June 2006 Vol. 8 No. 6 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: Herc Roland, 538-3134

Table of Contents for June 2006 [Vol. 8 No. 6]

A Fond Farewell Sundays in June Turning Points Conventions Outreach Holiday Bazaar

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A FOND FAREWELL

As most of you know already, I will be leaving St. Patrick's after Pentecost (Sunday, June 4). Betsey and I have been appointed Priests-in-Charge of All Saints Episcopal Church, Sacramento, and we will be starting there in July.

Excited as I am by this new opportunity, I am very sad to be leaving St. Patrick's. This community has been very kind to me, to Betsey, and especially to William. My time here has been very special to me, and it has been a great honor to serve this wonderful, friendly, and open community.

Betsey and I had not sought out the position at All Saints; but when it was offered to us by the Bishop, we found it impossible to turn down. It is a position that we will share, and was described to us as a "lease with an option to purchase," that is, a short-term situation that can become a permanent rectorship, if we and the parish agree. The chance to be working together has been a long-term dream of ours, so we have been very pleased and surprised to encounter this opportunity so soon.

My fondest hope for St. Patrick's is that the work we have begun together, especially with young people, will continue and thrive. Our Sunday School is well-established and growing, and we have a small but dedicated cadre of volunteers to organize the school and teach the classes. The youth group also continues; we will have a 'younger' group starting this coming fall, as we have several graduates leaving for college.

It is, as I said, sad to be leaving St. Patrick's. I'll miss Friday Boutique workshops, the Men's Lunch, quick cups of coffee after the 8 and the 9 (and longer ones after 10:30!), the Wednesday service (and Hugh's stories about saints I never knew that much about), the view of the mountains behind the altar, the Sunday School classes, miniature golf with the youth group, and about a hundred other things which make St. Patrick's the special place that it is.

But on the good side, I believe that All Saints' will be an exciting next step for us. I know there will be special things about that place too. Also, we won't be that far away: please come and visit us!

Blessings,
Michael Monnot

June 4 will be Michael's final Sunday.

• 9:45 am: ice-cream social
• 11:30 am reception sponsored by the Daughters of the King

SUNDAYS IN JUNE

June 4is Pentecost. We celebrate the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the Church. The disciples proclaimed the Good News about Jesus in many tongues so that each person heard it in their own language. As we have done in the past, speakers will read the words from John 20, "Receive the Holy Spirit," in different languages.

Wear red in honor of the Spirit.

At the 10:30 am service, Audrey Jaynes and Cynthia Pennington will be installed as new members of Daughters of the King.

At the 9:00 am service Baccalaureate for graduating seniors. We ask God's blessing on our graduates.

This will be the last Sunday for Michael Monnot with us. We will send forth Michael, Betsey and William. There will be a reception sponsored by the Daughters of the King.

Adult Education. The course on World Religions continues at 9:45 on Sunday mornings.

June 11. Trinity Sunday. The beginning of our summer schedule. Eucharist will be at 8:00 a.m and 10:00 a.m. This will be the final Sunday for the choir who will sing anthems from Elijah by Mendelssohn.

3:00 pm Music Recital. Bonnie Brooks (mezzo-soprano) will sing Gypsy Songs, by Dvorak and Folk Songs arranged by Percy Grainger. Jeanette Isenberg (violin) and Robert Young (piano) will play Sonata in F, by Edvard Grieg. The concert is free; there is a retiring offering for the music program at St Patrick's.

June 17. Marcia Rutledge was a member of St Patrick's for a number of years. She died during the winter and her funeral was held at the Methodist Church in Reno. We will have a Memorial Service for her at St Patrick's on June 17 at 1:00 p.m.

June 18 is Fathers' Day. At the 10:00 am service, the baptism of Talia Angelina Merla, daughter of Michelle and Steven Merla

June 24. The wedding of the Rev Cliff Kent and Virginia Canfield at St Patrick's at 3:00 pm.

