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Serving Christ in All the World
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From the Rector Dear Friends, In a recently published book, North Carolina Churches: Portraits of Grace, 85 churches were chosen by Our State Magazine for a "one-of-a-kind tribute to the architectural, historical, cultural, and spiritual significance of Christianity in North Carolina." (To order, call 1-800-948-1409 or visit www.ourstate.com.) Each church is photographed and featured in a one-page article, highlighting several facets of its history and ministry. The Chapel of the Cross is presented on pages 92 and 93; and although the picture features our stately worship spaces, the write-up focuses on the influence of the parish beyond its walls. The first of those involvements cited is our relationship with the University. Noted in our history is our founding by a professor at the University, William Mercer Green, students among the first communicants, the firing of the rector in 1919 for not visiting students enough, the establishment of a chaplain for students (in addition to the rector) as early as 1931, and the frequent and ongoing use of the building by students for worship, fellowship, and study. Another outward focus chronicled is the involvement in reconciliation work and addressing issues of justice and inequality. David Yates, rector from 1945 to 1959, is mentioned for integrating the parish racially and for working to include a "prayer for our enemies" in the Prayer Book. The Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray's return here to celebrate her first Holy Eucharist in the chapel, where her grandmother had been baptized as a slave, was also highlighted. Many other notable things could have been written about our parish, especially about its other present day ministries: the reverent worship and inspiring music, the dynamic Christian Education, the lay and clergy dedication to pastoral care for all ages, etc. But I think it is fitting that in this book, it is our involvement in the world around us that is emphasized. Strengthened by our Christian beliefs and urged on by God's call, we ought to be more involved in God's world, not less, more dedicated to serving others, more generous with our time and our money. The theme of this month's issue of Cross Roads is "serving Christ in all the world." The articles present some, but certainly not all, of the ways that the Chapel of the Cross continues its significant tradition of involvement beyond its walls. I hope you will find the stories here as inspiring and challenging as I do and that you will join me in giving thanks both for those faithful parishioners and leaders who set the way before us and for those who help us all continue in their footsteps. - Stephen Vestry Actions - November 18, 2004 At its November meeting, the vestry:
Vestry Election Schedule Sunday, January 16: Sunday, January 30, 6:30 p.m.: Wednesday, February 2: Sunday, February 13 6:30 p.m.: Sunday, February 20: Sunday, February 27: Sunday, March 13: Friday/Saturday, May 6-7:
Serving Christ in All the World Sandra McClaskey, Social Ministry Committee Chair The mission statement of the Chapel of the Cross points us toward social outreach: loving others, striving for justice and peace, caring for those in need, and sharing our blessings. The mission of the Social Ministry Committee is to serve God by bringing Christ's love, justice and mercy into the world through education, stewardship, and leadership through social outreach. This means to go beyond the walls of the Chapel of the Cross locally, statewide, nationally, and globally. There are many scriptural mandates in both the Old and New Testament that direct us to help others in need. Deuteronomy 15: 7-11 says, "If there is anyone in need...you should...give liberally and ungrudgingly.... There will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, 'Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.'" In John 21, Jesus tells Peter, "Feed my lambs...take care of my sheep...feed my sheep." At the Chapel of the Cross we have a beautiful worship space and wonderful liturgy, but part of our responsibility as Christians is to move out beyond our doors and try to make a positive difference in the world. James 1:22 tells us not to merely listen to the Word; we must do what it says. The Social Ministry Committee provides opportunities for the parish to put God's Word into practice. Not only do we plan projects to help those in need, but we also are listening ears where parishioners can come and ask for support for projects they want to initiate. We meet on the first Sunday of the month at Community House, the men's shelter, at 1:00 p.m.Visitors are always welcome to join us and to bring new ideas. Some examples of our programs on the local level include this fall's Project 5000, which provided an opportunity to feed the poor. We also have delivered chopped wood to those needing fuel. In early December we visited the Orange Correctional Center for dinner. The committee and several students contributed funds to the men's culinary class giving the prisoners an opportunity to learn to prepare special foods. On January 9 the Social Ministry Committee will have an Epiphany Intergenerational Event during the Sunday School hour featuring three local and two international agencies: Freedom House (a facility helping those needing detoxification and life skills to leave substance abuse behind), Project HomeStart (the women's and children's shelter), Orange Correctional Center , El Hogar (an orphanage and technical school for boys ages 5-16 in Honduras), and Mideast Refugee Resettlement. Parishioners will have the opportunity to learn