On Stewardship

The feeling from which we give back to God

Dear Friends,

Here it is September already. The days have become noticeably shorter, the kids are back in school and once again it's time for our annual Stewardship Campaign. We are facing some very real financial challenges this year, as are so many Episcopal churches. Your financial committee has worked countless hours on sorting out the finances of St. Paul's and we begin this campaign with a very clear idea of what is required of us in order to continue the ministries to which we as a church are called, as well as fulfilling our obligations to the diocese.

As we all know, stewardship is much more than the giving of money; it's about giving back to God our time, our talents AND our treasure. For some reason, we tend to give happily of our time and talents but parting with our treasure can be a little uncomfortable; however, just as tradition, scripture and reason are the three legs that make up our Anglican "stool", we wouldn't be truly practicing complete stewardship without the giving of our treasure as well.

Our treasure allows us to have heat in the winter, music, candles, wine, catechesis, adult education, refreshment; it provides us with the ability to enable ministries outside our own walls and reflect Christ's love for us all.

We give of our talents, time and treasure out of thankfulness for all that God has provided in our lives. Although it's tempting to take credit for our own accomplishments-our jobs, homes, families, cars, savings accounts, educations-as Christians we realize that we alone, are not responsible. Our Creator has given us minds and abilities, opportunities and blessings beyond compare. We, in return, give of our time; we volunteer for a committee, we take a moment out of the hubbub to truly listen to another. We are present. We give of our talents; we build benches & shelves for the youth group's room, we weed a flower bed, we make a meal for someone whose life has suddenly become so unrecognizable that they forget the need for sustenance, we make paper cranes for our sanctuary. And we must give of our treasure as well.

I ask you to take a moment in reading this to imagine that everything you value in your life was suddenly taken away… All of your assets: your home, your car, your savings account and IRA's, real estate, stock portfolios, and the secret stash in the cookie jar. Your entire family: your spouse, your children, grandchildren, parents, and siblings. Your friends, your affiliations, your memberships, your community. Your pets, your gardens, your sanctuary. Nothing is left.

Did you allow yourself to imagine the emptiness? What did you miss the most? I'll bet it wasn't your IRA's.

Now, imagine that your entire life was restored just the way it was, only this time you fully appreciate your blessings having experienced the desolation of losing them. Allow yourself to experience this feeling of gratitude. This is the feeling from which we give back to God. We give out of thankfulness and gratitude for this crazy, wonderful, blessed life we have been given.

What at St. Paul's are you particularly grateful for? The music? Imagine enabling through your treasure a month's worth of music! What about the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd? Your treasure could pay for the training of our teachers. Do you pore through the newsletter as soon as you receive it? Your treasure could pay for a years' worth of paper! I love Saturday morning yoga class…how many winter mornings' worth of heat will my treasure allow? There is much to love here. Think about what it is that brings you back week after week, and give back to God in thanks so that we can continue in our ministry together.

You will be hearing a lot about stewardship in the next few weeks. You'll be reminded that the campaign is on, we've goals to meet, and you are invited to join us in this glorious opportunity to give back to the One who has given us all.

Abundantly,

Laura Murray
Stewardship Committee

What are your spiritual gifts?

As the Commission on Mission and Development discussed the need to get others involved in congregational development, we became concerned about asking people to volunteer for various activities without first identifying their gifts or desires for those particular ministries. We are realizing that we are not yet very effective in identifying, developing, using and supporting spiritual gifts and calling people into mutual ministry. A recent survey found that eighty percent of Christians do not know what their spiritual gifts are. This is a catastrophe for church development because we all depend on the gifts of others to complement our own gifts and to build up the body of Christ (Romans 12; I Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4). As the human body has a variety of members, so the body of Christ has a variety of Christians, each with his/her own special function. When each of us discovers and exercises our gifts, the church body thrives. St. Paul says we grow up in every way into Christ, joined together so that each of us promotes the growth of the body in love. Identifying gifts and implementing a fully shared ministry in a congregation takes time and focus. Some congregations are beginning gifts discovery courses. A gifts discovery course explores the direction, purpose and meaning of one's life, identifying individual gifts and focusing primarily on ministry in daily life and secondarily on ministry within the congregation. Several courses are available, including the Network series from Willow Creek and Created and Called: Discovering Our Gifts for Abundant Living by Jean M. Trumbauer. The challenge beyond these courses is responding to individuals' gifts discoveries with opportunities, training, coaching and leadership. The body of Christ is incomplete unless each of us is involved. We each also have a personal need to understand how God has uniquely made us and who God is calling us to be. Because God has made me, God knows me better than I know myself; I am most authentic when I use the gifts God gives me to become the person God calls me to be. To find my true identity, it is helpful to pray and to regularly ask several questions.

