The needlepoint project advances

Thank you to the following people who made gifts of kneelers in honor or in memory of loved ones, and/or who stitched kneelers.

Needlepoint project brings new beauty to our church

Kneelers available for the nave

By Marie Carter

Bliss Buford Abbott The Angus Family Patty Atkins-Smith Margaret Austin Sally Ayers The Ayers Family Glenna Bailey Noeline H. Baruch Beth and Kevin Beale Caroline Beebe Liz Gamble Blaine Jody Branch Pat Brown Nancy Bugg Mary Anne Burke Marie Carter The Charles Family Kate Roy and Dixon Christian Barbara Cone Elizabeth Cox Miriam “Smokie” Crews Martha W. Curry Rose O. Decker Dr. and Mrs. James T. Devlin Sherlyn and Ken Dibble Carol and Earl Dickinson Debbie Dunlap Judith and Wayne Dunn Jane and John Fain The Fleming Family Elizabeth Conner Flippen Vicki J. Ford Sally George Victoria Glover Missy and Thomas Goode Julie Gamble Grover Bonny and Richard Hamrick Kitty Hardt Melinda C. Hardy Mr. and Mrs. Reno S. Harp III Jill Harris Sandra and Jerry Hart Joan and Malcom Hines Kenzie Hubard Virginia Hunter Dot Johnson Robyn and Richard Kay Dana King Marilyn and Barry Kirkpatrick Sherri Lambert Betsy Lee The Lester Family Sally Lester Dr. Georgeanne W. Long Chris Mauck Laurie McCarthy Margaret McGehee and

Anne Owens The Rev. Stephen Y. McGehee Alice Meadows Suzanne Melzig Jan Moncure Sarah Moyar-Thacker Sarah Mumford The Rev. Penny Nash Susan Oakey Jacqueline N. Orgain Kathleen Overbay Susan Oakey Barbara Parker The Rev. Ruth Partlow Anne and John Pennypacker Carlee Pennypacker Sarah Peterson Brooke Pettit Eddy and John Phillips Helen Pinckney Joan Putney Waite Rawls Susan Rawles Kay G. Remick Pat Rheutan Betsy H. Richardson Laurie Rogers A. Prescott Rowe Jane Fenlon Rowe The Sarrett Family Helen Sarrett Alice Boggs Schroeder Thomas A. Scott Jane Selden Jane and Stuart Settle Blair Smith James D. Snowa, Sr. Renita Sommers Elizabeth Spell Laurie Spratley Betsy Stevenson Mary Atkinson Stone Wendy TenHoeve Donna and Seldon Tompkins The Tongel Family Jessica Tongel Austin Tucker Peggy and Carter Tucker Anne Turnbull Mary Blair Valentine Peyton Buford Valentine Amanda and Quentin Ward Synthia Waymack Shannon Geary and Travis

Weisleder Gene West Sarah Wiley Bunny Williams The Family of George and

Ellen Williams Elizabeth Williams Meade Williams Patti Williams Niu Meng “Zoe” Xue William A. Young, Jr. St. Stephen’s Altar Guild St. Stephen’s Needlepoint

Guild St. Stephen’s Staff St. Stephen’s Wednesday

Morning Fellowship Group The Women of St. Stephen’s

One of Anne Pennypacker’s designs, stitched and installed in the nave.

As you may know, St. Stephen’s began an extensive needlepoint project following the completion of our centennial renovation. The design, stitching, and installation of needlepoint kneelers has been a labor of love, and continues to proceed more quickly than any of us dreamed it would.

With the Chapel of the Holy Spirit completed, and the Chapel of the Good Shepherd nearing completion, the current focus is the forward portion of the nave. In that portion of the church, we have been installing original designs using beautifully lettered verses from Scripture, designed and painted by Anne Pennypacker—a total of 30 canvases.

The needlepoint guild and the parish express deep gratitude to those who have purchased a kneeler in memory or in honor of a loved one and to the volunteer stitchers who have shared their talent and time to create the needlepoint kneelers that now enhance the beauty of our church. We are fortunate that the pandemic has abated to the point that we are able to re-enter this sacred space and enjoy their beauty.

Please visit the Web site to learn more about this project and to reserve a kneeler as a memorial or to honor a loved one. If you love needlepoint and are looking for a summer project, please contact me at mdcarter27@gmail.com. We have several purchased canvases that are ready to be stitched by volunteers.

ststephensRVA.org/needlepointkneelers

PENTECOST | SUMMER 2021

Issue Number 39

ST. STEPHEN’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH

6000 Grove Avenue l Richmond, Virginia 23226

ststephensRVA.org

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Parish Staff

To reach a staff member, call 804.288.2867 or send an email using the initial and name provided in parentheses, with @ststephensRVA.org.

Janet S. Allen (jallen), Associate for Membership & Development The Rev. Cate Anthony (canthony), Associate Priest Stan Barnett (sbarnett), Director of Kitchen Ministries Liz Bartenstein (lbartenstein), Hospitality and Pastoral Care Sarah R. Bartenstein (sbartenstein), Director of Communication Larry Bidwell (lbidwell), Sexton and Assistant Market Manager Ron Brown (rbrown), Director of Outreach Chris Edwards (cedwards), Director, St. Stephen’s Choir Dillon Gwaltney (dgwaltney), Communications Associate/Video Producer Melissa Hipes (mhipes), Finance Chris Holman (cholman), Sexton The Rev. John Jenkins (jjenkins), Associate Priest Anna F. Jones, (ajones), Farmers Market Manager The Rev. David Knight (dknight), Assisting Priest for Pastoral Care Betsy Lee (blee), Parish Administrator Christi McFadden (cmcfadden), Finance The Rev. Claudia W. Merritt (cmerritt), Associate Priest Coco Provance (cprovance), Membership Allison Seay (aseay), Associate for Religion & the Arts The Rev. William S. Stanley (wstanley), Vicar Brent te Velde (btevelde), Director of Music Betsy Tyson (btyson), Chaplain to Palmer Hall Greg Vick (gvick), Organist Tyronn Wilkins (twilkins), Sexton The Rev. Patrick J. Wingo (pwingo), Interim Rector The Café @ St. Stephen’s 804.288.3318 Phin Generelly, head barista Claire Hackley, barista Annie Ward Love, barista Brianna Maurice, barista Aleho Zintseme, barista Bou Zintseme, barista

Our Missionaries Heidi Schmidt Monica Vega The mission of the church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.

AN OUTLINE OF THE FAITH, THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER

St. Stephen’s Church is

A Village Green: Inviting Since ancient times, Benedictine communities and parish churches have served as centers of village life, embracing friend and stranger alike. We strive to be a beckoning, welcoming, and centering presence today, offering hospitality, belonging, and life-giving practices for all people.

A New Abbey: Grounding In a culture that can be overly distracted and enamored with the new, we are focused on preserving enduring wisdom, spiritual insights, and ancient liturgical practices of prayer and contemplation that nurture the soul and lead to eternal life. In an age of electronic engagement, virtual connections, and increasing loneliness, we continue ancient practices that attune human beings to the Divine, to one another, and to our own souls.

A Healing Community: Serving Though Jesus was known as a prophet, a rabbi, a teacher of wisdom, and the leader of a social movement, he was known primarily as a healer. As individuals and as a church community, we seek to incarnate the One who binds, heals, and nurtures, especially where forces in our society tear, wound, or divide. As Teresa of Avila put it, we seek to be Christ’s hands, feet, and eyes in the world; we are Christ’s body on earth.