St. Patrick s Shamrock

Transcription

1 St. Patrick s Shamrock F A L L 2011 A Newsletter of St. Patrick s Episcopal Church 341 Village Blvd. Incline Village, NV Phone: (775) Issue date October 2011 Published Quarterly Issue No. 762 Yours For A Song!

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3 St. Patrick s Shamrock Page 3 Yours For A Song! On August 28 th YOURS FOR A SONG 2011 was presented to our parish community and our friends and supporters for the 3 rd year in a row. The event is St. Patrick s major annual fundraiser and it was another smashing success! The church is in receipt of $22,500 in proceeds which will enhance the budget and allow us to continue our mission to be The Church for Others. In addition $540 in raffle ticket sales will benefit the youth of St. Patricks. The warm summer evening began at 5 PM and was held at the Chateau in Incline Village. From the moment the doors opened the air was filled with excitement, congeniality and enthusiasm for the evening that was about to unfold. The enticing auction items were beautifully displayed and presented. Spectacular floral arrangements enhanced the entryway and the dining tables. The dinners prepared and served by the Chateau were delicious offerings of steak and salmon and were thoroughly enjoyed by all. Lively bidding was conducted by our generous guests who were rewarded at the end of the evening by a spectacular performance of St. Patrick s own talented musicians and vocalists. This was truly a successful evening, as evidenced by the photos in this issue of the Shamrock. We would like to say thank you to each and every one of the talented and gifted individuals who so willingly gave of their time and energy to the success of YOURS FOR A SONG St. Patrick s is truly blessed to be able to count you as members. See you at YOURS FOR A SONG 2012! Emy Gurowitz and Sharon Kirby, Co-chairs YOURS FOR A SONG 2011

4 St. Patrick s Shamrock Page 4 St. Patrick s Dedicates New Peace Pole On Saturday, September 17 th, St. Patrick s officially dedicated the new Peace Pole at the 5:30 p.m. Saturday Night Alive service. The Peace Pole is a handcrafted monument given as a gift to St. Patrick s Church by Deb and Jim Beebe. On each of its four sides, it displays the prayer, May Peace Prevail on Earth, in eight languages, chosen by Deb because they are spoken in places deeply troubled by violence: English, Chinese, Hindi, Arabic, French, Spanish, Somali, and Poshto. The more than 200,000 Peace Poles around the world proclaim this same prayer. They are in every country you can think of. They are in simple places, such as churches and gardens, and extraordinary ones, such as at the Pyramids of El Giza, Egypt, or the Magnetic North Pole in Canada. They are promoting healing of conflict in places like Sarajevo and the Allenby Bridge between Israel and Jordan. They serve as constant reminders for all of us to visualize and pray for world peace. The dedication included a special prayer for peace within ourselves and within our world: Let us raise our right hands toward the Peace Pole as we ask God s blessing upon it. Dear God, the Source of Peace, we ask your blessing on our Peace Pole as we dedicate ourselves to living more fully the peace you have given us. Help us to strive for your peace within ourselves and within our world; to actively work in nonviolent ways to abolish war and the injustices causing war from our own hearts and from the face of the earth. We pray for our world leaders, that they will reject the violence of war and work for conflict resolution and justice through negotiation and diplomacy. God of Peace, may our Peace Pole be a reminder to us and a witness to our community of our commitment to work for a just and peaceful world. We ask this in Jesus name, the Prince of Peace.

5 St. Patrick s Shamrock Page 5 Breast Cancer Awareness Month October Last year, Karen Colbert launched The Day of Pink to recognize and collect money for Breast Cancer Research. As you may know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Even the NFL recognizes the wearing of the pink during the month of October to remind people of this important research. Karen will donate $1.00 to Breast Cancer for everyone who wears anything pink to church on October 23rd. She will even donate a dollar for every piece of clothing you wear that is pink! Ed and Emy Gurowitz have seconded Karen s pledge. So show your pink!! We will also have a special collection for those who also wish to make an individual contribution to Breast Cancer. Mark your calendar, dust off your pink clothes, and help us to raise some money for breast cancer research. If you cannot make it on the 23rd, stop by Karen s shop, Artist At Lake Tahoe, in the Village Center wearing your pink you will be counted in the total. GO PINK!! Contact Karen at with any questions. St. Patrick s Fall Stewardship Program Healthy Use of All Our Gifts October 16 to November 6, 2011 In our focus on stewardship this fall, we give thanks for all God s gifts and examine how we can practice their balanced, healthy use as individuals and as a parish. Each week, we ll reflect on a different dimension of our commitment to be a healthy parish: October 16 October 23 October 30 November 6 Health in our bodies, minds, and spirits Health in our relationships with each other and God Health in our world Health in our parish mission We ll celebrate the close of our program on Sunday, November 6, with a healthful, fun, all-parish brunch and an in-gathering of our pledges toward St. Patrick s financial health in Here s to life together! Good health! L Chaim! A votre santé! Salud! Prost! Salute! Na zdrowie! Ging jáu!

