Transcripts Online
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Acquiring Satellites. Please Wait. |
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Monday, 31 August 2009 09:39 |
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 Sixteen years ago, right after Becky and I were married, we cut our hair short, packed three days of clothes, threw them in the back of a black Jeep Wrangler with the top down, and took off on a three-week cross-country honeymoon expedition armed only with the Rand McNally Northern Virginia Street Map that one of us dopily packed in place of the road atlas. We had no destination in mind and no hotel reservations. Along the way, we encountered snow, a tornado, a rock slide, giant mosquitoes, and a darts convention. It was the best trip I’ve ever taken.
Some people like to travel with a careful plan and itinerary, but I’m not one of them, and I’m lucky that neither is Becky. The thrill of the trip, to us, is in the unexpected places and turns, not in the keeping of a good schedule. So when we dropped off the kids at camp this summer, we recreated the trip on a smaller scale, heading west in a later-model Wrangler, this time with a GPS receiver. But we set it to avoid highways, and entered only tentative destinations to make sure we stayed close to the Mississippi River. We wanted some great vistas, like the one we enjoyed over dinner in Burlington, Iowa our first night out.
Our little electronic guide was happy to oblige, and sent us through the heart of towns we previously had known only as good places to stop on I-80 for gas and McDonald’s. Our progress was wonderfully slow and new. In Robert Frost’s “The Road Less Traveled,” the author “looked down one [road] as far as [he] could to where it bent in the undergrowth, then took the other as just as fair and having perhaps the better claim because it was grassy and wanted wear.” By contrast, ours were long and narrow dirt roads surrounded by 10-foot high corn fields, and had we looked down one as far as we could without the GPS, we’d have assumed that it was a private road leading to a machine shed.
The Myers-Briggs tells me I’m a hard-core “J,” meaning that I’ll normally prefer the destination to the journey, but Luke’s Gospel tells us that disciples came to know Jesus in their conversations on the way to Emmaus. It’s fall, and time to set and meet goals, keep appointments, and cross items off the task list that starts again to grow longer and longer. The GPS is set to use highways again. But the summer was a refreshment, and reminds me not to get so lost in elusive destinations that I can’t see Jesus winking to me from the corn fields as we travel unlikely roads together this year. |
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September 2009 Rector's Report to Vestry |
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Thursday, 03 September 2009 17:51 |
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The Rector has drafted a report to the Vestry for its September 2009 meeting, and members of the parish are invited to attend that meeting and any others they choose:
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Last Updated on Thursday, 03 September 2009 18:02 |
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Gifts for Memorial Flowers |
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Sunday, 19 July 2009 20:02 |
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 Flower Memorials are a meaningful way to remember or celebrate and assist the Altar Guild in the preparation of the Sunday Eucharist, or other liturgical events.
To make a flower memorial, simply complete a blue gift card and enclose it with a check in a giving envelope. Gift cards and giving envelopes can be found in the pews or on the table at the entrance to the church. Checks should be made out to the Church of the Transfiguration, with “Flower Memorial” in the memo field. You can leave the envelope in the offering plate, or mail it to the church office.
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Last Updated on Monday, 21 September 2009 06:38 |
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You're Patient, But We're In the Dark |
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Tuesday, 14 July 2009 13:05 |
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 There was a time when a hospital would ask patients if they were a member of a church, and automatically call to notify the parish office. Privacy laws now make that impossible unless you specifically request it, and even then, it doesn’t always happen. Please let us know when you’re in or are going to be in the hospital. The days of a priest calling or dropping by a hospital to see if any parishioners have been admitted are over. The hospital cannot legally tell us you’re there unless you say so. If you or someone in your family doesn’t call the church or insist that the hospital call us, we’re unlikely to know you’re there.
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 16 September 2009 17:29 |
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Turning Prayers Into Action |
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Wednesday, 15 July 2009 15:23 |
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 Just as we continue to pray for the hungry every Sunday during the Prayers of the People, we need to continue our fight against hunger by bringing in food donations each week. Please remember to bring some nonperishable food items to donate each Sunday morning. The collection basket is at the door to the sanctuary. So far, Transfiguration has donated food several times each to about five local food pantries. If you have a pantry you would like us to include on our donation list or if you would like to volunteer to take a load of food to a pantry, please contact Becky Hensley at 923-7343.
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Last Updated on Thursday, 03 September 2009 09:11 |
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Keeping God's People Safe |
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Tuesday, 14 July 2009 19:27 |
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 Each of us shares the honor of helping shape our immediate and extended environments. This is especially true of chlidren's environments. Even if we are not related to a child, or engaged in child-assisting occupations, we still influence children's environments.
Sadly, the mistreatment of children, especially the sexual abuse of children, is an ever-present reality. Sex abuse can happen wherever children gather -- in their neighborhoods, clubs, sports, schools and, regretably in their churches or youth groups. Yet, our very presence can be an instrument of change for the better.
To address this situation, the Diocese of Chicago has developed the workshop program Keeping God's People Safe (KGPS). The program has two main levels. Level One, Protecting God's People; Level Two, Leading & Caring for God's People.
Transfiguration parishioners Sue Burke and Katherine Hamann offer KGPS training twice a year, and we require clergy, employees, Church School teachers, and any others who work with children to complete this important training.
To learn more about Keeping God's Peopls Safe, visit our diocesan web site. |
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Prayers of the People |
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Wednesday, 02 September 2009 09:08 |
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 "Praying without ceasing" is a good and very Biblical idea, but to be honest, sometimes we keep praying for people long after we can remember why they were on the prayer list in the first place. Every so often, we clean up the list. If we remove a name by mistake, we’re eager to correct the error. Please call Kathy at the parish office at (708) 448-1200 to add a name. Write-in names are welcome on Sunday mornings, but those don’t get added to the permanent list unless you call the office to request it.
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Vestry Meetings Open to Everyone |
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Tuesday, 14 July 2009 14:32 |
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 Curious to know what’s going on with your parish leadership? Join us at 7 p.m. in the lower level conference room on the second Tuesday of each month (except July and August) as the Vestry meets to manage the business of the congregation. If you’re interested in keeping up but don’t have time to attend the meetings, you can always find the most recent meeting minutes posted on the bulletin board in the foyer.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 14 July 2009 14:38 |
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Uncle Sam and Your Cash Gifts |
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Tuesday, 14 July 2009 13:04 |
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 The Pension Protection Act of 2006 has imposed significantly more stringent record-keeping requirements for cash gifts to non-profit organizations like Transfiguration. Hand-written notes to yourself no longer are acceptable as documentation of such gifts for tax purposes. Whenever you make a cash gift, please use your offering envelopes or a gift envelope from the pews or the usher table, and write your name on the envelope. That will ensure that your gift is recorded on your giving statement, which satisfies the IRS.
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"Increase Your Tax Deductions, Don’t Give Cash at Church" from Money Smart Life
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 14 July 2009 14:27 |
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