July/August 2009 Vol. 11 No. 7 Archive of Previous Issues The Grapevine is published monthly (except for a combined July/August issue) by St. Patrick's Episcopal Church E-mail St. Patricks The Rev. Hugh Stevenson, Rector Editor: Mary Banks, 539-7378

Table of Contents for July/August 2009 [Vol. 11 No. 7]

Laughter: Doorway to the Soul Turning Points Summer Events Food for FISH for Fathers June 16 Vestry Meeting Notes 2010 Roman Pilgrimage

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LAUGHTER: DOORWAY TO THE SOUL

Before I was called to St Patrick's, I called the diocesan office to find out what St Patrick's was like, whether I would want to accept if invited. I had one question, "Do they laugh in church?" They replied, "Oh no! They are all old people and very traditional and serious." I had a suspicion that the Diocesan Office did not know St Patrick's very well, and I was right. From my first sermon, I realized that not only do you laugh here, you also cry in church. You do not park your emotions at the door. I have been taught the importance of laughter by a number of "masters."

Famous for his best seller, Christianity and the Social Crisis (1907), Walter Rauschenbusch taught his seminarians in Rochester, NY to get their congregations laughing; for "there is some hope that you will get some truth into them while they have their mouths open"! I have found this to be correct.

Rabbi Ed Friedman seemed particularly attuned to Episcopal clergy and congregations. In his last book, Failure of Nerve (2007), he stressed the importance of playfulness, which, he said, enabled both intimacy and the ability to maintain distance. It reduced the anxiety, which came from the reptilian part of our brains. He distinguishes humans from reptiles who only know how to be serious (I'm not sure he was right: Carol Papworth had a very playful snake!). He claimed that playfulness is lacking in America today. Perhaps this is part of our mission as a church, to help people laugh again.

In the Art of Possibility (2000), conductor Ben Zander said that his orchestra played better (and more accurately) after he made them laugh. He told them to remember Rule Number Six, which is, "Don't take yourself so seriously." When asked, "What are the other rules?" he replied, "There aren't any." His wife, therapist Roz Zander, added that humor makes us less calculating. When we laugh, perhaps we will be more responsive to God and will minister more effectively.

We are told that Jesus wept at the death of his friend Lazarus (John 11:35), but we are not told that Jesus laughed. I suspect that he made other people laugh. In the Sermon on the Plain, he said, "Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh" (Luke 6:21). One of my favorite verses in the whole Bible comes at the end of the Harvest Hymn (Psalm 65): "The valleys shall stand so thick with corn that they shall laugh and sing." That's real joy!

Much of the teaching of Jesus was paradoxical. He talked (surely with a straight face) about birds building nests in mustard plants, which we in Sonoma County know to be spindly. He said that the weak will inherit the earth. He said the dead would rise from the grave. When we laugh, God opens us up to these truths and we "laugh and sing."

I asked Angela to help me figure out what I would like my legacy to be at St Patrick's; she responded immediately, "laughter!" In the face of illness and financial crisis and grief, let us laugh. It is this God-given gift that we have to share with those around us.

Hugh Stevenson

TURNING POINTS

All find a welcome:
Lila Williams from Fairfield, Iowa is looking to settle here in Sonoma County.
Laura Dilley (who was here at Easter) has moved to White Oak Drive from Reno, NV.
Steve Merla was here on May 24. He & Michelle were married & their children baptized here.
Linda Tessier, of Windsor, was here on June 14. She was in Sandy & Ron Keith's wedding.
Mary Wildhardt was here on June 21. She has recently moved to Sonoma.
Nick Chekouras & Liz Abeln live on Sonoma Hwy and are marrying at St Luke's, Los Gatos.

Relocation:
Herc & Elayne Roland's new address is 4219 Embassy Drive SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-2438. We don't have a phone number yet.

For this, much thanks:
Raymond Skipp, with assistants Vashti Papworth, John Landon and Karla Schloemp, has taught our Sunday school for another year. We thank God for Raymond's gifts of creativity and empathy, for music and drama!

Thanks to Judy Buff for coordinating the music at the 9:00am service and her players:

Kathy Littman (bass)	Judy Buff
Marshall Ward	Dennis Studebaker
Raymond Skipp	Pete Rosser

Thanks to Dorothy Pierce and Bill Kelly for leading the Adult Ed class on Islam.

