. The Branch I am the vine, you are the branches. John 15:5 St. George s Episcopal Church March 2018 Salinas, California St. George s family members attending Vi Murphy s 100 th birthday party on February18th 1
The Branch The newsletter of St. George s Episcopal Church 98 Kip Drive Salinas, CA 93906 831-449-6709 www.stgeorgessalinas.org Editor Lynn Fischer Branch Photographers Pete Wagley Elrond Lawrence Our Mission Statement Editor Note: Please send any announcements or articles for The Branch to the church office. Email Address is Stgeorge12@msn.com St. George Church Is a community of Christians that Worships joyfully, Provides fellowship, Serves the community, Invites others into Christ s Family, And Strives to grow in spiritual maturity Family Happens Here Attendees at the Annual Vestry Retreat on March 3 rd. 2
Valley View Holy Week and Easter 2018 In the coming weeks we have the opportunity to journey with Jesus from his triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday through his betrayal and execution later that week to his ultimate glorification on Easter. It is a familiar journey for us, not just because we remember it every year but also because it s a template for our lives. The shape of many of our life experiences is formed by the ebb and flow, by the thrills and chills which become regular patterns of our life journey. As we see Jesus reaction to all that life can offer, whether exultation or condemnation, and all the various stages in between, we have a model on which to frame our own actions. The God who created us and continues to love us gives us the vision in Jesus of living life abundantly. May each of us have the grace and courage to embody Jesus life in our own. Peace, Richard The Pastor s Schedule As our interim priest, Richard Leslie will conduct services on Sundays and special days and normally be in the office on Thursdays and Fridays to speak with members of St. George s parish family unless he has a meeting or is visiting the sick. If you wish to meet with him during any of the following office hours, please call the church office to confirm that he is there. On the following dates, Fr. Leslie will be at the Church: March Office hours on the 1 st and 2 nd Services at 8 and 10 am on the 4 th Office hours on the 8 th and 9 th Services at 8 and 10 am on the 11 th Services at 8 and 10 am on the 18 th Office hours on the 19 th Palm Sunday services at 8 and 10 am on the 25 th Maundy Thursday service on the 29 th at 7 pm Good Friday services on the 30 th at noon at St. Paul s April Easter services at 8 and 10 am on the 1 st. Office hours on the 5 th and 6 th Services at 8 and 10 am on the 8 th Office hours on the 12 th and 13 th 3
Services at 8 and 10 am on the 15 th Office hours on the 19 th and 20 th Services at 8 and 10 am on the 22 nd Office hours on the 26 th and 27 th Services at 8 and 10 am on the 29 th Fr. Richard s cell phone: 510-331-3698 Soup and Conversation Continuing on Wednesday Evenings in Lent, March 7 th, 14 th, and 21 st. The topic of conversation is St. George s Restoration Plan: Where are we going and how are we going to get there? We will gather at about 6 pm. HOLY WEEK SERVICES Palm Sunday, Eucharist at 8 am and 10 am Maundy Thursday Eucharist 7 pm Good Friday at St. Paul s Church starting noon Stations of the Cross and passion drama at St. George s at 7 pm Easter Eve Vigil at St. Paul s Church starting at 6 pm Easter Sunday, Eucharist at 8 am and 10 am Salinas Warming Shelter, Sunday March 18 th. St. George s will again team up with St. Paul s to provide meals to homeless families on the 3 rd Sunday of each month in which the warming shelter is open. Tina says that the plan is to cook the meal at St. Paul s that Sunday afternoon. We will need chef s assistants and people willing to serve the meal at the shelter at 6 pm. You do not need to do both. We are also hoping to get some people to bake cookies. A sign-up sheet will be in the Parish Hall each Sunday service prior to the 18 th. 4
Out and About with the Deacon I seem to be having writer s block this month so I thought I would share with you some of my favorite quotes from Corrie ten Boom. She was a Dutch watchmaker and a Christian who worked along with her family during World War II to protect Jews from their German occupiers and the horrors of the Holocaust. Eventually she was arrested and sent to the concentration camps. Her beloved sister died at the Nazi concentration camp Ravensbruck in 1944. Corrie was mistakenly released due to a clerical error just days before the rest of the women in her age group were sent to the gas chambers. You can read her story in the book she wrote of her experiences, The Hiding Place. Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength. Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts when God pries your fingers open. Don't bother to give God instructions; just report for duty. When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer. This is what the past is for! Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire? Corrie ten Boom Deacon Tina Heidmann. Eat, Pray and Love: is now meeting on the third Monday evening of each month. This month, the group will meet on March 19 th. 5
