Celebrating the Ordination of Mario Sandoval into the Priesthood

The Rev. Mario Sandoval (center) with (from left-right) the Rev. Julie Tilton, the Rev. Jedd Trenum, the Rev. Scott Bailey, the Rev. George Beaven, the Rev. Andy Terry, the Rt. Rev. John A. M. Guernsey, the Rev. Meg Phillips, the Rev. Dr. Tom Herrick, the Rev. Jessica Hughes.

News from a Church Plant!

By Amy Rowe 

Worship, welcome, and wonder...beyond our walls

From our very earliest prayers and daydreams about this little project called Incarnation Anglican, one thing was certain: this would be a church that looked outward. Those first daydreams were taking place at a time when our nation was enacting travel bans, drastically limiting refugees, and grappling with racial violence. Amidst this climate, how could Incarnation be a place of welcome? This question was always in the back of our minds as we prayed and listened and did the work of church planting. 

That's why we wanted to be rooted along Columbia Pike, amongst neighbors with a diversity of experiences, languages, and skin colors. It's why we sing in different languages and styles. It's why we are always encouraging people to "do stuff; invite people" and why we have SO many easy, casual events where you can invite friends and neighbors, usually with food (summer soccer, jam sessions, mini-vacation, monthly potlucks, and more). 

It's why our first season of small groups were Common Tables--intentionally outward-facing groups designed to welcome neighbors to our tables. And why our second small groups were Dinner & Dialogues--a way to invite those neighbors to a non-threatening conversation about faith using the Alpha course. 

It's why we preach about sowing seeds, about always "going," about extending a wide-open welcome to all who are on the margins. It's why we prayer-walk our neighborhoods and clean our local stream and host conversations about hard topics. It's why, not even a year into our life together, we sent a team across the ocean to do the same kinds of things with friends in West Asia. 

And it's why we give away 10% of our offering each year to work outside our four walls.

As we approach the end of our first year together, the time has come to make decisions about where that money would go (some was already spent on the Alpha course and the West Asia trip). Through prayer and planning and discussion, we've decided to focus our outreach spending on four core areas that reflect the interests and convictions of our congregation: Justice & Mercy; Evangelism & Church Planting; Refreshing the Workers; and Creation & Beauty. Want to know more about these areas? Email me (amy@incarnationanglican.org)!

And so, we've decided to give from your generous offerings this year toward the following ministries, who are extending the mission of worship, welcome, and wonder far beyond the walls of Incarnation.

Local

• Restoration Immigration Legal Aid, providing free legal aid to asylum seekers. We've already supported RILA with meals and transportation and a winter coat drive.   
• Anglican Immigrant Initiative, providing emergency relief for adult and child migrants in detention centers at the Texas-Mexico border.
• L’Arche, family-like communities of people with and without intellectual disabilities (two of which are our neighbors in South Arlington).  
• The Matthew 25 Initiative, a fund that helps churches reach the most vulnerable in their communities.  
• Great Commission Committee, the church-planting body of our diocese, which helps new churches (like ours!) grow and reach people who feel far from God. 

Global 

• Anglican Relief and Development, which provides funds to relief and development projects around the world. We've already supported them this year through our Shrove Tuesday offering and our Lent offering.  

We love supporting friends doing good work here in Arlington and around the world. We love that our little church cares and prays and pays attention. And we love your generosity that makes it all possible.

Amy Rowe is the Executive Pastor at Incarnation Anglican in Arlington, VA.

God's Presence in Our Pain

Sept. 14, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Falls Church, VA

By Lori Smith

“Jesus is here and He is loving you,” Bill said to me as I began my retreat out at Corhaven several years back. It was a message I couldn’t fully embrace yet. I knew God loved me, I’d known that for as long as I could remember.  BUT … there had been so much pain and so much loss over more than a decade of chronic illness.

And even though I’d seen God show up in the midst of my journey in remarkable ways, I wondered, “Really?  Is He really here loving me? And what exactly has He been doing all these years?” Mostly, I was grieving and in pain.

If you’ve ever been there, if you’ve ever felt abandoned by God, I hope you’ll come join us for a day-long retreat, “God’s Presence in Our Pain,” on September 14 at The Falls Church Anglican.

Read more about this opportunity and register here.

 
Coracle exists to inspire and enable people to be the presence of God in the world by offering spiritual formation and Kingdom action. 

Coracle Fellowship Program

"Save One"

Have you been impacted by your own abortion or that of a loved one? A 12-week “SaveOne” post-abortion healing Bible study is being offered this Fall for men, women and teens seeking healing from an abortion, whether it occurred recently or long ago.  

Meetings will be held Monday nights, Sept. 16-Dec. 9, from 7-9 p.m. on the third floor of The Falls Church Anglican offices, (6565 Arlington Blvd, Falls Church, VA). Confidentiality is a respected priority.  

While no registration is required, the class will close after the Sept. 23 session. A study book will be available for $10 at the first class.

For questions, please leave a voice mail or email: Emily Giacomini at 571-282-0210 or by email TFCASaveOne@gmail.com.

