Volume 3, Issue 22
June 22, 2018
THIS SUNDAY: June 24, 2018
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (B)
Job 38:1-11
Psalm 107:3,23-32
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Mark 4:35-41

8:00AM
Joe Adorno (EM)
Jeff Albao (U)
Diane Sato (AG)

9:30AM
Mary Margaret Smith (EM)
David & Linda Crocker (R)
Mario Antonio & Bara Sargent (U)
Janis Wright (AG)
Reis, Soloman (A)
UPCOMING DATES
Every Sunday | 9:00-9:30AM
Adult Bible Study on this Week's Gospel
(Under the tree )

Sunday, June 24 | 9:30AM
Final Sunday School class before summer break

Sunday, June 24 | 11:00AM
Youth Group Bible Study
(Youth Room - Gym)

Sunday, June 24 | 11:45AM
Heavenly Hikes
(Meet outside church, route TBD)

Monday, June 25 | 8:00AM
Monday Crew

Every Wednesday | 6:00PM
McMaster Slack Key Guitar and Ukulele Concert (Church)

1 st Thursday | 8:00AM
Eucharistic Healing Service

Thursday June 28 | 7:00PM
Daughters of the King (Memorial Hall)

Every Thursday | 6:00PM
Choir Practice (Choir Room)

Friday, June 29 | 6:00PM
Potluck & Travelogue - Isreal
(Memorial Hall)

Saturday, June 30 | 10:00AM
AAUW Meeting
(Memorial Hall)

Sunday, July 1 after 9:30 Service
Independence Day BBQ and Welcome Back Rev. Ryan
FOUR PRINCIPLES OF BIBLICAL STEWARDSHIP
Part Four
Hugh Whelchel
Vestry picture
This week we complete our exploration of Hugh Whelchel’s Principles of Biblical Stewardship. Each week we have focused on a different Principle. This week we look at The Principle of Reward. I hope this series will stimulate thought, reflection, and prayer. If you would like to discuss further, please feel free to contact me.

Nelson Secretario
Every faculty you have, your power of thinking or of moving your limbs from moment to moment, is given you by God. If you devoted every moment of your whole life exclusively to His service, you could not give Him anything that was not in a sense His own already. 
– C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
In a recent blog on  stewardship  we asked the question, “What does stewardship look like in our lives today?” Unfortunately many Christians today only associate the idea of stewardship with sermons they have heard about church budgets and building programs.

But for us at the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics , the idea of  biblical stewardship  is about something much more expansive. We believe it is where the concepts of faith, work and economics intersect.

Bill Peel at The High Calling recently wrote an excellent essay entitled Leadership Is Stewardship . His essay can help us build a framework to begin unpacking this biblical idea of stewardship.

Peel suggests that there are four important principles about biblical stewardship we must understand:

The principle of reward
In  Colossians 3:23-24  Paul writes:

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

The Bible shows us in the parables of the Kingdom that faithful stewards who do the master’s will with the master’s resources can expect to be rewarded incompletely in this life, but fully in the next.
We all should long to hear the master say what he exclaims in  Matthew 25:21 :

Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!

As Christians in the 21 st  century, we need to embrace this larger biblical view of stewardship, which goes beyond church budgets or building projects, though important; it connects everything we do with what God is doing in the world.

We need to be faithful stewards of all God has given us within the opportunities presented through his providence to glorify him, serve the common good and further his Kingdom.
Hugh Whelchel is Executive Director of the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics and author of How Then Should We Work? Rediscovering the Biblical Doctrine of Work . The full text of this article is available HERE .
NEWS FROM BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS
June Workday
Reminder that our June  Work Day is scheduled for this Saturday, June 23 rd starting at  9:00AM and finishing no later than  12:00 noon .

There will be plenty of work for willing hands;
  • cleaning church windows,
  • cleaning and tidying the gym kitchen,
  • sweeping and cleaning the gym – especially stairs and entryways,
  • watering plant pots and newly planted Manila palms,
  • staining the deck around the false kamani tree. (weather dependent),
  • Other! 
For our gardeners and landscapers there will be plenty to do – cleaning up the Peace Garden and pruning trees.

