St. Anne's Episcopal Church

Today's wonderful communion hymn singers, who have all sung with the Washington National Opera, accompanied by Lisa Galoci.

Michele Cober, Soprano
Terri Erchul Malone, Mezzo
Giancarlo Bacigalupo, Tenor
Thomas R. Beard Jr., Baritone

St. Anne's Sermons

Mother Laura talks about the idea of discerning what traditions are important to God.

stannes-reston.org

St. Anne's Sermons

Listen to Father John's sermon "Temporary Road."

stannes-reston.org

Last Sunday at St. Anne's

Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry

Some words from our Presiding Bishop...

The Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has issued the following statement on the death of Senator John McCain:

The life of Senator John Sidney McCain has been a witness to the nobility of living not for self alone but for the ideals and values that make for a better world.

With countless others, we of the Episcopal Church give God thanks for his life and service and pray likewise for his wife, children and family.

May his soul and the souls of all the departed Rest in Peace and rise in glory. Amen.

Come worship with us!

Just Neighbors do wonderful work. Remember that mother you saw shopping today with her children, if you're interested in helping her get legal status contact Peggy Hobler at peggyhob@gmail.com. These are opportunities for everyone to change people's lives.

Marisol just became a #citizen and we couldn't be happier! Read Marisol's story, " A Mother's Strength" here: www.justneighbors.org/success-stories/ #immigration #JustNeighborsSuccessStories

In addition to our youth trip to Appalachia we also sent a group of young adults from St. Anne's and other local churches to build relationships (and roofs.)

Three monkeys, volunteers preparing for this month’s food pantry distribution.

Bikes for the World

So what happens to your bike once you donate it to Bikes for the World? And how do we say one bike affects four lives? It's actually more than that! This is worth the read and made possible through many partnerships like Village Bicycle Project, Action Through Enterprise - ATE, Otterbein United Methodist Church, St. Anne's Episcopal Church, Jerusalem Peacebuilders, Re~Cycle, Working Bikes just to name a few.

Its a Wednesday night there can't be much going on at St. Anne's! We beg to differ...

Our CSA partnership with Ladybell Farms is bearing fruit as Melissa Webster shows us a beautiful heirloom tomato. Meanwhile our lean, mean, bagging team is preparing for tomorrow's food pantry by putting together almost 100 bags of basic products, our customers will then add their own selections before they leave.

Grill Night starts at 6:30pm.

[08/12/18]   Volunteer Vacancy! Drivers for Food Pantry

We need YOU to join our team of drivers! Our Food Pantry feeds 100 people a month with shelf-stable food AND meat, fresh produce, bread, etc. We need your help by occasionally driving down on a weekday morning to the Capital Area Food Bank in Lorton and shopping for items for our pantry. This might be frozen meat, it might be free veggies, it could be basic items that we need to stock our shelves. It takes a little more than two hours and you might have to lift a bag of veggies. We even provide the shopping list! If you’d like to help or get more information, contact Stewart Gill at gilljands@gmail.com.
.

Father John conducts a spontaneous performance by the Children's Chapel.

Photo credit: Lissa Bessey

Stephanie and Delia deliver 85 backpacks to Cornerstones!
We also have 18 gift cards to be donated. Thank you St. Anne's!

A Letter from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry to the Diocese of Virginia

A Letter from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry to the Diocese of Virginia

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?m=1101596679747&ca=3f2faa7e-7c03-4d59-8732-ce726815bdc3

campaign.r20.constantcontact.com

Today we blessed the backpacks that we'll be taking to Cornerstones. Many thanks to everyone!

Today our food pantry received 88 bags of food from Cool Green Bags! Many thanks to the fantastic team of 12 lead by Giancarlo and Mark who got everything stocked away in our tiny pantry.

Backpacks/Tax-Free Shopping

We've had a fantastic response to our drive for backpacks for local children. Join us on Sunday when they'll be blessed before being taken to Cornerstones.

