JULY 2018 • Volume 20, Number 4
Pursuing Justice: 2 Through a New Lens 2: 6 It’s a Pep Rally!: 9 Living Water: 10
FROM
In this issue: Youth Ministry ...................... 5 Music Ministry....................... 6 Family Ministry .................... 8 Our Church Life .................10 Great Commission..............11 Page Turners.......................12 Calendar of Events.............14 Photo Album........................15
Sunday Services: 7:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite 1 9:00 a.m. Family-friendly Communion Service with Music 10:00 a.m. Christian Education for Children, Youth, and Adults 11:00 a.m. Choral Eucharist, Rite 2 6:00 p.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite 2 Visit us on-line at www.cecsa.org
Front Cover photo by Charissa Fenton Back Cover photo by Gretchen Duggan Editor Gretchen Duggan
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Pursuing Justice This is Patrick’s seventh epistolary essay in this series about the Christian ministry.
D
ear Alex,
Thank you for sharing your college roommate’s criticism, “If the PATRICK GAHAN Rector Church is so patrickg@cecsa.org great, why is our world still such a mess and getting worse?” The fact that you were lost for words and felt embarrassed, if not downright ashamed, is understandable. Don’t despair, however, because your roommate did you a favor. As a Christian, and certainly as a priest, you will field that question repeatedly. I write from experience. In April 1994, I had just completed my most successful season as a basketball coach and was knee-deep in the spring tennis season. By that time, I had served as the Head Chaplain of St. Stephen’s School in Austin for three years. I was respected in that role, and I enjoyed my coaching duties – especially serving as Offensive and Defensive Line Coach alongside Donny Little, the first African-American quarterback at the University of Texas and later with Lawrence Sampleton, the storied tight end for the Longhorns from nearby Seguin, TX. Two of the last four seasons we had won the coveted SPC gridiron championship – banner accomplishments for St. Stephen’s following a long drought in the football program. The school sat atop the highest ground in the tony Westlake suburb, which amplified my feeling that most everything was right in our little Christian world. So, I took little notice of the rumblings emanating from Rwanda, a country unknown to me, 8,500 miles from Austin. Nevertheless, beginning on April 7, a massacre ensued in that small African nation that rivaled the Nazi Holocaust in ferocity and evil, for within 100 days of that date, 800,000 Rwandans would be mercilessly executed.
Unlike the Nazi’s extermination of the Jews, the Rwandan massacre was not concealed, and in no way anodyne or anonymous. No, the Rwandans slew one another. Neighbor murdered neighbor. Staff members hacked other staff members with machetes. People who shared the same pew at worship – in some instances for years – bludgeoned the other to pulp. Compounding the horror of those 100 days is the fact that Rwanda is the most Christian nation in all of Africa, with 90% of the population identifying as Christian on a continent where religious fervor is the norm. Rwanda’s 100 days of death rise up like an obelisk alongside the killing fields of Cambodia, where countrymen executed over a million of their fellows from 1974-1979, the Serbian Christian ethnic cleansing of 30,000 Bosnian Muslims and other Croats in 1995, and the silent genocide of 33,000 ethnic Mayans by Guatemalan government militias from 1981-1983. Guatemala is 60% Catholic and 40% evangelical Christian. Quibbling about the facts does not erase the startling, unambiguous truth that something more calculating and vile has considerable power in our world and that power flexes its muscles in far off places like Kigali and Newtown, Connecticut and right next door at Santa Fe High School and Sutherland Springs Baptist Church. To ignore this fact is to fall under the spell of what Croatian theologian Miroslav Volf terms “the pleasant captivities of the liberal mind.”1 St. Paul, above all others, strove to break the “pleasant captivity” of the congregations he began and served. He or his close disciple wrote to the prosperous Ephesian church in Asia Minor: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, and against the powers of this dark world and 1 Miroslav Volf, Exclusion and Embrace (Nashville: Abingdon, 1996), 304. Quoted by Fleming Rutledge in The Crucifixion, 449.
From Our Rector... against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12 Paul realized that a malicious force has hold of our world and is not letting go without a fight. This force is hardly benign and cannot be sworn off by a New Year’s resolution or an aggressive daily regimen. This persistent darkness can stealthily pervade our person, our families, our businesses, and our communities. Like spoiled milk, you don’t know how bad it is until you take a generous gulp and it turns your insides.
his work when he last enters Jerusalem at the conclusion of his public ministry and the grueling onset of his passion: Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour?’ No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your Name… Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world is driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. (John 12:27-33)
this?” The answer is in the mirror. The Trinity resides in us, and, therefore, the hope of the world is carried along with us. For reasons not fully known to us, God chooses to act through his human creation. We are not objects herded along by the Lord, but his subjects, entrusted not just with the contents of the Good News, but actually possessed by the ultimate knowledge of the Trinity. Returning to military imagery, God’s offensive operations order is coded within us. Often it’s been stated “one person defending his homeland can fend off a hundred invaders.” Likewise, one person inhabited by the Lord of Hosts can overcome scores of sycophant soldiers of evil.
