Beginnings and endings - Rector's Rambling for September 12, 2021

     Today we get back toward normalcy with the return of two things, and a hearty welcome to a third.

First, Sunday School is back in session, after an 18-month covid recess.  This is one of many places that we are in the rebuilding stage as some families with children have not returned to regular worship yet, and some others have walked away to other denominations that were open before we were.  But we start with the gift of the children that we do have, and in thanksgiving for those who have put up their hands to help coordinate and teach!

Second, we welcome back the choir.  Although we have had quartets and quintets on an off during Coronatide, this is the first assembling of a full(ish) choir.  Dr. Lewis is still working on adding a few more singers, and we are grateful for those who are with us today!

Third, we welcome Abe Wallace, our new Edwards Organ Scholar.  Abe comes to us from Oklahoma, via Yale University in Connecticut, and is continuing his studies at the University of Michigan.

In the midst of all these beginnings, we have also had some earthly endings.  Yesterday we had a memorial service for Joanne Biscorner who died in 2020 after a years-long struggle with lung issues.  When healthier, she was an active weekday Mass attender, as well as on Sundays.  Her prolonged 10 months on a ventilator became a cross she bore as her health deteriorated.  We are awaiting word on the burial of former Senior Warden Cindy Grimwade and her mother Nellie who died within a week of each other in North Carolina.  And on August 29, we interred the cremated remains of lifelong parishioner Marilyn Walker in our columbarium.

Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon them.  May their souls, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.