The Epistle. Fishing for People Rev. Jody Lediard

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1 St. Paul s Episcopal Church Page 1 February 2015 The Epistle Fishing for People Rev. Jody Lediard The Gospel reading for this coming Sunday is from Mark s Gospel. One of the lines is often recognized as a call from Jesus to become disciples. Jesus says to Simon and his brother Andrew who are casting a net into the sea, Follow me and I will make you fish for people. The men leave their nets immediately and follow him. He goes on a little farther where he sees James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They are in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he calls them, and they leave their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and follow him. Have you ever fished for men? I wonder what that looks like. Dan loves to go fishing and I love to go along and read, knit, or just watch the birds. Fishing from the shore often gains the attention of others. People often stop by and ask if Dan has caught anything. It seems others are looking for good fishing spots, too. Some like to talk about what bait he is using or what lure. If he has caught fish, they want to see them. They identify what kind they are and whether they will be good to eat. Fishing for people, hmmm.! (continued on page 2) Lent Forty Days of Opportunity Rev. Lynn Yule Have you ever heard anyone say, I can hardly wait for Lent.? Instead, we hear, I can t wait for Lent to end. I ve said it myself, more than once. This year, I invite us to take a fresh look at Lent, to change our perspective a bit. Let s see this time, not as something to be gotten through with a big sigh at the end, but more as it was intended, as a time of preparation. Think of it as an early spiritual Spring Cleaning. In Lent, we re given the opportunity to examine our lives and to change our habits. The three traditional ways of observing Lent are prayer, fasting, and self-denial (or almsgiving). Each focuses on one of three important relationships in our lives. Prayer involves our relationship with God. Fasting involves our relationship with ourselves and our wants. Selfdenial or alms-giving involves our relationship with others. We are invited in Lent to take on a practice in each of these areas, as a way to prepare ourselves for the coming Holy Week and the joy of Easter. Not sure where or how to begin? Here are some suggestions:! (continued on page 2)

2 St. Paul s Episcopal Church Page 2 February 2015 Fishing (cont d) Jesus, in Mark s gospel is eager to gather disciples and they are following immediately. They drop what they are doing and literally follow Jesus. It sounds like Jesus is a man on a mission. The verse above this passage tells us that Jesus brings good news to people that God s kingdom is coming near. I wonder if Jesus is eager to train his disciples and spread the good news. How will he do that? Fishing usually takes patience, some skill, the right bait, the right line and so on. Will Jesus consider all of these things as he fishes for people? One of the Epiphany or aha moments is that Jesus has done all the things he asks of his disciples. If we follow Jesus, we learn about the kingdom of God and about ourselves as well. Fishing for people. Forty Days (cont d) Use the readings from the current Forward Day by Day to start your day. (Copies are available on the counter in the narthex (entryway). For prayer, use the Daily Devotions, At the Close of Day, in The Book of Common Prayer, (page 140) to gather up the concerns of the day, and put them in God s capable hands. It will help set you up for the new day as well. Fast from a particular food, or meal and donate to the Food Bank or other charity what that food or meal would have cost. Read the Collect of the Day for Ash Wednesday, and the invitation to the observance of a holy Lent which follows. (BCP page 264) There are many opportunities to make this Lent a time of refreshment and new beginning for each of us. Be creative and let me know what you try, and what you discover. Have a blessed Lent. St. Paul s Episcopal Church 1609 W. 10th Avenue Kennewick, Washington (509) stpaulskennewick@frontier.com Church Staff Rev. JoAnne Lediard, Priest-in-Charge Rev. Lynn Yule, Deacon Mary Esther Lippold, Organist Cindy Stewart and Stefanie Wiltse, Sunday School Superintendents Kathy DeMers, Adult Education Margie Weed, Jim Carter, Stefanie Wiltse, Youth Leaders Marji Parker, Micki Furr, The Epistle Newsletter The Bishop s Committee Jim Carter, Senior Warden! Elmer Rupp, Junior Warden! Bob Andrew! Alma Estrada!... Susan Moore! Cindy Stewart! Jaclin Gabraiel! Ron Weed! Johnathan Hicks, Treasurer!

