Advent I

It's the beginning of a new year -- The First Sunday in Advent. And I was so glad to be home for that, and to read the "wake up" Epistle. Laughing at Claire's remark that I was probably the only one there who could read the "chambering and wantonness" part; I don't think so.

Preparing for the last trip of the year I see I'll not be far away from one of our churches, in Bolingbrooke IL, but I think my conference's meetings run late Wednesday evening so I probably won't be able to attend their service.

Vendor Fair and Craft Sale

The St. Bartholomew's Anglican Church Womens' Vendor Fair and Craft Sale is going on right now in two sessions: 1 to 4 PM and again 6 to 9 PM (to allow folks to have dinner in between). This is quite different from past sales in that other vendors are present; perhaps this is the reason it's being held in a private house instead of the Parish Hall, with overflow into the Sunday School.

After setting up the lights outside (to be turned on when it becomes Advent tomorrow, my one pre-Christmas decoration -- it helps offset the winter gloom outside) I went over this afternoon to take a look. The instant I stepped in the dulcet tones of her cello told me Ruby is back from college!

The layout was interesting, with various crafts and vendors spread throughout the main floor of the house. Silver jewelry, stamps and so much more.

I had never heard of Tomboy Tools before, but their offerings were tools that seemed unusually well thought-out in terms of features (I liked the nail-setting hammer; I'd never seen one like it before but what do I know, many of my tools are older than me) -- but also very pink, which seems to be effective in keeping guys' hands off the tools.

Tupperware, of course. A shock to see there a toy our daughter played with a quarter-century ago. (Now with her Master's in Mechanical Engineering, maybe she'd like some Tomboy Tools for Christmas?)

And so much more.

At the last minute (poor planning on our part) I donated a few framed photos to the cause. One, the square in front of the Cathedral in Strasbourg, resonated with one of the vendors who'd been raised close by. Not how we'd planned to test the waters of selling photographs, but oh well. If you're in the area, come on by.

Thanksgiving Mass?

It's funny what you can learn from a search engine. My browser's "home page" is Dogpile Web Search which, when you go there, lists the latest six "Favorite Fetches." A day or two ago one of the Favorite Fetches was "Seattle Weather" or something like that and it's true: The snow made a mess of things here as it always does -- hills and icy roads do not make for good driving conditions.

So we were looking forward to the rain forecast for today, to start melting and washing away the snow. But it's snowing instead. There's a short Mass at 10 AM, but I don't think we're going to make it. And our guests for dinner... well, we'll see.

A blessed Thanksgiving to you all!

Please pray for Vilia

Monday she goes for a second-stage job interview. The job seems about perfect for her, combining her skills as an accountant with her heart for the less well-off. The name of the outfit describes their work, though I have managed to forget it completely while dealing with other issues this afternoon.

Nevertheless I bid your prayers, dear reader.

Wandering Home

The threat of snow didn't seem to keep too many people away today -- it was good to see so many of our parish family today, now that I'm home every Sunday until late January, when the spring travel season kicks into high gear. Not that the fall travel season is done but I have only one more trip more, 4 days to Chicago the week after Thanksgiving. Maybe I'll get to feel a little less the visitor at home over the next couple of months.

Good to be home for the end of the church year, and the beginning of the next next Sunday, the First Sunday in Advent. Today, of course, is the last Sunday of the old year, aka Sunday Next Before Advent, also known as "Stir Up Sunday" for the Collect appointed for today:

STIR up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may by thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

And Fr. Davis talked about Advent in his sermon (including an ancient liturgical use of blue for the season, something to research online), and what our approach should be to this "mini-Lent." I admit I don't like the ever-advancing early "Christmas" -- I was annoyed on Thursday, November 11th (!) to encounter a Salvation Army bell-ringer in front of a store. At this rate folks will be "Christmased-out" even before we get to the beginning of Christmas (already, around here, some trees are taken down and set out before sundown on Christmas Day!).

Lots of activities coming up, so the Announcements took an unusual amount of time. Somehow the Pledge Drive got started late and will commence next Sunday. A 12-week study called The Truth Project starts Wednesday next week (I will miss the first and a couple of the last sessions for being away). The ACW Vendor Fair & Craft Sale will be this coming Saturday, 11/27, from 1 - 4 PM and 6 - 9 PM at 19122 NE 155th Street, Woodinville.

Snow. Just got home a few minutes ago after a full day out, and there was still snow on the trees and a little on the ground, with more coming in tonight. Perhaps Fr. Davis will finally get to experience the joys of a Puget Sound snowfall, with hopefully not too much of its treachery.

Missed again!

