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We Are Making Stone Soup: A message from the Senior Warden

Dear Friends,

We have a great deal to look forward to this Sunday, November 14th. We will celebrate our Stone Soup Stewardship Campaign with the Ingathering of our gifts of time,talents and pledges. The Ingathering represents the efforts of each and every one of us to build something very wonderful here at St. Dunstan’s. Please bring your completed pledge card and Time & Talent Survey to place in the "Stone Soup Pot" on the altar.

Your Vestry wants to thank you for your pledge and your Time and Talent survey. Your continuing commitment and your love for St. Dunstan’s is what makes our church what it is. You are a blessing. God is working through each one of us, as we continue to build His house and do His work. Let us use the gifts that God has given to us, by nurturing them and using them to the glory of His Kingdom.

I invite you to enjoy a bowl of "Stone Soup" with your fellow parishioners after service this Sunday. Please contribute to the making of this meal by bringing an ingredient for the soup and/or a bread or dessert item. Just as the contributions of many people will make for a delicious stone soup, every pledge is an important contribution to our church. Remember, too, that if you cannot pledge financial support at this time, please let us know by completing a pledge card. This information is invaluable to us in planning the budget for 2011.

I look forward to seeing you this Sunday for fun and fellowship and to rejoice in the success of the Stewardship Campaign.

Blessings,

Mary E. Pacher

Next Sunday’s Readings

Transformed by Our Desire for God

I am reading an interesting book called, “How (Not) To Speak Of God,” by Peter Rollins. One of the points that the author makes is that God is not something or someone that we can know and describe. God is the place where we are transformed. When we enter into the presence of God, we are transformed.

Church, then, is a place where we gather to be in the presence of God and to be transformed. Our rituals, prayers, and practices are formed as we strive to know God and to be with God. From this perspective, religion is formed as a response to and a desire for God’s presence. 

We persist in our worship, prayers and ministries because these practices hint at the presence of God. Rollins writes, “We are a people who are born from a response to hints of the divine. Not only this, but we must embrace the idea that we are also called to be hints of the divine.”

Our religious traditions, our prayer book and our hymns, and our congregations cannot deliver the experience of God. They can only make that experience possible. Our traditions and practices only hint at the presence of God. Where God is concerned, a hint is the best we can do. And yet, these hints reveal the reality of God’s love. As we encounter these “hints,” we find that God is at work in each of us. We are transformed in the presence of God. We are becoming hints of the divine as we encounter the divine. 

We come together in worship, prayer and service to the community because we do experience God. These hints of the presence of God are enough to give us hope. As we support and participate in the life and worship of our congregation we experience the sacred mystery of God. We congregate and worship and pray and serve together because in doing so we find God and we find love.

The story of stone soup illustrates, and hints at, the power of God working in and through our congregation. As we faithfully give the first fruits of our life and labor to God we discover that God is at work within and among us. Each experience, or hint, of God’s love wets our appetite and builds our desire for God. 

When we give to the Church we find that we have a sense of place and ownership. We are invested, literally, in the religious life at St. Dunstan's Church. The humble giving illustrated by the stone soup economy opens our hearts and our eyes to the presence of God and calls us beyond ourselves to be God’s blessing for others. Giving of the first fruits feeds our desire for God, and we are transformed by our desire for God.
 

Your brother in Christ,

The Rev. David Marshall

Click here to repond to this posting in my blog.

Community Engagement

The Greenwood Food Bank needs our help in preparation for the holiday season. These very difficult economic times continue to generate even more hungry individuals in our community. Many people are using their local food banks to help feed themselves and their family members. Currently, the Greenwood Food Bank is providing food for 600 people each week; unfortunately that number continues to grow at a 5% rate each week.  At this time of the year, they normally have seven to eight pallets of food in their warehouse inventory in preparation for the Thanksgiving Holiday distribution. In reality, they now have less than two pallets. The need is great but the supply is very low. 

As you prepare for your holiday celebrations, please remember your neighbors who are struggling to get enough to eat.  Bring whatever you can and place it in the food box just inside the narthex.  In addition to regular and traditional Thanksgiving food items, you might also consider donating paper products (towels, toilet paper, tissues, diapers).  An excellent guildeline of what to bring would be this: whatever your family uses or would place on your table, help the Food Bank place these items in their distribution inventory.  As always, if you prefer to give a cash donation, please make your checks payable to St. Dunstan's Church and mark them with the words "Greenwood Food Bank". Thank you for your continuing generosity of spirit.

Warren Broderick and  Al Bahlkow

Matthew House Christmas Outreach: Inspired by the scripture Matthew 25, the Matthew House is a ministry in Monroe, Washington that provides hope and support to the families of prisoners. Each year from the beginning of November until mid-December, the parishioners of St. Dunstan’s donate money or bring new, unwrapped gifts for the children and mothers served by the Matthew House. The gifts and funds are delivered in time to make sure that these families have something waiting under the tree on Christmas morning. The deadline this year for donations is Sunday, December 12th. Gifts can be left in the Christmas box in the narthex. Checks can be made out to St. Dunstan’s with a notation indicating “Matthew House Christmas Outreach”. There are children of all ages  for whom to buy, but if you don’t have a specific preference, consider a teen. The Director of the Matthew House says they are the most forgotten age group. If you don’t know what to buy, a gift card is ideal. Teenagers are happy to shop for something they would like. If you have any questions, please contact Kathy Newman at 206-365-0677 or tokathynewman@gmail.com.

Prayer of the Lamb Community Group meets at St. Dunstan’s on the second Sunday of the month from 7-9 pm. These ongoing groups are open to receive and integrate persons new to the practice of the Prayer of the Lamb. Newcomers and those interested in learning this spiritual practice are welcome along with those who have participated in an introductory seminar. Contact Beverly Hosea or Pieter Drummond at 206-713-5321 or PrayeroftheLamb1@mac.com prior to attending in order to receive introduction to the meditation practice.

2011 Stewardship Time and Talent Surveys are available in the Narthex on the table under the Vestry Corner of the bulletin board. Please plan to return the surveys on this Sunday November 14 at our Ingathering, or drop them off at  the church office, or mail to P. O. Box 33029, Shoreline, WA 98133.