NOTE – NEW HOURS!  Work Days are scheduled on the  4 th Saturday of each month and will now begin at  9:00AM and finish no later than  12:00 noon .    It’s just 3 hours, once a month, to help maintain our buildings and grounds.
Peace Garden - Truly a Lead Volunteer
CTCT-20180621_142526
You may remember this request from our Epistle notice back in May.
 
We are looking for someone with a green thumb and a love of gardening to take the lead on the maintenance of the Peace Garden – deciding what needs to be done and coordinating the work with volunteers. Want to help us to maintain this garden which is dedicated to The Holy Sovereigns, King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma?  Just let me know .”

I am very pleased to tell you that  Wayne Doliente has volunteered to take on this task. Mahalo Ke Akua!

Wayne is very involved with the Hospitality Ministry and has become one of the mainstays of our Aloha Hour and other special events. He is also the “capo di tutti capo” of the gym kitchen! Those of us who attend the Aloha Hour, beach BBQ’s and other special events hope that his Peace Garden work does not intrude on his culinary activities! And guess who regularly deals with all the recycling – and trash - that mounts up in the bins behind the gym kitchen?
You will also find Wayne at the Kapa’a Laundromat on the 1 st and 3 rd Wednesdays of the month where he is a regular volunteer at our Laundry Love sessions, supporting all teams whenever he is available.

Mahalo Wayne for all you do!

For and on behalf of the Buildings and Grounds Ministry
David  Murray


EPISCOPAL CHURCH NEWS
GENERAL CONVENTION GOES PAPERLESS
It used to be that General Convention conducted all of its legislative business on paper – approximately 1.2 million pieces of paper in 2012. No more.

For the second convention running, each deputy, alternate deputy and bishop, upon arrival in Austin, Texas, for the 79 th General Convention, will get a loaner iPad to use as a “Virtual Binder.” The iPads being used during the July 5-13 gathering are newer and faster than the ones the General Convention office rented in 2015.

Replacing each actual binder with the digital system will save the cost of the estimated 2,400 reams of paper, which amounted to about six tons, plus the copying costs. Convention veterans recall an actual binder that they gradually filled with their copies as the gathering progressed, often to the point where some used wheeled bags to transport their binders. “Click time” was set aside in each house for bishops and deputies to update their binders. Tracking the progress of resolutions was impossible for people who did not attend convention. No more.

Moreover, not only have the Virtual Binder’s functions been improved and expanded for greater access across the church, but the system has made the Episcopal Church and the General Convention innovative leaders in the business of legislation tracking. There is also the prospect of sharing and licensing the system’s basic architecture to other groups.
The Virtual Binder is an app that runs on the bishops’ and deputies’ iPads, and can be accessed online. Those without a General Convention iPad can access the online version here . That latter version mirrors the app running on the iPads and changes along with it in real time. No matter how it is accessed, the 2018 edition of the Virtual Binder enables users to track the progress of convention resolutions. It also includes each house’s daily agendas, calendars for each day and journals (a list of messages sent between the houses informing the other of actions taken), committee calendars and reports. It contains tabs for checking on current action and floor amendments in each house.

- excerpted from The Episcopal News Service
Speaking Out as a Christian in Conflicted Times
A special message from Bishop Robert L. Fitzpatrick

June 20, 2018
Na ke aloha o ke Akua ma loko o Iesu Kristo, e aloha iā ʻoukou ā pau!

A remarkable convergence took place this past week as Christian leaders - from our own Presiding Bishop to Pope Francis and even Franklin Graham - agreed that the Attorney General and the current Administration's policy of separating children from their families of undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers was reprehensible and immoral. I have heard this morning (Wednesday, June 20) that the President has acted by executive order to end implementation of this evil policy. I am thankful for that.

There were many sermons this past Sunday (June 17) - including my own - that addressed the policy and in response to the Attorney General's invocation of Scripture (Romans 13:1-7) in defense of the policy. For some those sermons seem to have been "too political". A few individuals have taken umbrage with the Presiding Bishop, many clergy of this Diocese and me for endorsing the document "Reclaiming Jesus: A Confession of Faith in a Time of Crisis" (view  HERE ). There is again the question for us of the relation of religion and politics, of faith and public morality.