about the wonderful work of these agencies and make something useful for those they serve. Come and join us on January 9 and be a doer of the Word. The Chapel of the Cross abounds with opportunities to serve Christ beyond our parish walls. Please consider these many opportunities and choose the best place to get involved. Make a positive difference in the world. Inter-Faith Council for Social Services Sally Slack, Social Ministry Committee Member Late November is a frantic time of year, but when Vivian asked me to write about the Inter-Faith Council for the next Cross Roads, I jumped at the chance! Because of the renovation of the men's shelter last summer, the agency has had a lot of publicity. The Chapel of the Cross was one of 13 community groups, mostly churches, that agreed to help host the homeless. The project was well-planned and executed. We found our overnight guests to be well behaved, intelligent, and grateful. It was an eye-opener for several parishioners who have since become regular volunteers at the reopened shelter. The IFC offers services at three sites. Community House, at the corner of Rosemary and Columbia Streets, is a place where homeless men sleep and anyone can eat three delicious, nutritious meals 365 days a year. (Chapel of the Cross teams prepare and serve meals there twice a month.) Women and children are housed at Homestart, on Homestead Road, just beyond Human Services (i.e., the Welfare Office.) On Mondays I work at the office site on Main Street in Carrboro (across from Club Nova.) I interview people who need food (available to clients once a month), clothing (we give PTA Thrift Shop vouchers), and money for rent and utilities. Applicants are carefully screened, records are kept, and confidentiality is maintained. I'm particularly impressed with my supervisor's insistence that each client's dignity be maintained at all times. People in need are made to feel welcome to return and are assisted by means of case management. We don't just help people "over the hump," we make available other resources so they may become financially independent. This may involve improved health, sobriety, vocational training, etc., all of which inevitably enhance a client's self confidence. For years, the Chapel of the Cross has had parishioners on the IFC Board and numerous volunteers who serve in various ways. If kitchen duties or contact with people in need isn't your thing, you could be invaluable picking up day-old bread from Harris Teeter. For the past two years, our Social Ministry Committee has sponsored the hugely successful "Project 5000:" nearly 600 boxes with non-perishable food (enough to feed a family of four for two days.) This largess clogged the Main Street office periodically in November and demonstrated a commitment by the Chapel of the Cross: given the opportunity, our parishioners respond in spades! Under the leadership of our rector, the vestry, and the Social Ministry Committee, we've come to realize that, "We are stewards, not consumers or owners, of all that God gives us." [Stephen Elkins-Williams, October 2004 , Cross Roads.] And you know what? It's IFC that makes much of this outreach possible . . . and easy! Habitat for Humanity - Empowering through Ownership, Responsibility and Community Peter DeSaix, Chair, UNC-Student/Chapel of the Cross - Habitat for Humanity Partnership This year has been another exciting one for the Partnership with wonderful support from the parish, our student partners, St. Paul AME, the Department of City and Regional Planning, and the Kenan-Flagler School of Business. All of these partners have contributed their "sweat equity" in their efforts to fund the homes we are building. In addition to building homes locally, the Partnership's student chapter sent groups to Honduras and Thailand in our tradition of international service. We thank all of you for helping to make this possible. Of necessity, much of our effort has focused on fundraising for the privilege of providing volunteers to build our homes. This year's fundraising was highlighted by two successful golf tournaments that grossed more than $40,000 to help pay for the homes we are building. Many thanks are due to all those who have worked to make these tournaments successful. Our plans for this coming year promise to keep us all busy as we reach to extend what we can accomplish. The student chapter has scheduled a "Blitz Build" for this spring. You will hear more about it in the coming months, but basically they are going to complete as much of a house as they can in one long weekend. A lot of coordination and support is required for this endeavor. To this end, they have invited Millard Fuller, co-founder of Habitat, to come to UNC to speak. He has accepted and will be here February 8 to help kick off the Blitz Build. In our efforts to finance these builds, we will have the first annual Organ Concert for Habitat. Dr. Susan Moeser, the University Organist, is graciously giving of her time and talent to make this benefit concert a success. At least one home is included in our plans for this coming year in addition to the Blitz Build. With your continued support and generosity we will be able to build two homes. Our cost for this privilege is $30,000 per home. Again, student groups from the UNC student chapter will head off to Honduras and Thailand. There is also the distinct possibility that our partners in the business school will also be heading off on an international build. With final reflections on the year, special thanks are due Blanche and Henry Clark for their unswerving passion. Grape Arbor Project Charles H. Kahn, Grape Arbor Board Member To live in Chapel Hill is to live, to some degree, under the fantasy of the "Village of Chapel Hill" concept. In this imaginary view, the ills of the large urban centers of the country (poverty, unemployment, single-parent families, limited affordable housing for the poor, the lack of quality educational opportunities, etc.) either are not considered by some to be problems or exist so far on the periphery of our daily lives as to be rendered invisible. Many of us who live here are aware that the reality consists of a much closer match to large-city problems than we would care to admit. In a period of shrinking social services, few programs are available to young minority men and women to help address the effects of this litany of ills inherited from persistent racism and a still-segregated society. The logical first place to look for support to be generated is from within their own communities. Established in 2002 as an outgrowth of St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, the Grape Arbor Development Corporation is a "non-profit organization dedicated to the mission of providing enrichment and developmental activities to enhance the academic, personal, and moral development of young people in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro community through the establishment of a Youth Enhancement Center." It is fitting that St. Paul, historically the first church in the area established to minister to the needs of slaves in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro community, has taken the lead in establishing this center. The name of the organization, Grape Arbor, derives from the grape arbor under which the St. Paul congregation originally met. To reach out and involve the broader community in this effort, the founding group from St. Paul has invited representatives from a number of organizations along with several unaffiliated individuals active in community programs to join the Board of Directors of Grape Arbor. Because of the very special relationship between the Chapel of the Cross and St. Paul AME, it is logical that our parish be represented on the board. Our rector, Stephen Elkins-Williams - who with the Rev. John Burton of St. Paul and the Rev. Stephen Stanley of the Chapel of the Cross was instrumental in the establishment of the sister parish relationship between the two churches - is serving on this first broadened board, as is Charles Kahn, husband of Chapel of the Cross parishioner, Annette Kahn. At the present time, in addition to several beginning programs involving area young people, there are two major needs for which the Board of Grape Arbor is seeking assistance and cooperation from other individuals and organizations. The first is in the search for a full-time director for the organization. That search is now under way. The Search Committee would welcome the addition of other names to the list now under consideration. The qualifications required for the position of Director have been published in various professional newsletters and local newspapers. A copy may be found on the bulletin board at the Chapel of the Cross. The deadline for the submission of applications has been extended to December 31, 2004. The second critical need is to find a location for the headquarters of Grape Arbor where administrative and program activities can be housed. Now that the organization is established, it is the intention of the Board that it operate independently of St. Paul, although closely tied to and identified with the church. Grape Arbor has received a grant from the federal government that may be used to assist in the renovation of any property it may acquire or lease. The Board is seeking, preferably through property donation (with the tax advantages that such donation to a charitable organization accrue to the donor) or long-term property lease at a low, or preferably free, rent, a building of approximately 12,000 square feet to house Grape Arbor's activities. If you have, or know of, any property that might be made available, please contact Stephen Elkins-Williams. The Board would also be very receptive to volunteer work in the areas of academic and language tutoring and other personal involvements with young people from the Black and Latino communities. To learn more about Grape Arbor, its programs and needs, we encourage you to speak with Stephen Elkins-Williams or with Charles Kahn. The Board sends its best wishes in this holiday season to the members of the Chapel of the Cross. Teens United with Churches Syd Alexander, Board Member, Teens United with Churches The mission statement: And God said "Love my Children." As Christians we believe that God sent his only son to us that we might know that he loves each of us without limitation. We believe that every person is a child of God and is entitled by the grace of God to know that we have each been called by God to love one another as God loves us. Therefore, with the help of God, we take these children into our homes and into our hearts, into our arms and into our souls in order to love them as God loves us. Teens United is a nonprofit organization that is pursuing a collaborative ministry comprised of members of the Church of the Holy Family, St. Paul AME, and the Chapel of the Cross as well as other concerned individuals in the community. Its purpose is to provide local teenagers with crisis assistance, social support, and independent living resources. The members work within the church communities to identify families that are willing to parent or house teens in their homes on a temporary or crisis basis as well as to provide long term stable support. Additional facets of this ministry are carried out by providing support through the furnishing of meals, school supplies, scholarship support, counseling, shopping