All Saints Gazette: To the streets!
This week:
Morning and Evening Prayer M to F on Zoom at 9:00 and 18:00
Next Service: 1 June
For online events, see church calendar for links
I once expressed some skepticism to some activist friends about clergy showing up to demonstrations in clerical attire. I asked what difference it makes, especially in a society that places less and less value on religious institutions and leadership. My friend Madison McClendon responded that only a priest can show up as a priest. And I would add that, by extension, only a Christian can show up as a Christian. Some All Saints people are planning to go to De Straat Op demonstration on Saturday, and all Saints is one of the organizations who has signed on in support. Consider joining them, if you can. You can use the social tab on our WhatsApp group to coordinate. If you go and take pictures, send them to us (with permission of persons appearing, of course). If you can’t go, you can make a donation to cover attendance expenses for people joining from farther away.
Also, come to church on 1 June. When people see that we have signed on, the vibrancy they see in our community gets transferred onto the demand for which we are demonstrating: a society in solidarity.
Speaking of Signing Things…
Back in my old stomping grounds in the Diocese of New Jersey, an Episcopal church in what has become a wealthy shore community has opened its building to the homeless, in addition to a number of other vital and worthy ministries it carries out. The rich neighbors don’t like it, and the local government is trying to force the church to sell its property in order to build a giant parking lot for a recreational facility. The story has been featured on the Episcopal News Service and in the New York Times (pay-walled), and there is an online petition you can sign. The ENS article also contains a link to a GoFundMe if you’d like to help with the church’s legal expenses.
Education for Ministry
Passing along something from the Convocation: A new Education for Ministry online cohort will launch in the fall, and you can learn more and register here. Education for Ministry is a small group program of learning about the Christian tradition and discerning your call in the place where you are. It’s a four-year program, and it involves a fairly high level of commitment, but I have only ever heard good things about it. Feel free to reach out to the leaders if you have questions.
Support All Saints!
While you’re giving to support demonstrators in Amsterdam and legal battles in New Jersey, please continue or start supporting All Saints. God uses whatever we bring to this community. Try making a gift regularly and see if you don’t notice the extra abundance in our life together and your own life. If this feels big, start small. Is there an Uber ride you take regularly that could be a bike ride? A cocktail you could try replacing with water? Could you drink an extra cup of coffee at home one day a week and offer the price of the latte you would have had to All Saints? Try it for a few months and see if God doesn’t bless you through it.
Use the QR code or this link, or make a transfer through your banking app (the latter saves us a few cents). Please consider making your offering recurring, and pray about what you are called to pledge when we have our winter pledge drive.
Bank details
All Saints Amsterdam
IBAN NL32 TRIO 0320 8657 62
BIC TRIONL2U
It Sounds Like a Whisper…
The greatest of trees starts out as a small seed, a little spark begins a fire in the hearth, and a revolution starts off sounding like a whisper.
That’s all for Today! Want to talk to a priest? We want to talk to you too!
Website: https://allsaintsamsterdam.church
Mpho: mpho@allsaintsamsterdam.church
Kyle: kyle@allsaintsamsterdam.church
General: info@allsaintsamsterdam.church
Instagram: @allsaintsamsterdam.church
