St. Patrick Episcopal Church 232 East Main Street Lebanon, Ohio 45036

Transcription

1 St. Patrick Episcopal Church 232 East Main Street Lebanon, Ohio It has been a heartbreaking week in our nation. Many words have been spoken in these days. Some have been hurtful and destructive and some have been wise and life giving. I turn to those who have spoken with wisdom. Barack Obama quoted Nelson Mandela s words from South Africa as they sought to heal from institutionalized racism, No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. That s who Jesus calls the church to be, a community deeply committed to the school of loving. Sunday Worship Services 8:00 a.m. & 10:30 a.m. The Rt. Rev. Thomas E. Breidenthal Bishop of Southern Ohio The Rev. Jacqueline Matisse, Rector Lisa Cronin, Vestry, Senior Warden Bill Lasher, Vestry, Junior Warden Damian Stout, Choir Director Jack Hasty, Organist Marjorie Donovan, Music Director Emeritus Vestry Jeff Lane, Financial Secretary Trischa Goodwin Vestal Hipp Wayne Spary, Treasurer Steve Belknap Jill Lane Bill Lasher, Stewardship Matt Lang Linda Powers Gretchen Hautzinger, Office Manager Harry Pritchard Jill Lane, Children s Education Our Mission: To take the love of Christ into the World A man wrote in an article in Sojourners magazine of his time in a white supremacist group. He has come out of that group and as one who understands what leads to such hate, now dedicates himself to helping others find their way out. He says that loving someone filled with hate is the hardest thing in the world to do. We, in the church, have vowed to follow Jesus who gave his life while loving those filled with hate. He didn t condone their behavior. He confronted it vehemently. He spoke and acted consistently for those who society pushed aside. He spoke his message of inclusion so powerfully those who couldn t hear it crucified him. And he believed we can be taught to love, for love is what God plants most deeply in the human heart. The Friday morning Bible Study this morning read the following passage from Hebrews 12: These are wise words from a preacher speaking to his congregation who are weary of trying to love; weary of trying to figure out how to follow Jesus in a world of conflict. I wish you had all been part of our conversation this morning. I will not do justice to the wisdom of those who were gathered. Here are the words to the Preacher s congregation. Lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble and through it many become defiled. In other words, don t stop working out how to love like Jesus. It is the hardest thing you will ever be called to do, because it means you will need to work out how to love your enemy. There will be no room for words and actions seeking to violently oppress or destroy another. It will expand your understanding of love to the breaking point as you struggle to love those filled with hate; it will force you to face the places in your own deep spirit where you are broken and needing to learn to love yourself and others. It will unveil your own judgmental feelings, perhaps your own hate. (Jackie continued )

