St. Matthew's Midweek Update May 24, 2018

Transcription

1 St. Matthew's Midweek Update May 24, 2018 NATIVE AMERICAN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT As Rector of the Episcopal Church of St. Matthew, I speak on behalf of our community that we acknowledge the traditional peoples of the land on which we stand especially the Pascua Yaqui, Sobaipuri and Tohono O'odham nations. We pay our respect to them for their care of the land. - Fr. Rick Note from Rev. Debbie After being away for a couple of weeks, I am so happy to be back. And that was my longest stretch of time away while I am here as your "Supply Priest." Thank you all for everything that you do to keep our precious St. Matthew's community moving forward. I recently saw a sign that really made me laugh. It said, I'm a girl. What's your super power? Indeed. What is your super power? Last Sunday we celebrated what is mostly known as the birthday of the church. It's an easy correlation to make after celebrating Jesus' death and resurrection. He sent the Holy Spirit to seal our commission and bestow gifts to each and every one of us -- our Super Powers! It is time now for us to begin some of the work we have committed to do during this Sabbatical time. I hope that we will all engage in this time of study and conversation. For those of you who are able to connect to this link, I think you will find the Episcopal Church Foundation Vital Practices interview with The Rev. Eric Law, founder of the Kaleidoscope Institute helpful. I also recommended Eric Law to Fr. Rick before he left since he would be in the Diocese of Los Angeles and I believe they connected.

2 At the heart of my call and work on the mission and ministry of the church is a poem written by the late Bishop Wesley Frensdorff. He had a tremendous impact on me and my call to the priesthood. This is the poem: Let Us Dream of a Church In which all members know surely and simply God's great love, and each is certain that in the divine heart we are all known by name. In which Jesus is very Word, our window into the Father's heart; the sign of God's hope and his design for all humankind. In which the Spirit is not a party symbol, but wind and fire in everyone; gracing the church with a kaleidoscope of gifts and constant re-newel for all. A church in which worship is lively and fun as well as reverent and holy; and we might be moved to dance and laugh; to be solemn, cry or beat the breast. People know how to pray and enjoy it -- frequently and regularly, privately and corporately, in silence and in word and song. The Eucharist is the center of life and servant-hood the center of mission: the servant Lord truly known in the breaking of the bread. With service flowing from worship, and everyone understanding why a worship is called a service. Let us dream of a church in which the sacraments, free from captivity by a professional elite, are available in every church regardless of size, culture, location, or budget; In which every congregation is free to call forth from its midst priests and deacons, sure in the knowledge that training and support services are available to back them up. In which the Word is sacrament too, as dynamically present as bread and wine; members, not dependent on professionals, know what's what and who's who in the Bible, and all sheep share in the shepherding. In which discipline is a means, not to self-justification, but to discipleship and law is known to be a good servant but a very poor master. A church affirming life over death as much as life after death, unafraid of change, able to recognize God's hand in the revolutions, affirming the beauty of diversity, abhorring the imprisonment of uniformity, as concerned about love in all relationships as it is about chastity, and affirming the personal in all expressions of sexuality; denying the separation between secular and sacred, world and church, since it is the world Christ came to and died for. A church without the answers, but asking the right questions; holding law and grace, freedom and authority, faith and works together in tension, by the Holy Spirit, pointing to the glorious mystery who is God. So deeply rooted in the gospel and tradition that, like a living tree, it can swing in the wind and continually surprise us with new blossoms. Let us dream of a church with a radically renewed concept and practice of ministry and a primitive understanding of the ordained offices. Where there is no clerical status and no classes of Christians, but all together know themselves to be part of the laos -- the holy people of God. A ministering community rather than a community gathered around a minister.

