This issue includes information for Sunday, May 4.
The Rector’s Ramblings
A number of years ago I stopped in a Burger King in Gonzales on my way home from a meeting in Baton Rouge. As usual I was very conspicuous because of the purple shirt. A well dressed man approached me and asked me what seemed an innocent enough question, “Who is the head of your church?” Thinking administratively and not theologically, I answered that the Presiding Bishop is the head of the church in the United States but that world wide, the head was the Archbishop of Canterbury.” At that point the man jammed an evangelical tract in my hand and said, “Well, the Lord Jesus Christ is the head of my church.” I saw from the tract that he was the pastor of an independent congregation of some sort and realized that I had been set up for an evangelical bullet. It was actually deserved. If the question had been asked in a catechism class, my answer would have been wrong. The catechism asks, “How is the church described in the Bible?” Then it answers, “The Church is described as the Body of which Jesus Christ is the Head and of which all baptized persons are members.” Well, I’m a great one for thinking about what I should have said after it’s too late.
All this came to mind again when the Pope visited the United States and I heard the television reporters referring to him as the head of the Roman Catholic Church and Christ’s Vicar on earth. While that descriptive title is loaded with special meaning within the Roman Church, in ordinary usage a vicar is somebody who represents somebody else. In that sense, are not all Christians representatives of Christ on earth? It would be a lot easier on us if there were only one representative of Christ on earth because the rest of us Christians would be let off the hook and not responsible for representing Christ. But, such is not the case. Jesus is the head of the Church, but we baptized are parts of his Body and the world has a right to expect the Body to represent Christ faithfully and not just leave it up to the Pope or the Archbishop of Canterbury or any other ecclesiastical leader. Bishop Jackson, the 6th Bishop of Louisiana, is reported to have said in most of his sermons that it is not easy to be a Christian. But we are not left unsupported in our witness. The risen Lord is with us in the power of his Spirit, and if we represent him faithfully, we find that his yoke is easy and his burden light.
+James B. Brown, Interim Rector
New E-mail Address for Bishop James B. Brown: rectorallsts@bellsouth.net
UNITED THANK OFFERING
The Annual Spring UTO will be collected on THIS SUNDAY, May 4th, at the 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. Eucharist services. Please reflect on the many blessings you and your family have received during the year when considering your contribution to the UTO.
The Friends of CASA are having their 3rd Annual Maine Event. They are selling live Maine lobsters, fresh from the ocean and ready for your plate. Lobsters are only $22 each and can arrive either live or steamed. Orders must be received by May 3rd and will be available for pick up on May 10. If you are interested, mail a check payable to Friends of CASA, Inc. to P.O. Box 8753, Metairie, LA 70011-8753 and let them know if you will be picking up your lobster from St. Augustine's in Metairie or St. Mark's in Harvey. Maybe we could have a lobster fest in the parish hall on May 10? Any takers? Please call Kellie at 451-5637, if you have any questions.
Stephen Ministry: A Stephen Minister walks side by side with another in a on-going relationship that is one-to-one and confidential, providing support, compassion, encouragement, unconditional acceptance and prayer. They are there to help you as you experience illness, death, divorce, loss of job or a multitude of other changes in your life or to help accept these changes in those we love. If you are interested in learning more about Stephen Ministry or think that you could use a Stephen Minister to be a Christian friend that walks with you through a time of transition, please contact Barbara Attebery, Luanne Frances or Carol Sears.
Camp Hardtner applications are available in the church office. Please call 737-2421 or e-mail to allsts@bellsouth.net if you would like an application form.
Needed for the website: Pictures of the angel wind chimes and the scrapbook we gave Susan, and also pictures of the presentation of same. Send to Anna Brans at admbrans@yahoo.com . Pictures are posted on the church website: www.allsaintsneworleans.org. Click on “What’s New” or “Parish Life”.
Dinners4Eight: Want to get to know other members of the congregation on an informal basis? These are casual dinners held every 3 months at someone’s home. If community is what you are looking for, come join us. Please call Anna at 738-1224 for more information.
