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Personal Update
Ordinarily I comment on one of the Scriptures for the following weekend, but I have been asked to comment on a more personal issue. So I hope you will indulge me in this Abundant Lite. Next week will be back to the Scripture.
I thought of making the header to say “Where’s Susan?” The answer requires me to give an update on Susan’s and my health.
First Susan. In late October, Susan was hit with a severe ear/sinus infection. This had an impact on vision, balance, and several aspects of her hearing. In addition, it required lot’s of time with several doctors and Urgent Care visits. Loud noise had become very painful to Susan.
Since October, Susan has missed lots of work time and has shifted her worship time to Saturday at 4 or Sunday at 8. She has not been able to sing with the choir. Despite all the medical expertise, the first prognosis from the EENT specialist seems to have been most accurate. It will get better, but it will take time. Susan is getting better and I don’t believe has missed but one weekend of worship. The 4 & 8 worshipers are getting to know her. She hopes to be back in choir when she is able. She needs to target her energy on her classroom and her students.
My situation is simpler. Since being diagnosed with MS in August, I have been doing lots of work with several doctors to make sure that I understand the disease and manage my care. The diagnosis came from an MRI of my spine when investigating a pinched nerve. I was, and remain largely without symptoms. It turns out that the problems I thought were related, were actually the result of a pinched nerve.
Evidently, despite my best efforts, I am aging and getting the aches and pains most people are familiar with. I now see a Neurologist occasionally and take medication once a week.
Susan and I are well cared for medically. We are blessed by God’s love, with our own faith and the support and prayers of family and parish.
Neither of us is going anywhere. Although we have been here 23 years, we are not very close to retirement. Both Susan and I are delighted in our Vocations and we regularly seek to develop and grow. I am looking forward to the next stage of my ministry with St. Paul in the Desert. To that end, I anticipate beginning my second Sabbatical in the next 18 months.
Join Susan and me in worship this weekend as we practice God’s abundant love together and live it out the rest of the week.
Fr. Andrew
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John 20:19-31
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
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Episcopal Community Services
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Episcopal Community Services will celebrate its 85th Birthday on Friday, June 1st at Good Samaritan Episcopal Church. A superstar committee chaired by Terri Mathes is busily planning what will surely be a fun and unique event. We are requesting donations of prizes for our opportunity drawing: handcrafts, theatre tickets, museum passes, vacation getaways, restaurant certificates, sporting event tickets and much, much more.
Donate individually, or brainstorm with fellow parishoners to create a gift basket on behalf of your parish.l The sky’s the limit. For more information, please call ECS’ Office of Development at (619) 228-2800 or email: aosian@ecscalifornia.org. Click here to visit the ECS website.
Thank you. And, please stay tuned . . . details about Holy Smoke! are coming soon. We hope to see you on June 1st at Good Sam!
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Celebrate May with ECW Thursday, May 3rd | 11am | Parish Hall.
May is a month that holds promise, what with Mother’s Day and the bloom of spring flowers, and that theme will be featured when the Episcopal Church Women gather for their monthly meeting. Come and share memories about your Mother, bring a favorite flower and celebrate May.
A business meeting begins the gathering and is followed by the noon luncheon and program. This meeting is open to all, and newcomers are especially welcome.
Please bring a salad to serve 4-6, rolls, or a dessert; beverages are provided. Hostesses for the event are Beverly Zwack, Barbara Villani, and Anna Secrist. For additional information, contact Kathy Briski at 760.864.7145.
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So far 166 members or families have committed $332,391.00 for the support of God’s Mission at St. Paul’s. In addition to 23 new pledges there are about 25 pledges still outstanding from people who pledged last year and are still part of St. Paul’s.
Our pledge target for 2012 is $416,000.00, so we are considerably short of that goal. We anticipate missing our target by as much as $40,000-50,000.
The support of every member is needed to support our mission and ministries. If you have not made a pledge, please do so if you are able.
The Rector and Vestry will be considering a variety of options to respond to this situation and will keep the parish informed.