Jesus confronts this formidable force at “This persistent darkness can stealthily the very onset of his pervade our person, our families, our “public ministry.” Again, St. Paul understands how we are No sooner is Jesus businesses, and our communities. Like conscripted into the Trinity’s army and baptized, returns what is at stake at our enlistment: spoiled milk, you don’t know how bad from the wilderness, and calls his first it is until you take a generous gulp and Do you not know that all of us who fishermen disciples were baptized into Christ Jesus were it turns your insides.” that he contends baptized into his death? We were with a host of therefore buried with him through demons possessing a baptism into death in order that, just hapless worshipper in a coastal village If the Incarnation is the Trinity girding as Christ was raised from the dead synagogue. The dark minions cry out, up for war against evil, the Crucifixion is through the glory of the Father, we ‘What have you to do with us, Jesus of the Trinity planting its battle standard too may live a new life. (Romans 6:3Nazareth? Have you come to destroy in the earth to claim conquest, and 6) us?’ Jesus makes quick work of them. the Resurrection is the victory march ‘And the word spread about Jesus that proceeding into every nation. Looked We baptized have died to the old, dark even unclean spirits obey him’ (Mark at this way, Jesus’ Great Commission order of this world. Imagine, though, delivered at his Ascension is more than if our parents realized that when they 1:21-28). wishful thinking. We are Trinity’s foot brought their babies to be baptized, Jesus comes into the world in order to soldiers in God’s cleanup campaign. they were actually conscripting them in overthrow the dark power of evil. So, Urgency prevails upon us to ‘baptize, the greatest cosmic battle of all time? while we have dressed up Christmas in teach, and make disciples’ (Matthew Imagine if they knew their children green, red, and gold ribbon, overspent 12:19-22). were dying to their previous identities our credit cards, and feasted furiously as “Smiths, Garcias, to foment yuletide sentiment at Schmidts, or Gahans,” “...Where is God? Where is your the manger, Jesus does not stay in and being immersed “swaddling cloths” very long. Quite the mighty Trinity in all this?” The answer in a new more glorious opposite, Christmas, the Incarnation, is but entirely more is in the mirror. The Trinity resides in demanding identity in when God almighty, the entire Trinity – Father, Holy Spirit, and Son – enters Trinity? So much us, and, therefore, the hope of the world the world history to unseat evil, its dark for the champagne is carried along with us.” lord, the devil, and its most gruesome brunch following the weapon, death. All the evidence points service! to this fact, but we’ve chosen to atomize Jesus’ witness so that we may sanitize We will never besiege the darkness the truth about us and while away our Alex, although the university you are and bring about lasting justice until days in “pleasant captivity.” We will do attending is separated from your old we accept this radical dimension of well to refocus our understanding of parish by several hundred miles, I baptism that leads to a fundamental Jesus in light of this cosmic struggle, can already hear the criticisms. “If the change in identity. As a former Army instead of domesticating him as Crucifixion defeated the devil, sin, Drill Instructor, I understand the some Middle Eastern sage tossing out and death, why are their vestiges so intrinsic change that must take place endearing adages. St. John captures prominent and ghastly? Where is God? in us. Essentially, the civilian boys Jesus’ understanding of himself and Where is your mighty Trinity in all we received at Ft. Benning had to be
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From Our Rector... transformed into soldiers fiercely obedient to a higher authority. Baptism is that, but much more. We baptized have been transferred into a new kingdom entirely – one that has finally given our lives ultimate meaning. As Paul confirms, ‘God rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son’ (Colossians 1:13). Perhaps that is why God does not just zap the world into goodness, issue a word and restore order, push a celestial reset button to reintroduce Eden. As his subjects, God desires that we discover ultimate meaning for our lives through
“This news that we are the emerging Abrahams, Sarahs, Ruths, and Marys of our day is almost too wonderful for us to comprehend until we realize that to truly be vanguards of God’s justice, we must die to our selves and our previously held dreams perhaps several times a day.” our intimate relationship within the Trinity and the service proceeding from that relationship. Mine are not unsupported musings. Recall that from the solipsistic chaos of Babel, God chooses Abraham and Sarah to forge the new path of faithfulness. God rescues Israel from Egypt through the actions of a reluctant, unprepared individual, Moses. The salvific line of David is preserved through the obedience of one woman, Ruth, who was a foreigner to boot. Jesus himself is carried into our world in the womb of a common adolescent girl, who, like the others, died to her former dreams and said “yes” to God. Defying all earthly wisdom, we are the vehicles with whom the Trinity entrusts the divine will. We are the beachhead of God’s justice. This news that we are the emerging Abrahams, Sarahs, Ruths,
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and Marys of our day is almost too wonderful for us to comprehend until we realize that to truly be vanguards of God’s justice, we must die to our selves and our previously held dreams perhaps several times a day. My own words here strike me across the face. I had assorted glorious dreams for myself as an ordained person, and none of them included being rector of churches that had undergone wrenching splits. I am now on number three. In no way am I aggrandizing myself. Very honestly, I would have chosen a different, more predictable and serene path, yet the Lord knew better. I was formed in the palm of the Trinity for a particular purpose, just as you were. My call has been to be a voice of justice and healing for parishes that are struggling and hurting, but I would never have known that if I refused to die to my old conception of myself. Not just individuals, but also entire parishes must submit to baptismal death. In my last call at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Wimberley, we decided to make every seventh weekend a “Jubilee to the Lord.” That meant that we would choose a needy individual to assist, spend the entire day on Saturday doing the work, and then celebrate the ministry on Sunday morning. We repaired homes, planted gardens, delivered food, cleared property, decorated, scrubbed, tutored, and painted. Most all of our initial projects were on the east side of IH-35, confidant that is where the poor resided. Then one day a friend took our Jubilee leadership team on a select tour of Wimberley. Suddenly, we were introduced to entire colonies of grim poverty just a stone’s throw from the church. We had insisted that all the really poor folks lived out of town, where in reality, they were all the people we chose not to see in our own community. The congregation had to die to its former understanding. Until we did, we could not be agents of the Trinity’s justice. Even here at Christ Church I have been called out. Two years ago, senior member Mary Boone Ervin confronted me right after worship. During the announcements I was advertising the Children’s Spring Musical, and I noted, “Those children from James Madison would be joining us.” Mary
Boone wisely, yet very firmly, declared, “Patrick, quit saying ‘those children.’ The James Madison students are our children now.” Again, I had to die to my old understanding in order to rise up as a witness of God’s justice. I wonder if that is why many of us resist undergoing genetic testing such as 23 and Me. Do we fear that we will discover we’re not exactly who we thought we were? A mature Christian already knows the truth of that. Our identity is forged through God’s grace, which has transferred us from the power of darkness to the kingdom of his beloved Son. So, Alex, your roommate is right. “The world is a mess – a savage, sickening mess – and it’s getting worse.” But it won’t last. St. Paul admits as much when he wrote, ‘We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time’ (Romans 8:22). The world is groaning as it awaits believers like you and me and the people we will reach for Christ, to die to our old realities and be reborn into a new identity. When we finally surrender to the loving entreaties of the Trinity, ‘Justice will roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever rolling stream’ (Amos 5:24). Your brother,
Patrick U
MINISTRY Fun
H
and
Fellowship Continue
i Everyone!