Touchstone Senior Luncheon: With the support we have received from our parish and recent fundraisers, we are able to provide our regular monthly Senior s Luncheon at St. George s Parish Hall on the third Tuesday every month. The next Senior Luncheons will be held on March 20 th.. This is a chance to get out of the house, enjoy great food, and engage in good conversation. Notes from the Vestry Each month the editor will include a summary of decisions and actions from the previous month s Vestry Meeting. Elected Vestry Members, Clergy, and other officers of the Church meet together, usually after the second worship service on the 3 rd Sunday of the month. Although no vestry meeting was held in February, the new Vestry held a formal meeting during its Annual Retreat on March 3 rd. The following are notes from that meeting: Notes on the Vestry Meeting on March 3 rd during the Vestry Retreat Report by the Deacon Deacon Tina Heidmann stated that with regard to the Food Pantry, we expect that the grand money will last only through October. We are looking for new volunteers for the Food Pantry particularly for stocking our shelves from the Food Bank that takes place on Tuesdays. Report from the Senior Warden Margie Sokotowski stated her hope that all members of the Vestry can attend the Soup and Conversation meetings on Wednesdays in Lent. These meetings serve as town halls for the discussion of the Restoration Plan. We have been discussing Strengths, Weaknesses, and opportunities and will discuss Threats. The Restoration Committee will be moving on to the creation of a Business Plan. All of the Vestry should have a part in forming the Business Plan in which we will propose a use for the empty lot, whether we will expect to call a full-time rector, and how we plan to increase our numbers. We will also be reviewing our various ministries. Report from the Junior Warden Joan Dresser reviewed recent accomplishments including the repainting of the Parish Hall and the replacement of acoustical tiles with panels in the ceiling, the repair of security cameras, and the completion of the fence for a children s play area. (Please see the Junior Warden s Report.) 6
The Treasurer s Report John Walworth provided the Vestry with spreadsheets showing the Operating Cash Flow for January 2018 and the Balance Sheet as of January 31, 2018. With total income of $12,073.83 and expenses of $9,607.28, we can show a net income or surplus of $2,466.55. Assignment of Vestry Liaisons Senior Warden Margie Sokotowski asked members of the Vestry to review the booklet on ministries and inform her by email about which of the current active ministries they could serve as the Vestry Liaison person. Vestry Liaisons will be approved at the next Vestry meeting. Easter Egg Hunt After some discussion it was agreed by the Vestry to have the traditional Easter Egg Hunt following the 10 am service on Easter Sunday. Vestry are asked to bring 3 dozen plastic eggs (with candy or something inside each egg) a week before Easter. A general invitation to the community around us may introduce members of our surrounding community to our church. (See the notice in this issue of the Branch.) Designated Offering As funds for the restocking of our Food Pantry are being exhausted without definite assurance of the Federal grant renewal, Vestry members agreed that the designated offering for March, April, May, and June be allocated to the Food Pantry fund. Parochial Report for 2017 Copies of the Parochial Report for 2017 were provided to Vestry members for their review. The Interim Priest in Charge explained how he, the Treasurer and the Senior Warden verified financial numbers and numbers of parish members. Members of the Vestry suggested that on the report of Outreach Ministries, we indicate that we have programs for the elderly (#11) with 25 members involved and that under Other (#15) we add Community Garden with 7 members involved. Joan Dresser moved that we accept the Parochial Report for 2017 as amended. The motion was seconded by Richard Smith and approved by the Vestry. Lynn Fischer, Branch Editor Vestry members hard at work at their Annual Retreat 7
From the Jr. Warden s pink toolbox! Wow! What an exciting time is ahead of us this coming year! We have lots of areas to work on to keep our church home in tip-top condition. We ve already made some great (and necessary) improvements that you can already see! The interior of the parish hall has been painted and new acoustical tiles have been installed on the ceilings. These two items have brought a new look for our parish hall which is rented out many times during the months. We created a new safe play yard for our children between the parish hall wall and the driveway. There are two exit gates and a third gate across the walkway leading to the driveway. This will keep our children and our guest s children out of harm s way. Our security cameras are back up and running! We have one more security camera to be re-routed to focus on incoming cars into our parking lot. We seem to have a lot trash that is dropped out of car windows while parents wait for their children at the end of school. We will continue to monitor this issue with the North Salinas High School administrative staff. At some point, many years ago, we laid new carpet in the church office. One of the heater vents was covered over with the new carpet, preventing the heat to warm up the Rector s office. This error was discovered and