Jump in!

As we've gotten several supply priests in and out of St. Paul's recently, I've had a chance to serve all of them as an acolyte. And with each of them, I've had an almost identical experience. I am waiting in the ready room or outside the chapel, robed up, ready to get started. The supply priests walks up to me with a very surprised look on his or her face and says/asks "You're acolyting today?" And because I don't know what else to say I respond "I like to carry stuff."

Listen, I get it. I'm the oldest acolyte other than Randy. One reason for this is that I'm still an adolescent Episcopalian. I didn't experience "high-ish church" as a kid or teenager. My church experience growing up was more of a hipster, rock and roll church. So I'm experiencing the liturgy and growing up in the Episcopal church for the first time. I did manage to convince Jason to join me, so I'm not the only grown up anymore! 

I am an avid podcast listener. Most of the podcasts on my subscribed list are food and weightlifting related, but I do have a couple of podcasts from a couple of mega churches that are mega enough to have podcasts. I was in my lab listening to one of the sermons this morning when I heard something to the effect of "Just jump in and serve God awhile and then figure out what to focus on next." The pastor went on to say that God will sometimes use your "yes" as a way to show you where and how to serve Him next. That has certainly been the case for me. I showed up last fall and Randy Young was one of the first people I met at coffee hour. And in true Randy fashion, he quickly recruited me - rather forcefully if I might add! But it gave me the opportunity for some face-time with the junior high and high school kids. It got my feet wet for later on when Jean would recruit me for being involved with high school formation. Also, I really do like carrying stuff :)

We have so many opportunities coming up at St. Paul's to serve God and people around us. You may initially feel out of place - the only teenager, the only adult, the only woman, the only single person, the only...whatever! But when you jump in and serve God awhile, He'll show you what to focus on next. Come join!

Stephanie Rice

               

Enlighten!

Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom: Enlighten by your Holy Spirit those who teach and those who learn, that, rejoicing in the knowledge of your truth, they may worship you and serve you from generation to generation; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

With Love from a visual learner. (grin)

This prayer is offered to the incredible teaching team at 

St. Paul's Episcopal Church and the entire learning family!

(That's all of us.)

I hope to see you Sunday!

Forgiving

Our Formation programs at St. Paul's begin on October 5th! The first adult forum series will be 4 weeks on forgiveness, guided by The Book on Forgiving by Desmond and Mpho Tutu. From the book jacket:  "Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu has witnessed some of the worst crimes people can inflict on others. So wherever he goes, he inevitably gets asked this question: How do I forgive? This book is his answer.Writing with his daughter, Mpho, an Anglican priest, they lay out the simple but profound truths about the significance of forgiveness, how it works, why everyone needs to know how to grant it and receive it and why granting forgiveness is the greatest gift we can give ourselves when we have been wronged."

The book outlines a Fourfold Path that will be facilitated by William Sangrey and Jean Berry over the four Sundays in October. It would be helpful for participants to have the book, but it is not required that folks read the book before beginning the workshops. If you would like to order a copy, please do so from the Amazon link on the St. Paul's website! 

These are the 4 steps of forgiveness that we will work through together during the series:

- Telling the Story

-Naming the Hurt

-Granting Forgiveness

-Renewing or releasing the Relationship

Supplies for the Journey (from the introduction):

"All journeys must be provisioned. Your journey requires two objects to support your healing:

Please get a private journal that you will use to complete the writing exercises given in each chapter. This will be your own personal 'book of forgiving'. It can be a plain notebook or a special journal you purchase just for this work. Only you will read this journal, and in it you should feel free and safe to record your thoughts, emotions, ideas, and progress along the Fourfold Path."

"Please go out and find a stone that appeals to you on some level. It can be beautiful or ugly. It shouldn't be a pebble or a boulder. Find a stone with some weight to it. It should be small enough to carry in the palm of your hand and large enough that you won't lose it. Note in your journal exactly where you found the stone and what it was about the stone that appealed to you.

Welcome. You have begun the Fourfold Path."

