaning a church with historic ties to the Church of England) nor “Episcopal” (which means a church with bishops) is copyrighted and so there is not legal way to keep churches from using either adjective in their titles.

But the truth is The Episcopal Church is the only constituent member in the United States of the third largest Christian communion in the world – The Anglican Communion with some 80 million members. The only way to achieve such legitimacy is to be officially recognized by the Archbishop of Canterbury and to have the bishops of such a local church invited to the every- ten-year meeting of the Lambeth Conference of Bishops.

Bishops of The Episcopal Church were, and always have been, invited to that meeting. No bishops of any breakaway church (including ACNA) have been. So, “will the real Anglicans please stand up?”

The Rt. Rev. C. Christopher Epting, former bishop of Iowa, served nine years as Ecumenical Officer of The Episcopal Church and is currently Assisting Bishop of the Diocese of Chicago.

February Birthdays

Feb. 3 – Susan Freudiger Feb. 3 – Vicki Walker

Feb. 4 – Larry Fieldsend Feb. 9 -Jessie Birnbaum

Feb . 9 – Dottie Bebb Feb. 14 - Bishop Sam Hulsey

Feb 15 – Bishop Steven Charleston Feb 15 – Marsha van Etten

Feb 18 – Owanah Anderson Feb 23 – The Rev Ginny Doctor

Green: St Stephens/Good Shepherd Blue:; All Saints Black, Friends

The Feast of Absalom Jones

On February 13, the church celebrates the Rev. Absalom Jones, the first African American ordained priest in the Episcopal Church.

Jones was born into slavery in Delaware in 1746. While still a slave, he married Mary King, who was also a slave, in 1770. He worked for eight years to buy his wife’s freedom so that their children would be free, and seven years later, he was able to purchase his own freedom.

Jones became an active member of St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, serving as lay preacher for the black members of the congregation. A gifted orator, Jones increased black membership in the church at such a rapid rate that white parishioners began trying to segregate the congregation; black parishioners were told by church officials that they would have to sit in the balcony. After a Sunday service in November 1786, when ushers tried to force all black parishioners, including Jones, to the balcony, Jones and his followers left St. George’s.

Jones and Richard Allen, who had been a fellow member of St. George’s, founded the Free African Society in 1787, a nondenominational mutual aid society designed to assist freed slaves. By 1791, the African Society had evolved into the African Church, which was received into the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania in 1794. The diocese renamed the church St. Thomas’ African Episcopal Church, and it became the first black Episcopal parish in the United States. In 1804 Jones became the first ordained priest of African descent in the Episcopal Church.

Jones died at his home in Philadelphia in 1818, and first appeared on the Episcopal calendar of saints in the Book of Common Prayer in 1979.

Northern Deanery Meeting

10:00 A.M. Saturday - February 15

2414 Lou Lane

The bishop has announced some new deanery boundaries. The Northern Deanery, however, has remained intact with just All Saints and St. Stephen’s/Good Shepherd. At our December meeting JD Todd was elected dean and Ann Lucas was elected sub-dean. The Most Rev. John D. Payne is Clergy Representative and Brent Walker and Marsha van Etten deChant are lay representatives to Executive Council. A letter from Bishop Rayford High instructs that at the deanery’s February meeting we must simply re-elect the slate. †

ALL SAINTS EPISCOPAL @ the Arc

3115 Buchanan – between Kemp and Buchanan on Avenue V 10:30 A.M. – Holy Eucharist Preacher and Celebrant: The Rev. Maurine Lewis Verger: J.D. Todd Lay Eucharistic Minister: Sam Cruse Usher: Richard Johnson Altar Guild: Laurie Cruse, Patricia Andersen, Val Hubbard and Kitty Gaharan Volunteer Sexton: Steve Richie

WEATHER PERMITTING

Welcome Back, Mother Mo!

We’ve been missing you!!

The new 2014 All Saints Vestry meets following services Sunday February 9. Members are: Laurie Cruse, Senior Warden; Sharon Devereaux, Junior Warden; Kitty Gaharan, Treasurer; Richard Johnson, Assistant Treasurer; and Patricia Andersen and Keith Williamson. JD Todd continues service as Clerk. Keith Williamson continues as Webmaster and Owanah Anderson continues as editor of JOYFUL News with Ann Coleman from St Stephen’s /Good Shepherd. Not a Problem, assures the Chancellor

Legal Notices in Wednesday morning’s Times/Record News informed the Lillian Burns Trust/Wells-Fargo is suing Church of Good Shepherd/All Saints Episcopal/St Stephens Episcopal/Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth/Episcopal Diocese of Dallas.