2 All this will likely happen as you learn how to speak the truth of Christ s inclusive love clearly without responding in kind to the hate that confronts you. I am overwhelmed and humbled by the magnitude of this charge in our lives. This week it feels more urgent than ever and I feel more inadequate and saddened than ever. And at the same time, encouraged in a way, because we are seeing some more of the truth of who we are. A veil has been lifted. And the truth will set us free as we respond to it with courage, with heart and growing dependence on Christ s love within and among us. Thank you for being on this journey with me. Together we can learn to love. Jackie WEDNESDAY EVENING PRAYER Feeling a strong need to come together in prayer in these days, I will offer an evening prayer service on Wednesdays in September and October at 7pm. APPLE PIE BAKING This year we will again participate in the Feast and Fall-y Festival on Mulberry Street on September 30, from 10am to 6pm rain or shine. We will bake pies on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings of the preceding week. A signup sheet will be in Brigid House soon. This is always a great intergenerational activity with people of all ages joining in an assembly line pie baking frenzy! We are famous for our pies, with some people coming to the festival just to buy one. Jackie RITE 13 J2A CLASS TO START FOR FALL 2017 Our Rite 13 and J2A class will begin this fall on Sunday, September 17 th. The class will begin as usual at 9:30 in our classroom in the basement. Mary Lasher will be joining Earl Edmonds and Carlotta Owens as instructors. We are looking forward to an exciting year with a great group of young people. Earl Edmonds Just Around the Corner by Bill Lasher A few years ago, I was looking at Google Maps for some places I knew about but had never seen. One of those was the very small town where my paternal grandparents had settled after they arrived from Europe. My father had lived there when he was young, but had left for the big city when he could. I wasn t sure of the town s name nor its exact location and Google wasn t helping: there was nothing where I though it should be. I finally called a church in Ambia, Ind., where my aunt had worked, just to get directions. The priest who answered the phone was very helpful: You re not going to find that town on any modern map, he said. There is no town there anymore. That was a shock: when you trace your ancestry, you always expect to get back to a place of beginning, but now there was no place. The kindly priest then led me, on my map, to an intersection of two roads. There were two houses, one on each side of one road. That s where the town was, he said. Finally, in desperation, I said, Maybe you can tell me what kind of lot that is down the street from those houses it looks like a parking lot. He laughed: Well, not exactly. Those patterns you see are gravestones: that s the cemetery the only thing left. Finding our past is always interesting, because that s where we can begin to find ourselves to build our idea of who we really are. I still know my family came from Baden, Germany, and I know where all my important relatives chose to live their own lives. I just don t have a connection in the middle. It s amazing how we use the places in our lives to define ourselves; someone might say, I was born in Lebanon, went to high school then spent some time at Ohio State, then went into the Army for three years. A few years later I started my business in Mason, and we stayed there until I retired. Now we re in Tampa Bay. If we can connect time and place into a short history, we ll do it, and then we ll ask the other person to do the same! Behind this cascade of information are some simple processing strategies. First, time is described as space: I was in the Army for three years. Second, time is money: I spent some time at Ohio State. We like to use more concrete descriptions when we can: they lost a boatload of good will by closing their store. I think it s fair to say that we like to map our way through our lives as well as through our actual surroundings, and that our maps really do serve as guideposts for ourselves and even for those who know us. People without a good map are sometimes said to be lost, and the rest of us want to know which way is up. The spirit of the Vikings and other sailing cultures must be in us all: you just have to have a good map!

3 ALTAR SERVERS & PEOPLE OF THE WEEK LAY READER TEXT SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER 3 SEPTEMBER 24 10:30 a.m. 10:30 a.m. C Dana C Brady BB Kacee BB Adam US Skip Scruby & Dick Wolford US Norman Bucher & Kevin O Brien P Gloria Giannestras P Ryan & Trischa Goodwin & Family T Lane & Nelson T Smith & Johnson G Ruth G Gloria A June & Vestal A Ginny & Molly SEPTEMBER 10 OCTOBER 1 10:30 a.m. 10:30 a.m. C Dana C Dana BB Christiana BB Kacee US Trish Simonton & Graham Bale US Brian Gluntz & Skip Scruby P Brian & Stephanie Gluntz & Family P Jon & Joey Hansted & Family T Simonton & Hasty T Nelson & Smith G Trish G Carol A Lisa & Trischa A Caroline, Leo, & Jill SEPTEMBER 17 10:30 a.m. A = Altar Guild C Marshall BB = Book Bearer BB Maria C = Crucifer US Larry Benning & David Johnson G = Greeter P Bill & Amy Goodlick & Lucas P = Persons of the Week T McLaughlin & Wolford T = Tellers G Linda US = Ushers A Rosemary & Gloria The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost September 3 8:00 a.m. Dan Berger 10:30 a.m. Jean Benning Steve Belknap Exodus 3:1-15 Psalm 105:6,23-26,45c Romans 12:9-21 Matthew 16:21-28 The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost September 10 8:00 a.m. Pat George 10:30 a.m. Becca McLaughlin Stuart Bale Exodus 12:1-14 Psalm 149 Romans 13:8-14 Matthew 18:15-20 The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost September 17 8:00 a.m. Earl Edmonds 10:30 a.m. Nancy Smith Brian Gluntz Exodus 14:19-31 Psalm 114 Romans 14:1-12 Matthew 18:21-35 The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost September 24 8:00 a.m. Trischa Goodwin 10:30 a.m. Dana Davis Jean Benning Exodus 16:2-15 Psalm 105:1-6,37-45 Philippians 1:21-30 Matthew 20:1-16 The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost October 1 8:00 a.m. Dan Berger 10:30 a.m. Brian Gluntz Becca McLaughlin Exodus 17:1-7 Psalm 78:1-4,12-16 Philippians 2:1-13 Matthew 21:23-32

