August 2015 encourager

School of Wisdom & Practical Spirituality St. Barnabas School of Wisdom is offering three classes this Fall: The Parables of Grace, led by Father Jeff, Thurs. evenings; Making of the New Testament Canon, led by Debbie Gorden, Thurs. evenings; Gospel of Thomas, led by Tom Christofferson and Richard Mickelson, Tues. afternoon.

Classes begin the week of September 1. For more information about these classes and how to sign up, turn to page 5.

St Barnabas School of Wisdom is open to the curious and the serious—to all seekers of Christian wisdom and spirituality. Our assumption is that everyone needs to find their own way, their own way. Each course and each spiritual practice is part of a transformational journey, a journey we are all on whether we are conscious of it or not. All are welcome to join us in learning and practicing the spiritual path that Christianity has to offer.

AUGUST 2015 EUCHARISTIC LECTIONARY YEAR B

Sunday WORSHIP 7:45 AM 9:00 AM 11:00 AM

Holy Eucharist Rite I Holy Eucharist Rite II Holy Eucharist Rite II Children’s Chapel

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION 10:00 am Adult Classes

WEEKDAY WORSHIP 12:00 PM

Thursdays Holy Eucharist & Healing (Chapel)

601 W. CREEK STREET FREDERICKSBURG TX 78623 830-997-5762 stbarnabasfbg@gmail.com

Purpose—The purpose of the School is to open our hearts and awaken our minds to the growth of the soul. We explore our unique individual paths on common spiritual ground with others to:  Encounter the divine  Experience the power of story  Question the ways we think  Re-imagine our tradition  Co-create our world Together we engage in study and practice rooted in the Christian tradition while honoring the other great faith traditions, encouraging compassionate commitment to self and others, and informing our daily lives through the working of Spirit. . (cont’d on page 5)

Thursday Evenings On Thursday evenings, preceding the Wisdom classes, there will be contemplative time (optional) and a simple meal will be provided.

5:30 p.m: 6:00 p.m: 7:00 p.m: 7:15—8:30 p.m:

Individual silent prayer/meditation, contemplation in the Sanctuary Fellowship meal in the Parish Hall Announcements and group devotional Wisdom Classes

Daughters of the King Start a New Year 2015-2016 Officers Lyda Slayton and Evelyn Burns (Discernment Leaders) Wendy Bush (Co-President), Ginny Thomason (Treasurer) Pris Williams (Communications Officer), Sheila Dubois (Prayer Chairperson) and Katharine Brundrett (Co-President) The Daughters of the King (DOK) is an order of women dedicated to extending Christ’s kingdom through Prayer, Service and Evangelism. Members of the St. Barnabas chapter observe the obligation of prayer by praying daily for those on the DOK prayer list.

You may submit a prayer request to the Daughters by filling out a request card and placing it in the small church with the slot in the roof. Both the cards and the little church are located in the narthex. All DOK prayer requests are confidential.

Our own talented and generous Jack Oates created the little church for the Daughters’ prayer requests. Thank you, Jack!

The Daughters will be studying the Letter of Paul to the Galatians at their bi-monthly meetings this year.

Double-Dog Dare Ya’ The St. Barnabas “NOT EXACTLY ANNUAL, ‘TRIUMPH OF HOPE OVER EXPERI-

ENCE’, GREAT WAY TO RUIN AN OTHERWISE GLORIOUS WALK, BRING LOTS OF BALLS, WHAT THE HEY!” low expectations GOLF TOURNAMENT is scheduled for Friday afternoon, October 23rd at Fredericksburg’s Lady Bird Johnson Golf Course.

Skill is not a prerequisite for the four-person Florida Scramble format. The highlight of the event is likely to be the 1:00 o’clock shotgun start. Appropriately, several of the tee-shots are “downhill”. Teams will be formed using semi-objective criteria based on established handicaps and/or polygraph examination.

There will be a small entry-fee used to defer the expenses for extra security, post tournament refreshments, and minimal, recyclable prizes. Sign-up sheets will be available following services and in the office.

The fun-loving committee planning this event consists of Walt Biddle, Judy Chase, Tom Luck and David Tuttle.

Artemisia Bowden: Celebrating a Saint History is written for Artemisia Bowden 45 years after her death. After action by both the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies at the 78th General Convention, Bowden will now be listed among other saints of The Episcopal Church in "Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints."

