"Cast the Vision" Meeting Tonight!

A brief reminder that our "Cast the Vision" meeting is tonight, for all interested individuals and community leaders to find out more about our campaign plans and needs for the fall and how you can participate in the largest and most effective coordinated pro-life effort to date!

Meeting details are below:

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk to Speak at St. Raymond Church Sep. 17

Dear Friends, I wanted to let you know about a distinguished bio-ethics authority who will be speaking on the morning of September 17 at St. Raymond Church in Springfield. Please see the flyer below for more info!

Second Team Update: CV Meeting Reminder

It's been two weeks since my last message to you, and so much has happened during that time (see our progress report for you below)! Our Cast the Vision meeting is Wednesday evening, at which I hope to see many of you, so we can discuss all the ways you can participate in 40 Days for Life this fall, get your input and answer your questions. Come and bring a friend, and spread the word to anyone who wants to learn more about our fall campaign!

Here are your recent highlights from our leadership team:

• #1) Prayer -- Claire and Marie have helped formulate a "40 Days for Life prayer intention," which we can include in our daily prayer time, or suggest to our priests, pastors or prayer group leaders! The intention can be modified if needed, but our suggested wording is as follows:

For the 40 Days for Life campaign from September 28-November 6,
that there will be an increase in vigil and outreach prayer volunteers
to pray for an end to abortion,
and for healing from the effects of abortion.

• #2) Vigil Presence -- Mary Ellen has signed up two more churches on our vigil calendar: St. Mary Church on Saturday, October 15, and Saturday, November 5, and St. Raymond of Penafort on Friday and Saturday, September 30-October 1 as well as Fridays from 11am-1pm. We welcome these two churches on board!
  
  We invite other churches and groups prayerfully to consider making a weekly commitment to the vigil during the six weeks of the campaign. Vigil commitment can be a great blessing to the community as well as to each of the individuals involved. Through our peaceful presence, we bring the peace and love of Christ to a place where it is desperately needed.
  
  In addition to Mary Ellen's work, Keith and I have been busy reaching out to representatives from various congregations, and we are confident that our list of committed churches will continue to expand!
  
• #3) Community Outreach -- Paul and Jonathan have begun reaching out to local businesses and youth groups, and contacting door-to-door team members from our previous campaign. Eric and Tracie have been very busy behind the scenes with research, promotion and communications including our first press release, which we hope to distribute shortly!

We are so excited about our Lord's blessings on this campaign as schools, churches, and other groups agree to post information and join us wholeheartedly in prayer, vigil and outreach in Alexandria this fall. Already before our first formal event of the campaign we can see there is much support and enthusiasm for this focused pro-life effort! We are eagerly looking forward to see many more groups and individuals step forward in God's plan, as we work together in prayer to bring healing and peace in our city.

Team Update

It has been a busy week for our campaign leadership team: planning our training event schedule, reaching out to churches, packing the vigil box, organizing names and media lists, and considering various methods of prayer and fasting! Along with all this busyness comes several blessings to share with you:

1. First Church Signup: St. Joseph Church, Thursday evenings from 5-7pm. We are so happy to have them on our vigil schedule! Ask your pastor or pro-life coordinator to commit to a weekly vigil time for your church as well!
2. First Donation: This will allow us to complete our first printing order of flyers, registration forms, and prayer cards, as well as make an initial investment in some volunteer wristbands (we still need another $245 to complete that order). A big Thank-You to our first donor! I invite you to consider making a contribution of $40 or 40 wristbands to St. Mary Church on behalf of 40 Days for Life Alexandria (see our website for details).
3. Campaign Details Handout (see attached): lists main details of 40 Days for Life in Alexandria this fall, with directions on how to sign up and participate. This flyer contains our Campaign Prayer, a description of our three campaign activities, and the dates and times for our sidewalk counseling and pro-life training opportunities. Print this out and give to all your friends!

All these blessings are very encouraging and much appreciated, as we continue our planning and campaign promotion efforts to spread the word about 40 Days for Life throughout our city. We hope to see you at our Cast the Vision meeting on August 24th!