St. Mary s News. Contents. 1-Rector s Message 3-Love One Another 4 Garden Guild 4-5-Music 6-Birthdays/ Anniversaries

Transcription

1 1 Volume 8 August, 2017 St. Mary s News We are the messy, mystical body of Christ Contents 1-Rector s Message 3-Love One Another 4 Garden Guild 4-5-Music 6-Birthdays/ Anniversaries In Judaism, there is a blessing for everything. I have a favorite Jewish blessing that proves that point. Here is the blessing to be recited on going to the bathroom: Blessed are you O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who formed man with intelligence, and created within him many openings and many hollow spaces; it is revealed and known before the Seat of Your Honor, that if one of these would be opened or if one of these would be sealed it would be impossible to survive and to stand before You even for one hour. Blessed are you, O Lord, who heals all flesh and does wonders. Amen. I love that prayer because it deals with a fundamental reality that is easily overlooked. Until illness wakes us up to reality, we take our bodies for granted. And in this prayer, thanks is given that our bodies work properly without us even thinking about it. We need all the various parts of our bodies and we need them working properly. For if the parts of a body meant to be closed were opened and the parts meant to be opened were closed, we could not stand for even one hour. This sort of earthy understanding of the workings of a body is essential to understanding Paul s letter to the Corinthians. Paul gives a great metaphor for the church in that letter, saying that the church is the Body of Christ. For Paul this is both metaphor and mystical reality. Paul uses the Body of Christ image to show that within the church we need diversity as well as an understanding of our interdependence. Paul uses the body to show how ridiculous it is to think that all Christians should be just alike. We are the Body of Christ and a body must have different parts. If the parts of a body were identical, the body could not function properly. As Paul writes, If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If all were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? And this is where the deeper meaning of Paul s understanding of the Body of Christ lies. Paul does not describe what he

2 wishes were so. Paul does not write, You should be the Body of Christ, or Why can t y all get your act together and be the Body of Christ. Paul writes, You are the Body of Christ. For Paul, it is not a suggestion, or an ideal for which to strive. That Christians are the Body of Christ is a simple fact. No Christian can truly say to the Pentecostals, We have no need of you! Nor can one rightly say that to the Baptists, Methodists, Roman Catholics, non-denominational churches or any other part of the Body of Christ. We are in communion with everyone that God is in communion with. That sounds messy because it is. We are one in the Spirit with Christians we don t see eye to eye with as well as those with whom we wholeheartedly agree. The Christians and Christian groups that seem the most unnecessary to us that are the most needed. There is no appendix in the Body of Christ as there is no part that can be cut out without harming the whole body. Our church needs the visitor and the newcomer for we are not yet whole without them. And to make matters worse, we need the people who will come and change our church in some ways as they use their gifts for ministry or call on us to use ours. Looking beyond the baptized, we desperately need those who do not yet share our faith. The Body of Christ may well not be complete without them. The Christian music group Casting Crowns has a song, If we are the body which says, Jesus paid much too high a price for us to pick and choose who should come. When we create high standards about who can and cannot be a member of the Body of Christ, we likely remove ourselves as well others we love. The same Casting Crowns song tells this story, A traveler is far away from home, he sheds his coat and quietly sinks into the back row, the weight of their judgmental glances, tells him that his chances are better out on the road. How many churches have dismembered themselves, by chasing people away who seemed different? How many people have been casually caused to feel unwelcome at our church? Hopefully none. For our life in Christ is not the TV show Survivor, we cannot vote one another out of the Body of Christ. That s a good thing. Otherwise I would have been voted out of the body already. You too. No Christian can truthfully say to another person, I have no need of you! To make a statement like that is to lie to yourself. As the prayer that began this article states, without the whole body functioning properly, we could not stand before God for even one hour. I am not attempting to describe the way things should be or the way things would be in a perfect world. I am describing the reality that exists within the very life of God. We Christians are in reality members one of another. What would the world be like if Jesus followers had the courage to act like we were all on the same team? The Rev. Dr. Dewey E. Brown, Jr. Rector St. Mary s Episcopal Church Dade City, FL Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20, 21