My name is Amy Case and I am thrilled and honored to be serving as the Interim Youth Director! Gavin AMY CASE Rogers will be Interim Youth greatly missed, Minister and I could never amycase@gmail.com dream of filling his shoes, but I could not be more excited to get to know our wonderful 6th-12th graders and learn, serve and have fun together! I have been a member of Christ Church for 15 years. My husband Chad and I have three children - Mary (14), Andrew (12) and George (9). Mary is going into 9th grade and Andrew is going into 7th grade, so I am fortunate to have both senior high and junior high youth right in my own home! Youth ministry is near and dear to my heart – as it was a fundamental time in my own Christian formation. There were many Christian education offerings during my junior high and high school years – morning Bible studies led by one of our coaches, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Young Life, and Kurios, to name a few. But nothing is quite the same as Christian formation which takes place on Sunday mornings with a church family. In my case, I would often attend Sunday School right here at Christ Church with my good friend Scotti Watson (Sally Watson’s daughter)! This time in the Carriage House was very special to me and brought me strength, fellowship, and a knowledge of scripture which
in the
Carriage House
sustained me through my high school and college years and beyond. Do not underestimate the importance of Youth Sunday School and encourage your kids to bring their friends! “The more the merrier” is almost always true where youth are concerned! The Carriage House is so blessed that wonderful Jennifer Berg and Tobin Simpson Hays will continue to serve alongside our senior high youth and Heather and Ted Yun will share their musical talents as we worship in the Carriage House on Sundays. We will continue to strive for the BEST Sunday morning program for youth in San Antonio, and for that, I need your help! Please let me know if you have any suggestions for how we can make Sunday mornings special for our youth! You can call, text or email me anytime (210-723-6350/amygcase@gmail. com). We are starting to make exciting plans for the fall and I would love your feedback regarding Sunday mornings, Bible study, special events, outreach/ mission trips, acolyting, confirmation and anything else that’s on your mind! Our summer calendar is to the right. We are taking a great mission trip to Port Aransas July 17-20 to help parishioners from The Episcopal Church of Our Savior in Aransas Pass and St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Rockport affected by Hurricane Harvey. We have a great beach house rented and will be having plenty of fun while we serve. On July 29 we will have another Sunday Funday - I’m going to let the youth pick the activity - so stay tuned! We always need and welcome parents and other parishioners in the Carriage House and at all of our activities, so please join us anytime! If you have a
Some of our VBS teen helpers enjoying lunch at the end of VBS week
testimony of your own that you think our youth would benefit from hearing, please contact me. We love having guest speakers in the Carriage House and it helps the youth see that Christ Church is one big family of all generations. I am so excited for everything that is to come and pray God will bless all of us with his love and grace in the year ahead! Love,
Amy July 15 Sunday breakfast, worship, fellowship and fun in the Carriage House (10:00-10:50) Rob Harris speaks about Youth Missions July 17-20 Mission Trip to Port Aransas Contact Rob Harris (rharris@cecsa. org) or Amy Case (amygcase@ gmail.com) if you want to go! July 22 Sunday breakfast, worship, fellowship and fun in the Carriage House (10:00-10:50) July 29 Sunday breakfast, worship, fellowship and fun in the Carriage House (10:00-10:50) Sunday Funday - Place TBD August 5 Sunday breakfast, worship, fellowship and fun in the Carriage House (10:00-10:50) Speaker TBA August 12 Sunday breakfast, worship, fellowship and fun in the Carriage House (10:00-10:50) August 19 Rally Day (special schedule) **Jennifer and Tobin will have a few senior high dinners this summer, so please watch for those dates!**
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MINISTRY Looking Through
a
New Lens - Part II
Bastrop State Park, Texas Last summer Emily and I hiked the trails at Bastrop State Park. If you look closely, you will notice trees that have been stripped of their branches and leaves. Multiple forest fires and floods in recent years have destroyed many sections of the park. But, in the death of many things, new life emerges.
