St. Paul’s Episcopal Church

At St. Paul’s Parish today, Saturday, August 23, 2008:

• Free Farmers Market at 10:00 a.m. (in the Dining Room);
• Foyer Group Finale BBQ Event at 6:30 p.m. (in the Dining Room).

The Summer issue of St. Paul’s Sword of the Spirit, our monthly newsletter, is available on line, as is the calendar of parish events for August 2008.

Today’s news in the Episcopal Church - Episcopal Life Online.

On the calendar tomorrow, August 24, 2008:

• The Rector returns to the altar and pulpit today.
• Holy Communion at 8:00 a.m.;
• Nursery Opens at at 9:15 a.m.;
• Holy Eucharist with Hymns at 9:30 a.m.;
• Children’s Story Time at 9:30 a.m.;
• Celtic Eucharist at 5:30 p.m.

Today is a feria in the Episcopal Church. It has been established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition.

The UNESCO website provides this explanation of this international commemoration:

The night of 22 to 23 August 1791, in Santo Domingo (today Haiti and the Dominican Republic) saw the beginning of the uprising that would play a crucial role in the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade

International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition is intended to inscribe the tragedy of the transatlantic slave trade in the memory of all peoples. In accordance with the goals of the intercultural project “The Slave Route”, it should offer an opportunity for collective consideration of the historic causes, the methods and the consequences of this tragedy, and for an analysis of the interactions to which it has given rise between Africa, Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean.

The Director-General of UNESCO invites the Ministers of Culture of all Member States to organize events every year on that date, involving the entire population of their country and in particular young people, educators, artists and intellectuals.

International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition was first celebrated in a number of countries, in particular in Haiti (23 August 1998) and Goree in Senegal (23 August 1999). Cultural events and debates too were organized. The year 2001 saw the participation of the Mulhouse Textile Museum in France in the form of a workshop for fabrics called “Indiennes de Traite” (a type of calico) which served as currency for the exchange of slaves in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Circular CL/3494 of 29 July 1998 from the Director-General to Ministers of Culture invites all the Member States to organize events to mark 23 August each year.

The following prayer for the human family is taken from The Book of Common Prayer - 1979:

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.