All Saints Episcopal Church

The Gifts of All Saints Our After-Church Forum last Sunday featured a lively conversation about what makes All Saints special. Thank you to all of those who participatedyou had some lovely things to say. Here are some highlights of things our community is saying about All Saints.... All Saints gives me the gift of: Caring people. A community of believers; community with love. Welcome. Spiritual worship and community. Trust; safe space. Beautiful worship and music. Acceptance of each person. Love from a family. Solitude. The heart of the All Saints community is: Christian love. Tradition. Liturgy. Communion. Love of God. Connectedness. Worship of God. The world around us desperately needs: Love of God and love of neighbor. Respect and understanding that all are made in the image of God. The experience of the enchantment of God. Affirming community. Empathy, compassion, mercy, civility. Equitable access to resources. All Saints is special because we: Have a creative, confident and accepting spirituality. Are resilient. Are the only church in our precise location--we bloom where we are planted. Are a unique group of people, many with years of dedication. Offer the combination of beautiful music, historical liturgy, and deep spirituality. Have a fabulous organ. The Evangelism Commission is exploring ways to combine the gifts that we offer with the needs of the community around us. If you would like to continue to be a part of the conversation, let Portia know. 510 673-1500; [email protected]

Thursday Outdoor Eucharist - https://mailchi.mp/29a01871c282/weekly-enews-3282889

Thursday Eucharist and Sunday Shared Home Communion - https://mailchi.mp/5b8251970d01/weekly-enews-3280969

Lent @ All Saints Annual Meeting Sunday after church, using the Zoom Coffee Hour link. Soup Supper: The Journey of Exile Wednesday 3/3, 6:00 to 7:00, using the Zoom Coffee Hour link.... We will be doing our traditional Lent Soup Suppers on Wednesday evenings, 3/3, 3/10, 3/17, and 3/24 from 6:00 to 7:00 via Zoom on the Coffee Hour Zoom link. Our next Soup Supper will be The Journey of Exile, led by Kathy Lawler This week's soup recipe is Beef and Barley Stew, included on Wednesday of Lent 2 in your Lent 2021 Sacred Space booklet. The soup-making is optional and on-your-own--feel free to show up with or without dinner. We will have some time to visit, and then will have a discussion session.

We want to know . . . Holy Week is coming soon, and we are beginning to plan for services. While we are not yet able to offer indoor services, we are thinking of offering in-person outdoor Sunday services on Palm Sunday and Easter in addition to online services. If you think you would like to attend one or more of the outdoor services, please use the link below to fill in the doodle poll, or contact Portia at 510 673-1500 or [email protected]. This will hel...p us get a count of how many people might attend so we can make sure to have room for everyone. https://doodle.com/poll/2ufnzmxpwgm8ybp6

All Saints E-News Community Corner Community Corner is a place for us to share our lives with one another. ...Continue reading

Thursday Outdoor Eucharist - https://mailchi.mp/7432f0423a6d/weekly-enews-3270065

Progressive Evangelism The word "evangelism" is fraught with tension in our current times. Sadly, it has been used by a small portion of the Christian Church to justify criticizing, haranguing, and even vilifying others. None of that is actually evangelism. Instead, the word evangelion in the Greek New Testament means the sharing of the Good News of the Gospel--that God loves us, Jesus is for us and with us, and the Holy Spirit tends us. The Episcopal Church at the denominat...ional level, and All Saints at the parish level, are working to reclaim the concept and language of evangelism for the progressive church. For the past couple of years, All Saints has had an active Evangelism Commission, charged with finding creative ways of sharing the Good News with our local community. The paradigm for evangelism that we are using is that the best site for evangelism is where the gifts of the church and the interests and needs of the community intersect. The Evangelism Commission has been discussing and discerning, and now we are asking for your input and ideas. We are asking two questions: For you, what is the heart of All Saints? What aspects of All Saints draw you in toward the parish community? Where do you see potential for All Saints to connect in new ways with the community around us? The Vestry will be discussing this at an upcoming meeting, after which we will be offering some opportunities for congregation-wide Zoom conversations. If you'd enjoy an individual phone or email conversation on this, you can call Portia or email your answers to the questions to [email protected]. All Saints is excited about and committed to finding new and creative ways to connect with our local community. Thanks in advance for your help and support. Portia

Thursday Outdoor Eucharist - https://mailchi.mp/9c499a9436ed/weekly-enews-3268389

Epiphany Service On-Line Only - https://mailchi.mp/cdc04cce9772/weekly-enews-3266761

Next Week at All Saints Epiphany Service at Noon on Wednesday January 6. Outdoors if weather permits, online if not. No Thursday Outdoor Eucharist on January 7.

