November/December Canterbury Tales 1

Dear Canterburians, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s are already nearly upon us. We ask ourselves and each other: “How did that happen?! How did the time go so fast?” Time is always speeding by, it seems; always speeding up, too. And, alas, life is short. Maybe that’s one advantage to things speeding along: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s are always coming back around. We are always getting another chance to celebrate the holidays, to set the holidays right, to celebrate the holidays the right way. Holidays are tough sometimes, so perhaps a chance to do things differently this time around is a gift. It may be a mixed blessing, but an opportunity nonetheless. Holidays remind us, too, that every “regular” day, as well, can be another opportunity to “get it closer to right.” The magic is in getting it closer to right. It may be enough this year just to get things moving in the direction of Better. Obviously, things aren’t perfect, things are rarely ideal, yet there are things. Things to do, things to tighten up, things to loosen, things to be avoided, things to be engaged. Things to change our thinking about. There are multitudinous things— each one an opportunity, an opening of opportunity as startling as a sunflower blooming in winter. And God is near to us and we are dear to God. Everything we do opens an opportunity for walking with God. Every opportunity is a path at our feet. Life’s repeating cycles, year after year, remind us that life is like a labyrinth: we walk, we twist and turn, then return to where we started— but changed. We are not the same people we were before. This Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s couldn’t possibly be the same as last year’s. God is with us in the differences— loving us in them, grieving with us through them, celebrating with us each occasion of strength, and always warmly enjoying our company. Bless you, beloved marvels of God! May this holiday season find you strengthened by the eternal, abiding love of God! Yours in Jesus, Marc

ministries

Acolytes & Crucifers Altar Guild Art Guild Betak/Frangoulis Gallery Brotherhood of St. Andrew Canterbury Fiber Arts Friends Christian Education Coffee Hour Servers Daughters of the King Deacon’s Deli Education for Ministry Episcopal Church Women Episcopal Young Church People Flower Guild Meals on Wheels Music Student Forum Ushers

clergy

The Rev. Marc Burnette Chaplain and Rector (205)752-6160 The Rev. Deacon Dr. Cindy Roff (205)759-4006

staff

Dr. Jennifer Roth-Burnette Organist and Choir Master

Cynthia Taylor | Sexton

Chris Bushey Parish Assistant

Student Forum Co-Presidents Elizabeth Tagg Zach Boros Church Mouse Caroline Lisko

2019

canterbury tales

the

Canterbury Episcopal Church and Student Center at The University of Alabama

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Deacon’s Notes November/December 2019

In the spring of 2019, Canterbury Chapel, in partnership with a number of other local churches, provided seed funds to begin a new organization in Tuscaloosa called the Peoples’ Loan Program. The organization was founded as an alternative to usurious payday lending companies, which charge extraordinarily high rates of interest for personal loans.

The Peoples’ Loan Program (PLP), by contrast, provides interest-free loans to low income people with pressing needs. Housed at Grace Presbyterian Church in Tuscaloosa, PLP employs one part-time staff member and is governed by a board of directors that includes Canterbury’s David Carroll and Cindy Roff. The board meets every other week to make decisions about loan applications of up to $250.

The board reviews all sources of applicants’ income, and their typical monthly expenses (rent, utilities, transportation, insurance, food, medical, etc.) to decide if the applicant is likely to be able to repay the loan. Sometimes the board or the staff member can refer the applicant to other sources of help. When the board approves a loan, the check for the loan is made out to the organization to whom the applicant owes money (for example the landlord or utility company). The applicant repays the PLP at the rate of $10/month.

The people who receive PLP loans are West Alabamians who are among the “working poor.” They have low incomes but usually live within their means. They apply for loans because of special situations that put them behind in their bills. These situations typically include an illness or injury that kept them from working temporarily, or a special unanticipated expense like the burial of a relative or a need for a home repair.

It has been a humbling experience for me serve on the PLP board of directors. The people we help are hard-working members of our community who are literally one paycheck away from being evicted or losing utility services. Many have small children in their households. I am grateful to Canterbury’s Vestry for their support of the Peoples’ Loan Program, and I will be happy to talk about PLP’s continuing work with interested Canterburians.

Peace, Cindy

Birthdays in November: Birthdays in December: Recie Horton: 4th Bill Robertson: 15th Perry Cox: 3rd Laura Tucker: 17th Amelia Horshok: 5th Harris Cornett: 16th Aubry Reeves: 6th Brett Tierce: 18th Austin Reitenga: 6th Sally Pannell: 18th Marc Burnette: 10th Michael Horshok: 21st Margaret Cooper: 6th David Carroll: 19th Bruce Henry: 12th Carole Carroll: 22nd Carolyn Vail: 7th Henry Betak: 20th Grace Carter Patterson: 14th Tom Rathe: 28th Zack Boros: 10th Amy Bearden: 23rd Emily Richeson: 14th Becky Shirley: 28th Elizabeth Cobb: 15th Lois Lewis: 26th Mary Lowrey: 15th Nicolas Sella, Jr.: 29th Liz Griffin: 15th Let’s wish them all a Happy Birthday!

