The St. Paul's Epistle
February 16-28, 2006
Contents
Dear Members and Friends of St. Paul's
Warden and Vestry Election Results
Thank You To Our Outgoing Vestry Members
Hurricanes, Lent and Missions
Sabbatical Update January 26
Thank You To Our Outgoing Committee
Chairs
Community, Communion and Celebration
Youth And Alleluia Choirs Choral Evensong
ECW
SPY Corner
What's Going on in Education?
Play in Good Faith
Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe
The Jewelry Shop
Dear Members and Friends of St. Paul's:
At our Annual Meeting this year, we elected Stan Refermat as a new Warden and four Vestry members, Scott Arrington, John Bevier, Melissa Hopkins and Griffin Jones. We at St. Paul's are blessed with faithful, talented people who offer their gifts to help us carry out our ministry and mission. Every Vestry has its unique challenges. From where I sit, I see at least the following challenges:
By whatever word you call it, evangelism, new membership, welcoming group, etc., St. Paul's continues to try and live into being an inclusive, diverse and faithful congregation. Under the leadership of George Kittredge and Sally McGucken, we are reaching out to our surrounding neighborhood, inviting them to worship with us. At our Christmas Eve services we had the largest number of guests and visitors in the last 10 years. But very few returned the following Sundays. What is the next step for us to welcome and nurture our neighborhood into our faith community?
We have some remarkable senior members of our parish. As they remain mentally alert but physically failing, there is a greater need to bring St. Paul's to them. We have trained Stephen Ministers and are about to train at least 3 people as Eucharistic Ministers, to bring the Eucharist to parishioners' homes. We need to train even more people in this pastoral ministry as our senior population is only growing. We need to honor, recognize and welcome the lay pastoral ministry of our trained parishioners into our homes. Our pastoral ministry by laity needs to continue to grow and expand.
Rochester has the tragic distinction of having one of the highest murder rates in New York State. Along with one of our sister downtown parishes, St. Luke's and St. Simon Cyrene, I urge us to step out and respond to the increased violence in our city, especially among our African-American brothers and sisters.
After my sabbatical to Nepal, I have become acutely aware of the importance of inter-religious dialogue. Increasingly, marriages at St. Paul's are between a Christian and a Hindu or a Christian and a Buddhist. Since 9/11 we have become more aware of our Muslim brothers' and sisters' faith. This needs to continue. Understanding, respect, tolerance and listening, need to be practiced as we explore new ways of engaging each other's faiths.
Lastly, with our recent parish hall renovation project, we continue our excellent stewardship of maintaining and refurbishing our church and surrounding buildings. With our Arbor Society we have laid a firm foundation for planned gifts to St. Paul's for future generations. However, our annual stewardship for our operating budget continues to plateau and decline. St. Paul's prayerfully uses our monies for our own nurturing of our faith, as well as reaching out both locally and world-wide to people in need. St. Paul's challenges us to rethink our own relationship to money in a voracious consumer economy. We are called to a spirituality of gratitude. We are blessed by being a giver. Our stewardship challenges us to be givers that both support financially our missions and ministry and help us to grow generous hearts.
I give thanks to our Vestry and Wardens for their faithful leadership, as they help us to engage these issues and others that God has in store for us.
Faithfully yours,
The Rev. Frederic W. Reynolds, Rector
Warden and Vestry Election Results
As a result of the vote that occurred at the annual meeting, the Vestry welcomes the following new members to its ranks:
- Stan Refermat, Junior Warden
- Scott Arrington
- John Bevier
- Melissa Hopkins
- Griffin Jones
Griffin was re-elected to a full three-year term after completing a one-year term.
We look forward to building wonderful relationships to the glory of God with these new members.
Blessings,
Christopher Moore, Senior Warden
Thank You To Our
Outgoing Vestry Members
The Rev. Frederic Reynolds
Beth Gallagher
Beth brought her down-to-earth common sense that helped keep the feet of the Vestry squarely on the ground. She was deeply concerned about our being a place of hospitality for all who crossed the threshold of our church. She recognized the importance of coming together as a community, whether for worship or for a parish picnic. She has been instrumental in helping to set up a program of welcome and hospitality for newcomers to our church.
