I am reading Love Let Go: RadicalGenerosity for the Real World by LauraSumner Truax and Amalya Campbell.The book’s thesis is that “money canbuy happiness, … just as long as wespend the money on others.” I wasgoing to tell you about this book, butmy article this month took a major turnwhen Louise Bennett proposed text forme to use next Sunday (October 22),when we celebrate our food pantry’sfirst birthday. Louise’s work was such agreat example of “Love let go” that Iimmediately incorporated it into thisarticle, and am grateful that she let medo so.More than a year ago, on July 24, 2016,the Gospel lesson for that Sunday wasLuke 11:1-13. Jesus was teaching hisdisciples to pray, saying, “Give us eachday our daily bread.” I preached aboutthat and said I would like to give awaysome of our daily bread by beginning afood pantry here at Resurrection. Wehad an empty classroom downstairs, aspace to use in some new way foroutreach, but we didn’t have themoney or people for a food pantry. “Ordo we?” I asked.Turns out we had everything needed,starting with the heart to share our dailybread. That very week Hunger FreeAlexandria donated a refrigerator and—thanks to Christ Church Alexandria’sOutreach Minister—ALIVE! delivered itto our empty room. The leader of thefood pantry at St. Joseph’s RomanCatholic Church Alexandria pledged toalso run our pantry for three months.The leader of the pantry at Grace

EpiscopalChurchAlexandriapledged her expertise to help get oursgoing. Christ Church and ALIVE!provided food and helped us get aCapital Area Food Bank account.Working Together Alexandria designedand assembled the shelves and re-painted the room after Emily Ewing andLenore Funkhouser had made itpresentable. The other Region IVEpiscopal Churches provided food untilour food bank account came online.Meanwhile, volunteers and food beganappearing from St. Joseph’s, FirstChristian Church, St. James UnitedMethodist Church, and our ownchurch.Coincidences? I’ll let you decide. Afterfeeding almost 4,000 people this pastyear, I notice that Phyllis Johnson fromSt. Joseph’s is still leading our foodpantry as well as the one at her ownchurch. And each week she comeswith her husband Anthony Johnson,who is now seeking to become aRoman Catholic deacon. God hassurely blessed that couple for theirgenerosity of time, talent, and spiritgiven back to God and to God’speople.I look around our pantry and see a newrefrigerator, a freezer, new electricallines to keep those units powered, acity occupancy permit, and a wholearmy of people working together tokeep the pantry stocked with food.Continued on page 5

The Spire

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: P2 Senior Warden's Column, Resurrection Vestry and Staff| P3 Religious Art, November Birthdays | P4 Redevelopment Update

| P5 Pumpkin Season, Rector's Column continued | P6 Confirmations, Redevelopment continued| P7 Outreach Update, Community Garden Update | P8 Welcome AnnaMarie, Memes

Giving Ourselvesto OthersFrom our Rector, The Rev. Jo Belser

Newsletter of the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in Alexandria, VA

October 2017

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Think about when you arepreparing for a special meal atyour home. You use your finesttableware and you set everythingout just so. You might feel acertain satisfaction in thinkingabout the importance of how youare preparing for the event. Thismay give you an idea about howthe members of the Altar Guildfeel on Saturday and Sundaywhen they “set the table” for theupcoming Eucharist service.Members note the specialconnection to God felt by beingalone in the church, handling thechalice, paten and othercommunion equipment, andknowing that their actions help tofeed God’s people.At Resurrection the Altar Guildworks in teams, which meansthere is always someone there tohelp and share this special bond.If you are interested in learningmore about the Altar Guild, speakto Lori Thurgood. New hands arealways welcome!