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“Sundays at 9:15”
In The Library
April 15, 22, & 29
04/15 Faith and Doubting, led by Victoria Hatch
04/22 The Apocalypse: Daniel, led by David Abernethy-Deppe
04/29 The Apocalypse: Revelation, led by David Abernethy-Deppe
May 6, 13, & 20 No Class May 27
5/06 The Synoptic Gospels: St. Mark, led by Jerry Lynch
5/13 St. Matthew, led by Victoria Hatch
5/20 St. Luke, led by Jerry DiNoto
5/27 No class
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“Thursdays At 7”
April 12, 19, & 26
04/12 The Protestant Reformation: Luther, led by Rick Tinsley
04/19 The Protestant Reformation: Calvin, led by Jerry DiNoto
04/26 The Protestant Reformation: The Anabaptists, led by David Abernethy-Deppe
May 3, 10, 17, 24, & 31
5/03 Buddhism: A World Religion
5/10 The Life of the Buddha
5/17 All Is Suffering
5/24 The Path to Nirvana led by the Faith Formation Team
5/31 The Buddhist Community, with the Dharmachakra Buddhist Center
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 Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life (beginning Tuesday, April 17th | 9-11am | Parish Hall) is a six-week discussion group on Richard Rohr’s new book of the same title. Please purchase the book on line. Facilitated by Bob Poehling. Sign up by calling the church office at 760.320.7488, ext. 0.
Rohr writes: “Most of us tend to think of the second half of life as largely about getting old, dealing with health issues and letting go of our physical life, but the whole theme of the book is the opposite….As we move beyond the first half of life understandings where rules come first, we discover in the second half of life that God is less concerned about laws and more about the relationship. Thus, the ability to move forward is to embrace God’s unconditional forgiveness.”
Rohr proposes that all that seems to be important in the first half of life is building a container to hold the enduring treasures that the last half of life is meant to discover…where the soul has found its fullness…and lives inside the Big Picture.
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Bless the Lord, Oh My Soul
(Sunday, April 29th | 4pm | St. Paul in the Desert | $12 general, $10 Student/Senior)
is a concert by the Anglican Chorale of Southern California, James A. Person, Founder/Director, and Brent Reynolds, Accompanist. Information at 760.992.7947, anglicanchorale@dc.rr.com,
or www.anglicanchorale.org.
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Mosaic for Home and Garden – Seminar
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Rebuild Our Church in Haiti
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The Episcopal Diocese of Haiti—the largest Diocese in the Episcopal Church is in ruins. While the people of Haiti struggle to rebuild their nation, Episcopalians are uniting to rebuild our Church in Haiti.
Click the image above to learn more.
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Canterbury Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys
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The Canterbury Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys is giving a concert on Monday, April 16th at 7:00 pm at St. Margaret’s. Ticket ($35 & $20) reservations are available by contacting John Wright, 760.346.2697, ext. 19. The Choir is from the Mother Church of the Anglican Communion and the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The program features music from the 13th century to newly-composed works.
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Roy’s Desert Resource Center & Desert SOS
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Volunteers from St. Paul’s continue to serve dessert to between 70 and 100 homeless men, women and children at Roy’s every Monday evening. The desserts consist of baked goods and other goodies (store-bought or homemade) from our parishioners. As well, we deliver each month sox and undies purchased from our SOS Fund or placed in the SOS basket on Sunday. which is funded by special donations from parishioners. All of these efforts are deeply appreciated by these people who are earnestly striving to get back into the main stream.
If you would like to participate in this program, you can:
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Sign up to Volunteer
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Write a check St. Pauls (marked for SOS Fund)
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Bring new white sock and/or large underwear for the Basket
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Place baked goods in the center section of the Fridge (again, marked For SOS)
Please call Hap Blaisdell at 760-323-5726 for additional information and ideas.
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Cold Toes at Desert SOS – Roy’s Resource Center has made a plea for covered shoes, boots and tennis shoes for their clients. Many clients have no shoes. If you have unworn or nearly new shoes that could be donated bring them to the church office or place them next to the Desert SOS basket in the narthex.
If you would prefer to make a financial donation for shoes, make your check payable to: St. Paul’s, and in the memo area, write: SOS SHOE Fund. Contact Hap for more information at 760.323.5726.
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Easter Flowers
A list of Easter Flower Donations is available for you to view by clicking here.