6 St. Patrick s Shamrock Page 6 MOTHER JESUS By Jim Beebe While she was Bishop of the Diocese of Nevada, Katharine Jefferts Schori got into some hot water over a reference to Mother Jesus she made in a homily at General Convention. Here s what she said: Our mother Jesus gives birth to a new creation and we are his children. We are going to have to give up fear. Do not be afraid. God is with you. You are God s beloved and God is well pleased with you. When we know ourselves as beloved, we can recognize another beloved in a homeless man, a rhetorical opponent. We can reach beyond the defenses of others. Our invitation in the last work of this convention is to lay down our fear and love the world. Lay down our shield and sword, lay down our narrow self interest. Lay down our need for power and control, and bow to God s image in the weakest, poorest and most excluded. We children of Jesus can continue to squabble over our inheritance. We must share the name beloved with the whole world. Mother Jesus, huh? Where did that come from? Actually, Katharine was not trying to be P.C. She was quoting, in effect, some of the most renown people in the Christian tradition. People that most haven t ever heard of. Like Clare, for example. She was the daughter of wealthy parents to whom God spoke in the year Well, it was really St. Francis of Assisi preaching. But it changed the life of this 18-year-old girl. She sought out Francis and begged to become a member of his order. He placed her in a nearby Benedictine convent. Naturally, she met with a lot of resistance from her family and friends. I guess Jesus said it best: A prophet is not without honor, except in her hometown. But Clare stuck to her guns. Francis took her to a dilapidated building beside the Church of St. Damian at Assisi. Other women began to join her and soon she became Mother Superior of the order called the Poor Ladies of St. Damian. The order s practices were austere, to say the least. They embraced the Franciscan rule of absolute poverty and their days were given over to begging and to works of mercy for the poor and neglected. Clare governed the convent for 40 years. Her biographer said that she radiated a spirit of fervor so strong that it kindled those who but heard her voice. In 1253 Clare lay dying. Daily she weakened and daily she was visited by devoted people, by priests, even by the Pope. On her last day, as she saw many weeping by her bedside, she exhorted them to love poverty and to share their possessions. She added, Go forth in peace, for you have followed the good road. Go forth without fear, for he that created you has sanctified you, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother.

7 St. Patrick s Shamrock Page 7 OUTREACH UPDATE St. Patrick s Outreach committee is excited about the agencies chosen to receive donations from the parish. Following is a brief of these agencies: Kids and Horses, an equine assisted therapeutic riding center, is one of the newest charities, which the Outreach Committee has decided to support. This organization was founded in 1999 by Sam Waldman with his own funds at his Minden ranch to provide a program of horsemanship as a means of therapy used to improve strength, coordination and self esteem. The students served have physical, emotional or other impairments. They come to the ranch mainly from Incline Village, Carson, and the Minden/ Gardnerville areas. The age range is from two years old and up---about 20 percent are adults. This is the only facility of its kind in Northern Nevada and is a NARHA Premier Accredited Center. There are five certified instructors and more than 60 volunteers working with the program in various capacities. Lessons cost $25.00, 1/5 of the cost to the center, but no one is turned away because of the inability to pay. Scholarships are funded with donations, grants, and fundraisers. The achievements at the center are seen in the students who have reached goals not expected---walking, talking, and interacting with others. At their website, you can find much information including stories of achievement by the students. Tours at the ranch are offered to increase public awareness of their work. Please take a tour through their website! The mission of the Boys & Girls Club is to enable youth to realize their potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens. Their focus is on the children who most need us to inspire them. The North Lake Tahoe Boys and Girls Club in Kings Beach provides programs before and after school in 6 areas: education, technology, health and life skills, character and leadership, the arts and sports, fitness and recreation. For example, in Chop Shop, a health and life skills offering, a chef includes kitchen safety and hygiene while teaching kids to make healthy snacks and meals. In the Power Hour, an education offering, children do homework with the help of volunteers and earn Power Points for work completed which can be used for prizes in the Power Store. $50 is the annual club membership. With a grant of $2000 from St Patrick s, we are sponsoring 40 children this year. More at

