A Voice in the Wilderness

Transcription

1 A Voice in the Wilderness May 2018 St. Andrew s in the Pines Episcopal Church PO Box W. Pine Street Pinedale, Wyoming Phone: (307) Web: standrewspinedale@gmail.com PLACE STAMP HERE

2 Vestry News Spring is well and truly here it rained Monday morning and snowed on Tuesday. This means warm weather will be happening at some point. In the life of the parish, April and the Easter season are behind us and the glories of the mountains in May are opening. The calves are mostly on the ground with branding soon to come. Skiing and snowmobiling are almost done, with fishing, water skiing and other water sports soon to come. Golf is here, and the ground squirrels are dodging golf balls. Birds are nesting; aspens ready to bloom. God s creation is alive! At St. Andrew s, we have much to celebrate in addition to the end of winter. Our Easter celebration was a wonderful outpouring of fellowship and community. Father Randy made the celebrations of Holy Week meaningful, and Sukey Hohl s coordination of The Watch on Maundy Thursday has continued a deeply moving tradition in this church. There was just enough grass showing Easter Sunday for the little ones to enjoy their egg hunt, thanks to the youth of this church. What a great sight to see them all together! I went away for a long weekend in mid-april to a spiritual retreat with a long-time friend and mentor, John Philip Newell of Scotland. He is a minister of the Church of Scotland who served as the Warden of Iona Abbey on that western island, and is one of the foremost teachers of Celtic Christianity in the world. This retreat centered on the work of other visionaries of Scotland from the 19th and 20th centuries, and was called Dreaming the Way Forward. Sometimes it might seem as if our modern world has lost its way, so how can we reclaim our lives to make sense? Part of the answer is to hold in balance the concept of spirit and matter as being equal, as both are of God. Matter, or the material world, comes forth from the very heart of God s being. Springtime is a wonderful chance for us to re-connect with creation, while enfolding our spirit with the reassurance that we are of one being with God. Discussion, teaching and contemplative quiet time helped focus my intentions, some of which are realized in my work for you as your Senior Warden. My goal is to assist this church body in maintaining its balance during a time of transition, from the great service done by Pastor Jami to calling our next rector, as yet an unknown person. But I believe and hope you do, too, that this person will be known to us in the right time. If there is what might seem like delay, it serves a purpose partly to ensure that all of us are able to step forward and assist one another, without relying on one leader. We are not allowed to be complacent in such times! St. Andrew s Vestry Joni Mack Senior Warden joni@ravenscrowne.com Cody Saxton Junior Warden codywsaxton@yahoo.com Julie Belton therealcenter@centurylink.net Jon Boroff jskk@centurytel.net Sarah Hixson sarahmi5@wyoming.com Sukey Hohl sukeybook@gmail.com Kris Holmes fishkristopher@gmail.com Trey Wilkinson trey081@gmail.com Sam Harnack samharnack@gmail.com Jill Maier jill@grbto.com Please see other articles in the newsletter about the search for our new rector and an update on the building expansion and remodel. There will be ways for all of us to shine. Joni Mack

3 Rector Search Moves into Visits from Candidates On the weekend of April 21 st, St. Andrew s welcomed The Rev. Helen Durany for a visit as a prospective candidate for Rector. The Search Committee visited with her Saturday, and the Vestry, staff and committee members met with her informally for dinner that night. She preached and presided over the Eucharist on Sunday the 22 nd to a full church at both 8 and 10 am services. Many parishioners stayed for coffee to visit with her. The weather cooperated in that we didn t have a foot of snow. Rev. Helen is a 2017 graduate of the Yale Divinity School. For the past year, she has been a supply priest at Our Merciful Savior in Denver. She completed her work there as of Easter Sunday. Additionally, she was the Executive Assistant to the Canon to the Ordinary, Episcopal Diocese of Colorado, for six years. As part of her training, she also served at St. Paul's on the Green in Norwalk, Connecticut. The weekend of May 5 th, The Rev. Michael Paul will be here for a similar visit. Fr. Michael is currently in Williston, ND with his family. He has been a priest for 20 years, having recently completed his Doctor of Ministry at Bethel Seminary, Education focus includes psychology and counseling, as well as theology. He has served a number of churches in various roles, from assistant rector to rector, throughout the country, as well as serving as coordinator for immigrant ministries for the Episcopal Migration Ministries. Please join all of St. Andrew s as we welcome the Paul family by attending worship at 8 or 10 am May 6 th and visiting with them at coffee hour after the late service. Update on Building Expansion and Remodel At the Vestry meeting April 23, the building expansion and kitchen/bathroom remodel was discussed with prospective contractor Dan Liske. Dan and his family are committed members at St. Andrew's. Dan will be providing us with an estimate for the project, and would be able to do the work this summer. We very much look forward to hearing from him within the next 2 weeks and will let the parish know how it progresses. If you have questions or comments, please let Junior Warden Cody Saxton know; codywsaxton@yahoo.com.

