Revelations THE CUBA DIARY KIDS NIGHT OUT. Sharing stories from the mission trip PREP THE CHAPEL SPRING CONCERTS YOUTH SERVING IT UP

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1 Revelations May 10, 2015 THE CUBA DIARY Sharing stories from the mission trip KIDS NIGHT OUT PREP THE CHAPEL SPRING CONCERTS YOUTH SERVING IT UP St. John s EPISCOPAL CHURCH Jackson Hole CIRCLING THE PARISH

2 A MESSAGE FROM FR. RON POGUE INTENTIONAL FAITH DEVELOPMENT Around the time I entered ordained ministry in the early 1970 s, a number of articles were published concerning the state of religious education in various Christian denominations. The articles reported on various studies and surveys that showed declining attendance. The post-world War II Baby Boomers had reached adulthood and were not as committed to Christian education for themselves and their children as their parents generation had been. My second appointment after seminary was on the staff of a Bishop who wanted me to get out there and address this situation before it got any worse in his jurisdiction. I want you to help our churches turn the Sunday school around, he said. I can t say we actually accomplished his turn around objective, but we did at least find some new energy and stop the slide. One nationally recognized authority on Christian education sounded the warning: As goes the Sunday School, so goes the Church. He was right. Declining participation in Christian education, especially on Sunday mornings, preceded some would say precipitated declines in worship attendance, membership, and giving in mainline Churches. During the same half-century, we witnessed a dramatic rise in participation in more theologically conservative evangelical congregations and a concurrent increase in their level of influence in American politics and culture. These Christian movements have offered absolute answers and simple rules that comfort a generation that wasn t well-formed in faith and suddenly found themselves adrift in a world-wide cultural change. The more conservative theological and moral principles provided a sense of security and a place to drop anchor. This generation demanded options in every aspect of life. But when it came to faith, they wanted something that is changeless. Many of our members joined them. The Episcopal Church has been baffled by the decline and uncertain about what to do. In our attempts to respond, we have not wanted to inconvenience one another, and we ve tried less demanding offerings for faith formation. But most of our attempts at accommodation have not been faithful to the Baptismal Covenant and have failed to form people in the Christian faith. Members have drifted away or sought to shore up their feelings of theological and biblical inadequacy in other faith communities. Now, we see a generation emerging that isn t so comfortable with a faith that possesses all the answers, is always right, knows the absolute truth, and tells them what to think. They want space for mystery and wonder. They are less interested in what is changeless than they are in seeking that which is ageless. There is a difference! Our Church has the theological, liturgical, sacramental, and moral heritage to respond to this generation. We need to listen to their questions and provide an environment in which it is safe to ask them. This is a unique opportunity to leave our comfort zone and join them in their spiritual quest. They are calling us to awaken from our complacency and journey with them into a new era of wonder, love, and praise. Therefore, let us take seriously the call to Intentional Faith Development for our Church, ourselves, our children, and those who come to us seeking a living relationship with the author of peace and lover of concord, whom to know is eternal life and to serve is perfect freedom, to paraphrase The Collect for Peace. St. John s has a somewhat small number of Christian formation options, but they are very good. Let s build on that and try some other possibilities. I ll see you in Church! The Rev d Ron Pogue Interim Rector