trips, tutoring, or transportation for a variety of purposes. A long-term goal of the organization is to create and operate a communal home in our community for displaced teens including young teen parents and their children to provide a loving stable home environment for those that do not have it. Teens United is supported by contributions from individuals and a grant from the Strowd Roses Foundation. For further information please contact Martha Hart or Laurie or Syd Alexander. Would You Like to be an Augustine Tutor? Harriet King, Tutor "...Weeping in the bitter agony of my heart, suddenly I heard a voice from a nearby house, chanting as if it might be a boy or girl saying and repeating over and over again, "Pick up and read. Pick up and read.'" St. Augustine, Confessions Imagine the quiet of a school library. The only sound comes from a table by the window. There you hear the rustling of a child's fingers shaping letters on a piece of bright carpet. A tutor smiles encouragement as the child looks at an "o" on a card and says "ah" as she wiggles her hand to suggest an octopus, a word that contains that short vowel sound. If you can picture this scene, you are watching an Augustine child beginning her biweekly lesson. The Augustine Project offers free, 1-on-1, long-term, multi-sensory, structured tutoring to children and teens from low-income families. Its goal is to improve their skills in reading, writing, and spelling. Its tutors receive 70 hours of instruction in the Orton Gillingham/Wilson teaching approach; lessons last about 45 minutes and are given in the school setting. SUCCESS is the key word, and the results of this program, begun in 1994 by Linda McDonough at the Church of the Holy Family, are remarkable. The project has also been replicated in Houston, TX, and Winston-Salem, with Charlotte and Greensboro chapters anticipated in the next few years. Executive Director Debbie McCarthy says. "We use the analogy of solidly laying every brick as we build the house of language. Students who struggle with reading and writing are given the keys to de-mystify the process." In this way young people at risk can take a giant step toward academic success. Debbie adds, "I love seeing what I call 'Helen Keller moments'...when a child who has struggled and felt beaten down catches on to a concept. The light and the joy on the faces of the student and tutor at such times are, for me, sacred...nothing less than the presence of Christ." Thanks to Debbie's enthusiasm and Augustine training support, my own experience as a tutor for the past three years has been immensely rewarding. Even though I had little background in teaching elementary school children, I was amazed at the way they responded to the 1-on-1 situation and to the consistent structure of every lesson. Each day they can find success and eventually mastery. The process gives them a strategy to make sense out of symbols that often seem decipherable only by blind guessing. I am working for the second year with a very bright 3rd grader who is still concentrating on short vowel sounds, but he has begun to read 3 and 4 syllable words, such as "athletic," "insistent" and "embarrassing." He has a passion for books, especially about dinosaurs and dragons, and his treat every lesson is to look at a book I bring to him from the Chapel Hill Library. Currently there are at least six other Augustine tutors in the Chapel of the Cross community: Laurie Alexander, Mary Chase, Robin Johnston, Mary McLean, Anna Tabor, and Katherine Dauchert, who has also replaced Deacon Martha Hart on the Augustine Project Board. Martha served for six years and comments that it's "a wonderful program that serves so many low-income children...its growth has been phenomenal in terms of the number of tutors trained and the number of children served." Many parishioners have been benefactors of the project either individually or through foundations, and last year Katie Healy, one of our Johnson interns, tutored three children and acted as assistant to the director. The Chapel of the Cross's Social Ministry Committee strongly supports the project with discretionary funds and proceeds from the ABC Sale. The Augustine Project is now serving more than 150 students in 44 schools and after-school programs in the Triangle area. Eighty-three new tutors completed the training in 2004 - each gives 60 hours of pro bono tutoring when they finish the course - yet the number of students in need far outweighs the number of available tutors. Training sessions are offered fall and summer. Would you be interested in becoming an Augustine tutor? If you would like further information, contact Debbie McCarthy by email at augpro760@cs.com. There is also a Web site, created and maintained by Courtney McCarthy, who attended the Chapel of the Cross as a UNC sudent, at http://www.augustineproject.org. Food Bank Book Sale John and Karen Vernon John Vernon had visited with Stephen Elkins-Williams a couple of times over the summer, seeking projects in the community that would fit into a lay ministry. Since addressing hunger had been one of John's interests, the rector invited him to attend a special meeting of Chapel Hill and Carrboro churches devoted to an unusual fund-raising opportunity that a foundation was offering the North Carolina Food Bank. The NC Food Bank provides food for the hungry to the Inter-Faith Council and 800 other distributing operations throughout 34 counties in central and eastern North Carolina. It serves 375,000 people at risk of hunger (49% of whom are children) by distributing nearly 2 million pounds of food monthly. That's enough to feed 13,000 people daily! In the wake of Hurricane Floyd, it distributed 5.3 millions pounds. The rector and