3 3 Love One Another - Countdown August 13 October 8 December 10 Glen and I have said we will coordinate the Love One Another meal St. Mary s serves through this December 10th. That means there are only three more meals on our calendar. Just now we are getting ready for the August 13th meal. Volunteers are coming forward to serve bake brownies boil and peel eggs get ice for drinks donate money to cover the costs and much more. There are many parts of this meal that fall in place and it would be sad to see it discontinued for lack of a coordinator or coordinators. We have called on the Vestry to look for ways to keep Love One Another a part of St. Mary s Outreach ministries. Their next meeting is August 27th. If you are interested in keeping this ministry alive get in touch with Glen, myself, Al Teschner, or any other vestry members. Glen and I will be glad to share any information and related data we have used. This ministry touches not just the folks who receive the meal but those who prepare portions of it; serve, give money or participate in any way to make it happen. Our volunteers who help serve are St. Mary s parishioners plus others who rejoice at being together. Ann Gonzalez has played a part in making our meals extra special in fact a party. Love One Another welcomes your participation whether it is large or small. If you ve never been involved in this ministry consider joining in. For more information contact Glen or Margaret Thompson = icloud.com or call (352)

4 4 Garden Guild In between the rains, the Garden Guild has been busy pulling weeds and vines and using Round-Up weekly. We fertilized all of the plantings and lawn just in time for the rains to begin, so everything is growing well. Once it gets a little cooler, we will schedule a work day for some larger jobs. MUSIC MINISTRY NOTES AUGUST 2017 Where oh where has the summer gone? Well, as far as our music ministry is concerned, our hours have been spent wisely by continuing to serve God and His people through the giving of our time and talent. We have participated in glorious Pentecost worship services, are being faithful prayer partners to each other and those in need, and in cooperation with the Christian Education Department, we have just completed our Bible Stories Vacation Bible School. Yes, summer might be coming to an end, but our efforts, work, and music ministry at St. Mary s is something that you can count on being active, no matter what time of year it is! Since VBS is fresh on my mind, let me tell you a bit about what happened: Each day we had several Bible stories that included important Bible figures. Megan Phillips as Queen Esther, Ralph Sailer as Gideon (with Terry McKienzie as his helper), and Ed Brant (using Popsicle stick characters) in Abraham were our morning stories. Our movie time, with Blaise and Brooke Betten, included Adam and Eve, Joseph, and His Colorful Coat, and Jonah. Our Youth Skits, directed by Alex Alfonso, were about Daniel and His Friends, The Good Samaritan, and Noah s Ark, and included a cast of our Youth Group members and leaders: Blaise Betten, Brooke Betten, Ed Brant, Sharon Brant, Gage Cox, Serenity Cox, Maddox Foreman, Logan Hacker, Madison Kaylor, Sydney Kaylor, Megan Phillips, McKenzie Williamson, and Claudia Wolfenden. Our afternoon stories were read by Susana Stripling (Zaacheus), Claudia Wolfenden (Baby Moses), and Becca Hedgecock (David and Goliath). The children shared their favorite toys and brought their stuffed animals to ride on Noah s Ark (Thank you Paige Wolfenden for your artistic talents in helping to make this ship sail!).

