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Reflection: The Rev. Carol Ruthven

When I was a seminarian at The University of the South, in Sewanee, Tennessee, I prayed that I would be called to serve St. Andrew's in Lexington. As always, God answers prayers and I am blessed to be in my seventh year serving this remarkable parish. I was attracted to St. Andrew's by its radical diversity and inclusiveness. When I see the congregation of St. Andrew's I see the future of The Episcopal Church. If we as a national church are to thrive in the future, we must become diverse in every sense: in race, ethnicity, social-economic background, language, education, age, ability, sexual orientation, and theological leaning. 

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The Diocesan ECW offers matching grants to congregational ECW's to financial support their programs. ECW's can apply for funds to match either in full or in part the local ECW's contributions. Does your ECW have a project that you'd like help funding? Complete the application or call with any questions.

Junior High youth event for kids in grades 7-9. New Beginnings is a weekend full of fun, taking you through a discovery of: Who is God?, Who is God to You? and Who are you to God? This happens through making friends and sharing with old friends. The weekend is full of singing, skits, talks, games, worship, and conversations with each other.

Applications for United Thank Offering grants now available on the National Episcopal Church website: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/page/uto-grants

Deadline for submission to the National UTO office is February 28. Only online applications will be accepted.

The Diocese of Lexington has been blessed with many grants in the past. Ministries such as Reading Camp, St. Paul's Food Pantry (Newport), Camp Haven, A Moveable Feast and many others have benefitted from UTO grants.

Criteria for selecting grants will emphasize programs that address the culture of violence by supporting the mission of peace as expressed in the Gospel. This focus was inspired by the Five Marks of Mission.

If you are interested in submitting a grant request, be sure to read all the helpful information on the National Church website. You may also contact Diane Gabbard, Diocesan UTO Coordinator, at [email protected].

Malcolm Archer, Winchester College, United Kingdom, will join us on Sunday, January 26 for the 11:00am Choral Eucharist and the 4:00pm Choral Evensong with the Cathedral Choir. An Organ Recital with Stephen Price, Indiana University, begins at 3:30pm.

Malcolm Archer, Winchester College, United Kingdom, will join us on Sunday, January 26 for the 4:00pm Choral Evensong with the Cathedral Choir. Malcolm Archer is in demand internationally as a Composer, Conductor and Recitalist. Malcolm is currently the Director of Chapel Music at Winchester College in England, where he trains and conducts the Quiresters and Chapel Choir and teaches organ and composition in the College. An Organ Recital with Stephen Price, Indiana University, begins at 3:30pm.

For January's Science and Faith in Fruitful Conversation session we'll be watching and discussing the movie, "Transcendent Man". This documentary is based on the thoughts and writings of futurist Ray Kurzweil and focuses on the prolonging of human life (indefinitely?) and how advancements in artificial intelligence might change what it means to be human. Click here to go to the website for the film. Lunch will be provided.

The Rt. Rev. Addison Hosea Fund, established by the Episcopal Church Women to honor his life as a teacher and his great interest in education, awards grants for continuing education, special courses, or projects. The deadline for receipt of applications is February 1, 2014. Application forms may be found at diolex.org.

God Willing and the People Consenting The Right Reverend W. Douglas Hahn on behalf of The Right Reverend Berry L. Beisner and the Diocese of Northern California will ordain Chana Winger Tetzlaff to the Sacred Order of the Priests in Christ's One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church on the Feast of Saint Brigid. Your prayers and presence are requested. A reception will follow the service.

Clergy: cassock, surplice, white stole.

Denise Giardina has written five novels with a remarkable range of settings, themes, and richly drawn characters. Storming Heaven is set in her native West Virginia during the early 1900s, an era when the coal mines arrived and brought brutal changes. Powerful and gripping, the LA Times called it "brilliant diamond-hard fiction, heart wrenching, tough and tender." Storming Heaven was chosen as a Discovery selection of the Book of the Month club and won the W.D. Weatherford award. Its sequel, Unquiet Earth won the American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation and the Lillian Smith Award for fiction. Giardina is also the author of three other novels, including Saints and Villains, a fictional account of the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, which won the Boston Book Review Fisk Fiction Prize and was a semifinalist for the International Dublin Literary Award. Annie Dillard called Saints and Villains "a masterpiece . . .one of the handful of best books I've ever read."

Giardina has also published work in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Village Voice. The recipient of two Creative Writing Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Denise Giardina now lives in Charleston, West Virginia, is retired from West Virginia State University, and is an ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church.

A book-signing and reception will follow the reading. The event is free and open to the community-everyone is welcome!