8 St. Patrick s Shamrock Page 8 OUTREACH UPDATE Continued... Karimu was founded by a retired Episcopal deacon, Tally Bandy, after she went to Tanzania in 2008 to teach in an Anglican theological seminary there. Her organization now works there at a grassroots level: providing bicycles for the seminarians and for women to use getting water, micro- lending for women to buy piglets, teaching the official language of Tanzania, English, to adults and supporting an Anglican primary school. Learn more at karimutanzania.com. Karimu means welcome in Swahili. We are happy to send $3,000 in support of Tally Bandy s efforts in Tanzania in the name of St. Patrick s Church. In addition to the actions of your outreach committee noted above, St. Patrick s will be able to do the following:?? Contribute $500 per month for six months to the emergency fund of the Parasol Community Support Team administered by Project MANA.?? Send $2,270 to Tuscaloosa for relief after the spring tornado there.?? Give $1,000 to She Is Saved formerly Sisters in Service for their work with women and children in southern Sudan.?? An additional $820 was sent to Camp Galilee, the Episcopal camp on the SE shore of Lake Tahoe, in response for their need for camperships. For a full view of St. Patrick s local, national and international outreach this year, please look at the bulletin board to the left of the door to the patio. Members of the committee would love to answer your questions about our outreach decisions. We are: Connie Skidmore Karen Colbert Cherry Barney Karen Barney Marilyn Johnston Nancy Dawson Linda Brown

9 St. Patrick s Shamrock Page 9 Other Outreach News Incline Community Blood Drive Do you remember the fatal car accident on route 28 this summer? Fifteen units of blood were needed to treat the survivor of the crash. Sixty units were used after the Carson City shooting last month. The amount of blood that will have been used for the victims of the air show accident is not yet known. You needn't wonder if your blood donation will be important to someone. The answer is YES. The number of donations at blood drives in this area has declined over the last few years. This drive, held each October by the United Blood Services, is still the largest of the year in Incline. If you are able to donate, please put Friday, October 14 on your calendar. Folks with appointments and walk-ins are welcome between 10 AM and 5 PM at the Incline Recreation Center. For questions and appointments call Cherry at or go online at and use sponsor code inclinerec. The perks? Donors can find their cholesterol level, vital signs and body mass index online one week after the drive. There will be breakfast goodies in the morning, pizza at lunch and homemade cookies in the afternoon. And you'll see lots of St. Patrick's regulars there! Tuscaloosa Tornado Relief Mission Wanna do some good work? This April St. Patrick s is sponsoring a mission trip to help with rebuilding after the terrible tornado in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. A number of our young people are planning to go, and we are encouraging interested adults to sign up. Our contact in Tuscaloosa is the Episcopal church that Caroline Cutler s mother attends. The church oversees many groups that come there to help out, and they offer a housing facility and access to an adjacent fitness center. It won t be all work and no play we foresee lots of recreational ventures, like a tour of the University of Alabama campus (home of Bear Bryant s Crimson Tide!), a riverside picnic, soccer or softball. They need our help, and we need enough adults to come for the trip to make sense. The dates are April 7-14, spring vacation week for our schools we will worship in Tuscaloosa on Easter Day. A meeting for interested young people and adults will be held at 6:30, after Saturday Night Alive, at church on October 8. We need to plan and commit ourselves to this trip soon, especially in order to book flights, possibly at group rates. Please come even if unsure of your interest! If you re interested but can t make the meeting please let one of us know. See you there! Steve Barney ( ) Caroline Cutler ( or ) Clare Novak (530/ )

