December 2001
Vol. 3 No. 11

December Calendar
Archive of Previous Issues

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Table of Contents for December 2001 [Vol. 3 No. 11]

 

Wait for It

When I was a child, Advent seemed interminable. Christmas cards arrived and my mother hung them beside the stairs. The tree appeared and was decorated. When the presents arrived from all the uncles, aunts, cousins, godparents etc. (I came from a large family) I was, of course, not allowed to open them.

I longed for Christmas to arrive. I wondered what Father Christmas would bring. I awoke early in the morning to find the reassuring weight on my feet. The waiting was part of the celebrations.

I am still waiting. But the objects of my desire have changed. Advent is often a difficult month when things are inclined to go wrong. Christmas brings resolution and closure, as though the child was born with the capacity to heal—not only the pains and sorrows of his own day, but ours as well.

So we gather at Christmas to celebrate his birth. Our worship this year will be full of riches. The earlier Christmas Eve service has always been popular with both young and old. It will include the traditional pageant and lots of carols. The later service is growing in popularity. Leyton, our music director, has secured a string quartet for whom he has written music to accompany our carols. They will begin the service at 10:15 p.m. by playing Corelli’s Christmas Concerto. The costs of the music have been underwritten by a grant from the St. Patrick’s Endowment Fund.

So, we look forward to Christmas with great anticipation. It will come in its own time. And it will be worth the wait.

--Hugh Stevenson

 

Advent and Christmas

December 2 is the first Sunday of Advent. We will bless the Advent wreath and light the first candle. The 10:00 a.m. service will begin with lessons and carols for Advent followed by the Eucharist. There will be another opportunity to buy items from the Unique Boutique. At 11:30, there will be a meeting to plan the women’s retreat, which will take place in March 2002.

December 9 at 10:00 a.m. we will sing music from Godspell, including “Prepare ye the way of the Lord and “Day by Day.” You will be able to “give” flocks of chickens and llamas and other animals as Christmas gifts: the proceeds go to the Heifer Project.

December 16.  Another opportunity to support the Heifer project. The children will be making Christmas decorations in Sunday school.

December 23. After the 10:00 a.m. service, the altar guild will decorate the church. The choir will rehearse their Christmas music; the Sunday school will decorate the tree in the church entrance. Would you like to help with the decorating? We will have a potluck lunch at 11:30. Please sign up in the parish hall; what dish will you bring to share?

Christmas Eve. At 5:00 p.m. the children will take part in the Pageant and Eucharist. We will gather in the parish hall at 9:30 p.m. for mulled wine and cider, to sing carols by candlelight. At 10:15 p.m. Leyton Heckman, our music director, will lead the playing of Corelli’s Christmas Concerto. His small orchestra will also play during the 10:30 p.m. “Midnight Mass.” There will be more carols and the choir will sing special music.

Christmas Day. At 10:00 a.m. a celebration of the Eucharist without music for those who seek a quieter more reflective service

December 30. Christmas lessons and carols and Eucharist at 10:00 a.m.

 

Turning Points

Deepest sympathy to Gerry Hodge on the death of her husband Tom. He was one of the early members of St. Patrick’s and served on the vestry in 1964 and again in 1967, and as senior warden in 1968.

To Barbara Arnott on the death of her husband Walter. They were long time Episcopalians and received communion at home during Walt’s final illness.

Blessings on Patrick Owen Eldridge who was baptized on November 4.

Thanks to Robin Goerl, helped by Julie Wizorek, who organized the Thanksgiving dinner and cooked the food on Wednesday, November 21. Robin makes wonderful pies!

To Jan Cercone who played at the service of Evening Prayers on November 2.

To all who brought food on November 18, and John Brigham who took it all to FISH

Welcome. The following were welcomed to the congregation on November 18: 

Sally Lamp

JC and Rosie Speight

Alice Maydoney

Leyton Heckman

Martin Wizorek

Charles Richard

John Boskovich

Shirley Rooney

Dicksie Tamaha

Jill Hunting

 

Outreach Committee

The Outreach Committee held its last meeting of 2001 on November 1st. The committee will be chaired next year by Paul Offill, with Mary Field as secretary, and Bette Leedom for finance. Robert Fry will be in charge of the Heifer Project.

The budget for Outreach this year was $10,000.00. The committee disbursed the remaining funds to:

Vineyard Workers Services for Housing

$3500.00

Social Advocates for Youth

$375.00

Hospital Chaplaincy Services

$500.00

Interfaith Shelter Network

$500.00

Santa Rosa Police and Fire Department Chaplaincy Training

$500.00

The Outreach Committee meets quarterly and welcomes new members. Please call Barbara Fry (538-2164) for further information.

 

 

Hospital Chaplaincy Services

A non-profit, interfaith organization, trains volunteer chaplains who provide spiritual and emotional support to patients and their families in the acute care hospitals and skilled nursing facilities in Sonoma County.

We are in need of donated or low-cost office space effective December 1st. We are looking for approximately two rooms, about 400 square feet for a small staff. We have 2-3 computers, a copier and 4 phone lines that we would install (one a DSL/FAX line). If you have space or ideas, please call Barbara Yungert, HCS Program Coordinator (566-9600) or The Rev. Gail Cafferata, Board President (568-4085).

 

Programs for Women

ECW Lunch – A reminder to all the ladies of St. Patrick’s. The ECW Luncheon will be on Tuesday, December 4th at 11:00 a.m. The speaker is Mike Milward, Hospice Chaplain, who will speak on end of life care with an emphasis on spiritual care. Sign up sheet in the office or call Nancy Dill (537-9534).

Daughters of the King - The Daughters of the King will usher in the Advent Season with a Vigil on December 7th. On December 9th we will host the coffee hour at both services and we invite all to stop by our display table and learn more about the order. Please join with us this Advent season in Praying “O God who gives us times of quiet and times of action abide in us this Christmas so that all people may be filled with the joy of your presence.”  C. House-lander.  Contact:  Sharon Traeger (537-8661).

Grace Cathedral Trip – The women’s second Saturday breakfast group is going to Grace Cathedral on December 8th to walk the labyrinth. We will meet at St. Patrick’s at 8:00 a.m. and carpool to the City. After walking the Labyrinth we will go out to lunch before returning to Kenwood. There are two labyrinths at Grace Cathedral, one outside and the other in the nave. We will be walking the one inside, a large carpet/tapestry that is a copy of the tile floor labyrinth of Chartres Cathedral in France.

A labyrinth is a maze of twists and turns that lead to a central rosette from which the follower of the path retraces to the entrance. Walking the labyrinth is a spiritual experience because it in-vites the individual to go on a mini pilgrimage. Each walk is unique for the person and the time. There is no right or wrong way of walking the path. All you need to do is just enjoy the meditative stroll and receive whatever comes.

Women’s Retreat - Now is the time to sign up for the St. Patrick’s Women’s Retreat to be held the weekend of March 1st to 3rd, 2002, at the Bishop’s Ranch in Healdsburg. This is our third annual event and we are especially delighted this year to have our Assistant Rector Julie Wizorek as our leader. Julie has asked anyone interested in helping with the planning of the retreat to meet with her in the Common Room following the 10:00 a.m. service on December 2nd. By the time you read this, however, that meeting will have been held and a theme for the weekend will have been decided.

We are going to be located in the Youth and Family Lodge at the Ranch with limited capacity (18 beds), so it is important to make your reservation as soon as possible if you think you would like to attend. Registration forms will be available at the December meeting or in the office. Because we must make a full financial commitment by January 1, 2002, please write a check made payable to St. Patrick’s (memo: for Women’s Retreat) for $150.00 and mail it to the church by December 30th. This will cover your lodging and meals from supper on Friday night through breakfast on Sunday morning. It will also include snacks and materials we will be purchasing for the weekend. As in the past, small stipends are available to assist with the tuition. Please call the office or Julie or Nina Pohl for more information.

 

Letter Writing

Thanks to all those who wrote letters to our representatives on November 18, on behalf of Bread for the World, advocating the “Hunger to Harvest” program bringing aid to African nations. Every letter or mail counts. Bread for the World’s e-mail address is www.bread.org.

 

John Bogart Library

In light of the world situation the library has a new collection of books pertaining to the Middle East.

