The Bells of Saint Mary September 2014

Those Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer What happened?!! I don’t think I got even one lazy, hazy day of summer this year. Part of it is that school started here in Lompoc on the 19 th of August…which seems just plain wrong to me…but then, I turned 60 this summer…so maybe I am just being old! Haha. When I was a youngster, we went to school right after Labor Day and stopped just after Memorial Day. September to May. Summer was three months long. I am not at all sure how my parents survived it…but there you are. Now it seems that summer is two months long…school seems to stretch into June…and certainly does cut off the last two weeks of August. Here at St. Mary’s…we will begin Sunday School sign-ups on September 7. Our church is growing again, with lots of new families and children coming in this summer. So, we will have K-3 and 4-6 grade classes offered beginning the 14th of September. This means we need some volunteers to be teachers. And we need them right away. Please let Michelle Pittenger, our Missioner for Christian Formation and Education, know as soon as possible if you can be part of the team that helps shape and form our kids this year. We need at least six teachers for the school year. Sunday mornings, for about an hour, beginning at ten o’clock. Our classes will join their families at the Peace so that all can receive communion together.

Inside this issue: Sunday school news Miss Ella Financial update

Birthdays Prayers of the People

I want to begin another Inquirer’s Class this fall. Since there are so many of us who are new to the church, I think it might be good to get this ball rolling sooner rather than later. Wednesday evenings from 6-7 is what I am thinking. If you are interested, please let me know. This would begin the third Wednesday in September and be weekly to mid-November. Howard Gould gets some help from David Heinbaugh making pancakes for the Red Shirt volunteers at the July 22nd service. Photo by Judy Lin.

In Advent, also on Wednesday evenings if enough want to…or on Saturday mornings… let me know which you prefer, we will begin a Bible Study Class. This one will be ongoing with appropriate breaks for Christmas and such…but it is time to get this going again. There is so much goodness in gathering and studying the Word. Let’s do this, ok? The Red Shirt Project was a huge success and at some point in the near future, I will have an E-Talk offering about the Pine Ridge Reservation, the Oglala-Lakota people, and why we go there and the good we try to do on a continuing basis. Stay tuned for that one.

Lulu has to steal the show before the Red Shirt Sunday service....

Movie Nights return on the 19th of September! Friday night, 7:00 pm…classic films picked from my favorites…mostly black and white, but every so often I do get talked into a color classic…It is a great time…and loads of fun for all. Watch for it!

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I am happy to be writing all of this, because it reminds me of the time we take away from Parish Life in July and August…and how much I yearn for the time back together. It was an outrageously busy summer for me…and I am looking forward to some “inward” focus this fall at St. Mary’s. How ‘bout you? Adelante! Forward together into God’s future we go! With my hand on the plow, Fr. Michael+

Bishop Glasspool addresses the Red Shirt pilgrims before the July 22nd service.

News for the upcoming Sunday School Year: Youth Workers Needed! This year we will have three Sunday School classes. The Kindergarten through primary grades will have a Children’s Chapel with Bible stories, music, and art activities. Parents are encouraged to participate. Lesson plans are available. The 4th-6th graders will go on a Godly Journey. This is an exciting new curriculum in which they will explore the culture, customs, and challenges of the early church. The children will worship in the manner of the first Christian communities, feast on authentic foods, build a diorama of Caesarea, and explore the problem of child slavery in ancient and modern times. And, we will begin our Rite 13 program for our Middle School youth. Rite 13 is the initial phase of Journey to Adulthood. Rite 13 is all about celebrating the new maturity of our young men and women and encouraging them as they grow into an adult faith. Currently, we have three volunteers: one for each class. We really need four more to properly serve and nurture our youth as they grow in the faith. We are ready to support you with lesson plans, supplies, sacred space, and food. Please contact me if you feel called to teach. Support our Kids! Michelle Missioner for Christian Formation 3

Miss Ella and "The Aloneness" As I've often said, Grandma had a word for everything. It might not be the correct word and The Uncles loved laughing about it. For instance, she called the atomic bomb “the tonic bum”. She never used the word "war". She called it "the recent unpleasantness". The words "nasty" "liar" and "lies" were not allowed in her house. When The Uncles attempted to correct her, she would shake a finger at them and warn them not to "refute" her. We assumed she meant "dispute", but who really knew? She used many words incorrectly, but once in awhile, she came up with a word that really described a thing or a person or a situation and ever after the first usage, we knew that it was one that was a perfect description. One of the words that we understood the minute we heard it was "aloneness”. I would describe it as being in a state of introspection or extreme quiet. It is like being in a Bubble in which the person is alone when there are people all around him. The Bubble can be opened to the outside world for a time, but then is closed again. You can see the person inside, but it might be impossible to reach him. There is a sense of calm and serenity and even a feeling of happiness, but the person in the Bubble is alone there. The way Grandma described it, she might have been talking about a disease or an illness. When she mentioned it, she always called it "The Aloneness" -never just "aloneness", but always "THE Aloneness". Now with all the activity and noise and celebrations and people running in and out, you might wonder that anyone could be afflicted by "The Aloneness" in The Big House. As I got older, I realized that often that might be the only way to survive all the

Bishop Glasspool blesses one of the Red Shirt pilgrims at the July 22nd service.