June 25. At the 10:00 am service, a choir of guitars, plus Kathy Littman's bass, playing contemporary songs, sung at cursillo and elsewhere.

July 2 Independence Sunday. we will celebrate the birth of our nation and sing some national hymns.

July 5. The Rector will be away for the inside of this week. There will be no Midweek Eucharist on Wednesday.

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
Although we have a number of volunteers who have offered to help, we have no one to take overall charge of the event. August is rapidly approaching. We need a supervisor to make Vacation Bible School fly. If this is you, please call the Rector.

TURNING POINTS

All find a welcome:
Matthew and Marion who are being married in July.

For this, much thanks:
Ann Peters organized the rummage sale, with help from the youth group.
John Burt has been attaching the plaques in the Memorial Garden.

We ask God’s protection of:
those serving overseas

Chris Whittaker	Aaron Poust
Dallas Casey	Dan Whitwright
Sam Jackson, John Boskovich’s nephew

We will exalt you, O God, our King:
Congratulations to Mary Alyce and Mark Stephens on the birth of their 3rd son, Fallon Cringely on May 3 (8 lbs. 9 oz). All doing well.
To Linda< and Rick Belding on the birth of two (!) grandchildren Micah (son of Betsy), and Alex (son of Sharon) on Mothers’ Day.
To Bette Leedom on the birth of her latest great grandson.
To Lu Pearson on the birth of her great grandson, Brandon.
To Dick Beynon on the birth of his first great granddaughter, Lauren.
For the safe return of Daniel Pearson from Iraq.

Bishop George Hunt celebrates the 50th anniversary of his ordination.

De Colores
Dorothy Howard< made her cursillo at the end of April.

Blessings on: Cliff Kent and Ginny Canfield who will be married on June 24.
Audrey Jaynes & Cynthia Pennington to be installed as Daughters of the King.

May they rest in peace:
Paul Offill died on February 3. He and Elinor had been married 67 years. They were living in Santa Barbara.

HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES
Michael Atkin to UCLA to study Political Science.
Allyson Hunt to Cal State, Long Beach to study Psychology.
Sarah Johnson to Cal Poly to major in liberal studies for teacher-training.
Justin Overshiner to Chico State for chemistry.
Kate Fountaine to UC Santa Barbara.
Ross Peters to Cal Poly to study mechanical engineering.
Holly Locke to UC Davis where she has been invited to join the marching band.
Hilary Galloway-Long to Lewis and Clark to study psychology.

COLLEGE GRADUATES
Andrew Galloway-Long graduated at Dominican College with a degree in Communications and is working on a Masters in Elementary education qualification.
Elizabeth Johnson graduated from UC Davis in managerial economics, emphasizing agriculture.
May Boeve, daughter of Jill Hunting, will graduate at Middlebury in February of 2007. She is the winner of the Dana Reeve award for being an activist.
Mollie, daughter of Dennis & Val Studebaker, graduated from UC Davis in art.
Ben McLain graduated at UC Irving in Theatre Arts.

May they know God’s healing power:

Hertha Brown	Pierre el Rief
Dave Jarrell	Hanan el Rief
Jane Dressler	Lolita Seguin
Janice Currie	Mark Kirkland
Linda Belding	Rose Rasicot
Cynthia Pennington’s mother, Jeanne
Eleanor & Andy, brother of Carol Gwatkin
Elenore Streich’s brother, Herman Kramer

Deepest sympathy: to Minerva Haddad on the death of her sister, Nedda, and her sister-in-law, Edna
To Pam Kendall on the death of her brother.

CONVENTIONS

ELECTION OF OUR NEW BISHOP
On May 6, we assembled at Faith Church, Cameron Park. Present were our lay delegates: Judy Buff, Jane Hall, Barbara Hunt, Bette Leedom, Angela Stevenson and Wendy Wood; and our clerical delegates: Cliff Kent, Michael Monnot, Betsey Monnot and Hugh Stevenson. George Hunt was also in attendance but without vote since he is not canonically resident in Northern California.

