The Rev. W. Bentley Manning Rector bentley@incarnationwnc.org

The Rev. Kellan Day Assistant Rector

Charles M. Banks Organist and Choirmaster charles@incarnationwnc.org

Teresa Hollingsworth Finance Administrator finance@incarnationwnc.org

Kirsten Huscusson Parish Administrator incarnation@incarnationwnc.org

Oscar Vanegas Sexton

JANUARY 2020

OUR MISSION STATEMENT: The Church of the Incarnation exists to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ through worship, love and service. As individuals and as a congregation, we dedicate ourselves to this purpose.

520 Main Street (corner of 5th Street)Post Office Box 729Highlands, NC 28741

Phone: (828) 526-2968

Web Address: www.incarnationwnc.org

A NOTE FROM OUR ASSISTANT RECTOR

In the Epiphany season, our hearts, along with the Magi, are drawn to the Christ child so that the Good News of Christ can spread to all people in all places. The Magi teach and model for us that what we find in our encounter with the Christ child can’t be kept to ourselves but must be shared and carried outward.

The coming of the Magi – or the three wisemen – to the baby Jesus is the inauguration of the Epiphany season. As the season progresses, we will watch Jesus be baptized in the Jordan, begin his ministry of

miracles and healing, and concludes with the transfiguration of Jesus. We behold the light entering the world more fully week by week by learning anew who Christ is for us and the world. The soft, quiet, and unexpected light of a newborn at Christmas becomes more radiant and clearer on the mountain of transfiguration by the last week of Epiphany. The light truly has overcome the darkness.

Epiphany is a time when we celebrate that Jesus came for all people in all places, not just for a select few. It’s a season that asks us to pay close attention to where Christ is in the world around us. In other words, the season of Epiphany helps us renew our focus on the church’s mission to “restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.”

How can we participate in Christ’s work of self-giving love in our surrounding community? In our own homes? In the world at large? In what ways can we refract Christ’s light?

At Incarnation, we have been going through some discernment concerning our outreach efforts. The Outreach committee, along with vestry members, have been pondering the questions: What does it mean to be the church of the Incarnation in Highlands? What are the needs of the surrounding community? How can we partner with Christ and our neighbors to help meet those needs? The conversation, thus far, has been fruitful, and I hope that our outreach efforts will be strengthened by our ongoing community reflection.

If you would like to be a part of these conversations in the coming months, please reach out to me (kellan@incarnationwnc.org). At the least, please join your prayer to ours that we may see Christ more clearly and respond as faithful neighbors to those in need in our midst. Through our prayers and our service, we hope that God’s love for the world may shine boldly and brilliantly.

Kellan Day

“Chalking the door” is a way to celebrate and physically mark the occasion of the Epiphany and God’s blessing of our lives and home. We will be handing out blessed chalk and prayer cards at our Epiphany Eucharist on Monday, January 6th.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR BLESSING THE HOME

Using the blessed chalk mark the lintel of your front door as follows:

20 + C + M + B + 20

While saying:

The three Wise Men, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar followed the star of God’s Son who be-came human two thousand and nineteen years ago. May Christ bless our home and remain with us throughout the new year. Amen.

Then offer the following prayer:

Visit, O blessed Lord, this home with the gladness of your presence. Bless all who live or visit here with the gift of your love; and grant that we may manifest your love to each other and to all whose lives we touch. May we grow in grace and in the knowledge and love of you; guide, com-fort, and strengthen us in peace, O Jesus Christ, now and forever. Amen.

CHALKING THE DOOR

Dear friends in Christ,

We are so blessed at Incarnation to both have a growing number of families attending and the generous support of the parish. Over the last 18 months, the church has invested resources in growing our children’s program, that will one day become a strong youth ministry program. The Vestry and leadership of the parish have channeled resources toward this integral and vital part of the parish-- enabling short-term growth and setting the parish up for strong programming in the future. In the past months, the church has added paid regular Sunday morning nursery workers that care for infants to three-year old children. These paid workers undergo background checks and Safeguarding God’s Children and are ready to welcome both out regular members but also our frequent guests. The nursery space itself has been cleaned, renovated, and is a lovely space for our youngest membership. One of the number one reasons families do not visit a church a second time is because of a poor experience

with the nursery. Incarnation is working hard to make sure that is never the case!