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 Parish Photographer Needed
St. Paul’s needs a photographer to capture pictures of our people in action. We want pictures of our people in worship, in ministry and in fellowship.
Although most cell phones take decent pictures, the parish photographer would need a good digital camera and be willing to learn how to take pictures without distracting from the activities being photographed. The photo-grapher would also need to be able to upload the pictures quickly so that they might be used for parish purposes.
This is an important volunteer position and has the potential to assist the parish in attracting and welcoming new people.
Please contact Jonathan Abernethy-Deppe at Jonathan@stpaulsps.org or call him at 760-320-7488 ext. 224.
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Prayer Shawl Ministry
. . . meets every Wednesday from 10 am – 1 pm in the Parish Hall. This peace-filled stitching circle gives members fulfillment and spiritual sustenance in creating prayer shawls to comfort those in need of prayer. For more details contact Valerie Ferguson at 760.799.5927, Barbara Hawkins Villani at 760.322.3987, or Audrey Spencermorris at 760.835.5506.
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Well in the Desert
. . .is looking for a couple of additional servers for the hot lunch they serve on Wednesdays at our church. They serve from 11 am – 1 pm. If you are interested please contact Jonathan Abernethy-Deppe at 760.320.7488 ext 224 or jonathan@stpaulsps.org
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Coffee Hour
Hosts for 8:30 are Eileen Upton & Don MacLean and for 10:30 are James Kyle & Mark Leggett.
To sign up to host a Coffee Hour, please use the binder on the entrance table in the Parish Hall. If you have questions, please contact Ray or Cheryl Kelley at 760.778.1725.
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 Do-It-Yourself Mosaic for Home & Garden
On May 19, June 2 from 10am-2pm. Cost is $25. Location is Camp Stevens. The art of assembling pieces of glass or stone into images, mosaics are a beautiful addition to a home or garden–and it’s simpler to do than you may think! In this hands-on workshop, you’ll learn the steps to creating your own mosaic, including supplies and design considerations, and practice on an installation at Camp Stevens.
For more information and to register, go to www.campstevens.org/garden.
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Sign Up for Flowers,
Coffee Hour and
Desert SOS
To make is easier for parishioners to sign-up for Flowers, Coffee Hours, and the Desert SOS Dessert Ministry, the sign-up sheets are in binders that are on the entrance table in the Parish Hall. The 2012 binders are filling fast, so if you have a special date that you want to commemorate, be sure to sign up early.
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Report Sexual Misconduct
As part of our ongoing commitment to creating a safe haven for everyone, please be reminded that our diocese values the tenet of our baptismal covenant to “respect the dignity of every human being.” Part of the way we live into that is to train people in the prevention of sexual misconduct. Another part that goes hand-in-hand with training is reporting incidences of sexual misconduct. Our bishop, the Rt. Rev. James R. Mathes, takes reports seriously and investigates them thoroughly and confidentially. If you believe you have experienced sexual misconduct of any kind, please contact Bishop Mathes immediately: bishopmathes@edsd.org, 619-481-5450.
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Bullies Not Welcome Here
At St. Paul in the Desert we want to welcome all worshipers to a place that is free of violence and bullying.
Physical, verbal or emotional violence against others or against oneself is not acceptable.
“It Gets Better” is a series of video messages to encourage Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, or Transgender youth and let them know that they are loved as they are.
“A Blessing for Those Who Are Bullied” was written by the Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston, a Bishop of the Episcopal Church.
It is not enough to say “NO” to bullies. It is important to stand up for people and to provide resources for those who have been the targets.
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The Bishop’s Appeal
The Bishop’s Appeal supports the mission of the diocese through gifts that are used for support of our ongoing programs and ministries: congregational support and development, leadership development, pastoral care, ministry development, and Christian formation. 100% of your gift goes to supporting our ministries. To make a gift, to the secure website at http://www.edsd.org or mail to: Episcopal Diocese of San Diego, 2728 Sixth Ave., San Diego, CA 92103.
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The St. Paul Columbarium Niches are over 60% sold out. If you are interested in a specific niche, please do not wait to purchase it or reserve it. Deposits are required for all niche reservations. Please contact Jonathan Abernethy-Deppe, at 760.320.7488, ext. 224 for further information.
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