We celebrated the Eucharist in their new church building which is impressive. The words of the hymns and the liturgy were projected onto screens beside the altar. In his homily, Bishop Jerry said that the Eucharist (not the election) was the most significant thing we were doing that day.

At 10:00 a.m. the first votes were cast. The clergy and laity vote separately. There was a glitch in the counting of the votes. When the dust had settled, Barry Beisner had received a majority of the clergy votes and Jim Nixon had a slight lead among the laity. After the first ballot, most of the votes of the third candidate, John Coffey, were divided between the other 2 candidates.

After the third ballot Barry needed 9 more lay votes to be elected and he received them in the fourth ballot. At 1:15 pm we had elected our new Bishop. Many of us already know Barry very well. He has been Bishop Jerry’s assistant. He has led two of our vestry workshops. He has preached and celebrated at St Patrick’s on a couple of occasions. Michael and I are both members of a book discussion group which he has convened.

Barry’s wife Ann Hallisey is known to many of us. She was sponsored for ordination by our parish in the mid-‘80s.

In electing our Bishop we knew that we were taking part in a sacred task and that the Holy Sprit would guide us. Many at St Patrick’s have been involved in the process of election.

Bishop-elect Barry will be consecrated in Sacramento on September 30. Frank the current Presiding Bishop will be the chief consecrator. Barry will take over from Bishop Jerry on January 1, 2007. No doubt there will be more comments in the Missionary, the newspaper of our Diocese.

GENERAL CONVENTION
Convention meets every three years, this year in Columbus Ohio, June 13-21. The deputies will be asked to assent to the election of Barry as Bishop of this diocese, Bishop Andrus who was elected in San Francisco on the same day and other recently elected Bishops.

Convention is made up of about 900 deputies and 311 bishops from Episcopal dioceses all over the world. They will make broad decisions about our policies and our worship. Delegates listen to one another, are guided by the Holy Spirit and vote their conscience. Usually only the sensational issues are reported in the press.

Convention approves the budget for the Episcopal Church of $151 million. They will respond to the devastation of the Gulf Coast, rebuilding churches and caring for congregations. There will be some discussion of the Windsor Report. There will no doubt be resolutions related to the decision three years ago to assent to the election of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire.

The House of Bishops will select a new presiding bishop to succeed Frank Griswold. The Lower House assents to the Bishops’ choice.
The nominating committee’s slate is:
The Rt. Rev. Neil Alexander, Bishop of Atlanta;
The Rt. Rev. Edwin F. Gulick Jr., Bishop of Kentucky;
The Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Bishop of Nevada; and
The Rt. Rev. Henry N. Parsley, Jr., Bishop of Alabama.
Three other bishops were nominated from the floor.
Hugh Stevenson

OUTREACH

The Outreach Committee met in early May, under Bill McDonald’s leadership. We heard reports about the Transitional House in Glen Ellen. Some of the residents have been attending St Patrick’s. We are planning to plant fruit trees in barrels in their garden. JC Speight and Harold Poehlman are working on this.

Laurie Raess has been part of the “Brown Baggers” group at St Leo’s for 2 years. They make 75 lunches. Nancy Young works for Meals on Wheels in Sonoma. They deliver 51 meals and a further 20 meals for those who drop in.

We made the following grants

• Episcopal Relief and Development (for Sudan: $500
• Habitat for Humanity: $500
• We are purchasing trees for the Transitional House in Glen Ellen and paying for work on their garden.

KATRINA CONCERT
Sylvia O’Neill and Alan Rae played a concert of New Orleans music as a fund raiser for Katrina victims. About $170 was donated in the freewill offering.

BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES
Each Sunday in Church, we say a prayer for those celebrating birthdays and anniversaries. People make donations which add up over time. This money is sent to our diocesan summer camp on Lake Tahoe, Camp Noel Porter. We received a thank you letter from Leonard Shaheen, director of the camp, thanking is for our donation for $572, for the first four months of 2007.

