November 2010

From Mary’s Desk

Dear Friends,
November is always a time of reflection for me. The weather is changing and we are usually mov-
ing from the clear, crisp autumn days of October to the darker, colder days of November. We also
have dates both in our secular calendar and church calendar that cause me to think and reflect:
All Hallows Eve (or Halloween); All Saints Day and All Souls Day, or The Day of the Dead in La-
tino culture‟; Veteran‟s Day, or Remembrance Day in England; and Thanksgiving. It is also usu-
ally the time we wrap up our Stewardship Annual Drive, another occasion for reflection.
And so, I reflect, assess where I am, remember the year coming to a close as well as other years
past.
I also, as I reflect and remember, give thanks for all that I have been given, all that I have gained
in knowledge and experience as well as physically and tangentially. This is part of what I do as I
look at my giving and plans for giving for God‟s work through the church for the next year.
Several years ago now I was in this mode of remembering and thanksgiving when I came up with
the idea of doing something liturgically to reflect all this experience...the dates on our calendars
as well as in our hearts. And so we began the service of Remembrance & Thanksgiving which
we celebrate on the Sunday preceding Thanksgiving. In this service, in place of the Sermon, all
are inviting to come forward and write what or who they wish to Remember or Give Thanks for,
light a taper to place in the bowl of sand before the Altar as visible signs of this Remembrance &
Thanksgiving and return to prayer. This service also usually signals the wrap-up of our Steward-
ship Drive (Please get your Commitment pages in before then!).
I believe this practice has become a favorite for man of you, and I encourage you to be thinking
ahead and planning for Sunday, November 21st!

Pax,
Rev. Mary+
New Church Year Coming
Sunday, November 28th is the First Sunday of Advent, which signals a New Year in the Church
Calendar. With it come some changes. We move to Year A in the Revised Common Lectionary
set of Lessons. Also, Our Sunday Worship book will change and we will be using Rite II, Eucha-
rist Prayer B for the Season of Advent. We will continue to have printed lessons and Prayers of
the People as Inserts in our Sunday Bulletin.

If you have any questions about these changes, please don‟t hesitate to talk with Rev. Mary!

Art & Craft Fair

&
Bodacious Bake Sale
a Huge Success

Many Thanks to ALL you bakers and workers who made

our Annual Event it’s usual SUCCESS!

Hospitality & Outreach Treasurer, Marnie Gentle Johnston reported

that we earned over $500.00 this year. Not too shabby!
 Outreach will be continuing our Annual Food Basket program for Thanks-
giving and Christmas! Donations for the Baskets can be made to St.
Philip‟s with a special note that the gift is for the baskets. Envelopes are
available in the Narthex (lobby). As soon as possible we will have a list of
foods for the basket if you would rather give in that manner. Also, if you
would like to help with either the shopping and/or delivery of the Baskets,
please sign up in the Narthex!

Stewardship—100%
As junior warden, it‟s my turn to write about “stewardship” and how we/I should respond to
it. As a part of the Stewardship committee it seemed fairly easy to prepare a letter to the congre-
gation with deadlines so we could plan the budget for 2011. But, it can‟t stop there. Our Presid-
ing Bishop Katharine Jeffers Schori reminds us (via Episcopalchurch.org) that the fundamental
reason for all acts of stewardship is gratitude for the abundance we have been given.

“The ministry of stewardship is rooted in the understanding that the entirety of our life is a
gift from God. The most precious gift is God‟s self-gift, the person of Jesus Christ who came so
that we may know life abundant.

Stewardship is a response of discipleship, an ordering of life that puts all we have under
Christ‟s rule—our time, our money, our relationships. Jesus is not interested in just ten percent.
Jesus wants one hundred percent of our lives.” 


The above quote is from “mission and ministry” of the Episcopal church and I couldn‟t
have said it better. (That‟s another reason we have “assessments” so we can draw on the many
resources available from the national and regional)

To me the bottom-line for stewardship was/is how much should I pledge based on my in-
come? I go for 10%, but does that include my husband‟s income? What about any additional
monetary gifts or insurance settlements? Hum! I always remember our Bishop Greg telling
us about training/encouraging his son to tithe 10% of his gifts and income since he was a
child. One can constantly battle with these details about what to give.