Pilgrimage to the Holy Land

By The Rev. Dean Schultz

"I was glad when they said to me,
"Let us go to the house of the Lord!"
Our feet are standing.
Within your gates, O Jerusalem."
(Psalm 122:1-2)

Throughout Judeo-Christian history, pilgrimages have provided God's people with extended times for spiritual refreshment, growth, and direction. The Jewish people made three pilgrimages per year to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. Likewise, Christians over the centuries have journeyed "home" to the Holy Land to connect with the ancient roots of our faith.

The opportunity to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land unfolded for my wife (Glorianne) and me seven years ago when we were invited to join an Anglican pilgrimage group. As we walked in the footsteps of Jesus (not to mention the Old and New Testament saints), the Bible came alive in technicolor before our very eyes. The experience was so impactful that we began to offer a pilgrimage through our ministry with Worship Equippers for Christ so that we could share this life-transforming experience with Christian friends! 

This coming January, we will lead our sixth pilgrimage group to The Holy Land. If you have desired to visit the Holy Land but were waiting for the right opportunity, I would like to invite you join me and our Faith Pilgrimages team for an 11-Day Pilgrimage to “Walk in the Footsteps of Jesus", January 20-30, 2020. This unique worship encounter is designed to help make the Bible "come alive" through insights shared by our experienced Israeli-based Christian guides, life-transforming times of biblical teaching, prayer, praise and ancient liturgies from the newly released Book of Common Prayer accompanied by the Davidic instruments of the Psalms, delicious Israeli cuisine, and first-class accommodations! 

To download our introductory brochure and other information, please go to worshipequippers.org. It's essential that you register at your earliest convenience to reserve your place on the pilgrimage given that we need to finalize our travel arrangements by the beginning of October. After reviewing our introductory materials, please feel free to contact me at DSchultz@worshipequippers.org or call our office at 703-297-8139 if you have any questions.  

May our Good Shepherd give you wisdom as you prayerfully consider joining us for this pilgrimage of a lifetime! +

The Rev. Dean Schultz is the Associate Rector of Church of the Holy Spirit, in Leesburg, VA; and serves as the Founder and Executive Director of Worship Equippers for Christ.

 

College and High School Students and Jesus’ Great Commission

Rock the World’s REMIX/PREmix Student Missions Conference

“I was afraid REMIX would be ‘missions dumbed down’ for high schoolers. Boy, was I wrong!”   
– High School Junior

This year's REMIX conference is September 27-29, 2019 at Ridgecrest NC, dovetailing with the New Wineskins conference and their extraordinary speakers & workshops. One new feature: The day before REMIX we have a 24-hour event for Missionary Kids and other “Third Culture Kids” called “PREmix.” We plan to serve these MK/TCK students in ways suited to their particular interests and needs. Also, this year’s event is co-sponsored by ANCA’s Young Anglicans network.

God consistently honors us with His powerful presence at REMIX. Students in college and high school are equipped to experience and express the Kingdom, and many experience a new or fresh sense of God's calling on their lives. In a world that desperately needs Jesus, REMIX offers an emphasis on those people groups who still remain "uninvited." Globally speaking, most of those who don’t know Him live in the 2/3rds world (developing nations); they live in cities; they are poor — and overwhelmingly, they are young. Even in our own country each succeeding generation knows less and less about Jesus. Reaching the nations and the generations are both vitally important.

The Rev. Whis Hays, Rock the World’s Executive Director says “That’s why we focus on loving God and taking Jesus both to the nations and to younger generations. God’s heart of love propels us to share His love with the young, the poor, the oppressed, and the lost, here and to the ends of the Earth.” Please join Rock the World on the adventure this year as Deep calls to Deep at REMIX!

Please find out more about our extraordinary speakers, our gifted 21-year old MK/TCK worship leader, and more. Please register ASAP at www.rocktheworld.org/remix. Ridgecrest is running out of rooms!

Healing Prayer Class: Wholeness in Christ

Path through the Wilderness

Baltimore, MD & Northern Virginia
 

 
Regeneration is accepting applications for Path through the Wilderness through the end of September. It is a 26-week Christ-centered program for those seeking wholeness in the areas of sexuality and relationships. To submit a program application or for more information, visit our website or contact us by calling 703-591-4673.

"Being a human can be messy. Each of us is physical, emotional, relational, sexual, and spiritual. We carry past stories and future hopes."

America: A Four-Hundred-Year Experiment on the Black Family

Sept. 21; 7-9 p.m.
Truro Institute
Fairfax, VA



Esteemed Harvard Sociologist Dr. Jacqueline Rivers will deliver a lecture on “America: A Four-Hundred-Year Experiment on the Black Family.” The lecture will take place at Truro Anglican Church, commemorating the launch of the Truro Institute!

Dr. Rivers is a Harvard sociologist and recognized world authority on the black church and family in America. Her address, “America: A Four-Hundred-Year Experiment on the Black Family,” is in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the slave trade in North America, which began in the Anglican Colony of Jamestown. Dr Margaret McCarthy of Catholic University of America and Mr. Brent Orrell of American Enterprise Institute will respond to Dr. Rivers address, modeling the kind of civil discourse and disagreement for which the Institute advocates. This lecture is open to the public and all are welcome to what is going to be a truly inspiring evening.

Read more and reserve your spot today on Truro's website.

The Mid-Atlantic Messenger