In 1985, the then Bishop of Hawai'i, Ed Browning, was elected Presiding Bishop. His first words to the Episcopal Church in his new role were: "This Church of ours is open to all -- there will be no outcasts."  I hope Episcopalians can have hearty conversations about policies in the light of who we are as an inclusive Church and within the framework of the Baptismal Covenant. When we disagree about policy, I hope we will be respectful.

As I have noted before, I am often reminded of a sermon on 2nd Corinthians 12:9 delivered by Dietrich Bonhoeffer when he urged:

Christianity stands or falls with its revolutionary protest against violence, arbitrariness and pride of power and with its plea for the weak. Christians are doing too little to make these points clear rather than too much. Christendom adjusts itself far too easily to the worship of power. Christians should give more offense, shock the world far more, than they are doing now. Christians should take a stronger stand in favor of the weak rather than considering first the possible right of the strong.

I also think we consider well the words of the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams: "Christians will be found in the neighbourhood of Jesus - but Jesus is found in the neighbourhood of human confusion and suffering, defenselessly alongside those in need. If being baptized is being led to where Jesus is, then being baptized is being led towards the chaos and the neediness of a humanity that has forgotten its own destiny." From the days when Christ himself overturned the tables in the Temple through to actions of our own General Convention, the Church is called to speak to society and the political realities of the nation and the world.

In the Episcopal Church, when a Deacon is ordained, the ordinand is admonished that "[a]s a deacon in the Church... You are to interpret to the Church the needs, concerns, and hopes of the world... At all times, your life and teaching are to show Christ's people that in serving the helpless they are serving Christ himself." At the ordination of a Priest, the Bishop prays that the newly ordained be "a faithful pastor, a patient teacher, and a wise councilor." When a Bishop is ordained, it is with the promise to "show compassion to the poor and strangers, and defend those who have no helper." Ordained leaders have an obligation to speak truth to power and proclaim God's justice with love. It is an essential part of the teaching and preaching ministry of the Church. At times, some will perceive such ministrations as too political. That has been the case throughout the history of the Church and even in the teaching of Jesus Christ in the Scripture. For those offended, I urge you to engage in faithful conversation with the Church's preacher/teacher when you disagree with something said or written. We are called to seek God's will for God's world and people as sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus.

While I do not believe the Church should endorse candidates or political parties, I do think faithful Christians must speak and act when things are said or done that are harmful to others, unjust, immoral, untruthful or that dehumanize our fellow human beings. To be a faithful preacher/teacher of the Gospel does mean at times to be political by urging God's people to engage the world as followers of Jesus Christ. It should not mean being partisan and aligned with any particular politician or party. Further, I think this must be done with Paul's admonition in mind [also from his Letter to the Romans (chapter 12:9-17)]:

Love should be shown without pretending. Hate evil, and hold on to what is good. Love each other like the members of your family. Be the best at showing honor to each other. Don't hesitate to be enthusiastic-be on fire in the Spirit as you serve the Lord! Be happy in your hope, stand your ground when you're in trouble, and devote yourselves to prayer. Contribute to the needs of God's people, and welcome strangers into your home. Bless people who harass you-bless and don't curse them. Be happy with those who are happy, and cry with those who are crying. Consider everyone as equal, and don't think that you're better than anyone else. Instead, associate with people who have no status. Don't think that you're so smart. Don't pay back anyone for their evil actions with evil actions, but show respect for what everyone else believes is good.

And maybe keeping in mind a reminder from the Letter of James (1:19): "Know this, my dear brothers and sisters: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to grow angry. This is because an angry person doesn't produce God's righteousness."