But, Jesus is not just interested in only ten percent. Jesus wants one hundred percent
of our lives. He wants our time, our money and our relationship, 100%! The monetary
amount we give is only a small part of our commitment to Christ.

For me, my pledge to St. Philip‟s is easier than the 100% commitment to Christ. With
Rev. Mary‟s spiritual leadership over the past six years, I‟ve come closer to the commitment to
“Christ‟s Rules.” Mary has made St. Philip‟s a home for us all by her constant presence, her
knowledge and love of each of us, her clear compelling Christ filled sermons, and her beautiful
voice—and her adaptations to the many changes this past year. ( Every Sunday her humor-
ous and patient dealing with our music system “Gertie” is a constant reminder of how one
deals with change “gracefully”. “We‟ll never play That song again !”

In conclusion, let‟s do the best we can and return our commitment forms by Nov. 7
“Thanksgiving and Remembrance‟ Sunday.

Peggy James, Junior Warden Food Bank News

St. Philip‟s congregation con-

tributed 87 pounds of food to
Thank you! the Marysville Food Bank in the
month of September. Marys-
ville Food Bank receives some
A BIG thank you to Diane Jones who took on our Exhibit booth at food from a federal program--
Emergency Food Assistance
the Diocesan Convention when our usual team of Sue & Jerry Program as well as a state pro-
Riffe could not attend (Sue was quite ill!). Diane took on being gram—Emergency Food Assis-
tance Program. Much of this is
the Sacred Grounds Coffee barista...a daunting ask at any time coordinated by the Volunteers
but unbeknownst our team (Rev. Mary, Peggy James, Mike of America. Additional help
comes from State Food Lifeline
Wray & Diane), we were the ONLY coffee available on Friday! and Northwest Harvest. But
Not a good situation for Episcopalians! most important is local partici-
pation. There are around 100
Thanks to Mike & Peggy too for their hard work getting things set of our neighbors who give of
up and taken down as well as helping cover our booth! their time and ability to conduct
the program of the Food Bank.
We were a hit! A couple of them around since
the beginning of the Food Bank
in 1947. The only paid position
is the director, every other par-
ticipant is a volunteer. Several
of them are persons who came
first as clients and now give
their time in thanksgiving.

Charlie Forbes
Sue Tait and the Diocesan Resource Center
-Peggy James
When I attend the diocese convention, I always visit the booth run by Sue Tait who heads
the Diocesan Resource Center. She displays the new titles and you can borrow them for a
month. I borrowed Teaching Godly Play, That We May Perfectly Love Thee and Celtic Prayers
from Iona.
Sue was the young adult librarian for the Seattle Public Library and did comprehensive and
fascinating book talks at our library conferences. I never forgot and always attended her ses-
sions. She continues to provide the finest resources for us.

Celtic Prayer from Iona by J. Philip Newell c. 1997

This small 91-page book would be a great Christmas gift. Each day reflects a concern for the Iona
Community. The book offers prayers for Monday through Saturday with the themes “justice and
peace”, “healing”, “the goodness of creation and for the earth”, „commitment to Christ”, commun-
ion of heaven and earth”, and “welcome and hospitality”. The script is beautiful calligraphy that
sets a mood for contemplation and prayer. Iona is a little island in the Western Isles of Scotland
and is known as one of Britain‟s most historic holy places.
Opening prayer and thanksgiving for Friday morning:
“I awake this morning in the presence of the holy angels of God.
May heaven open wide before me, above me, and around me
That I may see the Christ of my love and his sunlit company in all the things of earth this day.”

