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Practicing Heaven Here and Now: The Book of Revelation and a vision for life in our time (not the end time!)

Featuring the Very Rev. Dr. Michael Battle, Director of the Desmond Tutu Center in New York City

How do we practice heaven together? The Very Rev. Dr. Michael Battle contends the book of Revelation is a hopeful call for our own time to bring heaven on earth in beloved community—not merely a perilous vision of end times. Join our guest speaker as he connects our contemporary struggles with the ancient Book of Revelation and the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Archbishop Desmond Tutu and others.

As St. George’s continues its ministry of welcome for all in a spirit of healing and reconciliation, we are excited to welcome the Rev. Battle as our Lenten weekend speaker in 2018. We hope his presentations will help us grow closer as neighbors who want to see God in each other and work together to make God’s dream a reality on earth.

The Rev. Dr. Battle is widely known in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. The author of nine books, he was ordained by Archbishop Desmond Tutu in 1993. He currently is a professor and Director of the Desmond Tutu Center at General Theological Seminary in New York. His latest book (2017), “Heaven on Earth: God’s Call to Community in the Book of Revelation,” contends that Revelation is a hopeful call to bring heaven on earth, not a frightening vision of the end times. Learn more about him at www.michaelbattle.com.

Schedule (session titles coming soon):

• The Rev. Deacon Ed Jones, Diocese of Virginia (Moderator)
• The Rev. Joe Hensley, Rector, St. George’s Episcopal Church
• The Rev. Aaron Dobynes, Pastor, Shiloh Baptist Church (Old Site)
• The Rev. Catherine Hicks, Rector, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church (Port Royal)
• The Rev. Elizabeth Dowdy: Chaplain, Mary Washington Hospital

Register now!

Thank you to everyone who has allowed their names to be considered for our 2018 vestry! The vestry is our parish council of lay persons, elected by other active members of the parish, who, with the Rector, have responsibility for the care and control of church property and the transaction of the business of the congregation. At St. George’s, the vestry is also a group that helps the rector, other clergy, staff, and commissions to discern and carry out the vision of where God is calling us as a congregation. There is “business” to which they must attend, but there is also a lot of joyful sharing and growing in faith and love. As your rector, I hope that vestry members will see their service as a holy ministry and an opportunity to be part of listening for God’s guidance for our parish.

Vestry members are elected to three year terms. The “election” of vestry members is not a popularity contest nor a political campaign. For the election, the Episcopal Church requires those who vote to be enrolled adult (16+) members of St. George’s who are faithful in giving and worship attendance. As you consider for whom to vote, pray for God’s guidance and grace. We hope to collectively discern whom God is calling to this ministry for the next three years. Consider not only “qualifications” but more importantly a sense of “vocation.” We are not looking for “the best” persons. We are looking for those whom God will use in this particular way to further our mission as a church.

– The Rev. Joe Hensley, Rector of St. George’s

Parish Annual Meeting and Vestry Election

Sunday, December 10

Gathering at 10:00 a.m. in Sydnor Hall open to all. Reflect on the blessings of the past year and dream about new opportunities before us. Voting for vestry members will take place at each of the Eucharist services on Sunday.

Proposed Meeting Agenda

Vestry Nominees

Read their bios below.

Janice Brunson

Janice was raised a “sporadic Unitarian” but didn’t really connect with a church until some friends encouraged her to try St. George’s in 2001, and she and her family were baptized and confirmed here in 2002. Janice has been active as a greeter and in the Fredericksburg Beloved Community, worked with the Youth in Global Community Group, and is starting a refugee support ministry at St. George’s. She’s also the Honduras Mission Team Leader and helped chair the World Mission Commission for 8 years. She has served on the vestry previously, as well. Janice has worked in public education for almost 30 years and is also a yoga instructor.

She draws an interesting parallel between yoga and her faith practice: “breathing together as we sit in the pews and sing, the chant-like qualities of the prayers and Taize, the moments of listening in silence, and the prayers of the people,” she notes, are very much like meditations of intention. On being a St. Georgian, she writes, “The openness and inclusivity of St. George’s speaks to my heart, and is the epitome of what a church community should be. I also appreciate the connection and continuity between ourselves, others throughout the world who are repeating the same prayers in different languages, and all those who walked the path to St. George’s before us.”

Janice most often attends the 9:00 a.m. service.