4 A Note From Father Randy It s Easter, and the session of Easter is not over, a beautiful bright festival for all who are lovers of God and for any whom are grateful servants. First and last a like receive, rich and poor, all rejoice together! Today is the day, every day is a day that we recognize the resurrection. The coming again of a risen Lord and forgiveness had/ has risen from the grave. We humanity look with the eyes of the world and what we see mostly are the obstacles and problems. We see the stones that block our paths and they are too large for us to move. If we look with the eyes of faith, a different picture could come into focus. Look again, God has already removed the obstacles or provided us with the means to do so. The Easter story tells us that God offers us a way to remove that obstacle. So, take a look at the very real obstacles in your life and look again with the eyes of faith. Rejoice in knowing the things that we seem powerless to change are not obstacles for God. Obstacles can be moved from our path if we stop trying to remove them by ourselves. With the grace of God, we can see that our path can be or has been cleared and opened to each of us. Remember Easter a little every Sunday. Alleluia! Christ is risen, The Lord has risen indeed. Alleluia! Blessings, Father Randy

5 The Tap Root--Jocelyn Moore Last fall, I plunked some spindly willow branches in a water-filled bucket then promptly forgot about it. Oops. Cleaning out my green house, I spotted the frozen bucket with forlorn red-brown tips peeking above the rim. I pulled up the stems to take a look. ROOTS! Over the winter, the little twigs created life sustaining roots, stringlike strands to absorb water and nutrients, and anchor the stem to the soil. I had no hand in this. God and the willows did the work. Like plants, we have roots. We are born with our gender, ethnicity, race, parents, culture, country, time and place pre-selected for us. We also choose roots; our friends, spouse, education, employment, community, and church, which anchor and moor us. Like plant roots, we are affected by our soil, whether we were planted in love and acceptance or rejection and antipathy. Roots matter. Unlike plants, we have roots beyond the physical world. The prophet Isaiah predicted that a root of Jesse would arise for all nations and all people. In Romans 15:12, Paul explains that the Root of Jesse is Christ who has come to everyone offering God s acceptance and love. When we decide to follow Jesus, we become rooted in God s family tree as His sons and daughters. New roots. New creation. New future. You may be thinking, that sounds great, but you don t know my roots. True. I only know that no matter what roots we started with or grew ourselves, God loves us and wants to root us in His family. Just look at God s word. God used three murderers to write most of the Bible: (1) Moses who wrote Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and some of the Psalms, (2) David who wrote the majority of the Psalms and (3) Paul who wrote Philippians, Colossians, First and Second Thessalonians, First and Second Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Romans, First and Second Corinthians, Galatians and Ephesians. In the lineage of Jesus, detailed in the first Chapter of Matthew, His ancestral roots include men and women involved in prostitution and adultery. These are people our society would reject; yet, God includes them in His plan. This is God s mercy and love in action, the same mercy and love He has for us. God uses people who are marred, scarred and tarred, with less than perfect roots. In gratitude for being forgiven and accepted in His great love, God wants us to extend that same love and comfort to other flawed people. Paul encourages us, in Ephesians 3:17, to love and trust Christ and let our roots grow into God s love. Let s do that. Let s love and trust Christ, nourish our roots by reading and memorizing God s word, take part in Christian fellowship and send our spiritual roots deep into God s love.

6 A Service of Resurrection: Lois Johns Decker Members of St. Andrews in the Pines and other friends of Lois Decker joined together on April 25th to remember her service and friendship and to celebrate her life in A Service of Resurrection. As Father Randy said, Lois was like a loving mother to us all. The photo shows one of many stoles that she commissioned for both Father Randy and Pastor Jami to encourage and support them. The liturgy for the Burial of the dead in the Episcopal tradition is an Easter liturgy. A Service of Resurrection finds its meaning in the resurrection of Christ. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, the Bible promises, we too shall be raised. The liturgy is characterized by joy and certainty that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:8-39) While the love we have for Lois, and each other, in Christ brings deep sorrow when we are parted by death, we can also rejoice that a person we love has entered into the presence of our Lord and Savior. We thank God that Lois, as well as her beloved husband Bud, were members of St. Andrews in the Pines and graced us with their love and faith in God.

7 May Calendar of Events May 3: Stephen Ministry supervision May 6: Eucharist at both services- The Rev. Michael Paul May 13: Eucharist at both services- The Rev. Roy Walworth May 17: Stephen Ministry supervision May 20: Eucharist at both services - The Rev. Randy Belton May 21: Vestry Meeting, 5 PM We will be posting reminders about upcoming dates and events on our Facebook page. Make sure you like and follow us to stay current! Sunday Service Times St. Andrew s - 8:00 am & 10:00 am Taize Service 5:00 pm Retirement Center Chapel Service Mondays at 10:30 am Sublette Center If you have new ideas, photos or material you d like in the newsletter please me at jlund1911@gmail.com. I will need submissions for the May newsletter by May 23rd (earlier is always appreciated. Thanks, John