A Voice in the Wilderness

Transcription

1 A Voice in the Wilderness May 2017 St. Andrew s in the Pines Episcopal Church PO Box W. Pine Street Pinedale, Wyoming Phone: (307) Web: standrewspinedale@gmail.com PLACE STAMP HERE

2 Pastor s Pen O Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! Psalm 25:6 While I was in my seminary program I was required to spend 12 weeks one summer in a Chaplaincy Training course. My placement was at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Each day we students spent about 4 hours being instructed and 4 hours on our assigned floors visiting patients. One assignment was called a Verbatim in which we had to detail a visit with the actions and conversations of both the patient and ourselves. Then we took turns presenting our verbatim to the class and our supervisor. I still remember a verbatim/visit I made to a young pregnant woman having health issues and required to stay in the hospital for several weeks. On one visit we began talking about God and prayer and I fervently told her about the Holy Spirit being present with her and how she could tie in to God and this Spirit personally at any time. I encouraged her to grow spiritually, to take steps to learn more about God, and to develop a closer relationship with God. When I presented my rather (I thought) successful visit to the class my Supervisor pointedly asked me why I had never mentioned going to a church, mentioned the importance of a church community? Why had I presented a very individualistic view of spirituality and God? I struggled with his question and it comes back into my mind today as I reflect on how I may have led you all down a weak path. I fear that in the last couple of years I have overemphasized serving others, good works, developing relationships both inside and outside of church, and personal spiritual growth. What I haven t emphasized enough is the importance of corporate worship. I am thrilled that we keep ordering more Forward Day by Day booklets because I believe you are using them and reading and reflecting. I hope you are thinking about being God s servants when you serve lunches, and meet with Stephen care receivers, and make meals for each other. I hope you talk about God when you teach and lead activities in the church. I really hope you understand your lives as a witness each and every day wherever you are or whatever you are doing. But I believe I have failed to tell you how important it is for us to worship together. Being together on Sunday is the glue that holds all of our works, all of our service to others together. There is a different power and presence when we pray with others rather than by ourselves. There is a profound holiness that comes when we share in a communion together. In a worshipping community our individualism and imperfections meet grace and acceptance. We only understand the Body of Christ when we gather as the Body of Christ. As it says in Hebrews, Chapter 10:24-25 And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. We need each other. We need to experience God in community. We need to bow down and kneel before the Lord or Maker. Thanks be to God. Pastor Jami

3 Vestry News The vestry has been busy planning our building expansion/ remodel. We had a very productive meeting on April 24th and were joined by a couple members of the church that offered some good insight for us all. We will continue to work hard on this project. The vestry is planning work on the driveway, staining the church and looking into replacing the shingles on the roof this summer. Each month we take 1.5% of the money that has come in and we give back to our community. In April we had funds from the last three or four months saved over. We purchased PAC passes so that anyone staying at the church could go and take a shower. We also helped pay balances on school lunch accounts and gave some money to the Children s Discovery Center to help with tuition. If you know of a need in our community, please pass it on to a vestry member. Interviews for an administrative assistant to help Pastor Jami have taken place and our new assistant will be announced when Jami returns from her trip to Cody. Camp Journey is an Episcopal Camp that will be on our side of the state this year. The camp will be held at Camp GROW in Boulder DeWitt and Kay Morris camp. Grades 8-12 will go to camp July 30 through August 4 and grades 3-7 will go August 6 through August 11. Any child may go to this camp, so spread the word. The cost is $225 per person, and scholarships are available from the Wyoming Diocese. You can register online at on the summer camp tab. There are also flyers available at the church. Our annual spring clean-up will be May 21st right after church. Wear your clean-up clothes and we will see you there! Sincerely, Stephanie Lund St. Andrew s Vestry Julie Belton therealcenter@centurylink.net Jon Boroff jskk@centurytel.net Sarah Hixson sarahmi5@wyoming.com Sukey Hohl sukeybook@gmail.com Kris Holmes fishkristopher@gmail.com Jill Maier jill@grbto.com Cody Saxton codywsaxton@yahoo.com Stephanie Lund stephlund77@yahoo.com Sam Harnack sarahh@hcbh.org Trey Wilkinson trey081@gmail.com Steve Smith sbangler@hotmail.com SUMMER CAMP It is not too early to register our 3 rd 12 th graders for Summer Camp. This year the Diocese of Wyoming is offering CAMP JOURNEY at the Mountain Springs Ranch site. July 30 August 4 is the 8 th -12 th graders camp and August 6-11 is for 3 rd through 7 th graders. The Camp costs $225 per person but easy to receive scholarships are available so that no one is unable to attend. Registration forms are in the basement of the church, as our flyers telling more about the camp.

