The Fisherman's Net
Newsletter of St Peter's
Episcopal Church
P.0.
Phone: (262) 966-7288
Email: FrDavid@StPetesNorthLake.org
Website:
http://www.stpetesnorthlake.org
SUNDAY WORSHIP at 9:30 a.m.
SUNDAY SCHOOL for (K-6 grade) at 9:30 a.m.
The Rt. Rev. Steven Miller, Bishop of
The Rev. David Deakle, Priest in Charge
The Rev. David Couper, Interim Priest
Mr. Stephen Marks, Senior Warden
Mr. Andrew Marks, Junior Warden and Treasurer
Vestry: Darcy
Chester, Peg Leitgabel, Rick Luedke, Kathy Marks, and Stephanie Naze (also
Clerk of Vestry).
FEBRUARY, 2005
The Color Purple: Keeping a Holy Lent
We all approach Lent with a variety of expectations and traditions. Most of us have been grounded in the practice of “giving up” something for Lent rather than “taking on” something. As Episcopalians, we observe Lent in four traditional ways:
Whatever we do or don’t do during Lent should help lead us toward Easter and the Resurrection. We need to keep our “eye on the prize” as we journey through Lent.
Self-examination and repentance. These practices are designed to transform our lives for the better. Lent is an opportunity to work on those areas of our life that we know and experience as harmful or destructive to ourselves, our neighbors, God, and to the rest of the created world. Go through this past year in your mind. Try to remember the highlights and problems you faced and how you may have contributed to the problem. Look at your personal relationships with others, your work, the respect (or lack of respect) you show for your body as well as your soul, and, finally, how you have promoted justice, peace and love in yourself, your home, your neighborhood, your work place and the rest of the world. How have you grown in the past year?
Prayer. Prayer is simply spending time and nurturing a very important relationship in our lives – our relationship, our friendship, with God. If we do not spend time with a person (and that includes God) we do not, or soon will not, have that relationship. Start with spending five minutes a day with God and grow from there. Try this: 30 seconds to prepare by quieting yourself, one minute for reviewing yesterday, one minute for intercessory prayer – for what are you grateful? One minute for listening – be totally quiet and listen for God’s nudging, one minute for planning – list your priorities for the day and ask for help with them, and the final 30 seconds for resting with God; be with God, enjoy God!
Fasting and self-denial. This practice has been a traditional part of Christian spirituality for centuries. Although there are only two “official” fast days – Ash Wednesday and Good Friday – it is appropriate whenever we need to take control of our lives. What is it we are “hooked” on? Can we do without it for a period of time? If not, why not? Fasting can be abstaining from solid food (with plenty of water), or fasting from particular foods. But fasting can be abstaining from things in our life that we know are damaging and addictive. Self-denial is a form of self-discipline. It is the practice of “living more simply so that others may simply live.” It is also the practice of household economy, respecting our bodies, and acting in solidarity with the poor.
Lent is a special time of year.
Fr
David Couper
Take a Break
from Winter!
Annual Meeting
& Stewardship Sunday
Please don’t
forget this important date in the life of our parish -- SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20TH
(potluck and meeting after worship).
Our theme for the day will be “Take a Break from Winter!” So get out those summer Hawaiian shirts,
surfing shorts and sandals and enjoy a fun morning for our parish annual
meeting!
Prayers and Thanksgivings
Please pray for our church and its growth in Christ.
Pray for healing for Fr Deakle, Rick, and Charlotte.
Pray for peace in the world. And just as Jesus asked us, make a special
effort to pray for our enemies as well as those who work for peace.
Pray for the victims and their
families of the Tsunami in the
Let's Celebrate!
February’s Birthdays and Anniversaries:
February 26 Darcy
Chester
(Please give Fr David your
family’s birthdates and anniversaries so that we can celebrate these important blessings
of life.)
Liturgically
Speaking…
Q: Why are we
singing the Sunday psalm?