JOSH BENNINGER Director of Music and Worship joshb@cecsa.org
“The LORD brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up.” - 1 Samuel 2:6
The Biltmore Estate, North Carolina Our spiritual gardens thrive when we rise above our chaotic lives and live out our faith. Praying and giving thanks daily helps keep our compass pointed toward God. When we cultivate our garden, our closeness to the Lord increases, thereby increasing the fruit we bear. “The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” Matthew 12:22-23
The Grand Canyon I took this photo over two years ago, and it continues to amaze me. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long and, in many places, descends over a mile into the earth. But, what caught my eye was the dead tree on the right. Even though it has been dead for some time, I still think it is beautiful, especially with the magnificence of the canyon in the background. And just as loved ones pass away and go on ahead of us, we remember their beauty and hold on to their memory. All living things from this world pass away. What’s left of this tree is a living memory, and though the tree no longer lives, it is still beautiful. “...and so we will always be with the Lord.” - 1 Thessalonians 4:17
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La Fogata Restaurant, San Antonio When I find quiet time to think about what God looks like, I remind myself that although we are created in God’s image, we really have no understanding of what God looks like. It is natural but pointless to project our own likeness onto God. Our Lord is greater than anything we can possibly imagine. But, he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” - Exodus 33:20-23
Muisc Ministry...
Christ Episcopal Church The Prayer of St. Francis, attributed to St. Francis of Assisi (but not written by him), is a well-known prayer of peace. The prayer first appeared in 1912 in a religious magazine named La Clochette (The Little Bell). It was published in Paris by La Ligue de la Sainte-Messe (The Holy Mass League). The prayer’s title was “Belle prière à faire pendant la messe” (A Beautiful Prayer to Say During the Mass). Below is the original French, followed by the English translation. Seigneur, faites de moi un instrument de votre paix. Là où il y a de la haine, que je mette l’amour. Là où il y a l’offense, que je mette le pardon. Là où il y a la discorde, que je mette l’union. Là où il y a l’erreur, que je mette la vérité. Là où il y a le doute, que je mette la foi. Là où il y a le désespoir, que je mette l’espérance. Là où il y a les ténèbres, que je mette votre lumière. Là où il y a la tristesse, que je mette la joie. Ô Maître, que je ne cherche pas tant à être consolé qu’à consoler, à être compris qu’à comprendre, à être aimé qu’à aimer, car c’est en donnant qu’on reçoit, c’est en s’oubliant qu’on trouve, c’est en pardonnant qu’on est pardonné, c’est en mourant qu’on ressuscite à l’éternelle vie. Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; Where there is sadness, joy; O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek To be consoled as to console; To be understood as to understand; To be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; It is in pardoning that we are pardoned; And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
The Biltmore Estate, North Carolina In the summer of 1994 I fell asleep at the wheel on the New Jersey Turnpike. I didn’t crash or cause an accident, and I suffered no injuries. I crossed multiple lanes of traffic and woke up once my car hit the grassy embankment. I was able to stop the car in time before hitting the tree line. Twenty-four years later I am able to post a picture of a flower I photographed while visiting the Biltmore with my wife and daughter. Over the years since the accident I have slowly learned to stop agonizing and beating myself up over the dark events that led up to that day. I try not to stress about yesterday, and not to worry about tomorrow. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” - Matthew 6:34
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MINISTRY
Why We Do What We Do - A Reflection
V
acation Bible School here at Christ Church is one of the most labor-intensive efforts offered by our church. It involves leadership by HALLETA more than 60 HEINRICH adults and teens Director of and over 100 Family Ministries children. But halletah@cecsa.org it’s really worth the effort! It is a community building opportunity for the adults, teens, and children who participate. Community is built among peers and crosses over the generations from 1-year-olds to 81-plus-year-olds, and it’s FUN! VBS Directors, Amy Case and Lauren Vielock, and I recently received an e-mail from Garnett Wietbrock concerning her experience with VBS this summer. Garnett grew up at Christ Church, is one of my original moms, and is so gracious in offering her abilities and time wherever needed. She had not participated in VBS in a long time, so her eyes were opened to the true gift VBS is this summer as she worked in our Marketplace as a Shop Keeper (Crafts). From reading her note you will surely realize “Why We Do What We Do.”
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Ladies, I just wanted to share with you that VBS was so fun! The kids, as is obvious in the video, were all constantly SMILING! On Wednesday, a conversation began at my table among third graders. One said this was their first time coming to VBS. The next said she had been coming since she was four. Another said that in 2 years she was going to be a volunteer. The boy next to her said he would be too! I asked if they were in the same class. They said no, they didn’t know each other. The boy then said this was his first time to come to VBS, but he would be back every year, and then as a volunteer. Then a girl who had been quiet all through this piped up and said with a huge smile that this was her first time at VBS, but she was coming back next year for sure! One of the boys came back the next day, Thursday, and said that he was going to Galveston as soon as VBS was over. He said his grandmother has a place there. Then he said that the family wanted to go earlier in the day, but he wanted to go to VBS, so they waited until VBS was over. All the volunteers were wearing smiles (especially you, Amy) and it was a joy to see the love of Christ in each and every face. What a lot of work! You
on
VBS 2018
and your leaders are amazing! Thank you for allowing me to be a part of the joy! YSIC, Garnett Thank you, Garnett, for all your support in Children’s Ministry over the last thirty years and your faithfulness in your love and commitment to Christ and Christ Church. We thank all who ministered this summer in VBS and invite you back next summer to come share in the JOY. We encourage others to be with us, too! You will experience the Body of Christ at work and at its best. Love in Christ,
Halleta News Flash! Get Out Your Togas! VBS 2019: Athens Paul’s Dangerous Journey to Share the Truth June 10 - 13
Family Ministry...