Ministry FocusAltar Guild

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I pledge allegiance to the flag of theUnited States of America, and to therepublic for which it stands, onenation under God, indivisible, withliberty and justice for all.I’ve seen the tomb of ChristopherColumbus twice, in two differenthemispheres, sort of. I first saw his“tomb” on a high school Spanishclass trip to Puerto Rico. ColumbusPlaza is in Old San Juan and itfeatures a statue of ChristopherColumbus. It’s a good thing I went;my Spanish needed improving. Myclassmates and I thought this was histomb. It’s not. The plaza and thestatue commemorate Columbus’discovery of Puerto Rico.The second time I saw the tomb ofChristopher Columbus was in Seville,Spain as a college student. It’s insidethe cathedral there. The coffin issupported at each corner by a figurerepresenting the four kingdoms ofSpain (during his lifetime): Castile,Aragon, Navarre and Leon. Not onlywas my Spanish better on this tripbut subsequent DNA analysis saysthat Columbus is really in that tomb.Santo Domingo in the DominicaRepublic also claims to haveColumbus’ tomb. Those remainshaven’t undergone DNA testing, sowho knows who’s in there?What does all of this have to do withthe Pledge of Allegiance? A Baptistminister, Francis Bellamy, wrote thepledge in 1892 to commemorate the400th anniversary of Columbus’ arrivalin the Americas. It was published in apopular children’s magazine and wasadopted by public schools aroundthe country.The original version said: "I pledgeallegiance to my flag and therepublic, for which it stands, onenation, indivisible, with liberty andjustice for all." The 1923 National FlagConference changed the words to“flag of the United States of America”

to boost patriotism in the UnitedStates. It was also a subtle reminderto foreign born students that theywere now in the United States and tomake clear where their loyaltiesshould lie.In 1952 the Knights of Columbuspetitioned Congress to add “underGod” to the pledge. Several otherreligious groups supported the ideaand Congress passed a resolutionadding the words in 1954. PresidentEisenhower signed it into law on FlagDay, June 14. It was the middle of theCold War and it reminded citizensthat they were different from godlesscommunists around the world.Those two words proved to becontroversial. In 1943 the SupremeCourt ruled that saying the pledge ofallegiance and saluting the flag arevoluntary. Various other courts haveupheld that decision as recently as2015.It’s unfashionable now in some partsof the country to celebrate ColumbusDay. In some places it’s alsounfashionable to say the Pledge ofAllegiance. Whatever your feelings oneither, this Columbus Day, take a fewminutes to be grateful for our countrythat strives for “liberty and justice forall” even if we’re not there yet, andgives you the freedom of speech tosay the pledge or not.

I PledgeCoral Childs, Senior Warden

Resurrection StaffRector......................... The Rev. Jo J. Belserpriest@welcometoresurrection.org

Seminarian.......................... AnnaMarie Hoos

Parish Administrator............ John E. Hodgesoffice@welcometoresurrection.org

Bookkeeper........................ Mary Ellen Tibbs

Church Nursery....................... Margie Bayrer

Church Nursery............... Jennifer Davenport

Director of Music................. Deena Jaworski

Organist........................... Margaret Whitfield

Sexton.................................. Zewdi Taddese

Resurrection VestryAdult Education Ministry..........Karl Boughan

Outreach MinistryCo-Liaison............................Maureen Bryant

Redevelopment Committee/SeniorWarden.......................................Coral Childs

Congregational DevelopmentMinistry....................Florence Dennis-Huskin

Redevelopment Committee.........Mark Drake

CommunicationsMinistry.............................Barbara Eversman

Financial Management Ministry/Treasurer..........................................Ken Gay

Parish Care Ministry......................Linda Goff

Children and Youth Ministry.......Will McBeth

Fellowship Ministry...............Cindy Saltzman

Outreach Ministry Co-Liaison.......Bea Taylor

Building and Grounds Ministry/JuniorWarden.....................................Al Tiedemann

Redevelopment Chair/Register(ex officio).................................... Betsy Faga

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Giotto's Frescoes at the Basilica of St. FrancisKat Turner

