Volume 4, Issue 50
December 20, 2019
THIS SUNDAY: December 22, 2019
Fourth Sunday of Advent

8:00AM
Cami Pascua (EM)
Jeff Albao (U)
Lorna Nishi (AG)

9:30AM
Dileep Bal (EM)
Chris Kostka, Micah Kostka (R)
Mary Margaret Smith, Ginny Martin (U)
Faith Shiramizu (AG)
Noah (A)
Mabel Antonio, Nelson Secretario (HP)
UPCOMING EVENTS
All Saints' Preschool Christmas Program
Friday, December 20 th
6:30 - 8:30PM
Gym

Christmas Caroling at Mahelona
Saturday, December 21 st
5:00 - 6:00PM
Mahelona Hospital
Carpool from All Saints'
4:45PM

Youth Group Christmas Party
Saturday, December 21 st
7:00 - 8:00PM
Rectory

Christmas Eve Open House
Tuesday, December 24 th
7:00PM
Rectory

Daughters of the King
Thursday, December 26 th
7:00 - 8:00PM
Memorial Hall
RECURRING EVENTS
Adult Bible Study on Weekly Gospel
Every Sunday, 9:00 - 9:30AM
Under the big tree

Sunday School
Every Sunday, 9:30 - 10:15AM
Memorial Hall

Aloha Hour
Every Sunday, 10:45AM - 12:00PM
Under the big tree

Monday Crew
Every Monday, 8:00AM
Church Office
Laundry Love
1 st & 3 rd Wednesday, 5:00PM
Kapa`a Laundromat

McMaster Slack Key Guitar and Ukulele Concert
Every Wednesday, 6:00PM
Church

Daughters of the King
2 nd & 4 th Thursday, 7:00 - 8:00PM
Memorial Hall

Choir Practice
Every Thursday, 6:00PM
Choir Room
Christmas schedule 2019
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s Christmas Message 2019

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it."

Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs
Posted Dec 16, 2019

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it,” Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop and Primate Michael Curry said in his Christmas Message 2019.
To hear the Presiding Bishop’s message please click on the video link below.
The text of the Presiding Bishop’s message follows:

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry Christmas Message 2019

In the first chapter of John’s Gospel, sometimes referred to as the prologue to the Gospel, sometimes spoken of as the whole Gospel in miniature the Gospel writer says this. As he reflects on the coming of God into the world in the person of Jesus. As he reflects on Christmas. He says, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.

I don’t think it’s an accident that long ago, followers of Jesus began to commemorate his coming into the world when the world seemed to be at its darkest.

It’s probably not an accident that we observe Christmas soon after December 21, the winter solstice. The winter solstice being in the Northern Hemisphere the darkest time of the year.

Undoubtedly, these ancient Christians who began to celebrate the coming of God into the world, they knew very well that this Jesus, his teachings, his message, his spirit, his example, his life points us to the way of life itself, a way of life, where we take care of each other. A way of life, where we care for God’s world. A way of life, where we are in a loving relationship with our God, and with each other as children of the one God, who has created us all.

They also knew John’s Gospel and John’s Christmas story. Now there are no angels in John’s Christmas story. There are no wise men coming from afar. There’s no baby lying in a manger. There’s no angel choir singing Gloria in excelsis Deo in the highest of the heavens. There are no shepherds tending their flocks by night. Matthew and Luke tell those stories. In John, it is the poetry of new possibility, born of the reality of God when God breaks into the world.

It’s not an accident that long ago, followers of Jesus began to commemorate his birth, his coming into the world. When the world seemed darkest. When hope seemed to be dashed on the altar of reality. It is not an accident that we too, commemorate his coming, when things do not always look right in this world.

But there is a God. And there is Jesus. And even in the darkest night. That light once shined and will shine still. His way of love is the way of life. It is the light of the world. And the light of that love shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not, cannot, and will not overcome it.
God love you. God bless you and may you have a Merry Christmas and may this world be blessed. Amen.

The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church
Bishop Robert Fitzpatrick Shares a Christmas Message for All

December 19, 2019

Click on the image below to view the video on YouTube or go to the Diocesan website  HERE .
Christmastide

by Christina Rossetti(1830-1894)

Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine;
Love was born at Christmas,
Star and Angels gave the sign.

Worship we the Godhead,
Love Incarnate, Love Divine;
Worship we our Jesus:
But wherewith for sacred sign?