10 St. Patrick s Shamrock Page 10 National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month November Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate of any major cancer only 6% of those diagnosed survive more than five years. It is the most under-funded, under recognized and least-studied of all major cancer killers with only 2% of the National Cancer Institute s annual budget dedicated to pancreatic cancer research. During National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, join thousands of other across other the country to raise awareness about this devastating disease. If you have a family member or friend who fought cancer and has survived or passed on, please join us. You can give a local face to pancreatic cancer by honoring the memory of friends or family who have fought Pancreatic Cancer, and to celebrate friends or family members who are current survivors by contributing photos to be displayed in month-long photo and information displays in Reno, Incline Village and Truckee. Please contact Ginnie Jed at with your questions or for more details. Operation Shoebox A huge thank you to everyone who has brought in items to send to our troops. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Operation Shoebox, here is a short blurb on their mission from their website: "Welcome to Operation ShoeBox. We were founded in 2003 in an effort to send support, snacks and much needed personal care items to our troops deployed outside of the USA and we encourage citizens to support their fighting men and women deployed overseas in these dangerous times. The most frequent response we get from the "boots on the ground" is that receiving mail from the home front is a huge morale boost!" This ministry costs you nothing to support! There is a basket near the door of the church for your donations - all hotel size bottles of shampoo, conditioner, lotion and soaps are welcome! Keep our troops in your hearts during the holidays. They are far from their families and doing their best to fight to maintain our freedom for terrorists. Many don't see people on a daily basis, camped out in extreme temperatures, manning their fox holes independently for days on end. Although you do not need to spend money on this ministry, should you wish to allocate some of your holiday spending in support of our troops, please pick up a copy of the Wish List when you go shopping. A little effort from us goes a very long way for our guys and gals in uniform. Karen Colbert collects and sends all our donations to Operation Shoebox. She is happy to send whatever you wish to contribute. If you have any questions about this program, call Karen at , or stop by her shop, Artists At Lake Tahoe, at the Village Center.

11 St. Patrick s Shamrock Page 11 KNITTERS GUILD OF INCLINE VILLAGE NEWS Do you love to knit or crochet? Come join the Knitters Guild, which meets every Wednesday From 1 3 p.m. in the church library! In July, a goodbye party was held for Doris Todd, a longtime guild member who is moving to Colorado. We will miss her, but plan to keep in touch with her! During the summer, more projects were completed to add to the large assortment of hats, scarves, blankets and sweater that had been displayed for several weeks in the church hallway. At one of the August meetings, all the items not yet distributed were on display in the library. Everyone was impressed with the large number of lovely things ready to be donated. Many of these items were then delivered to the North Tahoe Family Resource Center in Kings Beach so families would have warm things when fall weather appeared. Also, several lap robes for hospice patients and layettes for newborns were delivered to Tahoe Forest Hospital in Truckee. A beautiful layette, blanket and calendar quilt were donated by the guild to Yours For A Song. We are pleased to report that, as items offered in the silent auction, they brought in $ to the church.! On September 19, the Knitting Club at Incline Elementary School held its first meeting of this school year. Many of the Knitters Guild members have volunteered to teach knitting after school on Mondays to 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. We look forward to another successful year of working with these eager students. The highlight of this quarter was the 9th Anniversary Party for the Knitters Guild! Nineteen members gathered on September 21st to mark this milestone. After making several announcements, I introduced Jim Beebe who made some congratulatory remarks, saying that the Knitters Guild is the longest-standing outreach effort of our parish. He also thanked Barbara Nutting for replacing the worship linens for the 6-month Pentecost season. Barbara expertly sewed them in a beautiful green fabric with a Celtic design. The new linens have been in use since June. Dave Musatti was also in attendance and complimented the members on their good work for so many years. We were happy to have them both join us and I, in turn, thanked St. Patrick s for making the library available each week for our meetings, providing storage space for our supplies and allowing the office printer to be used to copy patterns. Without all this help, the Knitters Guild would not be able to function.

