The Almanac. August Celebrating and Sharing God s Love. Round-up with Fr Dave 5. Sunday School News 6. Mark Your Calendar 4

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Sunday School News 6 Round-up with Fr Dave 5 Mark Your Calendar 4 The Treasurer s Vault 3 From the Rector s Pen 2 Inside this issue: Visit us on the web www.

1 Sunday School News 6 Round-up with Fr Dave 5 Mark Your Calendar 4 The Treasurer s Vault 3 From the Rector s Pen 2 Inside this issue: Visit us on the web generalbusiness@stalbanschurch.info Phone: El Cajon, CA Farragut Circle Celebrating and Sharing God s Love August 2016 The Almanac 12

In the midst of all the political noise, pollsters and messages from all sorts of directions, I d like to encourage everyone that is able to take some time off, to enjoy the beauty of nature, the

2 In the midst of all the political noise, pollsters and messages from all sorts of directions, I d like to encourage everyone that is able to take some time off, to enjoy the beauty of nature, the clashing of horseshoes, the sound of a baseball flying off the end of a bat, and running around the bases. I am not advocating that we shy away from making difficult choices politically or turning a blind eye to really bad things happening all over our nation and world. It does not mean that we take a vacation from praying for others and prayers for peace, healing and reconciliation in our world. What I am advocating is self-care, taking some time for healthy rest and renewal. I don t think this is a selfish request. When I have an owie of some kind I ll take some Tylenol or aspirin, something to take away the pain so I can carry on more effectively. Self-care includes caring for our bodies through proper diet, prescribed medications, exercise, and rest. Rest includes getting a good night s sleep, and if you have the opportunity to get away and play, enjoy the beauty of God s creation, and rest your mind and bodies from the toils of physical and mental labor. I am aware that some people do not have the opportunity to take a vacation right now, and some are limited by physical disabilities. I m starting to sound like a nurse or physician. I m not qualified for either profession. What I am is a pastor, and I am reminded that we are all temples of the Holy Spirit. Or didn t you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don t you see that you can t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works (1 Corinthians 6:19). My prayer for all members and friends of St. Alban s is that we take self-care seriously. It s a holistic thing, a responsibility to improve quality of life, spiritually, physically and mentally. I ve been on this hiking thing for several months now. I had a knee replacement in February, and a couple of weeks ago bought some decent hiking boots. Some of the places I walk are definitely off the beaten track. I go up and down and around hills and trails that are not well defined so snakes and proper footing is a concern. I also walk with hiking stick in hand, a phone in my back-pocket and a fitbit to let me know my progress. I love the challenge, even though I m careful about not jogging or doing things that might hurt my new knee. I do plan to get back to swimming sometime, but for now I m enjoying something I have not been able to do for way too many years. I am also aware that there are folks in our parish that have trouble walking, cannot walk and those that are suffering from other physical disabilities. I appreciate the ic Visitors that minister to the sick and homebound. There are others that don t take the sacraments, but are just as dependable on visiting those that cannot be with us at service. Last week Lou Toth and I planned on visiting George Sanderlin. George is a member of St. Alban s that many of you have never met. He s still in pretty good shape for someone at 101 years old. I came down with a bad cold and did not want to share the germs with Lou or George. I m kind of stingy that way. But, I am so looking forward to that visit soon. I am wishing you all a wonderful August, the last hurrah before school starts. 2 From the Rector s Pen - The Practice of Self Care God s Peace, Father Dave Staff Father Dave Madsen ~ Rector , padredavid1@gmail.com Office hours: T-F, 9am-1pm, afternoons by appt. only Denise Cote~ Assistant to Rector/Office Manager; , dcote@stalbanschurch.info Office hours: T-F, 9am-1pm Renee Brown ~ Music Director/ Organist Caroline Mahon-Hurd~ Sunday School Director Brad Cook ~ Communication Director Victoria Mayor ~ Social Media Director Penny Park~ Bookkeeper Judy Brown Treasurer Joy Knight~ Refugee Ministry Coord. Betty Johnsen Altar Guild, Refugee Food Pantry St Alban s Leadership Worship & Learn With Us: Wardens & Vestry Mike Park ~ Sr. Warden Sunday 9:30 am - Worship Service with Holy & Sunday School Wednesday Service Sandy Parks ~ Jr. Warden Victoria Mayor ~ Secretary Sharon Laraene ~ Vestry Member Mary Zori ~ Vestry Member Brad Cook ~ Vestry Member Carly Montagne ~ Vestry Member Sharon Hathaway ~ Vestry Member Judy Setford ~ Vestry Member Judy Brown ~ Vestry Member 11

For our summer collaborative project, we are asking churches to support our annual back-to-school backpack drive for low-income children, the Back 2 School Bash!