The ministry of Dr. Bowden began in 1902 when Bishop Steptoe Johnston brought her from North Carolina to lead the fledgling St. Philip’s School in San Antonio. The school had its roots in a sewing class for black girls begun in 1897 that was held in the rectory of St. Philip’s Church. Bowden oversaw the continual expansion of the school, seeking to develop and send forth, “true, God-fearing women, who are not ashamed of the truth and whose characters are spotless.”

Bowden devoted her entire life to serving God and assisting the Almighty in raising up worthy Christians. She anticipated success, never failure. “A person who has courage must be full of faith,” she said. “A goal is set for the purpose of achieving it.”

A Memorial Thanksgiving Service for Artemisia Bowden will be held on her designated feast day, Tuesday, August 18, 2015 at 5:30 p.m. at Christ Episcopal Church in downtown San Antonio.

Father Jeff inducted Nancy Grimes into the Daughters of the King on July 11.

Year-Round Stewardship August finds the Stewardship Committee preparing for the annual stewardship campaign. During each Sunday in October, the campaign month, brief presentations about what our gifts mean to our church and community will be given at all three services.

By Bill Burns, Chairman

November 8th will be Celebration Sunday, when parishioners are asked to turn in their pledge cards. (As in the past , those who turn in their pledge cards at the end of December may continue to do so.) Each household in our church family will receive a letter mid-September with detailed information and a pledge card. We encourage you to prayerfully consider pledging so that planning for 2016 can be effective and comprehensive.

Remember the words of the Lord Jesus how he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. (Acts 20:35 )

Jeanie Miley Jeanie Miley, writer, speaker and retreat leader, will be at St. Barnabas on October 9 and 10.

Miley believes that the goal of any spiritual growth process is to heal, transform, liberate and empower individuals. Her personal mission statement is “to connect people to God, to their own souls and to each other through writing and teaching.”

Miley is the author of 12 books, the latest being “Fierce Love.” The following books by Jeanie Miley are in our library:       

Dance Lessons: Moving to the Beat of God’s Heart Becoming Fire: Experience the Presence of Jesus Everyday.

Christheart: A Way of Knowing Jesus Ancient Palms for Contemporary Pilgrims: A Prayer Book Creative Silence: Keys to the Deeper Life Shared Splendor: The Practice and Power of Relational Prayer The Spiritual Art of Creative Silence: Lessons in Christian Meditation

The Lost and Found Sunday School class will be studying “Dance Lessons” in preparation for Miley’s visit.

Camp Barnabas and MMO The theme for Camp Barnabas 2015 was the VBS theme: Weird Animals - Where Jesus’ Love is One of a Kind. We had a busy and fun-filled four weeks with children from one to seven years old. The days were filled with music, Bible stories, crafts, games and theme-related snacks. 42 children participated with 14 leaders (three were volunteers). The parents were sorry it was over so quickly!

On August 31, the MMO fall session will begin. Currently 30 children are enrolled for our five classes. If you have a child one to four years old and are interested in more information about our program, please contact Sue Gustin at gustinsue@gmail.com or 4564512 regarding class availability.

Thanks to the St. Barnabas family for your continued prayers and support for our Mom’s Morning Off program. Recently we were blessed with two very generous donations to the Bill & Gwen Dugat Scholarship Fund which will help us provide assistance to our young families. Pray for our staff as we rest, recharge and prepare for the coming school year.

School of Wisdom Fall 2015 Classes Methodology—The methodology of the School of Wisdom combines and balances theology and theory with the experience of spiritual practice. Intellectual study, by itself, does not lead to the secret of life.

Wisdom learning requires the use of multiple powers of perception.

What is Wisdom? - Wisdom is “intuitive knowledge” which understands with the inner senses through experience, prayer, contemplation and other spiritual practices. By combining these methods, we develop spiritual eyes to see and spiritual ears to hear the reality that lies beneath, behind and within this physical reality. To grow into our complete humanity—to share in the wisdom, strength, vision, love and compassion of God—is to learn with the whole of our being—body, mind, heart and soul.

Sign up for one (or more!) of these Wisdom classes: Gospel of Thomas There is a growing consensus among scholars that the Gospel of Thomas, consisting of over 100 logia (wisdom sayings) attributed to Jesus, dates to the very beginnings of the Christian era and may well have taken first form before any of the four canonical Gospels.