WHAT BRINGS ME JOY? What are the desires of my heart? What am I passionate about? What motivates, energizes, animates me? What do I long for? Jesus said, "I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete" (John 15:11). We respond to God by becoming joyful in our own unique ways; the desires of our hearts are not something to be denied or deferred to another. Another way to ask this is: Would I grieve if I didn't do this?

WHAT ARE THE TALENTS AND ABILITIES THAT GOD HAS GIVEN ME? What can I do well and in a way that pleases God? What are talents, competencies and capacities might I make available to God and nurture by education and practice?

WHAT IS MY UNIQ!JE SITUATION AND WHAT ARE THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT I HAVE? Where am I in the world? Where can I go from here? What are my background and experiences? What are the limitations, responsibilities and possibilities I have? God will grant me a sense of who I am in response to the particularities of my time and place.

WHAT IS MY PERSONALITY? What is my way of acting and responding to others, to my world and to my self? The Myers Briggs Temperament Inventory is one way to consider and accept my unique temperament, perspectives and contributions in my relationships with others.

WHAT ARE MY SPIRITUAL GIFTS? God gives us spiritual gifts to support our ministries. Gordon T. Smith suggests that we can identify our gifts by understanding how we feel the need to respond to the brokenness of the world. Perhaps I feel that what the world needs most is prayer or hope or teaching or prophecy or faith or giving or encouragement or leadership or service. Of course, the world needs all of these gifts, but I have been given a particular gift to add. Some writers identify as many as 38 different spiritual gifts and God may give others. Prayer, experimentation, survey tools, opinions of others and a gifts discernment course can help in discovering your spiritual gifts. Healthy churches adopt discernment processes to help people identify their gifts and passions, and then provide affirmation, training, coaching and resources for people to live into their ministries.

As a Missioner for Congregational Development, Jim Gettel works with church communities who are striving to discern and answer God's call, often during clergy or growth transitions. He previously served as bishop's deputy for parishes and diocesan deployment officer in Milwaukee and is one of the founders of Our Next Generation, an organization that serves inner city children and families. In the secular world, Jim is a business executive and lawyer.

The ECW is back and busy

The Episcopal Churchwomen guild at St. Paul's is back in action!

After a few years' hiatus, ECW has reformed and we are looking forward to doing many exciting things. It was decided that our normal meeting time will be the second Saturday of the month from 10 to 12 in the Oliver Room unless otherwise advertised.

Our first meeting was held in August and was facilitated by Deacon Sue Stroup. Since the ECW hadn't met for a long time, most of the meeting was spent trying to discern what shape we wanted ECW to take.

We wanted to decide if it should be a purely social group building community, a bible study, a fund-raising committee, a group focusing on women's spirituality, or an outreach group.

After much discussion, we came to the conclusion it would be all this and more! We want to support all the different aspects of the church whether it be to organize special fundraisers or just by being a presence, as well as creating our own activities and functions. We also elected officers and I accepted the position of President.

Marilyn Pantano is our Vice President and Deacon Sue Stroup will be the Treasurer. Deacon Cece Morris was the obvious choice for Secretary since she started taking notes at the beginning of the meeting.

The focus of our second meeting was discussion around what we wanted to do for the next program year.

We have a high-energy group and after some brainstorming, we came up with a lot of great ideas. We will be doing fundraising this fall and winter by selling homemade Christmas ornaments and wreaths. We plan on being a self-financing group and will be donating a large percentage of our proceeds to the church.

We also will have dues of $1 for each meeting attended starting in October. In the future, we will be doing such things as bringing in speakers, hosting Quiet Days, sponsoring blood drives and social events, and doing a rummage sale in the spring. We anticipate that all of these activities will help draw people from the community into St. Paul's and help us grow as a church as well as Christians.

In October, Darrell Powell, a representative from the Diocesan ECW, will be our special guest. Since most of us are new to ECW, she will be there to give us the ins and outs of the guild and hopefully give us guidance and advice. We will also be deciding on what kind of ornaments to make, so if anyone has any patterns for cute and easy ornaments to make let us know.