Additionally, the Children’s Chapel program continues to grow and deepen. Ministry Architects has been faithfully writing curriculum for the volunteer leaders to use each Sunday morning during the 10:30 AM service and we have added in “lead teachers” that take on teaching a month at a time while others rotate in and out and act as support. The Children’s Chapel volunteers have prioritized building relationships with the young people (4 years of age-5th grade), and their parents, and really learning their young stories. For example, when Midge Rothermel led in November, she made it a point to learn all the children’s baptismal anniversaries and even collected photos when available. We will keep those on display throughout the year (and add to it!). Additionally, the young people had a chance to identify their favorite saints and carry pictures of them into church on All Saints’ Sunday. We taught Advent through a program

called Godly Play that included lots of hands on activities as well as special outreach projects for our homebound parishioners, Eckerd and Chestnut Hill members. In November, the church hosted 13 children on a Friday evening while the parents were able to gather at the Rectory for a new tradition called Friendsgiving, a potluck dinner with lots of sharing and laughter. Several children signed up to deliver Thanksgiving meals to the community. We also held an Advent Small Group for mothers of younger children this December. Formation and education happen everywhere, and we are grateful for the support of the parish!

Please continue to pray for the young people of our parish, their families, and our dedicated and faithful volunteers. If you feel called to be a part of this story more deeply, let us know. It’s a holy and chaotic adventure!

Leslie Manning for the Children’s Committee

A NOTE FROM CHILDREN’S MINISTRY

“. . . but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” Matthew 19:14 (NRSV)

EDUCATION FOR MINISTRY

Incarnation’s Education for Ministry Class continues to meet every Monday September-June. A major objective of this program, which over 95,000 people have attended worldwide, is to reflect faithfully on our beliefs and principles so that our faith can be shaped into action as disciples of Christ. We do this by studying the Bible and reflecting theologically on a different topic each week. Our reflection on December 16th focused on how we experience the reality of God in our lives and what it means to put our trust in the one in whom we live and move and have our being.

Our Collect is the following poem The Avowal by Denise Levertov

As swimmers dareTo lie face up to the skyand water bears them,as hawks rest upon airand air sustains them,so, would I learn to attainfreefall, and floatinto Creator Spirit’s deep embrace,knowing no effort earnsthat all-surrounding grace.

CHRISTMAS CHORALE & RECEPTION THANK YOU!

A hearty thank you goes out to everyone who helped make this year’s Christmas Chorale performances and reception a success. We thank the singers who performed and give special thanks to Charles Banks for his performance on the organ.

Thanks to all who brought food for the Christian Chorale Reception on December 15th. One guest

commented, “This is the best reception we ever had, and I have been involved several years.”

Particular thanks go to Michael Lanzilotta, Dollie Swanson, Janis Erikson, Sylvia Greene, and Ruthie Oliver for their help with the event. The reception would not have been the outstanding event it was without their dedication and support.

GLORIOUS VISION A T A G L A N C E

•• We have raised $5.1 million in pledges

•• We have approx. $2.35 million cash in hand

•• We spent only $15,000 on campaign expenses

•• We’ve formed a building sub-committee

•• We’re in the process of hiring an ownerrepresentative

HIGHLANDS COMMUNITY

DINNERTUESDAY,

FEBRUARY 11TH

6:00 PM

We will be hosting a Community Dinner on Tuesday, February 11. Please mark your calendar and save some time to help us cook and serve as we share God’s grace. We’ll have a Valentine theme.

Our other 2020 Community Dinners will be on:

May 5th, August 4th, and November 3rd.

SHOP WITH A COPThank you to all who donated a coat for the Shop with a Cop event on December 14. We had plenty of warm coats to pass out to kids, and we had a wonderful time extending hospitality to the kids in this community. We are grateful to this parish family for its generosity in this season.

A NOTE FROM OUR HAITI

COMMITTEEIf it’s January a dental team will be going to Haiti. Nine people, plus Al Brady and Jane Chalker of Incarnation, will be in Cange and Tierra Muscady from January 22nd – 27th. Dr. Christopher Dyer and Dr. Jennifer Pierce will lead our group to care for many with dental needs. As always, donations of toothbrushes are essential for us to give not only to the patients, but also to their family members.

We will also take several suitcases of shoes the Highlands Rotary club collected for the abandoned children at Bon Sauveur Enfants, the orphanage in Cange.

“All things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.”

1 Chronicles 29:14 (KJV)

The church exists, in part to remind us that we are the stewards of our abundance, not the creators of it, and that God is the source of all creation. All that we have and are comes from God, and will one day return to God. For a period of time on this small planet, we are caretakers of a part of creation’s infinite bounty.

The Bell Tower Endowment was established to help preserve and maintain our building and grounds, which are a beautiful resource for the ministry of the Church of the Incarnation. When you give to the Endowment, you give to the future of that ministry. Your gifts help ensure that Incarnation’s light will continue to shine brightly in this community and in the world.