Thanks to Claus Schroeder for reading the German translation of Acts2 at Pentecost.

Thanks to all who supported the May 31 Book and Bake Sale. The $1000 generated will go a long way towards helping our youth go to Mexico to construct simple homes, which will certainly improve the lives of those who will live in them. A special thanks to Rich and Betsy Randolph, Ron Keith, Marcia Ronchetti, and those youth and adults who cleaned up or took payment and to all the wonderful bakers.

Farewell to:
Dave & Eva Jarrell are moving in July to D 101, 4545 N 92nd Street, Wauwatosa, WI 53225.

We ask God's protection of
those serving in the military including:
Frederic Cazel, grandson of Wes & Tommie is serving in Afghanistan.

We will exalt you, O God, our King:
The following have graduated:
Heather Flournoy (to SRJC)
Aimee Krzywicki
Patrick Philbin from Tufts (in History and Entrepreneurial Studies)
Greg Scherer from SSU (in Economics)
Kate Aldrich (from UCSF), PhD in Nursing

Louisa Bonnet, mother of Bill, is celebrating her 100th birthday in NYC. Louisa was a member of St Patrick's for a number of years. Obviously the "longevity genes" transfer!

May they know God's healing power:

Barbara Fry	Linda Belding
Judy Rose	Carolyn Perry
Nina Pohl	Gordon Gary
The Hall family

Mark Kirkland had encouraging test results.

Blessings on:
Campbell Anne and John Robert, children of Jack and Judy Rolston, were baptized at Pentecost (May 31).
Jennifer Kaye and Paul Argento were married at St Francis winery on June 13.
Thomas Clark Bull, son of Winston and Deborah, will be baptized on July 5.
Brian Wood, son of Sallie and Chuck, marrying Robyn Tubiolo at Ben Lomond, CA on July 11.

May they rest in peace:
Roberta Rives died on May 24. Her husband Willis died in January 2008. They had been members since 1976. Roberta ran the Unique Boutique and served on the Altar Guild.

Deepest sympathy:
Joe and Jane Linker on the death of their son, John, on May 20.
Barbara Jones on the death of her son-in-law, John Phillips, on May 23.
Dicksie Tamanaha on the death of her aunt, Janet Park, on May 16.

SUMMER EVENTS

JULY 5, INDEPENDENCE CELEBRATION
On July 5, the Sunday closest to Independence Day, we will celebrate the birth of our nation and sing some national hymns. We will baptism, son of Deborah and Winston Bull. We hope to welcome those who went on the Mission to Mexico on this Sunday.

GENERAL CONVENTION begins July 8
GC is the legislative body of the Episcopal Church. It meets every 3 years. This year, the opening Eucharist will be on July 8 in Anaheim, California. Follow General Convention on the official website:
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/gc2009.htm

JULY 12, GUITAR CHOIR
So far we have 10 musicians signed up, with perhaps five more waiting in the wings. They will lead the worship at the 10:00 a.m. service on July 12. We shall sing songs made popular at cursillo weekends and at Camp Noel Porter. Thanks to Judy Buff for organizing the event.

JULY 18, SINGALONG
Sue & Bud Crystal have invited us to a potluck supper at their house 2205 Fountaingrove, at 5:30 p.m. on July 18. We will sing old time songs like, "Bicycle made for two." There is not much parking and we will arrange to car pool. Please sign up in the parish hall.

AUGUST 8, ITALIAN SUPPER
Please sign up to bring Italian Food (entrée, salad or dessert) and BYOB for the potluck supper at 6:00 p.m. For details of the program about the "Pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi: Seeking the Sacred" see page 6.

AUGUST 9, GUEST PREACHER
Deacon Cookie Clark of Vacaville will preach at both services. Cookie is a deputy to General Convention and traveled as a pilgrim to Wales with Jim Rawls in 2009.

AUGUST 9, MY FAIR LADY
George and Barbara Hunt are taking a busload over to Napa to see a performance of My Fair Lady and for supper at Piccolino's. The bus will leave after church at 12:30. Contact the Hunts (843-4972) for further information.

AUGUST 16, FEAST OF DEDICATION
August 16 is the anniversary of the dedication of the building of St Patrick's. We are blessed with a glorious worship space. We will remember our dedication and our benefactors.