See you in the parish hall at St. Paul's Episcopal Church on October 5th at 9:30am! We will begin together.

Let's meet there!

Here we are at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. 

We all live in different homes, work in different jobs, travel in a variety of friend circles, manage our own family lives, etc, etc. And yet here we are: a parish family. God's children, coming together in one house (and a beautiful one), hoping to connect. 

During worship, I imagine our collective key interest is connecting with God. That's likely why we show up on Sunday morning. God is with us each and every day, no matter where we are. Yet those moments in church: quiet, prayerful, mysterious, comforting, in community - those are the moments that nourish us each week, leading us closer to who God calls us to be! What a beautiful thing, church! So that communication with God thing? We're getting that down! Good job, us!

How about the strength of our communication with each other? That may be a more elusive success. Think about it. We're from roughly four generations! Our collective time span includes everything from letter writing, and the early telephone, to the worldwide web and all that came with it. This is not a small gap between our customs and comfort zones.

This spiderweb is a strong visual for making the point. God is the center, if you will. We are the strings coming from the center! Cool. Then look at the perpendicular lacing connecting each of us. Loads of lines of communication! None of them are unimportant to the beauty of the whole design, right? That's what forms the web! The spider's efforts are tireless until the web is complete. And so it goes with us!


As we go forward in Christian Formation at St. Paul's, my goal is to create a thing of beauty through the elaborate lacing together of our parish family. We will use all means available to us in getting the word out about opportunities at St. Paul's. Letters, postcards, bulletins, spoken announcements, websites, Facebook, Twitter, newspapers, blog, telephone, texting - heck, maybe we'll even engage a town crier!

Maybe more to the point: we hope you all will become active participants of spreading the word! If you start by being an active listener or reader, then pass what you've learned on to others, in the parish or outside our walls, more people will know more information and each of us will be fonts from which that information flows. Back to the web metaphor: keep spinning the lace, pulling the strings, reestablishing center, where God is. Let's meet there.

The Bible Challenge!

Well, look who it is - Joe Schenk, our good-natured Bible challenger, ready for some excellent conversations over the course of this program year! Sunday mornings, 9:30am, the library at St. Paul's. There WILL be coffee! (grin)

Joe is leading The Bible Challenge: read (or listen to) the Bible, cover to cover, from October 5th, the start of our Formation year, through April 26th. This is a great opportunity for folks to dig into the Christian story in more depth. Joe hopes folks will read the Bible in a new way or with new eyes. It's an independent journey, but with a community of readers! A great way to do it! Look for Joe's blog posts about the progress of the read! Jump in anytime!

I'm gonna dig in. Truthfully, I've never ready the Bible cover to cover. I dip in and out, usually hitting passages or books I know fairly well, because they're comfortable and new things can be found with each new reading. However, I'm ready to step out of my comfort zone and take the challenge. I will be loading the Bible on my iPod and walking with scripture, as it were (grin). Whatever works.

Check it out :
Audio Bible

Here's is the weekly list of books, so you can stay on schedule. The Sunday morning sessions are optional, although it is fun to chat about each book with fellow readers. The way it works best for you is the way
Joe invites you to experience the challenge! Register with Joe at jschenk1@udayton.edu

September 28 - Getting organized: Introduction & Overview

The Old Testament Books

October 5 - Genesis – 37 pages

October 12 - Exodus – 31 pages

October 19- Leviticus – 21 pages

October 26 - Numbers – 31 pages

November 2– Deuteronomy – 28 pages

November 9– Joshua, Judges, and Ruth – 40 pages

November 16 – 1&2 Samuel – 46 pages

November 23 - 1&2 Kings – 46 pages

November 30 – 1&2 Chronicles – 47 pages

December 7 – Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther – 24 pages

December 14 - Job – 17 pages

December 21 – Psalms 1-75 – 37 pages

December 28 – Psalms 76 – 150 – 37 pages

January 4– Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon – 34 pages

January 11 - Isaiah – 67 pages

January 18 - Jeremiah – 50 pages

January 25 - Ezekiel – 39 pages

February 1– Lamentations, Daniel, and Hosea – 26 pages

February 8 – Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah – 15 pages

February 15 – Nahum, Habbakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi – 18 pages

