St. Blogory's: the internet café at St. Gregory's Episcopal Church, Deerfield, IL

Journey through Lent: The Twentieth Step

Notes to a Young Man (5)

“[The Bible] is philosophy, history, religion and what not and many times it is interesting but no one will believe you.”

W.O.H. 11/9/1972

Journey through Lent: The Nineteenth Step

Notes to a Young Man (4)

The earlier Notes were written after my strange encounter with The Sermon on the Mount. These next Notes followed a conversion experience that put me back on the road toward ordination.

“Now comes all the happiness and excitement, later will come the worries as to how to make things work out. Then will come doubts and misgivings and failure to see how all these things can be. Then will come calm and reassurance and work. These periods of doubt occur at times all through your ministry. I always try to remember the faith and diligence of Paul and Peter and John and James and the rest: The saints were all tested. It is not that they were so holy, some of them were, it is that they persevered for Christ. A saint always has at least one great strength and after that probably a host of annoying idiosyncracies that must have driven at least some of his contemporaries NUTS. (Why does such a nice guy act so nuts?)”

W.O.H. 11/4/1972

Journey through Lent: The Eighteenth Step

 

March 30, 2011                                    (Ingrid's and Bill's 37th Wedding Anniversary)

Dearly Beloved,   

QUARTERLY MEETING THIS SUNDAY

Please join us after the Nine O'Clock Service for the unveiling of our newest recipients of the Rector's Point of Pentecost Award, and for reports from the Youth Commission, Children's Church, Preschool, and Wardens.

ALSO THIS SUNDAY: COMMUNITY MEALS

It is our turn to serve at the Community Meals Program at Christ Episcopal Church in Waukegan.  If you would like to help, please join us. We are also looking for people to make desserts. If you have any questions, please contact me, Barbara Schaper (bschaper7@aol.com), or Bill and Janet Foltz. Thanks, Barb Schaper.

BOWLING PARTY! (Sign-Up Deadline Is THIS Sunday.)

Join us on Sunday, April 10, from 11:30 to 1:30 at The Alley in Highwood (210 Green Bay Road). Pizza and drinks will be served. Come right after church, hang out, and watch the kids bowl (or bowl yourself!). Bumpers will be provided for the youngest bowlers. RSVP on the sign-up sheet outside Founder's Hall. (Note: parents must stay with their children; this is not a drop-off party). For more information, contact Gail Bozzano or Annette Baez.

PARISH OFFICE VOLUNTEERS STILL NEEDED

My thanks to Cathy Leimbeck who responded to last week's request, and has worked for two mornings. 10-12:30.

THE HOUSE THAT ST. GREGORY'S BUILT!

1. CONGRATULATIONS CORNER

Emma Martin has advanced to the U.S. Biology Olympiad semi-finals. Her semifinal examination will be a two hour test that consists of basic knowledge questions, higher level questions with multiple interpretations, graphs, analysis of data, case studies, and open responses. Over 10,000 students compete annually. Godspeed Emma!

Optimist Dorothy Collins and Barbara Schaper presented this year's Deerfield Optimist Awards "For Exemplary Service to the Community" to our students at Deerfield High School last week. Ashley and Hannah Benson and Ashley Babcock were on hand to receive their plaques. Our other recipients will find their awards at St. Gregory's this Sunday on the table across from Erica's office.

2. GRATITUDE GABLE

Leigh Stewart, fresh from her success in the Greening of the Church, has agreed to be the Balloon Brigade Brigadier in charge of our Easter Day balloon extravaganza. If you would like to begin your Resurrection Celebration by joining her and other early rising disciples, please let her know. More details later.

3. PERFORMANCE PORCH

Vocalist Susan Nelson is singing this Sunday, April 3, with the Elmhurst Choral Union in a performance of Brahm's Requiem. More at: www.elmhurstchoralunion.org.

And two Saturdays from now, on Saturday, April 9, 7:00 pm, Susan will be singing and soloing at Trinity Episcopal Church in Highland Park.  It's all sacred music, it's free, renowned bass Samuel Ramey is also singing. 

