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April 2002
Vol. 4 No. 4
Archive of Previous Issues
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The Grapevine is published monthly
(except for a combined July/August issue)
by St. Patrick's Episcopal Church
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Table of Contents for April 2002 [Vol. 4 No. 4]
Taste and see how the good Lord is!
Tasting Easter is one of the pleasures of the season. There are chocolate Easter bunnies, marshmallow peeps and perhaps you had a family brunch. Tasting Easter is about celebrating
with food and celebrating through fellowship. Perhaps that is why we all enjoy the day so much and the season! Yet we know that tasting Easter goes beyond the special goodies, new
clothes and festive gatherings.
The richness of this season is heightened when we place the fifty days of Easter against the forty days of Lent. There is a heaviness that fills Lent. We have moved through a holy time
marking our way with perhaps acts of self-discipline, denial, or service to others. And through this process we become more sensitive to how we hunger and thirst for Jesus’ saving grace -
Grace found through justice loving acts, in the breaking of the bread and through Christ’s death on the cross.
We gather each week to experience again both the Passion and Easter morning, to taste and see how God has worked through our lives during the week and how the promise of God’s
reign is being realized. Gathering at the Lord’s table each week invites us to live once again in the mystery of the Easter event. The mystery of moving from despair and death into
resurrection and new life. This is expressed so nicely in an Early American Easter hymn:
- Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death
- and on those in the tombs bestowing life,--bestowing life.
- Taste and see the goodness of God is in many ways living in a Eucharistic lifestyle. A way in which we daily give thanks for creation, remembering God’s gift of redemption
and salvation through Jesus and invites the blessing of the Holy Spirit.
On April 14th there will be an instructed Eucharist to examine the words, gestures and symbols of the Eucharist. St. Patrick’s is very much a community that enjoys “doing Eucharist,” in
breaking bread together, sharing the mystery of grace and living into the promise of salvation. And Judy Buff will be teaching a First Communion class to some of the younger members of
the congregation.
Tasting and seeing how good the Lord is, fills us with the knowledge that we are both forgiven and beloved. May these fifty days of Easter bring you much joy and celebration.
--Julie Wizorek
Women’s Breakfast
This month we continue with the Saturday women’s breakfast, April 13th, meeting in the Parish Hall at 8:30 a.m. All women (and women friends) of the parish are invited for a pot luck
breakfast and good conversation. We will be talking about our future trip to Trinity Cathedral, Sacramento. This is a great time for working women and busy gals to have fellowship
together. Come and join us!
Lenten Calendars and HOPE Chests. Please make checks payable to St. Patrick's designated to Episcopal Relief & Development (ERD) / Afghanistan. We will ask that it be
used for the church's work with children in Afghanistan. Please put names on your HOPE Chests and leave them in the office. Thank you so much for participating in our Lenten project.
--Barbara Fry
ERD Representative.
Twenty-Fifth Annual Unique Boutique
Plans are in full swing for this year’s Unique Boutique, which will be held on October 19th. Chairmen Barbara Fry and Laurie Raess have chosen to celebrate a quarter century of St.
Patrick’s Unique Boutiques by naming it simply the Twenty Fifth Annual Unique Boutique.
They are adding a new and wonderful Artists’ Corner that will include all types of small art works—paintings, drawings, stained glass, wood work, needlework, etc. They must be small
as we are limited in space. Each artist is asked to contribute one piece of work and to price it. Any item that does not sell will be returned to the artist. For further information, call Barbara Fry 538-2164 or Dorothy Pierce 537-9159.
The workshops will continue to produce beautiful Christmas items as well as decorations for Halloween and Thanksgiving. Your help on the second and fourth Fridays--in stitching, stuffing,
cutting and painting items to be sold—is most welcome as are your ideas for new items.
Gourmet Pantry. Jean Meyer and Marge Ward need jelly jars with lids (please no pints or quarts,) to distribute to those who will be making jams and jellies. To have them picked up
please call Jean at 833-5575 or put them in the cupboard behind the door in the choir room. In addition to jams and jellies, the pantry will need baked goods and candy.
Joan Ingold still has tea towels (our biggest sellers) to be embroidered or appliquéd. To get tea towels as well as patterns and supplies, contact Joan at 539-7631.
Now that spring has arrived, Gardeners can think about potting plants, transplanting seedlings or starting cuttings for the Garden Shop. If you need pots, Connie van Loben Sels at
833-5381 will be glad to supply them.
