September 2014
Celebrating and Sharing God’s Love
The Almanac
From the Rector’s Pen - Morning Coffee and Bible
Reading Go Together
I love waking up in the morning and starting my day with a pot of
coffee on the stove and a Bible in my hand. One of the highlights of
the Daily Office Lectionary Bible readings is the reading of the
psalms. If you follow the daily readings, you will find that the entire 150 psalms are read in a seven week cycle. And, every seven
weeks, on a Tuesday morning, we land on the Psalms of Ascents.
They are mostly short psalms of rejoicing as people are traveling to
their spiritual home (For the Israelites it was Jerusalem, but for us we can picture the
Heavenly Jerusalem, the City of God, the place where God and His people call home).
The Psalms of Ascent start with Psalm 120 and finish with Psalm 135. Because most of
them are short, several are read every morning, and by Thursday of this week, (today is
Tuesday) they will be behind us for another seven weeks. Naomi and I both look forward to these psalms of cheer and hope. When we read the Bible with an open heart,
God speaks to us, using the Written Word to illuminate the Living Word. And, even
though we read scripture over and over again, and in the case of the Psalms that are
scheduled to be read eight times a year, they are new every morning. It reminds me of
two truths that I am thinking on from the reading this week. The first one emphasizes
the beauty of reading the Bible every day like it’s the very first time you have read it.
It’s a passage from Lamentations, and it reminds me of these psalms of Ascent: “The
steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new
every morning, new every morning. Great is your faithfulness O God! Great is your
faithfulness!” (Lamentations 3:22-23)
And I love Psalm 127, the psalm that always reminds me that in this work as a church
leader and Rector, at the end of the day I need to relax, to let go and let God have the
final say. Because at the end of the day, when we have done all that we can do, we need
to read this psalm and know that we are not alone, and the building and welfare of the
church is in God’s hands.
“Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord build
the city the watchmen are in vain. It is vain to rise up early, to sit up late, and drink the
bread of sorrows. For so he gives His beloved sleep.” (Psalm 127:1-2, a Song of Ascent)
May you all have a restful and peaceful September.
Father Dave
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From the treasurer’s Vault
Cursillo Corner
The San Diego Episcopal Cursillo community was founded
to meet the growing spiritual needs of Episcopalians in the
Diocese of San Diego. It is part of a world-wide community which began with the Roman Catholic Cursillo movement in Spain following WWII.
Its purpose is to help those in the church understand their
individual callings to be Christian Leaders.
For more information, please see, call, or email Judy Brown, 619-9250173, email: [email protected]
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S e ptem b er 2 0 14
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
1
2
3
4
5
6
12
13
19
20
Ember Day
Ember Day
26
27
Refugee Food
Sewing Sisters
Ministry
10 am
10:30am
Eucharist 5:15pm
Labor Day
7
10
11
Worship 9:30
ECW -10:30 -
Sewing Sisters
Grandparents
Day
12:30pm
10 am
13 Pentecost
Eucharist 5:15pm
14
8
16
17
18
Worship 9:30
Refugee Food
Refugee Tutor
Sewing Sisters
Vestry after
coffee hour
Ministry
3:30—5 pm
10 am
10:30am
Eucharist 5:15pm
14 Pentecost
21
15
9
Holy Cross Day
22
Ember Day
24
25
Worship 9:30
23
Refugee Tutor
Sewing Sisters
UN Int’l Day of
Peace
3:30—5 pm
10 am
15 Pentecost
St Matthew
First Day of Fall
28
29
30
Worship 9:30
Welcome
Church and
Meal in Wells
Park 1:30pm
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St Michael & all
Angels
Eucharist 5:15pm
Round Up Time…
A note from Father Dave
There is an expression called the “dog days of August”, and I am told that we had our
share of “dog days”, weather that is hot and humid, unusual for this part of the country.
But, in the middle of all that heat and humidity, the St. Alban’s beehive was active with
a lot of busy bees. We continue our Refugee (newcomer’s is another word we use) food
pantry distribution on the first and third Thursday of every month. Adrienne Thompson
started an ESL class that meets on Tuesday before the food distribution. We started a
new tradition this month, which we hope can continue as long as we have the people to
manage it. We open the church doors for people to come in and pray and meditate before the pantry opens. We also have some opening welcoming statements and a public
prayer for the volunteer’s and guest’s that line up for food. I will try to be here on the
Tuesdays I can, and will invite other clergy to help fill in. We are also recruiting more
men to assist all the women who volunteer. This is not just my request; our core volunteer staff is also requesting that we have more men to help out. Calling all men! Calling
all men!