BISHOPS ARE US!

On Palm Sunday, Bishop Ernest Shalita from Uganda and African Team Ministries (the crafts and jewelry people who care for AIDS orphans) will join us; and on May 15, Bishop Todd McGregor of Madagascar will be on hand!

AND SPEAKING OF BISHOP McGREGOR AND MADAGASCAR. . . .

Here are excerpts from his most recent email about our companion parish and their new church building:

"This is just a short update to let you know that we are plugging along and have scheduled a date for dedication in Ft. Dauphin on May 1st. Please make sure to have you parishioners praying for this special day. Bishop Jaona will be joining me on this trip.

"Also, the House of Bishops has informed Bp. Jaona that he is to write (within three months) the letter requesting the Archbishop to start the process of elections for the diocesan bishop of Toliara. We are very excited about this new development.

"Serving Christ Together, +Todd"

MANNA GIFT CARDS NEWS!

We had a great response to our first "Cash and Carry" Manna Sunday!

We'll offer them again this Sunday, and next time we'll order more. Gift Cards for Jewel, Dominick's, Walgreen's, Starbucks, and just in time for Easter, Fannie May! (You can use your Fannie May card online as well as at any of their stores.)

If you pre-ordered Manna Gift Cards they will be available to pick up on Sunday.

Also this Sunday: the next round of pre-ordered gift cards are due, with delivery on Sunday, April 17.

JOURNEY THROUGH LENT: NEED WATER ALONG THE WAY? WELL, WELL, WELL!

Many of us are already wearing our "I DIG" stickers, having contributed to this year's Deacons' Project to provide water wells to thirsty villages.  

As of last Sunday, our own Deacon Dennis Lietz reports that 33 parishioners have dug down over 140 feet for a total of $2,110― two-fifths on the way toward our hoped-for $5,000 to provide one well.

Please mail in or give your checks, payable to St. Gregory's with Well, Well, Well in the memo line, to Dennis on Sunday.

JAPAN

Here are some more text message sent to us by Alanna Foxwell Barajas:

"Tomorrow, my father will be sent to the Fukushima nuclear plant. He will be retiring from his job in six months, and I was close to tears when I heard that he actually volunteered to go. "What we do now will affect the future of nuclear plants. I have a mission to accomplish," he said. I wouldn't say that he's been a dependable father at home, but I've never felt this proud of him as I did today. We are all praying for his safe return."

"A child in a store was holding a snack, waiting for his turn in line at the cash register. When it was almost his turn, he looked at the register then he looked like he was pondering for a moment. Then he put the money he had to buy a snack into the donation box and returned the snack to the shelf, and left the store. The cashier said 'Thank you' to his back in a quavering voice."

"Nights were never this dark, and I never realized how beautiful the stars were. Sendai, look up and keep your heads high." From conversation overheard at an evacuation camp

To support the relief efforts of Alanna's father Phil, please go to www.crashjapan.com/.

Episcopal Relief and Development is a good option for sending contributions― we always stay long after the Relief phase in order to bring our resources to help a country's Development: You can call (800.334.7626, ext. 5129), send a check (P.O. Box 7058, Merrifield, VA 22116-7), or go to their website.

TROOP CARE PACKAGE NEWS

The 34th troop care package event was especially meaningful as we welcomed Donna Shelton's son, Michael Molloy, and gave thanks for his safe return. Prayers answered! We honored Donna, daughter Keelin, and Michael during the opening remarks. Michael presented Nuala and Cissy with a flag flown in St. Gregory's honor.

A crowd of 30 packed 153 boxes in record time. We appreciate all the volunteers who helped setup, pack boxes, and cleanup. The evening was a success with your help! Thanks also to donors who provided funds for postage and package items as well as books, magazines, socks, and food.

