Healing Hands by Beth Grossman

19″ x 21″
Monoprint embellished with copper leaf

It is criminal to steal a purse.
It is daring to steal a fortune.
It is a mark of greatness to steal a crown. — Friedrich Schiller, quoted by Joan Chittister in her book, “The Ten Commandments,” which will be the object of our book study on
Sunday, July15.
Get it soon!

Building addition to begin soon; vicarage to be listed for sale.

On Tuesday the 19^th, Bishop & Trustees selected an architect and builder for our project and formally approved funding it at $600,000 plus design fees. They also voted to list the vicarage for sale. These actions mean we are about to begin what promises to be a most exciting new chapter in our history. The next step will be for the architect to draw up plans. Once we approve them, and the Village approves them, we will break ground. Thanks be to God!

Bishop Persell’s surgery a success.

Bishop Persell had his prostate gland removed on Tuesday the 19^th. The surgery went well and the prognosis is good for the bishop, who will recuperate at his summer home once he is released from the hospital and cleared for travel. Thanks be to God!!

Great work at the Elk Grove Parade!

Thanks to Bill Barlow who reprised his role as St. Nicholas and to everyone else who helped us establish a presence at the annual village parade. We passed out 500 frisbees with our name and web site. It’s a great way to draw attention to a great church. Great work!Ice Cream Sundae. This Sunday, June 24.

Each one of those 500 frisbees had a coupon taped inside that invited the holder to come to our church this Sunday for a free ice cream cone. You can have one, too, if you come.

Rufus Wainwright, anyone?

One of my recently developed passions is for the singer Rufus Wainwright, whom I discovered by chance on the last day of 2006 when we rented a video of a concert tribute to the folk singer Leonard Cohen. He absolutely blew me away with a performance of Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” a song about King David, and he did a campy, tongue in cheek performance of “Everybody Knows,” that was a hoot, thanks to his diamond necklace – just in case anyone had any doubt about his sexual orientation.

So I was delighted when I saw he is performing at Ravinia on Friday August 24 at 7:30. I wouldn’t miss it, and I wonder if others might want to make it a church outing (no pun intended – although, ever the marketer, I do think we should all wear St. Nicholas with the Holy Innocents t-shirts; or whatever we are going to become; hey, maybe we should take some frisbees, too! Just kidding.).

The tickets, regrettably, are pricey — $45 for the pavilion or $20 for the lawn. (With my back, I’m springing for the pavilion.) But his sister Martha often joins him and, though younger and less well known, she is equally incredible – in fact, I am listening to her as I type this. If you are interested – especially in pavilion seating, let me know quickly – no later than July 1 — so I can order them before they sell out.

Starting on time, practicing music, and more.

On many of our summer Sundays, we will be practicing music before the liturgy. Think of this as spiritual formation to assist us in participating fully in our worship.

In order for this to work well, here is what the leaders of worship promise you:

1. At exactly 10 a.m., we will begin music practice, and it will last no more than five minutes.
2. No later than 10:15, Mary will begin a short prelude. This is intended to help us center ourselves and prepare for worship.
3. The prelude will be followed directly by the opening hymn.

And here is what we ask from you:

1. Please try to be here and ready to go at 10.
2. Out of consideration for parishioners who use the prelude and time before the liturgy to center themselves and prepare for worship, please hold conversations in the gathering space, not the worship space.

I know it is hard for a variety of reasons for some of us always to be on time. All I ask is that we as a community try our best to do so, and that everyone knows I would much rather have you get here a few minutes late than feel guilty and not get here at all.

All hands on deck for our July rummage sale.

On July 20 and 21, we will hold our annual Rummage Sale fundraiser. We intend to make this year’s sale a huge success. However, this is only possible if we all become involved. Our goal is to have every member take ownership and lend a hand (or two) to some aspect of the sale.

• Some of us will need to help with advertising;
• some of us will need to collect plastic bags and hangers to use at the sale;
• some of us will need to pick up items from those unable to deliver them;
• some of us will need to help sort and price items;
• some of us will need to set up tables and arrange items the day of the sale;
• some of us will need to be present during the sale not only to help sell, but equally as important to get the word out about our mission and shared ministry;
• some of us will need to take down tables and prepare leftover items for pick-up by another charity.

Please be thinking about what your contribution will be. Remember, this is yet another opportunity for us to move even more deeply into communion with each other. Thank you in advance! (by Douglas van Houten, for the Rummage Sale group)Our garden’s growing.

And the hungry are fed with good fresh food because of this ministry.

Thanks to Bill Barlow for getting it started and maintaining it, and to Marv from AA for watering it during the week.

Bishop’s Committee report.

At its June 20 meeting, the bishop’s committee had no resolutions before it, but there were numerous items discussed:

• We reviewed the team meetings of the previous Sunday
• We discussed the parade, and David Taylor gave us a nice summary report of it
• We arranged for Ice Cream Sunday this Sunday the 24th
• We discussed the action by Bishop & Trustees the previous day to select an architect. We are now ready to proceed with the addition.
• We had a lengthy discussion of the previous Sunday’s liturgy and agreed music rehearsal will begin at 10, last up to five minutes, and be followed by a prelude and opening hymn.