the carpet has been cut away with a new heat register installed. We are creating new banners to advertise the various events at St. George s. Our first banner will be to announce the Senior Luncheon which happens every third Tuesday of the month @ 11:30am (and YOU are invited!). We ve had a generous donation for this banner so please keep an eye out for the new banner in the front yard. We are also investigating the cost of a sleeve type banner that can be changed by the church event. A new event will be typed up on a hard copy and put into the sleeve. We hope this will encourage the neighborhood to come and check out what we are all about! In the next month or so, we will be emptying the junk that is in the storage container. We then hope to sell the container for a fair and reasonable price to which we hope to purchase a smaller more efficient storage shed that will be off the parking lot tarmac. A local contractor has been investigating the replacing of the bell tower. Since the bell tower (wood structure) was built over 40+ years ago, the construction regulations have changed greatly. We are investigating alternatives (shorter tower, different design) that will still allow for a joyful noise announcing our services on Sundays and other church events. Two cabinet drawers in the Sunday School room were repaired and re-installed in the cabinet. A future project will be to replace the burned out light bulbs throughout the church along with any broken ballasts (device that holds and operates the light bulb). We will upgrade to LED bulbs rather than the outdated fluorescent bulb. Another future project involving the tall parking lot lights, would be to upgrade the bulbs to LEDs which will save us approximately 75% on our electric bills. As our weather begins to warm up, I would love to have a workday to clean up the yards. This is our church home and it will take all of us to the grounds spruced up! We get to lovingly take care of our church and provide a beautiful facility that is inviting to all. Please let me know of any issues that you might see around the church grounds. If you see something that you can help with, such as school papers on the ground, lunch bags that have blown into the bushes, cups/bottles, etc., please help keep our yards free of this debris by packing the trash. We have trash cans so let s get rid of the trash on our landscape! Thank you very much for allowing me to be your Junior Warden. It is a title I cherish and take very seriously. I have held this position many times before and I am just as eager to hold this office in 2018 as I was many, many years ago! I can be reached on 1-831-663-3070 or on jadresser2@juno.com. You can try my cell phone 1-831-277-2705, but it rarely works out in my canyon in Prunedale! Respectfully submitted, Joan Hurst Dresser 8
Senior Exercise, Each Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30 to 10:30 in the Parish Hall. (See the announcement on the previous page.) Do you have difficulty getting up off the floor? Are you joints stiff? Does your knee hurt? Do you have a problem with balance? Join the group on Tuesday and Thursday morning for light exercise that might solve some of these problems. 9
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Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday AA every Monday through Friday at 12 noon, and Tuesdays at 7 pm. NA every Wednesday and Friday at 7 pm Al-Anon every Saturday at 9:30 June 2017 March 2018 1 Senior Exercise 9:30 am 2 Office Staff 9 am Food Pantry 10:30-am 3 4 Sunday Services at 8 and 10 am 5 6 Senior Exercise 9:30 am Intercessions 1 pm 7 Soup & Conversation 6 pm. 8 Senior Exercise 9:30 am 9 Office Staff 9 am Food Pantry 10:30 am 10 11 Sunday Services at 8 and 10 am 12 13 Senior Exercise 9:30 am Intercessions 1 pm Finance Committee 5pm 14 Soup & Conversation 6 pm. 15 LIFE LINE SCREENING starting at 8:30 16 Office Staff 9 am Food Pantry 10:30-am 17 18 Sunday Services at 8 and 10 am Vestry Meeting Warming Shelter 25 PALM SUNDAY Sunday Services at 8 and 10 am 19 Eat, Pray Love 6 pm St. Joseph 20 Senior Exercise 9:30 am Touchstone Luncheon Intercessions 1 pm 26 27 Senior Exercise 9:30 am Intercessions 1 pm 21 Soup & Conversation 6 pm. 28 22 Senior Exercise 9:30 am 23 Office Staff 9 am Food Pantry 10:30 am 24 HOLY WEEK SERVICES Maundy Thursday Eucharist 7 pm Good Friday at St. Paul s Church starting noon Stations of the Cross and passion drama at St. George s at 7 pm Easter Eve Vigil at St. Paul s Church starting at 6 pm 11
St. George s Episcopal Church 98 Kip Drive, Salinas, California, 93906 Diocese of El Camino Real (831) 449-6709 www.stgeorgessalinas.org Clergy, Vestry, and Officers Bishop and Rector The Rt. Rev. Mary Gray-Reeves Interim Priest-in-Charge The Rev. Richard B. Leslie Birthdays in March Lyle Casipit Zachary Allen Kylie Allen Mary Lou Ortiz Sandra Rojas Vanessa Mendez Chrissy Haydis 13 th 16 th 16 th 22 nd 22 nd 26 th 30 th Deacons The Rev. Tina Heidmann The Rev. Hope Garcia (retired) Senior Warden Margie Sokotowski Junior Warden Joan Dresser Vestry Members Joan Dresser Margie Sokotowski Dulce Munoz Richard Smith Lynn Fischer Pete Wagley Elrond Lawrence Diana Cervantes Treasurer John Walworth Assistant Treasurer Richard Smith Clerk of the Vestry Alexandria Cervantes Vi Murphy at 100 with her most recent great grandchild. 12