We are now at the end of the 6th year of this ministry. This milestone is an amazing accomplishment. We have made a difference to so many. You have all made this possible through your prayers and support. We offer our heartfelt thanks. Cissy & Nuala

W W W W W W W

In your prayers this week, please remember the sick, particularly Bill Waltemath, Matt Gunnels, Walter Davies, Judy McCann, Trey Travis, Linda Monson, Celia Foltz, Nicholas Raimondi, Sr., Jacob, Rachel, and Matt Stoughton, Ed Collins, Sung Lemrise, and Gertrude Knight;

the people of Japan;

our companion parish in Fort Dauphin, Madagascar, as they prepare to dedicate their church building, and their leaders, Rev. Donné and Evangelist Tomboasy;

the men and women serving in the armed forces and their families, remembering especially Ray Creevy, Cary Clark, Bob Morrissette, Jack Lee, Carl Best, Mike Demmon, Ryan Krochmolny, Sarah Shirley, Jason Greenman, Jamie Hayes, Ilan Kedar, Robert Steere, Eric Cloe, Robb Dunlap, Greg Hirsch, Jamie Mitchell, Brian Adamson, Hunter Levine and Chad Field.

Faithfully yours,

Journey through Lent: The Seventeenth Step

Notes to a Young Man (3)

“Bill, I’m sure you’d be a good lawyer, but the world is full of good lawyers. What the world needs is a good useful priest.”

W.O.H. 10/27/1972

Journey through Lent: Rest Stop

Sundays are in Lent, but not of Lent, because every Sunday is a celebration of Jesus' resurrection. Consequently, the forty days of Lent don't include Sundays. So today is our third rest stop in our journey through Lent.

(For new readers, please see yesterday's introduction.)

Notes to a Young Man (2)

With you it was behaviorist psychology and moral reevaluations, with me I had an awful time when I got mixed up in Geology. FIVE BILLION YEARS TO MAKE THE WORLD. It was only when I got a grasp of eternity that I began to see how He is in no sense controlled by time. And even now he tries and tests us.

W.O.H. 10/27/1972

Journey through Lent: The Sixteenth Step

Notes to a Young Man (1)

When my family moved to Kenilworth in the summer of 1960, when all the world was young, we joined The Church of the Holy Comforter and became Episcopalians. Father Hanner had arrived on the scene as Rector in 1956, and he and his wife Rose became frequent visitors at 241 Melrose Avenue. He retired in 1971, a year after my family had moved to San Marino.

In 1972 I graduated from College, and after training in Hartford began working in Richmond as a Home Office Representative for the Aetna. After a startling encounter while reading The Sermon on the Mount, I began a correspondence with Father Hanner about whether God might be calling me to be a priest.

As I struggled with the possibility, he sent a series of short, typed letters to me, occasionally illustrated with a clever cartoon. I don't have my letters, but I saved the relevant portions of his letters, typing them out on index cards. Here's his first response as I recorded it:

All the importance of the priesthood today seems to center on doing good, the "social gospel." That is fine, that is the fruit of religion, but Christians witness to an "invasion of life by God." The early Christians took care of each other and the widows, etc. They were "social gospelers" but they were primarily witnessing to a new life: HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD. WE SAW HIM. He has pervaded -- invaded -- the now with the eternal.

W.O.H.    10/21/72

Journey through Lent: The Fifteenth Step

The Rev. Thomas Dix Bowers was the Rector of St. Bartholomew's Church on Park Avenue in midtown Manhattan during my time there from 1981-1988. He published a small booklet of devotions titled Come to the Table, © 1988. Tom is kind enough to give me permission to publish these essays.

THE RAISING OF LAZARUS

Once I received an emergency summons to rush to a home. When I arrived, I found the father holding his five-year-old son in his arms. The boy had just been struck and killed by a car and the man would not let him go. He cried out to me, “Why? Why?” I remember in that moment wanting to run and hide; that tragedy pressed home with crushing force how finite and powerless we are in the face of death.

One day Jesus received word that his friend Lazarus was ill. Jesus loved Lazarus; he had been refreshed on numerous occasions with the hospitality of Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha. Word of Lazarus’ illness would have been of particular concern to Him. Yet Jesus waited two days before going to his side; when he arrived Lazarus was dead and his body sealed in a tomb. Both sisters greeted him with the words, “Lord, if you had been here. . .” (John 11:21, 32).