We continue to experience written liturgies (BCP’s) from all over the world on Wednesday evenings. We use a different liturgy every month. In August we used the BCP Eucharist liturgy from the Providence of Melanesia. We also utilize lay preachers on
Wednesday evening. We have a core of lay preachers that share a homily on particular
Episcopal Lesser Feasts and Fasts, or on the daily lectionary readings. I especially enjoy
the full circle communion at the railing at the end of the service. Come join us if you
haven’t been at Wednesday Mass for awhile. I think you will enjoy it and be encouraged
and refreshed.
We participated once again in providing backpacks for all of our “newcomer” children.
We began by having a party for all the younger children and presenting their backpacks
here. The party was in the home of St. Alban members, Pay Pay and Mu Tay. I believe
seven of the younger children received their backpacks then. It was followed by a wonderful Karen meal. The older children joined several of St. Alban’s volunteers and me at
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in City Heights on Saturday, August 23 for food, games,
haircuts and backpacks. The only difficult time I had was finding a place to park.
We celebrated at the Welcome Church of Wells Park on Sunday afternoon. We served
communion to around 40 people, enjoyed praying, worshipping and eating a lunch together. I preached (approx. 5 minute homily) and Pastor Andy Welch (Unite Methodist)
officiated at the Communion table. If you have not worshipped with us in the park, I
welcome you to join us. Our next Welcome Church meeting will be on Sunday, September 28, at 1:30 PM.
I hope you all have a wonderful September.
~ Father Dave
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Sunday School News
by Caroline Mahon-Hurd,
Sunday School Teacher
We encourage all of our middle and high school students to join Youth group, which will be
starting September 3rd at First Presbyterian’s Richardson Hall. This is a fellowship that St. Alban’s partners with our friends at the First Presbyterian Church. The group meets every
Wednesday night from 5:30pm-7:30pm and includes a complementary dinner.
Our Sunday school will be having an open house on Oct 5th following the Sunday service. We
will continue to have an open house twice a year, in May and October. This helps the Sunday
school connect the families we serve and our congregation. Please join us in the Sunday school
to see the wonderful work that the children have been working on to learn their lessons.
We are continuing both confirmation classes and what we do in church series classes. The children in both classes enjoy learning about their church, its traditions, and they are strengthening
their faith in the Lord.
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From the Refugee Ministry Basket
J oy Knight,
Refugee Ministry Coordinator
A HUGE THANK YOU!
Your kind gifts and donations have helped seventeen of our kids have a great beginning to the
school year! Most of them you see from week to week in Sunday School and others have participated in our Tutoring Program. Churches from all over San Diego helped to make the
Back2School Bash a great success on August 23 at St. Mark’s. Betty Johnsen and Joy Knight
took 6 teenagers down for the morning, where they got backpacks filled with school supplies.
Brad Cook greeted us at the door with his camera ready (see below). Brad spent a busy morning
taking pictures of all the more than 260 children who participated! Earlier in the week, the
younger students got their backpacks in time to start school on Aug. 20 (see picture 2). We
want to thank everyone who gave, and especially the ECW for their generous gift!
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Future Church Task Force Update
~
The Diocese of San Diego has embarked on a diocesan-wide discernment and restructuring endeavor led by the newly formed Future
Church Task Force. The goal is to create a strong, innovative structure
for the diocese as we move into a new way of being the Church.
This new structure must exercise good stewardship of the resources entrusted to us as we adapt
to twenty-first century ministry.
The discernment team (the Very Rev. Rebecca McClain, the Rev. Judith Allison, the Rev. Michael Stone and Mr. James Stiven) will begin working with the first group of churches, Mission
Area Four. The churches in Mission Area Four are: St. Anne's, Oceanside; St. Michael's, Carlsbad; All Saints', Vista; St. Andrew's, Encinitas; Grace, San Marcos; and Holy Cross, Carlsbad.
The discernment team begins work this month and will continue through the fall. If you have
any questions about the process, please see our page of Frequently Asked Questions, or contact
one of the task force members: Go to www.edsd.org and click on “FAQ’s for the Future
Church”.
Your prayers for all involved are appreciated.
Call for nominees for next Presiding Bishop
of the Episcopal Church of the United States of America
The Episcopal Church Joint Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding Bishop (JNCPB)
has issued the Call for Discernment and Profile for the election of the 27th Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church:
Between now and September 30, any member of The Episcopal Church may submit a name of a bishop
to JNCPB whom they believe should be considered for nomination through the email listed in the Call for
Discernment and Profile. JNCPB will inform bishops whose names have been presented and advise them
that if they wish to engage the discernment process, they must submit their materials as specified in the
Call for Discernment and Profile between October 1 and October 31. The JNCPB will announce its nominees in early May 2015.