As I have noted before, I have found former John Danforth's (Republican Senator from Missouri 1976-1995 and an Episcopal Priest) book, The Relevance of Religion: How Faithful People Can Change Politics (Random House, 2015), insightful in addressing the rhetoric of our age. Public Faith in Action: How to Think Carefully, Engage Wisely, and Vote with Integrity by Miroslav Volf and Ryan McAnnally-Linz (Brazos Press, 2016) is a careful reflection for Christians regarding major policy issues facing the United States living faithfully in a pluralistic society. Volf is the Henry B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology at Yale Divinity School and founder and director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, and McAnnally-Linz is an associate research scholar at the Yale Center for Faith and Culture. I have also found Jacques Maritain's  Christianity and Democracy and The Rights of Man and the Natural Law (Ignatius Press, 2012) to be a modern classic. Maritain (1882-1973) was a French Roman Catholic philosopher. I commend them to you for study.

Lastly as required by the rubrics of the Book of Common Prayer at public worship, I urge you to pray privately for the Nation and all in authority. I think this must include praying by name for those with whom we are in disagreement at the governmental and policy level. At the personal level, I certainly hope we love and pray for our sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus even when we disagree. Please keep me in your prayers.

"No ia mea, e nā hoahānau, e kupa ʻ a ʻ oukou, me ka nāueue ʻ ole, me ka ho ʻ omau i kā ʻ oukou hana nui ʻ ana i ka hana a ka Haku, no ka mea, ua ʻ ike nō ʻ oukou, ʻ a ʻ ole i make hewa kā ʻ oukou hana ʻ ana ma ka Haku." Korineto I 15.58 

"Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." 1 Corinthians 15:58

Aloha ma o Iesu Kristo, ko mākou Haku,

+Bob

The Rt. Rev. Robert L. Fitzpatrick
Bishop Diocesan
On Wednesday, June 20 th , Laundry Love Kauai celebrated it's third anniversary serving those in need through a simple mission to provide clean, free laundry. All Saints' launched Hawai'i's first Laundry Love program in June 2015. Since then, on the first and third Wednesdays of each month, volunteers wash, dry, and fold patrons' laundry FOR FREE!
Mahalo nui loa to all the volunteers who give of their time to support All Saints' flagship ministry: David Crocker, Linda Crocker, Chris Wataya, Mary Margaret Smith, Chris Kostka, Courtney Kostka, Jean Nakamoto, Wayne Doliente, Pat Hillegonds, Joe Adorno, Geoff Shields, Kim Shields, Bill Brown, David Murray, Bara Sargent, Steve Sargent, Morris Wise, Lorna Nishi, Mabel Antonio, Mario Antonio, Raiden Kurisu, April Womak, Diane Sato, Pat Sokei and CeCe Caldwell . The next time you see one of them, please give them a hug and a big Thank You!!

As always, if you are interested in donating you time, talent, or treasure to Laundry Love Kaua'i or would like more information, please go to  Laundry Love Kaua’i  or contact Geoff Shields at  gshields2334@gmail.com  or Bill Caldwell at  billcaldwell4@me.com .
HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!
KE AKUA YOUTH GROUP HONORS FATHERS
On June 17, 2018, the Ke Akua Youth Group distributed handmade clay crosses in celebration and thanks to all the fathers that attended both Sunday services. All together, about 50 fathers were recognized and honored.

Special thanks to Diane Tabura and the Ibanez family for their help.

“Your hands fashioned and made me… Remember that you have made me like clay… You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit.” -- Job 10:8-12

Cami Pascua | Youth Minister
SAVE THE DATE!
Isreal Through the Eyes of Joan Roughgarden
SHALOM!

Friday, June 29 th at 6:00PM All Saints' will host a dinner and Israel travelogue, presented by our very own Joan Roughgarden.

Joan has been living on Kaua'i with husband Rick Schmidt (of mac-and-cheese fame) for eight years. She retired from Stanford University where she was a professor of biology (ecology and evolution). Joan attended elementary school in the Philippines (Zamboanga) and Indonesia (Bogor and Djakarta), prior to returning to the mainland US for junior high, high school and university.

Joan’s slide show will feature scenes from three sections of Israel. The Galilee where Jesus preached, including the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River, the old city of Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified, and the dramatic landscapes and wildlife of the Negev Desert, including the Masada fortress and the caves where the Dead Sea scrolls were found.  These slides were taken during Joan’s one-week tour of Israel during June 2015.