If you haven't dropped yours off yet you've got until Monday to bring them into the church office and don't forget you can save money on them as this weekend is a sales tax holiday in Virginia. https://tax.virginia.gov/virginia-sales-tax-holiday

If you're a "Cool Green Bag" person don't forget to leave it out tomorrow morning. If you're not send a note to tim@stannes-reston.org who'll give you information about a really easy way to help hungry people! :-)

https://www.coolgreenbag.org/

The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia

Bishop Johnston Announces His Retirement

http://www.thediocese.net/news/bishop-johnston-announces-his-retirement/

Outreach Month - Service in September

September is a time of preparation and at St. Anne’s a time of renewal. September is also the time we celebrate Outreach at St. Anne’s. Each week we’ll be focusing on one or more specific Outreach ministries. (Please note that we return to our fall/winter service schedule on September 16.)

Sept. 9 (11:30 a.m.)– St. Anne’s in Appalachia – Clifton Poole, our Appalachia Mission Trip Leader, will be talking about the two trips our teens and 20-year-olds made to Appalachia. This trip has evolved under Clifton’s leadership and he is looking forward to sharing with us the history of St. Anne’s involvement in the Appalachian region as well as looking toward the future.

Sept. 15 (10:00 a.m.) – “Hidden Poverty in Northern Virginia” – In conjunction with the NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, we will be hosting a discussion on local poverty with leaders from Fairfax’s Lamb Center, Food for Others and Fairfax County Public Schools. This will be a great opportunity to learn more about people struggling in our affluent community.

Sept. 16 (10:30 a.m.) – Food Pantry Packing– We’ll be packing groceries for our Food Pantry which will be distributed on the following Thursday.

Fresh Produce - We will be hosting a produce market with Ladybell Farms after the 9:00 a.m. service in front of St. Anne’s. Delicious, “better than organic” produce will be available for purchase. Supporting Ladybell Farms is a win-win as not only do they offer beautiful produce they are also committed to serving people in need in our community.

Sept. 23 (10:30 a.m.) – What is Outreach at St. Anne’s - We’ll be hosting an informational session about Outreach. We’ll be discussing the Whats, hows and whys of all we. Tim Barwick, our Minister of Outreach, will be joined by members of the Vestry’s Outreach/Service Committee to talk about our work and listen to your ideas.

Sept. 30 (between all three Sunday morning services) – Bread for the World Day – We’ll be talking about our relationship with Bread for the World and the work they do. We may be involved in a letter-writing campaign around an important current issue related to hunger.

July 29, 2018 • The breadth, length, height, and depth of the love of Christ • Rt. Rev. Ted Gulick

Bishop Ted Gulick joined us last Sunday and gave a powerful sermon on this week's reading from Ephesians.

stannes-reston.org

Don't forget this is the last week to drop off backpacks for the school year.

Back to School Backpacks
It may be summer, but it's also time to think about helping children prepare for the 2018-19 school year. For the past several years St. Anne's has partnered with Cornerstones to provide backpacks to children in our area. Last year we provided 100 backpacks as part of their back-to-school drive. We'd like to beat that number this year! We are asking for donations of new high-quality backpacks without wheels, corporate logos, movie or cartoon characters. In addition please don't buy the very small pre-school backpacks. We'll be collecting them here at St. Anne's and then delivering them to Cornerstones. We are looking for backpacks, and gift cards from Payless, Walmart or Target in amounts of $25 to help families buy new shoes for school.

Backpacks should be sized between high school (or adult) size, 20" high x 14" wide x 7" deep, and elementary child size, 16" high x 12" wide x 5" deep. Backpacks are due here, at St. Anne's, by August 6th. Please leave the gift cards in the mailbox on Tim's door in the church office, backpacks can be left in front of his door.

If you have any questions please contact Stephanie Hando at steffimidge@yahoo.com, or 703-200-5092.

The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia

Please join us today as we pray for Presiding Bishop Michael Curry as he undergoes surgery for prostate cancer.