MANY THANKS TO RECENT DONORS:Heath Massey and John Mitchener

Janet Robbins

LEAVE A LEGACY

BELL TOWER ENDOWMENT

TRISH, JOBY AND ELI SANTORO

This new but dedicated Incarnation family has deep roots that go back to Trish’s childhood. Her father and both of her brothers served in the Marine Corps, her father in Vietnam and her brothers in Afghanistan. Her father’s career meant that her family moved to a new post every two or three years, but wherever they landed, her parents always saw that Trish and her brothers had an Episcopal church to attend. In Highlands, she, her brothers and her mother spent summers at the house of her grandfather, Dr. Thomas Parker of Greenville, SC, and attended church at the Summer Chapel in Horse Cove and Incarnation. Her parents, Joe and Pat Parker, moved to Highlands 1991 and have kept their ties with Incarnation, where family members have been baptized and married.

Trish, who earned a B.S. degree at N.C. Wesleyan College and an M.A. in Physical Education and Sports Administration from East Carolina University, left North Carolina in 2008 for entirely new territory, Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she worked and met Joby (Joseph). Joby, who holds a B.A. degree in Behavioral Sciences from the University of Mary, Bismarck, N.D., worked for State FarmInsurance. When the couplemoved to Highlands in 2013,Trish came “full circle” – alife of Highlands summersbetween Marine posts, a venture to Santa Fe, where shemet her husband, and a return to her roots in Highlands.Joby continued his career by accepting a position at StateFarm in Franklin, where he is currently employed.

Joby was baptized as a Roman Catholic, so the couple tried various Catholic churches in the area but could not find a fit. They were already dedicated Christians, but they also wanted inspiration and a feeling of involvement. When Trish saw a Halloween photograph featuring many children at Incarnation, she contacted her friend, Hilary Wilkes, who invited Trish, Joby and Eli, their son, to Incarnation.

Attending a service at Incarnation convinced them that they had found what they had been looking for

– what Joby calls “a living, breathing organization,”that radiates a “feeling that all people are involved.”Father Bentley adds to this sense of community. Jobysaid that Father Bentley is “driven by the Holy Spirit,which works through him.” Joby now feels that throughthe combination of Bentley and Kellan “the flameis lit,” and that “the entire congregation is drawn toevery word, every phrase” -- that people are “drawn toChrist” at Incarnation.

Trish and Joby quickly joined in by getting personally involved at Incarnation, which they call their “church family.” Joby helps to prepare meals in the church kitchen with Parish Life. Trish helps with the children’s chapel. Together with Eli, they like to attend the 8:00 am service in the summer because they enjoy the tradition of Rite I in the chapel. Eli, a First Grader at Summit Charter School, says that his favorite part of the service is communion, which he understands is partaking in “the body and blood of Christ.”

Trish loves mountain biking and has ridden her bike over most of Western North Carolina including many trails in the Highlands/Cashiers area. Because there

is no mountain biking club in Highlands, she rides mostly by herself. Joby and Eli (and Kellan and Kai, incidentally) enjoy climbing – a challenging and difficult sport at which Joby excels at and coaches on weekends in Franklin.

Beneath this couple’s impeccable manners is a deep and abiding love of Christianity, tradition, the outdoors and the same spirit of service and commitment that saw her father and brothers through successful careers in the Marines. As Joby aptly summarizes Trish’s family: “They are very successful at being dedicated” -- which is also true of Joby himself. They share the same spirit of service and commitment that they sensed in Incarnation’s broader faith community. This is a family that loves life and lives it to the fullest.

Trish, Joby and Eli Santoro, and Trish's parents, Joe and Pat Parker

VESTRY NOTESDecember 2019

Present: The Rev. Bentley Manning, The Rev. Kellan Day, John Barnhardt, Patricia Catchings, Cathy Crosby, Julie Farrow, Jean Head, Tom Holmes, Heath Massey, John Mitchener, Charlotte Muir, Bill Reeves, Nick Scielzo, Vernon Skiles

Absent: Suzanne Duggan

Jean Head opened the meeting with a devotion.

MINUTES – Tom Holmes moved to accept the October minutes. Heath Massey seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

FINANCIALS – John Mitchener updated the group on financials. The first payment has been made to Cram and Ferguson. The balance in the money market account is down compared to last month because money has been transferred to the Capital Campaign fund. The operating reserve is still healthy. Pledge and plate continue to be above the budget. Vernon Skiles moved to accept the financials as presented. Nick Scielzo seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

CAPITAL CAMPAIGN – Vernon Skiles updated the group on the Capital Campaign. The campaign

is currently in a dormant stage. The next meeting will be in February, and the next major task is to raise the balance of our goal. The law office of Parker and Poe in Charlotte have been hired to represent the church during construction. In addition, the group is creating a flow chart for communications.