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5 The Rock Muffler By Jocelyn Moore Thank you Lord that winter snows are a melting memory! Daily temperatures are rising, green shoots have appeared and the prospect of a spring hike on a favorite trail beckons us outdoors. One of my favorite walks is along Fremont Lake, dug eons ago by mighty glaciers carving boulders as big as buildings from their substratum, then transporting these on ice pallets miles from their sites of origin. As the frozen waters melted and receded, the stones and cobbles remained to form the distinctive lateral and terminal moraines which encircle and contain the waters of the Pine, Miller and Faler Creeks flowing into the northern tip of Fremont Lake. Scattered across the hummocked moraines are incredibly large boulders, referred to as glacial erratics. The term erratics is descended from a Latin word, errare meaning to wander. The location of glacial erratics marks the path of a glacier while comparison of the rocks structure to its original parent bedrock confirms the direction of the glacial ice flow. Who knew pebbles could say so much? When I look at these gargantuan stones, I think of the words of Jesus as He made a triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Luke records in the nineteenth chapter, verses 37-40, Jesus was on the road going down the Mount of Olives when his disciples began to sing loud praises for Gods blessings and the miracles they had witnessed. This must have upset the captious Pharisees who stalked Jesus, always on alert for what they perceived as an infraction of the law; quick to use every opportunity to criticize and nitpick. They demanded that Jesus rebuke his disciples. He refused and told them that if these were silent, the very stones will cry out. Stones, rubble, boulders, pebbles, cobbles, gravels, nuggets, sands, grit. Inanimate objects which I think of as having no brain, no heart, no soul, no spirit, deaf and dumb and lifeless. Yet the Bible says the heavens and earth praise the Creator. Psalm 19:1 tells us the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. In Isaiah 55:12, we are promised that the mountains and hills will burst into song and the trees of the field will clap their hands as an everlasting sign of the Lord s renown. In today s vernacular, it s insulting to describe someone as being as dumb as a box of rocks. But, I wonder. If a rock has the sense to praise the Creator, but I don t, which one of us is the dumb one? Truth be told, I don t want some rock speaking for me. I m going to speak out about Gods blessings and what He has done in my life and keep the rocks silent one more day! Thank you Lord!

