May 2016 message

May 2016 • Volume 18, Number 3

Liturgy of Light Celebration at Easter

Yearning: 2 Why Does the Choir Sing?: 5 Way Down in Egypt Land: 8 Our Youth are on the Move: 9 CEC Player are “Wilde” about Earnest: 11 What is Patrick Reading Now?: 12 Photo Album: 15

FROM

In this issue:

Yearning

Music Ministry ...................... 5

This is fourth in a series of ten essays Patrick is writing on the lesser-known stained-glass windows in the nave of Christ Church.

Family Ministry..................... 8

“A

Youth Ministry ...................... 9 Our Church Life .................10 Page Turners.......................12 Great Commission..............13 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

Cover photos by Susanna Kitayama

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PATRICK GAHAN Rector patrickg@cecsa.org

nd just what in the hell do you expect me to do?” my mother asked, and with that I felt a wide chasm open up between us.

I was twenty-one, which meant Mother was thirty-nine, yet she seemed much older. Kay, Julia my sister, Gene - my youngest brother, Gene Mann - my mother’s husband, and I were all sitting around the dining room table drinking tea. Mother was still in her work clothes, looking weary in a house that groaned with weariness.

Holes peppered the sheetrock, exposed pipes ran through the bathroom and kitchen, cardboard replaced missing window panes, while mismatched Salvation Army furniture surrounded us as we sipped our tea and ate saltine crackers.

Anger was seducing me from the joy of the table. How could a grown man with even a gram of selfrespect subject his wife and her children to living in so odious a hovel? Sitting at the table and drawing another saltine from the wax paper, I realized how greatly my feelings had changed. When Gene and my mother were married four years before, I was elevated beyond words.

Mother had been alone to raise the four of us for eight wrenching years, which eventually landed her in the psychiatric unit of Carraway Methodist Hospital. The two of them made hasty plans to marry just days after she was discharged.

For his part, Gene Mann was not a woman’s stellar choice, but he was tall, stronger than any man I have ever known, and worked as a heavy equipment operator and construction superintendent. After a nightmarish marriage to my violently eruptive, alcoholic father, steadiness was my mother’s predominant desire. Gene Mann seemed to be every inch that – but he was not. As soon as they married, he simply quit working. Instead, he spent interminable hours sitting in the Huddle House coffee shop ostensibly seeking employment yet never finding any. Gene Mann could build and repair any structure, engine, or appliance,

From Our Rector... read architectural plans and schematics before I rolled over in my sleeping bag far-fetched, if not absurdly ludicrous to the centimeter, but he never replaced at night to catch the faintest scent of to us. That may be why the stained glass depicting this scene is tucked so much as a 60-watt light bulb in their her estrangement. neatly to the bottom right of the fifth crumbling My painful window adorning Christ Church’s house on 4th “I could not understand my e x c h a n g e north wall. The panel is hidden by Avenue. mother’s circumstance. I could not with my the disciples’ prodigious vision of the m o t h e r Transfiguration. The hapless three – I realize now see her world from mine.” beside the Peter, James, and John – see at once that Gene Mann b r o k e n there is so much more to their rabbi was frozen, w a s h e r than they first presumed. However, arguably just as emotionally sick as my mother, that late afternoon forty years ago they will no sooner apprehend this and that he sought her as much as illustrates our collective blindness fact than they will quickly dismiss it as she did him after her two weeks of to perceive the kingdom of God and, too contradictory to their convenient hospitalization. On that night of my therefore, to deeply yearn for it. We notions of Jesus and how their vision twenty-first year, sitting around a table simply cannot see the kingdom from of his kingdom will benefit them. arrayed with mismatched cups and the little familiar fiefdoms we have powdered with cracker crumbs, I could carefully culled out for ourselves. I could Still, it is rather curious the disciples see neither his pain nor my mother’s not see the love and companionship do not ascertain even a hint of Jesus’ for the anger lasciviously dancing my mother needed – her dream of the depiction of his kingdom. According good life – from the high ramparts to the Biblical record, Jesus spoke before my eyes. of self-satisfaction and feigned of the “kingdom of God” and the Predictably, when my mother arose sophistication that I had built around “kingdom of heaven” more than any to fetch something in the kitchen, I myself. My world was too small to see other subject – sixty-eight and thirtyfollowed her. Cornering her beside something different, transcending the one times respectively. “Money” was the washing machine that quit working choking loneliness of her former life. Jesus’ second favorite topic, which three months before, I asked – or rather Now peering over the insular walls of he mentions twenty-five times. The accused her, “Just how long are you my youth, I can understand why we subject of “sex” rolls in loosely with going to put up with this?” To which cannot see and summarily dismiss the about seven total citations. she slammed her cup atop the dead Bible’s witness of God’s kingdom, for washing machine and replied, “And to do so we would have to step out of While Jesus leaves out the idyllic just what in the hell do you expect me the kingdom we have painstakingly portrait of “wolves and lambs” in his promotion to do?” Suddenly transported back to constructed. of the my early childhood when my mother “Living in our manufactured kingdom of when we would take a boxwood switch to my Thus, God, a child tender legs, I shut my mouth, knowing hear the Prophet Eden, we dare not risk e m e r g e s the final word on the matter had been Isaiah’s foretelling the thought there may be of God’s kingdom prominently spoken. read amidst the – something better.”