The feast of St. Francis of Assisi(1182-1226) occurs on October 4. Inmany churches, includingResurrection, one Sunday near thisday is marked by the Blessing of thePets. To recap the well-known story ofSt. Francis, he was a wealthy manwho renounced his worldly goods andin 1209 founded the mendicant ordertoday known as the Franciscans tocare for the poor. He was canonizedtwo years after his death and PopeGregory IX immediately began workon a huge church named for the saint(below right). The building featuresboth an upper and lower basilica.Work on the two Basilicas wascompleted by 1259 although work onthe plaza and adjacent buildingscontinued for another two centuries.St. Francis’ remains were placed inthe basilica in 1230, but the exactlocation was kept secret because offears that his body would be stolenand the bones dispersed. The remainswere rediscovered in 1818 and placedin a crypt.The Upper Basilica features a cycle of28 frescoes depicting events in St.Francis life. The Sermon to the Birds(above right) is one of the best-knownof these frescoes. The Florentinemaster Cimabue painted the walls ofthe transept and the frescoes havegenerally been attributed to Giotto,who is considered one of the first trueRenaissance painters, breaking withthe stylized Byzantine approach tofavor a more realistic depiction of hissubjects. Although many still holdfirmly to the conviction that the frescomasterpieces at Assisi are the work ofGiotto because he was the bestknown naturalistic painter of the time,more recent scholarship indicates thatthey were actually executed by threedifferent artists, whose names areunknown.On the morning of September 26,1997, two earthquakes hit that region

of Italy in rapid succession, causingwidespread devastation to manyancient buildings. While a group ofspecialists and friars were inspectingthe damage to the Basilica of SaintFrancis, an aftershock shook thebuilding, causing the collapse of thevault. Two Franciscan friars who wereamong the group and two of thespecialists were killed. Much of thecycle of frescoes were slightlydamaged whereas those of thesections of the vault which collapsedwere almost entirely destroyed. Thechurch was closed for two years forrestoration before being reopened tothe public, but restoration work on thefrescoes is nearly continuous.

About The SpireThe Spire is the monthlynewsletter of the Church of theResurrection, describing thepeople of our congregation andour faith journey together. Ideasfor stories can be sent tokatturner@verizon.net. Thefollowing individuals contributedto this issue of The Spire:Rev. Jo BelserCoral ChildsBetsy FagaLea FowlieSusan WeberKat Turner, editorLenore Funkhouser, photosEllen Turner, layout/design

November Birthdays6 Lynn Hainge10 Peggy Green14 Sarah Kreger

F'Iona Didenko15 F'Lynne Didenko16 Peggy Tiedemann

Courtney Brinckerhoff17 Brooklyn Collins18 Rhys Carlson20 Lori Thurgood

Louise Bennett23 Francis Fosu

The Great Tuna Parade ofSeptember 17.

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Redevelopment - Plan to be EngagedBetsy Faga

Meetings – Meetings – Meetings;Progress – Progress – Progress.Those were the only words thatseemed to come to mind as I beganthis article. As many of you heardduring our Forum on October 1,Redevelopment Committeemembers have been involved in anendless number of meetings, and webelieve they are all helping ourproject to move forward. Here’swhat we’ve been up to.With the Diocese:In addition to Rev. Jo’s regularupdates on our project to Ed Jones,the Bishop’s Chief of Staff, weprepared for and met with theStanding Committee. Although theground lease had previously beenapproved by the Bishop andcommittee; we are requesting asecond round of approvals, becauseof a number of changes in it. Themeeting with the committee was thefirst of three planned to brief themand the Bishop on latestdevelopments. The first meeting wasa full briefing to be followed by ameeting with the Bishop and a finalpresentation to the committee inOctober for a vote.With the City:Project Plans: On September 8, AHCsubmitted the Development SpecialUse Permit (DSUP), the fourth set ofprogressively complex plans for theproject. Within three weeks, the Citysubmitted their comments on theplans back to AHC. The commentsare being carefully reviewed by AHCwho will submit the final plans inOctober based on the Citycomments.We are grateful to Goodwin Housefor supporting our request to joinCoordinated Development District#23 which allows us to moveforward on the required rezoning.BDAC: Our architect made a secondpresentation to the Beauregard

