Good News and Opportunities

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Journeys in Faith is offered for adults who wish to be baptized, confirmed, received into the Episcopal Church, or reaffirm their baptismal vows. Journeys will be held on Wednesdays, March 22 and 29 at 7:00 pm. David Killian, Leslie Sterling, and Chris Wendell will facilitate the course. We will be reading Welcome to the Episcopal Church by Christopher Weber (copies are available on the bureau in the Guild Room). If you would like to join Journeys or want to know more, please speak with one of the leaders after church or call 617-738-1810.

Parents with Small Children group meets Mondays, 3:30-4:30 pm, in the Nursery. Contact Jane Outar, 617-277-8951, janemoutar@hotmail.com, or Josie Petersen, josie_petersen@hotmail.com, 617-277-9727.

Volunteers Needed to coordinate the parish luncheon at 12 noon on February 5, 2006, prior to the All Saints Annual Meeting. If you can help, please contact David Evett, Senior Warden, or the Rector at 617-738-1810 x14 or rectord@allsainstbrookline.org.

Men's Group will meet January 7 and 21 from 8:00 to 9:15 am to discuss The Life of David by Robert Pinsky. Bagels, juice, and coffee will be served. Copies of the book are available in the Guild Room. For more information, contact Peter Stringham, peter.stringham@gmail.com, or David Killian, rectord@allsainstbrookline.org.

Education for Ministry begins February 27. EFM is designed for lay people who want to explore theology in a serious and spirit-filled way. In year one of the series we will study the Hebrew Scriptures. The course will meet Monday evenings at 7:00 p.m. For more information, visit the EFM website: www.sewanee.edu/EFM or contact Laura Vennard, EFM course mentor for All Saints, at 617-332-8924; lvenneard@housinginv.com.

The Auction is Coming! On May 13, 2005, the All Saints Auction will take place. Please come to an auction planning meeting Sunday, January 8, at 12 noon. For information on how you can help, please contact Susannah or Andrew Wardly at 617-848-8948, andrew@wardly.com.

Volunteers Needed for Altar Guild. Contact Bonnie Randall, Altar Guild Coordinator, at 617-739-7272,bonnie_randall@abtassoc.com.

Holy Baptism will be celebrated next on Sunday, January 8, The Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, at 10:30 am. If you are interested in making arrangements for baptism, please contact the Rector at 617-738-1810, ext 14 or rectord@allsaintsbrookline.org.

Donate flowers to honor a loved one or special occasion such as a wedding, anniversary, birthday, or graduation. We seek donors for Sundays from September to June. To schedule a date, please contact Doreen Vittori at 617-566-5800.

Women's Book Group

The next book to be read by the Women's Book Group is Parker J. Palmer's The Active Life: A Spirituality of Work, Creativity, and Caring. This will be a good follow up to God's Politics because it deals with integrating our spirituality with our whole lives. The blurb from the back of the books says: "The Active Life is Parker J. Palmer's deep and graceful exploration of a spirituality for the busy, sometimes frenetic lives many of us lead. Telling evocative stories from a variety of religious traditions, including Taoist, Jewish, and Christian, Palmer shows that the spiritual life does not mean abandoning the world but engaging it more deeply through life-giving action. He celebrates both the problems and potentials of the active life, revealing how much they have to teach us about ourselves, the world, and God."

The Women's Book Group will meet on January 14 and 28 to discuss this book. Please read the preface and the first four chapter for January 14 and chapters 5-8 for January 28.

In February we will be reading Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt by Anne Rice. This is a novel that fictionally develops Jesus' life as a child and adolescent. It should be good lighter reading for those snowy winter months. We will meet February 11 and 25. Please read to page 171, the end of chapter 16, for Feb. 11 and to the end of the book for Feb. 25.

For more information, contact Lu Bunting, the new book group facilitator, at mlbunting@mac.com.

Report on the Diocesan Convention 2005

The 220th Annual Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts was held November 4-5, 2005 in Mansfield, Massachusetts. All Saints was represented by lay delegates Adeline Faturoti and Mary Dunlap, alternate delegate Hugh Dunlap, our rector David Killian, clergy Leslie Sterling and Stefani Schatz, and guest speaker Tom Nutt-Powell. In keeping with the diocesan focus on congregational development, lay leaders from many parishes swelled the ranks of delegates and clergy to an attendance of 650 !!

A convention highlight was Bishop Shaw's report, which was illustrated by a wonderful film of his visit to Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, to visit the AIDS projects this diocese has funded the past 5 years. The Bishop further reported on increases in attendance and stewardship in this diocese over the past year, and outlined goals for mission strategy for the next 10 years.

The guest speaker was Dr. Diana Butler Bass, Senior Research Fellow and Director of the Project on Congregations of Intentional Practice at the Virginia Theological Seminary. She delivered a fascinating account of her adventures going across this country to visit churches to see how they were coping and ultimately growing. (She made friends in 50 churches--listening to real people in the pews.) She discovered that churches were their "own best selves", and were successful when they offered preaching, hospitality, help for people's spiritual lives, contemplation, testimony, justice, and community (very important). A complete account of convention actions can be found on the Diocesan Convention section of the diocesan Web site, www.diomass.org.

~ Mary Dunlap

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