January 12, The Baptism of the Lord

A Christmas Story Happy Ending:  Or, Cathy Come Home

At the Late Service Christmas Eve, we were joined by a very friendly Border Collie who greeted people at the door as they came to Church and then made herself at home at the feet of the Holborne Consort who provided music from their Rennaisance Viols etc.  The dog had no collar so we had no idea who she was or where she came from.  One thing was certain the dog had good taste in music!  After the liturgy, parishioner Jim Dietle took the dog home as he had an identical one.  After Christmas Day he took her to the Humane Society and luckily it turned out, the dog had a microchip.  So the owner was found and notified and the dog returned to her home.  Her collar was found on the Church driveway.  Jim’s sons wanted to name the dog Eve since she was found on Christmas Eve, but it turned out that her name was Cathy and the owners live not far from the Church.  They were very happy to have her back.   A picture of taken by Jennifer Uniack is attached.  

Secret Handshake Class  Sunday January 12  9:00 a.m. Parish Hall Living Room

Our Official Episcopal Visitation comes later, on February 26, the First Sunday of Lent, and our Episcopal Visitor will be Bishop Diane Bruce. 

A bishop visitation is an opportunity for renewal of our Christian commitment in the presence of one who represents the Church as a whole across time and space.  This renewal is enacted in the Rite of Confirmation, The Rite of Reception from another Church, and the Rite of Renewal of one’s Baptismal Vows.  In the Episcopal Church, these liturgical actions are reserved to the bishop.   

So to get ready for this, we’re going to bring out once again our Secret Handshake Class.  This is a class that deals with all things Episcopal and will be a chance to explore our tradition, answer questions, fill in the gaps in one’s knowledge, explain the strange, mysterious things Episcopalians do, and prepare one for one of these blessings that the bishop can bestow.  

We’d like to especially invite all who are new to the parish to consider being a part of the Secret Handshake Class.  Our First meeting will be this Sunday at 9:00 a.m.  We will begin by telling our personal stories of our religious backgrounds and what led us to where we are now. 

 Secret Handshake is always a fun class.  Over the times we meet together we will look at the following subjects:   

Session 1  Introduction, telling our stories, answering our questions 

Session 2  “Let us proclaim the Mystery of Faith"  An exercise in thinking like a theologian 

Session 3  Sacred Scripture 

Session 4  A tour of the Church  (What the architecture means) 

Session 5  Holy Baptism  (What does it mean to be a Christian) 

Session 6  The Story of Anglicanism  Parts 1 & 2 (The history of our tradition, filmed at COA!) 

Session 7  The Story of Anglicanism  Part 3  (The history of our tradition, filmed at COA!) 

Session 8   The Book of Common Prayer  (The secret to understanding the Liturgy)

The Church as a body and an institution (How we're organized) 

At each class there will be time to ask any questions you may have and for the discussion to in directions that you are interested in.  

New Year Updates:  Or Not in the Clouds Just Yet

With the beginning of the New Year, secular that is, we have to update the various lists that comprise our parish’s life.  Prophecies of the Paperless Office have yet to reach fulfillment at least at COA.  Rather, like the Incarnation we find ourselves with Two Natures in One Institution, undivided yet unmixed at least at the present time.  However,  like the Journey of Faith we move toward moments of transformation from Paper to Bits of Electrons the unification of all things in the computer.   

Paper Items:   Pledge Cards

While many people now pay their bills on line rather than fussing with paper checks, we still need actual pledge cards so that our Treasurer can put accurate information into the financial module of the computer.   That’s why getting pledge cards back to us is important.   

Paper Items:  Parish Directory

We put out the Parish Directory once a year and it is given only to Parish Members.  We ask that everyone respect our fellow parishioners’ personal information.   We’re currently seeking to update the directory and to correct spellings, zip codes, apartment numbers, phone numbers and emails.   The Parish Directory Update is in the Blue File Folder outside Church.  Please check it for accuracy and make corrections.  Please add your name to the blank sheets if you are new. 

Electronic Items:  Email List

The Parish Email list is stored in the computer.  We’ve printed out the current email list and it is in the Red File Folder outside Church.  Please check it for accuracy or if you’d like to make a change please do so.   The Email List is separate from the Parish Directory.  So if you need to make a change in your email, please make it in both the Red and Blue Folders.   From there we’ll correct it in the computer and then in the Membership Module of the Church software for the Parish Directory. 