Got home about 1:30 AM yesterday morning and, as I expected, awoke too late for this month's Men's Breakfast and Fellowship. Oh well, I expected that. At least I have no plans to be away on Sundays until late January. It's snowing right now but it's pretty light here so we'll likely be heading off to church in a bit. I'm trying to remember if I'm on deck to read the Epistle this Sunday, but I think I signed up for next Sunday, the First Sunday in Advent.

A stranger at home (St Stephen's, Clifton Forge)

I almost didn't make it; certainly it felt like things were conspiring against this Wandering Anglican. Despite an early departure from the conference hotel a half-hour away, a combination of things including inaccurate maps and being misled by road signs led to my finding St. Stephen's, Clifton Forge VA with bare minutes to spare. (Their sign helped,) Maybe it was the relief, but I've never felt so much at home visiting another Anglican church - it seemed to reaffirm the communion between our respective jurisdictions (ACC and APCK). 1928 BCP, 1940 Hymnal (I have never seen a non-harmony version before) and solid teaching from the pulpit - priceless.

Confirmed

This Wandering Anglican hits the road again tomorrow on a trip a bit more complex than usual because it involves flying to West Virginia and driving to Virginia, returning to West Virginia on Sunday to fly to Atlanta, and then on Friday flying home. But I dropped all choices of conference leisure activities Sunday morning for one that is not on the list -- attending Holy Communion (first stop on my way to the airport) at a church in the area.

Caitlin suggested I double-check the service times; not all churches keep their websites sufficiently up to date. So I sent off an e-mail to the Rector and received confirmation of the

Meeting and worshipping with other Anglicans, when it happens, is one of the nicer parts of my travel. I come away with little vignettes of conditions elsewhere, and it's almost always good.

Welcome, Tanaya!

The long-awaited day finally arrived and we got to meet and welcome the newest and youngest member of our parish family: Tanaya.

No, not a new-born, though she's tiny; she's about two years old, and just adopted from an orphanage in India by Ranjit and Meyya. And Kavya is clearly enjoying her new role as big sister.

It has to be a difficult time for her: a cold, a strange new environment full of strange people speaking a strange language (maybe at her age that's not an issue), not to mention the time shift of nearly a half-day. She seemed a bit overwhelmed.

But we were happy to welcome her.

(I just remembered -- she's the second orphan adopted by parishioners.)

"They also serve..."

I can't remember when I last read the Epistle AND served the altar; it was probably sometime last year. I arrived this morning expecting only to read, but Geoffrey (the Crucifer) sat on the Gospel side after the procession it sort of sank in that I was going to have read, ring the bells and serve the altar.

There were opportunities for things to go wrong. I decided to check the Epistle against the bulletin -- and discovered they were different! Checking with Fr. Davis I learned I'd prepared the Epistle for Trinity XXII, not XXIII. Fortunately there was time to read today's Epistle in advance, and it was relatively short and straightforward (Phil 3:17-21).

During the sermon I heard rustling in the Sacristy and decided to investigate (fortunately the Sacristy lights were off so opening the door was less distracting to the congregation). I found Larry preparing the thurible for censing the altar before the preparation of the Elements; he warned me that as a result I'd have to wait a bit before serving the altar. So warned, I was prepared.

Yet they still noted that I was standing by the Credence Table for a while, waiting.

Not a problem. It was just a joy to fully serve again. I have missed that.

And I jumped at the chance to claim the First Sunday in Advent on the roster. Even if I fly out again the following day.

Spanish Pre-School is open

In September I mentioned the possibility of the Spanish Pre-School opening in our facility. I just learned this afternoon that it's been up and running for a bit.

Autumn Feast

Sunday was definitely a great day to be home and able to attend Mass. A gorgeous sunny autumn day, even if it felt a bit chilly after a week in Atlanta's "heat" wave. It had been promising to be a dull autumn in the Seattle area, but upon my return it appears to be winding down with a fair amount of color and plenty of sunshine mixed in with the rain.

Sunday was also Trinity XXII (winding up towards the end of the church year and then Advent -- where has the time gone?) and, more importantly, the Feast of Christ the King back in its proper place (after last year's mix-up) on the last Sunday of October. As Fr. Davis explained this is a relatively new addition to the calendar: it's only 80 years old, and so it's not even in our Book of Common Prayer (1928). The Propers were from the Anglican Missal instead.

I'm home until midweek next week (Larry took the opportunity to twist my arm into reading the Epistle next Sunday, but to tell the truth I'm needing the practice) and then gone for a week and a half (Hot Springs VA and Atlanta). Looking at the schedule I thought I'd make the Mens' Breakfast this month (11/20), but then remembered I arrive at SeaTac airport somewhere around 12:40 AM.