4 September 2017 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday :00 p.m. Men s Dinner 7 David Pendleton Oakerhater 8 The Martyrs of New Guinea 9 Prudence Crandall 10 Paul Jones 11 Gregorio Aglipay Elie Naud 14 Nikolai Grundtvig Søren Kierkegaard 15 Constance, Nun, and Her Companions 16 Alexander Crummell 17 Harry Thacker Burleigh 18 John Henry Hobart 19 John Chrysostom 20 Holy Cross Day 21 Cyprian James Chisholm 22 Ninian 23 Hildegard 24 Edward Bouverie Pusey 25 Theodore of Tarsus 26 John Coleridge Patteson and his Companions 27 Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist 28 Philander Chase 30 Sergius Lancelot Andrews Wilson Carlile Vincent de Paul Thomas Traherne Richard Rolle, Walter Hilton, and Margery Kempe Saint Michael and All Angels Jerome

5 INTERFAITH HOSPITALITY WEEK Our next week to host Interfaith guests will be the week of September 10. We provide space that week for up to five families to have dinner, spend the evening and stay overnight. Other churches do the same through every week of the year. We have some smaller groups who want to participate but don t have the space to host a week help us cover some of our nights. If you have never helped with Interfaith please consider either providing a meal, spending the evening with our guests, particularly helping with the children, or staying overnight. The group usually leaves by 6:30am. Cathy McCracken is our coordinator and will be looking for volunteers. JOIN IN THE BIG EXODUS READ Bishop Breidenthal is asking the diocese to read Exodus together. His words on this project can be found on the diocesan website, diosohio.org. There will be a copy of the recommended commentaries available for use at the church. I will be preaching on the Exodus scriptures when they appear in the lectionary, and will be referring to the Exodus story in other ways throughout the year. Pray much fruit comes from the church s ministry through this work. GREENHOUSE TOUR My apologies for offering a tour of the Greenhouse this summer and then not being able to fine the key. Me Culpe! I now have the keys in hand and will open the Greenhouse (actually small yellow house behind the church) to any interested after both services on Sunday, September 10. I remind you we are seeking another tenant for the house. If you know of someone who is temporarily in need of housing and needs ongoing support to move forward into permanent housing please let Jackie know. Jackie MEN S DINNER The September Men s Group will meet again on the first Thursday of the month. As usual, we will meet at Barrel House at 6pm, September 7. Please plan to join us. Any men can come and will be welcome. We generally stay until 7:30 and there is no formal program, just a time to be together and chat. Tom Campbell MANY THANKS The rummage sale was a great success primarily because we provided clothing and goods to many who could not otherwise afford them. While we make money, the sale is primarily a ministry to welcome others to our community. We have always done this with such grace but this year what struck me was how, while serving those in need, we also ministered to each other. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and I am so proud to be a member of this wonderful community which is St. Patrick s. Thanks to all of you who made this year a success. Sara Huckeby IT S A GIRL! Rosemary Chute is a new great-grandmother and since many of us have seen her grandson Morley grow up here at St. Patrick, we d like to honor he and Sammy with a baby shower. The date is set for September 17 th from 2:00 to 4:00 at Kings Center, Otterbein Retirement Community, 580 Ohio Route 741, Lebanon, Ohio (follow the balloons). Whether you know Morley or not, all are welcome to come celebrate this grand occasion. Men are most welcome. Please RSVP to either of us. Sara Huckeby & Molly Wolford RUTHIE-FEST 2017 Please join us to celebrate our fabulous Ruth Lokey s 90 th birthday on Saturday, October 28 th. We ll gather for an open house with Ruth and her family in Brigid House between 2:00 and 4:00. No gifts please the pleasure of your company is gift enough. Please join us for this fun birthday party. Everyone is most welcome. Elizabeth O Leary