Electronic Items:  Parish Snail Mail List

We don’t do a lot of snail mail, but from time to time we do as at Pledge Drive and Christmas and Easter.  The mailing list is on a Excel Spreadsheet kept in the Church computer and at Girl Friday, our Secretarial Service.   If there an error in your mailing address (it might be correct in the Parish Directory, but wrong on the Girl Friday list,) make a note of this in the Parish Directory File Folder, the Blue One, and we’ll cross check it and to get it right 

Our goal is to get everything integrated for the new year by the Parish Meeting.  That will mean pledges entered into the accounting software, an up to date Parish Directory, accurate mailing list, and email list.   

The Financial Page 

Annual Giving for 2014

We are 3/4 the way through the Annual Giving Drive for 2013.  A large number of pledges have yet to come in.  Please make an Annual Giving Pledge for 2013 and send you pledge card in as soon as possible.  We need your pledge cards to input the computer accurately.  See above.

 Offering Envelopes for 2014:  Pushing the Envelope

The Offering Envelopes for 2014 will be on the table outside Church on Sunday.  They will be arranged in alphabetical order.  Please pick yours up and fill them with money! 

Annual Giving for 2013:  Completing the pledges

If you’ve not yet done so, please complete your 2013 Annual Giving Pledge as soon as possible.  This will enable our Treasurer Leigh Torgerson to close the parish books for the year.  We will send giving statements to all of you by the end of January.  

Thank you to everyone who supports our parish through their financial contributions.  Everyone’s gift is both vital and necessary for our parish life.  We are deeply grateful to all of you.

Emmaus Road

The Emmaus Road group has decided to read the book No Ordinary Men, about Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his brother-in-law Hans von Dohnanyi who resisted the Nazi’s in Germany and paid with their lives.   Emmaus Road  will meet Monday, January 13 at 7:00 p.m. in the Parish Hall Living Room.  The book is available from Amazon

 Coffee Hour January and February

It is time to sign up for Coffee Hour for January and February.  As you can see from the calendar, all the Sundays of both months are open.  You can sign up at Church on Sunday.  You can also email a sign up into the Church office.  

Lake Wobegon Church Supper Potluck. Sunday January 26

For our Annual Meeting this year we're doing something a little different - a Lake Wobegon Church Supper Potluck. We're asking you to dig deep into your (real or imagined) Midwestern  heritage or Prairie Home Companion fixation for your favorite dishes of days gone by. Hot dishes, sides, salads, and desserts like your mother or grandmother would have taken to a church supper.  Think Tuna Noodle Casserole, Green Beans In Mushroom Soup With Little Fried Onions, Lime Jell-O With Shredded Carrots And Cottage Cheese, Pineapple Upside Down Cake - classics we seldom see anymore here on the trendy West Coast.  

You must have favorites from the past too – share one!  Like any of these -  Main dishes:  Shepherds Pie, Chicken & Rice Casserole, Baked Macaroni.  Sides: Baked Beans, Scalloped Potatoes with Ham, Creamed Corn (creamed anything, actually: peas, pearl onions, spinach, etc.)  Salads:  Ambrosia Salad, Broccoli & Raisin Salad. Desserts: Angel-Food Cake, Apple Crisp, Rice Krispie Squares.  And always Fr. Bob's favorite:  fruit cocktail in heavy syrup. 

 The LWCSP follows the Annual Meeting, coming up Sunday, January 26 after the single service.  There will be a sign-up sheet Sundays on the table outside the church. Think of a dish, sign up and join in the fun. We’ll provide the Ginger Ale & Orange Sherbet Punch.  Any questions call/text Chris Askew at 626 200-5209.

 Food For Thought

On the Food for Thought Table this Sunday two articles dealing with recent Church issues. 

The Global War on Christians a book review from The Wall Street Journal  which documents the often violent persecution of Christians in various parts of the world and the indifference of the Church in Northern Hemisphere about the situation.

Evangelicals Find Themselves in the Midst of a Calvinist Revival   This is an article from The New York Times about the resurgence of Calvinist theology among Southern Baptists and other evangelical groups and it’s appeal but also the disruption it causes.   A summary of its theological position is caught in the acronym TULIP which stands for the following points:

Total Depravity (also known as Total Inability and Original Sin)
Unconditional Election
Limited Atonement (also known as Particular Atonement)
Irresistible Grace
Perseverance of the Saints (also known as Once Saved Always Saved) 

One wonders about it’s appeal 

Music with the Angels 

January 12, 4 p.m. - A Franco-Flemish Twelfth Night Concert: Jouyssance

January 19, 3 p.m. - The Mendelssohn String Octet. The Salistina Society.

Hosted by KUSC’s Brian Lauritzen. ADMISSION PRICES: $35 at door; $28 in advance online; $10 students. Visit the Salastina Society website for more information and to order tickets.

January 26, 4 p.m. - Dr. Robert Zappulla (Harpsichord).