SAVE THE DATE
You are cordially invited to attend St. Patrick’s Will Awareness Program on Tuesday, April 16th, at 7:00 p.m. in the Parish Hall for an infor-mational discussion on the issues of wills, taxes
and estate planning. The speaker will be Jeanne Levin, Santa Rosa attorney. Please bring your questions.
Refreshments will be served. Seating is limited. Sign up in the Parish Hall now. Presented at no charge by your Endowment Committee.
AROUND THE PARISH
New Worship Schedule. As reported in the last Grapevine, we are beginning a new schedule in April. At the 8:00 a.m. service, Rite II on the first Sunday, and Rite I on the other Sundays of
the month, and at 10:00 a.m., Rite I on the first Sunday, and Rite II on the other Sundays.
Coffee Makers wanted in April for both the 8:00 a.m. and the 10:00 a.m. services. Please sign up in the parish hall.
Trinity Institute. The conference begins on April 5, at 8:15 a.m. in the Education Center with Parker Palmer, and continues the following day. The title of the conference is: How then must
we live? Spiritual formation in a broken world. All are welcome to attend. The full schedule of speakers is posted in the parish hall, or on line www.trininst.org.
ECW luncheon. A reminder to all the ladies of St. Patrick’s: The ECW luncheon will be on Tuesday, April 9th. Pam Moore will talk on her experience in the U. S. State Department’s
Foreign Service. If you can, please bring a new member.
Rector’s study tour. Hugh Stevenson will be away, April 10-April 22nd. Julie Wizorek will be tending the vineyard of the Lord in his absence. Bishop George Hunt will be preaching on April 21st.
Instructed Eucharist. During the contemporary service at 10:00 a.m., on April 14th, there will be an instructed Eucharist. Please share your questions about the liturgy with Julie Wizorek.
Grapevine Copy Date. In an attempt to get the Grapevine into your mailbox by the first of the month, we are bringing forward the copy date. Please submit your articles by April 17th.
Thanks very much.
Christ’s own forever is the title of the Bishop’s Conference at Konocti Harbor on beautiful Clear Lake. It takes place, Wednesday evening, April 24th till Friday lunch, April 26th. The
subject is an important one for us at St. Patrick’s, the inclusion of children and youth in the life and ministry of the local congregation. One of the questions to be considered is how we may
keep our children in church as they grow to adulthood. The Rev. Caroline Fairless, founder of the Center for Children at Worship in Rochester, NY and author of Congregations in Bloom, is
scheduled to be the keynote speaker both evenings. Julie Wizorek and Judy Buff will be attending. There are brochures in the church entrance or email annex@dncweb.org.
First Communion. During April, the children in grades 2-5 will be in First Communion Class with Judy Buff. The First Communion Sunday will be Mothers’ Day, May 12th. If you are
interested please call the parish office.
Baptism. At the 10:00 a.m. service on April 28th, Chase and Channing, the twin sons of Mary Alyce and Mark Stephens will be baptized.
Outreach Committee meets on Thursday, May 2nd, at 10:00 a.m. in the Common Room to catch up with details of on going projects and to make second quarter distributions. All are welcome to attend.
Heating in Church I apologize for the temperature in church on cold Sunday mornings. I set the heating to switch off at the start of the service, because people tell me that they cannot hear
when the fan is on, and the noise makes celebrating and preaching difficult. This has made it chilly at the 8:00 a.m. service. I have set the timer to come on an hour earlier (6:00 a.m.) and
the thermostat is set at its highest setting.
Baptism. The next big day for Baptism is Pentecost, May 19th. If you have a candidate (adult or child) to be baptized please tell the Rector as soon as possible.
Camp Noel Porter. Counselor Training will begin on June 16th for young people aged 15½ and older. The first camp will start on June 23rd. The last camp (August 11-17) is for Senior
High students entering 10th grade and above. There are packets on the (new) youth notice board in the Parish Hall. For more information, ask one of the 20 young people who went to camp last year.
Vacation Bible School. You are invited to mark your calendars now for Vacation Bible School at St. Patrick’s from July 29, 2002 to August 2, 2002. The most important thing a child
can learn is that he/she is beloved of God. Vacation Bible School is a fun and active way to learn about God’s love and to make God a part of each child’s life; it is an opportunity for this
community to work together in service and prayer to provide the physical and spiritual place for a loving God to be known. It is an opportunity for outreach to the larger community. If you
would like to volunteer to help, please contact the church office. “It takes a whole village to raise a child.” The Director of VBS for this year is Sharon Traeger.
Fund Raising Dinner is scheduled for Saturday, September 7th. We need lots of services: rounds of golf, dinners, catered picnics, vacation homes etc. to auction. What can you offer?
Please talk to Nina Pohl who is heading this project.
TURNING POINTS
Prayers:
- Shirley Rush, who was taken ill while on holiday in Kauai.
- Mary Ellis who is at home recovering from hip surgery.
- Diana Estabrook who was in an automobile accident.
- Fred Shidler at Sonoma Acres, 765 Donald St., Sonoma. (996-2161)
- Camille Richardson’s daughter, Sally.
- Elinor Streich’s nephew, Robert Cramer.
- JJ Buchanan’s mother, Dorothy Jacobs.
- Ed Cutler and his wife, Jerry.
- Vernona Bisset, recovering from foot surgery.
- Walt Boden discharged from UCSF, is staying with his sister Berenice Johnson.
Thanks:
- To: Julie Wizorek for organizing the women’s retreat. The women reported that they had had such a good time, that the men asked if they could have a retreat too!
- To all the people who turned out on March 10th and cleaned windows, floors, pews, tables and much much more, in order to make the church sparkling for Easter.
- To: Layten for arranging for the choir of the Church of the Advent to sing Evensong.
- To:Margaret Merchat and her team for a most enjoyable and successful St. Patrick’s Day dinner, and especially for the help of the youth group members.
- To: Bob Alderson for taking the youth group climbing at Vertex on St. Patrick’s Day.
- To: Judy Buff for heading the group making Palm Crosses on March 17th.
- To:Sally Peabody Wagner for singing two pieces during the 10 am service on St. Patrick’s Day.
- To: Hutch Gibb who headed up the eScrip project and all who signed up.
- To: Matt Forrester for filling in as sexton in Walt’s absence.
- To: Louise Clark and her daughters, Chloe and Leslie, for the gift of a teak bench in Tom Clark’s memory.
- To: The drivers of the Friends House van. Bob Carpenter and Bob Fry, and the second team in training: Fred Fisher and Will Haymaker.
- To: Armand Russell for installing the new notice boards in the parish hall.
- To: All who participated in the Easter Day services: readers, chalice bearers, acolytes, ushers, and counters.
- To: All who contributed to the cost of the Easter decorations and to the altar guild for decorating the church.
- To: All who helped the Easter Bunny by bringing Easter eggs and candy to church.
- To: Layten Heckman for his compositions and for directing the music for our Holy Week and Easter services, and to the choir and to Michael Rado (harp) who accompanied the choir.
- Robin Goerl for folding countless bulletins.
Deepest sympathy to:
- Ray Estabrook on the death of his sister, Mary Margaret.
- The family of Walter Niehoff who died in Arizona. Walter and Dorothy were members for a number of years. His interment will be in late June.
- Leyten Heckman, on the death of his father.
- Ruth Phillips and family on the death of Ruth’s sister, Lel Anderson
Welcome:
- Bill and Rose Burton, Pat Sizemore’s parents, moved to Oakmont Gardens.
- Frank and Ann Raymond who moved from Eureka to Oakmont Gardens
- Heather Nichols and Tommy Apostolitis have been attending recently and enjoyed the St. Patrick’s Dinner.
- Ed and Jerry Cutler who transferred their membership from St. Mary’s, Napa.
Congratulations:
- Patricia Dunn in Wenatchee, Washington, who turned 90 on St. Patrick’s Day.
- Marcia Ronchetti’s son who graduated cum laude from University of Chicago.
- Matthew Forrester has been accepted as a probationer as an Associate of the Order of the Holy Cross. For more information, ask him!
- Gail Cafferata will be ordained priest at the Church of the Incarnation at 5:00 p.m. on April 14th.
- Cathy and John Landon, on the birth of their grandson, born in Delaware.
- Vashti Papworth, on the birth of her granddaughter in Fort Collins.
- Marion Carlsen who was honored by Memorial Hospital, having accumulated volunteer 9500 hours.
FEBRUARY VESTRY
We began, a new vestry, talking about our hopes and what we want to get out of being members of the vestry.
