News of The Church of the Holy Comforterin the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia

Richmond, November 2015

• Fall music at Holy Comforter & A gift of music

• Hoco sponsors World AIDS Day

• A Message from Hilary+

• Holiday Memorial Service

• Shopping at the Food Bank

• The HoCo Financial Times

• Living Waters Summit

• Racial Reconciliation Group

• Yoga is now at Holy Comforter

• Joe Klenzman granted candidacy for ordination

• Teenie Weenie Greenie

• CARITAS is coming!

Story Time and Holy Comforter By Lisa Sanderson (via Facebook)Do you see this little group? This is the little group that is helping to teach my boys about faith and love and the Savior. I love Sundays so much. My kids love it too. They beg to go to church. How great is that? Join us next Sunday evening. Hear a story from the bible, give thanks, sing a song or two, then let us feed you! We’re just a hop away from I64 and Staples Mill.

Photo by Lisa Sanderson

Other Photos by the people of God

News of the Church of the Holy Comforter - Richmond, Virginia - 2

Fall music at Holy ComforterBy Martha Burford, Director of

Church MusicWhat happens when you pull together committed musicians from different communities connected

by relationships? One outcome of such a process happened in September at Holy Comforter. Holy Comforter member, composer, writer, and relationship builder Richard Rose assembled

a cast of musicians including Holy Comforter singers, pianist Michelle Huang, and members of the Capitol Opera Ensemble to offer a wonderful afternoon of music which was attended by members and many nonmembers of Holy Comforter. Richard’s “La Rinuncia and Missa Brevis” (conducted by Mark Mobley) soared in the Holy Comforter space, and many in the audience left singing Richard’s beautiful, singable words, “I’m opening up in sweet surrender to the luminous love light of the world.” Many thanks to Richard and all involved: beautiful music and amazing networking and outreach.

A gift of music after a long weekBy Joe Klenzman

After a long and tiring week neither of us wanted to go out, but boy are we glad we did. On Friday night October 16 Jim Bennett on piano and Greg Jarrell on saxophone performed in the church. I did not know what to expect, however, when we walked into the church we heard vaguely familiar music with a sweet improvisational jazz twist and if that was not

enough Denise Clegg Bennett entertained us with song and story.These two gifted musicians took spirituals and hymns, the songs that are so much a part of the soundtrack of our lives and made them different, better. It was so much fun to see two masters play off each other. I learned two things that night. Firstly, the reputation of Martha Burford, the acoustics in Holy Comforter and a fantastic piano brings the highest quality musicians to Holy Comforter for our enjoyment. The second, when the next concert comes, you need to go. Even after a very long and tiring week you will be glad you did.

Holy Comforter sponsors World AIDS Day celebration with movie at Byrd TheaterBy Bruce MacAlister

The poster opens with

“On Monday November 23, 2015 The Coalition in conjunction with Church of The Holy

Comforter and The Byrd Theater, will have a free showing of the Documentary ‘Common

Threads: Stories from the Quilt’. The showing will begin at 7 PM, at the Byrd Theater, and will

be followed by a panel discussion.”

Then on November 24 panels from the national AIDS quilt will be displayed in a service at Saint Paul’s Baptist Church. Finally the World AIDS Day Service will be held on December 1, 2015, at 7 pm, at Holy Comforter. The poster with all this information will be circulating Richmond and can be seen at the back of the church. The work to put this together was done by Grant Mansfield before he left for seminary, parishioners Patty Sauls and Brian Davis and rector Hilary Smith.

Photo by Richard Rose

News of the Church of the Holy Comforter - Richmond, Virginia - 3

A Message from Hilary+Dear Friends and Companions in Ministry, We begin November with a wonderful

day of celebration. On All Saints’ Day, Sunday November 1st, we will celebrate our church, our faith community, and the community that we share with all the saints in heaven and on earth. I’m delighted that we will baptize John Richardson on that day; having a baptism on All Saints’