3 Where ordained people, professional or not, employed or not, are present for the sake of ordering and signing the church's life and mission, not as signs of authority or dependency, nor of spiritual or intellectual superiority, but with Pauline patterns of "ministry supporting church" instead of the common pattern of "church supporting ministry." Where bishops are signs and animators of her Eucharistic life and the sacramental presence of her Great High Priest, and deacons are signs and animators -- living reminders -- of the church's servant hood as the body of Christ who came as, and is, the servant slave of all God's beloved children. Let us dream of a church so salty and so yeasty that it really would be missed if no longer around; where there is wild sowing of seeds and much rejoicing when they take root, but little concern for success, comparative statistics, growth, or even survival. A church so evangelical that its worship, its quality of caring, its eagerness to reach out to those in need cannot be contained. A church in which every congregation is in a process of becoming free - autonomous - self-reliant - interdependent, none has special status: the distinction between parish and mission gone. But each congregation is in mission and each Christian, gifted for ministry; a crew on a freighter, not passengers on a luxury liner. Peacemakers and healers abhorring violence in all forms (maybe even football), as concerned with societal healing as with individual healing; with justice as with freedom, prophetically confronting the root causes of social, political, and economic ills. A community: an open, caring, sharing household of faith where all find embrace, acceptance and affirmation. A community: under judgment, seeking to live with its own proclamation, therefore, truly loving what the Lord commands and desiring His promise. And finally, let us dream of a people called to recognize all the absurdities in ourselves and in one another, including the absurdity that is LOVE, serious about the call and the mission but not, very much, about ourselves, who, in the company of our Clown Redeemer can dance and sing and laugh and cry in worship, in ministry, and even in conflict. If you listened to the homily by our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry this past weekend you may also hear some rings of similarity between the two prophetic voices in the church. When I was Chair of the Standing Committee for Mission & Evangelism for The Episcopal Church, I was often filled with joy and awe as ministry after ministry presented its way of being the Church in the world. I see that same potential for awe and joy here at St. Matthew's. I invite you now, in this season of Pentecost to enter into a time of discernment and prayer with me as we seek to hear God's call for each of us personally and in our corporate lives.

4 NEW ANOUNCEMENTS Mark your calendars! June 10, 17, 24 Sermon Series on Mission and Ministry June 10 Who am I? Who are we? June 17 What is God calling us to do? June 24 How am I changing? Parish Retreat June 22, 4 pm to 8 pm (soup/bread) June 23, 8 am to 4 pm (lunch $5) June 24 after 10:30 (Potluck & Dream Catchers) Hello Angels, We would like to continue the upholstery cleaning of the chairs. Shirley and I are available on Thursdays and Fridays and an occasional Saturday. We felt that if the chairs were cleaned on Thursday or Friday the chairs ould be dry by Sunday morning.. If there is another day that would work better please let us know and we will try to accommodate you.

5 Please contact Shirley or by phone: ) and let her know what days and time that you are going to be available in the months of May and June. We thought that teams of four ladies or men would be effective. I will be out of town at the end of May and for two weeks in June so please let Shirley know when you would like to come and participate in this service project. We will reassess the cleaning at the end of June. The chairs that have been cleaned look absolutely fantastic! We are looking forward to working for you. Kathy and Shirley Hermitage House The Vestry has been considering if and how we might repair and restore the Hermitage house. It is not clear if we will have the funds to do all that is necessary to ensure the buildings long term health. So before we invest several thousand dollars, we want input from our congregation. We want to know how you will use the building if it is repaired. We are not looking for suggested uses, we have many of those. We need concrete plans. Please let us know how you WILL use it. Submit your plans to Carl Genthner, our Junior Warden, at jrwardenstmatts@gmail.com.

6 WEEKEND ANOUNCEMENT Dream Study The next Dream Study meetings Saturday, May 26 at 10:00 am in the library. For questions, contact Nancy Haugh. SCHEDULE OF EVENTS BEN'S BELLS JUNE 2, 2018 The next Matty's Angels' scheduled event is the visit to Ben's Bells on June 2, 2018, volunteering from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Susan Johnston is the Chairperson. Please contact her if you are planning to attend this event. The number of Angles attending is necessary so Ben's Bell's personnel can provide an appropriate space for our visit. There is a sign-up sheet in the Parish Hall or you can reach Susan by scjaz01@gmail.com or by a phone call ( ). More information will follow as the date approaches. MONTHLY CELTIC LITURGY SATURDAY JUNE 2, 2018 The next monthly Celtic Liturgy will be Saturday June 2, :30 pm. The service is a balance of chanting, praying and quiet contemplation.