Wednesday Night Discussion and Thursday Eucharist - https://mailchi.mp/043b00976e0b/weekly-enews-3245225

Dear Friends at All Saints: We live in uncertain times. Evan as I write this, we are still unsure of who our next president will be. We don't know when we'll get to fully reopen the church, or gather with our families, or return to a semblance of normal life. It is a struggle not to be filled with anxiety and fear. In our Election Night Vigil on Tuesday we prayed Psalm 4 every hour as part of Compline. Every time, there were wry smiles when we came to verse 6:... Many are saying, "Oh, that we might see better times!" Yet the psalmist goes on to say: Lift up the light of your countenance upon us, O Lord. You have put gladness in my heart, more than when grain and wine and oil increase. I lie down in peace; at once I fall asleep; for only you, Lord, make me dwell in safety. Even though we don't know the future, and are troubled by the events of today, there IS something that we can trust--God is unchanging, and loves us, and will make us dwell in safety. We might not be able to control the chaos that swirls around us, but we can stay centered in the One who holds all things. This is, of course, easier to say than it is to do. Today in the outdoor Eucharist, I shared a prayer of Thomas Merton that has been helping me in this time. The words are life-giving and sustaining to me, and so I again leave them with you. My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. Amen. Portia

Election Vigil and Thursday Eucharist - https://mailchi.mp/37a82181c10b/weekly-enews-3242365

Dear People of All Saints: A lot is going on right now, and I would like to update to you everything that is happening these days. Last Sunday, of course, we resumed our Concert series in cooperation with the American Guild of Organists. Lars Gjerde, who was slated to play at a concert we had to cancel when the pandemic began. By all accounts, the production was excellent; and you can still hear and see the concert on You Tube. The link on our website will still take you the...Continue reading

All Saints Outdoor Eucharist - https://mailchi.mp/9b31ca1c9cf6/weekly-enews-3239453

Join the Virtual Cavalcade of Saints Hey, all you saints! We miss seeing everyone! We had such a great time with the virtual blessing of the animals that we are going to try another video, but this time we want to see all of you. On All Saints Sunday (November 1) we will show a video featuring all the saints of All Saintsand yes, that does mean you! Here is how you can take part.... E-mail a picture or short video of you and your family to [email protected]. Please send all pictures and videos by 8:00 pm Thursday, October 29th. Here are some ways to add fun and creativity to your submission: The back pew (basic): Send us a selfie. Just take a picture (or use one you already have) and send it to us and we will put you in the show. The front row (easy): Take a short video (10-20 seconds) of you waving to all your friends and send it to us. Join the Choir (advanced): Grab the accompaniment http://www.allsaintssacramento.org//I-sing-a-song-of-the-s (thanks Scott), and the music http://www.allsaintssacramento.org//uplo/2020/10/H293a.pdf (Hymn 293) and record a video of you singing. Use head phones and just record your voice (the accompaniment should not be heard in the video you send) and send in that video. Visit http://www.allsaintssacramento.org/join-the-virtual-cavalc/ for complete instructions. Have some fun: The fourth stanza of each verse mentions jobs and activities that one can find the saints doing. Send us a picture of you being or doing one ANY these: "One was a doctor, and one was a queen, and one was a shepherdess on the green . . . One was a soldier, and one was a priest, and one was slain by a fierce wild beast . . . You can meet them in school, or in lanes, or at sea, in church, or in trains, or in shops, or at tea." For the saints of God are just folk like me, and I mean to be one too!

Information for Outdoor Eucharist - https://mailchi.mp/ccf173bb4f39/weekly-enews-3236801

Information for Outdoor Eucharist - https://mailchi.mp/9e3ac073863b/weekly-enews-3234149

Corrected Link for Virtual Organ Concert - https://mailchi.mp/fdc39c35d50c/weekly-enews-3232997

All Saints Outdoor Eucharist Thursday, Oct. 15, Noon - https://mailchi.mp/8753626e0728/weekly-enews-3232489

If you missed our Blessing of the Animals here is the video: https://youtu.be/-OgTCyD9e_s

We Want to Hear from You! - https://mailchi.mp/c35ecf875880/weekly-enews-3230281

We Want to Hear from You! - https://mailchi.mp/5633a9745f07/weekly-enews-3229689

A Virtual Blessing of the Animals - https://mailchi.mp/568a6239ee32/weekly-enews-3228805