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May
2015
The Godspell
“Godspell is an Anglo-Saxon word which means Good News.”
The Awareness of People in Need
Want to know
more
about
St. Matthew’s?
You can find us
on the web
at:
Kvilleepiscopal.
org.
So many times we want to give more to those that we know need help.
We might think that giving only comes in the form of cash donations. This is
not true; you can give by helping others. Everyone can give something whether it is time, money or some other way of helping others. Helping others
includes the times when you visit the sick, run errands for someone who is
unable or even when you just offer your umbrella to someone on a rainy day.
Before I was Senior Warden I must admit I was one of the group of people
that enjoyed coming to church on Sunday, enjoying the hour and a half of
fellowship and worship and then going back to the demands of family and job
We can also be
reached
by mail at:
PO Box 1173,
Kernersville,
NC 27285
without truly recognizing the people in our congregation that may be in need
of just a few minutes of my time and service. Because of my vestry
involvement I am now much more aware of the needs of our fellow
parishioners and the willingness of people in our parish to help as needs arise
when they are told of such a need. These “givers are truly great people.” We
see them week in week out volunteering in all facets of our church. By
or by phone
at:
336.996.4422.
watching these “givers” set the example, I more than ever feel as though I do
have time to do more.
What are you doing about help others? What about taking communion to
shut-ins? What about the lady across the aisle that is too old to keep the
.
outside or inside of her house in good condition, can you lend a hand? As the
Church we are called to love one another and one way that we do that is by
helping others. Please let your needs and the needs of others be known to
the vestry so we can ask the congregation for their help.
---Steve Hays, Senior Warden
THANKS –
To those who continuously tend the yard and now the meditation path.
The war against poison ivy will be a never-ending one!
From Susan Martin - - thank you for all the cards, phone calls, food and wellwishers as I recuperated from knee surgery. Church family is really such a
blessing! John thanks you all as well!
To our Scouts for all their work on the Meditation Path. Thank you to
Asplundh Tree Service for donating piles of wood chips. Thank you to the Town of Kernersville for
picking up so many loads of branches. And thank you to the Diocese of North Carolina for giving us
a ten thousand dollar grant to help pay for tree and brush removal.
From the Grant committee who gave us money towards the
clearing of the woods
Susan Martin sent follow up photos to the head of the grant committee so that they could see the
progress that has been made on the Meditation path. Here is what we received from the committee
member she contacted:
What a transformation and what an opportunity over the years to refine and enhance the pathway now that
you have a foundation laid. The altar really adds a great element to the space. And the pathway offers the Girl
and Boy Scout troops an on-going source of projects that can continue to enhance it – good for them and good
for the church.
I hope the effort and project, and the result, have given the parish a lift. If it has done that, then the grant
fulfilled its true purpose in my view.
I will share the pictures with the committee. Thanks for the follow up. We don’t often get that.
All the best.
John R. Frizzell
Crisis Control Ministries
Don’t forget we have challenged ourselves to provide 2,015 items of food to
Crisis Control Ministries, here in Kernersville. We’re a little behind right
now. At the end of March we should have had about 500 items donated
and we were still in the 400s. So please, when you see a buy-one-get-one
free deal, bring your “free” one to church and place it in the basket in the narthex. You can do
this any week, but the first Sunday of the month is when we celebrate this outreach ministry
specifically. Their pantry is always looking the items we are assigned – oil, margarine and
sliced cheese. But any and all food products are very, very welcome!
I love spring!
Spring brings new life in every form. Trees, bushes, flowers, birds, and cute little
furry creatures. And who can’t ooh and aah at newborn calves and ponies. I
guess my point with all this is spring always seems to rejuvenate us in all aspects
of our lives. I think that includes us as a church, too. After we celebrate Easter we
are reminded that life is a joyous occasion. We celebrate that Christ lives as he
promised. He is asking us to nurture life of all kinds-animals, trees, bushes, flowers
that are new to this world- but I also know we are called to nurture each other. And
I think spring gives us the hope and the replenishment of new energy to do just
that. We feel more alive. And I know for me I feel an undeniable peace to do
something that brightens someone’s day, or to help with a task, or to donate to
crisis control, or participate in church activities. And celebrating Eucharist every Sunday and passing
the peace with my family gives me the warmest peace I’ve ever known. I know it seems like I’ve
rambled- but that’s the way the words came today. My prayer for each of us is that we will continue to
be the family we are now. Be there for each other. Be the shoulder if someone needs one to lean on.