SEPTEMBER 6, JAZZ MASS
On September 6, Robert Young to bring his traditional Jazz Band, the Eldorado Syncopators, to lead the music for the 10:00 a.m. service. The costs of the service are underwritten by a bequest from the family of Spence and Shirley Flournoy who took a delight in the annual Jazz service and wanted to ensure that it continued. The service will be followed by the Ice Cream Social.

JULY 25TH EVENT, SUMMER RUMMAGE SALE
The Outreach Committee is once again sponsoring our summer rummage sale. Proceeds from this event will benefit both St. Patrick's Outreach and St. Andrew's Monte Rio Food Program.

Check your cupboards, garden, garage and those nooks and crannies for saleable items. We are accepting kitchen items, toys, games, sports and garden equipment, books, tapes and CD's. But please, NO large furniture, appliances, or clothes. Items may be brought to the Teen Room.

Again this year, we will have a dumpster for St. Patrick's members to use for those items that are not saleable but need to be removed from your homes or garages. The $5.00 per load fee is a real bargain! Many hands make light work! Sign up sheets are in the Parish Hall. Pick a 2 hour time slot to help make this event successful.

FOOD FOR FISH FOR FATHERS

Thanks to Barbara Hunt who hosted this event, to Trader Joe's for donating bags, and to those who donated food to FISH in memory of/thanksgiving for fathers for Father's Day.

The John Bogart Library
Thanks to Michael and Silvia O'Neill for several new books, including an unusual biography by the historian, Karen Armstrong. In The Bible, A Biography, she discusses the creation of the bible, how oral history turned into written scripture, how this scripture was collected into one work and became accepted as Christianity's sacred text. Well researched and interesting.

We also have a new video donated by Kathy Littman, Dancing With God, featuring worship at St. Gregory's.

An alphabetical list of all new books acquired in 2009 and information about where they are shelved is located in the red folder on the library table.

SEPTEMBER GRAPEVINE, to be published at the end of August, will include details of the start up of parish activities after the summer recess. Please submit your articles by August 17.

JUNE 16 VESTRY MEETING NOTES

Vestry meetings open and close with meditation and prayer.

Rummage Sale will be July 25, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Barbara Fry is looking for helpers to sort items in the youth group room (behind the kitchen). Please note: we cannot accept large items like queen-size beds! After the sale, the leftovers will be moved to one side in preparation for coffee hour on Sunday, July 26. (See separate article, on the Summer Events page.)

Round Tables in the parish hall are being replaced with more lightweight ones. Would you like to buy one of the old wooden ones? They are in the old "assistant's Office."

Property. We received our final permit from the County for work completed a year or two ago. The height of the Ed Center sink was lowered and a new toilet was installed. We are in compliance with Fire Regulations. The exit lights now work. Thanks to Wes Cazel (our Junior Warden), Xavier Cabrales (our property manager) and Charlie Chapman.

Emergency Preparedness. The vestry checked the church's shut-off valves at the last vestry meeting. Equipment has been updated and some flashlights have been purchased and put in place.

Stewardship Committee, led by Hutch Gibb, read Brian McLaren's book, Everything must change. The committee has been meeting at the Beldings', has a draft mission statement and is discussing stewardship as gratitude.

Sunday Morning Coffee does not have a coordinator. Please sign up to make coffee (especially during summer). Old hands will help you. Keep it simple; no elaborate displays.

Mission to Mexico. Ingo reported that Evan MacLeod, Jared Hunt, Elizabeth Peters, Carol Papworth, Christian Rencken and he are going with Incarnation. They are leaving Saturday, June 19 at 8:00 a.m. and spending a night en route in a church hall. They will return June 26 and may report to the congregation on July 5.

Nursery. Hugh reported that there is a baby boom and we have potentially 4 children under 2 each Sunday. During the summer, we want to make his old office (next to the Sunday school) habitable as a nursery. We want a space where parents would be willing leave their babies and complies with "Code". Can you advise?

Sunshine Taskforce, coordinated by Sarah Phillips (537-6685), has four teams that bring sunshine to someone's life. Call Sarah if you'd like to help.