12 St. Patrick s Shamrock Page 12 ODE TO THE KNITTERS GUILD OF INCLINE VILLAGE September 21, 2011 As we all gather here today, It s my great pleasure to say, The Knitters Guild has reached year nine And everything is going fine! Each Wednesday we meet and greet; To see our friends is really neat! At St. Patrick s Episcopal Church On the library chairs we perch. We get out our knitting, And instead of just sitting, Our fingers get busy But no one s in a tizzy! Some ladies like to crochet For them it s child s play. Patterns, ideas and help we share With our friends for whom we care. The many products we make Are beautiful, for goodness sake! Hats, scarves, booties and mittens Are made with yarn as soft as kittens; Slippers warm some people s feet To wear them is surely a treat. Blankets and sweaters are made, too So kudos to every one of you! Knitting Club grades three through five Will continue this year to thrive. To help others feels very good, And nobody say that we should. We couldn t help the people we do Without the loving care of all of you. For all your work these many years, I give you my heartfelt cheers. Let s all look forward to another year Of coming together right here! 9th Anniversary Party Gathering Over the years, four scrapbooks have been filled with photos, memorabilia, notes, etc. and they were avidly perused by the members. It is so much fun to look back through the history of the guild and say, Oh, yes! Remember when we did that? Refreshments provide by several members were then enjoyed by all those in attendance. We now look forward to another productive and rewarding year for the Knitters Guild of Incline Village! Peggy Harrison p.s. I wrote a poem and read it to the members: a copy is included in this newsletter. I hope it makes you smile! We welcome anyone who loves to knit or crochet, and we can help you if your skills need refreshing. Please call Peggy Harrison at for further information.

13 St. Patrick s Shamrock Page 13 Seeking Wisdom 9:10 a.m. Sunday Adult Forum at St. Patrick s Church Winter Wisdom is the acknowledgment of limits; it is the awareness of the right measure in all relations of life. -- Paul Tillich, The Eternal Now What is wisdom, exactly? In the ancient world, wisdom denoted skill (e.g., a master silver craftsman was considered wise ). The writer of Proverbs personified wisdom as a wife and mother and foolishness as a wanton harlot. The Jewish philosopher Philo abstracted wisdom from God as something to be sent into the world. The writer of Matthew, in turn, claimed that Jesus himself was the wisdom of God. That all changed, of course, with the Renaissance and Enlightenment. The Sunday 9:10 a.m. Adult Forum will consider the subject during the winter of Here s a general outline of what we ll talk about:?? How has the idea of wisdom changed through the ages? * Why wisdom is not easy to find * Death as a teacher of wisdom?? Holy fools as a way to wisdom But the really fun part will be The Practicum. After the 7-Sunday overview, I ll present a fun topic of curiosity and the following Sunday the forum participants will apply their corporate wisdom and theological expertise to answer the question, So what?

14 St. Patrick s Shamrock Page 14 Bishop Dan s Blog Yesterday, as I was driving north into Fallon on 95, I saw a horse pasture to my right. It was a fenced pasture with a deep gulley inside the fence. The gulley had a steep slope, one that could be negotiated by a mature horse but not a colt. Two colts were lying along that steep slope. My guess is they frolicked along the edge, fell in, ould not get out, and collapsed in exhaustion and despair. Most of the mature horses in the pasture had gathered around. Several were at the top of the gulley. At least four horses had come down into it and were standing over the little ones. They were standing as if at attention, majestic in a posture of defense. They were guarding their young and calling out for help. I called Dean Trudy Erquiaga on my cell phone (it s alright I have Bluetooth). She called the Churchill County Sheriff s Department, who in turn called the Highway Patrol. That s as far as I know of the story but I imagine it came out alright. Fallon is the sort of place where a horse in need can find a friendly human hand. But I can t get out of my mind the picture of those horses standing over their colts. It was a thing of beauty, a thing of character. That image leads me inevitably to a sadder, contrasting picture the state of children in Nevada and the response of our adult population. Our dropout rate, our domestic violence rate, our divorce rate -- all the facts are consistent and emphatic. Thousands of Nevada s children are lying in a ditch, exhausted and in despair. If we start with their families, the adults are often broken themselves. One way or another, many children today do not have families watching over them. We preserve our ranking as the state with the lowest number of young adults with post graduate degrees by remaining the state with the lowest percentage of preschoolers who are read to daily by an adult. The schools and social service agencies, already operating on a shoestring, are now being drastically defunded. It s always easy to blame the politicians. Partly I do but I don t think they lied to us. They have been clear on their priorities and we have elected them. I can only say that the adults who run our state, the adults who vote, the adults who advocate for this interest group or that the adults of our state are leaving the children in the ditch. The current political expression of child neglect mirrors the chronic neglect of children in their homes. I am not the one to find a mission for the Diocese of Nevada. My place is to listen to what s on the hearts of people both inside and outside our church walls. What I hear is deep concern for the children. What I hear is a desire to find a way to stand together and watch over our children. I see it happening in different ways in different churches and communities. St. Matthew s and St. Paul s, Elko partner with Communities in Schools; St. Peter s works through Food for Thought and there are other parish/ public school partnerships; several congregations have taken up advocacy about child sex trafficking. We are beginning to restore our partnership with St. Jude s Ranch for Children. Some of us have engaged in legislative advocacy for the public schools where we deliver food, shoes, and school supplies. We are seeking grants to begin Episcopal Children s Services in Nye County to transport at risk children to their service providers (transportation the Sheriff can no longer provide because of funding cuts.) There are no doubt many ways to take action. But the image that remains in my mind is of those horses watching over their young. Already, the Episcopal Church in Nevada is moving into that posture, standing over the fallen in the ditch guarding and calling out to those with the power to do more than we can do.

