Dear St. Stephen's Family and Friends,

 

I once saw a cartoon of Adam and Eve being expelled from the Garden of Eden. While the first couple huddled together in fear as lightning flashed and an angry looking angel locked the gates to paradise behind them, Adam turned to Eve and said, "I think this is what's called a time of transition."

 

Human beings have been in transition ever since. That's what life is, a constant state of flux, one change after another. Even so, there are times when the change is either so sudden or so disruptive that we find ourselves staggering backwards - disoriented, anxious, and confused. We may even begin to question who we are and what we're all about. Such times are never easy. No one likes them. They can, however, become an opportunity for major growth.

 

Let me give an example. A couple decades ago my wife of 25 years announced that she was leaving me and our three (nearly adult) children. I was devastated. I should have seen it coming, but I did not. The announcement left me questioning nearly everything I had believed about who I was. The years that followed were without doubt the most difficult in my life. What I did, though - really more out of desperation than anything else - was begin a scrupulous self-examination. I also read everything I could get my hands on about what makes a marriage work and what causes it to fail. Those years - those difficult years - were a major revelation. They changed me. By the time I met the woman who turned out to be the love of my life, I was not only wiser and more mature, I was also well prepared to play my part in creating the sort of marriage that I had always hoped to have. Difficult as they were, I wouldn't trade those years for anything.

 

St. Stephen's is now in a time of transition. Yes, it's difficult, but it's also a tremendous opportunity. In next week's Friday Journal I'll offer some thoughts on how we might take advantage of this opportunity. So stay tuned for that.

 

In the meantime, here's a suggestion of something to put on your calendar. It's a talk at St. Jude's on Tuesday, Nov. 7 at 7 PM that looks like it might be right on target. I plan to go. You might want to consider it too. Here's the information:

 

"Managing the Power of Choice in the Midst of Change,"a talk sponsored by Stephen Ministries of St. Jude's and St. Andrew's, Tuesday, November 7, 2017, at 7 p.m. Carolyn Foster, national speaker and author, will help us learn to create clarity and a sense of meaning for lives often characterized by too many priorities and too little mental spaciousness. St. Jude's Parish Hall, November 7 at 7 pm. Free and open to the public. Learn more and download a flyer here.

Peace and grace,

Fr. Ernie

 

Dear St. Stephen's Family,

 

This Sunday, October 1, 2017, is the 17th Sunday after Pentecost. The Rev. Ernie Boyer, our Interim Pastor, will preside over the 8:00 am and the 10:00 am services. Please join Ernie after coffee hour (after the 10:00 am service) to discuss his sermon and readings that day.  

 

We are now in need of a Vestry Clerk . The Vestry Clerk takes the minutes of all of the vestry meetings. He/she then types up the meetings and sends a draft of the minutes out to the vestry members for feedback. The minutes are then reviewed and approved at the next monthly vestry meeting. The Vestry Clerk is a non-voting member of the vestry and is essential for vestry record keeping. The skills that you will need are: good note taking skills at meetings and ability to type up the notes into a template and then send out to the vestry members by email. You will need to be able to discern what should go into the minutes and ask questions if not sure. You will need to be able to attend most of the vestry meetings, which are the second Thursday of each month at 7:00 pm at St. Stephen's Church. Please let me know if you are interested.

 

Please keep the vestry, the Rector Search Committee, and Rev. Ernie Boyer in your prayers. The vestry is working hard to keep St. Stephen's operating smoothly and the Rector Search Committee is working hard to create our church profile.   Ernie will be leading us through the rest of our transition, preparing us to call our next Rector. Please pray that God will guide us all and that we will have open hearts and minds as we make decisions for the church during this transition.

 

We had a thought-provoking and inspirational retreat with Bishop Mary 2 weeks ago. Thank you to all of you who attended. During our discussions, we came up with the following Tool Box to help in communicating with each other:

 

Our Tool Box:

We also came up with a "To Do" list, with Bishop Mary's guidance, to help us grow as a congregation during our Transition, to help us prepare for our new Priest:

 

To Do List:

The vestry will further our work on the To Do List and have discussions around how to achieve the items on our To Do List.  

 

 

Save the Date:

 

Christmas Eve Survey:

 

There will not be an 8:00 am service that day.

 

The 10:00 am service will be for the Children's Pageant (traditionally done at 4:30 pm on Christmas Eve)

 

  A survey was sent out a couple of weeks ago to find out which time you preferred for the late Christmas Eve service and we narrowed down the services to the following:

 

4:30 pm - 6:00 pm

 

7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

 

 

or call 408-629-1836

 

Reminders:                                                                                                                                                Please bring in dry food for the Food Basket for St. Julie's and pocket change for the Food for the Poor Jar.

 

Please look at the Angel Board to see if there are any tasks that need to be added or tasks that you want to volunteer to do.

 

Genie Lee

Senior Warden

 

COMMISSIONING SUNDAY

This Sunday, October 1

Voice Choir: Patrice Lyn, Nia Lyn

 

Last Sunday was the Ingathering for United Thank Offering at St. Stephen's.  If you did not have a chance to get your offering in, it is not too late.  All donations collected last Sunday and this Sunday will be combined into one check to be presented at the ECW Honored Women's Day on October 7 in Gilroy. More details about Honored Women's Day follow this article.

(If you write a check, please make it payable to St. Stephen's with "UTO" in the memo line.)

Episcopal Church Women -- Diocese of El Camino Real

The Diocese of El Camino Real Honored Women's Day and UTO Ingathering is on

Saturday, October 7, from 9:30 am to 2:00 pm.  The location is St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in

Gilroy.  Celebration of the 2017 Honored Women will include Holy Eucharist with Bishop Mary and the diocesan-wide United Thank Offering Ingathering. 

Our St. Stephen's in-the-Field 2017 Honored Woman will be a guest of honor -- and we will find out who that is this coming Sunday at our 10 a.m. worship service.  Registration forms are available at church -- talk to Wanda Bryan.

Saturday, October 7th, 4:00 pm, St. Stephen's will host its annual Pet Blessing in honor of the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, lover of all creatures great and small.  All pets are invited: dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, iguanas and any other pet you may have at your home.  This is a very special and heart warming event and is held under the oak tree on our property. This special event is for pets and their humans so feel free to invite your neighbors and relatives.

 

Father Ernie will preside over the blessing of each pet; all pets will receive a certificate and a small St. Francis medal.  (Medals have been ordered and will hopefully arrive in time.) Dog cookies for the dogs, and juice for the humans will be provided.  All pets must be on a leash or in a crate.

 

In the event your pet can't attend, you may bring a picture of your pet, or a stuffed animal, as all will be blessed by Father Ernie.

We hope to see you on the 7th !!

Sunday, October 15, following the 10:00 am worship service, The Reverend Deacon Robin Poppoff will facilitate a forum on the topic of Advanced Medical Directives, and how helpful and important they can be to your family in the event of a life-threatening circumstance.  Advanced Medical Directives apply to everyone over the age of 18.  You won't want to miss this forum!

Monday, November 6, 2017, at 8:00 am, St. Stephen's Preschool is hosting an 8 hour CPR/First Aid Training class for teachers and office staff.  Extra spots are available in the class for $60 each.  If you are interested, please call the St. Stephen's office at 408-629-1836, or send an email to [email protected].

Thursday, November 16, 2017 -- Details to follow.

 

St. Stephen's has partnered with Melaleuca, a USA manufacturing company that offers a charitable fundraising program that allows non-profit, 501C3 programs like ours, an easy way to incur extra income without much extra effort or extra money or time from you!

 

Melaleuca is an online store that has a wide assortment of common household consumables.  They are high quality, concentrated, eco-friendly products that contain no toxic ingredients or harsh chemicals.

Contact Susie Good, phone 408-375-0680.  Tom and I have used these products for over 25 years and we love them!

www.melaleuca.com to learn more about the company.  Order through Susie Good to be sure that your purchase benefits St. Stephen's in-the-Field

  

Hey my friends, the next Scrip order will be collected on

October 15th. We have almost reached our goal of giving back $2000 to St Stephen's through the gift card program. If you buy gas or groceries you can use gift cards. This helps St. Stephen's and you by keeping your identity safe. If you plan on traveling, you can use Southwest gift cards and there are cards for hotels. I have used the Hilton cards twice to pay for a room without any problems. If you need help with this just let me know.

Your servant, Janet Thorsrud

   

Do you know if your company does donation matching? Many companies will match what you give to St. Stephen's up to a certain amount. If you don't know if your work place will do this just go and ask the HR department what their policy is for matching to a non profit organization.