She is a warm, loving person with a deep faith that shone through in both her words and actions.
On behalf of St. Paul's, I thank Beth for her faithful and loving commitment to our parish family.
Rick Harrison
For 10 years, six as Warden, Rick has given his faithful leadership to help St. Paul's through two capital campaigns, the purchase and refurbishing of Wainwright Hall, our church proper, our new Westminster entrance and most recently our parish hall, kitchen, library and bathrooms. When facing difficult challenges, Rick brought his clear, logical mind and wonderful sense of humor to help the Vestry make the best decision for the mission of St. Paul's. I, as Rector, especially appreciated his faithful vision to see our finances and budget as a guide and tool to support and enhance our ministries.
On behalf of St. Paul's, I thank Rick for his faithful, dedicated, and loving commitment to our parish family.
Les Kernan
Les served on St. Paul's Vestry for seven years; 4 years as Clerk and 3 years as Chair of the Human Resources Committee. He brought a Rock of Gibraltar calm that helped the Vestry make difficult decisions during times of concerns and anxieties. He has a sharp, lawyer-trained mind that he always filtered through his heart and soul by giving legal advice to many of our mission programs like Hope for Sudan and Race and Reconciliation. Les is a truly kind and compassionate Christian who always urged the Vestry to continue to reach out beyond our doors. He was a strong voice of support that helped the parish embrace Paul's Place for homeless families.
We have been blessed by his leadership that combined kindness, faithfulness and social justice.
On behalf of St. Paul's, I thank Les for his faithful and loving service to our parish family.
Ingrid Stanlis
Ingrid brought a courageous spirit to our Vestry. She encouraged us to think boldly and make decisions that would see into the future to build up the kingdom of God. With her financial gifts and skills, she helped the Vestry to see the bigger picture of budgets and the wider importance of our mission and ministry. She had the wonderful ability to untangle emotion for a clarity of thought to make faithful decisions.
We have been blessed by her passion and wit, matched by her graciousness and faithfulness.
On behalf of St. Paul's, I thank Ingrid for her faithful and loving commitment to our parish family.
Hurricanes, Lent and Missions
In August Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. We all watched in horror as the storm bore down on New Orleans and the other low-lying coastal towns of Mississippi. Some of you may recall that I preached a sermon just after the hurricanes in which I quoted from an email from a friend as he prepared to leave his church in the path of destruction.
We at St. Paul's responded quickly and generously in the wake of the storm giving money and sending supplies. We also agreed to adopt a parish in the devastated area. The parish we adopted is Trinity Episcopal Church in Pass Christian, Mississippi. The vestry voted to send $15,000 to aid in the rebuilding of the communities in need.
Trinity Episcopal Church
The Church School has adopted a Lenten discipline this year to forward the aid we have committed to our adopted parish. During the weeks of Lent you will be approached by some of our young people selling "pages from the prayer book" Our goal is to sell all 900 and some pages of the prayer book and to give this money to Trinity to fund the replacement of prayer books. I know you will all be eager to buy pages. As the pages are sold we will put them into a loose-leaf binder and use them for our Lenten services. Perhaps we can get two prayer books put together!!
In addition to this initiative I, Barb Warner and Ayanna Hoffman have begun the task of putting together a mission trip to Mississippi to help with the ongoing efforts of recovery in the area. Our plan is to have a group of 8-12 who will travel to Mississippi the week after Easter, April 17-24. This is Spring Break for our youth. The desire is to put together a mission opportunity that is "family-friendly." However this opportunity is open to any and all.
We will stay in the diocesan camp and our plan is to fly down. The details are still being gathered together. I anticipate having them finalized by late February. I ask that you keep this mission initiative in your prayers and that you prayerfully discern your role in it. I look forward to presenting the final details to you in the future and to our opportunity to travel to Mississippi to be with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Leslie St. Louis
Sabbatical Update
January 26
Following the festivities of re-dedicating the Parish Hall on December 2, I boarded a plane for Los Angeles on Saturday morning to begin my sabbatical. During my time there, I spent two days talking with staff from All Saints', Beverly Hills, and All Saints', Pasadena, about their new member ministry programs. Our conversations were productive, and I am looking forward to sharing some ideas with our committee. I also was able to attend two extremely beautiful, and very different, services of Advent Lessons and Carols (St. James, Wilshire and All Saints', Beverly Hills), and enjoyed the opportunity for daily walks, being with good friends and sharing fine food.
