Volume 5, Issue 28
July 17, 2020
THIS SUNDAY: July 19, 2020
Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

ON-SITE CHURCH SERVICES WITH COMMUNION

8:00AM
Joe Adorno (EM*)
Jeff Albao (U)
Lorna Nishi (AG)

9:30AM
Dileep Bal (EM)
Nelson Secretario (LR)
Mario Antonio (U)
Jan Hashimuze (AG)
Mabel Antonio, Vikki Secretario (HP)

* EM - Eucharisitic Minister; U - Usher; LR - Lay Reader; AG - Altar Guild; HP - Healing Prayers
UPCOMING EVENTS
ON-SITE CHURCH SERVICES WITH COMMUNION
8:00AM and 9:30AM
Sanctuary and Side Lanai

Aloha Hour
Every Sunday
10:45AM - 12:00PM
Side Lanai and Tent

Monday Crew
Every Monday
8:00AM
Church Office

Daughters of the King
Thursday, July 23 rd
7:00 - 8:00PM
Rectory

Adult Formation Class:
Studying the Apostles' Creed
Tuesday, August 4 th
God the Father
6:30 - 8:00PM
Zoom meeting
Those who are interested in the Adult Formation Class may contact Cami at  Cami@allsaintskauai.org  for login information.
RECURRING EVENTS
ALL RECURRING EVENTS SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
Sunday School
Every Sunday, 9:30 - 10:15AM
Memorial Hall

Laundry Love
1 st & 3 rd Wednesday, 5:00PM
Kapa`a Laundromat
McMaster Slack Key Guitar and Ukulele Concert
Every Wednesday, 6:00PM
Church

Choir Practice
Every Thursday, 6:00PM
Choir Room
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

The editor-in-chief of your Epistle will be taking a few weeks off for surgery on Oahu. In the mean time, we will be publishing a very abbreviated issue each week. These issues will detail the weekly scripture readings, service schedules, duty rosters, and upcoming and recurring events. Once recovered, the editor-in-chief will resume his duties.

Mahalo for your support.
All Saints' Launches New Website!
Check Out the Homepage
We are pleased to announce the release of All Saints' new and improved website.
Thanks to the work of Cami Baldovino and a host of volunteers, the All Saints' website has been upgraded significantly. Many improvements are obvious on the homepage ( www.allsaintskauai.org ). Please visit the site by clicking on the image above to enjoy the new look and feel.

Thanks to Cami for managing the web content and Ron Morinishi for the design and implementation of All Saints' WiFi/LAN network.
All Saints' Defining the New Normal
Adapting Worship to Ensure Health and Safety
It has been so nice to be back within our church `Ohana. Face masks don’t hide the smiling eyes and air hugs we’ve been able to share. Kahu Kawika’s choice to wear a face shield has let us see his smiling compassionate face as he shares the word of God and his own wisdom. This has all been wonderful way to come together while complying with restrictions necessary to keep our community safe and healthy.

On Sunday, July 5 th , we regained an invaluable part of our worship: COMMUNION !

Supplies have been received which will enable us to have communion within the safety restrictions imposed in response to COVID-19. At the beginning of each service Kahu will give us detailed instructions on how to receive communion in a safety conscious fashion.

Thanks be to God that we are able to once again celebrate this fundamental part of our Sunday worship.
E-Programs Available for Download
Since we returned to on-site church services in lieu of paper service programs we have been able to follow the service via slides on a big screen monitor. When the congregation is standing, the monitor is not visible to congregants sitting in the back pews. Cami Baldovino is making the programs available to all on the All Saints’ website on the home page. Finding the program is simple and you can download it to your smart device - phone, tablet, or even your computer.

Here’s how:

- Go to the allsaintskauai.org website
- Scroll down to and click on the “Download E-Programs” button

The E-Program will download onto your device. You can download the program at home or when you get to church. Our new improved WiFi network makes the download quick while in the sanctuary (Netwo rk name: Sanctuary Guest . Password: thepeace). Kahu will give a reminder of how to access the E-Program at the beginning of the service.
If You Can't Join Us in Person
Live Stream and Recordings Available
Join us by going to the live stream link on the All Saints’ website ( allsaintskauai.org ) at 9:15AM HST to enjoy Hank Curtis' prelude before the service begins.