INGATHERING OF FOOD
In April we joined with other area churches in collecting food for FISH. They write to thank us saying that 300 lbs of food was donated. “As we approach summer, our donations fall off and your drive filled many empty spots on our shelves.”

ADULT LITERACY
The Adult Literacy League is the oldest literacy group in Sonoma County and matches trained volunteers with individual adults from other countries who want to learn English as a second language. Learning English opens the doors to better employment, promotes positive involvement in their children’s education, and enables meaningful participation in the life of the larger community.

Register now for the Summer Workshop to learn how to teach English as a second language. The training is scheduled for July 22 and 29. You do not need to know another language or have teaching experience.

The Adult Literacy League serves all of Sonoma County; we have a large waiting list of students, especially in Santa Rosa. We ask for a $45 donation to help with the costs of the training; scholarships are available. No one is turned away for lack of funds.

Make a difference now! For more information, and to reserve a place at the next Training Workshop, call the League office at 539-3848.

HOSPITAL CHAPLAINCY SERVICE has sadly closed after 37 years.

HOLIDAY BAZAAR

Many committees and groups are working to make and collect items to sell at the Holiday Bazaar, which is a mere four months away.

The ladies at the Friday morning Workshops are currently making Christmas ornaments and decorations, pillows, and friendship cards. They have a need for old whole spices for the fragrant hangers they plan to make. If you have some to contribute, call Rosie Speight 538-3885. The workshops meet from 9am until noon on the 2nd and 4th Fridays of the month in the common room and everyone is invited/urged to come and help. No special talents are need and the company and food are outstanding.

For those who like to work at home, Tea Towels along with transfers and embroidery thread, are available in the Parish Hall after both Sunday services. The towels can be embroidered or appliquéd. Kits for items to be sewn or crafted at home will be available at the same time. If you are making items at home independently, in order to avoid duplication, please let Vicki Ward (539-3731) know.

This years Garden Shop will be the scene of an old-fashioned garden. Marcia Ronchetti and Cynthia Pennington are looking for the following things: old items that can be used for plant hangers, stands or containers that are rusted, or painted (chipped would be great.), old metal garden pails or watering cans and antique birdcages. Marcia can be reached at 537-7703 and Cynthia at 481-8046.

Now that fresh berries are on the market it is time to think about make jams and preserves for the Kitchen Pantry. There are some jars available in the cupboard on the right inside of the door to the choir room.

Don’t forget to keep your eyes open for Silent Auction items –fine linens, china, silver or object d’art—that might be lurking on a shelf or in a closet. Sandra Hammond 833-2450 or Dorothy Mills 539-509 will be glad to pick them up.

JOHN BOGART LIBRARY
Two important new books are in our library this month. The first is The Last Week: A Day-by-Day Account of Jesus’s Final Week in Jerusalem by Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan. Using the gospel of Mark as their guide, the authors depict Jesus giving up his life to protest power without justice and to condemn the rich who lack concern for the poor. Informed and challenged by these authors we not only meet the historical Jesus but a new Jesus who engages us and invites us to follow him.

MAY VESTRY
Endowment. We welcomed Will Haymaker of the Endowment Committee to our meeting. We received a breakdown of the funds in the various Endowment accounts: $155,000 in the general endowment account. $77,000 in the Neill Fund, which is used for repairs and renewals to the church property. $31,000 in the Small Grants fund which is used to “give people a leg up.” Only the interest can be spent. We examined the various documents of the Endowment Fund and started a small committee to review them.
Michael. This was Michael’s last vestry meeting. He expressed appreciation to the vestry.
Marcia. We changed Marcia Ronchetti’s title to Administrative Assistant.
Calendar for the year. We are adding events for the rest of 2006 including stewardship events.
Other reports. We have a new sign on Highway 12. The Landscape Committee is being revived. We are planning to repaint the Education Center.
The Newcomers Committee will hold a potluck supper for those who have arrived in the last five years. The Worship Committee met in May.