A Testimonial from Juan H
I will never forget what I felt the first day I came to All Saints Episcopal Church, for it is something that I rarely have felt again. The moment that keeps playing in my memory is of my family and I, at around 12 years of age, walking up to the doors of the church for the first time, but before reaching them having the priests who were right outside welcome us joyfully and cheerily, as if they had been waiting for us and under no circumstance, could start the mass without us. That kind of salutation can never be forgotten, and I have only felt it at All Saints. The many and different ways that All Saints has contributed to my well being for years are really immense. Economically for instance, sometimes the church helped my family and I, as well as other families, with essential needs such as food and clothing, not to mention scholarships that have helped us attend school and further our education. I have always been grateful for that and will never forget it. It always felt as if the church was there for us when hard times arrived and when no one could really help us in those difficult situations. And although, like I said, this is deeply appreciated, what I prized the most then, was another contribution. Every Sunday I would bring my burdens, my pains and my fears here and receive some sort of cathartic experience that no words can describe. Every time mass would end, there was always that ineffable feeling of starting your life over, as if you had just been given back your freedom after you've been a prisoner for an indefinite amount of time. As a teenager and his issues, mass to me was a sort of therapy. A very spiritual and sacred psychoanalysis that would leave me lucid and always wanting more. The charisma and approach of the priest was a definite pull to me at All Saints. Every priest that would lead the mass had a certain assurance and dedication to what was being done and didn’t seem at all like they were only following a routine, especially in the sermon, where I felt I was hearing some of the most influential and eloquent oratories ever, making it easy for everyone to grasp and acknowledge the message being stated.To this, you add the All Saints contribution of gorgeous and transcendent music, and mass has become a delightful and sacred event. Especially after communion, once back at my seat, meditating for a moment, the small portion of time of just me, my Creator and the music, harmonizing as well as unifying everything in the infinite oneness, and as the soprano voice rises in scale, it plunges itself into the depths of my spirit, making time stop, and that short moment becomes eternal.That alone allows me to praise God for the church and all it contributes to the welfare of my existence. I can never repay what All Saints has done for me and my family and I know I share this feeling with the rest of the congregation. I feel we are all extremely lucky if not blessed that we attend a church that cares and gives so much to so many without a sign of discouragement and disillusion. I thank the Lord for All Saints Episcopal Church." - Juan 