John learned that if the NC Food Bank could raise $300,000 by mid-October, the foundation would match that amount. One requirement was that the foundation would only count gifts of $1,000 or more. The NC Food Bank asked area churches to act as a collecting point for individual contributions, and when they totaled at least $1,000 to write a check to the NC Food Bank. John saw that as a unique and critically important opportunity. It was important to keep in mind though that the Chapel of the Cross was already planning to repeat last year's successful Project 5000 food collection program starting in September. It was important not to compete with that. John went home that night and talked with Karen, and they offered the rector a more narrowly focused program to raise funds for the NC Food Bank. With the rector's blessing, they held a "Free Coffee/Free Home-Baked Cookies/Free Author-Signed New Books" morning on September 11. Bruce and Dolly Ladd from our parish helped before and during the event. So did Hope Hancock, Development Director of the NC Food Bank. The invitees were all members of Chapel of the Cross who lived in Fearrington Village, like John and Karen. Although power in their home was lost just as Karen put the coffee on, Dolly raced back to the Ladds' home to make coffee there and bring it back. Fortunately, the Vernons' power came back on in time. For two hours friends from the parish and neighbors within the Village came, visited with each other, picked up a cup of coffee, homemade cookies and two books each . . . and made generous contributions! Ultimately, this group, augmented by two friends of the Vernons from Southern Village, contributed $1,250 to the NC Food Bank. John and Karen had never doubted that the goal ($1,000) would be met or exceeded. "After all", they said, "these were Chapel of the Cross parishioners and Fearringtonians. There was no way they would fail to meet the need!" Searching for God Tammy Lee, Associate for Campus Ministry Mission trips to Mexico, South Dakota and Appalachia; pilgrimages to Scotland, Italy and the Holy Land; Youth Inquirers' journeys to the National Cathedral and Woodland retreats; young folks and older folks alike going to Durham or Carrboro; all moving and all in search of the holy in both the ordinary to the extraordinary. People search for God in many different ways just as they travel for different reasons....most of the time motives are mixed if they are faithful. The Emperor Constantine's mother Helena is credited for starting the pilgrimage route to the Holy Land, wanting to see for herself the very places that her Savior walked so that she might understand more fully who the Christ was. I'm sure getting out of town was also appealing, as was the spirit of adventure, though travel in her day was most treacherous. Only 300 plus years separated her steps from Christ's and she thought she might find something life changing. Our young people have spent summer vacations working to clothe the naked in thrift shops and feed the hungry children through federal meal programs and take care of widows and orphans by painting houses or building bathrooms or running Bible schools in places as diverse as inner city Juarez and rural South Dakota. They often state their primary reason for going is that they have never been on a plane before, or they have never been to this that or the other state before, or their friends are going, or they need service hours. For 10 years, the Youth Inquirers' Class has ridden on a bus each winter to explore their faith history in our nation's capitol, learning that the stones that comprise the National Cathedral tell a salvation history that they and their families are a part of. They are not required to go, and many say, "I've already been to Washington, and I don't want to go again." We take them because it forms a community of people all working to know their place in the life of God's kingdom, sometimes for the first time. People often ask, "Why can't we just stay here and learn these things? Are there not poor people in Orange County? Are there not places that are unexplored here where God's glory is evident?" The answer to these questions is yes, but I have come to understand and believe some truths are often best learned out of one's comfort zone and context. When you sleep on a roach-infested floor for a week and take only a cold shower to wash the sweat off after working a full day in 120 degree heat to build a bathroom for a widow and her children, it is a life-altering experience. When you walk up to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC, and trace your fingers across the name of your uncle after you have prayed in the War Chapel at the Cathedral, it is life changing. When you hear your prayers of petition or songs of praise echo off the walls of an eighth-century abbey or in a remote cave in the Judean desert, it changes you. Such experiences express the wideness of God's mercy, geographically, spiritually, and mentally challenging us to see God in places far away but more accurately to see God when we come home here in our own back yards. We have walked on the Road to Emmaus and our eyes are opened and we recognize. Our young people are primed for service after a summer mission trip, and it doesn't mean they wait until the next plane ride to serve their neighbor. Communities form in the backs of buses whether they are on I-95 or rural roads in small countries across the big pond. Jesus often went as far away as he could to think about things or gain perspective or make a plan for action in a world that he knew would always have the poor in it, not just poor in mammon but poor in spirit and generosity and faith and hope. As I think back upon