Last year they served just over 350 kids and this year they are planning for 400 students! For more information, read on, or contact Heather Smith: stmarkscityheights@gmail.com.

We provide backpacks full of school supplies, new shoes, new underwear, family portraits, haircuts, a hot lunch and more.

Last year we found we are able to buy school supplies in bulk, thus leveraging our resources for the biggest impact! It costs about $35 per child to get everything they need.

3 For our summer collaborative project, we are asking churches to support our annual back-to-school backpack drive for low-income children, the Back 2 School Bash! As in the past few years, we have two sites: From the treasurer s Vault St Mark s City Heights St Mark s is hosting their huge event on August 20, from 9 a.m. 1 p.m. Churches can help by collecting backpacks and supplies, donating money so St Mark s can buy these items in bulk, and volunteering at the big event! Last year they served just over 350 kids and this year they are planning for 400 students! For more information, read on, or contact Heather Smith: stmarkscityheights@gmail.com. This popular annual service project helps kids from low-income and refugee families start the school year off right. We provide backpacks full of school supplies, new shoes, new underwear, family portraits, haircuts, a hot lunch and more. Volunteers from churches throughout our diocese pitch in to help these kids feel valued and prepared. Monetary donations are the biggest need! Last year we found we are able to buy school supplies in bulk, thus leveraging our resources for the biggest impact! It costs about $35 per child to get everything they need. There are also expenses for games, arts & crafts and the international BBQ lunch. Collections We need backpacks, socks, underwear and shoes! Would your group like to focus on just one or two items and host a drive this summer? Adopt a child Many church families love the experience of going out and buying everything for one particular child. If your group would like to go this route, please let me know how many children your church would like to support, but understand the expectation is that you buy EVERYTHING for that child (a full list with detailed sizes will be sent to you and hopefully a photo too). We ask that nothing EXTRA be added to the backpacks. We appreciate the generosity but equity is important. All backpacks will be double checked and anything not on the list will be pulled out. We hope you understand. Volunteer The Bash is scheduled for Saturday, August 20, 9 a.m. 1 p.m. and it takes about 70+ volunteers to make that day run smoothly. There will also be 1-2 packing events held in the weeks beforehand (days to be determined). This is a great program for kids and youth to be involved in service and give back. We need volunteer hairdressers, photographers and videographers. St John s Fallbrook St John s is distributing their backpacks to low-income families through the Fallbrook Food Bank. Churches can help by attending their fundraising Luau on August 6. Tickets are just $20 for a full night of fun, delicious food, auction items, and Hawaiian dancers! If you re unable to attend, purchase a ticket anyway! Churches can also donate money so St John s can buy their backpacks and supplies in bulk. Last year they served 350 kids and the plan is to help 375 this year! Their distribution event at the food bank is on August 13. For more information and to purchase luau tickets, contact Mike McCormick at mikemosaic@aol.com. By joining forces we can serve so many more than our churches could do on their own. Please join us! 10 Lillian Throws the First Pitch! Recognize these ladies? It s St Alban s own Lillian Edmondson and Ann Spraker at the Padres game (where else?) on June 19th. This was an exceptionally special game for Lillian to attend because it was a family outing in honor of Lillian s 90th birthday! Her daughter had pre-arranged with the Padres for Lillian to throw out the first pitch as a very special birthday present to her mom. Later, I asked Lillian how it felt to be down on the playing field with all the eyes on her. She answered, I was numb! How was your pitch?, I asked, Did you throw it out of the park? All the way to the outfield!, she happily answered! All I can say is: Way to go Lillian! The best way to celebrate a birthday! 3

August 2016 STEWARDSHIP STATION Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 7 Worship 9:30 Transfiguration Sunday 1 2 MASS 8:30am Refugee Food Distribution Ministry10am 3 8 9 10 4 11 5 6