The New Testament Books

February 22– Matthew – 26 pages

March 1– Mark – 15 pages

March 8– Luke – 26 pages

March 15 – John – 20 pages

March 22 – Acts – 26 pages

March 29 – Romans, 1&2 Corinthians – 28 pages

April 5 – Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1&2 Thessalonians – 18 pages

April 12– 1&2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1&2 Peter, 1, 2&3 John, Jude, 31pgs

April 19– The Revelation to John – 12 pages

April 26– Wrap-up, Conclusion, Graduation, Easter

May the Formation be with you!

Building the Crew!

Welcome to the fold, Emily and Shelice!

These young ladies are freshman at University of Dayton in art and music education! Both of them have worked extensively with young children in Sunday School and mission setting. They are thrilled to start off their time in Dayton with a new church relationship!

Emily (on the left) came to Dayton from Nutley, New Jersey. She is focusing on voice as a music education major. I can imagine many a tune coming from the activity room.(grin) She has been a team leader for Relay for Life, a girl scout and a CCD teacher (Catholic church) for 1st and 2nd grade! She will work with the same age group here at St. P's.As Emily put it, her goal as an educator is to make the future brighter. Sounds like Light to me!

Shelice (on the right) is from Chicago - in the city, as she explained - so art has been all around her. Art and church. She spent much time helping out at her church, which is what drew her to the position at St. Paul's. She has done many an art project with little ones, particularly young girls, served in a mission through her church. Shelice is bilingual, originally from Puerto Rico, which is a cool link to our bilingual kindergarten program. We are blessed to have both of these young women at St. Paul's, preparing to share the Bible through story, music and visual art for our youngest children, PK -2nd grade.

These two characters to the right are the totally wonderful Stephanie and Jason Rice! They will be joining Diana Sebaly in the PaulPit for 9-12 grade Sunday mornings. They'll also be pitching in with our mission models - MountainTOP and Faith in Action! They just ROCK! SO here's the skinny on these two. In Stephanie's words:
Jason and I both grew up in Mason, OH. In fact, until last year, our parents lived in the same neighborhood. We met in Mrs. DeVore's fifth grade class and were friends throughout middle and high school. We started dating our senior year after my date ditched me at a dance and I thought Jason looked pretty good that night. Jason went to UD for mechanical engineering and I went to UK for chemical engineering. We got married after graduating and now live in Beavercreek. Jason works for Cornerstone Research Group as a research engineer. He mostly builds prototypes and "tinkers." I work for NanoSperse which is a 5 person company including me. I put black stuff in goo to make it conductive for the aerospace industry. Our life pretty much revolves around working out at Centerville Crossfit and eating good food. 

And St. Paul's, as it turns out! Thanks be to God. I couldn't be more pleased that these two feel called to formation ministry! More details to come in the next episode of StPaulights!

Following the Light

How many times in my life have I heard or read..."as I was dying...(or drowning, lost, scared, trapped, alone, sad, or weary, to mention a few) I heard: go toward the light." In whatever form, the light was always the saving "place." I never really associated it with God or Jesus. 

When some salesman would knock on my door and ask, "are you saved?" I thought, resentfully, I don't need that right now. I'm just fine and safe in my doorway. I still don't like that.

In my forties, I joined a group that emphasized finding a God that I understood, giving him/her all the attributes I wanted. I began to grow into that God and to trust that God. After a while, gender was no issue and the Great Spirit covered it all. We became friends, walking and talking. All I had to do was think of my God and the directions became clear. 

Even if I didn't like the answer, I learned to trust and go with God's plan. If I couldn't forgive, I just asked God to handle it - to forgive - until I was able. Soon I realized that my life is a path, fresh each day, where I can choose to follow Light. This brings me peace, helps me keep both feet on the path. 

I respond to the Light in people, in their genuineness, non-judgement, sincerity, joyfulness, helpfulness...and it attracts me.