Adult Education Committee is being formed. It will meet four times a year to plan Adult Education in our parish. We already have a number of ideas. Please share yours. Would you be interested in serving on this committee?

"Attention Needed" forms were included in the last Grapevine. They are also on the table in the church entrance. If you see something that needs attention, please complete the form and put it in the offertory plate, pass it to a vestry member or call the appropriate person.

Planned Giving brochures have been mailed. Call the Finance Committee if you would like more information.

Watch This Space for FELLOWSHIP EVENTS in the planning stages!

August 8: Italian supper September: Parish Barbecue

Late October: Middle-Eastern potluck dinner Oktoberfest is Coming! Mark your calendars now for Saturday, October 3. We had a great success last year, both in terms of fund raising and outreach. Like last year, we'll have great food, games for the children, our famous Pantry and tea towels, and a raffle. Please contact Shirley Ward if you have items to donate for the raffle (707-545-3606 or shirleywardmail@sbcglobal.net).

2010 ROMAN PILGRIMAGE

For the past seven years on Wednesday mornings I have enjoyed speaking about a "Saint of the Day," telling their stories and explaining their importance in their historical contexts. In May of 2003, Angela and I visited a number of sites in Rome that I had been talking about. It was a thrill to stand in their basilicas and beside their graves. Then, in 2007, the parish granted me a sabbatical to write the stories of some of these saints. This was the culmination of a Master's thesis on Martyrs of the Early Church that I had begun (and never finished) in 1968.

On my previous sabbatical, in 1997, I walked part of the pilgrim camino to Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain. I made friends with people of many nationalities and stayed in refugios along the way. I discovered pilgrimage as a different kind of traveling: a journey that feeds the soul.

Jim Rawls has been organizing pilgrimages for a number of years, most recently to Wales in 2009. He has it down to a fine art. I was very excited when Jim asked me to help plan a pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi in 2010. Jim is a graduate of Stanford University and received a Ph.D. in history from the University of California, Berkeley. He is a licensed lay preacher in the Episcopal Church and author or editor of more than two dozen books.

Rome is one of three great pilgrimage destinations of the ancient world, along with Jerusalem and Santiago de Compostela. It was the capital of the Roman Empire, stretching from Britain to Egypt and from Spain to Mesopotamia. The Church survived the collapse of the Roman Empire and the "Dark Ages."

There a number of ways to see Rome. You can follow in the steps of Dan Brown and visit all the churches mentioned in "Angels and Demons," expecting to see a corpse behind every pillar. Or you can "do" Rome as a tourist and check off each site mentioned in your guidebook. Or you can visit Rome as a pilgrim and have a life-changing experience. I believe that the last is ultimately the most rewarding. No doubt we'll each bring home a computer chip or two full of memorable photographs. If so, may they reflect the broadening of our spiritual horizons and the deepening of our faith!

Jim and I have planned a pilgrimage to leave San Francisco on May 12, 2010. We will visit such iconic structures as the Coliseum, the Forum, the Pantheon, St Peter's Basilica, and the Sistine chapel; and we'll spend quality time with some of the world's most enduring artistic works by Michelangelo, Raphael, Bellini and others. We will spend a day in Assisi, connecting with St Francis. We will return on May 20. Along the way we'll pause for guided meditations, reflection and prayer.

I am really looking forward to sharing Rome with you. There is a group from my brother's Church in London, St Peter's Hammersmith, interested in joining us. Jim and Linda Rawls worship there when they are in London.

To learn more about "A Pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi: Seeking the Sacred," please contact us and we'll mail to you a brochure with all the details of our day-by-day itinerary. Please also visit our website at www.OnPilgrimage.com with full information about registration, program fees, and the opportunity for a post-pilgrimage "grand tour" of other cities in Italy, including Siena, Florence, Padua, San Marino, and Venice.

We will have an Italian evening on Saturday, August 8. It will be a potluck with Italian food. Deacon Cookie Clark (of Vacaville), who went with Jim to Wales, will talk about her experience as a pilgrim. Deacon David Stedman (of Sebastopol), who was an art historian before ordination, will talk about being a pilgrim in Assisi. Jim will introduce places that we will visit. And there will be some Italian opera! Sign up for this evening in the Parish Hall and please come even if you do not plan on going to Rome. Call us for more information about Rome 2010.
Hugh Stevenson