The hepherd s Staff. January of the Episcopal Diocese in Idaho. Vision & Mission Statement. St Mary s Episcopal Church.

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1 Vision & Mission Statement of the Episcopal Diocese in Idaho We are one in baptism * our call to discipleship * to be the hands and heart of Jesus in the world Our Five Mission Imperatives: We are a WORSHIPPING community with Baptism & Eucharist central to our lives together. We are a people who discover our identity in RELATING to God, the creation & one another. We are a TEACHING/LEARNING community focused on the Good News. We are a SERVING community. We are a WELCOMING/INVITING community. St Mary s Episcopal Church 219 First Street Emmett, ID Non-Profit Organization United States Postage Permit No. 67 Emmett, ID January 2007 The hepherd s Staff Published monthly by St Mary s Episcopal Church 219 First Street, Emmett, Idaho (208)

2 2 15 Table of Contents Bridges to the Contemplative Life With Thomas Merton and Others What s Happening at St. Mary s... 4 Birthdays & Anniversaries... 5 Daily Word... 6 Calendar... 8 Servants in His Service...10 Education for Ministry...11 Vestry Highlights...12 ReverendFun...13 All for the Love of Bridges...15 May God give you a deeper faith, more light, more strength and grace to accept and follow His will with greater peace and clarity. May you have greater trust in Him and may He bring us all to rejoice together in His Light. God bless you. Thomas Merton If you have something for the February issue, contact Linda Cox at or lindacox2004@aol.com or use the drop box in church office by January 20. Thanks! (P.S. Don t forget birthdays and special thank yous, etc.) How Long We Wait How long we wait, with minds as quiet as time, Like sentries on a tower. How long we watch, by night, like the astronomers. Heaven, when will we hear you sing, Arising from our grassy hills, And say: The dark is done, and Day Laughs like a Bridegroom in His tent, the lovely sun, His tent the sun, His tent the smiling sky!? How long we wait with minds as dim as ponds While stars swim slowly homeward in the water of our west! Heaven, when will we hear you sing? Thomas Merton. Collected Poems. New York: New Directions Press, 1977:

3 14 All for the Love of... I was reminded of the Christmas Eve many years ago when astronauts on the Apollo 8 mission read from space from the first chapter of Genesis while television screens exhibited the fragility of the Earth as a tiny marble awhirl in the cosmic seas. Suddenly the immensity of God s gift became real to me in the images. The Creator and Lord of all the vast universes deigned to come to this paltry pebble of a planet to become one of the billions to inhabit it all for the love of us. All for the love of those unable, in their despairs and fleeting desires, their sufferings and false satisfactions, to love wholly in return. All for the love of unworthy me. This is Good News: Christmas is not about a baby for me to care for (another responsibility at which I will fail!), but about a triune God who captures us with His grace and cares for us! Excerpt from The Sense of the Call by Marva J. Dawn 3 PRAYER FOR THE NEW YEAR Robert Louis Stevenson Lord, we thank Thee for this place In which we dwell; For the love that unites us; For the peace accorded us this day; For he hope with which we expect the morrow; For the health, the work, the food, And the bright skies that make our lives delightful; For our friends in all parts of the earth. Give us courage, gaiety, and quiet mind. Spare to us our friends, soften to us our enemies. Bless us, if it may be, in all our innocent endeavor. Of it may not, give us the strength To encounter that which is to come, That we may be brave in peril, Constant in tribulation, temperate in wrath And in all changes of the fortune, And down to the gates of death, Loyal and loving one to another. Amen.

4 4 WHAT S HAPPENING AT ST.MARYS? ST. MARY S ANNUAL MEETING St Mary s annual meeting will be AFTER THE 10:00 A.M. SERVICE ON January 21. Continental breakfast will be served. The 2007 budget will be reviewed and discussed. Two new vestry members (3-year terms) will be elected. Also, the nomination and election of two delegates and two alternates to the Diocesan Annual Convention will be held. Any other matters of concern to the whole congregation should be brought forth (e.g. holding both 8 and 10 a.m. services throughout the year). 13 P U S H R N O A A T M P Y I E P L T E H N I S N G PLEASE NOTE: Bishop Bainbridge will not visit St. Mary s until March 25, CORRIE TEN BOOM Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, And he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3: 5,6

5 12 Vestry Meeting Highlights Old Business Nancy Gedney reported on the diocesan convention at the church service. The size of the Memorial Garden plaques will be decided at the December 14 th meeting. New Business Max Long recommended transferring $10, from the checking account to the investment accounts. Investment decisions will be made by the investment committee. Vestry approved the transfer. Nancy Gedney discussed offering $100 scholarships to Education for Ministry students. The money would be available to St. Mary s members only. The scholarships would be offered upon request of the student.. The vestry voted to offer the scholarships. Gretchen s Business Rev. Gretchen Downer asked that a second bench be added to the Memorial Garden. The bench would be purchased with money donated in Doris Lueck s memory. The cost would be $ The vestry unanimously agreed. Rev. Gretchen Downer reported that there is a great need for a phone committee to keep everyone up to date on Church functions. Birthday Wishes. Best wishes to members born in January! Patty Thielges January 6 Russ Campbell January 7 Fran Maza January 19 Jan Sherman January 19 A very Happy Birthday to you all! (And many more ) Contact Warren Higer at webmaster@stmarysemmett.org or Linda Cox at lindacox2004@aol.com Anniversary Wishes. Curt & Nancy Gedney Jan 1 20 years Russ & LaVerne Campbell Jan 5 50 years Remember? Remember the first flush of love that drew you powerfully together? It still feeds the unassailable bond that makes your marriage so secure. Remember all the qualities about each other you found so endearing? They are still there, and new ones create sweet surprises. Remember thinking that this love would last forever? Your love has strengthened and grown into eternal affection and admiration. Years from now, like today, you'll look back at this anniversary and realize you love each other more than ever. Happy Anniversary! 5