6 NANCY S MEMORIAL GARDEN Nancy s Garden was created soon after the death of Jackie Matisse s mother whose name was Nancy. Nancy, who lived in Detroit, visited St. Patrick s regularly, and never missed a 100,000 Welcomes. She was loved by our parishioners. Some time later, it was Tom Campbell who had the vision of a Memorial Garden in which to scatter the remains of loved ones. After much thought and research, Tom, with the help of a committee, and a generous foundation grant, finally was able to realize his dream. Plans were drawn up and Vestry members were involved from the start; vestry also recommended that a fence be built around the area, which was consecrated as a Sacred Space, and renamed Nancy s Memorial Garden. Since then, this area has been lovingly tended by a faithful team of gardeners. Alas time marches on, and those gardeners are all now in their mid to late eighties. When you get there, it is not always as easy to bend and weed and dig! So, reluctantly, it is time to hand on the baton. If you feel that this is a project you yourself, or with a team, could handle, we would love to hear from you. Please contact Tom Campbell or Jackie Matisse. Margaret Johnson Prudence Crandall Teacher and Prophetic Witness, 1890 Born to a Quaker family in Rhode Island in 1803, Prudence Crandall was educated in arithmetic, the sciences, and Latin at the New England Friend s Boarding School in Rhode Island. The Quakers, or Friends, believed that women should be educated, and it was in the environment of the Friend s Boarding School that Prudence Crandall s passion for teaching was first awakened. In 1831, Crandall started a girl s school in Canterbury, Connecticut, where she educated the daughters of the town s wealthy families. In 1833 she admitted to her school a young African American girl named Sarah Harris. Harris wanted an education so that she could in turn teach other African American children. The parents of the white children at Crandall s school were outraged and demanded Harris s expulsion, but Crandall refused and decided to open a new school for African American girls. Despite repeated attempts by town members to close the school, and even threats to destroy it, Crandall persevered in her labors. She enlisted the help of William Lloyd Garrison, editor of The Liberator, the nation s major antislavery newspaper. Through his paper and advocacy, Garrison spread awareness of her cause all over the nation. However, later in 1833, the state legislature passed the so-called Black Law, which made it a crime to open a school that taught black children from any state other than Connecticut. Crandall, who had received pupils from other states, was arrested, jailed, and tried. She was eventually convicted, but a higher court reversed the decision. Far from subsiding, the harassment she endured grew worse, and, fearing for the safety of her students, she closed her school in After her husband died in 1874, Crandall moved to Elk Falls, Kansas. In 1886 the Connecticut state legislature awarded her a pension. In a petition signed by more than a hundred citizens of that state, many expressed their regret and shame over her treatment. Mark Twain attempted to persuade the state to buy back her original home in Canterbury. Prudence Crandall died in 1890, and today she is recognized as the official State Heroine of Connecticut. IN-REACH MINISTRY Do you need help or know of other church members who need temporary assistance with transportation, meals, child care, yard work, household chores, etc? If so, please contact Theresa Norris, September In-Reach Ministry coordinator. Her contact information can be found in the Church Directory or by calling St. Patrick s God, the wellspring of justice and strength: We thank you for raising up in Prudence Crandall a belief in education and a resolute will to teach girls of every color and race, that alongside her they might take their place in working for the nurture and well-being of all society, undaunted by prejudice or adversity. Grant that we, following her example, may participate in the work of building up the human family in Christ, your Word and Wisdom; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints)