All Saints’ Anglican Weekly News – Matthew 4:19

Dont't forget to stay up-to-date with the church calendar!

Stations of the Cross- This Friday, March 5^th 6pm

Stations of the Cross begins this Friday at 6pm and will be offered each Friday throughout lent (unless weather prohibits). The service will be held in the parking lot of the Greenville Woman’s Club. This is an active service with a lot of walking around, so wear some comfortable shoes. Also, be aware, that we will not have access to the Woman’s Club facilities.

Plan to come and invite a friend to share in this very special evening of Lent.

Family Devotion

***I have included a simplified list of daily readings based on the 1928 Lectionary in the second attachment to this Newsletter

I have updated the family devotion service and hopefully made it more user friendly. The devotion is a good tool to use during fast days (especially as a part of our Evening Fast). You may also like to use it for individual devotions throughout Lent (e.g. during your lunch hour or to begin or end the day). You will find the updated devotion in the first attachment to this email.

Bishop Gadsden Episcopal Visit- Sunday, March 28^th

The Bishop will be with us on Palm Sunday, March 28^th for his Episcopal visit and confirmation. We will have a potluck dinner in the Bishop’s honor. Please plan to attend this special time for our Parish.

All Saints’ Choir

We are forming the official All Saints’ Choir and therefore need at least 3 male and 3 female voices. Initially, the choir will focus on the hymns and service music sung during our Sunday service. However, it is hoped that it will eventually expand to include anthems and other service music as well. Choir practice will be held 15 minutes before Sunday School each week. Our first Sunday with choir will be the Second Sunday after Easter (April 18^th).

If you would like to sing in the choir or if you have a pipe organ that you want to donate, please email Fr. Charlie and let him know.

Lenten Preparation

Lent is the season in which we prepare for the celebration of Easter by remembering our need for the Salvation that God has given in His Son, Jesus Christ. Therefore, I encourage you to make use of the various devotional recourses our parish makes available during lent?

• Abstinence- giving up something that you enjoy during Lent. The idea here is that Lent is a time of sober examination and repentance. Therefore, we do not enter this season rewarding or treating ourselves. Instead, our laying aside of something special helps us set the proper attitude during Lent. Likewise, our denial provides a very stark reminder that it is sin, which robs life of its sweetness, joy, and beauty.

• Fasting- fasting is not an effort to pay for our sins or to punish our bodies for our wrong doings (remember, we are healed by His wounds not our own). Rather, biblical fasting is always a turning our undivided attention to God. The idea or picture behind fasting is that we are faced with such a great concern that we are too preoccupied to even eat. We have put everything else aside in order to turn to God first. During this Lent I recommend you try our Evening Fast. You will find a description of the evening fast below.

• Online Morning or Evening prayer- I encourage you to make use of our online prayer services (especially on fast days). These provide a great way to begin or end the day or spend a quiet lunch break. I recommend that you use the short forms of the services found at the top, right hand side of the web page. You may find the services by clicking on the following link: http://www.commonprayer.org/offices.cfm

• Attend the special services provided throughout Lent

Evening Fast- Try it

The object of biblical fasting is to slow us down (thus the hunger) so that we will turn our undivided attention to God. However, what I have found is that Christians today try to fast while maintaining their normal frantic pace. The result is that the purpose of fasting is lost. We are no less distracted in our devotion. Instead, we are just hungry and grumpy amid our daily routines.

Therefore, I want to suggest an alternative fast for this Lenten season, one that I hope will recapture the purpose, value, and need of fasting. At the same time, I hope it will allow fasting to become a meaningful and doable part of your devotional life. Simply put it is called the Lenten Evening Fast. Here is how it works:

1. On fast days (Wednesday and Friday) eat a normal to light supper, with these two restrictions- no alcohol and no gorging at supper.

2. After dinner, forgo all snacking, shopping, and all media (i.e. no T.V., DVDs, video games, texting, newspapers, magazines, or web surfing, etc…).

3. Instead, enjoy time together as a family (plan an activity the whole family will enjoy, take a walk together, or work on a fun project together). Conclude this time with a family devotion.

[To help you get started, I have included a short devotion that you can use with your family throughout Lent. It is in the first attachment to this newsletter]

4. Finally, each person should end the day with a time of quiet, undisturbed, scripture reading, reflection, and prayer.

Try this and see if you are not slowing down, focusing more on God, and spending quality time with your family.

!!!Confirmation Class Homework

Confirmation class continues. Please be sure to read the next 5 of the Thirty Nine Articles this week.  

Web Feature (www.allsaintsgreenville.org)

Our web feature for this week is the online Morning and Evening Prayer Services. I encourage you to use these services throughout Lent, especially on fast days. You will find that they provide a wonderful way to begin the morning, spend a lunch break, or end the day. I know that you will be blessed by them.

The services are taken from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and the readings and collects are updated daily and included in the text for your convenience (so there is no flipping through books. All you need is right there on the screen).  In addition to the longer Prayer Book version of the services, there is also a shorter version of both the Morning and Evening prayer that is specifically intended for personal and family devotions. I recommend that you begin with these shorter, user friendly, versions.

To find the online Prayer Services, go to the All Saints’ Home page (www.allsaintsgreenville.org), on the left hand side of the page click the Family option on the menu. On the ensuing page click #2 The Daily and Occasional Offices. The short (or brief) versions of the services are at the top right hand side of the page.

You may also want to use the short nightly office (Compline or nightly prayer). You may find it here:

http://daily.commonworship.com/daily.cgi?yesterday_np=1&book=bcp

Enjoy!!!!

Adult Sunday School

Please read and meditate on 2 Timothy 2:25-26 as well as Ephesians 6:10-18.

Come ready to join in the discussion on Sunday.

Sunday School For All Ages

Sunday School classes for all ages begin at 9:30. Bring the family and invite a friend

Spread the Word about All Saints’

If All Saints’ has been a blessing to you, invite someone you know to church!

Weekly Servers (Third Lent)     

Lector- Connie Burth

Acolytes-

Henry (A/G)

Leland (C)

Tim Mauk (Ch)

How can we pray for you?
If you have any special prayer needs or praise reports that you would like to share with the group, feel free to email them to me (or you can call me if you prefer) and I will be glad to include them in our weekly newsletter.

Prayer Requests

God’s guidance and provision regarding our own church facility

Win Worral who will be having back surgery on March 1^st

Beth’s brother in law Rick Chiles who is suffering from pneumonia. Also, praise for his good report.

Peter Heffner for a job

Mark Wilkinson, Mary Ann’s brother, who has just been diagnosed with cancer

Mildred Cushman- who is recovering from hip surgery

Betty Shorey- on going health issues

April Brown (Alan’s mother), who is facing life threatening stomach issues

All those serving in our armed forces, especially Bill and Dianne’s son, Barry Laxton.

~Dates to Remember

Please, email your events to Fr. Charlie with a brief description. Your description should include: date, time, location, cost, as well as the name of the parishioner participating in the event (when applicable).

Stations of the Cross- Friday, March 5^th, 12^th, 19^th, 26^th

Bishop’s Visit Sunday March 28^th (Palm Sunday)

Maundy-Thursday service- April 1^st

Diocesan synod September 16^th-18^th

Biblical, evangelical, committed to Christ.
Feedback: Webmaster (Peter Heffner).

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