I could not understand my mother’s candlelight of the Eve Truly, I tell circumstance. I could not see her world Christmas you, unless you change and become from mine. Beheld from the blissful, celebration, we consider his promise as like little children, you will never perfectly appointed, matched and fanciful as Santa Claus. Living in our enter the kingdom of heaven. maintained apartment where Kay and manufactured Eden, we dare not risk Matthew 18:3 I lived, my mother, Gene, and the kids the thought there may be something seemed to be inhabiting a Neanderthal better. We listen to the long rehearsed, cave. I was wrong, of course; Mother did emotive lines of Isaiah as cynically as Why must we “become like a child” to not perceive that she was dwelling in an arrogant young man listens to his catch sight of God’s kingdom? My own sad saga tells the story. As a young some cold, forbidding grotto. She saw wounded mother pour her heart out: adult, I built high walls around my herself as no longer alone. Those years The wolf shall live with the lamb, new life, so high, in fact, so as not to living alone, raising children alone, the leopard shall lie down with dare look beyond the world contained fending off creditors alone, yet mostly

the kid, within them. I had fabricated a refined coming home alone to a house bereft the calf and the lion and the fatling existence in an attempt to redefine of companionship – except that of four together, myself. We all do that, and even the always wanting children. Mother could and a little child will lead them. Bible maintains its necessity to a degree: have just as easily slammed down her Isaiah 11:6 “A man shall leave his father and cup on the washer and said, “Pat, do mother and cling to his wife...”(Genesis you really want me to turn over in the bed at night to nothing and to no one!” The vision of a child leading a parade of 2:24). Moving out, moving on, and I was on some lonely, lengthy military vicious wild wolves and cats alongside redefinition is necessary. The problem training engagement or deployment domesticated farm critters seems arises when the new identity, along

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From Our Rector... with its prosperity, advanced degrees, comfortable neighborhood, fashionable friends, and selective clubs blinds us to what is really real. What we once saw clearly as a child becomes profoundly obscured.

Most of us are surprised to learn that what’s really “real”, at least in religious terms, is the dominion of God as opposed to the artifices and props we artfully assemble for ourselves. My

we do not regress into some simpler, callow condition, but we progress to a higher state of being. The key to understanding Jesus’ declaration is the word “become.” The word in Greek is strepho, which means to “convert.”1 Christians must undergo, not just a conversion of the soul, but one of selfunderstanding, as well. Without this conversion, Thacker loses the girl and his best life.

Looked at this way, we Christians are pressed to cross over the deadly River Styx to the far shore, where the real life of God’s kingdom awaits.

We have placated ourselves as we have dithered upon the banks of our present contrived life, yet all the time knowing there must be more. And there is. For his part, Jesus admits his frustration with our great-great-grandparents and us so that he cries out in disgust:

“Most of us are surprised to learn that what’s really “real”, at least in religious terms, is the dominion of God as opposed to the artifices and props we artfully assemble for ourselves.” mother’s need for a companion was a much deeper, God-given desire than my adolescent resolve to eradicate her physical circumstances. My concerns were skin-deep.

Hers were deeply seated in the soul. Hers were real.

To illustrate this further, allow me to recount the fêted 1999 film, “Notting Hill,” where run-of-the-mill, lackluster bookshop owner William Thacker, played by Hugh Grant, falls in love with the world-celebrated, lustrous actress Anna Scott, played by Julia Roberts.

Late in the film, the plot takes a tragic turn when Thacker sheepishly admits to Scott that he cannot make the jump into her very public and sometimes volatile world. She stands at the door of his sleepy bookshop and tearfully confronts the man she loves with, “You know that’s not real.” She tries to say that the hype, the cameras, the reporters, even the fame surrounding her life are not real. What’s in her heart is real; so before she walks out the door, she prophetically states, “I’m just a girl asking a boy to love her.” A child would see it, but it takes hours of agony for stultified Thacker to do so.

Thacker, it must be noted, does not lapse into some arrested conception of life in order to finally admit his love and need for Scott. On the contrary, he had to transcend his once stymied vision of himself and acknowledge the new life he deeply desires. To “become the child” Jesus demands,

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To what can I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed and you did not mourn.’

Matthew 11:16-17

Healing, delivering, and assuaging sick souls, he would assure them, “Today, the kingdom of God has come near you.” His song grows ever stronger until it reaches its crescendo in his own hometown of Nazareth. Jesus arrives home construing his own song with Isaiah’s ancient one: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord’s favor. Luke 4:16-19 How unnerving his words must have been for the homefolks, like the sound of a mother slamming her teacup atop a metal washing machine. The ring of it does not soon depart from your ears because the invitation is not what you expect. “You want the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus asks. You must step out from the formidable walls of your present life and see what awaits you.”

And what is there? Real life awaits in its manifold, rich, unpredictable variety. The poor, the captive, the sightless, and the oppressed all wait for us to climb over the high walls that insulate, impoverish, blind, and limit us. Considered from that angle, Jesus was not trying to discourage the privileged person when he offered, “The Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20; Luke 9:58). Jesus wasn’t disparaging the young man or woman but tempting her. After all, who wants to lay around a single second longer and altogether miss living?

We can easily comprehend the scene.

Village children are gathered in a sunny marketplace, the entire day opening up for them to enjoy. However, they are slumped along the shadowy walls of the shops and houses whining, “I don’t want to play that game.” “What fun is that?” “We’ve tried that one before.” Holding up this incriminating “To “become the child” Jesus demands, portrait before our we do not regress into some simpler, eyes, Jesus shows us how stuck we are if callow condition, but we progress to a we refuse to leave higher state of being.” the boundaries of our cardboard kingdoms for his. The music is playing, but are To that end, I conclude this essay with we dancing? We remain afraid to step an extended quote from Sara Miles, out into the life for which we yearn. a most unlikely person whom Jesus cajoled beyond the thick walls of her Everywhere Jesus went, he constantly critical, cynical existence and into real piped the music of the kingdom. life: 1 Christian Wiman, “I Will Love You in the Summertime,” The American Scholar, Spring 2016, 50.

One early, cloudy morning when I was forty-six, I walked into a

From Our Rector... church, ate a piece of bread, took a sip of wine. A routine Sunday activity for tens of millions of Americans — except that up until that moment I’d led a thoroughly secular life, at best indifferent to religion, more often appalled by its fundamentalist crusades. This was my first communion. It changed everything.

Eating Jesus, as I did that day to my great astonishment, led me against all my expectations to a faith I’d scorned and work I’d never imagined. The mysterious sacrament turned out to be not a symbolic wafer at all, but actual food — indeed, the bread of life. In that shocking moment of communion, filled with a deep desire to reach for and become part of a body, I realized what I’d been doing with my life all along was what I was meant to do: feed people.

And so I did. I took communion, I passed the bread to others, and then I kept going, compelled to find new ways to share what I’d experienced. I started a food pantry and gave away literally tons of fruit and vegetables and cereal around the same altar where I’d first received the body of

Christ. I organized new pantries all over my city to provide hundreds and hundreds of hungry families with free groceries each week.

Without committees or meetings or even an official telephone number, I recruited scores of volunteers and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars.

My new vocation didn’t turn out to be as simple as going to church on Sundays, folding my hands in the pews and declaring myself ‘saved.’

Nor did my volunteer church work mean talking kindly to poor folks and handing them the occasional sandwich from a sanctified distance.

I had to trudge in the rain through housing projects, sit on the curb wiping the runny nose of a psychotic man, take the firing pin out of a battered woman’s .357 Magnum, then stick the gun in a cookie tin in the trunk of my car. I had to struggle with my atheist family, my doubting friends, and the prejudices and traditions of my new-found church. I learned about the great American scandal of the politics of food, the economy of hunger, and the rules of money. I met thieves, child abusers, millionaires, day laborers, politicians, schizophrenics,

gangsters and bishops, all blown into my life through the restless power of a call to feed people, widening what I thought of as my ‘community’ in ways that were exhilarating, confusing, often scary…

And so I became a Christian, claiming a faith that many of my fellow believers want to exclude me from; following a God my unbelieving friends see as archaic superstition.2 Sara Miles’s conversion hits me as hard as St. Paul’s (Acts 9), and it amplifies my mother’s question across four decades such that the words have become more savagely personal to my ears. She has turned the table on me, again, and asks, “Just what in the hell do you expect to do?” she demands.

“Open my eyes and live, Mom. Open my eyes and really live.”

Your brother,

Patrick U 2 Sara Miles, Take This Bread (New York: Random House, 2008), xi-xii.

MINISTRY Why We Sing

T

JOSH BENNINGER Director of Music and Worship joshb@cecsa.org

he choir’s role in worship is one of spiritual leadership.

This calling is meaningful, rewarding, and fun but also challenging. While it may appear like hard work at times, ask the

choir and they will exclaim in unison that to sing on any given Sunday is not a job. We sing for the love of God and the love we have for each other. It’s also

much more than music, it’s a ministry.

We talk to one another about our daily lives. We minister to each other. We pray for each other. We take care of each other. We praise each other. We call it the “choir family.” I could ramble on, but instead, I’ll let the members of the choir share their personal reasons on why they sing.

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“I have been singing in choirs since I was about 5 years old! When I have taken time off, I am always drawn back.

The choir is family. They share our love of music but even more, they share our

joys and help us bear our sorrows. The music lifts us and fills our individual souls, and a choir family helps build the collective soul of the church. Even when I have had a long and difficult day (or week!) I look forward to raising my voice in praise with this wonderful family. I am so thankful for the Christ Episcopal choir!” – Pam Kittrell

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“I began singing in church choirs in 1986 because I wanted to be a participant in worship, not just a spectator. When we moved to SA in 2000, I promised Lauren I would sit with her in church and not make her a “choir widow.” That lasted until we came to Christ Church in the

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Music Ministry...

Why We Sing...cont’d

different in experience for me but my main reason for singing in the Christ Church Choir is my joy of singing with others, friends I care about who have a common purpose of praising God and expressing what is meaningful in our lives.” – Larry Amos

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“I love to sing in the choir because it allows me to worship God as part of a body of believers in a way that takes worship to another level. The music, the text of the songs and the feeling of family we share as part of the choir are how I imagine heaven to be. We all use our individual talents to create something so much bigger than we could individually.” – Leslie Eichelberger

spring of 2001. I kept my promise for two or three weeks, until the pull became too strong and I had to get into the loft.

Singing in the Christ Church choir lifts my worship experience to a different level. Sometimes the presence of the  Holy Spirit is so strong in our midst that “It is a wonderful group of people who it is hard not to become emotionally enjoy singing together” – Sharon Sholar overcome. There have been occasions  when we finish singing and I see  choristers looking around with a “where “I enjoy the caring atmosphere. It’s “The choir is literally a family. I often fun to be with people who love to make did that come from” expression on their joke that it is a good thing that we don’t faces. Worshipping and praising God beautiful music.” – Eddie Sholar live together; however, 32 years ago I  in song with this wonderful group of met Kathleen Walthall in the choir people -- even in rehearsals -and we have lived together since. makes a bad day good, lifts my The music and shared worship “Sometimes the presence of the Holy spirit, and fills my heart with the deal all those years ago joy.” – Paul Blackwell Spirit is so strong in our midst that sealed and the choir continues to be one of  it is hard not to become emotionally the ongoing miracles of my life.” – “I hear God most often through Roger Fry music, especially when I join with overcome.” -- Paul Blackwell  my choir family in reaching for “As a life long member of Christ moments of beauty or intensity “I enjoy singing in the choir mainly Church, I first began singing in the very or sheer joy.” – Susan Artiglia because this is my second family and young children’s choir when I was about  four years old, or around 1958. Each “Someone said our life should be a has been for over 13 years. I always look Sunday morning during Sunday School forward to Thursday nights and Sunday rehearsal for heaven. In my 68 years of a short church service was held in the mornings so that I can see my family singing in church choirs, I have never tiny first floor chapel and those children again!

I always miss them when I don’t seen one so full of love – for each other who wanted to sing in the choir could do get to see them for whatever reason. and for singing God’s praises. We are so. In grade school I continued singing I don’t just love seeing my family, but indeed rehearsing for heaven.” – Fred with the children’s choir during services seeing my family in God’s name.

