In this edition:
From Dean Heather
Pray for our Pilgrims
Changes Coming to Sunday School
Reading the Cathedral
Ministry Opportunity: Ushers and Greeters
How to Request a Nametag
Notes from Outreach: School Supply Drive
Creation Care
Upcoming Parish Events
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From Dean Heather
Exciting News!
I am delighted to announce that I have hired the Rev. Arlen Farley as our new Priest Associate. Arlen will be full time and will have a ministry focus with the Cathedral’s Children, Youth, and Families and will also participate across the wide life of the Cathedral. Arlen is a 2017 graduate of Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, TX and has served as a hospital chaplain at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Oregon, following a year long CPE residency. Previously, Arlen was part of a non-denominational church plant team in San Francisco and co-pastor for eight years. Arlen is married to Andrea Farley, who was just announced as the new Canon for Formation for the Diocese of Spokane. They have three boys ages 7, 9, and 12. Arlen’s first Sunday at the Cathedral will be
September 8
, the Welcome Bash. Please give them a warm welcome to Spokane and St. John’s!
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Sad yet also Good News
With Arlen’s hire, it means that Canon Kristi Philip can (try to!) return to retirement. Kristi has been a blessing to the Cathedral these past two years on staff as interim vicar and canon associate, as well as when Dean Ellis was on sabbatical, as well as between Dean Smiley and Dean Ellis, as well as on staff as Priest Associate for twelve years early in her years as a priest. So it would be better to say that Canon Kristi is a blessing to the Cathedral, full stop! On
September 22
, we will honor Kristi and celebrate her return to retirement. While Kristi is leaving the staff, she will continue to be around the Cathedral on Sundays and preside and preach occasionally. More information about ways to honor and celebrate Kristi will be coming in the mail, so please stay tuned.
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Pray for our Pilgrims
Yesterday a group of pilgrims from our Diocese headed out from the Seattle airport en route to Dublin as they embark on a pilgrimage to Ireland and Northern Ireland. We have the privilege to pray with and for them as they experience God’s work in their lives through this opportunity! You can find the names of the pilgrims, as well as an outline of their activities and daily prayers on the
Cathedral website. You can also follow along with reflections from the group at
their blog.
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Changes Coming to Sunday School
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In the winter and spring of 2019, the clergy met with the volunteer Sunday school teachers and some parents to discuss how Sunday school happens at St. John’s. While there was appreciation of the Lego Sunday school curriculum, there was also a desire to make some changes. In the spirit of entrepreneurship, a core of teachers stepped up to try something different for the fall of 2019.
Starting on Sunday September 15, Sunday school will meet from 9:15 am – 10:15 am next to the Nursery. This is for preschoolers through elementary aged kids (3 year olds through 5
th graders). They will start with 15 minutes of music with Brendan Biele and then move into the curriculum time. Lisa Church and Seth Robertson have looked at the Godly Play resources that the Cathedral has – and we have a lot! The fall will start with the basics of the church year and stories from the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament. Between presenting the story, working with it in the class, and having table fellowship (aka snack), the rest of the class time should be rich.
Having Sunday school between the morning services will allow for families to attend the 8:00 am or 10:30 am services. It will also allow for parents to participate in the Adult Forum.
During the 10:30 am service, we will continue to have an opportunity for children to step out of the worship service with children’s chapel. This will be different from what happens in Sunday school because the children’s chapel will be lectionary-based, tied to the lessons which are heard in worship. Children will stay in worship through the Gospel and then will return during the Peace. The nursery will still be available for children five years old and younger from 9:15 am – 12:00 pm.
Towards the end of the fall, we will have discernment about whether to continue this pattern in the second half of the year. Lisa and Seth have volunteered to take the lead teaching at the beginning of the fall but we are seeking more volunteer teachers. If you are interested in teaching, please be in touch with Dean Heather, Lisa Church, or Seth Robertson.
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Summer Formation Series
Reading the Cathedral
Thank you to all who have joined us for the past three weeks of our Reading the Cathedral series. It has been a delight to learn about the architecture, carvings, and stained glass windows in our worship space. Rest assured that we will continue these explorations in the future! And don’t miss out on the final session for this summer series, in which we’ll learn from our organist, Dr. John Bodinger, about St. John’s organ! Please join us in the Cathedral at 9:15 AM. All people, of all ages and connection to the Cathedral, are welcome!
This session concludes our summer interlude for adult formation, but we will return September 15 as we continue our ongoing adult formation program “Faith, Hope, and Love,” in which we’ll explore the beliefs, practices, and resources of our Episcopal and Anglican heritage as we walk in the Way of Love. Watch for more details as we kick off the program year!