Kathleen Wells, chancellor for the diocese, informs that “This is the severed part of the existing case under a new number. The remaining claims between the churches will be abated and the trust money held by the district clerk until the real beneficiary is determined by the final rulings in the Fort Worth case. Not a problem.”

ST STEPHEN’S/GOOD SHEPHERD (Lindale at Cypress (across from Rider High School)

Sunday, 9 February, 10:00 A.M. – Holy Eucharist Rite 2 The Very Rev. John Payne - Priest in Charge Barbary Roysden - Lay Eucharistic Minister Crucifer/Thurifer – Brent Walker Brennan & Riley Vandehey – Torch Bearers Kay Payne – OT Lesson; Dr. Emory Sobiesk – Epistle Marie Libby – Prayers of the People

Potluck Lunch follows Eucharist

Prayers for the Sick and Suffering

Carol Frank Terry Melinda Mary Lynda Ruby Dawn Joan Edward

Prayers for the Departed

Blair Gloria Virgil Carrol June

Fifth Anniversary of Reorganization

Celebrated in Fort Worth Saturday

Five years ago Brent Walker, by chance, was shot in a picture with the Presiding Bishop as she processed into All Saints Fort Worth.

Brent will be present – weather permitting – as she processes down the aisle this Saturday at University Christian Church in Fort Worth in the celebration of the fifth anniversary of reorganizing the diocese. . BRENT WALKER WITH THE PRESIDING BISHOP Focus of the Celebration is “Reimaging our Church” for the future.

At the November Diocesan Convention Brent was elected 4th Delegate to the 2015 General Convention in Salt Lake City. He has been invited to dine Saturday with the Rev. Gay Jennings, president of the House of Deputies. He is thought to be the first person from Wichita Falls ever to be a convention delegate.

National leader comes to suburban Texas church On Sunday, February 9, 2014, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church, will visit St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church. She will be with the people of St. Martin-in-the-Fields for Sunday school and for 10:30 a.m. worship, where she will preach and celebrate. There will be a reception following worship. All are welcome! Jefferts Schori serves as presiding bishop and primate of The Episcopal Church, which has dioceses in the United States and in 16 other countries, and is one of 38 provincial primates in the worldwide Anglican Communion. She is the first woman to serve in these roles, both in The Episcopal Church and in the Anglican Communion. Bishop Jefferts Schori is visiting the people of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth to commemorate of the fifth anniversary of the reorganization of the diocese at “Reimagining Our Church” on Saturday, February 8.

God is in the kitchen, sitting quietly over a cup of coffee. God is on the street corner, waiting for the light to change. God is at the bar, watching the game ...on TV. God is in the beauty shop, listening to the latest stories. There is no place where we are that God is not. No moment when we cannot turn to find God available. We build our sanctuaries more for ourselves than for our Maker, who calls the whole creation home, and moves with ease among us, as ordinary as sunlight, as close as a whisper, right where you would hope to find the holy, just there beside you.- Steven Charleston, Choctaw

. There are no fatality announcements from the U.S. Department of Defense this week. Thanks be to God. Nevertheless, let us continue to pray for our young men and women who have died in Afghanistan and Southwest Asia, and for their families Also for the fallen heroes of our coalition partners, and for the citizens of Afghanistan who have died, unnamed and unknown to us, and for those who mourn ... and for an end to this endless war.

for the special needs and concerns of All Saints congregation: Tom, Ed, Dan, Preston, Vinnie, Peter, Brian, Rhonda, Andrew, Dan, Sidney, Teresa, Bomie, Nellie, John, B.J., Travis, Theresa, Hugh, Val & Ken, Owanah, Val, Margaret, Jennifer, Laura, Kara, Marsha, Kay, Matt, Mitchell, Kathleen, Devin, Don, Millie and Ray.

JOYFUL NEWS NOTES Weekly publication of EPISCOPAL Churches in Wichita Falls, TX Owanah Anderson & Ann Coleman – Co-Editors J D Todd and Laurie Cruse - Photographers The Rt. Rev. Rayford B. High Jr. - Bishop, Diocese of Fort Worth See All Saints Web Site http://www.wichitafallsaintsepiscopal.com/ Web Master: Keith Williamson, MD