7 CONVERSATION & COFFEE WITH A JESUIT SUNDAY JUNE 3, 2018 What's on your mind? Civil, Serious, Sensitive Conversation in the library, Sunday June 3, at 9:15 am. Join Fr. Frank Bergen for an hour and share your concerns about everything from the congregation to the cosmos. We may or may not find answers. And when we do, we may not all agree, but we will enjoy the questions and find areas of agreement where we may least expect them. MONTHLY FOOD COLLECTION REMINDER Food collection on the first Sunday of each month is for the Community Food Bank. Food collection for Gale Elementary School is on the third Sunday. Feel free to bring food any and every Sunday! There are people in our community who are hungry and we can help! Diocesan Announcements Family Camp at Chapel Rock Family Camp registration is now open! Our 3rd annual Diocesan Family Camp is a time for the families to unplug from the busyness of their daily lives and reconnect with each other and with God. This camp is for families with children and youth of all ages and even with multiple generations. Past attendees have expressed that time at camp has helped them bond with each other and create friendships with other families. JULY 5-8, 2018 PRESCOTT, AZ For more information, see the flier on the Narthex Table.

8 ONGOING ANNOUNCEMENTS Men's Gathering: Matty's Men 3rd Saturday The third Saturday of each month, Matty's Men (St. Matthew's Men's group) meets at 7:30 am at Breakfast Stop Family Restaurant 6135 E. 22nd Street for breakfast and fellowship; then meets in the Parish Hall from 8:30 to 9:30. Please consider joining us to get so we can get to know each other better and hatch our plans to reach out into the community. If you would like to get our s, please contact Bob DeLaney ( ). Homeless Veterans Donation Needs Homeless veterans at Camp Bravo are in need of socks, small antibacterial bottles, male and female shoes. Especially tennis shoes (gently used is fine), aa and aaa batteries, paper products for serving food. And Quart and gallon Ziploc style bags. Jim Thompson will be collecting and delivering them to Camp Bravo. Contact: Jim Thompson Desert Chrism Chapter of the Order of the Daughters of the King We are very proud to be a part of St. Matthews ministries and invite you to inquire about our group. Our goal is to assist St. Matthews in the spiritual upbuilding of the parish. We are doing this by working with all members of our parish to greet visitors and provide a welcome packet which gives them an idea about who we are and activities provided.

9 The Daughters also are organizing the Caring Casseroles Ministry, I like to call them the Kitchen Angels. They assist parish members by providing meals to those who are ill and/or recovering. I know that sometimes just a few meals and loving thoughts can help one heal faster. All interested in being part of either group please contact Karen Hatfield at or k.hatfield@att.net. PRAYER CHAIN CONTACT Judie Bass is serving as the Prayer Chain Coordinator. If you have any prayer requests for which you would like to have the prayer chain activated, please contact her at (520) Additions to the prayer list can be made by informing the office. The church number is (520) VESTRY ANNOUNCEMENTS ATTENDANCE The attendance for the week of MAY 21, :00 am 34 10:30 am 79 Procedures for Submitting Announcements to the E-Bulletin and/or Sunday insert Submit to the office or via to parish01stmatts@outlook.com or saintmatthewsrector@live.com no later than Tuesday at 4 pm for the weekly e-bulletin and/or Sunday Bulletin.

10 Identify yourself and the reason for this particular St. Matthew event or activity. Activities and Events other than St. Matthew's require the approval of the Rector. Include how long to run the announcement. The announcement will be printed as you submit so make sure everything you want to say and how it is to be said is in the announcement. Do not forget to place in your announcement the name of the contact and that person's contact information if a response is requested. If your announcement includes a collection of anything, make sure you have cleared with the Rector the location if the collection is to be on the church campus. If it is to be elsewhere, identify where that location is. Either way, have the collection location in the announcement. Provide a small description exceeding no more than a paragraph. The announcement may be edited for space requirements. Pictures may be submitted but only in a JPEG format. No more than 4 pictures per article and text description must accompany the pictures. Posting up to more than 5 but less than 10 pictures of a St. Matthew's event or activity will require a separate electronic mailing. Hard copies of the postings will be available on the narthex table. Episcopal Church of Saint Matthew 9071 East Old Spanish Trail Tucson Arizona (520) stmatthew.azdiocese.org Instagram: Saintmatthews_Tucson Mailing address PO Box Tucson, AZ 85731