I love Shockley the fact that we unite the gifts and held in the upstairs chapel, which is now  talents that God gave us, to in turn the choir practice room. In junior high “First of all, I believe Owen, and now praise Him and raise Him up for His school and through high school I was Josh put God as the music director of glory. I’ve never been in a choir where a part of the junior choir, which sang this choir. I can see this in (now) Josh’s our director always leads us in prayer for the early service each Sunday. This faith and trust in God’s leading in the and every member, no matter the age, choir was led by part-time choir director choice of music, in his calmness when ethnicity or background, is your brother and organist Barney Tiller. I moved out frustrations arise, as they inevitably do, and sister in Christ and we truly care of state for a few years following college in the music preparation and execution, about and love each other. There is so but returned to San Antonio and Christ and his genuine care and interest in all much love in that room!

Church in 1979 and joined the adult of the choir members. choir under the direction of Tim Smith.

I also enjoy the fact that there is never Second, I enjoy our choir “family.” We a dull moment in the choir. Sometimes I Fellowship with the choir was then really support and love each other. I feel can’t believe that I’m in this choir! I have and remains an integral blessing in we want the best for those around us the honor and privilege to pray twice in my life. Christ Church choir is where and we all love sharing God’s amazing different genres, styles, musical periods I met Roger, the love of my life, and mercy and love through music with and even languages. I really enjoy during the choir’s trip to England in anyone who will listen. Third, I really the variety of a blended service with 1983 we became engaged. We married like the type and variety of music we traditional and contemporary pieces the following year, of course at Christ sing. along with new and more challenging Church, and to the beautiful music pieces. It is a joy, an honor, and a offerings of our beloved church choir.

I’m sure there are many other reasons privilege to be in my Christ Church We have been singing together in the (it makes me happy, for instance), but Choir.” – Virginia Peche choir ever since. these will do for a start.” – Gail Wettstein My church home is the greatest gift my  parents gave to me. The music through  “I sing in the choir for the fellowship and “Choirs have been a part of my life the joy of corporate worship with song.” choir participation sings to my soul and I bask in the delightful relationships of for over 60 years. They all have been – Craig Wilson

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Music Ministry... my choir family. Roger and I are so very blessed indeed.” – Kathleen Fry

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“We work hard for good results, and we are truly family. The intellectual humor is second to none.” – Ferne Burney

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“Carol and I have sung in choirs for 45 years. We have sung in choirs in eight different Dioceses. Some have been exceptional and some not. Heavenly Rest in Abilene, St. Matthew’s in Austin, and St. John’s in Selma, all were great choirs.

But none of them exhibited the talent, dedication and love for each other that is shown in this choir. The leadership shown by Josh is exceptional. We love every minute of it.” – Don Roberts

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beginning. The members of the choir are truly concerned for the well-being of each member. We celebrate joys and pray for those in pain. It is a truly special place to be.” – Jennifer Holloway

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“I was so afraid to step out in the beginning, even though music was one of the most significant parts of my life.

It was scary. Due to my past, and tragic way I stepped out of the church, I closed the door on that part of my life so long ago. I carried so much pain and denied the very things that brought me the closest to my God. I hid from the calling that I know God placed on my life as a young man. How many times do we find ourselves blaming others for our pain, instead of taking responsibility for our part, and seeking his guidance to give us the tools to move forward. It’s so much easier to hide in the Garden instead of facing God in our shame and sadness.

musical direction is especially satisfying.

His organization, energy and passion are inspiring and fun. Under his direction for the past 18 months we are a better choir technically because of his attention to precise entrances, releases, dynamics, blend and phrasing / shaping of lines. He politely yet firmly reminds us of these things, always so patiently.

Second to learning and performing the music at CEC is the warm fellowship.

The other singers surround me with that during rehearsals and during the delicious pre-rehearsal suppers, which Ferne’s culinary skills and generosity enhance so much.” – Jim Harnish

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“Because I can’t imagine not singing in the choir. It is an honor to be part of this special, supportive group.” – Pam Pattie

“My love of music and singing God’s words was my prerequisite to join  the choir. The result has been simply: “What keeps me coming back every worshipping through music. But it’s a week is the bond I share with the other corporate effort. The love shared in this musicians in the choir, which is choir is evidence to me and a passion for sharing the word my husband, that this is an “I love the fact that we unite the gifts of God, through music. We are extraordinary choir of a rare, and talents that God gave us, to in turn a close-knit group of diverse prayerful group of church individuals who are united in the musicians.” – Carol Roberts praise Him and raise Him up for His knowledge and love of Christ.  We’re a family of sorts, and we glory.”

-Virginia Peche “To sing in the CEC choir for all watch out for and take care me is both a pleasure and of one another. Most importantly, a call for service to the community at I am so grateful, to have the privilege of we enjoy sharing God’s word with the the same time. It is a pleasure sharing taking on this challenge again. I believe congregation, through the powerful efforts to learn and perform exciting, that I continue to awaken my spirit avenue of song. After all, “they” say that high quality vocal pieces with other very every day, and in turn I continue to when you sing, you’re praying twice!” – talented singers. And it is a service that see His plan for me revealed with more Kim Elizondo helps to fulfill my moral duty to give and more clarity. I thank the family of  back my natural talents I have to offer Christ Church and the choir family for “I have loved to sing since I was a little to other people.” – Joseph Peralba truly seeing ‘ME’. They saw through my girl singing on our farm. I have always shame and celebrated the man God  associated singing with worshiping God. “We are like a family. We play together, intends me to be. You all recognized I think of singing as the closest form of eat together, pray together and make who I am, and I am still finding my way. worship for me. When I sing I feel God’s But Christ enabled you all to see to the beautiful music together.” - Kay Gahan heart of me. Each week I get to celebrate incredible presence and I am filled to  and witness the love of Christ with overflowing. Praise God from whom all “I like singing in the choir because it fellowship and through song. I know blessings flow!!!!” - Kristina Hanley gives me the opportunity to be a part that my healing continues, because I  of joyful worship that is also deep and responded in obedience to the guidance “We sing because God deserves our profound, that is also demanding. We of God in joining this fellowship. Now praise. But this decision is left ultimately work hard, but as a former associate I rejoice always by lifting my voice in to us, so we choose to sing. I firmly Rector used to say, our Sunday service praise.” – Tim Little believe it would be egregious for us is a work we offer to God.” – Charles to decide that God should not receive  Hansen “It is a spiritual time in my week that something that He desires from us. We  is accented by wonderful people and should never withhold the glory that is “I have sung in many church choirs and music that gives breath to my soul.” – due to Him. And we should always do the Christ Episcopal Choir is, by far, the Alice Fuller so with the best of our abilities that He most caring and friendliest choir I have gave us.” – Josh Benninger  ever been lucky enough to be a part of.    The joy of singing together is just the “Singing in the CEC choir under Josh’s