EFM
O
ur Christ Church EFM Class is seeking new members for next year’s class which begins in the fall. Education for Ministry (EFM) is an intensive, but very interesting and challenging, class that comes out of The Seminary of the South at Sewanee. EFM classes meet for 36 sessions per year on Wednesday evenings from 5:45 to 7:30 PM. When the regular Wednesday Evening program is scheduled, EFM meets at the church and gathers off-campus when necessary. The curriculum focuses on Old Testament in the first year, New Testament in the second year, Church History in the third year, and Theology for the fourth year. The years run simultaneously according to the student’s year. Seminary texts are used as directed by Sewanee as the basis of studies. An additional
Time
for a
is
Enrolling New Students
and very important part of the class is a Theological Reflection time which helps build great community among members. In this reflective time, we apply what we have learned to our lives and ministry.
Lead Mentor for EFM at Christ Church is Liza Philpy, who is assisted by Halleta Heinrich. Other class members who plan to continue are Jennifer Davey, Karen Fulton, Jeannie King, Beth Kissling, and Susan Smith. Several
Pep RALLY Day
G
ive me a C! Give me and E! Give me another C! What’s that spell? CEC!! It’s almost time for Rally Day at CEC and this year we are holding a Pep Rally. On Sunday, August 19 the whole church will gather for one service at 10 AM. Wear your school colors for this casual, fun-filled morning. During the 10 AM Rally Day service, all children, youth, teachers, and other students will be blessed. With school starting the next day for many,
and
Blessing
it is a great way to start the new school year. Bring your backpacks, brief cases, tote bags, satchels, or whatever you use to keep your books and school supplies and they will be blessed. A key chain with a symbol of our Rally Day theme of the year will be given to those blessed as a reminder of Jesus’ and Christ Church’s love for you. Our Pep Rally for Christian Formation will begin after the service at 11 AM (ish). Adults will make their way around our campus to learn what is happening in Sunday School classes for all ages.
of us have done the class before but love it so much we are repeating EFM. An EFM Certification of Completion is awarded by The University of the South after conclusion of the four-year study. There is a fee each year for participating in the course which includes textbooks and supplementary reading materials. Scholarships are available. Please contact Halleta Heinrich at the church or Liza Philpy if you have questions about the course or are interested in joining our class. Christ Church EFM class is a loving, open, intellectually, theologically and spiritually curious and fun group. We love to learn and discuss! Please consider joining us in the fall! New members and repeat EFMers are welcome.
of
Backpacks
options too. Starting at noon, or as soon as our Rally Rotation is over, we will hold our annual Parish Picnic with delicious fried chicken, sides, and palletas. Yum! Best of all, we will eat in the air-conditioned Parish Hall, leaving the lawn for the kids to play. Tables will be set outside for parents to supervise and socialize.
Blessing of the Backpacks Rally Day Parish Picnic Sunday, August 19 10 AM less God, B us!
Children and youth will have fun and games on the lawn to celebrate the start of a new school and Sunday school year. As usual, nursery care will be available for the little ones so mom and dad can hear about their Sunday morning
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Drawing Living Water
from
The Well
A
the bliss of retirement while we were s residents of south Texas, we still plugging away at our 9-to-5 grind. know the importance of water. We have As a former middle school teacher, all experienced the pain and frustration I even tried seeing where I might use of the summer drought. In the ancient my skills in the youth ministry, but world, especially that of Jesus, water when you are trying to hang out with held an even more important role. That adolescents who don’t know who you source of life and sustenance was a hard are, and you don’t have a kid their age, earned prize that we, in the modern you end up looking like a creeper. world, often take for granted. One had to walk to the city well, or, more often, Finally, my husband and I decided to the well used by several cities, hauling be efficient with our time. While our all of your own supplies to draw the children were in Sunday school and water you needed and take it home. It chapel, we would hide (albeit in plain was a laborious and exhausting task sight) in the library sacristy of the that could, in some cases, take most of Family Ministry Center. I would read the day. However, wells were not just or check my social media while my a place to get what you needed and go husband napped. While this wasn’t home. After walking several miles, one feeding us spiritually, we did feel like wanted to sit a spell and catch up with we got a few minutes of peace before people you hadn’t seen in awhile or the chaos of the upcoming week. It was just rest. Wells became a place where all working rather well until the day people gathered, where they connected we got caught. One fateful morning, I and reconnected with one another, and was at least three scrolls into Facebook, where they replenished their bodies and my husband was already gently and their hearts. This idea of the well snoring, when Kelly Harris happened being a place upon us and joined for more than What we thought “Convenience doesn’t prune us. just getting was just going to what you need us to bear the fruit that he be a light-hearted and leaving is of catching has planted, and I want to be session what framed up with one another the formation someone who bears the fruits quickly turned into of The Well at an interview with of his Spirit.” Christ Church. Kelly. I knew we had stumbled into I have been something when a lifetime member of Christ Church, Kelly asked us, “Well, what would and, like many of my age, I left for a a ministry that reaches you look while to pursue school and work, but like?” I have to admit that after that as my husband and I returned after conversation, I wasn’t too surprised the birth of our children, seeking faith when, a few weeks later, Rob Harris formation for them, we realized that we called and asked if Jason and I would were looking for a place to plug in and be willing to be on the leadership feel connected in a way that formed us committee for the young adult ministry as well. We wanted to be good parents at the church. and partners to each other and our children. The thing we discovered, This last year, as Jason and I have however, was that, while our children worked with The Well, we have grown were in the capable care of Halleta and and developed spiritually in ways the Children’s Ministry, we struggled to that I do not think we could have find our own niche. We tried parenting foreseen. This group has encouraged classes only to find that those parents us back into a more regular prayer were looking to guide their adolescents, life both individually and together, it and we felt out of place sharing our has brought me into closer spiritual frustrations about our 3-year-old’s fellowship with several of the ladies tantrums. We tried various fellowship through our weekly Bible study, and it groups, only to discover that quite a has given us the chance to share some few of the participants were enjoying spiritual practices with the group that
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are important to us, like the Seder meal. The Well has helped us to nurture the relationships in our lives, both old and new. We have made new friends that, given regular circumstances, we might not have been introduced to, and it has afforded us the opportunity to cultivate relationships that we have had, but only from an arms length. I can’t imagine a world now where we don’t have breakfast after chapel with several of the other families with small kids like ours. Finally, the creation of Sidewalk Saturday through The Well has given me a chance to do what Tom and Christie Hardin taught me in Sunday school in the fifth grade – if God gives you a talent, you use it to his glory, and he will bless you in ways unimaginable. I cut hair thirty-two hours a week or more. To say that it has become second nature to me would be an understatement. It is my passion and my livelihood and I am blessed to be able to do what I do everyday. That being said, there is no tip as rewarding as the smile Nick gives me when I cut his hair every month, or the thanks that Tom pours out when I shave his hair off to the scalp because he can’t reach his hands over his head anymore, or when Manuel cracks a sports joke with me hoping that this
Our Church Life...