A: The psalms
were originally written to be sung and the Christian Church also has a long
history of singing or chanting them.
Therefore, our organist, Julie Falk, and Kate Marks, have teamed
together to bring us a sung psalm with a congregational sung response. The response will be printed in the bulleting
after the first lesson. If anyone else
is interested in participating in this music ministry, please let Julie or Fr.
David know. It will require, however, a
practice before Sunday.
Q: Why is the
priest and acolyte now sitting on the right side of the congregation instead of
the left side as was done in the past?
A: This move was
not done because of any rubric in the prayer book, but rather because anyone
coming in late from the basement or east entrance (or has to make a bathroom
run during worship) now will not have to cross in front of the worship leaders.
Sunday
6 February –
Last Epiphany
First
Lesson: Exodus 24: 12-18
Psalm 99
Second
Lesson: Philippians 3: 7-14
The Gospel: Matthew 17: 1-9
9 February –
Ash Wednesday
Joel 2: 1-1,
12-17
Psalm 103: 8-14
2 Corinthians 5:
20b – 6:10
Matthew 6: 1-6,
16-21
13 February –
1 Lent
Genesis 2: 4b-9,
15-17, 25 – 3:7
Psalm 51: 1-13
Romans 5: 12-21
Matthew 4: 1-11
20 February –
2 Lent (and our Annual Meeting)
Genesis 12: 1-8
Psalm 33: 12-22
Romans 4: 1-17
John 3: 1-17
27 February –
3 Lent
Exodus 17: 1-7
Psalm 95: 6-11
Romans 5: 1-11
John 4: 5-42
For further Sunday
lectionary readings and help visit: www.theworshipwell.org
Giving as a
Spiritual Discipline
We are at an
important crossroads for the parish of St Peter’s,
I am asking you in the next few
weeks to prayerfully look inside yourself and consider what you personally can
share of your time, talents and financial support to St Peter’s as we move
outside of ourselves to make God known in our community, and in the world in
which we live.
Thanks and God
bless you,
Fr David
Couper
Sunday School
As we attempt to
get into the swing of things this spring, we will have Sunday School for K-6
children EVERY Sunday at 9:30. The first
Sunday in March, the children will focus on our diocesan “Haiti Project” and
prepare some traditional Haitian food for sampling.
Coffee Hour
We will hold a
coffee hour every Sunday after worship.
This is an important time for us to get to know one another better as
well as our visitors. Thanks for the
great response signing up for treats! We
now are covered through June!
Two Opportunities
for Outreach and Personal Growth
1. The
Marriage Course
Begins Sunday
evening, FEBRUARY 20th at 5:30 p.m. Pre-registration is required. The cost is $70/couple and includes materials
and seven meals.
The Aim of the Course is to build healthy
relationships that last a lifetime!
Topics:
Over seven
evenings, couples talk with each other about the important issues that can get
swept under the carpet in the rush of daily life.
Recognizing each other's needs
Learning to communicate effectively
Resolving conflict
Healing past hurt
Knowing how to make each other feel loved
Relating to parents and in-laws
Good sex
Making time for each other
Having fun together
There is no
group discussion and no requirement to disclose anything about your relationship
to anyone else.
What's
involved? Each evening
begins with a candlelit meal. There is then a talk by Fr. David and Sabine
followed by an opportunity to discuss the topic together -- as a couple. The
setting is welcoming, relaxed, and unthreatening.
Who is it for?
1. Those who want
to enhance their marriage.
2. Those in the
first five years of marriage.
3. Those at a
challenging state in their marriage, such as the birth of a child, a career
change, teenagers at home, or the "empty nest."
4. Those
struggling with issues in their marriage.
Here’s what
you need to do to get started:
\
2. Lenten Book Study
The Heart of
Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith,
by Marcus Borg
(HarperSanFrancisco, 2003).
Marcus Borg is the Hundere
Distinguished Professor of Religion and Culture at Oregon State University and
author of a number of bestselling books.
