September 2005 Vol. 7 No. 8 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 September 2005 [Vol. 7 No. 8]

Mission to Mexico #2 Episcopal Search Turning Points Youth News Vestry Information Women's News Outreach News Bits and Pieces Adult Education

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MISSION TO MEXICO #2

On June 18, St. Patrick's Youth Group embarked on their second Mission to Mexico. Though most of the group was already aware of what was to come, it seemed as if things would be very different this year. To start it off, we had many new faces. These new helpers were amazing and easily blended with the group from the beginning. As for the veterans, we were closer than ever and couldn't be more excited to Participate in another Mission.

So between rookies and experts, we were handed a home to construct for a family that didn't have one. After being assigned this difficult task, we made our one-hour journey to the work site. But there was a slight problem; the house was to be built on top of a small hill. This complicated things a bit because we had to make the house at the bottom, and then literally carry it up the hill. Oddly enough, the inconvenient work site made the entire group work harder individually, and as a team.

After four long, hot, and stressful days, most of the house was completed. It was sad for all to think that even after all the bruised limbs, sunburned necks, and dehydrated bodies, the house was not finished. But we all had to take a step back and realize all of what we achieved. Instead of an empty, unattractive plot of dirt, there now stood the makings of a beautiful, sturdy home.

Personally, I was so proud and impressed by the group's efforts and emotions that were put into building the house. I know that there is an unaccomplished feeling still left inside, but we all must understand how we have changed the lives of the family forever, as well as our own.

Remember! On September 11, our 3-service schedule begins. Holy Eucharist at 8:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m, with the contemporary Eucharist at 9:00 a.m. Adult Ed begins on Sept 25 and children's Sunday school on Oct 2.

EPISCOPAL SEARCH

We are in the midst of a search for a new Bishop. Bishop Jerry will retire at the end of 2006. Our neighbors in the Diocese of California and of El Camino are also in an Episcopal Search. This is the timeline for the process.

Currently the search committee is receiving nominations.

• Sept 1, Nominations closed
• Oct-Dec., Candidates will be screened
• Jan 15, St Patrick's will elect delegates for the electing convention.
• Jan-Feb, Nominating Committee will visit candidates.
• Feb. 17, The Nominating Committee will give a slate of candidates to the Standing Committee
• April 24-28, nominees will "walk about" throughout the diocese, so that we may meet and question them.
• May 6, Electing convention, probably at Cameron Park. If we fail to elect, we meet again the following Saturday. Summer, General Convention will hopefully consent to the candidate we have elected.
• Sept 30, the candidate will be consecrated as our next Bishop.

WHAT WE WANT IN OUR NEW BISHOP
Focus groups of clergy and laity identified the following qualities: pastoral leader, visionary of the future, conciliator / reconciler, guardian of the faith, and a bishop who supports servant ministry. We seek a bishop who will unite the diocese.

A Pastoral Leader, who ...
Is firm yet loving to all, clergy and laity
Is strong, able to bring us closer to Christ
Has a temperament that is slow to anger, quick to laugh
Is compassionate and understanding of diversity
Can articulate and demonstrate a strong personal relationship with Jesus Christ
Is able to work toward and bring about consensus inspired by the Holy Spirit
Is on fire for Christ

A Visionary of the Future who ...
Leads in development and growth
Challenges, ignites, and helps us grow
Is willing to think outside the box

A Conciliator / Reconciler, who ...
Is able to unify people with divergent views and perspectives
Is trustworthy and inspires trust
Is respectful of different worship styles
Is compassionate, understands and appreciates diversity
Is a fearless and undaunted bridge builder
Is ready to address crisis in the diocese
Is a peacemaker

A Guardian of the Faith, Unity, and Discipline of the Church who ...
Is a defender of the Apostolic faith
Is a disciple of Christ
Is loyal to Scripture, loyal to the Church

A bishop who Supports Servant Ministry by Supporting shared ministry
Heeding the voice of the laity
Being a faithful pastor to all people
Delegating
Being a communicator
Having a firm grounding in a faith life of prayer and Holy Scripture
[From the Diocesan website: http://www.dncweb.org/profile/seekbishop.htm]

Please pray for our Diocese, our committees and our delegates as we seek a new leader:

Almighty God, giver of every good gift: Look graciously on your Church, and so guide the minds of those who shall choose a bishop for this Diocese, that we may receive a faithful pastor, who will care for your people and equip us for our ministries; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

TURNING POINTS

All find a welcome:
Denis Studebaker
Bill Klein
Donna Cline
And friends of Carol Papworth, Dan Hankins and Susan Johnson: Michele Boblitt and Ellen Thomsen

Farewell to:

Bonnie and Bob Dale moved to Lincoln
Claire Morelli moved to Duxbury, Mass.

Wyn Warfield is now at Healdsburg Senior Living Community, 725 Grove St, Healdsburg 95448 (473-9151)
Billie Thomas is now at 238 Usher Drive Windsor 95442 (836-8565).
Both would love to hear from you

We ask God's protection of:
those serving in the military overseas

We will exalt you, O God, our King:
Congratulations to Barbara and Harry Fry on the birth of their first grandchild Indigo Zachery Lee on July 2.

May they know God's healing power:
Linda Belding, Natalie Matrazzo, Hertha Brown, Nedda Touma, Joan Ingold, Virginia Schall, Fred Bauer, George Arack Jr., Lolita Seguin, Billie Thomas, Nancy Duffy, Dave Jarrell, John Redmond Sr., Glenn Hendrix.

Blessings on:
Julie Haskins and Benjamin Gulson who were married on August 20.

May they rest in peace:
Mary Hunting, mother of Jill Hunting (July 5)
Allan Cross, son of Alice Cross and sister of Adele Daw.
Susan Hoyt, wife of Bill.
Guy Littman, husband of Kathy
David Meehan, Cecily's husband (July 2)
Bruce Peterson, father of Michael (May 30)
Christopher, son of Robin Goerl
Jean Derum's brother-in-law, Tom
Byron Jones, member of the SR symphonic chorus and friend of Alice Fielder
Helen Johnstone, the Bishop's secretary
Bev Mommsen died earlier in the year
The Rev. Martin Knutsen died in mid-August

Deepest sympathy:
To Loren Brown, and her 4 children on the death of Will Brown. Will was junior and senior warden, and property manager at St Patrick's between 1985-1998. He died on August 12.

From Claire Morelli
"Claire Morelli and family are grateful for all the support that St Patrick's members offered at the time that John was sick." We will publish Claire's address later.

Welcome to Ogby!
Obgabager Mehari is our new sexton. He is living in the Upper Room. His main task is keeping the buildings clean, but he has also been working outside. He has done a mammoth job tidying up after the interim. He has another job too. We employ him for 20 hours per week. If you have requests for him please channel them through the Rector.

YOUTH NEWS

Dan Hankins,The Golden Screed, for smooth concrete.
Susan Johnson, La Maestra, teacher of the year award.
Ross Peters, The Pink Glove Award (Most Self-assured).
Sarah Johnson, Best Use of Language.
Kate Fountaine, Most Unlikely Prankster.
Carol Papworth, A Future in the Construction Industry.
Scott Alderson, Hardest Working Comedian.
Gus Peters, Mr. Fix-it.
Eddie Gibb, Most Subtle Sense of Humor.
Meredith Johnson, Most Good-Natured.
Elizabeth Peters, Spirit of Independence Award.
Jared Hunt, Most Pounds per Square Inch.
Andrew (our intern), Most Nicknames.
Ann Peters, Able to juggle 14 problems.
Hank McLain, Visionary: able to see the best in people.
Jay Hunt, Crisis manager.
Hugh Stevenson, Moral Compass.

SAFEGUARDING GOD'S CHILDREN
Training on the prevention of child abuse is available on August 27, 10:00-2:00, and Sept. 8, 5:00-9:00, at the Church of the Incarnation, Santa Rosa. The diocese has begun using a new Child Abuse prevention program that was developed by the national church called Safe Church Training: Safeguarding God's Children. Emily Wilmer is the Youth Minister at Incarnation and has been trained in this new program and authorized to train others. Contact Emily at 579-2604.

SUNDAY SCHOOL
Carolee Fagent has generously agreed to lead Sunday school again in the fall of 2005. It will begin Sunday, October 2. It will be at the same time as the last service, 10:30-11:30 a.m. in the Education Center. Parents who come early can grab a cup of coffee in the parish hall. We invite parents to attend the 10:30 service.

GREEN TOMATO CHUTNEY
At the end of the growing season, if you have any green tomatoes left you can give them to me (!) or make green tomato chutney yourself.

• You will need equal quantities of tomatoes and apples (about 2 lbs each),
• ¾ lb of onions,
• 1 clove of garlic,
• ½ lb raisins or sultanas,
• ¾ lb brown sugar,
• tsp of mustard powder,
• tsp of cayenne pepper (how hot do you want the chutney to be?),
• salt and pepper,
• 1½ pints of malt vinegar (I usually use a little less).

Boil the peeled apples in a little water. Slice the tomatoes. Chop the onions and garlic. Add all the ingredients to the apples. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the mix has become thick and soft. Makes about 5 lbs.

Chutney is great with curry, or cold meats or with cheddar cheese (for a "ploughman's lunch."). Enjoy!
Hugh Stevenson

VESTRY INFORMATION

JUNE VESTRY MEETING

• The vestry completed a 3-month evaluation of Michael Monnot.
• Will Haymaker was appointed chair of the Endowment Committee.
• We have received memorial donations to cover the cost of the new piano to replace Robert's piano which is in the narthex..
• Thanks to George Hunt, Wayne Wright and John Burt for doing the sexton's job. Our new sexton, Ogby, arrived July 1.
• The pictorial inventory of church property is complete, thanks to John Redmond.
• A kitchen cabinet is being formed so that the kitchen will be kept spic & span, thanks to Marcia Ronchetti.

AUGUST VESTRY MEETING
Finance

• Total income from pledges is down and expenses are up. There's about a $10,000 shortfall.
• We are canceling our earthquake insurance which will save $500 per month (the deductible is huge!).
• The auditor found our books to be in order.

Power

• Bill McDonald with Tom Nute gave a report to the vestry on how we may save electricity and how we may generate solar energy.
• We will purchase a "Time Usage Meter" which will show that most of the electricity we use is at non-peak times and is cheaper.
• We will replace the old thermostats in the offices and Upper Room with more efficient ones.
• We are experimenting with film on the windows to keep out the ultra violet rays.
• Tom and Ogby have replaced the incandescent bulbs in the parish hall with fluorescent ones (free from PGE!)

Property

• Ogby, our sexton, has cleaned the spiders' webs off the windows and carted off the brushwood to the dump.
• We are having the air-con in the Parish Hall fixed.

Fall planning

• Neighborhood meetings will be held throughout the parish in Sept. and all are invited to attend. A vestry member will be present at each meeting and will Report your concerns back to the vestry.
• These will take the place of October's Town Hall Meeting.
• There will be stewardship messages on Sundays, Oct 16 & 23.
• Pledge cards for 2006 will go out in October; please return yours by Nov. 7.

Bits and Pieces

• Vic Howard, Marcia Ronchetti and Wendy Wood will be our delegates at the 20005 Diocesan Convention in Sacramento
• A "Pastoral Commission on Ministry" has been formed to interview Marcia Ronchetti as she seeks to enter the ordination process. They report to the vestry who votes in Sept.
• We have invited Carol, Menke and her choir, Cantiamo, to sing Evensong in Nov.
• Thanks to Bette Leedom for organizing the Pictorial Directory and to Ann Peters for leading the Mission to Mexico.

WOMEN'S NEWS

We will also share plans about future activities of our organization, including the Bizarre Bazaar to be held on Oct 22. Notice the bulletin board in the parish hall to see a happy group of workers. There's still time to craft items for the event. We meet every Friday at 9:00 a.m. in the Common Room. Projects are there to complete.

Sign up in the parish hall for the Tuesday, Sept 13 meeting at 11:00 a.m. Luncheon will be our special potluck. Please come!
Virginia Bauer, President

The two weekends before the Bazaar, we'll set up tables at various locations to publicize the event and sell raffle tickets. We need people to man/woman/child the tables. Please sign up, or leave a message for Judy Kimsey, 538-6050.

Wish List. We still need a few items, so if you can provide, please drop them off in the Parish Hall:

• Clay pots
• Clay pot saucers, 8", 10", 12", 14"
• Six half-gallon waxed milk cartons
• Pretty bottles, decorative, long neck
• French wire ribbon - sage, lavender, pink, dark green, red
• Restaurant-sized jars and bottles
• Metal whisk
• Wooden spoons
• Pasta fork
• Spray paint - dark red, copper, gold, pumpkin, black
• Inexpensive plain wooden picture frames - 8 x 10, 4 x 6, 3 x 5
• Glass paint - pink, green, black
• Cookie cutters
• Curling ribbon for gift-wrapping
• Clear rolls of cellophane
• Miniature anything
• New or nearly new Barbie doll and clothes
• Wreath forms - wire, Styrofoam, straw, grapevine
• Solid color Christmas ornaments - all sizes
• Clear gallon-sized baggies w/no writing on them.

OUTREACH NEWS

Last summer, I was contacted by a women's peace organization called Acco Vision. The group is comprised of professional women of mixed faiths who are committed to improving coexistence between Arabs and Jews in Israel. Acco Vision has an equal number of Muslim, Druze, Christian and Jewish women in their group and have been working for two years on projects centered around peaceful coexistence in Israel. Though development of a peace park was Acco Vision's first goal they were without funds, without a site and equipment and without the support of City leaders.

A member of Acco Vision, Diana Bletter contacted me last fall. Ewing and I liked the project and offered to help. However, Acco Vision would need to convince the City to donate land in an area that was accessible to children of all religious traditions.

I founded Playing for Peace, International shortly after, and along with our new board set out to raise the funds needed for this project. Patrick Philbin and David Zucker had fundraisers at their high schools and through donations from a wide range of community members and businesses we were able to ship equipment to Israel in April. By then, the city of Acco was convinced by Acco Vision to donate a site, a crew, sand and equipment for the installation.

We built the playground over a 3 day period with a city crew, the Philbin and Bletter families and various community volunteers. The park opened on June 24 with a band, a ballet recital from a Jewish/Arab ballet school, City leaders, and the members of Acco Vision and Playing for Peace.

The park, called Ha'Shalom or Peace Playground has now had an evening concert with hundreds of Muslim, Jewish, Druze and Christian children from the community playing together.

One member of Acco Vision said, "the playground is the first proof of our vision that Arabs and Jews will meet together in a place of neutrality and fun. There is peace for the children, coexistence and community at Ha'Shalom. For the Philbin family it was one of the most important projects we have ever been a part of.

Playing for Peace, International will continue to support Acco Vision through fundraising efforts in the North Bay. For information, call Bonney Philbin 707-833-6297 or email (playingforpece@gmail.com).

Dear God, thank you for the lessons I receive, commending humility, and for allowing me to receive them from grace-filled persons. Deliver me from pride and vainglory. And, that I may please you, grant that I may be as slow and graceful in judging others as they have been in judging me. Amen.

BITS AND PIECES

JAZZ MASS
On September 4, Robert Young will be leading his traditional Jazz band, the Eldorado Syncopators at the 10:00 a.m. service. They will lead us in the singing of When the Saints and Gospel songs.

PIANO RECITAL
On Sunday 18, at 3:00 pm, Sylvia Park O'Neill and Alan Rea will present a program of four-hand piano music featuring Hungarian Dances by Brahms, excerpts from Stravinsky's "Firebird" and a group of ragtime pieces. Sylvia and Alan have played twice before at St. Patrick's, to a truly enthusiastic audience. Don't miss it!

PICTORIAL DIRECTORY
Many, many thanks to everyone who had their picture taken, and to those who helped in any way to produce your 2005 St Patrick's Directory. We should see the result of our efforts and labors by early September.
Bette Leedom

1. Pledge payments including prepaid pledges are now just slightly under Budget. Pledge payments need to average $ 18,800 per month August through Dec.
2. This includes the transfer of prepaid pledges and other gifts from Income to Reserves and transfers back from Reserves to Income when expenses exceed income.
3. This includes costs of Mission to Mexico, Endowment Committee, specific contributions for outreach as well as budgeted Outreach Committee grants.

ADULT EDUCATION

Advance Health Care Directives. In the light of the Terri Schiavo's experience, it would pay us all to know how to make our wishes known in the event of a terminal illness. Kaiser is offering a workshop that is opn to all. There is no charge. It will be held at the Jewish Family Services Center, 1360 North Dutton, Suite C, in Santa Rosa. This session will last two hours, 10:00am to 12:00pm. The same workshop is offered on the 2nd Tuesday:

• September 13, or
• October 11, or
• November 8, or
• December 13.

GenXers. Hugh and Michael are preparing a presentation for Sunday morning on the difference between "Baby Boomers" and other generations. Each generation has its own values, which are shaped by the culture of the day. One reason, parents and children have difficulty understanding each other is because they grew up under different conditions.

How Rome came out top. Hugh will offer a 4-week class for Sunday mornings on how the church in Rome came out top in the early church and how the Roman Pope emerged as the leader of Christendom. We will learn about the primacy of Peter, Gregory the Creat, Charlemagne and the Ultamontanes in the 19th century.

JOHN BOGART LIBRARY
The library has five new books to begin the autumn season. The first, the gift of Barbara Hunt, is a delightful acount of customs in the Mississippi delta region: Being Dead Is No Excuse, The Official Southen Ladies Guide to Hosting the Perfect Funeral, this is a "cannot put it down" book. Each chapter includes delicious-sounding recipes. What a resource this will be for ECW ladies looking for something new to serve.

Secondly, we have two new books about prayers. This first is Give Us Grace. An Anthology of Anglican Prayers edited by Christopher L. Webber. This is a chronological overview of Anglican prayers from the beginning up to the present day. The prayers span all ages and continents. The second is The Prayer Book Through the Ages by Williams Sydnor. Here is the story of the Anglican/Episcopal Prayer Book, from 1549 through today. "A lucid, informative, and engaging history."

Marcus J. Borg's new book is Conversations with Scripture: Mark. Borg looks at the Gospel of Mark from both an historical and metaphorical perspective. This book is not published until September; it will be on the new books shelf as soon as it arrives.

The fifth book is Credo: Historical and Theological Guide to Creeds and Confessions of Faith in the Christian Tradition by Jaroslav Pelikan. Pelikan has been translation, editing and studying the Christian creeds and confession of faith for sixty years. This is the distillation of his work, a valuable resource for the clergy and our serious readers.
Ronnie Leonard

Deason's Ministry. We have invited Deacon Cookie Clark to the class at 9:45 on Sunday, September 25, and to preach at the 10:30 service. Cookie will speak on the deaconate.