4 August 2016 STEWARDSHIP STATION Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 7 Worship 9:30 Transfiguration Sunday 1 2 MASS 8:30am Refugee Food Distribution Ministry10am Florence Nightingale What is Stewardship? Stewardship is an ethic that embodies the responsible planning and management of resources. Sounds like something our elected Vestry, the Senior and Junior Wardens, as well as our priest and Treasurer should do for Saint Alban s. And they do. But Stewardship of our church does not take place only during Vestry meetings, the Annual Meeting or the Stewardship Campaign. It happens every day, in every way we interact with our church, each other, and with the world. We are all stewards of everything God has given us. It is a tremendous responsibility. So Worship 9:30 St Mary the Vestry Meeting Virgin / The After Service Assumption 16 MASS 8:30am Refugee Food Distribution Ministry10am how can we be good stewards? Protecting these resources and using them wisely are one answer; so is generous giving of time, talent, and treasure. Remember the servant who took the talents the master gave him and buried them for safe-keeping? (Matthew 25:14-30) Was that strategy pleasing to the master? As Christian stewards, we receive God's gifts gratefully, cul- 21 Worship 9:30 28 Worship 9:30 Stewardship Meeting Welcome Church 3pm St Bartholomew John Bunyan tivate them responsibly, share them lovingly in justice with others, and return them with increase to the Lord. "As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace" (1 Pt 4:10). The Stewardship Committee would like to hear what stewardship means to you. What are your God-given gifts? Are we providing enough opportunities for you to use those gifts? If we aren t, let us know how we can help you to be all you can be. More to come! Sincerely, Sandy Parks, Co-Chair of the Stewardship Committee, with Karen Garcia, Sharon Hathaway, Betty Johnsen, Father Dave and Mike Park. 4 9

Perfect Love Casts Out Fear Dear People of God in the Episcopal Church: We all know that some things in holy Scripture can be confusing, hard to understand, or open to various ways of understanding.

Jesus tells us to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves, and he tells us over and over again not to be afraid (Matthew 10:31, Mark 5:36, Luke 8:50, John 14:27).

5 Perfect Love Casts Out Fear Dear People of God in the Episcopal Church: We all know that some things in holy Scripture can be confusing, hard to understand, or open to various ways of understanding. But some essential teachings are clear and incontrovertible. Jesus tells us to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves, and he tells us over and over again not to be afraid (Matthew 10:31, Mark 5:36, Luke 8:50, John 14:27). There s no confusion about what Jesus is telling us, but it often requires courage to embody it in the real world. Again and again, we become afraid, and mired in that fear, we turn against Jesus and one another. This age-old cycle of fear and hatred plays out again and again in our broken world, in sickening and shocking events like the massacre targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Orlando, but also in the rules we make and the laws we pass. Most recently, we ve seen fear at work in North Carolina, a state dear to both of our hearts, where a law called the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act has decimated the civil rights and God-given dignity of transgender people and, by extension, drastically curtailed protections against discrimination for women, people of color, and many others. We are thankful for the prayerful and pastoral public leadership of the North Carolina bishops on this law, which is known as House Bill 2. This is not the first time that the segregation of bathrooms and public facilities has been used to discriminate unjustly against minority groups. And just as in our painful racial past, it is even being claimed that the bathroom bills, as they are sometimes called, ensure the safety of women and children the same reason so often given to justify Jim Crow racial segregation. But we believe that, as the New Testament says, perfect love casts out fear. On June 10, the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church stood against fear and for God s love by passing a resolution that reaffirms the Episcopal Church s support of local, state and federal laws that prevent discrimination based on gender identity or gender expression and voices our opposition to all legislation that seeks to deny the God-given dignity, the legal equality, and the civil rights of transgender people. The need is urgent, because laws like the one in North Carolina prey on some of the most vulnerable people in our communities some of the very same people who were targeted in the Orlando attack. In a 2011 survey, 78 percent of transgender people said that they had been bullied or harassed in childhood; 41 percent said they had attempted suicide; 35 percent had been assaulted, and 12 percent had suffered a sexual assault. Almost half of transgender people who responded to the survey said they had suffered job discrimination, and almost a fifth had lost housing or been denied health care due to their gender identity or expression. As Christians, we bear a particular responsibility to speak out in these situations, because attempts to deny transgender people their dignity and humanity as children of God are too often being made in the name of God. This way of fear is not the way of Jesus Christ, and at these times, we have the opportunity to demonstrate our belief that Christianity is not a way of judgment, but a way of following Jesus in casting out fear. When we are born anew through baptism, we promise to respect the dignity of every human being. Today, transgender people and, indeed, the entire LGBT community, need us to keep that promise. By doing so, we can bear witness to the world that Jesus has shown us another way the way of love. Faithfully, The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings Presiding Bishop and Primate President, House of Deputies 8 Round Up Time A note from Father Dave Summer Is Beginning To Fade It s hard to believe that our summer is beginning to fade. It won t be long until school bells will be ringing again. Our choir will be back again on Sundays, Vestry will be meeting again (Vestry takes a break in July) and our Wednesday evening service will be back (Wednesday service is cancelled in July). But, some things remain the same, even in the summer months, such as utility and water bills, building and grounds maintenance. It doesn t do as much good to call SDGE and tell them not to bill us in July because that s our slow time of the year, and I am so thankful for a congregation that remembers our needs even when they take vacations. We just finished a shared Vacation Bible School with First Presbyterian across the road. I m sure Carolyn Mahon-Hurd will be sharing some news about that in this newsletter, so please read about it. On Sunday morning, July 17, the VBS grade-school children choir made up of children from both churches sand for us, and then they all went across the street and sang at First Presbyterian. On Saturday, July 30, our church children (@ 20+ signed up to go) along with parents and supervisors will be heading for a beach party along with the children and youth leaders from St. Peter s Episcopal Church in Delmar. I m sure there will be information in the newsletter about that, but if not it will be in our next newsletter. The Welcome Church will be meeting this coming Sunday, July 24, in Wells Park at 3 PM for service and a church picnic. I encourage volunteers to eat with us. That s why we call it a church picnic instead of handing out food in the park. We had a memorial service for Rufus Faulcon, in our sanctuary on Friday morning, July 1. Rufus was homeless, and spent most of his time around the trolley station in El Cajon. Those in attendance included unhoused, as well as housed people. Following the service, we had a light meal in the parish hall. We took the leftover food, mostly sandwiches and cookies, and handed them out at the trolley station. Our Welcome Church meets on Sunday, but that s not all we do. This coming Saturday I will be walking through Wells Park with coffee hour stuff. In sales we call it a loss leader, but I prefer to call it a coffee break time, without the coffee, but I do include pudding, cookies and water. I have listened to a lot of narratives, and I know most of the people that make Wells Park their main residence, at least during the day. It s illegal to sleep anywhere outside in El Cajon, even in your own car, and so sleeping is wherever you can find a place that feels somewhat safe. We do intake and follow up with as much help as we can, such as housing assistance, medical or legal help, food, budgeting help, anything that we can help to either get people off the street or to make their lives a little easier. The Refugee Food Distribution still goes on. People are still hungry, even in July. Our bi-lingual Arabic and English mass at 8:30 is going wonderfully. We have a great interpreter, Mr. Jamil Shorees and we now have Arabic singing during the Service. Our numbers in the Food distribution continues to hover around 85 families. Until next month, I leave you with this blessing: May the peace of the Lord be always with you. Father Dave 5