Present for the meeting were: Pat Kalicki, David Taylor, Mary Anne O’Rourke, Ethan Jewett, Paul Brouillette, and Steve Martz. Absent were Karen Martin and Manny Borg.

Summer book club.

I am going to lead discussions of two books this summer and combine these with a potluck at my house.

1. Sunday, July 15,4:30-7:30 p.m. — The Ten Commandments: Laws of the Heart by Joan Chittister. The well known retreat leader, speaker, and liberal nun looks at what the 10 commandments mean for us as we seek to live in the image and likeness of God.
2. Sunday, August 26,4:30-7:30 p.m. – Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion, by Sara Miles. One day Miles, a longtime atheist, walked into church, took communion, and began crying. Now a member of St. Gregory of Nyssa, an Episcopal church in San Francisco, her spiritual memoir tells the story of a young woman whose spiritual journey is quite remarkable.

If you can’t get these books from your local library, both are available through Amazon.com at well below list price. And if you buy both at the same time, you are eligible for free shipping – just remember to select it, or Amazon will charge you their standard shipping rate.

What’s your story?

One of my projects in the coming months is to help us as a congregation tell our story more effectively. We do this in many ways and one way is through some great stories on our web site from members who share what led them to the parish. But we need more. Lots more. Would you consider adding yours? I would be happy to help you write or edit it, or if you don’t want to write it yourself, I will interview you and write it for you. Thanks!

Summer choir schedule.

Choir rehearsals will be at 9 each Sunday.

Remember the hungry.

Bring one or more non-perishable items each Sunday and place them on or beneath the table just inside the worship space.

Schedule of events for the coming week:

Sunday the 24^th

Worship at 10

AA meets at 7:30 p.m.

Monday the 25^th

AA meets at noon

AA meets at 7 p.m.

Tuesday the 26^th

AA meets at noon

AA meets at 7 p.m.

Wednesday the 27^th

Bishop’s committee meets at 11 a.m.

AA meets at noon

Thursday the 28^th

AA meets at noon

GA meets at 7 p.m.

Friday the 29^th

AA meets at noon

Saturday the 30^th

AA meets at 1 p.m.

AA meets at 8:30 p.m.

Sunday, July 1

Worship at 10

Ministry teams.

These met briefly this past Sunday. Their next meetings are:

• Nurturing — Wednesday, June 27, 7 p.m.
• Inviting — Sunday, July 1, after worship
• Generosity — Sunday, June 24 after worship
• Welcoming — tba

We hope you will be able to help with one of these teams, or in one of the other areas of church life — Worship, Mission, Administration, Building and Grounds, Adult Formation, and Children’s Formation. Thanks.

Some of the tasks the four teams may be involved in are:

Welcoming & Celebrating

• Oversee Yummy Hour
• Greet visitors
• Collect information from them
• Assist them during the liturgy
• Follow up
• Develop welcome packet/strategy
• Work on other community building activities

Nurturing

• Visit the homebound and hospitalized
• With vicar, participate in regular visiting of all members
• Work to develop healing ministry
• Missing member ministry – check in with members who are absent
• Develop referrals sources in areas such as employment, mental health, legal, and financial

Generosity

• Annual campaign
• Develop year round ways to encourage us to use our time, talent, and treasures to build the kingdom of God
• Fundraise
• Seek grants

Inviting

• Direct mail efforts
• Advertising
• Promotional materials
• Liaison to community orgs
• Connect with Chamber of Commerce
• Connect with realtors
• Work on community events
• Web presence

One bread, one body.

Thanks to everyone for a wonderful send-off for Betsy Swanson on Sunday the 17^th. She now heads for Houston for further training as a veterinary surgeon. I know all of us are going to miss her as much as I will.

As I also reported Sunday, Carla’s job saga reached a wonderful conclusion this week when she received two job offers in the space of five days. She accepted one at the American Academy of Pediatrics, where Ethan works. Thanks to all of you for your concern, kindness, and prayers. These made a difference during a period that was very, very difficult for me. (I was more anxious than Carla, perhaps because I do the family finances.)

It’s an added plus for us that AAP is located in Elk Grove, so we’ll both be working in the village – at least when I’m not seeing clients elsewhere.

Remember the Barlow family as they mourn the death of Kathy’s father.

It was wonderful to have Vernon and Erlene back last week so soon after their surgery.Vernon is now on immunosupressants, so as a community we want to make sure he receives wine at communion before any of the rest of us. This will assure that he does not pick up any “bug” at church.

Finally, in last week’s email newsletter I mentioned that I had established a web site for my analytic practice and then promptly gave an incorrect address, which sent any of you who tried it to the web site of the New York Jungians. My correct address is: www.jungiananalysischicago.org

Lots of love,– Steve