Reflections & Blog.

All Saints Day & All Souls Day All Saints Day is coming, this Sunday, November 1st. This is a day that celebrates all of us - the living and the dead. This is a day which reminds us of our journey with God from eternity to eternity. For a time, we journey in this earthly life, and then for eternity we continue our lives in God’s nearer presence. On All Saints Day, we remember those Saints, who have gone before us and those yet to come. We see the models of Christian li

Daughters of the King stepped up to handle St. Cat’s dinner night at MUST Ministries on Tuesday, Oct. 13. Lee and Marlene Stuart, Pam Phillips, Deborah Weigel, and Carla von Hoffman served a delicious meal to 75 residents of the Hope House homeless shelter. Fred Massey generously donated the Williams Bros BBQ chicken. Thank you so much for your dedication to this important ministry! Flower Guild is serving Nov. 10 and we’ll need individual volunteers Dec. 8. Visit the St. Cat

Growing Fiery Wings I know this may seem like a strange reflection to have in the midst of a week full of funerals. But as I reflected on what I needed and likely what you needed as well, the image of an old magazine picture of fiery wings came into my mind, and I realized that I needed to stop and ask God to lift us up with fiery wings. Here is the full story. I kept a magazine picture by Erica Grimm Vance entitled “Growing Fiery Wings II” by my desk in my home office for ma

You have most likely seen information regarding the Great Oak Endowment Fund recently. It is alive and well and being reinvigorated. We have a new Board of Directors who were elected by the vestry to oversee the fund. We are in the process of communicating to all the current Great Oak Society members. We believe over the years, some of our information may have been lost. We are updating our records to make sure we have the names of all Great Oak Society members and to determi

We have some wonderful news to share with our St. Cat's family! St. Catherine's has been awarded a $2,397.90 matching grant from Georgia Interfaith Power & Light (GIPL) to help us care for one of our most beloved spaces — our sanctuary. Over time, the wood surrounding our chapel windows has deteriorated, and the windows have become less energy efficient. Thanks to this grant, we'll be able to make needed repairs while improving energy efficiency and reducing utility costs. GI

Do you have a heart for St. Catherine's and a desire to help guide our parish into the future? We invite prayerful applications for a 3-year term on the St. Catherine’s Vestry. Vestry members serve as faithful leaders of our parish, helping to steward the mission and ministry of St. Catherine's through prayer, discernment, collaboration, and care for our community. As we look toward the future, we seek individuals who are committed to the life of our parish and willing to lis

Advent Reflections 2026 Volunteer authors wanted now While in every store the rush to Christmas purchases hits full swing and our calendars fill up with December “to-dos,” Advent is the time set aside on the church calendar for “holy waiting,” preparing our hearts and minds for both Jesus's birth and also his return at the Second Coming. And Advent themes of anticipation have even more meaning for us at St. Catherine’s this year as we anticipate and prepare for calling our ne

I hope you enjoyed the opportunity to look for angelic references in the Bible and perhaps you found references did not include. If you found some angelic stories that I did not include, feel free to e-mail them to us and we will share them with others in the coming weeks. Remember that angels are God’s agents and they come to us unbidden. We are not told to pray to angels and we can’t demand angels to come protect us; however, scripture tells us that we may encounter angel

Last week in the newsletter, we reflected on the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels which is celebrated on September 29th and at the midweek service we talked about what we know from scripture about angels and their work in God’s created order. In my opinion, Angels are probably the most misunderstood beings in scripture, since their appearance is often ordinary when they come to people with messages. But they are powerful beings always in the presence of God and doing Go

Welcome Lesley Garcia, the new part-time Worship materials and Communications Coordinator. Lesley joins us Oct 5th for orientation. Lesley's work hours will be Monday thru Wednesday 9 am to 2 pm. Lesley's role is focused on our print worship materials and our internal electronic communications like newsletter and all-parish emails, etc. After her initial orientation to her primary responsibilities, she will assume the registrar functions administered through Realm and by co