Visit http://www.amazon.com/ or order this book at your local bookstore.
What do knowledgeable folks
say about Borg’s book?
“If
we don’t move in the direction sketched in the book, Christianity is in for
some lean years.” Thomas Moore, Care of the Soul.
“Marcus
Borg offers questioning Christians a way to keep the faith without shutting
down the search for truth.” Barbara
Brown Taylor, noted homilist, author and Episcopal Priest.
“It
will… nourish new Christians who are moving beyond popular caricatures of
faith, inviting them to the real stuff.”
Walter Brueggemann, Popular author, lecturer and Professor of Old
Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary.
Thursday evenings during Lent from 7-8:30.
The first meeting will be at 6178 North Highway 83,
the home of Rick and Katy Luedke.
From Borg’s preface to The
Heart of Christianity:
“What
is the heart of Christianity? What does
it mean to be Christian today? In this
book, I describe two quite different answers to this question. The first is an earlier vision of
Christianity; the second, an emerging vision.
Both are present in the churches of North America today deeply dividing
Christians…. For some time now, I have been convinced that there are no serious
intellectual obstacles to being Christian.
There is a way of seeing Christianity that makes persuasive and
compelling sense of life in the broadest sense – a way of seeing reality and
our lives in relationship to what is real; a way of seeing God, our
relationship to God, and the path of transformation…”
Please
join in on this Lenten journey. This is
a good event in which to invite a friend – especially a doubter or someone who
has fallen away from the Christian faith.
The study will be a stimulating way to explore Borg’s book. What if you have to miss? Well, just read the book and come to the sessions
you can – the book by itself is worth reading.
Feb.
10 -- Week 1: “What does it mean to be a
Christian today?” And “The heart of Christianity in a time of
change.”
Feb.
17 -- Week 2: “Faith: The way of the
heart” and “The Bible: The heart
of the tradition.”
Feb.
24 -- Week 3: “God: The heart of reality” and “Jesus: The heart of God.”
Mar.
3 -- Week 4: “Born Again: A new heart” and “The Kingdom of God: The heart of justice.”
Mar.
10 -- Week 5: “Thin Places: Opening the heart” and “Sin and Salvation: Transforming the heart.”
Mar.
17 -- Week 6: “The Heart of the Matter: Practice” and “Heart and Home: Being a Christian in an Age of
Pluralism.”
You
are encouraged to purchase the book before we begin the study and get
acquainted with the preface and the first chapter, “The Heart of Christianity
in a Time of Change.”
There
is no cost for this study. Let Fr David
know if you would like to join this adventure!
Messiah Concert
We have the opportunity to
get tickets to hear (and see) a presentation of Handel’s “Messiah” on Sunday Feb 13, 2:30 p.m. at the Uihlein Hall-Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. Our own Kate McBroom-Redwine will be
singing. Join us for this wonderful
event. See Kate if you need tickets. Or go on-line at: http://www.milwaukeesymphony.org/ticketing/
Writing a Collect
“Collect,” a short form of
prayer, originally “collecting” the prayers and petitions of members of the
congregation into a single prayer. They
have origins back to the 6th century. You can read the collects of the Book of
Common Prayer beginning on page 211 (for contemporary wording) and page 159
(for traditional wording). Now, for a
good spiritual exercise, try writing a personal collect you can use with your
daily prayers.
So
to begin, what constitutes a “collect?”
A collect is a request, usually one sentence, with five basic
components:
1. Address. The person to whom the collect is addressed
(a saint, God, Jesus, Father, Holy Spirit).
2. Ascription. The qualities of the addressee that make
him/her the appropriate person to address the request.
3. Request. The specific petition.
4. Consequence. What you hope will happen if the request is
granted.
5. Doxology. “Through him who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever…”
[Thanks
to Katy Luedke for this.]