Be the helping hand if someone needs one. But most of all-the family we are. I love you all!
May God Bless you all!
Terri Hill – vestry member
DID YOU KNOW
…that the Diocese of NC has a Facebook page? You can find many interesting
conversations, and lots of information by visiting www.facebook.com/EpiscopalDioceseNC
As you know, one of our members, Rick Sigler, is striving to become a Deacon in the
Episcopal Church. He is working with the ministers at St. Andrew’s Episcopal in Greensboro. The following is
the message he gave at St. Andrew’s on April 26, 2015:
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen.
When BJ first asked me back in December- about four months ago- if I would preach today, I
immediately went online to look up the scripture I’d write on. You see, I like to plan. Helen, my wife,
once said that I probably wouldn’t go to the restroom without a plan. One of the wonderful aspects of
worshiping in the Episcopal Church is have a Prayer Book which helps is through the liturgy, or the
plan of worship.
We really like our plans, don’t we? We plan to wake up at a particular time each day, we plan
our meals, we plan our education, vacations, careers, weddings, futures. We have gadgets to help us
plan. We have our smart phones which connect to our computers which connect to our tablets which
connect to the rest of our families’ gadgets- so we all know the plan. We certainly know when and
where to be and who we will be with. We love planning so much that we plan to meet with planning
committees to plan for future planning. Like the prophet Hannibal Smith said at the end of each
episode of The A Team, “I love it when a plan comes together.”
But don’t you dare mess with that plan. We have a “no touch” rule when it comes to our plans.
My recycling and trash is picked up on a particular day- don’t you dare mess that up just because it’s
a holiday! We don’t deal with traffic jams because it messed up our planned arrival to our destination.
We don’t like it when our boss walks in on a Monday morning with a brand new way of being more
efficient in the office.
Of course, our plans don’t always work out the way they are supposed to. Despite hours of
excellent planning, it just falls through. Sometimes we find that the plan we think we should follow
turns out to be completely wrong from the get go. Sometimes God has a different plan than what we
had in mind, and the most meticulous of preparations will make the least bit of difference.
Today we in the Episcopal Church celebrate the feast day of Robert Hunt. The Reverend Hunt
began his career as an Anglican priest in a couple small parishes in the south of England, but through
poor decision making and incompetence, he found himself assigned as chaplain for a rowdy group of
men on their way to found what is now the Jamestown settlement. This life as the spiritual leader of a
remote expedition may not have been what the Rev. Hunt originally imagined himself doing, though
through the grace and wisdom of God, he found that this poorly placed town, in the middle of a
swamp, surrounded and filled with adversity, would be the way in which he would be remembered.
This was Hunt’s moment and he flourished in Jamestown as a mediator, a peacemaker, and a friend
and support to the 100 or so men who built the original settlement. He found in himself the strength to
help his flock, even when a fire destroyed everything he owned save the clothes on his back. We
celebrate Hunt’s leadership in those harshest of conditions, and even though the experience did lead
to his death, his time as chaplain created a step towards civility in what was a very difficult start to our
country.
We can relate to Robert Hunt’s change in direction. There are times in our life when we know
we are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hunt certainly knew that his work in those English
parishes were failures. It wasn’t until he was placed into a new situation that he found what God was
calling him to do.
When we hear of stories like these, there is always a common theme that runs through- there
is a negative situation, a change, and success- and that success was something we would never
plan. We see it throughout the Bible- we see it with the story of Jonah- we see it with the story of
Jacob, we see it with the story of Peter. Each had a major change in their life before they became the
person God called them to be.
That change- that catalyst in their lives- had one major commonality- suffering. Each endured
some physical or emotional hardship before they were able to become the person God was calling
them to be. Without suffering, there is no need for change. Without suffering, there is no appreciation
for growth. Without suffering, there is no death, and without death, there is no resurrection.