All are welcome to attend our meetings and if anyone has any questions please feel free to contact me at bjagduenas@comcast.net.

Your Sister in Christ,
Jennifer Dueñas
ECW Presiden

A Spiritual Formation Conference Margaret Guenther Living Prayerfully

Margaret Guenther, a nationally known author and Episcopal priest, is always engaging, sometimes provocative. She is Professor of Ascetical Theology at the General Theological Seminary and the retired director of the Center for Christian Spirituality. She is the author of several books, including Toward Holy Ground: Spiritual Directions for the Second Half of Life, The Practice of Prayer, My Soul in Silence Waits, Notes from a Sojourner and Holy Listening: The Art of Spiritual Direction. Margaret will talk about ways of praying, stewardship of time, simplicity and need for community.

Schedule:
Friday, October 22
6:30 pm Registration
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Praying Boldly & Creatively
Saturday, October 23
8:30 am Coffee
9:00 am Finding Time for Prayer and How Do I Hear God's Voice
12:00 pm Lunch break
1:00 - 3:30 pm 'Tis the Gift to Be Simple
Sunday, October 24
9:00 & 10:30 am Margaret preaches at both worship services

Books will be on sale at the conference--cash (US) and check only. Please call the church office at 206 842-3098 for more information.

August Vestry Notes

The meeting began at 7:01pm following an opening prayer. The first meeting following Randy's return opened with an opportunity for Randy to share the highlights of his sabbatical time with the vestry.

Two upcoming host opportunities were discussed. St. Paul's will host a one-day clergy workshop on October 1 and has been asked to host HYC in January 2005. This opportunity to increase St. Paul's visibility comes at no expense to the parish and was supported by the unanimous vestry vote.

The Finance Committee/Treasurer's Report updated the vestry on the current financial situation. The majority of past due bills have been paid and the exceptions will be paid in the near future. There has been a net increase in spendable income over the projections. The vestry unanimously voted to notify the Diocese that it desires to remove $20,000 in principal of the memorial endowment portion of St Paul's investments held by the Diocese to augment operating funds. Two separate votes were required by the Diocese, this was the second. A budget change was unanimously approved to reimburse Judith McDaniel for mileage as she continues working with Randy during her sabbatical.

Rusty Holland presented the Strategic Planning Committee's report to the vestry. The plan defines ten Ministry Focus Areas with specific, measurable goals and objectives. The plan was distributed with the intent that the September meeting agenda will include discussion of the document prior to its introduction to subcommittees and the congregation. Members of the Vestry were asked to review and think about the plan prior to the next meeting. Members of the Strategic Planning Committee then shared their thoughts on the work completed, as well as the tasks ahead.

Laura Murray updated the vestry on the membership of the newly formed Stewardship Committee. The first meeting was held on August 21, and Laura has been gathering information and generating ideas that were to be presented to the committee. Laura asked the vestry to be prepared to take a leadership role in the upcoming campaign.

The vestry continued in the process of discernment around formulating a new communications team that will be instrumental in coordinating with the growth plan and the stewardship campaign. The final composition of the team will be reported at the September meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 9:10 and was followed by the Lord's Prayer.

Respectfully Submitted,

Lisa Massey
Clerk of the Vestry

Christian Formation Trivia -Part II

Answer B. Children experience the concept of Parousia ("when God will be all in all") as preschoolers in The Good Shepherd lesson. They hear Jesus‚ promise that someday we will be "one flock". Children have the opportunity to meditate on this promise and other themes as they work with wooden figures of The Good Shepherd, sheep and his sheepfold. The term Parousia is introduced in Atrium II (1st-3rd grade) and work revealing God's fulfillment of this promise continues in Atrium II and Atrium III (4th through 6th grade).

2. What is fettuccina?
A. A ribbon shaped pasta.
B. An Atrium II work which presents the history of the Kingdom of God
C. Yep, I'm pretty sure it's the pasta thing.

Answer: B. Working with the Fettuccina, Atrium II (1st-3rd grade) students study God's plan beginning with Creation, continuing through Redemption (our salvation through Christ) and to ultimate completion in the Parousia ("when God will be all in all"). This work offers children the opportunity for deep contemplation of the immenseness and unity of the Kingdom of God and their place in it.

3. What is chasuble work?
A. Term used for process of making and/or caring for a priest's chasuble.
B. Slang term used by seminary students to refer to being the celebrant at Eucharist. Usage: "I have a recurring nightmare that I show up wearing flippers to my first chasuble work."
C. Atrium I work which helps children learn the colors representing church seasons.