From Los Angeles, I traveled to Indianapolis, where I was treated to a splendid birthday party and then on to Oklahoma for Christmas with my extended family. Clergy usually don't get to spend Christmas Day with family, so it was a very special time to be with everyone.
January found me traveling to Jackson, Mississippi, to plan for the Mississippi Church Music conference to be held in August. The other faculty for this annual event are Richard Webster, Trinity Church, Boston, and John Repulski, Christ Church Cranbrook, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. This meeting also allowed me to talk with several clergy about new member ministry, and I took away several creative ideas from the conversations.
On the way back from Jackson, I stopped in Dallas to visit with the staff of the Church of the Transfiguration, and, again, I gained increased understanding of the varied aspects of this vital ministry.
One key element, certainly, in all my conversations has been that this is a ministry that everyone must be involved in - each member of the parish has a responsibility to welcome people. This was demonstrated in each of the parishes I've visited, and especially at the "Fig" where more than a dozen people made a point to welcome me and ask if I were visiting.
My time so far has not been "all work and no play" - I've enjoyed long walks, trying new recipes, movies, and reading. If you are a fan of murder mysteries, I recommend highly Elizabeth George's "With No One As Witness."
You are in my daily prayers, and I trust that I am in yours. Thank you for this opportunity for refreshment and renewal.
Thomas McCart
Thank You To Our
Outgoing Committee Chairs
Our sincere thank you to the following chair persons for their faithful service in 2005.
St. Paul's Ministries Committee Outgoing Chair Altar Guild Linda Lakeman (co-chair) Antique Show Jerry DeLuccio Arbor Society David & Joan Flint Christian Dialogue & Contemporary Issues Jim Blake Columbarium Dorothy Phillips Eucharistic Ministers Erin Glanton 8 a.m. Lectors Cynthia Hosley Parish Life Alice Eldredge Stewardship Barry Brown (co-chair)
Community, Communion and Celebration
Jesus said, wherever two or three of you are gathered in my name, there I will be also. With this short statement Jesus defined a special type of community, what we call Christian community. In this setting we are promised that we will experience Christ incarnate with and through those with whom we gather.
On Sundays we gather for the Liturgy of Holy Eucharist. Liturgy means the work of the people; the work is to offer ourselves and our substance to God. The Liturgy is the action of the whole People of God; we are all participants. By virtue of our baptism we share in the liturgy and we share in the responsibility of building community in Christ's name. We share in communion with Christ and with each other.
So we come to the communion table connected, if you will, to all who have gone before and all who will come after us to feast at the banquet God has prepared. It is through experiencing the real presence of Christ in our lives that we are changed. It was our patron saint, St. Paul, who introduced the ancient prayer just before the breaking of the bread that asks that Jesus be present with us as he was present with his disciples on the road to Emmaus; that we might recognize him, as they did, "in the breaking of the bread." As the consecrated bread is broken we are reminded that we are Christ's body.
When the liturgy is finished, the very last thing that happens, or at least many people think it is the last thing, is the dismissal. Here we are sent into the world to seek and serve Christ in all persons, to strive for justice and peace among all people and to respect the dignity of every human being. This is where the "communion" begins. It is upon bringing Christ to the world that the service is really finished, not in church on Sunday but out in the world where the incarnate Christ and Christ as represented in the bread and wine become real, present and whole.