In the gripping narrative which follows, Jesus Himself weeps by Lazarus’ tomb, orders the stone rolled away from the entrance, and calls Lazarus forth from the dead. The raising of Lazarus emphatically underscores Jesus’ claim: “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). It creates such a stir that the Jewish leaders are incited to scheme for His execution. Yet the grave couldn’t hold Christ. Easter is the celebration of His resurrection and the eternal hope it gives us in the face of our own mortality.

Our society does not deal well with death. Jesus showed his emotions; we try desperately to conceal ours. We see death as the end; for all who trust in Him it is the transition into His blessed presence. The raising of Lazarus makes clear that it is Jesus Christ who holds the keys to death. Both here and hereafter, His presence makes the difference between despair and confidence rooted in his love and power.

 

Note: Nine months until Christmas!

Journey through Lent: The Fourteenth Step

Diarheb Cymraeg: Welsh Proverb

Anwylach bywyd na bwyd: Life is dearer than food.

Matthew 6:25: "Is not life more than food. . . ?"

Journey through Lent: The Thirteenth Step

Last Sunday, March 20, The Rev. Kenneth Erickson preached this sermon, titled "You only thought you knew":

Having grown up in the Midwest, and having lived close to our magnificent Lake Michigan, I am partial to fresh water lakes when it comes to recreation, whether it be swimming, fishing, sailing, kayaking, canoeing, tubing, you name it.  That is why when Katherine, Emil and I first moved to Oregon, the allure of the many rivers in that beautiful state didn’t catch my attention.  You can’t dive in a river and swim along the shore, or body surf waves, or walk along the beach while watching the sunset, or go trolling for Pike, or shove off in a canoe and come back to your starting point.  You certainly can’t go sailing.

Rivers were sometimes breathtakingly beautiful to drive along, but they were cold and moved quickly, the level was always rising or falling, and to fish in them you had to spend a lot of time practicing to cast a fly that is lighter than air.  They were a foreign species to me, and so when we had free time to explore, our family usually went hiking in the woods.

But my adventurous spirit and love for water won the day, and eventually found myself in a grass field close to our house trying to perfect the arc in my line before trying it with trees at my shoulder and slippery rocks underfoot.  Taking directions from the guide at the local shop, I soon headed up and over the mountains, stopping in a small town known as a good destination to stay and fish the Deschutes River for steelhead.  In the morning I woke early and headed out along a rocky, rut-filled road until I came to a bend in the river that looked like a good spot.

And now we get to the point of this whole story.  Dressed in my waders, and having checked that all was prepared, I stepped out into the river.  And I lost my breath.  For I was standing in a mighty flow that seemed to me to be a great, living creature.  Spanning 50 yards across, the icy grey water flowed against me with such volume and force that it took everything I had just to hold my ground.   The opposite shore was an ethereal moonscape, and its beauty was only surpassed by the great water beast that held me in its jaws. 

Needless to say, at that moment the scales fell from my eyes, and I fell in love with rivers.

For three years we had lived in Oregon, and I never stuck even a toe in a river, because I was partial to lakes.  I was certain that lakes were far superior to rivers.  How much fun could a river be?  I’ve been sailing alone on 10-foot waves on Lake Michigan.  Because of this viewpoint, I passed on invitations to fish with friends and go on other trips to a river.  I was blinded by that conviction, not open to a new possibility.

Nicodemus appears only three times in the apostolic witness.  We first meet him under cover of night, when he comes to set the record straight with Jesus.  It sounds as though he speaks for a group of sympathizers within the Pharisees when he says, “We know you are from God.”  “That water you turned to wine at the wedding celebration, the healing of the blind man?—those are some pretty strong credentials for a young uneducated man from Nazareth.”  Their divine Geiger counter is going off. 

But Jesus isn’t buying it.  Jesus catches on to that phrase, “we know.”  We know.  “We Pharisees are the authorities on religious matters, and after some considerable deliberation, and against the dominant prevailing opinion of our respected colleagues, we acknowledge that there is some justifiable basis for making the case that further investigation is warranted to determine divine inspiration.”  Perhaps the candlelight was bright enough to catch the red flush in Jesus’ face.  Rubbish.  Nicodemus really is in the dark about Jesus.  If Nicodemus really thought that God was moving powerfully within the life of Jesus, why not shout it from the rooftops in the light of day? 

