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All in the Family
This Sunday in Genesis 29 we read a strange story of Jacob and his Uncle Laban, his mother Rebecca's brother. If you think your own family is strange, the biblical family is probably stranger! Abraham and his descendants do not display "biblical family values," whatever those are - there is manipulation, deception, misuse of women, not to mention multiple wives and concubines.
Here, Rebecca does not want her favored son Jacob to marry a Canaanite woman (not our kind of people), so she encourages him to travel to her brother Laban. (Rebecca was rather controlling.) There he meets and falls in love with the beautiful Rachel, younger daughter of Laban (marriage to first cousins was common then). Jacob agrees to work 7 years for Laban in exchange for Rachel's hand. (Modern men might balk at that!)
After 7 years, Jacob asks for his wife as agreed, and a wedding is held. But Laban slips his elder daughter Leah into the marriage tent instead of Rachel, and Jacob doesn't notice! (Here, both deception and drunkenness seem to be at work.) So Jacob is tricked into "marrying" Leah - and ends up working another 7 years before he gets Rachel too.
What do we make of all this?
Well, God's leaders in Israel were certainly flawed and imperfect people; sin and dishonesty were at work throughout the patriarchs' lives. God even seems to use the deviousness of dishonesty to further the patriarchal family. God also makes a pattern of raising the younger offspring over the firstborn to establish the dynasty.
In our own families, we run into controlling behaviors, manipulation, deception and infidelity with some regularity. I often wonder why we can't be more honest with family members? If we were more open and honest, we could talk to our older kin about death and dying. We could talk with our children about our own mistakes in life, and our hopes for them. We could be more open with spouses and partners about our own hopes for our relationship, our dreams for the future, and our disappointments. Those are the kind of "family values" that could make life better and richer for us.
JBM
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Music ...
Choir Kickoff -
Thursday, September 7, 2017 at 7:30 p.m.
Have you been looking for a reason to join the choir? This week's reason:
Singing with a choir is good for your health. Need proof? Click here .
The choir will begin rehearsals on
Thursday, September 7th, 7:30-9:00 p.m.
Everyone in high school or above is welcome to join us; no auditions, ability to read music, or long-term commitments necessary! Join us in September and give choir a try! We sing a wide variety of music, ranging from classical Anglican church anthems to contemporary gospel music. Our season runs from September - late May/early June.
Please e-mail
Michael if you have any questions
.
Children's Choir - Thursdays, 5:45 p.m.
School is about to start, and that means is almost time for Children's Choir to start again, too! We want to make sure that we'll have a critical mass of kids and parents who are interested in Children's Choir. Would weekly rehearsals
(September-May) or seasonal rehearsals
(4-5 weeks before Christmas and Easter) work better for your family? Click
here to let us know by
September 1!
Michael Austin
Music Director
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Children's and Youth Formation ...
Children's Formation
It's time to make ready all things for our program year: Planning the formation opportunities for our children and youth. Seeking those who will lead and guide those formation times. Assembling materials and restocking supplies so that all might be creative and learn.
Help us to be ready to welcome all who might choose to join in one activity or another.
If you have children who are infants through 4th grade please fill out this
Children's Form
.
Youth Formation
Our youth programs happen with in our parish, with out collaboration partners in P.R.A.Y. programs, and in programs that happen with youth in our diocese and beyond.
If you have youth in 5th through 12th grade, please fill out this
Youth Form to update information.
L Sue von Rautenkranz
Children and Youth Formation Coordinator
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Backpack Drive ...
Partnership with National Center for Children and Families
Throughout the Month of August
St. Dunstan's will join in the effort again this year of providing backpacks for children served by the National Center for Children and Families.
One of the best ways for children to succeed in school is to make sure they have all that they need in the way of supplies. We can make this happen for many children.
And it is simple. Pick up a supply list flyer in Founders' Hall and go shopping
. Then bring your filled backpack to church no later than August 27. Let's see if we can top our number from last year which was 35. And don't forget the books - any two books appropriate for the age. Most of these children have no books in their homes.