God speaks to us through intuition. I do like that and I try to be still and know, have faith and trust, and do my best to follow the Light to safety, love, acceptance and joy.

-Diana Sebaly

Refurbishing the Formation Zone

Be the Light! That's our theme for the new program year! 

And it's turning into the theme for our fall refurbishing of what is  affectionately being called the "Formation Zone". 

Oh, yes, we're going all out to create a space for all our youth formation programs that reflect the holy Light that each child brings into the building and takes out into the world. Our parents are pretty shiny, too! (grin) God has great plans for us!

So at the still-blue end of the hall - the Activity Room - our youngest members will share formation time, including the nursery for babes-in-arms and toddlers. PK - 2nd graders will team up with our awesome UD Team, Emily and Shelice! Music, art, story and more, all centered around the Lectionary appointed for the day! These girls are awesome with SO much to share!

On down the hall, in the Godly Play room, 3rd - 5th graders will "Learn Your Bible" each week, complete wit the gift of a new Bible and ribbons to mark particular spots for revisiting. Children may have a few minutes to play with Godly Play story sets before heading upstairs for Children's Chapel at 10:30! That takes place in our Chapel of the Holy Spirit - such a beautiful space for learning!

A little further down: the junior high room for 6th, 7th and 8th graders! Cool comfort and fabulous conversation, drama (the good kind) and a wonderful new collaboration with Canterbury Court, to be realized outside the Sunday morning timeframe! Just you wait! More info on that will come soon!

Then passed this awesome mural, to be completed by our youth, and on to the PaulPit where our teens will share time between Lectionary/Real World conversations and Faith in Action, our regular mission work in Dayton, motivated by our 7 year commitment to summer mission in Tennessee! 

It's all Light. It's all St. Paulight!

Huge thanks to Ms. Labrie and Ms. Smolka for their work on this awesome space! So dang cool!!!

Looking forward to seeing everyone on October 5th!!!

Football is my Companion!

There is a crispness in the air, today.  It whispers Fall.  Football!  Football has been a companion my entire life.  It was my companion before I was aware.  Football was Thanksgiving.  I was born into a football family.  Mostly, it was college football.  I traveled to games to watch my uncle quarterback his team at William and Mary.  I became the unofficial sweetheart of his fraternity of fellow players.  But, I didn’t leave football with my childhood.  I have remained a staunch ally of football through my adulthood:  becoming acquainted with players and being victorious in office pools.  Football is a comfortable constant in my life.

Jesus has been my companion my entire life.  He was my companion before I was aware.  I was born into a Christian family.  My parents were active in our churches:  serving and participating.  The Sundays of my childhood were spent in Sunday clothes at Sunday school and Church service.  Summers included two weeks of Vacation Bible School.  My mother hosted women’s teas and my father counted the offering and paid the bills.  I am extremely fortunate to have had these examples in my life…and, to have had an early introduction to Christ.

I learned scripture verses that often come to mind just as I need an answer or an affirmation or the patience to wait – and, that I sometimes ignore.  I learned songs that I sang to my children and that I hum to myself – sometimes unbidden and mostly around the house.  I experienced the joy of practicing faith in action by helping and reaching out, a reward far exceeding the personal investment.  In spite of my efforts to the contrary, I developed the habit of daily Bible reading and prayer.

An ever-present companion in my life – one that has been filled with new places, new churches, unknown circumstances; even though Jesus was the forgotten friend during teenaged years; and especially when he was pushed aside – Jesus has been my companion every day:  mine for the accepting.  And, here goes faith in action, Jesus is available as a companion for everyone, even if you have just met him; have left him somewhere along the way; don’t think you’re interested.  He’s our companion for the accepting.

Go Bears! (Did I spell Bengals wrong?)