Senior
Warden’s Report
Dear People of
St. Peter’s,
Well
it’s been almost a month since Fr. Couper, Sabine and Charlotte have joined us
at St. Peter’s. Things are moving fast,
I have to admit I have never met a person with as much energy as Fr. Couper. It is to the point where he is even shoveling
snow for us to use up some of that energy.
Seriously
though, we are doing some wonderful things since their arrival. We also have new padding on our kneelers
thanks to the generous donation by Mr. Lawrence Galloway who visits with us
periodically (mainly during the summer months).
We have the “Marriage Course” planned and ready to roll and most
recently a book review club to get started during Lent. We moved the piano donated by the Dryburghs
into the main part of the Church and are using it almost weekly. Thanks again to Julie Falk for her wonderful
efforts as our organist and now pianist!
On
January 23 we had a vestry meeting to plan and prepare for the year. Most notably was preparation of our budget. With the addition of Fr. Couper to our staff,
we are going to incur more costs as we attempt to gain membership through
worship and outreach. We have decided to
spend more of our financial and physical resources to attract more
members. We have technically hired Fr.
Couper To work 2 days a week for us, but believe me he is putting much more
time than we have bargained for. I truly
see a wonderful relationship with him and St. Peter’s. He has developed not only weekend bulletins
but has built a monthly newsletter which you are reading now. We hope this newsletter will reach out to
many of our past and future members to keep all informed as to what is
happening at St. Peter’s. If you are not
members please come to visit and see what we are all about. I think you will be impressed with our little
parish.
As
I indicated earlier we need to plan financially for the year 2005. Now that we have planned our spending we need
to gather information as to what our income will be. Please see the attached sheet on the back of
this newsletter with pledge information on it.
Obviously with all of these changes there is a
substantial cost. Any help you can give
is greatly appreciated. Please get this
information back to Andy Marks (our Treasurer) by the annual meeting so we can
plan and have correct information on February 20th. Remember all of you are invited to our
annual meeting! Respectfully yours: Steve
Marks
P.S Just a few
more bits of information from our last Vestry meeting: We will be posting a
proposal to install a new wooden sign this spring. Take a
look at it and let me know what you think. We are also considering night lighting for
the front and tower of the church and replacing the metal Episcopal Church
signs on Highways 83 and VV. To kick off
Lent, we will also be sponsoring a FREE Shrove Tuesday pancake supper on
February 8th from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Come and have fun – games and
prizes!
A Note from the Interim Priest … Now
that we are in February, and with Christmas behind us and St Valentine’s Day
ahead of us, why not talk about “happiness?”
In the January 17th issue of “Time” magazine, the editors
explored “The New Science of Happiness.”
Some interesting findings: Based on their own assessment, most Americans
are overwhelmingly happy and optimistic -- regardless of income. Most of us think we have lived the best
possible life that we could have. Only
2% of us say that we have lived a poor life.
The
good news I discovered in these articles is that we believe that the major
sources of our happiness are found in our relationships with our spouses,
children, friends, and in the contributions we make to the lives of others.
While
only 11% of us said that “God /faith /religion” was the ONE thing in our life
that has brought us the greatest happiness (children/ grandchildren [35%],
family [17%], and spouse [9%]) there is still hope for those of us who think of
ourselves as people of faith. The
editors’ “Eight Steps Toward a More Satisfying Life,” indicate to me that one’s
faith can play a much stronger role in our happiness. They provide us with the following eight
steps:
1. Count your
blessings. Maintain a “gratitude journal” to keep track of the
three to five things for which we are currently thankful. Do it weekly and keep it fresh.
2. Practice acts of
kindness. Interestingly, being kind to others makes us feel
generous and capable; gives us a greater connection to people as well as
smiles, approval and reciprocated kindness -- all things that boost our
happiness.
3. Savor life’s joys. Focus on our pleasurable moments and remember them;
literally, “stop and smell the roses” of life.
4. Thank a mentor. If
there is someone whom you owe a debt of gratitude for helping you at one of
life’s crossroads; don’t wait, tell them now.