Inside Iona Abby

Sunday at Duke University Chapel
—Peggy James
The 11am service at Duke Chapel, an interdenominational church, was clearly a spiritual
highlight during my two-week stay with my daughter and her family in Durham, N.C.
The Georgian chapel was constructed from 1930 to 1932 by the Dukes, a Durham family that
built a financial empire in the manufacture of tobacco products and electricity production. The
chapel seats about 1,800 people and stands 210 feet tall. It has a 50-bell carillon and three pipe or-
gans; one with 5,033 pipes and another with 6,900
pipes. (Gertie, eat your heart out!!)
The procession of the Duke University Chapel
Choir seemed endless! It has 150 members which in-
cludes students, faculty, staff and other singers from the
Duke a Durham communities and what a grand per-
formance. The choir is one of the nation‟s largest and
most active university choirs. The processional hymn
was “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name.” The organ mu-
sic was Bach and Brahms!
The sermon was preached by Rev. Jeremy Trox-
ler from the Duke Divinity School. The gospel lesson
from Luke told the story of the persistent widow who
sought justice again and again until the judge relented
and granted her request. God‟s persistence and the
widow‟s persistence reveal the tenacity of love and
faith. The sermon was as good and as well prepared
as any of Mary‟s sermons. (and Jeremy, that‟s the
truth)
If you get to the Durham, Raleigh, Chapel Hill area be sure to get to the Duke Chapel for an
hour or more of great music and inspiration! And, it‟s free—well, you are allowed to contribute to the
offering while listening to the “Beati Quorum via integra est: qui ambulant in lege Domini” by Charles
V. Stanford.
http://www.chapel.duke.edu/choir/index.html
Schedules
November 14, 2010 25th Sunday after Pent 9am HE Carolyn Forbes Sharon Billings
Charlotte Champers Bob Tichbourne
November 21, 2010 26th Sunday after Pent 9am HE Scott Halsey Mike Wray
Bob Tichbourne Susie Halsey

November 28, 2010 Advent 1 9am HE Susie Halsey Larry Wilson

Larry Wilson Pat Wilson

December 5, 2010 Advent 2 9am HE Pat Wilson Sharon Billings

Jim Wilson Bob Tichbourne

December 12, 2010 Advent 3 9am HE Sharon Billings Mike Wray

Charlotte Champers Jim Wilson

December 19, 2010 Advent 4 9am HE Mike Wray Susie Halsey

Carolyn Forbes Sharon Billings

Altar Guild
November 6/7 Dorothy Armstrong, Susie Halsey

November 13/14 Emily and Fred Wade

November 20/21 Janet Labdon, Sharon Billings

November 25 Janet Labdon, Jacquelyn Trout

(Thanksgiving Day)

November 27/28 Susie Halsey, Jacquelyn Trout

11/2 Brian Lindsay 11/6 Charles & Laurie Eggleston

11/8 Robin Haynes 11/15 Roger & Pam Pullman
11/11 Dan Garvie 11/20 Phil & Peggy James
11/15 Roger Pullman
11/29 Shirley Mahlum
 Stan and Judy’s Adventure in the High Desert

We've been here over 3/4 of a year and the landscape is still enchanting. And the landscaping goes on and on and on. We still have
about 7,000 bricks on pallets on the one patch of lawn we have. Since it's Bermuda grass, and the landscaper hates it, he hopes he can
press it to death, I guess. We have three stucco walls in place, to break the wind and to give us privacy. But the rest is a treacherous
mess. The bricks are next, going into walkways all the way around the house and in part of the patios.

Stan is doing much better; the doctor found his thyroid and testosterone levels were grossly low, so with supplementation, he is once
again active and has gained back all the weight he lost. It was a long, slow slide down that we didn't notice until things were so bad. He
works out at the gym four mornings a week. We have been to The Indian Market, in Santa Fe Square, and to the Santa Domingo Pueblo
sale, and enjoyed both. There are chances to meet the artists who created pots we have bought along the way: we met Lonnie Vigil,
whose pot we bought in 1992 in Texas, and the girl who made the baptismal bowl we bought two years ago (she was 18 then and is now
going to college). Lonnie was appalled that I had sand and silk flowers in his pot, which is now valued at about 7K, so I cam e home and
took out the flowers. How did WE know?