... The Well Cont’d will be the time that I finally get it. It is not always a convenient ministry, but God is not interested in convenience. Convenience doesn’t prune us to bear the fruit that he has planted, and I want to be someone who bears the fruits of his Spirit. Without The Well and Sidewalk Saturday, I would have no way to answer the call that God has clearly put out for me in this way, and for that I will be forever grateful. In John 4:7-26 we see Jesus meet a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well.
She is an outcast, married five times, and looking to come and draw water at a time when she thinks she will be alone. Jesus calls out to her and offers her salvation. She takes it and is forever changed. Jesus called out to my husband and me from our own Well here at Christ Church. We thought we could hide in plain sight, but Jesus seeks the lamb lost in the hills, so of course he found us in the FMC. Answering this call and becoming a part of this ministry has changed us forever, and we can’t wait to see where
both Jesus and this new extension of our family take us in the upcoming years.
Meagan Desbrow
SOCIETY
Bigger
and
Better
I
a Ping-Pong table or an elk head, or the five other things he traded up. Richard drove home in a pickup truck. No lie. He started with a dime and ended up with a Dodge.
recently read the book, Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World by Bob Goff, (HarperCollins, 2012) and I enjoyed the lesson he described here: When I was a kid we used to play a game called Bigger and Better. You probably played the same game when you were young too. In this game, everybody starts with something of little value, like a dime, and then everybody heads out into the neighborhood to see what they can trade it for. You knock on people’s doors and ask if they’d be willing to trade something for the dime, and then you go to the next door with whatever they traded you. The goal is to come back with a bigger, better thing than you started out with. The bigger it is, the better it is. My son Richard set out with a dime awhile back. He went to the first door and said, “Hi, we’re playing Bigger and Better. I’ve got a dime, and I’m hoping to trade up to something bigger. Do you have anything you can trade me?” The guy at the door had never heard of this game. Nevertheless, he was immediately in and he shouted over his shoulder to his wife, “Hey, Marge, there’s a kid here and we’re
playing Bigger and Better. (I love that he said “we.”) “What do we have that’s bigger and better than a dime?” Richard walked away with a mattress. Rich went with his buddies to the next door and they knocked while Rich stood on the porch with his mattress. The door opened and his muffled voice could barely be heard as he shouted through the Serta pillow top asking if this next neighbor would trade with him for something bigger and better than a mattress. A little while later, he skipped away from the house having traded the mattress for a Ping-Pong table. Richard wheeled the Ping-Pong table to the next house and traded up for an elk head. How cool is that? I would have stopped there, but Rich didn’t. He kept trading up. By the end of the night, when Rich came home, he didn’t have a dime or a mattress,
I remember reading this quote from C. S. Lewis where he says, “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. When we first embarked on this mission of organizing a Planned Giving movement and a subsequent Endowment Fund, I was skeptical. We have, step by step, little by little, dime by trade-up-from-the-dime, begun to achieve our goals. We are planning another “Are You Ready to Go” seminar this summer, and we consistently hope that the lessons in that seminar help our friends to see the possibilities in their lives and to make a planned gift to their beloved congregation.
Ferne Burney
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Our Church Life..