There are two histories: Karen Armstrong’s Islam that begins with the flight of Mohammed and his family from Medina in the 7th century and concludes with an assessment of Islam and its challenges today. The library also has copies of The History of God and Jerusalem, One City, Three Faiths by the same author. The second history is The question of Palestine by Edward W. Said. Said is Palestinian by birth, has taught at Johns Hopkins, Yale, Harvard and Columbia. Originally published in 1972 and up-dated in 1992, this is a reliable resource.

Taliban by Ahmed Rashid, a Pakistani journalist long in the area, deals with the origin and rise of the Taliban, its concepts of Islam on the questions of drugs, women and the importance of Afghanistan to the development of energy resources in the region. The problems of this multiethnic state will appall you.

We also have three books dealing with the status of women: Price of Honor. Muslim Women Lift the Veil of Silence on the Islamic World by Jan Goodwin, it is based on interviews made in ten regional countries with hundreds of women. Goodwin stresses that nowhere does the Koran support the current brutal treatment of women. Women of Deh Koh. Lives in an Iranian Village by Erika Friedl tells stories of life under the Shah and afterward. The author lived in such a village for five years and these stories are composites of many told to her. The third book, At the Drop of a Veil by Marianne Alireza, is a biography of an American woman who met and married a Saudi from a wealthy and prominent family when they were both students at Cal-Berkeley. It gives a picture of the life of the wealthy in Saudi during the period of 1947-1958.

There is also a book by the Nobel Prize winning novelist, Naquib Mahfouz, Midaq Alley. This is set in the back-alleys of Cairo in the early 1940’s. If you enjoy Mahfouz, read his Cairo trilogy which is justly famous.

 

Health and Wellness Ministry

The Health and Wellness Ministry is alive and growing with additional parishioners volunteering to drive and visit shut-ins. At our meeting on November 16th we invited Bob Fry to share some tips and advice on how we can more effectively do our job. Bob pointed out that the best gift of all is the gift of LOVE and letting the people know we care about them with a friendly visit, a phone call or a card, or a pot of soup, or a pan of cookies. One of the visitors is putting together a photo album of events as they take place at St. Patrick’s to share with the folks at home who cannot be there.

One of the services we will be glad to help with during this busy season (if you give us plenty of notice) is addressing and mailing Christmas cards; or wrapping packages and taking them to the post office. If you need a ride to get a flu shot before the opportunity disappears, just call the monthly coordinator – see the Sunday bulletin for the name and phone number (or call the Church office) – and transportation arrange-ments to and from the location of your choice will be arranged.

Our ability to reach out to you depends on your letting us know if you would like someone to call and come by, or if a caregiver needs a break to go out and do some shopping or go to a movie or have lunch with a friend. If you know someone who has a special need that we can help you provide, please let us know. The good news is that we all share in this ministry. You do not have to sign up in the Parish Hall to be a Good Samaritan!

Have a healthy and hopeful Advent and Christmas.

 

Lay Readers Workshop

A group of us has been meeting from time to time on Wednesday afternoons to examine the Prayer Book. Some are licensed as Lay Readers (different from Lay Eucharistic Ministers!) The next meeting will be on December 5th at 2:00 p.m. to explore the Hymnal. All are welcome at these meetings.

 

Parish Business

Vestry Report

At our October 23rd meeting, we approved Julie for ordination to the priesthood. Bishop Richard Shimpfky, of El Camino Diocese, will perform the ordination on February 9th. Julie reported on the Daughters of the King, the December women’s breakfast, and a special evening service on November 2nd, remembering the departed especially those who died on September 11.

We approved the charter of the parish’s endowment committee and the first grants. Karen Steelman will write about the process for applying for grants in the next Grapevine. We discussed the Every Member Canvass that is now in full swing and we thanked Hutch Gibb for organizing the dinner on November 3rd.

Greta MacLeod has repaired the St. Hilda window and Armand Russell re-installed it. The parking lot has been resealed and new stripes have been applied. Walt has installed a tempering valve on the hot water system in the kitchen; dishes are sterilized by very hot water in the washer. Armand is exploring the installing of more poster boards in the parish hall. The kitchen has been thoroughly cleaned.