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Ministry Opportunity:
Ushers and Greeters
Thank you to all who attended the July 21 Ushers and Greeting training! If you missed it, or you’d like a refresher, or you want to learn about these ministries, mark your calendars for August 25 for Ushers and Greeters training following the 10:30 am service.
Who should attend? Anyone interested in serving in greeting and hospitality ministries through the roles of ushers and greeters
What is the purpose? To review the job descriptions for Ushers and Greeters and how their roles are different and where they are similar. Then to divide into 2 groups for training specific to Greeters (especially how to share information about greeting) and specific to Ushers (safety procedures, medical or mental health emergency procedures, etc.)
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Nametags: a sign of hospitality
Have you seen the nametags hanging out at the entrance by the north ambulatory? Did you once have a nametag, but an unnamed family member or pet has treated it like a toy and you can’t wrest it from their grasp? Have you wondered why a nametag for you hasn’t just appeared?
Requesting a nametag – whether or not you’ve had one in the past! – is easy! Just contact
Joan in the office (or by phone 509-838-4277) and let her know you’d like one. You have the option of a magnet backing or a pin backing. You can keep it in the north ambulatory when you’re not wearing it, or you can take it home with you. Some, like the interim editor of this newsletter, keep theirs in their purse. Wearing a nametag is a good way to intentionally welcome the people around us, whether we’ve known them for 20+ years or 2 minutes. Please join your siblings in Christ in this gesture of hospitality!
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Notes from Outreach:
School Supplies Drive
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As a small but meaningful way to help families and students at Grant and Holmes Elementary Schools with Back-to-School supplies, we are collecting the following items throughout August:
- Pack of 8-12 colored pencils
- Composition notebooks
- Spiral notebooks (college-ruled and wide-ruled).
There is a bin in the Great Hall, marked
School Supplies, to receive donations. Thank you for your generosity!
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The Episcopal Church affirms a commitment to
creation care
. Creation care ministries seek to heal, defend, and work toward justice for all God's creation and to respect the kinship and connection of all that God created through education, advocacy, and action
. In support of these ministries we share resources each month.
Creation Care and the Episcopal Church
EPPN Creation Care Series
Thursdays in the summer, the Episcopal Public Policy Network (part of the Office of Government Relations) is sharing
a series of articles addressing different parts of the enviro-political movement and how we, Episcopalians engaged in advocacy, have been charged to tackle some of the issues facing our environment through sound policy. These articles focus on domestic U.S.-based policies, with the hope to “help spur a movement for greater study, reflection and conversation across the Church.” From the introductory post:
We will share educational pieces that outline evolving policy, from various proposals on carbon pricing to focusing on renewable energy. We will also provide an action item to add to your efforts, for while it is important to minimize your individual environmental impact, we must also make sure we collectively take care of our natural resources that our lives depend on.
This series will also highlight some ways to address social disparities from environmental racism to the just transitions of communities affected by decline of the fossil fuel industry. Justice is a crucial part of the Church’s environmental mission, and integral components to international conversations to address environmental degradation. Justice is a critical aspect for our reflection because the challenges we face have no clear or easy answers. Faster transition to renewable energy will leave millions in the fossil fuel industry unemployed. There are many different proposals for how and when a price on carbon would achieve its goals, and just what that goal should be is also debated. Restoring wetlands can help reduce the impact of extreme storms, but in recent decades communities have been built on those wetlands.
The series that follows each Thursday for the rest of the summer is neither a comprehensive list of all issues, nor is it a full explanation of each individual issue. Join us each week to learn more about our call to seek holistic set of policies to solve our environmental crisis.
You can find posts on topics like Carbon Tax, Trade Deals, and Government Infrastructure at the EPPN website, which you can access with
this link. As you look for different posts, you can search “EPPN Creation Care Series."
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Upcoming Parish Events
August 18: Final session of "Reading the Cathedral" formation series, at 9:15 in the church.
August 25: Ushers and Greeters training, after the 10:30 service. Contact Bill Selby (ushers) or John Wallingford (greeters)
August 29: Choir resumes rehearsals, contact
Andrea Olsen for more information
September 8: Welcome Bash, with food and festivities following the 10:30 AM worship service. This year, including a carillon concert to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our carillon!
September 15: Blessing of the Backpacks, at the 10:30 service
Ministry Fair in the Great Hall at 11:45 AM
Sunday School resumes (9:15 AM, in the room next to the Nursery)
Adult Forum resumes (9:15 AM, in the Guild Rooms)
Youth Group resumes (Middle school @ noon, St. Stephen's; High school @ 6 pm, Cathedral)
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Do you have an item that you’d like to see included in the September edition?
Contact the interim editor, Katherine Karr-Cornejo, prior to September 12.
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