all these journeys - be they mission or pilgrimage or community-building - each one has had a moment that altered my vision, if not forever at least for the foreseeable future. You are invited to think about your own journeys in the same ways, asking as you move about this world in search of the God who comes among us as one of us, "What am I learning here that I cannot learn at home? How am I different because of this venture? What am I being asked to do differently because of this experience?" You might be surprised by what emerges! Mission Trips Bill Joyner, Deacon There is always some concern expressed, when our young people or adults go on a mission trip, that the effort and money could be better spent closer to home, that there are enough areas for ministry in Chapel Hill and Orange County, that going some place more exotic like Costa Rica or Barbados or even western North Carolina is wasteful. But there is a danger that looking only locally limits our vision of what the Church is and what our place is in it, and in what the "needs, concerns, and hopes of the world" really are, to borrow a phrase from the ordination of deacons. I will not argue that going far away is an efficient use of resources, but I will suggest that the benefits of mission trips (a) exceed any monetary yardstick, (b) are part of our calling as the Chapel of the Cross, and (c) accrue not only to those who participate and to those with whom they work in faraway locations, but to other parishioners as well. It can be trite to say that we receive more benefit from going on a mission trip than do those we go to "help," but it is true! To see the face of the same God we worship in other places and other lands helps us live into the baptismal promise to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves. Our parish mission statement calls us to bear faithful witness to the presence of the living God, not just here, but throughout all the world. And the whole parish participates in global mission in this way, sending groups out with their resources and their prayers, and sharing with them the joy of their service when they return. In 1999 we learned the song below with our new friends among the Anglicans of eastern Costa Rica. It reminds us that our mission is not to others we see as in need of our help, but with our partners in carrying out the work of the church in the world. There is only one God. There is only one King. There is only one family. That is why we sing. Bind us together, Lord. Bind us together With cords that cannot be broken. Bind us together, Lord. Bind us together, Lord. Bind us together in love. Because of our recent high school and college group trips, we may think that these trips are only for the young! But our history of building churches in Costa Rica together with our friends from Saint Paul needs to be built on and added to. I invite any who are interested in a mission trip in 2005 to contact me! Reflections on a Pilgriamage to Scotland Bob and Mary Chase The first time we met as pilgrims at the Chapel of the Cross, we were asked why we had been drawn to this journey. Some answered that they had read extensively about Celtic spirituality and it would be intriguing to travel to Scotland with soul friends. Others mentioned Scottish ancestry and still others were drawn by a love of Celtic art, music and dance. The first night we were together in Scotland we were again asked this question, and this time our answers were much more insightful and personal. One pilgrim had traveled with us because a friend, who has since died, had encouraged her to join our group. Several travelers, who had been on former pilgrimages with our leader, had experienced "thin" places, places where they had felt a particular closeness of God's presence, and this had brought them back again. Some were struggling from a spiritual hunger, in search of a God we all long to know more intimately. A community was formed that evening - all of us searching for more meaning in our lives, spiritual growth, and opportunities to hear God speak to us and for us to listen. Our leader was Sister Cintra Pemberton, a member of the Episcopal Order of St. Helena for the past 25 years, and now residing in Augusta, Georgia. This was to be Cintra's last pilgrimage. Our parish leaders were Tammy Lee and Gretchen Jordan. One of the best gifts of the journey was how beautifully organized the entire trip was. Every room reservation, every need for transportation, every meal, every museum ticket, every detail had been tended to, allowing us the luxury of being served and the freedom just to be. Over a two-week period we found ourselves traveling to holy places, walking through trees that formed a cathedral ceiling high overhead as we wound our way to a beach that had rounded rocks with veins of silica running through them forming a cross, holding Eucharistic services in historic abbey ruins and an ancient castle, hiking slippery slopes holding hands to help one another reach the top of an ancient fort and to a beach where we had to wait for sheep to pass; washing our faces at a holy well. We visited ancient sites and museums seeing man-made things 4,000 to 5,000 years old. We heard fascinating and inspiring lectures and reflections by Philip Newell and Ian Bradley, and we worshipped on Sundays in small Anglican churches where hospitality was beyond gracious. We prayed together for one another, and quietly reflected on all we were experiencing. Our richest time was on the Isle of Iona. It took a day to reach Iona and it seemed like we were traveling to the end of the earth. As we neared the island, the light shining through the clouds was exquisite. The simplicity of the island makes it a special place