Love shall be our token,
Love be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and all men,
Love for plea and gift and sign.
Please Note:
Laundry Love Team A is now scheduled for Jan. 15.
COMPLETE SERVICE BULLETINS AVAILABLE ON-LINE

The recent church office printer problems are a reminder that not all technology works all of the time. The good news is All Saints’ has a backup in place to overcome our printer problem!

To access the online version on your smart phone or iPad:

  • Go to allsaintskauai.org
  • The last item under “Worship Services” is “Download e-Programs”
  • Click on this link to download the e-Program for use during the service.
  • See below.
As more of our congregation uses the e-Program, All Saints’ can print fewer service bulletins and use less printer ink and paper. As important as the cost savings is the reduced environmental impact. The production of printer ink and paper are a consideration as is the shipping of reams of paper when considering the carbon footprint of our service program. 

Let’s work together to create a more environmentally sustainable future for All Saints’.

-CeCe Caldwell for Environmental Stewardship
I’m excited by this year’s stewardship theme, “Shining Our Light.” That theme, taken from the fifth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, speaks to us as individuals and as a community of faith.
Individually, each of us is called to make sure we are letting God’s light shine through our work, our friendships, our service and our giving. We are called to be light bearers. It is a powerful calling.

As a faith community, All Saints' must shine the light of Christ through our worship, welcoming, pastoral care and ministry to the wider community. How we use our time, talents, and treasure determines how brightly we are shining our light. 

At All Saints', I’m so impressed by the various ways members of our church keep their light shining brightly. Some of us make sure the Aloha Hour is always full of good food and plenty of fellowship. Others participate in our worship either by singing in the choir or assisting in the service. Still others prepare the worship space with flowers or altar vestments. Our Buildings and Grounds Ministry ensures our physical plant is well-maintained. Many of us also represent the church in our participation of various community service programs around the Garden Island.

While during this pledge drive, each of us is asked to make a generous financial pledge for the coming year, I’m also grateful for the many gifts of time, food, and skills from virtually every member of this church. 

I hope you’ll join me as we work together to shine our light in church, in our community and in our lives.

Faithfully,

Bill Caldwell
By now you should have received your pledge card and an invitation to support your Church with a pledge. If you have not received your Stewardship materials by mail, please contact Cami .

The in-gathering of pledges will be celebrated at both services on Jan. 5, 2020. Please bring your completed pledge cards to church that day.

Those who cannot make that service are welcome to mail back their pledges to All Saints Church at PO Box 248, Kapaa, HI 96746 or drop it off at the office.
 
Mahalo!

UPDATING THE CHURCH DIRECTORY
Photo Opportunities Available This Sunday

Please remember to check the binders at the front of the church and update your directory information, and note if you need a new picture. Marge Akana will be at church this Sunday to take new pictures at the 8:00AM service and as people arrive for the 9:30AM service. You can also bring or send a new photo, or request a new photo at another time.
Updated information and photos will be a tremendous help for our new priest. Please participate in this effort.

THE EPISCOPAL NEWS SERVICE
North Carolina Street Ministry Grows Into Bilingual Congregation by Listening to Its Neighbors

By David Paulsen
Posted Dec 16, 2019
The Rev. Chantal McKinney leads worshippers from Christ’s Beloved Community in an outdoor Good Friday procession in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Photo: Christ’s Beloved Community

[Episcopal News Service] The Rev. Chantal McKinney has earned praise and churchwide support for her church-planting efforts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, but the congregation she now leads in worship every Sunday as  Christ’s Beloved Community didn’t sprout overnight. It started years ago with a lot of knocking on doors.

“I wanted to create a community that would be with people, not for people,” McKinney told Episcopal News Service. She modeled her approach to mission after the ways Jesus connected with people. “He wasn’t in the church. He was on the street meeting people where they were.”

And though Christ’s Beloved Community now draws several dozen worshippers to its weekly potluck lunch and Holy Eucharist on Sunday afternoons, getting people into the pews has always been less important to McKinney than connecting people with God.

“We want to be known for who we are and what we do during the week as much as on Sunday,” she said.

Christ’s Beloved Community also is intentional about breaking down a range of barriers. Its ministry is bilingual, aimed at bringing together members of the largely Latino community of its south-side neighborhood and their white and black English-speaking neighbors. The congregation is a joint Episcopal-Lutheran partnership that shares space with an active but aging Lutheran congregation. Overall, it emphasizes types of mission work that will “feed people physically and spiritually” while connecting people from diverse backgrounds who might not otherwise gather together in Jesus’ name.