"Strengthen your servant Michael, O God, to do what he has to do and bear what he has to bear; that, accepting your healing gifts through the skill of surgeons and nurses, he may be restored to usefulness in your world with a thankful heart; through Jesus Christ our Lord." Amen (BCP, p. 459)

Today was the last day of Vacation Bible School. What a wonderful week for our Rolling River Rampagers!

The Rolling River Rampage VBS rolls on! We learned this week that we find adventure on the river! We find acceptance on the river. We find joy on the river! And today we learned that we find rest on the river.

Friday, marks our final day of VBS. Parents, grandparents, and guardians are welcome to join us for our closing assembly at 12:00 p.m. as we celebrate our fantastic week and share with you the music and choreography we have learned.

[07/25/18]   SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
There will be ONLY one service at 10:00 a.m. THIS Sunday, July 29.

Bishop Ted Gulick will be presiding.

Please join Bishop Gulick following the morning service for a parish-wide meeting from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Light refreshments and childcare will be available.

One of the messages the vestry has received most frequently in recent months is that our parishioners want the opportunity to be heard. This Sunday we will gather in the sanctuary to provide the first of those opportunities. After opening prayer and remarks by Bishop Gulick and our consultant Karen Salter, we will have open mic time for 90 minutes. To provide as many opportunities as possible, speakers will be limited to 3 minutes. At the conclusion of that time we will review what was learned during that time, what it meant to our faith community to have that time together, and identify next steps for responding to this important time in the life of our congregation. The meeting will be recorded, and a transcript made from that recording. It will take 2-4 weeks for the transcript to be completed. There will be one copy available for parishioners to read in the church office.

This will be a time for the people of St. Anne's to come together in Christ's love to share our concerns and hopes and to support one another together as children of God. Whether you come to listen, pray, or speak, we will cultivate a spirit of understanding, peace, truth, justice, and respect for the dignity of each of our brothers and sisters.

At St. Anne's we don't let little things like torrential downpours stop us from sharing community. This evening we had our regular Grill Night plus an Ice Cream Social sponsored by Reston Community Center.

The Rolling River Rampage VBS rolls on! We have learned this week that we find adventure on the river! We find acceptance on the river. And, today, we learned that we find joy on the river!

Vacation Bible School 2018

[07/24/18]   Making a Difference

Every now and then we witness the awesome power of love. Recently we learned of this example:

A member of St. Anne’s had learned about a female vet and her four young daughters, who were in a challenging financial situation. This vet had just started a fellowship program with a stipend, however, the stipend had not been distributed. Our St. Anne’s member – who has asked to remain anonymous – connected the vet with Melissa Miller of Ladybell Farms. (St. Anne’s recently developed a relationship with Ladybell Farms, a CSA or community-supported agriculture. Since this spring the farm has been providing shares of its “better than organic” veggies to our congregation who supported the CSA.) Within just a few days, Melissa had secured a $150 donation from another CSA member, who also happens to be the founder of the 9/11 Promise Run. With this generous donation in hand, Melissa purchased meat, eggs and veggies. These donations were graciously delivered to the vet and her family. This generosity provides the hope and confidence that even in hardest times, there is support and love ready to be shared.

#ittakesavillage #makingadifference Ladybell Farms

The Rolling River Rampage VBS ride is underway! What a delight to see our Rafters get to know their classmates and begin to discover all of the adventures at VBS. Our scriptural theme for the week - our "Rafting Ready Verse" - comes from Isaiah 43:2: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you!" Through experiences in our classrooms and at bible storytelling, crafts, recreation, and discovery stations we learned today that we find adventure on the river!

July 22, 2018 • Sabbath Rest and Compassion • The Rev. Laura Cochran

Listen to Mother Laura's sermon from last Sunday.

stannes-reston.org

St. Anne's Food Pantry

Every month on the 3rd Thursday (today) our food pantry team runs a food distribution to between 80 and 100 mostly elderly people. In addition every week we have 3-4 people walking in who receive a basic bag of food. We've worked hard to move beyond the classic food pantry offerings of shelf-stable food to include fresh veggies and frozen meat. We also focus on giving our customers some choices.