Sharron Lewis-Watts

Making Coupons

I met Jesus my freshman year of high school. After 14 years of tangentially knowing him through my mother's faith and church attendance, I truly came face to face with my Savior. That year for spring break, my parents sent me to my grandparents' house in Charleston to spend some time with my ailing grandfather and lonely grandmother. In their backyard was a swinging bench. In between tennis matches with my "NoMommy" and listening to "Diggy's" stories (we have some weird names in our family - I also have an aunt Cheetah and an aunt Seuss), I spent hours every day that week reading the Bible, listening to worship music, and journaling. It was a time of accelerated spiritual growth where Jesus was teaching me and laying the foundation for the next several years of following Him. It was a precious time of formation and I'll never forget it.

In the 12 years between then and now I've gone through a three dimensional maze of a faith journey: all but abandoning the faith in my junior year of high school, reclaiming that faith in college and sharing it with my then-boyfriend-now-husband, a period of ennui my senior year of college, a frustration with the modern evangelical church, and finally landing myself at St. Paul's, where I've found a deep connection to the liturgy.

Recently, I had somewhat of a reunion with Jesus after some time of feeling distant. At the same time, I was knee deep in a project at work that required me to make test coupons - dozens upon dozens of coupons per day. I know everyone isn't a materials engineer so I'll fill you in on what that entails: mixing material, putting it in the mold, closing the press, and waiting. For multiple hours. To make the situation worse, the press is located in a basement far from my office with no cell reception or internet connection. I couldn't check or respond to emails, make phone calls, or work on reports. I found myself alone in a dark, windowless, rented office with nothing but me, my iPod, a Bible, and a journal.

While I wasn't in beautiful Charleston and it wasn't my spring break, it was familiar and sweet territory for me. God was teaching me, molding me, transforming me in that dreary basement. It was so reminiscent of that time 12 years ago on my grandparents' bench. It was a beautiful couple of weeks.

I know with blogs you're supposed to wrap things up with a pretty bow and have some take away message. And if you've met me, you know that wrapping things in perfect bows is SO not me. So I'll just ask this: what is God trying to teach you now? What is He molding you into? How is He transforming you to be more like Christ? How is He asking you to be the light?

~Stephanie Rice

Welcome, StPaulights!!

Hey, hey, St. Paul's!
Welcome to our brand new blog!!
This is a place where we can share our growth as children of God through our rich, formative experiences.
Anecdotal stories of a growing faith, special memories, ideas to explore: bring it here and share. Submit your offerings to me any time! And comment if you're so inclined.

This image of Sanctuary Light at St. Paul's reminds us of the presence of Christ, alive in each one of us. So when we remind each other to Be the Light, we are calling each other to be Christ in the world. So. . .what does that mean?  Here's my take on it, through the lens of formation.

Each and every experience in our lives from birth to death can be described as formative. Without any one of those events, good or bad, we would be different people.

The dictionary definition of formation brings a generalized understanding, describing formation as the manner in which things are formed. One strong example in nature is sedimentary rock. Many different bits and pieces combine, forming larger units.

Formation as applied to a human being would involve the many influences and experiences that have molded us into personhood. Spiritual formation, then, might be that which forms our souls. So MANY big questions arise: how do you separate mind, body and spirit? Does spiritual also mean religious? If you were formed without church, what are the chances of seeing you in the pews some day? Any of these points could be argued. But no need to split on philosophy when we're together in our faith. Back to the Light.

As Christian people who practice our faith, in part, by attending church, we have a common bond around what we believe. In particular, we are Episcopalians. We profess our beliefs each Sunday during worship. Here's just a snippet:

from The Nicene Creed, Book of Common Prayer
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ
the only son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light...

The Light is what leads a spiritually formative journey. For those of us that choose church as a learning path, it's that spark of recognition that we are reflections of God, through His Son, Jesus. We learn about our Light through Scripture, church history, prayer, ritual, sacraments, personal experiences and fellowship with other Lights. But that's not all. We fling open the doors and take our collective Light into the world. We are followers who lead by example, just as Jesus did. We are creative beings, like God, who learn that our world needs new life and we find ways to give birth to deeds that seed the future.

Learning about Christ and being like Christ: that is how I see Formation.

Just sayin' (grin).

~Jean