Nicodemus thought he was doing something courageous and helpful by visiting Jesus and offering an olive branch, but instead of receiving him, Jesus challenges him by calling into question his domesticating assumptions about God.  Nicodemus, along with the other Jewish leaders, have a conceptual box that God fits in, and that way God is tamed, and understandable, and non-controversial, and by-golly, God certainly isn’t going to upend life-as-we-know-it, and especially MY-life-as-I-know-it.   

In other words, God is familiar to Nicodemus under certain terms and conditions, and so he is not open to the possibility of seeing what God might really be doing.  “Very truly,” says Jesus, “no one can see the Kingdom of God without being reborn.”  If you want to see God, you must undergo a shattering of the glass walls that box you off from God’s Spirit blowing in the wind.  God is free to move outside the demarcation lines of what we think we know about God.  The last words we hear Nicodemus speak before his retreat back into the shadows is an astonished, “How can this be?"

And so this story confronts us with the question of what prevents us from being open to what God is doing?  What are our acting assumptions about God?  Do you limit God to a framework from your childhood, sometimes very hurtful, that you outgrew with time?  Do you allow fear and darkness to limit the light?  Do you want God to fit into what you perceive as sensible and logical?  Is your God too small? 

At the conclusion of Lent, like Nicodemus, we gather in the darkness waiting for a spark to burst into flame.  As the Paschal Candle is lit, the words of the Exsultet ring out:  “Rejoice and sing now, all the round earth, bright with glorious splendor, for darkness has been vanquished by our eternal King.”  “This is the night, when you brought our fathers, the children of Israel, out of bondage in Egypt.  This is the night, when all who believe in Christ are delivered and restored.  This is the night, when Christ broke the bonds of death and rose victorious from the grave.”  When we are reminded of the wild love of our God that is as uncontrollable as the wind, then we can be opened to see God acting in the present.

Yet, Jesus challenges Nicodemus with this amazing and confounding news:  to see and understand God you—YOU—have to be radically changed, reborn by the Spirit.  Like my experience with the river, you just have to step out into the water.  As Jesus tells Nicodemus, so Jesus tells us: there must take place in your own life a transformation of consciousness that reorients you to the living God as the center of being.  This is a spiritual rebirth, or another way to describe it would be to say that it is a rereading of my life into the narrative of the unbounded love and eternal life of God.

It is still very early in the season of Lent.  Nicodemus shows up on this Second Sunday in Lent as a great favor to us, for his short meeting with Jesus on that night a long time ago is an invitation to us to acknowledge that we too, many of us, are in the dark about Jesus.  We too are in need of seeing God anew.  We too are desiring transformation, and to step into the mighty flow of eternal life NOW.  Use this time to pray.  Express your doubt.  Examine assumptions.  Change or clean the lenses through which you see God.  Ask for the Spirit to blow through you and open your heart.

Nicodemus enters the story for the last time near the very end of the Gospel of John.  It is daybreak following the death of Jesus, and Nicodemus joins with Joseph of Arimathea to prepare the body for burial by wrapping it in linen and fine spice.  It has taken time, but Nicodemus now responds to the call of Jesus.  Willing to risk ostracism and perhaps personal safety, he aligns himself with Jesus.  It has taken time, but he is now ready to step out into the light and see with new eyes God’s surprising action in Jesus.  It has taken time, but the Spirit blows where it wills, and now the Spirit was blowing through his life.  Leaving  the certitude of what he thought he knew of God’s ways, Nicodemus is now willing to abandon his life in trust to the redeeming, incomprehensible love of God.

May it be so with you and me.  Amen.