We celebrate the Feast of St. Michael & All Angels on September 29th. You will rarely hear these readings on a Sunday, unless you attend a parish named for Michael the Archangel. Many of you know that Michael is one of only four Archangels named in scripture. Do you remember the names of the other 3 archangels? The readings for the feast of St. Michael and All Angels include: Genesis 28:10-17; Revelation to John 12:7-12 & John 1:47-51. The reading from Revelation reminds us o

Members of the St. Cat’s Choir fed 85 residents of MUST Ministries’ Hope House homeless shelter on September 8. St. Cat’s serves dinner at MUST on the second Tuesday of each month. We thank Emily Gale, John Brooks, Beth Sandoval, Hannah Caffey, Eleanor Pearson, and Mark Stuckey for preparing and serving the meal, and Fred Massey for generously donating the Williamson Brothers barbeque chicken main dish. Thank you so much for helping with this important ministry! DOK and Flowe

Dear St. Cat’s, This July, members of St. Catherine's Chancel Choir — joined by a wonderful group of supporters and singing friends who came along for the adventure — crossed the Atlantic for a nine-day pilgrimage to England. At the center of it all was a week-long residency at Bristol Cathedral, where our choir stepped into the musical duties of an Anglican cathedral choir, singing Evensong every day and leading Sunday Eucharist. It was the fruit of over two years of plannin

The clergy were on retreat/conference last week and we engaged with a series of metaphors about our faith journey and the work of the Church. One image was that of a boat in a storm. We had those gospel readings earlier this summer. You may remember one of them was of the disciples in the midst of a big storm and Jesus was walking on the water toward them. In reflection on that gospel story, we often focus on the storm; but perhaps we are to focus on the presence of God in

Over the past few months, some people have asked why we don’t just use the 1979 Book of Common Prayer (BCP). There is a fairly short answer to that question: St. Catherine’s does use the 1979 BCP and St. Catherine’s has also liturgically explored and used all the available worship resources of the Episcopal Church. But that answer likely needs some explanation. So, here is the best way I can explain it. First, note that the latest edition of the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) t

New Eyes Jason Snape I'm Jason Snape, and Sue and I will be going on the Atlanta All Gods Children pilgrimage this fall. This will be my first, and yet most of these locations are familiar places that I will be seeing with new eyes and heart. I taught at Georgia State University for 10 years beginning in 2011, and passed through Sweet Auburn most days of the week. It had profound contrasts – John Lewis's powerful six-story mural, towering over a parking lot. Big Bethel AME c

Holy Water & Holy changes In this season of “ordinary time”, the long green season between Pentecost Sunday and Christ the King Sunday, we hear scripture which challenges us to grow in spiritual maturity and to live active lives as disciples of Jesus Christ. This is the season which focuses on our baptismal promises. Holy (blessed water) has been used as a sign of our baptism and a sign of God’s sacramental presence with us for many centuries. It is fairly common for blesse

Troop 433 at St. Catherine's Church Scouts BSA Troop 433 meets at St. Catherine's on most Monday nights, goes camping one weekend a month, and serves the parish well beyond that: making s'mores at the Trunk or Treat, cooking the Shrove Pancake Breakfast, and building the Easter Vigil fire for the clergy to light. Male youth in 5th through 12th grades, and their parents, are welcome to visit any Monday meeting, 7:15 to 8:45 p.m. in the Youth House, and see whether our troop an

My pilgrimage to Montgomery Rachel Bagby I went on the first pilgrimage of All God‘s Children in 2022 to the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, AL. Upon entering the museum, the first exhibit depicts images of the transatlantic journey that the African people endured. The images of the ocean’s water swirling, ships being tossed about, bones and chains at the bottom of the ocean are powerful. It set a somber tone for me on the walk through the museum. The other striking image for me

This newsletter comes a few days after “Labor Day”. A day meant to honor our work as holy and beneficial for the greater community. Strangely, it seems to me, that we honor “Labor Day” by taking a day off rather than working and being thankful for the gifts and talents which provide us meaningful and productive work. Now, I realize most of you won’t think it strange to take a holiday off and I am not against days off from work. I enjoy a good day off. Maybe it would be helpfu