Folks,
The lessons appointed for tomorrow include from Acts, wherein Peter speak to the group (about 120 at the time) and first (to my recollection) uses a word that translates into "ministry" - an early and clear indication that the group are seeing themselves as an ongoing "project" and in speaking of Jesus's ministry (beginning with the Baptism by John) on earth and after praying, Peter led the group to replace Judas in the ministry. The epistle lesson from John seems to be a reminder of the basic premise which was the mission of the group - that God's "testimony" IS in their hearts and because of this "Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life." In the gospel lesson, the writer beautifully recounts the story of Jesus praying for the work of his disciples and asking God to "protect" them even as they do not "do not belong to the world". Taken altogether these lessons clearly depict the formation of the group which evolved into the institutional church - even though the writer really couldn't imagine the growth of the group of faith over the centuries. While the group has needed "reformation" - not just once but many times - it is important to recall this growth began with faith - the gift of the Spirit. In this run-up to Pentecost in our calendar - technically when the gift of this Spirit was made manifest - you can see thru the days of this run-up which we all Easter Season. May we all take time to appreciate the evolution of our realisation of the gift of the Spirit and as it sinks in may we seek understanding for the future our shared ministry - the ministry of all who have "God's testimony" in their hearts! Our love to all, Bart (and Tony!) and for all of us at St Matthew Church Events St Matthew Church in San Ardo will meet this Sunday for Morning Prayer at the usual hour, 10am. Our fellow mission St Luke Church in Jolon will meet at that same hour for Morning Prayer with Roy Morris leading the service. Other Events This will be brief as the work continues. unabated at the ranch preparing for the summer months and in particular the fire season (FireTide?) Our nearby "big brother" Church of St James in Paso Robles tells us that our friends Peggy and Dick Yost, formerly of St Mathew Church, will be celebrating their 60the anniversary - the sort of commitment we hope all who realise "God's testimony" will exhibit. St James folks will be wearing red as a reminder of the gift of the Spirit the following Sunday for Pentecost! Diocese We remind all of the "Spring Renewal" events to come NEXT weekend, May 17-18. From Our National Calendar We also remember that TOMORROW is Mother's Day - a time to realise and encourage the Mother in each of us!
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Folks,
Our friend Rev Roger Wharton, of San Jose's Good Samaritan Episcopal Church, told us by email, upon reading the previous News, that our mention of the many times the word "love" (and its forms) in the last Sunday's Epistle lesson from I John caused he to look again at that passage. He came up with the fact that that the word "love" or a derivative thereof accounts for 11.275% of the 327 words in that passage - that's a lot of love! As I see it, the lessons for this coming Sunday are meant to help us spread that love. In the first lesson from Acts 10 after Peter baptised the Roman centurion Cornelius we hear of a sort of "mini-Pentecost" in which the assembled disciples witness the Holy Spirit coming upon the assembly of mostly Gentiles of different nations - note that Peter was at first not so sure Gentiles should be part of the church. In the second lesson, also from John's epistle, we see that loving God is the first step and that God's command to love God and so to love neighbour are not burdensome. In John's gospel we see that Jesus was joyously sharing his own love of God with all, and giving substance to that love by noting "And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last .." I have noted before that some in the loving communities are shy about "testifying". But the Epistle notes: "the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth." The world really does want to hear God's message of love - not in some accounting manner where we "chalk up another Christian" but rather in the irresistibly joyful message of love, however that Spirit is called. May we all find that joyous spirit in ourselves and share forth the message of God's love, with the guidance of God's spirit! Our love to all, Bart and Tony! and for all of us at St Matthew Church Events We at St Matthew parish in San Ardo will be meeting for Morning Prayer at the usual time of 10am this Sunday. Our fellow missions St Luke Church in Jolon and St Mark Church in King City will be meeting together at St Mark's beautiful chapel on 3rd and Bassett in King City where Fr Carl Hansen will lead in a Communion (Eucharist) service. From the Diocese (We though to switch this around with more local new further below) we hear about the Spring Renewal event and in particular that the Dynamic Deacons of the Diocese will be Flamboyantly Stepping Out with Souland we hope and we hope that many of us will register by Monday for the May 178-18 where we hear you can be "Walking the Way" in your El Camino Real diocesan sandals, tents, jackets, etc - for full info see https://www.realepiscopal.org/blog/spring-renewal-2024/?occurrence=568 It seems a fun idea do combine our Diocese's name with that other Camino (de Santiago). Also from the Diocese we hear of the following event on Tues evenings beginning May 7: The Life and Writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A four week on-line Conversation hosted by the Social Justice CommitteeFor and registration see https://realepiscopal.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=99ebbaf4cee8d012c9edafe60&id=b8211e62e1&e=f136cc0442 From the Deanery: We received the following info for the upcoming San Luis Obispo Deanery meeting this Sunday. Hello Everyone, This is a final reminder of our combo Deanery/Potluck meeting this Sunday. It will be held at St. Stephen's, SLO, with the potluck beginning at 1:15 pm and the business meeting at 2 pm. The business meeting will be hybrid with the Zoom link below (and also in the agenda). I am happy to announce that our invited speaker will be Ms. Jessica Ripper who is a real estate professional working with the Diocese of San Diego on how to use church real estate for God's mission. This will be a very relevant presentation on creative ways we might be able to use our churches' property and I hope you will be able to hear Jessica speak. I'm attaching the Zoom link, agenda and draft minutes from our last meeting below. I hope to see you on Sunday! Peace, David Ottesen Lay Convener for the Deanery For the details and agenda, etc, please email David who is copied on this email (and note that we may have mixed up his email with Tricia's - both great folks, who work well together. Other News We hear from the St Paul Cathedral in San Diego that they will be creating a Music Center which will provide a base for their fine choir and other music programs. For details ee their websites at www.stPaulcathedral.org et al and note their many other offerings, such a weekly organ concerts. Good Shepherd parish in Salinas (Corral de Tierra) tells us that they be participating in the Pacific Grove Walk of Remembrance on May 11 to commemorate the Chinese fishing village that existed at one time where Pacific Grove is today. See https://goodshepherdcorral.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7cbc9cee2ea785c71ef0cbb3c&id=efbe857c48&e=cc1155f723 Our friend Eric Fisher of San Luis Obispo tells us that Prov VIII of the Brotherhood of Saint Andrew will having a Retreat for men AND women 5/31-6/2. For details contact Eric at eric.on.fisher@gmail.com and for more info on the Brotherhood go to https://brothersandrew.net/ From our parishes (for full info go to parish websites as at www.sloepiscopalians.org St Stephen Church in San Luis Obispo tells us they will have a meeting on May 20 at 6pm on the topic "What Is Baptism" - no registration needed and children welcome. St Benedict Church in Los Osos will be hosting a Potluck Dinner tomorrow at 5:30pm. St Barnabas Church in Arroyo Grande as usual has a full set of events - see https://brothersandrew.net/ St Luke Church in Atascaadero will be having a Plant Sale May 17-18 12-4pm Fri and 11-2pm Sat, St James Church in Paso Robles is also organising a Music Fund, and for info and links to their events see https://brothersandrew.net/ Probably some of you are wondering why we didn't have the most local news down here - maybe next time we will, but better to get this mailed off before these events are OVER! |
WILLIAM BARTOSH
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May 2024
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