5. Learn to forgive. Let
go of our anger and resentment; forgiveness allows us to move on with our
lives; resentment and revenge eat away at us and hold us back.
6. Invest time and energy
in friends and family. The biggest factor in happiness appears to be strong,
personal relationships -- regardless of income, job title, health, or where we
live.
7. Take care of your
body. We need to get plenty of sleep, exercise, and laughter. They make daily life more satisfying.
8. Develop strategies for
coping with stress and hardships. We cannot avoid occasional hard times. But religious
faith, and axioms like “This too shall pass,” and “What doesn’t kill me makes
me stronger,” helps us to cope, but the trick is to believe them!
Now these eight steps seem to be related to our
collective wisdom as a species. Most of
these steps, to me at least, are connected to my faith; things like counting my
blessings, practicing acts of kindness, being thankful, forgiving, exercising,
and working on my relationships. I
suppose I could do all this without faith in God -- but does my faith in God
make it easier? I guess I would have to
say a resounding, “Yes!”
One of the things Sabine and I often do during long
automobile trips is to do those popular self-assessment quizzes that find their
way into newspapers, journals and magazine articles. “Time” magazine did not let me down. Here is a quick self-assessment you can take:
This little quiz (The Satisfaction with Life Scale)
was developed in 1980 by University of Illinois psychologist Edward Diener --
one of the founding fathers of happiness research.
Read the following five statements. Then rate your agreement with the statement
on a 1 to 7 scale (7 being “Absolutely true,” 4 being “Moderately true,“ and 1
being “Not at all true”).
1 ------ 2 ------ 3 ------ 4 ------ 5
------ 6------- 7
Not at all true Moderately true Absolutely true
1. In most ways, my life
is close to my ideal.
2. The conditions of my life
are excellent.
3. I am satisfied with my life.
4. So far, I have gotten the important things I
want in life.
5. If I could live my life over, I would change
almost nothing.
Total score ___________
[Scoring: 31-35: you are extremely satisfied with your
life. 26-30: very satisfied. 21-25: slightly satisfied. 20 is the neutral point. 15-19: slightly dissatisfied. 10-14: dissatisfied. 5-9: extremely dissatisfied.]
God’s blessings and happiness to you
all, See you on Sunday!
David+
p.s. If you, or someone you know, wishes
to schedule some time to meet with me to confer, visit, confess, or discuss
spiritual or personal matters, just give me a call and we’ll make a date! I am usually in the North Lake area on
Sundays, Mondays and Fridays.
St. Peter’s – February, 2005
|
Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
|
6 LAST EPIPHANY (Worship and Sunday School at 9:30 am) |
7 |
8 5:30-6:30 SHROVE TUESDAY SUPPER |
9 7 pm ASH WEDNES-DAY |
10 7 pm Book Study – “The
Heart of Christianity” at Luedke’s |
11 |
12 |
|
13 LENT 1 (Worship and Sunday School at 9:30 am) MESSIAH Concert in Milwaukee |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 7 pm Book Study – “The
Heart of Christianity” at Luedke’s |
18 |
19 |
|
20 LENT 2 (Worship and Sunday School at 9:30 am) ANNUAL MEETING after worship, 5:30 pm
THE MARRIAGE COURSE BEGINS |
21 Fr David at the Clergy Retreat with Bp.
Miller in Racine |
22 Fr David at the Clergy Retreat with Bp.
Miller in Racine |
23 Fr David at the Clergy Retreat with Bp. Miller
in Racine |
24 7 pm Book Study – “The
Heart of Christianity” at Luedke’s |
25 |
26 |
|
27 LENT 3 (Worship and Sunday School at 9:30 am) 5:30 pm THE MARRIAGE
COURSE |
28 |
March 1 |
2 |
3 7 pm Book Study – “The Heart
of Christianity” at Luedke’s |
4 |
5 |