Our society doesn’t like to deal with suffering. We find it that is a result of a loss of control in
our lives. Losing control isn’t part of our plan. Instead, society places the power of self-determination
above all others. When you are a self-made person, you have control. Control bring power. And one
thing we really love is power. Power is part of our plan. We see time and again, however, God isn’t
interested in self-made power. God is interested in building a relationship with us. God holds the
power, not us.
Our lives have, and always will, involve some sort of suffering. There’s no way around it. That’s
not to say that God creates the suffering- we are good at bringing that on ourselves- but it’s God who
helps us learn from it. It is the rod and staff that we read in today’s psalm that protects us from further
pain and leads us in the right direction.
We see Peter in today’s lesson in a completely different light than we did before Jesus’ death
and resurrection. This Peter is a bolder man- stronger, and more confident- than the Peter we are first
introduced to in the Gospels. The experiences he had to endure helped form Peter into the leader of
the church and led him to become the shepherd that they needed.
Joan Chittister writes in her book, Scarred by Struggle,Transformed by Hope, “Struggle is what
forces us to attend to the greater things in life, to begin again when life is at its barest for us, to take
the seeds of the past and give them new growth.” Chittister asks for us to understand what God
wants us to be through the struggle of suffering.
A new friend of mine here at St. Andrew's recently showed me how profound this suffering can
be. A pastor in one of the largest congregations in Greensboro, he had to resign because of health
reasons. Like Beethoven losing his hearing, my friend found that his ailment made him unable to do
the one thing he loved- shepherd his flock. Yet even after this adversity, he overcame the struggles
and has found new ministries to share in. And who’s to say what his “Ode to Joy” will be? Even the
greatest of symphonies begins with a simple tune. I can’t wait to see what God’s plan has in store for
him.
So while I am not saying that we should jump for joy each time we are faced with suffering,
pain and despair in our lives, I ask that you know it and embrace it- it’s the first step that God needs
us to take. When we die- when we leave the part of us that has to change for us to grow- we will be
one step closer to appreciating the green meadows our Shepherd is planning for us to lie in. Amen.
Prayer Needs & Concerns
Church Life
God’s will and protection for our priest Karin
The work of the Vestry and all Lay members
Parish Development
Inviting seekers and the unchurched
Individual Needs – Grief-Trouble-Sickness
Kelli
Frank
Andrea
Comfort:
Billy
James
Ted
Mildred
Clara
Bob
Cecil
Wendy
Lib
Vylma
Marilyn
Herb
Vanessa
Jean
Carol
Darryl
Berkley
Tom
Linda
AJ
Tim
Wayne
Armed Forces
Betty
John
Stacy
Matthew
Crystal
Lois
PHOTOS FROM THE DEDICATION OF OUR
NEW MEDITATION PATH
Reasons to celebrate!!
Bruce & Ruth Topping
Dick & Nina Reynolds
May
May
Jonathan Peoples
May
1
Stephanie Bradle
May
4
Tommy Webb
May
5
Emmet Ramsay
May
9
Barbara Fulp
May
11
Bradley Dustan
May
27
John Stewart
May
31
8
31
Mother’s Day – Sunday, May 10th
Community News:
Rusty LaRue to Speak at the Kernersville Family YMCA Community Prayer Breakfast
Event to be held at Fountain of Life Lutheran Church May 7th on the National Day of Prayer
Rusty LaRue, former Wake Forest basketball player and coach, will be the featured speaker at the 23rd annual
National Day of Prayer event. LaRue played pro basketball on the World Champion Chicago Bulls. The
breakfast will be held at Fountain of Life Lutheran Church on Thursday, May 7th. Fountain of Life is located at
323 Hopkins Road, in Kernersville.
A full breakfast will be served starting at 6:45 AM with the program starting at 7:15 AM, and concluding by 8
AM. There is no charge to attend, however advance reservations are required for the breakfast as there is
limited seating. To make a reservation, call the YMCA at 996-2231 or email n.morgan@ymcanwnc.org. The
event is coordinated by the YMCA’s Christian Emphasis Committee.