Julie is exploring with the Diocesan representative the possibility of having a Faith Alive parish renewal weekend some time in the fall. We are hoping that a member of St. Augustine’s,
Rocklin, which had a Weekend recently, will come and talk to us about it.
Layten Heckman obtained an estimate for installing antiphonal speakers for our organ in the gallery. We are to pay for them out of memorial funds. Such speakers would support
congregational singing and add a fanfare for the entry of the bride.
We discussed the job description of the youth minister and a revision of the policy about the use of parish facilities by both our own members and outside groups. This will be approved at
our March meeting.
We are appointing a Parish Commission on Ministry to meet with John Leech as part of his progression towards postulancy in the ordination process.
The Senior warden, Hutch Gibb, outlined plans to get members to sign up for eScrip and about the fund raising dinner for later in the year. He encouraged us to sign up to help with the St.
Patrick’s Day dinner.
Armand Russell said that he has a “Snooping” committee, whose responsibility is to look around the parish facilities to see what needs doing.
We made plans to keep the church clean and tidy in the absence of our sexton, Walt Boden.
BISHOP’S APPEAL: SPECIAL OFFERING FOR THE POOR
Towards the end of the House of Bishops meeting, I had the feeling that there is beginning to be a very clear call to the Church to become much more engaged in the support of brothers
and sisters in our own nation and in the world who are in desperate straits. When we have so much, how can we allow brothers and sisters to suffer so much pain?
There are two pieces that I would like to put before you for your reflection. The first is, that at its January meeting, the Diocesan Council and Board of Directors designated April 28, 2002
as the Bishop’s Special Offering Sunday for the relief of hunger in our diocese. River City Community Services, which operates the food bank here in Sacramento, had asked that this
Sunday be set aside for an in gathering for their special work. The Council chose to widen this and ask that each congregation look to that Sunday as a day of special offering to support food
banks and other kinds of social service ministries in their own communities. It is important that we deal with the questions of hunger, not only on a global or a national level, but on a local and
individual basis. I pray that each of you will undertake to inform your people of this Sunday and to highlight the needs that are so apparent in this nation and in the world.
The second item I would like to bring to your attention is the report from the Episcopal Relief and Development Service. This agency that used to be known as The Presiding Bishop’s Fund
for World Relief is undertaking a tremendous number of projects throughout the world and some new projects here in the United States. In fact, The Living Room located at The Church
of the Incarnation in Santa Rosa has just completed a grant request from Episcopal Relief and Development to support their work.
Joyce Hogg, Director of Networks and Special Projects for Episcopal Relief and Development points out that the amount donated to Episcopal Relief and Development Fund this past year
from this diocese was $94,194, an increase of over $50,000 from the previous year. That is a tremendous jump and I want to thank all of you for your increased attention to this Fund. The
diocesan representative for this Fund, Karen Steelman, has information and material that she would be glad to share with any of you. This is a tremendously important effort of the Church
on a national and international basis, and I want to commend it to you. I also want to thank you for the increase in generosity of over 100% this past year. Maybe we can increase it by
another 100% for next year.
Daughters of the King
Representing the St. Hilda’s Chapter of the Daughters of the King will be Charlotte Horne, Rev. Julie Wizoreck, and Sharon Traeger who are going to Paradise, California on April 20th
to the Regional Daughters of the King Assembly. The fall Assembly will be held at St. Patrick’s on October 5, 2002.
“(Mary) turned round and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not realize that it was Jesus.” John 20:14
Joyce Rupp, a member of the Servants of Mary penned this prayer. “Jesus you are risen! You are with us. Keep us ever mindful of how you are a part of our lives in a deep and profound
way. Surprise us with a touch of your love in places where we never thought that we would find you. Fill our hearts with hope. May the gift of your presence transform every ordinary
moment of ours into a sacred place where you dwell. Help us to see this gift through the eyes of faith. Help us to see this gift through the eyes of faith. Fill us with your peace. Amen.”
The Donkey
- When fishes flew and forests walked
- And figs grew upon thorn,
- some moment when the moon was blood,
- then surely I was born;
- with monstrous head and sickening cry
- and ears like errant wings,
- the devil’s walking parody,
- on all four-footed things.
- The tattered outlaw of the earth, of ancient crooked will;
- Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb
- I keep my secret still.
- Fools! For I also had my hour;
- One far fierce hour and sweet:
- There was a shout about my ears,
- And palms before my feet.
Gilbert K. Chesterton
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