3 St. Paul s Episcopal Church Page 3 February 2015 More International Travelers Ron and Margie Weed spent a week in Thailand in December. Their trip was part of a rotary exchange program in which members from one Rotary group meet with members of another club in another country. The program provides for the development of friendships with Rotarians around the world and leads to international understanding between ordinary people. Rotary is an international community service organization open to all. There are six Rotary clubs in the Tri-Cities area. to Rotary clubs in Thailand. They visited a school, a medical clinic, a system providing clean water, and religious and historic sites. They watched fishermen at work, saw farmers planting, and rode an elephant. They stayed with Thai families and spent time with their hosts and hostesses, learning the language, sampling food and forging friendships. These Thai Rotarians will come to the Tri Cities June 15th to stay for three days. Ron and Margie hosted a Rotarian family from India not long ago. The Weeds met with Rotarians from the United States and Canada and together went Nave: What s in a Name? The Nave in the church building is the area with the center aisle and (in American churches) with all the pews in which we sit for the worship service. Believe it or not, the word comes from the Latin word navis for ship. In the early days of Christianity in England some churches had wooden ceilings that made people think of the inverted hull of a ship. People who took to the sea or made their living from it were among the earliest Christians. The nave has stuck with us. Bishop s Committee Deliberations Money, the garden, youth group activities, lighting, the Pride organization, and creation of a sense of community were among the items discussed at the January 25th Bishop s Committee meeting. As a result of pledge income being slightly above currently budgeted items, the church budget will be revised. Members considered the nature of a community garden, including the possibility of increasing the current space, and problems with watering. This will be studied further. Interaction between St. Paul's youth and youth from other churches was cited as a communication problem. The group recommended better communication between youth group advisers and suggested that clergy should be aware of this need. The committee considered the need to maintain a continuing sense of community and discussed suggestions for homey furniture arrangements in the Fireside Room. And the group reiterated its continuing support for the Quest, Pride, and PFLAG organizations. The next meeting will be February 15th.

4 St. Paul s Episcopal Church Page 4 February Camp Cross Schedule Believe it or not, spring will come again soon and kids will be off to camp. " Labor of Love " " " " May " Young Adult Week " " " " June " Mini Camp " " " " " June 30 July 2 " 4th of July Family Camp " " " July 3 5 " Jr. High Camp " " " " July 5 10 " Intermediate Camp " " " July " Sr. High Camp " " " " August 3 9 " Alumni Reunion " " " " August " Women's Weekend " " " " August " Labor Day Family Camp " " " September 4 7 " Couples' Retreat " " " " September Registration will open early this year at < Reminders of Meetings and Important Dates in February To supplement the fine print on the calendar, here are reminders of important meetings and dates: Altar Guild February 14 9:00 a.m. Outreach Committee February 18 5:30 p.m. Bishop s Committee February 15 following the service Lenten Soup with a Movie and Discussion February 28 2:00 p.m. Pancake Supper February 17 6:00 p.m. Annual Meeting February 22 immediately following 9:00 a.m. service

5 St. Paul s Episcopal Church Page 5 February 2015 Why the Changes to January Event Schedules Changes in the January calendar were necessary due to the hiring and teaching of a new secretary, to the lack of a quorum for the January Bishop's Committee, to a shortage of annual reports turned in to the parish office, and to the need to revise and update financial accounts due to the change of secretary. The annual meeting is now scheduled for February 22nd after church. There will be one service that day, beginning at 9 a.m. Please come with your sorting hats (as in Harry Potter) and empty bellies. February Birthdays 2 Felix Elizai 4 Ted Moore Chris Wiltz 5 Betty Corbitt 6 Peggy Palmer 15 Dan Deane 18 Bhradde Collins Louise Pallis Richard Elizai 22 Godfrey Elizai March 2015 EPISTLE Article Deadline: Wednesday, February 18, p.m. Please be on time! February Anniversaries 17 Harland & Lidia Lippold Directory Changes Ron Weed new address: rlweed@msn.com Allan Sherwin cell: (206) Dorothy Sherwin cell: (509) (no more landline for the Sherwins!) St. Monica s Guild! Susan Moore The ladies had a great meeting on January 17th. There were some great discussions about possible fund raising opportunities for The guild had spent over $2000 for camperships in 2014 and are hoping to give the kids a good leg up for It was agreed that there will be fudge eggs for Easter and in addition we will be trying some new ideas. A silent auction for Valentine s Day is presently being looked at as one possibility. There would be wine, flowers in vases, and sweetheart gift baskets. There is to be a Block Party on May 30th. There will be more info to follow! We had a guest, Ida Martin, from Hermiston. She is the owner of Aunty Ida's Quilt Shop. She has volunteered to come to St. Paul's once a month to teach sewing to those who would like to learn and regenerate those of us who have been away from our machines too long. We will be learning by making a Queen Sized quilt. Ida will be donating the fabric and additional supplies. We will be using the finished quilt for a raffle later this year. If everything goes along as planned after the quilt, we will be moving on to other projects. Our first class will be February 21st in the Fireside Room from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. There will be more reminders as we get closer to the 21st. I want to thank everyone who came and contributed to a great meeting. We have so many great ideas! Oh so many ideas!