PAGE TURNERS – From
“I
n a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit,” so begins The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien’s prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy. From my adolescence onward, I have merely thought this was a terse, yet entirely effective, manner to begin the most enduring fantasy series ever written. What I did not know is that Tolkien’s hobbits are his fellow Englishmen dragged out of the comfort and contentment of their cities and villages and drawn into “holes,” that is trenches, all along the French and Belgium borders of WWI. For Tolkien, as well as for his friend and confidant, C.S. Lewis, the horrors of the Western Front never left them, but were illuminated in their novels. Before Dr. Earl Stanley gave me the book, A Hobbit, A Wardrobe, and A Great War, by Joseph Lonconte, the fact that the two celebrated Oxford authors served as line officers during the worst of the First World War eluded me. However, the experience of Europe’s initial mechanized conflict and the horrors it wrought haunted the two men until their deaths. Nevertheless, I should be quick to note that the two Oxford dons, unlike many of their literary contemporaries, did not become pacifists. Even in the face of carnage and the loss of most of their dearest personal friends and fellow academics, Lewis and Tolkien were steadfast in their belief that the powers of light – those infused with Christ – must do battle with the demonic instruments of darkness. Both men were medievalists and were drawn from their youth to Morte d’Arthur, Beowulf, and other epics hailing from the Middle Ages. For them, the heroic ideal is embodied in Jesus Christ and must be lived out in righteousness and justice by Christ’s disciples. A passive, Sunday only, vacuous, tame Christian life was antithetical to Lewis’s and Tolkien’s vision of our call. Lucy, Peter, Edmund, Susan, Aslan, Frodo, Bilbo, Sam, and
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the
Rector’s Book Stack
Gandalf will never look the same to the reader who journeys with Joseph Loconte. The Christian is called out of her or his comfort and into the “trenches.” I beg to differ – “there really is a cure for the summertime… HEAT!” The Black Echo, by Michael Connelly will keep anyone – man or woman – immersed, engrossed, and exhilarated for 400 pages even while skulking under the blast of the A/C. This is the first of Connelly’s nineteen Harry Bosch novels. Bosch is the most disagreeable, most anti-establishment, most irascible, and yet most competent detective ever invented. You would not want Bosch living next door, but you sure would want him on your side in the event of a heinous crime that the other establishment guys would glibly sweep aside. In The Black Echo, Bosch has to confront his dark military past. “Dark” is the right adjective, for Bosch served as a “tunnel rat” in Vietnam. I’ve been to the Cu Chi tunnels just 28 miles outside of Saigon, and I cannot imagine one of my fellow soldiers volunteering to dive down into them looking for the enemy. At any given time, fully half of a North Vietnamese unit would be harbored within those meandering miles of tunnels – hiding out from bombing strikes or recovering from malaria. The tunnels were known for their extensive, confusing, and highly booby-trapped passageways. Bosch spent his war underground, and as the novel opens, it is clear that he has never really surfaced. Susanna and Scott Kitayama gave me this book and three others as Kay and I departed for vacation. Those two really know how to spell “summer” with books that take you deep beneath the surface into your imagination. Being a letter writer myself, I was
immediately taken by Alice HerdanZuckmayer’s The Farm in the Green Mountains. During the rise of Hitler and his Nazi enforcers, Alice and her celebrated husband Carl were kicked out of their country and therefore evicted from their cosmopolitan, urban life in chic Berlin. Carl wrote one satirical play too many to suit the Fuhrer. The two make their way to the U.S., attempt to live in New York, then in L.A., only to realize they needed a vastly new landscape in order to heal from their exile. Thus, of all places, they moved to an abandoned Vermont farm nestled close to the Canadian border. It’s like Green Acres with a Hessian accent. The memoir, in fact, is a series of Alice’s letters to her family after the war when the two are agonizingly awaiting reunion with their loved ones in the mother country. The Zuckmayers’ escapades were so humorous and entertaining, especially to a depressed post-war Germany, that the editor of the Munich newspaper published twelve of the letters in quick succession. The letters not only delighted the careworn German public but also gave them a glimpse of an untamed Eden of sorts, where most anything is possible. Alice begins her epistles: ‘We had begun the farm experiment with the illusion that it would be a foundation for self-sufficiency and would give Zuck [Carl] the possibility of doing his work… He had the choice of rowing as a slave in the Hollywood galleys with the convict’s wages for forced labor or, on the other hand, doing his own work as his own master. But in America everything is always different and unforeseeable.’ Ducks, goats, geese, pigs, chickens, and mice – legions of mice – fill their new life. Carl imagines he will write between farm chores, but there’s no end to the day’s toil. The learning curve is so steep for these soft Euro-urbanites that their tight-lipped New England neighbors cannot fathom that they will stay. They
Our Church Life...
From do and in the midst of their trial, they make a cadre of unexpected and most unusual friends. This book, re-released by the New York Review of Books, is for anyone who loves the outdoors, reveres America, or just craves a dose of ordinary heroism. The Zuckmayers may keep you from “buying the farm” – quite literally! The airport has been the origin of some of my best and most memorable reading. Returning from my sojourn at Gethsemani Abbey with Dr. Chris Graham, I found myself bereft of a novel
the
Rector’s Book Stack...
while whiling away the hours at Midway Airport in Chicago. I meandered amongst the stacks of the Hudson News and Book Shop and found We Were the Lucky Ones, by Georgia Hunter. Inspired by the stories of her grandfather Addy, Hunter chronicles the lives of three generations of the Kurcs, a Polish Jewish family trying to stay alive during the Nazi’s rise
News From
the
ummer is in full swing! June brought VBS. Children of all ages enjoyed eating the delicious bread they prepared in the Parish Hall with the help of Jeannette Muniz and Elizabeth Martinez. Each day the children prepared a variety of bread rolls from cinnamon and sugar, to herb and olive oil or Parmesan and cheese bread. Yummy! The Youth Ministry held a silent auction for their Guatemala mission trip. Elizabeth Martinez donated five meals to be delivered. Also, Elizabeth and Ferne Burney will demonstrate a delicious meal to the winner of cooking lessons. On Sunday, July 1, the kitchen ministry celebrated Independence Day with our annual 4th of July BBQ luncheon. What a treat for our parishioners and
to power. From the ghettos, to the Soviet gulags, to South America, to the battlefields in Italy – the Kurc clan not only survives but also thrives in the midst of unspeakable oppression. The devotion they bear for one another may well be their most gallant trait. Completing the novel, I sat it on my lap and mused which one of my Jewish friends should receive it next. Also note that Hudson News and Books gives a considerable discount to military veterans. That will make our layovers so much more sufferable.
Kitchen
military honorees. Josh Benninger and the choir sang patriotic songs that warmed our hearts! The third annual patriotic pie contest topped off the festivities with an auction. We raised $1725 to support our Snack Pak 4 Kids ministry!
