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• Senior Warden Message
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Next Sunday’s Readings

This coming Sunday we will hear one of the truly great stories from Luke’s Gospel. I marvel at how much love and wisdom can be packed into one short story. This week it is the story of two disciples encountering Jesus on the road to Emmaus. Perhaps this is the story of the first Christian pilgrims? I encourage you to read this story and ask yourself, how is the life of a Christian epitomized in this story? How is the hope of a Christian revealed and encouraged?

Read Next Sunday’s Lessons here.

Last Sunday’s Sermon:A Deacon is like a Coach

Deacon Jerry offered the sermon this week with an insightful exegesis of the story of Thomas’ encounter with Jesus. Jerry ended his sermon by observing that the Deacon’s job is to be a bridge between the church and the world, and to support others to do the same. The deacon is like a coach, helping people connect their faith to their lives in the world.

Father David  will be back to preaching this Sunday. You can listen to this sermon or read other sermons at my sermon page:

http://revmarshall.com/sermons/

You can read daily reflections at my blog:

http://revmarshall.com/blog/

or by subscribing to my PodCast through iTunes. Simply search for “The Rev. David Marshall” in the iTunes store or follow this link:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id424733629

We Walked the Talk

Dear Friends,

Jesus taught his people to be disciples to others, to spread God’s word, and to do good deeds in the world. This past weekend, the people of St. Dunstan’s did just that. They followed His teachings, and gave of their time, love and spirit by doing things for others.

Our Youth Group experienced the 30 Hour Famine. They raised money for those less fortunate in our world, they took gift bags to Ronald Mac Donald House, and they spent two hours on Saturday at the main distribution center in Seattle, for Northwest Harvest. In two hours, they packaged over a ton of rice, oatmeal and beans for the needy people in Seattle. When they left Seattle, they knew that what they had done was going to make a difference in people’s lives…and they had fun doing it.

While the Youth of our church was working, our new Care Team Ministry was coming together and making plans for taking care of our people and their friends. Under the direction of Karen Tynes, we were assigned to teams and given an orientation on what the Care Team Ministry is about. There were 21 of our people at this orientation, and each one of them is eager to make a difference and to help others.

We have a dedicated group of parishioners who are on the Eucharistic Visitors team, and this past Sunday, we had not one group, but two groups that took communion and prayers to our shut-ins. This is such a beautiful ministry and is very uplifting not only for the people who receive the communion, but for those who deliver it. What an awesome way to do God’s work!

The events of the weekend are so important in so many ways. When we as Christians give of ourselves, and do for others, we are living the life that God has asked us to live. We are truly disciples’ of Jesus Christ. By enriching other people’s lives, we enrich our own as well. We also serve as an example of what love is really all about. It’s not about us as individuals, it’s about us helping others and being a blessing to them.

To all of you who are out there doing good things for others, God bless you. You are living your days according to God’s master plan. You are sharing your blessings with others and you are a testimony to God’s love and grace.

Blessings,
Mary E. Pacher

Vestry Corner

FEATURED COMMITTEE:
COMMUNICATIONS
Our Communication Committee would love to have your input. With all the wonderful work that has been going on at St. Duntan's we would love your assistance in communicating our good news to our fellow parishioners and to our community. Communications can happen on many levels and no one form of communication is going to reach everyone.

We look forward to the upcoming year and all the activities going on at church, such as our new Care Teams, preparation and installation of what will soon be a beautiful stained glass window, and Vacation Bible Camp. To support these activities, we need to find the best and most productive ways in which we can spread the word. For some of us this may be through e-mail, over the web, or through social networking. However, I suspect for many of us we would prefer to be reached through a phone call, face to face conversation, or perhaps a hand written letter or card. In this day and age when receiving a hand written note is unusual, receiving one can seem really special.

Due to the response we received from our door hangers for our Easter programs, it seems we will also be hanging door hangers to support our Family Game Night and Vacation Bible Camp. I have wondered if some of our parishioners who cannot attend our worship services might benefit or enjoy being assisted by being able to get the Highlights and the sermons on line. Even if the parishioner does not have a computer, they might have a friend, family member or care giver that could assist them with accessing these publications. I know we will be updating our church web site and being more active on Face Book.

Please let us know how you feel. Or, better yet, please assist us. If you have ideas or a skill that you think could assist us, please let us know. Communication is really a tool for supporting all that is St. Dunstan's, and relies on both the communicators and those receiving the communications. I can be reached at hinkofere@aol.com and am looking forward to hearing from you.
 

Family Game Night and Auction Saturday May 21st!  The Vestry is planning a game night for family, friends, and the greater community . Tickets will be on sale after the Sunday services at a suggested donation of $5 per person. We are gathering auction items and are off to a good start: gift certificate to Palisade Restaurant; baby quilt and matching bag; Logitech Quickcam connect for Skype; travel steam iron; 5 signed and numbered watercolor prints; cedar flower box; music lessons; homemade fancy breads are just a few. Please take a look at our poster in the Narthex describing auction categories. We need your help: manning a game table or providing auction items.  If you are interested in teaching a game, manning a game table, or providing auction items, contact Diana Rall @206-660-9156 or dtoshiba@comcast.net; Don Riccardo @ dtriccardo@gmail.com or Tom Paulson @ fleeketpooh@gmail.com.
 