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MINISTRY

Special Thank Yous

I

HALLETA HEINRICH Director of Family Ministries halletah@cecsa.org

want to recognize all the wonderful teachers who committed to be with our children each Sunday this year and teach them the most important subject in the world - the Love and Hope we have in Jesus Christ. My prayer

is that the teachers learned much through their teaching and grew in faith. Teaching is the best way to learn, and the children teach us, too! The last day of Academic Year 2015-16 Sunday School is May 22. Please personally thank the teachers listed below when you see them.

Toddlers and Two Year Old Teacher: Samantha Perez Preschool Teachers: Carmen Lewenthal and Carol Locke First and Second Grade Teachers: Jennifer Davey and Leita Carter

Walk Like

I

n just a few weeks, our church will be filled with the aromas, sights, and sounds of kids participating in a special Holy Land Adventure—in Egypt!

Kids will worship God with songs and prayer, create unique craft projects, and discover God’s powerful love in exciting and memorable ways. They

Special Screening of “Joseph - King of Dreams”

C

hildren will get ready for our VBS based on the story of Joseph from Genesis - “Holy Land Adventure Egypt - Joseph from Prison to Palace” by viewing the great animated feature “Joseph King of Dreams.” The movie will be shown during Sunday School and Children’s Chapel time from 10 – 11:30 am in the FMC Movie Theater Room 302 on Sunday, June 5. VBS will start the next day, June 6, so we know this movie will get our children excited about being part of VBS. Some yummy Joseph themed snacks will be served!

Parents are invited to join us.

Children not picked up by parents at 11:30 in the movie theater will be taken into the 11 am service to join their parents at Announcement Time.

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an

Egyptian

from June

Third Grade Teachers: Stephen Archer, Andrew Barton, Kathryn and Jake Martinez, Sheila and Carter Mayfield Fourth and Fifth Grade Teachers: Julie and Peter Zacher, Catherine Markette, Sarah and Chris Kardys, Laura and Michael Heinrich, and Jennifer and John Colglazier Parent Class Leaders: Nancy and Mark Wright, Cindy and Charles Huey, Catherine Easley and Lisa and Dennis Eberhardt With gratitude,

Halleta

6-9

will experience what it was like to live in the land of the Pharaohs and why it’s important to know the one true God! To have the best adventure possible, WE NEED LOTS OF VOLUNTEERS who can share a little time and a lot of love with the kids who attend.

Below are the areas where we need you. Together, we can step back in time—and bring ancient Egypt to life at Christ Church!

Shopkeepers: In the Marketplace Shops, you’ll help kids make unique craft projects. We provide the instructions, materials, and a shaded booth. All we need from you is your time from 9 – 11:30 am Mon. -Thurs.

Egyptian Group Leaders: An easy-tofollow leader manual helps you lead a group of approximately 10 people.

You’ll share in meaningful traditions and build relationships as you guide your group to: Celebration worship Family Time (small group time) Marketplace shops (crafts, food,

and a special mission project) Visits with Joseph Pyramid Playground (fun games) Again, we provide all the materials – we just need you from 8:45 am -12 pm Mon.Thurs.

Other Positions: Registration desk Decorating team

Whatever your gifts, interest, and time commitment…we have a place for you! We believe that God will use this incredible program to reach many children (including those from our church, other churches, James Madison Elementary, Respite Care and Good Sam) with the message of his love.

Register online at www.cecsa.org – click on the the Egypt logo on our home page. Or just email us!

Many thanks and blessings!

Amy Case, co-director (amygcase@gmail.com)

Lauren Vielock, co-director (lauren@brandingworksltd.com)

Jennifer Colglazier, Marketplace/crafts

Laura Nell Burton,

Worship, small group leader

MINISTRY Summertime Fun In

T

he summer can be a great time to slow down (from school at least!) and enjoy all the summer has to offer. This summer Christ Church is hosting GAVIN ROGERS a variety of ChristYouth Minister centered trips gavinr@cecsa.org for our youth, college students, and young adults. We are heading to New Orleans with our Junior High Students, New York with

and

Out

of

Town

High school students, and Guatemala with High School and College students, as well as young adults. These trips are great ways to fellowship with your peers, participate in community service, and grow closer to God! However, if your summer schedule is crammed with other trips or vacations, you can still participate in our weekly youth events at Christ Episcopal Church. Please look at our Sunday Funday or Wacky Wednesday schedule and attend an event that works for your schedule! These weekly events (along with weekly Sunday School at 10 AM)

are fantastic ways to stay connected with your church family during the summer and invite your friends to a fun outing around San Antonio.

Our mission at CEC Youth aims to proclaim and practice the love of God and to lead our students to grow in their full potential in and through Jesus Christ. All of our summer programming centers around this core mission! Don’t miss out on a fun summer with CEC Youth.

Gavin

CEC Youth on the Road Soul Train to New Orleans Junior High June 10 - 15 Enjoy food, fun and fellowship all around NOLA as we serve those in need. There will be time for sightseeing too! $395 Guatemala Mission Trip High School & College June 20 - July 3 We will serve in Guatemala along with Student International. Visit www.stint.com for more info. $1800 Mission to New York High School July 13 - 18 We will partner with Dorothy Day’s Catholic Workers as we serve those in need in the Big Apple.