A recording of the service will also be available on the All Saints’ website early in the week. 
Weekly Sermon from Kahu Kawika
Fertile Soil for God's Word

Proper 10A: “Clean Dirt”
All Saints’ Kapaa, 12 July 2020


I was online on the Internet when I came across an article called “Oxymoronic Signs.” As you may know, an oxymoron is a phrase that is combination of apparently opposite words. The following are true oxymoronic signs put up in various places across the United States:

Free Rent
Plastic Glasses
Recorded Live
Even Odds
Dry Creek Water Park
Death Valley Health Center
Genuine Fake Watches
Trespassing by Permit Only
Self-Parking Valet
(and finally, my personal favorite) Clean Dirt

In our Gospel reading from Matthew 13, Jesus goes on to describe “clean dirt.” He is in the middle of teaching a large crowd of people near the Sea of Galilee. The crowd was so large that he decides to get into a boat and speak from the lake – this both gives him a vantage point to address the large size of the crowd, as well as the water acting as a megaphone to project his voice.

Jesus tells the crowd that God tries to speak to people, but there are a variety of degrees of receptivity that people have – this describes both different types of people, as well as phases in our own lives when we are less or more receptive to God speaking to us. Jesus spells out four degrees of openness to God, using the analogy of four different kinds of soils to receive the seed of God’s words. Just as a sower of seeds scatters them across all kinds of soils in the hope that grain would spring up and thrive, so God scatters signs of God’s love and words to all kinds of people.

Jesus describes people’s openness to God in four ways:

  1. Hard Soil: Jesus says that some seed fell on well-trodden paths and trails, signified by hard-packed soil. Since the ground is so hard, the seed cannot germinate and soon birds come along and eat them up. This reminds me of some of the camping I used to do as a Boy Scout in the desert area of Southern California: When I tried to pound metal tent stakes into the ground, the soil was so hard that the tent stakes would bend out of shape. The soil was actually harder than the metal of the tent stakes! In a similar way, some peoples’ hearts are so hardened by life that they are in no position to sense anything new from God – maybe like the paths in Jesus’ day such people feel walked-on themselves and feel under the boot of others, such that their hearts grow defensive and hard. At times in our own lives, maybe we’ve been there or are there now. Jesus is asking that we allow the Holy Spirit to soften our hearts to be receptive to God’s love and to new things God wants to do through us in our world.
  2. Shallow Soil: Jesus then goes on to describe a second kind of soil, that which is shallow and has no depth. When seed lands on it, the seed starts to germinate, but due to the lack of depth no roots can grow in order to get more nutrients. As a result, the sun ends up withering the nascent plant growth. Jesus here is warning us against superficial living and a lifestyle of taking shortcuts and settling for less than what we can truly have. In our first reading from Genesis 25, we hear how the older twin brother Esau trades to Jacob his much-coveted birthright (the inheritance of two-thirds of the total estate) for an immediate red-stew meal. Esau at that time in his life is an example of shallow soil, of having no depth when hard times come. This is Jesus’ warning that his followers should go deep with God and with each other.
  3. Weedy Soil: Jesus’ third type of soil is indeed fertile but contains both seeds for weeds as well as for good plants. Both start to grow, but soon the weeds overtake the good plants and choke them out of the nutrients and space needed to thrive. On very fertile Kauai, we know the reality of battling the growth of weeds in otherwise well-cultivated yards – even our new Labyrinth has nut grass that is fighting with our preferred grass for space within it. Jesus’ warning here is that we too-often live very cluttered lives: filled with an excess of possessions, a crowded schedule, and the habit of seeking constant screen-time and other forms of entertainment, rather than spending personal time and space with God, with each other, and with ourselves. Let’s make space for God.
  4. Fruitful Soil: Jesus calls us to become “clean dirt,” to be fruitful soil that exhibits a life that is both faithful and faith-filled. “Clean Dirt” is expressed also in the Ancient Hawaiian value of Hoomau – perseverance, tenacity, or resilience. It means being diligent in keeping the soil of our lives soft and supple, deep in God’s love and wisdom, and decluttered for the Spirit’s breath of life to infuse us and inspire us.