6 Meet Your St. Andrews Vestry Members Sam Harnack Hello, I m Sam (Samantha) Harnack one of the newest SAITP vestry members. I m originally from Central Illinois where I met my husband Jay about 20 years ago. Since then we adopted two amazing kids, Thom and Grace. Thom (15) is a football guy, he lives for it! When he s not playing football or training for it he is snowboarding, running in track, fishing, hunting, and living outside as much as possible. Grace (13) is also into track, volleyball, swimming, skiing, snowboarding, hanging with her friends, and all kinds of art. In 2010 we decided to leave the Midwest in search of some Mountain West adventure. Jay became the school superintendent for the Sublette County School District (#1) and I have worked at a variety of local organizations doing all kinds of different work. As a family we have embraced the Pinedale lifestyle. We all enjoy winter sports up at White Pine (Jay and I, x-country skiing while the kids are snowboarders), and we love to hike and camp as often as the weather allows us to. I am also very interested in art in general but I love to create jewelry (metalsmithing), paint, sew, knit, and practice photography. I love staying active and will generally try just about any sport or class to see if it s my new favorite thing. Yoga and pilates have been tied for my #1 for a while but kayaking on Fremont lake is likely to take the lead this summer. When we first moved to Pinedale we tried a variety of different churches but St. Andrew s drew us in with its amazing children s programs. As a family we love the all are welcome here philosophy of the church. Open doors, open arms, and open hearts are what we find when we come in. We generally attend the 8:00 am service so we don t see as many regulars of the 10:00 am group but I hope my role as vestry member helps me connect with more people from both services. This is my first time serving on the vestry but I also serve as lector and chalice bearer at the early service. Along with 3 other vestry members I am part of our hospitality/ welcoming committee so if you know of anyone who would like a friendly hello please let me know (samharnack@gmail.com). I am grateful for such a wonderful church home and I hope my 3 years on the vestry board allows me to give back some of the blessings that have been given to me.

7 News Notes The Tanzania Jug has been emptied and counted. There was $ in there! The money will be wired to the Bishop Stanway Primary School in Dodoma, TZ to help with scholarships. It was a wonderful Sunday of baptisms on Easter. All five of Pastor Jami and John grandchildren were baptized as were Garrett and Wyatt Lund, Starley Dorman, and later that afternoon a young woman in the jail. Thanks be to God. Coming on June 5th: Our first Safeguarding God s Children training presented by our very own trainer Melanie Sampson. This three hour training will start at 5:30 p.m. at the church. Dinner will be provided. A sign-up sheet will be available soon. Summer Lunches will start again on June 13th. We will need volunteers from the church on every day that we serve a lunch 3 times a week. If you d be willing to volunteer consider that you must be current on your Safeguarding God s Children training. Grand Teton Deanery Dream Day: May 20th 10-2 at St. John s in Jackson. This day is part of a vision of Bishop John Smylie to better connect the church communities in a region of this state. The Bishop facilitates this time of sharing our strengths, dreams, ideas, and potential future activities together. This gathering is open to everyone in the congregation except the clergy! Car pools may be organized so please tell Pastor Jami or a Vestry member of your interest in attending. Spring Clean-Up Day will be on May 21st immediately following the 10 AM service. Any help you can provide will be appreciated! Holy Humor Sunday!!!

8 M AY C a l e n d a r We will be posting reminders about upcoming dates and events on our Facebook page. Make sure you like and follow us to stay current! Ongoing: Monday Chapel and Tuesday Noon Prayers May 2 Who Are We? class 6:30 pm May 3- Youth Groups 6:30 pm May 4 Stephen Ministers 6:30 pm May 9 Who Are We? class 6:30 May 10 Wednesday School 3:45 May 14 Mother s Day (with flowers) May 15 Vestry 5:15 pm May 16 Who Are We? class 6:30 pm May 17 Youth Groups 6:30 May 18 Stephen Ministers 6:30 pm May 19 Men s Breakfast 7:00 A.M. May 20 Highway Clean-up Deanery Meeting in Jackson 10-2 May 21- Church Spring Cleaning Day May 23 Who Are We? class 6:30 May 24 Wednesday School 3:45 May 28 Together Sunday May 29 Memorial Day ONGOING Sunday Service Times - St. Andrew s - 8:00 am & 10:00 am Retirement Center Chapel Service Mondays at 10:30 am Sublette Center Noon-day Prayers Tuesdays Thanks for the timely and detailed submissions for this months newsletter. If you have comments or suggestions please let me know. Photographs are always appreciated, whether it s a church event or just a favorite photo of a child or family event that you are proud of. If you have anything you would like in the next newsletter please send it to me at jlund1911@gmail.com by May 24th. Thanks, John