News of The Church of the Holy Comforter in the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia Richmond, June 2019

• Pentecost Donation to Side by Side • A Message from Hilary + • Joe has a new stole Pentecost is coming, • Mimi Berry - June 9 Rest in Peace • Pentecost – June 9 We are a family and Pentecost is our • Memorial Day collective birthday, so let’s have a • Men at the Movies - family-style lunch after the service to celebrate. Various deli trays and a • June Book - Warmth of Other Suns festive cake will be provided. We ask • Mary and Judy get that you bring a side dish of your married choice to share. It’s a time to show • The Back Page off your prized summer recipes. There may even be a lawn game or two to enjoy. Questions? Ask Brian Davis. Wear your red and see you there. ~ Hilary

HoCo chancel, 2016 - liturgical art by Carol Gibbs. Photo by George Collier On May 18, the Diocese of Vermont elected the Rev. Dr. Shannon MacVean-Brown to be their next bishop. Hilary was one of three nominees. On the day of the election, Hilary was supported by out-of- town friends, and then at HoCo by many parishioners. From Hilary: “Thank you all for your support and prayers through this process. I am so thankful for you and the ministry that we share. I look forward to many more years as your rector.”

Pentecost Donation to Side by Side Currently we provide a light supper once a month By Bruce MacAlister to the meeting of the Side by Side transgender The cash or donations not otherwise group. designated go to Side by Side on the Sunday we call Pentecost. Being a teen and trying to figure out who you are is tough. (Being the parent of a teen is not easy either.) For teens who feel they may not fit the expected heterosexual model, it’s even tougher. Side by Side provides a safe haven for these young people. To further support these youth, the Side by Side staff and volunteers meet regularly with a broad range of RVA businesses and civic organizations to garner support. Holy Comforter goes back to the beginnings when it was called ROSMY. A parishioner convinced the clergy and Vestry to provide the initial office space for this new group. It was not easy for many at HoCo but they - we - stepped up.

News of the Church of the Holy Comforter - Richmond, Virginia - 2 A Message from Hilary + Joe has a new stole Dear Friends and Companions in Ministry, On the occasion of our beloved Deacon Joe serving on his first Cursillo Team As we head into summer, I pray that you (weekend #166), the HoCo Cursillo community will have times of refreshment and celebration. presented him with a stole (designed by Cindy Congratulations to the many people in our lives who have graduated from various schools and Hanayak and Carol Gibbs and constructed by programs. Cindy Hanayak) as “Palanca”. Joe received the stole after the entire HoCo Cursillo community We will celebrate Pentecost laid hands on it in prayer, asking God’s blessing on June 9, during our 10:00 that it touch the hearts of all who Joe would be a.m. service and with our called to serve. parish lunch following our service. I hope you will be Curious about what “Palanca” is? Ask Carol - able to attend. Pentecost she’d love to tell you! is an important day for all Christians, but it is also our special day as the Church of the Holy Comforter. We are named for the Holy Spirit, therefore, Pentecost is our Feast Day. How is the Spirit moving in your life and in the life of our church? Together, we can discern some of the movements of the Spirit. Though as Jesus told Nicodemus, the Spirit is mysterious. Later in the summer, we will offer Harry Potter Vacation Bible School. Some may wonder how Harry Potter and the Bible go together. When I offered this program in Winchester, VA, years ago, we received a phone call saying we were in league with the Devil. We received a lot of attention for this program, wanted and unwanted. What some may not understand is that Harry’s journey is the hero’s journey of self-discovery. When you look for them, there are many connections with the great stories of the Bible. Harry Potter gives us a great way to share what we believe about God and each other: that God has created each of us in God’s image, we are a delight to God and gifts to the world. God calls each person to live as their authentic selves, and, in our authenticity, we have much to give to others. Harry Potter is not just for children; join us August 11 - 15 in the evenings to share in the hero’s journey. Consider inviting families with children who you know and do not yet come to our church. Wishing you Joy and Peace,

Hilary+

News of the Church of the Holy Comforter - Richmond, Virginia - 3 Mimi Berry - “If Mimi had been at the wedding party at Rest in Peace Cana, Jesus would’ve sat down at her table to hang out with her. In truth, Jesus hung out with Mimi all the time, and we all felt it.” Luke Berry May 21 on Facebook For decades Mimi was a beloved member of “My heart aches to let loved ones know that HoCo, active in many areas of parish life. She our Mother, Mimi Burne Berry left this world will be remembered for her spiritual generosity, peacefully at 8:15 this morning. I wanted to warmth, and steady sense of humility. express the Berry family’s deepest gratitude to everyone sending love, and taking the time to stop Pentecost – June 9 by and see her these last few weeks. Mimi’s Light By Laura Hunt and Love Will Shine On.” Pentecost, celebrated on the seventh From a few of her many friends Sunday after Easter, commemorates the descent “Mimi had a 100 watt smile!” of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus while they were gathered “I will miss her together in Jerusalem. For Christians, this event, sweet, smiling face described in Acts of the Apostles, marks the birth sitting across from of the early Church. me in choir.” I always wondered why the apostles were gathered together on that particular day. What were they celebrating? It turns out that Moses told the Hebrews that 49 days after Passover and the Exodus, they would be given the Torah (The Law). Indeed, Shavuot, the Festival of “Weeks” in Hebrew is the ultimate point of Passover. God delivered the Israelites from Egypt so they would be free to receive God’s gift of the revelation of Torah seven weeks later on Mt. Sinai. Described in Leviticus 23, The Feast of Weeks “Dorey and Mariah, is the second of the three “solemn harvest feasts” when they were young: when all Jewish males were required to travel ‘We want to drive a to Jerusalem to offer First Fruits in the Temple Honda when we grow up, because Mimi drives a as a way of expressing thanksgiving for God’s Honda, and we want to be just like Mimi’.” provision: a sheaf of barley on the first day of Pesach (Passover), a sheaf of wheat on Shavuot, “People often say I give good hugs - Mimi and the first fruits of the olive and grape harvests gave the best hugs ever.” on the Feast of Tabernacles. “What I think of when I think of Mimi is her After the destruction of the temple in AD70, laugh - deep, raucous, full-bodied. That lady offerings could no longer be brought to the knew how to enjoy herself, and you knew, when Temple so the focus of the festival shifted from you heard her laugh, that she was fully present, agriculture to the giving of the law on Sinai. It fully enjoying that moment with every cell in her became customary to gather at synagogue and body. It was the best laugh, the most generous, read from the book of Exodus. inclusive, slightly wicked laugh, I’ve ever heard.” Like other Jewish feasts, the Feast of Weeks “Mischievous, loving, hilarious, courageous, is important in foreshadowing the coming Mimi is a model for us all.” Messiah and His ministry. Jesus was crucified as the “Passover Lamb” and rose from the grave

News of the Church of the Holy Comforter - Richmond, Virginia - 4 at Pesach. Approximately fifty days (Pentecost Memorial Day means “fiftieth”) after His resurrection, Jesus sent By Bruce MacAlister, Editor the Holy Spirit as promised (John 14) to indwell It is the unofficial start of summer. the disciples and empower them for ministry. It’s warm and pleasant, a nice time to be outside. On the Day of Pentecost, 120 followers of School is out or almost. Vacations are planned. Jesus (the “first fruits” of the church) were But it’s much more than that. gathered when a “mighty rushing wind” (a Memorial Day is about common symbol for the Spirit), and “tongues as those who died serving of fire” appeared. The gathered disciples were their nation in the military. “filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in The practice of decorating other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” soldiers’ grave, usually with Many scholars interpret the reference to “tongues” flowers, goes back hundreds of to signify ecstatic speech. After hearing Peter years. In the United States it was preach the gospel, 3,000 people converted, each Decoration Days in late spring of them hearing the gospel in his own language that took on strong meaning after the (something of a reversal of the Tower of Babel). Civil War and especially in the South. This event is the fulfillment of John the Baptist’s After World War I we got Remembrance promise in Matthew and Luke that Christ would Day, especially in Great Britain that had baptize his followers not just with water, but with lost so many young men in that brutal war. There the Spirit. the symbol is wearing a poppy, seen in some Although the main color associated with United States celebrations. Pentecost is red, symbolizing joy and the fire of It is, then, a time to celebrate and to mourn the Holy Spirit, in England the holy day is more those who lost their lives serving this nation, traditionally called “Whitsunday,” especially appropriate to do in church. in the Book of Common Prayer. The name may