We will see the sights and a show while there. $495 Scholarships Available Contact Gavin Rogers at gavinr@ cecsa.org or (210)736-3132 for all the details and to get on board!

9

Time

T

BRIEN KOEHLER Associate Rector for Mission and Formation brienk@cecsa.org

he Believe Curriculum will conclude in midJune, and we have planned some great Adult Christian Ed offerings for summer. Plan to join every Sunday that you are in town.

Late June: Christ Church Stained Glass Tour, led

by Brien Koehler. Brien will walk you through the windows of the church panel by panel, explaining the content, the symbols, and maybe even some secrets! Take a closer look at some of the lesser known windows Patrick has

for

Summer School

been writing about. 10 AM on Sunday mornings in late June.

July: Stephen Archer will reprise his very popular class from last summer: God v. Pop. Stephen will lead us through a careful examination of songs most of us know--but he will be looking at what they say about God, faith, behavior, and other topics. The comparison between what the songs say and what God has revealed is... well...sometimes surprising!

In August our Sundays will include varied programs.

In September, Dr. Duane Miller will offer six weeks of lively instruction and discussion on the origins of the Creed and the origins of the New Testament.

AND AFTER THAT: Planning is still underway, and we would love to have your ideas as we lay out course work for spring and summer 2017. Write to Brien at brienk@cecsa.org with your input.

Brien

And beginning in November, Brien

The Christ Church Summer Bible Study How Should We Pray?

From Praying with Saint Paul,

by D.A. Carson

10

Koehler will present the “Book of the Month”--a look at selected books of the New Testament with an eye toward the big themes and ideas, rather than verse by verse Bible Study. The course is planned as an “introduction” to the books, and you will be ready to read with deeper understanding after each three or four week unit.

and

Preaching Series

P

eople are forever asking, “How do I begin to pray and sustain a meaningful life of prayer?” This summer we will learn from the master – Saint Paul. Aided by the illuminating and comprehensive work of Professor D.A. Carson, we will learn to pray like the great apostle and be changed through our prayer to be more like the Savior he loved and served.

Day

Proper

Lesson

June 19/ Proper 7

Romans 8:22-27

Lessons from the School of Prayer (Chapter 1)

June 26/Proper 8

2 Thessalonians 1:3-12

The Framework of Prayer (Chapter 2)

July 3/Proper 9 (July 4)

2 Thessalonians 1:1-12

Worthy Petitions (Chapter 3)

July 10/Proper 10

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

A Passion for People (Chapter 5)

July 17/Proper 11

Colossians 1:9-14

Content of a Challenging Prayer (Chapter 6)

July 24/Proper 12

Philippians 1:9-11

Overcoming the Hurdles (Chapter 8)

July 31/Proper 13

Ephesians 1:15-23

Praying to the Sovereign God (Chapter 10)

August 7/Proper 14

Ephesians 3:14-21

Praying for Power (Chapter 11)

August 14/Proper 15

Romans 15:14-23

Praying for Ministry (Chapter 12)

August 21/Proper 16

Ephesians 5:15-20

The Music of Prayer

Our Church Life...

Spring Theater - “The Importance

of

Being Earnest” In Act II, we meet sweet, imaginative Cecily Cardew and her governess, Miss Prism, in the garden of her guardian, “Jack Worthing’s” Country House. We learn that Miss Prism is secretly in love with Doctor Chasuble, the local rector, and Cecily uses that knowledge to draw the two secret love interests together so that she can meet the young man who has come from London to introduce himself as a suitor (presumably, “Earnest,” but in actuality..... “Algernon Moncrieff”).

Later, in Act II, when confronted by Lady Bracknell, we learn that Miss Prism admits that she, absentmindedly, left her handbag in a cloakroom at Victoria Station many years before.

F

or their spring production, the Christ Church Players have been preparing “The Importance of Being Earnest.” Our players have been working under the direction of Karla Pollock. This hilarious story will appeal to an audience of all ages; therefore, all Sunday School classes will attend the play on Sunday, May 29 at 10 AM. A brief synopsis of the play follows.

“The Importance of Being Earnest,” by Oscar Wilde, is a comedy of manners with delightfully funny satire woven into every stroke of the writer’s pen.

The play features two handsome young English bachelors in the late Victorian

period-- (‘”JACK/EARNEST” portrayed by BERTON BIEDENHARN and “ALGERNON” portrayed by ANDREW BARTON)---trying to win the hands of their two love interests--- (“GWENDOLYN FAIRFAX” played by ELLEN REYNOLDS and “CECILY CARDEW” played by SHARON MILLER). Problems arise in the First Act when Earnest’s (AKA “Jack”) prospective mother-in-law interviews him as a suitable groom for her daughter, Gwendolyn, only to discover that Earnest cannot provide any traceable ancestry other than that of being found, as an abandoned baby, in a handbag in a railway station in London many years before.

Spreading God’s Love Near

and

Don’t miss the exciting conclusion of the mystery and find out just what IS the importance of being Earnest!

CAST: (in order of appearance) Lane, Algernon’s Butler.........Nick White Algernon Moncrieff........ Andrew Barton Earnest (Jack)............ Berton Biedenharn Gwendolyn Fairfax.......... Ellen Reynolds Lady Bracknell.......Karla Clayton Pollock Miss Prism...................... Virginia Peche Cecily Cardew................... Sharon Miller Doctor Chasuble............Carter Mayfield Merriman, Cecily’s Butler.... David Miller

Far

T

he Missions Committee has met regularly through the year and the time for summer mission work is nearly upon us. Our teams this year will work in Honduras, Guatemala, and Waco. A trip to Uganda is being considered by some of our veteran team members with experience there, but as of this writing, nothing definite has been scheduled.

A few spaces may still be available for Honduras (July 12-19), and spaces are available for the Short FUSE (Family Urban Service Experience) in Waco (July 28-31). Contact Brien Koehler for more information about either trip: brienk@ cecsa.org or 830-200-1905.

