By George! Rule of Life for St George s. Growing with You in God s Love and Service February By George! February 2018 A monthly upublication of

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1 By George! Growing with You in God s Love and Service February 2018 Rule of Life for St George s By George! February 2018 A monthly upublication of Based on our spiritual values and practices, this is our commitment to each other. We:! Nurture ourselves with the Bible and spiritual books! Care deeply about each other, including in prayer.! Fellowship together and have fun.! Are grateful, glad and giving stewards of God s creation.! Reach out to the world, living and spreading the Word. St.George s Episcopal Church 5600 Winding Way Carmichael, CA (916) St. George s Episcopal Church 5600 Winding Way Carmichael, CA (916) barbara@sgec.us The Very Rev. Ray Hess, III Priest in Charge fatherray@frontiernet.net Sandra Crenshaw, Senior Warden sacren1960@gmail.com Rev. Robert Olsen, Deacon rolsen8070@gmail.com Tess Testeza, Organist/Choir Director Sandy Olsen, Editor sandyolsen8070@gmail.com Dolores O Brien, Deacon Bob and Carol Adkins, Circulation In this issue ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICE BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES BOOKS BOUNTY BAG DEACON BOB FROM OUR PIC HAPPENINGS HOSPITALITY ROSTER SENIOR WARDEN SERVICES WOMEN S GUILD

2 Thoughts From Our PIC (Priest in Charge) Get Ready for Lent! Lent, already! I feel as if we are just done with Christmas, and here comes Lent. This year, Easter is early on April 1 st, and this results in an early Lent. Ash Wednesday is February 14, an interesting combination of the start of Lent and Valentine s Day. Easter Day is April Fool s Day and our 40 th wedding anniversary for Deborah and me, another interesting combination. There is a clear theme for Lent this year love. Valentine s Day is about love, and the Lenten Season is really about love God s love for us in Jesus. Lent sometimes can seem to be a very somber season about penitence and confessing our sins. There is a serious, reflective aspect to Lent. It is important to take a look at our lives and see where we are in our relationship with God. Underlying all this, though, is God s love. Coming back to God is always good because God is waiting for us with love. God s love wants the best for us, wants us to be the people God created us to be. I like the idea of Easter s being on April 1 st. This has special meaning for Deb and me in celebrating our 40 th anniversary. We were married on that day at All Saint s, Carmel because that year it was the Saturday after Easter, a great time to be married with all the lilies still in the church. It just happened to be April Fool s Day! Easter is about God s foolish love for us, seen in Jesus being willing to die on the cross for us. God did not hang back and play it safe, but entered human life in Jesus, who emptied himself for us (see Philippians 2:5-11). We are called to respond in foolish love for God and God s world. Be fools for Christ! This year, we begin our Lenten journey in love and continue all the way to Easter, celebrating in God s incredible and foolish love for us. Come join in this journey of love! Yours in Christ, Father Ray Wednesday 14 th 7 p.m. 1

3 Senior Warden Dear Fellow Parishioners, February is upon us and by now we have already had our Annual Meeting. For those of you who weren t able to attend, Father Ray led us through a wonderful spiritual exercise to help all of us discern our God-given gifts to share with the world whether in our occupation, vocation, relationships, church community, and volunteerism. This was an important exercise for members of St. George s because we are in a transitional phase of our parish life. Our weekly church attendance has remained the same for the last couple of years, in the neighborhood of attendees per Sunday Service. Volunteerism is and has always been at the heart of our shared ministry congregation. However, given our small size, many of our long time congregants have been volunteering steadily and/or rotating through duties such as Sr. Warden, Jr. Warden, Vestry membership, treasurer, clerk, office staff, etc. for many years. It is time for us to come up with a different solution so as not to overburden a few members. One solution, although not the preferred one, would be to scale back expectations and do less. Another solution is to share duties or job share. This way one person would not feel overwhelmed or overburdened fulfilling a particular task or duty. For example, those parishioners who have the gift of organization and typing could job share the office staff position or the vestry clerk position. We owe it to ourselves and our church community to explore this new way of getting things done a way that doesn t feel overwhelming, one that unites us in new friendships we might not have made if we hadn t participated, one that allows us to call on others to help us on a given task, one that allows for fun and fellowship, and most importantly, one that allows us to continue to serve God and our community. I look forward to us sharing our gifts and time to continue the wonderful work that we do here at St. George s Parish. Yours in Christ, Sandra Crenshaw 2

4 WOMENS GUILD Thank you to everyone who provided refreshments and helped set the table for the Bishop s visit. I should know better but I am always pleasantly surprised at the amount of food that appears whenever we announce an event that will need eats. A special thank you to Cathy Crosby for providing the lovely flower arrangement on the refreshment table. I am not sure what kind of year it will be for the Women s Guild. No one new has spoken up to take part in the month to month functions. Because I am in the church office twice a week (Tuesdays & Fridays), I am willing to keep track of when a reception will be needed or when a special service (such as Maundy Thursday potluck) needs extra attention and get the word out. It would be appreciated if others would help with keeping the kitchen organized or take charge of organizing an activity or a luncheon. Deacon Bob and Sandy have been doing a wonderful job of keeping basic supplies in our cupboards. Who else is willing to help? It does not require very much time each month. No out of pocket expenses are involved as we have funds for the purchase of supplies. Until further notice, I am not scheduling any Women s Guild meetings. If anything turns up that needs Guild attention or approval, a meeting will be called. FEBRUARY BIRTHDAYS 5 JoAnn Cookman 7 Merle Crawford 17 Dave Allmuth, Sr. 17 Helen Hui 17 Sandra Crenshaw 28 John Karsten (If your name was not included, please let Sandy know so she can add your name.) ANNIVERSARY 27 Ray Hess Ordination Carol Adkins President, Women s Guild 3

