Chronicles of Canterbury
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Chronicles of Canterbury october 2017
From the Rector
Grateful To Spread God’s Love and Mercy Around
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re you glad to be here? I am. I am glad to be at St. Michael’s, where amazingly enough, I have spent more than a quarter of my life as rector. I am so glad to be at this church with you, the people of God, who come together each week — and many days between — for the spiritual growth offered by prayer, sacrament, song, fellowship, and missionary outreach. I am glad to be at St. Michael’s where God abides, in the Scriptures we see with our eyes and hear with our ears, in the music that moves the air we breathe, and in the sacrament of Christ’s body and blood touched and consumed. I am glad, but better than glad, I am grateful to be at St. Michael’s where we are befriended, inspired and shaped by the Spirit of God. I am grateful for what we receive from God in this place, and I hope you are too, because our gratefulness is the key to our mission as Christians. For, if we are grateful for the love and mercy we have received, we will by God’s grace spread love and mercy to those around us.
For the Christian life begins with the profound awareness of the cosmic score which accounts for what God has given, and what we have received. As I’ve come to see, in all due humility, the cosmic score in my life is pretty lopsided. God has given everything good, every blessing, every mercy, every beauty, every truth, every second chance — and I’ve given, well, very much less. Indeed, I am profoundly aware of how little I have done for God when I consider what my God has done for me. I am humbled and grateful. It is from this place of gratitude that I have over the years felt the clear need to not only serve God with my professional life as a priest and pastor, but also to serve God in my private life, as an active giver to the financial life of this parish. Our family makes an annual pledge to this parish, a promise, so that it may create a budget. We then fulfill that pledge so that the church may meet its budget. Over the years, our family’s annual pledge has always been something of
See RECTOR on page 3
Missions Grants Awards $32K to Local Groups
what’s inside 2 The Ebb & Flow 4 Vital Connections 5 A Yellow Daffodil 6 Annual Fund 7 Why I Pledge 8 For All the Saints 9 Cups of Joy 10 Briefly 11 Lifelong Disciple
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he Missions Grants Committee in September awarded $32,000 to 14 local agencies. Funding came in part from the Missions budget and $20,000 in proceeds from The Canterbury Shop. Seven agencies that received funding last year each received $3,000. Though St. Saviour’s Center and the Episcopal Farmworkers Ministry did not apply during this cycle, they were awarded $3,000 each because of St. Michael’s ongoing relationship with these ministries. This year, we also awarded smaller amounts to five agencies that have not traditionally received support from Missions Grants. They include the familiar — Helen Wright Center and Family Promise of Wake County — and a few not so familiar, “leap of faith” recipients — Haven House and TentMaker Ministries. As in past years, the committee also voted to hold back some funds ($3,000) for Gifts of Grace Committee, to be used at their discretion.
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The following organizations received grants of $3,000 each: Interact — Advancing the Episcopal Church’s Millennium Development goals of empowering women and working to eradicate hunger and poverty right here in our own community by providing food, shelter, counseling, case management and support services to empower victims of domestic and sexual violence Triangle Family Services — Supporting the Emergency Housing Assistance program Episcopal Campus Ministry — Funding needs in addition to overhead (heat, light, water, building and grounds maintenance) are for worship and programming, Christian education and fellowship, which include Wednesday night Bible Study, programs on History and Formation of the Episcopal
See GRANTS page 3