Tragedy in Lakewood

This morning at Eucharist during the Prayers of the People, I heard a man's voice praying for "the four Police Officers killed today in Lakewood". The news confirmed that four Lakewood police officers were shot execution-style while they worked on their laptops at a coffee shop in Lakewood.

It's hard to imagine what would motivate anyone to do such a thing. This senseless killing leaves four families grieving a terrible loss. It makes us realize how our law enforcement personnel risk their lives daily in the service of keeping us safe.

Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of these officers.

Thanksgiving Eve service at SUMC

On Wednesday night, I participated in the Community Thanksgiving service at Silverdale United Methodist Church. I've done many ecumenical services like this in the past, and I always enjoy being with people from other churches. Thanksgiving seems to be a unique opportunity for churches of different denominations to gather together.

The service was designed and led by Cecilia Clemons, the pastor of SUMC. Highlights of the service were the bell choir from Silverdale Lutheran Church, a joint choir with about 45 singers, and the energetic sermon given by Jonathan Sansgaard, associate pastor at Silverdale Lutheran. The church was mostly full, and Cecilia and Jonathan were very entertaining, speaking from the aisle with hand mikes.

My part was to read the scripture lesson about the lilies of the field, and to pray for people when they came to the altar rail for prayer. It was very fulfilling.

Cecilia asked members of each church to stand in turn. The largest group was from the Lutheran Church, then the Presbyterian Church. I was glad to see four members from St. Antony's stand.

Another highlight for me was to meet Pastor Lee Riley, the brand-new pastor at Central Kitsap Presbyterian Church. I hope to have a chance to have coffee with him soon.
-

Making Advent Logs this Sunday

This Sunday after the 10:00 Eucharist, we'll make Advent Logs like the one in the photo above. We'll supply the log, the candles, and the greens, plus drills and staplers. Kids can make these, as well as adults, and it's a fun activity. The holes for the candles are drilled, then the greens are stapled on.

Advent logs have four colored candles, one for each week of Advent, and one white candle, for Christmas day. The candles can be lit each evening with a short devotional as a way of observing the season of Advent. By lighting one candle each week, the slow anticipation of Advent is experienced.

I hope we'll have fun with this activity this Sunday!

Brainstorming

Tonight we held a meeting to do some brainstorming about fundraising. Eight of us had an energetic discussion about new ideas for fundraising events. We came up with lots of new ideas - a flea market, a Christmas boutique, selling theater tickets, a beer garden, casino night, dessert night, etc.

One statement seemed to have general agreement: "The barn sale has become a burden and doesn't generate energy anymore. It drags us down and it's not worth it."

Surprisingly, the discussion turned more to ideas about parish life events that would be fun to do. We need to have more fun events! We talked about a dessert night, a game night, a New Year's eve party, make a Sunday breakfast, etc. There was a lot of enthusiasm when we talked about these events.

We discussed making lunch for the workers at the Orthopedics clinic and the gas station on the corner.

A novel suggestion came up: Let's announce a "Year of Jubilee" at our church, when we give up all compulsory events and do only things that people want to do. maybe we can tie this in with our 25th anniversary celebration.

We discussed the Greening of the Church on December 19 and thought about how we might make it into a fun event. We'll follow up with another meeting about the greening of the church party. We'll also put up a sheet with a list of fundraising events for people to make a check mark by the event they prefer.

All in all, a good brainstorming session!
-

Gather, Grow, and Go!

At today's Mission Statement meeting, we came up with a new proposed mission statement...and we did it within 50 minutes! By looking at the data collected from the earlier meetings, we were able to move right into the mission statement itself. Here's what we came up with:

"The mission of St. Antony's is to be a welcoming people who worship God, grow in Christ, and serve others."

Or, to put it in a nutshell, we came up with this slogan:

"Gather, Grow, and Go!"

I'm grateful to the energetic crowd that met today and came up with this new mission statement. It was a good meeting with lots of input from many different people. Well done!
-

Mission statement: Our Values

Tomorrow, November 15, we'll meet to review our mission statement. To prepare for this meeting, I looked at all the comments listed on the blue paper in the narthex and collected all the contributions people have made.

Here are the statements about the things we value about St. Antony's. Tomorrow we'll look at them and see how we can craft them into the mission statement.

VALUES

Complete this sentence: "You should come to our church because it's a place of _________."

Peace and love

Community, friendly, a place of worship

Welcoming family and spiritual growth

Good people

Warm welcoming, people of faith, acceptancer of unique individuals

Welcome

Christ centered and caring

Happiness and love

Friendly people, worship. understnading the Bible, togetherness

The welcoming atmosphere

Comfort and spiritual renewal

Joy in worship, laughter, and love for one another

1. Sharing; 2. Lifting up; 3. Spiritual support; 4. Care; 5. Service to God

Mission statement: our Activities

Tomorrow, November 15, we'll meet to review our mission statement. To prepare for this meeting, I looked at all the comments listed on the blue paper in the narthex and collected all the contributions people have made.

Here are the statements about the activities that accomplish our purpose. Tomorrow we'll look at them and see how we can craft them into the mission statement.