S
cont’d
The kitchen will be closed beginning Monday, July 23 through Thursday, August 16 for its annual cleaning. There will be Continental breakfast in the Gazebo and Parish Hall. We all need inspiration and assurance for our ministries. Whether it is volunteering or serving in the church, we need to be reminded what the Word says about what we do: “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” –Hebrews 6:1016. “Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.” –Proverbs 11:256. “The greatest among you will be your servant.” –Matthew 23:11. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” –Mark 10:45. “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully
administering God’s grace in its various forms.” –1 Peter 4:10. “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.” –Colossians 3:23-24 The Kitchen Ministry is recruiting groups to assist with Wednesday evening dinners. The groups can arrive early on Wednesday afternoon to prep, setup, or stay to serve dinner. Each group will host one Wednesday of the month. The individual groups for Sunday breakfasts and Wednesday dinners will start in September and run until mid-May, taking a break during the winter holidays. If you are interested in serving others through Sunday morning breakfast, cookie baking, special events or Wednesday evening dinners, please contact Elizabeth Martinez at elizabethm@cecsa.org/210 736-3132 or Mary Reynolds at mereynolds2001@ yahoo.com. In August, there will be a volunteer class (Date & time TBD). The class will cover food safety. It is free of charge and lunch will be provided. All interested in helping in the CEC Kitchen should try to attend.
Elizabeth Martinez 13
OF EVENTS July 1:
July 4th BBQ Lunch, 12:30 PM
July 4:
Independence Day, church offices are closed
July 7:
Sidewalk Saturday, 9:30 AM outside the Carriage House
The Rev. Patrick Gahan, Rector patrickg@cecsa.org
July 8:
Christ Church 2.0 Begins, 10 AM in the Conference Room The Well Brunch at Demo’s Greek, 11 AM - 1 PM Christ Church 1.0, 1 PM off-campus
The Rev. Scott Kitayama, Associate Rector, scottk@cecsa.org
July 8 - 21:
Band & Bible Mission to Uganda
The Rev. Brien Koehler, Associate Rector for Mission and Formation, brienk@cecsa.org
July 11:
Summer Wednesday Evening Discipleship Series begins, 7 PM
July 12:
Women’s Summer Bible Study, 9:45 AM in the Parish Hall
July 15:
Noisy Offering, 9 & 11 AM 3rd Sunday lunch at Order Up, 12:30 PM CCF Lunch & a Movie, Carriage House, 12:30 PM
July 17 - 20:
Youth Mission Trip to Coast
July 19:
Women’s Summer Bible Study, 9:45 AM in the Parish Hall
July 21:
Sidewalk Saturday, 9:30 AM outside the Carriage House
July 23:
CEC Kitchen is closed through August 16
July 26:
Women’s Summer Bible Study, 9:45 AM in the Parish Hall
July 29:
Youth Funday Sunday
August 4:
Sidewalk Saturday, 9:30 AM outside the Carriage House
August 18:
Sidewalk Saturday, 9:30 AM outside the Carriage House
August 19:
Rally Day Service & Blessing of Backpacks, 10 AM Rally Day “Pep Rally” and Children’s games, 11 AM Parish Picnic 12:30 PM in the Parish Hall
September 1:
Sidewalk Saturday, 9:30 AM outside the Carriage House
September 3:
Labor Day, church offices are closed
September 7 - 9: Marriage Retreat at Camp Capers
To have your CEC event (on or off campus) added to the Church Calendar please submit a CEC EVENT SCHEDULING FORM to the church receptionist either on the paper forms or on-line. All church related activities, events, meetings, etc. MUST have a CEC EVENT SCHEDULING FORM submitted to the church receptionist, Donnis Carpenter. EVEN events that take place off-campus must be submitted in order to be added to the church’s master calendar. Submission forms can be found on the Lucite racks outside the reception office or at www.cecsa.org. Scroll to the bottom of the page and look for the “event scheduling” link.
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Christ Church Staff:
The Rev. Rob Harris, Associate Rector for Community Formation, robh@cecsa.org Carol Miller, Pastoral Care Administrator, carolm@cecsa.org Halleta Heinrich, Director of Family Ministry, halletah@cecsa.org Lily Fenton, Nursery Director lilyf@cecsa.org Amy Case, Interim Youth Minister amycase@gmail.com Joshua Benninger, Music Minister & Organist, joshb@cecsa.org Charissa Fenton, Director of Children’s Music, cfenton1939@yahoo.com Robert Hanley, Parish Administrator parishadmin@cecsa.org Darla Nelson, Office Manager darlan@cecsa.org Donna Franco, Financial Manager donnas@cecsa.org Gretchen Comuzzi Duggan, Director of Communications, gretchend@cecsa.org Monica Elliott, Executive Assistant to the Rector, monicae@cecsa.org Elizabeth Martinez, Kitchen Manager elizabethm@cecsa.org Robert Vallejo, Facilities Manager robertv@cecsa.org Rudy Segovia, Hospitality Manager rudys@cecsa.org Joe Garcia, Sexton joeg@cecsa.org
ALBUM
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Christ Episcopal Church 510 Belknap Place San Antonio, TX 78212 www.cecsa.org
The Message (USPS 471-710) is published bi-monthly by Christ Episcopal Church, 510 Belknap Place, San Antonio, TX 78212. Periodical postage paid in San Antonio, TX. Postmaster: Please send address changes to Christ Episcopal Church, 510 Belknap Place, San Antonio, TX 78212. Volume 20, Number 4.
VBS fun