We are undertaking a new ministry here at St. Paul's to bring Christ to those who can not be with us each Sunday. In February four Eucharistic Ministers will be trained for the purpose of taking communion to the members of our body who are homebound. Each Sunday at the end of the service, before the dismissal these "ministers" will be commissioned and given a communion kit with consecrated elements to take to individuals who have said they would like communion. This is a powerful ministry that allows the congregation as a whole to be more involved in the building of "communion." Rest assured this does not mean that the priests will not also continue to take communion to our homebound or those in the hospitals. However, this enables us to connect with more of our parishioners on a regular basis. In the days and weeks ahead if you know someone who would like home communion please let one of the clergy know. I ask your prayers for this new ministry as we all seek to serve Christ and build the kingdom here and now.
The Rev. Leslie St. Louis
Youth And Alleluia Choirs
Choral Evensong
The Youth and Alleluia Choirs will be continuing the glorious St. Paul's tradition of Choral Evensong services on Sunday, March 12 at 4:00pm. The choirs will be joined by Brad Reynolds, cellist. Works include a Magnificat and Nunc Dimittus setting, and "O How Amiable" by Ralph Vaughn Williams. Please join us for this wonderful event.
Laura Dunbar
ECW
ECW will meet on Thursday, February 16. There will be no business meeting. We will gather for a "brown bag lunch" (that means whatever you bring) and fellowship at noon in the Vestry Room. Coffee and dessert will be served. At 12:45 Leslie St. Louis will lead us in Bible Study.
(This is an update to the printed version) ECW has had to change plans for the March 2 meeting. This is the day we go to John Marshall High School for lunch in their student run restaurant with the outstanding young women who will be coming to our Debutante Tea. We must be there for lunch by 11:00 a.m. so we plan to meet at 10:15 at the church and carpool to John Marshall. We will return to St. Pauls by 12:30 and have our business meeting in the Vestry room. Plans will be finalized for the Tea at that time. If you plan to join us for lunch, please contact Nancy Lyke (244.-0795) or June Hasty (288-9l31).
The Debutante Tea will be held on Wednesday, March 15 at 5:30 p.m. Debutantes and their families are invited. Anyone wishing to help with this event should contact Carol Panzer (586-6351) or Dorothy Phillips (288-1414)
SPY Corner
Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper
February 28
Calling all SPY kids! Come to the kitchen at 5:00 p.m. ready to flip pancakes for the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper. We hope that all SPY families will join us for this event. Pick up time will be 7:00 p.m. in Parish Hall.
Please RSVP to Laura Hayden by February 9 (383-8808 or lhayden@rochester.rr.com)
Save the date: March 5,
Snow Shoeing at Mendon Ponds Park or bowling at Fairview Lanes if we
don't have enough snow.
What's Going on in Education?
Take advantage of offerings for children, young people, and adults. Copies of the Church School Spring Calendar and the Adult Formation Brochure are available in the Sunday Office and in Wainwright Hall.
Barbara Warner
Play in Good Faith!
Sunday, March 5, 11:30 AM in the Vestry Room
Wooden figures, sand, water, candles -- a whale, a communion table, a collection of crosses, Jesus, lots of sheep -- telling and talking using figures and props brings Bible stories, parables, and lessons about religious traditions to life. Learn about Godly Play, the nationally used program for helping children express their faith. See a demonstration at a Forum in the Vestry Room after the 10 o'clock service on March 5 in the Vestry Room.
Barbara Warner
Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe
"What's new in the antique business" Well, nothing is new, we hope. But up in the Curiosity Shop we have old, almost new and even new. You will find some antiques in silver, brass, china, wood, glass, pottery, cloth, paper - painted or plain, you will also find newer collectibles and contemporary items. All of these curios have been donated by parishioners, their relatives and friends. Since this mild winter may turn your thoughts to early Spring cleaning, please keep us in mind for donations as you "clean out". You may bring items to Wainwright Hall during the week or the Church on Sundays marked "Curiosity Shop" or Antique Show. We have a store room to hold them in until April 27-29 when the Show will be on. If you need to have things picked up, please call Gwen Cheney at 442-1332. Thank you in advance.
Gwen Cheney and Karen Walrath
The Jewelry Shop
Gently used and once loved jewelry is needed for the upcoming Antique Show. Our success is due to the generosity of the St. Paul's family and donations are tax-deductible. Donations may be dropped off at the Church office or call Linda Butwid at 473-6857 to arrange for pick-up.