“O God of grace and glory, we remember before you this day our brother (sister). We thank you for giving him to us, his family and friends, to know and to love as a companion on our earthly pilgrimage. In your boundless compassion, console us who mourn. Give us faith to see in death the derive from the white garments worn by the gate of eternal life, so that in quiet newly baptized. Still today young women of the confidence we may continue our parish come to church at dawn in white dresses course on earth, until, by your call, to sing. However, the name may also be derived we are reunited with those who have from “wit,” that is, “wisdom”, a reference to gone before; through Jesus Christ our Holy Wisdom (Sancta Sophia, Hagia Sophia) in Lord. Proverbs and the Book of Wisdom. Amen.” Pentecost officially ends the Easter season, and we enter “Ordinary Time.”

News of the Church of the Holy Comforter - Richmond, Virginia - 5 Men at the Movies - treatise could duplicate the movie’s success in American Graffiti remembering exactly how it was to be alive at that cultural instant.” This moment in American By Steven C. Van Voorhees history is the picture of the end of innocence, the Our cinematic prize for the June 25th Men at death of youthful naivety, and the harbinger of the the Movies is the beloved cult movie, American tragedies to follow. Graffiti. Some of you came of age at the time of George Lucas wrote and directed this film this story—1962. You are “Baby Boomers” and based on his own youth in Modesto, California, the “Vietnam Generation.” For you and those making this a biographical tale, if not a true story. who came just after you, the “Generation Xers,” It does show us the edge of one of the great shifts it is almost impossible to conceive today the in politics, culture and turbulence in American situations in this movie. The entire story takes history.

Rotten Tomatoes rated this masterpiece with a 96%; IMDb gave it a 7.5 out of 10; Metascore place over 24 hours at the end of the summer of assigned an 8.2 out of 10 and a 99% rating. The 1962. No one could know that in little more than American Film Institute put it on three “Best a year, President Kennedy would be assassinated 100” lists. Nominated for Best Picture of the and then Martin Luther King, Jr., followed Oscars, it lost to The Sting, but it won Best Picture by Robert Kennedy and Malcolm X. All this (Musical or Comedy) and won Best happened at the same time as the escalation of the Promising Newcomer at the Golden Globes. Vietnam War that killed and wounded thousands This film made George Lucas a millionaire and of American and Vietnamese people. provided the money and reputation to allow him This film depicts an to begin the Star Wars America impossible project. It won’t score to return to today and high in the Bechtel Scale, incomprehensible to but it showcased Cindy today’s young adults and Williams, Candy Clark, and youth. We will follow Mackenzie Phillips, as three- Curt and Steve around dimensional, substantive town as they say goodbye characters. Suzanne Somers to their youthful haunts, is the “angel” in the T-bird. activities and friends. In another day, they will In my view, this story is neither a comedy nor leave for college and a future for which they are a tragedy, but is a time capsule on a Dickensian unprepared. Roger Ebert, a favorite film critic, scale. As Charles Champlin of the New York describes American Graffiti this way: “Whole Times wrote, “it is a masterfully executed and cultures and societies have passed since 1962. profoundly affecting movie.” Like Bend It Like American Graffiti is not only a great movie but a Beckham, it has a soundtrack that is made up brilliant work of historical fiction; no sociological