5 All of our foods and snacks were taken from something mentioned in the Scriptures and went along with the story of the day. For instance, grapes, honey, cheese, boiled eggs, apples, animal crackers, olives, pomegranate juice, unleavened bread, corn, and carrots were on the menu. A big hit was our Jonah Blue Jell-O with gummy fish and whip cream! We were so fortunate to have Davis Henley as our main chef each day (Actually he was also our A/C man, our gardener, our clean up guy, and you name it, and Davis was there!). Carol O Connell was a big supporter on Wednesday, and we certainly appreciated her kitchen expertise, as well! Each day, we had a segment called Cooking with McKenzie (Williamson). The first day she and the children made Coriander Drop Cookies, the second day we baked Cinnamon Muffins, and on the last day, we concocted our infamous Locusts. Of course, the spices used were all mentioned in The Bible, and the edible bug is found in the story of John the Baptist in Matthew 3:4! We were blessed to have our newest volunteer, Charles Kyle (known as Mr. Pull-do), head up our Arts and Crafts. He helped the children paint tops (also a Biblical toy); weave baskets (Baby Moses), paint doves (Noah), and mold with clay (pottery). Our youth assistants (Madison, Sydney, Susana) along with Franchone Gude and Becca Hedgecock were most helpful with the younger ones! Our morning activities also included making Lion s Den masks, a Gideon s Torch, and David s sling (Don t worry, we used ping pong balls, not stones!). We also studied about aloe, used aloe hand sanitizer, and were able to plant an aloe cutting in our clay pots. We hope that is something that the parents will also enjoy at home! 5 Our games were led by Maddox Foreman and Serenity Cox. These games coincided with what Bible children also played: Hopscotch, Hunting for Pebbles and Frogs, Corn Cob Toss, Catch, and an Obstacle Course, as well as several variations of Duck Duck Goose (Haman/Queen Esther, Midianite/Gideon, Isaac/Ram). Thanks to Maddox for also being our in-house drummer and to Serenity for being our narrator in Noah s Ark. Each day the students recited The Pledge of Allegiance, The Pledge to The Christian Flag, The Pledge to the Bible, and The Lord s Prayer. We sang and rang chimes on our Blessing Song, For Health and Strength. We sang, blew kazoos, and played rhythm instruments on tunes that went along with our stories (Zaacheus was a Wee Little Man, Father Abraham, Arky-Arky, Hey, Jonah, God s Not Dead Like a Lion, and The B.I.B.L.E.). We ended our session Wednesday by making rainbows with bubbles (remembering God s promise), singing and using sign language to Shalom, and by hugging our friends and saying, I ll see you again, Shalom. If you missed this year s VBS, never fear, there is something you could do right now to help! Please pray for our church, all of its ministries, each person mentioned in this report, and the children who attended this week: Jaelyn, William, Raider, Everett, Darla, Eloise, Caden, Brooklyn, Jaret, and Kinlee. If we are wanting to grow, and truly desire to live as our St. Mary s motto says, Proclaiming Christ to ALL from the heart of Dade City for 125 years, then we must work hard to pray, love, nurture, and teach at every opportunity God puts in our path. Thank you for answering this call to pray, for your financial support, for your gifts of time and talent, and for your encouragement as we ALL continue in ministry no matter what time it is, no matter what the season, no matter what the weather, no matter your age, and no matter how many folks come together! WE ARE THE CHURCH, TOGETHER, and I have been extremely blessed to be with you this summer! I ll see you again, Shalom my friends, Sharon Brant (813) SBLutzBell@aol.com

6 6 BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES August Birthdays August 3-Gail Grant 5-Nancy Alfonso, Jean McNary 6-Milt Larsen 7-JoAnn Cook, Matthew Jennings 8-Cecil McGavern 9-Mark Hutchinson 11-Brian Rieger, D Anne Bruen 12-Mike Smith, Jock Weightman, Brian Teston 13-Jeff Phillips, Randy Phillips 14-Bill Croteau 16-Marge Moffett, Sylvia Beaver 17-Jack Finnerty, Donna Teneblatt August Anniversaries 4-Tom and Sue Szczerba 5-Michael and Teena Avadikian 17Jeff and Lois Ann Alston 20-Alan and Sylvia Beaver- 31-Jim and Carol Barnett 21-Shauna Hutsell, Irene Macomb 22-Sandra Sartain, Wendy Beaver 23-Diane Heiler 24-Al Teschner 28-Clay Jordan, Sheila Highsmith 29-Paul Proctor, Ed Brant 30-Karen Patterson, Cassidy Watson 31-Annie Teston

7 7 St. Mary s Episcopal Church Magnolia Avenue Dade City, Florida August 13-Love One Another Upcoming Events Check out our Website