The monthly distribution is the culmination of a lot of work that week and month, here's an overview of the week.

Tuesday:
AM - Drivers go to the Capital Area Food Bank to pick up items that we're short of and free veggies in 50lb bags. The items are returned to our pantry, the veggies go to SPARC, a local group of people with disabilities who turn the 50lb bags into consumer-sized bags which are then returned to St. Anne's. We also receive veggies from our own community garden and the customers of Ladybell Farms CSA.

PM - Our team visits Panera to pick up their unsold baked goods and bring them to St. Anne's

Wednesday:
Midday - The bread picked up from Panera is packed into smaller bags by the people attending the noon service.

PM - Baggers come in a build 100 basic bags of food.

Thursday:
Around 11am volunteers start to arrive to prepare for the 1pm distribution. The basic bags are brought out, with help from our waiting customers. Tables are setup along the center aisle of the Nave. On the tables and the pews behind them are put the frozen meat, baked goods, veggies, rice (white or brown) and other odds and ends.

100 bags of ham cuttings arrive from Honeybaked Ham of Reston.

Our customers pick up a basic bag and can then shop for the items on the tables.

...and of course last but not least an hour later cleanup.

Other times in the month:

Our drivers pick up other products including frozen meat from local non-profit warehouses and our shelving team are able to shoehorn these items into our very small food pantry.

We receive 50 bags from Cool Green Bags that our team shelves. We've been warned that this might be 100 bags this month!

So we have drivers, baggers, shelvers, distributers, gardeners all working together towards a common goal, working together to feed the elderly in Reston. They're a friendly group and would love it if you want to join them and lend a hand. If you're interested in volunteering send an email to Steve Watts at foodpantry@stannes-reston.org.

Mission Possible (Final Photo Update)

Our final mission today was tough: remove the invasive English ivy along the trail near the northern intersection of North Shore Drive and Wiehle Ave.

The team also wrote "thank you notes" to each of our hosts for the week.

[07/19/18]   Mother Laura's email on the last day of Mission Possible 2018.

Dear Mission Possible,

Thank you for so generously giving yourself to four days of serving organizations in our community. Your hard work, joyful spirit, and sense of community was and remains inspiring to me and I am immensely grateful to have served alongside of each of you this week.

Our final mission today was tough: remove the invasive English ivy along the trail near the northern intersection of North Shore Drive and Wiehle Ave. It would have been hard work on any day, but it was especially challenging the day after moving more than 8 tons of rock! We made great progress for the Reston Association Environmental Team and Patricia was so grateful for our hard work.

I hope that each of you discovered a thing or two this week: 1) You have gifts and talents to share in service to your neighbors now! You don't need to wait until you're older or "more qualified." You are an important and valuable member of your community now. 2) You don't have to do it all! Each of us have different gifts, abilities, and tastes. Working with others allows us to not only share our talents with one another, but also to discover the joy in doing something we may have never chosen to do on our own. 3) You are appreciated. Our partner organizations - Bikes for the World, Lake Anne Elementary School, Sprout Therapeutic Riding & Education Center, and Reston Association - undoubtedly appreciate all that you did for them this week. But, I appreciate you too! I appreciate being given the opportunity to get to know you, to work with you, and to celebrate your contributions in community.

If you enjoyed this opportunity - and will be a rising 6-8 grader next year - join us again! If you are aging out and you are looking for other mission opportunities, be sure to reach out next winter when we will know more about our 8-12 grade missions.

Special thanks to David Safford, Alicia Hernandez, Marian Egge, and Sarah Murphy for coordinating our missions this year. And additional thanks to Jen Edgerton, Kasey Bradshaw, Kate Brown, Eileen Ellis, Dabney Narvaez, Tara Schiller, Mara Watt, and Kim Poole who chaperoned/drove, supplied ice, and/or gave wonderful support to make the week a success.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

With peace and gratitude,

Laura+