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St. George Chamber Orchestra to Perform Free Concert

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St. George’s Episcopal Church will host The St. George Chamber Orchestra on Sunday, February 17 at 3:00 pm as part of the church’s Chamber Concert Series. Selections for the concert will include: Mozart’s “Symphony #29”, Gershwin’s “Lullaby”, and Homilius’ “Kommt, frohe Volker, herzu”, featuring the Choir of St. George’s.

James Kazik, staff arranger at one of the premiere Washington D.C. service bands since 2001, will conduct the Chamber Orchestra. Kazik is a renowned composer and orchestrator, staff writer for Hal Leonard Corp, and the current composer-in-residence for the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic in Washington D.C.

Admission is free with donations accepted at the door. For more information, contact (540) 373-4133 or concerts@stgeorgesepiscopal.net. To learn more about St. George’s concert series, visit www.stgeorgesepiscopal.net/music/concerts.

Lenten Weekend 2019

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The_Rev_Ōshin_Jennings
The Rev. Liam Ōshin Jennings

Rooted in Wholeness: Contemplative Prayer and Mindfulness

March 8 – 10, 2019. Featuring the Rev. Ōshin Jennings, leader of No Barriers Zen in Washington, D.C.

Online registration is now closed. Please register when you check-in at the door.

How do we remove barriers to nurture our inner selves? This year’s Lenten Weekend invites participants to let go of their thinking and surrender to God’s wholeness through practices of meditation and contemplative prayer. Our keynote speaker is The Rev. Ōshin Jennings. Rev. Ōshin is a Soto Zen Buddhist priest, a trained psychotherapist, and multi-media artist. He is the first known Deaf Buddhist monk and leads No Barriers Zen, a meditation community based in Washington, DC. The aim of No Barriers Zen is to make meditation practice accessible to people of all abilities and disabilities.

This weekend is accessible to all Deaf, hearing, and ASL communities and is made possible in part by a grant from the Episcopal Conference of the Deaf (ECD).

 

Schedule of Events

Friday – March 8
Sydnor Hall
6 pm: Potluck dinner – bring a dish to share!
Nave (note location change)
7 – 9 pm: Introduction to Meditation by The Rev. Ōshin Jennings

Seats and a limited number of cushions will be available. Please feel free to bring your own meditation cushion.

Saturday – March 9
10 am: Tour of St. George’s facilities
Nave (note location change)
7 – 9 pm: Expanding Our Practice by The Rev. Ōshin Jennings

Seats and a limited number of cushions will be available. Please feel free to bring your own meditation cushion.

Sunday – March 10
Nave
9 am: Worship Service with Homily by The Rev. Ōshin Jennings

Sydnor Hall
10 am: Adult Forum discussion “The Embodied Buddhist Journey” led by The Rev. Ōshin Jennings

Youth Floor
12:30 pm: Lunch with Youth

Nave
2 pm: Interfaith Panel Discussion: How do different faith communities participate in meditation?
Panelists:

Rev. Ōshin Jennings, our keynoter for the weekend
Seham El-Ansary, Islamic and inter-faith scholar and community leader, Fredericksburg-area resident. She is the founder and director of WAH- Women Alliance For Humanity, self-prosperity coach, former education and management consultant, and a lifelong community activist who has dedicated her efforts to civic empowerment, women & youth training, interfaith outreach, and the betterment of the community. She holds an MBA and a BA in Social Sciences and Education, with a minor in Psychology. She lectured in many universities, churches and synagogues. Her community work has been featured in various local newspapers, TV & Radio shows, in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. Education and empowerment work is her paramount focus and passion in life.
Dr. John McLaughlin, M.D. physician and mindfulness based stress reduction instructor. John has been involved in meditation and contemplative practices since his late teens. He started with TM (Transcendental Meditation) and currently practices in the Non Dual tradition in the Ramana Maharshi and Sri Nisargadatta lineage. His root teacher in Adyashanti. John is a cofounder of the Yoga Foundation of Fredericksburg which is a nonprofit organization which offers yoga, mindfulness and wellness workshops with a focus on the underserved in our community.  He teaches Mindfulness Bases Stress Reduction (MBSR) after having finished his teacher training with the founder Jon Kabat Zinn at the University of Massachusetts. He has a strong science background having trained as a MD and now combines his passion for the Body with that of the Mind and Spirit.
The Rev. Joe Hensley, rector of St. George’s.
The Rev. Ed Jones, Episcopal deacon and former editor of the Free Lance Star will serve as the moderator for the panel discussion

 

Online registration is now closed but you are welcome to attend! Please register at the door when you check-in.

 

Unity at The Table

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Today is National Unity Day, but you’d never know it by looking at the headlines and news. Everyday at The Table at St. George’s is National Unity Day – Kindness/Acceptance/Inclusion. Yesterday the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank came in to do their annual inspection of our food pantry. One of the questions concerned who we allow to shop. Our answer was anyone who walks in the door and asks for food. We invite them to come back weekly as long as they have a need. Another question was about the area we serve. We have people come from Manassas, Triangle, King George, Caroline, Orange, Stafford, Spotsylvania, as well as Fredericksburg. We even serve people passing thru Virginia who have been told to go to The Table.

One of our regulars told us that when she wakes up on Tuesday, she is happy because she knows she will be welcomed at The Table where she’ll find community and veggies! How lovely is that!! The fields and orchards are almost done for the year. A volunteer commented last night that he is seeing more people on the street, and we definitely experienced an upturn in numbers last night. The woolly worms are supposedly predicting a rough winter. Someone handed me a bag of potatoes for The Table & said it was a Buy One/Get One deal at her store, but she could only use one. Every grocery store seems to have an abundance of offers like that & if you can’t use the extra box, can or bag yourself, please think of The Table. We can definitely use it.

 

Volunteer and Get Involved

The Table and our Community Dinner ministries are in need of volunteers. Our produce team needs adult and teen volunteers on Sunday afternoons from 2:30 – 4 p.m. to meet and unload the fresh produce from the farm truck. Crates can weigh up to 40 lbs., so a little muscle helps. 3rd Monday of the month Community Dinners need to update their list of volunteers. If you are able to come serve, clean up, wash dishes between 4:30 to 7 p.m., please let us know. For both – Contact Grace in Action to get involved.

2019 Vestry Nominations Open

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Nominations are now open for St. George’s Vestry. There are four positions opening up for the class that will serve 2019-2021. The vestry is the 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 we must attend, but there is also a lot of joyful sharing and growing in faith and love.

For more information about being on the vestry, see our job description. Please submit names by November 11. Use this online form or contact a vestry member.