Morning worship at the January 2016 Embroidery Workshop Mission in Honduras

11

Our Church Life..

PAGE TURNERS – From

“W

e do chaos!”

Those three words lured me into the book, Charlie Mike,

by Joe Klein. Eric Fenton loaned me the book after he received it from Halleta Heinrich as a Christmas gift.

Early in the volume, former Marine Sergeant Jake Wood issues the three words that grabbed my attention, “We do chaos,” as he organized a first response to Haitians devastated by the earthquakes in 2010. Wood is but one returning veteran from Iraq and Afghanistan, who realized how well equipped former warriors are to step into crisis areas and bring relief. After all, that is what they did during their deployments in devastated and deadly war zones. Furthermore, Wood, along with former Navy Seal, Eric Greitens, understood upon returning home that the only path for veterans to get well is to extend themselves in service to others. (Someone else said that 2,000 years earlier who was at war with sin!)

As a side note, I should add that I read Charlie Mike after Kay insisted I watch the celebrated film, “American Sniper.” I had resisted the film in order to escape what I predicted to be gruesome landscapes accompanied by a deprecation of our military. I was wrong. The film tells the story of Texan Chris Kyle, who was resolutely devoted to “his Marines,” as he termed them.

Furthermore, he also knew upon finally returning home that he could only get well by serving other veterans lost in the aftermath of war. Kyle and the procession of heroes in Charlie Mike have simple, liberating truth to tell each one of us, whether we have worn the uniform or not.

Kay scoured Half Price Books in order to find me Kate Atkinson’s Case Histories.

A dozen years before Atkinson spun her great novel, A God In Ruins, she was spinning some of the most entertaining detective mysteries in all of Britain.

Jackson Brodie, her introspective and comical detective, is the protagonist

12

the

Rector’s Book Stack

of the four novels in her mystery series.

Brodie and the less than admirable suspects and colleagues that surround him push the plots along with more color than most rank-and-file detective sagas.

Case Histories is an apt title for Jackson’s call to re-open three macabre murders that have long ago been relegated to the dusty shelves of the police archives. All three deal with the unexpected, ghastly murders of young people. As a warning to the reader, I must acknowledge that while Atkinson does not graphically describe the violence, she does describe occasional sexual encounters throughout the novel.

“The Best Gifts Come in Small Packages,” which rings true about this 7” X 4.5’’ volume I ordered for myself entitled, A Little Book for New Theologians,

by Kelly M. Kapic.

I was inspired to purchase the book by two other “little books” that I have previously read. The first is the classic 1936 text, A Little History of the World, by German author E. H. Gombrich. The Yale University reprint of the book is gorgeous and is an essential addition to the family library of those who would like their children to grow up enchanted by the sweep of human history. The second, A Little History of Science, by London Professor of Medicine, William Bynum, was penned in 2012 out of reverence for Gombrich’s work. Again, to be invited to swim in the stream of scientific discovery makes for 255 pages of delight. We have Yale University Press to thank for this treasure, as well.

I see now that I have strayed completely off the subject of my review, but my meandering casts no dispersion on Kapic’s scrupulously written book of theology. The title “New Theologians,”

may be a smidgen misleading. I have read the 121 pages twice to mine the treasure of the manuscript, and I know that I will often reference its pages in the future. Kapic’s invitation to study theology with him is practical, urgent, and fascinating. He begins: Theological questions surround our lives whether we know it or not. A wife and a husband facing infertility inevitably struggle with deep theological questions, whether or not they want to voice them.

College students working through issues of identity, culture, politics and ethics struggle – in one way or another – with theological convictions and how to live them.

The short ten chapters range in scope from Entering the Conversation, Theology as Pilgrimage, Faithful Reason, Humility and Repentance, and Suffering, Justice, and Knowing God. Kapic’s work is supported on every page with references to the Bible, but he does not do so in a wooden, prosaic manner.

Here is a professor and theologian who reveres and depends on Holy Scripture.

Kapic, in fact, reserves his last chapter for the Love of Scripture. Quoting the seventeenth century Puritan divine, John Owen, Kapic shows his hand: “Remembering that in His Holy Scriptures God speaks to the sinner no less directly than if He chose to employ a voice resounding from the heavens.

The gospel student will be overcome with due humility…and conduct his studies with proper reverence for his Lord’s power and majesty.”

I just thought I knew a fair amount about modern American politics until I read Killing Reagan, by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard. Bob and Barbara Parker gave me the book, which I would have never picked up except for their well-informed enthusiasm for the volume. As for the things I did not know, the list is rather long.

So here goes. I did not know… 1. The adulterous culture of

Our Church Life..

Hollywood was as bad or worse when Ronald Reagan was an actor and that he was very much part of the amoral milieu. 2. The Joint Chiefs of Staff were already refusing to take President Nixon’s orders before he resigned the Presidency on August 9, 1974. 3.

The Soviets sent nuclear submarines alarmingly close to our east coast immediately after Reagan was shot and hospitalized on March 30, 1981. 4.

Once Reagan fired all of the Air Traffic Controllers, the Soviets knew the President meant business and backed off. 5. Nancy Reagan remunerated astrologist Joan Quigley at $3,000 per month from the White House budget.

6. In 1987, Chief of Staff Howard Baker began to seriously investigate whether Reagan remained capable of governing, as the President had stepped away from so many day-to-day operations.

7. Astonishingly, it is on June 12,

1987 that Reagan surprises the world by traveling to Berlin and demanding, “General Secretary Gorbachev, come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this gate!” 8. Finally, I underestimated the fierce love and loyalty of Nancy Reagan to her Ronnie, which began the very day she met him in 1949.

Serendipitously, I completed the book the night before the newspapers announced Nancy Reagan’s death.

WARNING! DO NOT READ THIS BOOK AT NIGHT! Peggy and Lowry Mays gave me the newly published work by Congressman Michael McCaul, Failures of Imagination, and I

made the mistake of sitting it on my bedside table. This is daytime reading.

