I would like to invite you all to see some of my ceramic, and sculpting work this Friday, January 2, 2009 at Chaos Art Gallery, 630 Virginia Ave. in Fountain Square, 6-9 PM.

This is an exhibit from junior and senior Herron students who want to show their work, I am excited to be a part of this exhibit.

The gallery is at the first red light south of Fletcher Ave. across the street from the BMV. College Ave is right at the corner, North of the interstate over pass. The building sits on a corner with a maroon awning over the entrance. Should you need further directions my cell phone # is 317-441-3931.

God's Peace,

Don A. Harris

Eugene Byrne, is a British journalist, author and historian who gives us some good background on well known English carols. It might surprise you to know that the much loved, nostalgic and often emotion-producing carols that are sung during the Christmas Season, have only been in use about 200 years in the English-speaking world.

Carols fell into disuse after the Protestant Reformation in England because they were considered ‘frivolous.’ Carols were rarely sung in Anglican churches until the 1880's when Archbishop of Truro (and later Canterbury) E.W. Benson drew up the now-famous format for the Nine Scripture Lessons and Carols Service which has remained popular in England and in other countries where the Anglican or Episcopal Church is located.

Silent Night, Holy Night, all is calm, all is bright...(# 111)
Probably the world’s most popular and beloved carol comes in several different translations from the original German. It started out as a poem by a priest in Austria, Fr. Josef Mohr in 1816.

Two years later Fr. Mohr was at the parish of St. Nicola in Oberndorf when he asked the organist and local schoolmaster, Franz Gruber to put music to the words. One legend has it that the church organ had been damaged by mice but Gruber wrote it to be performed by two voices and a guitar; it was first sung at the Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve in 1818. It’s popularity was such that it has been translated into 300 languages and famously played a key role in the unofficial truce in the trenches in 1914 because it was the only carol that both British and German soldiers knew.

Once in Royal David’s City stood a lowly cattle shed...(# 102)
Cecil Frances Humphreys was a Irish Anglican from Dublin. In 1848 she published a hymn book for children, a book of verse explaining the Apostles’ Creed in simple terms which gave us several famous Episcopal hymns. So to the question on who made the world, the answer was that the children would sing “All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small...” ( # 405).

The hymn she wrote, “Once in Royal David’s City stood a lowly cattle shed...” was the way children learned where Jesus was born. Children’s questions about death were answered with “There is a green hill far away, outside a city wall, where our dear Lord was crucified who died to save us all.” ( # 167).

Her book was a runaway ‘hit’ in Victorian England. “Once in Royal David’s City” was put to music by organist/composer Henry Gauntlett. Today, the hymn is used as the opening processional in the King’s College, Cambridge, Festival of Lessons and Carols, and in thousands of Episcopal and Anglican churches the world over, as well as being a popular carol for Christmas Eve Midnight Mass.

I grew up in the state that almost became Michigan and often passed through the town that almost became Detroit.

In the early years of the automotive industry, the two centers of innovation were Detroit and Auburn, Indiana. The latter gave America some of its early icons of motoring: the Cord, the Duesenberg and the Auburn.

As it happened, auto production settled in the Detroit area because the Great Lakes promised better transportation of raw materials. Auburn settled into life as a county seat town, now numbering around 12,000.

Despite Auburn's fade, Indiana became a major player in the auto industry. I grew up around assembly plants, component plants, parts suppliers, and the up-and-down lives of union workers. As the US auto industry craters, I can feel the agonies that automakers, auto suppliers, auto workers and auto towns are going through. They are losing more than jobs. They are losing an entire way of life. The very paradigm of existence in dozens of small cities is evaporating.

I don't have an informed opinion on whether Congress should bail out GM, Ford and Chrysler. But I do know some of how they got to the verge of collapse. They refused to innovate. They refused to adapt to the changing tastes of their costumers. They refused to accept a global paradigm shift in use of carbon fuels. They refused to slim down their payroll, especially in middle and upper management, and to speed up product development. They refused to learn from others.

Detroit's stubborn refusals have their mirror in every failing enterprise, including churches. In my consulting work, I often use Ford's obsession with the F150 truck as an example of what drags churches under.

For all of its problems, including tight finances, St. Bart's has avoided these stubborn refusals. Here the entrepreneurial spirit is alive. Innovation occurs, as do adaptation, right-sizing, "product" development, and sensitivity to a volatile marketplace. This isn't a quiet or peaceful place to be, as the world knows peace. But it is profoundly alive and "peace-filled," in the sense that Jesus meant.

As you know, this isn't an "easy" place to be a priest or a parishioner. Not only is the work hard for all of us, but the congregation's dedication to serving means engagement in the restless churning of a changing world.

But I'd rather go home unsettled from a church engaged than go home bored from a church asleep.

Fr. Ehrich, who is widely known for his syndicated column, is now on the staff of St. Bartholomew's in New York City, the famous landmark church on Park Ave.

To the People of All Saints:

Thank you for your generous donations to our Food Pantry throughout the year and especially your Thanksgiving Day ingathering for us. The good work of All Saints Episcopal Church has impacted the lives of hundreds of people living with HIV/AIDS and we appreciate all that you do to support our services.

We wish you a happy and healthy New Year and a Merry Christmas.

Lisa Howell
Manager, Housing & Client Enrichment
Damien Center

To the People of All Saints Church:

Thank you so very much for thinking of us in Brown County’s time of need.

So many people lost everything during the flooding. Your $1,000 donation will go a long way in helping those in this area who need the help most.

Judy Laffin, Outreach Chair
St. David’s Church, Bean Blossom

The statue of Mary with the infant Jesus is now back in one piece and Mary is standing 'upright.' There is still work to be done on the statue in terms of painting etc, so while the statue will not be back in time for Christmas Eve, we should have the image of our Blessed Lady in the Church by the end of January or before.

My thanks to Mr. Richard McCoy, of the restoration department at the IMA for his 'ingenious' work because the project was extremely delicate and involved careful applications of armatures (strengthing rods inside the statue, which it never had) and special 'high-tech' glues and adhesives. Mr. McCoy was assisted by our own Don Harris, who is an artist and was responsible for getting us the contact with the IMA through the faculty at IUPUI's art department. Thank you so much Don.

Some of you have inquired of me if the original hanging lamp with the blue glass will also be hung near the statue as it had been for many years. Yes, indeed it will. It has been carefully packed away in the sacristy.

— Father Steve

Well, we’re a couple of weeks late and there are still lots of pages we need to work on, but we’ve launched our new web design.

As you’ll notice, we have set up our navigation to conform to the volunteer categories outlined by the Stewardship committee and the Vestry. We hope that you’ll use the site specifically in those areas in which you already volunteer or have an interest.

And we’ve widened the appearance of the site to conform more to the horizontal aspect of modern computer screens. This should allow you to have a better viewing area without a lot of scrolling up and down.

This is your site. Your feedback is always welcome!