The class will examine one logion per week, with time for discussion and sharing of personal insights. This is an ongoing, open class and new members are welcome! Class begins Tuesday, September 1, 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Tom Christofferson and Richard Mickelson facilitate this class. Participants will need a book containing the Gospel of Thomas (See web site or brochure for list of books.)

Parables of Grace Human beings have forever been trying to understand and to name ultimate reality. For millennia, cultures have used archetypes and incorporated stories, images, and metaphors in this pursuit. Jesus of Nazareth, on whose life, death and resurrection Christianity rests, in his desire to make the grace of God fully known, would make use of the dramatic device of the parable for this purpose.

This class will look at the function of story in our lives, with a particular focus on Jesus’ use of parables to illustrate the ineffable. Parables of Grace begins Thursday, September 3 .

Beyond the gospels, our primary text for the course will be The Parables of Grace by Robert Farar Capon. Father Jeff will lead this class.

The History of the Bible: The Making of the New Testament Canon

This course offers a fast-moving yet thorough introduction to key issues in the development of the New Testament. These include: its different kinds of books, the conditions in which they were composed, what they teach, who actually wrote them and—perhaps most important of all– why and how some books and not others became part of the canon of scripture that would define Christianity for all time.

Lectures by Prof. Bart D. Ehrman in DVD format will form the basis for discussion and personal reflection. The class begins Thursday, September 3 and will be facilitated by Debbie Gorden.

For a more detailed description of these classes, visit our website at stbarnabasfbg.org or pick up a brochure in the church office.

Registration Information To register, send your name, email and phone number to stbarnabasfbg@gmail.com along with the name of the class(es) you want to join. You may also call the church office (997-5762) or come in and fill out a registration form. The $10 fee (per class) can be paid at the first class meeting or sent with the registration form to the church office. All are welcome!

Vestry Happenings

June 2015

The business agenda consisted of three major areas: the presentation and adoption of a revised and updated “Facilities Use Manual,” the realignment and expansion of the “Outreach Ministries”; and the distribution of money into Endowment, Building, MMO, Benevolence, and Sabbatical funds.

An Update from the sub-committees completed the remainder of the meeting. “Everyone Belongs” ministry committee reported on our progress to involve our membership as well as recognize our visitors. The report included discussions regarding the Greeters, the upcoming Class by the Rector, the change in the way we do “The Peace”, to recognize visitors and, in general, how to encourage the membership to become more involved in the ‘Leadership’ facets of the Parish through volunteering for Vestry service, Stewardship, Diocesan Council, Outreach Service, Greeters, and other ways the member feels called.

A project committee is to be formed to address the need for a “Campus Design Plan”, with the first priority being the expansion of the Columbarium.

Jack Oates gave the Junior Warden’s report update, followed by the Rector’s report. The next Vestry meeting will be on July 15, 2015.

June 2015 Financials Balance Sheet: A decrease of about $5K, was due mostly to MMO (-$3.5K explained below) and some other regular expenses. $38.5K was transferred by the Vestry to these funds: Building Fund $25K, Endowment Fund $5.5K, Sabbatical Fund $5K, Dugat Scholarship Fund $2K, and the Benevolence Fund $1K. Significant activity from other funds were as follows: Copier Fund (-$880).

Monthly Operations: At the midpoint of the year, we are on budget on a year-to-date basis (YTD). Income is $4K over budget (YTD) and Expenses are $2K over budget (YTD). Income for the month was below budget by $4K but expenses were under budget by $7K so the net for the month was +$3K. Pledge income and expenses were both lower for the month but are on budget from a YTD basis. There is now an overage of $5K on a YTD basis.

MMO: MMO had a deficit for the month of $3.5K because most of the Camp fees were collected in May, but employee expenses occurred during June. Next month there will also be a deficit due to no income but expenses for the last week of Camp Barnabas. Overall, MMO is running a $3K surplus so will be above break even after the results for July.