Design Advisory Committee (BDAC)on September 25. This is acommittee of Alexandria residentscharged with assuring any newconstruction within the BeauregardCorridor meets the standards of theBeauregard Design Guidelines.Significant design changes weremade following input from the firstcommittee meeting and fromGoodwin House residents. A specialthanks to those parishioners whoattended the presentation.Resurrection will host a thirdmeeting of this group, primarily forpublic comment, on October 23 at6:30 pm. Be sure to put the date onyour calendars. Your support isimportant.With AHC, our developer:The Redevelopment Committee andAHC worked diligently to negotiatethe ground lease that lays out theterms of the 65-year lease and whois responsible for what. We expectthe lease to be completed and readyfor signature by the time of theStanding Committee meeting onOctober 26.Betsy Faga and Kat Turner had anopportunity to have separate tours ofthe St. James property with AHCand other guests. The apartment isdue to open in April 2018. Betsytoured with Congressman Don Beyerand City officials from the offices ofPlanning & Zoning and Housing.Kat’s tour included Mark Jinks, theCity Manager. Both tours providedan opportunity to brief the visitorsabout the Resurrection project.With Cunningham Quill, ourarchitect:We are currently refining and gettingmore specifics into the churchdesign so it can be shared againwith the builder for an updatedpricing estimate.Throughout our briefings, it has beenimportant to highlight the change in

plans for the Beauregard Corridor.The original plan approved by theCity was to substantially change thecharacter of the neighborhood overthe next 20 - 30 years. As part ofthat plan, developers owning land onthe Beauregard Corridor agreed toinclude some 800 units of affordablehousing. The major property ownerin the Corridor has recently sold itsholdings to a new company, one thatapparently does not intend toundertake the new construction thatwould allow the city to negotiate anew affordable housingcommitment. Consequently, theimportance of our 113 units ofaffordable housing is even morestriking in a city that has lost 90% ofits affordable housing.Your Engagement:We value your involvementthroughout our process, but ask thatyou particularly focus onparticipating at the following times:• October 22 – Congregationalmeeting/update• October 23 – Beauregard DesignAdvisory Committee meeting• January 4, 2018 – Hearing beforethe Planning Commission• January 20, 2018 – Hearing beforeCity CouncilOther Key Dates:• October 20 – Submission of thefinal Development Special UsePermit (DSUP)• March 1, 2018 – Submission of thelow-income housing tax creditapplication to the Virginia HousingDevelopment Authority (VHDA.Please keep praying.• June 15, 2018 - Release of VHDAtax credit project approvals

Continued on page 6

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Giving Ourselves to Others, frompage 1I didn’t say in my “Our daily bread”sermon last July what I had told theVestry, “If someone steps forward tobe Resurrection’s internal FoodPantry leader, we will have a FoodPantry, but if they don’t, we won’t.” Iknew that there was a group of sixvery able Resurrection folks (Davidand Emily Ewing, Al and PeggyTiedemann, Kathy Parnell, andLouise Bennett), each willing to do apart, and that each would work hardto feed hungry people. But I alsoknew that without someone tocoordinate among all the entities thatwould be needed to acquire theresources our food pantry wouldneed, that function might fall toeither our Parish Administrator or tome, and we were already stretchedfar too thin.I am very grateful that LouiseBennett stepped forward saying,“Here I am, let’s feed hungrypeople.” And that Kat and SamTurner immediately jumped in to getPanera to donate leftover bread and

to get produce here via ALIVE! fromthe Del Ray Farmer’s Market. SharonWilliams and Al Tiedemann got usinto the Capital Area Food Bank.Ken Gay manages money. LindaGoff, Barbara Bancroft, MaureenBryant, Margaret Riccardelli, BetsyFaga, Lori Thurgood, and CarolynMcDonald, and probably others Idon’t even know about have joinedDavid, Emily, Al, Peggy, and Kathy,as the Monday-evening teams thatoperate the pantry on first, fourth,and fifth Monday evenings. Kat,Lenore, and Kathy are food bankshoppers, with assistance as neededfrom the Ewings and DickDeMeester. Bob Noé provides eggsand he, Dennis Jones, Betsy Faga,Kat and Sam, Robert Reeves, andDick have joined a team to get breadfrom Panera and/or food fromALIVE!. What I trust that each willhave discovered what the bookmentioned asserts, “that we exist tohelp others, and when we do this itbrings us joy.”I ended my sermon on July 24 lastyear by asking for your prayers thatGod would help us provide for our

community in whatever way God haspurposed for us. In the year past,God has been helping us feedhungry people. Receiving acommunity garden and a Girl Scouttroop (which is to say, Coral Childs,Carleigh Rockett, and her friends) tohelp us do so has been an addedjoy. God is good, and—don’t everforget—God provides everythingneeded to do what God calls us todo.Excellent work, Church of theResurrection. Pat yourself on theback while you roll up your sleevesfor food pantry year two. While youdo, though, I have a new questionfor us. Is the food pantry “it,” themission God is ultimately calling usto do? Or is our food pantry thelesson God is using to show us thatwhen we listen to God, give back apart of the time, talent, and treasureGod has given us, and put thoseparts all together, we canaccomplish truly audacious things inthe name of Christ? Because each ofus has something fantastic to give,ourselves. How will you give yourselfto God in the year ahead?

It's Pumpkin Season AgainSusan Weber

Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill’sPumpkin Patch is once again open,October 1-31, 10am-8pm daily. Thisis the 24th year of operation. And the“Patch” not only sells pumpkins ofall sizes, but gourds, home-madesoups and baked goods.The pumpkins are grown on theNavaho Indian Reservation in NewMexico and are consigned nationallyto 1300 churches, includingImmanuel. The project benefits theIndian Reservation as it creates over300 jobs.The sale is managed and staffed byparishioners. They unload the two18 wheeler trucks that deliver thepumpkins, staff the “Patch,” andmake the extra “goodies” they haveon sale along with pumpkins. 100%

of the profits are distributed to 30causes.Guidelines to determine what causeswill be supported in the coming yearinclude:• Tax exempt status• Reflection of goals and values ofthe Parish• Plan to fulfill a clear needeffectively• Evidence the funds will be useddirectly for the intended need• Immanuel is joined with othercontributors in the effort• Special consideration for thoseprojects with opportunities for parishmember involvementLocal charities include ALIVE!,

Carpenter’s Shelter, CommunityLodgings, Child and Family NetworkCenters, Hopkins House, LazarusMinistry, Offender Aid andRestoration (locally based), andSenior Services of Alexandria.International charities include theHaiti Micah Project, HeiferInternational and Five Talents (aprogram that fights poverty, createsjobs and transforms lives byempowering the poor in developingcountries through innovative savingsand microcredit programs, businesstraining and spiritual development.)More information can be found onthe ICOH website, which providedthese details. GO Pumpkin Patch!Be sure to buy your pumpkin at theImmanuel Church-on-the-Hill sale!

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I know I am showing my age when Isay I remember the Carole Kingsong One Fine Day that wasrecorded by the Chiffons in 1963. Orperhaps you prefer to say youremember the version that Kingherself recorded in 1980. Or maybe,if you are younger still, youremember it from the 2005 movieThe Wedding Date. The openinglyrics go like this:

One fine day, you'll look at meAnd you will know our love was

meant to beOne fine day, you're gonna want

me for your girl.For some reason that song was myearworm on Sunday, September 24.Maybe it was the beautiful blue skyor the feeling that this might be thelast summer weather weekend. Butas I walked into Grace EpiscopalChurch that afternoon, I couldn’thelp but think, “Yes, it was one fineday.”The reason that more than 200 of uswere gathering at Grace was thatBishop David Jones was celebratingat a service that would include 2baptisms and 19 confirmations.Additionally, 5 individuals werereceived into the Episcopal Churchand another reaffirmed her baptismalvows. One fine day, indeed!And it was an especially fine day for