Sunday School News By Caroline Mahon-Hurd St.

We again partnered with our friends at First Presbyterian church.

Love. The children had many fun and exciting activities that they participated

memorized and learned how to speak using sign language.

at VBS at Adopt A Beach in San Diego: I Love A Clean San Diego, and

We had around 90 children participate, 22 from St. Alban s.

our children, we appreciate your generosity.

of their time to teach our children. The volunteers were Rev.

24. They wore these shirts to our Family Fellowship at the beach with our

6 Sunday School News By Caroline Mahon-Hurd St. Alban s church had another successful year of Vacation Bible School (VBS). We again partnered with our friends at First Presbyterian church. The theme for VBS this year was The Surf Shack: Catch a Wave to God s Amazing Love. The children had many fun and exciting activities that they participated in. Some of these activities were Bible stories, crafts, music, recreation, and the popular assembly skits. The children had fun learning their Bible verses each day, which they memorized and learned how to speak using sign language. The uncommon group of tweens and teens volunteered 10 hours during their week at VBS at Adopt A Beach in San Diego: I Love A Clean San Diego, and Presbyterian Urban Ministries. We had around 90 children participate, 22 from St. Alban s. I would like to thank all of our congregation members who sponsored some of our children, we appreciate your generosity. I also want to thank all of our VBS volunteers who volunteered over 15 hours of their time to teach our children. The volunteers were Rev. Sharon Laraene, Betty Johnsen, Joanne Bishop, Mary Zori, Ibtisam Basher, and myself. The children tie dyed their VBS tee shirts during Sunday school on Sunday July 24. They wore these shirts to our Family Fellowship at the beach with our friends at St. Peter s Episcopal Church in Del Mar. We had 20 children from St. Alban s attending this event. I would like to thank all of our volunteers from both St. Alban s and St. Peter s. The volunteers from St. Alban s were Joanne Bishop, Mary Zori, Ibtisam Basher, Shamoon Jeejo, and myself. Many thanks to Leeann Gooding, Leigh Konkle, and Joanne Bishop for helping me organize this wonderful event. 6 7

The Almanac. July Celebrating and Sharing God s Love. Round-up with Deacon Phil 5. Sunday School News 6. Mark Your Calendar 4

The Almanac. July Celebrating and Sharing God s Love. Round-up with Deacon Phil 5. Sunday School News 6. Mark Your Calendar 4 Sunday School News 6 Round-up with Deacon Phil 5 Mark Your Calendar 4 The Treasurer s Vault 3 From the Rector s Pen 2 Inside this issue: Visit us on the web www.st-albans-church.org Email: generalbusiness@stalbanschurch.info