ANNUAL STEWARDSHIP CAMPAIGN – Bentley Manning updated the group on the progress of the stewardship campaign. At this point we have received pledges of approximately $736,000.00. Bentley also clarified to the group that pledging is strictly confidential, and that the only persons privy to pledge amounts are the rector and Teresa Hollingsworth.

CHILDREN’S MINISTRY – Kellan Day reported that Incarnation will be utilizing resources from Ministry Architects through the end of January. Thereafter we will create our own curriculum.

MUSIC – Bentley told the group that Brittnee Siemon has stepped down as assistant choirmaster.

The January meeting will be January 20th at 3:00. Bentley will give the devotion.

NO CLASSES FROM DECEMBER 16 - FEBRUARY 29

(Sunday Morning Education, Bible Studies, Small Groups, etc.)

CHURCH OF THE INCARNATION • JANUARY 2020

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30 31

8:15 Morning Prayer

12:00 All You Give Is Love Prayer Shawl Ministry

8:15 Morning Prayer 12:00 All You

Give Is Love Prayer Shawl Ministry

8:15 Morning Prayer 12:00 All You

Give Is Love Prayer Shawl Ministry

8:15 Morning Prayer 12:00 All You

Give Is Love Prayer Shawl Ministry

8:15 Morning Prayer

8:15 Morning Prayer

8:15 Morning Prayer

10:00 Chestnut Hill Communion Service

8:15 Morning Prayer

8:15 Morning Prayer

12:00 Al-Anon

8:15 Morning Prayer

12:00 All You Give Is Love Prayer Shawl Ministry

8:15 Morning Prayer

4:00 Women’s Cursillo

5:30 Epiphany Eucharist

Burning of the Greens

8:15 Morning Prayer

2:00 Finance Committee Meeting

4:00 Women’s Cursillo

8:15 Morning Prayer

3:00 Vestry4:00 Women’s

Cursillo

8:15 Morning Prayer

4:00 Women’s Cursillo

10:30 Holy Eucharist Rite II

10:30 Holy Eucharist Rite II

10:30 Holy Eucharist Rite II

10:30 Holy Eucharist Rite II

8:15 Morning Prayer12:00 Al-Anon

8:15 Morning Prayer12:00 Al-Anon

8:15 Morning Prayer

12:00 Al-Anon

8:15 Morning Prayer

12:00 Al-Anon

8:15 Morning Prayer

8:30 Men’s Cursillo

1:00 Staff Meeting

8:15 Morning Prayer

8:30 Men’s Cursillo

1:00 Staff Meeting

8:15 Morning Prayer

2:00 Outreach Committee

1:00 Staff Meeting

4:30 Usher Training

8:15 Morning Prayer

1:00 Staff Meeting

2:00 Mot Wight Funeral

HAITI TRIP

HAITI TRIP

JANUARY BIRTHDAYS

JANUARY ANNIVERSARIES

Linda & Charlie Arnold – 1/2Elizabeth & Henry Salzarulo – 1/7

David Moore & Darren Whatley – 1/12

Tink & Neil Crawford – 1/26Anne & Frank Shimsky – 1/30Allen & Samual Murray – 1/31

Muffi Chanfrau – 1/1Sibyl Fishburn – 1/3Kay Hodges – 1/3Sarah Wallin – 1/3

Barbara Ramsay – 1/4Anne Jones – 1/5

Peg Brannen – 1/6Julie Farrow – 1/8Jim Meiring – 1/8

William Rockwell – 1/8Sylvia Pannell – 1/9

Andrea Chalker – 1/9Marilee Betor – 1/10

Linda Hughes – 1/12Rosemary Stiefel – 1/12Carol Mathews – 1/12Mary Hackett – 1/13

George Bujoreanu – 1/15Knox Massey – 1/16Neil Howard – 1/18

Priscilla Wodehouse – 1/18Sam Gassaway – 1/18

Will Garrett – 1/18Nancy Parker – 1/19Agnes DeHart – 1/20

Fredericka Flynt – 1/20Mary Ann Hardman – 1/20

John James – 1/21Alice Manning – 1/21

Barbara Gassaway – 1/24Christopher Latham – 1/25

Morris Williams – 1/25Virginia Noland – 1/25

Bill Grimes – 1/26Melanie Couch – 1/26

Cathy Fisher – 1/27Pamela McCrane-Harris – 1/29

Claire Harrington – 1/30Sandy Norton – 1/30

Mary Bentley Manning – 1/31

THE CHURCH OF THE INCARNATION520 Main Street; P. O. Box 729Highlands, North Carolina 28741-0729Phone (828) 526-2968Fax (828) 526-9290www.incarnationwnc.org

THE PARISH POST