McCaul is Chairman of the House Homeland and Security Committee, which gives him an unimpeded view of our nation’s significant vulnerabilities to chemical, financial, cyber, and directed violent acts of terrorism. What’s more, McCaul ends his painful premonitions with an informed acknowledgment of Russia’s renewed imperialistic rise.

While the congressman presents a series of theoretical attacks, he backs up his hypothetical ponderings with the hard facts of the United States’ defense liabilities. McCaul begins, “These enemies of civilization seek the death and destruction of the American way of life, and they view no citizen of our nation as an innocent bystander. They seek the world’s most lethal weapons and will gladly kill any man, woman or child…” This is clearly daytime reading.

SOCIETY

Unconscious? There’s

M

any of us have smart phones such as the iPhone or Android. Each of these offers many applications and whiz-bang features that should make our lives easier. Our information and phone numbers are usually locked on these phones for extra security.

But what happens if you suddenly fall ill and unconscious? What if you are in an automobile accident and are rendered helpless? Our smart phones have a feature that allows an EMT or others trying to help to access an Emergency phone. If your phone is locked, one slide of a finger will bring up the number pad of the phone. That is where you press in your security code to open the phone. In the lower corner of the number pad, it also brings up the word Emergency. Touch this, and anyone can dial 911 in order to summon help without unlocking the phone.

But did you know that there is already

an

App

for that!

an application on your phone that can truly help those giving aid to you? The last few versions of these smart phones contain an app named Health. Find it on your phone by doing a search in the search box for an application with this title, or simply look for the application on your phone that is a white square with a heart symbol in the lower right corner.

You may already be using it to track your blood pressure, weight, and other medical information. When you open that application, note that one of the options you can choose is Create a Medical ID. Click on this, and it will open up a page that allows you to enter your name, age, medications, emergency contacts, organ donor permission, allergies, and height and weight. It will even include a photo of you from your files so that the world will know that it is truly you!

Once that file is completed and the Medical ID is created, when someone

touches that Emergency field on your locked phone, it will not only access 911 availability, it will also display Medical ID, and your information page can be accessed.

This could be a lifesaver for you. Your loved ones could be informed immediately in your time of greatest need. Work is being done to incorporate Advanced Directives into this application, but currently the legal issues are too great.

The Planned Giving committee has incorporated this information in our popular “Are You Ready To Go” seminars. We know how important it is that you feel secure in your decisions and in getting all of the help you need when you need it. Our hope is that in the midst of planning for your future needs that you will also consider planning for the church to be remembered in your estate.

Ferne Burney

13

OF EVENTS Christ Church Staff: May 15: Pentecost Noisy Offering & Food Pantry offering, 9 & 11 AM

Fifth Grade Open House Welcome to the Carriage House, 10 AM

Third Sunday Lunch Bunch at Order Up in Lincoln Heights May 18:

Two Tables: Sharing Our Faith Dinner

May 22:

Trinity Sunday Community of Hope Commissioning and luncheon, 11AM Graduation Senior Brunch, 10 AM in the Carriage House

May 25:

Two Tables: Marthe Curry on “Living a Missional Life”

May 29:

The Importance of Being Earnest, 10 AM in the Parish Hall

May 30:

Memorial Day, Church Offices closed

June 5: Joseph - King of Dreams, movie for kids, 10 AM in the FMC Theater

Sunday Funday for Youth - Riverwalk Scavenger Hunt, 1 PM June 6 - 9:

VBS, 9 AM - 12 PM on the church lawns

June 12:

Believe Celebration, on the lawn at 10 AM and 12 PM

June 10 - 15:

Junior High Mission Trip to New Orleans

June 19: Father’s Day Noisy Offering & Food Pantry offering, 9 & 11 AM

Third Sunday Lunch Bunch at Order Up in Lincoln Heights June 20 - July 3: Youth Mission Trip to Guatemala June 22:

Wacky Wednesday for Youth - Trampoline Park

June 29:

Wacky Wednesday for Youth - Lazer Tag

July 3:

Independence Day BBQ, 12:30 PM in the Parish Hall

July 4:

Independence Day, Church Offices closed

July 6:

Wacky Wednesday for Youth - Theme Park

July 12 -19:

Mission Trip to Honduras

July 13 - 18:

High School Mission Trip to New York

July 28 - 31:

Short FUSE Mission Trip to Waco

To have your CEC event added to the Church Calendar please submit a CALENDAR REQUEST All church related activities, events, meetings, etc. MUST have a Calendar Request 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.

14

The Rev. Patrick Gahan, Rector patrickg@cecsa.org The Rev. Scott Kitayama, Associate Rector, scottk@cecsa.org The Rev. Brien Koehler, Associate Rector for Mission and Formation, brienk@cecsa.org The Rev. Rob Harris, Assistant Rector for Community Formation, robh@cecsa.org Carol Miller, Pastoral Care Administrator, carolm@cecsa.org Halleta Heinrich, Director of Family Ministry, halletah@cecsa.org Lilly Fenton, Nursery Director lillyf@cecsa.org Gavin Rogers, Youth Minister gavinr@cecsa.org Joshua Benninger, Music Minister & Organist, joshb@cecsa.org Ruth Berg, Director of Children’s Music, ruthb@cecsa.org Robert Hanley, Parish Administrator parishadmin@cecsa.org Darla Nelson, Office Manager darlan@cecsa.org Donna Shreve, Financial Manager donnas@cecsa.org Gretchen Comuzzi Duggan, Director of Communications, gretchend@cecsa.org Anna Jewell, Executive Assistant to the Rector, annaj@cecsa.org Donnis Carpenter, Receptionist donnisc@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

15

The children perform their spring musical “The Old Testament - Fast Forward�

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 18, Number 3.

Periodical Postage PAID San Antonio, TX Christ Episcopal Church 510 Belknap Place San Antonio, TX 78212 www.cecsa.org