Journey through Lent: The Twelfth Step

 

Dearly Beloved,                                        

I am delighted to announce the birth of Elliot Patrick to Erica Jeglum and Brian Stephens-Hotopp. Elliot (an Anglicized variation of Elijah) arrived weighing 8 lbs., 8 oz. and 21 inches long. Please remember that as of Elliot's advent Erica is on maternity leave.

PARISH OFFICE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

At our March meeting, the Vestry approved a balanced budget. To do so, we eliminated in practical terms the position of Parish Secretary. In addition, we all but eliminated the Parish Tithe (1% rather than 10%), and in order to ensure that we maintain a balanced budget from month to month, we have segregated the Missions Board's FY 2010 balance of some $27,000 until our cash flow permits us to use the funds.

The main reasons for this development are reduced pledge income, primarily as a continuing effect of the Great Recession; and re-paying the Marian House remediation and renovation loan.

More details will be provided at our Quarterly Meeting on April 3. In the meantime, we need to accomplish as many of the Parish Secretary's tasks as possible through volunteers.

What follows is a partial list of the most important tasks. A complete list of the Parish Secretary's responsibilities and tasks is posted on the bulletin board opposite the Parish Office.

In some cases, tasks can be spread among several parish volunteers, e.g., office reception.

Tasks in red font require one or two dedicated parish volunteers, either for consistency or for expertise, e.g., sufficient competence to work with Word, Excel, Publisher, and our database program, Membership Plus.

If you are willing to help, please let me know. If you can help out for even an hour each week, we will build you into whatever schedule we may be able to devise.

Parish Office (one-hour slots between 9:30 am - 1:30 pm, Monday through Friday)

1. Welcome people who come into the office, determine their needs, and refer them to the appropriate person.

2. Answer the phone in a friendly manner, determine the caller's needs, and take messages for or refer the caller to the appropriate person.

3. Handle incoming and outgoing mail and deliveries.

4. Contact the clergy as soon as possible when there is a pastoral care or emergency need.

5. Notify the Karin Howard Family Support Ministry

6. As needed, assist the Preschool with bathroom watching, getting kids off the bus, picking up a child at Wilmot, and covering when short-term gaps in supervision when the staff is shorthanded.

(7. This summer, coordinate with the Deerfield Park District Summer Camp Program)

Office Management (perhaps once or twice a week for two hours)

1. Maintain an inventory of office, pastoral care, and acolyte supplies, and order as necessary.

2. Maintain and provide for the repair of office equipment, including but not limited to the computer, copiers and postage meter.

3. Maintain U. S. Mailing Lists (Complimentary, e.g., former parishioners; Newsletter; and Vestry).

Facilities Management (perhaps once or twice a week for two hours)

Note: unless covered, the use of our building by so many parish and community organizations will be chaotic.

1. Maintain a Master Calendar of all events, facilities use, and contact information

2. Maintain a Room Reservation Book for facilities use requests.

3. Work with the Sexton to coordinate set up and clean up needs for events and facilities use

4. Develop relationships with the leaders of groups who use our facilities, and provide appropriate help

My highest priority is to publish the weekly Newsletter and Worship Booklet. I want to pay special tribute to Catherine Martin. Once again, she served as our interim Parish Secretary from January through the first half of March, while we still had some hope of retaining the position. I also want express my immense appreciation to Margo Ramtin. Margo has volunteered twice a week since January, providing indispensable help to Catherine and me, answering phones, sorting mail, preparing the Newsletter for mailing, and generally holding down the fort. Between the two of them, Meredith and I have been able to publish the Newsletter online and by eBlast and U. S. Mail. And thanks to Catherine, our Worship Bulletins have included lists of participants and events.

I am hopeful that both Catherine and Margo will continue to volunteer as they are able. Catherine will also assist me in working with any of you who may be able to contribute your time and talents to filling the secretarial void.

BISHOPS ARE US!

On Palm Sunday, Bishop Ernest Shalita from Uganda and African Team Ministries (the crafts and jewelry people who care for AIDS orphans) will join us; and on May 15, Bishop Todd McGregor of Madagascar will be on hand!

AND SPEAKING OF BISHOP McGREGOR AND MADAGASCAR. . . .

