Dear friends,
What a great All Saints’ celebration we had! As you who were here know, we had to move everything to the parish hall because our organ pipes were loudly reacting to the changes in temperature we’ve experienced lately. Everyone pitched in to help move and set things up. Garrett Wilson’s baptism was moving; as was the reading of the names of those who have died in the last year.
There was also humor. We sang “I Sing a Song of the Saints of God,” as we do every year on All Saints’. This time when we got to the line “and one was a doctor, and one was a priest, and one was slain by a fierce wild beast,” our resident beast Beppe strolled through the parish hall, meowing along with the music. His timing was perfect.
Thanks to everyone who signed up to provide Thanksgiving food bags for Emmaus House. All 50 have been spoken for. Please remember to bring them with you on Sunday so that they can be delivered next week.
We have a few dates of upcoming events to put on your calendar. Sunday, December 10, at 4 p.m. will be our service of Advent Lessons & Carols. And the following Sunday, the 17th, Bishop Wright will be with us. More details on both to come.
And finally, please humor me while I put on my boasting mother hat. This summer Joseph Henry auditioned for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus and was accepted. His first performance with them was last week. One of the many things I am grateful to St. Dunstan’s for is the nurture of our young musicians. Tom Gibbs was the one who discovered Joseph Henry could sing. He spent hours of one-on-one time with him, preparing him for high school All State Chorus auditions, and gave him opportunities to sing solos and with our adult choir. Cameron kept him singing during the pandemic, videoing his songs to insert into our live streams. He also had great chorus teachers in school and sang with two good groups at Georgia Tech. But it all began here.
While I’ve been reminiscing about Joseph Henry’s musical life, I remember when he was about 10 and singing one of his first solos in church. When I told him good night on Saturday he confessed that he was nervous about the solo. I reassured him that was normal, and told him I still sometimes got nervous before preaching. His response was a classic. “It’s not the same thing, Mama,” he said. “Everyone will be listening to me.”
I’ll leave you with that.
With love,
Tricia
Thanks to Jane Blount for these photos.