of spiritual significance. At the St. Columba Hotel where we stayed there are no phones, no televisions, and no keys to the rooms. The sheep keep the natural 18-hole golf course cropped! The Scottish isles have a natural beauty made green by almost daily rains, but when the sun comes out there are magnificent rainbows and they are almost daily, too. We are deeply grateful for the ones who led us and for those who were travelers on the road with us. We began our time together with no expectations and that made every bit of our journey even more of a gift. So Did Santa Bring You a New Electronic "Toy"? What Now? Linda B. Rimer, Environmental Stewardship Committee Chair Chances are great that many of you asked for - and received - multiple electronic gadgets for Christmas. These gadgets might have included computers, monitors, cell phones, televisions, audio and stereo equipment, VCRs, DVD players, video cameras, fax and copying machines, wireless devices, and video game consoles. Chances are also great that many of these gadgets were "replacements" for older models of the same type equipment. Over the last two decades, amazing advancements in technology have led to a dramatic increase in our reliance on these electronic products. When you add to this the fact that the rate of innovation has significantly reduced the average lifespan of these same products (e.g. the life span of a computer has been reduced from perhaps four to five years to approaching two years or less), what you get is an ever-growing rate of electronic, or "e-waste" going into our waste streams. E-waste represents from two to five percent of the U.S. municipal solid waste stream. In a 2000 study, the US EPA reported that more than 20 million personal computers became obsolete in 1998 and only 13 percent were reused or recycled. An estimated 300,000 tons of e-waste ended up in U.S. landfills in 2000 and the problem is growing very rapidly. From 1997 to 2007, it is estimated that 500 million personal computers will become obsolete. A large number of televisions are expected to be disposed of when high definition television becomes widely available. Concern for this part of the waste stream goes beyond a "space in the landfill" issue. E-waste contains hazardous materials, such as lead, mercury, and hexavalent chromium, in circuit boards, batteries, and color cathode ray tubes (CRTs). Television and CRT monitors contain four to seven pounds of lead, depending on the size and make. Mercury from electronics has been cited as a leading source of mercury in municipal waste. Estimates of e-waste exported from the US to countries such as India, China and Pakistan are 50 to 80 percent. Once exported, workers in these countries often work without health-protective equipment when they disassemble computers by hand to remove materials such as copper, aluminum, and steel. What can you do if you want to be a good steward of God's creation but also want to own the latest and greatest e-gadget? There are several options for you to consider and pursue, specifically: reuse and donation, recycling, and buying greener electronic products. Reuse:Donating electronics for reuse extends the lives of products, keeping them out of the waste stream for a longer time and minimizes the pollution and resource consumption associated with making new products. By donating used electronics, you allow schools, non-profit organizations, and lower-income families to use equipment that they otherwise could not afford. Recycle: A growing number of local governments are offering computer and electronics collections as part of household hazardous waste collections or special events. Recycling electronics avoids pollution and the need to extract valuable and limited virgin resources. Buy green:You can encourage electronics manufacturers to design greener electronics by purchasing products with environmentally preferable attributes and by requesting take-back options at the time of purchase. Look for electronics that:
Here are Websites where you can find more information and hone your skills as a good environmental steward! http://www.co.orange.nc.us/recycling/a-z-recyclery.asp#computerequipment (Orange County) http://www.goodwill.org/index_gii.cfm/2648 http://www-132.ibm.com/content/search/computer-disposal.html http://www.p2pays.org/electronics/ Masankho Banda, International Peace Activist and Performing Artist Coming to the Triangle "Play breathes life into our communities, so that we can move beyond tolerance toward multicultural health," says Masankho Banda, a multi-disciplinary educator, performing artist and internationally recognized peace builder. Banda will teach and perform in the Triangle January 7-9. His visit is co-sponsored by the St. Mark's Raleigh Episcopal Peace Fellowship, the Interfaith Alliance of Wake County, InterPlay North Carolina, and a number of churches and community organizations. In 2001, Banda received an Unsung Hero of Compassion award from His Holiness, the Dalai Lama for his global peacebuilding work. "Restoring playfulness, creativity, and authentic curiosity encourages mutual commitment and understanding -- all seeds for peace," says Banda, who educates, inspires, and entertains with stories, dancing, drumming, and ritual rooted in Malawi, Africa, where he grew up. You're invited to experience Masankho's artistry, compassion, wisdom, and playful spirit at these events: Pathways to Peace Presentation, Friday, January 7, 8
p.m. Seeding Cultures of Peace Workshop, Saturday, January
8, 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Seeding Cultures of Peace Concert, Saturday, January
8, 8:00 p.m. InterPlay for World Peace Workshop, Sunday, January