The Blessing of Backpacks will take place on Sunday, August 27 at both the 9:00 and 10:45 Liturgies.
L Sue von Rautenkranz
Children and Youth Formation Coordinator
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Parish Notice ...
 Office Assistance Needed
Our beloved Parish Administrator is going on vacation for the first 2 weeks of August. As such we are seeking flexible and temporary help in the office ideally 10:00 a.m.- 12:00 p.m., answering phones, and greeting visitors. Please let us know if you can spare a few hours to help us from July 28- August 11. This is great volunteer opportunity for adults and teenagers and we can offer SSL credit to Montgomery County students. Please contact
Kimberly Matthews if you are interested or call the church office.
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An Open and Growing Heart ...
An Open and Growing Heart
By Richard Rohr
Like "prayer," "religion," and so many other words, the word "faith" means different things to different people. As we recover the lost tradition of contemplation, here are some clarifications for what I mean by "faith" and why, understood in a nondualistic way, faith is not blind assent, or even reasoned assent, but an essential part of spiritual transformation.
Faith points to an initial opening of the heart or mind space from our side.
Foundationally, this is all that faith is, but its effects and implications can be enormous. Faith is our small but necessary "yes" to any new change or encounter.
Such an opening or re-opening is necessary to help you make fresh starts or break through to new levels. You normally have to let go of the old and go through a stage of unknowing or confusion before you can move to another level of awareness or new capacity. This opening up and letting go is largely what we mean by faith, and it explains why doubt and faith are correlative terms. People of great faith often suffer bouts of great doubt because they continue to grow. Mother Teresa experienced decades of doubt, as was widely reported after her death. The very fact that the media and people in general were surprised by her experience demonstrates our very limited understanding of faith.
The movement through unknowing is necessary in all encounters, relationships, or intellectual breakthroughs, not just with the Divine. Human faith and religious faith are much the same except in their object or goal. What set us on the wrong path was making the object of religious faith "ideas" or doctrines instead of a person. Our faith is not a belief that dogmas or moral opinions are true, but a faith that Ultimate Reality/God/Jesus is accessible to us-and even on our side. Jesus was able to touch and heal people who trusted him as an emissary of God's love, not people who assessed intellectual statements and decided whether they were true or false. Faith is more how to believe than what to believe.
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Hopes and Prayers on our Journey ...
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 I
n Need of Healing:
Curt Shively
,
husband of Susan Burkhalter
,
in nursing care
Ken Farnsworth
, ill at home in Wheaton
David and Karen Keegan
, friends of Tom and Rosemarie Barrett, fighting cancer
Pam Plaisance
, fighting cancer, cousin of Sue von
Samantha Barnes,
ill,
sister of Muriel Croston
Ray Bridson
, friend of the MacKnights, fighting cancer
DJ Crane
, family friend of Trudy Surut, fighting cancer
The flowers
are given to the glory of God by Tom and Rosemarie Barrett in celebration of the wedding of Vincent and Candice Barrett on July 15, 2017.
Recently Departed: Don Larrabee
We pray for St. Dunstan's Missionaries,
Cameron and Roberto Vivanco, who serve in Quito, Ecuador, and the parish of Buen Pastor.
If you or someone you know is in need of prayer, please complete our prayer request form by clicking
here.
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The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
July 30, 2017
9:00 a.m. Family Service
9:50 a.m. Sandwich Making
10:45 a.m. Traditional Holy Eucharist
12:00 noon Fellowship
The readings for this Sunday are:
Genesis 29:15-28, Romans 8:24-39,
and Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
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Sunday Schedule of Ministries ...
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Serving this Sunday
Trail Guides: Tom and Rosemarie Barrett
Liturgical Coordinator:
Carl Adams
Eucharistic Minister:
Carl Adams
Lector:
Carl Adams
Altar Guild:
Ann Johnson
Flower Guild: Rosemarie Barrett
Tellers:
Donna Alvarez
and Donna Courtney
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