Every Member Canvass

As of November 21, we have received 154 pledges for $221,000. Very many thanks to all who have pledged their financial support for next year. We are looking for another 46 more pledges. If you have not yet made a pledge and need a pledge card, please pick one up from the church entrance or call the parish office (833-4228).

Convention Report

We met at the Convention Center at Redding on November 10 and 11. Delegates from St. Patrick’s were Hugh Stevenson and Julie Wizorek (clergy), and Karen Steelman, Angela Stevenson, Sharon Traeger, Bette Leedom and John Leech (lay delegates).

Much discussion was expected about a resolution that I proposed two years ago: that the formula for calculating assessment, paid to the Diocese, should be simplified. Under the new system, St. Patrick’s would pay 23% of our net disposable income after outreach and capital expenditure. This is about what we pay at the moment after a complicated calculation. The resolution passed very easily and treasurers all over the diocese will be grateful!

We elected delegates to various diocesan committees and deputies to General Convention that will take place in Minneapolis in 2003. It took 5 ballots to elect the delegates. The most votes were received by a high school student from Nevada City. No delegates were elected from the Semper Virens Deanery, but the other three deaneries will be represented.

We spent the afternoon talking with members from other parishes, pooling our ideas for a revised mission statement for the diocese. If you have ideas of what the goals for our diocese should be, call the Bishop’s office direct (or the parish office).

In his address, The Bishop reflected about what we will need to do to break down the cycle of isolation and violence in the world. He also said that the ministry of the diocese depends on the ministry of each one of us.

Karen Steelman as Chair of the Episcopal Foundation gave a powerful speech, saying that we can all contribute to the endowment of our parishes. The “zeros” don’t matter.

There was a lot of opportunity for networking. I talked to representatives about Faith Alive, the Church Periodical Club, Cursillo, Integrity and many others. I also had the opportunity to touch base with friends from other parishes whom I had not seen since last convention. I talked to clergy who are liturgical scholars about how we can make our worship more effective.

Thanks to our delegates for taking this weekend to serve the parish and the diocese!

--Hugh Stevenson

 

A Small Step for the Church

I did it and it was easy! On the Monday after Diocesan Convention I called my discount broker. They sent me a form to change the beneficiaries of my retirement fund. I included St. Patrick’s as a beneficiary and got Angela’s approval. I can change it any time. There is no charge. I don’t even have to talk to an attorney or change my will.

This was in response to two things. First, at the Wills Workshop, attorney Jeanne Levin said that this is an easy way to make a bequest to the church—and she was right. She recommended giving a percentage of one’s fund. The trouble with retirement funds is that our heirs will pay regular tax on them. Also estate tax, if our estate is large enough. Also probate, if we have a will but no revocable trust. We have saved all of that and at the same time remembered our church.

The second thing I remembered was what Karen Steelman had said at convention. It does not matter how many zeros there are on our bequests. It is the thought that counts. 25 bequests of one thousand dollars are $25,000 that the church did not have before.

With members of our endowment committee, I went to Sacramento to a meeting of the Episcopal Foundation. They made the following statement, which startled me. In the next 20 years, $50 trillion will be transferred from one generation to the next. That’s a lot of money. Some will be given to the endowment funds of colleges and universities; they are good at asking. The church also should be asking.

There’s so much that we can do to carry out Christ’s ministry in the world, feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, teaching and proclaiming the Gospel. Or we may choose to leave money for the upkeep of St. Patrick’s as Helen and Leroy Neill did. Some years ago they left a bequest to St. Patrick’s, whose income has so far paid for the painting of the church, general maintenance and the repair of the parking lot. They were always concerned about the appearance of the church. If you are interested and would like more information, why not call Phil Holm or another member of our parish endowment committee?

--Hugh Stevenson

 

Endowment Committee

Thanksgiving – a time to gather around the table with family and friends. Also a time to remember that so many in the world have no table, have no home. This is particularly true in El Salvador which experienced three major earthquakes in January and February, 2001, and suffered from the effects of more than 10, 424 aftershocks registering between 3.5 and 7.5 on the Richter scale. More than a third of the population was left homeless as adobe buildings collapsed and whole towns were wiped out.

