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Letter from the Associate Rector
Wear Red for Pentecost Sunday, May 30
Child Care Center Update
Attention Graduating Seniors
Usher News
Wanted
Cameron Golf Tournament
Need Help This Summer?
Save The Dates
Shortly after you receive this newsletter, we will celebrate the Feast of Pentecost (May 30th this year). On this day we bring to conclusion the great festal season of Eastertide. At St. Paul's, it is also the day when we welcome our bishop, The Right Reverend Jack McKelvey, for his official visitation.
The name of the day, Pentecost, is the Greek name given to the Jewish Feast of Weeks, so called because it fell on the 50th day after Passover. On this day the Jews celebrated the completion of the grain harvest (for a description of the ceremonies see Leviticus 23.9-21).
Not surprisingly, the early Christians included the day as part of the Easter celebration, so that the whole fifty days commemorated the full, complex range of the Pascha: Christ's death, resurrection, ascension into heaven, and the mission of the Spirit upon the church. Over time the unitive character began to disintegrate and the focus for the Day of Pentecost narrowed to the giving of the Spirit.
That is the story we hear from Acts (2.1ff) every year: "When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting... All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability... And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each."
One of my favorite books is Nora Gallagher's Things Seen and Unseen: A Year Lived in Faith (a member of Trinity Church, Santa Barbara, CA). In reflecting upon Pentecost, she writes:
"The third member of the Trinity arrives without warning and, unlike the youthful, dramatic son, moves in to stay. My friend Christina sees her sometimes as a little old lady who wades into a barroom brawl, shooting her six-guns into the air. The story in Acts is the opposite of, a counterweight to, the story of the Tower of Babel, in which the builders of that ambitious tower suddenly spoke in foreign tongues and could not understand each other. In the Holy Spirit's arrival is the healing of Babel and the promise that we will all eventually understand each other not in our commonality, but in our individuality, in our diversity: 'each... in the native language of each.' We will eventually understand each other, but in order to be understood, we must both speak and hear." (pp. 158-59)
I commend her reflection to you.
Thomas McCart, Associate Rector
Pentecost is known as the birthday of the church, the day the Holy Spirit empowered early Christians to spread the Good News. Disciples had gathered to wait and pray for the Spirit. A mighty wind filled the room, flames of fire appeared, and the disciples began praising God in different languages. We wear red to resemble the flames of the Holy Spirit.
Our young Christians have made a new banner to use in the Procession along with the cross we made last year. We'll be wearing red and we invite everyone to join us. Let's make St. Paul's aflame with the Holy Spirit!
April is the month of the Young Child. This means that the Center celebrated at many levels. "Reading for Fun" is an annual tradition for the Center. Many readers from the community volunteered time to visit and read to the children. Nancy Henion is a favorite reader. This year she read Stanley's Party by Linda Bailey, illustrated by Bill Slavin. Her enthusiastic story-telling style captured the individual attention of all the four-year-olds. As she does each year, Nancy donated the book to the children's library. Thank you, Nancy!
On April 29, St. Paul's and Asbury child care programs collaborated together to present a family concert with Tom Hunter. Tom is a children's musician and storyteller from the State of Washington. Tom captures our hearts and souls with stories about the power of caring relationships in our lives.
We are currently enrolling children for the September 2004—June 2005 school year for Universal Pre-kindergarten. If you live in the Rochester City School District and you have a child who will be four years old by December 1, your child is eligible for this district-funded program. If you would like more information or a tour, please call Mary or Melissa at 244-4527.
As this school year draws to a close, the Board of Directors of St. Paul's Child Care center is seeking assistance from volunteers for some specific projects for the Center. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Meredith Smith, 473-9440 or Mary Swayze, 244-4527.
Congratulations! Please send us your graduation picture and a paragraph telling us about your interests, activities, and plans for next year. (If you want to see some of the articles written in the past, contact Wayne Reinert, Member Services, in the church office, 271-2240 or Wayne@stpaulsec.org) Please have your article in the church office by June 1. Thank you.
Four ushers are needed for each 10:00 a.m. service from June 20 to September 5. Please sign up on the sheet in the Parish Activities book in the church office or call 271-2240. Choose as many Sundays as you wish.
Elmer Cheney, Usher Chairman
Job Opportunity for a home health care worker (ICU nurse in Ethiopia). Reliable, hard-working woman seeks employment. Call Anna Maria DeLuccio at 582-2648.
The Young Men of Sudan are Willing and Able
Call Anna Maria DeLuccio 582-2648 or Cheryl Erickson 924-7666
Cameron Community Ministries is sponsoring a Golf Tournament to raise money to support our urban outreach programs. Golfers and sponsors may register by calling Kathy Pearce at 254-2697 (e-mail: ccmexec@rochester.rr.com). The format is a shotgun noon start, with a raffle and other prizes. The cost per golfer is $125.
Cameron Community Ministries Golf Tournament Fundraiser
Date: Friday June 18, 2004
Time: noon shotgun start
Price: $125/golfer
Location: Eagle Vale Golf Club
Purpose: To raise funds for Cameron Community Ministries urban outreach
programs.
Corporate support: Sponsorships available from $150 and up. Raffle.
Hole in One, other prizes.
| June 11 | Shalom Picnic in St. Paul's Cross |
| June 12 | Youth Recognition Sunday |
| July 31 | 2nd Annual Shalom Seabreeze Day |