Sunday makes the day very special. For it is through baptism that we are bound to each other and to God through Christ. All Saints’ Day is all about connections: we will make our pledge for 2016, which connects us with all who have given so much over the decades to insure that Holy Comforter would be here for us. We connect with the future by making a commitment to keep our church strong for others who will be here next year and also 50 years from now. And through all we will do on All Saints’ Day, we will connect with God: bring an offering of food for our Food Pantry visitors; supporting ROSMY through our loose plate offering; celebrating November birthdays; remembering those who have gone before us into God’s closer embrace in the last year; baptizing and renewing our own baptismal vows. This is a day not to be missed! I look forward to celebrating with you. Also in November, we will host a joint Thanksgiving service with St. Mark’s on Wednesday November 25th, 7:00 p.m. This service of the Holy Eucharist will be a wonderful way to begin our Thanksgiving celebration, by coming together with others to thank God for all of God’s blessings. November also brings the start of Advent. Can you believe it! Yes, we begin our spiritual preparation for Christmas

very soon, on Sunday November 29th. That week on Wednesday December 2nd, we will hold our 2nd Annual Advent Fair; we will make Advent wreaths, Chrismons, and Advent calendars, as well as enjoy a potluck supper together, all being at 5:30 p.m. At 7:00 p.m., I will lead the first of our Advent Contemplative Eucharists. These quiet, contemplative services will help prepare our hearts and minds to greet the Christ child once again. Wonderful things are happening at Holy Comforter all the time. I hope that you will find what you are seeking here, this month and in the months to follow. Wishing you God’s Peace always,Hilary+

Holiday Memorial ServiceBy Hilary Smith, RectorOn Monday, December 7th at 7:00 p.m.

Holy Comforter will host the Holiday Memorial Service, which has been hosted by St. Stephen’s in recent years. Because of their renovation, they were looking for a site and asked if we would host. We are delighted to be able to offer this service and to work with the people of many faith communities who will be co-sponsoring the event and attending the service. St. Stephen’s will be the primary organizer. About the service, they say, “The Holiday Memorial Service is an interfaith, community-wide offering for parents who have experienced the loss of a child. We know that the holiday season with its messages about “coming home for the holidays’ brings on powerful memories and is an emotional time for bereaved parents and their families and friends. We offer this service as a way of tending to them and honoring the sacred memories of their children.”

Please tell your friends about the service. All are invited.

Photography - David Smith-Soto

News of the Church of the Holy Comforter - Richmond, Virginia - 4

Shopping at the Food Bank By Bruce MacAlisterAt 10:30am most Thursdays a Holy Comforter team arrives at the

Central Virginia Food Bank, a collection of old warehouses and remnants of railroad tracks near the Diamond. With a list of needed items

compiled by the Food Pantry crew they push a rolling “flat” around seeing what on their list is available. The Food Bank is where most of the panty’s supplies come from. In addition it usually supplies the protein – the meat – for the monthly Veterans Shelter Dinner. Most of the food is in sealed boxes labeled “Tomato Products”, “Pasta” or “Miscellaneous Groceries” so the HoCo crew has to guess which might contain what they need. The meat is on fuller display. The boxes are loaded on the flat. At the exit the per-case items are counted, the per-pound items are weighed, the head shopper signs over the HoCo-deposited funds and then the shoppers’ cars or trucks are loaded up for the trip to the church. There the boxes are hauled into the pantry, they are opened and the supplies put on the shelf. The shopping crews consists of a dozen parishioners in teams of two or three. It is the unseen part of serving those in need of enough food to eat.

The HoCo Financial Times – you guys are the best!By J Moon, Treasurer

As of the end of August we are sitting right at 66% of our pledges accounted for. This is amazing! Obviously August is the eighth month of the year so 8 divided by 12 and you get 66%!

Normally, at this point in the year we are playing catch up, but you guys are the best! We are right where we are supposed to be on the income side of the ledger. This being said, on the other side of the ledger – the dreaded expense side – unfortunately we’ve had a tough year. As you will remember from my last write-up, we got hit by late winter low temperatures that dramatically pushed up our heating costs. On top of this we’ve had some unanticipated maintenance and accounting expenses. We clearly are leaner and more efficient today than we have been in years, but our deficit remains for now. I continue to believe that we can get into the “black” in 2016 if we all work together. Thanks for you all are doing to support Holy Comforter.

Martha Burford and Craig Anderson at Living Waters Summit

By Bruce MacAlisterThe headline in the Bay Journal, “Living Waters Summit starts key conversation between faith, conservation groups.” So how does the faith community play into stewardship of the Chesapeake Bay? “Tayloe Murphy, who spearheaded several clean water initiatives as a former delegate to the Virginia General Assembly and secretary of Natural Resources, put it in his own words: ‘I think the faith community tells us what we ought to do in relation to our environment. The science community tells us how to do it.’” (Bay Journal, November 20, 2013.)Two from Holy Comforter attended the Fall 2015 summit. Craig sat on the panel. Martha led the music. The stewardship reflected in the HoCo rain garden and in parishioners’ rain barrels is also reflected in public meetings that have political and cultural visibility.