According to JNCPB, the Call for Discernment and Profile is intended to paint a picture of the skills,
qualities and gifts the Church seeks in its next Presiding Bishop in light of what the Church may look like
in the next decade, to assist bishops, deputies and prospective nominees in discerning which bishops may
be called to the ministry of Presiding Bishop and to assist JNCPB in discerning potential nominees. To
assist in that process, last year the JNCPB crafted and circulated a church-wide survey. The synthesis of
the more than 5,200 responses helped develop the Profile.
The JNCPB is comprised of a lay member, a priest or deacon, and a bishop elected from each of the nine
provinces of the Episcopal Church, plus two youth representatives, appointed by the President of the
House of Deputies, the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings. The General Convention Deputies and bishops serve a
three-year term to conclude at the close of General Convention 2015 in Salt Lake City.
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NEW WEDNESDAY NIGHT ADULT ED SERIES
Beginning September 3, 2014:
Embracing an Adult Faith, Marcus Borg on What it Means to Be Christian
A 5 week class with video presentation and discussion each week.
Dates: September 3, 10, 17, 24 and October 1
Where: St. Alban’s Parish Hall
Time: Potluck supper 6:00 PM
Study Session 6:30-7:20 PM
Compline: 7:20-7:30 PM
Book is Optional, but helpful: $12:00 (See Fr Dave asap. Needs to be ordered) Signup
sheet in the Narthex- If you plan to attend please signup so we will know how to plan.
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~Pennies from Heaven~
You see a penny (or any coin!) on the ground, do you pick it up, or
walk straight past it?
Did you know; according to statistics 75% of us will stop to pick up
a penny off the street, while 12% will pass by a heads-down penny
because its bad luck?
I’ve seen teens come out McDonalds and toss their pennies on the
ground. Most kids seem to look at pennies as nothing nowadays, because we as the adults seem to pass that notion on to them. We need to show them that even that
little savings can add up.
I heard a story recently of a woman whose grandmother started saving every penny she ever
got. She would not spend a single penny, EVER. She saved them for her granddaughter and
gave them to her to deposit into a special savings account every month. When that granddaughter graduated from high school she had over $5,000 from the pennies that her grandmother had
saved, counted, rolled and she deposited in the bank over the thirteen years . How quickly
something so insignificant as pennies added up.
Imagine how much good we could do if we all saved our pennies and sent them back out into
the world, not as something of no value cast on the ground but as food, blankets, shelter…
things to give a helping hand those less fortunate than ourselves, to support our ministries here
at St Albans. If one woman could save $5000 in 13 years (that $385 a year) imagine what 10,
20 or 50 people could raise. Imagine what we could do with that money.
So pick those coins up when you see them laying there and pass them on to do some good in the
world, I plan to. ~ V ictoria Mayor ~
They're Back! Those wonderful Church Bulletins! Thank God for Church
ladies with typewriters. These sentences actually appeared in church
bulletins or were announced in church services:
The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.
Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those
things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.
Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.
For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be "What Is Hell?" Come early and listen
to our choir practice.
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St Alban’s Leadership
Staff
Wardens & Vestry
Father Dave Madsen ~ Rector
Mike Park ~ Sr. Warden
619-444-8212, [email protected]
Betty Johnsen ~ Jr. Warden
Office hours: T-F, 9am-1pm, afternoons by
appt. only
Judy Brown~ Treasurer
Victoria Mayor ~ Secretary
Denise Cote~ Assistant to Rector/Secretary
619-444-8212 , [email protected]
Judy Setford ~ Vestry Member
Office hours: T-F, 9am-1pm
Caroline Mahon-Hurd~ Vestry Member
Renee Brown ~ Music Director/ Organist
Sharon Hathaway ~ Vestry Member
Dawn Beisigl~ Nursery Director
Sandy Parks~ Vestry Member
Caroline Mahon-Hurd~ Sunday School Director
Brad Cook ~ Vestry Member
Penny Park~ Bookkeeper
Joy Knight~ Refugee Ministry Coordinator
Worship & Learn With Us:
Sunday 9:30 am - Worship Service with Holy
Eucharist & Sunday School
Wednesday 5:15pm— Eucharist Service
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490 Farragut Circle
El Cajon, CA 92020
Phone: 619-444-8212
Fax: 619-444-1561
E-mail: [email protected]
Visit us on the web
www.st-albans-church.org
Sunday School News
Round-Up
Mark Your Calendar
The Treasurer’s Vault
From the Rector’s Pen
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6
5
4
3
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Inside this issue:
The Refugee Ministry Basket
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