In Jesus’ call for us to live lives of “clean dirt,” I close with the words of this Sunday’s Collect Prayer:

O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
For the aged and infirm, for the widowed and orphans, and for the sick and the suffering, especially Bill, Nora, Keith, Gwen, Chadd, Patty, David, Kaaren, Kelly and those we name silently or aloud, let us pray to the Lord. ​Lord, have mercy. 

For all who have died, especially Bruce, Keith, and those affected by the COVID-19 virus and those we name silently or aloud, in the hope of the resurrection, and for all the departed, let us pray to the Lord. Lord, have mercy. Amen.
The Apostles' Creed:
What, Where, Why?
We say it every Sunday at church, but where did the Apostles' Creed come from? Why do we recite it in our worship services? What does each part mean for us today? Join Kahu Kawika as we take a closer look at the Apostles' Creed. For background, the Secretarios suggested we get the book by Adam Hamilton,  Creed: Why Christians Believe the Apostles' Creed  (you can order a print copy from Amazon which will arrive on time, or download a Kindle version immediately). We will explore this via Zoom (online or via phone call-in) over three Tuesday evenings, 6:30-8:00PM in August, as follows according to the three-part breakdown of the Creed:

August 4: God the Father
August 11: God the Son
August 18: God the Holy Spirit
Hale Ho`omalu Donations Accepts Donations
All Saints' Restarts Donation Collection
All Saints’ has had a long relationship with Hale Ho`omalu, a Child and Family Service program that provides families with the tools and resources they need to create meaningful and lasting change in their lives. Over the years, our `Ohana has collected donations specific to monthly-need requests provided by Hale Ho`omalu.

COVID-19 changed our ability to collect donations since on-site church services were canceled. Now that we are open for on-site worship, our Hale Ho`omalu donations will be collected again for delivery to this worthy program. We are grateful to our wonderful Monday Crew that takes the donations to Hale Ho`omalu each week.

For the month of July Hale Ho`omalu is requesting donations of school supplies. There is an on-going need for travel sized toiletries and canned goods so these items will be accepted every week. As always, monetary donations are gratefully accepted.
Bruce Hoffman
Rest eternal grant to him, O Lord:
And let light perpetual shine upon him.
Bruce Hoffman passed way on July 10 th as a result of a boating accident at Big Bear Lake, California. Bruce and his wife Kaaren are long-term members of our extended `Ohana and Bruce will be missed. He was with his wife Kaaren and family members on a water-skiing vacation over the July 4 th weekend when the accident occurred. He passed away peacefully on July 10 th .

They had their honeymoon here and had been coming back ever since. They would stay on Kaua`i every year for a month and attended All Saint's every Sunday when on-island.

If you wish to honor Bruce’s memory, donations to any organization that fights for justice or against homelessness is appropriate for a career public defender. Below are such organizations in addition to St. Mary’s, Los Angeles with which Bruce has been intimately involved.

IN BRIEF . . .

These news briefs were featured in previous issues of "The Epistle"

Please submit your story ideas to the Epistle Staff at news@allsaintskauai.org .
KUPUNA SHOPPING ASSISTANCE MINISTRY
Any of our All Saints' kupuna who need assistance with grocery shopping can contact Carolyn Morinishi (808-651-2061) to set up a delivery.

ALL SAINTS' VIRTUAL SWAP MEET
If any ministry has an unmet need, reach out to put it in the All Saints' Virtual Swap Meet and it will be published in the Epistle . Contact Bill Caldwell at news@allsaintskauai.org .

PASTORAL CARE CONTACT INFORMATION
Whenever you have a need for support, please call (650) 691-8104 and leave a voice mail. The system will immediately forward the information to the Pastoral Care Committee who will respond to each request. If you prefer, you may send an electronic pastoral care request via email to pastoralcare@allsaintskauai.org .

PRAYER CHAIN MINISTRY
Individuals who want to participate in the Prayer Chain Ministry must re-enroll to continue receiving the email communications . To re-enroll, please visit the newly established   Pastoral Care web page  or contact the Church Office at (808) 822-4267.

SUBMITTING A PRAYER REQUEST
Prayer requests will now be   submitted online   or by contacting the Church Office at (808) 822-4267.

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Names can be added to the Prayers of the People petitions by using the  Prayer Chain Request form  or by contacting the Church Office at (808) 822-4267. Names will remain in the Prayers of the People for a maximum of four Sundays before a name must be resubmitted.