15 St. Patrick s Shamrock Page 15 Angels Advent 2011 at St. Patrick s The nativity narratives in Matthew and Luke are replete with stories that include angels. In Mattthew, an angel comes to Joseph in a dream and tells him about Mary s pregnancy. Later, after Jesus birth, an angel warns Joseph and Mary to take their infant and flee to Egypt because Herod was planning to kill Jesus. In Luke, the angel Gabriel visits Zechariah to announce Elizabeth s pregnancy, then announces Mary s conception. On the evening of Jesus birth, angels address the shepherds in the fields: Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you glad tidings of great joy, which will be to all the world. So, what are angels, exactly? When do they seem to show up and why are there so many of them in the nativity narrative? Do angels still show up for us? Have you ever had an experience with an angel? During the 5:30 p.m. Saturday Night Alive services during Advent 2011 at St. Patrick s December 3, 10 and 17 we ll be focusing on angels ( God s messengers ). The stories of angelic visitations to Mary, Joseph and the shepherds in the fields will be read and discussed during the potluck dinners that follow the service in the Library. Christmas Service Schedule Saturday, December 24 5:30 p.m. Holy Eucharist II with Music 11:00 p.m. Holy Eucharist II with Music Sunday, December 25 8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist (no Music) 10:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist II

16 St. Patrick s Shamrock Page 16 Staff & Committee Chairs The Rev. Dr. James R. Beebe Rector The Rev. Dr. David J. Mussatti Priest/ Parish Needs Team The Rev. Jim Kelly Priest Rev. Clare Novak Interfaith Minister/ Communications/ Stewardship Donna Axton Music Director Jessica Rotter Parish Administrator Caroline Cutler, Judy Layton and Lainie Vreeland Art Gary Thomsen Capital Reserve Team/ Flannel Team Bob Skidmore Columbarium Chuck Meyer Finance REMINDERS: Current Photo Directories are $5.00, to cover printing costs. Pick up an updated copy today! New members, please fill out the contact information card at the front of the church, and provide your family photo to be included in our directory! The Altar Flower donation - Only $40.00! Please sign up on the chart in the Narthex for a date and make sure to put flower fund in the memo line on your checks. Emy Gurowitz & Sharon Kirby Fundraising Sally Hammel** Junior Warden/ Music/ Woship/ Culture Lainie Vreeland Library Judy Morrison Magnetic Chuch Connie Skidmore & Cherry Barney Outreach Please recycle your inkjets for cash for St. Pat s! A collection box is in the foyer! Stephanie Tall Karen Colbert, owner of Artists At Lake Tahoe (located at the Village Center, next to the Village Market), a gallery of local artwork, jewelry and gifts, will contribute 10% of any purchase by a St. Patrick s parishioner back to our church. This donation applies 24/7, so help support our local economy and St. Pat s as well! Karen Barney Shamrock Webmaster Caroline Cutler Youth & Young Adults **Vestry Member

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