“Christ’s Beloved Community and their founder, Chantal McKinney, bear witness to a model of neighborhood engagement and radical reconciliation that has become a beacon of inspiration to missional leaders across The Episcopal Church,” said the Rev. Katie Nakamura Rengers, The Episcopal Church’s interim staff officer for  church planting infrastructure .

The church’s  Task Force on Church Planting and Congregational Redevelopment  awarded $100,000 to Christ’s Beloved Community during the last triennium, which ended in 2018. This year, the task force recommended and Executive Council approved a $40,000 “harvest” grant to further support McKinney as her ministry gains momentum.
“Chantal’s faith in the incarnate Gospel is clear through her ‘door knocking’ ministry, and her commitment to living the Gospel alongside people who don’t look like, act like or have the resources of the stereotypical Episcopalian,” Rengers said.

McKinney, whose mother is Mexican-American and whose white father was raised in Venezuela, studied at Virginia Theological Seminary and was ordained as a deacon in 2002 at age 24 and as a priest the following year. She spent the following decade in parish ministry in the Diocese of North Carolina during Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s tenure as bishop of the diocese.

In conversations with Curry, McKinney explained that she was drawn to ministries involving the poor, and she wanted to take that service beyond her congregational work. “I want to be their priest. I want to be with them,” she said.

Curry gave her the flexibility to explore new approaches. She trained with a community organizer and, in 2014, began knocking on doors, meeting people one on one and learning about their lives and spiritual needs. Those rounds of door-knocking grew into what McKinney describes as a more robust street ministry.

A Diocese of North Carolina grant in 2015 helped McKinney expand the capacity of that work by hosting a two-day training in community organizing. A dozen lay members from churches around the city attended to learn ways, guided by scripture, of engaging with residents where they lived, from federally subsidized apartments to mobile home parks.

One of the things they learned was that many of the residents were new immigrants from Latin America who were from a Roman Catholic background but had not yet found a church in Winston-Salem. “There was a real opportunity to offer sacraments bilingually in this neighborhood,” McKinney said.

North Carolina Bishop Suffragan Anne Hodges-Copple for several years had been responsible for promoting new Episcopal ministries around the diocese, and after Curry was elected presiding bishop in 2015, Hodges-Copple, while leading the diocese as it searched for a new bishop, continued to support McKinney’s work. They began discussing ways of creating a new bilingual worshipping community on Winston-Salem’s south side.

“Our first thought was, how do we make sure that the Eucharist is being offered in a language and in a style that feels comfortable and accessible?” Hodges-Copple said in an interview with ENS.

Neither The Episcopal Church nor the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America had a large presence in the neighborhood at the time, McKinney said, but she soon connected with church-planting leaders from the ELCA’s North Carolina Synod who said they wanted to be a part of her growing ministry.

“We were already sort of dreaming of an opportunity to do ministry together,” said the Rev. Danielle DeNise, the North Carolina Synod’s director for evangelical mission. The synod also has church plants through partnerships with the Moravians and Methodists. “We’ve got to be in partnership in our mission development,” DeNise told ENS. “We can’t start any more churches on our own.”

The synod already had a small congregation in the neighborhood, Christ Lutheran Church, but its Sunday service had dwindled to just a handful of older worshippers. Closure wasn’t imminent, but it was inevitable, DeNise said. Lutheran Bishop Tim Smith met with the church members in 2016 and suggested a partnership with McKinney’s team that would allow the older congregation to leave a legacy after Christ Lutheran ceases to be a viable congregation.

That year, the two congregations signed a memo of understanding that gave McKinney use of Christ Lutheran as a physical home for Christ’s Beloved Community, which was endorsed by the synod as a federated Lutheran-Episcopal mission. A supply priest continues to lead Christ Lutheran’s worship services, to be held in the building as long as the congregation survives, after which the property will be deeded to Christ’s Beloved Community.

The synod also approved a grant of $100,000 for Christ’s Beloved Community, part of which was used to renovate the church buildings to be more welcoming to the new congregation, which officially moved into the space in July 2017. Christ’s Beloved Community created a food pantry and has offered after-school programs there. Neighbors helped build a new playground on the property. And in November 2018, the congregation began holding its own Sunday services. McKinney now estimates 85 to 90 people are connected to the congregation’s ministries and worship service in a typical week.

Christ Lutheran has had to adjust to the changes, but it has been a positive, collaborative experience, DeNise said. “We know that this is a way of God’s legacy continuing,” she said. “We know that everybody had to make sacrifices in the process, so I think there are some beautiful things about Christ Lutheran that we have to be giving thanks for.”
Worshippers process into Christ Lutheran Church in Winston-Salem for a Eucharist celebrated by Christ’s Beloved Community, a joint Episcopal-Lutheran congregation that grew out of an Episcopal street ministry. Photo: Christ’s Beloved Community

McKinney still sees Christ’s Beloved Community as a mission dedicated to ministry every day of the week, not just Sunday, but the permanent location has been useful for growing a worshipping community.

The potluck starts at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, and the Holy Eucharist follows at 1:30 p.m. The services tend to look and feel a little more Lutheran in the first half and a little more Episcopal during communion in the second half, McKinney said. She uses bilingual Bibles for the readings, rather than bulletin handouts, and real bread for communion.

“We’re trying to get back to basics,” she said, though the church also features a large screen where worshippers can follow along in English and Spanish while McKinney alternates between the two languages. The music includes Spanish-language and African American hymns, with tambourines and other instruments distributed to people in the pews.
On a good Sunday, attendance can top 40 people, though Hodges-Copple underscored that Sunday worship isn’t always the best metric for measuring the success of a ministry like Christ’s Beloved Community.

“It’s not the only way people are gathering in the presence of Jesus,” Hodges-Copple said.
She compared Christ’s Beloved Community to the depiction of Jesus on his  walk to Emmaus in Luke 24 . In that chapter, Jesus, unrecognized by his disciples, says little as he listens to them talking while they walk.

McKinney “did an amazing job for I think over a year of just listening, of just going into neighborhoods,” Hodges-Copple said, and that spirit still guides Christ’s Beloved Community as a congregation.

– David Paulsen is an editor and reporter for Episcopal News Service. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org .
The Feast of Thomas the Apostle

December 21, 2019
Thomas the Apostle , also called Didymus ("twin"), was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament . Thomas is commonly known as " Doubting Thomas " because he doubted Jesus' resurrection when first told of it (as related in the Gospel of John alone); later, he confessed his faith, "My Lord and my God," on seeing Jesus' crucifixion wounds .

Traditionally, Thomas is believed to have travelled outside the Roman Empire to preach the Gospel, traveling as far as Tamilakam which are the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in present-day India. According to tradition, Thomas reached Muziris , (modern-day North Paravur and Kodungalloor in the state of Kerala , India) in AD 52 and converted several people, founding what today are known as Saint Thomas Christians or Mar Thoma Nazranis.

After his death, the reputed relics of Saint Thomas the Apostle were enshrined as far as Mesopotamia in the 3 rd century, and later moved to various places. In 1258, some of the relics were brought to Ortona , in Abruzzo , Italy, where they have been held in the Church of Saint Thomas the Apostle. He is often regarded as the patron saint of India, and the name Thomas remains quite popular among Saint Thomas Christians of India.*

The Collect:

Everliving God, who strengthened your apostle Thomas with firm and certain faith in your Son’s resurrection: Grant us so perfectly and without doubt to believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God, that our faith may never be found wanting in your sight; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.


FROM THE DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY
#ADVENTWORD
For the sixth year in a row, #AdventWord will gather prayers via its global, online Advent Calendar. Virginia Theological Seminary is offering 24 meditations and images during this holy season beginning Sunday, December 1. Images and meditations can be experienced via www.AdventWord.org , through direct daily emails, and on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Join an international, ecumenical community in prayer to explore the mystery and wonder of Advent. You’re invited to help create this global, online Advent Calendar by participating in any of the following ways:


The words for 2019 are listed below. Please share them with friends and family who would enjoy participating – #AdventWord is an ecumenical project! We welcome posts that resonate with #AdventWord from all persons. You can find the words in various formats as well as other resources to share at www.AdventWord.org .
  • 1 December - #Unexpected 
  • 2 December - #Visit
  • 3 December - #Time
  • 4 December - #Humble
  • 5 December - #Raise
  • 6 December - #House
  • 7 December - #Unity
  • 8 December - #Worthy
  • 9 December - #Root
  • 10 December - #Grace
  • 11 December - #Confess
  • 12 December - #Harmony
  • 13 December - #Water
  • 14 December - #Gather
  • 15 December - #Turn
  • 16 December - #Learn
  • 17 December - #Pray
  • 18 December - #Worship
  • 19 December - #Bless
  • 20 December - #Go
  • 21 December - #Rest
  • 22 December - #Restore 
  • 23 December - #Message 
  • 24 December - #Beloved
This Advent, participants will deepen their understanding of the coming of Jesus into the world through practices of meditation and prayer. Come pray with us!

Published by the Office of Communication of The Episcopal Church, 815 Second Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017

© 2019 The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. All rights reserved.

FROM THE EPISCOPAL CAFÉ
ROOT AND SPROUT

By Leslie Scoopmire
Posted December 19, 2019
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

                                                       –Isaiah 11:1, 10
 
The redbud in my backyard has seen better days. A lightning strike split one of its main sections a few years ago. One huge dead branch hung over our new deck, and so my husband sawed it off before it could wreak havoc. And it was with a sinking feeling that I started assessing how much of it was lifeless last summer.
 
Yet when I look at it, I don’t see just a tree. I see myself and my eldest daughter squatting along a muddy hillside, planting a wee twig no thicker than her toddler pinkie. Her grandpa, my dad, had brought it all the way up from Tulsa in a bucket, so that we could plant a “good Oklahoma redbud” in our backyard as a reminder to me of home. No hothouse fancy variety, this tree, we plugged it into a hole along the back fence that had already seen two other trees die. What did we have to lose?
 
As my daughter grew, and her sister and brother joined the family, that tree grew, its roots holding down the clay on that hillside, steadfast and true. Yet a case could be made for cutting it down to the ground.
 
But then I looked closer. Even as those large limbs had been pruned and removed, new growth still sprouted from the trunk last year—pink blossoms forming a glorious corona, from the twigs, branches, and trunk– like the crown upon Jesus’s head depicted in artwork throughout the centuries. This redbud not only is still sending up new growth, it was spreading its seeds all over both our front and back yards. 
 
Its hearty offspring now shaded our front porch, and every year for years now I have had to pull up dozens of sprouts and offer them to friends of mine. This tree preaches resurrection as quietly as resolutely as can be. Our redbud is a marvelous reminder of the wisdom of waiting, of watching, of being alert to the subtle signs of life that can suddenly come into focus before our eyes even in the dead of winter, the same beautiful message encapsulated by the season of Advent. 
 
That redbud reminds me of the O Antiphon sung or recited this day in evening prayer, which hearkens to the name for the coming messiah from Isaiah 11, which we last heard two weeks ago in the lectionary: Veni, O Radix Come, O Root of Jesse
 
If you don’t hear this antiphon, you have heard it as one of the verses in the Advent hymn, “O Come O Come Emmanuel,” written by the Rev. John Mason Neale in the 19 th century:

O come, thou Rod of Jesse, free
thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
from depths of hell thy people save,
and give them victory over the grave.
 
New growth from the line of Jesse, the line of David his son, sprouts up with the birth of Jesus. A stump that was seemingly dead and broken nonetheless bursts forth with new growth. If that’s not a metaphor for the church in our time, I can’t think of a better one. May we too be reminded in this season to persevere, to root and sprout regardless of impediment, proclaiming the coming of Jesus, who was, is and will be, for ever and ever.
The Rev. Leslie Scoopmire is a retired teacher and a priest in the Diocese of Missouri. She is priest-in-charge of  St. Martin’s Episcopal Church  in Ellisville, MO. She posts daily prayers at her blog  Abiding In Hope , and collects spiritual writings and images at  Poems, Psalms, and Prayers .

HALE HO`OMALU DECEMBER COLLECTION

Canned Ham
Gift Cards from Safeway and Foodland
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.
Please note, we do not accept food items that are not mentioned on the monthly list and we do not accept clothing, toys or similar items unless a specific plea for such items is published in the Epistle . Your Epistle Staff will inform you of any special requests for donations.
NO SUNDAY SCHOOL THIS WEEK
Christmas Break
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 .
 RIDES OFFERED TO BOTH SUNDAY SERVICES
If you need a ride to and from church call Chris Wataya at 808-652-0230.

ALL SAINTS' WISH LIST
If any ministry has an unmet need, reach out to put it on the All Saints' Wish List and it will be published in the Epistle . Contact Bill Caldwell at news@allsaintskauai.org .

LAUNDRY LOVE VOLUNTEERS AND DONATIONS
For more information go to Laundry Love Kaua`i or contact Geoff Shields at gshields2334@gmail.com or 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.

HOME COMMUNION FOR SICK AND SHUT-INS
All Saints' Eucharistic Visitors are available each Sunday (pending availability) to bring Communion to those who are sick or shut-in. Requests for a Eucharistic visitation can be made by calling the Church Office at (808) 822-4267 or emailing homecommunion@allsaintskauai.org .