I just had cataract surgery on my left eye last Friday, and now have 20/20 vision in my eye. True to form, I had a "rare" type of cataract,
as I found out while I was lying trussed up like a turkey on the surgery table, waiting for the operation. People kept coming to see the
"cerulean blue bead cataract" I apparently had for a brief time thereafter. Now, I am cooped up in the house on "light duty" for a few more
days, then I can go out and dig weeds again. Stan is putting together my lawn swing so I (who can now read magazine type) can go and
lay in it outside, with no telephone or doorbell. I've had the swing since June, and just now he feels we can put it up. I'll have to put ce-
ment blocks on the legs, however, to hold it down over the winter, or bring it up on the deck.

Our younger son called to tell us that he is being promoted and moving to St. Louis, MO, by Conoco, so goodbye to Lake Charles, LA. He
has waited 5 years to get out of Louisiana. Our other son is getting married soon, won't tell us when, and living with Sarah, so we have a
granddaughter, Sofia, whose birthday is on our anniversary. Thank you, Norma, for the anniversary card. We went out to dinner in Alb
at The Outback. We hadn't had a steak in such a long time, so it was a treat. There's not much variety in food down here; we had just
fallen in love with Thai food when we moved, but there are no Thai restaurants here, just Vietnamese or Chinese.

Los Lunas' big news is that we have a Lowe's store now. It is right next to Home Depot.

What we don't have is the final excavation plan for the new church. We have had to add multiple things to the plan, including a drainage
pond, in which we will probably baptize new members, or fill with tumbleweeds. And we need a "floating foundation" due to the sandy soil.
So we are still waiting on the architect and then the diocese. But, with our church on state land and the state starting demolition on the
buildings, cutting off our water source, we know the handwriting on the wall is clear. We count the money on the baby changing table
(until recently I thought it was a desk), do sacristy duties in about six different places, have nursery in the "office", hope people don't
break any of the Holy Hardware when they depose the altar guild to use the Women's, and rejoice when I introduced bar towels to dry the
vessels and sponges to wash. We are in a real pickle. We are waiting to have a place to do "real" ministry, with a place
for Sunday School and a nursery. But, they started in a feed store, sitting on hay bales.

It is starting to cool off here. It is in the 80's. It has been a very hot summer, up in the 90's for a couple of months. We have fared quite
well, with air conditioning in the house. Of course, we had that in our other house, so it doesn't seem much different.
We have noticed, however, that neither one of us is having the same degree of pain in our joints that we had up in Western Washington,
so the move has been a good one. Stan has been able to discontinue much of his pain medication. I knew mine was less. So I guess
we'll continue to hang out here for a while longer.

The cats love it; they are out all night, meow outside our deck door at about 6 a.m., sleep a while inside, then go out again. Though we
are on a busy road, they don't venture there.

In the meantime, we continue to pray for all of you there. We miss you, too, also miss Cursillo, though it is here somewhere. We miss the
Washington drivers, Going through Albuquerque is taking your life into your own hands; don't signal to merge, they just speed up to keep
you in your place (not in their lane!).
Almost as bad as Utah, though not quite.

Love, Stan and Judy

On Wednesday, November 3, the Church commemorated Richard Hooker (1554-1600). He was a leading English
priest in the time of the Reformation and led the way for the Church to retain its Catholic character while still
being reformed. Our Prayer Book through the centuries is based upon his original work. I thought the collect
commemorating him most fitting for the times we are living in. Particularly in light of the disgusting political
campaign we have just endured. Here it is:

O God of truth and peace, you raised up your servant Richard Hooker in a day of bitter controversy to defend with
sound reasoning and great charity the catholic and reformed religion: Grant that we may maintain that middle
way, not as a compromise for the sake of peace, but as a comprehension for the sake of truth; through Jesus
Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Submitted by Charlie Forbes

Please
St. Philip’s Episcopal Church
place
4312 84th St NE
stamp
Marysville, WA 98270
here
360-659-1727
Www.saint-philips.org

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