Church of the Resurrection, as thosein attendance stood to present ourcandidates for confirmation: BelindaAshitey, Bernice Ashitey, DevynCarlson, Rhys Carlson, AmyMedrick, Ethan Medrick, andCarleigh Rockett. We joyfullywelcomed into our faith LinseySchmid and Anne Stephens.It seems hard to believe, but theconfirmations of these 7 individualswere the first youth confirmationsfrom Resurrection in about twodecades. We know that we are amostly “mature” congregation, so itgave us great joy to see these youngpeople make a sincere and seriouscommitment to their faith.The service was notable for anotherreason; it was bilingual in recognitionof the participation of La Gracia,Grace’s Spanish languagecongegation. Bishop Jonesmasterfully (and the congregationsomewhat less so!) toggled betweenEnglish and Spanish for the prayers.We were also proud to see ourmultilingual former priest associatethe Rev. Fanny Belanger as anintegral part of the Spanish portionof the service. And we werevariously amused, puzzled, and/oruplifted by the presence in theservice of a thurifer, an acolyteswinging a censer with incense.

And even though the service was notheld at our own church, I couldn’thelp but be pleased that therecessional hymn was one that Ihave always closely associated withResurrection, Lift High the Cross. Itwas a privilege to be present to seethese 9 members of our communitytheir “love of Christ proclaim.”

One Fine DayKat Turner

Redevelopment, from page 4• On or about November 1, 2018 -Church of the Resurrection vacatesthe property• April 2019 - Final constructionpermits and financial “settlement”• End of 2019 - Construction begins• Early 2021 - ConstructioncompletedPlease keep praying.

The November issueof The Spire willcover this year'sblessing of theanimals!

Some of Resurrection's September24 stars: Rhys Carlson betweenBernice and Belinda Ashitey, AnneStephens, Carleigh Rockett andRev. Jo. Missing from the pictureare Amy Medrick, Ethan Medrick,Linsey Schmid, and Devyn Carlson.

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On September 30, Resurrectionhosted another children’s bookgiveaway during the ALIVE! LastSaturday Food Distribution. Thanksto the work of Frances Barnett, EmilyEwing and Susan Weber some 700books had been carefully sorted intoage-appropriate sections to make iteasier for children to identify thebooks they wanted. As usual, thisevent brought smiles to the faces ofboth children and parents and 512books went to new homes.The tuna drive reached (well, actuallyexceed by more than 15%) its goalof 3000 cans before the end ofSeptember, allowing the drive to endearly. The tuna was blessed onOctober 1 thanks to the efforts ofmany parishioners to move the tunafrom Rev. Jo’s office to the altar andthen to the food pantry, where thecans will be distributed to hungrypeople.And speaking of the food pantry, as

this outreach program movestowards it first anniversary at the endof October, more than 3600 peoplein 1100 families have been served.Because the food pantry has both arefrigerator and a freezer tocomplement its shelves for dry food,we are able to offer items such asmeat, produce and eggs that areordinarily not available through foodpantries. The food pantry is stockedby donations of produce from theDel Ray Farmers’ Market and ourown community garden (seeseparate article), donations of breadand pastry from Panera, food fromALIVE!, donations from a number ofsupporting churches, purchased drygoods and meat and free producefrom the Capital Area Food Bank,and, of course, donations from ourown parishioners, of whom a scorealso provide volunteer shopping andstaffing support for the pantry. Talkto Louise Bennett if you’d like tohelp.

What’s next on our outreachcalendar? The nip in the air thatsignals arrival of fall should tell youthat it’s time for our Warm WinterDrive, which Carolyn McDonald isheading this year. Coats, jacketsand other warm winter wear will becollected and contributed throughthe 17th annual Share the Warmthprogram sponsored by Bergmann’scleaners and the Salvation Army.And, don’t forget new and gentlyused toys will be distributed atALIVE!’s Last Saturday FoodDistribution on December 9. AskJudy Schramm how you can help.