Strength for the Journey

A bishop once told me the story of her pilgrimage walking through France and Spain. “I almost died in the mountains of France. It was snowing and sleeting. My feet were torn with blisters. I was so tired and sore. I stopped, freezing, wet and in pain, and collapsed on the side of the trail, ready to die.” She did not die of course. Instead, other pilgrims and people along the way gave her warmth, comfort, food, healing, prayer and love.
Every story of pilgrimage passes through pain, suffering and struggle. Yet, when we travel as pilgrims, what we inevitably find is love. We find that pilgrimage can only be accomplished with the love and support of others. When our shoes break and there is no space at the pilgrims’ hostel, we find a kind soul who knows of rooms we can use just down the street. When we are thirsty, someone offers water. When we are hungry, we find generous hospitality around a table.

When you give your heart to Jesus, trusting in his teaching and his life, you put yourself on the pilgrim’s path. As a follower of Jesus you will encounter struggles, conflicts, and disappointments. Jesus knew that this was true and would remain true through the ages. Jesus knew that the pilgrims that followed in his footsteps would need strength for the journey and so he gave us the Eucharist.

At the Last Supper Jesus took the bread, blessed it, and gave it to his friends saying, “Take, eat… Drink this. All of you…” The sharing of bread and wine is a central practice of Christians given directly by Jesus. The communion meal of Jesus’ body and blood binds us together in love and in caring for one another. When we gather at the Lord’s Table to share the bread and wine, we are strengthened and encouraged.

Our mission statement declares that we seek to provide a welcoming environment where individuals can come together to walk in Christ’s love and forgiveness through worship, prayer and service to the community. Living into this mission and working to accomplish this mission we become pilgrims. Even as we face our own struggles, we are working to aid and bless other pilgrims on their own journeys.

Sharing in the Eucharist as we worship together is both a primary way of being pilgrims and it gives us strength for the journey. We share communion together because we want to be pilgrims and because as pilgrims, we need strength for the journey. We invite others to share Eucharist with us because we want to encourage, bless and comfort fellow pilgrims.

Your brother in Christ,

The Rev. David Marshall

P.S. I find myself struggling this week with the news of and the reactions to the killing of Osama Bin Laden. A dear friend shared a quote that seems greatly appropriate today. Versions of this quote have been spreading around the internet as being attributed to Martin Luther King Jr. The quote does include a reference to MLK Jr. but the original quote comes from Jessica Dovey, a recent Penn State grad living in Kobe, Japan, who posted this as her Facebook status:

I will mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. "Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." MLK Jr.

P.P.S. As I was completing this article I received the sad news that Lyn Donovan's father has died suddenly and unexpectedly. Lyn has left to be with his mother at this sad time. Please keep Lyn and his family in your prayers. 

Click here to respond to this posting in my blog.
 

Community Engagement

"Building Justice and Peace from the Ground up", a presentation at Blodel Hall, St. Mark's Cathedral, 1245 10th Ave E, will be held on Friday, May 6 at 7 pm.  You are invited to a short program where two approaches to serving the causes of justice and peace in the Holy Land will be presented by Phoebe Griswold, President of the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and The Rev. Cotton Fite, Convenerof the Palestine Israel Network. Call St. Mark's Cathedral at 206-323-0300, response box #333, to reserve your seat. Donations of $10 will be collected.

Greenwood Food Bank Volunteer Night is Friday, May 13 from 6-8 pm.  
Please join members of our congregation sorting and stocking food for our neighbors in need. For more information on volunteer activities, an information session will be held on Tuesday, May 10 from 12 noon to 1:30 pm.

A HUGH thank you to the Youth Group for their efforts in being part of the nation wide "30 Hour Famine".  Not only did they "fast" for the 30 hours, but they planned a Compline service, contributed 80 "snack bags" to the Ronald McDonald House in the University District , and packed one ton of rice, beans, and oats at teh Cherry STreet Northwest Harvest Distribution Center. Special thanks to Mei-Ling Morrison-Beals for bein our special volunteer with games and participating in our various projects. We will continue to collect money through this week if you would still like to contribute. Please put money in the collection plates on Sunday, designate it "World Vision". Finally , a very hearty thank you from all the Youth Group members to Courtney Carosiello for her wonderful chicken and veggie soup as we "broke the fast" on Saturday at 5 pm.  Ann Patrice and Sandy
 

From Bishop Rickel

During the 50 days of Easter this year, support our diocesan campaign to support life at St. Vincent’s by helping to raise funds to feed the poor, deaf, physically disabled and blind children in Haiti. All plate collection during the Easter Season will go to St. Vincent’s Center for Handicapped Children School and Medical Facility, which is a part of the Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Haiti, which is the largest diocese in the Episcopal Church. The children who attend and/or reside there are society’s marginalized: children who are ignored and left to fend for themselves because of their disabilities and deficiencies. Presently, an unconscionable moral decision must be made on many days whether to supply food or water. If given food it becomes a question as to how many meals they can afford to provide. Sometimes that is only one meal, sometimes water instead of food.

Sunday, June 12—Pentecost—will be a diocesan-wide in-gathering for this program. On that day, 25 percent of the money collected at the diocesan-wide ingathering will go toward immediate relief for food and water. The remaining 75 percent will go toward an endowment to build future continuous funds for the purpose of feeding and providing water to these children so they can continue to live, grow, be educated and learn to
become contributing members of their society at whichever level is appropriate
for them individually. The funds we collect will go directly to St. Vincent’s.

The campaign to Support Life at St. Vincent’s is simple. Just 20 cents a day saved
by each member of our diocese and each member of their family will result in a
$10 donation by each person at the end of the 50 days of Easter. If each person in
this diocese participates in this effort, the children of St. Vincent’s will be
guaranteed at least two meals a day and be given as much water as they need.

Please join in this diocesan campaign of $10 per person during the 50 days of Easter to ensure the ongoing lives of these beautiful children of God at St. Vincent’s in our sister Diocese of Haiti.