Sheryl Stroud Bryant

Sheryl was raised Episcopalian and has been at St. George’s for 18 years. She and her blended family of “Stroud Bryants” (seven kids, four of whom are in college at the moment) have all been active here in that time. Among the ministries she’s actively working on at any given moment: The Table at St. George’s, Youth in Global Community, the Haiti Mission Team, the Shrine Mont Committee, Prayer Shawl Ministry, and One Body Response Team.

She has a BFA in graphic design, which she’s put to use at St. George’s many times. She has been a huge help in documenting many of the events and mission trips of the church with her great photography skills. She describes herself as “a creative person, spiritual, a feminist and a yogi, an entrepreneur and open-minded.” She’s ready to serve in the vestry, she writes, because the support she has received from St. George’s far outweighs what she has given.

Sheryl most often attends the 9:00 a.m. service

Terry Dorn

Terry has been an involved parishioner since he first walked in the door of St. George’s, and considering that was in 2016, he’s been busy! He was instrumental to the process of overhauling our HVAC system in November, and helped develop the plant-based cooking class program hosted here by the Fredericksburg Food Co-Op. “I feel called to serve on the vestry because I want to give back to St George’s for all of the joy and the comfort that being part of this family has brought to Beth and me,” he writes.

Terry is a VMI graduate with a degree in civil engineering. His background as a senior executive has given him experience with budgets and personnel operations, and his 40 years of experience in civil engineering and facilities management would be helpful in maintaining our historic campus, preparing for the 300th anniversary celebrations in 2020-21, and developing long-term building/expansion plans, according to the person who nominated him.

Terry most often attends the 11:15 a.m. service.

Trip Lloyd

Wallace “Trip” Lloyd started attending St. George’s with his family in 2007, joining the jazz choir in 2012. Currently, he’s the Chief of Program Implementation and Budget Management for the US Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Global Health.  But his experience is wide-ranging: a VMI graduate; a retired Navy Captain pilot; a budget Chief for multiple Federal agencies; a Cub Scout and Boy Scout leader; community theater actor, techie, and Board of Directors member; and youth program developer and leader. “I feel the calling now to offer my experience and talents to St. George’s,” he writes.

He is married to the former Anne Surry Kight of Lake Ridge, VA and has two teenagers:  daughter Amanda and son Liam.

Trip most often attends the 9:00 a.m. service.

Ralph Powell

Ralph has been an active member of St. George’s ever since he and his wife retired and moved to Fredericksburg in 2001. Ralph has served three terms on St. George’s Vestry and has chaired several committees. He was a member of the Nave Renovation Task force, including the Organ subcommittee and also served on the Personnel and Operations Committee and the Long Range Planning Committee. From March 2003 until May 2011, Ralph served as Webmaster for St. George’s. He sings bass in the Choir of St. George’s and is in the Handbell Choir, among other musical pursuits. Ralph is married to Diane who also sings and rings.

Prior to moving, they lived in Trumbull, Connecticut, for 20 years where they were similarly involved in church activities. They have two sons (Ralph Jr. and John) who are married; they also have two grandchildren. Ralph retired as Vice President of Technology Infrastructure Finance at Bankers Trust Company in New York City after BT was purchased by Deutsche Bank.

Ralph attends both the 9:00 a.m. and the 11:15 a.m. services.

Sydney Swartz

Sydney, originally from New York, recently graduated from University of Mary Washington with a degree in sociology and now does advocacy and policy work for a local nonprofit that works with and for people with disabilities. She started coming to St. George’s 2014 after starting out as a volunteer at the Table. She is now a member of the working board that helps to run the Table as well as its fundraising board. She has also been a member of Youth in Global Community for the past two years and helped with the youth group in 2016. She is on Newcomer’s Committee where she serves as a greeter and helps her mother, Debbie, with biannual luncheons that they organize. She has a young daughter, Riley Grace.

According to the vestry member that nominated her, “She has a heart for service. Consequently, she will be a wonderful and caring member of the vestry with the perspective as young woman and mother “

Sydney most often attends the 9:00 a.m. service.

Come to Sydnor Hall after morning services on Nov. 12 and 19, 2017, to peruse and bid on items for the St. George’s Preschool Auction. Proceeds will benefit St. George’s Preschool scholarship fund.  We have some amazing things you can bid on, including: vacation retreats to beach homes, lakes, and even Disneyworld, original artwork and handmade items, gift baskets, toys, electronics, and more. Thanks for all the wonderful donations!

Learn more about St. George’s preschool at their website, sgpreschool.wordpress.com