St Barnabas Financials as of June 30, 2015 Jun 15 Monthly $ +/Actuals Budget Budget Income Expenses: Staff Operating Ministry Apportionment Total Expenses Net Income

Jan-Jun Actuals

YTD Budget

$ +/Budget

Annual Budget

31,636 36,063 -4,427 220,802 216,378 4,424 432,750 17,445 20,675 -3,230 127,523 124,050 3,473 248,105 4,050 6,319 -2,269 37,605 37,914 -309 75,825 2,132 3,385 -1,253 19,202 20,310 -1,108 40,600 5,292 5,292 0 31,752 31,752 0 63,504 28,919 35,671 -6,752 216,082 214,026 2,056 428,034 2,717 392 2,325 4,720 2,352 2,368 4,716

MEETINGS & MINISTRIES ADULT CHILDREN OF ALCOHOLICS Wednesday—6 p.m. in CEB

August Birthdays

8/01 Ric McCormick 8/02 Kathryn Hamby Sun Mon Tues Wed Fri Sat 8/04 Patricia Vinson 8 p.m. in CEB Beverly Hall Spanish Speaking Meeting 8/05 Gerry Bishop Sun & Mon 6:30 p.m. in the CEB Karen Poidevin Thurs, Closed Meeting (Women) Bernadine Swanzy 7 p.m. in CEB Gracie Bush AL-ANON 8/06 Patty Jones Monday—6:30 p.m. in CEB Stella McMurrey Friday—6:30 p.m. in CEB 8/07 Andrea Norwood Donald Teer BELL CHOIR 8/08 Betlu Roquemore Wednesday—4:30 p.m. in CEB 8/10 Katharine Brundrett BIBLE STUDIES Jeanne Woods Monday—7 a.m. in Library 8/11 Amanda Hinton Thursday—10 a.m. in CEB 8/12 Cynthia England Emily Rodgers CHOIR 8/13 Saeng Phet Pornphet Tuesday—7 p.m. in Encourager Room George Edmonston DAUGHTERS OF THE KING Aaron Beeman 2nd Saturday of the Month—9:30 a.m. 8/14 Bud Arnold in Sanctuary 8/16 Jaydean Young Belton McMurrey LIBRARY GUILD 8/17 Elizabeth Beckmann 1st Thursday of the Month—10 a.m.

8/18 Dale Looney in Library Henry Alvarez MEN’S BREAKFAST 8/19 Diane Smith

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

Thursday—7 a.m. in Parish Hall

MMO (MOM’S MORNING OFF)

Monday & Wednesday—9 a.m.

VESTRY

3rd Monday of the Month—5 p.m. in Conference Room

WISDOM SCHOOL

Gospel of Thomas Tues—11:30 a.m. in Library The Wisdom Jesus Thurs—7 p.m. in Parish Hall

8/19 8/32 8/22 8/23 8/24 8/25 8/27 8/28 8/30

8/31 8/31

Cassidy Kothmann Meredith Plesko Mary Priestley David Kemp Thomas Marschall John Brocksch Marissa Bopp Bill Klekotta Charlie Wilson Jon Pankratz Bailey Reynolds Sarah Campbell Carol Schreider Judy Chase Beverly Bowie Jeff Hammond

ANNIVERSARIES 8/09 8/10 8/11 8/13 8/14 8/19 8/26 8/29

Mike & Shari Massengale Dick & Jane Elwood Jim & Virginia Muncey Jack & Bernadine Swanzy Bob & Linda Bates Robert & Abban Lastovica Walt & Sue Biddle Fred & Nancy Grimes

Adult Education classes meet at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday.

Fall is a great time to join a class. All are starting new studies.

The Seekers (led by Shari Massengale) will be studying the Gospel of Mark. Meets in the CEB. Living the Question (led by Julie Roseberry) will begin a new series by Richard Rohr. Meets in the CEB Parlor.

Lost and Found (led by Nan Mosley) will be studying “Dance Lessons: Moving to the Beat of God’s Heart” by Jeanie Miley.

Return Service Requested

CHURCH CLERGY AND STAFF: Rector: The Rev. Jeff Hammond Lay Pastoral Minister: Morey Weldon Clergy Associate: The Rev. Dr. Dyana Orrin Clergy Associate: The Rev. Anne Finn Parish Administrator: Rachael Cole Office Assistant: Carol Schreider Director of Music: Hazel Hanson Lay Ministry Coordinator: Steve Neale Mom’s Morning Off Director: Sue Gustin Nursery Director: Madeline Clanton Housekeeper: Patty Ramirez

Butterflies in St. Barnabas’ Garden

O Heavenly Father, who hast filled the world with beauty; open our eyes to behold thy gracious hand in all thy works; that, rejoicing in thy whole creation we may learn to serve thee with gladness; for the sake of him through whom all things were made, thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen