In this issue:
By Maureen Masterson
The MSO offering for January will provide aid to our sister congregation - Chapel of Saints Martha and Mary-in-the-Market. This unique pairing of Sts. Martha and Mary (Sts. M & M) and St. Augustine's has been in place for over five years. While St. Augustine's has its own buildings and property located as our name states in the woods amongst tall firs, Sts. M & M is located in the heart of Seattle's Pike Street Public Market in a second floor room near one of the market's icons - a Georgia Gerber bronze pig. In contrast to St. Augustine's relatively affluent congregation, the most of the Sts. M & M folk have only temporary housing and work on Alaska fishing boats during the summer months and day labor jobs the remainder of the year. Sts. M & M began as a street ministry outreach of the Diocese of Olympia. Under the leadership of Rev. Susan O'Shea Sts. M & M came into being.
The relationship between St. Augustine's and Sts. Martha and Mary is both personal and monetary. Sts. M & M folk have visited St. Augustine's on several occasions and even helped with parish clean up activities. St. Augustine parishioners have visited the second floor Sts. M & M chapel many times, both individually and as a group. Most recently St. Augustine parishioners helped with the annual Sweetheart Dinner hosted by the Sts. M & M congregation benefitting the homeless and other residents of the Public Market. As a sister congregation Sts. Martha and Mary have been recipients of an annual MSO offering.
The MSO contributions to Sts. M &M are vital to the continued existence of the chapel and its outreach. Diocesan subsidies or "seed money" are no longer provided by the Diocese of Olympia making St. Augustine's aid even more significant.
While the congregates of Sts. M & M may not have an abundance of material resources they exhibit a strong faith. The work of Rev. Susan O'Shea and the Sts. M & M congregation reflects the ministry of Jesus among the marginalized and the call to help the least of our brothers and sisters (as judged by material circumstances). Please help continue this valuable ministry and witness in Seattle's Pike Street Public Market by making a contribution to the Mission Sunday Offering for January.
Dear Friends in Christ:
I am very grateful to all of you for your support in my efforts to raise funds to begin a curate program in the Diocese for persons of color. Your support through donations and ticket sales was outstanding. Blessings to all of you for your generosity.
Cleveland Riley, Jr.
Chair, African American Committee, Diocese of Olympia
Thanks to the Preschool children who moved branches big and small out of the parking lot the day after the big wind storm.
Thanks to all who helped clean up the parking lot with pressure washers, rakes and hard work so that the grounds would be beautiful for Christmas.
Thanks to those who worked so hard to green the church—it was lovely!
Thanks to those who provided food and drink to the clean up workers and decorators.
Thank you to Sean McDougald who took the lovely picture of the church in the snow which we used in our Christmas advertising. More of his pictures are on the website.
Thank you to everyone who makes our parish function through their work, ministry, prayers, donations and
presence.
What a December we had! Snow storms and wind storms, downed trees littering the parking lot and parish grounds, services with no water, and services with no power at all! No one can claim that life has been dull around here!
And, of course, we celebrated Christmas – literally “Christ’s Mass” – the celebration of the Nativity of Our Savior. This is the annual Christian celebration of Hope with a capital ‘H”, the reiteration that, in the gift of a very special child, the future belongs to God and that, in God, it can be nothing but good.
2007 beckons us as we begin the journey through Epiphany – meaning “Revealing” – where we explore the meaning of the Christmas event in our lives and in that of our community of faith.
For me this is an exciting time. My experience of Sabbatical was truly spectacular – life-changing – and from all that I have heard the same is true for many of you.
I do not want to lose the momentum I feel in our common life, and I have heard the same sentiments expressed by so many St. Augustinians that it is obviously true for you also. We have – through this experience – been issued a shared invitation: to continue the journey – my invitation to you is that we do so!
Our Epiphany programming will revolve around some of the themes that have come out of the last five months. In particular we will be exploring Celtic spirituality in more depth, and I will continue to share some of the experiences that were meaningful for me in the various parts of the world I visited.
This is an exciting time at St. Augustine’s – do come and share in that joy.
Blessings and Peace to one and all,
Nigel
A summary of these conversations is available here.
By Rachel McDougald
The New Year brings a flurry of activity as people step into new roles on the Vestry and in committees, and the first order of business is to close out the books on the old year. Submissions must be prepared for the Annual Report which is given to the Parish at large at the All Parish Meeting.
As the Light prepares to go to press the Wardens, Vestry and Rector have yet to set hard and fast dates so let me warn you right here that the dates shown are probable, but not certain. Watch your Sunday bulletin announcements for up-to-date reports.
The new Vestry is scheduled to go on retreat the weekend of January 20-21.
The All Parish Meeting will probably be the week before, January 14th.
Deadline for Committee submission for the Annual Report has to be one week before the meeting, probably on January 7th.
By Dick Hall
On January 15, the day set aside to honor the nonviolent witness of Martin Luther King, Jr. for justice and peace, the St. Augustine’s Episcopal Peace Fellowship will again sponsor a “Blessed be the Peace Makers” event for the Whidbey Island community. The service will be held at St. Augustine’s and will commence at 1:00 on Monday, January 15. The event will be preceded by a sandwich lunch from 12 to 1. In addition to sandwiches, vegetables, fruit and beverages will also be available in the undercroft.. The lunch is provided without charge by St. Augustine’s Episcopal Peace Fellowship members. Last year’s lunch was well attended and provided an excellent opportunity for social interaction and parish outreach.
The featured speaker at this year’s event will be St. Augustine’s own Cleveland Riley. The St. Augustine’s Episcopal Peace Fellowship will present a brief historical narrative of Dr. King’s role in the Black Freedom Movement and his personal spirituality interspersed with readings of excerpts from Dr. King’s sermons, public speeches and writings. The Dances for Universal Peace group from Langley will lead the gathering in singing and rhythmic body movements to African- American gospel style music.
Last year’s event proved to be an excellent outreach for St. Augustine’s. The “Blessed are the Peace Makers” gathering on that occasion nearly filled the sanctuary to capacity to the surprise of the featured speaker Bishop Sandy Hampton. A similar response is expected this year. As the host for the event it is expected that St. Augustine’s parishioners will attend in large numbers to welcome our Whidbey neighbors.
By Joan Johnson
What a lot of busy elves there were at St. Augustine’s Preschool this December! The children helped spread Christmas joy by making beautiful 2007 calendars for their families, helping package gifts for some children at La Iglesia de la Resurrecíon, donating food for the Food Bank, and decorating Christmas cookies to eat and to share.
The children shared the Christmas story with their families and friends by presenting delightful pageants – in spite of the wind, rain and power outage. A surprise visit from Santa made Christmas parties even more special. Santa always takes time to remind our children that Christmas is Jesus’ birthday.
When school reopens January 3 we will be welcoming several new students, just in time to tell them about the Wise Men.
The preschool students and staff wish you all a happy and blessed Epiphany!
By Isabel Neddow
“Russka” (F/RUT) is a huge novel, perfect for dark and stormy nights. If the author’s name sounds familiar it is because he is the author of “Sarin”.
Maeve Binchy has developed a rather successful formula of stories and lives intertwined in a changing Ireland. “Whitethorn Woods” is the latest where Irish eyes are not always smiling.
I loved “Shouts and Whispers” (242/HOL), a series of essays edited by Jennifer L. Holberg. Many of the writers are familiar, with surprises from Bret Lott, a fundamentalist preacher, and from Katherine Patterson, a children’s writer.
“Good News” (242/WAG) is another compilation of religious writing edited by Debra A. Wagner. These writers are for the most part looking at religion from the outside in short news articles. This is a small book, as it may have been hard to find good news about religion in the media.
Bill Moyers needs no introduction and his “Moyers On America” is vintage Moyers.
And finally on the rolling cart is the “Seattle Theology and Ministry Review” with essays resulting from the Summer Institute for Liturgy and Worship at Seattle University. The Director of the Institute greeted the speakers with the acronym DICE, which hopefully applies to the books in our library -- DELIGHT US, INSPIRE US, CAJOLE US, ENTICE US.
By Pandora Halstead
Hooray! It’s almost time for the ECW annual RACK clothing sale, traditionally held the last Saturday of February, which is the 24th this year.
For those of you who may be new to St. Augustine’s, this sale is a lot of fun, not only for the women but also the men and sometimes the children of the parish.
Start checking your closets for good, used and clean clothing, shoes, purses, and hats for men, women, children.
We will notify you when you may bring the items to the church. Proceeds will again go to local charities. Any questions please contact Pandora through the Church office.
By Nancy Paris
Tom & Connie Williams moved to Whidbey Island two and one half years ago from Huntsville, Alabama. They are Coupeville residents, living on Crown Avenue off Parker Road.
Tom was born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania and spent his early years in Dayton, Ohio and in Pittsburgh, and later living in Rochester, New York and Los Angeles, California. Connie is a native of Birmingham, Alabama. The couple has also lived in Mississippi on the Gulf of Mexico, and in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Tom is a retired engineer and a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. The Williams share an interest in photography, travel, Celtic Christianity and Ignatian spirituality. Tom enjoys computer networking, ferry riding, beach walking and penguins. Connie collects stuffed bears and swims with the North Whidbey Masters.
Both Tom and Connie are active in St. Augustine’s Parish life. Tom serves as webmaster for the Parish and was responsible for posting Fr. Nigel’s notes and photos during his recent Sabbatical, as well as ordering photos for the notebooks the congregation followed during the Taber-Hamilton journey. Both serve as Worship Leaders at the altar, and in addition, Connie made the bead necklaces several of the parishioners wear to hold their nametags.
By Nancy Paris
Mary Hollen is another of the seemingly rare number who are Washington natives. She was born in Seattle and has lived in the state all her life. She is currently living in Langley while building a home at Lagoon Point, north of South Whidbey State Park. Mary is a newcomer to our island, moving here from Richland.
Health reasons precipitated her move to Whidbey she says, and “is delighted to find a caring Parish here. Many artists and a community valuing the things I care about – family, friends, business people, retirees and the environment.”
Mary is a CPA and offers tax and accounting services at her new office at 902 Grace Street in Coupeville. In her leisure time she enjoys water color painting, hiking, skiing and reading. She is a member of the Washington Society of CPAs, Artists of South Whidbey, and Mazamas.
Mary’s grown children are James of Oregon, daughter Syrie and husband Brad Barsness of Cheney, Washington along with their children Colton, Casey Kyle, Rachel, Karl and Conner.
By Carol Ryan
New Bulletin Boards In Undercroft. In addition to the beautiful new paint job on the walls of the Undercroft, new bulletin boards have been constructed and more are coming as soon as the stairwell mold problems are resolved. Church committees are responsible for their own boards and should take care to remove material when it is dated and add new pieces when needed. The materials on the old boards were carefully removed and are in a box in the Undercroft so that if committees find something from the old materials they wish to use again, it is there to put up. There are also some temporary card board bulletin boards which can be used. Please also note the new Welcome (trifold) brochures in each pew.
O sacred and adorable Trinity, hear our prayers on behalf of all that are in authority over us. Bless, we beseech Thee, during the coming year, the whole Catholic Church; convert heretics and unbelievers; soften the hearts of sinners so that they may return to Thy friendship; give prosperity to our country and peace among the nations of the world; pour down Thy blessings upon our friends, relatives, and acquaintances, and upon our enemies, if we have any; assist the poor and the sick; have pity on the souls of those whom this year has taken from us; and do Thou be merciful to those who during the coming year will be summoned before Thy judgment seat. May all our actions be preceded by Thy inspirations and carried on by Thy assistance, so that all our prayers and works, having been begun in Thee, may likewise be ended through Thee. Amen.
Jo Davies, born in Seattle, has been connected to Whidbey Island since she was a baby. Her father, a civil engineer for the highway department, was building Deception Pass Bridge when Jo was born.
Having spent most of her life in Seattle, Jo moved here in l969. They had a summer home here, on Bercot road, for many years. Tired of ferry lines, they decided to tear the summer place down and build a year round home. Jo commuted, to Seattle, to teach before accepting a job with the South Whidbey School system in the early seventies. When she began teaching here the South Whidbey Elementary school was the largest elementary school north of Sacramento. There were 6 third grade classrooms. One of which was lucky enough to have Jo Davies for their teacher.
Up until moving here Jo was a Methodist. She says she joined St Augustine’s after deciding there were too many white haired people at the Methodist church.
Living on Bercot, just below St Augustine’s, she has many fond memories of the early church. Her own children, junior high age, served as acolytes. Jo, with her elementary education background, helped start a Sunday school for the little kids. There were so many that the nursery school was held in Jo’s basement as she lived so close. (Joan Johnson still walks the preschoolers down the hill to Jo’s on the “Sea of Galilee.”)
She remembers a Seder meal, in the present undercroft, a number of years ago. Father Bill opened the back door to let Elijah in and the entire gathering was greeted by “Bernie”, Jo’s very large Saint Bernard.
With limited space in the old building, most church functions were held in the nave. Pot luck suppers were served in the kitchen (now the office), on trays which people held on their laps while sitting on pews. New space was needed. Jo was on the Bishop’s committee when they met at Camp Houston to talk about a new church. The first drawings were done on a yellow legal pad.
Jo’s three children have followed in the footsteps of their grandmother and their mother and become teachers. Both Debra and Charlie specialized in special education and live on Whidbey. Debra teaches kindergarten on the island. Charlie works with adjudicated high school students in alternative schools in Everett. Bill lives in Leavenworth where he teaches math.
St. Augustine’s family has meant so much to Jo through the years. When her children were growing up she told them, “If you get into trouble, don’t call me. Call father Bill.” They never needed to do that. She hopes that St. Augustine’s will continue this wonderful family community forever.
Great is the wisdom of the Lord! God Almighty, Your Wisdom includes An understanding of what is fair, What is logical, what is true, What is right and what is lasting. It mirrors Your pure intellect! I entreat You to grant me such Wisdom, That my labours may reflect Your insight. Your Wisdom expands in Your creations, Displaying complexity and multiplicity. Your Wisdom is an eternity ahead of man. May Your wisdom flourish forever!
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