ACTIVITIES THAT HELP US ACCOMPLISH OUR PURPOSE:


Youth group, community activities, fundraising

St. A's Wednesday dinners

Worship

Lesson group


Welcome people

Help those in need


Worship services

Study group

Outreach


Congregation is a church home

Worshipping together in our own way (some stand, some kneel, etc.)

Diverse church congregation - respecting each other


Liturgical service with occasional smells and bells and variety in music

Social and community get-togethers (coffee hour)

Prayer chain, healing service

Occasional retreats, programs for spiritual development, guest speakers


Frequent times of worship

Work on public projects

Fellowship

Music


Intentional prayer, planning, and obvious needs


Eucharist and Compline

Greeters, coffee hour, potlucks, pastoral care, community activities

Outreach - hands on and budget


Welcome people

Help those in need


Dinners together, like youth group dinner
Fellowship

Prayer


Bible study, book group, Sunday School, pastoral care, outreach, whaling days, parish life activities


Actions to seek renewal and refreshment in community through the celebration of the Eucharistic feast


Inclusive worship

Youth services


Being a truly welcoming community of people – welcoming each other, welcoming strangers, and welcoming Christ
-

Mission statement: Our Purpose

Tomorrow, November 15, we'll meet to review our mission statement. To prepare for this meeting, I looked at all the comments listed on the blue paper in the narthex and collected all the contributions people have made. Here are the statements about our purpose them and see how we can craft them into the mission statement.

I think these contributions are very profound and touching. There are a number of themes among them that we'll try to lift out and emphasize tomorrow.

PURPOSE: ST. ANTONY'S EXISTS IN ORDER TO:

Worship
Facilitate spiritual growth
Minister to one another and our community

Worship God
Support each other

To supply the presence of God in the community and reach out to those in need

To provide a welcoming comforting challenging church home

To be the Body of Christ in this place and to the world

Worship God
Meet the needs of the local people

Worship
Bring in new members
Learn about God

Worship
Serve God in the community
Provide a church family

Serve community
Worship
Fellowship

To provide a supportive spiritual community in Kitsap County
Search out a diverse offering of service through public service, worship, and the arts

Learn about God
Reach out to others
Celebrate fellowship

Worship
Community
Service to others and to the community

Learn the Truth
Get fulfillment
Feel God's presence
Friendship

Gather in worship
Involvement of congregation in church programs
Outreach in community

To be a loving community that worships and celebrates together and goes out to love and serve the world

The Power poles are in!

After many months of planning and seemingly endless bureaucratic delays, the power company finally came today and installed two power poles and wiring to bring electricity to the barn on our property. The work crew had to contend with steady rain, but they got the job done.

Now that the electric line is complete to the barn, the electrician can hook up the compressor and the freezer can be used within a few days. It's not any too soon before the Thanksgiving holidays, when all the freezer space available will be used.

The new Liturgical Arts Team

We're starting a new venture at St. Antony's! It's called the "Liturgical Arts Team". Possibly people are wondering what that means.

Here's what we have in mind. At present our worship is visually quite blank. We have a colonial style altar and pulpit, a large brass cross, and two pale banners against a blank white wall. For a visual artist, that equals one big canvas to work with!

It's not easy to make changes in a worship space, and it needs a collaborative effort of creative people who can work together to come up with a design and bring it to reality. So by forming a team of artists, we hope to create a synergy that can make that happen. We have some very talented and creative people in our congregation, and we'll give them the freedom to imagine and dream.

My hope is that we'll be able to come up with some fabric design that will help us in our observance of Advent. Something blue. We'll meet at Noon this Sunday, November 8, and we'll see what our creative minds can come up with.

Perhaps we'll simply drape some cloth for some banners or hangings. It doesn't need to be something that lasts for eternity; it could be a one-off creation so that we can come up with something new next Advent.

I'm curious to see what we'll come up with, and hopeful that this will be the start of a new creative adventure at St. Antony's.

-

Retired Clergy Luncheon at St. Antony's

Today we hosted a lunch for the retired clergy of our area. Ruth, Pat, and Ann provided a delicious meal and spread a lovely table, and Vivian created beautiful table decorations. It was a festive occasion!

About 15 clergy and spouses came for the luncheon along with Bishop Greg. By taking the time to come to Silverdale, our bishop showed that he really cares about the clergy of our diocese, including the retired clergy and spouses. He asked them to share a little about their lives and their ministries, and it was fun to listen to the rich diversity of clergy careers in the room. Some of the relationships go back decades.

I'm very grateful to those who worked hard to make this luncheon such a lovely occasion.

More photos from Trunk or Treat (aka All Souls Day)

On Halloween Day, we held a "Trunk or Treat" event in the church parking lot. Here are some more photos from the event.

Pledge Ingathering Day

Today, in addition to being All Saints' Day, was the day we gather our pledges for the coming year. At each service we brought forward the "treasure box" and laid it in front of the altar, as a way of saying that we offer our pledges to God.

The financial support of a congregation is always seemingly on the edge. Will we have enough to meet our needs? Will we get enough pledges to continue to operate next year? It seems those questions are always present in a small parish.

But I've been pleasantly surprised at the steady commitment of our members in their giving this past year. Despite a tough economy, our members have continued to give generously. Maybe I should have more faith and trust that it will all work out!

We'll see how our pledges come in and begin to create our budget for the coming year. My thanks to all who have pledged support of our parish for the coming year.
-