9, 3:00-6:00 p.m. For more information, contact Ginny Going or Tom Henderson, interplaync@nc.rr.com January 2 Carol Sing 10:20 - 11:05 a.m. Dining Room Christmastide is the season to sing joyfully the Christmas carols! All ages will gather in the dining room on the first Sunday of 2005. Adult and youth instrumentalist will accompany us in singing some of the favorites. Instrumentalists sharing their gifts include Mary Schoenfield and Nancy Nelson on the piano, Jill Shires on flute, Emma Lo on violin, Margie Shaffer on tenor saxophone, Chase McBride on viola, Harrison Fahrer and Stephen Elkins-Williams on guitar, Ted Everhart on clarinet, and Greg Bell on accordion. Other instrumentalist are welcome to participate, just arrive with your instrument and music! Epiphany Pot Luck Dinner And Solemn Evensong January 6, Dinner at 6:00 pm, Service at 7:30 p.m. We will share dinner at 6:00 p.m. in the dining room. Please bring a dish to share. Ham, drinks, and Kings' Cake Cupcakes will be provided. Solemn Evensong begins at 7:30 p.m. Junior and Senior Choirs will sing. Epiphany Intergenerational Event January 9, 10:20-11:05 a.m. Sponsored by the Social Ministry Committee Parish-supported programs to be highlighted are Freedom House, Project Homestart, Orange County Correctional Facility, Mideast Refugee Resettlement, and Rape Crisis Center. This intergenerational event will engage all ages in learning about the work of five parish-supported programs and provide tangible items to be given to the participants in the programs. January Events 2 10:20 am Intergenerational Carol Sing. An intergenerational event in the dining room following the 9:00 service. Youth and adult instrumentalists will accompany us in singing favorite carols of Christmastide. A visit from Saint Nicholas is anticipated. 3 Parish Office Closed for New Year's. 7:00 pm Convocation Meeting at St. Philip's, Durham. 6:00 pm Epiphany Pot Luck Dinner. 7:30 pm Solemn Evensong for the Feast of the Epiphany. 8 9:00 am Vestry Budget Retreat. 9 10:20 am Intergenerational Epiphany Event. The Social Ministry Committee will teach us about 6 outreach programs of the parish and engage participants in making items for program recipients. 10 7:30 pm Adult Inquirers' Class. Dr. Pfaff will lead the first of two classes on Church history. 14-16 Youth Inquirers' Class Trip to Washington, DC. Vestry Nomination Period begins. 10:20 am Parents of Teens, support and education group for parents of Middle and High School age youth to explore the current challenges of parenting, Room 31. 10:20 am Adult Forum. Former UNC President William Friday will lead the presentation on Moral Values, Chapel. Parish Office Closed for MLK Day. 17 7:30 pm Adult Inquirers' Class. Dr. Pfaff will lead the second of two classes on Church history. 20-22 Diocesan Convention, Sheraton, Research Triangle Park. 23 10:20 am Diocesan Convention Report, Chapel. 10:20 am Parents of Teens, Room 31. 10:20 am Parent Gathering. Beyond Setting Limits with Lynne Johnston, Campus Center 24 7:30 pm Adult Inquirers' Class. Mr. Elkins-Williams will lead the class on Worship and Sacrament. 30 10:20 am Burning Questions, Chapel. 10:20 am Parents of Teens, Room 31. 10:20 am Parent Gathering: Beyond Setting Limits with Lynne Johnston, Campus Center. 10:20 am Newcomers Orientation, Parlor. 6:30 pm Vestry Nomination Period Closes. 31 7:30 pm Adult Inquirers' Class. Mr. Frazelle will lead the class on Moral Decision Making. Liturgical Readings and Preachers for January Sunday, January 2 The Second Sunday after Christmas Psalm 84; Jeremiah 31:7-14; Ephesians 1:3-6,15-19a; Matthew 2:13-15,19-23 7:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist Rite I Mr. Elkins-Williams 9:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist Rite II Dr. Joyner 10:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist Rite II The Rev. Ralph Smith (Carolina Meadows) 11:15 a.m. Holy Eucharist Rite I Dr. Joyner 5:15 p.m. Holy Matrimony and Holy Eucharist Rite II Mr. Elkins-Williams Sunday, January 9 The First Sunday after the Epiphany Psalm 89:1-29; Isaiah 42:1-9; Acts 10:34-38; Matthew 3:13-17 7:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist Rite I Ms. Lee 9:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist Rite II Mr. Elkins-Williams 11:15 a.m. Holy Baptism and Holy Eucharist Rite II Mr. Elkins-Williams 4:00 p.m. Holy Eucharist Rite I Mr. Smith (Carol Woods) 5:15 p.m. Holy Eucharist Rite II Ms. Jamieson-Drake Sunday, January 16 The Second Sunday after the Epiphany Psalm 40:1-10; Isaiah 49:1-7; I Corinthians 1:1-9; John 1:29-41 7:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist Rite I Ms. Jamieson-Drake 9:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist Rite I Ms. Lee 11:15 a.m. Holy Eucharist Rite I Ms. Lee 5:15 p.m. Holy Eucharist Rite II Ms. Lee 9:30 p.m. Sung Compline Sunday, January 23 The Third Sunday after the Epiphany Psalm 139:1-17; Amos 3:1-8; I Corinthians 1:10-17; Matthew 4:12-23 7:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist Rite I Mr. Elkins-Williams 9:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist Rite II Ms. Jamieson-Drake 11:15 a.m. Morning Prayer and Holy Eucharist Rite I Ms. Jamieson-Drake 4:00 p.m. Holy Eucharist Rite I Ms. Jamieson-Drake (Carol Woods) 5:15 p.m. Holy Eucharist Rite II Dr. Morley 9:30 p.m. Sung Compline Sunday, January 30 The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany Psalm 37:1-18; Micah 6:1-8; I Corinthians 1:(18-25)26-31; Matthew 5:1-12 7:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist Rite I Dr. Morley 9:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist Rite II Mr. Frazelle 11:15 a.m. Holy Eucharist Rite II Mr. Frazelle 5:15 p.m. Holy Eucharist Rite II Mr. Frazelle 9:30 p.m. Sung Compline |