Outreach Update

In January 2017, Cadette Troop4737 asked Church of theResurrection if we could recruitsome volunteers and convert theformer playground area into agarden to raise vegetables for theLazarus West End Food Pantry. Weplanned to start with 4 raised bedsbut our volunteer helpers had otherideas.Volunteer Alexandria is a nonprofitthat helps Alexandrians give back tothe City through volunteering. Theyprovide connections betweenvolunteers and nonprofits or Cityagencies needing assistance andsponsor an annual CommunityService Day. Volunteer Alexandria“adopted” our garden as one of theirprojects.Volunteers from Home Depot, HoarConstruction, and VT Systems built

18 raised beds, pulled weeds, andtrimmed the shrubbery. Boy ScoutTroop 2005 helped us put the raisedbeds in place and move mulch.Church of the Resurrection membershelped us fill the raised beds andmove even more mulch.We also applied for a grant fromHunger Free Alexandria to help uswith our project. They awarded ourproject $500 in May. We used thegrant money to purchase tomato,cucumber, pepper, green bean, andsquash seedlings, and a gardenhose among other things.We spent our summer watering andwatering some more. We also foughtthistles and other weeds (we’re stillworking on that). A deer ate most ofthe bean plants and some of thetomatoes too. But we havechipmunks and squirrels in addition

to gold finches, cardinals, blue jays,and black capped chickadees.Best of all, we have vegetables! Weharvested our first vegetables for thefood pantry in August: tomatoes,cucumbers, and green beans. Weadded squash in September. Thankyou to everyone who has helped ourproject along the way.Troop 4737

Community Garden BloomsCoral Childs

2280 N Beauregard Street | Alexandria | VA 22311T: 703-998-0888 | E: office@welcometoresurrection.org | www.welcometoresurrection.org 8

From Episcopal Church Memes

AnnaMarie Hoos is our newseminarian, and we are so pleasedto welcome her to Resurrection. Sheis from the Diocese of California, andher sending congregation is St.Gregory of Nyssa in San Francisco.A California native, she grew up inLos Angeles. She attended BaylorUniversity in Texas, where shestudied English Literature and WorldAffairs. After college, she spent ayear working at a retreat center onIona, an island off the west coast ofScotland, where she encounteredcreative, lay-led liturgy andprogressive Christianity.AnnaMarie encountered theEpiscopal Church at GraceCathedral soon after she moved toSan Francisco. During her time thereshe mentored Education for Ministryand led a group dedicated toBenedictine spirituality. She joinedSt. Gregory's in 2003. There she ledcontemplative evening worship andan inter-generational "dinnerchurch," as well as teaching GodlyPlay.

Before coming to seminary,AnnaMarie worked as theCommunications and ProgramPlanning Manager at GraceCathedral, and before that sheworked in operations for theAmerican Red Cross. She alsoenjoyed working at a local farmer'smarket on Saturday mornings. She isan Associate member of the IonaCommunity and a workshoppresenter for Music that MakesCommunity. She enjoys cooking,canning, singing, reading, travel,museums, and movies.While at Resurrection, AnnaMarie isinterested in learning the usualthings a seminarian must learn:preaching and how to lead worship.Plus, she is interested in learninghow to go about leading aredevelopment effort. So Rev. Jo isvery grateful that Coral Childs will beAnnaMarie's lay committee chair.We are delighted to have AnnaMariewith us this year as the Rev. SharonWilliams, who was originallyscheduled to be with us this year,

was directed by her Bishop to goelsewhere "to learn how toadminister a more traditional parish,"by which he meant, one that doesn'tplan to move anywhere in the nearfuture. To which Rev. Jo says,"HARRUMPH!"AnnaMarie reports that when fellowseminarians ask where she isserving and hear that it is atResurrection, the responsefrequently is, “Oh, that’s the dyingchurch.” What? Obviously theyhaven’t been here lately! We willcount on AnnaMarie setting therecord straight back on the Holy Hill!

AnnaMarie Hoos Joins Resurrection