6 6 From Daily Word I PRAY... I pray for others and myself with faith in the power of God at work in us. As I pray daily for family and friends, I create within myself of peace about their wholeness and well-being. I take time to contemplate their divine nature and know that each person is an expression of God s good. Praying for my community and my world I pray for people I may not know personally. Even so I am reminded in prayer of the divine nature of humanity and of the power of God to work in and though all people and all situations. Praying for myself, I deepen my recognition of my own divinity: the spirit of God within me. I am one of God s beloved creations, just as vital as any other person, and I know that God works through me as powerfully as through any person in the world. I pray for others and myself with faith in the power of God at work in us Pray for me. ---Exodus 8:28 11 Education for Ministry Education for Ministry, affectionately known as EfM, is a program of theological education-ata-distance of the School of Theology of the University of the South. Students sign up one year at a time for this four-year program. It covers the basics of a theological education in the Old and New Testaments, church history, liturgy, and theology. Students meet regularly, usually once a week, in seminars under the guidance of trained mentors. The program grants a certificate at the completion of the four years and 18 Continuing Education Units for each year's work. Every baptized person is called to ministry. The Education for Ministry (EfM) program provides people with the education to carry out that ministry. During the Service of Confirmation we ask God to "Renew in these your servants the covenant you made with them at Baptism. Send them forth in the power of the Spirit to perform the service you set before them." EfM offers an opportunity to discover how to respond to the call to Christian service. EfM teaches students how to think theologically, deepen their faith and their understanding of our Christian heritage, and provides them with new confidence to be Christ's ministers. In addition to EfM groups throughout the USA, EfM can be found in Germany, Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the Bahamas, Hong Kong, Italy, and Switzerland. Over 70,000 persons have participated in the program, and in the United States more than 22,000 have completed the full four years. The 2006 USA enrollment reached more than 8,000. More than eighty dioceses of the Episcopal Church as well as other denominations have contractual arrangements with EfM. Education for Ministry Comes to St. Mary s Beginning January 10, the Education for Ministry Program will meet weekly at St. Mary s on Wednesday at 3 pm. Sharron Hollingsworth, a December graduate of the program, will serve as mentor to the four St. Mary s members enrolled in the study: Nancy Gedney (3rd year), Val Sanders and Linda Cox, (2nd year) and Jan McConnell (1st year). Two students from other congregations will be meeting with them. Periodically, they will meet with the Boise EfM group for joint meetings and theological reflections. For more information on enrolling in EfM contact Sharron Hollingsworth,

7 10 Servants in His Service 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 2007 Sunday Sunday Sunday Sunday Sunday Early Early Early Early Early B. Lackey B. Lackey B. Lackey B. Lackey Altar Val Sanders Val Sander Val Sander Val Sander Guild Late Late Late Late Late J. Sorenson J. Mackey V. Beutler L. Campbell Mary T. Murphy M. Mitchell D. Blume L. Meserole Mitchell C. Veenstra S. Hollingsworth E. Shoemaker Val Sander K. Smelcer Acolytes Jordan Mckie Jen Smelcer Lauren Meghan Downer Smelcer Tammie Drew Hyde Nicole Sarah Waters Zeb Atkinson Waters Holbrook Altar RUSS Miguel Sandy Bernie Flowers & LaVerne & Jan & Val & Fran Linda Cox Campbell Aizpitarte Sanders Maze LaVerne Sharron Lectors Campbell Hollingsworth Lois Meserole Warren Higer Rev. Gretchen & & & & Jan McConnell Kim Smelcer Fran Maza Matt Dietz Chalice Bernie Maza LaVerne Fran Maza L. Campbell Bearers Campbell Rev. Gretchen Ushers 8am J.England 8am J.England 8am J.England 8am J.England Pat Murphy 10 am 10 am 10 am 10 am Matt & Max & Pat & Terry Heather Sandy Don & Jill Murphy Dietz Long Mackey Church Cleaning Marilyn Margarete Lois Kim Marilyn Lorenzen Lorenzen Smelcer Meserole Smelcer Advent Luncheon a Success! And Fun!! from Fran Maza The Advent luncheon was a huge success! It was great to see all the busy workers in their aprons serving delicious soup and dessert. Alice s rolls were a big hit (see recipe below). They were from an old family church recipe her mom used. Thanks to all the cooks, crafters and helpers. We made money to put in the bank and had a good time doing it. Thank you to Alice for thinking of this event and for all the wonderful wood crafting you did. The manger- scene-birdhouses are beautiful. There should be some happy birds in their new homes! Thanks everyone!!!! Happy and healthy New Year to you all. Alice s Mom s Church Rolls Per heat oven at 400. Take one package of rolls (10) in the little tube. Open and cut in half making 20 rolls. Melt some butter and add a generous sprinkle of powdered ranch dressing. Dip roll half in it and bake for 10 minutes. YUM!!! 7

8 8 9 JANUARY 2007 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Services 8 &10 am 8 9 Weight Watchers 5pm Vestry 7:00 PM Services 8 &10 am Weight Watchers 5pm Services 8 &10 am Congregation annual meeting Weight Watchers 5pm Services 8 &10 am Weight Watchers 5pm 31