5 Women s Guild Hospitality Sunday will be the 1st Sunday of each month, special offering envelopes are included in the bulletin. These are used by the Women's Guild to provide weekly coffee hours, special receptions and other events for parish members. Please make checks payable to St. George's Church with a memo note in the left corner for HOSPITALITY. The women s Guild is happy to provide the book corner for your enjoyment. We appreciate the books you all donate. However, I would like to remind you to bring fiction, non-fiction, historical or humorous books. Please NO selfhelp or study books. Thanks for your attention to this matter. CDs...$1 BOOKS...$1 PAPERBACKS...50 Happy reading! Janet Jenkins 10:45 Last 11 The choir will now be meeting 2:15 2 nd 6:45 pm 4

6 FEBRUARY/MARCH FEBRUARY 4 th 5 th SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY Isaiah 40: Psalm 147: 1-12, 21c 1 Corinthians 9: Mark 1: CELEBRANT: Anne McKeever EUCHARISTIC MINISTER: Diane Perparos LECTORS: Randall Abbott & Becky Freie ALTAR GUILD: JoAnn Cookman & Barbara Cooper USHER: Conrad Cookman & friend FEBRUARY 11 th LAST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY 2 Kings 2: 1-12 Psalm 50: Corinthians 4: 3-6 Mark 9: 2-9 CELEBRANT: Ray Hess EUCHARISTIC MINISTER: Karen Lolmaugh LECTORS: JoAnn Cookman & Diana Perparos ALTAR GUILD: Vicky Karsten & Wendy Nelson USHER: Jenny Smith & friend FEBRUARY 18 th 1 st SUNDAY IN LENT Genesis 1: 1-5 Psalm 29 Acts 19: 1-7 Mark 1: 4-11 CELEBRANT: Susan Plucker EUCHARISTIC MINISTER: Aaron Adkins LECTORS: Karen Lolmaugh & Randall Abbott ALTAR GUILD: Joy Allmuth & Barbara Cooper USHER: Carol Adkins & friend FEBRUARY 25 th 2 nd SUNDAY IN LENT Samuel 3:1-10, [11-20] Psalm 139: 1-5, Corinthians 6: John 1: CELEBRANT: Ray Hess EUCHARISTIC MINISTER: Dave Allmuth LECTORS: Becky Freie & JoAnn Cookman ALTAR GUILD: Angela Saunders & Wendy Nelson USHER: Jenny Smith & friend MARCH 4 th 3 rd SUNDAY IN LENT Jonah 3: 1-5, 10 Psalm 62: Corinthians 7: Mark 1: CELEBRANT: Anne McKeever EUCHARISTIC MINISTER: Aaron Adkins LECTORS: Karen Lolmaugh & Carol Adkins ALTAR GUILD: Vicky Karsten & Joy Allmuth USHER: Carol Adkins & friend MARCH 11 th 4 th SUNDAY IN LENT Deuteronomy 18: Psalm Corinthians 8:1 13 Mark 1: CELEBRANT: Bill Rontani EUCHARISTIC MINISTER: Karen Lolmaugh LECTORS: Aaron Adkins & Becky Freie ALTAR GUILD: Angela Saunders & JoAnn Cookman USHER: Conrad Cookman& friend Lessons can be found on our website 5

7 God s Problem Child The title of my article this month is from a Willie Nelson CD. My musical taste is eclectic, country, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, big band, etc. But Willie probably makes up the largest portion of our library of CDs, followed by John Denver. Anyway, we had just gotten this CD a month ago, the lyrics seemed appropriate for Epiphany and coming to understand that we are loved by God. The song was written by Jamey Johnson and Tony Joe White, who also sang on the CD with Willie and Leon Russell. I did the best I could do or the best I could tell. The higher I flew, the farther I fell Born in the mud, raised in the wild. Washed in the blood, God's Problem Child I feel the shine, following me, not far behind, that's where I wanna be A little out of town, fine by me, darkness may fall We still got a light keeping us all safe through the night Heaven must love God's problem child Heaven must love God's problem child Heaven must love God's problem child Now, I don t generally take my theology from Country music, but if we are to believe Paul, then we should be able to find God everywhere, and know that God is with us everywhere. We just need to look and that is the theme of Epiphany, recognizing that light in the world and in ourselves. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1:5. Epiphany is short this year, so shortly after this issue of the By George comes out we will be in Lent. However, I d like for you to look for the light of heaven as you go through your day. Maybe this could be your Lenten discipline, at the end of each day think back about those times when you saw/felt God s grace and love as you went about your day. Think about the people you came into contact with during the day and how they helped make your day better. There are angels among us, we just don t often notice the light they shine in this dark world. Deacon Bob 6

8 BOUNTY BAG We re collecting dry goods, canned goods, dried cereals, soaps, toothpaste tooth brushes or any non-perishables, We collect Bags ANYTIME!! NO TIME TO SHOP a check to St. Georges with memo to River city Food Bank (everything is welcome). SUNDAY SERVICES Family Service 9 a.m. Sunday School 9 a.m. Traditional Service 10:30 a.m. Articles are always welcome...but KEEP it short! The best way to submit an article is via my sandyolsen8070@gmail.com, February 21 st will be the deadline for the March issue of the By George 7