Dear friends,
Our long-awaited picture directory is almost ready. I say almost because we want to give those who have not had their photographs taken one last chance to be included. Tom Wilson will be available to take photos before and after the service Sunday. If you’re not able to be here, and haven’t had your picture made, please send us one of your own photos. Please help us make the directory as complete as possible!
The generosity that this congregation has offered to the Komfete family in their first 18 months in this country has truly been extraordinary. Happily they are now able to provide for their own needs. So we will no longer be collecting clothes, toys, or any other items for them. Thank you for all that you have done, truly carrying out God’s oft-repeated command to offer hospitality to the immigrants in our midst. And thanks be to God that this beloved family has made so much progress in the relatively short time they have been here.
Those who have been at St. Dunstan’s a while will remember former parishioners Jim and Helen Keaten. Jim was on the vestry when I came to St. Dunstan’s 22 years ago. A few years after that they moved to Rome, GA. Jim died recently. Here is the link to Jim’s obituary:
https://www.hendersonandsons.com/obituaries/James-Holland-Keaten?obId=49202332
St. Dunstan’s is known for its hospitality. People who come here for the first time often comment about how friendly and welcoming this congregation is. We see it during coffee hour every week. We see it in our response to the needs of refugee families. Soon you will see it in a very different way. A few months ago I got a phone call from the bishop’s office asking for our help. Church of the Atonement, where many of our parishioners once worshipped closed a few years ago. Now the property has been sold, and a new home needs to be found for the ashes of Atonement members who were interred in their memorial garden. So we have agreed to receive the cremains of about 50 people. They will have their own spot, adjacent to our garden. If you go up the path to the sculpture, it will be to the right in a cleared area. The diocese is handling the removal, moving, and re-interring. There will be beautiful landscaping around the area. Shan Sutherland, who did the tree of life sculpture that contains the names of those interred in our garden has agreed to do a complementary piece for the new area. All of this will be paid for by the buyers of the Atonement property. After all of the work is completed, sometime in the new year, we will have a service, to which the family and friends from Atonement will be invited. None of this will happen immediately, but you may see work beginning later in the fall.
With love,
Tricia