Please plan to attend this next installment of the All Saints’ travelogue and potluck dinner Friday, June 29 th , in Memorial Hall, beginning at 6:00PM. We will begin with a potluck dinner. If you are so inclined, please bring an Israeli or Jewish food dish to share. Never prepared one or tasted one? Just Google: Israeli cuisine, or Jewish recipes.  Google some specific Jewish foods, such as potato latke or knish or matzoh or challah.

If you would like to learn more or see a preview of the slide show, please click the link below.
This travelogue series usually occurs on the last Friday of each month.  For more information about this travelogue series, or if you would like to present a travelogue of your own journeys, please contact William Brown or David Murray by email.  
THIS WEEK IN SUNDAY SCHOOL
MEN WHO STRUGGLED FOR JUSTICE

The three men we hear about in Sunday’s lesson— Absalom Jones, Jonathan Myrick Daniels and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed in their lives the Good News of God in Christ.

The lives of these three men cover a wide span of time. The struggle to gain freedom and justice for African Americans has been a very long struggle, which continues to this day.

In 1746 Absalom Jones was born an enslaved person in Delaware. He taught himself how to read the New Testament and other books. When he was 16 years old, he was sold to a store owner, who let him go to a night school for African-Americans. When he was 20, he got married to another slave, and then he bought her freedom with the money he had been earning at the store. When he was 38, he bought his own freedom.

Absalom went to St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church. When he was there he served as a lay minister for its black members. At that time in this church the black and white members worshiped together, sharing the same space, but the two groups did not interact as equal partners. That is why Absalom served the black members, and a white minister served the white members. Under Absalom's guidance the black membership grew and was then segregated from the white congregants. Absalom led his congregants from St. George's to start their own church. It was the first African-American Episcopal parish, named St. Thomas African Episcopal Church. It was located in Philadelphia, in the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania...and still exists today! Eventually he was ordained a deacon, then a priest.

Jonathan Myrick Daniels was but a young seminarian when he lost his life to protect a girl from an angry man with a gun during the civil rights conflicts in the South in the 1960’s. From his journals we learn of his profound commitment to furthering the reign of God by working to bring God’s justice to society. At the end, he followed the example of his Lord, who told his disciples at their last supper together, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)

Martin Luther King Jr. also laid down his life for his friends. And he counted the whole world as his friends, even when they vilified and hated him for his work towards a world of righteousness and justice for all people. Martin’s unrelenting insistence on peaceful means and nonviolence to combat evil makes him a true prophetic voice in this world of violence. His speeches, sermons and writings are full of passion for the truth of God’s reign, tinged with sorrow for those who cannot see that truth. They are full of reproach for those who refuse to follow the truth. And they are full of compassion for all of us for whom the reign of God and the Good News of Christ are so distant. His words of love combined with his insistence on justice are words that all of us should heed. And his dedication to living out his deep faith is a dedication that inspires us all.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!

In the immortal words of Alice Cooper, " School's Out For Summer! " Sunday School summer break begins next Sunday, July 1 st . Sunday School will resume after our summer break.
SummerPraise at St. Paul's, Kekaha
Saturday, June 23rd, 5:30 - 8:00PM
It's ECWK's first annual Praise Music Fest and Potluck. Several West Kauai churches will be offering their music. Come and meet the neighbors, enjoy some wonderful music and food and help make this the first of many SummerPraise events! Call Ross at 808.639.3464 for more information.
JUNE COLLECTION FOR HALE HO'OMALU
Dry Goods: Pastas, Hamburger Helper, Rice, Bread, Crackers

Please place your donations in the red wagon by the door to the sanctuary on Sundays. Hale Ho'omalu also needs and appreciates monetary donations as well as gift-in-kind items.

During Rev. Ryan's sabbatical Chris Neumann, CeCe Caldwell and Bill Caldwell will be publishing the Epistle . We encourage you to submit your ideas, announcements, photos, videos, articles, or stories for publication in the Epistle . We will work with you to craft your story. You give us the idea, we have a brief chat with you to outline the story, and you give us a quote if that is comfortable for you. It should only take five or ten minutes at your convenience. We take it from there! If you would like to have your item included, please email it to epistle@allsaintskauai.org or call Bill at (336) 414-7921.
MAHALO!