Answer C: In the chasuble work Atrium I (preschool/kindergarten) students arrange miniature white, green, purple and red chasubles on wooden stands. This lesson teaches the child church seasons and the meanings represented by different colored vestments and linens they will see in the sanctuary. As the children grow older they will learn the names of the remaining vestments in the same way.

4. True or False? Children must attend formation classes every week to get much out of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd curriculum.

Answer: False. Like any activity, regular attendance enhances a child's learning. Frequent access to the material will deepen a child's understanding of the lessons. The more a child attends, the more work choices he/she will have during free work time. This makes children feel more at home in classes. However, formation classes also offers a rich learning opportunity to visitors and those who attend less often. Children are encouraged to attend at any frequency they can.

Scoring: Your receive 100% for reading this entire article. Thanks for your interest in our children's Christian Formation program!

Peace and Blessings,
Myra Battin, Honi Matchell and Ann Horn
(* Article adapted from material from The Church of the Good Shepherd, Vancouver, Washington.)

Church Quiz - October 2004

a. Holy oil applied at a baptism.
b. Dipping consecrated bread into consecrated wine.
c. A prayer used at Ordinations.

2. EWER

a. Used to hold water for baptisms.
b. The second cross used in a procession.
c. Incense used at special services.

3. EAST SIDE OF THE CHURCH

a. Side of the church where the sun rises.
b. Side of the church where the choir sits.
c. Side of the church where the altar is located.

4. SEDILIA

a. Seats by the altar for clergy and acolytes.
b. The stole worn by Deacons.
c. The choir loft in a church.

5. CROZIER

a. The Bishop's staff.
b. A burner for incense.
c. The holder for votive candles.

6. OBLATIONS

a. Money collected at church services.
b. Bread and wine to be consecrated.
c. Money pledged to the church each year.

Why Worry?
There are only two things to worry about: either you're healthy or you're sick. If you are healthy, there is nothing to worry about. And if you are sick, then there are two things to worry about: Either you will get well or you won't. If you get well, there is nothing to worry about. But if you don't, you'll only have two thinks to worry about: either you will go to heaven or you will go to hell. If you go to heaven, you have nothing to worry about. And if you go to hell, you will be so busy shaking hands with all of us that you'll have no time to worry! So why worry? Editor's Note: Taken from the book, How to Get to Heaven Without Going to Church by Rev. William Aubenbarch, a '54 classmate and friend at Kenyon College of Carl Glaser.

Discovering Your Ministry Discovering Your Ministry is the working title of a workshop created by the Rev. Marda Steedman-Sanborn (Rector-elect of St. James's Church in Kent) and endorsed by the diocesan Commission on Ministry that Randy will offer for eight weeks after the 10:15 liturgy beginning Sunday, October 17 in the Library. This is an exciting and worthwhile formation offering that will be especially beneficial (and fun) for people who have contemplated ordination. Please contact Randy for more information.

Grateful Hearts
To the Rector, Randall Lord-Wilkinson, the Vestry, and all members of St. Paul's congregation we wish to express our heartfelt thanks for the use of the Oliver Room over these past several years. To be able to have our PFLAG meetings in such comfortable surroundings means a great deal to us. On behalf of the PFLAG Board and all our members your generosity and support is most gratifying. We look forward to more years in association with St. Paul's Church.

Thank you.
Kitsap/Bremerton PFLAG Chapter

Welcome to St. Paul's
Our Quarterly (or so) Welcome to St. Paul's Church class, led by members of the staff and leadership, will commence after the 10:15 Eucharist on September 19 and continue till October 10 in the Library. If you are new to St. Paul's, check this out!

Thank You St. Paul's
"Thanks to the overwhelming support of your church as well as the generous spirit of your volunteers, the 2nd cycle of the HOST Program was a complete success. Thank you for your time, energy and continued support." - Catholic Community Services.

Editor's note: Many thanks to Barbara Moerler and to the numerous folks from St. Paul's who joined forces with Kitsap Unitarian Universalist Fellowship to provide meals, lunches and snacks for the Homeless outreach program during the month of May. This is the second year that St. Paul's has supported the Catholic Community Services program to assist the homeless in our community. The Inter-Faith Homeless Coalition meets on the second Wednesday of the month at 2:00 p.m. in the Oliver Room at St. Paul's, contact Barbara Moerler for more information.