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Scenes from the Welcome Back Dinner!

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Sounds Around Town

You hear them every week in choir! We invite you also to hear Canterbury Choir members, active in their musical studies and ensembles, at additional performances around town:

• Friday, November 15, at 7:30 p.m. in Moody Recital Hall: Highland Consort presents the beautiful harmonies of polyphonic choral music of the 16th and 17th centuries, performed by the 13-member Highland Consort which has performed widely across the Southeast under the direction of Fred Teardo of the Cathedral Church of the Advent. Jennifer Roth-Burnette has been performing with this ensemble since 2016.

• Sunday, November 24, at 4:00 p.m. at Bryant Jordan Hall: Opera Theatre, an Afternoon of American Micro-Operas for Female Voices will feature our own Alex Nessi, esteemed fifth-year choral scholar in Canterbury Choir.

• Monday, November 25, at 7:30 p.m. at Moody Concert Hall: The Alabama Symphonic Bands will perform its fall concert, including our own Allison Ringler, French horn major and much-appreciated new choral scholar of Canterbury Choir.

Hope to see you there!

Canterbury’s Cursillo lay rector is Camille Samples. Please contact Camille with your questions or ideas about Cursillo at Canterbury.

Women of the Bible by LaShonda Robinson

November 1 – December 31 in the

Betak-Frangoulis Gallery at

Canterbury Chapel

LaShonda Scott Robinson’s exhibition, Women of the Bible: Portraits of Ingenuity, Audacity & Faith, will be featured at Canterbury’s Betak-Frangoulis Gallery through December 31, 2019. Based in Alabama, LaShonda Scott Robinson is a watercolor artist. Art expresses her intimate feelings. A woman of color, she was taught to conceal weakness. Through art, she can openly cry without shedding a tear. Self-taught, her watercolor style is sensuous and dark. Body language expresses the truth. Therefore, the faces are blank. LaShonda believes “the face reveals our thoughts whereas the body reveals our hearts.” Her work has been exhibited in Alabama, Florida, New York, South Carolina, Monaco, and Switzerland. Women of the Bible celebrates the ingenuity, audacity and faith of our biblical foremothers. Sometimes the Bible records a single incident. Some names are unknown. Yet their stories are inspiring. LaShonda created this collection to elevate respect for God’s most beautiful, complex, and resilient creation, WOMAN!

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ourmission

Canterbury Chapel, the Episcopal Church and

Student Center at The University of Alabama, shows God’s love through Christ by

being a sanctuary and an accepting community for

worship, spiritual growth, and compassionate service.

vestry class | 2019

Elizabeth Aversa Beth Todd Amy Dayton Allen Jones class | 2020

Lorrie Lane Molly Ingram | senior warden Aubry Reeves Quincy Hall class | 2021

Adam Pilkinton | junior warden Camilla Huxford Jerry Hudson Colleen Beall | clerk student forum officers

Elizabeth Tagg | co-president Zach Boros | co-president Caroline Lisko | church mouse

newsletter The Canterbury Tales

is practically perfect in every way. It’s missing only one thing—you. Please contribute photographs (with descriptions), stories, poems, artwork, and any other representation of life at Canterbury and submit via email to: canterburytales18@gmail.com You may also leave printed submissions in the Canterbury Tales' mailbox across from the church office. Contribute to the January/ February newsletter by December 18.

upcoming dates to keep in mind november

1st – Women of the Bible by LaShonda Robinson opens in the Betak-Frangoulis Gallery 11th – Veterans’ Day 15th – Highland Consort at Moody Recital Hall [7:30 PM] 24th – Opera Theatre, an Afternoon of American Micro-Operas for Female Voices at Bryant Jordan Hall [4:00 PM] 25th - The Alabama Symphonic Bands Fall Concert at Moody Concert Hall [7:30 PM] 27th – Meals on Wheels—contact Susan Windham if you can serve as a driver 27th – UA Thanksgiving break begins 28th – Thanksgiving Day

december 1st – Bishop Sloan visits Canterbury at 6:00 pm service 1st – UA Thanksgiving break ends 6th – Last day of classes at UA

8th – Annual Parish meeting during coffee hour following the 10:30 service

9th-13th – UA Final Exams 16th – UA Commencement 24th – Christmas Eve services at 6:00 and 10:00 pm

25th – Christmas Day january

4th – Walk-about for Bishop Coadjutor election St. Luke’s Birmingham

8th – UA Spring Term begins 18th – Bishop Coadjutor election february 6th-8th – Diocesan Convention at Camp McDowell 14th-17th – Icicle Retreat at Camp McDowell Adult Sunday School meets at 9:30 am each Sunday in the Hydeaway. Harris Cornett leads the class.

Canterbury is revising its directory. Please review your listing in the directory on the table outside the parish office. If it needs updating, please update it on the form provided. Also, if you are not listed in the current directory and would like to be, please fill in a directory update form and leave it in the office.