News of the Church of the Holy Comforter - Richmond, Virginia - 6 using a string of popular hits. So, for one night, we can go downtown to “cruise chicks” with Curt, Steve, Terry the Toad, meet at Mel’s Diner, race hotrods with John and Bob, listen to Wolfman Jack the DJ, watch Steve and Laurie fight and make up, and try to find the blonde angel in the white Thunderbird. As always, we will gather at 6:00pm for fellowship and begin the movie viewing and ensuing discussion at 6:30pm. Bring your dinner, bring your friends! Popcorn will be provided! Men at the Movies will break for summer in God; and Robert Foster, who left Louisiana in vacation in July and August. We will resume 1953 to pursue a medical career, and became the on Tuesday, September 24th with another great personal physician to Ray Charles. example of film-making. Through the breadth of her narrative, the For more information, contact me. beauty of her writing, and the depth of her research (she interviewed more than a thousand Book Club for June - people), Wilkerson has produced a bold, Warmth of Other Suns remarkable, and riveting work. By Laura Hunt - Excerpted from Amazon.com Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award (2010), The Warmth of Other Suns: The Mary and Judy get married Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by by George Collier Isabel Wilkerson, chronicles one of the great Friends and family joined together untold stories as Mary Fender and Judith O’Brien were married, of American Saturday May 25th at HoCo. Joe walked Judy history: the down the aisle, the evening was beautiful, the decades-long service touching, and the music outstanding. migration of African Americans who fled the South for northern and western cities in search of a better life. This exodus of almost six million people between 1915 and 1970 changed the face of America. With stunning historical detail, Wilkerson tells the story through the lives of three individuals: Ida Mae Gladney, who in 1937 left sharecropping and prejudice in Mississippi for Chicago, where she achieved quiet blue-collar success; sharp and quick-tempered George Starling, who in 1945 fled Florida for Harlem, where he endangered his job fighting for civil rights and finally found peace Dr. Joe O’Brien, Judy’s father, reads.

News of the Church of the Holy Comforter - Richmond, Virginia - 7 Church of the Holy Comforter, Richmond a parish in the Diocese of Virginia under the Episcopal Church in the USA which is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion Monument Avenue at Staples Mill Road web - www.hoco.org; e-mail - [email protected]; phone 804-355-3251; fax 804-355-0049

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

• Sundays, 8:45am, Adult Formation, Hayward Food Pantry Hours: Parlor • First and third Saturdays, 11:00am to noon • Sundays, 10am, Choral Eucharist • First and third Tuesdays, 5:30 to 6:30pm • Sundays, about 10:15am, Children’s Chapel, Side By Side Meal Preparation starts in the Church, moves to Parish House • Fourth Thursdays, Side by Side, prep at 4pm, Children’s Chapel deliver about 5pm • Third Sunday of the monthly, 4:30pm, Story • Fourth Thursdays, Vet Shelter prep at 5pm, Time 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 July / August Messenger will be available Sunday, July 21st, 2019. The deadline for that edition is Friday, July 12th, (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] The full color (and more attractive) version of the Messenger is available on our web site - www.hoco.org Hoco Birthdays for the month of June: William Stewart, 3rd; Douglas Thorpe, 3rd; Nathalie Bowles, 6th; Christopher Richardson, 8th; Barbara Davis, 10th; Rebekah Forman, 11th; Virginia Davidson, 13th; Patricia Galdun, 13th; John Maddox, 15th; Maria Scott, 17th; Byron Hensley, 20th; Beverly Evans, 22nd; Alden Geipel, 23rd; Martha Kelly, 23rd; Christopher Hall, 26th; Keyan Herron, 26th; Joanna Suyes, 30th

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