Here are excerpts from his most recent email about our companion parish and their new church building:

"This is just a short update to let you know that we are plugging along and have scheduled a date for dedication in Ft. Dauphin on May 1st. Please make sure to have you parishioners praying for this special day. Bishop Jaona will be joining me on this trip.

"Also, the House of Bishops has informed Bp. Jaona that he is to write (within three months) the letter requesting the Archbishop to start the process of elections for the diocesan bishop of Toliara. We are very excited about this new development.

"Serving Christ Together, +Todd"

SAVE THE DATE! THE YOUTH COMMISSION IS PLANNING A FAMILY BOWLING PARTY!

Join us on Sunday, April 10, from 11:30 to 1:30 at The Alley in Highwood (210 Green Bay Road). Pizza and drinks will be served. Come right after church, hang out, and watch the kids bowl (or bowl yourself!). Bumpers will be provided for the youngest bowlers. RSVP on the sign-up sheet outside Founder's Hall. (Note: parents must stay with their children; this is not a drop-off party). For more information, contact Gail Bozzano or Annette Baez.

JOURNEY THROUGH LENT: NEED WATER ALONG THE WAY? WELL, WELL, WELL!

See Deacon Dennis Lietz' on Sunday mornings in Founders Hall and dig down as many feet as you can until you strike water! So far we as a congregation have dug nearly 78 feet ($1,165 on our way to $5000).

 

 
 
MANNA GIFT CARDS NEWS!

If you pre-ordered Manna Gift Cards they will be available to pick up on Sunday.

And exciting news if you didn't pre-order! Also this Sunday: We will have our first "cash and carry" Manna Day, with Gift Cards for Jewel, Dominick's, Walgreen's, Starbucks, and just in time for Easter, Fannie May! (You can use your Fannie May card online as well as at any of their stores.)

BACK TO THE FUTURE!

 
 On the left, Bill Foltz' mom, Mary, holds Bill's month-old daughter, Jamie.

 On the right, and thirty years later, Bill hold's Jamie's month-old daughter, Shelley Catharine Kendall.  

Notice the babies' nearly identical profiles!  

PLEASE REMEMBER TO SUPPORT OUR YOUTH MINISTRY BASED ON 359 DISHES WASHED BY CLERGY!  

JAPAN                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Alanna Foxwell Barajas sent a number of text messages recorded in the immediate aftermath of the devastating earthquake and tsunami. Here's one of the most poignant messages:

 "When I checked the emergency backpack, there was a message that my dad wrote 40 years ago. 'Have sunshine in your heart. Have a song on your lips.' —I will write a message on a new emergency backpack that will encourage the people who see it."

Episcopal Relief and Development is a good option for sending contributions― we always stay long after the Relief phase in order to bring our resources to help a country's Development: You can call (800.334.7626, ext. 5129), send a check (P.O. Box 7058, Merrifield, VA 22116-7), or go to their website: www.er-d.org.

W W W W W W W

In your prayers this week, please remember the sick, particularly Celia Foltz, Lynn Mayer, Nicholas Raimondi, Sr., Michelle Massini, Sung Lemrise, Jacob, Rachel, and Matt Stoughton, Ed Collins, Emeronce Kennedy, Gertrude Knight, Vicki Meucci, Joel Burrows, Jeffrey Foltz;

The people of Japan, remembering those who have lost family, homes, and businesses; for safety in the nuclear power plants and those risking their lives to contain the radiation; and courage as they begin cleaning up and restoring the country;

our companion parish in Fort Dauphin, Madagascar, as they prepare to dedicate their church building, and their leaders, Rev. Donné and Evangelist Tomboasy; and

the men and women serving in the armed forces and their families, remembering especially Ray Creevy, Cary Clark, Bob Morrissette, Jack Lee, Carl Best, Mike Demmon, Ryan Krochmolny, Sarah Shirley, Jason Greenman, Jamie Hayes, Ilan Kedar, Robert Steere, Eric Cloe, Robb Dunlap, Greg Hirsch, Jamie Mitchell, Brian Adamson, Hunter Levine and Chad Field.

Faithfully yours,