3 AROUND THE PARISH news, events, opportunities and more KIDS NIGHT OUT Kids, we have great news for you! We would love to send your parents on a date night so you can enjoy a night with games, crafts, movies, and fun not to mention pizza for dinner. We will be having a great time from 6:00-9:00pm on Friday, May 22 and you can come for one hour or three! The suggested donation per hour is $5.00 for one child, $10.00 for two and $12.00 for three, but if your parents are trying to save money, we are happy to provide the service for free. Interested? Have questions? Catherine Morahan at catherine@stjohnsjackson.org. 15 DAYS UNTIL THE FIRST SERVICE! Help us prepare the Chapel of the Transfiguration for summer opening on Sunday, May 17 at 1:00 p.m. Bring gloves, sunscreen and other protective clothing for working outdoors. SPRING CONCERTS AT ST. JOHN'S May 12 The Jackson Hole Brass Quintet performs chamber music for brass and strings at 7:00 p.m. June 6 Pianist Andrew Palmer Todd, Executive Director of the Grand Teton Music Festival, features two of Mozart s best-known piano sonatas at 7:00 p.m. like us on facebook follow us on twitter find us on instagram YOUTH ARE SERVING UP A SERVICE PROJECT Join Catherine Morahan for an evening of cooking and conversations at the Good Samaritan Mission Tuesday, May 12. Dinner will take place at 5:30 p.m. and school pick up can be arranged. IT MAKES OUR HEARTS GLAD WHEN... Ryan Hutton is selected to be on the US Junior National Kayaking Team and will be competing in the US Junior World Championship. After four and a half years of being on the Acquired Brain Injury waiver list, Amanda Macfarlane has been funded for treatment and will be participating with the full backing of the state of Wyoming. Kip MacMillan replaces the ribbons in the St. John's Chapel Altar Missal. Eight people participate in World Labyrinth Day, sharing in a symbolic walk for peace. James Ablondi is awarded the Ted Jonke Memorial Soccer Scholarship, Wade Dudley receives the Eileen Hunter Scholarship, Aiden Ulrich receives the Jackson Hole Ski Patrol Memorial Scholarship and a General Scholarship, Ian Rubrecht receives the Oddfellows Lodge #8 Scholarship, and Reed Hutton receives The Cougar Fund s Leader in Conservation Scholarship. Please share what is making your heart glad with the parish by sending an to glad@stjohnsjackson.org. SUPPORT FOR NEPAL Contribute to needs such as food, water, and shelter through St. John's Church or with Episcopal Relief & Development at Not able to make a financial gift? Prayer is one of the most powerful ways you can support those in need. CIRCLING THE PARISH by Pam Woodson Parish Life Coordinator The best part of waking up is well, in our case, Jackson Hole Roasters in your cup! You probably have been hearing praises about our coffee from Fr. Pogue, who pretty much brags about it every Sunday. As he says, most churches have bad coffee and it s no wonder no one wants to stick around for coffee hour! But, it s nothing but the best here! Even better is the fellowship and sense of community that happens around the coffee. Hansen Hall becomes alive and electric during Coffee Hour. The coffee itself could stand on its own, but what really blesses our Coffee Hour are the people who host it. Coffee Hour is open for anyone to host any family, families, or group. And, though we have had wonderful spreads of food, it can be as simple and easy as bringing in donuts or muffins. Anything is appreciated! So, don t be shy. We welcome you to sign up to host Coffee Hour and see what all the fun is about.

