Vicar’s Voice September 2013

I think everyone will agree that the annual picnic on August 18 was a huge success. As the first event on our new property, it was a chance for everyone to see what a marvelous location it is. We celebrated the Eucharist on the grass next to the tall, graceful trees, with the music ringing out across the pasture. Then we shared a generous Sunday picnic under the awnings in the meadow. It was especially good to see some of our neighbors join us. My thanks to all who helped organize this, especially Carrie Rivers and John Stock-well.

You may have noticed the surveyor’s stakes and the freshly dug test pits on the property. These are the work of the architect and engineers who are helping us gather the information needed to submit our conditional use permit to the County. The Building Committee has been meeting regularly to envision the type of development we want to see, and on Sunday, September 15, the architect will meet with everyone in a parish meeting to show us the initial site concepts he and the Building Committee have come up with.

At this point, we are very early in the planning process and we haven’t chosen a design for the buildings. That will come later. For the conditional use permit, all we need to show the County is the basic floor plan and building height, as well as the plans for street access, parking, landscaping, stormwater runoff, and the septic system. Our architect and engineers are helping us put these plans together.

The Building Committee continues to visit other churches in our area, and it’s been very enlightening. I was so pleased that Bill and Chelsea Reeder visited the neighbors of our new property and invited them to our service and picnic. They said they got a very positive response from the neighbors they contacted.

As we wind up our summer and start into autumn, I hope you’ll remember to keep your pledge up to date. It’s normal to have a slow period during the summer months, but our church expenses continue, and we’ve had to dip into our reserves, which are limited. I’m very grateful for the continued support of all our members.

Remember that Sunday, September 8, will be the start of Sunday School, when our children will once again enjoy learning from our excellent teachers. May God bless us as we enter a new season!

Bill

The Vicar in the mountains

Vicar’s Voice
August 2013

By now you may have seen that I’m growing a beard (What? You didn’t notice?). Right now it’s in its scraggly, scruffy stage, but I trust it will grow out. I’m telling people this is my “mountain man look” because I’m spending time in the Olympic Mountains this summer.

I’m taking my vacation days on Wednesdays and Thursdays so I can take two or three-day backpacking trips in Olympic National Park. For me, there’s nothing more freeing than wandering up the deep valleys and climbing over the high passes.

We’re fortunate to live so close to Olympic National Park, and many of us have spent considerable time hiking in the park. Tony’s Trekkers often venture up the trails of the Olympics to enjoy the wilderness. Even if we’re not hiking into the Olympics, we all enjoy the tremendous sunsets with the mountains silhouetted to the west.

To me, spending time in the wilderness is renewing and refreshing. I leave my ordinary life behind and immerse myself in the challenges of my hike and the beauty of my surroundings. God speaks to me in a special way in the mountains. It’s no exaggeration to say that the mountains are a natural cathedral, a holy place we go to seek the presence of God.

Henry David Thoreau said, “In wildness is the salvation of the world.” I think what he meant by that is that we need wilderness to balance out the technology and science that distance us from the natural world. No matter how sophisticated we humans have become, we are still part of the natural world that God set us in and made us stewards of.

We desperately need the silence, grandeur, and peace of the wilderness to calm our souls and remind us that we are part of the creation. We humans need this reminder to prevent us from destroying the creation with pollu-tion, overconsumption, and greed.

I hope you’ll have a chance to spend time in nature this summer, whether it be in the Olympics or some other natural setting. And I hope your time will allow you to renew yourself and reconnect to God the Creator.

Bill

A prayer for our new property

Vicar’s Voice

July 2013

In 1985, a small group of people had the vision to start a new Episcopal church to serve the growing Silverdale area. With the help of the Diocese, they bought the property we now have and chose the name, “St. Antony of Egypt.” I believe that God was working through them to make them witnesses of the love of Christ to the people in our area.

We still have that vision. We have not lost the inspiration that they had, and we continue to work to witness to the love of God through our worship, our service to our community, and our welcome and hospitality. We gather for worship, we grow in our faith, and we go out to love and serve the Lord. Gather, grow, and go!

As time has passed, it’s become apparent that our current location is not the best site to build a church, and in the last year we have found a new piece of property much better suited to our needs. I believe that God has opened the doors for us to find and purchase this new property, and God is leading us to develop this new property.

Discerning the leading of God requires much listening, silence, and prayer. If we are to move ahead with our new property, we have to listen carefully and pray faithfully. There are a lot of decisions to make, and a lot of hard work ahead if we are to do this, and we can’t do it successfully without God’s help and blessing.

I hope we’ll be in prayer about our new property so that we act in accordance with God’s guiding. In our Sunday worship, we’ll be adding a prayer for guidance, and I hope you’ll add this to your personal prayers. The verse from Psalm 127:1 seems to be an apt reminder for us: “Unless the Lord builds the house, their labor is in vain who build it.” Although God will work through us, it is really God who will build a new church.

I offer this prayer for us as we seek God’s help;

Almighty and everliving God, you have called us to be your church in this place and time. As we seek to build a new church building, help us always to remember that unless you are the builder, we build in vain. Help us to trust in your providence and grace and to listen for your inspiration, and give us the resources we need to accomplish this task. Above all, send us your Holy Spirit to direct and guide us. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.

Bill