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activity and noise and celebrations that went on there. Grandma, for all her stern demeanor and insisting that she was usually correct, was very social. She loved cooking for and visiting with her friends in the neighborhood. She loved her church and her Altar Guild and her bridge parties. Irish Auntie was a social butterfly. She had more friends than anyone could count. When she entered a room, the people gathered there automatically began to smile. Someone would run to get her a drink and a chair. Others ran to hug her and tell her the latest news of their families. Others wanted to tell her a joke or tell about a movie they had seen. People just wanted to be near her and bask in that beautiful warmth that was hers alone. She was Irish to her core and maybe that explains it or maybe it was just that she accepted everyone where she found them and loved them for just who they were. Grandma and Irish Auntie were alike but just in different ways -Grandma the stolid, secure and sturdy German, Irish Auntie the fey, fragile and funny Irish woman, but both very social in different ways. The Uncles were the same -- funny and outgoing and always ready to laugh and make others laugh. But Grandpa was the master of "The Aloneness". He was a loving, caring and hard working man, but as he aged, the Bubble that was the sign of "The Aoneness" became more and more evident. Daddy was much the same. He always seemed to be alone in a crowd. It seems to come with age. Grandma said it was an inherited thing and told us that Grandpa had become an old Herman (she meant hermit, we thought) and that he was happy just being by himself. My Mama said the same about my Daddy and, perhaps, Grandma, in her own strange way, was right about it being an inherited trait. I think I might have inherited it. Don't get me wrong. I loved growing up in The Big House with all its hustle and bustle and noise and celebrations. I loved the Wongs and the Greeks and all those who made life there so interesting, but as I have grown older, I find that I don't mind being alone. In fact, I welcome it. In my bubble, there is room to think and write and watch life unfold. There is time to stop and smile about what Mab, my Cat friend, does. There is time to read and really think about what that last sentence meant. I know that Grandma spoke about "The Aloneness" as though it might be a dread disease and maybe she was right. The Bubble that accompanies it can be daunting to those who stand outside and see the person inside. However, there is a secret way to pop that Bubble. You must approach with love and understanding. That's the pin that pops the Bubble. Love and understanding always finds a way in. Irish Auntie knew this secret. Grandma knew as well. And now you know the secret, too. There is a way inside though it will close again and float away. It always floats back and, when it does, the person inside is refreshed and renewed and ready to celebrate again. I welcome "The Aloneness" and suggest that you catch this disease. The next Bubble leaves in a few minutes, and I'll be in it.

Dede Dunn

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Photo by Judy Lin.

Uncle Sam thought this could (and should) be turned into wheat fields. Photo by Judy Lin. 6

Photo of Lakota Pow-Wow by Judy Lin.

This is OUR field, and we’ll move off the road when we feel like it! Photo by Judy Lin — Caption written by an editor who sometimes has to drive across open range (south of Lompoc) to get to work. 7

Gathering for prayer at Red Shirt. Photo by Judy Lin.

Financial Statement As of July 31, 2014 Undesignated checking & savings Designated Checking

$73,687 $47,814 Actual June '14

Income Expenses Net income/(loss)

$31,533 $22,694 $8,839 Actual July '14

Income Expenses Net income/(loss)

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Actual Budget Jan - June '14 Jan - June '14 $149,533 $155,418 ($5,885) Actual Jan - July '14

$156,652 $162,751 ($6,099) Budget Jan - July '14

$19,038 $25,447

$168,570 $180,865

$185,260 $187,814

($6,409)

($12,294)

($2,554)

e-Mail Addresses: Fr. Michael: [email protected] [email protected] The Rev. Deacon Dr. Judy Lin [email protected] The Rev. Deacon Paul Eustace

Elizabeth: Parish Administrator [email protected] Michele Pittenger: Christian Formation [email protected] Wardens and Clerk: [email protected] Bells Editor: [email protected]

[email protected]

Sunday Eucharist

8:00 AM and 10:00AM Church Office Hours Monday - Thursday 10 AM - 4 PM

Happy Birthday

Telephone: (805) 733-4400 Fax: (805) 733-4405 www.stmaryslompoc.org

Many Hands Make Light Work Please join us for a Work Party on Saturday, September 13th, at 8:30 AM. You can help with the gardening, vacuuming the sanctuary, changing light bulbs, or many other things that help keep the church going!

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Steven Hicks

09/01

Dan Vordale

09/01

Regina Lingl

09/03

Jessie Sheldon

09/04

Alice Drus

09/08

Gary Larson

09/08

Eleanor [Bits] Bowles

09/10

Molly Gerald

09/11

Beverly Anderson

09/13

Anita Dwyer

09/14

Ken Murray

09/14

Rachel Williams

09/16

Charlotte Compton

09/17

David Anderson

09/19

Norma Anderson

09/22

Peggie Gould

09/24

Helen Free

09/26

Ruth Hicks

09/27

Matt MacPherson

09/29

This monument to Crazy Horse is slowly taking shape in the Black Hills. Photo by Judy Lin.

Prayers of the People We ask that you hold these persons in your Daily Prayers. Lord, open our hearts to your perfect will, that we may faithfully intercede on behalf of those we bring to you now in prayer: Beverly Anderson, Julia Anderson, George Bowman, Gisele Boyd-Snee, Don and Irene Cunningham, Helen Down, Isla Hill, Sheila Holley, Sally Jones, Shelie Jackson, Stan Sheldon, Richard Newcomb, Gerry Pittenger, Rachel Williams, And those serving in the armed forces remembered by our parishioners: Alana, Allan, Bill, Carl, Carlos, Eddie, Ericka, Gustavo, James, Jason, John. Josh, Kevin, Kimberly, Matthew, Michael, Nicholas, Paige, Patrick, Robert, Ryan, Virginia, and Whitney. AMEN. Please Note: Prayers of the People will be updated monthly. If you would like to add or continue a name to the POP, please fill out a Prayer Request slip or Pew card, submit via our website www.stmaryslompoc.org call any of our Prayer Ring members, or email Stephanie Bastian at [email protected]. Thank you! “Whenever two of you on earth agree in prayer, it will be done by My Father in Heaven.” Matthew 18:19

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