This fall St. Patrick’s Vestry, on the recommen-dation of the Endowment Committee, approved a grant of $3,500.00 to sponsor a home in El Salvador as part of the National Recovery Program, a collaboration between Episcopal Relief and Development, the Anglican/Episcopal Diocese of El Salvador, Cristosal (non-profit agency incorporated in Vermont), and two Salvadoran non-government organiz-ations. The housing portion of the program includes 200 homes in four villages devastated by the earthquakes. There will be potable water and sewage infrastructure.

A big “Thank you” is extended to those who have made gifts to grow St. Patrick’s Endow-ment Fund so that income would be available for grants. Reflect on the “Thank you” from the family who will soon enjoy and earthquake-resistant home in El Salvador. Look to the future and dream of the “Thank you” for other gifts of hope from St. Patrick’s Endowment Fund.

--Karen Steelman
(member of the Committee)

 

Sing-along Messiah

On Wednesday, December 19, many will gather at the Luther Burbank Center to take part in the Sing-along Messiah. There will be a poster in the parish hall. This is a fund-raiser for the Hospital Chaplaincy Services. Further information from Jackie Senter.

 

Arrangements for January’s Annual Meeting

The Annual Parish Meeting will take place on January 20th. The Eucharist will be at 9:00 a.m. on that Sunday; the meeting will begin after refreshments at 10:30 a.m. We will elect new members of the vestry, hear the treasurer’s report and the Rector’s report. There will be time for questions and comments about the life of our parish.

 

Annual Reports

Could those responsible for parish programs please submit a report by December 15th for the packet, which will be distributed on December 30th, and January 6th and 13th.

 

Heifer Project

You can buy a flock of chickens or a llama (or part of one!) and the money will go to the Heifer Project. Animals will be for sale on December 9, 16 or 23 after each service. For information contact Bob Fry.

 

God with Us

In the waiting, in the Babe’s coming and Christ in the midst of us, all through this season of Advent and Christmas, God is ever present. Emanuel, God with us. Phew! I don’t have to be alone. I am not alone. During the seasonal preparation and anticipation finding God or knowing God can be difficult. But God is in our feasting, in our planning and in our goings and comings of preparation. Christ is especially with our remembrances of people no longer with us; family and friends, beloved ones (and not so beloved as well) now gone. Christ is also with us in our memories of previous good times now fading.

One of my favorite memories of this season comes from the time we lived in Italy and the ritual of going into downtown Naples to visit "Christmas Alley." It’s what you did at the end of November and all through December as the Italians really celebrate January 6th, when Bufona (the witch) comes with gifts. A trip to Christmas Alley meant driving to the local train station, catching the local and getting off at one of the downtown stations, weaving your way through the narrow Medieval streets pausing at a café for an espresso, then past the fishmonger, the pizza stand (need to stop there on the way back), a right turn at the Roman column and finally you are there!

What was so exciting for everyone, adults and children alike, were the lights, colors, and textures found in that alley way. Little shops lined the lane displaying Christmas decorations and crèche paraphernalia hand crafted or made in China. Everything you would need to make your own Christmas scene, Italian style. Fish-mongers with trays of tiny fish, the butcher, women with water jugs on their shoulders, shepherds playing the bagpipes, drums or a flute. And my favorite the pizza oven and the baker with a freshly baked pie. Of course Mary, Joseph and the delicate Christ child are the center of these scenes, crèches of Holiness surrounded with all the richness of the good life! God was truly born amidst life. Incarnational theology at its height. Beyond doubt, God is alive and in the midst of these Neapolitan creations.

What kind of crèche scene would we create from our life here at St. Patrick’s? What kind of things would we place around the holy family to represent who we are and how God is ever present? Maybe vines heavy with fruit, a soccer ball or two, football goal posts, and golf bags. How about a group of women needlepointing, prayer books, a party or two, and stacks of canned foods to give away. Perhaps a couple of chairs to represent the many meetings we have to discuss issues, plan strategies, and vision for our church and community. And the barbecue! What else should we include?

Advent is the time we are invited to once again find Christ, to find the baby Jesus within our lives. And Christmastide is the place that we celebrate God’s ever-renewing presence. Take time during your preparations, remembrances and festivities to name the God who indwells with all of creation.

--Julie Wizorek

 

 


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