ALL SAINTS’ EPISCOPAL CHURCH
THE PARISH CLERGY
The Rt. Rev. Charles E. Jenkins, III, Bishop
The Rt. Rev. James B. Brown, Interim Rector
The Rev. Dr. Frank Faust, Assisting
The Rev. Dr. Diane M. Estes, Assisting
The Rev. Deborah W. Scalia, Deacon
THE PARISH STAFF
Organist/Choirmaster: Gregory A. Nussel
Administrative Assistant: Lynda DeBlanc
Christian Formation:
Children’s Director: Kellie Dickinson
Youth Director: Donnie Little
Adult Education Coordinator: Margaret Goodman
Pres., Episcopal Church Women: Kathy Werhan
Special Events Coordinator: Robin Peters
Welcome Committee Coordinator: Drew Broach
Finance Comm. Chair: Henry Flanagan
Head of the Flower Guild: Kat-T Bickham
Pastoral Care Team Coordinator: Barbara Attebery
Outreach Committee Chair: Brenda Hill
Dinners for Eight Coordinator: Anna Brans
Webmistress: Anna Brans
Katrina Volunteer Coordinator: John Odell
Sexton: Frank Kerner, Jr.
THE VESTRY
John Odell, Senior Warden
Bob Burns, Junior Warden
Drew Broach, Secretary
Ann Ball
Nancy Berault
Mary Christy
Carol Cook
Marsha Gassan
Dan Massa
Eileen Mitchell
Paula Olavesen
Andy Wilson
Andy Wilson, Chancellor
Tim Chauvin, Treasurer
THE LORD’S DAY
Ascension Sunday
4 May 2008
Offering for the Needy
Psalm 47
Acts 1: 1 - 11
Ephesians 1: 15 - 23
Luke 24: 44 - 53
8 a.m. - Holy Eucharist
Sal Scalia – chalice
Ken Scarbrough – lector
Carol Cook - Vestry Member on Duty
10 a.m. - Holy Eucharist
(Nursery care for children 0 – 6)
Margaret Goodman, coordinator
Barbara Attebery, lector
Cathy Burns, intercessor
Cindy Scalia, server 1
Lauren Burns, server 2
Ann Ball, Vestry Member on Duty
Adair Butler, Nursery with Lisa Harrison
Drew Broach, Welcome Committee Captain
PRAY
Shield the joyous" who await the birth of a child,
especially Clare and Trevor, Liz and John, Jennifer and Cary, Brenda and Arthur;
Give thanks for +James our Interim Rector, Barbara, Aspirant, Sean and Rob,
Postulants for Holy Orders, and Phoebe, transitional Deacon;
for all those who work to relieve suffering and restore order;
and for those parishes who partner with us for our recovery efforts,
especially: All Saints’ churches in Burlington, Vermont, Navesink, New Jersey, Hillsboro, Oregon, Chicago, Illinois, and Alexandria, Virginia; Christ Church in Smithfield, Virginia; St. Michael’s churches in Barrington, Illinois and Little Rock, Arkansas; St. Anne’s in Reston, Virginia; Christ Church Cathedral, Houston, Texas; Good Shepherd in Rocky Mount, North Carolina; Trinity, Solebury, Pennsylvania; St. George’s in Griffin, Georgia, and The Church of the Holy Apostles in New York City.
Pray for our companion Diocese of Copan, Honduras, especially Pentecostes
Church in Rio Negro,
for peace in the world, unity in the Anglican Communion, and
reconciliation in the Episcopal Church;
for the Search Committee, the Vestry, and the next rector of this parish;
for Tony, Paul, John, Sal, Justin, Marc, Chris, Jay, Stuart, Brent, Ben,
Kelly, Cherrie, Jennifer, and all in our armed forces.
for all who travel, especially the Brans;
for those who are still rebuilding their lives after the 2005 storms, especially
Denise, Anne, the Torres, Ann Killeen, the Bethancourts, Maria Burke & family,
and the Kathmann, Copeland, Munster, Hotard, Ducote, and Hill families.
for the healing of Karen, Charlie, Red, Devlin, Buddy, Gayle, JoLynne, Steve, Julie, Christina, Barbara, Dave, Germaine, Paul, Mary, Beverly, Andy, Peggy+, and Mark+;
and for the departed.
If you have any names to add to the list, please contact the church office.
Phone 504-737-2421 or e-mail: allsts@bellsouth.net.