4 Cuba Diary From left: Installing the new water filtration system. Learning about the community needs. Katy Niner, a member who traveled to Cuba on the most recent mission trip, shares her thoughts and experiences working with the people of Favorito, Cuba. The mission trip began in Eleta s house where plants bloom from water bottles and the trim is as green as the lime trees out back. The first time we visited, she raced ahead of us to clean her pig, the perfume of the place, if not washed. Pictures of family and friends decorated her living room and lawn chairs served as seating. A roster of church members, tacked above the fridge, tallied attendance. A sewing machine, brought by an earlier St. John s mission, claimed a room all its own. The patter of her dogs relegated to the roof punctuated our conversations. Eleta is a force all her own: Formerly the human resources director of the sugarcane fields that face her home the fields where most of Favorito s men work she now channels her magnetism into Santa María Magdalena. Nine years ago, she attended a workshop on canning at Santa María Virgen in Itabo. The priest Griselda Delgado Del Carpio, now Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Cuba (and the only female Bishop in Latin America) took notice of Eleta and her enthusiasm and later asked her to consider hosting workshops at her house in Favorito. Without knowing anything about the Bible, Eleta agreed to open up her home. The workshops, staged on her back patio, taught preservation techniques, empowering participants to stock their pantries with tomato puree and mango-pineapple conserve. Worship seeped into the sessions. I started to fall in love with the Bible, Eleta said. She began organizing youth groups, time for teenagers to laugh and learn. One young couple, both engineers, became so enamored with the gatherings, they offered their home as a church when their marriage dissolved. A crumbling casa infested with termites and filled with rubble, Eleta led the reconstruction with Maria Elena, the site s neighbor. Supported by the annual missions from St. John s Episcopal Church, they worked day and night to transform the decrepit abode into a bright oasis replete with checkboard tile floors, seashell pink walls, a carved wood altar and an elegant cross, made by Maria Elena s husband Julio. Worship continued throughout construction: with permission requested early on, the first prayers were said atop dirt floors in During the renovation, Eleta fell on her face; her eyebrows never grew back, requiring tattoo replacements. Toiling together porque quiero (out of love), the church became a close-knit community. Our church is known in all the country, Maria Elena said. Everybody wants to see our work. We are the favorite one. Even now with the church thriving four doors down, Eleta s hospitality continues to compel the congregation. There are the relatives she shelters: her grandson Junior a baseball star who came close to joining the national league; and her granddaughter, a social worker, recently moved out to make her way in Marti, the comparative metropolis less than five miles down the road from Eleta s front door. Then there are the waves of friends she welcomes in: When a 75 year-old woman doesn t feel well at the church, we retreat to Eleta s house for limon soda. Eleta embraces all. Including us: Escaping the noonday sun, we clustered in her living room to watch a slideshow of photographs from Favorito s first Christmas, celebrated only four years ago in the very same room. We had to improvise quite a lot, Eleta said, because we didn t have a lot of things. Improvisation seems to be part of the faithbased magic of Favorito. One afternoon, while the crew of men focused on installing the water filtration system, Eleta took us on a tour of the town, stopping at the homes of fellow parishioners: the mason who works on the church; the coach who leads Sunday workshops; the woman who raises messenger doves for competition; the former Olympic javelin thrower; the doctor, now retired after serving in Venezuela, who cared for Bishop Griselda s mother. Everyone opened their door to Eleta and, by extension to us. Children tagged along on our tour, forming an impromptu parade down the main dirt road and grassy pathways. This effusion of community marks all events at Santa María Magdalena: the evening service we attended saw 70 people packed into the chapel. On weekends, young people flock to the workshops. In the future, they hope to lead field trips to nearby sites like beautiful Varadero Beach only two hours away, yet foreign to all kids in Favorito. Eleta sees the church as a sanctuary for young people, a safe place for them to do what they like to do listen to music, dance away from troubling influences like alcohol. Another of her slideshows, fuzzily out of focus, still captures kids smiling over plates of food and teenagers clowning for the camera. Whether gathered in Eleta s living room or the immaculate chapel, Favorito s faithful are joyful. And humble. Despite everything they have achieved, the members of Santa María Magdalena approach their faith with humility. We are children in all of this, Eleta said. We are still learning. The remarkable transformation of turning an old house into a chapel has opened the hearts and minds of parishioners from St. John s and Santa Maria Magdalena alike. To see a photo album with highlights of the mission trip, go to our website,

5 WEEKLY CALENDAR view online - WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Send comments about topics in this publication to: info@stjohnsjackson.org or St. John's Episcopal Church Jackson Hole, P.O. Box 1690, Jackson WY facebook.com/stjohnsjh twitter.com/sjecjackson instagram.com/sjecjackson info@stjohnsjackson.org The Reverend Ronald D. Pogue Interim Rector ron@stjohnsjackson.org Deacon Trent Moore Assistant/Youth Ministry trent@stjohnsjackson.org The Reverend Suzanne Harris Priest Associate suzanneloveh@mac.com Deacon Dennis Johnson The Chapel of St. Hubert the Hunter denjohn1@bresnan.net Margaret Hutton Children s Ministry margaret@stjohnsjackson.org Catherine Morahan Youth & Children's Assistant catherine@stjohnsjackson.org Pam Phillips Music keithphill@aol.com Hilary Camino Music Assistant hilarycamino.mtbc@gmail.com Robyn Reed Parish Administration robyn@stjohnsjackson.org Pam Woodson Parish Life pam@stjohnsjackson.org Nancy Lee Administrative Assistant nancy@stjohnsjackson.org Darrah Isaacson Communications darrah@stjohnsjackson.org Mary Glowacki Browse 'N Buy Manager browse@stjohnsjackson.org Laurie Palmer Browse 'N Buy Assistant Manager browse@stjohnsjackson.org Blakeney Spong Bright Beginnings Preschool preschool@stjohnsjackson.org St. John s Vestry contact information can be found on our website at