Image from Google Maps

Image from the Virginia Pilot

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Yoga is now at Holy ComforterBy Mary Davis

“Atah yoganusasanam” is the first yoga sutra of Patanjali and its translation from Sanskrit is “now is the instruction of yoga.” Yoga is now at Holy Comforter. I am teaching a gentle yoga class at 2pm on Sunday afternoons in the Cary Montague room of the parish hall. The class has begun learning basic yoga asanas, or postures, such as Tadasana, mountain pose, and Virabhadrasana, warrior pose. We will add postures as the class continues on its journey into yoga. The class is for anyone who is interested in discovering more about themselves. It does not matter what experience students have had, if any; instruction in the modifications of poses is given through the use of props so that beginners and those with physical limitations can participate with ease. More experienced practitioners are welcome as well.I have been practicing yoga for 11 years. I received my teaching certificate from the YogaWorks studio in 2013 at the 200-hour level. In addition to the healing power of yoga, I believe that when we align our bodies in the yoga asanas, we are more able to clear our minds and align our hearts with the divine.Participants should bring a mat and a blanket for sitting and kneeling and a donation for each class helps to keep the lights and heat on for us. Ten dollars is suggested. Please join us for a fun and enlightening experience!

Racial Reconciliation Prayer & Book GroupThe Rev Dorothy White, Chaplain,

St Catherine’s SchoolThe greatest obstacle to productive racial dialogue is the erroneous assumption that even the phrase “Racial Reconciliation” emits the same understanding for each hearer. We err in putting the cart before the horse by not coming to a workable

understanding of what it means to be reconciled. My prayer is that this group is heading in that direction.The pain surrounding attitudes and beliefs about race leads me to believe that the most productive avenue to reconciliation is through prayer. As ordained leaders (vocational deacons and priests) of the Body, it is imperative that we keep our hearts yielded to God’s purposes in this endeavor.My background is rooted in witnessing the effectiveness of prayer in my day-to-day life. I have seen great changes in my heart as I learned to pray for people and not about people.

Our plan is to:

1. Come together for the purpose of learning and growing.

2. Pray together in hopes of strengthening the outcomes of meetings that will take place on this topic throughout the Diocese of Virginia.

3. Read and discuss one book per month such as:

• Waking Up White: Finding Myself in the Story of Race, by Debby Irving.

• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander.

We will share and pray about the views that surface in our discussions.

We will also view supplemental materials such as:TED Talk, The Danger of a Single Story, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Photo by George Collier

News of the Church of the Holy Comforter - Richmond, Virginia - 6

Joe Klenzman granted candidacy for ordinationAsked about his recent meeting with

the Bishop Suffragan, the Right Rev Susan Goff, Joe wrote this note.“Recently I received long awaited and prayed for news. After a meeting with Bishop Goff, I have been granted candidacy for ordination, additionally, the bishop has decided that when ordained a Vocational Deacon, I will be stationed at Holy Comforter. “Deacon Candidates from the Dioceses of Virginia and Southern Virginia will be ordained together on April 16 at Christ Church Glen Allen; there will be more details to come. Since we are the first cohort in the Deacon School it has been our wish we be ordained together. I can only imagine how difficult it was for the Diocesan staffs to find an opening in two Bishops’ schedules.“I have been given a home and a job in a beautiful mansion in the Kingdom of God, the Church of the Holy Comforter. This news is such a paradox. I am so happy I want to shout this news from the bell tower for all to hear. However, at the same time I am in awe of the great responsibility ordination brings; the chance to walk with you and lead you on our journey together, I want to whisper it. “Darlene and I want to thank you all for the loving welcome you have shown us since our first visit over a year ago. This speaks volumes about the people of Holy Comforter, or as one of my girls calls it “The Blessed Blanket”. “A special thanks to the Reverend Hilary Smith for the guidance and wisdom she has given me this year, as my supervising Priest. “Grace and peace, Joseph Klenzmann”

Medicine Bottles For MalawiTeenie Weenie Greenie for November

by Kipley HerrLandfills Do Not Need Medicine Bottles!

Anyone on prescription medicines finds themselves a bit uncomfortable when throwing away so many empty medicine bottles. It is obvious our landfills do not need these plastic containers! There is enough trash going into the landfills already.

Medicine Wrapped in PaperWhile first world nations throw away perfectly good medicine bottles, medical pharmacies and hospital facilities in Malawi often find themselves with nothing except torn pieces of paper in which to wrap medicine for their patients. This is often seen in rural hospitals and villages where the poorest of the nation try to live and survive. You can help to change this.

Please Remove the LabelsSave up a group of your containers when you have completed that portion of your prescription. Place them in boiling water until you are able to easily remove the labels, and the glue. Then box or bag them and send them to the Malawi Project for shipment to Malawi.

Safe and Out of Reach of ChildrenIt will help families in a third world country keep their medicines clean, out of reach of small children, and safe while they are being used.

Malawi Project Inc.3314 Van Tassel DriveIndianapolis, IN 46240

http://malawiproject.org/medicine-bottles-for-malawi/

News of the Church of the Holy Comforter - Richmond, Virginia - 7

CARITAS is coming to Holy Comforter December 12th thru the 19th

By Joe KlenzmanThis ministry of providing shelter, food, and companionship on cold winter nights in December has a long history at Holy Comforter. We expect to have approximately 40 women and children

staying with us. The planning has started but now your support is needed.

We had organization-kick-off meetings on September 29 where more information was available. We will have a meeting to cover loose ends on November 12. This is a group ministry not a one-man job so all your input and support will be greatly accepted from all.So many jobs need to be done to make our guests warm and welcome. I look forward to seeing you at the November 12th planning meeting; and remember to sign up early and often.WARNING: Volunteering can be so rewarding it will become habit forming.All the jobs are equally important and satisfying, however to help in the planning certain positions need to be filled first.

• Dinner Teams: These are organized groups – the vestry, a parish committee, a family, two or more people – who team up to prepare dinner for our guests. This includes planning, shopping and preparing the meal to be served. We have a couple of excellent parish-chefs to help with the menu planning. We want to give HoCo groups the opportunity to sign up before we invite outside teams in.

• Overnight Volunteers: These are usually two or three person teams tasked with spending the night, representing the church, preparing breakfast, distributing the lunches and securing the building.

• Showers and transportation: This person is tasked with arranging for a location for the showers and then getting a team together to provide transportation.

• Evening leader: This is the contact person for troubles such as absent or late volunteers, inadequate food or utensils, locked doors, etc. This person guides the volunteers in their tasks, is on call to fill in gaps and to be the liaison between Holy Comforter and the on-site CARITAS supervisor.

• Laundry servants: Our guests put their laundry in bags and these parishioners take the close home to wash, dry and fold them. Clean clothes mean so much to those who are homeless.

A little less formally, we need dinnertime help and lunch makers to help serve dinner, clean up afterward, and assemble lunches for our guests. We need people to just hang out and provide fellowship, to do laundry or to set-up and clean up.We will need help with donations of toiletries, socks, gloves, and hats, the essentials for surviving a Richmond winter. A Christmas tree or basket will be in the Narthex where people can donate items.

News of the Church of the Holy Comforter - Richmond, Virginia - 8

Church of the Holy Comforter, Richmonda parish in the Diocese of Virginia under the Episcopal Church in the USA which is part of the

worldwide Anglican CommunionMonument Avenue at Staples Mill Road

web www.hoco.org; e-mail administrator@hoco.org; phone 804-355-3251; fax 804-355-0049

Holy Comforter is a Christian community,engaging diversity, empowering through worship, and embracing the spiritual journey,

in our church and in our community and in the world,that all may be made whole and fully alive.

Coming Events at the Church of the Holy ComforterSee the inserted calendar page for detailed calendar and rota

Editing of the Messenger is done by Bruce MacAlister, the layout by George Collier.

The next Messenger will be available Sunday, December 6th, 2015.The deadline for that edition is Friday November 27th, 2015

Please send your submissions to editor@hoco.orgA full color version of the Messenger is available on the web site - www.hoco.org

• Sundays, 8:45am, Adult Formation, Hayward Parlor

• Sundays, Choral Eucharist, 10am• Sunday, about 10:15am, Children’s Chapel,

starts in the Church, moves to Parish House Chapel

• Food Pantry Hours:• First and third Saturdays, 11:00am to noon • First and third Tuesdays, 5:30 to 6:30pm

Hoco Birthdays for the month of November:Ian Hurdle, November 1; Edna Johnston, November 1; Jay Stearns, November 2; John Richardson, November 4; Katherine Raymond, November 4; William Smith, November 8; Robin Kranitzky-Hurdle, November 10; William Cullison, November 15; Brooke Plotnick, November 17; Grace Mewborn, November 19; George Collier, November 22; Judith Harris, November 23; Kimberly Chewning- McCarthy, November 26; Maury Hancock, November 27; Stuart Geipel, November 28; Dorothy Hall, November 28;